Ellasphere

There are two types of problematic behavior. The disruptive one and the type that avoids social interaction and contact. In dealing with these personalities, children must be heard and listened to in order for us to understand their feelings, the cause of such behavior, and from there, we will be able to know the approaches suitable for them. As you deal with them, you are guaranteed that you will make a difference in the lives of these children.

For those children with disruptive behavior, you need to make your expectations clear to them. This is by means of rules and regulations set at home or at school. You must also be clear with the boundaries that you are setting in order for the child to know his or her limits and from there, the child will be cleared as to why he or she is being reprimanded on the act that is said to be deviant to the set expectations. They will then know and learn the difference between right and wrong acts. You may also want to work on the balance between freedom and structure in order for the child to feel that he or she is not being limited much with what he or she can do. As long as you have established the discipline and the routines with your child, he or she will learn and therefore cooperate with your boundaries. You must also remember that you are not forcing these to your child, you are training him or her to the right path. Remember that physical punishment should be your last resort if you think this is needed and necessary for the child to remember not to do a certain deviant act, just use your judgment. But remember that children need to be guided with constant reminders and letting them know that you are always there to listen and to understand them.

For those children who are not into social interaction with others, it is important that you are always there to boost their confidence by celebrating their little successes in their endeavors, making them feel that you are really proud of them, and by helping them express themselves in the ways where they are comfortable at. Always show them that you are always interested with them and with their likes and build that bridge to connect him or her with the family, classmates or in any group that she is in.

For these two types of behavior, letting the children know that you CARE and you are always looking forward to see and hear from them. Boosting their confidence will make them realize that the world loves and accepts the, and they will see the advantages of conforming to what is being expected of them.

image from: www.bbc.co.uk/…/you_talksextokids.shtml

Have you been experiencing those waking up blues in the middle of the night due to your baby’s crying for no reason at all? Have you tried singing a thousand of lullabies, or danced a million waltzes just to calm your baby down?  Your baby must be experiencing what we call colic. Colic is a condition wherein babies cry aloud or scream without any reason at all. This condition is common among bottle-fed infants, usually when they have failed to burp the gas out after feeding, which in turn can cause abdominal pains for the child. This occurs to infants before their third month. When this happens, the infant feels the discomfort, until the pain becomes unbearable, resulting to scream and disturbing cries in the night.

When a baby cries due to colic, parents end up getting frustrated for many reasons. First is, the fact that parents need to supervise and keep an eye on the baby for the whole day, and making sure that the baby is provided with his or her needs. Then parents get tired and exhausted at the end of the day. Second, the pains and the torture of knowing that you can’t make your baby stop crying are frustrating also. Third is the inconvenience of getting up in the middle of the night, causing a major disturbance to your sleep and rest, to make the baby stop crying. Fourth is the unending argument of who’s going to attend to the baby, not to mention, the disturbance it can cause to the neighbors or to other members who apparently lives with you in the same house. Furthermore, the baby is the one who suffers the most and as parents, you tend to wish for the pain to subside right away, or to have it passed on to you instead to spare your baby from the colic’s unbearable pain.

One way of solving this common problem is to have your child lie flat on his/her stomach. This will help to loosen up the gas in his tummy and eventually it will help avoid colic in children. Also, do not forget to help your baby burp after feeding.  A massage with chamomile oil unto his abdomen will help ease the pain and discomfort of the baby. You may also try tapping on your child’s tummy area gently to determine whether the child may have gas or not. Then massage him/her with oil.

Finding a childcare provider or a nanny is one of the not-so-easy thing to do in a family especially if you are looking for someone who will really look after your children while you’re at work. Now I have come across a checklist of the questions that you might want to ask your potential nanny as basis as to whether or not to hire her or to know the things that she should be trained with.

1. Do you have any childhood qualifications?

2. Do you have any First Aid qualifications?

3. What is your experience with children?

4. Have you previously looked after children of similar age?

5. Do you have references?

6. Can you cook?

7. What do you cook in a typical week?

8. What activities will you undertake with the children?

9. When and where do you take them out?

10. When are you available/unavailable?

11. Do you have any dependents/family commitments that might affect your work?

You may also want to ask for documents to establish your background check on your nanny such as police clearances and references.  This will help you ensure that your children will be in good hands.

Reaching the decision to begin potty training is the easy part. The tougher one is tackling it successfully so the end result pleases both parent and child. A book written by Penny Warner and Paula Kelly entitled “Toilet Training without Tears or Trauma” tells us how. Here are some tried-and-true tips.

1. Look for physical signs of readiness. If your child can already climb on and off the toilet throne or on a potty-chair, and if his bowel movements are predictable and regular,and/or if child can pull his/her pants up and down by him/herself, then he/she is ready.

2.  See if your child can follow instructions, and if he/she can focus on a task for a long time, or if you see if they seem to know when he/she is urinating or defecating, or if he/she can communicate if he/she wants to go to the comfort room, then he/she is ready.

3.  Toilet training clothes may also be of help like pull-ups, cloth underwear for easier pull up or down.

4. Affirm the child to repeat the action.

5. Parents may want to model how it is done. Do not get mad at them when they fail to make it to the comfort room when attempting.

6.  Before your child goes to sleep, remind him/her to take the last trip to the potty to help him/her stay overnight.

7. Make it fun for your child. Use doll play or songs and games to encourage him/her to use the comfort room.

8. Keep in mind that your child will be potty trained someday.

The book mentioned also features some questions frequently asked by parents and some tips as to how to troubleshoot problems. It is really an easy-to-read book and will be helpful as you train your child to success in the bathroom.

There are so many options to consider when choosing child care, and family child care remains a preferred choice with many parents. Here are reasons why in-home care can be a right solution for your child.

1. Everything your child needs are there at home and are there within your reach.

2. The family members learn to be responsible with the young one.

3.  Your child will not be scared of being in a new place all the time.

4. Safety measures are followed inside the home and more or less, your child is already aware of this and the members are used to the system so there is a little risk of accidents and negligence.

5. It is easy to take track as to where your child goes when playing.

6. Adjustments to caregivers will not be a problem since it’s the family members who will care for your child.

7. Parents can easily go home for the child in case of emergency.

Your youngster says he doesn’t feel good. But is your sick kid well enough to go to school or be around other youngsters? How do you know? What symptoms should you look for in your sick kid?

1. Fever. Always take track of your child’s temperature. If it is near 40 degrees, you should be alarmed. Also, most contagious diseases start from minor fever.

2. Energy level. If your child really is feeling weak, do not force him to come to school anymore.

3. Rashes or spots on skin. These might indicate contagious diseases such as chicken pox, measles, and the like.

4. Swollen red eyes. This might indicate conjunctivitis and may require a week of quarantine at home.

5. Dry cough. This may indicate ailment on lungs that needed to be checked by a specialist.

Why not bring your child to work…at least on occasion? There are pros and cons to taking this step, and here are some good reasons to go ahead and try it!

1. This will be a perfect venue for your child to meet different people, adults in particular, so this will develop your child’s confidence in dealing with adults.

2. Your child will be able to see you work in action and to realize how (hard) your work is and how you get it done.

3. You can ensure your child’s safety since you can keep an eye on him/her while you work.

4. It can also serve as an additional exposure to your child about community helpers, how people work and relate and therefore can add up to his/her stash of experiential learning.

5. If you can get to let your child help you in some ways he/she can with your work, say checking of papers, taking in calls, fixing your papers, etc., then better. This will allow your child feel how helpful he/she can be for you.

6. For sure, the experience your child may have with you at work will definitely a proud moment for him/her, and a sure topic for his/her story that can be shared with friends.

7. You can take advantage of the time to bond with your child.

The thing about taking your child to work may be beneficial but again, you can’t avoid the fact that this may distract you from finishing your work especially if your child is still young who needs a lot of attention. Then again, it won’t be really harmful to take him/her once in awhile, you know, for his/her experience’s sake.

it is hard to find the perfect caregiver nowadays. not because of the expense of paying them but because of the fact that we will actually leave our children under the care of another person, who will act as their second parents while the real parents are at work. we cannot help but feel insecure at times, especially if we don’t have any idea what is going on with them, or how our children our being taken care of or how they are treated by our caregivers. that is why, it takes a lot of caution to hire caregivers for our children.

but if we have a relative to take care of our kids, at least we have taken  50% of our doubts off of our sleeves because of the guarantee that relative will definitely handle our children with love and care. we can also be sure of the safety of our children with a relative around.

however, issues such as differences in raising kids, or in disciplining them will most likely arise and these might result to conflicts among adults. also it is hard to resort to confrontation and reprimand because of things and feelings that we need to consider.

but with constant communication and when expectations were set and agreed upon from the beginning, consistency in disciplining the children will be a success. also, an open-minded disposition and a learning attitude can also be a way to avoid misunderstanding and hesitation to communicate expectations and resolutions. this shouldn’t be hard because you are a family and with respect as the main core of your relationship and a common goal which is centered on the well-being of your children, having relatives as caregivers should not be a problem.