Archive for August, 2009

Figuring out the best way to say good bye to your baby’s pacifier and bottle can sometimes be a dreaded or difficult task.  Here are a few ideas of how to go about weaning your baby from their “ba-ba” and paci. 

Toddlers who drink from a bottle for too long can tend to consume more milk than necessary.  This can cause your baby to have little appetite for the variety of solid food they need to eat, or they may be consuming too many calories from the liquid.  When kids drink from a bottle, the milk pools around their teeth and can create a major cavity risk. 

Between 12 and 15 months is a good time to wean your baby from the their “ba-ba.”  This is when babies can drink well enough from a sippy cup and should go completely bottle free.  If you wait more than 18 months, the bottle will have become a habit rather than a necessity and your child will cling to it even harder. Read the rest of this entry »

Just about everyone can remember getting yelled at as a child for sitting too close to the television. Our moms assured us that failure to heed her advice would ruin our eyes. I don’t know about you, but many years later and I can still see just fine.

According to the American Optometric Association, children can’t harm their eyes by sitting with their faces practically smushing the tv screen. Whatching too closely can, however, cause eyestrain which can cause headaches. While this may cause some short-term discomfort, no long term damage is done.

Talking with your children about family money issues and the family budget can be a difficult conversation. Parents are often afraid of scaring their children by making them think that the family is having money issues, but it can be difficult for younger children to grasp the concept of finite money anyways.

Younger children will ask for anything and everything that interests them. They see the commercials for a new toy, but their young minds do not truly understand the real cost of buying it. It is highly recommended to begin having regular conversations about money while your children are still young. Although the concepts won’t fully register with them, it is helpful to consistently frame their wants in terms of the costs. Try explaining that instead of spending $50 on a new game, you need to buy groceries with the $50. This can help younger kids realize the trade-off and it gives them a feel for what needs your family can satisfy for the same amount of money. Try to keep a positive tone to your money conversations and keep your patience if your child doesn’t seem to understand.

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