Teaching Baby Sign Language

This blog contains some basic information about teaching baby sign language much of it drawn from the site Signing Baby.com. For more detailed information, pictures of babies signing, and helpful hints I suggest visiting their website. Most parents start with need based signs such as: milk, more, drink, hungry, all done, sleep, diaper, etc. These signs allow your child to tell you when they need something. Once your baby has mastered the need-based signs then you can add other signs that your baby finds motivating. Think about what your child enjoys, if your child loves books or to play with … Continue reading →

Interview with Creator of Signing Baby.com

Monica Beyer is the creator of the web site Signing Baby.com. She currently lives in St. Joseph Missouri with her three children, Dagan (10), Corbin (7), and Lauren (3). Besides baby sign language her passions are reading, web design, and gardening. I recently interviewed her about baby sign language, her use of it, and her web site www.signingbaby.com. How did you get started using baby sign language? In the year 2000, my second son was around 11 months old. I saw a television program about a baby girl who could use sign language to show her mother that her teeth … Continue reading →

Baby Sign Language

Babies use gestures to communicate from an early age. They might point at a toy that they want or wave bye-bye. The fine muscles in a baby’s hands are developed long before they can speak. Remember how your baby could find a minute piece of something off the floor and pick it up, but couldn’t tell you that they wanted a drink. Baby signing takes the babies natural inclination to use gestures and gives them meaning. What is baby signing? More and more parents are teaching their babies signs so that they can communicate with their child before they can … Continue reading →

Diaper Free Baby

Parents are now buying training potties for their new babies. Although the idea sounds strange a growing number of parents are practicing EC, elimination communication. Elimination communication focuses on parents recognizing their child’s need to poop and pee. Just as parents recognize when their child is hungry or tired, EC experts agree that parents can recognize bowel signs as well. Instead of using diapers, which EC parents point out helps the environment; they hold their child over a potty when they recognize the signs. Surprisingly many parents have found the method successful. It does require that a parent be more … Continue reading →

Home Alone?

Most of us have seen the movie, “Home Alone”. We watched as Kevin was left home alone not once, but twice and maybe even more. We watched him battle the bad guys and win in the end. But, in the real world, how old is old enough? I know where I live, in California; there is no real stipulation or law as to how old your child has to be before you can leave them home alone. They base it on the responsibility level of the child, and the parent’s own judgment. I have a ten year old, an eight … Continue reading →

Keeping in touch with Teachers

We send our children off in the morning, somewhere around 8am, not to hear from them again until around 3pm. That’s at least six hours of no communication with your children, we don’t know what they’re doing, who they’re hanging out with, or even if they’ve eaten all their lunch. Sending your child off to school can actually be a little nerve racking sometimes. How many of you have had a child come home and say that it was a bad day because so and so was picking on them, or they had a fight with their friend? How do … Continue reading →

PBS Sprout: A Better PBS?

I don’t know how far and wide Spout TV is at this point, but we do get it here in California. I personally love Sprout TV, as it is full of kid-friendly, educational programming. On the old PBS, there were certain programs that came on in the mornings like Barney, Clifford, Sesame Street and others. In the afternoon, it would change to just regular old Public Broadcasting, and had no programs suitable for kids. With Sprout, however, there is always something available, with some new shows and some old ones, too. Shows include: Angelina Ballerina, Zaboomafoo, Calliou, Dragon Tales, Berenstein … Continue reading →

Breastfeeding: How Long Is Too Long?

You’ve probably laughed at the humorous jabs in movies and sitcoms aimed at the idea of breastfeeding “older” children. But if you are enjoying a breastfeeding relationship with your infant, at some point you will start to consider whether or when you should wean your child. You might be surprised to learn that the worldwide average length of breastfeeding each child is about 4 years. This is because many societies encourage children to continue breastfeeding until they wean themselves. For many nations, this is an economical and nutritional lifesaver for the family as water is often polluted, formula is way … Continue reading →

What Is “Attachment Parenting”?

Maybe you’ve heard the term “Attachment Parenting” but haven’t really known what that meant? Maybe you are an “Attachment Parent” and never even knew it! Attachment Parenting is a term coined in recent years by Dr. William Sears, MD to describe specific parenting techniques that, when used together, are said to promote attachment and bonding between parent and child. Other terms for Attachment Parenting might be child-led parenting or instinctive parenting. So what exactly are these parenting techniques? They can vary but most people agree that Attachment Parenting encompasses most of the following: Proactive participation in the pregnancy and birth … Continue reading →

Breastfeeding Ads vs. Formula Company Lobbies

Over the last year, the Ad Council (those people responsible for cutting edge public service announcements), with sponsorship from the US government, has been creating PSA’s aimed at the promotion of breastfeeding. You probably haven’t seen the ads, though, because they have been critically scrutinized by whom else but the International Formula Council who has aggressively lobbied to prevent the government from airing the clips as they were originally created. What’s the hype about? Well it seems the ad council opted to focus on the possible harm that can come to infants who are fed formula and that doesn’t sit … Continue reading →