More Ways to Bond with Your Toddler

You’ve hosted a tea party, played ball and danced like animals, now what? Grab your toddler and get ready for some serious bonding with these fun ideas: BUBBLES AND BALLOONS Take advantage of sunny summer days by heading outdoors with a few bottles of inexpensive bubbles. If money is tight you can make your own by combining dish soap and water. Toddlers love chasing after bubbles, but make sure you give him a turn blowing some too. The activity teaches hand-eye coordination and counting. Balloons are great for indoor play as they move slowly enough to be caught and thrown. … Continue reading →

Simple Ways to Bond with Your Toddler

Parenting is not rocket scientist. However, it often requires functioning on little to no sleep (unless you were blessed with one of those angel babies that zonks out at 7 p.m. and doesn’t rouse until 7 the next morning OR you were gifted with a large house and a high tolerance for demonic screaming, which made night weaning a breeze) and a LOT of patience. A well-rested mommy begets a patient mommy, and nothing makes a toddler happier than a happy mommy. Your undivided attention is all your adorable tot really wants, so find a way to make time for … Continue reading →

Would You Buy Your Toddler a Breastfeeding Doll?

I’m not referring to those pricey custom-made plush Mini Mama dolls that feature a hungry infant latching on to her mother’s breast via under-skin magnets. I’m talking about a doll that uses your toddler as a human pacifier. Lest you think that I am joking take a look at this review from Thingamababy, which features an actual toddler nursing a doll that can suckle like a real newborn. Introducing Bebé Glotón, an infant doll made by a toy maker in Spain. According to the review, the doll was made for the “express purpose of promoting breastfeeding.” Apparently, the doll manufacturer … Continue reading →

Toddlers and Tub Injuries

According to a new study, your toddler is more likely to be injured in the bathtub than on the playground, the kitchen or the garage. On average, more than 43,000 kids are treated in hospital emergency rooms annually for injuries sustained in the tub or shower. What’s more, the study reveals that toddlers account for more than half that number. Researchers say about 60 percent of the injuries were lacerations (cuts and tears to the skin) while another 20 percent were sprains and other soft-tissue injuries. The part of a toddler’s body that was most commonly affected was the head, … Continue reading →

Is Your Toddler at Risk For Skin Cancer?

Are you slathering enough sunscreen on your toddler during these hot summer months? You might consider applying more sunblock more often during the course of the day if your tot has freckles on his upper back. Freckles are just one of six new factors that increase the likelihood of skin cancer, according to melanoma experts. The five other new factors include: *A family history of skin cancer *Overexposure to the sun *Having red or blonde hair *Previous sunburns that have caused patches of scaly skin *Several severe sunburns According to skin cancer experts, having one of the factors increases the … Continue reading →

Toddlers and Guns Don’t Mix

Newsflash: Loaded guns and toddlers don’t mix. In other news… saying something will never happen to you, typically begets negative results. Just ask these parents: In Las Vegas some heat packing parents are hoping beyond hope that their 2-year-old daughter will survive after being shot by their 4-year-old. According to police, the girl is in critical condition while the father remains in custody for allegedly leaving a improperly secured loaded gun laying around in the family’s home. In South Carolina, a 3-year-old boy shot his 4-year-old brother with a gun he allegedly found under the bed at the home of … Continue reading →

Is Your Toddler Destined to be a Troublemaker?

He is if his name is: Alec Ernest Garland Ivan Kareem Luke Malcolm Preston Tyrell Walter Ah, so, now we finally know what’s in a name… trouble, trouble, and trouble. At least that’s what the experts maintain. And by experts I mean a professor from Shippensburg University named David Kalist. Writing in Social Science Quarterly, Kalist insists that giving your boy any of the aforementioned names could land him in jail later in life. Why? Kalist believes that giving newborn males odd, girly or strange first names it “increases the tendency toward juvenile delinquency.” Kalist based his conclusions on a … Continue reading →

Teaching Your Toddler to Lose Gracefully

Yeah, right! Good luck with that. I know some adults (okay, one in particular) who explode when they miss a single shot at a mini-golf course, so the thought of having a toddler lose gracefully is somewhat of an oxymoron to me. Still, childhood experts say it is very possible for young children to lose a game without having a full-blown meltdown, provided you teach them about winning first. This, of course, opens an entirely different can of worms: When playing a game with your toddler (Candy Land, hopscotch, Memory, etc.) do you let her win all the time, or … Continue reading →

Toddler’s Wild Ride Serves as Harsh Lesson to Parents

Nothing would make my young daughter happier than to own one of those kid-sized motorized vehicles that are a staple in the homes of Hollywood’s elite. Britney Spears’ toddler sons’ have two pint-sized SUVs each and Diddy’s twin girls have matching 12 volt Mini Coopers. Some parents thumb their noses at the expensive toddler wheels, claiming that the motorized vehicles encourage laziness, but a mom and dad in Canada have nothing but praise for their son’s battery-powered truck…considering it helped save his life. Yes, apparently, some of those monster trucks are multi-purpose machines. According to authorities in Canada, a boy … Continue reading →

Why Toddlers and Snakes Don’t Mix

Stories like this one sicken me, and not just because I am the mother of a young child: Earlier this month a 2-year-old girl living in a rural community located about 50 miles northwest of Orlando was killed by a 12-foot long snake. The toddler wasn’t traipsing around in the woods or visiting an exotic animal zoo. Rather, the little girl was asleep in her bed when the massive albino Burmese python strangled her in the middle of the night. According to police, the snake escaped from a holding tank in the girl’s home. Yes, the snake shared living space … Continue reading →