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Before you set out to find the perfect toy for your child, you must understand that the best toy for the child is sitting right at home. That’s you! Yes, you are your child’s most interesting and nurturing toy in the whole wide world. But there are times when you can’t be with him/her full time. That’s when the other toys come in. But these should be reserved for play only when you can’t be around to play with your child.
Toys and games for newborn and babies:
You are your child’s best toy and playmate at this stage. She enjoys watching your face, movements, expressions and enjoys feeling your loving touch. Since babies at this age aren’t mobile yet, their eyes and ears are their window to the world. So make sure you talk to your baby as you move around the room. Get closer to the baby as often as possible as newborns can’t focus beyond 30 cms in the first few days of their life.
Babies at this age also love contrasting colors. So, getting colourful soft toys are a very good idea. They also love listening to sounds around them. Introduce them to music through musical mobile tunes or a baby rattle.
Once the baby learns how to reach for toys, you could get some interesting Knicks and knacks from around the house itself. Colorful paper and cloth books are a great option too!
Toys and games for preschoolers and toddlers:
Children at this age have started walking so pull-along toys are a great investment. To nurture the love of books, introduce soft cloth books with lots of images. Your child is also learning cause and effect so a wonderful game to play is peek-a-boo. Other options include a jack-in-the-box.
Provide plenty of outdoor play opportunities like a visit to the sandpit.
Your toddler will love playing with colors at this stage. Although they can’t hold a crayon yet, you could get toxin free finger paint and set them up on a play mat lined with newspapers. Sit back and watch as your toddler feels the gooey paint through her fingers and makes pretty art work on the paper.
Safe fun with water at this stage is an instant hit. If the weather is warm you could set up a paddle pool. In cold climes, stick to bath times for fun with water. Get lots of colourful squeezy toys and throw them in the bath tub with your child.
*Note: Never leave a child unattended near any water body, no matter how shallow.
Toys and games for school-age children:
Your child is completely capable of telling you which toys he/she finds interesting. You can use that as a guide while choosing toys.
Most children at this stage are keen on the latest technology toys. In today’s day and age it is not possible to completely exclude these types of games. Choose them wisely and weed out anything with violence in it. Limit screen time from early on.
Also popular at this age are construction sets, board games and art and craft toys. For outdoor play, you must invest in a safe bicycle. Other options include roller skates, skipping ropes and cricket.
Spending time playing with your children still rules the roost, even at this stage. So make sure that toys are not a substitute for quality time they could have spent with you.
Cough and cold are the most common afflictions of children both young and old. Preschoolers suffer from coughs 3-8 times a year and older children up to 4 times. But there is a lot of confusion surrounding coughs and why they are caused. Here’s an article hoping to clear away some of those misconceptions and an easier (read less worrying) recovery.
Coughs are usually caused by viruses. It is what we generally refer to as a viral infection. Since viruses are microorganisms that are neither alive nor dead (seriously!), it is impossible to eradicate them. Antibiotics are of no use on them. So basically, the infection has to run its course. It may last anywhere from 5 days to 12 days. A typical infection throws up symptoms like a head cold, runny or stuffed nose, sore throat, cough and sometimes a fever as well. The paediatrician may prescribe medicine to allay the symptoms of the viral infection (cold, cough, etc), but there is no cure for the infection itself.
However, there are cases when cough can be caused by allergies. If your child is allergic to dust mites, pollen, animal dander, etc, the cough may present itself whenever there is contact with the allergen. The only recourse is to administer antihistamines prescribed by your child’s paediatrician.
In rare cases, Pneumonia, an infection of the lungs can cause a persistent cough. It is also accompanied by difficulty breathing, a cold, fever body aches and chills. If you suspect pneumonia, it is a good idea to take your child to the paediatrician.
Bronchitis is another rare cause of a persistent and hacking cough several weeks after a viral infection. Bronchitis is an infection of the tubes carrying air to the lungs. This too can be either viral or bacterial. If it is bacterial, antibiotics will work. The paediatrician should be able to tell you whether the infection is viral or bacterial.
When to call a doctor, when a child has cough:
If your child is less than 3 month old
If breathing is laboured
Is coughing mucus that is streaked with blood
Is younger than 6 months and has a fever of 101 or above
Is over 6 months and has a fever of 103 and above
Is coughing after choking on something
Coughing causes vomiting
In any case, avoid administering any medication till you have prior permission from the doctor. Over the counter cough medicines do more harm than good. Mixing 2 or more types of cough medicines can cause a fatal combination in some cases.
Till the doctor is able to give you a definite course of action, try some simple home remedies for relief. Honey works wonders on cough. Try it!
The pace at which your toddler learns new things at this age is astounding. If you watch closely enough, you will be tempted to mull over the question of your child being gifted. The term “being gifted”, though is very easy to misconstrue. Whether it is being able to throw a ball like a 5 year old or starting speech earlier than his peers, a definite prognosis of being gifted can only be given by a paediatrician, once the child starts elementary school. Yet, in some cases, it clear from infancy that the baby is learning faster than other of his age.
In some other cases, a gifted child may appear to be the exact opposite of being gifted. Because they are bored at school, they feel frustrated. They may show no interest in academics, underachieve, or are emotionally high strung. This can lead the teachers and caregivers to believe that they have an attention deficit disorder.
If you believe that your child is gifted, here are a few do’s and don’ts that will help you nurture your child’s gift.
At the end of the day, always remember that your child cannot grasp the enormity of his skills. It is not right to expect him to understand this and tailor his moods, impulses and desires around the fact. The best thing you can do for your child at this stage is letting him do whatever gives him more pleasure and the rest will follow.
Can I tell if my child has learning disability?
Children till the age of 5 learn skills at different rates. If a child is adept at speaking, he may be slower to comprehend numbers. Similarly, a child who is adept at physical manoeuvres and play may learn the alphabet later than others. This varying rate of learning new skills can throw parents off the correct way to diagnose if there is a problem.
Learning disability falls into 3 wide categories:
Speech and language problems
Reading writing and math problems
Coordination, motor skills and memory problems
However, sometimes the disability is quite apparent such as dyslexia (reading impairment) or dyscalculia (math solving impairment).
What exactly goes wrong in a child with learning disability?
A child with learning disability who has a normal IQ, like any regular child, cant process accurately information that gets passed on from the eyes and ears to the brain. The child knows what he/she wants to accomplish, but can
When you first discovered your baby is going to arrive, you quickly calculated the maternity leave available to you and decided you will be back to work after the stipulated 6 weeks. But by the end of those amazing and crazily hectic 6 weeks, you decided to stretch it just a little. And then came a time when your family adjusted to one income while you turned into a full time mom. While this may not have played out exactly the same way for everyone, there comes a time in every mom’s life when you break away from your motherly chores and wake up to the person that is YOU! You, who did more than set up play-dates, wipe snotty noses and did truck loads of laundry everyday. And today, you single handedly tackle tantrums, discipline, school projects, household chores, groceries and everything that life throws at you.
You are something of a supermom! I’m sure you get that a lot.
Sometimes I wonder how my own mother did it. Bringing up two children, working from home and yet be able to strike that precarious work-home balance. So one day I decided to know a little more about my mother. The kind of person she was before my brother and I were born, her ambitions, her daily struggles with two children and literally no additional support. And boy did I come back with some pearls of wisdom! So here’s a little something for all you super-moms out there for whom every single day brings in different set of challenges that never are the same!
You can’t have it all: My mother constantly had to balance her work and home so that neither suffered. Sometimes she was successful, sometimes she wasn’t. But in managing all of this, her own identity and desires suffered. She was a mom, a sister, a wife and an employee too. Being a super mom didn’t leave her with much to do for herself. The entire idea of super mom takes up all the energy and time you have. It is an urban legend much like the super man. That you are a mom, who is also working happens just by the way. It is time the concept of “super dads” take flight.
Seek joy outside family: Work provides empowerment to women that can be measured. Work also puts you in touch with people outside of your cocoon, giving you a chance to be yourself. So embrace this opportunity. Develop hobbies with like minded people. Develop your separate cocoon where there are no motherly strings holding you back. Travel, cycle, and learn the guitar. Whatever you do, try to seek pleasure only for yourself.
Ditch the guilt: Several times when my mother was not around for the important landmarks in my life, I held a grudge against her. As I grew up, I realised it was not really important for her to have been there. In an Indian household, domesticity is mainly a woman’s responsibility. So when you are not around all the time it is easy to fall into the guilt trap. But Don’t! You chose to have a life beyond your own family and those who respect you will love this about you.
Be your own person. You may not be successful a 100% of the times, but you will find a new meaning to your life that goes much beyond being just a Super Mom.
Traditionally children started school at 3.5 years. But with ever increasing academic demands and the inevitable competitive circus they get thrown into, experts are advising that may be it is time to catch them young. As early as 1.5 years!
There are two schools of thought and both deserve to be shared with our reader. All experts agree that education need not necessarily begin with schooling. Education for a baby begins in the womb. It starts with learning to recognize its own mother’s voice, something that can’t be taught in school. So it is important to realise that when we refer to education, we don’t mean only schooling (home schooled or otherwise)
Too much too soon? Letting children learn through play
When children play, they learn through experience and observation. They learn about important emotions like happiness, sadness, jealousy, frustration, joy and fear. Play also mimics important life situations where children develop their conflict resolution skills, arbitrations, compromise, building authority, concept of sharing and letting go.
By allowing children to learn these through play, you would be taking the most natural course of action. This will not give you immediate results, but you will see your little one master this art gradually. It is important to expose your child to situations where he gets ample opportunity to play and interact with people and children outside the home.
These interactions will form important brain patterns where the child stores this information until a similar situation arises where he/she has to use it again. Thus, it is vital to the child that he/she gets as many experiences as possible. The sponge like brain of a child absorbs everything around him/her till the age of five.
Starting school early
The definition of early is yet undefined. But children, as young as 1.5 years old are known to start school. This is especially true of children who have both parents working. With no one to take care of the child at home, a school or a day care seems to be the perfect answer.
In scenarios where the child cannot be exposed to different forms of play, it is perhaps advisable to start school early. A child will thrive when he/she gets ample opportunity to play and interact with more people. Like we said, the importance of play cannot be more stressed.
The only problem arises when school starts interfering with play time and demands that the child sits down and learns activities that are not age appropriate. This is the crucial difference between education and compulsory schooling. Play lets a child learn at his/her own pace whereas education can make demands upon the child that may not be age appropriate.
Since every child learns differently, it is important to let the child choose his play and the way he learns it. This way he/she is able to complete the whole process of play-fail-succeed-learn in his brain pattern. Any intervention, may allay short term grief, but will not help the child in learning the whole process in the long run, more importantly, on his/her own.
As a parent how did you learn to resolve conflicts? Doubtlessly, your biggest influencers were your parents. You learnt your early lessons from them and unknowingly emulated their responses and attitudes when resolving conflict. Now, these are a part of your psyche and intellect more than you would ever want to admit.
Conflict resolution is not like math. It is an art that needs to be experienced, interpreted and learnt in our own unique way. When it comes to children, it is best to let them resolve conflict in their own way, albeit, with a little support from you. Here are a few guidelines that will slowly, but surely help you and your child learn conflict resolution at every level, whether it is for a very young child or an older child.
It is challenging for any parent to hold back when a child is trying to snatch a toy from another child. After all, you want to instil the spirit of sharing early on, right? Well, this may not be the right way to do it. It is easy to swoop in and demand that your child share the toy or even take sides in your attempt to dissolve undesired situations that result in crying and heartbreak.
But intervention at this stage can prevent the child from learning it to resolve it in his own way. He will always look to you for support (if you support him) and look away from you (if you take the other child’s side). Both are equally damaging.
Next time you are faced with a similar scenario, try this:
If your child cries for a toy that is with another child, express empathy. “I know you are upset that you can’t play with the teddy now”. At the same time, offer choices to resolve the conflict. “Do you want to ask Amy if she can share it the teddy with you for some time?”
If a conflict resolution scenario is getting out of hand and you suspect it will result in a physical battle, it is okay to physically remove your child from the scene and explain that hitting is not allowed. Children need us to set limits when it comes to emotions that lead to physical harm. A respectful discipline option may not work in this scenario.
Children are even more sensitive to others than we are. So when your child hits somebody, don’t shame him by pointing out the obvious. “Look, how you hurt Arjun! He is so sad!”
The hitting was more of an uncontrolled and impulsive reaction than the hate for Arjun. Understand that the child has a wide range of emotions running through him/her right now,
Keep a calm voice. The child is already on a emotional high and doesn’t need you to contribute to it.
There is a tremendous amount of excellent information on these techniques and teaching them to children of all ages. Google RIE and you will find tools and articles helping you to bring up self sufficient children. Make them part of your day, and a part of your child’s life and they will grow in depth and confidence.
Your baby’s toothless smile is one of the most precious things on earth. The appearance of the first tooth is something of a milestone in your baby’s and your life. But what is disappointing is that baby teeth don’t get appropriate amount of health attention, besides the cuteness factor. Generally, a visit to the dentist is occasioned only when there is a problem. This mindset has led to a staggering number of babies facing dental issues such as decay, scarring and caries. If left untreated, tooth decay can cause pain and make it difficult to swallow food.
New research has shown that primary teeth form the foundation of your baby’s future dental health as well as over all well-being. So we decided to put together a series of do’s and don’ts for your baby’s dental health.
Age 0 to 6 months: Wipe your baby’s gums clean and wet with a gauze or a soft cloth
Age 6 to 18 months: Try to introduce a soft baby brush. Continue to use water only for cleaning
Age 18 to 24 month: Introduce a low fluoride toothpaste
However, teeth cleaning alone aren’t a guarantee against tooth decay. If despite taking appropriate steps your baby has tooth decay, it probably has something to do with the baby’s diet and warrants a visit to the paediatrician.
The travails of a parent whose toddler is underweight can only be felt, not described. Children usually follow a predictable growth pattern. They triple their weight in the first year of their life, and thereafter a kilogram every 3-4 months for the second year of their life. However, not all children follow the same pattern. Each child develops at a different pace. So when does a parent start to worry about poor or no weight gain? A month, 2 months or 6 months of no weight gain? Or more?
There is no correct answer to this because there are a lot of factors that can affect weight gain in a toddler.
However, if your gut feeling tells you to get an expert opinion, the best person to give it is the paediatrician.
Assuming your child has no underlying medical problem, you can proceed with the following to ensure that your child is getting enough calories. The rest will follow.
Once this checklist is in place and you have begun to follow it, do not be in a hurry to check your child’s progress daily. Let the doctor do it at a monthly interval. This will ensure that the child doesn’t become too self conscious about his/her weight.