As stated in a previous post when I tried to give my son the rice cereal at four months old it made him very sick. Well, last week I tried him on stage 2 baby food, which most of those are some combination of vegetables and/or meats. I fed him a mixed vegetable with ham, which he liked a lot and ate almost the whole jar. I fed it to him around late afternoon.
Before I fed him I looked at the ingredients and it contained rice flour. I decided to go ahead and try it since it has been a couple of months since the whole rice cereal incidents. He did perfectly fine that evening. He played as usual and took a little nap. He didn’t show any signs of the baby food making him sick. I figured if I past the two hour mark after eating he would be fine and wouldn’t get sick. Well three or four hours had past and he was well. I gave him a bottle that night around 8:00 or so before I got ready to put him down for the night. I was thinking to myself, well maybe it was something in the rice cereal, like the soy, that was making him sick before and not the actual rice itself.
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Most all children love to play with water in type fashion. One way for them to be “playing” with water but also learning about colors is with this eye dropper activity. I would only do this activity with two or three children at a time just so you can watch them and also help them if they need assistance. Read more …
This is a good activity to do in a classroom setting or even with your child at home. It has a science component but your young child will probably not understand this to it’s fullest just yet. They will just think this is fun and cool, for now.
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This activity can be done with 3 year olds or older. An adult needs to supervise just so they can make sure the children are using the straws correctly. This supports fine motor skills by having to hold the straw. Children think this activity is a lot of fun. One child can do this activity or a group of children. I recommend if you try to do this with a group of children to use a long piece of butcher paper or something like it. This gives each child plenty of space to work with.
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IF there ever comes a time when you feel like you are at the end of your rope with your child(ren), there is now a place to turn for help. The Parenting Assistance Line, (PAL) was created to help parents in troubled situations or for parents who just need advice. It was developed on the University of Alabama Campus at the Child Development Resource center. They have parenting resource specialists who are there to serve you. For more information on PAL check out there website at (www.pal.ua.edu) ,or you can give them a call at 1-866-962-3030.
You know when your baby is first born you hold them and look at them and are just in “aw” of them. That doesn’t change as they grow older. I still find myself just staring at my son being in “aw” of him at six months old. As they begin to grow, as a mom, you notice the slightest change. It’s amazing to watch them and just wonder what are they thinking. They look so intently at objects, absorbing all information possible, and their eyes tell a story.
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When a baby is first born you think all they do is eat, sleep, and dirty their diaper. Well, that may be true but it is very important to interact with your baby during this time. You and your baby are forming an attachment which is a big deal in their growth and development. They need to feel that security from the start so they will form a secure attachment with you. Even though your little one is only a few days old you can still, in the short spurts of awake time, interact with them. Of course, one of those things is feeding your baby, but not counting the necessities you still have options such as, singing to your baby (maybe you did this while you were pregnant), reading to your baby (they may not understand the words you are saying, but they are learning the sound of your voice), rock your baby and talk to him/her, and cuddle with your baby.
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Tummy time is important for your baby. So what is it? In a nut shell, it is laying your baby down on a mat or blanket on the floor on their stomach. Not only does it give he/she time off their back, it helps them strengthen their muscles. By having to raise their head and move their body in a different way they are learning to use other muscles in the body. Your baby may not like tummy time at first, so start out slow. Only leave them on their stomach to begin with for a couple minutes, because if they don’t like it they are more than likely going to be crying soon after laying them down. Start out doing this about two or three times a day. Give them a chance to experience it more than once a day so you can increase the time on their stomach sooner. I would suggest beginning this at around four months old.
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My son just turned six months old and he is really teething. At his last doctors visit his pediatrician said his gums were really swollen, which means before long he should have a tooth coming through. Every baby is different and they teeth at different times. Teething usually begins somewhere between 3 months old and six months old. A good thing to look for if you think your baby may be beginning to teeth is massive drooling and chewing on everything. Any thing the baby comes in contact with goes straight into the mouth, because they are wanting some relief for their gums. They probably will keep putting their fingers in their mouth, as well. This has become a constant with my son. Some babies get pretty fussy right before a tooth is getting ready to break the skin. It may be difficult for the baby to take a bottle because of the pain and the swelling that occurs. Another tell, tell sign that your baby is teething is very loose stools. You can just tell a difference in their diapers.
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This activity is very fun but can get pretty messy. It would be a good activity to do outside this summer, while the children have their bathing suits on.
Materials: All you need is a can of shaving cream and a table that can be wiped down or hosed off.
Have the children gather around the table and give each a decent amount of room. This may require the children taking turns, which is a good lesson to learn. Spray the shaving cream on the table and allow the children to “paint” on the table itself. The children could make shapes, designs, whatever they feel like making, even if it’s just swirls, with their fingers and hands. Let the children play for a reasonable amount of time, say ten minutes.
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