“Crying It Out”: Acceptable — or Abuse?

One of the most primitive, innate reactions any mom has is to comfort her crying child. But as we’ve talked about here before, many babies can tolerate — and thrive — with some crying, when their parents thoughtfully decide why and when that might be necessary. That’s why articles like this leave me mystified — more »

What I’m Reading: Your One-Year-Old

I’m reading every parenting book ever written on an obsessive quest to find helpful nuggets and insights to include in my first BabyShrink book. Those of you who know me know that I think much of what’s available these days is garbage. Junk. Not practical. Not worth the money. But once in awhile, I find more »

I recently wrote about amazing findings showing that stress in early life actually causes DNA damage. Researchers at Duke have taken the next step, finding the exact receptor that is disabled by chronic stress, resulting in genetic damage. This adds strength to what I believe about making sure our kids are brought up in Good Enough more »

BabyGeek: Early Trauma Damages Babies’ DNA

It took me over a year, but I finally started to understand the fabulousness that is Twitter. And no, it’s not because I want you to know what I had for lunch (although I had some amazing Indian food today). It’s because I meet a lot of interesting people on Twitter, and am directed to more »

Exciting Work — BabyShrink’s Updates

Whew, I’ve been busy! Make sure to check me out all month on ParentsConnect.com, the Nick Jr parenting blog. You know, “We’re not perfect, we’re parents.” We had an awesome connection over my “Good Enough” parenting posts, and it’s exciting to interact with so many of their families. It was all made possible by the more »

Sudden Fears in 12 to 15-Month-Old Babies

Let me tell you about a cool conversation I had the other day with my Infant Research/Rock Star Guru, Professor Joseph Campos (at UC Berkeley).  He helped me understand more about a funky phenomenon I’ve written about here before: The Weird, Wacky, Sudden Fears of the 12 — 15-month old. You know: Crazy fears of more »

The Holidays with Young Children: Keeping It Simple

Preserving the meaning of the holidays is tricky with so much pressure — pressure to BUY, pressure to TRAVEL, and pressure to JUGGLE HOLIDAY EVENTS. The obligations start to pile up, and pretty soon we can’t wait until it’s all over. Here in Hawaii, we’ve learned something about simplicity: Simple is better. Not always easier more »

BabyShrink’s Thinking Points for Parents

Lately I’ve been getting a lot of requests for expert comments on baby stuff: parenting mags who want info for their stories. I’ve got a love-hate relationship with those magazines. They recycle the same old stuff,  and aren’t in-depth enough to get down into the heart of the issue. So parents are left with a more »

Her Toddler Quit Sleeping

Reader Allie emailed me a couple of questions about her 15-month-old Jack*. He was an otherwise healthy boy who simply stopped sleeping a few weeks ago. After getting through a nice, regular sleep-time routine — a routine that used to work beautifully — Jack would fuss, play, and scream. Anything to avoid going down to more »

How To Handle Sibling Rivalry — Toddler Style

I love it when parents say, “Our toddler is SO happy that she has a little baby brother. She seems to have accepted him totally!” Just wait. Sibling rivalry usually doesn’t become a problem until your toddler has to contend with a mobile baby –one who gets into her stuff, pulls her hair, and otherwise more »

How To Handle Sibling Rivalry: When Toddler Bashes Baby (or Preschooler Bashes Toddler)

Shawn poses as this unassuming urban Dad who backpacks around with his two young kids while his wife toils away at a high-powered job. But in reality, he’s scary-smart, this close to getting his PhD at Stanford, in philosophy — of all things. He can write (and backpack) circles around me, and in the couple more »

Enter to Win Free Parent Coaching, BabyShrink Style!

Got a baby, toddler, or preschooler — and a dilemma? Want some feedback — geared towards your hopes, needs and family style? I’ve helped thousands of families, and by popular demand, I’m opening Parent Coaching up to my BabyShrink audience. To kick it off, I’m launching a contest. Sign up by commenting below — tell more »

How To Handle A “Nursing Strike” By Your Baby

The flip side of the baby on a “Bottle Strike” is the very common “Nursing Strike”. Babies can switch from one distressing habit to the other, often without warning, leaving sitters and parents in a bind. Moms worry — Will the baby finally nurse today? Will I lose my milk? Will I be stuck to more »

How To Handle A “Bottle Strike” By Your Baby — A Pint-Sized Parenting Tip

A common parenting problem: The Baby Refuses a Bottle — And Mom Works (or otherwise can’t always be with the baby). Here are some tips: Prevention and Practice. If you expect her to take a bottle intermittently, you’ve got to keep up the practice. Have her take a bottle at least every 1-2 days — more »

What To Do When Your Baby Bites You — A Pint Sized Parenting Tip

Our 10-month-old is teething. ON ME. She wants to gnaw, chomp, and tear at my skin — my arm, neck, or of course the worst target, MY NIPPLE. And man, it hurts! These aren’t little love nibbles. These are deep, powerful bites that leave marks. Sound familiar? Today, I’ll give you some quick info on more »

Sweet Sleep Success

It’s hard to believe, but 6 weeks ago I was in agony, being awakened 6 or 7 times a night by a 7-month-old baby who seemed desperate to nurse each and every hour over night. I was at DefCon 7, or 8, or 47, or whatever the highest possible number might be for Maternal Sleep more »

Why Your 9-Month-Old Baby Is So Difficult All Of A Sudden

I had an amazing conversation with one of the world’s foremost infant researchers last week, Dr. Joseph Campos. He’s at Berkeley, where he’s churned out tons of scientifically rigorous studies about the developmental changes in infancy. He’s come up with some transformative ideas about babies, the upshot of one being that crawling causes your baby more »

When Baby Prefers One Parent: What To Do?

Dear Dr. Heather, Our 25-month-old granddaughter has an unusually strong attachment to her mother. Her parents have been very responsive to her since her birth. Our toddler is easy with other people including her regular caregiver, grand-parents, other extended family and just about everyone else. The problem is that when her mother is around she more »

How To Cope While Sleep Training Your Baby

We’re doing our own version of Sleep Training around here, since baby #4 has proven to be immensely resistant — and LOUD — in our efforts to help her sleep through even a decent portion of the night. Adorable as she is, she’s the most rotten sleeper I’ve yet produced. Tough Love is in order. more »

A Granddaughter’s Stress about a New House and a New Baby

Dear Dr. Heather, My 2-year-old granddaughter is stressed about her new house. Her parents moved a couple of weeks ago, and then her mother had a new baby. Emma seems to “love” her new brother, so I can’t imagine that he is upsetting her. But I am concerned that her mother is not giving Emma more »

Next Page »