Possible Autism Signs in the Young Infant

I’ve written before about the confusion and difficulty around the diagnosis of Autism in young children (before the age of 3). My regular readers know that I’m a strong proponent of Early Intervention screening, and also of early intervention therapy services. This means having your local Child Development center see your child BEFORE the age more »

Baby’s Sudden Fear of the Bath — Another Hot Topic

One of the FAQs here at BabyShrink is about your toddler’s sudden, inexplicable fear of the bath. Readers Noelle and Dana recently joined in the chorus of parents who are mystified about the radical change in their baby’s bath-time routine. I’ve had plenty of first-hand experience with baby’s bath fears, and I know it can more »

More discussion on the pros and cons of Attachment Parenting

There’s an interesting discussion that’s taking place on several sites simultaneously, and rather than responding to comments down below one of my more recent Attachment Parenting posts, I thought I’d highlight the discussion here, since lots of us are interested. Many of us are confused when we read parenting advice by “gurus” like Dr. Sears more »

Will my baby ever sleep through the night?

Susanna from I Find Myself a Mother wrote in with some poignant questions about her 7-month-old son, and his persistent LACK OF SLEEP. She read my article on The ABC’s of Baby’s Sleep, which resulted in an interesting back-and-forth with a reader on her site proposing, instead, the Attachment Parenting approach with her son. It more »

More Postpartum Depression/Postpartum Anxiety Support

Julie Malone of CoolMomGuide launched a support forum for moms with postpartum depression and anxiety. She’s also hooked it up to play my podcast on PPD/PPA. If you haven’t listened to it yet, hit my podcast button to the right, or listen to it over at Julie’s place! A new mom has about a 10% more »

If My Baby Watches TV, Am I A Horrible Parent?

My friend Ilima is a highly educated, successful career Mom who reads just about everything, in her capacity as a newspaper reporter. So of course she has come across the American Academy of Pediatrics’ warning about television: No “Screen Time” for children ages two and younger. None. Nada. Zip. And she wonders if this warning more »

Help — My Toddler Suddenly Hates the Bath!

Today, my sister in North Carolina called. I could barely hear her, with her 12-month-old screaming in the background. “We’re trying to give her a bath, like usual. But all of a sudden, she HATES it. What happened?” She remembered me telling her about one of our kids at that age. “It’s as if there’s more »

Can Dad Decide the Color of Baby’s Room?

When a new baby joins the family, it’s normal for the couple to go through a re-organization of roles. A common struggle has to do with power and control. Who makes the decisions? About what? Who has “final” say about parenting? This often crops up in arguments about seemingly petty things; but they don’t FEEL more »

How DO You “Play” With A Newborn, Anyway?

New Mom Struggles with Guilt

Dear BabyShrink, I’m having trouble figuring out when to put my two-month-old daughter down, and when to pick her up and play with her. I’ve heard many ways of encouraging her development, but I feel guilty when I place her in her chair to get things done. She sleeps well at night, but I often more »

The “Good-Enough Mother”: Are Breasts Required?

Dear BabyShrink, I fully intended on breastfeeding my first baby. But after trying hard for six weeks, we had to give up. We had 3 lactation specialists, moms, friends, and my doctor helping. But my baby was not gaining weight and crying all the time. I just never made more than a half-ounce of milk more »

Ooooh Baby BABY!

Lately I’ve gotten a lot of questions from parents of toddlers, which mirrors my clinical practice. Parents of babies don’t ask as many questions, but they need answers at least as much! So where are all you readers with questions about BABIES? Oh, perhaps you’re too busy, I don’t know, not sleeping, feeling overwhelmed, worrying more »

Biting Babies

Dear BabyShrink, My 16-month-old son just got kicked out of daycare for biting, a habit he picked up there! I’ve heard many different ways to stop the biting habit. Do you have any suggestions on what you’ve found that works best? Amy in Louisville Hi, Amy, I’m so sorry that your son’s daycare hasn’t found more »

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