Parenting Articles. Tips, tricks and advice

In this section we've endeavoured to bring you a variety of parenting articles that are both interesting and informative and sometimes controversial.

We've also included a section with some great articles and fantastic everyday tips that have been supplied by Parents Inc Parenting magazine.

Watch this space over the next few weeks for our "playroom"; this will be a place where you and your kids can find fun things to do together on those rainy days at home.

We hope you enjoy these articles and find the tips useful.

Hot Tips:

• What would your Child tell you about Toilet Training?
  Next to sleeping and feeding, toilet training is often the other big challenge parents face in the early years. Read more for some hot tips on toilet training.
• Babies and the Development of Language
  Tips on helping your baby speak.
• Some popular nappy folds
  Some good old fashion cloth nappy folds.
• Developmental guide to hearing, understanding and talking
  developmental guide to hearing, understanding and talking
• Just add water – making bathtime fun for babies
  Not all babies like baths; some love them and some babies don't. Mums and Dads can find bath times a bit nerve wracking too, but both parents and babies usually learn to love them....
• Rainy day play - things to do with your children on rainy days
  Things to do with your children on rainy days.

Articles:

• A classic combination – babies and music
  The benefits of music in the life of a baby are staggeringly numerous. Exposing your baby to music early on has powerful benefits, as Jo Hood explains
• Cherishing Our Children
  What does it mean to cherish our children?
• Love Enough for Two
  Whether you are just thinking about having a second child, are now expecting your second child or have recently had your second child, you've probably worried about your ability to meet the needs of two children
• Childhood is Now
  Do we spend more time in the day struggling with our children than enjoying them? Pam Leo explores this and the loss of the extended family within todays modern family.
• Creating More Nurturing Environments for Children (Part One)
  How do we know when a child's behavior is a communication of a stress or an unmet need related to the environment?
• Creating More Nurturing Environments for Children (Part Two)
  How do we know when a child's behavior is a communication of a stress or an unmet need related to the environment?
• Our Parenting Choices
  "Everyday, every parent makes major and minor, conscious and unconscious decisions about how to interact with their children. We may be pushed by the traditions of culture, or the approval or disapproval of family members, but in the end, all parents decide for themselves how to treat their children"...
• Teaching Children Through Love Instead of Fear
  One of the big issues in schools today is "bullying." Parents and teachers struggle daily with how to stop this behavior. Without realizing it, adults teach bullying behavior to children by modeling it when they use the threat of their physical size or power to make children do things....
• "For the Sake of the Children"
  Cooperative CO-Parenting During and After Divorce. Even when parents can't still live together, they can still parent together...
• Playing with your children. Na-Na-Na-Boo-Boo
  Even if playing doesn't come naturally to us we can learn how to be more playful...
• If You Hold That Baby All The Time...
  Baby wearing -the importance of carrying babies and the benefits of keeping them in close physical contact...
• Nurturing Our Children's Resilience
  How well do our children cope with change, stress, loss and uncertainty?
• Teaching Children Respect
  Children are mirrors; they reflect back to us everything we say and do. The language children grow up hearing is the language they will speak.....
• Reach Out and Touch Someone: "Massage in Schools"
  In the first two years of life 80% of a baby's brain growth is occurring. Studies show that the brain of a child develops 20 - 30 % more if they have received massage or touch often compared to children who have not. Brain growth is only one of the physical benefits of touch....
• Daydream Believer - is your child a dreamer?
  Challenges facing parents of 'dreamers'. Sometimes complex children have qualities that can become real assets in a family. Their 'different' way of thinking is something to be worked with, not against.
• Grandparenting "how to be a fun grandparent"
  What can grandparents do to stay involved with their grandchildren?
• Have you ever felt out of control?
  New babies can be a challenge to our skills and emotional resources.
• The Power of One - making children feel special
  We need to take care that every child is treated as an individual and special. Some of the ways this can be achieved...
• Creating a 'Together Time' with you and your child... and the power of adult commentary
  Lots of parents work hard to develop well behaved children, but as I have worked with parents over the last ten years I've seen many parents overlook one major area.
• Trainspotting in Auckland and Beyond
  Say the magical words: "we're going on a train trip" and see the children's faces light up.
• Your child doesn't have to be a victim
  What can we, as parents, do to help our children deal with teasing and bullying?