In our modern world, where much of our interactions, information, entertainment, and even responsibilities are found and fulfilled with the use of screens, managing screen time has become a concern for many parents in their own lives and in the lives of their children.  How much screen time is too much, and what can we […]

During the first several years of life, a child undergoes impressively rapid and extensive growth, development, and learning to achieve different types of developmental milestones, including physical, emotional, social, cognitive, and language. Reaching appropriate language milestones is vital to a child’s ability to communicate and interact, and their social and emotional development largely depends upon

Kids today hear lots of stories about their parents and grandparents exploring their neighborhoods, trying to build treehouses in the summer, and spending hours practicing make-believe in the backyard. In other words, kids today hear about unstructured play, but they don’t experience it as commonly as today’s adults did during their childhoods. Although parents have

Infants begin life with a liquid diet of breast milk or infant formula. At around six months (no earlier than four months), babies are usually ready for their parents to begin gradually introducing solid foods. However, parents should be sure that their infant is ready to tackle this developmental milestone and that they understand how

Why is the sky blue? Why do dogs bark? Why do your feet smell bad? Why do I have to wear my coat? Why can’t we have ice cream? Why do we have to go to the store? Why can’t I have a new toy? Why, why, why!  If this string of questions sounds familiar

For new parents, one of the biggest challenges is learning, working with, and improving their new baby’s sleep patterns. Infant sleep cycles, however, are much different than those of adults, so understanding the infant sleep cycle can help you understand and work to improve how your baby sleeps.  What Is a Sleep Cycle? Everyone who

Parenting toddlers and preschool-aged children can sometimes feel like riding a rollercoaster, with your child oscillating between demanding that they can “do it themself” and clinging to you. Your child has an instinct for developing independence, but they also like to flex their independence muscles while knowing you’re nearby, just in case they need to

Sweet blinking, cute head turning, grasping, and other movements all make new parents fall even deeper in love with their babies. What many parents don’t realize about their baby’s movements is that they are mostly involuntary. Up until about a year after birth, many of an infant’s movements are actually newborn reflexes.  What Are Newborn

Brain development begins in the womb and doesn’t stop until about age 25. However, children undergo a critical period of brain development through their infancy and early childhood years. In fact, about 90% of a child’s brain development will be completed by age 5. Throughout this critical period, a child’s experiences and interactions directly shape