Parenting Suggestions

There are so many parenting suggestions out there from various magazines and other parents.  These suggestions aren't for everyone, but I do have a few I would like to share with you!  These two things have made helped David be a laid back and happy child!

1.) BABY SIGNS: I did a research project on Baby Sign Language when I was a senior in high school and decided this was something I really wanted to do with David!  We started with "milk" when he was about 7 months old.  We would sign and pair it with the word.  By 9 months old, David was spontaneously requesting his milk without crying!  As he got older and got more signs in his repertoire, he began to pick them up more quickly.  Now, if I want to teach him a new sign, he can do it after seeing it just a couple of times!  Remember, babies don't have the same fine motor capabilities as adults do, so don't worry if their version of the sign looks different!  As long as you know what they mean, they are effectively communicating!  Also, remember to always say the word as you or your baby sign it!  This actually helps increase their ability to verbalize.  David only has about 10 signs, but he has TONS of words!  Regardless, he can communicate his needs and his wants and this has made life easier on all of us!  For more information, go to  www.babysigns.com

2.) Baby proofing accident:  My mother-in-law accidentally discovered this excellent way to have David help us baby proof!  If we forget to lock the cabinet locks, he will walk over and instead of opening the cabinets and getting into stuff, he will get our attention to show us we forgot to lock them!  Instead of getting upset at him for playing with the locks, we say, "Oh!  Thank you for showing me!  Can you help me lock it?"  and then we hand over hand him to help us lock the cabinets!  This was a great accident of grandparenting and it gives us an opportunity to teach him appropriate behavior and to have a positive interaction instead of a negative one!  Since Dan's mom did this, we have been on the lookout for other such things that our gut reaction is to say, "No!" and turn it into a positive situation!

Anyway, these two things have worked really well for our family and if you want to give them a try, I hope they work for your family as well!