Parenting

  You may be able to keep your girl out of pink but it is more difficult to temper the media message that ‘pink is only for girls’. Television doesn’t always portray male and female role models as rigidly as ‘The Brady Bunch’ any more but role models still include superheroes for boys and Barbies (and lots of pink!) for girls. Research suggests…

A mother asks: "My question is regarding physical exploration between children. My little girl is 3.5 yrs and spends 1 day per week with my husband’s mother. On this day she often sees her cousins aged 5, 8, 11 and 13, all boys. She loves them all and has a fantastic time. I have noticed on a few occasions that when I go to pick her up…

You have lovingly, gently responded to your baby's cues, you have been respectful about how you interact with your toddler, you have read and researched how you can help your child develop optimum mental, emotional and physical well-being and you have encouraged his joyous spirit. Along the way, you have copped reactions from family,…

Emma, mother of a two year old called me recently, furious. Her husband had smacked their two year old. This was a shock to Emma who had never contemplated she would have to deal with differences in parenting styles. She says, “I just couldn’t believe it, we have both been so on board with responding and guiding Mia with respect. Hitting a child is…

Where did that biddable baby in the bunny rug go? He grew into a terrific toddler, that's what! And now he wants it all. He wants it now. And he wants it all to himself! Your toddler can be affectionate one minute and obstinate the next. He runs away when you call him and yells when you want peace and quiet. He wants the blue cup,…

“I was on the phone this morning and the person at the other end heard my baby crying. When I told her I was cuddling him, she said, “well you’ve created a rod for your own back now,” says Jody, mother of an eight week old. When your competence as a mother comes under scrutiny and you feel judged, t’s easy for the doubts to creep in…

Do you find yourself stressed out before you even start your day? Chances are your child is too:  not only are children like little mood barometers registering every gram of our own stress, but complying with an adult schedule, complete with blaring alarm clock, and mayhem and disaster in the wider world (on television news), as well as a…

1. Grow your own Not only is breastfeeding your baby protective against illness, it is the ultimate home grown,  natural resource!  Consider the fuel needed to produce infant formula – from producing milk and transporting it to processing a finished packaged product and transporting it to stores, as well as chemicals used for…

A new book for parents (definitely not for children!), ‘Go the F— to Sleep’ has been lauded as a ‘publishing sensation’. A parody of a lullaby-based children’s book laced with the ‘Eff’ word, this delightfully illustrated book by Adam Mansbach, a Rutgers University creative writing teacher, was inspired by Mansburg’s struggle to…

I have just returned from visiting another lovely, intelligent mother who is doing a wonderful job with her baby, but is convinced she must be doing ‘everything wrong’. She feels guilty that she has messed up her baby’s early days (she hasn’t at all!); she feels inadequate because (she thinks) she can’t read her baby’s cues (she is making…