The Power of Lullabies for Children
I have often written about this, blogged about this and read about this…Lullaby music is said to have a profound effect on babies and children. It has been proven that lullaby music can make your child smarter, sooth them during stressful moments and comfort them in their times of need.
That is one of the reasons that Kidz Comfort decided to begin offering lullaby music CDs to our customers. After all, shouldn’t it be a part of every child’s bedtime routine?
But, don’t take my word for it. Parenthood.com has a great article supporting these beliefs. It doesn’t have to be a music CD though. What is comforting to your child is often just the sound of your voice. So, if you want to comfort your child, sing a little song. As a backup plan, it is great to have a lullaby CD available.
Read my previous post on the great impact lullaby music can have on your child….FULL STORY
Thanks and Sleep Well!
raelynn @ Kidz Comfort
Kid-Safe Chemicals Act
We often hear news clips or read articles about the dangers of exposing our children to a variety of products due to their chemical make-up. We’ve also seen news clips and articles about the food we eat and the pesticides that can cover our fruits and vegetables, not to mention the foods that we buy that are made using many chemicals for a variety of reasons: to thicken, to thin out, to color, to stay fresh, etc… What about the water we drink? What about the air we breathe. The list is almost endless.
You will be shocked to see this video. It is almost hard to comprehend. The Kid-Safe Chemicals Act will change the current, and very lenient, regulations for new chemicals that are used in our environment, in our food and in our personal care products. An overhaul of our nation’s chemical regulatory law is CRITICAL.
See the facts about babies that are being born pre-polluted with as many as 300 industrial chemicals in their bodies when they enter the world. It is frightening…
Parent Tips to De-Stress Your Day
Parenting is the toughest job I know!
But, also the most enjoyable. Having two small boys myself, I am quite aware of the trials and tribulations that go along with parenting. It doesn’t matter their ages…each age brings new “challenges” and opportunities with it. Our job is to be creative and make our children well rounded, responsible, conscientious, empathetic individuals…among other things.
Over the years, my creativity has been deeply challenged. My boys are four and five years old. They feed off of each other. Together, they can push Mommy over the edge. I have had to be creative to divert their inner need to push my every button. I have decided to share some of these tips in the hopes that I can prevent other Moms from snapping…
- To avoid the “get dressed!” argument in the morning, we have a race. Who can get ready first; Mommy & Daddy, or the Brothers (we work in teams). Or, we set a timer and see if the boys can beat their previous “record”. This has been a huge success for us.
- My kids are very picky eaters, so we’ve found that when we have the kids help us prepare the meals, they sample the ingredients and they also are more anxious to eat what they’ve created. Read more about having your kids help you at mealtime HERE.
- I cannot express how much it has helped to turn their food into shapes and characters, and it’s soooo easy to do. The robot shaped grilled cheese is a huge hit in our house!
- My husband and I have created a trivia game during our dinner-time. We just ask age-appropriate questions and in order to hear the next question, they must take a bite of their food. This has worked surprisingly well for us.
- And finally, watch this video on occasion for a good laugh…
Do you have any great tips of your own that you would like to share?
My First Experience with Night Terrors
When my son was somewhere around the age of two, he suddenly began waking up during the middle of the night crying. Not just a simple cry though. It was a terrifying screaming cry. My husband and I would rush into our little boy’s room and ask franticly, “WHAT’S WRONG, WHAT’S WRONG?” We would pick him up, but he would thrash and kick until we put him on the floor where he proceeded to throw himself around, still screaming at the top of his lungs. This would happen every few nights, usually lasting at least an hour each time, and this wouldn’t stop for a couple years!
Like many new parents, we had never heard of night terrors. We had absolutely no idea what was going on. Was he in pain? Should we take him to the hospital? How stressful to be so out of control and unable to help your own child. Years have past and our son is now five. We have not seen a night terror in a year or so (thank goodness!) but the memories are still etched in our minds.
This story is not uncommon. The ending, however, is always the same…the night terrors eventually stop when the child grows out of them. The main goal is to keep them safe during these events.
Here, several Moms share their own stories:
Shawna Zaludek of Ballerinas and Buckaroos wrote:
My oldest who is now 11 went through night terrors from around the age of 3 to the age of 4. She would wake up screaming, usually in a terrible sweat. I was a young mother and did not know what I was dealing with. I took her to her doctor and due to a very traumatic divorce (her father was a very violent man) she developed night terrors from stress. My heart would break every time I heard her screaming, when I did try to rouse her it usually resulted in her being more upset and very confused. I was so thankful when she finally outgrew this, what a heartbreaking ordeal for a parent to go through as you feel that your hands are tied and you cannot “kiss” the hurt away.
Cathryn Weaver of www.MiraclesWithWater.com and www.DrinkTheRightWater.com wrote: Our perfectly normal, happy, and very healthy 11 month old boy started this and turned us all upside down and inside out with concern. I read everything I could get my hands on and as it turned out, the ROOM DECOR seemed to be the trigger. I had gone from calm baby blue to not-too-bright yellow with green accents and I had a very brightly multi-colored owl on his wall near his bed. I walked him around his room during the day in the light and he played with his toys in his room and all was well, but at night, a totally different story. I don’t know if you have recently redecorated or moved, but for us, the decor was the problem. I removed the owl and no more night terrors. I know this is awful for you and I hope it does not last too long.
Sherri Frushon, CEO of Baby Huggables wrote: I have a son who is now 24 but when he was younger, he went through about 5 years of having night terrors. He would walk the hall way at night, sound to sleep, flapping his hands like a bird in the air, calling out and reaching out.
I had to put up gates every where so he would not fall down the stairs or get in to things he was not suppose to get in to while he was walking around. These lasted until he was about 6 years old.
My other younger daughter who is now 11 years old, had night terrors from about 3 years of age to about age 8. She too would walk the hall way at night and knock with her fist on the walls and keep knocking and crying out loud. She looked like she was awake but in reality was never awake during any of these night terrors. I would gently guide her back to her own bed and help her back in to her bed and make sure she was comfortable and she was ok prior to leaving her room. I did set up gates at night so she would not get herself hurt.
After having been exposed to two (2) children who suffered through these horrible night terrors I did some research and a low carb diet with minimal sugar is highly suggested to those children who suffer through night terrors. It is never recommended that you wake up a child who is having a night terror, but lead them back in to their bed and softly speak to them and tell the child everything is going to be ok, prior to leaving the room.
I also read that night terrors will go away by the age of six (6) however, this was not the case with either of my children. My son was around age of seven (7) when he out grew the night terrors and my daughter stopped having night terrors at age eight (8).
I do believe diet prior to bed has a huge control in night terrors, no caffeine or chocolate of any kind, low carbs and less sugar is best.
Jen Edwards of Kids’ Keys to Success wrote: Great of you to post this topic…It really freaked me out the first time it happened.
My daughter was almost three. We had a normal night…nothing different about the day, nor with her bedtime routine. At 7:30 we read our bedtime story and tucked her in. She soon fell asleep to the humming of her humidifier and at 3 am I was startled out of my own restful sleep with a blood curdling scream. I ran to her room (I don’t remember my feet hitting the floor).
She was standing straight up in bed and screaming unlike any noise I have ever heard before. I picked her up and held her, but she didn’t melt into my arms like she normally does (like with a nightmare). finally she calmed and like she never noticed the noise or disruption she quietly went back to sleep. My nerves where shot from my adrenalin hit and I felt frazzled and dazed.
The next morning she didn’t remember it and I exhausted from adrenalin withdrawal the rest of the day.
I came to learn more about night terrors and how common they are. I wish I had known that before her first one!
Kathy Stuhr of Shaklee wrote: My daughter used to have night terrors when she was still in a crib. She would wake up screaming at the top of her lungs. Eyes wide open but you could see she was still asleep . I would pick her up and she would point to ’something’ and I would walk around the whole house thinking she wanted something. Finally, I would just sit in the rocking chair with her screaming and would do that until she fell back asleep which could be up to 1/2 hour. She didn’t have them often but when she did they were frightening…she probably had 3 or 4 of them. She didn’t sleep thru the night consistently until she was 17 months old….boy was I tired.
Candace of www.sonbeams.com wrote: I’m not sure I could say my son had night terrors, but he has gone through a spell where he’s woken up many nights obviously bothered about something. He’s 4, and it’s hard to explain sometimes exactly what he’s thinking. But he has talked about dreams, and some of the things he’s told us would make them ’scary’ dreams. THANKFULLY, I came across a website due to some health concerns, and strange enough – I believe he ONLY has trouble sleeping on nights when he’s had sugary foods before bed. Candida (yeast overgrowth) DOES cause nightmares and such, and once I began paying attention to when we ate ‘bad’ foods for this – it did appear linked to the nights he ate those foods!
Got your own Night Terror story?
Take Back Your Parenting Power Today!
Is this your family?
We have a great interview for you today! We were fortunate enough to interview Parent Coach, Susan Epstein. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Parent Coach and has so much to offer parents.
Q: Tell me a little bit about yourself, both personally and professionally.
A: I graduated from Clark University in Worcester, MA in 1980, where I earned a B.A. degree in Sociology and Spanish with a minor in Psychology. I worked for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children until moving to California in 1984, where I pursued my M.S.W. from the University of California at Berkeley School of Social Welfare. I am a certified Brief Strategic Family Therapist and trained with the Family Therapy Institute, at the University of Miami. I completed training in 2003 with the internationally accredited Coaches Training Institute. Bilingual in English/Spanish, has enabled me to work with different cultures throughout my career.
Q: How did you become interested in this profession?
A: I had worked as a clinical social worker since 1980. It bothered me that our training was focused on client’s pathologies rather than on their strengths. I felt that there had to be a better more positive way to help families help themselves without splitting everyone up and seeing them in therapy. In 2002, I hired my own life coach to see what that would be like. The experience was eye opening and life changing. Coaching seemed like a great fit. I was able to take what I knew and had studied and transfer it into a career that helps parents move forward and immediately feel successful.
Q: Is there some one that inspired you to do what you do?
A: My inspiration comes from many people who I have worked with over the years. Some were teachers, mentors and even clients. From the age of 16, when I read my first “self help books” Born to Win and I’m Okay You’re Okay. I knew that psychology was my field.
Q: When and why did you start your Parenting Powers Blog?
A: I started Parenting Powers in March 2007. I had been parent coaching and had a local private practice. I wanted to reach a wider audience and help parents through my writing, speaking and teaching.
Q: What is it that you have to share with other Parents?
A: You are trying too hard. Parents use way too much energy, too many words, too many mixed messages. Simplify, simplify, simplify!
Q: Can you give us an idea of the types of topics that you cover in your blog?
A: Respect, How to Parent Calmly, How to Motivate kids to cooperate, Homework issues, Divorce, Death and other losses and much more.
Q: How can interested people learn more about you and your work?
A: Go to http://parentingpowers.com/ and sign up for my free special report, How to Take Back Your Parenting Power.
You can also take a look at my books, dvds and audio cds by clicking HERE.
RSS Subscribe!
-
-
-
Sites I Visit
-
-
