I was told during my pregnancy that the best place for an infant is in a crib. “Back to Sleep” was taught in the childbirthing class, along with the no-blanket rule and so on. It never crossed my mind that I would ever share my bed with a child. I thought sleep sharing was for families who couldn’t afford the extra room and bedding, or for families from Third World countries.

Until my daughter was born.

I brought her home with the rules going over in my mind over and over again. I put her in her crib to nap and in between every night nursing. As time went on, my instincts kicked in and something clicked. This was not the way it should be, an infant in an enormous crib all by herself while Mommy and Daddy snuggle in bed together. She yearned to be with us, and I found that every time I brought her in my bed to nurse, she fell right to sleep and seemed more content. She wanted to hear my heartbeat and feel my chest rise as I breathed. She was a part of me and belonged with me…

With all the books I have read on sleep sharing and sudden infant death syndrome, all can agree on one thing: that sleep sharing decreases the risk of SIDS. When an infant shares sleep with the mother, it matches the rhythmical breathing pattern of the mother; the release of carbon dioxide from the mother’s breath actually triggers the infant’s brain to take a breath. Infants are born with a very immature brain; being close to the mother organizes the functions of the baby’s brain and makes them function more clearly.

Source: SouthCoastToday.com
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/06-06/06-29-06/02opinion.htm

Infants who can blow bubbles and lick their lips are more likely to pick up language quickly, research suggests.

A Lancaster University study of 120 toddlers found the ability to perform complex mouth movements was strongly linked with language development.

They also found children who were good at ‘pretending’ an object was something else had better language skills.

The findings could help experts identify children who may struggle with language skills at an early stage.

At 21 months - the age of the toddlers in the study - children are learning new words at a faster rate than any other time in their lives…

Pretending

The researchers said they expected to find that children who had better cognitive development, such as being able to do a puzzle or match pictures and colours, would have better language skills.

But in fact, only the ability to pretend that one object was another object - such as pretending a wooden block is a car or hairbrush - was associated with better language skills.

Dr Alcock said: “Until children are about two they are very poor at licking things off their lips or giving someone a proper kiss.

“If they don’t have those skills it’s going to be a big stumbling block in learning to form sounds.

“Children who have speech and language problems before they go to school do tend to have problems with learning to read and write.

“It’s important we give children who need it extra help as early as we can.”

Dr Alcock added that children learn to speak at different times and most children who start late will catch up.

“The best thing parents can do to help is talk to their kids,” she added…

Professor Stephanie Stokes, professor of speech and language pathology at the University of Newcastle, said: “Previous studies have shown that children who have well developed symbolic (pretend) play skills and a range of hand gestures at the age of 14 to 18 months have better language development at 28 months than children who do not show such early skills…

Source: BBC NEWS
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5106294.stm

You can lead a kid to broccoli but you can’t make him eat it. If that’s your parenting style, then scrape those untouched veggies into the garbage disposal and try again tomorrow. And dump the guilt down the drain, too. Your kids are less likely to be overweight than kids who grow up in a clean-your-plate household, according to a new study…

Kids who are allowed judicious access to the cookie jar, though, sometimes forget it’s there. And the ones who aren’t force-fed asparagus are more inclined to try it, perhaps not the first time it appears on their plates, but eventually. Given choices — and limits — kids can learn to self-regulate. The lesson for moms is that in parenting, as in dieting, moderation is the key.

Source: The Hamilton Spectator
http://tinyurl.com/29n3hf

This year, as in the past, many teachers will slip a summer reading list into their students’ backpacks as they send them off for vacation. The notion is admirable. Keep kids reading over the long break so their brains don’t turn to mush.

But what teachers and parents really should be doing this summer is encouraging students to practice their math skills. Educators have long known that the summer break wreaks havoc on learning. Dozens of studies have found that students score lower on standardized tests at the end of the summer than just before the summer break.

But less well known is that these summer losses are heavily concentrated in math. According to a study published in the Review of Educational Research, students lose about 2.6 months of grade-level equivalency in math skills over the summer. This setback was similar among lower- and middle-income students.

In contrast, summer’s effect on reading skills is less dramatic. On average, middle-income students actually made slight gains in reading performance over the summer break. Lower-income students tend to lose ground, but not as much as they typically lose in math skills.

Kids need encouragement

That’s not to say that kids don’t need to work on reading over the summer. But as the Center for Summer Learning put it, “students are less likely to practice math skills outside the formal classroom setting.” Which means they need active encouragement from teachers and parents to stay up on math…

Source: USA TODAY
http://tinyurl.com/23bcre

“What we find surprising and new is that a father’s love and involvement are turning out to be just as important as that of the mother,” says Rohner…

As babies grow older, many come to prefer playing with their fathers who provide unpredictable, stimulating and exciting interaction. This stimulation is important because it fosters healthy development of the baby’s brain and can have lasting effects on children’s social, emotional, and intellectual development. Infants with involved fathers tend to score higher on tests of thinking skills and brain development.

Source: The Times Record
http://www.times-online.com/articles/2006/06/13/news/06yourhealth.txt

The young mothers you see talking to their infant children are doing exactly what they should do.

Talking to a baby has been shown to produce many effects, including stimulation of brain development and emotional bonding between parent and child…

As early as 4 to 6 months, children begin to babble, repeat sounds, and learn that they can get attention through vocal expression. This is the beginning of expressive language.

At 6 to 8 months, a child begins to develop receptive language, recognizing his or her name and common words such as mama, dada, bye-bye, bottle, or binky.

Source: post-gazette.com
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06158/696102-114.stm