By Dale Bader

It has already been a cold start to the winter season, which has kept most of us indoors. Unfortunately, it looks like February and March will remain on the cold side, too. So what can you do with your little ones to break the winter time blues?

Cathedral Caverns State Park

It is hard to enjoy the outdoors this time of year, but how about heading out to cave. Located about 35 minutes southeast of Huntsville, Cathedral Caverns State Park provides an outdoor adventure that you can enjoy even during the coldest of winter days. You may be asking, “How is that true?” Caves maintain a comfortable 60 degree temperature all year round. So when it is in the 30s outside it is nice and warm inside the cave. Throughout my life, I have been to many caves. Cathedral Caverns is definitely unique. Like its name implies, this cavern is quite large and has a wonderful paved walking path, so you can easily push that stroller!

KidVenture

Located in the heart of Huntsville, KidVenture provides a fun environment where kids can be kids while playing hard! It is an indoor playground specifically designed for children ages 6 months to 9 years. Activities for those 3 and older include:

• Inflatable Climber and Slide
• Wooden Pirate Ship with a Pole Slide “All Hands Hoay!”
• Skeeball
• Geodome

For toddlers, KidVenture has a special play area that includes soft climbing and play equipment made of vinyl.

KidVenture didn’t forget about the parents, either. Since the parents must remain with their little ones, KidVenture offers comfy couches for parents to relax and Wi-Fi is also available.

Dale Bader is a meteorologist with WAAY-TV. Make sure to tune in to WAAY-31 during February for the Spring Weather Outlook.

By Lysa Parker, MS, CFLE and Barbara Nicholson, MEd

Oh, the anguish of someone you love leaving you behind! Animals feel it, adults feel it, and of course children feel it too. A lot of assumptions have been made about what is called “separation anxiety” but not many people seem to really understand it. It’s a well recognized behavior in dogs (scratching, tearing up the house, whining, depression) yet easily subdued with an antidepressant. But when it comes to human children, separation anxiety is looked upon as abnormal behavior, especially if it continues past the ages of one to two years old.

The roots of this misunderstanding can be traced to our fierce belief in teaching independence without the knowledge or understanding of the child’s unique temperament or what is developmentally appropriate. In our culture, we tend to raise children with a “one size fits all” philosophy. In order to truly understand separation anxiety we really need to look at the big picture - the whole child within the framework of the parent-child attachment relationship. Until an infant is anywhere between seven to nine months old the child doesn’t seem to have a preference for one person over another but then the baby goes through a developmental leap and suddenly the only person the child wants is mommy (or the primary caregiver.) So much so that to be separated feels akin to torture or a profound loss, so there can be a lot of crying and resistance. Child developmentalists find that when a child’s hardwired need for the presence of the mother (or other) is respected and fulfilled, that in time the child will feel secure enough to separate from one or both parents.

When that happens really depends on the child. Some children may take longer – as long as Kindergarten. That is not uncommon nor is it uncommon for a six or seven year old child to resist spending the night at a friend’s house.

Children will readily separate when they have the emotional “readiness” to do so. Just like learning to use the potty or tie shoes, once the child is ready he is more than eager to do it himself! There are emotional milestones just as there are cognitive milestones. If there isn’t a compelling reason to force the child to separate then wait a couple of months and try again. A young child’s emotional and brain development changes rapidly and often; along with that so does his readiness and willingness to separate. If children grow up in a large household or with the familiarity of extended family members, it makes it much easier to separate and leave them with someone they know and love.

When it comes to a new school environment and you know your child is anxious, then there are some things you can do to prepare her for this transition.

• Visit the school and classroom beforehand. Literally do the whole tour of the school from meeting the principal, the cafeteria workers, the librarian, explaining each as you go along.
• Meet the child’s teacher and give her information about your child’s personality (shy, outgoing, sensitive, active etc.) Some kindergarten teachers make home visits prior to school so the students feel more comfortable when they arrive.
• Send your child to school with little reminders of your connection such as sticky love notes in her school or lunch bag. You can give her something personal that helps her feel connected to you like a picture of the two of you together.

True separation anxiety is not manipulation on the part of the child but reflects unmet emotional needs or lack of developmental readiness. Rather than ignore, blame, shame, tease or worse, use medications to essentially punish children for their strong emotions about separating let’s acknowledge and respect their feelings and the attachment relationship. In this way parents will be helping their child develop his capacity for empathy toward others, something we could all use more of in this world.

Lysa Parker and Barbara Nicholson are the authors of Attached at the Heart: Eight Proven Parenting Principles for Raising Connected and Compassionate Children and cofounders of Attachment Parenting International (API), a 501 (c ) 3 nonprofit organization that provides evidenced-based parenting information and local support groups. For more information visit their website.

By Angie Gilchrist

Feeding a baby can be a big mess. You use one hand to feed the baby and the other to hold the bowl. And then baby spills some on the floor. You can either stop holding the bowl or stop feeding the baby if you want to clean up the mess. Wouldn’t another hand be great?

The Baby Dipper Bowl gives you that free hand — or it did for me as I tried it out to see if a different bowl would really change our meal times. The Baby Dipper Bowl allows you to feed with one hand while you do whatever you need to with the other, be it entertain your tot, clean up his mess, defend the incoming spoonful of food or hold back siblings from distracting the hungry child.

Huntsville’s Barbara Schantz created the Baby Dipper Bowl out of her need to feed her first set of twins (you read that right), girls Greta and Cora, at the same time.

“I have tried 30-40 bowls on my twins, hoping one of them would help make meal time easier, but none did,” said inventor and mother Schantz. So she designed her own.

Schantz’s Baby Dipper Bowl allows a child to be fed with one hand, really. I tried it out on my ten-month-old daughter, and I found myself more relaxed than normal because I wasn’t stretching to catch something flying off the high chair or having to clean something every few seconds as I normally would be doing with a traditional bowl.

The Baby Dipper Bowl has several features that separate it from other feeding bowls. The bowl has a sloped bottom, which allows mom, dad or whoever is feeding baby to easily scoop out food with just one hand. The bowl also has a rubber base that is attached to the bowl to prevent it from sliding around during mealtime. Lastly, the bowl is made from a sturdy see-through material, so baby and parent can easily see how much food is left. An added feature is that Baby Dipper Bowls are BPA free and come with a fork in addition to the bowl and spoon.

Meals at my house weren’t nearly as stressful or messy while I was trying out the Baby Dipper Bowl on Charlotte. I wondered to myself, “Could this bowl really be making the meal that much easier? Or is Charlotte just going easy on me these past few meals?” After several days of eating with the Baby Dipper Bow,l I have come to the conclusion that this bowl really does make a difference at mealtime. A bonus is that as Charlotte gets older she can still use the bowl – she’ll just be feeding herself.

The Baby Dipper Bowl’s usefulness doesn’t end when your baby graduates to toddlerhood. The shape and sturdiness of the bowl lends itself to those who are learning to successfully feed themselves, and the bowl is designed to make less mess, since the sides aren’t splayed like traditional bowls. Schantz even uses the bowls on her second set of twins, Franklin and Carlton, who are both 18 months old. Toddlers can have the pride of feeding themselves, and the parents and caregivers have a lot less mess to clean up – a win-win situation!

I never would have thought changing the bowl I feed my child with would make our meals that much less stressful, less messy and dare I say relaxed, even if only for five minutes before Charlotte hollers to get out of her high chair.

What’s next for Barbara and her Baby Dipper Bowl? She is considering making the bowl available in more colors, like pink and green, in addition to the cobalt blue. These additions will be just as vibrant as the original.

Interested in trying one out or giving one to some parents you know? Save some shipping and buy the Baby Dipper Bowl locally at one of these area locations, including A Nurturing Moment, Posh Mommy and Baby Too, The Little Gym (both locations), The Laurel Tree and Twice Upon a Time. It is also available in select shops throughout the nation and internationally in The Netherlands. You can also find the Baby Dipper Bowl online at several retailers including BabyDipper.com and Amazon and in the current One Step Ahead/Leaps and Bounds catalog.

Angie Gilchrist is a freelance writer who loves to get outside with her three-year old son, Eli, and 10-month old daughter, Charlotte.

The weather suddenly feels like fall as I write this. I’m sipping a cup of rich hot cocoa and thinking about Christmas. This year our family, like many of yours perhaps, isn’t going to spend a lot of money on gifts. Instead, we are going to give a special gift to an organization that is helping some of the poorest of the poor. You’ll read about them in Brant Hansen’s article about his recent trip to Afghanistan where he was able to minister to mothers and babies living in horrific conditions.

In this issue you’ll also learn about a couple of amazing mothers, Saché Sams and Amber Stuart of WHNT News 19. We think you will enjoy both of their stories. We also have several very informative features in this issue. Pregnant moms will learn about a great new program created by Dr. William Sears and designed just for them to foster good nutrition , exercise and lifestyle habits in Freida Houck’s article. Erin Kerner explains the vital role toys play in your baby’s development. In a new Valley Babies feature, “The Conscious Parent,” the founders of Attachment Parenting International (API) discuss the concept of sleep training for infants.

Valley Babies is excited about the Melissa George Neonatal Memorial Fund night coming up on January 9 at the Havoc game. In her column, Amy talks about what will be happening that night. We hope all our Valley Babies readers come to the game!

We want to wish each of you a very merry Christmas. We pray your hearts and homes will be filled with joy as you remember the baby who was born over 2000 years ago in the humblest of circumstances. He has given us the greatest gift of all, forgiveness and hope. May you treasure the memories you and your family make during this season.

A Mother’s Love Leads to Action	WAY-FM Morning Host Helps Moms and Babies in Kabul
Toys Open the Door to Your Child’s Future	The Conscious Parent: The Trouble with Sleep Training
Amber Stuart Mixes a Media Career with Motherhood	Dr. Sears’ L.E.A.N. Expectation Classes
Meet the Physician	Amy George

By Amy George

If you are like me, you cherish the tiny set of footprints that were made shortly after your child was born. They symbolize the wonder of the precious life that entered the world that day.
The footprints of my oldest daughter, Ann Catherine, are probably tinier than most.
She was born 26 weeks early and weighed only one pound, 15 ounces. You can probably imagine how incredibly small her footprints are! And even though her twin sister, Melissa, died a few hours after she was born, I also have her footprints. The caring nurses in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Huntsville Hospital for Women & Children made her footprints after she died and gave them to me and my husband, Chris.

We treasure them.

That’s why I am thrilled that the jerseys the Huntsville Havoc players will wear at this year’s “Melissa George Night” will feature the footprints of NICU miracles like my daughter. Ashley Balch, Vice-President of Business Operations for the Huntsville Havoc, came up with the idea to create a jersey that features the footprints of actual babies who were in our NICU! The footprints will be in pink and blue and will dot the front of the jerseys.

The players will wear these special jerseys on Saturday, January 9th, against the Mississippi Surge and will auction them after the game with all of the proceeds benefiting the Melissa George Neonatal Memorial Fund at Huntsville Hospital Foundation. We’ll use the money to provide Giraffe Warmers, special beds for premature infants in our NICU.

In just three years, this event has raised more than $170,000 for Melissa’s Fund. As a former player for the Huntsville ChannelCats and Huntsville Tornado, Chris knew first-hand how passionate Huntsville hockey fans were about their favorite sport. We have been so humbled by the passion they have also shown for our daughter’s fund and the sick babies who are in our NICU. We are so grateful for their support!

In addition to bidding on these special jerseys, fans will also have the chance to bid on the sticks the players use during warm-ups. And the first 1,000 fans who bring an item for the NICU – such as preemie clothing, hats, socks, blankets and disposable cameras – will receive a FREE Havoc “Melissa George Night” retro tin lunchbox. They are so cool and your kids will love them! To purchase tickets, call the Huntsville Havoc at 518-6160,or visit http://www.ticketmaster.com or the VBC Box Office.

The footprints on these jerseys may be tiny, but together they represent hope for hundreds of families who are hurting. We hope you’ll attend this year’s game and help us take another “step” towards making life better for the precious babies in our NICU and their families!

Amy George is a former news anchor for WHNT NewsChannel 19. She and her husband, Chris, founded the Melissa George Neonatal Memorial Fund in memory of their daughter, Melissa Suzanne. The fund raises money for the Neonatal ICU at Huntsville Hospital for Women & Children. They have two other daughters: Ann Catherine (3) and Lily Baker (2). Follow her blog.

Dr. Shraddha Shrestha has recently come to the Athens Limestone Pediatric Center which opened at the end of October. A native of Katmandu, Nepal, Dr. Shrestha finished medical school at Katmandu Medical College. She came to the US to complete her residency in pediatrics at Texas Tech in Lubbock, TX. Her husband of a year and a half, whom she met at medical school in Nepal, is doing his Family Practice residency at UAH. Recently Valley Babies was able to sit down with her for a few moments.

VB: Why did you decide to specialize in pediatrics?
Dr. Shrestha: I’ve always been comfortable around kids. When I was studying medicine, my cousins would call me regarding their kids. I found out that in pediatrics you aren’t just treating the kids, but also educating the parents, as well.

VB: What kind of services can the Pediatric Center provide?
Dr. Shrestha: We provide all basic pediatric services . We will see 20 to 30 patients a day – ages birth to 21. I really focus on asthma and asthma education. Educatimg the parent is very important to me.

VB: What advice do you give parents with fussy babies?
Dr. Shrestha: Fussy babies can mean different things. I usually tell parents that babies do cry – it’s their way of telling us something is going on. It could be a wet diaper, a distended belly or pain. After the parents have checked everything out, I tell them it’s okay to let baby be by himself in the crib for 15 minutes, but go back and check frequently. If baby stays fussy, call the pediatrician. It’s always better to have baby checked out

VB: Do you have any advice for breastfeeding mothers?
Dr. Shrestha: I always tell them breast milk is the best milk you can give to babies. It has lots of immunoglobulins and lactoferrin. In the first few days mothers don’t have a lot of milk, and the baby’s stomach isn’t that big. But that milk is very important. As long as baby is peeing, they shouldn’t worry. If there’s a problem call us or talk to a lactation specialist.

VB: What is the most important advice you would give a new mother?
Dr. Shrestha: It would be about SIDS. I explain what it is and always advise the mother to make baby sleep on its back. Put baby in a crib or bassinet with a foam mattress. No fluffy blankets. No co-sleeping with baby, especially on a couch or when Mom is really tired. But baby can be in the same room. Any time baby has a temperature of 104.5, call us immediately or go to the Emergency Room.

By Freida Houck, Certified L.E.A.N. Coach

Pregnant and nursing moms are just beginning a new stage of life, and L.E.A.N. Expectations, developed by Dr. William Sears, is here to help coach them through the questions, concerns and curiosity!  This program is designed to teach expectant and nursing moms current information. Topics covered include the following:

• how to set the stage for a healthy and happy life as their baby grows
• how what they do today effects how their labor and delivery will go
• how to shape their baby’s tastes long before they ever taste solid food.

Three distinct classes are available through L.E.A.N. Expectations. These classes are independent of each other or can be taken as a 3 session course at A Nurturing Moment in Huntsville, AL.

Being RIGHT Now offers great information for all pregnant moms.  No matter which trimester you are in, you’ll find answers to some of your most pressing questions and share ideas with other moms.  This first class provides the latest information about maintaining a healthy pregnancy lifestyle, safe and effective tips on exercising while pregnant, and how moderate exercising can make delivery easier.  During this class, moms will also learn to develop strategies to improve and maintain a positive attitude throughout pregnancy and beyond.

Eating RIGHT Now emphasizes the importance of proportions and food quality and demonstrates how what is eaten during pregnancy dramatically affects the baby’s health. This class shares tips on how to get back that girlish figure after delivery. It will help pregnant women understand their cravings as well as how much weight to gain for a positive pregnancy and delivery experience. Moms will gain an understanding of how what they eat right now affects how both mom and baby will eat after delivery and into childhood. 

Learning RIGHT Now is for moms in all stages of pregnancy through the first three months of life after delivery. Moms learn how to make the most of the initial days and weeks with their new bundle of joy. This class emphasizes that the need for Mom to take care of Mom is just as important the need for Mom to take care of baby. Moms learn important information that will help them understand what baby is trying to tell them and how to read his or her cues accurately. 

As a mom of 6 children myself, I would have loved to have had all this information when I was pregnant & nursing! I look forward to encouraging moms to be thru this program! L.E.A.N. classes are listed at http://www.MomSaidEatYourVeggies.com.

Frieda Houck is the Valley’s only certified L.E.A.N. instructor. She is a homeschooling mother of 6 who works hard to make sure her children lead a healthy, well-balanced life.

Amber Stuart is a reporter in Huntsville, AL, for WHNT News 19. Orginally from Decatur, AL, she graduated from Jacksonville State University with a degree in Mass Communications and a minor in Theatre. She has been with WHNT since May of 2005. The Stuarts live in Meridianville where they are involved in the First Baptist Church of Meridianville. Many people don’t know that Amber has epilepsy. It is well controlled by medication, but Amber wanted to let other Valley mothers know a little bit about her story. Recently Valley Babies had the opportunity to sit down with Amber, her husband Kevin, and their almost 1 year old son Cole.

VB: How did you decide to become a reporter?
Amber: I like to talk and I’m nosy!

VB: Have you done any local theater work?
Amber: No, no time. Before I started in TV I did Unto These Hills in Cherokee, NC, for a summer.

VB: How did you and Kevin meet?
Amber: We met at WAKA, CBS 8 in Montgomery where he was my photographer/producer. Now he’s a banker with Wachovia.

VB: What was your reaction when you learned you were pregnant?
Amber: I was overjoyed. We had 2 miscarriages beforehand, and we were trying really hard. To have one stick and last was a blessing. They were trying to get us to do progesterone, but God had given me peace that this one was going to last.

VB: How long were you off when Cole was born?
Kevin: She went on bedrest a month before Cole was born, from Nov. 18 – Dec. 29.
Amber: I delivered 16 days early because of preeclamspsia. Cole was actually due January 14th. My pregnancy was crazy at the end. I had to have a C-Section because he was breech. I had lots of family around so it wasn’t too hard. I went back to work in March.
Kevin: At about 2:00 in the morning after he was born we took the baby to the nursery, and by 2:30 she told me she was ready for another one!
Amber: Having a child is the most beautiful thing in the world. Hearing him cry was the most beautiful thing ever. It still is.
Kevin: Not at 5:30 in the morning!
Amber: Yeah it is because he’s standing up in the crib saying “Momma, Momma!” (Amber waves her arms, imitating her son.)

VB: You have epilepsy, how did that affect the pregnancy and birth?
Amber: It didn’t affect it at all because I stayed on my medicine. The OB and neurologist both said that it was better for me to stay on my meds during pregnancy than to have a seizure. The only hard thing was that I couldn’t breastfeed. I was upset at first, but by the time I had him, I had moved on and was okay with it.
Kevin: And I got to give him bottles at 1 or 2 in the morning.
Amber: How many did you give???
Kevin: We alternated…once you went back to work.

VB: How has being a mother changed your life?
Amber: I‘m kinder and gentler….more patient. But at the same time I’m a little tougher. I don’t let people run over me as much.

VB: Many mothers have to balance a career and motherhood. How do you manage to find that balance in your life?
Amber: It’s tough, very tough. It’s not a breeze at all! Now we’re just trying to get up earlier in the day.
Kevin: Every day is different: you go to work, get him from daycare and come home and play with him.
Amber: We get up earlier so we can play with him a little at daycare. We LOVE our daycare workers!
Kevin: When she went back to work in March, her sister who is 10 years younger and in college at Calhoun came and lived with us until July, so we didn’t have to put him in daycare until then.

VB: Any plans for a little brother or sister for Cole?
Amber: A couple!
Kevin: next year
Amber: I’m ready now! I’ve got the baby fever!

By Barbara Nicholson & Lysa Parker

The purpose of our column is to help parents become more aware, compassionate and connected with their children. With that in mind, we recently read a column by a psychologist who was addressing a question that a mother had written to him. She has a 13 month old toddler who had become accustomed to napping in her arms due to “a horrible bout of teething” and still will not sleep on her own. The toddler also woke up a couple of times a night at which point the mother nurses her back to sleep. The psychologist recommended that she put the baby down for a nap at the same time each day and teach her to fall asleep on her own- which basically involved allowing her to cry for long periods of time until she fell asleep, a technique we refer to as “sleep training.” Some parents and professionals fear that if we don’t teach babies to learn to self-soothe and sleep on their own that they will never learn those skills. We believe these fears to be unfounded and not based on credible child development research and only serve to weaken the parent-child connection.

So what could the conscious parent do in a similar situation? A conscious parent sees the world through the eyes of the young child and feels empathy for the child’s strong emotions. In this mother’s situation she seemed to have a great deal of empathy for her baby and seemed to be well attuned to her child’s needs. Unfortunately many parents are made to feel inadequate or incompetent when their baby doesn’t sleep through the night, that it’s something they are doing or not doing that is the cause. What we have learned from our own experience and talking with child development specialists is that every child is born with different temperaments from very calm to highly sensitive. Some infants sleep through the night early on but many, if not most, babies don’t sleep through the night for many months for precisely the reason this mother mentions in her question- teething! Even when a young child sleeps through the night, eventually, as they grow, he or she begins to wake up for a variety of reasons other than teething: hunger (due to growth spurts), sickness, food sensitivities, bad dreams (even night terrors), being too hot or too cold, over-stimulation from the day’s events, or feeling the effects of stress or chaos in the household. There are many, many reasons! Into the second year of life, toddlers begin cutting their molars, and it can be very painful. During the day, children who are teething can be very irritated, edgy, and highly sensitive. Many parents have found natural dissolvable teething tablets to work wonders. Giving the child something cold or frozen to sink their gums into is also helpful.

It’s important to know that the most fundamental of all biological drives is that of proximity. That means just as we have a drive for food, water, and shelter, infants and young children (and all mammals) have an intense drive, a biological imperative, to stay close to those they feel most attached to, their primary caregiver, for protection and security during the first three years of life. Then it gradually tapers off.

While understanding the child’s need for close proximity to her, this mother could try lying down with her daughter on a small mattress or futon mattress on the floor (this way the child will not be in danger of falling off the bed when she wakes up and mother is not there). Mother can continue to breastfeed, or gently soothe her to sleep, then quietly get up and leave the room. During the day, she can mentally prepare her child, talking to her and telling her that when it’s nap time Mommy will lay down with her until she goes to sleep. When she wakes up she can get up and call for her mother. While she may not have well developed language skills, she can understand much more than she can speak,and she can likely call out “mama.” Parents should have a monitoring device in the room so they can hear when the baby wakes up.

When children learn to trust that their needs and emotions are responded to in a respectful, caring, compassionate manner, they will in turn learn to treat others with the same compassion. The world needs more compassionate people!

Barbara Nicholson, M Ed
Barbara Nicholson is co-founder and past president of the Board of Directors of Attachment Parenting International (API). She has a Masters of Education degree specializing in learning disabilities and has been a breastfeeding and parent support group facilitator for over 27 years. She is the mother of four grown sons and lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

Lysa Parker, MS, CFLE
Lysa Parker (Lisa) is also the cofounder and former executive director of API. She received her bachelor’s in education and her master’s degree in human development and family studies from the University of Alabama. She earned her designation of Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) from the National Council on Family Relations in 2004. Currently Lysa is a writer, speaker and parenting consultant in private practice at http://www.parentslifeline.com.

Barbara Nicholson and Lysa Parker are the authors of a new book (March 2009) titled Attached at the Heart: Eight Proven Parenting Principles for Raising Connected and Compassionate Children and are recognized authorities on attachment parenting. They have been featured in national and regional publications including, Newsday, Child Magazine, Mothering Magazine, Natural Life Magazine, Washington Post, Seattle’s Child, Today’s Parents, Westchester Parent, and Charlotte Parent, as well as many international publications. They are frequent guests on national, international, and local radio and TV programs.

For more information about their book go to http://www.attachedattheheartbook.com or API go to www.attachmentparenting.org

By Erin Kerner

It seems like only yesterday that our son was born, but he is quickly crawling his way towards nine months old.  It has been an incredible experience thus far. Our home has been turned into a maze of baby gates, and our cupboards have been secured, the sockets plugged, corners covered, cords detached, and everything in reach has been lifted up a couple feet or removed!  Of course, the aim of all this is to keep our little munchkin safe.  However, I can’t help but wonder if there comes a point where I am stifling his sense of adventure, hindering his desire to explore, obstructing his curiosity and impeding his learning opportunities. 

My husband and I feel it is our responsibility to create safe, positive learning opportunities for our son.  A simple stroll around the block provides the chance for his senses to be stimulated as he takes in nature’s colors, smells, and sounds.  He learns as he plays - if only I could have learned calculus this way!  I feel it is fundamental to his physical, mental, social and emotional development for him to be provided time to play, and in doing so learn about his world.  Toys are an important component of play and are invaluable in the healthy development of a child. However, it should be said that not all toys are created equal. 
So what should we look for when selecting toys for the children in our lives? Experts tell us there are four basic areas of development: physical, cognitive, language, and social.  The best types of toys for your child differ depending upon his or her age and skill set. 

For example, a six-month old learns about his or her surroundings through use of all five senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch). A rattle teaches both gross and fine motor skills as she learns to grasp it. Cognitively, when she discovers it makes a noise when shaken, she is learning problem-solving skills simultaneously. The cooing that follows this discovery is the beginning stage of language development. As this child gets older, she will learn to share this rattle with others, increasing her social skills. 

As a child grows and his or her skills become both more advanced and numerous, it is important for parents to continue to reinforce the basic skills.  Some examples include activities like the following: coloring with your one-year old to practice fine motor skills; using puppets to increase emotional development or practice manners with your three-year old; or playing coordination and memory games with your six-year old to increase cognitive development. 

Parents play a key role in the development of their children through either helping or hindering growth.  The relationship between parents and their children lays the foundation for the type of adult a child will become. Allowing our children to make decisions and learn from their successes or mistakes will allow for independent thinking and problem solving. So next time you play blocks with your child and the base is too thin, let the child continue building.  He will soon learn what happens and how to fix it.  Be supportive, follow the child’s lead, and be creative! 

Perhaps most importantly, remember that as parents we are the primary role models for our children at all times. As a famous poem says “…if a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn.  If a child lives with tolerance he learns to be patient…”. In this hectic world in which we live, we need to make time to enjoy our children and provide learning opportunities. Play with her.  Laugh with him. Teach them. Watch as they explore and learn for themselves.  They grow up far too quickly.

Erin is a representative for BabyCrazy; a direct sales company providing unique and quality products for families with children from birth to preschool. Interested in hosting a party and earning FREE and Discounted products? Contact Erin by .