Natasha Hartley of Omaha, Nebraska USA, doesn’t see herself as an expert in Attachment Parenting, but the many people who know her say she definitely knows what she’s doing with her four children. Editor Rita Brhel shares some of Hartley’s tips in APing the older child on The Attached Family online magazine: Peaceful Parenting Tips for the Growing Child.
Author: Rita Brhel
Rita Brhel, BS, CLC, API Leader, lives with her family near Hastings, NE, USA, where she works as a WIC Breastfeeding Counselor. She also writes for Mothering and La Leche League's New Beginnings.
Tips to Dealing with Acting-Out Behavior
Earlier this year, I attended a day session put on by the Appelbaum Training Institute. The purpose of this session was to train childcare providers, but it gave some great tips for parents, too, in dealing with acting-out behavior from their toddlers and preschoolers. Read this article from Editor Rita Brhel on The Attached Family online magazine at http://theattachedfamily.com/membersonly/?p=2786.
Also, this week…
School-Age Children and the Family Bed
“But you don’t have to sleep alone!” Kyle protests to his mom when she suggests he sleeps in his own room. Family bedrooms are increasingly becoming common in Western societies, thanks to the Attachment Parenting movement that recognizes that babies and toddlers are not developmentally ready to sleep on their own for the first few years of life. However, Kyle is seven years old. The prevalence of family bedrooms among families with school-age children has not been studied, let alone talked about, but the trend is growing. Canadian parenting educator Judy Arnall continues on The Attached Family online magazine at http://theattachedfamily.com/membersonly/?p=2791
Staying in Control when Things are Out of Control
“When I’m calm, I have no trouble responding patiently, but the problem is that my child’s tantrums jangle my nerves and I lose control of myself!”
Israeli parenting educator Shoshana Hayman hears parents say this over and over. They might be talking about their five-year-old son who is whining because we wants them to buy him the toy he sees on the shelf in the store, their 10-year-old son who is complaining because he claims it was his brother who made the mess that he now has to clean, or their 15-year-old daughter who criticizes the family rules. Parents often feel stretched to the limits of their patience because of these daily minor confrontations. Read more on The Attached Family online magazine at http://theattachedfamily.com/membersonly/?p=2797
Breastfeeding after ‘Almost’ Weaning
My two-year-old had almost completely weaned himself a few months ago. Then I got laid off from work and he began nursing all over again. Now he demands to nurse every two to four hours and will hold on to my boob saying he “doesn’t want it to fly away.” I put a limit of nursing at nap time and bedtime, but I’m not sure if he will re-wean himself. And, I’d really like to resolve his apparent fear that they are going away, or to somehow find a way for him to console himself with something other than the breasts. American parenting educator Naomi Aldort answers on The Attached Family online magazine: Breasfteeding after ‘Almost’ Weaning.
Stripping the Layers of Advice
I recently came across a parenting message board from a fairly prestigious college in California, USA. I had never visited the site before, and I was very interested to see how such an intellectual group of people addressed the parenting topic of sleep. The advice was fair. It was supportive, friendly, educated, and it was very much Attachment Parenting (AP). But as I read on, I became overwhelmed by the amount of input on the subject. I couldn’t help but think to myself, “All of this advice is over-the-top. What ever happened to intuition?” Sleep Editor Carrie Kerr continues on The Attached Family online magazine at Stripping the Layers of Advice.
The Link Between Breastfeeding and Mental Health
A study published in the April 2010 issue of The Journal of Pediatrics by The Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study suggests that breastfeeding may have a positive effect on children’s and adolescents’ mental health. A paper that appeared in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry listed children’s mental health as one of the six priority areas in need of attention to improve the health and development of children and adolescents across the globe. At a time when 10 to 20% of children worldwide suffer from emotional or behavioral problems, a possible solution as simple as breastfeeding is one that could prove both attainable and powerful. Feeding Editor Kathleen Mitchell-Askar reports on The Attached Family online magazine at The Link Between Breastfeeding and Mental Health.
This week on The Attached Family
The Importance of Making Mistakes
So often, as parents, we try to prevent our kids from making mistakes. We issue warnings, reach out to help, or just do a job ourselves because we don’t want the hassle of fixing a mistake like a spill, fall, or ill-thought decision. But making mistakes is valuable and necessary for a child’s learning and development of self-confidence. How we handle mistakes can teach children that challenges are either threats to be avoided, or that they can be opportunities to learn and develop strong mastery skills. American parenting educator Kelly Bartlett explains on The Attached Family online magazine at http://theattachedfamily.com/membersonly/?p=2766
State of the World’s Mothers: More Qualified Health Care Workers Needed Worldwide
For women in our culture, pregnancy and childbirth represent a joyous time: enjoying a growing belly, fantasizing about how the baby will look, shopping for tiny layettes, and taking prenatal yoga classes. But for many women in developing countries, pregnancy and childbirth are risky and sometimes fatal for both mother and newborn. Pregnancy & Birth Editor Kathleen Mitchell-Askar continues this The Attached Family online magazine article at http://theattachedfamily.com/membersonly/?p=2762
OTHER FEATURE ARTICLES:
The Use — and Abuse — of Attachment Research in Family Courts by American psychologist Peter Haiman
Spotlight On: Balboa Baby
Embracing Positive Discipline’s Challenges, Routines for Preschoolers, and The “See One, Teach One, Do One” Approach to Teaching by American parenting educator Kelly Bartlett
Teens and Sex from an Attachment Perspective by Israeli parenting educator Shoshana Hayman
Respectful Potty Training, When Daddy Goes Away, and What to Do When Children Demean Each Other by American parenting educator Naomi Aldort
How to Respond to the Most Frustrating Phrases Kids Say and Why It’s Important to Help Children Make Friends by editor Rita Brhel
The 3rd Step in Responding with Sensitivity by American parenting educator Dottie Stone Coleman
Healing Birth, The Second Time Around by American mother Heather Spergel
The Delicate Balance of Parenthood by American child development specialist Megan Kunze
The Use — and Abuse — of Attachment Research in Family Courts
An enormous amount of exceedingly important, valid, and reliable research on child development has been published in the last half century. Unfortunately, very little of this information has been presented in an appropriate and useful manner to the pediatricians, family therapists, parents, judges, and attorneys who could benefit from it. As a result, many children do not receive the protection they deserve. American psychologist Peter Earnest Haiman explains on The Attached Family online magazine: