Low muscle tone can create so many different issues during mealtime. Staying still and safe in a chair can be a real issue for these kids, and yet many are seen to be just “behaving badly”. They are probably not given the motor and sensory support they need. Here is your roadmap to navigate mealtimes…… Continue reading Kids With Low Muscle Tone Can Sit For Dinner: A Multi-Course Strategy
Category: behavior issues
How To Get Your Toddler To Wait For Anything (Hint: They hear the Word “Wait” as “No”)
Telling your toddler to wait for anything can be almost counterproductive. You say “In a minute” and they start whining more, not less. I think that is why so many parents just hand over the cookie, iPhone, car keys (just kidding about the keys; wanted to make sure you were awake!). Toddlers do not…… Continue reading How To Get Your Toddler To Wait For Anything (Hint: They hear the Word “Wait” as “No”)
Why Head Banging Doesn’t Mean Your Toddler Is Autistic
I have worked with so many toddlers who terrify their parents with a tendency to bang their heads on the floor when frustrated. Their parent’s first question is almost always “Do you think he could be autistic?”. Sometimes the answer is yes, but it isn’t because of the head banging. It turns out that head…… Continue reading Why Head Banging Doesn’t Mean Your Toddler Is Autistic
Children with Autism Stop Screaming When You Use The Fast Food Rule to Communicate
Children on the spectrum who scream instead of “using their words” are often perceived as manipulative, on sensory overload, or incapable of better behavior until they learn more language. Try using Dr. Karp’s Fast Food Rule and watch your screaming toddler miraculously find his words. In minutes… or less. This isn’t a guarantee, but…… Continue reading Children with Autism Stop Screaming When You Use The Fast Food Rule to Communicate
Start the School Year With Strategies For Kids With Sensory Processing Issues
Sensory processing can create unique issues around this time of year. Regardless of whether a child received summer services or not, things in the classroom change in September, and change is not always easy for these kids to handle. Here are a few suggestions that could help your child make the transition to a new…… Continue reading Start the School Year With Strategies For Kids With Sensory Processing Issues
Turn Around Toddler Defiance Using “Feed the Meter” Strategies
Tantrums, back-talk, throwing toys, hitting. It can be an occasional episode, or it can be a daily slog through toddlerhood. If a chronically defiant toddler isn’t having a major life change (new school, new caregiver, illness, new family stressor), then it’s possible that she has just developed a habit of relating to adults in this…… Continue reading Turn Around Toddler Defiance Using “Feed the Meter” Strategies
Teaching Your Baby to Sleep Through the Night
No baby sleeps all night. Not one. Neither do adults. Surprised? A normal sleep cycle bring us into a foggy awake stage and only then do we return to sleep. This happens many times throughout the night, but good sleepers send themselves right back into a deeper sleep without being held, an extra feeding (excluding…… Continue reading Teaching Your Baby to Sleep Through the Night
Infant Separation Anxiety and Sleeping Through the Night
Between 6 and 12 months of age, babies learn a lot. One important thing that they learn is that they are separate from their parents. They can cling during the day when you put them down to go to the bathroom, but they can really scream at night when you start the bedtime rituals or…… Continue reading Infant Separation Anxiety and Sleeping Through the Night
Prevent Pacifier Addiction With A Focus on Building Self-Calming Without Plastic
Parents of newborns are concerned that pacifier use will lead to pacifier “addiction” in later infancy and toddlerhood. It doesn’t have to be that way. Pacifier addicts are made, not born. Parents should not feel guilty about the difficulty they encounter with pacifier weaning, since no one explains what pacifiers do for babies and how…… Continue reading Prevent Pacifier Addiction With A Focus on Building Self-Calming Without Plastic
How To Calm Crying If You Don’t Swaddle
Yesterday I taught a Happiest Baby on the Block class, and one mother was adamant that she would not swaddle her 3-week-old daughter. She thought it would be too restrictive for her. Although I taught the correct safety principles, how it mimics life in the womb, and the effective techniques for a good swaddle, this…… Continue reading How To Calm Crying If You Don’t Swaddle
Teach Toddlers Not to Hit Without Saying A Word
Toddlers hit. Some toddlers hit out of anger, some out of frustration, and some to get your attention. I never allow an out-of-control toddler to intentionally try to injure me and not say something. But some toddlers hit me and I don’t say a word…but I immediately DO something. Adults can make it very clear…… Continue reading Teach Toddlers Not to Hit Without Saying A Word
Routines Really Matter When You Have Kids With Sensory Modulation Issues
Young children thrive with routines, but for kids with sensory modulation difficulties, the difference in their abilities when you support them with routines is amazing. Adults thrive with routines as well, we just don’t think about it. Try going through your morning routine, for example, in a different order. Drink your coffee before OR after…… Continue reading Routines Really Matter When You Have Kids With Sensory Modulation Issues
Taming Toddler Tantrums Using Sympathetic Reframing
The most challenging aspect of using The Happiest Toddler on the Block might be the need to use just enough emotion and emphasis when stating their issues back to them (the Fast Food Rule), but then modeling a cool, calm and rational state in your reply when you are tired and frustrated by a…… Continue reading Taming Toddler Tantrums Using Sympathetic Reframing
Wean Pacifier Use by Teaching Toddlers How to Stay Cool and Collected
If I had a dollar for every toddler that greeted me at the door with a pacifier in his mouth……well, you know, I would be on an island in the sun today! Some parents want to know how to end paci use, as they dread the crying on the day that they send their child…… Continue reading Wean Pacifier Use by Teaching Toddlers How to Stay Cool and Collected
Let Your Toddler Hear You Gossiping (About Him!)
Dr. Harvey Karp has many great ideas to inspire toddlers and their parents. One of my favorite strategies is Gossiping. Toddlers love to hear about their effects on others. Tell his stuffed animals or his “lovey” what a great listener he was, or how he ate a new food, and you will have an audience…… Continue reading Let Your Toddler Hear You Gossiping (About Him!)
Tantrum Taming With Special Needs Toddlers
Toddler tantrums are difficult to handle in the first place. The screaming, throwing and hitting can come as a wave of emotion that overwhelms and frightens both the child and the parent. When you have a toddler that may be emotionally age-appropriate but has difficulty expressing thoughts or understanding language, and add trouble handling sensory…… Continue reading Tantrum Taming With Special Needs Toddlers