Breastfeeding really is best for a child but not everyone is able to breastfeed for various reasons.  For my own children, I was able to breastfeed for roughly one month but neither of them were breastfeeding well. 

My oldest was not latching and I was losing milk production very quickly.  My youngest latched perfectly and gulped down long pulls of milk, but he stopped gaining and even dropped a few ounces.  After trying to pump my breast milk so I could skim it and feed him the fatty part between breastfeeding, all the while I had an active 3 year old who didn’t understand why breastfeeding took up roughly 21 hours of my day, I had to give up the ghost and switch to a bottle.

It was a heartwrenching experience and I equated it to being a failure as a mother, something that wasn’t true at all but I will go into that on another day.  The main point is that by a month old, both of my kids were bottle fed.  This meant that at a year old, I had to start thinking about weaning them from the bottle. 

I was pleasantly surprised when it wasn’t as difficult as I have heard and it all came down to how I approached it.  I have listed a few things to do to make the transition from bottle to none much easier.

• Never start with a bedtime bottle.  Give your baby an evening bottle and then let him stay up for an additional half hour before settling him down for the night.  When your baby is young, you won’t have much choice but as he ages and his bottles become further apart, drop out that bedtime bottle first.  Trust me, not having to use a bottle to get him to sleep will be a life saver for when he is older.
• When your child begins drinking juice, never place it into a bottle and use a sippy cup instead.  This teaches him from the start that the only thing that goes into a bottle is milk.  He won’t get used to asking for juice in a bottle.
• When you are weaning your child, stop the evening bottle first.  Instead, offer him a bedtime snack and a cup of milk.  This will leave the afternoon bottle and the morning bottle.
• The second bottle that you should remove is the afternoon bottle.  By the age of 14 months, my oldest was only offered the morning bottle and it was not associated with any sleep routines such as bedtime or nap time. 
• Lastly, take the cues from your child when you decide to take the morning bottle away.  You may find that you will need to take it if your child is not giving it up but it is much easier to distract him if he is not using it as an aid for comfort or sleep. 

My youngest son didn’t want anything to do with his bottle by the time he was 13 months old, even before I was ready to have him give up the bottle but I took his cue and put the bottles up.  My oldest was 15 months when he gave up his morning bottle but he didn’t give any cues.  I simply didn’t give it to him one morning and he never seemed to notice.  He just took the sippy cup, had a nice big drink and then ran off to start his day. 

So weaning does not have to be a huge battle and can be fairly easy if you plan for it from a young age.  If it is a struggle, don’t worry, you will soon get through it.

Sirena Van Schaik

Tags: bottle battles, bottle feeding, breastfeeding, feeding, Infant Development, Parenting, Toddler Development, weaning

Last night I took an hour to myself to watch America’s Next Top Model.  Yes, I watch it every week and only started watching it during the last “cycle”.  I say I watch it because I have an interest in fashion and it gives me some names to look into but let’s face it…there really isn’t much in the way of fashion, unless meat clothing is the newest rave that I haven’t noticed. (Imagine the women running down the street, clutching their latest meat purse as a pack of hungry dogs chase them…enough said.)

No, America’s Next Top Model is one of those guilty little pleasures but it doesn’t seem to have as many calories.  Still, as I watch these shows, I shudder at the messages that young girls are getting over body image.  These girls that are deemed “beautiful” are a size 1 (and that is probably pushing it.)  They are stick thin and although they are very pretty, they shouldn’t be what women aspire to become. 

I know that they have episodes where they stress eating and they try to show the girls eating at least 3 times in a show but you have judges making comments about being overweight.  One such inference was when a judge commented on Whitney, the plus sized model, being a ham. 

Now plus sized models get to me as well, for the simple fact that they are regular sized women that are called plus sized.  Whitney is a size 11 and since when is a size 11 a plus sized clothing line. 

So where am I going with this rant?  Very simply put, it is important to notice how media is influencing your children.  There is no way to really shield them since skinny women are every where in magazines and on commercials.  Girls aspire to be thin and beautiful and corporations bank on that. 

Since you can’t shield your child, even your teen.  It is important to discuss healthy weight and how to maintain it.  If your daughter is worried about becoming overweight, discuss a meal plan at home where everyone can eat healthy and stay fit.  You could also enrol in a exercise class so you can keep an eye on how she is managing her weight.  If she gets too skinny, you have the knowledge to intervene and get her back on track.

Above all else, tell your daughter that she is beautiful and that being too skinny isn’t beautiful at all. 

I will have more information on healthy weights, body images and other issues that concern media and how it affects children over the next few weeks. 

Until then, happy and healthy eating.

Sirena Van Schaik

Tags: America's Next Top Model, eating, exercise, healthy eating, media influences, Parenting, teen development, weight

Today, I thought I would get back to supplying everyone with another fun recipe to make with your kids and decided that maybe what we need is something really gross.  Nothing can be much grosser than snot and I have two recipes that you can use.  One is for older kids since Borax is poisonous if ingested, so please don’t allow young children to handle it, and one is for young kids and is Borax free.

For the Older Kids

What you will need:

• Borax Laundry Detergent
• Water
• Elmer’s Glue
• Sandwich Bag
• Food Coloring

What you need to do:

1. Take 1/8th of a cup of borax laundry detergent and dissolve it into a half litre of warm water.
2. Once it is dissolved, set it aside and allow it to cool.
3. Take a separate cup and add 2 tablespoons of Elmer’s glue in it.
4. Stir in 3 tablespoons of water and mix thoroughly.
5. Add food coloring.  Green is the best choice for snot but you can mix it up for alien or ghost goo. (hmm, I think that is the official term for it). Stir until you have the desired color.
6. Pour in one tablespoon of the borax solution that you made.
7. Mix thoroughly.

And there you have some really gross snot.  Enjoy

For the younger kids

What you need:

• clear corn syrup
• water
• clear gelatin powder
• food coloring

What you need to do:

1. Heat a half cup of water until it is boiling hot (this is important for parents to do.)
2. Add in three packages of clear gelatin and food coloring
3. Stir until it is dissolved.
4. Place into a measuring cup
5. Pour in corn syrup until the liquid rises to a cup. 
6. Stir until long snot globs form on the end of your fork.

And there you have a non toxic snot that you won’t have to worry if any is ingested. 

I hope you enjoyed today’s gross crafty recipe.

Sirena Van Schaik

Tags: Children, children arts, Crafty Recipes, edible fake snot, fake snot, kids, older, younger

It seems that every month there are a dozen recalls being issued for toys, foods and countless other products that are on the market.  It can be a scary place when you purchase a toy that appears completely harmless, only to find out that the toy is dangerous and may contain toxins such as lead. 

These types of recalls are occurring more and more frequently and many people often complain about manufacturing standards in countries that manufacture the products but let’s face it, corporations are looking for the cheapest production costs and things are going to fall through the crack making a recall necessary. 

Since we are dealing with so many recalls, parents have to vigilant in keeping abreast of the latest product concerns and recalls.  This can be pretty hard if you don’t watch the news every night or read the paper every morning and if your radio listening time consists of the commute to work.  You could have several items in your house that has been recalled and not even know it. 

So, the Canadian and US governments have stepped up and has provided consumers with a site that lists recalls and concerns.  You can visit it here for Canadian recalls and here for US recalls.  I would recommend signing up for the newletter that the US Consumer Products Safety Commission offers. 

Tags: concerns, Consumer products safety commission, health and safety, product safety, recalls

You may not know this but children develop art in a series of stages.  Early Childhood Education has broken those stages down to 3 stages ranging from 1 year of age to 5 years. 

It is important to remember that when we discuss any type of developmental milestones, we are looking at a “range of normalcy.”  There, I said it again, that term, and if you are just joining us, the “range of normalcy” is a term used to describe an average age range when a child develops a skill or reaches a milestone.

With art, as with all milestones, a child may fall before or after the range of normalcy. I have seen 5 year olds that are only beginning to grasp the ability to form simple shapes; a skill generally developed between 3 to 4 years and I have also seen 3 year olds using symbolic representation, a skill usually developed at 4 or 5.

Today, however; I’m going to discuss the first stage of art: Scribbling.

I probably don’t need to explain scribbling to you since everyone has watched a child sitting with a paper and crayon; her arms making large movements as a line slashes back and forth on the paper.  To many parents, this doesn’t really look like art but it is.

In the scribbling stage, children are experimenting and exploring.  They are figuring out cause and effect since their actions are creating a reaction; a big splash of color on the page.  They are also learning about colors, textures and the many materials that they can use.

As they age, and ultimately practice using the materials and not eating them, they begin to develop fine motor skills that enables them to control the scribbles.  This fine motor training will set into place the building blocks for printing in the future.

The drawings progress from being random scribbles to being representative of objects.  They may look like scribbles to you but to your 3 year old, they are rainbows or cars or even family portraits. 

When my youngest son was 2, he became enamored with the milky way.  Every time he would sit down with a marker or crayon, he would draw these swirling scribbles and then label the picture for me.  “This is the milky way, mom.  See here is the central bulge and here are the four arms…”

The picture always looked like a confused knot of scribbles to me but to him each scribble opened up a world of wonder, a universe to explore.

And that is what scribbling is.  A means to open up a universe of creative expression. Without scribbling none of the other art stages would develop and it would be like trying to learn how to talk without being able to babble first.

So if you haven’t started drawing with your young toddler, run out to the store and invest in some paper, paint, markers and any other art mediums that you feel are safe for your child.

Tags: age 1 to 3, Art, child development, Early Childhood Education, scribbling, stages of art, Toddler Development

That Parent Place wishes all of you a

Very Happy Mother’s Day!!

Make sure you take care of yourself today if you are a mom and make a few more special memories with your family.

All the best,

Sirena Van Schaik and That Parent Place

Tags: memories, moms, Mother's Day, special moments

Bringing home baby is a wonderful experience and I know there was nothing more comforting than watching my kids sleep in their bassinet for the first time.  I loved that first month of my babies life, well actually I love all the months of my kids life, but there was a feeling in that first month that I was no longer an individual person but was in fact a mother to one and then two boys.  It was exhilarating and nerve wracking and I felt like I was on a roller coaster of highs and lows.

I actually was on a hormonal roller coaster as my hormones went back to normal but there was much more than that.  I was sleeping less, and suddenly my life was not completely mine anymore.  I had to learn how to cope with not only a new role and schedule in my life but also with the care for someone else.  I wasn’t completely lost when it came to giving care.  I was after all an Early Childhood Educator and I was fresh out of college with a shiny new degree when my first son was born.  I wasn’t shocked by any of the things that was going on but I quickly realized that all the courses in the world and all the experience I had taking care of other people’s kids, really meant nothing when it came to taking care of my own. I was, like millions of other parents before me, a new parent and I was (and am) going to make my share of mistakes.

Still, as I held my children close to my chest, rocking them in their little nursery and singing songs like “Baby Beluga,” “The Unicorn,” and our all time favourite “Crazy by Patsy Cline.”  I didn’t worry about all those mistakes but simply enjoyed the quiet moments with my new babies.

Your baby during the first month:

During the first month of your baby’s life, he will spend a lot of time sleeping and eating but there will be moments when he is awake and experiencing new things.  The main focus of interest will be on mommy and daddy and it is very important for trust to begin at this age.  Cuddle your baby, talk to your baby and above all else, hold your baby when he is crying.  Although there are methods of child raising that recommend having babies cry until they sooth themselves, it should never be practiced with a child that is this young.  They simply do not have the knowledge or skills to sooth themselves and need a caring parent to sooth them.

In that first month, you will also find that your baby is crying often and it is not a planned behavior.  A newborn infant really has no other way to express his emotions.  When something is bothering them, they cry.  It can be difficult to deal with at times and if you find that you are becoming frustrated with the crying, it is time to take a break and ask for help. 

Caring for your new baby is very time consuming but i don’t really feel that it can be measured.  You care for your baby’s needs by feeding him every 2 to 4 hours and changing his diapers, between 6 to 8 diapers per day.  You give him a bath every other day to keep him clean and to avoid drying out his skin and you care for his umbilical cord until it falls off at 10 to 14 days.  You do all of these things but you also spend hours running your finger over his smooth cheeks, placing your hand on his chest to make sure that he is still taking deep, peaceful breaths and you hold him as snuggles against you. 

It is often surprising that during the first month, your baby is already learning and will meet a few developmental milestones in that time.  By the end of the first month your baby should:

• Stop crying when you comfort him.
• Nurse well, whether this is through breastfeeding or through bottle feeding
• Look at you when you are holding him
• Startle at loud noises

Make sure that while your baby is going through all these new experiences that you take the time to have a few experiences just for you.  Make sure that you do something for yourself each day and that you try to sleep whenever baby is sleeping.  Also, don’t worry about the laundry, dishes or any other chore.  They will get done sooner or later and the emphasis at this time is caring for yourself and your baby. 

Above all else, simply enjoy these quiet moments because as motherhood has taught me, the older your child gets, the further apart those quiet moments become.

Sirena Van Schaik

Tags: baby, child development, Children, Early Childhood Education, first month, infants, newborns

I was going to write a post on child development today but I wanted to take a few moments to mention the cyclone that has killed thousands and has left millions displaced.  Estimates have put the expected death toll to 100,000 and the number could grow as the weeks go by. 

People affected by the cyclone have been left with no way to communicate, contaminated water, no way to travel and no access to the aid that they need. 

I know that this blog is set up for parenting and all things related to having kids but in many ways, this topic is really linked to parenting.  As a parent myself, I wouldn’t want to ever be in a situation like the parents in Myanmar but if I was, I hope that other parents will be there giving aid where it is needed.  There will be thousands of children who are displaced with their families or without them.  They need the help of nations and individuals to see them receive the aid that they need and truly deserve.  

So if you have a few minutes, I would ask that you contact your local Red Cross to find out ways taht you can help.  Even $5.00 will go a long way if enough people care enough to give. 

Thanks for letting me go on a little about this and I promise, tomorrow will be a day for child development, I promise.

Sirena Van Schaik

Tags: aid, Charity, cyclone, help, Myanmar, Red Cross

I am ghostwriting a few chapters on child development right now and found that I needed to fact check a few of the points that I was writing this weekend.  I have boxes upon boxes of reference materials as well as all my notebooks and textbooks from when I was in college.  I was extremely organized in college and all my notes are colored coded and all my textbooks are highlighted in all the important places, which is great when I need to access some of my materials.

Anyway, as I was sorting through some of the reference materials, I came across an excerpt by Helen Keller (1880-1968) in my many handouts, that is wonderful and I wanted to share it with you.  If you are unfamiliar with Helen Keller, I would strongly recommend her book, The Story of My Life.  She was an amazing woman that accomplished much in her life. 

This little excerpt that I am sharing with you was inspired by Dr. Montessori, the founder of the Montessori curriculum that is still taught by many schools and has been incorporated into many toys that we find on the market, but we’ll talk about models of education at some other time.  For now, let’s simply enjoy the words of Helen Keller because they are very accurate and true.

“I believe that every child has hidden away somewhere in his being noble capacities which may be quickened and developed if we go about it in the right way, but we shall never properly develop the higher nature of our little ones while we continue to fill their minds with the so-called basics.

Mathematics will never make them loving nor will accurate knowledge of the size and shape of the world help them appreciate its beauties.

Let us lead them during the first years to find their greatest pleasure in nature.

Let them run in fields, learn about animals and observe real things.

Children will educate themselves under the right conditions.

They require guidance and sympathy far more then instruction.”

I know you are probably wondering why I posted this when I talk about teaching history and science and having mini projects but everything that I mention goes with the poem above.  The mini projects are there to help you open up the world of possibilities for your child.  When he or she opens a door to explore the life-cycle of a butterfly, having a parent who can guide him or her through the door will enable your child to learn in a way that is beneficial and fun.  Remember that children learn through play and making learning an enjoyable and play filled experience will pave the way for learning as they grow.

So I hope you enjoyed Helen Keller’s words and sorry if I waxed poetic.

Sirena Van Schaik

Tags: child development Montessori, Early Childhood Education, Helen Keller, learning, reference, The Story of My Life

Since Mother’s Day is only a few days away, I thought that I would post one final craft that you can do with your kids. I actually thought of these when I was at the grocery store and I was passing the flower department.  There were small terracotta pots with paint brushes and paint sold in little paint your own flower pot kits.  This is a great idea and you can either buy the kit or simply grab the items yourself. 

What you will need:

• Terracotta pot (try to go with a lighter terracotta so you won’t need to apply as much paint to cover up the pot)
• Acrylic paint (you can buy it at the dollar store or you may have some handy since you have been doing some of the crafts I have already listed)
• Sandpaper
• Paint Brushes
• spray sealer

What you will need to do:

1. Clean off the terracotta pot and sand the rough spots and bumps.
2. Have your child paint the terracotta pot.  You can do just about anything with them.  One suggestion, however; is to apply a base coat to the pot prior to actually painting on the designs.  Make sure you allow the paint to dry completely between coats
3. Allow the pot to air dry.  This usually takes a few hours but it is better to give it a full day  before you finish it off.
4. Spray the outside and inside of the terracotta pot.  Usually you will need about 2 to 3 layers.
5. Wrap and give to mom.

To add a little bit more to this gift, you can place a plant in the pot and not only will you have a beautiful gift for mom, but you’ll have the flowers to go with it.

Sirena Van Schaik

Tags: craft ideas, gifts, kid's crafts, Mother's Day, painting, plants, terracotta pots