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Quick Parenting Resource Guide

My husband, a family doctor, and I have created this one-page parenting resource guide for paediatricians and other primary health care physicians. It would also be helpful for daycares and preschools. I wanted to post it here so you see which resources we recommend for the most common parenting concerns adults ask their physicians regarding: [...]

November 23rd, 2015|Techniques & Tips|0 Comments

Eight Ways to Reduce the Stress of Parenting Toddlers

Did you know that the most violent beings on earth are two-year-old children? A parent of one is certainly not shocked to hear this! While gathering information for articles about toddlers, I have discovered desperate posts like this on the Internet, “Two-year-old for sale. Cheap!” In order to parent children under four, adults need to [...]

November 15th, 2015|Techniques & Tips|2 Comments

How To Safely Introduce Screens To Your Child

We hear the warnings: too much screen time causes all kinds of problems for our kids. Obesity, low motivation, anti-social behaviour, reading lags, attention-type disorders or trouble, and addictions to the devices can happen when a young child becomes too attached to screens. Mobile devices can even be fodder for massive tantrums! We can’t blame [...]

November 7th, 2015|Techniques & Tips|1 Comment

Taming Tantrums: There’s An App For That!

I believe that clever, positive, neutral phrases can significantly improve toddler cooperation (I call “toddlers” children between one and four-years-old). One day I sat down to write the phrases I have discovered are really helpful for younger toddlers, and ended up with this list of thirty-three parenting gems: Stop Tantrums: 33 Phrases To Use With Toddlers. I [...]

September 22nd, 2015|Techniques & Tips|0 Comments

What To Do When Your Baby Or Toddler Cries

I was looking through the book Baby Care Basics by Dr. Jeremy Friedman and Dr. Natasha Saunders who are pediatricians from The Hospital for Sick Children, and came across an important section entitled, “Interpreting Crying.” Not knowing what to do with a crying baby or child is one of the most stressful experiences a parent [...]

September 15th, 2015|Techniques & Tips|1 Comment

32 Phrases To Stop Tantrums in 3 and 4-Year-Olds

The trick to communicating successfully with three and four year-olds is to be clever, funny, clear, rested, and to have a method to calming yourself down as fast as possible. Children this age are often more aggressive and frustrated than they were as toddlers, so being aware of this and meeting their challenging behaviour with [...]

September 1st, 2015|Techniques & Tips|2 Comments

Parents, Please Stop Saying, “OK?”

In our quest to attach properly, attune deeply, and respect thoroughly, many parents (me included!) have adopted the bad habit of saying, "OK?" when asking a child to do something. In our minds we are friendly and checking for approval to show our children how much we love and care for them. BUT, in our [...]

August 1st, 2015|Techniques & Tips|1 Comment

Help For Toddler Biting

Most toddlers do some biting, and this behaviour is well within the normal, yet painful, things that toddlers do. Although a common phenomenon, it is still important to nip biting in the bud. There are four main reasons that toddlers bite. I will list those below with suggestions to help in each case. 1. It [...]

July 29th, 2015|Techniques & Tips|0 Comments

12 Positive Discipline Strategies That Work

We hear the term “Positive Discipline” used frequently, but many parents are unsure exactly what this means, and why this form of discipline is the best for our kids. The word discipline has origins in the Latin word disciplina, which means, “to teach.” Adapting this concept to raising children, I believe positive discipline means guiding, [...]

July 23rd, 2015|Techniques & Tips|7 Comments

How to Use the Helpful “Everyone with…” Parenting Tool

Children, particularly toddlers, are more able to follow our instructions when we word them in a way they can easily interpret. In addition to the great tools “when/ then” and “either/ or,” a strategy I call the “Everyone with…” is a great way to increase toddler cooperation. Here is how to use the tool: Identify [...]

June 17th, 2015|Techniques & Tips|1 Comment