Nothing can ever make a parent prouder, happier and more humbled than actually having the firsthand experience of the milestones accomplished by a baby. Most often than not, we see and hear parents gush about the baby’s first word, first walk and several other firsts.

These firsts do not happen without any picture, a recorded video or just about any other proof and reminder that the baby has already completed another chapter or phase of the activities expected in infancy or even toddlerhood. However, parents should also be advised that, just like adults, each baby has distinct qualities; some may be able to crawl earlier while some may lag behind for a few weeks or even months.

If the child is hinted at a developmental delay and a problem is projected, it is important to always seek consultation from a doctor to prove that such delay really exists and for proper interventions to be carried out the soonest possible time. Sometimes, there is no need to overreact, like adults, babies have their own pacing.

During the first six months, your baby will already be able to respond to your presence by staring at you on the first month, recognizing your face as well as your scent during the third month and by smiling, laughing and cooing during the fourth month. During these months, the baby tries to adjust in controlling the head and extremities.

For the next succeeding months, expect your baby to call out your name during the eight month; not exactly your name though, but the most awaited dada or mama. The seventh month is usually the time when your baby will be able to sit up and at the same time, be able to really support his head. The grasping ability is somehow established at this point so this is exactly the time when you can pass objects to your baby and at the same time, you will notice that the baby can drag objects towards her position. On the 9^th to 12^th month, your baby will be able to progress from sitting to standing with support until he can already stand alone for a few precious seconds. You can already play peek-a-boo while hearing a few garbled syllables.

The 13^th to 18^th month is usually a time for the baby to use of the power of imitation. Your little one will scribble, read and interact with hi and bye just like what real adults do. You will be able to appreciate how your actions will be able to influence your baby. Attachment to a particular security object will be very evident during the 16^th month. You will also be surprised that during the 17^th month, your angel already expresses emotions using six syllables that has been mastered over the past few months.

The succeeding months until the 24th will be a testimony why babies are supposed to be heaven-sent. During toddlerhood, your baby will be ale to use utensils specifically a spoon and a fork. Following your instructions is very possible as your child tries to communicate his thoughts with you. Playing by himself along with the other kids is but normal. Ultimately, you will lead the example for your baby as he understands his role in the house. He can take the steps, kick and throw a ball and definitely impress you and make you smile with some 70 words he has learned so far.

Anything that crawls, flies, or that which creeps you out is surely a danger to you and most specially your child. Everyday particularly during the summer and spring; in the confines of your home, there are different kinds of insects that are ready to bite your child once you are caught off-guard. Normally though, insect bites are normal and not fatal unless your child is allergic to the said bite and there are no medical regimen employed in the soonest possible time.

Insects come in the form of fleas, flies, ticks, mosquitoes and spiders. Of course, there are those that occasionally come inside our homes like hornets, wasps, bees, yellow jackets and fire ants.

All bites are painful but nonetheless not really serious. Immediately, a reaction will be seen after a human is bitten. For the sensitive and delicate skin of your precious child, the local reaction could be very visible as compared to that of the adults. The local reaction will manifest slight swelling, redness as well as a reported itchiness and tolerable pain in the area.

To manage this, you can wash the bitten area with soap and water. If, for instance, your child was stung by a bee, you can remove the sting using a dull blade, a credit card or your fingernails to scrape out the sting. Fight the urge of using your fingers or tweezers as these will cause the release of venom into your child’s body. Remember to comfort your child as much as possible during these situations primarily because of their concept of security.

Other comfort measures you can do is to apply ice compress in the affected area. Calamine lotion is also preferred by some as well as a baking soda paste.  In some cases, if it suits your child, you can always subject the area over running water. The sensation of the water gently trickling the bitten area provides a soothing effect on the child. Be sure to remind your child not to scratch the area as it can lead to infection; making sure that the child’s nails are trimmed short is recommended. At that point, be wary of any signs of infection, say, a fever.

It is important to know beforehand if your child is allergic to a particular insect bite. Upon consultation with your doctor, an action plan will be made. Part of which will be to ascertain sensitivity like the presence of hives, sweating, difficulty of breathing, confusion, a very rapid heartbeat and the swelling of the lips. If this happens, help your kid stay calm and cover him with a blanket until the medical help arrives. If he is already around 33 pounds, you will an auto-injector handy prescribed by the doctor in cases where there is a severe reaction. This is in cases of anaphylactic reaction which are usually rare.

It will really help you a lot if apart from a medi-alert bracelet, you inform the school nurse and your child’s teacher about the condition.

Prevention of insect bites is possible especially if you apply insect repellants for children aged 3 months and above, letting your child wear light-colored clothes, repairing your screens and avoiding the outdoors.

Height is might they say. But it is a sad fact that not all of us can grow to a height that we all wanted. Especially if being short runs in both sides of the family, then it may be vague for your child to become tall. Due to the advances of modern science, parents can now do something if they want their children to be taller than what they expected. That is very impossible with the help of human growth hormones.

Human growth hormones are synthetically made hormones that functions the same as the growth hormones found in the pituitary glands. Human growth hormones are beneficial to children especially for those who are deficient with growth hormones because of problems with their endocrine system.

Here are some of the reasons why human growth hormones can help your child:

• Children who have growth retardation are able to grow normally because of the use of human growth hormone that can take effect as early as three months after administered via injections.
• For little girls with the condition called Turner’s syndrome ( a condition characterized by girls appearing web necked and small in stature because of genetic anomalies while still inside the womb), growth hormones are beneficial in helping those affected to achieve normal height.
• Children with chronic kidney diseases may have retarded height and weight as effect of their condition. With the help of growth hormones, these children can grow as normal they can be.
• Children who have inflammatory disease often have growth delays as a result of the condition and administering of growth hormones can actually help these children achieve a normal weight and height.
• Those kids with celiac disease are often short and small because of poor absorption of nutrients. The deficient growth of those children can be compensated with the use of growth hormones.
• For those children who were affected with burns, injecting of growth hormone can actually help in wound healing.

For parents who are having problems with the growth and development of their child be it the height or its weight, then it is best to see your child’s pediatrician and endocrinologist. Both of these doctors will try to figure out what is wrong and why your child is displaying such symptoms. Also when considering having your child for human growth hormone replacement, it is always best to hear first hand information on the pros and cons of such therapy.

Parents want their children to live a normal life and have many friends as possible in order for them to enjoy their childhood and make them stronger in the future. But this is not the case for some children especially if they are feared in school because they are bully other kids. For parents, it would be very hard to accept that their children are bullies because other parents would see this as a reflection of the way they were raised at home.

If you are one of those parents who have children who are branded as bullies, you should make it to a point that you deal with the situation as early as possible. Whatever type of bullying your child does, it is important that it has to be stopped in order for him to retain his friends and to prevent further emotional damage to your kid.

Why does My Child Bully Others?

There are a lot of reasons why kids bully. Some children bully others because they lack the reassurance of their parents. When they see someone who is inferior to them, they tend to bully this kid because they feel that they are more in control or important. Some kids bully others because they want to be popular in school, and some bully without any reason and without any knowledge that what they are doing is wrong.

Another reason why children become bullies is that they might be feeling strong emotions, and the only way to let it out is to pick on someone weaker than them. By bullying, they feel relieved from their frustrations, anger, pain, and depression. Children like these should be consulted to a doctor to study and improve their behavior. Finally, some kids bully because they see it being done at home. Children who are living in families where there is no harmony have the tendency to do the same in other places to other children.

How can I Help My Child Stop Bullying Others?

It may be a hard task to teach your child not to bully others, but it can be done. What you have to do is to make him understand that bullying is not good and it could lead to regrettable consequences in his environment. On your end, you should also try to understand the real reason why your child is bullying others. It may be due to the way you raised him when he was a child, or bullying might be his way to relieve himself of all the negative emotions.

A parent should consider bullying a serious matter. Make sure that it is clear to your child that bullying is not acceptable anywhere or at home. Make them feel you are serious by telling your child that he will be punished once he is found bullying other kids. In addition, you should also tech your child to learn to respect other people and be kind to them even if your child sees that he is more superior to them.

Throughout a typical school year, children may get sick often, picking up a bug or two from their classmates or from the environment. You may notice that kids may get a runny nose today, and then get a cough tomorrow and sore throat the next. Sometimes, they get all these three together, as if in one package. For the most part, these bugs last for a few days to a week, but some stay for longer and eventually become a case of walking pneumonia.

If this is new to you, then you may have only heard of pneumonia, which is a respiratory infection that could be critical for children. Walking pneumonia has another name: atypical pneumonia. It is less serious, and is caused by the bacteria Mycoplasma. Walking pneumonia presents itself with minimal symptoms, similar to those of a typical cold – low grade fever and hacking cough. These symptoms are not enough to debilitate a child and make him or her stay home from school. That’s why the term “walking” was coined. But even if a child feels strong enough to go to school, staying home to rest for a couple of days is usually better advised, since the child without antibiotic therapy may still infect other children around him or her.

Determining signs and symptoms

Any cold that persists for up to seven to ten days has great tendency to develop into walking pneumonia. The presentation of symptoms can vary from child to child. Some present quickly, and others show themselves gradually and take longer to become noticeable. These slow movers are usually the more severe cases because it means the bacteria will have used the prolonged time to multiply aggressively.

To determine whether it’s just a cold or a walking pneumonia, parents must observe the child for a low grade fever, which is about 101 degrees Fahrenheit or below. The child may also complain of flu-like symptoms such as sore throat, chills of headaches and muscle pains. The child may make noises when breathing, such as wheezing or grunting, or may breathe rapidly and shallow. Labored, or difficult breathing is noticeable as the muscles under the ribs draw inward as the child breathes. Hacking cough is also a common symptom of walking pneumonia. Chest and stomach pains, body weakness, fatigue, vomiting and loss of appetite are all important symptoms to consider and report to the doctor.

Confirmation

Walking pneumonia is confirmed through careful monitoring of the child’s breathing patterns, depth, speed and characteristics. Doctors need to be able to hear that crackling sound that is characteristic of walking pneumonia. Bacterial culture from sputum, blood tests and a chest x-ray are all confirmatory tests for walking diagnosis.

Treatment and Recovery

Antibiotics are the first-line treatment of choice for walking pneumonia. Parents must be educated of the antibiotics’ dosage, and the importance of taking the medication regularly to prevent bacterial resistance. The child must have his or her own utensils, plates, bed covers, clothes and avoid sharing personal items with others in the house in order to avoid spreading the bacteria. As your chid recovers, fluids must be prioritized in order to thin out secretions and flush out toxins. Warm compresses over the chest help relieve chest tightness and pain. The condition should be resolved completely in a span of one to two weeks.

Like us grownups, children also have some worries, and they also have some doubts about things, which are often normal especially because children are on the process of growing up and as a result, they get curious about a lot of things. But when the worrying does not stop, to the point that it affects the child’s behavior, then there seems to be something wrong. Compulsive behavior in children directly affects the emotional and mental health of the child, and every parent should be aware that this disorder can be possibly acquired by any child including yours. This article will give all the information a parent needs to know about compulsive behavior in children.

What are the Characteristics of Compulsive Behavior in Children?

Compulsive behavior in children is a mental disorder which is characterized by unwanted and uncontrollable behaviors which can also be called “rituals” that the child is obliged to do. These said “rituals” that the child “must” do over and over again is the only way to satisfy their doubts about a lot of things. As a result, a child with compulsive behavior spends most of his time putting his doubts to rest which makes him spend a lot of energy, and making him unable to do other things.

What are the Common Compulsive Behaviors in Children?

The behavioral patterns of children with compulsive activities vary per person, but they can be categorized by the following:

1. Doubts – this type of compulsive behavior in children involves the feeling of constant fear and guilt, which compels them to perfect everything they do so that they could avoid punishment and commitment of sin.
2. Hoarding unnecessary things – children with compulsive behavior will have the need to collect a lot of things even if they are not important because they believe that when they do this, they will not be put in harm’s way.
3. Putting things in order – children with compulsive behavior are observed to be obsessed with keeping everything in proper order. As a result, they always want perfection in everything they have which leads them to count their properties a lot and arrange them all the time.
4. Keeping themselves clean – children with compulsive behavior will be seen always worried about their overall cleanliness. This anxiety drives them to frequently wash their hands, take a bath or even brush their teeth.
5. Repeatedly checking things – it can be observed that children with compulsive behavior will always have the need to check on different things to make sure that everything is fine. This is because they always have a restless feeling that something wrong might happen if they do not constantly check on things like locked doors, turned off appliances, etc.

Is there a Cure for Compulsive Behavior in Children?

Today, the best treatment a child with compulsive behavior can get is behavior therapy. This is done by helping the child understand the normal way of things to make them less anxious as well as to help them confront their fears and doubts. As a parent, you can also help lessen all the anxieties of a child by satisfying all their needs.

One of the most crucial times in the life of a child is teenage life. This is the stage where he or she is under a lot of pressure, confusion and curiosity. Once of these factors directly affect a teenager, they become depressed, and when this is not addressed properly, it becomes serious to a point that it threatens the very future of a teenager. Parents have to keep in mind that depression is not something that they could just ignore and think of it as something that will eventually go away on its own. As a parent, you have to be aware that the lack of support for a depressed teenager would lead to different problems like violence, drug abuse and even suicidal tendencies.

Adolescent Depression

A lot of parents misunderstand teenagers. It has to be understood by parents that the toughest time for a child is his teenage years. This is where all their emotions hang in the balance and proper support must be present for them not to lose their good values and not to end up getting depressed. Depression is a case wherein a child fails to accomplish a milestone which as a result leaves him very sad and confused.

Signs and Symptoms of Adolescent Depression

Because teenage life is one of the hardest times for a child, they are expected to undergo extreme pressure, confusion and curiosity. There are a lot of factors involved in this time for them which include curiosity and confusion due to overall changes, peer pressure, unanswered questions as to where they belong and their personality, and conflict with parents due to the teenager’s assertion of their independence. With all of these present, it would be hard for parents to distinguish between a normal teenage angst and depression. Below are some of the known signs and symptoms that a child is experiencing depression:

1. They have suicidal tendencies.
2. They find it hard to concentrate on something.
3. They always look fatigued and they show less energy in everything they do.
4. They are less motivated and they are not so enthusiastic.
5. They feel guilty all the time.
6. They feel worthless.
7. They feel restless and agitated.
8. They show changes in their sleeping and eating behaviors.
9. They feel extreme sadness and they become hopeless.
10. They are always hostile, angry and irritated.

How to Help Your Depressed Child

You should keep in mind that depression can ruin the life of your child. If you are seeing any of the symptoms stated above, you should take the necessary steps below immediately:

1. Talk to them. Make sure that when you approach you child, you will not be judgmental.
2. Validate how they feel. Talking them out of their depression is not going to work. Instead, make them feel that you understand their pain.
3. Do not give up. Remember that you are the only one your child has for support. It will be normal that you will experience rejection but do not give up on him. Make sure that he feels that you are there to support him.

We all know as parents that teenage years are one of the most crucial for our child. This is the time where they are going to choose a path wherein there is no turning back. Because of this, it is important that you are there to support your child all the way, making sure that he will choose the right things for his future. Today, drug abuse is one of the most common teenage problems that parents have to deal with, and this is one of the things that you should anticipate as early as possible.

Role Model

You have to understand that you are your child’s role model. If there is one person that he could rely on to help him decide what is right and wrong, it is you. Make sure that you always talk to your child and discuss the effects of using drugs and how it can ruin his life. You also have to understand that teenagers are very moody, which sometimes makes you feel that they are shutting you off. When this happens, make sure you exert your best effort to reach out for you to be able to build a good relationship with your child. This will eventually help make communicating with him easier.

Listening to Your Child

In order to create a good relationship with your child, it shouldn’t be you all the time that does the talking. Make sure that you listen to their thoughts to make them feel that you are there when they need someone to talk to. You also have to understand that when your child is telling you what he thinks, it does not mean that he disagrees with you. It does not also mean that he is rejecting you. Most of the time, he is just asserting his right to be independent, and this could lead to a better relationship between the two of you once you support him. Finally, aside from the bad things like drugs and alcohol, there are some things that your child would like to discuss and make sure you are also open to it.

Help You Child Become a Strong Individual

Aside from open communication and understanding, you can help your child become a strong individual by providing him with an environment where he feels that he is accepted and heard, making him more involved in his community, making him more involved at school and its activities, helping him strengthen his spiritual beliefs, helping him enhance his social skills, and helping him decide on which friends to choose. In addition, you should also make sure that your child is well-supported so that he will not have a low self-esteem, make sure that he chooses friends who are not into drugs, teach him to avoid peer pressure, avoid having conflicts with other family members as possible as you can, help him attain good grades and support him with his activities in school to get him more connected.