Blog

image

3 Tips for Your Picky Eater

Posted February 22, 2013

Jamison, age 2, won't eat! His mother has tried everything.  He'll eat white bread, white pasta, the occasional chicken nugget.  His mother is angry and frustrated, and worries that he might not be growing properly.

The following 3 tips for your picky eater will - I hope - help you and Jamison's mother become more relaxed about toddler eating habits.

  1. Pretend you don't care.  This may sound callous, but it's important to realize that toddlers are suspicious when they smell an agenda.  The more a parent pushes - the less the child eats.  You may feel you aren't pushing but if you care or feel anxious or irritated or try different foods frequently, your child will be aware of your goal and will push back for reasons of self-protection.  Put reasonably acceptable food in front of your toddler and either walk away, turn away or busy yourself with your own eating.  Remove the plate and any rejected food without comment when your child is no longer eating.  Never, never ask if she will take one more bit.  We want her to eat from hunger only, not to please a parent.
  2. Consciously create hungry times.  When a mealtime is coming up, withhold snacks for about 2 hours prior.  It takes about 2 hours to digest a previous meal and another hour at least to become hungry again.  Toddlers only need to eat about every 3-4 hours during the day.  Avoid feeding your child small bits of things all through the afternoon in an effort to control behavior.  Then an early dinner and off to bed by 7 PM.  Your best dinner time?  About 7:20 with candlelight!
  3. Do not preoccupy yourself over where your child is on the growth chart unless your child's doctor has raised concerns.  Sometimes public health visits and weigh-ins will leave a parent upset when, in fact, your physician will confirm there is nothing to worry about.  Don't let this happen to you.  Trust that your child will eat an amount that is just right for him at this time.

Cheers to you for having one less thing to worry about!

Care to comment on this blog?  Send your comments to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)


Final March Seminar:  Sleep Learning Made Simple     Tuesday, February 26, 2013

April Seminars in Calgary

Telephone Counseling with Kitty

All of the above seminars and many other parenting concerns you may have can be handled by telephone when you cannot make it to a seminar.  Appointments are posted here  weekly and occur on Mondays and Wednesdays.  If you prefer a different time, just send your request to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Counseling via Email

Kitty will answer your email questions usually within 2 days.  Purchase "short" or "deluxe" questions online, here.

Videos, Audios and The Manual for Birth to Three Months can be purchased here.


 

| Subscribe to email updates for this blog

Filed under: Feeding and Eating


image

A Glimpse at a Low Maintenance Toddler Around Supper Time

Posted October 7, 2012

"Low maintenance" is my way of describing to a toddler who - in spite of being around 2 or 2.5 years old - is fairly easy to live with and who might be the least disrupted by the addition of a sibling.

A glimpse at a low maintenance toddler around supper time: Lucy is two years old. She is a fairly good eater, who shows her parents she is hungry by going to her high chair and yelling "UP!" She also gets her bib off her hook and takes it to her mother. She smiles when the food comes, looks it all over, puts some things aside that she doesn't want (sometimes "aside" means on the floor - nobody reacts) and proceeds to eat with her fingers. When she wants milk, she holds her empty sippy cup above her head and calls "more!" She knows when she is full and yells "don-don!' and lifts up her plate. Her parents always let her down right away when she says she is full. She heads back to the toys.

| Subscribe to email updates for this blog

Filed under: Feeding and Eating


image

Family Mealtime - Is it Key to a Strong Family?

Posted June 3, 2012

I've seen many families feeling the pressure to construct a 'family mealtime' each evening to satisfy the advice that eating together makes a family stronger.  This article concludes that the strength of a family evolves slowly over time and relies on several aspects of family life (routines, rituals, parental attunement, etc.) that go well beyond and do not necessarily include 'family mealtime' on it's own.  

Families can now relax!  If it's working at your house, great.  If your children are too young or if your older children are resistant - let it go from time to time.  I think the overly strong focus on 'family mealtimes' also creates too much of a spotlight on a child as parents watch to see what's being eaten and , perhaps, over-analyze the child's behavior.  Some kids go crazy with too much focus.

-This article also appears at http://www.facebook.com/raymondparentingnews   Check there for additional articles and excellent blogs I've found and posted.

 

Limited Phone Counseling Appointments - available this week

Monday, June 4, 12:00 PM (noon)

Friday, June 8, 10 AM or 11:00 AM

Limited appointments available on Monday June 11 and 12.  Please email me with your requested time.  .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Telephone Counseling appointments will be next available during the months of August and September.  (No appointments during July.) 

 

June Seminars

Sleep from Now On (12 lbs. to 4 years)  Tuesday, June 5  7:00 PM

Sleep from the Start (prenatal - newborn)  Thursday, June 7  7:00 PM

Toilet Learning the Easy Way (18 months to 3 years  Tuesday, June 12  7:00 PM

All seminars will resume in August, 2012

 

| Subscribe to email updates for this blog

Filed under: Daily Routines, Feeding and Eating, News from Kitty, New Research, Interesting Parenting Matters


image

Attachment Parenting: To Sleep or Not to Sleep?

Posted May 6, 2012

Following the philosophy of Attachment Parenting needn't interfere with a parent's ability to help their baby learn to be a good sleeper. There are ways to do both.

The most important step a parent can take toward helping your baby learn to sleep well begins with simply putting your baby down - awake - and  giving her time for and practice in getting herself to sleep.  Doing this from the very beginning is one ideal way to  help your baby learn to self-regulate.

Your baby bases everything on her primary relationship. As soon as an early relationship with you is activated, she'll use you to help her self-regulate. She'll learn to regulate her sleep/awake times, hunger/fullness and her whole spectrum of emotions - based on this all-important primary relationship. When she is happy she'll see that reflected in your steady, confident response. When she is angry or sad, she will be looking to you for that same steady, confident demeanor.

Being consistent about feeding for hunger and avoiding feeding to sleep helps your baby get acquainted with the signals she is receiving from her body.  She'll know how to signal hunger and fullness to you and she'll learn how to take herself from an awake state to a state of sleep. 

Caring for your baby this way will support her self esteem and growing competence, allowing her to have the best possible start in life. 

 

| Subscribe to email updates for this blog

Filed under: Feeding and Eating, Sleep


Page 1 of 5 pages  1 2 3 >  Last »

KITTY'S BLOG IN YOUR EMAIL INBOX

  • Subscribe via Email:
    Enter your email address:

Parenting Seminars
and Support

Phone Consultation with Kitty

$140.00 (55 mins) $75.00 (30 mins) Book now
image
Parents have told us it is most helpful to talk one-on-one to solve your parenting challenges.
Read More | 8 reviews

Email Question (Deluxe)

A popular choice - good for slightly longer parenting questions, with an in-depth response tailored to your specific situation.
Read More

Email Question (Short)

Send Kitty one short question for her practical and research-based advice.
Read More

Sleep from the Start Summary Video

image
In this condensed version of our prenatal Sleep seminar, Kitty advises parents on ways to gently sleep-train their newborn.
Read More

Sleep from Now On Summary Video

image
Help your baby, toddler or preschooler learn to sleep through the night, with this condensed version of our seminar.
Read More | 4 reviews

The Manual - 0-3 Months - eBook

image
The manual you wish came with your newborn. This is in E-book format for download and immediate access.
Read More | 2 reviews

The Prenatal/Newborn Sleep Seminar

$65.00/family Book Now
image
A prenatal/newborn class with a different take on infant sleep and newborn parenting.
Read More | 4 reviews

Sleep From Now On - Telephone Counseling or Seminar

$140.00 phone coaching / $85.00 Seminar Book Now
Learn how you can help your child design self-calming strategies, regulate their own sleep and solve pediatric disorders of sleep such as inabiity to initiate sleep, inability to maintain sleep, and sleep crutches.
Read More | 19 reviews

Toilet Learning the Easy Way - Summary Video

Who knew that YOU are the best model to motivate your toddler or preschooler to master the potty?
Read More

Setting Healthy Limits for Ages 1-3 Years - Summary Video

Children need parents to provide unquestioned leadership as they struggle to learn self-discipline.
Read More