Your baby seems to change face almost every day. When does a baby actually take on its real looks, and how fast does it grow. Do you know if your baby is under weight, over weight or simply growing at the right pace.

It's never to early to start stimulating your baby's senses. This encourages your baby to learn and develop faster. Here are some tips for the older baby.

Talk to your baby constantly. No matter how many times we are told that we should talk to our babies, most of us are content just gurgling and cootchie cooing with them. While this is no doubt important too, do try and introduce your baby to words other than puch puch, sweetums, cootchi pie sweetie pie.

Parents can be very good teachers as well apart from being very good guides and mentors. There are a number of good issues and topics that you can teach your child as a responsible parent. However, nothing could be as important as teaching your child good mannerisms and an exemplary sense of responsibility. Teaching responsibly to your kid means assisting to learn and understand the ways and methods by which your kid can interact with friends and strangers. It also involves displaying self respect and empathy towards others.

Mind you no kid in this world comes studded or equipped with very good behavior and mannerisms. Nor do any child takes his or her birth preprogrammed with character traits like willingness to share and distribute, respect the feelings of others, show respect towards authority and empathize with impoverished children. It is possible to teach considerate behavior and responsible mannerisms when your child is still young and tender; this will help your child to completely develop the behavior when she or he grows up and becomes adult.

The first lesson begins at your home and you are also the first teacher who is trying to transform your kid into a responsible citizen. Primary lessons start in the cozy ambience of your home and the first basic lesson is setting a good example on a daily and consistent basis. As a parent, you can perform this by:

• Exhibit a high level of mature behavior in how you deal with people, both close and strangers

• Exhibit a very high level of tolerance in reacting to a stressful and critical situation

• Show your kids how you can manage people with your ultra people friendly behavior, in what ways can you manage divergent opinions and handle conflicts and disagreements

You can exhibit a positive role by being responsible to yourself! When you are responsible and disciplined, it becomes very easy for you to help your kids learn how to think better, feel good and act in manner that is normal and responsible. Good behavior also involves pursuing a habit of considering other's feelings and opinions. Responsibility and good mannerisms also include other character traits like accountability, fairness, compassion, integrity, honesty, self respect, courage and confession.

Responsible behavior is also a cultivated habit that evolves gradually over time. It is a result of your outlook in daily life and composed daily habits. You may wish to integrate and gel several beneficial aspects of responsible behavior in your kid's daily life. The main goal of the program should focus on teaching and inculcating the good habit of respect and compassion (empathy) towards others, including strangers. Here are some of the most basic traits that should form foundation stones of the program:

• Honesty: Being truthful and realistic to our mind and conscience will help us become responsible and dedicated to our life.

• Courage: If your child is courageous and truthful, he or she can be extremely responsible in the future. This trait will help in taking good decisions based upon truth and evidence, not upon ulterior motives.

• Self Control and Self Discipline: These positive indicators will help your kid to act responsibly in preventing bad and inappropriate behavior. He or she will also learn to control anger and impatience.

• Self Respect and Pride: When your child is honest, truthful, and courageous and honest, she or he can start to respect themselves before respecting others. These are possibly the most cherished traits in your kids.

Compassion, kindness, empathy and respect towards others are the most desirable characters in your kid. These traits are not only necessary in life to perform better socially; your kid also needs them to empower to perform better both in personal and professional spheres. Gelled with establishing an excellent example and getting actively involved in your kid's development and encouragement of social skills, spending quality time with kids and teach them about proper, right, correct and responsible behavior are some of the corrective actions that you can take as a parent, while streamlining your kid towards the road to responsibility.

More often, teaching your kid to be responsible is a long journey and a tedious process fraught with uncertainties and imponderables. As a parent, what you need from your side is 100% commitment and perseverance and the right and fitting ambience in your home. It is also a continuous process where both you and your kids are the active participants in the learning cycle.

Many times, parents wonder and worry how they can make their kids get along with simple and basic duties, like brushing their teeth on their own; picking up toys; clean up the mess they create on their own and get ready to go to school on time. Teaching your kids to be responsible means that you are training them to be in their own control and making their own decisions. Being responsible also means that your children will need to be accountable and responsible for their actions and results, and face the emerging consequences for the resulting actions.

• Prepare a list of light and non-complicated duties and house chores. You can even involve your child, while you are preparing the list. You will need to be very lucid, specific and clear, while preparing this list.

• Next, write down step-by-step instructions on a sheet of paper. Initially, you can create a list of instructions for just one chore. Never assign two or three house chores at a single time,

• Even, if you prepare a list of two or three duties, provide choices in assigning chores to your kids. If you have more than one child, you can rotate the duty alternatively between them.

• Do not be too pushy, while getting the job done by your kids. Never be too nagging while you are at work. Children may not like too much pushing and it may result in them showing disinterest in finishing the assigned job.

• Fix periodic brain-storming sessions to assist your kids remember their duties.

• Let the assigned jobs be a fun to carry out and complete. Remember that you are also trying to bring the whole family together.

• If there is any job that is dirty and unwanted, you can assign that particular job alternatively on rotation, so that everyone gets to taste that dirty job!

• The overall objective of this exercise is to teach your kids how to carry out a task on their own. As far as possible, avoid repeating the same job again and again.

• Appreciate the efforts put by your kids and reward them if you wish. Praising and showing appreciation work like an effective antidote. It will also motivate them to carry out difficult tasks and solve complex problems with ease.

• Check out that you are providing enough safety and security, while your kids are performing their jobs. Never allow your kids to work near potentially dangerous areas like hot gas stoves, on the high staircases, near the open window openings, inside the cars and working with hazardous and dangerous chemicals and poisons.

Another important thing to remember here is the parent's helping hand in providing help and assistance to the kids. Try to offer love, encouragement, and support and quality time, while you are making your kids work on house chores. Being completely responsible and independent could be a lifelong process. Your duty as the loving parent is to provide your kids a solid plan of action and a pathway to reach that cherished destination. Responsible kids could be your important assets and you will cherish them as long as you breathe and live!

For many years underparenting was perhaps the biggest problem facing children.

Recently there has emerged another type of parenting that, whilst never as harmful as underparenting, can be detrimental to children's healthy development – that is, the trend by many of the current generation of parents to overparent their children.

Overparenting occurs when parents solve children's problems rather than give them the chance to overcome problems themselves. It occurs when parents allow children to avoid legitimately challenging situations so they won't be inconvenienced. It also occurs when too much control or too much order is imposed on children.

Overparenting is predominantly a mindset. It is a belief that children can't overcome difficulties themselves and they can't cope with discomfort or disappointment. It comes with increased affluence but it can occur in any socio-economic group. From my observation, it is more likely to occur in smaller rather than larger families or in families where a death has occurred or tragedy has been a visitor.

An overparented child is a protected, spoiled child. He or she often lacks real confidence and won't take many risks. An overprotected child avoids new situations and looks to hide behind his parents when difficulties or challenges arise.

An overparented child can be any age but often becomes more apparent in middle primary school when the challenges children meet start to multiply. The overparenting may have occurred in the early years but the results only become apparent during this stage.

Some children by their nature place more demands on their parents, which results in overparenting. They receive more attention, more material possessions and more spoiling than they need because they can so bloody-minded and so insistent that parents give in just for some peace and quiet.

Sometimes circumstances such as family breakdown or a change of circumstances can lead to overparenting or overprotection as a form of compensation for the inconvenience that has been caused. While a child's behaviour may lead to feelings of guilt overparenting in this manner doesn't do the child any favours in the long term.

How can a parent break from a pattern of overparenting? This is hard to do because overparenting can seem so normal. However if a child is so reliant on a parents that they think they can't cope without them then it is time to take some action.

Parental illness is one way to change overparenting, although it is not a recommended course of action. When a parent is incapacitated or sick for a lengthy period of time children generally have no choice but to fend for themselves in a whole range of ways. From my observation of families I am constantly amazed how children rise to a challenge when they have to.

Another way to kick the overparenting habit is to do so by stealth. Little by little parents need to pull back on the over-assistance that they provide children. They can start by insisting children walk to school (provided this is reasonable from the perspective of safety and their well being), get themselves up each morning or other simple forms of self-help as required. When a new behavior becomes the norm rather than the exception then it is best to look for another area to withdraw their assistance from.

Another way to defeat the overparenting habit it to give children ideas, tips and techniques to cope with their challenges rather than allow them to avoid or pull out of challenges. For instance, a child who wants to pull out of an after school class after three weeks because they haven't any friends may need some ideas about either how to make friends or make do without friends until the end of term.

It helps to develop a "Hang tough" attitude rather than a "Let's try something else when things get tough" attitude. Overparenting prevents children from developing a "Hang Tough" attitude.

From my experience those children who do best at school and beyond the school years are those who have parents whose first response is to teach and support rather than protect or compensate when social, physical or intellectual challenges occur. It also helps to have parents who show absolute, unwavering confidence in a child's ability to cope and fend for him or herself, yet be wise enough to know when children need their help and compassionate enough to lend a hand once in while.

It is hard to get the balance right between developing real independence and not placing too much responsibility on children. It is essential for all sorts of reasons that childhood be protected, even prolonged. But that doesn't mean that children be closeted, spoiled or get every material good they want. Effective parenting is a balancing act between the head and the heart, between providing opportunities for resourcefulness and showing compassion, and between being a supportive parent and a protective parent.

Much has been said about the "gifted child" but in truth every child is born with unlimited potential. As expressed so well by Orison Marden:

"Deep within man dwell those slumbering powers; powers that would astonish him, that he never dreamed of possessing; forces that would revolutionize his life if aroused and put into action."

This statement can be true for your child. Not just if he's a "gifted child" but any child. Indeed, perhaps we should consider a "gifted child" to be a child whose parents have gifted him with a high self-esteem.

Children with high self-esteem are happier and more successful. Low self-esteem is common in children who are performing badly at school, have behavioral problems and suffer from depression.

The Newborn

The "helpless" newborn baby actually comes into the world well equipped with the power to get what she wants. Not only do her cries bring her parents running to tend to her; she also uses her body and facial language to get what she wants. It's no coincidence that babies learn to smile while they are still very small - it is an essential tool in their armory of communication. A baby with a disarming smile can frequently wrap mommy or daddy round her little finger!

At this early stage, it's important to respond to all your baby attempts at communication. Attend to her when she cries (this does not preclude training her gently into a stable routine), mirror her attempts at facial communication and reward the infant sounds she makes by praising her and talking back to her.

The "Can-Do" Toddler

Toddlers are into everything! They are learning so fast about the world around them and want to explore everything, touch everything and even try to eat many things.

It is such a crucial stage and one that is stifled by many parents. Yes, you need to control your child's behavior so that he doesn't hurt himself or damage valuable property. But you also need to give him opportunities to express this exploratory behavior without constant criticism and telling-offs.

Put valuables out of reach and supply your child with toys or household items that he can play with safely. Try to find time to get down on the floor and play with your toddler. Let him watch you and imitate you. He could play on the kitchen floor with some pots and wooden spoons while you are cooking.

Discipline

I want to emphasize up front that I believe discipline is very important, because I don't want you to think in any of what follows that I'm advocating spoiling your child. Some parents call this "allowing the child to enjoy the freedom of youth." These parents are entitled, of course, to raise their children however they wish.

But if you want your child to grow into a successful adult, you would do better by teaching her firmly what is and isn't acceptable in present day society. And, just as importantly, helping her to learn self-discipline and that you will support her in achieving anything she wants, as long as she does so ethically.

Discipline should be sensitive, thoughtful and appropriate. You should strive to never lose your temper but to discipline your child calmly and firmly. When is discipline appropriate? When your child's actions (or lack of them) may harm herself or others. When is discipline not appropriate? When it is purely for the parent's own selfish preferences.

Talk to Your Child

Positive talk with your child and generally within the household cannot be over-emphasized. Avoid criticism wherever possible; it is praise that produces good, successful behavior. Be sure to find at least one thing to praise in your child every day. Even better, give praise as often as possible.

Are you having problems finding good behaviors to praise? If so, give your child a task to do that you know he is capable of. Children love earning their parents' approval. Also remember to praise your child for trying, on those occasions that he is not successful.

Set a good example; talk about your goals and successes, and teach your child by example to accept compliments gracefully. Resist the temptation to put yourself down when you are complimented - instead, say a simple Thank You. That's an important sign of a healthy self-esteem.

The other side of the coin to talking is, of course, listening. It is very important to listen to your child. When there is something he is upset about, don't sweep it under the carpet by saying "Don't be silly!" Whatever it is might seem totally trivial to you but often all your child needs is for you to empathize. "I'm sorry you feel sad about that." He may then come up with a solution, or put the incident behind him without further help. Or, you can suggest a solution.

The Power of Desire

You can give your child the best possible schooling, teach all the important techniques of success, encourage goal setting and set a fantastic example. But that is not enough! All these good things have one vitally important pre-requisite. Before you can achieve anything, you must know what you really, really want.

A burning desire is the first, most important and essential step towards any major achievement. As a parent, you are in a unique position to influence another person's desires - your child's. By the time they reach their teens, you will have lost this influence to a significant degree, as young adults are swayed much more by their peers' opinions than their parents'.

So make the most of the early years by instilling positive, beneficial desires in your children. The desire to do well academically could shape your child's further education and career much more than her innate ability.

How can you instill desire? Telling stories is a great way. Children love stories! Be creative and tell stories where the hero or heroine has a burning desire for something, overcomes challenges and set backs, and achieves the desired outcome. Try telling stories where a child achieves academic success, which in turn results in something even more desirable. For instance, one story could tell of a child who has a burning desire to travel to the North Pole. She succeeds academically and thus wins an award, which makes her dream come true. Tailor the stories to your own child's life and experiences as much as you can.

The famous author Napoleon Hill used story-telling to instill in his almost-deaf son both a burning desire to hear, and a firm belief that his disability would actually bestow upon him a great advantage (although at the time even his father had no idea what that advantage could be). By the time this boy left college, he had against the odds acquired a hearing aid that enabled him to hear clearly for the first time in his life. More remarkably, he had justified his father's belief by securing a marketing position with the hearing aid manufacturer to bring the same benefit to millions of other deafened people.

"Gifted child"? Give your child the gift of self-esteem, and you will give him the gift of happiness.

Health insurance is a major concern for every parent, and health insurance for children can be an even bigger concern. Children tend to be much bolder and adventurous than most adults, and very few children escape childhood without at least a couple of bruises and maybe even a broken bone or two. Knowing that your child has the health insurance he or she needs can put a parent's mind at ease at least a little bit.

Of course, most people in the country still get their health insurance through their employers, and health insurance for children is no exception. Most major employers offer health insurance that includes an option for health insurance for the children and families of their employees.

As health insurance costs continue to rise by double digits every year, however, many working families find themselves priced out of the health insurance market. Likewise, many employers, especially small businesses struggling just to make their payroll, have been forced to scale back their health care offerings or even to eliminate them entirely. This means that more and more children are finding themselves without the health insurance they need in an emergency.

Fortunately for parents, some state governments have stepped in to remove some of the burden from working families, and have created their own health insurance for children in their states. The financial and other requirements for these programs vary from state to state, so it is best to contact the health department in your state of residence to see if you qualify. The terms of these programs are often quite generous, and you may be eligible even if your employer offers health insurance but you cannot afford to buy it. Likewise, the income limits of these programs can be rather high, so you may qualify even if you think you make too much money.

If your employer does not offer health insurance, and if you do not qualify for a state or federal program offering health insurance for children, you can still purchase health insurance on your own. There are more and more insurance products tailored specifically to children and adults who do not have health insurance available where they work. These insurance policies can range from full major medical plans which provide coverage for routine doctor visits, immunizations and prescriptions to catastrophic coverage plans that carry a high deductible and are mainly used for emergencies or very costly illnesses or accidents. The premiums on these plans will vary with what is covered, with the high deductible catastrophic plans being the most affordable and the major medical plans generally being the most costly.

The type of health insurance for children that is right for each family will vary with family finances and their specific needs and circumstances. The most important decision, however, is the decision to purchase health insurance for your children and your family. Health insurance is truly a necessity in today's world. Trying to live without health insurance can put you and your family at risk for a financial catastrophe. Whether you go with a high deductible emergency insurance plan or a more comprehensive plan, making sure your children are covered is absolutely vital.

Most parents with children would have heard the words "read me a story". Unfortunately, not many children have their bedtime story read to them nightly. The emergence of things like the Internet and television has in some instances stolen the time that might be spent reading with children.

Why reading to your child is important?

Home Environment

1. The child is read to on a regular basis. This reading included not only books, but billboards, signs, labels, and more. The parents, by example, were avid readers.
2. Books, newspapers, magazines, and comics were always available at home.
3. Paper and pencils were also available anywhere because the starting point of curiosity about written language was an interest in copying objects and letters of the alphabet.
4. Adult in the child's home answered endless questions, praised the child's efforts, used their local library frequently, bought books, wrote stories that their child dictated and displayed their child's work prominently.

Having setup a good home environment for reading, you have to ensure your child has good hearing!

How does a child's hearing affect his reading?

Phonemic awareness can be developed in young children in a variety of ways.

Suggestions on how to teach your child to read

Best baby development is one thing every parent wants for their child.

Knowing your baby develops best is one of the biggest worries all parents have.

One of the very first signs that a baby's development is on track is... proper head support and control.

It's also a very important milestone that influences the progress of all further development. And it's a "self-correcting" milestone, meaning that you will immediately know when everything isn't right.

Without proper head control your baby is NOT likely to roll, sit, crawl, stand or walk properly.

But very few parents are aware of this milestone and its importance. Nor do they take extra effort to ensure that their child properly masters it.

They simply assume they are already giving the best baby development. And everything is always OK.

But here's something even more important...

Mastering Good Baby Head Support Is Only Part Of The Solution

Your baby needs to master the ability to hold her head upright and move it from side to side to look at nearby things at a very specific age. So, it's not as if she can take her time to reach this milestone.

By 8 weeks about 50% of all babies can lift their heads to look ahead when lying on the floor. And 70% of them can do so by 10 weeks. And by 14 weeks 90% of them can easily do so.

10 Weeks is a great time to judge how well your child is doing!

If she doesn't have good head support at around 10 weeks it's still not something to get too worried about. But it definitely shows you that development is a bit slow.

Ten weeks is a great time to seriously encourage your baby to master head control.

"How do I do that?"... I can already hear you ask.

Easiest and most effective is to encourage tummy lying. Place your baby on her tummy on a mat or on the floor. Encourage her by getting down and talking to her, making sounds and even placing colorful toys in the near vicinity.

This is a very simple, yet one of the best ways to encourage and stimulate good head control.

Another great way is not to support her head all the time when holding her. But take care when doing so. Obviously the idea is also to encourage and stimulate her to master head control - not to injure her.

Here's a simple 4-Step Baby Head Support Program

1. Always encourage your baby to spend lots of time on her tummy

2. Look and judge head control at around 10 weeks

3. Seriously encourage head control if she hasn't mastered it by 10 weeks

4. Get professional assistance or speak to your doctor if she still hasn't mastered it at 12 weeks

Once you know how important good head control and support is for best baby development, you'll realize the importance of constantly judging your child's progress.

Toddlers are notorious tantrum throwers. Their high energy and new found independence often leads them to trouble. One of the best ways to handle their extra energy and urge for something new is to provide them with interesting age appropriate activities. This article presents some engaging activities that can provide learning experiences to toddlers.

Plan your pregnancy

Parenthood is the biggest gift one can hope for. For most women getting pregnant is the ultimate dream of their married life. So here are a few health tips to make journey of parenhood safer and shorter. Ideally, a child be born only when you want her/him and not merely out of accident or inadvertence!

"It is the greatest prayer between man and wife, that is going to bring into the world another soul fraught with tremendous power for the good of society.” Swnmi Vivekanaiida

The most important thing a couple can do for the health of their future child can do for the health of their future child is to plan well ahead. This will help you to get your body in the best condition possible. Only a healthy mother can provide the best and safest environment for her baby to grow in her uterus. Therefore, as soon as you start thinking about trying for a pregnancy, see your doctor / gynaecologist for "pre-pregnancy counseling”. During this counseling, your doctor should be able to advise and guide you regarding the following important issues:

Nutritious healthy diet and moderate regular exercises to achieve / maintain ideal body weight

• These have a huge impact on fertility, pregnancy and the final outcome. A balanced diet helps to regulate hormones and nourish the reproductive system. Being your ideal body weight for your height and age.
• Stay physically active and continue moderate regular exercises while you are trying for pregnancy. However, vigorous, intense schedule of exercises when combined with being lean, can disrupt your hormone productions, hence refrain such routines.
• Avoid foods that are rich in heavily processed carbohydrates and trans-fats (french fries, potato chips, foods made with refined flour, soft drinks etc).

Timing your pregnancy