Babies And The Art Of Observation

Infant and toddler observation is a central element of infant expert Magda Gerber’s philosophy and is the focus of our parent/infant classes, but I haven’t written about it much. Why? “Observing babies” has always sounded a little cold and scientific to me, and I worry it might be misinterpreted, even off-putting.  But I’ve seen time and again how invaluable, fascinating and amusing it can be to get the...

Toddler Terror: A Bath Time Drama

Hi Janet, First, I have to say how thrilled I am to have found your site. I’m an advocate of RIE principles, and I organize a community of parents trying to parent mindfully and healthfully. I’m excited to read through your back posts! My second reason for writing is an issue we’re having with my daughter. Marlowe is 22 months old, and about a month ago she had a terrible diaper rash. Without...

Dodging A Toddler Food Fight

Hi Janet, I’m hoping you can help me and my wife and give us some advice in regards to some recent food issues with our 18 1/2 month old daughter, Tessa. When we put Tessa on solids a little over a year ago, she took them with fervor. She ate up everything. My wife worked like crazy and made all of the baby food ground up from organic veggies. Tessa loved everything. As time went on, we added turkey meat,...

Self-Motivated Babies – Learning How To Learn

Nine month old Lucy initiated the “Great Migration” in parent/infant class last week by becoming the first infant to hit the deck (crawl to it, that is), through the open doors of the playroom. “That’s it…say goodbye to your daughter. She’s off!” one of the dads joked.  Lucy had almost ventured out the week before but decided to stop at the doorway and investigate tape wrapped around the bottom corner...

Toddler Tantrums – Who’s In Control?

Hi, I need some advice. Mia has gotten into screaming tantrums if we ask her to do anything she might not want to do: wear blue pants, come to dinner, brush her teeth. During the day I’m good at remaining calm, ignoring the tantrum, and then she stops really quickly.  Recently, she’s started screaming about staying in her bed in the middle of the night.  She wants to sleep in our bed… and...

Brave Daddy

“Boys don’t cry”, or so we’re taught. Why isn’t crying an equal opportunity response? There are men who don’t allow themselves to cry, or feel unable to because those emotions were discouraged when they were small. But where do those unexpressed feelings go? Heck, it’s challenging for all of us when we become parents to tolerate the helplessness, irritation, heartache (and sometimes, embarrassment) we...

Better Toys For Busy Babies

Hello Janet, I’m so pleased to discover your blog. I’m slowly reading through it bit by bit. I came across it when I was searching for more information about Magda’s teachings. I have her book “Your Self-Confident Baby” and I find that your website adds a wealth of information to the book. I have many parenting books and I tried the attachment thing, but ended up so tired every day that I was starting to...

Two Words – A New Parent Survival Mantra

Thank goodness there are people out there reminding me. Whether it’s a trivial reminder like my hormonal teenager commanding, “Get dark chocolate,” when I’m rushing off to the store, or the more profound “Aha’s” I glean while hearing a sermon at church, or from reading a story, article, even Twitter occasionally (yup) — I depend on others to set my priorities straight. And I seem to need these...