HaltonParents

Time Out or Time In – a temperamental question?

Posted on February 5, 2013 by Karen Hay, RN

Time out or Time in? What is the best strategy? I wish there was an easy answer to tell you – but the fact is, it’s just not that simple. Many child behaviour experts promote one strategy over the other. Both sides firmly stand behind their beliefs and have research and experience behind them saying their strategy is the best. So what is a parent to do? Continue reading →

Posted in Parenting, Parenting Your Toddler & Preschooler, Play, Growth & Development, Toddlers & Preschoolers | Tagged behaviour, child, discipline, misbehaviour, preschooler, temperament, time in, time out, toddler | 3 Comments

Night terrors: From screaming child to midnight magic

Posted on January 29, 2013 by Halton Guest Blogger

Startled awake from a deep sleep by my terrified, screaming daughter, I ran to her bedroom as fast as I could. It was 1:20 a.m. She sounded like someone was seriously hurting her. Every possibility played through my mind as I made the dash to her bedroom just down the hall.

Frightened child in bed

Our youngest daughter, age 4, appeared to be having a terrifying dream. She was hot and sweaty with eyes wide with fear. She looked right through me. I talked calmly to her, touched her little face (normally something that calms her when she is upset) and tried to get in close. But she would have none of it as she continued to scream despite our best efforts. We felt helpless unable to comfort our affectionate daughter who normally loved to be hugged and cuddled. After several minutes (that seemed like forever) she finally calmed down and went back to sleep as if nothing had happened. Continue reading →

Posted in Children & Tweens, Emotional Well-Being & Mental Health for Your Child/Tween, Parenting, Parenting Your Child/Tween, Parenting Your Toddler & Preschooler, Play, Growth & Development, Toddlers & Preschoolers | Tagged child, dream, Mental Health, night terror, nightmare, scream, sleep | 4 Comments

Literacy is social, not just about the books

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Halton Guest Blogger

Family Literacy Day is coming up on January 27^th. This annual event reminds me of the challenges I encountered years ago reading to my young son. He could hardly sit still to eat a meal, let alone long enough for me to read him a book. I knew how important reading to him was, but struggled with getting him to sit on the couch with me for longer than 3 minutes!

Thankfully, literacy is much more than the ability to read and write. Literacy is actually very social. You are developing literacy throughout the day when you share activities, talk and play with your children. Here are some family literacy ideas sure to get even the busiest toddler engaged: Continue reading →

Posted in Babies, Children & Tweens, Parenting, Parenting Your Baby, Parenting Your Child/Tween, Parenting Your Toddler & Preschooler, Play, Growth & Development, Play, Growth & Development for Babies, Preparing for Kindergarten, Toddlers & Preschoolers | Tagged activities, book, child, children, development, learn, literacy, play, read, special needs | 1 Comment

An ounce of prevention: vaccine vs cervical cancer

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Halton Guest Blogger

Working as a nurse in the Communicable Disease Program at the Halton Region Health Department gives me a chance to promote the health of others and prevent vaccine preventable diseases. You’ve been hearing a lot in the news recently about the importance of getting the flu vaccine, but over the past few months, I personally have spent a great deal of time trying to increase the number of pre-teens and teens who get immunized against serious diseases such as hepatitis B, meningococcal infection, and the human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Immunizations do prevent illness. Unfortunately, too many people are missing out on the benefit of vaccination. I ask myself what happened to, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” (Ben Franklin)? Continue reading →

Posted in Children & Tweens, Keeping Your Child/Tween Safe, Keeping Your Teen Safe, Parenting Your Child/Tween, Parenting Your Teen, Teens | Tagged cervical cancer, disease prevention, Gardasil, Girls, grade 8, HPV, immunizations, Physical Health, school health, Services, vaccinations, vaccine, vaccine preventable disease | 1 Comment

Here’s to a super chillin’ holiday!!

Posted on December 21, 2012 by Halton Guest Blogger

After today, we at the HaltonParents will be stopping for the holidays to take some of our own advice and spend some quality time with our children and families. We hope you are looking forward to this time as much as we are.

Over the year we’ve written about the importance of taking the time to attach with your new baby, play with your kids, really listen to your teenagers. We’ve shared a plethora of ideas with you about connecting with your kids and how to handle tough situations. The thing is, we all know it’s easy to write these things and so much harder to live them every day. And as much as I’d like to say we are all perfect role models on the HaltonParents team, let’s be real. Continue reading →