Newborns: Parenting

We all want to be better parents, but don't always know how. In this area we've collected some great parenting articles, as well as articles on childcare and parent-child activities. The articles in this section are for newborn children (birth to age 1). For all of our articles on parenting, visit: Parenting

Our rating system for these Parenting articles is:

• - Best, in depth and most helpful overall
• - Very Good, but more specific in focus
• - Good reference material

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	Emergency Illness And Injury Procedures When parents enroll their child, they should provide child care provider with the contact information and consent that they will need if there is an emergency involving that child. A sample "Child Care Emergency Contact Information and Consent Form" is included in this section, along with first aid measures one should take under different situations.
	Nutrition and Foods Brought from Home - The ABCs of Safe and Healthy Child Care Parents and childcare providers must know the proper food safety, nutrition and food handling guidlelines. This will ensure that children in a childcare enviroment will have safe food and will receive proper nutrition.
	Reaching Out... Provided by the SIDS Foundation of Washington, this article is a compassionate and thoughtful list of the do's and don'ts when helping a grieving parent. Also, in this article is a touching section written by a parent who has lost a child. It is entitled "Please, See Me Through My Tears".
	Life as a Parent This is an excellent introduction to the world of parenthood. It provides a light, common sense approach to parenting and gives good advice for each phase that your child will pass through.
	Child Care Safety Checklist for Parents and Child Care Providers U.S. Consumer Protection Agency (CPSC) reports have shown that many children have been injured in child care settings. Here's a good checklist to help you to evaluate the safety of a child care situation.
	Helpful Information for You and Your Baby Sitter Contains a checklist for parents, and a form for parents to complete and give to their babysitter.
	The Super Sitter In this guide written for use by your baby sitter, you'll find a wealth of information, checklists and safety tips. It was prepared by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and is a must have article for all parents. If your sitter doesn't already have this article, give it to him or her.
	Emergency Illness And Injury Procedures When parents enroll their child, they should provide child care provider with the contact information and consent that they will need if there is an emergency involving that child. A sample "Child Care Emergency Contact Information and Consent Form" is included in this section, along with first aid measures one should take under different situations.
	When babies and toddlers are in child care, accreditation is a key to quality New research on brain development underscores the importance of the first few years of life for children's development and learning. New studies also confirm that when very young children are in child care, quality matters. With roughly half of all children younger than age 3 regularly participating in non-parental care arrangements, the quality of these settings is even more critical.
	First Vaccine for Chickenpox A healthcare reminder - the Food and Drug Administration licensed a new vaccine, Varivax (varicella virus vaccine live). Commonly known as the chickenpox vaccine, it will prevent the typical cases of itchy, uncomfortable, week-long rashes and mild fevers, and the rarer cases of serious illness caused by the virus.
	Prevention of Sleep Problems It is much easier to prevent sleep problems than to treat them later. Parents look forward to getting a full night of sleep, but newborns awaken every few hours. This practical and very helpful article will help parents of children from birth to age one cope with many infant sleeping problems.
	Effective Parenting Styles - Why Yesterday's Models Won't Work Today Have you considered whether your parenting style was better suited to yesterday than to preparing your child for the twenty-first century? This article describes three different parenting styles and explains which one is best for today's changing world.
	So You Want to Be a Foster Parent? Foster parenting will change your life-style. This touching article describes the challenges and rewards of foster parenting.
	Escherichia (E.) coli In The Child Care Setting Escherichia (E.) coli bacteria are found in the digestive tracts of most humans and many animals. Usually, these infections are harmless and may even be beneficial. Not all E. coli are alike and, in a few cases, illness may result from infection with particular strains. One strain, E. coli O157:H7, causes one of the most serious digestive tract infections in the United States.
	Tracking Down Quality Child Care Can Be Time Consuming and Expensive In this informative article from The Bradenton Herald, you'll learn about finding quality child care. It includes a good list of helpful tips.
	High-quality child care: Luxury option or standard equipment? To ensure all children receive the kind of care and education they need to thrive, early childhood programs and centers must fully meet criteria of high quality. The author reminds us that 'option packages' do not exist when it comes to a high-quality early childhood education.
	How does infant and toddler care measure up? The Child Outcomes in Child Care Centers Study measured the details of quality of early childhood programs around the country. The study's results helps practitioners take an objective look at how well they are meeting the needs of the children in their care. Here are their findings related to infant and toddler programs.
	Tips for Parents on How to Have a Positive Impact on Gift-Giving to Kids Five scientists whose research has contributed to major biomedical advances offer parents tips on how they can make a more positive impact with the gifts they give their children. They had unique ideas, but one thing they all agreed on -- whatever else you give your kids, make sure you give them your time.
	Fatherhood - It's About Time As Father's Day approaches, many men are reflecting on how they can be better fathers. This article gives fathers suggestions on achieving balance between work and family and talks about how that requires more than just scheduling.
	Infant Day Care: The Critical Issues Parents often agonize over the decision about care for their infants. This article discusses the development of attachment (between mother and child), the effects of early separations, parent characteristics and family circumstances that may contribute to insecurity, and the potential benefits of secure attachment to a caregiver. It also discusses infant care quality and the debate on infant attachment.
	Infant Child Care Close to half of all mothers of children under one year of age are now working outside of their homes. Their children are cared for by relatives, by in-home caregivers, and in family day care homes and centers. This has raised many issues about the effect of such care on the long term development of these children. This research article addresses these issues and provides a list of additional references for future reading.
	Substance Exposed Infants and Children The problems associated with prenatal substance abuse are increasing and have serious implications for the future educational needs of the children and families affected. Services, programs, and strategies that have been developed in the field of special education will have a role to play in meeting their needs.
	Holiday Survival Tips Kathy McKinless, mother of four and one of the first women to become partner at worldwide professional services firm KPMG, offers tips for working mothers on how to handle work and home during the busy holidays.
	Ten Ways Fathers Can Contribute to their Children's Health Dr. Joseph Garcia-Prats, neonatologist at Texas Children's Hospital and himself a father of ten sons, stresses that fathers need to realize there are more aspects to their children's well-being than medical health.
	The Only Child Popular thinking often paints an unflattering picture of only children, portraying them as self-centered, attention-seeking, dependent, and temperamental. Despite these negative stereotypes, smaller families in general--and the one-child option--are growing in popularity.
	First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton Joins CPSC to Release Child Care Safety Checklist First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton joined U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Chairman Ann Brown today to kick off a national campaign to alert parents and caregivers to safety hazards in child care settings.
	Child Care Consumer Education on the Internet Child care consumer education provides helps parents choose the best possible care for their children. This article will help parents use the Internet to access an enormous amount of useful information.
	National Child Care Association Urges Parents to Carefully Screen and Select Child Care Ask working parents to name the most important decision they've made about their child's welfare, and one answer will surface time and again: Choosing a quality child care provider. Licensed child care providers are working to ensure parents are asking the right questions -- and using the right criteria -- to select quality care for their children.
	Study Finds: Mothers Are Worth $508,700! Your Mother may be priceless to you, but in today's job market she's worth over $500,000 per year, according to an Edelman Financial Services Inc. study of the many possible occupations that a typical mother might hold during the year.
	CPSC and Pampers Parenting Institute Announce Joint Grandchild Safety Campaign The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the Pampers Parenting Institute are joining together to offer important safety and child nurturing tips to grandparents. With millions of children getting set to visit their grandparents' homes over the holidays, they unveiled a free booklet, "A Grandparents Guide for Family Nurturing and Safety." which is also available on-line. The easy-to-read booklet contains critical information on child development as well as potentially life saving safety advice to help grandparents kid-proof their homes and protect grandchildren, from newborns to five-year-olds.
	An Important Bond: Your Child and Caregiver Have you ever seen a child cling to a caregiver when his parents arrive to pick him up at a child care center? How about a child who greets her parents happily then returns to her activity, in no rush to go home? While such close attachments to caregivers and child care settings may make some parents initially uneasy, these bonds are an important part of children's development and learning. Working together, parents and caregivers can ensure that children see their educational settings as safe places where adults other than their parents support and care for them.
	Look Beyond the Obvious for Telltale Signs of Child Abuse The eyes may be the window to the soul, but the face offers the most telling glimpse behind the closed doors of child abuse. In a comprehensive study of 371 children who were suspected of being abused, injuries to the head and face accounted for 28% of 892 soft-tissue injuries.
	Grandparent Programs Grandparents can feel overwhelmed or ignored, depending on the role they play in their grandchildren's lives. In today's society, an increasing number of grandparents find themselves responsible for raising their children's children. To meet the needs of grandparents raising their grandchildren, programs, organizations, and support groups have been developed and are available across the country. These organizations provide many resources, ranging from legal information to coping skills.
	Go Back to Work and Continue to Breastfeed? Yes, You Can! If you are getting ready to return to work shortly after the birth of your baby, you might be concerned about how to continue to breastfeed. Don't worry. With some advance planning, it is possible to successfully combine work and breastfeeding.
	Johnson & Johnson Introduces Pediatric Institute to Help Translate New Science about Babiess Johnson & Johnson today formalized its century-long commitment to parents and healthcare providers with the introduction of the Johnson & Johnson Pediatric Institute. The Institute is a new resource established to work inpartnership with pediatric leaders worldwide to develop and deliver a wide range of programs to help healthcare professionals and parents improve the quality of care for infants and children.
	Free Information Resource Helps Grandparents Should you have questions or concerns about this new role of grandparenting, the MetLife Consumer Education Center has developed "Becoming a Grandparent," an educational brochure designed to refresh your memory about the basics of child rearing, and help you understand some of the difficulties you may encounter.
	A Reminder to Parents From the IRS The Internal Revenue Service encourages parents to get ready for the upcoming tax filing season early by obtaining taxpayer identification numbers (TINs) from their day-care providers and making sure their dependents have social security numbers.