Pregnancy, Baby Care, and Activity

Potty training is a major milestone for a toddler. We had bought a book called “Once Upon a Potty” for his first birthday and he enjoyed reading about Joshua using the potty. My mother bought him a DVD called “I Gotta Go!” which he enjoyed watching and singing along. My mother bought my son a potty when he was around 1.5 years old and I started sitting him on it from time to time.

But none of those things got him to use the potty everytime. The trick with him was M & Ms. I had talked to another mom at Kindermusik about how she got her son to go to the potty (he was a year younger than my son). She said she started giving him M & Ms everytime he went to the potty. When we got home, I started using her suggestion. You know what, my son started using the potty everytime the same day. Amazing! Within a couple of weeks, I stopped using the M & Ms and he kept using the potty.

Every child is different and they are all ready when they’re ready. Here is a small list of some of the signs they are ready:

1. 1. Able to understand and follow simple directions.

2. 2. Has bowel movements at regular times every day.

3. 3. Able to remain dry for about two hours at a time.

4. 4. Has a name for urine and bowel movement.

Most articles I read said that most toddlers are ready between 18 and 24 months, but it is not uncommon for some children to still be in diapers until they are 3 years old. And really, they don’t have to be in diapers. There are training underwear available for toddlers that are more like underwear, but have diaper protection. That’s what we used with our son until he would tell us everytime he had to go potty.

Of course, he is no longer using his potty; he has graduated to the big potty with a potty seat. He feels like such a big kid using the big potty and no longer wears training underwear at night. He wakes himself up to go potty. He is always proud of himself when he doesn’t have any accidents at night.

Potty training is not easy, and it takes alot of patience and understanding from us parents to help our little ones reach this milestone. Just take it slow and you’ll find the magic trick to help your toddler too.

Caring for your baby is certainly one of the most important things you need to consider once you became a new parent. There are many things you need to take into account in order to make sure that your baby gets all the attention.

1. Make sure that you feed your baby right. Deciding on whether you should breastfeed or bottle-feed your baby greatly depends on your personal decision and what your physician recommends. However, it has been shown that breastfeeding is still the best way to nourish newborn babies. Lots of benefits can be obtained through breastfeeding. Some medical studies have determined that breastfed infants have less hypersensitivity later in life compared with those who were raised with bottle feeding. This is mainly because the mother’s milk is known to contain natural enzymes and antibodies that can help fortify the baby’s immunity against infirmities. Aside from this, some doctors also believed that breast milk is responsible for superior intellect as he/she grows and becomes fully developed.

2. Practical sleep aid tips for infants. Sleep is crucial for babies because it has a direct effect on the child’s mental and physical growth. Newborn babies sleep for up to 17 and 18 hours a day. Parents should understand that babies sleep cycle could be pretty erratic. You may notice for a few weeks, your baby’s sleep may only last from approximately 30 minutes to 3 hours, and this can vary throughout a 24 period. But by the sixth week, you should see some signs of improvement as your baby’s sleep pattern becomes more structured. Newborns show signs of sleepiness by crying or rubbing their eyes. Newborns should be put down to sleep as soon as they feel sleepy. If you are not getting much sleep at night it may be a good idea to sleep when your baby does during the day if possible.

3. The proper way of bathing your newborn. Newborn babies need not be bathed on a daily basis. Bathing them two to three times a week is enough. Bathe your baby using sponge baths. This is imperative at first. Tub bathing your baby can only be done once the baby’s umbilical cord falls off to avoid infection.

4. Maintaining your baby’s optimal skin care. Newborn babies have smooth and delicate skin. For this reason, it is necessary that you use products that are especially made for babies. But before buying any baby product, it is best to consult your pediatrician. Most babies develop rashes from time to time and this is perfectly normal. However, if your baby seems irritated by a rash or has a fever, you should immediately seek advice from your baby’s doctor.

5. When to give the baby medicine. Like anyone else, newborn babies sometimes have special needs that require attention. When giving your baby medicine, it is important that you follow the advice of your baby’s physician. You need to know how to give the right dose prescribed by the doctor. It can sometimes be advised to start the baby with a small dose to ensure there is no adverse reaction to the medication.

The information contained in this article is for general information purposes only and is not meant in any way to replace advice given by healthcare professionals.

Obesity in children has doubled for children between the ages of two and five since the 1970s. Alarming is an understatement; this is traumatic. Toddlers should not be overweight and according to an article I read today, nearly half of Americas children will be obese by the end of the decade. What could be the cause: accessibility to junk food and not enough exercise. But it’s not just America having this problem; every country in the world is having to deal with this epidemic.

If a child has two obese parents, chances are they will be obese due to heredity. Children watch and learn alot from their parents. If the parents do not eat balanced diets and/or get any exercise, the child may pick up those habits. We as parents need to set good eating and exercising examples for our children so they understand the importance of doing the right things for your body.

In today’s society, life has become much easier and as a result lazier. With TV, computers and video games, kids don’t spend as much time outside. Families don’t spend that much time at the dinner table together; the faster dinner gets on the table, the better. Home cooked family meals are quickly disappearing.

Another sobering fact about an obese child is all the health problems they will experience at a young age. Type 2 diabetes, liver diseases, heart disease, high blood pressure, and many more are supposed to be found in adults, not children. But there are more cases of these health problems showing up in children.

Parents need to pay attention to what their children are eating, not only at home, but also when they are away. We need to instill good eating habits early and set examples ourselves. Don’t buy foods with high fat content, sugar and artificial preservatives. It’s better to make cookies than to buy them from the store. Take time to make dinner, but don’t try to do it every night. Order out every once in a while.

We can change the future. Let’s help our children live long, healthy lives.

There’re certain diseases, under which children need a special feeding. One of them is lactase deficiency. This pathology is also called alactasia (a slight form – hypolactasia). It is characterized by the fact that organism feels an acute need for lactase – a ferment that contributes to splitting of basic carbohydrate of mother’s milk – lactose.

Nutritious substances, contained in milk, are split by special ferments to simpler molecules, to help baby’s organism to assimilate milk. Ferments are situated in spittle, digestive juices, bile, are produced by pancreas and fibers of intestinal wall. Small children’s ferments’ activity is not very high, as a rule, and increases in the process of their development. Under negative influences on a baby’s organism, a baby’s enzymatic systems become weak, and milk is digested worse.

The main energetic and structural part of breast milk is lactose. This is milk-sugar, which is a main substance in babies’ nursing. Lactose is split by a special ferment-lactase – on smaller components, and due to this factor they can be absorbed by blood. If lactose doesn’t split, it is left in bowels, causing dilution of stool and increase of aerogenesis. This way, auspicious conditions for propagation of pathogens appear.

Lactose intolerance can be primary and secondary. Primary one is caused by genetic defect and isn’t connected with a baby’s sex. It becomes apparent during transfer of changed gene to a baby from a father or mother.

Secondary lactase deficiency is more widespread, mainly hypolactasia. The reasons of its appearance may be: immaturity of enzymatic systems of alimentary canal of premature and slowed babies that passes with time; a baby’s treatment with antibiotics and hormones; keen intestinal infections; general serious diseases; allergy on proteins of cow’s milk and herbs.

Lactase deficiency becomes apparent since first days and weeks of baby’s life with frequent, liquid, foamy stool with strong musty smell; gripes, tummy-rumbling and swelling, which appear 10-20 minutes after nursing. Sometimes frequent posseting, retching and weight loss take place.

Certainly, a doctor diagnoses a baby relying on parents’ words, results of faeces tests and provocative test with lactose. As a reason of liquid evacuation under lactose deficiency – is a defect of lactose digestion, then the basic method of treatment is diet therapy with restriction of products, rich in milk-sugar. These are usual adapted or non-adapted milk formulas, sour cream, milk paps, puddings, acidophilin. Particularized manufactured products – low- and delactosed - take central place, especially for children before 1 year.

Low-lactosed formulas are mostl often recommended while secondary lactase deficiency; delactosed – while primary. If a baby shows sings of defect of digestion and absorbing nutritious substances, particularly fats, he gains weight slowly, is physically backward other babies, has unsteady excrements for a long time, then you can use delactosed formulas, based on hydrolyzates of protein.

Transfer of children on recommended formulas should be executed during 2-3 weeks. Change half of volume of nursing for breast feeding babies, and change formula completely for forced feeding babies. On 2-4th day a baby calms down, stops throwing up, diarrhea and wind disappear and, and since 5th day a baby begins gaining weight. If you use supplemental feeding without milk, then take care that ration of a baby’s feeding is various and balanced. As for dairy produce, you can give also yoghurts, containing live bio-cultures, and cheese. It can be digested even under lactase deficiency. While prolonged milkless diet you need to add calcium to baby’s food.

While hypolactasia, a full recovery can be reached for 2-3 months, as under this disease, lactose is accumulated in baby’s cells in much more toxic concentrations, and more time is required to clean organism. After control tests, you can carefully add food, containing lactose, in your baby’s ration. Write down a kind of supplementary feeding, its quantity and reaction of organism in a special food journal.

And the last thing young mothers should know. Not only lactose deficiency can serve as a reason of pains in stomach, posseting and diarrhea, these can be also intestinal infections, dysbacteriosis, wrong choice of supplementary feeding. So, you need to consult a professional to diagnose your baby and choose a method of treatment. Your task is to keep your baby to a diet, prescribed by doctor, keep a food diary and create comfortable conditions for your baby. Then recovery will surely come quicker and disease will probably go away for ever.

I just saw a book where the author (an MD) claims that a colicky baby cries, not because he is in pain, but because he has a message to tell or his crying is leading to his speech development. That may be the case in some instances, but considering our experiences with our oldest son, 36 years ago, I couldn't disagree more.

Our son's crying spells began when he was about 20 days old. No, he wasn't allergic to formula; he was breastfed. He wasn't sick at all; he didn't even catch a cold until after he was a year old. He never developed a diaper rash either, until we took him on a trip when he was nine and a half months old.

After coming home from the hospital, our son put on weight regularly and normally; he also began sleeping through the night when he was a month old. Yet, he cried, writhing in pain throughout the day and especially in the evening around 5 or 6 PM when his father returned home from work.

Every day and evening, as he screamed, he pulled his knees up; his stomach and belly got hard and swollen; and he passed gas, non-stop. Now, can anyone do that if he is not in pain?

His pediatrician shrugged the whole thing off. "Since it is your first child, that's normal," he said. Did that mean we were nervous parents? I don't think so. I was in my late twenties and my husband in his thirties. We considered ourselves mature adults on the conservative side. Still our baby cried uncontrollably, throughout the day, and even more vehemently, in the evening.

It is true that I could never leave a crying baby alone. "Let him be. Leave him in his crib; close the door and go about your business," was the norm in those days. If I ever tried that advice, I probably didn't last more than fifteen minutes. So our first child ended up getting carried around the house throughout the day by me, and in the evenings, by his father. To this day, because of our son's colic, I am grateful to Swanson's TV dinners.

To be on the fair side, our baby gave us a little break if we took him on a car ride or rocked him tirelessly. By the time his fourth month was about over, colic decided to leave our house.

As to the concept of colic becoming an indication of speech development, that is false, too, at least in my experience. Our younger son talked earlier than his older brother and he was more verbal, too; and he never had colic.

Nowadays, effective or not, there are so many therapies against colic: herbal remedies and teas containing chamomile, vervain, licorice, fennel, lemon balm, cardamom, angelica, peppermint, and yarrow; dimethicone as regular medicine; antispasmodic and sedating drugs dicyclomine and dicycloverine, although with probable and serious side effects; chiropractic spinal manipulation; and yes, an electronic cry analyzer.

It is a fact that all babies cry. They must, because crying is their way of communicating with us. They tell us of their needs with their crying. A crying baby may be telling us he is hungry, tired, cold, too warm, and uncomfortable in tight clothes or dirty diapers, or he needs to be held, loved, and consoled.

A crying baby who is sick has a different tone to his voice. He usually sounds high-pitched and frightened. When a baby cries like that, make sure you call the doctor or take him to the hospital. That baby might be telling you that his health needs immediate attention.

If you have a colicky baby, never lose your patience. Never, ever, shake a baby or any young child. Better yet, call a hotline, his grandparents, your friends, your next door neighbor, anybody you can reach who can give you some comfort.

If your newborn baby is having a crying spell, wrap him up in a bundle and see if he quiets down. Some babies are consoled when they are wrapped.

If that doesn't work, let him suck on a pacifier.

Put on some soft music or turn on an appliance with a buzzing sound.

While you are trying to soothe and reassure the baby, keep talking to him. It is remarkable how much comfort a baby can found in just hearing your voice.

Give him extra cuddling.

Change his position if you are holding him or if he is lying on his bed.

Entertain him. At about three months, a baby starts being aware of his environment. At this stage, mobiles, soft toys, and even television may come in handy.

Having the baby on some kind of a schedule that is not too tight or too loose and is comfortable to both the baby and the parents is a good idea, also. While most babies determine their own routine and do better finding their own way, others are happier on a stricter feeding schedule.

While you bathe, feed, clothe, and comfort your baby, make sure you take care of yourself and get enough sleep, too. A parent who doesn't get enough sleep or cannot find personal time for herself (himself) will suffer more and so will her (his) baby eventually.

May you all enjoy happy, healthy, and contented babies.

So your baby is one year old. He grew enough, feel independent and can do many of the things that adults can do. Mother’s milk and various purees are not enough for his growing and development already. A baby is ready for a gradual transfer for more serious food, which will finish by about 5-6 years. This “transitional period” requires especially responsible attitude from parents. Experts note that it is irrational feeding in early childhood that is a reason of many problems with digestion and metabolism, appearing already in mature age. To avoid dangerous mistakes, let’s arm ourselves with scientific facts.

- How and in which terms a baby’s transfer to an “adult” food should be carried out?

- It’s very important for a baby to receive food of consistence that corresponds to his age. Many parents, taking too much care of their babies, keep on feeding him with grated dishes up to 2-3 years. But such “care” brings no good, and is rather injurious to health. Food should stimulate, not delay development of masticatory apparatus and digestive system of a baby.

One year old baby should be already given minced dishes, instead of purees. By 2 years a baby already has 20 calf's teeth, he already can chew well, so it is possible to transfer to larger pieces. After 3 years a healthy baby should already receive a piece of dish. He already can chew, digest and assimilate even beef Stroganoff.

- How much meat a baby of 1-6 years should eat? And which meat is good for a baby?

First of all, remember that every child is individual and his needs in meat, fish and other food are individual too. So we can talk only about approximate norms and recommendations, oriented on such “average” baby. Taking this into account, we can say that a baby from 1 to 1,5 years needs about 60-70 g of meat gross per day. In this case a baby will receive enough protein, easy assimilated iron, and also a range of vitamins of group B. It’ll be better, if this is minced meat or – if a baby already can chew rather well - meat-balls.

At 1,5-2 years a baby should already receive 70-80 g of meat gross per day 4-5 times per week. In this age you can already cook steam cutlets for a baby. A child of 2,5-5 years should eat 120 g (gross) of meat per day-and-night. You can and should offer not minced boiled meat, in the form of beef and bird meat, goulash, schnitzel. A 6 y.o. child needs 120 g of meat, including bird meat, daily. Exactly meat, not sausage food and other convenience foods, which, as it’s known, contain much more fat, than protein.

As for sort of meat, for children feeding lean beef or veal, chicken, turkey are preferable, you can use lean pork and mutton. Moreover, meat by-product: kidneys, tongue, heart, liver should be definitely included in menu. Don’t forget about fish, which is also the most valuable source of some indispensable fatty acids, iron, vitamin B12 and other health-giving elements. It’s better to choose lean sorts of sea and river fish, such as pike perch, cod, hake, perch, navaga.

- After year a baby already eats enough solid food, this means, his necessity in liquid increases. How much should children from year and upwards drink?

- For children from 1 to 3 years a daily norm is about 100 ml of water on kilogram of weight, from 3 to 7 years – about 80 ml. Probably bigger quantity. In connection with children’s high activity, losses of water are rather significant, so you should not restrict your child in drinking.

It’s better to drink water – children mineral gas-free or boiled and cooled till room temperature. Sweet compotes, juices and drinks should be drunk during intervals between meals, not during eating. The matter is that if a child drinks water during eating, water fills his stomach and a child feels satiety prematurely. In a while he’ll become hungry again, and this will lead to breach of dietary habits.

- Many parents complain that their child eats little. Why does a child eat little? How to improve his appetite?

- As for the first question, children appetite lowers due to different reasons, but most popular is wrong organization of feeding. It’s desirable that a child upwards year would eat according to strict schedule. When a child takes snacks all the time, he just has no time to get hungry, and good appetite is out of the question. Moreover, if a baby applies himself to sweets and drinks, he doesn’t receive many more wholesome products in necessary quantity.

Another reason of bad appetite can be a monotony of food – a child is just tired of eating the same food. So you shouldn’t cook in store, moreover while keeping and warming up food value of products lowers.

Sometimes there’re cases, when a child secretes not enough saline, and because of this it’s difficult for him to chew and swallow food. Of course, such child eats unwillingly. In this case you should cook more liquid dishes, pour second course with sauces, offer taking drink while eating.

Often it happens that a child is just playing up. In this case you shouldn’t rush to cook something “special”. It’s enough to explain a child calmly that he can refuse from food, but next time he’ll be invited to table only in several hours – during next feeding. As a rule, this helps.

Frequent walks on fresh air, movable games, fun help to work up appetite. At the same time excess excitement of a child as a result of active games, watching TV etc. can serve as a reason of bad appetite. So, it’s desirable for a child to be in quiet atmosphere and have a rest, before he is invited to have a meal. Moreover, good sleep is very important for a child feeding. On no account feed your child forcedly – this will form a child’s stable disgust for food. And meal should be always accompanied only by positive emotions, bring pleasure.

- If a child, on the contrary, has good appetite and sometimes he wants to have a snack between basic meals very much – should we refuse him strictly or no?

- No, if he does want, then you shouldn’t refuse him. Sometimes a child even needs some additional “recharge” – for example, after he has had enough of running about on fresh air. You can give him a piece of dried bread, some dried apricots, raisins. But, again, don’t offer him snack with sweets – they will slacken the appetite, and when time of constant feeding comes, a child may refuse from food. If a child is really hungry, then he’ll gladly snack with a crust of bread.

In general, when a child’s daily ration is composed correctly, then it’s not wishful to supplement it with anything without serious reasons. Experts all over the world consider that problem of adults’ excess weight, which is so actual today, is connected right with wrong schedule of feeding in early childhood.

- What are recommendations as for plump children’s feeding? You know, it’s difficult to prescribe a diet for a baby.

- There’re no universal recommendations in this case. Reasons of excess weight may be various, including firstly inherited ones. So, a professional who observes a child should compose a diet. But if a plump child is healthy, active, then the reason of his excess weight is really in wrong feeding.

The main what should be considered, - is frequency and volume of taken food, quantity of fats and carbohydrate is especially important. There’re special norms of daily quantity of energy and food substances for children of different ages, and you should orient on them while composing ration. Of course, you shouldn’t count milligrams carefully – these norms are averaged. However, if you notice that a child eats more, than he needs, don’t rush to deprive him of his favorite dishes. You should reduce quantity little by little, restricting consumption of some products, to prevent a child from traumatizing.

It’s important that while reducing calorie content, food wouldn’t become less tasty – this will requite inventiveness and even ruse from parents. For example, baked potato is not less tasty than fried. The same is with meat and fish. You can increase portions due to vegetables (for example, cauliflower, spinach, leguminous haricot, but not potato), so that a child would feel satiety, without receiving excess calories.

- What if a child is too thin, on the contrary?

- Often parents worry for excess leanness of a child – he eats well, but is thin all the same. However, if a child is healthy, movable, has good appetite, then you shouldn’t worry – most likely, this is just his individual peculiarity. In majority of cases everything will become normal with age. Sudden weight loss requires attention – in this case a child usually becomes sluggish, gets tired quickly, eat and sleep little. You should consult a doctor to find the reasons.

- Probably, weight loss is connected with lack of vitamins?

- Most likely they are not straightly connected. But lack of micro-nutrients, including vitamins, as a rule is accompanied by lowering of general vitality of organism, worsening of appetite and sleep, what may lead to weight loss too. Parents should know that even the most perfect ration cannot provide a child with necessary quantity of micro-nutrients. So children should take vitamin-mineral additions daily. This is not a trick of manufacturers of vitamins, but a scientific proved fact.

Children should take vitamins twice a year – in spring and autumn, a course should last 1-2 months.

Researches show that it’s better to take vitamins and minerals in different time during a day. This way they are assimilated better and act more efficient. Also, when you choose polyvitamins, pay special attention on dosage. Hypervitaminosis may bring the same harm to a children organism, as lack of vitamins. Moreover, a child receives a part of nutritive materials with food.

- It is known that during cooking or keeping of food many vitamins are lost. Are there any ways to keep them?

- To keep maximum of nutritive materials, you need to know what they are “afraid” of. Thus, for example, vitamins A and E are not destroyed while heating, however they are very sensitive to sunshine and oxygen. So vegetable oil and butter shouldn’t be left on light and in open ware. Vitamins B1 and B6, containing in bread, macaroni and soy, and also vitamin K, containing in spinach and cabbage, also don’t like light.

Vitamin C is very capricious. Many mothers like to peel off potato since evening and leave in water for the night, to boil in the morning. However, in this case potato, like other vegetables, loses most part of its vitamin C. According to the same reason it’s not desirable to cut and grate vegetables and fruits – cells are broken and ferment ascorbatoxidase gets free, it destroys ascorbic acid quickly. If a child can already chew by himself, it’s better to give him vegetables and fruits as a whole.

Wrong heat processing of products also leads to loss of vitamins. Frying destroys vitamins most of all. And least of all they are destroyed while steam boiling, baking in foil or pot. While boiling in water you should put vegetables into boiling water, not cold, to neutralize ascorbatoxidase. It’s also important not to overdo food. For example, potato is boiled 10-20 minutes, cabbage – 20-25, carrot, onion, marrows – 10-15 minutes. A pan, where vegetables are boiled, should be covered with lid tightly and filled to the brim.

For better safety of vitamins, boil products in aluminum or stainless steel crockery.

- Which crockery a child should eat from?

- Best crockery for a child – is that made of unbreakable porcelain or faience. Be careful with plastic, many parents prefer it because it is unbreakable, but plastic items, not meant for food purposes, can excrete poisonous substances.

Place settings for children should be made of stainless steel, cupronickel, and ideally – of silver, which has anti-microbe effect. You shouldn’t use wooden crockery, as microbes may stay in pores of wood. Souvenir wooden spoons and dishes are better used like toys.

It’s desirable that a child would have his own set of crockery and place setting, and also tissues and dish-cloth. Children things should be definitely kept separately from adult’s ones.

- What is the main principle of feeding for children of 1-6 years?

- Perhaps, the main is calm, attentive and careful attitude to a child, as they help to support both good health and feeding. It’s very important for food to be varied to the maximum and include all groups of products. Follow experts’ advices, but consider a child’s needs, value personality in him. And then he will make you glad with good health and mood.

Behavior Intervention Plans

If your child has AD/HD, it’s likely they’ve gotten into a lot of trouble at school. You’ve gotten those dreaded calls from their teachers on a regular basis. All you hear is bad news. Isn’t it time your child’s teacher called with good news? Perhaps it’s time to look into a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP).

A BIP is developed when a child’s behavior impedes his or her learning or that of others. If your child is classified as needing special education and related services (likely under the Other Health Impaired classification if they have AD/HD) then a BIP is easy to incorporate into their IEP. Sure, BIPs requires more work of your child’s teachers, but so does making those phone calls at the end of the day. Understand that for that very reason, BIPs may not be implemented effectively the first few times around – but with your understanding, they’ll get it right and your child’s behavior will improve. It’s important not to blame anyone – including your child – for the fact that immediate improvement isn’t seen. Remember, it’s taken years for your child to acquire the behaviors; they’re not going to change overnight.

This BIP must include positive behavioral interventions and strategies – that means no punishment, no discrimination, no chastising to get the teachers’ points across.

Target Behaviors are those your teachers want to change. It's important not just to use labels in describing behavior ("lazy," "aggressive," "sexist," "harassing") because it doesn't tell us exactly what your child is doing that needs to be changed. Labels typically over-generalize and often inaccurately describe children in a negative fashion. “Target Behaviors” sections should identify behavior that is observable and measurable – and problematic only.

A sample statement would be:

1. “Teachers have distributed detention for 2 Saturdays because of X’s inappropriate behavior in class. The inappropriate behaviors have not decreased.

Once the targeted behaviors have been identified and placed into measurable terms, the Team will develop the plan by which your child will approach the goals incrementally. It also delineates the “5 W’s” to be involved in the BIP:

• Who will implement the BIP;
• What will be implemented;
• When will the BIP be implemented (under what conditions?);
• Where will the BIP be implemented (in the classroom, during Gym, etc.);
• How (o.k., not a “W”) will the BIP be meaningfully implemented.

The BIP is not subjective – it utilizes the data gathered from all of the assessments previously conducted, and it abides by research-based intervention data.

BIP’s are proven to reduce unwanted behaviors in the classroom. With a good plan in place, you’ll be getting that phone call PRAISING your child in no time!

Ancient Greeks considered that a man who couldn’t read, count and swim – was illiterate. Your terror has coped with the first two skills already? Has he learned swimming already? Not yet? Then, no matter where you have a vacation this summer: at the warm sea or at the health center with a pool, in a canoe tour or at your mother-in-law’s country place – give your child several lessons of a real literacy.

It’s necessary to learn swimming on deep water, so that your child wouldn’t get used to pull down his legs and stand up on the bottom. While not observing this rule, a child’s period of transfer from shallow water to depth is being delayed: he can already hold on the water and dive, but still is afraid to swim in depth. However, avoid any extreme: don’t throw a child that cannot swim into the water. You can throw one and he’ll get out, and another will start sinking and after you take him out, he’ll never go into the water again. But even the one who gets out receives shock, a trauma. Your child doesn’t need this. So, let’s learn swimming in depth, but holding a pool’s side, berth or father’s hand in the beginning.

Should you use an inflatable rubber buoy or no? It’s better without it, but in inflatable armlets. A buoy relaxes; a child can pull down his legs, thinking that he’s still swimming. Armlets prevent a child from sinking, but make him hold his legs and body aflat on the water. And a child should get used not to pull down his legs.

Foam plastic plates are worse than armlets. When a child learns to hold himself on water gradually, you can proceed to a flexible stick for aqua-aerobics. These sticks are called noodles. Children like them as they are bright and colored, they hold body on water well, they can be bent anyway, clutched under armpits, hold behind the back… , this way arms and legs will be free and it’ll be easy to swim using such stick.

The best time for learning swimming in 6 y.o. A child already understands what do you want from him, his coordination is good enough already, and there’s no fear yet and it can be easily subdued.

Firstly we’ll be swimming on a tummy. Holding a pier, side or father, we’re learning moving legs. Legs are knocking the water, like while swimming the crawl: toes are stretched, turned inside slightly, knees don’t bend almost. Now we’ll show what arms should do. Arms execute circular motions, like in breast-stroke. And you shouldn’t be confused with such different styles, this way children can learn swimming easier.

Train a child to breathe out into the water at once. In the beginning, he can put only his mouth into the water. Eyes and nose are still above the water. He should form a habit – as soon as water touches his mouth – we breathe out into the water. Then we get used to put mouth and nose, then mouth, nose, eyes into the water. We breathe evenly, not too deep: half- breath, half- outward breath. Breathe in, look where we’re swimming, pull down the head, and breathe out into the water. Let a child hold firstly a pier, buoy, parent’s hand. And buy him eyeglasses to protect eyes.

Five - ten lessons – and you can see your child can hold in water confidently wearing armlets, swim on his tummy, breathes out into the water. So, it’s time to turn to his back. It’s easier to swim on back: a child doesn’t have to breathe out in water, he can look around while swimming, and use only his legs to swim… Children like swimming on back, but only after they learn swimming on tummy, as although it’s more difficult to swim on a tummy, it’s still more natural. Observe your child holds head, tummy and legs aflat. Let him imagine he’s lying of a sofa. As soon as he feels such position, he’ll learn swimming on back. A child can relax his arms, but also he may rake up slightly.

Don’t be in a hurry to put off armlets, wait till your child learns holding on water confidently. Let him swimming on a tummy, back, diving, swimming by breast-stroke and the crawl, wearing armlets… Then try to loosen armlets by half. If a baby says: “I cannot swim, I’m sinking”, this means it’s not time to put them off yet. Let him swimming wearing them, or try to putt off one by one slowly.

After 30 lessons while swimming, any child, even the shyest one, will swim independently. Have no doubts!

However, in general, it’s better to join a section, so that to form a good skill. When a child can already swim by overarm, for example, it’ll be difficult for a trainer to teach him again.