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Showing posts from May, 2011

Tantrums

A tantrum is really about your toddler realizing that he or she is a separate person, with their own voice and views who does not want to be told what to do by anyone; not you, not his or her friends, not by relatives or even not by their grandparents. For this reason when your toddler feels he or she is losing control for any reason, they become overwhelmed by their feelings, and feel a flood of emotions, which triggers a tantrum. Claire B. Kopp, professor of applied developmental psychology at California's Claremont Graduate University, attributes much of the problem to uneven language skills. "Toddlers are beginning to understand a lot more of the words they hear, yet their ability to  produce  language is so limited," she says. When your child can't express how she feels or what she wants, frustration mounts. WHY YOUR CHILD HAS TANTRUMS? FATIGUE OR HUNGER When your child is very tired or hungry it is more likely he could get overwhelmed and go into a rag...

Fever Fears

A fever is a good thing. It means your child's immune system is doing it's job by fighting an underlying cold or another infection. The brain commands the body's temperature to rise, which in turn directs the white blood cells to attack and destroy invading viruses and bacteria. FIRST RESPONSE As a parent, what you should do about a fever depends largely on your child's age and the reading. If he's less than three months old, anything above 38ºC warrants a quick call to the doctor. Because an infants immune system isn't fully developed, he's vulnerable to potentially life-threatening infections like bacterial meningitis and pneumonia , and an elevated body temperature is often the only symptom. Between three and six months, your child needs to be examined by his pediatrician once his fever hits 38.3ºC, says Steven Shelov, M.D., editor-in-chief of American Academy of Pediatrics' Caring for your Baby and Young Child. Once your child is older t...