Kelly Pfeiffer's Blog

Posted by Kelly Pfeiffer

Welcoming a new baby to the family brings both new joy and new stress, especially for children in the family. Parenting writers at Suite101 have written some informative articles to help big brothers and big sisters adjust to a new baby.

Before the baby arrives, parents can involve kids in decorating a nursery to create sibling bonds as well as help children bond by sharing outgrown furniture and children can make a present to welcome a baby.

Siblings watch the new baby get lots of presents, so it can be helpful to give siblings presents when a new baby is born. Another idea is to show videos, photos and baby book of big brother or big sister. Looking at videos and photos of their own birth can help an older sibling understand how much time parents spent taking care of them when they were first born.

Parents remember that parent quality time helps sibling relationships and reduces jealous feelings among siblings. Also learn simple ways to validate feelings when talking to children about new baby jealousy.

If your family is welcoming a new baby into the home, I hope you'll find these articles helpful and always feel free to come back to the article and leave a comment.

Posted by Kelly Pfeiffer

Infants and Relationships in Early Life

Did you know that the first relationships of life form the basis for friendship skills? A secure attachment teaches infants about the emotional safety level in trusting relationships. That's why healthy attachment helps children make friends later in life, in the toddler and preschool years and also into the teen and adult ages.

Two-Year-Olds: Social but Anti-Social

Knowing about typical social and emotional development can help adults understand why young children act the way they do at times. Parents and child care providers may want to know why it's hard for two-year-olds to share toys. Adults can better set expectations and limits for children when they understand typical behaviors at age two.

Three-Year-Olds: More Understanding of Others

Because of the rapid development of social and emotional skills between the ages of 24 and 36 months, three-year-olds are ready to start learning friendship skills, how to use their words to solve conflicts and how to have empathy for others. But because three-year-olds have not had lots of practice using friendship skills, they need plenty of help and coaching from adults. Also adults need to realize that three-year-olds will make plenty of mistakes on the path to acquiring and using friendship skills.

Give Opportunities for Preschooler to Interact Socially

Preschoolers need to be exposed to peers but also need quiet time to regroup. When preschoolers are new at solving conflicts with others, it can be overwhelming and young children often get emotionally overstimulated easily. Adults can set up play dates and peer interactions so that preschoolers have plenty of space for parallel play and creative type play. Read about these outdoor summer preschool playgroup ideas and learn how to set the scene for healthy peer interactions.

Posted by Kelly Pfeiffer

Social scientists have been investigating the causes, signs, patterns and results of bullies, bully victims and bystanders. What do bullies have in common? Do child bullies lack empathy? What role does the bystander play in bullying behavior continuing or esacalating? Did you know that girls are more likely to remain victims of bullies for a long period of time more so than boys?

Schools have implemented new policies to deal with bullying behavior and to decrease the likelihood that students will bully others. Recently The Oprah Winfrey Show talked about bullying and highlighted the emotional devastation caused by bullies.

Parents and teachers have created strategies to cope with bullying and stop it before it reaches extreme levels. Keeping a bully journal can help when parents need to take bullying issues to school authorities or eventually to the police.

Our society is getting better at recognizing and dealing with bullies, but bullies aren't going away. No one wants their child to be the victim of a bully, but often parents are the last to know. It seems that parents must use their gut feeling and ask questions to kids. If parents suspect that their child is being bullied, they may want to observe their kids in social interactions from afar as well as meet with teachers to see what social situations may be happening at school.

Posted by Kelly Pfeiffer

Sibling relationships have highs and lows. Sibling rivalry issues and sibling arguments are common and cause tension during family meals, family outings, morning routines, bedtime routines and more. Parents of siblings want relief from sibling fights as well as any small tips that will reduce sibling conflicts or improve the relationship among siblings.

Dealing with Siblings Conflicts

Why Children Tattle Tale offers parents some insight into reasons that siblings tattle on each other. When parents understand some of the sibling thinking behind tattling, parents can choose strategies that deal with the root of the tattling issue.

Sibling fights can escalate emotions to a high level. An Anger Wheel for Fighting Siblings helps children choose a way to calm down before trying to resolve conflicts. Introduce siblings to the idea of walking away to calm down before a conflict escalates into violence or disrespectful actions.