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Make discussions age appropriate. Scale up the detail as they get older. NEVER LIE TO THEM. Just leave out details. My kids were all born about 3 years apart. This left ample time for each of the previous children to ask questions typical of their age group. Answering their question on the same level is always best. An almost-3-year-old asking, "how ...

"because I'm older", or "because I said so" are a cop-out. When I was a child I thought is was a cop-out when a parent said it, and I still think so. It's an answer when a parent is losing patience and/or doesn't have time to explain. It is better to say "I don't have time to explain, and this is how it has to be" as it's more constructive. It says to the ...

To teach children how to call for help appropriately, the first thing I would do is share with them the story of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" (which you have already mentioned). But you want to encourage, not discourage, your child to ask for assistance. Getting my kids ready to stay home alone has meant practicing what needs to be done in an emergency or if ...

It's not the children "thinking that's how parents should behave" that should concern you, it's the children thinking the parents' behavior is the child's fault. Being told something like, "your Mom's not as angry with you as she is about something else that happened to her earlier today" can have a tremendous impact, helping the child actually feel closer ...

I'd say you handled things with your son quite nicely all things considered. It sounds as though your son was really wishing to stick up for his friend and worried about his friend. Since his emphasis was on the friend and not on figuring out when it is okay to hit, I'd say he is already past the stage when he will start imitating. Parents have a much ...

The primary thing here has to be your daughter's welfare. If you and the mother have an actively hostile relationship, then you need to shield her from it as much as possible. When you spend time with her, avoid all mention of her mother, except in a supportive context (e.g. if she's complaining about her mum, remind her that her mother loves her, and ...

It sounds like your baby is right where she needs to be. Normal babies start reaching language milestones at a fairly wide range of ages. Some babies may hit some milestones early, and others late. You may have reason for concern if your child misses several milestones, but it doesn't sound like that is the case with your daughter. The language ...

NO. It is not OK to tell the kids you disagree with the parents about parenting or about other serious life decisions. It is just as bad to be critical of the parenting of others to their kids or to your own kids, for that matter. Other parents do not owe you an explanation for their actions and decisions, and almost certainly you do not have all of the ...

As soon as they start asking questions or show curiosity. Younger kids don't understand psychological aspects of sex, so wording might be different, when you talk about sex with six-year old and with a teenager. But it is perfectly OK to explain ehm... basic mechanics of sex, or pregnancy 101, as soon as the kid asks questions.

Im 13 and I'm the same way.Its a medicial condition called 'Selective Mutism'.I've been to several people and even been put on medicine and it hasn't helped.But my parents and I are trying.We've recently learned not to pressure them to talk or little things like that.My teachers would give me a mini whiteboard to write my answer down or I would write it on a ...

It's perfectly OK to express disagreement with parents, regardless of the age. Just make sure you do it in a way that won't get you in trouble with the parents, get the kid in trouble with the parents, or get the kid angry at you for what you've said about their parents. People disagree a lot. No kid should grow up thinking their parents are beyond ...

As a speech language pathologist, the general rule of thumb is one word is expected at 1 year of age. Some children have many words while some such as dual language learners may be weeks or months later. Your child is not delayed in speaking words. Speech development begins with a child cooing and babbling and moves on to jargon. These milestones are the ...

Possibly the part he's struggling with is the "why?" Why do they not have anywhere to live? Why are they hungry? When we need shelter, we go home; when we are hungry, we go to the fridge or a restaurant...why don't these people have a home/fridge/access to a restaurant? "Because they don't have the money" will probably lead to why they don't have any money. ...

Be a living example and do it with naration. In other words be considerate in front of your child and do it witnural narration. Don't say (to your child), do you see how I was considerate, rather say (to yourself), I am so glad I noticed that so and so was feeling down and I tried to make him/her feel better or I am so glad I was able to be polite and say ...

Don't panic. Children develop at different rates, and 10 months is very young. There's no immediate cause for concern. Don't force. Why put pressure on a 10 month old to perform? My investigation into this suggests that she's still a little young for you to expect her to pronounce recognizable words.

The fact your son is so distressed by it means he is unlikely to copy the behavior. Kids copy behavior that looks fun or that produces a desired result. Having himself and a friend reduced to tears is neither. I know parents who are reluctant even to do time outs, whose children hit each other all the time. I've also known children who had literally been ...

The daycare provider -- at her HOME -- didn't feel like she could tell the woman that it wasn't appropriate to hit, when it upsets her as well as her other business clients??!! She makes the rules IN HER HOME AND PLACE OF BUSINESS, does she not? This seems like the right angle to pursue -- tell the daycare provider that it upset your son, and that you ...

Both of my sons talked later, about 15 months or so before we got recognizable mama or baba, with our experience it's because they are learning Chinese Mandarin and English at the same time. They are both pretty fluent, both boys understood much of what we said in either language even when they did not speak. I don't know if adding in some sign language ...

It actually sounds like the parents you are describing verge somewhat onto neglectful behavior which IS bad. Although it isn't bad enough to be considered neglect officially, (assuming the kids have shelter, food and clothes) it is bad parenting and the kids need people like you in their lives to counteract the neglectful behavior on the part of their ...

Perhaps focusing on how you and your child communicate in closer proximity is a good place to begin practicing this skill. When in sight of your child, do not respond to crying but instead move into his line of sight. Then coach him with questions, or modeling the words you feel he should be saying quietly, until he says them himself. Then respond promptly ...

Based on what you're describing, it sounds very similar to issues I have had with my children. In particular, I have had this issue with my 3yo who is the middle child out of 5. The crying and lack of communication sometimes persists, but we have systematically improved the situation. I think the key thing is for you to introduce structure. It sounds like ...

Our 3.5 year old had exactly the same pattern recently develop. All of a sudden at day care he wouldn't say a word to anyone, but at pre-school, at play group, here at home, basically everywhere else he was "normal". A quick bit of fly on the wall observation showed he was being bullied outside the teacher's observation at day care and his reaction was to ...

There is a really good picture book called "Fly Away Home" by eve bunting. It has been a long time since I've read it, but it is a story about a man and his son who live in the airport and may offer up some ideas for you. Not all homeless are mentally ill either. I'm sure there are probably some good treatises for kids about mental illness as well. I'd ...

First of all, there's a definite age before which this point simply cannot be made. How old a child are we talking about? Assuming that we're talking about a growing child, say 4, there's a very simple phrase that I used to great success: Treat other people the way you want to be treated.* Keep your eyes peeled, and you'll have ample opportunity to support ...

Humans learn by three methods: imitation, gain, and loss. Let’s discuss each one. Imitation: First, parents must be considerate in their dealings in front of the children but certainly with the children. Second, parents should encourage relationships with considerate people and discourage others. This includes parents' friends. Third, parents may appraise ...

Being the child of divorced parents and looking at your question I'd say you need more time with your daughter. Intermittent contact and less than two hours a week of face time, if I am reading your question and adding it up right, means not much contact. If your contact is that limited then it's easy for the other party to say that you don't love your ...

This one requires consistency and patience, but I encourage you to take him out and expose him to as many different environments as you can. Kids can distinguish different environments and connect to the idea that different environments require different behaviors at a very young age. Many kids your boy's age that are bi and tri-lingual can distinguish who ...

This is your 2 year old? "Ooh that hurts my ears when you yell. Could you ask me again quieter so I can hear you better?" After a while of this, get him to brainstorm/practice. "Ooh too loud, what would help me hear you better?" Plus, I think you can start using "inside/outside voice" - that's probably what he'll hear in preschool/school. "We are inside, ...

In general, this is not a good response for reasons you and other responders already offered. If it is safe to let them experiment and isn't beyond set and defined rules, once in awhile, don't say anything and let them make the mistake - they learn a lot from this. If you have given a direction, it is realted to a rule in your househole or a value you ...

Very hard to answer this question. It really depends on the context. You absolutely should cultivate their immediate obedience to your direction when it's appropriate. Those are usually situations of danger/harm. We do a lot of climbing, cycling, and skiing in situations where there's no margin for error. They can get all the details after the situation has ...