John's Articles
Mom-Care is Generally Better Than Daycare
Posted on 5/22/2001
CLOSED MINDS SHUT OUT VITAL RESEARCH ON DAY CARE We live in the postmodern age, which is characterized by a rampant anti-intellectualism. It matters not, for example, that objective evidence...
Read MorePacifiers
Posted on 3/6/2001
A LITTLE COMMON SENSE YOU CAN FILE FOR LATER Good Ideas File: Responding to my recent article on pacifiers, a mother writes, "I have three children, ages 5, 7, and 9. When it came time for one...
Read More10-Month-Old Cries at Everything
Posted on 2/27/2001
AN EASILY STARTLED 10-MONTH-OLD IS NOT A 'CRYBABY' Q. Our 10-month-old son has started crying at things he's never cried at before. A stuffed cow mooed at him the other day and he just began...
Read MoreDevelopmental Milestones for Social Behaviors
Posted on 10/17/2000
SOCIAL SKILLS HAVE THEIR MILESTONE AGES, TOO Almost everyone is familiar with the concept of milestones as they relate to a child's developmental "health." For example, the average age of...
Read MoreDay Care Issues
Posted on 7/11/2000
SCHLESSINGER TAKES OVERLY HARSH STAND ON DAY CARE It was, I suppose, inevitable that people, journalists included, would ask me what I think about the position on children and day care that...
Read MoreExperts Recommend Young Children Not Be Allowed on Computers
Posted on 6/27/2000
PEN, PAPER BETTER THAN COMPUTER AS LEARNING TOOL A growing number of experts are recommending that young children not be allowed on computers for any reason at all. These people are not...
Read MoreParents Leaving 18-Month-Old with Grandma for Trip
Posted on 5/23/2000
ENJOY YOUR TRIP - CHILD WILL WELCOME YOU BACK Q. My husband and I are about to take a four-day trip, during which we plan to leave our 18-month-old daughter with my in-laws. Grandma works, but...
Read More30-Month-Old Potty Training
Posted on 4/18/2000
PARENTS TODAY EXAGGERATE PSYCHOLOGY OF TOILET TRAINING I came across an interesting question the other day while reading my e-mail. The mother of a 30-month-old was asking for some direction...
Read MoreAppropriate Amount of Praise for 15-Month-Old
Posted on 3/14/2000
TODDLER WILL SOON BECOME DEPENDENT ON STEADY PRAISE Q. What is the appropriate amount of praise for a 15-month-old? I praise my toddler for specific accomplishments, but I don't make a...
Read MoreAppropriate Punishment for 13-Month-Old
Posted on 2/29/2000
Q. What is the best approach to handling unwanted behavior from my 13-month-old? For example, one thing she likes to do is shake the dining room chairs. She pulled one over on her once, but...
Read MoreOptimal Time for Toilet Training lies between 18 and 30 Months
Posted on 1/18/2000
TOILET-TRAINING MAY HAVE A WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY, OPEN AT 18 MONTHS I have addressed the issue of toilet training in previous columns and books. My advice has been to time the initiation of...
Read MoreParents Want to Know of Unique Challenges of Having Kids Close Together in Age
Posted on 12/14/1999
MAKE THE MOST OF WHAT YOU KNOW, AND YOUR 3 KIDS WILL BE FINE Q. We have three children: 3 years, 22 months and 9 months. Are there any insights you can share regarding any unique challenges or...
Read More18-Month-Old Bangs Her Head in Crib
Posted on 8/3/1999
Q. When we put her in her crib at night, our 18-month-old daughter gets on all fours and rocks back and forth, banging her head against the headboard. It's a gentle but persistent banging...
Read MoreLate Toilet Training
Posted on 3/9/1999
DISPOSE OF IDEAS ON LATE TOILET TRAINING As some readers know, I have declared all-out war on the absurd, destructive notion - touted by the likes of America's favorite pediatrician, T. Berry...
Read MoreToilet Training
Posted on 12/15/1998
TOILET TRAINING BY AGE 2 SERVES CHILD BEST T. Berry Brazelton, who recently became the spokesperson for Pampers, and I are at odds over toilet training. We've gone point/counterpoint in...
Read MoreToilet Training Series - Part 3
Posted on 9/15/1998
EARLY TOILET TRAINING CALLS FOR VOICES OF EXPERIENCE Q. My mother tells me she and her siblings were completely toilet trained by age 18 months, but she doesn't know how. My mother is the...
Read MoreIt’s Parents’ Responsibility to Decide on Potty Training
Posted on 8/25/1998
Q. What are your feelings about the idea, as expressed by (a well-known parenting authority) that "only the child knows when he's ready to be toilet trained?'' A. Equating toilet training with...
Read MoreDay Care Update
Posted on 3/31/1998
UPDATE ON DAY CARE: IT'S STILL NOT AS HEALTHY AS ADVERTISED Five years ago, I wrote a series of columns in which I contended that group day care is disadvantageous for children under age 3....
Read MoreChildren Should Be Accountable For Their Behavior
Posted on 12/16/1997
WHEN CHILD GETS TO AGE 2, PUSH HIM OUT OF PARADISE In Genesis 2 and 3, Adam and Eve - after being told not to do so - eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. When God discovers what...
Read MoreQuick-and-Easy Potty Training
Posted on 9/30/1997
As promised in last week's column, today's column will reveal the secrets of quick-and-easy toilet training; but first, a brief recap: * The typical child is ready to be toilet trained between...
Read MoreCome What May’ Approach to Potty Training Is All Wet
Posted on 9/23/1997
Q. My son is 28 months old and not yet toilet-trained. My mother-in-law says he should no longer be wearing diapers, but on a recent talk show, a pediatrician said parents should be in no hurry...
Read More3 Understandings That Parents Should Communicate to Children by Age 3
Posted on 6/3/1997
RULES FOR RAISING CHILDREN RESPONSIBLY COME IN SETS OF 3 One of the main themes of my sixth book, "A Family Of Value'' (Andrews and McMeel, 1996), concerns three fundamental understandings...
Read More15-Month-Old Biting Other Children
Posted on 2/1/1996
NO ONE KNOWS WHAT MAKES SOME TODDLERS BITE HOW TO HANDLE 15-MONTH-OLD'S FORCEFUL TEETHING' Q. Our 15-month-old son has recently started biting other children, usually when there's some...
Read MoreParent Care vs Day Care - Part 4
Posted on 7/2/1993
ONCE AGAIN, LISTEN UP: CARING FOR CHILD AT HOME IS BETTER THAN DAY CARE Jennifer Mitchell, a columnist for the Des Moines (Iowa) Register, recently took me to task for saying that at-home...
Read MoreParent Care vs Day Care - Part 3
Posted on 3/19/1993
OUTRAGE OVER CHILD-CARE COLUMN POINTS TO THE REAL PROBLEM: DECLINE OF FAMILY In a feature article and two separate editorials, The Des Moines Register has taken me to task for a column in...
Read MoreParent Care vs Day Care - Part 2
Posted on 12/18/1992
Q. I read a recent column of yours in which you said that parent care during the first three years of life is preferable to daycare. I tend to agree, but wouldn't some children be better off in...
Read MoreParent Care vs Day Care - Part 1
Posted on 12/4/1992
STAYING AT HOME ENCOURAGES INDEPENDENCE IN TODDLER I recently wrote that parent care during the first three years of life is highly preferable, in most cases, to day care. A number of folks...
Read MoreRegular Bedtime Routine for 3-Year-Old and 15-Month-Old
Posted on 7/28/1991
TODDLERS NEED REGULAR ROUTINE TO FOLLOW AT BEDTIME Q. I have two sons, ages 3 and 15 months. When the first was a baby, I rocked him to sleep. As he got older, I began lying down with him at...
Read MoreRoles of Husband and Wife Taking Care of 8-Month-Old
Posted on 4/21/1991
HOW DO PARENTS PRESERVE A MARRIAGE WHILE KIDS ARE YOUNG? Q. My husband and I heard you speak in Orlando (Fla.) and were especially interested in your advice to parents, that they act...
Read MorePut Baby on Schedule
Posted on 1/6/1991
PUT BABY ON SCHEDULE SO 3 FAMILIES CAN RELAX Q. We are three families being tyrannized by one small infant's sleeping habits. One-year-old William is a generally sunny, happy little person,...
Read More2-Year-Old Friends Fight When Around Each Other
Posted on 9/16/1990
PALS WHOSE KIDS FIGHT: FRIENDSHIP'S SEPARATE Q: We are best friends, writing to you about our two girls, ages 22 months and two years. Both children are easygoing - until they are in the same...
Read More15-Month-Old Excercise Class
Posted on 1/7/1990
EXERCISE CLASS FOR TODDLERS? FIDDLESTICKS Q. We are very health-conscious parents who want our 15-month-old daughter to grow up physically fit. There's an exercise program for toddlers that's...
Read More16-Month-Old Climbing and Getting into Things Off-Limits
Posted on 10/22/1989
TODDLERS' PARENTS MUST CHILDPROOF THE HOME TO AVOID BAD BREAKS Q. Our 16-month-old daughter has recently started climbing and getting into lots of things that are off-limits. We have tried...
Read MoreParent of 3-Month-Old Looking for Good Daycare
Posted on 9/17/1989
WANTED: DAY CARE THAT WORKS Q. Being the mother of 3-month-old girl, I read your recent article on infant day care with interest. My leave of absence from my job is almost over, and I've been...
Read MoreMom Torn About Returning to Work After Having Baby
Posted on 8/13/1989
FAMILY DAY CARE SETTING IS BEST FOR INFANTS Q. I took a leave of absence from my job to have my first baby and be totally available to her for the first three months of her life. Now people...
Read More3-Year-Old Hurting 10-Month-Old
Posted on 2/26/1989
TEACH CHILD NOT TO HURT BABY BROTHER Q. How can we keep our oldest, a 3-year-old daughter, from hurting our 10- month-old? Ever since the baby started crawling, our daughter has been...
Read MoreTips for New Parents with Infants
Posted on 4/24/1988
TIPS TO MAKE LIFE A LOT EASIER FOR NEW PARENTS When our first child, a son, was born in 1969, my wife and I knew absolutely nothing about being parents. We thought all babies acted like the...
Read More10-Month-Old Separation Anxiety
Posted on 7/26/1987
INFANT IN 1ST STAGE OF SEPARATION ANXIETY Q. I have my 10-month-old son in a Mother's Morning Out program one morning a week. He cries almost the entire four hours unless one of the teachers is...
Read More17-Month-Old and Special Needs Relative
Posted on 5/3/1987
DON'T END CHILD'S CARING FOR RETARDED RELATIVE Q: My 17-month-old son spends a lot of time around my 25-year-old sister- in-law, who is retarded. The two of them really love one another, and...
Read More18-Month-Old Head Banging Issue
Posted on 3/22/1987
HEAD BANGING NO PROBLEM CHILDREN HAVE OWN WAYS OF PUTTING THEMSELVES TO SLEEP Q. When we put her to bed, our 18-month-old daughter gets on her hands and knees and rocks back and forth,...
Read MoreDay-Care Spanking
Posted on 12/26/1986
I'M AGAINST DAY-CARE SPANKING Joseph Chambers wrote a column that appeared on this page Oct. 1 under the headline "I'd Go To Jail Over Right To Spank." Obviously, the Rev. Chambers believes...
Read MoreMother Guilt in Going Back to Work
Posted on 11/30/1986
BABIES ALSO BENEFIT FROM FATHERS' CARE Q. I'm a schoolteacher who just had her first baby, a girl, in July. Before the baby was born, we decided I would return to work after three months....
Read More3-Month-Old Bedtime Issue
Posted on 8/17/1986
KEEP NOISE UP WHEN BABY'S DOWN Q. We just spent a week of "vacation" with my parents, during which my mother and I got into it over the way I put our 3-month-old first child to sleep. I...
Read More3-Year-Old and 15-Month-Old Bedtime Issues
Posted on 3/9/1986
HEAD OFF CHILD'S BEDTIME BATTLE Q. I have two sons. The first is 3, the second is 15 months. When the first was a baby, I rocked him to sleep. As he got older, I began lying down with him...
Read MoreTelevision Is Habit Forming
Posted on 1/19/1986
SOME PEOPLE CAN BECOME GLUED' TO TV Q. Our 5-month-old loves to look at television. While I watch my programs in the evening, she lies on her quilt and stares at the screen. I think she...
Read More6-Month-Old Baby Boy Very Fussy and Needy
Posted on 11/4/1985
MEET BABY'S NEEDS AS WELL AS YOUR OWN Q. The host of a local television talk show recently interviewed a pediatrician who has just written a book on fussy babies. His description of what...
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