Caregivers Articles

Listed by most recent articles first.

• Future Planning for Your Intellectually Disabled Adult Child
  If you are in your mid to late 50s or older and have an intellectually disabled adult child living at home, you are part of the first generation whose disabled kids may well outlive them. ...
• When A Sibling Is Disabled
  The college-age daughter of a friend of mine once told me how, when she was growing up, she was jealous of the extra attention that her twin brother got from their parents. She was angry ...
• Aggressive Children
  There are times when even the most docile children appear to have the aggressive tendencies of a professional wrestler. While a certain amount of pushing and shoving is to be expected from all children, especially ...
• Teaching Your Child To Fall Asleep
  Although it appears so deceptively simple that we take it for granted, learning to go to sleep is often as much of a challenge to children as learning to walk. Bedtime is a cue for ...
• Encouraging the Special Interests of Kids with Special Needs
  It’s hard to know with any child when to say no, when to say yes, how much to push or set limits, or when to let him or her try to take flight, knowing he ...
• Finding a Reliable, Caring Babysitter
  A few years ago my office manager showed up late for work because her seventeen-month-old son's baby-sitter had canceled at the last minute. (She usually brought her infant daughter to work with her.) It was ...
• Toddlers and Preschoolers Who Bite
  For hours after the incident, I could still see the impressions of the other preschooler’s front teeth on the bridge of my four-year-old son’s nose. Apparently my son’s classmate had become very frustrated by something ...
• The Scheduled Child
  Each fall when our kids were young, my husband and I would make an elaborate grid with each kid’s name (there are four of them) going down the left side and the days of the ...
• When a Child is a Picky Eater
  When it comes to food, young children are notoriously finicky. Many parents find that their preschooler's idea of a gastronomic delight is peanut butter and grape jelly on cheap, packaged white bread that has the ...
• When Parents Disagree on Discipline
  Any child who has spilled a glass of milk or tried to negotiate a later bedtime is aware of the subtle differences in her parents' styles of discipline. One parent is often a bit quicker ...
• What’s Your Baby’s Temperament?
  Days or even hours after their children are born, parents reach conclusions about their temperaments. They may describe their babies as fussy or easygoing, sensitive or curious. For years, pediatricians and psychologists paid little attention ...
• The Purpose of Baby Talk
  You've probably noticed how adults often talk differently to babies than to other adults or even toddlers. They raise the pitch of their voices and do other things we would consider inappropriate or insulting in ...
• Fireproofing Your Children
  The acrid smell of smoke in the hospital room was overwhelming. The child in the bed with white sheets pulled up to her chin, oxygen mask on her face, and IV tubes running to her ...
• Children Who are Home Alone
  A recent U.S. Census report shows 7 million of the nation's 38 million children ages 5 to 14 are left home alone regularly. For many parents, this is not a happy or freely chosen decision. ...
• Tricks To Make Parenting a Treat
  All too often in our parent roles, we feel like an ogre or the mean old witch, when we would much rather play the good fairy or the benevolent king. We have so many ...
• Grandparenting a Disabled Child
  Grandparenting is a delicious second chance for nurturing a child. Chances are you looked forward to using hard-won lessons from your experience as a parent to do it better this time. Chances are you looked ...
• What is Al-Anon and Alateen?
  The Al-Anon (for adults) and Alateen (for teens) program is a Twelve Step program for the relatives and friends of alcoholics or someone who is or has been a problem drinker. It is not uncommon ...
• Learning To Say No
  Do you wish you could put your foot down sometimes and say no? Many of us feel compelled to agree to every request, and would rather juggle a million jobs than refuse to help, even ...
• How to Help Someone Suffering from a Chronic Illness
  If someone you love is diagnosed with cancer or a life-threatening disease, you may feel desperate and completely helpless. But it doesn't have to be that way. Research has shown us that family and friends can ...
• Caring for an Elder Parent
  A combination of trends is sparking heightened interest in generational issues. For one thing, people are simply living longer due to advances in medicine and preventive health. It's more common today, as opposed to 50 ...
• Frequently Asked Questions about Serious Illness
  People often have questions about serious illness and what can be done to help a person emotionally when they are coping with a serious medical condition. Here are some answers. Q. How important is it to ...
• Better Parenting Starts with Improving Ourselves
  Parents are more alike than different. Most of us want to do a good job. Most of us love our children to death. Whether married, divorced, or single, most of our kids have at least ...
• Finding Balance: Family Therapy Can Help
  Kathy and Will (not their real names) have been married eight years and are the parents of 3-year-old Addy. Kathy is seven months pregnant and scared. She and Will have been fighting a lot lately ...
• Supporting Friends and Family Who Have Mental Illnesses
  If you have a family member or friend who’s been diagnosed with a mental illness, you’re probably wondering what you can do to help. Although new forms of therapy and medication make it possible for many ...
• Changing Children’s Behavior — Part III
  When we say that a child is misbehaving, what we mean is that somehow we have become involved in a negative cycle of interaction with that child that we don’t know how to stop. Both ...