To help navigate a smooth transition to the big kid bed, Lori Strong, certified sleep consultant and owner of Strong Little Sleepers in Austin, TX, answers seven common questions about making the switch. Timing If a child is comfortable in a crib, there’s no reason to move to a bed—just because your child turns two, or even three, doesn’t mean it’s time to make the switch. In fact, it’s best to wait until your toddler is at least two to transition to a toddler bed (or a twin), but the closer your child is to three, the better....

“Most of the time, a knot in the umbilical cord is a benign thing,” says Pietro Bortoletto, MD, MSc, a reproductive endocrinologist and director of reproductive surgery at Boston IVF. “Some people even think that it is good luck to have a knot in the cord. In rare cases, however, a true knot can be associated with third trimester decreased fetal movement.” To help alleviate some of the concern about a true knot in your baby’s cord, we talked to experts in the field to get the facts about what a true knot is, how it forms, and what risks it poses....

Twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome only happens when identical twins share a placenta. Fraternal twins and identical twins with separate placentas are not at risk for TTTS. Signs of TTTS Twins with TTTS have different symptoms based on whether they are donors or recipients. Recipient twins receive too much blood, both from the placenta and from the other twin. These babies are larger and have excessive amniotic fluid (polyhydramnios). Because these babies have so much blood in their bodies, their circulatory systems may be overloaded, causing heart problems....

The plan will include your child’s classification, placement, services such as a one-on-one aide and therapies, academic and behavioral goals, a behavior plan if needed, percentage of time in mainstream education, and progress reports from teachers and therapists. The IEP is planned at an IEP meeting. The individualized part of IEP means that the plan has to be tailored specifically to your child’s needs—not to the needs of the teacher, or the school, or the district....

But, it can be hard to know what to do when your child doesn’t pick up his toys or doesn’t turn off his video game the first time you tell him. Fortunately, there are some steps you can take to gain compliance and get your child to listen the first time you speak. How to Give an Effective Warning If…then warnings can teach your child that you mean business the first time you speak....

When we talk about visualization, most people are going to think of things like reading scenarios of walking through the forest or laying on the beach listening to waves. That can be a visualization exercise. However, what works best is usually something personal. Reliving a Positive Experience Many people tell me that they enjoy reliving a positive experience like a date, a vacation, or their wedding. This personalized approach can be very helpful for people who are hesitant or finding visualization difficult....

What Does Vitamin D Do? According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), there are six important vitamins your children should be receiving adequate supplies of. Vitamin D is one of those six. It has a couple of primary functions; advancing tooth and bone creation while controlling mineral absorption. The AAP notes that while the pro-vitamin camp insists vitamin D doses larger than the U.S. Recommended Dietary Allowance will make bones stronger, there doesn’t appear to be any evidence to verify that assertion....

You have to give credit card or bank account information. The application costs money. The mailing address is a residential address rather than a place of business. The service guarantees results–no one can guarantee that you’ll receive a particular scholarship. Check with the local Better Business Bureau to make sure there are no complaints filed against the party in question. (Their website is www.bbb.com.) If the scholarship comes from a national foundation, make sure the foundation exists....

The qualities of character develop through an interplay of family, school, and community influences and the child’s individual temperament, experiences, and choices. Parents have many opportunities and tools to build their children’s character. Using them will give you the joy and satisfaction of seeing your kids grow into people of integrity and compassion. Be a Role Model Parents who exhibit the qualities of good character powerfully transmit their values to their children....

Duties of Middle School Officers Let’s explore some of the duties middle school officers might have so you can help your tween know what to expect and make a decision. Keep in mind that these duties might be different from school to school, though they are generally similar. Class President The middle school class president often has more responsibility than the other officers. It is an interesting and challenging position, and it offers an excellent opportunity for building leadership and social skills....

Most often, this soft, downy hair appears on preemies, but full-term newborns are sometimes born with lanugo, too. While it can be a surprise for parents to see, it’s not a cause for concern. Learn more about why this baby hair is there, how long before it typically goes away, and when, in rare instances, it could be a sign of a problem. Why Lanugo Is Important Lanugo is part of an important developmental stage for your baby....

Recently, celebrities Will and Jada Pinkett Smith shed light on how their son Jaden was following a very restrictive relationship with food. While not diagnosed with orthorexia nervosa, the Smith’s worried. “Will and I had a bit of an intervention with Jaden because he’s a vegan but we realized he wasn’t getting enough protein,” Pinkett Smith said on her show Red Table Talk when Jaden was age 21. “He just looked drained....

What Is the Placenta? The placenta is a pancake-like organ that attaches to the inside of the uterus during pregnancy. The umbilical cord connects the fetus to the placenta so that nutrients, blood, and oxygen can get to the fetus from the mother. It also helps remove waste from the fetus’s blood. The placenta also produces hormones related to pregnancy, like human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), progesterone, and estrogen. The placenta has two components to it: the maternal side of the placenta and the fetal side of the placenta....

Then, the final step most parents take is packing a bag so it’s ready to go on the day they go into labor. Since many people tend to overpack for this big event, we spoke with experts and first-time parents about what they brought, what they actually used, and what they wished they had packed (but didn’t) for their hospital delivery. Read on for tried-and-true childbirth packing tips. What the Hospital Provides Before you start packing, it’s important to know what hospitals typically provide at no cost to you....

The good news is that the newest guidelines, which were released in 2017, clear up the issue significantly. We now know that exposing babies to peanut butter before age 1 will reduce the risk of peanut allergies. Unfortunately, the previous guidelines, which recommended waiting longer, seems to have backfired by causing an uptick in food allergies. Higher Rates of Peanut Allergies Allergies are a hypersensitive immune system response to a foreign substance (such as peanuts), which can result in a range of symptoms from hives to anaphylaxis, a severe and potentially life-threatening condition....

For instance, children who live in a bilingual home may take a little longer to become fluent in either language (but in the long run may have significantly better verbal skills than their peers). Toddlers in a family with older siblings sometimes speak later because brothers and sisters “talk for them.” Research also shows that girls speak earlier than boys. Sometimes, though, speaking late or speech that is unclear can signal a developmental delay or a physical problem....

In a complete reversal based on research, in 2017 experts recommended that infants at high risk of developing peanut allergy instead be fed foods containing peanuts as early as four to six months of age. Apparently, oral exposure to peanuts in these children doesn’t trigger a life-threatening reaction, but rather desensitizes the child to peanuts. In other words, by eating peanut products at a young age, infants at high risk for peanut allergy become tolerant....

In fact, using guilt or a guilt trip is one of the least effective parenting strategies there is. Even though this tactic may work in the short term, and your child may do what you want, guilt-tripping kids can have lasting consequences like low self-esteem if you resort to it often enough. Here’s what you need to know about guilt trips, why they are ineffective parenting strategies, and what you can do instead....