Effort: Fairly easy — some sewing required Materials: White or tan sheet Brown cord or rope Safety pins Bobby pins Glue Leaves (real or fake) Autumn-colored cloth butterflies Brown or tan sandals Makeup in brown, gold, orange, and yellow (optional) Instructions: Use bobby pins to attach the leaves throughout your child’s hair. Fold the sheet to an appropriate length for the height of your child. Wrap it toga-style, or wrap it like a tube top and pin it securely with safety pins in back....

However, not all bibs are created equally, and finding the best baby bib for your little one when there’s so much choice out there can be a pain. If you’ve visited too many baby stores or scanned the virtual aisles online and are feeling fed up, we’ve got you covered. So, whether your baby boy or baby girl is a drooler or enjoys getting messy at mealtime, we’re sharing the best baby bibs in the market....

This is an important lesson to teach your children and it’s not an easy one. To teach a child to applaud the winner and accept his or her loss, you are teaching them a form of empathy. It feels good to win and isn’t it nice to be congratulated for your efforts? Remind your child that the next time he or she wins, he or she will receive the same praise and that you should treat others the way you would expect to be treated in return....

This approach is often used to discipline kids with ADHD, autism, or oppositional defiant disorder. However, it can be effective for all kids. Discipline Discipline strategies fall under positive or negative punishment. Positive punishment involves adding a consequence, while negative punishment involves taking something away. Positive Punishment Punishment is used to stop negative behaviors. And while it sounds confusing to refer to punishment as “positive,” in operant conditioning, the term positive means adding....

Whether you have 15 minutes or an hour to spare, listening to motherhood-themed podcasts is a great way to find connection. solace, and practical strategies that really work—and to make yourself laugh. Below, we share some of the best podcasts to listen to as a new mom. For Breastfeeding Many new moms have questions about breastfeeding and feeding their baby. But when you’re trying to fit in a gazillion nursing sessions, the last thing you may have the energy for is reading or looking up answers on the internet....

Beta-hCG (β-hCG) is a test that measures the amount of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in the blood. This hormone is produced as soon as 10 days after conception. In healthy pregnancies, levels of hCG increase rapidly in early pregnancy. An above-normal level can confirm pregnancy. Serial beta-hCG tests done over time can show if hCG levels are increasing, which is a sign that a pregnancy is proceeding normally. Aside from this, the beta-hCG test may also be used during evaluations of fertility treatments (a synthetic form of the hormone is sometimes used to help follicles mature and trigger ovulation), as well as when there are concerns that something may be wrong with a pregnancy....

Research conducted at Rutgers University demonstrated that prenatal factors affect linguistic development and postnatal factors contribute to a child’s cognitive development. And gross motor development is widely considered to be the result of innate, biological factors, with postnatal factors contributing to a lesser extent. Biological factors include genetic influences, brain chemistry, hormone levels, nutrition, and gender. Here is a closer look at nutrition and gender and how they affect development....

Age group: 30-40 months Duration of activity: 1 hour Materials: Small toy bird, bought or homemade Balloon White craft glue Water Small bowl Yarn or twine Your child will love finding the bird in the cage. You might help your child make his own bird out of clay to use for this craft. Remember to collect and dispose of broken balloon pieces, which can be a choking hazard.

If you’re breastfeeding, you may be wondering if you could or should take something to ease the pain. Here’s what you need to know about the safety of taking over-the-counter painkillers while you’re breastfeeding. Motrin and Advil Motrin and Advil are brand names for the medication known as ibuprofen. Ibuprofen is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). NSAIDs can bring down an elevated temperature, reduce swelling in the body, and relieve pain....

First, discuss with your child the differences between bridges and tunnels what they typically look like and what they are used for. Make a bridge with your body and have your child go over it. Next make a tunnel and have your child go through it. Take turns creating interesting bridges and tunnels. If there are other children, you can make a series of bridges and tunnels and have the children go over and through them....

Effort: Quick and easy — no sewing required Materials: Dark-colored shirt and pants Disposable white Styrofoam cooler Wide, sturdy ribbon Small white balloons Packing tape Clear plastic shower cap Rubber ducky Sponge back scrubber Scissors and/or X-Acto® knife Instructions: Cut the bottom out of the cooler. Tape two ribbons to the cooler for shoulder straps. (Tape them on the wide side of the cooler.) Blow up a number of white balloons....

Nutritionists have devised various complicated formulas for estimating calorie needs. The standards are all in kilograms (kg) of body weight, which can be converted as 1 kg= 2.2 pounds. There are three formulas commonly used by nutritionists, the Harris Benedict, the Total Energy Expenditure Method, and Activity Factors. The first two formulas do not account for additional calories burned in exercise, and they should only be used as a guideline for basic calorie needs....

If you are a breastfeeding parent experiencing tummy trouble, you might be wondering what you can take for some relief. Perhaps Pepto Bismol has always been your go-to medicine of choice, or maybe it is all you have in your medicine cabinet and you are wondering if it’s OK to take, or if you have to trek out to the drugstore for an alternative. As Mitchell S. Kramer, MD, chairman of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Huntington Hospital explains, Pepto Bismol can pass into breast milk....

What Is Herpes? Herpes simplex virus, or HSV, is a virus that can cause sores and blisters in either the mouth or the genital area (and occasionally other body parts). As background, there are two main forms of herpes, HSV-1, and HSV-2. Doctors used to think that HSV-1 caused only cold sores (oral herpes) and HSV-2 genital herpes, but they now know that both virus types can cause both types of herpes....

Since filler is often used to address signs of aging—and exhaustion—and lack of sleep often comes with being pregnant and taking care of a newborn, you may be tempted to pay a visit to your dermatologist for the injectable. That said, don’t go on Zocdoc just yet. “When it comes to pregnancy safety, fillers are a gray area due to their composition,” notes Dendy Engelman, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in New York City....

Some evidence does support the idea that stress could affect a pregnancy. But the evidence is mixed, and many doctors and health authorities say that stress is not a contributing factor for miscarriage. How Stress May Affect Pregnancy Research shows that stress during pregnancy can increase the risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes, including maternal health complications and prematurity. In addition, some studies have found a possible connection between stress and early pregnancy loss....