Book Excerpt
Living Green?
2006 is now behind us and, like my family, you may be celebrating successes of the past year and setting goals for the new one. Hopefully among your successes are new levels of "greenness" - living in…
Apprentice, Athlete, Scholar, Poet – Part 5
As parents, you get to be detectives, solving the ever-changing mystery of what will make your baby smile. And the clues you unearth are also the best clues to the developmental tasks that are importa…
Apprentice, Athlete, Scholar, Poet – Part 4
The Poet The poet's journey is the story of learning to observe and describe one's experience of the world. Great poets are first great listeners. There are two sides of the language coin: understandi…
Apprentice, Athlete, Scholar, Poet – Part 3
The Scholar The scholar's story is one of emotional and intellectual growth. Behind the scenes, your baby is gaining, not just strength and coordination, but a deep understanding of the way things wor…
Apprentice, Athlete, Scholar, Poet – Part 2
The Athlete Soon your little athlete will be full of energy, sprinting forward in life. Training for this race begins with tummy time soon after the umbilical stump has fallen off. This exercise build…
Apprentice, Athlete, Scholar, Poet – Part 1
Introduction The toddler that rushes down the hall calling, "Mommy phone!" is dramatically different from the newborn you held in your arms a moment and an eternity ago. Astonishing and unparalleled g…
Flying High or Plunging Low: Postpartum Depression
Blue is a normal color in the rainbow of parenting emotions. Postpartum depression is much less common than the blues. But, if the blues are lasting more than a week or two, if you find you can't slee…
Sleep When the Baby Sleeps!
You may be more exhausted than you have ever been. Whenever people are sleep deprived they are more subject to swings of emotion and to feelings of inadequacy. This, by itself, is enough to cause a bl…
There Are Good Reasons to be Blue
Moms who have adopted their babies also commonly go through a blue period. And now that investigators have begun to look into it, we know that most dads (though less weepy) go through a blue period of…
Blue is a Color in the Rainbow
You may feel a rainbow of emotions during the days following your baby's birth, sometimes in bewildering succession, sometimes several conflicting emotions at the same time. (more…)…
The Babymoon
What comes after the triumph of birth and the very first meal? When an athlete is named MVP of the Super Bowl, his next stop is a celebration trip to a famous theme park. When a couple gets married, t…
Over the Rainbow
Around the same time your baby is consciously reaching and grasping, he undergoes a gradual transformation that is as remarkable as the scene in The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy leaves the black-and-whit…
Fifteen Minutes of Magic Massage
If you've ever had a massage, you know how soothing and wonderful touch can be. Infant massage has been the subject of recent studies and shown remarkable benefits.Dr. Marshall Klaus reported that in …
Is That a Real Smile or Gas?
Around the same time as the peak of the fussy period, most babies start to have a real, joyful, social smile. Again, we see the balance of parenting. By now, babies are clearly tuned in socially. They…
How Do I Leave?
When you really leave, do not make a big fuss over going and do not sneak out. Children need a simple, affectionate, direct "Bye-bye, I'll be back." Be sure to tell them when you'll be back. Anxiety c…
What Can We Do in the Meantime?
Once children have learned about leaving, you want them to learn about returning. Separation/return games, and short practice separations are quite helpful. The classic separation/return games are pee…
Will This Ever End?
Most healthy babies and toddlers exhibit at least one phase of stranger/separation anxiety as part of normal development. The first peak of separation anxiety usually takes place in the second half of…
What’s Going On?
Separation anxiety and stranger anxiety both coincide with a new intellectual skill called object permanence. Your baby now remembers objects and specific people who are not present. He will search fo…
A Fantastic Opportunity
We lost the last generation to healthy nutrition before they were 18 months old. Parents found their children rejecting baby foods. And they didn't know what or how to feed the babies they loved. They…
Memories
Dr. Greene's take on baby memories... Babies have a deep body memory. Your baby remembers the foods you ate when you were pregnant. She remembers the foods you ate while nursing her. She will remember…