Common mistakes and frustration in potty training happens when a parent keeps on insisting that his child is ready to take of his diapers. That is why it is necessary that before you start teaching your child how to use the potty, you must look at the signs that they are prepared to take this step.

1. Your child already knows how to follow directions and knows how to cooperate
2. Soiled or dirty diapers make your tots feel uncomfortable
3. They can’t wait to have their diapers changed
4. The child gives signs (such as facial expressions or calling you) if he wants to  pee or poop
5. Asks if he can use the potty chair

Before training your child, see to it that you have all the vital materials needed for this training such as a potty chair, videos he can watch, or books about potty training that you can read to the child.

If you think that you have already done everything and yet your child keeps on resisting to learn potty training, then give your child and you a break.

For a few weeks or a month, stop teaching your child how to do the potty. This allows you to prevent your kid to think of potty training as a stressful activity. But this doesn’t mean that you would stop the whole process. During the break, tell your child stories about potty training or let him watch videos that teach the importance of using the potty.

At the same time, you can show your kid how to do it the right way by going to the toilet with him.

It’s not easy to train a child to use the potty. But it will be harder if you do the common mistakes in potty training just like teaching your child even if he is not yet ready.

• Teaching your child to use the potty during very stressful time in his life (new baby in the family or you just moved to a new place)
• Pushing your child to learn when he is not really interested.
• Giving punishments or nagging to your child whenever he made an accident
• Using the same potty training methods to all your kids
• Expecting a fast improvement in your kid’s training
• Not realizing that bed wetting can still happen even after the kid learns how to use the potty

Your child will surely get over this soothing-technique during the night by the time he turned 4 or 5 years old. However, if you are still troubled with your child’s head banging is becoming more and more frequent, then here are some of the things that you can do to help them get over this habit.

Do not nag your child just because you feel frustrated whenever he bangs his head. This would not help at all but may even worsen his habit.

Have a different routine before your child sleeps such as reading stories, singing lullabyes, etc.

Give your child a different comfort-thing like stuff toys or little blankets.

The sleeping routines must be followed strictly and you should imply it consistently during your child’s nap time or sleeping time.

When thinking about “ground rules”, parents think that it only becomes necessary when their children reach puberty. But because you think about the safety (and sometimes a form of guidance as well) of your infants and toddlers, you start to set limits at an early age.

If you want your toddlers to understand their limits, you must make the rule very clear. Talk to your tots like a grown up. Don’t just spank them if they would pull your hair or play with their milk. Instead, pull them away from you or simply put them down and tell that you would not play with them again unless they stop doing these acts.

You must also make sure that you stay very consistent with your rules or else they would grow up believing that they can break it anytime they want to.

Temperament varies from one child to another. Some kids are naturally perky and outgoing while others are just plain reserved. Most parents do have a hard time dealing with a friendly child. They are even proud that theirs is sociable and can actively participate with other kids of their age.

But what if your child is not like that? What should you do is yours is too shy that you may even reach a point where you would get frustrated?

First of all, you must understand that threatening and punishing your child for having this kind of temperament would not help at all. And since these type of kids are “cautious”, try to associate them with a small group of people (or kids their age) before you involve them in activities that require large groups. As a parent, it is also your role to build your child’s self-esteem by looking and praising your child on things that he/she is good at.

One of the most commonly found critters at home is the spider. Although most of it are friendly, there are spiders that can be dangerous to kids like the brown recluse spider and the black widow.

If your kid has been bitten by a spider (not the two spiders mentioned above), here are some of the things that you can do to treat your child at home.

• Wash the area several times with water and soap
• Put an ice cube and let it sit for about 20 minutes
• Use an anti-biotic ointment and apply it topically on the affected area
• If your child can’t handle the pain, give him Tylenol or other pain medicine for kids
• Do these steps until the swelling goes away (about 2-4 days)

But if your child was bitten by the said spiders, seek medical attention immediately.

We just recently talked about some of the features that you must consider when buying a car for you family.  When it comes to your child’s safety, the list goes on and on. Therefore, before making your choice, ask your dealer if the car also have these features as well:

• Safety locks – who says that kids would only play with the car’s windows? They can also put their hands on the car locks as well, making it very dangerous even if they are on seatbelts.
• ABS or anti-lock brakes – this allows you to stop your car in various difficult road conditions (slippery and wet roads)
• Electronic Stability Control – like the ABS, this feature helps you to drive safer. It prevents the vehicle from skidding and sliding which is essential if you have kids as passengers.

When you were still single, your dream automobile are usually the sports cars or the latest models manfactured by Toyota, BMW, and others. But now that you are a parent and have kid (or kids), then its time to put this dream aside. Follow your instincts as a parent and choose a  car that can be safe for the rest of the members of the family.

Choose a family car where you (the driver) can control the windows and keep it locked while traveling. So even if your toddlers and bigger kids would play on the window controls, you can make sure that they are safe at the passenger’s seat.

Aside from that, you must also get the car that has adjustable seat belts. This is important since you will be using your family car for a long time and your child would definitely grow traveling in this vehicle.

To let your kids enjoy eating together with you and the rest of the family, it is not enough that you prepare a sumptuous meal for more than an hour.  Here are some of the things that you SHOULD NOT do if you want them to anticipate another great meal with the whole family.

1. Serve milk – if you want something else than water, then put sodas or juice at the table

2. Pushing everyone (particularly the kids) to finish all the food and clean the plate

3. Serve foods that are high in salt and fats

4. Give them foods straight from the can. If you will be serving processed foods, make sure that you heat it at the stove or microwave before you serve it at the table.

Got any more ideas to make lunch or dinner a family-bonding time?