Helping Your Child - Vocabulary

Talk to your child constantly. Children learn language and increase their vocabulary in only one way — listening to the people around them. The richer and more abundant the language they hear daily, the more well developed their own language will be. In addition to normal conversation, however, you have dozens of creative and enjoyable ways to increase your child's vocabulary that can also build family bonds and heighten family fun.

Read aloud. Of course, you've been reading aloud to your child since he was born, but try reading books with characters and plots. Take time for discussion and point out new words and concepts to your child.

Show and tell. Whenever you go somewhere, collect something to bring back. Have a show-and-tell time when the family is together. Give your child the floor to tell about his treasure. These special objects need not be expensive or elaborate. The important part is sharing information and experiences.

Talk. Never underestimate the importance of good conversation and information to the development of vocabulary.

Label, label, label. Give your children as much vocabulary as you can. They will probably remember the big words most easily because shorter words with similar letters such as "was" and "saw" and "which" and "when" are confusing. Most preschoolers know all the names of dinosaurs that most adults can barely pronounce. Their minds are like sponges.

Use a variety of words to describe things; don't just use "good" and "nice." Take each new experience you have as an opportunity to learn new words. When you visit the auto shop to get a new muffler, talk about mufflers, tail pipes, exhaust systems, and welding. When you visit the greenhouse to choose new plants for the garden, talk about marigolds, impatiens, zinnias, and geraniums. When you make a new recipe, talk about woks, peanut oil, soy sauce, bean sprouts, water chestnuts, and pea pods.

Article by: Elaine McEwan-Adkins
Source: BabyCenter.com

Delayed Cord Clamping

From: CafeMom.com
An article by: Christie Haskell

Likely, you've heard the phrase "delayed cord clamping" -- it's the idea that all the blood in the placenta and umbilical cord should pump INTO the baby's body before the cord is cut, since it's intended to be the baby's own blood supply. Waiting just 94 seconds ups blood volume and helps prevent anemia in the baby's first year. While the benefits aren't very disputed, sadly, most OBs only wait an average of 17 seconds before clamping the cord.


Dr. Hutchon, a retired and decorated hospital consultant in the UK, invented (along with a team) The Basics Trolley. Basics stands for Bedside Assessment, Stabilisation and Initial Cardiorespiratory Support. This Trolley can save the lives of many babies, and help prevent a lot of temporary or life-long problems ... merely by allowing babies to remain attached by that umbilical cord.

It is set up right next to the mother and has a water heater and built-in resuscitator, so if there is an emergency, the baby can be resuscitated right there -- with the umbilical cord still attached.
Why is this so important? Well, because along with the blood that the baby's body needs, also comes oxygen -- and in a baby who isn't breathing right away, that lack of oxygen if the cord is immediately cut can cause brain damage and sometimes even death.

Hutchon says, “In the first 20 seconds or so one of the reasons the baby is sometimes not breathing is that they are still getting plenty of oxygen from the placenta through the umbilical cord.”
Twenty seconds may not seem like that long, but for a mother waiting for the first cry, or a doctor holding a newborn that isn't breathing, it can seem like an eternity ... especially if the baby is deprived of oxygen. But thanks to Hutchon's invention, that's already being used at multiple UK hospitals, babies will still be receiving oxygen for at least the first critical minute or so.

In fact, evidence is so strong to support delayed cord clamping that the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists recently changed their recommendations to require delayed cord clamping, and Hutchon's trolley will soon be available in all hospitals in the UK.
Now, American ACOG, it's about time you get on board!