Dr. Wittenberg is a psychologist specializing in the development of babies, toddlers, preschoolers — and parents. She offers no-hype, practical parenting advice on her blog BabyShrink — rooted in science, and road tested in her own home as the mother of four young children. She has helped thousands of parents over the years and knows that the most common problems with young children — sleep, feeding, potty training and behavior — can be the most difficult ones to solve.
In this second of our three-part series, our experts – Dr. Susan Canizares and Dr. Heather Wittenberg —give tips for making a smooth transition from preschool to Kindergarten. Dr. Heather: Back in the “bad old days,” we didn’t have much understanding of early childhood development. Young children were seen as too little to learn very [...]
When should YOUR child start Kindergarten? Our experts are here to help you decide! Dr. Susan Canizares, our Chief Academic Officer, not only has a Ph.D. in Language and Literacy Development, she’s a nationally recognized authority on early childhood education. Dr. Heather Wittenberg is a mom of four and a child psychologist who blogs at [...]
Being a Mom is challenging. Up-all-night-on-barf-patrol, breaking-up-sibling-squabbles, finding-a-bathroom-for-a-potty-training-toddler – challenging. Being a Mom is also miraculous – baby’s-sweet smile, first-steps, watching-them-sleep miraculous. But the Mom moments that keep me going during long, challenging days are the silly ones. I was having one of those challenging days. It started out with an important meeting around a [...]
Don’t be intimidated by potty training your child. Dr. Heather gets parents excited about this amazing development and offers guidance with these video tips! Find more potty training tips from Dr. Heather here.
Don’t dread potty training – celebrate it! Potty training is actually the signature achievement of your toddler’s development. But it’s not simple – it’s a complicated process of mastering physical, emotional, and cognitive milestones. I’ve accumulated some surefire strategies to help along the way, from my experience as a mom (I changed diapers – nonstop [...]
Your children are strong. Stronger than you might be led to believe by the headlines screaming about the latest parental panic point. Resilience is the best kind of strength to have: It’s the ability to bend, not break, under pressure – and emerge stronger for it. Resilience is hugely important. It leads to happier, longer [...]
If you’re like me, you want your children to grow up to be kind. To have the morality to know that everyone should be treated equally. That skin color, gender, religion, ability, or any other form of difference should be not only tolerated, but embraced. But if you’re like me, you might also have made this mistake: [...]
Child psychologist Dr. Heather Wittenberg covers her top tips to get your preschooler ready for the big Kindergarten classroom. Find more Kindergarten readiness tips here. What concerns do you have about your child being ready for Kindergarten? Tell us in a comment below.
When your baby becomes a toddler, the days of a relaxed meal in the high chair are done. Now, all she wants (and needs) is a quick bite, and then she’s off to more important things. To cover her nutritional needs, offer a variety of healthy foods anyway – but don’t force it. Here are [...]
Is your child ready to start Kindergarten this fall? As a parent, I know it’s difficult to imagine your little one sitting in a “big kid” classroom in just a few months. Believe me, though, you’ll be amazed at the growth your child will experience before then. Here are my ideas for helping your almost-big-kid [...]
