(Charles Whitfield, MD and Barbara Harris Whitfield, RT) As grandparents, and about to become great grandparents, we sit here shaking our heads over what is going on in our country right now. Our children and our grandchildren, are being “hijacked” by a group of people who want to make them “Oppressors.” And make kids of a “different color” or culture their “victims.” And these people are using our schools, school boards, and teachers’ unions as the weapon of choice.
parenting
Study: Why Parents Hold their Babies by Their Left Side
(Exploring Your Mind) A fun fact: a study examined 477 pictures of the Virgin Mary with her child and she’s holding him on her left side in 373. This is consistent with what you see nowadays: babies calm down when they’re held on the left side. That’s why 80% of mothers do it instinctively.
Component of Human Breast Milk Enhances Cognitive Development in Babies
(Neuroscience News) Maternal factors, such as breast milk, have been shown to affect a baby’s development, and previous animal studies have determined that a carbohydrate, the oligosaccharide 2’FL found in maternal milk, positively influences neurodevelopment. Now, in the first study done in humans, investigators at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in collaboration with the University of California, San Diego, have shown that 2’FL found in breast milk enhances cognitive development. Findings will be published in PLOS ONE on Feb 12.
Study: Love Matters — How Parents’ Love Shapes Children’s Lives
(Neuroscience News) Parents often put their own relationship on the back burner to concentrate on their children, but a new study shows that when spouses love each other, children stay in school longer and marry later in life.
Study: New Recommendations Released on Bed Sharing to Promote Breastfeeding
(Neuroscience News) Leading experts representing The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (ABM) have released new evidence-based recommendations regarding the benefits and risks of bedsharing for mother-infant pairs who have initiated breastfeeding and are in home settings. The new protocol is published in Breastfeeding Medicine.
How to Teach Children Gratitude | Psychology
(Exploring Your Mind) It takes time to teach children gratitude. The process has to follow their natural biological development so they can enjoy this wonderful virtue.
The Value of Persistence – Instill it in Children
(Exploring Your Mind) Learning the value of persistence allows children to grow up knowing that they can do great things.
Mothers Who Smile a Lot at Their Babies and Maintain Eye Contact “Sync Up” With Them, Improving Brain Development
(Melissa Smith) The ability of babies to learn may be influenced by how their mothers interact with them. Researchers from Dartmouth College and the University of Cambridge in the U.K. found that babies learn when their mothers smile and maintain eye contact with them a lot.
Motherhood: Changes and What to Do about Them
(Exploring Your Mind) Motherhood marks a before and after in a woman’s life. Many things change. Therefore, you must make an extra effort, not only to adapt to the new things but also to get the best out of this new stage, which is full of emotions.
A Better Way To Educate and Raise Children — Observational vs Entertainment Based Parenting
(Exploring Your Mind) Although educating a child is a beautiful experience, it can also be a monumental challenge. Today, in spite of (or maybe because of) all the available information, we seem more confused than ever about how to raise children. In this article, psychologist Miguel Ángel Rizaldos shares some tips on how to do better for our little ones.
The Fetal Brain Possesses Adult-like Networks
(Neuroscience News) The fundamental organization of brain networks is established in utero during the second and third trimesters of fetal development, according to research published in Journal of Neuroscience. The finding lays the groundwork for understanding how the prenatal period shapes future brain function.
Moms On The Go: 17 Battle-Tested Survival Strategies For Busy Moms
(Stillness in the Storm Editor) As one who studies history, psychology, and specifically, parenting, I can share that much has changed in the past 150 years. For most of human history, children were raised in communal settings with varying degrees of social interaction, but almost always a healthy amount of support from other people on […]
Even the Fetus Has Gut Bacteria
(Neuroscience News) Both human and mouse fetuses have their own microbiome, which is transmitted from the mother. Findings provide new avenues for interventions during pregnancy to stimulate the fetal microbiome when the mother shows risk of premature birth.
Animal Study Shows How Stress and Mother’s Abuse Affects Infant Brain
(Science Alert) A new study in rats shows the extent of brain damage in newborn rodents from even short-term abuse by their mother.
Chemicals in Consumer Products During Early Pregnancy Related to Lower IQ
(Natural Blaze) Exposure during the first trimester of pregnancy to mixtures of suspected endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in consumer products is related to lower IQ in children by age 7, according to a study by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Karlstad University, Sweden, published in Environment International in October. This study is among the first to look at prenatal suspected endocrine-disrupting chemical mixtures in relation to neurodevelopment.