Parenting for Beginners

Your baby can easily learn to read if you follow the 12 Golden Rules of Teaching Babies to Read. If you want to know how your baby can learn to read, just read on. It is easy to do and you can get started immediately.

From birth to five years old, babies are learning language at an amazing rate. This includes any language. It can be spoken language, sign language and even written language. Thousands of parents have already taught their babies to read using these rules.

• Be joyful. – The only way to get started teaching your baby to read is with a joyful attitude. Your perspective will determine your baby’s response.
• Make the words big. – Whatever words you set out to teach your baby, make sure they are big. Don’t aim to show your baby words in the font size you are reading now.
• Show words frequently. – Whatever words you aim to teach, show them around 15 times to your baby.
• Move quickly. – Your baby is learning at an incredible rate. Don’t bore your child by moving too slowly. Once they have seen a word for a second, move on.
• Always follow your child’s lead. – Never pressure baby to read. Just show your baby words and tell them what they say. Read words your baby finds interesting, and always stop just before your child loses interest.
• Get creative. – Use everything as a tool to teach your baby to read. Read words on paper, labels, and signs; there is no shortage of words. Use them to teach your baby to read.
• Give freely. – Freely tell your baby words as you point them out. Don’t expect to get anything back immediately. Every word you show your baby is creating some kind of brain connection. Don’t expect your baby to figure it out in a day. Most parents talk to their babies for 6 months before they hear baby attempt to speak.
• Add new materials. – Introduce plenty of words to your baby. Don’t limit your baby to reading 5 words. Your baby can learn hundreds and thousands of words. Show them plenty of new words.
• Have fun. – Teaching your baby to read is an amazing and fun experience. Teaching a baby to read is much different than teaching a school-age child. Enjoy it!
• Point to words. – By using your finger to point to words, your baby is making the connection that the symbols we use for language are the sounds he is hearing you say. Run your finger under words as you say them.
• Read to baby often. – Babies easily learn language when they are familiar with it. By hearing how the written word sounds, your baby will easily make connections that will help him learn to read.
• Just do it! – Jump in and get started. You can start with a marker and a piece of paper right now! There really is nothing to it.

Parenting is one of the most difficult yet rewarding jobs on the face of the earth. A baby requires so much work, yet nothing can bring more joy than a little one! Unfortunately, individual Parenting Guides are not issued with each new model, and many turns in the road must be negotiated for which there is no clear course. One of these sharp, non-banked turns is the use of a pacifier.

We all try to be good at parenting. We do our research. The problem is there is no clear direction coming from the experts regarding parenting with regards to baby pacifiers. Infants are expected to use pacifiers. First-graders are not. But when and how do we get from Point A to Point B?

Much research indicates the baby pacifier is best removed sooner than later. If not, the child may not begin the babbling needed for the beginnings of speech. And there are experts who believe prolonged use of the pacifier will alter the mouth, causing teeth to be misaligned, though there are others who say that isn’t so. And certainly no parent wants to be awoken in the middle of the night by a screaming child who has lost the darn thing while asleep.

But how exactly does one remove the baby pacifier? Here are some courses of action to consider.

The first is to go cold turkey. Just take the pacifier away because you are the Big Person. Believe it or not, this can work. When my child was young I read somewhere that if you didn’t take it away by four months, it would be around for four years. Since she was 4 months at the time, I yanked it. She didn’t seem to notice. It worked for me…give it a shot.

Another way is to wean them off the pacifier. Tell your child the pacifier lives in the crib now. He or she may have it anytime they want, providing they stay in their crib. Pretty soon the pacifier in the crib seems pretty dull stuff compared to the Big World Outside the Crib. Later on, tell them it’s only for nights. Then it’s only on weekends. Then it’s gone. Some parents I know swear by this technique.

How about this? Poke a hole in it or cut the tip off. The suction action stops and the child loses interest in it. They still have the physical pacifier for awhile, but since they stop deriving satisfaction from it, they eventually let it go by the wayside.

Here’s a remake of the classic Tooth Fairy tale. Tell your little one there’s a Pacifier Fairy who comes in the night to take the pacifiers from bigger kids to give them to the new babies. She rewards the big kid for his or her generosity with a special gift. Wrap up the pacifier in a pretty package with your child, and leave it by the bed. Upon awakening, make sure there’s something fun in its place.

If you’re lucky enough to be making this transition near a holiday, you can always use Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny or the Great Pumpkin or a Leprechaun or…well, you get the idea. Use a variation on the above Pacifier Story. The basic concept is that you warn them it is going, give them some time to process that information, it goes away as explained and they get a tangible reward in return.

Above all, relax. Parenting through the pacifier years is just a blip on the radar screen of life. Cut yourself some slack, kiss your baby and try not to worry. Your child will not graduate from high school, walking across the stage in cap and gown, with a baby pacifier in the mouth. Try one of these creative ideas and you’re sure to have a success story to tell.

Kim Proulx knows lots about kids, parenting and strengthening the family bond. As a Certified Parent Coach she vows that surrounding your baby in a safe and comfortable environment is the first step in creating a happy family. To set up the ideal baby environment she recommends you visit http://www.babydirect.com