Transitioning from Nap time.

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Do you need some help with managing nap time? If so please enjoy this interview with Katherine Feeney ABC Radio Brisbane

You'll learn about:

  • When do daytime naps start coming to an end? Is there a hard and fast rule about the right age?

  • What signs should we look out for that our toddlers are ready to stop napping?

  • Just how much sleep DO toddlers and preschool children need?

  • Best ways to “drop” a nap and easing the transition: shorter naps or stop them all together?  The idea of resting as opposed to napping?

  • Does ending daytime naps mean more grumpy time?

  • Earlier to bed at night once daytime naps come to an end?

  • What about parents?  Their daytime nap was also our daytime break ... What can we do for ourselves during the transition to ending the little ones' daytime nap? What is the most important thing for parents struggling to remember?

Hope you enjoy the interview!

Dr Rosina McAlpine

Screen time audit tool for your family

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Screen time audit tool for your family

Are you concerned about how much time your children spend on their devices including gaming consoles, phone, laptop, tablet and TV?

You're right to be worried as research shows that excessive screen time can harm our mental and physical wellbeing.

Do you know exactly how many hours per day or hours per week your children spend on screens? How many hours you spend on screens?

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Health and Wellbeing life skills for children

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Health and Wellbeing life skills for children

A child can function more efficiently and effectively in a clean and tidy environment. Further, a child’s diet and exercise play crucial roles in their physical and mental well being. These are very valuable life skills for your child.

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Helping Kids Learn How to Be Healthy

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Helping Kids Learn How to Be Healthy

Good health is a great foundation upon which to build a great life. The press is filled with scary news about how our children are obese and unhealthy. So as a parent what can you do to help your kids learn about how to be healthy? One important part of child development is instilling knowledge and good habits around eating and exercise. What kids learn about health when they are young will help them throughout their whole life.

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Stress makes parents and children sick

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Stress makes parents and children sick

No matter who I speak with, everyone is experiencing stress at some level every day. Whether it is because there is too much to do, financial issues or relationship troubles each of these can create a lot of stress. Not to mention the low level stress like...what will I cook for dinner tonight, prepare for the children’s lunches tomorrow or buy for my friend’s birthday? And the list goes on…

And what about our children’s stress? Children have busy schedules, social issues and study pressures – not to mention the stress they experience simply because they see their parents are stressed. In my book, Inspired Children: how the leading minds of today raise their kids, has a chapter by Maggie Dent dedicated to understanding the stress children experience and how to help them manage it. You can read more about it in her chapter entitled: Calming children and the world: tools for managing stress and chaos.

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Helping Your Children Learn Healthy lifestyle habits

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Helping Your Children Learn Healthy lifestyle habits

Today’s children are experiencing an alarming increase in the rate of obesity, type II diabetes and other health-related issues that can be avoided by introducing simple healthy lifestyle habits as early as possible. As Parents are busy they need healthy life style choices they can easily introduce into daily life. I’ve had a number of health-related questions and so here are some ideas I hope you find helpful: 

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My body belongs to me a resource for parents to help educate and protect children against child abuse

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My body belongs to me a resource for parents to help educate and protect children against child abuse

Dr Rosina interviews Jill Starishevsky author of My body Belongs to Me (available on Amazon) a resource for parents to help educate and protect children against child abuse. Jill is an Assistant District Attorney in New York City, where she has prosecuted hundreds of sex offenders and dedicated her career to seeking justice for victims of child abuse and sex crimes. Outside the courtroom, Jill's fondness for writing led her to create thepoemlady.com, where she pens personalized pieces.

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Do babies and children really need sunglasses? Yes! Dr Katrina Chim explains why

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Do babies and children really need sunglasses? Yes! Dr Katrina Chim explains why

A few months ago I was out walking with my family and overheard a boy saying to his mother “mum the sun hurts my eyes. Can I have sun glasses?” His mother replied “Kids don’t need sunglasses.” I notice that she was wearing sunglasses and that her son was squinting. When I looked around I notice that my son and very few other children were wearing sun glasses.

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Dr Joe Dispenza shares how to live a long, happy and healthy life for your kids and grandkids

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Dr Joe Dispenza shares how to live a long, happy and healthy life for your kids and grandkids

Could there be anything more wonderful than to see your kids grow up and live their lives? 

Wouldn’t it be great to live a long, healthy and happy life so you could:

  • See your child finish school and go to university

  • Experience the career they pursue and see how they get on in life

  • Enjoy time with your grandchildren... and maybe even great grandchildren

oh that would be a wonderful life!

BUT, today so many people are ill with diabetes, heart disease, autoimmune problems and the list goes on. How can you stay healthy so you are here for the long term – so you can see your grand kids and great grandkids?

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Introducing kids to routines & choices to make parenting easier

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Introducing kids to routines & choices to make parenting easier

Do you find it difficult to get kids to follow a routine for bedtime and in the morning? Do you find it stressful, get annoyed… and even angry when they won’t get ready for bed and rush around in the morning to get things done? If you’d like some ideas then listen to my interview with Dr Robyn Mills.

With children experiencing increasing levels of stress and anxiety you’ll also learn about helping your kids to be positive and appreciate the good things in life – rather than focussing on the negative.  This is especially helpful in the teen years when kids experience loneliness, rejection and anger if life doesn’t go their way. Helping children manage their emotions and overcome life challenges are key life skills.

Listen to Interview

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Practical advice for how to wean your child of the bottle

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Practical advice for how to wean your child of the bottle

What is the best or easiest way to wean a bay off a bottle? Just not real sure what to do because he does use a sippy cup at meals and throughout the day and only has a bottle to go to sleep…. Please help.

Please remember to read these answers as information you might find useful and suggestions you can try as opposed to advice, as you know your family and can make the best decisions for them as outlined in the disclaimer below.

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Expert advice on raising healthy and happy babies: baby sleep and child development

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This interview provides latest research on raising healthy and happy babies with expert advice for new parents and or professionals working with babies. You will learn:

  • The safest ways to put your baby to sleep whether you share a room or bed with your baby
  •  How to reduce the risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)
  • Ways you can prevent baby flat head syndrome and avoid the need for a helmet to correct your baby’s misshaped flat head
  • How you can help your baby become a child who is patient and doesn’t demand instant attention
  • Ways to keep your baby calm and reduce their anxiety and stress.
  • The process for raising a child who is empathetic, caring and understanding of others as well as patient and can delay gratification
  • The many benefits for your child’s future if they can delay gratification and be patient including: reduced chance of obesity, grater ability to complete long term projects and less stress and anxiety.

Dr Wendy Middlemiss is an Associate Professor at the University of North Texas and is an expert in the Essentials of Safe Infant Sleep.

Latest research on helping babies sleep safely and feed well

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If you are a new parent or a professional working with babies, then this interview will help you understand the latest research on raising healthy and happy babies. You will learn:

  • What is ‘normal’ sleep for a baby
  • The many potential harms of using the controlled crying method
  • The best ways to help your baby to sleep
  • When to feed your baby:  understand the positive effects of feeding on demand and the negative effects of sticking to a rigid routine for feeding a baby.

Dr Wendy Middlemiss is an Associate Professor at the University of North Texas and is an expert in the Essentials of Safe Infant Sleep.

Stress during pregnancy can harm your baby - Part 1

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Stress during pregnancy can harm your baby - Part 1

Pregnancy is a very exciting time for the whole family. However, the anticipation of the arrival of a beautiful, happy healthy baby can also be stressful. And if that isn’t enough, today most people experience life as really busy, right? While busy can be exhilarating, more often than not it also leads to stress!

Medical science shows that prolonged stress is really harmful for our health and it’s estimated that around 95% of all diseases stem from stress. In other words almost all of our illnesses are stress-related.

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Episode 5: The 15 minute clean up

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Children will feel more positive and work more effectively in an orderly environment and so knowing how to keep their room and homework space clean and tidy is a valuable life skill for children to learn. Parents often think it will be quicker if “I just do it myself” – and you are right – but only in the short term! In the long run, once your children have

the ability to maintain order and cleanliness – you will have help and they will have an important skill for life! In this video Dr Rosina shares some ideas about how you can help your children to get things in order ‘little by little’, by employing short bursts of cleaning and tidying every day or two or three and it doesn’t take long at all. Make it fun and it will be an easy habit for your kids to develop!  

Helping Kids Manage Halloween Candy

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Helping Kids Manage Halloween Candy

Happy nearly Halloween! I thought I’d get in early and offer some ideas you can try to help your children manage their candy consumption on, before and after spooky Halloween night. Too much candy and they can become little scary sugar-loaded monsters!

Halloween is a fun time of year for kids (and adults). Getting dressed up, going out with friends and of course collecting candy. While a little candy is fine, and even a bit more than a little is OK on this one night of the year, a lot of candy is not so good for the body, mind or the spirit. So here are some simple strategies you can take to help children manage their sugar intake around Halloween.

You know your children best so pick the strategies that will work for your family and lifestyle. Here’s some of the main ideas in this blog post:

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Getting kids to eat their vegetables

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Every parent wants their children to grow up healthy and happy. Good health and order in life provide a strong foundation for wellbeing and a successful life. Getting more vegetables into your child’s diet helps them to grow healthy bodies and health brains. This will give them more energy to exercise and to learn. We all know the saying, “healthy body, healthy mind”, but unfortunately, statistics show an increasing number of children have ill health with rising numbers of children experiencing both physical and psychological disorders like obesity, diabetes, anxiety and depression. These all stem from poor diets.

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Stretching

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Right alongside exercise, stretching is one of the most important aspects of maintaining good health, wellbeing and fitness. A regular muscle stretching routine improves muscle tone and suppleness. Take time to talk about benefits of stretching and go through a safe and gentle stretching routine together. If you are not sure on how to stretch safely, why not go to a stretch class together

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Household cleanliness: doing the dishes with a difference!

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An individual and a family can function much better and feel more positive in a clean environment, so knowing how to keep their home clean and tidy is a valuable life skill for your child to learn. Parents often think it will be quicker if “I do it myself” - and you are right - but only in the short term! In the long run, once your child learns the skills of cleaning - you will have help and they will have an important skill for life!

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