Is your child afraid of the dark? Is your child’s fear severe enough to be considered a phobia? Here’s what research tells us about the signs and causes…and how to help kids to overcome their fears.
Observational fear learning is what happens when we use social cues to identify something as threatening. Can kids learn in this way? Yes!
Colicky babies respond differently to stimulation. Could it be that their nervous systems are different? Research suggests this is possible.
Postpartum depression symptoms overlap with symptoms of the “baby blues,” the mood swings that mothers experience in the first few days after childbirth. But when symptoms persist beyond two weeks — or take a more severe turn — it’s time to get screened for depression.
A parent’s guide to the physical and psychological triggers of postpartum stress. Includes sleep deprivation, fussy babies, stress hormones and tips for coping.
Research suggests that babies can tell when parents are fighting, and chronic conflict may affect the brain. What can we do about it?
Stressed-out parents often wonder: Can babies sense tension and anger? Can babies sense stress in their caregivers? Experimental research confirms that stress is contagious.
Adverse Childhood Experiences, also known as ACEs, are early life events that can trigger toxic stress or trauma. They are very common, and they put kids at increased risk for a variety of bad health outcomes. But not all ACEs are equally harmful, and exposure doesn’t mean that an individual is doomed.
Recent studies reveal how toxic stress “gets under the skin” — disregulating hormones, turning genes “on” and “off,” and altering a child’s brain.
Can a lack of sleep cause stress? Research confirms that we experience more stress the day after a poor night’s sleep. And the effects might be particularly noticeable for parents struggling to care for multiple children while holding down a job.
Research suggests that sensitive, responsive parenting can protect children from chronic disease and toxic stress.
© 2021 Gwen Dewar, Ph.D., all rights reserved A mother’s voice has special power. It can provide comfort — and improve outcomes — for babies hospitalized in the NICU. It can shape the way infants process language in the brain. And it can help children cope with pain and stress. What happens when a baby … Continue reading