The Nurtured Noggins Blog | Nurtured Noggins

Critical Periods of Development in The First Years of Your Child’s Life

Are you a new parent looking for parenting tips? Read about why the first 3 years are important for your child’s development and learn how you can help.

Toddler Fun With Boxes

Are you looking for fun activities you can do at home with your toddler? Learn about how you can use shipping boxes to create fun activities for your toddler.

How to Make Homemade Teethers for Your Baby

Is your baby teething and wanting to chew on everything in sight? Learn how you can make delicious teething sticks from banana bread.

How do you know if your little baby is taking in enough formula in order to get what they need nutritionally to grow? In this article, I will talk about some guidelines to follow that will help you decide on how much to feed your baby.

Parent Tip – Natural Consequences for Behavior Management

Have you wondered why toddlers make silly decisions? Read about how this is due to them learning about the consequences to behavior and how you can help them with their behavior development.

Labor Stories

I love labor and delivery stories. Every story has the features of an exciting docu-drama — the inklings of early labor, the wondering of “should I call the doctor?”, “should we just wait or go ahead and go?” The thrill of the birth and the flood of emotion that follows. Then the calm after the storm as everyone, including baby, begins the process of healing and resting up from the experience of labor/delivery and settles into the new life of being a family. One of my favorite labor stories comes from my friends, Glen and Laura.

Bond With Your Baby and Help Them Grow

For many new parents, the first time they hold their tiny bundle of joy triggers an instant bonding. In the early years, a baby’s brain grows rapidly making millions of neural connections, so a variety of experiences and exposure aids physical, cognitive, social and language development. Read about a few ways in which bonding and baby development in the early years can go hand-in-hand.

Playing Peekaboo With Your Child

Do you have a young child and wonder why they love to play Peekaboo? Read about why they love to play this popular game and how it helps with their development.

Setting Rules to Guide Your Toddler’s Behavior

House rules are important, but did you know that it is also beneficial for their behavior development? Learn about why house rules promote good behavior

Language Development with Babies and Toddlers

Curious about the speech and language development process for toddlers and babies? Learn about how electronic devices can help aid the process.

How You Can Organize Fun Activities for Your Kids at Home

Are you looking for ways that you can organize and create fun activities for your kids while at home? Learn about some fun activities that we think will help!

Why Do Toddlers Bite?

Do you have a toddler that bites others and don’t understand why? Learn why biting is a part of a toddler’s development and suggestions that you can do for when it happens

How to Create Fun Learning Activities with Tape

Have you ever wondered how you can create fun learning activities for your kids with items around the house? Learn about how a roll of tape is all you need!

Giving Toddlers Choices

Are you tired of your toddler constantly demanding that they get their way ? Learn about how offering choices can help reduce the amount of arguing.

4 Ways to help your little extrovert thrive at home

Social distancing is easier for some of us than others. Especially our children. For those on the more introverted side, they're delighted to stay home and hang with the family. They are content! For your children who are extroverted, it’s a little like torture not...

Ways to nurture your child while you work

You have new coworkers. As we navigate the challenges of coronavirus and its implications to daily life, it’s important to keep something, or rather someone in mind. And that’s your kid. It’s a big adjustment for you, moving from everyday go-to-work life to figuring...

Stages of parenting

I was recently in Minneapolis, hanging out with the grandkids. I get up there a couple of times of year - usually once in the dead of winter and once to enjoy their beautiful summertime. One way I cement a long distance relationship with them is to have consistent...

The secret to a happy baby (it’s you!)

You are really, really important to your child. You see it in the way your baby gazes at you, prefers you over others and cries when you leave. We know we’re important in our child’s life but do we truly understand this? Attachment researchers tell us that we become...

Love on that baby

Love on your baby. Then they'll be really smart. Love is in the air. Even though Valentine's day focuses on romantic love, it’s a great time to hone in on the love connection between you and your child. It’s amazing to realize that your child’s brain...

How to make mom friends

When I became pregnant with my first I quickly realized how few friends I had in the same boat. The handful of friends I had with kids lived in different states and I found myself scrambling to find friends undergoing the same life transition. Having a community full...

Tips for new parents

5 tips for new parents Anytime you begin a new job there’s a period of orientation. And depending on the complexity of the work you’ll be doing, you might have months of training before you’re on your own with full responsibility. When you become a parent, while...

3 Reasons newborns are irresistible

We really can't help ourselves. Something inside us kind of melts. Have you ever noticed the feeling you get when you see little tiny puppies or kittens, or even a baby elephant at the zoo? Or had complete strangers stop to talk to you as you walk your puppy? We...

3 Ways you can actually see brain development happening

Recently I had the privilege of presenting a training to over 150 Head Start teachers in Houston. The topic was understanding autism and we covered lots of information about neurological development that happens in the first several years of life. One of the word...

Gift ideas for new parents that won’t break the bank

Holiday shopping can be one of the most stressful parts of the year as we look for ways to stretch budgets a little further to buy the gifts we really want to give. If you need to save money but have a long list of people to buy for, it’s a good idea to check online...

5 Amazing ways your newborn communicates

That little person is very tuned in to you. From the moment they're born, babies are ready to listen, respond and try to figure out how to be in relationship with you. Research gives us really interesting insight into how equipped newborns are to do this. Let's take a...

What to do with a newborn

I was surprised at the amount of downtime I had with a new baby. I remember the first few months of staying home with my first baby. I assumed I’d be swamped with my new tasks of parenthood: nursing around the clock, diaper changes, rocking baby to sleep, etc....

What happens when a child puts on a costume?

What's going on in that little mind? If you are one who joins the celebration of this holiday, you’ve probably got a costume for your child and depending on their age, they either tolerate being dressed up (or not!) or love putting it on and instantly becoming the...

5 important things that happen in the first two years

The all-important first two years Your child's early learning and development has far-reaching implications for the future of the economy, the political climate and international relations. Crazy to think that what you do each day as a parent has that kind of...

How to help your child adjust to childcare

This year while my daughter goes to morning preschool, I’ve been looking forward to exercising for a bit at the gym. The only problem? My two year old. My darling, highly-attached, cries-if-I’m-gone-for-two-minutes two year old. I knew dropping off my kiddo at the gym...

When Parenting Fears Overwhelm

I’ll never forget the stress I felt about miscarriage when I was pregnant. Every day I worried the pregnancy might end. I remember counting down the days to when I’d be past the first trimester, longing for it to come. I was sure once I made it past that date, my...

Unlock what your child reveals through their artwork

A given for many parents is a refrigerator plastered with photos and children's artwork. You can learn a lot from their drawings. Children’s art gives us insight into their development - the way they hold a marker, the amount of space they use on a page, the...

Becoming a parent

The moment a pregnancy test is positive or the foster/adoption approval comes through, you begin to wonder... What am I going to do? What does it feel like to be a parent? How will I be the same and how will I be different? Will I still be able to be spontaneous, do...

How to raise kind kids

We all want to teach kids to be kind and compassionate with others. When does this begin? When they start playing with others? When they have the cognitive capacity to share? Does it happen naturally or do you have to 'teach' it? Recent research tells us that infants...

3 Things That Every Parent Does Naturally

Even people who say they have "no clue what to do with babies" will instinctively do exactly what's necessary to enhance development as they singsong talk, make faces and gaze at their face as they hold them. We act differently with infants than we do with adults or...

The slow-fast experience of parenting

How does time go slow and fast at the same time? I love the Slow Food Fast recipe column in the Wall Street Journal. It features recipes from notable chefs across the country representing traditional and regional cuisines - recipes simple enough to cook at home...

6 Things to know BEFORE your baby begins child care

Odds are, someone else will care for your baby at some time in the first year. The average length of maternity/paternity leave in US is 12 weeks (often unpaid) with many moms returning to work when the baby is 6 weeks of age. In fact, of the 12 million infants and...

24 One-minute parenting lessons it took a lifetime to learn

We had 3 babies in four years. Then when those 3 were teens, we started fostering babies. And while I may have thought I was ready to be a parent with that first pregnancy, I was not. No matter what you think you already know going in, the experience of being a parent...

July 4th Fun!

Last minute thoughts as you celebrate July 4th... In our small town there's quite a to-do about July 4th! The barricades have been set aside for about a week now in preparation for the annual parade that draws tons of folks from the surrounding areas. My...

Parenting 101: Expectations vs reality

All I ever really wanted to be when I grew up was a mom. Like many little girls, I played 'house' all the time as a kid, treating my baby dolls with love and care, teaching them and handing out discipline when they needed it. As a teenager, I did lots of...

International travel with a baby

Travel. What a fun thing to do with your baby! But sometimes it can be a little tricky. We just got back from a vacation to Italy. Wow, what a wonderful experience! Not sure I’ve ever seen so much beauty and history (and so many people from all over the world) in one...

“Loose Parts” Play: Problem solving and creativity with everyday stuff

Every moment your baby is awake they are learning something. You know this already. But when it comes to “teaching” your baby, it’s easy to put learning into categories — when you go to the park, she’s learning about trees and flowers, when you read a book, she’s...

The things you can only enjoy when you’re pregnant…

Pregnancy is an amazing time. While there are definitely some discomforts along the way, let’s celebrate some really wonderful things that you can ONLY experience during pregnancy… Permission to focus on...

4 Easy ways to encourage pretend play

Cadence loves to pretend to be “Grump Cera”, a baby dinosaur from the movie Land Before Time and she’s got it down! For over a year she's focused on this one character, honing her dinosaur skills as she plays. Note how she holds her body, kicks her foot slightly about...

10 Reasons to go on a walk with your baby right now

Today’s a good day for a walk. Lots of good reasons to do so – most importantly for you, it’s good for the soul to get outside! And for your kids, whether they’re walking on their own two feet or riding in a stroller, there’s so much to learn from a simple walk around...

Making the most of all those diaper changes

How to Support Your Baby’s Developmental Growth During Routine Diaper Changes! 5000. That’s the average number of times a baby will have their diaper changed in the early years. Good grief, that’s a lot of diapers! Let’s not even go there about the money spent – just...

Lining up blocks… what does this tell us?

Block Play! Last week we got to hang out with Megan, Josh and the grandkids! We live far apart so when we spend time together, it’s really special. And of course, since I love all things child development, it’s fun to see how the kids have grown, what they like to...

7 reasons newborns cry (and ways to make it stop!)

Babies don’t cry to manipulate. They cry to communicate a physical condition or emotion. You won’t spoil your baby when you respond to crying. Rather, your response gives your baby a sense of security, that she knows she’s heard and understood and that you will keep her safe. It doesn’t teach her to cry more.

Supporting Emotional Development

Children pick up on our emotions at an amazingly young age. Researchers have found that babies as young as 4 months can detect positive and negative emotions in our facial expressions and tone of voice.

Baby Gazes

When we gaze into the eyes of our newborn we fall in love. And this begins from the moment the baby comes into your life, whether by biological birth, through adoption or whatever circumstance a baby comes into your world. This is how we attach to one another.

10 things to look for when choosing child care for your baby

How to Choose a Childcare Center for My New Baby? It’s time to make one of the more important decisions that you’ll make as a parent – finding child care for your little one. You’ve done your due diligence. You’ve asked for recommendations from friends, checked state...

Make Playdough Together

Best Playdough Recipe Ever Everybody loves playdough, especially me. It’s a universal soother for toddlers through grownups! It lends itself to great conversation and imaginative play (everybody makes playdough snakes and slithers them around the table…) Make a fresh...

My Newborn Essential List

There are thousands of things you can buy for your baby. But what do you really NEED? Check out this list that talks about actual newborn necessities and nice-to have- items. Plus, a bonus list of helpful newborn items you won’t find on most registries.

Children’s Books About Death

Reading can be a gentle way to face and process new ideas. By reading books about certain topics, like death, you give your child the opportunity to explore the concept, ask questions, and facilitate conversation. Here are my favorite children’s books that address death.

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