March 2022

By Amanda Ruggeri, Photo: Alamy, British Broadcasting Corporation, March 30, 2022 I n 2015, Wendy Hall, a paediatric sleep researcher based in Canada, studied 235 families of six- to eight-month-old babies. The purpose: to see if sleep training worked. By its broadest definition, sleep training can refer to any strategy used by parents to encourage their babies to sleep at night – which can be as simple as implementing a nighttime routine or knowing how to read an infant's tiredness cues.

Did you know that anxiety travels in families? As children become more anxious, so do their parents and the entire family. When this happens, parents will often use “overaccommodation” to insulate their child's stress and discomfort that can cause or maintain their child’s anxiety. Without family trauma treatment, the root causes of the child’s anxiety are not addressed, and relapse can take place again and again. DATE: Friday, April 15 TIME: 12 - 1 pm EST COST: Free with REGISTRATION HERE...

By Sara Rubin, Photo: Joel Angel Juárez, Monterey County Weekly, March 24, 2022 Sara Rubin here, thinking about a math problem: There are about 36,000 children under age 5 in Monterey County, but only about 10,000 daycare spots available. So something has to give. Every family situation is different, but a lot of what gives is parents or grandparents—most often women—pursuing a career. Instead of going to work, they stay home to care for young children because there is simply no other...

I am reaching out to share a new resource, “ Hardships and Hope in California During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Family Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic Questionnaire Brief, Wave 1 ,” developed by the Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative , a project of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the California Department of Social Services ; CDPH’s Office of Strategic Development and External Relations (Fusion Center ); and the Population Reference Bureau , Kidsdata . The...

Our Skin: A First Conversation About Race is the book we’ve been waiting for! The team (Megan Madison, Jessica Ralli, and Isabel Roxas) did an incredible thing: they explained race and racism to young children. Not only did they do it in a few pages of a board book, but they also provided guidance to the adults who will read it to children. As soon as you open the book, the reader is greeted with colorful representations of the authors and illustrator, as well as a note on the purpose and...

By Melinda Wenner Moyer, Photo: Dmitry Kostyukov/The New York Times, The New York Times, March 24, 2022 Kids and teens in America are spending more time than ever using screens and social media, with the number of hours spent online having risen sharply during the pandemic, according to results from a survey released Wednesday. The survey , published by the nonprofit research organization Common Sense Media, found that overall screen use among teens and tweens increased by 17 percent from...

By Renate Raman and Joren Slaets, Photo: Screenshot from article, The New York Times, March 23, 2022 Three years ago, we came across a short article about Missing You, a summer camp in Belgium where children struggling with grief can come together and bond with their peers. It struck us as an incredibly pure idea, and we wanted to know more. What does a grief camp look like? Is it a sullen, sad affair? Does it really help the children? And what do they do there? In our research, which was...

Development of Memory Caregivers may have noticed their baby’s developing memory – like crying when they see the doctor or remembering hand movements to their favorite song or game. In your visits, you can build on this by asking the baby to follow simple directions, like touching their toes, giving a high five, or making an animal sound. When they do it (if they do it), offer praise for the connections they are making! “You remembered that from last time – way to go. Your brain is working...

KEY POINTS When people observe traumatic events occurring to others, they can suffer vicarious trauma, also referred to as secondary traumatic stress. Lessons can be learned from witnessing the adversity of others. Vicarious posttraumatic growth can include benefits to one's relationships, resilience, self-confidence, and purpose in life. People struggling with challenges such as depression or anxiety disorders should be prepared to seek support when news becomes too intense. During an...

Even if someone with an identified trauma history is privileged to have therapy and other mental health support, their partners, friends, and other loved ones tend to be their primary support system. These 5 tips could help: 1. Listen. Often we worry that we need to have the perfect thing to say or some other insightful response, and then get tripped up in thinking of something to say. In reality, just listening reflectively shows much more support than most responses. Showing some eye...

Navigating Adoption , a new podcast from AdoptUSKids in coordination with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families and the Ad Council, brings together individuals and families with lived experience and adoption experts to discuss the joys and challenges of the adoption journey through the telling of authentic stories. Each episode is approximately 30 minutes and presents educational and uplifting content. Topics span the adoption spectrum,...

By Caitlin Gibson, Photo: Contributed Family Photo, The Washington Post, March 17, 2022 The sticky note left on Amber Briggle’s desk was scrawled with a name, a phone number and the words urgent and private . When Briggle, a mother of two and a small-business owner in Texas, arrived at her office on Feb. 28, she felt sure she knew what the note meant: Another parent of a transgender child — perhaps one who was under investigation by the state’s protective services agency — was calling for...