What's $1.00 minus .78 cents?

Dear MomsRising member,
What's $1.00 minus .78 cents?  It's the difference between your salary and the salary of your male counterparts. If you're a woman of color, you can subtract at least an additional 10 cents, and for single mothers you can take away even more.¹  That's right: Just sixty cents to a man's dollar.
Seem fair?
We don't think so either. That's why MomsRising members pushed for passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act earlier this year, and is now pushing for the next step toward fair pay for women in the workplace: The Paycheck Fairness Act has passed the U.S. House and is now moving in the U.S. Senate.  Your voices played a huge role in the passage of the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, and now we have an opportunity to use our voices again to move us all another step closer to fair pay.
Tell your Senators that more than 50% of the labor force are now women, but we still need equal pay for equal work. Urge them now to support of the Paycheck Fairness Act:
http://momsrisingaction.org/t/1546/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27140
It's no coincidence that we're sending you this message today: Tuesday, April 28, is Equal Pay Day, which marks the point in 2009 when the average woman's wages will finally catch up with the wages paid to the average man in 2008. The day is an important reminder of the persistent wage gap and the urgent need to take action to ensure we close this gap.
*Please forward this email around far and wide today in honor of Equal Pay Day.  Tell friends and family that today is the day to make your voice heard.
Why does the wage gap matter anyway (beside the obvious!)?   Whether you're in a one or two person household, equal pay is critical to supporting a family, especially in these tough economic times. One study estimated that over a lifetime, a woman's wages are anywhere from $700,000 to $2 million dollars less than a man's². And the problem runs deeper than just wage discrimination: A recent study found that with equal resumes, mothers were 79% less likely to be hired than non-mothers³; and another recent study found that given equal resumes, mothers were offered $11,000 lower starting salaries than their equally qualified non-mother counterparts (Fathers were offered $6,000 more than their non-father counterparts).  Turns out the wage gap is pretty big deal after all. But we have a real opportunity to help even the odds.
The Paycheck Fairness Act deters wage discrimination by:

• Closing loopholes in the law that allow for discrimination.
• Protecting workers from retaliation against workers who disclose their wages.
• Allowing women to receive the same remedies in court for pay discrimination as those subjected to discrimination based on race and national origin.

We took an important step toward paycheck fairness with the passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Act at the start of this year, and now with that victory in hand we need to keep up the momentum and ensure that women everywhere get equal pay. Paycheck fairness helps women and families, and it just makes sense.
With everything happening right now around the country, Congress has a full plate. Let's make sure this is one thing that doesn't fall off. Take action today!
http://momsrisingaction.org/t/1546/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27140
Thanks for all you do,
Dionna and the MomsRising.org Team
Special thanks to the National Women's Law Center for their support drafting this message.
P.S. With all the news about the Swine Flu,the Center for Disease Control is saying folks should stay home if they feel sick. That's easier said than done -- 1/2 the U.S. workforce doesn't have any paid sick days.  This means they don't have a single paid sick day to take when illness strikes in order to keep our communities healthy and not spread illness.  Sign the petition today to to tell our country's leaders:  "The United States needs to allow all working people to earn paid sick days to ensure our economic security, and protect public health." http://momsrisingaction.org/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=1924
P.P.S. April 28, 2009 is Equal Pay Day, the date in 2009 when the average woman's wages finally catches up with those paid to the average man in 2008. This is a public awareness day to highlight the wage gap between men and women in America. Events will be held all around the country, and supporters will be wearing red to signify how women and people of color are 'in the red' in their pay. You can show your support by wearing red, joining an event and signing the letter to your Senator today! http://momsrisingaction.org/t/1546/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27140
[1] http://www.nwlc.org/fairpay/wagegapoverview2009.html
[2] http://www.pay-equity.org/info-time.html
[3] Shelley Correll, Stephen Benard & In Paik, Getting a Job: Is there a Motherhood Penalty, 112 The Am. J. of  Soc. 1297 (2007).

Becka has a Bachelors in Early Childhood Education and Development, and has 17 years experience in the field. She is a Certified Parent Educator and Licensed Baby, Toddler, and Preschool Sign Language Instructor. You can visit her site, at www.learnandgrowtogether.com

Parenting/Mom books that I could read and suggest over and over again

The Baby Signing Book
Scream Free Parenting
The No Cry Discipline Solution
The Happiest Baby/Toddler on the Block
What's Going on in There
The Successful Child Book
The Discipline Book
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families
How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk
Anything by this author: http://www.consciousdiscipline.com/
No: Why Kids--of All Ages--Need to Hear It and Ways Parents Can Say It
Magic Trees of the Mind
Raise a Smarter Child by Kindergarten
The Vaccine Book
The Baby Sleep Book
Into the Minds of Babes: How Screen Time Affects Children from Birth to Age Five
Einstein Never Used Flashcards
How Language Works
Reading Magic
The No Cry Sleep Solution
The Baby Book
The Breastfeeding Book
Mothering Your Nursing Toddler
The Mommy Brain
The Motherhood Manifesto
Womanly Art of Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding Answer Book
Inside My Heart


There are a few more, but this is the bulk of it lol. These are all awesome books that I love talking about!

Becka has a Bachelors in Early Childhood Education and Development, and has 17 years experience in the field. She is a Certified Parent Educator and Licensed Baby, Toddler, and Preschool Sign Language Instructor. You can visit her site, at www.learnandgrowtogether.com

Introduction to Positive Toddler Parenting

Here are a few tips to define success, integrate your parenting goals into your daily activities, and shift your thought process to be more proactive and less reactive:
1. Appreciate your child’s unique personality and talents. Children come into the world with their own personality. While we can guide, support, and influence some aspects of their behavior, who they are at the core is pretty well established in utero! That’s part of what makes them unique and precious, and they should be celebrated.
2. Decide what parenting success means to you. Imagine a point in your child’s future (college graduation, wedding, etc.) when you will reflect on the adult your child has become. Set the platform to be proud of the wonderful person they have become, respecting their inherent traits as well as the values they hold and how they treat others and make decisions.
3. Set an intention to succeed. Set the image of parenting success clearly in your head and act as if it were a fait accompli. Make a commitment to make your success image come true.
4. Make a plan and make it easy. For each of the most important success factors, identify ways you can model to your children that value or behavior while you go about your everyday life. Get your children involved in the process. This is your opportunity to be proactive and reinforce positive actions each day.
5. Review at different stages in your child’s life. Find a way to remind yourself of your intention and your action plan. Review it periodically to make sure it is still relevant to you and appropriate to your children’s’ ages and interests. One of the best ways to ensure that you stay on track with any goal is to find an accountability partner – your spouse, a friend, a coach.
When you consciously and intentionally model the traits and behaviors you wish for your child, your opportunities to foster those values grow exponentially. You may never get a formal performance appraisal for your job as a parent, but it’s nice to know that you’ve done everything you can to help your child be the best person they can be. Now that’s a job well done!

Encouragement.


There are 4 steps.


1. Notice something you like that your child is doing. Ignore the
negative unless it will hurt themselves or others.


2. Notice how you feel when they are doing something that you like.


3. Say it! ("I feel.....that you....")


4. Notice how your child responds.

Can Do.


1. Notice what you don't want your child to do.


2. Think of something that your child can do instead.


3. Tell your child what they can do.


4. Help your child if necessary.


So it goes like this. You notice that your child is heading out to the
road. You don't want them to do that so you think of something else
they can do like look at a pretty flower you see by your house. So you
ask them to come over to look at the flower and go over and guide them
to the flower if they still head over to the road. That's overly
simplified but it's basically positive redirection.


They said that it's important not to say don't. So instead of saying
don't go into the road you are giving them positive options that they
can do.

Becka has a Bachelors in Early Childhood Education and Development, and has 17 years experience in the field. She is a Certified Parent Educator and Licensed Baby, Toddler, and Preschool Sign Language Instructor. You can visit her site, at www.learnandgrowtogether.com

What is The National Effective Parenting Initiative?

The National Effective Parenting Initiative (NEPI) is about working together to make it the birthright of every child in the United States to be raised effectively and humanely by loving and skillful parents who receive the best possible parenting education and support.

Achieving this goal begins with each and every parent committing themselves to being the best parent they can be and to seeking out and receiving the best possible parenting education.


Achieving the goal also includes honoring parents for the contributions they make to their children’s growth, health and happiness through such activities as National Parents’ Day celebrations and effective parenting weeks.

It also involves urging our elected government officials to create and support Effective Parenting Initiatives at the national, state, county and city government levels that will make both effective parenting and parenting education priorities, and thereby facilitate the opportunity for every parent to receive the best parenting education.

Also within the scope of NEPI is creating and supporting effective parenting projects at the community level, such as projects that bring parenting education opportunities into every preschool, child care center, and family day care home, and projects that bring these opportunities into work places and schools. In addition, reaching the goal entails having more individuals trained as parenting instructors, family life educators and parent coaches.

And NEPI strives to prevent the abuse and neglect of all children.

As the overarching goal is achieved through these various actions, initiatives and projects, our communities will become safer and better places to live, and our schools and other institutions will become more effective and productive. Our children will be much more likely to reach their full potentials. Through these actions and their anticipated benefits, we will also become known as a nation that takes good care of its children and families.

Every person and every organization can participate in achieving and supporting this noble and important goal. Specific actions that you and/or your organization can take are listed in the section on What You Can Do.

Best of all, each of you can become a member and important part of what NEPI is accomplishing!

Do join, let’s make our country a great place to raise children! There are three membership programs each with its own set of benefits and responsibilities.

Becka has a Bachelors in Early Childhood Education and Development, and has 17 years experience in the field. She is a Certified Parent Educator and Licensed Baby, Toddler, and Preschool Sign Language Instructor. You can visit her site, at www.learnandgrowtogether.com

Sign language for early development

The desire for enrichment classes geared towards babies and toddlers have become very popular in the United States. Teaching sign language to children as young as 6 months, and in some cases younger, is a growing industry, and the demand for baby-signing videos and classes have gone up a over 200 percent over the last few years.

Signing for infants and toddlers is offered as a way for parents to communicate with children who are too young to communicate, a way for the infants and toddlers to express wants and needs that parents and care givers mostly have to guess at in response to crying.
I had signed with my day care children for many years and my older two children at a young age, but not as much as I should have, apparently. When my son was born in February 2007, the research was very prevailing, and I wanted to give him the advantage from birth. At 23 months, he now has almost 400 words, combined signed and spoken, but mainly spoken. He also has multiple 2-5 word sentences. He produced his first sign younger than 6 months of age.
Like an increasing number of parents, I wanted to make the most of my infant’s natural urge to communicate — capitalizing on a window of opportunity in which infant’s gesture long before they talk. Hand gesturing is a natural part of any baby’s development. Without much coaching, a baby who is offered food when he is not hungry might shake his head vigorously; a baby whose mother leaves the house might wave his hand or start trying to reach out for his dad.
By actively teaching their pre-verbal babies to express themselves with sign language, parents are taking such gesturing a step further. For example, babies could learn to ask for a book by placing their hands together (palm to palm) and then opening the hands while maintaining contact between the pinkie fingers or to ask for food by rubbing their tummies. (Some baby-signing programs recommend using only gestures from American Sign Language; others believe children should be allowed to create their own gestures.) Babies exposed to true ASL signs regularly from an early age can generally begin using them effectively by 6 or 9 months or younger — even before they can say them, much sooner than those that use mere gestures, and even sooner then those who used no sins what so ever.
ASL Advocates believe that its signs are easy for babies to learn and that it offers the additional benefit of being widely known and understood. You want your child to learn another language correctly, just as you want them to speak correctly. You would not teach your baby made up words for things, so why would you want to teach them made up signs? Look for programs that only use ASL, if you want your child to have the highest level of benefits.

Signing provides children with far more than just basic communication skills. Signing can increase self-esteem and happiness, reduce fussiness and temper tantrums, improve a child’s intellect, improve problem-solving skills, and help toddlers get along better with each other. It also strengthens the bond between parent and child, as you are able to communicate effectively with your baby. Signing has also been proven to enhance early language and literacy skills, enabling children to speak sooner and develop larger vocabularies. Many studies even attribute significant increases in IQ to early signing.
Signing with children with special needs is also very beneficial. Since many children with special needs will have trouble speaking for quite some time, teaching them to sign will lessen the chances of tantrums and frustration (on both sides!). There have been many parents with special needs children, especially those with children with Downs Syndrome, Autism, and Apraxia, saying their child learned to sign and all of a sudden had a language explosion, much sooner than they would be expected to.
Numerous parents, caregivers, and others who work with young signing children have confirmed the findings that research has conclusively indicated: that babies who sign tend to have a stronger command of verbal language and often begin speaking at an earlier age than babies who do not sign, with their personal experiences and observations. Multiple professionals, including Speech-Language professionals, pediatricians, and educators are supporting the use of signs to encourage early language development.
A study funded by the National Institutes of Health and reported in 2000 endorsed the contention that signing yielded verbal benefits. “The study showed signing facilitates learning to talk,” says Linda Acredolo, a professor emeritus of psychology at UC Davis and the report’s coauthor. Up to and even beyond age 3, children who had been instructed in signing had an advantage over non-signing children in language development. “The study also found that signing offers an intellectual advantage,” says Acredolo. Around the age of 8 years, those children who were taught to sign as babies, toddler, and preschoolers, were found to have IQs 12 points higher than their non-signing counterparts. The study’s authors offer a variety of theories for this apparent benefit. They suggest that the observed IQ advantage associated with signing might be the result of “jump-starting” a baby’s intellectual development. They also speculate that the social and emotional benefits of signing, such as higher self-confidence, can have long-term effects on IQ.

When looking for a sign class for your child, make sure to look for the following items:
• ASL background of the instructor(s)
• The program is American Sign Language based, and not mere gestures
• Past class participant satisfaction
• Instructor(s) education level
• Whether or not the instructor has had success with their own child(ren)
It is very important, especially in this electronic age that parents and young children interact face to face, instead of letting their children spend hours in front of a television set, computer or video game system.

Becka has a Bachelors in Early Childhood Education and Development, and has 17 years experience in the field. She is a Certified Parent Educator and Licensed Baby, Toddler, and Preschool Sign Language Instructor. You can visit her site, at www.learnandgrowtogether.com

31% of Wee Hands instructors are speech-language pathologists!

In the past week, I have read many people assume that a child learning sign language can actually hinder their verbal development. I have asked those that have been in the field (not just a pediatrician who has no formal training on the subject, or a neighbor who never hard of such a thing!) and they all say they have yet to come across any reliably backed up studies on ASL delaying speech, but the exact opposite!

Yes, I am passionate about this. Not only because I am an instructor, but also because I have seen the benefits for more years then I have been a mother!

Sign language is a wonderful resource in the classroom – from infancy, preschool, kindergarten, and beyond. Sign language reinforces auditory skills by adding visual and kinesthetic input. Signing also stimulates connections in the brain and provides a secondary avenue for conceptual understanding to occur. Sign language also improves spatial skills that are important for solid reasoning. There are so many cognitive benefits to learning sign language!

Research conclusively indicates that babies who sign tend to have a stronger command of verbal language and often begin speaking at an earlier age than babies who do not sign. Countless parents and caregivers have confirmed these findings with their personal experiences and observations. In addition, many Speech-Language professionals, pediatricians, and educators are supporting the use of signs to encourage early language development.

Even in a study by the National Institutes of Health found this to be the case: A study funded by the National Institutes of Health has shown that children who sign as infants are advanced linguistically and cognitively in preschool and have higher IQ’s in elementary school than non-signing children.

From the company Wide Eyed Learning, makers of Signing Smart: Wide-Eyed Learning recently completed their National Research study with over 165 infants. At 12 mos., Signing Smart children use an average of 25 signs and 16 spoken words, versus the 2-3 words non-signing children use. At 18 mos., Signing Smart children use an average of 79 signs and 102 spoken words, versus the 10-50 words non-signing children use. Between 11-14 mos., a majority of Signing Smart children begin using signed/spoken “sentences,” about 10 months earlier than is typical!

Through this note, I am searching and searching for articles stating just the opposite...I can not find any...no matter what words I use to search or how I word it.

Signing is also a great way to help children with special needs such as Autism and Downs Syndrome efficiently communicate with their family, friends, and teachers!

Many tantrums and the "Terrible Twos" are directly linked to frustration about communication. There is less frustration when your child can augment their communication skills with signs that both of you can understand.

Teaching sign language to your child can even encourage early reading! I know of a few kids so far, that started reading simple words from books after being read and signed to, before the age of 2!


I would just like it if more people would do their research, or talk to professionals in the field, before passing on false or inaccurate information. It does not help anyone!

Becka has a Bachelors in Early Childhood Education and Development, and has 17 years experience in the field. She is a Certified Parent Educator and Licensed Baby, Toddler, and Preschool Sign Language Instructor. You can visit her site, at www.learnandgrowtogether.com

Why wait to communicate?

Ever Play the "Scream and Guess" Game with your baby, toddler, or preschooler?
I'll scream until I get tired or you figure it out! It's great for building bonds and nurturing communication. I can play this one ALL DAY LONG!
You're not a bad parent! You just don't know what's on your child's mind! You can't know that ... or can you?


Sign language encourages early reading!


It is never too early to start signing with your little one! Some babies can learn to sign as young as 3 months old, or less! In our classes, you can learn to identify your baby's early signs. Is he signing Mama? At 2 months old? Did my 5 month old just sign a 2 word sentence? If you are consistent, you might just see some early indications of signing and advanced cognitive skills!

Many tantrums and the "Terrible Twos" are directly linked to frustration about communication. There is less frustration when your child can augment their communication skills with signs that both of you can understand.

I want more. Is that an airplane? Let me tell you what I want ... Can I play with the ball, Daddy? - see my apple. I can "talk" with my hands! Look Mommy, HAT! CAT! DOG! (I'm only 6 mos. old) I won't be talking out loud for several more months, but we can already communicate using the Wee Hands method of Baby Signing.This also helps in communicating to your child with special needs

If your little one is not signing yet, consider these suggestions

Also try some signs to start with.
And don't forget your ABC's!
Also try a cute little ASL chant.

Long before your baby can speak, he has the ability to understand speech and wants to communicate.

Our classes teach parents how to use American Sign Language with their babies, no made up signs here! We also have a strong focus on language development and provide parents with activities that help them teach their babies ASL vocabulary and include language development strategies.

Since 2001, WeeHands™ has taught over 5000 families, child care staff, teachers and other caregivers how to sign with their infants and toddlers. Our classes and workshops teach you how to use American Sign Language vocabulary with your wee one throughout the day. We teach you ASL signs, songs and motivating language strategies you need to teach your wee one!

Benefits:
# The benefits of teaching sign language to a preverbal baby: Creates a new awareness of a preverbal baby's potential
# Strengthens the parent-infant bond
# Reduces frustration for babies and caregivers
# Stimulates intellectual development
# Enhances infant self-esteem
# Accelerates verbal language development
# Provides a window into baby's world


The benefits of teaching sign language to a verbal child-
# Sign language can be used to improve hearing children's: English vocabulary
# Reading ability
# Spelling proficiency
# Self-esteem and self-confidence
# Comfort with expressing emotion
# Increased interest in books and literacy skills


Sign language helps all children become better readers. Sign is a visual language. As children are learning sign, they are exercising the visual-spatial part of their brain. This is the same part of the brain they will use to read. Research shows children that learn sign language are more readily able to translate letters and words to the written language.

Research also indicates that learning a second language, including sign language, actually increases IQ scores.

# Mother-proven benefits of having a signing child: Children can cry and sign simultaneously
# You can eat and sign
# Parents can correct a child from across the room
# Children can communicate with parent from a distance without yelling
# Children can be reminded to use manners from a distance
# Children learn to read body language
# You can talk in a movie, theatre or church
# You can talk under water
# Your child can complain when a parent is flossing her/his teeth too hard
# Your child can express where they are feeling pain and what they need


# What teachers are saying about signing in the classroom: Boosts enthusiasm and readiness to learn
# Influences a child's ability to attend
# Decreases classroom conflict
# Raises cultural awareness
# Increases self esteem

Using Sign to Facilitate Oral Language: Building a Case with Parents
Shari Robertson, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
http://www.speechpathology.com/articles/article_detail.asp?article_id=315



Using Sign Language and Fingerspelling to Facilitate Early Literacy
By Marilyn Edmunds and Debra Krupinski
http://www.pbs.org/teachers/earlychildhood/articles/signlanguage.html




Capone, N.C. & McGregor, K.K. (2004). Gesture Development: A Review for Clinical and Research Practices. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, February 2004, 47, 1, 173. Retrieved June 28, 2006 from ProQuest Nursing and Allied Health Source.

Clibbens, J. (2000+). Signing and Lexical Development in Children with Down Syndrome. Centre for Thinking and Language, University of Plymouth. Retrieved June 30, 2006 from http://www.altonweb.com/cs/downsyndrome/index.htm.

Coryell, J. & Holcomb, T.K. (1997). The Use of Sign Language and Sign Systems in Facilitating the Language Acquisition and Communication of Deaf Students. Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools, Vol. 28, Is.4, p. 384. Retrieved June 28, 2006 from ProQuest Nursing and Allied Health Source.

Dessell, D.D. & Pearlmutter, L. (1997). Navigating Two Cultures: Deaf Children, Self-Esteem, and Parents? Communication Patterns. Social Work in Education, Jan97, Vol. 19, Issue 1. Retrieved June 22, 2006 from EBSCO: Academic Search Premier.

Daniels, M. (1996). Seeing Language: The Effect over Time of Sign Language on Vocabulary Development in Early Childhood Education. Child Study Journal, 1996, Vol. 26 Issue 3, p193. Retrieved July 6, 2006 from EBSCO Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition.



Goldstein, H. (2002). Communication Intervention for Children with Autism: A Review of Treatment Efficacy. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, Vol. 32, No. 5 October 2002. Retrieved June 28, 2006 from ProQuest Nursing and Allied Health Source.

Hawkins, L. & Brawner, J. (1997). Educating Children Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing: Total Communication. ERIC EC Digest #E559, August 1997. Retrieved June 30, 2006 from http://ericec.org/digests/e559.html.

Millar, D.C., Light, J.C, & Schlosser, R.W. (2006). The Impact of Augmentative and Alternative Communication Intervention on the Speech Production of Individuals with Developmental Disabilities: A Research Review. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, April 2006, 49, 2, 248. Retrieved June 28, 2006 from Proquest Nursing and Allied Health Source.
Becka has a Bachelors in Early Childhood Education and Development, and has 17 years experience in the field. She is a Certified Parent Educator and Licensed Baby, Toddler, and Preschool Sign Language Instructor. You can visit her site, at www.learnandgrowtogether.com

The Colic Cure: The Mystery of the Fourth Trimester

and How to Calm a Colicky Baby

….and get some sleep in the process!

New babies are such a blessing, but they can also bring with them sleepless nights, crying, and sometimes quite a bit of stress. We can help you become less frustrated with the baby (aged 0 to 3 months) in your care!

We believe every child is a precious gift and those entrusted with caring for them should be well educated and well informed! Learn an extraordinary approach to keeping your baby happy.

The Happiest Baby On The Block method formulated by Dr. Harvey Karp, addresses these issues by helping you learn how to effectively recreate the environment of the womb, outside of Mom's body. Once you have learned the steps, you will be able to alleviate some, if not all, of your baby's colic symptoms.

Dr. Karp believes that babies, especially in their first few months of life, can experience "fourth trimester" issues. Babies can have a difficult time getting used to the huge amount of stimuli present in life outside of Mom's body. Their reaction to all of this is to cry and cry.
Colic is essentially non existent in several cultures around the world.

The 5 S's:
There are 5 components to this method which, when used together, work amazingly well to calm your crying baby and in many cases help your baby go to sleep with no fuss. Using cross-cultural techniques combined with his own research, Dr. Karp has developed the "five S's system". Some babies will need all five, others just a few to help induce what he calls the "calming reflex."
Swaddling - Tight swaddling provides the continuous touching and support the fetus experienced while still in Mom's womb.
Side/stomach position - You place your baby, while holding her, either on her left side to assist in digestion, or on her stomach to provide reassuring support. Once your baby is happily asleep, you can safely put her in her crib, on her back.
Shushing Sounds - These sounds imitate the continual whooshing sound made by the blood flowing through arteries near the womb. This white noise can be in the form of a vacuum cleaner, a hair dryer, a fan and so on. The good news is that you can easily save the motors on your household appliances and get a white noise CD which can be played over and over again with no worries.
Swinging - Newborns are used to the swinging motions that were present when they were still in Mom's womb. Every step mom took, every movement caused a swinging motion for your baby. After your baby is born, this calming motion, which was so comforting and familiar, is abruptly taken away. Your baby misses the motion and has a difficult time getting used to it not being there. "It's disorienting and unnatural," says Karp. Rocking, car rides, and other swinging movements all can help.
Sucking - "Sucking has its effects deep within the nervous system," notes Karp, "and triggers the calming reflex and releases natural chemicals within the brain." This "S" can be accomplished with breast, bottle, pacifier or even a finger. These steps sound pretty easy, but seeing them done properly, in conjunction with each other, is the key to relieving your baby's colic symptoms and making Mom, Dad, and baby less stressed and much happier!

Why does it work?

Dr. Karp has uncovered 2 facts that began to put everything into focus for him. First, he learned that there are profound differences between the brain of a 3-month-old baby and that of a newborn. During the first few months of life, babies make massive developmental leaps. This accounts for the huge gap between how parents in our society expect new babies to look, and act, and their true behavior and nature. His second pivotal discovery came when he began to read about child rearing in other societies. As he explored the musty shelves of old books and journals at the UCLA Library, he was shocked to learn that the colicky screaming that haunted so many of his patients and their parents was totally absent in the babies of several cultures around the world! The more he investigated this issue the more he realized that although our culture was advanced in many ways, it was very backwards when it came to understanding the needs of babies! Somehow, somewhere we had taken a wrong turn. He began to realize our ideas about babies' crying had been built upon centuries of myth and misconception.

In many ways, the peoples living in primitive cultures seem ignorant and backward. However, in some areas their wisdom is great…and we are actually the "primitive" ones. This is particularly true when it comes to understanding infant crying. While researching information from the past and then blending them with cutting edge modern research and his own unique observations, made while caring for more than 5000 young babies over the years.

Although today’s mothers and fathers are very well educated, they are the least experienced parents in history. No wonder even loving parents sometimes feel pushed to the breaking point by their infant’s screaming.

Becka has a Bachelors in Early Childhood Education and Development, and has 17 years experience in the field. She is a Certified Parent Educator and Licensed Baby, Toddler, and Preschool Sign Language Instructor. You can visit her site, at www.learnandgrowtogether.com

Elizabeth Pantley Contest!

Here were the rules :
In honor of Mother’s Day I’m holding a new contest ~
TWO people will each win a full set of No-Cry Solution books – autographed!
You can keep them for yourself, give them to a friend, or hold your own give-away contests on your blog or website!

The No-Cry Nap Solution *NEW*
The No-Cry Sleep Solution (for babies)
The No-Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers & Preschoolers
The No-Cry Discipline Solution
The No-Cry Potty Training Solution
Choose a line or two from any of my books. (Lots of excerpts on my website.)

Quote it on your blog, website or Facebook page.

~ Include the title and author, PLEASE.

Add a comment about your Mother – For example: How did she {use/not use/apply the ideas} in the quote.


So here goes lol
Choose a line or two from any of my books.

This is one of my favorites! :) (Situation) We'd like to take our children to a real restaurant-one that serves food on a plate, with silverware-and actually enjoy it for once! But every time we try this kind of adventure, we end up wishing we'd stayed home and ordered pizza!



Elizabeth Pantley, Perfect Parenting

I remember growing up being raised by my grandparents. Perhaps because of this, I was probably a little more well behaved in public then most of my friends. BUT I was a squirmer. I know that when I would act up in a place, especially a restaurant, I would get the EVIL EYE! I would also be told what my punishment would be...and they would follow through! That seems to not be the norm anymore these days!

If you have not read any of Pantley's books, DO IT!!! They are incredible! 

Becka has a Bachelors in Early Childhood Education and Development, and has 17 years experience in the field. She is a Certified Parent Educator and Licensed Baby, Toddler, and Preschool Sign Language Instructor. You can visit her site, at www.learnandgrowtogether.com