5 Ways to Avoid Sensory Overload in Kids

Wikipedia defines it as: 

Sensory overload occurs when one or more of the body's senses experiences over-stimulation from the environment. There are many environmental elements that impact an individual. Examples of these elements are urbanization, crowding, noise, mass media, technology, and the explosive growth of information. 

There are a wide variety of symptoms that have been found to be associated with sensory overload. These symptoms can occur in both children and adults. Some of these symptoms are:

Irritability, "shutting down", or refusing to participate in activities and/or interacting with others, getting overexcited, having difficulty focusing on an activity, constantly changing activities, never completing a task, having trouble with social interactions, extremely high or extremely low activity levels, difficulty concentrating. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensory_overload

Recently I've attended a birthday party for a 3 year old. Most of the children that were invited were of the same age, ranging from one to three years old, apart from a handful of older boys.

The parents have hired a range of activities and entertainment; there was a clown with games and balloons, a mascot, the baby corner, giant soft Lego blocks, and if that wasn't enough they've brought more toys for children to be busy with; trucks, balls, cars.

Watching the entertainers from the side I've noticed they had the most challenging time of engaging with the children. There were so many things fighting for their attention.

I could see a few oldest boys here and there, running from one activity to the next, not giving any one of them any significant attention. Running to the clown, “Make me more balloons!” Before the balloons were even finished they were already kicking the ball on the field nearby, the next moment they were tossing the rings in the games corner, then building and knocking down the Lego tower. Several girls were trying to build a Lego fort and just when they would be finished the boys would knock it down.

The mascot showed up, trying to interact with the birthday boy, but he was simply not interested. Pulling his two large trucks, digging into the presents while being smothered by friends and relatives. The mascot finally resigned to playing with the youngest invitees in the baby corner, to the parents apparent displeasure.

Slowly but surely, the time expired for the entertainers team, and the clown and the mascot said their good byes and left. The only thing that was left was the baby corner and the giant Lego blocks.

Then something miraculous happened! All the children gravitated towards the baby corner and started orderly and peacefully playing with the blocks and Lego pieces. They've stopped running around wildly, they were sincerely interested and actually had great fun with one another and the blocks.

On a mat 3mx3m all the children collaborated and had fun. I was amazed at first, couldn't believe the big boys were happy playing in a 'baby corner', but they were. Watching them for a few moments I realized what has just occurred. No, it wasn't a miracle! No, it wasn't a magic trick! Most definitely wasn't any type of Harry Potter magic either!

Those children were overstimulated! Parents in their desire to provide for their children, in their concern that children won't have enough fun, in their attempt to make their birthdays and childhood memorable, overstimulated them. One activity at the time is plenty enough for the children to be happily occupied for a while. Multitasking is a myth (if you are to do something right)! That's why I've always made a point with my own kids to only have one toy out at the time. Once they're finished playing with that one they're required to clean it up, put it away before engaging in the next activity.

Overstimulating our kids is turning them into ADHD. Children's brains/minds can take so much info, at a lightening speed, but not all at once. Their minds are just soaking it all up. Yes, they are well able to take it all in, but what happens when so many things are fun for them and they want to try them all at the same time? How do they choose? It comes to the point that they conclude that NONE of it is fun! Not because they would not enjoy it if given just that one activity, but in a midst of so many they get more easily bored since they've not experienced any of them as they should. All the while they are engaged in one activity they are thinking, looking, wishing for the next one, not able to give it their full attention.

Solution? 

1. Limit kids activities to one at a time. One toy out at the time. 

2. When organizing a party limit the number of activities or create the activity stations with a 'collect-your-points-at-each-station' incentives.

3.When out and about try to occasionally point to fun facts about just one item, such as in a zoo, stop by one of the animal's cages and share fun, quirky facts about just that one animal (ask them later which animal they've liked the most or stood out to them the most)

4. Do 'did you know' impromptu moments with your child while sharing interesting facts, you are sure they don't know.

5. If they're watching a cartoon, have them put the toys away. Focus on the cartoon. Talk about it when it is done. 

If you liked this head on over to the http://sandrasacademy.squarespace.com/ to grab your own FREE copy of the My Baby's Milestones checklist

Do you have any tips on how to avoid the sensory overload in children you'd like to share? Let us know in the comments section below. If you enjoyed this post, I’d be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Twitter or Facebook, join our FB group My Happy Baby. Thank you!

8 stvari koje trebate znati o roditeljstvu

Kao roditelji skloni smo osjećaju "krivnje". Većinu vremena, djeca uvelike pomažu tom osjećaju, osobito dok nam pokazuje svoje nezadovoljstvo kada neudovoljimo njihovom zahtjevu za nešto- bilo što, u biti!

Nedavno sam imala priliku osvrnuti se na moje dosadašnje roditeljstvo, moj roditeljski stil, roditeljske vještine koje sam naučila, neke roditeljske savjete na koje sam naišla, itd. (moja djeca su dobi od 13.god. do 22.god). Budući da sam prošla dugi niz godina roditeljstva, te sve faze djetetova razvoja, mogu slobodno reći da sam imala dosta roditeljskih uspona i padova.

Tijekom ovog osvrta na moj roditeljski stil, primjetila sam mnoge nedostatke. Jasno mi je da sam napravila neke pogreške s mojom djecom, neke od njih sam, na žalost, ponavljala s vremena na vrijeme. Osjećala sam se tako jadno, tako obeshrabreno i tako poraženo. Počela sam sa: "Trebala sam..." i "Da sam samo...” pomislima. Ali u tom momentu, jedna nova razina razumijevanja roditeljstva je polako došla u moj fokus i dala mi novi smisao.



Dolje su moje spoznaje iz ovog roditeljskog samo-'istraživanja':

1. Svi roditelji su ljudi: Roditelji kao grešna ljudska bića, prave pogreške (čak i strojevi nas nekad iznevjere). Puni smo grešaka i nitko nije savršen. Ne postoji savršeni roditelj. Svi griješimo. Što se prije suočimo sa tom činjenicom lakše će nam biti prihvatiti sve uspone i padove.

2. Ljudi su različiti: Svi smo mi drugačiji, a sva naša djeca različita i posebna na svoj jedinstveni način. Najvažnije je to uzeti u obzir za svako dijete, te tretirati ga kao posebnog jedinstvenog pojedinca s njegovim / njezinim vlastitim vrlinama i manama.

3. Temeljito razumijevanje djece je neophodno: Ako dijete ima određene poteškoće, u učenju ili bilo koju drugu nelagodu, a vi si uzmete vremena kako bi naučili sve što možete prvo o tom izazovu, a onda kako pomoći svojem lijepom dragulju, pa onda (što je najvažnije) naučite njega/nju kako da se nosi sa time i prevlada te izazove onda ste fantastično odradili svoj posao i uspješan ste roditelj!


4. Morate i dalje učiti: Nitko nije rođen s diplomom pedagogije ili psihologije, dok smo živi učimo. Ako ste voljni istraživati, pohađati tečajeve roditeljstva, čitati o roditeljstvu, tražiti savjete, onda činite sve što možete. (NAPOMENA: Nitko ne zna sve i ponekad trebate potražiti savjet stručnjaka, tako da možete biti divan i uspješan roditelj!)...

5. Roditeljstvo je kontinuirano učenje. Čak i kada imamo osjećaj da znamo sve, nešto će nam prije ili kasnije zadati izazov (sigurna sam da se ne želite naći u takvoj situaciji). Priđite izazovima tako što ih objeručke prihvatite i naučite sve što možete o njemu. Nemojte smatrati da je to poraz vašem dosadašnjem stilu roditeljstva, nego unaprjeđenje, poboljšanje.

6. Dajte sve od sebe da pokažete ljubav svojoj djeci: Pravila sam greške u odgoju, ali uvijek sam učinila sve što je u mojoj moći, da svom snagom i svim srcem, volim i zaštitim svoju djecu, da ih njegujem, da im pomognem, da ih razumijem. Ljubeći svoju djecu i stavljajući ih na prvo mjesto ne možete pogriješiti u svom roditeljstvu.

7. Ne uspoređujte svoje dijete s bilo kojim drugim djetetom: Uspoređujući svoju djecu s drugom djecom (pa čak i sa braćom i sestrama) je jedna od najvećih grešaka! Sva djeca rastu i razvijaju se drugačije i po različitim parametrima. Ako vjerujemo da se ljudska bića mogu svrstati u određene skupine i napisati vodič o tipovima ljudi, onda živimo s pogrešnim pretpostavkama. Svako dijete, svaka osoba je drugačija i ima njegov / njezin vlastiti raspored, vremenski slijed, karakteristike, vrline i mane. Baš kao što svaka pahuljica ima svoj individualni dizajn, tako i svako dijete, svaki čovjek ima svoj!


8. Prihvatite svoju djecu onakvima kakvi jesu: Roditelji često misle da je akademska sklonost ili sportska vještina ili bilo koje druge vještine njihove djece prizanje njihovog intelekta i snage koja je direktan nusprodukt, te osigurava priznanje, intelekta, vještine i/ili roditeljskog postignuća. Ništa nije dalje od istine! Roditelji ovim stavom stavljaju enormni pritisak na svoju djecu i sebe. Najbolji način odgoja djece je da ih prihvatite onakvima kavi jesu, a to će vam osigurati titulu Super roditelja!

Ako vam se svidio ovaj blog vidimo se preko na http://sandrasacademy.squarespace.com/ gdje možete dobiti svoj besplatni primjerak popisa prekretnica za moju bebu.

Imate li bilo koji od roditeljskih savjeta koje biste željeli podijeliti sa nama? Javite nam u komentarima ispod. Ako ste uživali u ovom post-u, bila bih vam jako zahvalna ako biste pomogli drugima da čuju više o ovoj temi, slanjem prijateljima, ili da ga podijelite na Twitter-u ili Facebook-u. Hvala!

7 Basic Baby's Needs

7 Basic Baby's Needs

• Struggling with a daily grind of changing, feeding and putting your baby to sleep?
• Do you have a seemingly unhappy baby?
• Do you wonder if there is more to raising a happy child?

As a mother of five, and from my years of experience of raising, feeding, changing and cleaning them I have had to overcome the multiple challenges a parent goes through when raising their new-borns.

The necessities every baby needs.

We all know that babies need sleep food and a regular change of diapers. Those are obvious basic needs. When we see that helpless bundle and all the emotions overwhelm us, we simply forget that little human in our hands may one day be a president, or an astronaut, or a scientist, a doctor that will save someone's life. Those types of thoughts are very far from us especially when we see the uncoordinated movements the baby makes with his/her hands, the glazed look of a newborn, and then we hear gurgles and coos instead of words. And if you try and speak to the baby you get even further from the belief that your efforts were well spent. But, my dear, you couldn't be farther from the truth!

That same baby that is unable to tell you what she is feeling, hearing, seeing does have all those senses about her. She is a human being just in a very small form. They should be treated with the full respect you would give someone you honor and revere. She also has needs, they range from the need to go out, to change  of scenery, to hearing new sounds, and most of all she is in dire need of input. That is their inherent virtue; they crave input, and yearn for new, they hunger for your teaching.

Needs new parents often overlook

Routine

Babies love routines. Routines teach them what to expect next. That is how they learn, they need predictability. They want to be able to count on that diaper change, that feeding, that leg exercise. Try to stick to the routine and the baby will learn quickly. Knowing that she can count on those routines will make her feel more relaxed and agreeable.

Exercising

Believe it or not our babies love to exercise, even though they don't know how to. That is why she has you! Simple leg and arm movements daily while changing a diaper is enough to begin with. For more in depth exercises check out my next blog! I've must have gotten the point of this as thanks to these exercises my children had strong enough legs and started walking progressively earlier (first one at 11 months, second 10 months, third baby 9 months, and twins at 8 months old)

A Change of Scenery

You will not believe this, but babies can get bored. One of my twins at three months old would scream on top of his lungs if he was in a same room for an extended periods of time. He liked to be moved around, challenged with new things, shown pictures, told about sounds, all the time. How do you imagine they will learn if they are kept in one place, one room mostly?

Closeness

Babies love when you hold them close. Some will be more clingy while others less in need of cuddles, but they all need to be held close when fed, while being put to sleep and at other times as well. They feel the reassurance of a mother's heart beat (they did listen to it for 9 months) that is a familiar sound to them, reminding them of being safe and tucked away.

Communication

It is important to talk to your baby all the time. When she is being fed, changed, washed. This is the way they learn how communication works. Some research has shown that babies that are talked to more start speaking earlier than the ones that haven't been. It does take an effort especially if you feel that there is no feedback. But trust me, that is the best way for them to learn, don't withhold it from them. They are super eager to learn, teach them so you can get a feedback few months down the line. HELPFUL TIP: speak to them as you would want them to speak back to you, no baby language, no lisping, speak clearly in full words and sentences.

Fresh Air

Yes, babies also like fresh air. You might have concerns about it being cold outside, or too hot, wet, whatever. If you bundle them up (yes, bundle them as they are not moving around like you are while walking) or put them in a sling so they can have a benefit of your body heat as well and take that walk, even a couple of times a day. Fresh air is something that they can't get too much of. If on the other hand, it is too cold, break it up into a couple of short walks, in any way make sure they get at the very least one hour of fresh air a day. As they are growing up, that one hour can easily be extended to at least two to three hours a day. Rubber boots (when they start walking), one piece, rain and wind resistant suit and let them experience the world around them in their innocent wonder.

Input

Now, the best I've left for the last! Input IS a basic baby's need and mostly overlooked! (for different types of input, the schedule, and activities please check out my up and coming course "Activities for Babies 0-12 Months" and future blogs) It should be given at the very start, consistently and according to the baby's development schedule (although it is never to late to start). Many researches have proven that input given to babies consistently and early on has helped them develop into inquisitive youngsters and very intelligent people, while allowing their brain to develop better. Here are some excerpts from the latest research done:

Much more than the basic necessities

Babies are born with just about all the neurons they'll ever have -- about 100 billion of them. Though only one quarter the size, a baby's brain looks exactly like ours.
Over the next three years, that brain triples in size, establishing more than 1,000 trillion intricate and complicated connections between neurons. Anyone who has cared for a child has witnessed this explosive growth, from that ungainly infant to a running, shouting toddler with a sense of self and opinions to share.
This magical and sometimes stressful window of rapid growth, when the brain's malleability is at its peak, can set the stage for future learning and healthy development throughout life, according to neuroscientists and child development experts.
It's a time when a lot can go right or wrong for a child, says Charles Nelson, a professor of pediatrics at Boston Children's Hospital and a steering committee member of Harvard's Center on the Developing Child.
Experpts from Cleveland.com

The key to a happier baby isn’t just about providing them with sleep, food and a regular change of diapers. My real life experience has shown that it is much more than that, including how your baby interprets their overall surroundings and how you, their mother and father, interact with them in their formative years.

Have you found your own ways of making your baby happy? Let us know in the comments section below. If you enjoyed this post, I’d be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Twitter or Facebook. Thank you!

8 Things You Need to Know About Parenting

As parents, we are prone to the “guilt feeling.” And, most of the time, our precious kids are not always helping, showing resentment towards us when we refuse them their request for something- anything really!

Recently, I took an in-depth look at how I’ve performed as a parent so far−my parenting style, parenting skills I have garnered, some parenting advice I’ve come across, etc. (on a side note; my kids ages are 22, 20, 18, and twins 13). Since I've done a fair bit of parenting and have gone through all the stages of child's development−till they are now mature individuals−I've had a fair amount of parenting ups and downs.

During this soul-searching about my parenting style, I realized many flaws; I understand that I’ve made some mistakes with my kids−some of them I, unfortunately, repeat from time to time. I've felt so low, so discouraged and so bad about it. Unfortunately, I've ventured on that "I wish I had..." path. As I did that, comprehension of new and valid logical concepts of parenting slowly came into my focus and made so much sense to me.

Here are my realizations from my parental quest:

1. All Parents are Human: We, as a parents, are human and not machines (even machines fail). We are fallible, and therefore not perfect. There is no such thing as a perfect parent. We all make mistakes.

2. Humans are Different: We are all different, and all our children are different and special in their own unique way. The most important thing is for us to consider each child as a different human being, an individual with his/her own quirks and faults.

3. Thorough Understanding of Your Children is Expedient: If your child has certain disabilities, learning difficulties or any other discomfort, and you take your time to find out how you can help your beautiful jewel. And then, most importantly, teach her/him to deal with it and accomplish things in spite of it. Yes! You’ve done a fantastic job!

4. You Need to Keep Learning: No one was born with a pedagogy degree, we all live and learn. If you’re willing to research, attend parenting classes, read about some parenting fails, enroll for parental guidance, seek parenting advice, then you’re doing yourself all lot of good. (NOTE: Nobody knows it all! You need to seek out the advice of experts so that you can be a great, adoring parent.).

5. Parenting is a continuous learning. Even when we, as parents, feel we know it all, something is bound to throw us for a loop (I’m sure you don’t want to find yourself in such situations).

6. Do Your Best to Love Your Children: I have made mistakes, but I have always done everything in my power, and with all my heart, to love my children, protect my kids, nurture them, help them, understand them, and raise them right. By loving your children and putting them first, you cannot go wrong in your parenting.

7. Don’t Compare Your Child with Another Child: Comparing your children with others kids is a big NO-NO! All children grow and develop differently, and at different rates. We've all been living with wrong assumptions that human beings can be put in a box and written a book/guide to follow. Every child, every person is different and has his/her own schedules, timeline, milestones that they follow. Just like every snowflake has its individual design, so does every child!

8. Accept Your Kids for Who They Are: Parents often think that their child's aptitude academic or athletic or any other skill, strengths provide a validation of their own intellect, skills, and parenting accomplishments. Nothing could be further from the truth. Parents tend to put more pressure on their kids and themselves by this parenting fail. The best way to handle your kids is to accept them for who they are, and you’re going to be a Superstar Parent!

If you liked this head on over to the http://sandrasacademy.squarespace.com/ to grab your own FREE copy of the My Baby's Milestones checklist

Do you have any of parenting tips you'd like to share? Let us know in the comments section below. If you enjoyed this post, I’d be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Twitter or Facebook. Thank you!