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These all-important measurements will determine your baby’s growth percentiles, which can help your doctor learn important information pertaining to your baby’s health. During pregnancy, your baby’s gestational age will be the benchmark used to determine whether your baby is growing properly and hitting milestones necessary to become a healthy, full-term infant when birth occurs around 40 weeks. When you think about the mechanics of childbirth, it can seem ideal to give birth to a smaller baby....

Get Your Teen Involved Make sure your teen is involved in the party planning. After all, it’s important to throw a party that teens are excited about if you want them to have a good time. Before you begin planning the party, divide up the jobs. Consider hosting the party in conjunction with another teen and parent. Then, you’ll be guaranteed to have at least one more person to help with the budget as well as another adult to supervise the party....

Toddler Collaborative Play and Playing With Other Children Up until this point, toddlers engage in parallel play: when children play near each other, not with each other. The characteristics of collaborative play aren’t just niceties that show a child is beginning to realize they aren’t the only person in the world. This type of play teaches important social skills that help children grow during everyday play. In the collaborative play, children solve a problem by working together to reach a common goal....

This week Tillery and her husband balance school, sports, two dogs, and working from home in their Deptford, NJ townhouse. Get to know Tillery, in her own words, ahead! What are the greatest challenges you face as a parent? Trying to do it all. I want to make sure I’m present for my kids but I find myself always thinking about my to-do list or the laundry that needs to be done or what appointments we have during the week....

There are also a few medications that can interfere with the result. Rather than triggering a false negative, they can sometimes return a false positive reading, leading to you believe that you are pregnant when, in fact, you are not. HCG Medications Some of the drugs used during in vitro fertilization (IVF) or intrauterine insemination (IUI) can interfere with hCG measurements because they are forms of hCG. Women unable to ovulate on their own are often prescribed a fertility medication such as Clomid (clomiphene citrate)....

When parents hear that they need to be more involved in their child’s school, the first reaction is sometimes a sense of guilt that they aren’t more active in the local Parent-Teacher Organization. If that motivates you to invest your time and energy into your local parent group, then you will certainly reap the benefits of that level of involvement in your child’s education. Other parent involvement activities that benefit children’s educational development are to communicate with the teacher and school; discuss school activities with your child; and, monitor and supervise his out of school activities....

Cheating in today’s world has evolved, and unfortunately, become pervasive. Technology makes cheating all too tempting, common, and easy to pull off. Not only can kids use their phones to covertly communicate with each other, but they can also easily look up answers or get their work done on the Internet. Why Teens Cheat Sadly, academic dishonesty often is easily normalized among teens. Many of them may not even recognize that sharing answers, looking up facts online, consulting a friend, or using a homework app could constitute cheating....

What Is a Nipple Shield? A nipple shield is a helpful breastfeeding device, but only in certain circumstances. If you use a nipple shield when you don’t need it, it could lead to breastfeeding problems. But in some situations, breastfeeding with a nipple shield may be helpful. Latch-on difficulties: A nipple shield is sometimes used to help newborns who have a tough time latching on. It may be easier for a baby to latch onto the shield than the breast....

Research shows that 43% of grandparents say they travel over 200 miles to see their grandchild who lives the furthest from them. Travel time, however, is not the only challenge to being a part of a grandchild’s life. Strained family relationships, feuds, and even religious differences can have an impact. Accepting the challenges, coping with the reality of the situation, and working to develop a resolution can give you hope as you attempt to reconnect with your grandchildren....

In addition to the notion that you should spend countless hours with your kids, there’s also the notion that the time spent together should always involve special activities. Marketers have figured out how to prey upon parent’s insecurities that they aren’t doing enough special things with their kids. From vacation resorts to expensive family recreation products, many advertisers will try to convince you that their products or services will help you get quality time with your kids....

What causes envy? And how can you cope? Overview Envy is a normal emotion. You’re not a bad person, friend, or relative for feeling pangs of jealousy. Understanding the underlying thoughts that feed into jealous feelings may help you understand yourself better and even reduce these uncomfortable feelings. Common Jealousy Rational #1: “I would be a much better parent, but Ms. Terrible-Mother gets pregnant yet again.” Why do women get pregnant who were “not even trying?...

So why, exactly, do people feel the need to attack a mother’s personal parenting decisions? Carly Snyder, MD, a reproductive and perinatal psychiatrist, HuffPost columnist, and host of the radio show MD for Moms, has a theory: “[People] who mom-shame are almost always doing so to reinforce their own choices due to a deep sense of insecurity and fear.” As inappropriate as it is to mom-shame, it is almost inevitable, especially with the prevalence of social media....

When these fears surface, it’s natural for parents to want to provide comfort and encouragement. But sometimes knowing how to address our child’s fears in healthy and productive ways can feel elusive, especially because fear of change is not really a concrete fear like a fear of spiders or a fear of storms. As a result, it can be challenging to know where to start. Here’s what you need to know about the fear of change and what you can do to help your child cope....

How to Help Your Child Cope With Rejection Try these tips for helping your child cope: Encourage Your Child to Reflect Social rejection can feel very painful to tweens, probably because it attacks some core psychological needs at this developmental stage. The initial pain of rejection often passes, however, once the child reflects on the situation. Help your child handle rejection by encouraging this self-reflection. Your child might consider two questions:...

Preventing a Bad Day at School Get Organized: The first step to preventing a bad school day is to prepare for the day ahead of time. Be sure your child knows that before he or she goes to bed, homework needs to be finished, clothes should be ready to wear, lunch made and his or her book bag and shoes waiting at the front door. Also, be sure your tween has a working alarm clock, and make sure it’s set so that there is enough time in the morning to eat and get ready....

In adulthood, HSV can cause cold sores on the mouth, blistering on the genitals, and lesions elsewhere on the body. HSV can be transmitted to a newborn through skin-to-skin contact, resulting in neonatal herpes. If the birthing parent has an outbreak of HSV on the genitals at the time of delivery, this transmission can occur at birth. Less commonly, a newborn can also contract neonatal herpes if someone with a cold sore kisses them....

Concerned about what looks like an allergic reaction, you mentally tally up everything they have eaten that day. Oatmeal, berries, a glass of milk, grapes…and then you remember. They gobbled up the crab cakes you made for lunch that day. Seems like they could be reacting to shellfish, but you aren’t sure what to do next. Shellfish is a common allergen. It has the potential to develop at any time, so it’s important to know the signs of a reaction and how to treat it, including when to seek emergency care....

Not only will your child no longer be living under your roof any longer, but it also can be very challenging losing that daily connection you were so used to. For most parents, the challenge then becomes balancing the goal of being there for their child while not being intrusive. Empty Nest Syndrome When your teen moves on to college, this represents a significant step toward adulthood. In fact, many parents see this transition as a symbolic end of childhood....

The outdoors tends to take a backseat to our busy lives but making it more of a priority has significant benefits. In fact, one study found that spending just two hours per week exploring nature leads to better health and well-being. If nature has the ability to improve the lives of adults, imagine what it can do for kids! A growing body of research suggests spending time in nature promotes better attention spans, self-discipline, creativity, physical fitness, and social connection in children....