written by Carol Castanon, Parent Consultant Infants tell their caregivers when they are hungry, wet, tired, or not feeling quite right. They cry, they wiggle and they sometimes struggle to get to sleep. They’ll reach for the nipple and then sometimes pull away, and then seem to reach back again. They’ll find your loving gaze and...
written by Brenda Murrow, Practicum Student Article Summary: At Secure Beginnings, our classes encourage time for uninterrupted play. Interacting with children in this way may be unfamiliar because play is often more structured and initiated by adults. This article explains what uninterrupted play is and why it is important to development, from a psychological perspective. One...
written by Marsha McKeon, Ph.D. Clinical Director Even before we hold our baby in our arms for the first time, we have clear and beautiful ideas of how it will go, how it must go. We imagine all the joy, the profound love, the perfect holding and tireless effort to give our child more than we ever...
written by Terra Solecki, Secure Beginnings Core Class Facilitator “Do less, observe more, enjoy most!”– Magda Gerber, founder of Resources for Infant Educarers (RIE) Each Secure Beginnings class begins with a period of quiet observation. We invite families to settle into a comfortable place in the room. For children it is a time to explore, to go...
written by Carol Castanon, Child Development Specialist A new baby cries with frequency and volume. Sometimes it may take 2 weeks to hear the powerful newborn cry. Every parent knows the pull of an infant’s cry. This cry, mouth open and body trembling, necessarily gets the attention of others. Newborns will often cry in the late afternoon or early...
written by Tom McGee, LCSW Many parents of infants and toddlers, that I talk to, seem overwhelmed. Mothers or fathers who spend the day with their children experience a long day of interrupted moments and partially finished tasks. They often come to the end of the day wondering where the time went. They are exhausted and...
written by Tom McGee, L.C.S.W. Having grown up in a family in which my mother was responsible for all the child-rearing activities and my father was responsible for bringing home the paycheck, I knew I wanted to be more involved in my children’s care when they were born than my father had been with me and my...
written by Holly Goldberg, PhD Parenting, albeit the most rewarding role most of us have encountered, is inherently challenging. No one will argue that the borage of new experiences mixed with the lack of sleep and major lifestyle/relationship changes push most of us past our comfort zones. Questioning whether or not we are taking care of our children in...
written by Jenn Paul, MFT and Carol Castanon, Child Development Specialist and Parent Consultant Postpartum Emotional Adjustment is complicated. To begin with, there is an undeniable shift taking place in each birth mother’s body from inception. This shift includes the adjustments for a healthy physical pregnancy, but also the mental resiliency to accommodate caring for another. So we might say...
Written by Andrea Haffner, M.A., Associate Marriage and Family Therapist “Trust is the foundation for a secure attachment. It is also how home (and all that means) is carried with us wherever we go.” -Ruth Newton, The Attachment Connection Attachment between children and their caregivers can be understood as a mutually secure connection, established over time from birth...