Wednesday, April 14, 2010

When Will My Baby Sleep Through The Night?

The question that almost all new parents ask. When will my baby sleep through the night? The frustration mounts as the sleep dwindles with what seems like no hope in sight. Take a deep breath and know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Many babies start to sleep through the night at about 6 months while others need a little encouragement to help them along in the process. As the dad of the latter, I know the frustration, the discouragement, and the stress that lack of sleep can cause in a marriage. My wife and I were cranky for the first part of our son's life.

We tried many strategies that family suggested, but none worked for our boy. We read books and tried what those strategies, but again, no success. We came to realize that the strategies the experts say will work don't work for all kids. We started looking for programs that did not take a one-size-fits-all approach. We wanted something that would fit with our style of parenting and work for our son.

Luckily, we were able to find some strategies that worked for our son. He was finally able to sleep through the night, and we started to feel like ourselves again. We were not cranky any more, and life seemed to improve almost overnight (a well slept night!). I would encourage you to find a program that will let you find what will work for your baby. A great program that is customizable and easy to use is the Baby Sleep Solution. Click Here Now to check it out!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Oppositional Defiant Disorder Treatment

What is ODD?

Oppositional Defiant Disorder is defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as an ongoing pattern of disobedient, hostile and defiant behavior toward authority figures which goes beyond the bounds of normal childhood behavior. The defiance must persist for at least six months, negatively impact function at school, home, or the community, and cannot be caused by another disorder.

Oppositional Defiant Disorder Treatment Options

The goal of all oppositional defiant disorder treatment is to extinguish the negative behaviors. The most serious behaviors, those that could harm the child or others or have other serious consequences, should be targeted first. Some common oppositional defiant disorder treatment options are family counseling, psychotherapy, social skills training, behavior therapy, and parent training programs.

Which Treatment Will Work?

This is the million dollar question! It is important to remember that all children are different and that it is impossible to say that one type of treatment will work for every child. That being said, as a rule some of the treatment options seem to be much more successful than others. Research shows that parent training programs are the most successful of the oppositional defiant disorder treatments. One reason for this seems to be the role that the parent/child relationship plays in the child's behavior.

Many times parents inadvertently reinforce the defiant behavior by giving the child attention. Granted it is negative attention, but to some children any attention is viewed as a positive, no matter the consequences. After years of these negative interactions between parent and child, a serious intervention is required. As an oppositional defiant disorder treatment, parent training is usually successful because it teaches the parents strategies to replace the negative interactions with positive experiences which can often quickly extinguish many of the negative behaviors associated with ODD.

My advice is to find a parent training program that you agree philosophically with and that will fit into your lifestyle. All children and all families are unique. It would be impossible to build a program that would work for everyone. If you want to see the review of the program that I rate highest, click here now.