8 lessons
#routines
Predictable days that make mornings, bedtimes and transitions easier.
Toddler & Preschool
Potty training: signs your child is ready, and how to start without a fight
Most children are ready somewhere between about 18 months and 3 years. Watch for the signs, keep it low-key, and expect accidents. Pressure tends to slow things down.
School Years
Family meals: why eating together matters more than what's on the plate
Kids who share regular family meals tend to eat better, and the table gives you a daily, low-pressure place to talk. It doesn't have to be dinner, and it doesn't have to be fancy.
School Years
Teaching kids about money: allowance, saving and spending by age
Kids learn money by handling it. Start with coins and choices in preschool, an allowance with saving jars in the school years, and real budgets and a bank account by the teen years.
Toddler & Preschool
How much sleep do kids need? A chart by age, and what to do when they don't get it
Toddlers need 11 to 14 hours in 24, preschoolers 10 to 13, school-age kids 9 to 12 and teens 8 to 10, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Here's how to get closer.
Toddler & Preschool
Transitions without tears: helping kids switch from one thing to the next
Leaving the park, turning off a show, getting out the door: transitions trigger a lot of meltdowns. Warnings, routines, small choices and a little play make them smoother.
Toddler & Preschool
Picky eating: how to stop the dinner battles without giving up on vegetables
You decide what, when and where food is served. Your child decides whether and how much to eat. That split, plus lots of no-pressure exposure, ends most food fights.
Toddler & Preschool
Reading aloud to your child: why it matters and how to make it stick
Read together every day, starting in infancy, and talk about the book as you go. It builds vocabulary, closeness and a love of stories, and you can keep doing it long after they can read.
Toddler & Preschool
A bedtime routine that actually works, according to sleep research
A consistent bedtime routine is one of the best-studied sleep interventions for young children. Here's what it should include and how to keep it short.
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