Every child will experience anxiety to some extent, and the effects of it can pop up in surprising ways. Watching a scary movie and going to school for the first time are enough to give everyone a dose of it. But about one in eight children experience anxiety disorders. If you suspect your child has an anxiety disorder, you'll want to seek professional help. But for smaller times when you sense your child's anxiety building, specialists recommend these mini habits to help you all calm down together.

Create a mantra

"Give the child a mantra to make them feel better. Something along the lines of 'My parents love me, I love myself.' Another example is 'There's nothing to be scared of. I am going to be okay,'" said Danielle Hannah, the inventor of Mantra Magnets, a biomedical device to help curb anxiety.

Have a mindfulness routine

Mindset coach Tiffany Toombs suggests battling anxiety by being present together. "Anxiety represents a situation where the child is living too far in the future and has disconnected from the present. Creating a daily mindfulness routine to do as a family can teach the child and 'rewire' their nervous system to stay in the present," she said.

"Mindfulness routines can include a gratitude practice (listing three to five things daily that you're grateful for), breathing techniques (ie. box breathing — breathe in for four counts, hold for four counts, breathe out for four counts and hold for four counts), meditation or mindful yoga."

Sit down and make time

We live busy lives. This means that sometimes as parents we are so busy rushing around so our children don't feel they can release their emotions.

"One of the best things a parent can do for their child with anxiety is to create a regular time to sit down and allow the child to talk about their feelings," Toombs told Famifi. "The parent should set an intention to simply listen and understand their child. This time isn't about fixing the problem or telling the child how to feel, the only goal is to understand them."

Identify the feeling and check in with their body

"Most of the time, children cannot put a name to what they are feeling, but you can help them identify this so that they do not feel as confused," mental health therapist Emily Griffin recommends. "Parents can also reflect to their child what is making them anxious. For example, if a child closes off physically by crossing their arms when they are walking by a dog, you can say 'It makes you nervous to walk by dogs because you are not sure if they are going to be nice or mean.' This helps them start to understand the internal dialogue that they may be having in their head."

Keep a calendar your child can see

Child and adolescent psychologist Allison Kawa said this simple act of showing your child what's coming up can help. "Lack of information creates anxiety. Children feel safe and contained when they know what is coming up or what is going to happen. Keep a calendar up where they can see it to know what the day will look like. Color code things if your child is too young to read (e.g., blue days are for baseball, pink days are for play dates, etc.)"

Try finger breathing

Therapist Julia Colangelo suggests trying the simple exercise of finger breathing. This means, "moving your finger up and down on the inhale and exhale can be a great exercise to manage anxiety while breathing in the moment."

Make a routine of this at bedtime or when your child wakes up, and it can become a natural part of your schedule.

The post Mini habits to soothe your child’s anxiety appeared first on FamilyToday.

One of the people those faces symbolize is Cassidy Cochran. It was a Friday morning in November when Charla Bocchicchio, Cassidy's mom, woke up to do yoga. That morning, Bocchicchio's life changed forever. She knew it as soon as she saw multiple missed calls from her ex-husband in the middle of the night. Cassidy died from overdosing on fentanyl. She was 22-years-old.

Bocchicchio was first aware of Cassidy's experimentation with drugs - cocaine and heroin - when Cassidy was 15. She found out later Cassidy started experimenting with alcohol and possibly pot around 13.

Bocchicchio was open about Cassidy's cause of death from the beginning. Cassidy's obituary read, "She died of a heroin overdose in the early morning hours of November 11, 2016. We write this not to dishonor her memory but to shine some light on an illness that is taking the lives of far too many."

Opioid addiction is now considered a public health emergency. In 2016, more Americans died of drug overdose than died in the Vietnam War. Two-thirds of those overdose deaths were from opioids.

It's a heavy, tragic topic. So, how do you talk to your children about something so hard?

Bocchicchio, who now blogs about her experience to spread awareness writes, "If we allow shame, guilt or embarrassment to cause this illness to become a dark family secret, hiding in the shadows, everyone loses."

"This has become my battle cry - to remove the stigma from mental health; From addiction," Bocchicchio told Famifi.

Change the verbiage

Bocchicchio says she believes even the words we use when talking to our children about drugs creates a stigma. Sarah Wakeman, medical director of the Substance Use Disorders initiative and the Addiction Consult team at Massachusetts General Hospital, agrees.

"It's so hard for people to give up the 'abuse' word," she told The Harvard Gazette.

Using phrases like this to describe drugs and those who use drugs creates a culture of shame. Instead of talking about someone as an addict, the proper phrase is "someone who suffers from substance use disorder."

Bocchicchio also recommends replacing the phrase "she's clean right now" with "she's not using right now." Using the word "clean" tells someone when they are using drugs, they are dirty - they aren't a good person.

Tekulve Jackson, the clinical director for Alpine Recovery Lodge, agrees that the way parents talk about drugs is critical.

"When they [children] feel guilt or shame they are less likely to be open with their parents," Jackson said.

He recommends using a phrase like, "In our family we have this value system, and we don't allow for substance use, but also in our family system we allow for mistakes, so if this is happening or happens, let's talk about it."

Pay attention to the non-verbal cues

When first asked about when Cassidy's substance use began, Bocchicchio said it was a complicated answer.

As a young child, Cassidy had a lot of anxiety, which developed into depression as she grew. At age 12, Cassidy started cutting herself. They took her to therapists. She also spent a few nights at a youth psychiatric ward.

It was that inner-turmoil Bocchicchio believes was the real reason Cassidy turned to drugs.

"I don't believe that drugs are the problem in and of themselves," Bocchicchio said. "I think young people who have things like anxiety and depression try to find something outside of themselves that will help them feel better, and when they find something that will help them feel better, I mean, why wouldn't they want to do that thing?"

Bocchicchio thinks a critical point is recognizing those symptoms and helping out as much as possible before they try to self-medicate. Noticing those non-verbal cues are as critical as the conversations you have with your children as well.

"If we can get to them before they self-medicate themselves, it could make all the difference. Because once they use a substance to feel better... I think for my daughter it was too late."

Two months before Charla and Cassidy's tragedy, another mom experienced the close-up effects of opioids in a different setting.

Emily Sutherland is the principal at Treasure Mountain Junior High in Park City, Utah. Park City is a small, mountain town known for hosting the 2002 Winter Olympics and the Sundance Film Festival. In this small town, Sutherland says many parents use marijuana although it is illegal in Utah. Sutherland saw this slipping into her schools as well, so in April of 2016 she had a parent-drug evening. The evening went well, but the takeaway was different than Sutherland expected.

"What we discovered there was that parents and students really wanted to know about the harder drugs," Sutherland said. "What occured to me that night was we apparently had a bigger problem in this community."

There were rumors that one or two students had some kind of white powder, but no one really knew what it was for sure. Sutherland said one mom thought it was a crushed up sleep aid.

The faculty decided they would tackle this issue hard the coming school year during red ribbon week in October.

But in September, only three weeks after the school year started, two students at Treasure Mountain Junior High died of overdose within 48 hours of each other. The drug was called "U-4" or "pink." It was a type of opioid.

It's been nearly a year and a half since the boys in her school died, and Sutherland continues to openly talk to her students about drugs.

When asked for her advice to parents about talking to children about opiods, Sutherland clarifies that she is no expert in the topic. But based on her personal experiences dealing with students and drugs, and as a parent to two herself, she thinks parents make a mistake if they skirt around it.

Teach that secrets aren't helping anyone

Soon after the tragedy at Sutherland's school occured, she found out some students and parents knew the use was going on and didn't report it.

"I'm not blaming them, because I hadn't established a lot of trust. It had only been three weeks since school started, but what I thought was important moving forward was, 'there are no more secrets about this,'" she said.

She's made the emphasis on no secrets a part of the conversation with students. With the two deaths in the school, students now know what the consequences of not "snitching" could be.

"If there are students on the dark web ordering stuff from China, you have to report. There is a responsibility. Your secret isn't precious enough — it doesn't outweigh someone's life," she tells students.

Approach it like you would another disease

Reliance on drugs is a disease, and Bocchicchio said she wishes she'd approached it more that way in the beginning.

"As soon as we found out, I wish we would have approached it as a parent finding out their child has diabetes. Surround and support. We tried this, but we failed a little bit," she said.

Learn to talk about mental health as you would any other disease, and this can help your child feel more comfortable talking about it in the future.

Whatever you do, just talk

Jackson said these conversations are best around the dinner table where people feel comfortable. It tends to make the conversation less awkward. And Sutherland agrees with this.

"Just talk about it. Talk about it at the dinner table," Sutherland told Famifi. "I think the biggest mistake is to not talk to them about it."

Her own two children are still years away from being teens, but Sutherland thinks how she talks to them about drugs changed because of her experiences.

She bases their conversations on age-appropriate content, but already at age 7, those conversations have started.

"We talk about about how some people drink alcohol but they drink too much or some people take medicine, but they don't take it when they are really sick. And they'll ask about it sometimes," Sutherland explains. "I haven't talked to my kids specifically about marijuana and opioids. We gauge our conversations based on their questions. It's mainly covered alcohol and drugs in a broad conversation, and we talk about addiction."

Jackson and Bocchicchio both agree with this. Jackson said when it comes to talking about opioids "being vague is not effective."

Bocchicchio said shying away from it only adds to the stigma. While she tried to do this with Cassidy, looking back she said there are some ways she could have had this conversation better. Overall, she says the most critical part is to keep communication channels open.

"Tell them, 'Yes, you might want to try to drugs someday. I'm not going to shame you. I'm not going to make you feel bad, because probably there is some underlying issue here. Let's talk about it and figure it out together,'" Bocchicchio said.

Don't be overly careful about privacy

Sutherland also said she thinks parents are sometimes too worried about invading a teens privacy.

"I think a lot of times kids are getting involved in these risky behaviors for a number of reasons. One is lack of supervision. I think it's important to be around. Usually around age 14-15 parents pull back a little and give them space. I think that's the exact age they need us around more."

From being a mom herself and observing her many students, Sutherland recommends setting an upfront expectation that you will be searching their private information: rooms, phones, etc.

"It's your job to keep them safe. Parents are sometimes too worried about invading a teen's privacy, but I think we need to be in our kids' business," she said.

Let your kids be imperfect

Both Bocchicchio and Sutherland emphasized the importance of children feeling like there's room to make mistakes and to be average.

Sutherland's community is full of over-achievers. It's those who are average she worries the most about. These students, she said, start to feel disconnected.

"If they aren't the top or the best they don't know if there's a place for them," She said. "A lot of us have high expectations for our kids. I think as parents we need to quickly adjust and realize our kids need to be who they are and they don't have to be amazing at something to be involved in it."

Bocchicchio thinks this pressure to appear perfect is what prevents people from getting the help they need, or having the conversations that could make a difference.

"There's this idea that you have to have this perfect life," Bocchicchio said. "I think that makes it worse too... There's nothing in the community that allows for that conversation. It would be better if we could allow people to say, 'Hey I'm really struggling here.' and to not make them feel badly."

Do your kids know they can be who they want to be - not who you expect them to be? That is a critical part in addressing drugs.

Since those fateful days a year and a half ago, Sutherland and Bocchicchio created ways to help fight against the opioid epidemic. Bocchicchio openly talks about her experiences and blogs in order to help fight the stigma. Sutherland started after-school programs where the students chose the group topics. They have a remote control club and a club similar to the #MeToo movement. They are student picked and student led. They also have an anonymous tip line students use weekly to report incidents anywhere from someone being bullied to someone bringing drugs to school.

Although both Sutherland and Bocchicchio said they made some mistakes along the way, both acknowledged they did the best with the information they had at the time, and for most parents, that's all we can ask for. Having these conversations with your children about opioids and other drugs will likely not go perfectly, but it's better than skirting around the topic.

The post Taking a closer look at the opioid epidemic and how you can make a difference in your children’s lives appeared first on FamilyToday.

Family Chat

Tell the story of Mirai Nagasu and discuss the quote below.

Hard work and dedication

This winter Olympics, Mirai Nagasu made history as the first female American figure skater to land one of the most challenging figure skating jumps: the triple axle. She was only the third woman to ever land this successfully at the Olympics. But before this victorious moment she faced a lot of setbacks.

Although Mirai went to the 2010 olympics, she was passed up in a controversial decision for the 2014 olympics. She placed third at the US Championship, but the fourth-place finisher, Ashley Wagner, was selected to go instead because her international resume was considered stronger than Mirai's.

Mirai was obviously devastated, but she became even more determined. She was the first US woman to go back to the Olympic games after missing one. And all of her hard work paid off when she landed her triple axle, helping the US take bronze in the figure skating team event.

Discussion questions

Why do you think Mirai was successful?

How could she have reacted to being rejected from the Olympic team differently?

What do you want to have accomplished in a year? What are you going to do to make it happen?

Family Activity

Famlympics (aka hold your own Olympics)

If you love the Olympics, you will more than love having your own Olympic events! We tried these fun, cheap events.

Biathalon

What you'll need:

Paper

Tape

Water gun (we bought a small, cheap one at the dollar store)

Timer (we just used a phone)

Instructions

Make a target out of paper and hang it on your wall. Across from the paper target, put a piece of tape on your floor as the starting and ending point.

Have the first participant hold the water gun (filled with water) and stand on the line. Pick a route they have to run. (Our route looped around our living room twice.) When the timer starts, they will run the route, stop on the line and shoot the target.

Mark down their time, how many shots it took them to hit the target and how close they came to the bullseye.

Do this for each family member participating. You can decide how you determine the scoring. Our gold winner was the fastest and hit the target on the first shot.

Pair Figure Skating

What you'll need:

Paper or paper towel

Hardwood, tile or linoleum floor if possible

A device to play music

Instructions

Divide everyone into pairs (or you can do it solo if there are only two of you). Give each team a few minutes to pick a song and prepare a dance to it.

Tape paper onto the bottom of your shoe. Then slide your feet along the floor as you perform your routine for each other.

Ice Hockey

What you'll need:

A few ice cubes

Straws

Tape

Instructions

Put two strips of tape on a table parallel to each other and about a foot and a half apart. Then give the first two people competing a straw. Place an ice cube on the table. The goal is to see who can blow the ice cube across their opponents goal line first. The straw cannot touch the ice cube.

Flag decorating

Besides being fun, this is just a really great excuse to eat fruit pizza.

What you'll need:

Sugar cookie dough

Cream cheese frosting

Fruit

Instructions

Make sugar cookie dough and roll it onto a cookie sheet in one large rectangle.

Then when it's cool, cut it into as many rectangles as you have people. Each person gets to then decorate their cookie as their own personal flag. You'll want to cut up fruit in advance, and you can leave the fruit pizza frosting white or color it as you wish.

We used this fruit pizza recipe (and it was delicious), but any would work.

Have someone who did not decorate judge the flag cookies.

And for a little extra fun...

Hand out rollos for all those who placed in each event. Then after all the events are done, throw on the olympic song and award the final gold, silver and medal awards.

And if you want an additional treat besides the fruit pizza, we had some veggies and dip in the shape of the olympic rings.

Enjoy going for gold!

The post Try these simple family olympic activities to teach your children about hard work appeared first on FamilyToday.

There has been a great deal of conversation about North Korea this year, and while there are a lot of different opinions on what should — or should not — be happening with North Korea, the one thing most people agree on is that it's complicated. Or as one Atlantic article read, "There are no good options. But some are worse than others."

That means it can also be complicated when your kids start asking questions about North Korea. But we talked to some experts on how to tackle these tricky conversations with your kids.

Know enough about the topic to feel comfortable talking about it

It's hard to talk about something you know very little about. Kathy Wu, an assistant professor of psychology at Delaware Valley University, said when talking to children about any scary topic, the first step is understanding what you're talking about.

"If the parent presents with avoidance behaviors, appears guarded, or is ill at ease, the child will sense it and will likely not be as willing or comfortable having an open dialogue with the parent on the subject matter," she told Famifi. "Keep in mind that children often censor themselves not because they are uncomfortable, but because they don't want to make their parents feel more uncomfortable."

Pediatric psychologist Jill Fodstad said as you approach any difficult topic with your children, you need to first make sure you've emotionally processed your own response before having these conversations.

And if you're panicking because you're not an expert on North Korea, that's fine. You don't need to know all the details. You can go here for a rough overview.

Let them lead the conversation

Riley's Children Health Pediatric psychologist Jill Fodstad recommends starting by allowing your child to lead the conversation.

"Answer their questions, rather than guessing about their interests and potentially create new worries," she told Famifi.

If war, or North Korea, isn't something they've heard about or are concerned with, it's not a conversation you need to have yet. But maybe they've heard their friends talking at school about how we're all going to get nuked.

Wu suggests a wrong way to address those concerns and a better way. Don't assume you know their fears and impose your worries through your questions. For example, instead of asking, "Are you scared that we'll all die because of war?" or "Are you afraid we'll get bombed?" try these phrases instead:

• "Please tell me how you learned about war."

• "What does war mean to you?"

• "What do you think causes war?"

• "How does it make you feel to know that wars sometime happen in the world?"

These are open-ended questions. They help you know what your child is really thinking about. After they share, Wu said you should validate their feelings and praise them for sharing.

Be honest

"You don't need to go into more detail than necessary, but lying to your children or making up facts will ultimately confuse them," Julia Cook, parenting expert and author of "The Ant Hill Disaster," told Famifi. "Eventually, when they find out the truth about what happened, they may struggle with trusting you in the future."

But you can do this and still use age appropriate language. Fodstad recommends these age guidelines in using age appropriate language

• Preschool - Kindergarten: Keep it very simple. Give a one sentence story and focus on the basic thing you want them to take away.

• 6-10: They will likely ask a lot of interrogative questions. Know what you want to share and highlight. Try to shield them from photos because images are often more impactful than words. Validate their feelings and bring in the positive as well.

• Tweens: Test what they know. Clarify what is factual and what is not. Validate their feelings. It's still difficult at this age to wrap their head around politics. Don't drop a lot of unnecessary information on them. Use it as a time to reinforce values.

• Teens: Listen and validate. Action is important for teens. They want to contribute and think about what they can do to help the world and community. If they want to, come up with a plan on how you can both help the community.

Bring it back to peace

Yes, there are some crazy things happening in North Korea, and the world in general. But there is also a lot of good. That should be included in the conversation as well.

"This is a time you can really reinforce what are their [your children's] values and what are your values as a parent and focus more on that, not the negative." Wu recommends pointing out peacemakers and other people that are trying to do good instead.

Create a free speech ritual

Overall, the most important part is letting your child know they can talk and ask you about anything. Fodstad said some of the ways parents can do this is by being open with your child first.

"The more we are open and honest with our children about our own things that happen in our daily life, they get that message that they can talk to their parents about whatever they want to talk about."

Additionally, she recommends possibly setting up a free speech time for teens. Pick a time and make this a brief daily ritual "where they can say whatever and it will be judge free."

These ideas work with most hard topics, and starting today to create that free space where your child can come to be heard will help in addressing all the tricky things that may come your way.

For more information on how to talk to your children about the news, make sure to watch our Life Crunch series.

The post How to talk to your children about North Korea appeared first on FamilyToday.

This week, an amazing video is going viral showing two children in a bathtub with a mountain of bubbles over their head. Clearly something didn't go quite according to plan during bathtime. It's a delightful video posted by the "Good Husband Movement" page, and for a moment each one of us probably wonders what it would be like to splash around in a pile of bubbles that towers toward the ceiling.

The caption on the video, however, is a little less delightful. "Sometimes being a good husband means simply being a good dad. Give your wife a break and take over bath-time now and then."

Is being a good husband really taking over bathtime "now and then?"

In 2016, a phrase started to go viral: "My husband is not a babysitter." And while we can give this caption the benefit of the doubt and assume they didn't take a lot of thought in writing it out, the phrase "now and then" is problematic for both moms and dads alike.

In her article, "My husband is not a babysitter, he's a parent," Rachel Leventhal-Weiner addresses some of the problems with labeling the time children spend with their dads as a time off for the mom, or as babysitting for the dad.

"Women may still be doing more of the housework or childcare, but men aren't doing nothing. The more we emasculate them, the more we alienate their efforts, referring to their independent time with the kids as 'daddy day car' or diminishing their role, the less we'll be able to trust fathers. My husband is a capable, smart father. When he is parenting, he is silly and fun, sometimes stern, he teaches the girls lots of things, he takes risks and he makes mistakes. And guess what? So do I. I am far from perfect, and when I am parenting, I am also silly and fun, sometimes stern, teaching the girls lots of things, taking risks and making mistakes."

Yes, it is unfair to assume that bathtime is the mom's job, and "every now and then" the dad could help out and give her a break. But it's also unfair for the dad to pose it in this way. He is just as much a parent as his wife, but it's hard to believe that - to trust his ability in parenting equally - when we continue to put out the stereotypes that place him in that babysitter role.

However, the core message of this video, does make a good point.

Marriages will be strengthened when you help each other get a break

Let's just be careful on how we view - and phrase - those roles.

The post Is this really what it means to be a good husband? appeared first on FamilyToday.

It's hard to be creative with boys names without the name ending up too cutesy. If you've run out of new ideas for your little one on the way, it's time to look at some international inspiration. These are some of our favorite boy names from around the world.

1. Ronin (Japanese)

2. Joonas (Finnish)

3. Mikko (Finnish)

4. Angus (Scotland)

5. Lars (Scandinavian)

6. Bruno (German)

7. Kai (Japanese)

8. Ohan (Armenian)

9. Leif (Scandinavian)

10. Kees (Dutch)

11. Mateo (Spanish)

12. Rio (Japanese)

13. Zevi (Hebrew)

14. Elio (Italian and Spanish)

15. Roman (Latin)

16. Soren (Danish and Norwegian)

17. Remi (French)

18. Raiden (Japanese)

19. Wolf (French)

20. Barnaby (British)

21. Giles (British)

22. Leo (British)

23. Kristof (Slavic)

24. Piet (Dutch)

25. Nikos (Greek)

The post 25 adorable baby boy names from around the world appeared first on FamilyToday.

Do you love the classic names or prefer your baby to have a more unique identification? If you're the latter, these top names for 2018 are the ones you'll want to avoid this year.

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11.

10.

9.

8.

7.

6.

5.

4.

3.

2.

1.

The post Top 15 baby boy names of 2018 appeared first on FamilyToday.

Growing up as the youngest of six, I had a pretty angelic view of babies. I loved them. I had almost no experience with them, but in my mind, my dolls had given me all the knowledge I needed on baby expertise. I begged my mom for another baby - a little brother or sister would be the perfect birthday present! But, alas, for five-year-old me, my dolls would have to suffice for the baby-hungry child I was.

Then, at fourteen, I got the next best thing - a niece. And my world, including my "expertise" on how to raise a baby, flipped upside down. Babies were far more demanding than I had expected. I watched my brother and sister-in-law instantly become the near walking-zombies that almost all new parents become as they suddenly give up their sleep hobby.

For many parents, the first six months of a child's life can feel like a big haze. Waking up multiple times a night takes a toll on your mind and body. But there are certain things you should understand about baby sleep that will help this insane time be more manageable.

Bedtime matters

Even though babies basically sleep all through the day, having a set bedtime at night is extremely beneficial, according to sleep specialist Dr. Jodi Mindell. And keeping that bedtime early - about 7 or 8 p.m. is recommended.

"We know that babies who go to bed later take longer to fall asleep and wake more at night," Mindell told Fatherly. "Overtired babies take longer to fall asleep and wake up more often."

Give the baby some (appropriate) independence

You've heard of self-soothing before, but according to "The Gift of Sleep" author Elizabeth Sloan, there are a lot of misconceptions that come with self soothing.

In their first two months, babies most likely won't be able to self soothe. But if all is well with your baby: he's not hungry, sitting in his own filth and is safe, then it's OK to let them make a little fuss.

"I think there is this mixed signal that once the baby makes a noise, you have to immediately pick them up," Sloan told HuffPost Australia. "In actual fact you will probably make the baby more overtired and confused, as they will wonder why they are being picked up when there's nothing actually wrong. All they're doing is trying to go to sleep by themselves. The best gift you could give them is the opportunity to try."

Use their bed what it's intended for

Many parents wait until the baby is asleep to put them in their bed, but according to "The Sleep Lady's Good Night, Sleep Tight," author Kim West, it's helpful to put your babe to bed before totally asleep.

Once your baby is about 6 weeks old, West said it's helpful to create a sleepy scale from 1 to 10; 1 is wide awake and 10 is completely asleep. Place your baby in bed when she hits a seven on the scale. This eventually helps your baby learn to self-soothe.

Stop feeding their emotional eating

During the day, your baby should be able to go to sleep without having to eat around eight weeks, according to Sloan.

"Feeding shouldn't be used as a tool to make them fall asleep, because if you get into that cycle, chances are they aren't even feeding because they are hungry. They are just associating the sucking as a behaviour to put them back to sleep," Sloan told HuffPost Australia.

Do things consistently

Comfort is essential for your baby's sleep, and comfort is often created by keeping a routine. Doing the same things before bedtime each night (i.e. reading a story, taking a bath) get your baby in the bedtime mindset. Mindell also said research shows that the more a father is involved in the bedtime process, the better the child will sleep.

Avoid eye contact

It's such a simple thing, but parenting adviser Claire Lerner said making eye contact with a drowsy baby can snap them out of their sleepiness. Try to keep your night-time interactions as low-key as possible.

"The more interaction that takes place between you and your baby during the night, the more motivation she has to get up," Lerner told Baby Center.

Overall, the most important thing to remember is that babies DO have a crazy sleep schedule, but gradually it will get better. If you have already developed bad habits. For your sleepy baby, those habits can be broken in time. In the meantime, keep on keeping on. It will get better!

The post Experts reveal keys to getting your baby on a great sleep schedule appeared first on FamilyToday.

Love is shown in various ways, and some of those ways are surprisingly delightful. That's what happened with Antonio Nicol's dad, when he discovered a joke his wife left him from the grave.

Before his wife died, she gave him instructions to carefully take care of her plants. Antonio explained the surprising experience that followed in a Facebook post:

"Before my mum passed away, she gave my dad strict instructions to water the plants in the bathroom. He's been religiously watering them and keeping them alive. They look so amazing that he decided to take them to his new home, only to discover they are plastic! I can hear my mum chuckling!"

The gift of laughter

Antonio's mom understood the gift laughter gives in a relationship. According to a study, couples who share laughter together are better off.

"In general, couples who laugh more together tend to have higher-quality relationships," one of the study's authors, Laura Kurtz, told Time. "We can refer to shared laughter as an indicator of greater relationship quality."

Although they were no longer together, this couple is a great example of giving love on both sides: for him, he took care of her plants faithfully as she wished. And for her, she gave him the gift of laughter he likely so desperately needed.

The post His wife gave him strict instructions to do this after she died, but the unexpected surprise she left was the real act of love appeared first on FamilyToday.

If you've been frustrated in your search for baby names, there's no better place to look than internationally for some name inspiration. These are some of our favorite baby names from around the world.

1. Ailsa

2. Arabella

3. Bronwen

4. Florence

5. Freya

6. Maise

7. Zara

8. Aziza

9. Elodie

10. Danica

11. Kalila

12. Noemi

13. Simone

14. Oriana

15. Malia

16. Indie

17. Mercedes

18. Anneli

19. Nea

20. Chiara

21. Aleesia

22. Letizia

23. Zola

24. Rumi

25. Gen

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