As parents, we get so much feedback about what we can do to enhance our baby’s development. Sometimes, it can be difficult to remember one of the best parts—playing together! In The CuddleBright Parenting Guide, we learn about the many benefits of play to early child development, the parent-child relationship,

Children thrive when they are provided with a predictable, structured environment.  Routines provide a sense of safety and security, as well as foster healthy emotional and physical development.  Here are some healthy routines to consider: Provide regular bedtimes and mealtimes Engage in predictable activities before lights out at night, such as reading

Just think of how much time babies spend in routines of one kind or another: sleeping, bathing, feeding, and diaper changing, not to mention dressing, getting in or out of a carseat or stroller…and the younger the child, the less time they spend doing much else! These activities require the

It’s hard to wait! It can be hard for adults, and it’s even harder for young children. Psychologist Walter Mischel and colleagues have spent decades researching children’s capacity to delay gratification. Often referred to as the “Marshmallow experiments,” Mischel’s studies vividly illustrate how hard it can be for young children

All relationships experience moments of miscommunication or conflicting intentions and expectations; these are known as ruptures. No matter how good a parent you are – no matter how sensitive, attuned, and attentive– ruptures between you and your child will occur now and then. In fact, Dr. Ed Tronick’s research suggests that as

Young children must find their own space and place – physically and emotionally – in their homes and in the world. To do this, they need clear limits. Limits are guidelines for what is okay and not okay to do in a given environment. Limits are like the guard rails

Almost 50 years ago, researchers Alexander Thomas and Stella Chess studied 100 babies from early infancy to adulthood and identified 9 temperament traits, including persistence, intensity of reaction, activity level, and adaptability. Since that time, scientists have been able to refine our understanding and focus on five qualities of temperament,

How can we improve the fit between ourselves and our child, and between our child and their environments? Goodness of fit is how well an environment—and the people in it!—match a child’s temperament. Just like that beloved toddler toy, the shape sorter, we can imagine that every child’s temperament has

Like the child’s Lovie, the job of the CuddleBright Keepsake Heart is to be a transitional object, providing the parent with something tangible to touch and hold during times of separation and transitions. Nestled within the pages of A Cuddle Before I Go, the Keepsake Heart is a visual and

Your child probably has many toys or cuddly stuffed animals to play with and connect to. So what have we done to make the CuddleBright Lovie different from the rest? In the CuddleBright system, we assigned the Lovie the job of being your child’s transitional object by becoming their special

The Parenting Guide contains 18 short and digestible chapters on parenting topics, and is informed by child development theory, years of clinical experience, and neuroscience research. It gives parents an overview of the development of the whole child from birth to 5 – social, emotional, cognitive, and physical, all of

The CuddleBright Experience includes the delightfully-illustrated and rhyming A Cuddle Before I Go board book, which is the sequential story of a Goodbye and Hello routine between a parent and baby. The job of the board book is to provide parents a model for establishing a consistent and reliable routine

Attachment is a deep, enduring emotional bond connecting one person to another across time and space (Bowlby, 1969). For a parent and child, it can start well before birth, but the real work of developing healthy attachments starts once baby arrives—ready to connect, observing the world around him, with you

Like Charlie Brown’s best friend Linus and his blue security blanket, children often find comfort in the familiar, soft touch of a lovie or cuddly toy. These items are called transitional objects. Research indicates that a transitional object can be used as a source of comfort and as a way