A child’s relationships with other children fall into broad stages. But it is very important for parents to remember that these categories are generalisations only; some children move through these stages at quite a different pace.Up to 12 monthsYour child’s most important relati...

It’s known as ‘code-switching’, and multilingual families do it all the time, apparently. It’s the habit of switching back and forth between languages to suit the emotional situation and what they want to express at any given time.Now, a new study published in Perspectives on Psy...

Most babies love to suck: it’s a proven way to soothe and comfort a fretful baby, but there can be drawbacks. You may want to think twice about giving your baby a dummy, especially if he’s a boy. It could stunt his emotional development by robbing

Don’t get too excited if your four week old appears to be grinning at you – her smile is really just a reflex action, unrelated to anything she sees or hears. These ‘smiles’ normally occur during sleep.At around six weeks, this all changes and your baby should smile in response t...

The benefits of dining en famille are well documented – the family that scoffs together stays together, and all that – and it seems the sit-down breakfast is making a comeback, with a quarter of parents claiming to lay the table in true Fifties style, with tablecloths, placemats ...

This has got to be one of our favourite pieces of design ever! Others have followed in its wake, including Mouse, Cow, Tiger and Bumble Bee wheelies, but for us (and our children) the Ladybird wears the crown. Beautifully crafted from the best quality materials to cope with hours...

at Toronto University, most children know how to lie by the age of three. But even this needn’t be a cause of great concern for parents.“White lies are a natural part of development,” explains Gummer. “It depends how old your child is and her intentions

, burglar alarm boxes and broken paving stones. Each one is a revelation, a whole new world of possibilities. What’s more, says chartered psychologist Nicola Barber, all this exploration is helping your toddler’s cognitive development. And, she adds

at school, something was happening to lower body image and raise body dissatisfaction levels. "Dieting awareness and body dissatisfaction develops over the first two years of school," say the authors. "Most of the girls believed that being thin would make

EXCITED CRIES CRESCENDO as we walk down the hall. Eleven-month-old Tom has spotted his beloved shapes jigsaw book. Giggles ring out as he turns the pages, busying himself removing stars and triangles, circles, squares and rectangles. Each piece is a triumph, held up for my inspec...