Are You Raising a Retro Toddler?

Jennifer Graham with DesertNews.com recently interviewed me about my soon-to-be released parenting book, "Retro Toddler."  Click HERE to read the article!

Win a copy of the parenting book, Retro Baby!!!!

"Put down your smartphone and pick up this book. With plain-spoken, concise wisdom, Dr. Zachry provides vital, research-backed information for parents of young children. Creative, interactive play with other children and adults supports healthy brain development in ways today’s technology never will. "Retro Baby" provides parents fun, money-saving activities that will set their children up for lifelong success." 

"Retro Baby" is the perfect baby shower gift.  To purchase a copy on Amazon, click HERE.

To win a copy of "Retro Baby," all you have to do is like the "Retro Baby" Facebook Page by clicking HERE, and send me a message explaining why you'd like to win a copy and how to contact you.  The drawing will be in June.  Good luck!!!!

Therapy Services for Torticollis

      Does your baby have a flat spot on the side or back of this head? The medical terms for these conditions are plagiocephaly and brachycephaly. Positional plagiocephaly means “oblique head.” When baby’s head is viewed from above, the shape of the head has a parallelogram appearance. This is caused by pressure that has occurred to one side of baby’s head. Positional brachycephaly happens when a baby has spent to much time positioned on his back, often lying against a plastic surface, such as a carseat. The pressure from prolonged positioning like this causes the back of the head to flatten unevenly, resulting in a short and wide head shape. The height of the back of the head may also be high.

Flat spots on the head occur because the skull bone of an infant is soft and flexible, allowing for the brain growth that happens early in life. When a baby stays one position for too long with her head resting against a firm surface, the pressure from that surface prevents the skull from developing into a normal shape.

 

This is a nice position for holding your baby, and it takes pressure off of the head. 

In some cases, babies prefer sleeping or sitting with their head turned in one direction, because of tight muscles on one side of the neck. When a baby spends too much time with his head turned to one side, he can also develop acquired torticollis. In this condition, the neck muscles shorten on one side due to the position of the head. Baby’s neck turns in a twisted position and pulls his head to one side. His chin typically points to the other side. Torticollis contributes to flat head syndrome because baby’s head is typically turned in the same direction, and causes pressure against the side of the head. Acquired torticollis can be treated with stretching exercises from a physical or occupational therapist in conjunction with a home program carried out by the parents. If you suspect your infant has torticollis, consult with your pediatrician immediately. If your physician has ordered therapy for torticollis and you live in the Memphis, Tennessee area, feel free to contact me about therapy services. 

For information about therapy services for an infant who has acquired torticollis, click HERE, then click on the contact tab in the upper right hand corner of the page.

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Retro Baby Wins Award!!!!

My parenting book, "Retro Baby" wins a gold!!!!

"The IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards, which include fifty-five categories recognizing excellence in book editorial and design, are regarded as one of the highest national honors for independent publishers.

The Awards are administered by IBPA, with help from over 160 book publishing professionals including librarians, bookstore owners, reviewers, designers, publicity managers, and editors. The Benjamin Franklin Awards are unique in that the entrants receive direct feedback on their titles. The actual judging forms are returned to all participating publishers.

Prestige as a publisher is one of the many benefits of being named as a winner of this distinguished award. In addition, Gold winners receive an engraved crystal trophy."
Source: http://ibpabenjaminfranklinawards.com

"Retro Baby" Book Signing This Saturday: Please Come!

Please come to Laurelwood Booksellers this Saturday, March 1st at 2:00pm for the "Retro Baby" book signing!

....And please bring your baby!!!  I will have a number of the "homemade" toys from the book with me, so it should lots of fun for everyone!

"Retro Baby" on Fox & Friends!

I had so much fun talking about my new book "Retro Baby" on Fox & Friends this morning!  Click HERE to view the segment and HERE to order a copy! It contains lots of tummy time tips and over 100 time-tested activities to promote infant development!

Handmade Gift Idea for a Baby or Child

Homemade baby gifts are special, and here's an idea for a lift-a-flap handmade baby book that's extremely simple! Have your child turn the pages, lift the flaps, and name the objects to address fine motor skills and promote language development!

What you'll need:
3 or 4 felt rectangles, 12" x 6" each
Needle and thread (or sewing machine)
OR if you don't sew...fabric glue
Fabric scraps that have pictures for kids...letters, numbers, animals, automobiles, etc. (See photo below)

Select the pictures that you want to include in the book and trim around each one

Lay out the felt rectangles and arrange one or two pictures on each "page" (the right 1/2 of each rectangle will be a book page). Glue or sew the pictures in place. Cut small felt squares/rectangles to cover each picture. Stitch or glue each one in place to make a "lift-a-flap." Choose your favorite picture for the front cover of the book and secure it in place by stitching or gluing.

Stack the rectangles and fold them to make the book. Hand stitch the left edge of the book making sure that all of the inside pieces of felt are stitched in place (see photo above). Here's how my homemade baby gift turned out!

Looking through books with baby is a wonderful way to teach various language concepts, colors, numbers, letters, etc. When your child lifts each flap to reveal the picture, he is learning about object permanence. This is also a wonderful activity to work on pointing skills.

"Retro Baby" Article in USA Today

Avoid Sleep Positioners!

I was so pleased to be interviewed by USA Today for a story about my new book "Retro Baby, Cut Back on all the gear and Boost Your Baby's Development with Time-Tested Activities." 

This is an excerpt from the article, and you can click HERE to read the full article, and HERE to order your copy of Retro Baby:
What gear should parents skip?

"Some popular baby products that child development expert Anne Zachry and other pediatric experts says parents don't need:              

1. Educational DVDs. Research indicates educational DVDs do not help babies learn. Various studies find either no difference in language acquisition between children who watched educational DVDs and those who didn't, or that babies learn language better by interacting with live speakers than by passively listening to language coming from a DVD.

2. Sleep positioners, a flat or wedged mat intended to keep babies positioned on their back while sleeping. They are unnecessary and pose a suffocation risk, Zachry says.

3. Jumping devices, including Johnny Jump Up, Jumperoo, and Jump & Go. Some attach to door frames, others are freestanding. Those that suspend from a door frame pose dangers including head trauma, strangulation and whiplash. All versions encourage standing on the tiptoes, which is not good for baby's feet, and excess jumping puts unnecessary stress on an infant's legs, hips and spines.

4. Bath Seats. They provide support so a child can sit upright in an adult bathtub, but are capable of tipping over. Instead, the Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends using a hard plastic child bathtub and make sure you never leave a child unattended near water and always have at least one hand on the child while bathing him or her.

5. Bumper pads. There's no proof that the pads, used to keep babies from bumping their heads against the slats of a crib, prevent serious injury. In fact, they are pose a potential risk of suffocation, strangulation, or entrapment.

6. Baby walkers. These wheeled seats are intended to give babies mobility and learn to walk. But children with have fallen into pools, down stairs, and over ledges and been burned when using walks and they may actually delay, not help when a child starts to walk. A safer option is a stationary activity center used in moderation – no more than 15 minutes a day."

Retro Baby featured on Good Morning Memphis!

Click HERE to view a video of the "Retro Baby" feature on Good Morning Memphis! After you get to the Fox News page, just enter "Retro Baby" in the search box.

To order a copy of "Retro Baby" on Amazon, click HERE!

Interview about Retro Baby

I was interviewed on WREG's "Live at Nine" this morning talking about my new parenting book Retro Baby.  Click HERE to watch the interview.

Win a Copy of "Retro Baby!!!"

   
"Put down your smartphone and pick up this book. With plain-spoken, concise wisdom, Dr. Zachry provides vital, research-backed information for parents of young children. Creative, interactive play with other children and adults supports healthy brain development in ways today’s technology never will. "Retro Baby" provides parents fun, money-saving activities that will set their children
up for lifelong success."

Thanks for this wonderful review by:

Mark Bertin, MD, FAAP
Developmental pediatrician, author of The Family ADHD Solution:
A Scientific Approach to Maximizing Your Child’s Attention and Minimizing
Parental Stress, and editorial advisor, Common Sense Media

To win a copy of "Retro Baby," all you have to do is like the "Retro Baby" Facebook Page by clicking HERE, and send me a message explaining why you'd like to win a copy.  The drawing will be in October. Good luck!!!!

Pre-Order "Retro-Baby" on Amazon Now!!!

Is it possible to overuse baby equipment?
Are “educational DVDs” harmful?
Can stationary play centers be detrimental to your child’s development?

My new book, Retro Baby: Cut Back on all the Gear and Boost Your Baby's Development with over 100 Time-Tested Activities discusses the importance of one-on-one play with children in the early stages of life and good old-fashioned bonding and recommends over 100 OT-approved activities.

Click Here to pre-order your copy now!

Tummy Time Tips to the Rescue!

As a parent, do you dread tummy time? Does your baby cry every time you position her on her belly? Thankfully, with time and a few simple techniques, any infant can learn to tolerate tummy time. I have a website that shares a number of tips on how to introduce tummy time and increase an infant's tolerance without making parents' and baby's life miserable.

Tummy time that is provided on a daily basis leads to the mastery of important motor milestones, such as rolling over, pulling up, and crawling. Also, infants who aren't exposed to tummy time are at risk for motor skill delays and developing flat spots on the head.

For additional fun tummy time activities, you can purchase my parenting book, "Retro Baby," on Amazon!!

Also, for more information about tummy time as well as some wonderful brochures and handouts, visit http://www.pathwaysawareness.org/.


Dear Readers, If you have found my blog to be helpful, please "like" my Facebook page and follow my blog...I'm trying to get my book published and this would be a great help! Thanks :)