Search Results for: blog sleep issues in adopted children part two

Book Review: Maybe Days: A Book for Kids in Foster Care

My last blog mentioned some books written to help foster care kids understand and come to terms with their experiences. I wanted to write a full review of another book, Maybe Days: a Book for Children in Foster Care. This book, labeled for ages 4-10 years, seems to me to be for somewhat older kids than The Star or Zachary’s New Home (books discussed in the last blog). It is written by Jennifer Wilgocki, M.S., a child and family therapist who presents training on attachment and bonding issues to professionals and foster parents. Dr. Marcia Wright is a clinical psychologist. … Continue reading →

Already Tired of Resolutions? Give Yourself a Rest

You may think it’s a bit late for New Year’s resolutions, but I always give myself some slack the first two weeks of January. I want to enjoy the full 12 Days of Christmas, and then I want to get back into the work/school routine again so that I can really see where we want to make changes. I have made suggested resolutions for adoptive parents before, and made others just for myself before. Upcoming blogs will have my reflections on those resolutions, as well as information on events in 2008 that affect the world of adoption, such as the … Continue reading →

Book Review: The Encyclopedia of Adoption, Third Edition

The Encyclopedia of Adoption by Christine Adamec and Laurie Miller, MD contains brief entries on a large number of terms and subjects relevant to adoption. Adamec is a medical writer and Miller is a director of an international adoption medicine clinic. The book covers terms and issues found in domestic infant adoptions (both agency and independent), child welfare system adoptions, international adoptions, and kinship adoptions. The book’s focus is breadth, not depth. My first reaction was that, after nearly a decade of reading adoption magazines, I was not learning anything from the book. I thought it might be appropriate only … Continue reading →

Book Review: The Mulberry Bird

The classic adoption book The Mulberry Bird, by Anne Braff Brodzinsky, seems to be one of those books that people either love or hate. I suspect that it all depends on the timing, which in turn depends on your child. Most people say their child loved it and seemed to find it reassuring. A couple of parents are sure it caused more trouble than it averted. I shared this ambivalence. I checked this book out of the library a couple of years ago and returned it without sharing it with my kids. This time, I put it on the shelf … Continue reading →

Adoption Blog Month in Review: August 2007

A major theme for this month in the adoption blog was discussions—especially discussions with your child, but also discussions with others. I began the month sharing my four-year-old daughter Regina’s questions about her droopy eyelid in Talking With Kids About Special Needs, and in Principles for Talking with Kids About Special Needs I discuss how I tried to use the same tenets for talking about her eye that I use when talking about adoption issues. Regina also figures prominently in the next blogs. She told me, “I Don’t Like My Skin”. I stumbled through a response, shared in I Don’t … Continue reading →

Sleep Issues In Adopted Children, Part Two

In Part One of this blog, I talked about sleep issues in adopted children. This blog will focus on the ways parents try to manage sleep issues, and why some of these approaches may be either more or less appropriate for an adopted child. First of all, keep expectations realistic. It takes time to adjust to new schedules and new time zones. If you are a new parent, read up on how much babies typically sleep. There is a lot of variation, and many books consider a five-hour sleep stretch to be “sleeping through the night” for a young infant. … Continue reading →

Media Review: Adoptive Families Magazine

Adoptive Families is a comprehensive bimonthly adoption magazine which covers all types of adoption—domestic and international, infant and older child, open, semi-open and confidential, and adopting from foster care. I have found the coverage to be very well-balanced among the different types. In the past two years I have canceled several magazine subscriptions because I don’t have time to read them. Adoptive Families, by contrast, is read cover to cover before I go to bed the day it is delivered. The magazine is written almost entirely by adoptive families. There are sections of advice from experts such as counselors, social … Continue reading →

Adoption Blog Month in Review, April 2007: Part Two

Please see Part One of this blog for updates on adoption blog writers and highlights from late March and early April. In Feeling Different from Family? I muse on finding the right balance between acknowledging our daughters’ different ethnicity and heritage and overemphasizing them. My daughter puts my fears at least temporarily at rest with this zinger—check it out. In How Do You Introduce Yourself to Your Own Child? -Part One: Prepare Them I talk about things adoptive parents can do, even from a distance, to prepare their child for the transition, such as sending photos, tapes, and even a … Continue reading →