COVID-19 and Anxiety in Children

by your Coast Doc Mona Bagrodia What is Anxiety? Anxiety can be a normal feeling of worry or fear that children have during stressful moments. When anxiety becomes chronic, or interferes with a child’s wellbeing, it may be a sign of an anxiety disorder. Children can exhibit anxiety by being worried, irritable, angry, or clingy. […]

Family Time During the COVID-19 Pandemic

by Jontue Koff, Pediatric Occupational Therapist While I am happy that we have the opportunity to slow down, take long walks as a family, and play a long game of Scrabble… I also realize that during all of this uncertainty that my girls, like most children, need a plan. A plan for each day of […]

Mindful Eating Around the Dinner Table

by Christine Wood, MD With so much to do, busy families are finding it harder to spend quality time around meals. Often meals involve picking something up and rushing through a meal, or family members eating at different times or even eating in the car. There is a lot of evidence that family meals are important in […]

Five Sweet Sleep Tips for Baby

by Jen Varela, Certified Gentle Sleep Coach Sweet Spot – Sleep Begets Sleep It is amazing how this works!  What time does your baby go to sleep at night?  Is it too late?  Did you miss the “sweet spot” sleepy window?  For babies six months or older consider a bedtime between 6:30-7:30 p.m.  Helping your […]

Nurturing Your Spousal Relationship

by Gary Holmes MS, LMFT Nurturing Deeper Levels of Intimacy with Your Spouse while Increasing Positive Feelings of Well-Being in Your Children Lasting relationships involve navigating many of life’s passages together.  From the moment a couple makes the decision to start their family to pregnancy to birth of your first child through the various developmental […]

How to discuss Ebola with your children, October 2014

Coast Families, we thought that you would all appreciate this advice from the American Academy of Pediatrics: How to discuss Ebola with your children Mary McGrath, Editorial Intern, American Academy of Pediatrics If you have any exposure to news media, you’ve probably heard a lot about the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa. But there […]

Building Emotional Intelligence in Your Child

by Debbie Zeichner, LCSW Raising a child who is self-aware, well adjusted and able to effectively manage his emotions ranks high on many parents priority lists these days. With recent world events involving acts of hate and violence, it behooves us to look within at our own emotional lives and the messages we are sending […]

Six Gentle Tips for Getting Better Behavior from Your Child

by Debbie Zeichner, LCSW, Parent Coach & Educator One of the chief complaints I hear from parents is that their kids “don’t listen.”  Parents often report feeling “disrespected” and are “tired of yelling.”  Why is it that kids don’t listen?  How can parents end the cycle of yelling, threats, bribes and other punishment? Listening, like […]