Parenting Guide

By Linda Singleton

For many years as a Social Worker, I worked with parents who struggled with having some basic knowledge of rearing their children. It is often said that "parenting does not come with a learning guide." We tend to rely on our innate abilities to care for our children, trial and error, advice from elders, literature, primary care physicians, etc.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Josephs Ministry LLC
• Release date: Nov 30, 2023
• ISBN: 9798869074157

Book preview

For many years as a Social Worker, I worked with parents who struggled with having some basic knowledge of rearing their children. It is often said that parenting does not come with a learning manual. We tend to rely on our innate abilities to care for our children, trial and error, advice from elders, literature, primary care physicians, etc. Granted, the aforementioned entities are excellent sources to rely on; however, I decided to gather data from all these areas and my personal knowledge. As a parent, I developed a parenting guide to cover some basic child-rearing practices from conception to adulthood. Pre-natal care, toddler care, pre-k care, school-aged childcare, and caring for your teen are all covered.

Surprisingly, while researching and compiling this parenting guide, I discovered some things that I wish I had known when rearing my two sons. My vision is to provide a hands-on guide for new and existing parents, a pathway to raising healthy, happy, self-assured children.

Saying yes ma’am, yes sir, no ma’am, no sir signifies respect for an elder.

Your child should not call adults by their first name without putting a handle on the name.

Parenting, in my opinion, actually begins upon the conception of your child. Getting prenatal care is essential to having a healthy child. Babies of mothers who do not get prenatal care are three times more likely to have a low birth weight and five times more likely to die than those born to mothers who do get pre-natal care. Doctors can spot health problems early when they see mothers regularly.¹

Getting a health care provider early on (and even before getting pregnant) allows you to know your health status and find any health risks that the pregnancy may cause for you and your developing baby. You will also learn about the dos and don'ts of pregnancy to help you and your baby be as healthy as possible.²

It's best to have your first prenatal visit before 10 weeks into your pregnancy. Ideally this will happen when you are about 6 to 8 weeks pregnant. As there are lots of things to learn about.

A person and person looking at a pregnancy test Description automatically generated

Also, some tests are recommended early in your pregnancy.³ Additionally, prenatal care gives the mother an opportunity to learn more about her pregnancy and the development of her baby. It reduces the risk of complications and birth defects. The mother can get accurate nutritional advice and keep track to the development of her baby.

A pregnancy without prenatal care is a dangerous pregnancy, even if you have no known health conditions or pre-determined pregnancy risks. It is best to find a local prenatal care as early as possible in your pregnancy.⁴ It is essential to make sure your vaccinations are up to date, stop smoking and drinking alcohol, take prenatal vitamins daily or as directed by your physician, and get any medical conditions under control.

If you're not taking prenatal vitamins, neural tube defects can appear: Anencephaly: This occurs when the baby's skull and brain doesn't form correctly. Babies that are born with anencephaly don't survive. Spina bifida: This occurs when the spine does not form correctly, and the baby may have physical disabilities.⁵

Miscarriage (also called early pregnancy loss) is when there is pregnancy loss before 20 weeks. Miscarriages are much more common than most people realize. For women who know they're pregnant, about 10 to 20 in 100 pregnancies (10 to 20 percent) end in miscarriage. Most miscarriages - 8 out of 10 (80 percent) - happen in the first trimester before the 12th week of pregnancy.⁶ Signs and symptoms of a miscarriage might include vaginal spotting.

Most miscarriages occur due to a major genetic abnormality in the fetus. The sperm and the egg (which are known as gametes) each contain half the genetic material necessary for a complete person.⁷ According to clevelandclinic.org, some more causes of a miscarriage are exposure to TORCH diseases, hormonal imbalances, improper implantation of a fertilized egg in the uterine lining, age of the mother, uterine abnormalities, and incompetent cervix (the cervix begins to open too early in the pregnancy).⁸

Note: The term TORCH complex or TORCHes infection refers to the congenital infections of toxoplasmosis, others (syphilis, hepatitis B), rubella, cytomegalovirus (CMV), and herpes simplex.

Miscarriage can be extremely devastating for both parents, especially in the case of a planned pregnancy. Unfortunately, my first pregnancy ended in miscarriage. I felt a great sense of loss and hurt. However, I