By: Alice Langholt

Teenage peer pressure can be highly influential with the constant process of making choices and weighing what they have been told by parents, peers, the media, teachers and other sources of information. Any one of these influences can be attractive to a teen. Yet parents can be a stronger influence than peers, if they equip their teens with the courage and skills to assertively resist negative peer pressure.
Open Communication
It's important to be able to talk openly with your teen, and to make sure your teen is comfortable talking with you. It isn't easy, but it is important. Here are a few points to remember: don't judge, don't lecture and don't react emotionally. Instead, ask questions about how your teen feels about experiences, listen and problem solve and stay outwardly calm and rational. Let your teen know he can come to you to talk about peer pressure, and that you are here to help. Encourage your teen to offer her own suggestions on how to cope with friends or pressure, then steer her toward the choices that you think are best.
Discuss Behaviors and Expectations
Be clear, and be consistent. Make sure your teen knows the rules, boundaries and expectations in regards to curfew, smoking, drinking, going to class, being truthful and sexual behavior. These may be difficult discussion topics, but they are important enough that you need to work through your own feelings and appear as confident as you can.
Be honest if you want. Tell your teen if you made bad choices during your teenage years, and why you now realize they were wrong. Teens often don't grasp the long-term consequences of their actions, so providing examples involving people they know can help.
You don't have to share your past if you don't want to. Do think the whole conversation through before you begin. If you need to practice the discussion beforehand in the mirror or with your spouse, do so. You want to enter this conversation prepared and clear. Give reasons for the rules, and it will be easier for your teen to accept them. Help your teen feel armed with ways to confidently adhere to the boundaries, and the boundaries will be stronger.
Remember to watch your own behavior around your teen. "Do as I say, not as I do," is a rule that is seldom followed. Remember that if your teen sees you as someone who is in control and beyond the influence of others, he is likely to imitate that behavior.
Give Your Teen Tools
Instead of just laying out expectations and leaving your teen to figure out how to meet them, offer suggestions for how to deal with specific situations. You can ask your teen to give you a hypothetical situation, and you will give him the words to respond. Role plays give your teen the chance to practice assertive words in a safe situation. Doing role plays is also a bonding experience for parents and teens. The more types of peer pressure situations you can give your teen, the easier it will be for her to say no comfortably. Tell your teen she can use you as an excuse ("My mom would be so mad!"), or call you to pick her up at any time and you will.
Choose Your Battles
If your teen is hanging out with a group of friends who follow a fashion trend you don't like, you may decide to let it slide. Strangely colored hair, black nails, henna tattoos and baggy jeans are a passing thing. It may make sense to save drawing the line for when it's really important. Your teen needs some freedom for self-expression, and it may be wise to give him some reins when the choices are not dangerous or permanent.
Positive Peer Pressure
This is the kind you want your teen facing. It all depends on what your teen's friends are into doing. If your teen is hanging out with kids who get good grades and enjoy playing on the football team together, the pressure created by the expectation to do well is good for everyone. If, however, your teen doesn't enjoy football and only plays it to please his friends, doesn't play as well as they do and feels bad about himself because of it, this may not be positive peer pressure.
Talk to your teen about the reasons he participates in certain activities and whether or not he enjoys them. Offer ways he can stay true to himself and still keep his friends, or help him find other activities he will enjoy.
Pay Attention
Observe your teen. Know who his or her friends are. Meet the friends, meet their parents. Keep in touch with a cell phone or prearranged check-in times.
Building a trusting relationship depends on your teen keeping your trust. If you suspect your teen may be lying, ask some open-ended questions, such as, "What was that movie about last night?" rather than, "How was the movie?"
If your teen has sudden changes in behavior, stops being motivated in school, loses interest in hobbies or starts acting defiant, it may be time to intervene. Talk to teachers, coaches, staff, parents or friends to find out what is going on. If you suspect your teen may be just starting to hang out with the wrong friends, you can keep him busy by diverting his time to getting a job, meeting different people in a youth group or some other extra-curricular activity that can get the teen involved with a different crowd and take his time away from the wrong crowd.





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One of the most striking differences you would notice after the delivery of your baby is how different your body looks. During the course of nine months, your body has gone through a number of changes, many of which you might have not enjoyed. But now, your baby is here and it’s time to lose the excess weight you had gained over the entire course of your pregnancy.

The first things that new moms ask is how soon can I begin postpartum exercises and how long will it take me to regain my shape? It should be kept in mind that the most crucial factors that can help determine the answers to the above question is how healthy and fit you were during those nine months. Exercises might not help eliminate the stretch marks, it will help you regain the body shape prior to your pregnancy.
Have you ever wondered how celebrity moms lose their baby weight so rapidly? One of the most common reasons is because they exercise strenuously prior to and during their pregnancy. Celebrities have been known to lose up to 60 pounds in what seemed like a few days. However, please keep in mind that this is not considered as the normal time frame. These individuals are also quite careful (almost to the point of obsession) about the types of foods they eat. They are also quite able to afford personal trainers and nannies so that they can perform their exercise routines 5-7 days a week for many hours at a time.
Ever wondered how celebrities lose their weight after pregnancy so easily and fast? It's mainly because of the strict schedule of exercise and eating habits they follow during and after their pregnancy period that help.
New moms have tons of duties to tend to, and more often than not, exercise takes a backseat. Also, after a long tiring day, you would probably want to crawl back into the bed. But this makes losing that excess weight that much harder. Exercising during pregnancy will give you the motivation and the schedule to help you carry on later. Moreover you can experiment with various exercises that you can learn to enjoy.
Having a new baby is an exhausting task, and the only way to keep up your energy levels and stamina is to exercise regularly. Most doctors suggest that a post pregnancy routine should start a month to month and a half after the birth of the child. But small and moderate amounts of exercise can be started shortly afterwards too. Swimming is easy and can be started soon but in moderation. Starting slow and small time segments, you can work up to more strenuous exercises to ensure your safety and reduce any risks to you. Walking, aerobics, yoga, jogging are examples of exercises that will help you lose the pregnancy weight, it will make you feel good about yourself, both physically and mentally so you can take better care of your child.

Credit : More About Pregnancy





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Wondering if you are pregnant is something no woman enjoys, regardless of whether this is a planned or unplanned event. You are bound to be anxious and this often is a very stressful period, making even the best of us snippy and frazzled. Luckily, there are several types of pregnancy tests avaliable that can put an end to the waiting. Generally, the procedure for conducting a pregnancy test is very simple, and can be performed in the comfort and privacy of your own home. Though, one should always double check and confirm the results of your home pregnancy test with those tests (blood test) performed by your doctor.
When you become pregnant, an embryo implants in the uterine wall. This releases a hormone and most pregnancy tests which detect based on your urine sample try and detect this hormone. But this hormone can be produced alternatively if the embryo implants in the Fallopian tubes. This is well known as ectopic tubal pregnancy.
Pregnancy tests are of two kinds, one can provide quite accurate results, but can get a little messy. This involves a cup which is used to collect urine, in which a special type of stick or other pregnancy detecting devices are inserted for a period of time(about 1-3 minutes) and after which a color change or some other markings indicating pregnancy. Another similar method involves eye drops where in a small drop of urine is dropped on a small detecting strip. This technique is a little bit more accurate and a bit faster as well.
Though the above methods are more accurate, another type of pregnancy tests are more popular. Primarily because they involve far lesser steps and it being more convenient. These types of sticks are generally available over the counter and at your local grocery stores. In this technique, the stick is placed directly under a stream of urine for a few seconds (the exact time varies per brand) and then wait a few minutes for the results.
The only issue women had with these stick based tests were that the results were sometimes hard to read. Pharmaceutical companies have come up with digital sticks that give out readings on a small screen.
The most accurate type of tests is a simple blood test. This is done in your health care physicians office. Generally in this test a small amount of blood is removed and tested for the presence of the hormones related to pregnancy. This test must be done in case you get a positive result with one of the home pregnancy tests.






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10 Essential Steps to Prepare for Baby

By Amy Carey

Baby is set to arrive in just a few months. You've read all the pregnancy books, stocked your maternity wardrobe and have been keeping regular appointments with your obstetrician or midwife. Next, your focus can turn to birth and Baby. How should you prepare?

1. Pack a bag.
Deciding what to bring to the hospital can be tricky. You don't want to arrive toting four pieces of luggage, but you don't want to forget an essential item, either. Before packing your bag, ask friends or visit PregnancyToday.com for advice.

What did other moms find most useful at the hospital? A few essentials include entertainment for Dad (cards, videos, books), as well as a change of clothes and toiletries, snacks for both of you, comfort items like a favorite pillow, nightgown or robe, and a camera. Don't forget to add a list of phone numbers if you will be calling family and friends to spread the news. If you have a birth plan, bring that, too. Pack your bag – or at least make a list of what to bring – a month or more before Baby is expected.

2. Select your baby's doctor.
Choosing a pediatrician before your baby is born is an important step. This doctor will give a baby his first checkup, and be available to answer the many questions you'll have in those first few days and weeks. Both you and your spouse should feel comfortable with not only asking the pediatrician anything, but taking the advice and choices he or she presents to you.

For instance, what are the doctor's policies on routine immunizations? Does he support breastfeeding? Does he provide after-hours answers and care? Interview a number of doctors, weigh the importance of each answer and allow plenty of time deciding which doctor is right for your family.

*****Choosing a pediatrician before your baby is born is an important step.*****

3. Agree on medical decisions.
Will you circumcise? Immunize? Parents face difficult decisions about a baby's health even before he is born, so you should settle these important issues long before you leave for the hospital. After your baby is born, he may be given routine immunizations and you'll probably be asked if you want to circumcise him. If you, or your spouse, are not prepared to make these decisions on the spot, you could rush into something you won't be happy about later.

Spend time researching in advance the medical decisions you'll face at the hospital, sit down with your spouse to discuss what you learn and go into the birth experience knowing what's in store for your baby.

4. Buy the gear.
Which car seat is best for your family? Safest? Which one is easiest to install and does it have a separate base or carry handle? How about strollers? So many products are targeted at new parents, it's hard to decide which items – not to mention which models – are essential and what you can skip. Again, rely on other parents to tell you what they used most and what stayed in the closet. Try wheeling strollers around the baby goods store and read up on the safety ratings of car seats. Be sure you check for recalls before buying any used items.

5. Get educated.
If you haven't signed up for a childbirth education class, do it now before classes fill up. A childbirth course that teaches such popular methods as Lamaze or Bradley can give you an idea of what to expect during labor and how to cope with the various challenges of giving birth. These classes can also help your partner get an idea of what his role will be when the big day arrives. Aside from taking a course, you can also check out books about the birth experience or visit BirthStories.com for the birth stories of moms who've been there.

6. Stock baby's closet.
Besides needing something to eat and a place to sleep, your baby is going to need something to wear. You might get some clothing for your baby's layette as gifts or hand-me-downs, but remember that babies also grow very quickly in the early months – so go easy on the number of newborn outfits you buy. A modest supply of gowns, sleepers, caps and booties should get you started, as well as plenty of undershirts and socks in newborn and 3- to 6-month sizes.

Many moms wash all their baby's clothes before his first wearing in a mild detergent made just for delicates. This is not a bad idea, at least until you know if your baby's skin is extra-sensitive.

7. Breast or bottle?
Many parents-to-be are apprehensive about how they'll end up feeding their baby. Should they buy bottles, and if so, how many? Will they be successful in establishing breastfeeding?

The best approach to these questions is to get informed. When it comes to breastfeeding, the more support, the better. Drop by a La Leche League meeting now or ask your doctor for the names of some lactation consultants in your area. Keep their numbers by the phone. If you plan to go back to work, buy a good quality dual-electric pump. (Even stay-at-home moms might want a small manual pump for evenings out.) Whether breast- or bottle-feeding, you should establish a supply of bottles and nipples. For formula-fed babies, plan to use about 10 small bottles a day.

8. Prepare siblings.
If you have children already, some parents suggest you start preparing them for the new baby's arrival when you feel the danger of miscarriage has lessened and your older child starts to notice changes in your appearance. You can find books to explain the arrival of a sibling to younger children or enroll older children in sibling preparation classes.

9. Choose a name.
You may have combed countless Web sites for baby names and now have a list of 12 possibilities. Or perhaps you've already chosen the baby's name – but your spouse doesn't agree. While you're not required to name your baby the day he's born, the pressure is on as friends and relatives want to know what to call this bundle of joy. Try to decide on a name or two in the weeks or months before you give birth, then write the name or names on a 3x5-inch card to put in your bag. That way, when the time comes to record baby's new title, no mistakes will be made.

10. Rest!
Staying healthy in the final months of your pregnancy means not only going to regular prenatal checkups, but trying to relax and enjoy this time of relative quiet before the sleepless nights begin. But lying low doesn't mean becoming a couch potato. Exercise is an important part of pre-baby preparation. Mothers who exercise regularly find themselves more prepared for labor with increased stamina. Since your energy level may be lower as you become bigger and labor day approaches, take it slow and don't add anything new or daring to your exercise routine.





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