From Diapers to Dating: A Parent's Guide to Raising Sexually Healthy Children - From Infancy to Middle School

by Debra W. Haffner

Overview

This widely recommended parenting guide offers a wealth of practical techniques to help you identify and communicate your own values about sexuality to your children, infants to age twelve. In this revised edition, acclaimed parenting educator Debra Haffner covers the latest research and addresses issues of timely concern, including Internet safety. The book includes:

• "Values Exercises" to help you identify and communicate your beliefs to your children
• "Special Issues" to advise you on discussing difficult topics
• "Teachable Moments" to help you recognize opportunities or entry points into a discussion of important issues.

"I believe it is up to you and your partner to decide on the messages and values you want to give your child about sexuality," Haffner writes. "It is your right and your responsibility to share them with your child."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781557048714
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	08/18/2009
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	451 KB

About the Author

Debra W. Haffner has been a parenting educator for more than twenty-five years, regularly speaks to parent groups across the country, and appears frequently on national TV, including CNN, Today, and The O'Reilly Factor. She holds a Master's in Public Health from Yale University School of Medicine and a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary. She is an ordained minister with the Unitarian Church in Westport, Connecticut.

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	ix
	Foreword to the Second Edition	xi
	Foreword	xv
1	The Basics	1
	Sexually Healthy Families	5
	The Key: Finding Teachable Moments	6
	Guidelines for Communication	9
2	Infants and Toddlers, Birth to Age 2	21
	Sexual Development of Infants	26
	Parents' Feelings	27
	The Importance of Touch	28
	The Circumcision Decision	30
	First Days at Home	33
	Teaching the Parts of the Body	34
	Genital Exploration	37
	Thinking through Gender Roles	39
	Special Issue
	Your Child-Care Provider	41
3	The Preschool Years, Ages 2 to 5	45
	Teaching the Parts of the Body	46
	Bath Time	49
	"I Want to Be Alone!"	51
	Genital Touching	53
	"We're Just Playing Doctor, Mom"	56
	Friendships and Feelings	60
	"When I Grow Up, I'm Going to Marry Mommy"	64
	"Is My Son Gay?"	68
	"Where Do I Come From?"	72
	When Your Child Walks in When You Are Making Love	77
	Special Issue
	Your Preschool	80
	Sexual Abuse	82
4	Early Elementary School, Ages 5 to 8	91
	Your Child Is Growing Up	92
	Teaching Your Child the Facts of Life	95
	Bath Time	102
	Masturbation	104
	More on Sex Play	105
	Friendships	107
	Tomboys and Sissy Girls	109
	Going to Other People's Houses	111
	"But All the Kids Watch It"	113
	The News	121
	Working with the Elementary School	123
	"Tag, You Have AIDS"	126
	"Oh S@#$!"	128
	"The Britney Syndrome"	130
	Special Issue
	Divorce	134
	Parents Dating	135
	When Your Child Isn't Conceived the "When Mommy and Daddy Love Each Other" Way	137
5	Upper Elementary School, Ages 9 to 12	145
	Preparing for Puberty	146
	Preparing Your Daughter for Puberty	148
	Preparing Your Son for Puberty	154
	For Boys and Girls	158
	A Few Words about Early and Late Developers	159
	"Am I Normal?"	162
	Emotional Development	163
	The Preteenager with No Questions	171
	Masturbation	174
	Going Together	175
	"Mom, I Think I'm Gay"	186
	Body Image, Appearance, and Dieting	189
	Teen Magazines	195
	"Dad, Will You Buy Me a Playboy?"	198
	The Internet	202
	Special Issue
	Hostile Hallways	209
	How to Evaluate Sexuality Education Outside of the Home	211
	Afterword	217
Appendix	Sources for More Information	220
	Web Sites	221
	Additional Readings	221
	Videos	225
	Organizations	226
	Hotlines	230
	References	231
	Index	235

Editorial Reviews

"A valuable book to develop a comfortable, ongoing, constructive rapport with your children about sex." —Washington Post

From the Publisher