Tag Archive - Infants

FAQs: Family Worship for a Child Under 2?

September 28, 2011 in Uncategorized with 2 Comments

One parent recently wrote our office with the following question: As our child grows older, we want to be very intentional about family devotions and sharing the gospel with her. Right now she is 13 1/2 months old and her attention span isn’t quite long enough to read the Big Picture Story Bible or the Jesus Storybook Bible. What are some practical things we can do now to begin to share the gospel with her and incorporate a devotional time? Are there any devotional books for younger kids that you would recommend, or any types of activities we can do? 

I pray that the short answer that follows is helpful both for this family and other families who may be struggling with the same kind of question: I’m so thankful for your desire to be intentional with your daughter. Here are some resources that I really like for children under age 2 and then for toddlers. The Lindvall Read-Aloud Story Bible books for toddlers have shorter and easier stories than the Big Picture Bible, and our girls really loved them. I think that your daughter would enjoy them soon–possibly even now. The stories are short and repetitive, so they are easy for young kids to memorize.

For infants (under age 2):

For toddlers (ages 2 & 3):

Josh, we also have prayed a nightly blessing over our girls since they were really young. When they were really young, we did this without much reading. Some nights now, we just pray the blessing and nothing more, because the girls are just too antsy or tired to listen to a story or memorize anything–particularly if we get in late from a training event or community group meeting. Our blessing goes something like this: “Dear Jesus, please help                          to grow up to be a girl who loves Jesus and trusts in Jesus. Please protect her from Satan and his schemes. Help her to have godly friends and a godly husband when she gets big. In Jesus’ name, Amen.” Children Desiring God has a book of blessings for fathers (A Father’s Guide for Blessing His Children by David Michael) that includes the Scripture blessings written out on notecards. You can download a PDF version of the book for $3. The printed booklet is $7.50, but the extra few bucks is probably worth it if you think that you’ll use the notecards.

On Separation Anxiety

September 15, 2010 in Uncategorized with 5 Comments

It is natural for young children to feel anxious when you drop them off at the nursery or say goodbye.  Although this can be very difficult for parents, it is a normal stage of development.  With understanding, patience, love, faith and trust, it can be relieved and should lessen and fade as your child gets older.

In the early stages of childhood, crying, tantrums or clinging to father and mother are actually healthy reactions to separation.  Separation anxiety can begin before a child’s first birthday and pop up again or last until a child is four years old, but both the intensity level and timing of separation anxiety vary tremendously from child to child.  One way you, as the parent, can ease your child’s anxiety is by staying patient, loving, and consistent and by gently and firmly setting limits. Continue Reading…

Piper: How did you do family devotions when your kids were really little?

April 8, 2009 in Uncategorized with 2 Comments

Early this morning Bryce Butler sent me an article from John Piper on leading family devotions with the very young.  The Desiring God site has the complete article and audio to download.  Here are some of the best excerpts:

From the family standpoint there would always be a time to meet. It was at the breakfast table in those early days. So you have a child who is now rested—at least it’s the way it worked for our boys and Talitha—they were rested and had a full tummy. So they were relatively happy.

And at that moment Daddy gets out a big book. And he reads from it, a paragraph maybe. This little child doesn’t understand anything I’m saying. He’s six months old, or nine months, or a year.

He doesn’t understand anything I’m saying, but he’s learning big time what is going on here: he’s watching daddy take leadership; he’s noticing a book; he’s hearing reading; he’s watching them pray afterwards; and he’s learning massively important things before he understands a word that is going on here…

You’re not demanding faith from this little pagan, because he’s not ready even to come to those terms. You’re doing teaching: you’re building and your exulting and your praying and your asking, and he’s watching all this happen as you build that into his life.

By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org