Andrew Adesman

Are you one of nearly 3 million grandparents across North America raising your grandchildren as part of a grandfamily? You may have done all this parenting stuff before, but times have changed since you raised your own kids, and you likely never thought you'd be raising kids again. What has led to all these family issues and the growing need for grandparents to step up? Now more than ever, substance use and addiction have made many birth parents simply unfit for the job, whether the problem is alcohol, opioids, or other drugs. Family dynamics might also be undermined by parents' mental health or medical problems, incarceration, or a simple lack of preparedness for family responsibilities. Whatever the reason for your new role, you must now help your grandchildren adjust to their extended family as part of their everyday life, through the best care you are able to provide. While your new role means that you will likely have to change the way you live, the kinship care you provide your grandchildren might make all the difference in the world. In The Grandfamily Guidebook--which leading medical experts have called a "must-have" resource for grandparents raising grandchildren--authors Andrew Adesman, MD, and Christine Adamec offer expert medical advice, helpful insights gleaned from other grandparents, and data mined from the 2016 Adesman Grandfamily Study--the broadest and most diverse research study of its kind to date. You'll also find hands-on tips you'll be able to reference whenever you need them, including how to cope with difficult birth parents, school issues and social-life challenges, problem behaviors that stem from a difficult past, and your own self-care. Starting with its foreword by the renowned Dr. William Sears, across this book you will find practical, inspiring help as you navigate the financial impacts, legal considerations, and medical issues that commonly arise when grandparents and grandchildren start becoming a grandfamily.

Ear infections need to be treated with antibiotics. Newborns and infants should be bathed daily. New parents are deluged with advice on how to care for their babies. This book explores common baby health myths--in areas such as feeding, sleeping, toilet training, and illness--to help them separate baby facts from baby fiction.

Learn how to give your adopted child a positive, loving home. '"Parenting Your Adopted Child" is a welcome source of practical, useful parenting advice to parents and friends' - Susan Caughman, editor and publisher, "Adoptive Families" magazine. Parents of adopted children face unique challenges in addition to all the "regular" problems other families must face. How much information about the adoption should you share with your family? Your neighbors? When should you start explaining adoption to your child, and how? Grounded in a refreshingly positive approach, "Parenting Your Adopted Child" provides helpful tools that enable you to understand and counter common myths about adoption that may be harmful to your child. Chock-full of expert advice from a renowned pediatrician who specializes in adoption issues and a noted writer on adoption issues who is also the mother of an adopted child, "Parenting Your Adopted Child" clearly demonstrates how to tailor your parenting approach to suit your child's distinct needs. You'll find the answers to such common concerns as: Why, when, and how do I explain adoption to my child and others? How can I help my child deal with adoption at different stages of life? How do I nurture a strong relationship between siblings? How do I deal with family members who don't include my child? How do I help my child deal with people who harbor negative views of adoption? Does my child need a therapist and, if so, how do I find the right one? And, how much should I tell my child's teachers? Andrew Adesman, M. D., is chief of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at Schneider Children's Hospital and associate professor of pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Adesman also serves as director of the Adoption Evaluation Center and the neonatal developmental follow-up program at Schneider Children's Hospital. Christine Adamec is the author or coauthor of fifteen books, including four on adoption-related topics.