What parents believe their young child can feel and do differs dramatically from reality, according to a recent survey released by the non-profit group Zero to Three. I recently talked about the survey with Ross Thompson, Ph.D.—a psychologist and fellow board member of Zero to Three. (I serve as Vice President of the board.)

“When it comes to understanding a young child’s emotional life,” Thompson says, “many parents underestimated the vitality of a baby’s emotional experience.” For example, only 30 percent of parents thought a baby can experience strong emotions, but research shows that by the age of 6 months, and even earlier, babies are capable of experiencing and expressing a host of emotions, including anger, sadness, surprise and joy.

On the flip side, “parents really thought there was more that kids were capable of in the early years than we know to be true,” says Thompson. Over 40 percent of parents thought a child aged 3 could control their emotions and manage tantrums. Research shows that this is an unrealistic expectation.

Watch the video of my interview with Ross Thompson below. And for more information, visit Zero to Three’s website.

We all want our kids to be popular—or do we? The perks of a membership to the In Crowd certainly exist, but there are definite pitfalls to popularity.

I recently had psychologist and MomLogic contributor Wendy Walsh, Ph. D. on my show to discuss the negative effects of being part of the “cool” clique.

“A recent study that followed a group of eighth graders for a year found that the most popular ones acted out the group norms more aggressively and led the way in to some forms of delinquency and some drug use,” Walsh says. The healthiest place for you child on the popularity scale? Probably somewhere in the middle, Walsh says.

See my complete interview with Dr. Walsh below for tips on how to help your teen handle peer problems.

A diagnosis of autism is scary for any family. With the wealth of information available to parents today (including a vast amount of misinformation) about the disorder, it can be daunting for Mom and Dad to chart a course forward and learn to handle the issues that come with autism. In honor of Autism Awareness Month (April), The American Academy of Pediatrics has posted a series of audio interviews, Sound Advice on Autism, with a range of experts fielding questions about autism spectrum disorders. Listen, and your questions might just be answered. But more importantly, you might gain a little peace of mind.

For more information, visit the AAP’s Children’s Health Topics: Autism page.

Imagine for a moment that it’s movie night, and you’re 8 months pregnant. You want to watch Fantastic Mr. Fox, but your husband votes for Marley & Me. How do you choose? Well, according to new research, you might want to let your baby-to-be have a vote, because s/he will respond to Mom’s emotions.

Researchers in Japan recently studied a group of pregnant women to see how their emotions affected their unborn child. (You can read more about the study in the NewScientist article found here.) Ten subjects viewed an uplifting clip from The Sound of Music and a sad clip from The Champ. The women listened to the movies through headphones “to ensure that only the effect of their emotions, not the sounds, were being measured,” since a fetus gains the ability to hear by the last trimester.

The result? Babies-to-be moved their arms significantly more than normal (“normal” was measured by having the subjects watch a neutral clip) when Mom viewed the “happy” clip and less when the “sad” clip was on. The researcher theorized that the “sad” movie caused a greater release of the “fight or flight” hormone, thus diverting blood away from the fetus. As a result, the babies-to-be conserved their blood supply for their heart and lungs rather than their limbs, limiting arm movement.

If your elementary schooler or preteen’s calendar is littered with soccer practices, music lessons, or art classes (or option D, all of the above), consider now the time to start culling those appointments.

Trimming your child’s calendar can pay off down the road as he or she approaches the teen years, and chances are they’ll appreciate it immediately. Kidshealth.org polled almost 900 9- to 13-year-old boys and girls a few years ago. They found that 61 percent of those children wished they had more free time, and 39 percent were involved in three or more extracurricular activities.

Another telling stat? Four out of 10 of the children polled said they felt stressed most or all of the time because they had too much to do.

When you think about teens and substance abuse, you probably imagine scary scenarios involving alcohol or illegal drugs. I doubt the bathroom cabinet even flashes through your mind. But according to a recent survey of teens by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, one in ten admit to using cough medicine to get high and 28 percent say they know someone who’s tried it.

Research shows when your toddler’s vocabulary will take off.

The average toddler says a handful of words by his first birthday, and continues adding a few on a daily basis. Neuroscientists have figured out that once your little one has mastered roughly 50 words, a language explosion will begin and he’ll regularly surprise you with new adorably pronounced (or mispronounced) words.

Recent research may make your family’s food woes a littler easier to digest.

One study, from University College London, that looked at identical and fraternal twins, suggested that some children are genetically predisposed to shun new foods. This fear — known as food neophobia — may be a remnant from the days when humans had to scavenge for food and it was wise to be wary because that weird green plant could be toxic. Your toddler’s reaction to those weird green beans could actually be a response hardwired into his brain. That said, there are several related studies which suggest that parents should not decide "Johnny hates spinach" based on first impressions.  Unless a child rejects something at least 8 times (not in one meal!), don’t assume he’ll never grow to like that food.

Be careful what you say about your party days

It’s no secret that your teenager’s peers can affect his or her decision to drink underage. But what if the influential teen is you-at age 16?  As part of a science talent search, 17-year-old Chelsea Jurman, of Roslyn Heights, New York, surveyed 123 of her classmates. Her results suggest that teen attitudes toward drinking and their drinking behavior correlate with their perception of their parents’ teenage alcohol use. In other words, if your teen believes you threw back a few choice beverages in your younger days, he or she is more likely to imbibe than is a pal whose parents were teatotallers. As Jurman aptly put it, ""When you’re a teenager, perception is reality and what they take away from the conversation is, ‘If my parents drank as teens and they turned out all right, then this must mean it’s O.K. for me to drink, too.’ "Jurman’s study garnered her a winning place in the Intel Science Talent Search and a trip to D.C. to meet the President. Given her success, one can only assume that her parents were social science wunderkinds!

Under-the-pillow penny pinching

Recession reminders are rampant these days. Just ask the tooth fairy: According to a poll by Securian, a dental insurance company, the average going price for a tooth is around $1.88, down from last year’s average of $2.09.

She should, however, consider asking for a raise, given the important new task she’s taken on. The Radiation and Public Health Project’s "Tooth Fairy Project" is collecting baby teeth from across the country to measure the amount of radioactive expose to different areas. The organization hopes to collect 10,000 teeth to "gather the necessary clinical evidence to determine whether nuclear weapons fallout and power reactors are affecting our public health…" Surely that merits a pay bump.