when did you start?

myfriends715

Tue, Mar 04 2008, 7:50 pm

washing your childs hands negel vasser?

saying shema at night with your child?

making a brocha for them before they eat?

im asking cuz my kids b"h are six months old and except modeh ani in the morning I really dont do any of that stuff.. somehow I never put shema in their night routine and not sure where to put it in... bath, bottle in dark room w. no noise and bed w/ a kiss

so im just curious

Maya

Tue, Mar 04 2008, 7:54 pm

I would never think to say modeh ani or brachos with a child under 2.5

One day I heard my son saying those things because he had learned it in playgroup, so I also say it with him at home. He's now 2, and started at about 20 months.

amother

Tue, Mar 04 2008, 7:56 pm

I like shema stuck in before the bottle, and do that very young, I sing hamalach hagoel as a lullaby replacer.

Making a bracha I wait until they begin talking a few words.

Negel vaasser, I know there are many who do this right away, from one day old, but I only started once they were walking and came with me to put hands in by the sink.

Twizzlers

Tue, Mar 04 2008, 7:56 pm

I started negel vasser when ds was able to stand up on a chair to reach the sink - about 1 year old (he was too heavy for me to lift him and be able to pour)

I've been singing modeh ani...torah tziva for much longer than that...I sing while I dress him...and hamalach while I put on his pjs...I should really start shema but he never wants to sit still for so long.

I'm curious too what people do with brachos...although ds is 18 months now kah, he doesnt say anything so I havent been bothering...

mummiedearest

Tue, Mar 04 2008, 9:40 pm

I started negel vasser with my son when he started cruising and falling down a lot. a friend told me that washing negel vasser with the baby is supposed to prevent injury. I don't know if that's true, but no harm in trying. we sing hamalach hagoel and bshem hashem while he has his nighttime bottle when I put him to bed, my husband sings shema with him and tells him about the parsha when he puts him to bed. I'm pretty sure we started all of this before one year.

the only bracha we try with him is al netilas yadayim, in the morning and on shabbos when my husband washes my son's hands for challah. my son sometimes babbles along. he prefers shabbos zemiros to brachos, though. he insists on holding his own bencher and singing lalalalalalalala. he also dances...

I think they pick up on whatever you do. it can't hurt if you start being careful to make brachos out loud near the babies. (I should do this more often.) they'll pick it up when they can.

stem

Tue, Mar 04 2008, 9:55 pm

My kids started saying brachos on their own when they started talking. If you say your own brachos out loud all the time, it will be second nature to them.

I wash their hands negel vasser from the time they start having a regular night and wake up for the morning. Once the kid is toilet trained, it becomes part of their personal morning routine in the bathroom.

From day 1, shema is said at bedtime. I usually nurse the baby, and as I'm putting him in the crib, I softly sing shema, give a kiss and go out of the room. Sometimes they sleep through it, but usually they are awake and drowsy so it's part of their falling asleep routine.

Mama Bear

Tue, Mar 04 2008, 10:13 pm

shema you can do with your kid at any time, since youre the one saying it. I started with my son very young, and he learned to do 'echod' before bedtime. brochos - was amazing, when he was 2 and verbal, I'd make a brocho loudly before I ate aor gave him anything, and he learned it so fast, that it became the family joke that he'd make a brocho before every bite! He's outgrown that phase now and has to be coaxed to make a brocho now.

raizy

Tue, Mar 04 2008, 10:14 pm

negel vasser I try to do from day one. it cant really hurt a bit of water on their hands. like in the morning . when it suppose to be morning not like when they think it is morning like 3:00 am

brachas I do and say whenever I give them to eat. also I have my day care so I anyways say brachas all day long.

modia ani I sing with my day care every day.

and shema I do say with my newborns. I saw my sil do it and I thought it was so cute. so I copied. and anyways now I have older kids who say it at night anyways.

montrealmommy

Wed, Mar 05 2008, 9:13 am

We do Shma and Modeh Ani from very early

Negel Vasseer, when they have a morning routine (usu. b/w 4-6 mo.) w/o a brocha, when they know what they are doing (about 1yr) we say "al netilas yadaim", when they begin to speak we say the whole bracha.

Foods, same, when they beg. eating we begin a bracha - first just the ending "borei minei mexonos" and as they grow we add the whole bracha, when they speak we begin with them saying the ending, then the whole things

We have a "tefilah l'nearim" from my dh's rudehlheim siddur (and it's also in my Chofetz Chaim siddur) that we do once they are 'talking' - meaning they can try to pronounce these words.

At all ages we did Torah Tziva Lanu and danced around the house!

Seraph

Wed, Mar 05 2008, 10:03 am

I tried washing netilas yadayim from day one, but we got so wet that I decided to hold off on that. I tried shema also from day one, but as he still doesnt have a set bed time, I dunno when its shluff for the night, so I dot say it often, but I do on occasion. I sing bishem hashem allllll the time to him when I'm putting him to bed, do the same with hamalach hagoel- as a lulabye.
And we sing modeh ani and my own little wake up ditty everty morning!

manhattanmom

Wed, Mar 05 2008, 11:37 pm

I say shema (just the passuk) and sing hamalach during the bedtime feeding. Before he had a "definite bedtime" I usually just said shema sometime between 8 & 9.
I started saying modeh ani from day 1--before he had a schedule I said it when I felt it was the morning for me (like when I was alert--sometimes not until 11!)
My mother told me (who heard from her mother, grandmother, etc.) that you should start washing negel vasser when they start walking (or cruising) and that it is supposed to prevent them from falling.
As far as making brachos--I do when I remember! Not the whole bracha but if I'm feeding him bananas I'd say just, "Borie Pri Haadama" before the first spoonful. My aunt and uncle did this with their kids and I always thought it was nice.

Imaonwheels

Thu, Mar 06 2008, 2:26 am

I did negelvasser, Modeh ani and Shma from day 1. Wine on the paci and a challah crumb also from day 1. I put the negelvasser by the bed as soon as they were out of the crib.

Get a small step stool. I use the same one for gs to use the toilet and he then carries it to the negelvasser sink. There all who stand can use it to reach the sink easily. I also would make a great mess trying to do it while lifting.

flowerpower

Sun, Mar 09 2008, 9:54 pm

washing negal vasser-boy from birth and girl from a few months

shema-about 2 years but cover eyes and say echud from one year

brochos-2 years but just say baruch ata amen from one year

Last edited by flowerpower on Mon, Mar 10 2008, 10:03 am; edited 1 time in total

shayna82

Sun, Mar 09 2008, 10:34 pm

I dont know, this is one of weaknesses. this is why . my boys are lazy and just dont do it. only if I go in there with them and do it with them, and sometimes in the morning rush it gets so insane, getting the baby changed and nursed, getting my son off to school, breakfast, all that...and my oldest saying "nooo " dosnt help much.

so this week, I decided until they get a little older, Im going to do it by the kitchen sink , on a step stool. then we say the bracha together.

davening, I do with my yomin- who will be 3 on lagbaomer iyh. Ive been doing it since september with him. so I guess he was 2 and 4 months. we daven brachos, matovu, shema, hareiney, so far we are up to the 6th pasuk, then we sing aleph beis veis, then we do aleph beis flashcards. hes up to shin and sin thank g-d. my goal was that by three he would know all the alpeh beis by shape.

my other son, davens at schooo. but on the day he dosnt have school and shabbos and sunday we daven altogether and we allg et a chance to kiss his tzizis-- a real treat for my almost upshern boy!

its hard, especially when im trying to give my kids a certain kind of chinuch that I didnt get. good luck

Marion

Mon, Mar 10 2008, 2:42 am

We've always done Modeh Ani in the morning, expanding it to include Ma Tovu and the first part of Shema by about age one (we would do it on the walk to daycare), and also a perek of Hallel on Rosh Chodesh and Achat Sha'alti in Elul.

We sing Hamal'ach Hagoel and Shema with the older one at night; just Hamal'ach Hagoel with the baby.