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Basic InformationMore InformationLatest NewsYoung Parents May Be Especially Prone to DepressionParents Can Take Steps to Boost Kids' Health, Well-BeingPediatricians, Parents Urged to Address Sexuality in the MediaParenting 101: How to Let Go as Your Child Heads Off to CollegeCyberbullying, 'Sexting' Major Problems for SchoolkidsHealth Tip: Does Your Child Have Pertussis?Many Parents Fret Over Time Kids Spend on Phones, ComputersFor College Freshmen, Leaving Home May Bring Mixed EmotionsHealth Tip: Help Keep Baby MovingParents Divided Over Genetic Testing of Minors for CancerWarm But Watchful Parents Can Keep Kids From Heavy DrinkingMore Than Half of Pediatricians Make Diagnostic Errors: SurveySummer Vacation May Set Back Kids' Language SkillsPlaytime with Parents May Shape Gender RolesParents Ill-Informed About Kids' Concussion RisksHealth Tip: When Kids Have Separation AnxietyHealth Tip: Why People Get Ear InfectionsHealth Tip: Buy a Bike That Suits Your ChildClear Rules, Physical Activity Cut Children's Screen TimeVaccination Ends Disparities in Pneumococcal DiseasePreventive Intervention for Premature Infants EffectiveStricter Rules Can Steer Kids Away From TVHarmless Brain Abnormalities in Kids Pose Disclosure DilemmasHonesty Helps Young Girls Build Better RelationshipsPreschoolers' Skills Get Boost From Confident TeachersMove Childhood Back Outdoors This SummerDonor-Assisted Conception Sparks Disclosure DilemmasSwimming Lessons OK for Toddlers, Experts SayParents Want Electronic Access to Their Children's Docs: SurveyIntervention Improves Parent-Autistic Child InteractionsParent Involvement in Grade School Boosts Child's Social SkillsBenefits of Good Child Care Extend Into Teen YearsSugar Before Shots Helps Infants CopeIn Abuse Talks, Parents Focus Disproportionately on StrangersFDA Found Bacteria in Ingredients for Recalled Tylenol, BenadrylSpanking Ranks Low as Discipline Option in U.S. PollInvolved Parents Less Likely to Raise BulliesBullies Target Obese KidsParent Error Common When Medicating Chronically Ill KidsKids Raised by Relatives Face Increased Health RisksDrug Maker Recalls More Than 40 Allergy, Cold Meds for KidsOTC Drugs May Work Differently in Obese KidsEducational Program Urges Parents to Immunize KidsOne in Five Parents Would Spank in Certain SettingsBetter Teachers Make for Stronger Young ReadersFatal Choking a Real Risk Among ToddlersBooks Read to Baby Helpful Teaching Tools for New MothersVideo Games Before Bed May Not Shortchange SlumberHelp Your Kids Stay ActiveKids Often Misled About Child Abuse Questions and AnswersBlog EntriesCyberbullyingBack to School BluesTwenty Something? So, Grow Up AlreadyAn Interview with Daniel Sonkin, Ph.D., on Parents' Reactions To Children Leaving HomeOf Babies and Kisses and HugsThe Role Of Mentalization In The Development Of Borderline Personality DisorderPrepare Now: How to Get Teens to Focus with Homework Why Parents Hate Parenting: Or Do They? Teenage Risk Taking and Parental BehaviorParental Suicide and Vulnerable ChildrenNew Study: Spanking Promotes Aggression in KidsThe New Extended FamilyParenting a Child with Intense Emotions Using Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)Violent Video GamesParenting, ADHD and Childhood Behavior ProblemsParenting, Children, and Observational Learning The Child is Father to the Man What Every Parent Should Know About School AnxietyWhen Children StealADHD and Brain Stimulation An Interview with Keith Sutton, Psy.D. on Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)Calming Your Child's Anxious MindDivorce: Five Mistakes Made by Divorced Parents. 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Introduction to Adventures in ParentingNICHD Updated: Nov 30th 2004Have you heard the latest advice about parenting? Of course you have. From experts to other parents, people are always ready to give you parenting advice. Parenting tips, parents' survival guides, dos, don'ts, shoulds, and shouldn'ts, new ones come out every day.
 But with so much information available, how can anyone figure out what really works? How do you know whose advice to follow? Isn't parenting just common sense anyway? How can the experts know what it's like to be a parent in a real house? What's a parent to do? Try RPM3, a no-frills approach to parenting from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). RPM3 stands for: - Responding to your child in an appropriate manner.
- Preventing risky behavior or problems before they arise.
- Monitoring your child's contact with his or her surrounding world.
- Mentoring your child to support and encourage desired behaviors.
- Modeling your own behavior to provide a consistent, positive example for your child.
For over 30 years, the NICHD has conducted and supported research in parenting and child development. We?ve talked to experts, parents, and children. We?ve collected statistics, identified myths, and tested suggestions. The result is RPM3. The RPM3 guidelines aren?t meant to be just another parenting "how to", telling you what to do. Instead, RPM3 separates the useful information from the not-so-useful so that you can make your own decisions about parenting. RPM3 does more than tell stories about what people think about parenting, it incorporates 30 years of NICHD research to tell you what really works. RPM3 confirms something that you already know: parents do matter. You matter. Read on to find out just how much... The first section of this booklet explains each item in RPM3, responding, preventing, monitoring, mentoring, and modeling, in more detail. These lessons describe how RPM3 can help you make daily decisions about parenting. The remaining sections of the booklet give examples of how some parents have used the lessons of RPM3 with their own children.
As you read, you will notice numbers, like 1 or 7 next to certain words. These numbers relate to the research that supports an idea or concept, listed on the References page. These references give you more information about NICHD parenting research.
Table of Contents
Letter from the NICHD Director Dear Fellow Parent, As parents, we have the most important job in the world. There is nothing we do in our lifetimes that is more significant than how we raise our children. It?s a challenging, full-time job that lasts throughout our lives, no matter how old our children get. While parenting presents us with struggles and trials, it also offers us many rewards. Those rewards, too, can last through our lives.
This booklet addresses certain struggles and trials of parenting and highlights some of its many rewards. The information is based on decades of research on parenting, as well as the experiences of actual parents and experts in parenting. The booklet is designed for parents of every background, from first-time parents to grandparents, so that any one who interacts with children can benefit from this valuable information.
Parenting is not only vital to our present, but also to our future, as our children themselves become parents. Raising children is an adventure, full of surprises and changes. I hope that this information helps you to shape your own parenting practices and beliefs, as you embark on your own parenting adventure. Sincerely Yours,
Duane Alexander, MD
Director
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development |
