Getting your teenager to do homework can become a daily battle. Here are a few tips for helping -- without taking over: Know your child Some kids need privacy while others love to be surrounded by people. Our daughter, Susan, is somewhere in between. She doesn't want to be isolated in her bedroom to do her homework, but she also would rather not sit at the kitchen table amidst the the rest of the family. She sits in the living room where she can hear and be near everyone without being completely distracted by them. Provide tools Once you've found the place in your home that your child is comfortable to do homework, keep a ready supply of paper, pencils, erasers and pens available to them. After spending a day at school then coming home to do more schoolwork, your child is not going to want to go searching for a sharpened pencil. Create a routine Just like toddlers, teens love a routine. By making them feel safe and secure, a routine brings out the best in a child. With their input, create a homework time and stick to it. Be firm that this is homework time. You and your child should both respect it -- don't alter the time for selfish reasons. Be available to answer questions or offer assistance if it's needed. The time may be different on Mondays than on Tuesdays because of things like scouts, music lessons or sports. Just be sure that a specific time is set aside each day for the sole purpose of completing assigned homework. Speaking of activities...   Allowing your child to participate in every activity that comes along is a bad idea. Some overachieving teens feel the need to do it all. Schoolwork should take precedence over activities, but it is possible to do both. Give your children the responsibility of managing schoolwork and one activity each before allowing them to take on more. Be proactive Attend open houses and parent-teacher gatherings, and get to know your child's teachers. Such efforts may annoy your children but will go a long way in establishing good relationships overall. Your child's teacher should know that you expect to be contacted if things aren't going the way they should, and you should have access to assignments, tests and schedules so you can help your teen stay on task. Back off Ultimately, your teenager is responsible for homework. They earn the grades on their own; we don't earn them for our children. Once you've established a homework environment, leave it to your kids to do what needs doing. Handing over responsibility doesn't mean you aren't involved. It means that you're giving them room to grow and learn beyond the classroom. How do you encourage your child to keep up with homework? Read more:

• Teaching teens responsibility
• Understanding your teen's behavior

Yep. When your baby yawns, it probably means she's tired. But yawning isn't the only indication that your little one is a sleepy one. And parents never ever want to miss their window of opportunity to put their babies down to sleep when the time is right.

More often than not, your babies will let you know when it's time to hit the hay. Keep all of these signs in mind when beddy-bye time is right around the corner:

• Rubbing their eyes
• Pulling on their ears
• Twirling their hair around their fingers
• Staring off into space

Some signs are obvious- some not so much. Of course, all babies are different so tuning into when your baby wants to tune out for some serious sleep time will help everyone in the long run. And discovering what your baby does when she's ready for night-night means sweet dreams all around.