Sugar and spice may be nice, but these days, girls need to be made of hardier stuff to get through tween-hood and adolescence. But building a girl's self-esteem into that of a confident young woman begins in the nursery. Congratulate your little girl on the things she does, not how she looks. Take the emphasis away from "you're so pretty" and place it on "you're so smart" instead. {relatedarticles}Read stories in which the girl is the hero, instead of the girl waiting to be saved by Prince Charming. Surround your daughter with strong role models of both sexes, and if her father is in the picture, then encourage him to engage her in a variety of activities that aren't gender-specific. It's never too early to explain to your daughter that the images she sees in the media - magazines, television, movies, etc. - aren't the norm.

Explain how those images are manipulated - designers are able to airbrush cellulite and wrinkles, crop out bulges, make breasts larger, and basically remodel a woman's body. Carry that message of unrealistic images over to her playthings, like Barbies, who are completely disproportionate. It may not make sense to a 3-year-old, but it's never too early to plant the seed. As they mature, try to expose daughters to a mix of activities instead of just dance or other "girly" pursuits. {relatedarticles}Up to 40 percent of girls begin dieting by age 10, and 57 percent say they want to lose weight because of what they've seen in magazines - a frightening statistic that makes it even more important to help girls understand that there are different body types. Shift the focus from dieting to healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle. Help your tween or teen girl understand that her self-esteem shouldn't lie in her looks alone, and reinforce that idea by monitoring your own comments. A mom who is positive about her own body is better equipped to raise a daughter who's confident about hers.