Does Your Child Drink Enough Milk?
Is Your Child a Milk Addict like mine? My 4-year old will drink upwards of a half gallon of milk or more each day. He just loves milk and always needs a cup nearby. I started to wonder if this was healthy, so I did a little research. I found some great resources on the internet dealing with what children drink and how it will help or hurt them.
Dr. Spock has a great website where you can ask pretty much any question (related to children) under the sun and you will probably find an answer. I often visit to find out what experts are saying about certain topics. Having a 4-year old and a 5-year old, we have almost daily concerns regarding their health and well being.
Dr. Spock Experts state that for a child to develop well, it is said that they should be drinking between 16 and 24 ounces of milk each day. Be aware that giving your child too much milk prior to a meal will often leave your child too full to eat their meal. It is also important that if they do not drink regular milk, that they get calcium with vitamin D from an alternate source. Some alternatives are soy milk or calcium fortified juice, just watch the sugar content of the juice because that could lead to other issues.
The concerns with drinking over 24 ounces of milk each day vary by child. If a child is drinking lots of milk, but not eating all the other food groups, they may become iron deficiency anemic or underweight. Often times children get so filled up with the milk they are drinking that they do not eat enough of the other foods to fulfill their dietary needs of fat, protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals.
In contrast, if a child is also eating very well, the added calories in milk can often lead to the child being overweight. Even low fat milk has anywhere from 15 to 19 calories per ounce. If a child drinks 24 ounces of milk in one day, that translates to 360 calories and over 1/4 of their daily caloric needs (roughly 1300 is recommended). So, in my own child’s case, he is drinking upwards of 32 to 48 ounces of milk each and every day. That is somewhere between 480 and 720 calories! Thankfully, he loves fruits and veggies as well, so we have a nice balance, but after reading this information we will be changing our ways.
One tip is to only fill the cup half way rather than to the top. Or, alternate between a cup of water and a cup of milk. After all, our job is to make sure our kids stay healthy. Why start them off on the wrong foot.
Do you have a milk addict at home?
Final Giveaway #11
Our final giveaway is a doozy! I almost hate to give this away. But, as promised…..
Our final winner will be receiving a Box-Set of 5 CD’s titled “Tired of Nagging? Get Your Kids to Cooperate.“ Compliments of Susan P. Epstein, LCSW, Parent Life Coach. Check out her other products at parentingpowers.com. This is more than a $400 Value!
I am glad I am not the only one who has questions and concerns about my children’s behavior. The winner of this final giveaway, as determined by Random.org, is Reiza!
Congratulations Reiza!
Please come back and visit soon for more interesting posts and comments from lots of interesting people.
2009 New Year Giveaway #11
We’re up to our 11th and FINAL giveaway!
But first…
Congratulations to the winner of our most recent After Holiday Giveaway!
Thank you for all the great replies to our last contest question about your special Valentine celebrations. Our 10th Giveaway Winner is Jean D. who will be receiving A $15 Gift Certificate to Chicks & Cubs, compliments of Cynthia from www.chicksandcubs.com. 
Ok, now to the next and FINAL giveaway…This Box-Set of 5 CD’s titled “Tired of Nagging? Get Your Kids to Cooperate.“ Compliments of Susan P. Epstein, LCSW, Parent Life Coach. Check out her other products at parentingpowers.com. This is more than a $400 Value! You cannot miss out on this one!
My thought of the day: As you may or may not know from previous posts, I have two boys…a 4-year old and a 5-year old. They are polar opposites in most ways. One is high-maintenance, one is laid back. One is artistic, one is more about wrestling and rough-housing. One loves competitive sports, the other hates playing against people because he will risk losing. We’ve had a lot of challenges over the past 5+ years, and I know we have many many more to come. There are a couple phases that have been extremely difficult for us, causing us to actually research the answers to our questions. One was that our first born had tons of sleep issues…always crying, never falling asleep unless he was being held and rocked (although, in hindsight, I’m certain we created this issue). The second biggest issue we’ve had so far is the tantrums. If there is a Guinness Book record for longest and loudest temper tantrum, I am certain that my 5-year old would have won!
This leads to my next question…
Whether you have kids or not, I would love to hear what your issues or questions have been? If you have kids, what were your biggest challenges? If you don’t have kids, but spend time with some one else’s kids, you must have things you’d like to vent about. Just post it here.
If you have a Twitter account, and you want additional entries, just re-tweet and comment here about it.
The deadline for giveaway #11 entry is 11:59pm EST, Thursday February 12th, 2009. To review the rules of our giveaway, please CLICK HERE.
2009 New Year Giveaway #10
We’re up to our 10th giveaway! Only a few more left.
But first…
Congratulations to the winner of our most recent After Holiday Giveaway!
Thank you for all the great replies to our last contest question about how you felt on election day or inauguration day. Our 9th Giveaway Winner is Cindy who will be receiving A Gift Certificate for a FREE Personalized Birthday CD, compliments of Victoria from www.kidspersonalizedmusic.net. ($25 Value). 
Ok, now to the next giveaway…
Our next giveaway is for: A $15 Gift Certificate to Chicks & Cubs, compliments of Cynthia from www.chicksandcubs.com.
Chicks and Cubs is THE place to shop for all of your keepsake wants and needs, and all the child safety products that you could imagine! If it’s out there, she has it. Don’t forget to check out her great prices on Baby Shoe Bronzing and her ongoing Loot 4 Mama Giveaway.
My thought of the day: Valentines Day has always been a bit controversial to some. I know that it can be tough for some single people, although when I was single, there was always some one to surprise with a small gesture of love, such as for a niece, nephew, or close friend. I understand that it has turned into another excuse for retailers to tug on our “love-stings”, but I also enjoy it very much myself, especially now that I have kids. I love to think of something simple and inexpensive, but thoughtful and sweet to give to the ones that I love. For my Husband, it could be as simple as getting a babysitter and going out to dinner for a couple hours. I vividly remember when I was a child, my Mom ALWAYS got me a giant chocolate Kiss every singe year. BOY, did I love that! It’s a tradition I’d love to continue with my children. For those that are single out there…what’s wrong with buying yourself something special…you deserve it!
This leads to my next question…
What, if anything, do you do on Valentines day for yourself or the ones that you love?
The deadline for giveaway #10 entry is 11:59pm EST, Sunday February 8th, 2009. To review the rules of our giveaway, please CLICK HERE.
Can Your Child’s DNA Determine Athleticism?
I was fascinated by a news segment last evening. Fox 25 News had a brief article about Parents that are actually having their child’s DNA tested to determine what sport they will excel at. Apparently, scientists have developed a genetic test to determine which sport suits a child. It is said that it will determine whether your child will be best at speed & power sports versus endurance sports. Many other scientists feel this test is very flawed because it only analyzes a singe gene marker when there are many more important factors, such as the right nutrition, the type of coach they may have while they are playing a sport, and the child’s own drive.
Many people feel it will cause Parents to unfairly push their children into a sport that they may not be very interested in, or it may even take the fun out of what would have been an enjoyable sport if the child does not live up to what the test is telling them.
I have thought about this and I would not test my children for a couple of different reasons. I would not want to risk even a remote chance that I would pressure my child into a sport because I think it was meant to be. I also don’t believe that the test could possibly be 100% accurate. Why not let nature take its course.
Do you feel it is possibly jading a child by having this test done on them? Would you want to know? Why?
Snoring, Sleep Apnea & Bed Wetting in Children
Does your child snore?
My 5-year old son snores, and loud. We never really saw an issue with it until recently when he spent the better part of several nights in our bed. He was restless, always kicking, pushing and turning. He snored and snorted and sucked air in through both his mouth and nose, sometimes sounding as if he was gasping for air. We started to become a bit concerned about it. After all, how could he actually be sleeping well?
I started to Google “children snoring” and found so much information about it, but one particular article caught my eye. It was called “Sleep Apnea as a Cause of Bed Wetting?” Coincidentally, our son also wets his bed quite frequently. Wow…is it possible they could be related? Along with that, it also attributes hyperactivity to sleep apnea in some cases. Guess what…my son borders on hyperactive as well, along with having a lack of focus sometimes in school.
The main culprit appears to be the adenoids. If the adenoids are enlarged, it can cause sleeping issues including apnea. Sleep apnea, according to Wikipedia, is a sleep disorder characterized by pauses in breathing during sleep. Each episode, called an apnea lasts long enough so that one or more breaths are missed, and such episodes occur repeatedly throughout sleep. The standard definition of any apneic event includes a minimum 10 second interval between breaths.
If your child is exhibiting these symptoms, iVillage obviously recommends having your child evaluated by their physician. I know I will be doing that now.
To read the full iVillage article, just visit www.iVillage.com or go directly to the article here… iVillage.com article.
Sleep Well!
raelynn @ Kidz Comfort
Rae Lynn Glispin is owner of Kidz Comfort, offering great sleep solutions for children and encouraging a calm and soothing bedtime routine. First to create the Bed Bumper for Big Kids, she expanded her product line to include comforting and stylish items for every child. Visit http://www.kidzcomfort.com for more information.
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