Kids & Healthy Eating During the Holidays
As a parent, one of my biggest challenges is getting my kids to eat a wide variety of foods that are healthy. With this comes a lot of guilt at some times. I like giving my kids treats here and there, but then I feel guilty. This becomes especially difficult during this time of the year. It starts with Halloween and then goes downhill until around the start of the New Year. We are around candy, cookies, pies, cakes, treats and all sorts of delicious confections.
My kids tend to like their veggies uncooked, so that is the way I serve them most of the time. I also add a fruit to their lunch bags and to the dinner table. I am lucky that my kids do like many fruits and veggies. But, not every child is so accepting.
I recently came across this great article about hiding veggies in your kids’ meals. I LOVE it. I’ve done it a few times, but love the great ideas at ParentDish.com. To think that adding just a few pureed veggies to your typical meal could lower their calorie intake and almost doubled their total vegetable intake! That is fantastic!
I have added fruits to various things as well, such as mashed banana to boxed muffin mix. Simple things like this can make your kids’ eating habits a little healthier. What are some things that you do to add veggies and fruits to your child’s diet? I’d love to hear your stories and perhaps other parents can get a great tip from you too.
Sun Safety for Kids
Friday, May 27th is officially “Don’t Fry Day” according to The National Council on Skin Cancer Prevention. This is something we should all start to take seriously.
Things are different now…different than when we adults were children. There is more knowledge about the effects of the sun on our bodies, and as most of us know the ozone is being depleted causing less filtering of the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) radiation. That being said, we and our kids need more protection from these harmful rays.
How to protect our kids
- Do not allow skin to burn – this increases risk of future skin cancers
- Avoid tanning & tanning beds
- Generously apply sunscreen – it is recommended that you apply sunscreen 20 minutes before exposure to the sun. Also, choose a minimum of 15 SPF protection. Make sure it protects from both UVA & UVB rays. Reapply every two hours even if it is cloudy outside, especially when children are sweating & swimming.
- Choose protective clothing. There are lots of choices out there now that actually provide UVA & UVB protection in the clothing.
- Stay in the shade.
- Make sure you are consuming enough vitamin D, which often times can be low due to the lack of sun exposure that we are allowed to have.
- Babies that are 6 months old or younger should be kept out of the sun completely.
- Pay attention to the expiration date on the sunscreen.
How to choose sunscreens
- Choose broad-spectrum or multi-spectrum protection for both UVA & UVB rays.
- Look for ingredients such as benzophenones (oxybenzone), cinnamates (octylmethyl cinnamate and cinoxate), sulisobenzone, salicylates, titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, avobenzone (Parsol 1789) and ecamsule (Mexoryl SX).
- SPF 15 is typically sufficient. If you have fair skin or a family history of cancer you should increase this to SPF 30 or more for added protection.
- If you plan to sweat a lot or are going to be in the water, buy sunscreen that is meant for that.
Sunscreens for children
- Buy a sunscreen designated for children.
- Avoid sunscreens with para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA) and benzephenones like dioxybenzone, oxybenzone, or sulisobenzone, as these may irritate young skin.
- For sensitive skin, look for titanium dioxide or zinc oxide instead of chemicals like para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA), dioxybenzone, oxybenzone, or sulisobenzone. Also avoid sunscreens with alcohol, fragrances, or preservatives.
As always, enjoy the warm weather but be safe!
The Inevitable: My Boys Don’t Want to Kiss Me Anymore
How old were your kids when they didn’t want to snuggle with you on the couch, hold hands in public any longer or kiss you goodbye and goodnight?
My boys are 6 and 7 years old, and fortunately they are still willing to snuggle. The public displays of affection are decreasing, but they will still kiss me goodbye when I drop them off at school (albeit a quick smooch) and they will hug and kiss me goodnight, good morning, etc…
So why does this happen to so many families? Many experts believe that there is an association with public displays of affection between child and parent that is somewhat stereotyped as being for babies by the child. This is much more prevalent with boys and their mothers.
Parenting consultant Barbara F. Meltz suggests making light of your child’s wishes to not hug or kiss by joking around with your child, perhaps suggesting another way of saying goodbye or goodnight that is less “childish” in their eyes. You can also create a “house rule” such as “bedtime requires a kiss from Mommy & Daddy”, but forgo kissing at other times.
There are always exceptions to this typical scenario of kids wanting less public affection from their parents as they age. I’d love to hear your story.
For more good reading about raising a son, Meltz suggests:
Exposure to Radiation as a Child
There is some scary information out there related to exposure to radiation, especially the exposure that our children are typically experiencing during their many years of injury-prone clumsiness.
I personally had no idea of the dangers of simple xrays and CT scans, and over the years my children have had plenty. Between typical home injuries from rough play, to a very scary virus that attacked my then 4-year old’s kidneys, he’s already had several xrays and a CT scan…and he’s only 6-years old now.
Dr. Mercola has a very intriguing article regarding the exposure of radiation on our children, and tips on how we, as parents, can curb that exposure to hopefully reduce the possible outcome of too much radiation over time.
The fact is radiation scans, especially CT scans, will raise your child’s risk of cancer. From irreparable chromosomal mutations to DNA changes, CT scans alone will end up causing nearly 30,000 unnecessary cancer cases.
To learn more about ways to avoid unnecessary exposure of radiation on your child, visit Dr. Mercola’s site and check out his article entitled: “Tragically, Average Child in U.S. Gets Seven Radiation Scans”.
I, for one, will be more cognoscente of any future xrays and CT scans that I am told my children may need.
We would love to hear your thoughts.
First Aid for Kids
First Aid Kit
In our family, summertime is when most of our injuries occur, but we have to be prepared all year long. After all, with two toddler boys, it’s nearly impossible to avoid booboos. If we are not prepared our kids could end up very unhappy, and when they’re unhappy, we’re unhappy.
I have compiled a list of items that are very important to have within moments of an injury. Whether you are at the playground, a friend’s house or even outside at home, a first aid kit is a necessity. You can find a very inexpensive empty case at a dollar store or other discount store. I highly recommend placing the following in a “kit” of sorts.
- Band-Aids in a variety of sizes, preferably character, colorful and fun ones
- Gauze pads in a variety of sizes
- Antibiotic ointment
- Antibacterial wipes
- Antibacterial hand sanitizer
- Anti-itch lotion
- Burn gel
- Tweezers
- Thermometer
- Instant cold packs
In addition, I always carry suntan lotion, bug spray, Wet-Ones and tissues in my vehicle.
If building your own first aid kit seems daunting, you can buy great “already prepared” kits. I have found one of the best sites for kid’s first aid kits to be www.mypreciouskid.com/first-aid-kit.html.
Be safe!
Rae Lynn Glispin
www.kidzcomfort.com
Lullaby Music and the Benefits of Music to a Child
One of the most enjoyable ways to prepare a child for sleep is to play soft and pleasant music, such as lullaby music. It can be a great part of a child’s bedtime routine. It will turn into something that your child will look forward to, allow them to decompress from their day and have a little calm and quiet time to help them get drowsy.
While actually calming a child’s mind and relaxing their body, lullaby music has some pretty profound benefits. Soothing lullaby music has been proven to affect the deepest structures of the human brain. Would you believe it has been said to make your child smarter? Music can help with a child’s mental development, coordination, math skills, social skills, memory, creativity and the list goes on and on.
Music has become a science. It has many healing and biological powers and is often used in some forms of therapy…yes, music therapy. It is often used in many settings including some children’s hospital settings to help sick children actually feel better. It has been shown to aid in the healing process. It has even been found to engage autistic children in play with others, bridging a gap.
Music is found to be very effective for babies who are obviously in a stressful environment for the first few months. Imagine going from a warm, quiet and dark place having only been hearing primarily your Mom’s voice for nine months, and then going into a new world rather suddenly where it is bright, cold and often far too noisy. Lullaby music is a stress reducer and it has been replicated in a number of studies that music can take an agitated baby or child with thrashing arms and, when the soothing lullaby music is played, they go into a more restful and calm state, often falling into a restful sleep.
At the least, there is NO down side to playing your child soothing lullaby music as they prepare for bed. After all, the bedtime routine can be one of the most frustrating times of the day for a parent. Why not make it easier for yourself and your child. Bedtime routines can be enjoyable. Add a little lullaby music today.
Sleep Well!
raelynn @ Kidz Comfort
Picky eaters can be defeated!
As most know, we have two toddler boys. It is often very difficult to make a single meal that everyone will eat. Outside of making three seperate meals and jumping through hoops, which I refuse to do, I have come up with some great tips for keeping toddlers interested in eating a variety of foods. These tips have helped us, and obviously wont work for everyone, but we swear by them…
Tips for Keeping Kids Interested in a Variety of Foods
- Let them help…Even simple things like a Parent cutting up some veggies and letting your kids put them into a big bowl to help make salad. They can even mix it all together afterwards. My kids often do a lot of taste-testing…how can I complain about my kids munching on veggies?!
- To encourage my kids to eat more healthful, rather then strictly telling them they should, I often just ask them to come help me prepare some foods so that they are more interested in tasting their creations. Kids can always help with the mixing process, or with the adding of ingredients…So when you are preparing anything that requires several ingredients, there is nothing wrong with letting kids do the adding and mixing (as long as it is not over a hot stove)
- Smoothies are another great thing to make with the kids. You can pre-cut some fruit so that your kids can add it to an unplugged blender. They can then add the yogurt, milk or juice as well. I usually plug it in when it is ready to blend and let the boys push the correct button. They take turns blending…therefore, no fights!
- Make your own pizza night is great! Buy some readi-made pizza crust, preferably the mini ones. Put small bowls of each topping in front of each child…pizza sauce, shredded cheese, pepperoni, etc. The fact that they are preparing their own pizza makes them so excited about actually eating it.
- Play restaurant…We often put out all of the TV trays in a row in our family room, sort of like a counter at a restaurant. Then we fill about eight little bowls with what we call “snack foods”. We use baby carrots, cucumbers, strawberries, celery sticks, cheese sticks, wheat crackers, apple slices, goldfish crackers, etc. The kids have a great time playing restaurant while also eating a healthy snack.
- We find that letting our kids “serve” themselves from the dinner table works so much better than preparing their plates for them. It seems to change their mindset from us telling them what they are going to eat, to them making the decision on their own as to what they will eat. Dinnertime becomes more successful that way.
- Making their food into shapes is a huge success in our house as well. We make grilled cheese shaped like robots. We make sandwiches shaped like circles, squares, triangles, etc. If your kids like raisins, you can use them as eyes, nose and mouth. Be creative.
- If you are not a very good “home-made baker” (like me), you can add mashed fruit into almost anything that you are making from a package…muffin mix, bread mix, cake mix, cookie mix. It makes me feel a little better about giving them something not so healthy.
The key is to be creative and keep your kids interested. Participation is the key.
Good luck!
raelynn
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