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Hygene

3 Vital Hygiene Topics To Talk To Your Kids About

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As a parent, you have to talk to kids about hygiene. It may be an uncomfortable conversation. Maybe your parents didn’t do such a great job of talking about important things like that with you. But you have to break those generational chains if you want to have your kids live the best life possible.

Three hygiene topics should come up as your children get older. First, you need to talk to them about their teeth. Good oral hygiene starts at home, but if you don’t emphasize this to your children from a very early age, they can develop habits that are hard to break. Second, you should talk about hygiene in bedrooms. There are places for dirty clothes. There are places that food particles should not reside. Having good bedroom hygiene is very important, especially as kids become teenagers. 

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3 Ways to Improve Children’s Sleep Hygiene

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Just because your kids are too old for a baby monitor in their room doesn’t mean you should stop monitoring their sleep habits. Sending them to bed at a “reasonable hour” does nothing to ensure they’re getting quality sleep (kind of like forcing yourself to go to bed at a certain time doesn’t mean you’re not awake in the dark for hours). Understanding proper sleep hygiene is the first step in helping your child enjoy a healthier life.

Check in on them throughout the night for tell tale signs of sleep issues such as early onset sleep apnea. In severe cases, a CPAP machine may be in order or there may be minor surgeries to help with nasal blockages. Of course, more likely you’ll just need to help them make some adjustments to better their sleep. [Read more…] about 3 Ways to Improve Children’s Sleep Hygiene

More Fun Tips to Potty Train Your Toddler

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Parents should not overlook the value of rewarding a child if you’d like your kid to successfully learn to pee or poo by himself. Don’t consider it a burden but instead, have fun on your own so your child won’t feel the pressure.

So what incentives can you give your child? Sweets should not be forgotten. How about giving your kid a bite sized chocolate or some M&M’s when he or she gets out of the bathroom? Other rewards that you can give although not on a daily basis can be a trip to the park or a lollipop.

Using the doll that drinks and wets can be effective as well. The idea is to let your little girl take care of the doll and let her see how it pees after drinking. You can teach your child the importance of using the toilet seat or potty chair to urinate or to poo.

If you have a daughter, you can also make her excited to potty train every day by letting her decorate her own toilet seat. The stickers are the easiest art tools you can use because your child can easily stick her favorites on the different parts of her potty seat.
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Tips to Make Potty Training a Fun Experience

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Admit it or not, many parents find potty training their kids quite a challenge. It can take years for some. Yes, it can get frustrating but with a little more patience and encouragement to your child, you’ll succeed in that aspect sooner than later.

Here are some fun ways you can do to ensure that your toddler gradually pees and poos on his own with no pressures from you.

The sticker chart may be ideal for girls. You can create a monthly chart sort of like a calendar and design it with your child’s favorite colors and cartoon characters. Then create or buy attractive stickers that she can put on the chart for every successful trip to the bathroom to pee or poo. This can make girls look forward to getting that sticker every time.

The coloring book is another incentive. Kids love to color so make sure you get a new coloring book with his favorite characters plus crayons. You can then encourage your child to color one page after every trip to the bathroom. That should give him or her the excitement every day.

You may also use books that can be read only inside the toilet. Make your child read his favorite book and then when he’s ready or when you see the signs, just take off the diaper and let him or her sit on the toilet bowl or his own toilet seat if you have one.

Another trick that works is to use a dye to the toilet water. Use the red or blue food coloring and let your child know that the color changes to green or orange when he or she pees or poos there. This will get the kid motivated to use the toilet seat.

Photo via parentdish.com

My Son Has Worms, Help!!

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Worms

I’ve happily been in a Christmas reverie all week, finishing up our decorating, the shopping, and planning out fun activities for the coming weeks, when I was jolted back into Doctor-Mom-Reality last night. My four-year-old O had just finished at the potty, and as I was about to flush, I saw a horrible horrible thing – a nasty long white worm, almost as thick as a pencil. It was awful. O had been complaining of tummy aches (or “tummy eggs” as calls it), and didn’t want to finish his food lately, but I had attributed it to simple childhood grumbles. Poor O had probably had this nasty worm for some time now, given its size, and I had no idea!

After the whole family had a good look at the worm (gross, but a good deterrent so everybody keeps clean!), I rang Dr.J our pedia, who prescribed Mebendazole to be taken now then repeated in two weeks. She advised us to keep clean and to watch out for any more worms, so I decided to keep him home from Kindergarten for the next couple of days. Apparently it was caught from playing in the garden or at the park, probably from soil that he touched and transmitted through his mouth. Or it could have been through his feet. What I find most distressing is that the slimy devil had been feeding on my little boy’s nutrients for a while now – not great since he is already so skinny. After the course of medicine, thankfully no more worms appeared, nor did my other kids get infected. Phew.

If you’ve never had a child who’s infected with worms (this particular one was a round worm), I would be aware of these symptoms, all of which my little boy had for a couple of weeks before the worm actually came out:

1. Frequent complaints of tummy aches
2. Disturbed sleep (O came to our room every night because he couldn’t sleep)
3. Loss of appetite – feeling full after just a few bites.

For more on worms, do visit these sites:

Worms in Children

Is Your Sandbox Safe From Roundworm?

If you have pets in your household like we do, and think it could be related, read this from Dr.Greene.

And lastly, PREVENTION is key. After the worm incident, my kids now meekly obey when I remind them to wear shoes in the garden, wash their hands rigorously and keep their fingers away from their mouths. Here’s a great lesson plan and activity you can do with your kids to teach them about worms. I’ll never forget my poor son’s face when I showed him this awful photo of roundworms in the gut. He was silent for a while then said, “Mom, am I going to die?” Awww, kids!

Photo via crimfants

School Germ Alert!

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germsTwo weeks ago I got an ubiquitous letter from my daughter’s school warning of a mini-epidemic of gastroenteritis going around. It listed the symptoms and how to keep it away (washing hands, etc) – okay, thanks. As if you can say that to a 6-year-old and expect them to remember to wash their hands in between the playground and lunch break! Unlike us Mums who have a keen awareness of germs and potential carriers (if I see someone coughing at the bank I immediately run for cover and whip out the antibacterial gel), kids just don’t notice these things and find it extremely difficult to stop touching things and (horrors) put their hands in their mouth.

Well, I did what I could. I gave them spiel about the germs and the hand washing, pumped them with vitamin C and hoped for the best. As fate would have it, on the night of baby Will’s 1st birthday party, Nat came to our bedroom at midnight and promptly vomited. It wasn’t too much birthday cake, cookies or lasagna as I hoped, because she couldn’t hold down anything for the next 24 hours. She then came down with a fever, had diarrhea, and for the next few days just lay on the sofa, totally miserable. Classic symptoms of gastro.

What’s worse is that we had planned a trip to Disneyland for their birthdays and it was just a few days away. And just as we were considering canceling the whole vacation, she got better. But then her brother got it, then the baby got it. And this was after I had lysol-ed my house like a madwoman! Luckily, the boys had a much, much milder version, and were pretty much their normal selves apart from a bit of runny tummies for a few days.

Now back from our great holiday (boy, did we narrowly miss disaster because of these school germs), my daughter came home from school today with ANOTHER letter, this time saying that there is a cold virus going around the school. HELP!!

Apparently, some schools and parents have taken the matter into their own hands, with things like the Germy Wormy and the Sniffle Sleeve. Good on them. Worth mentioning at the next PTA meeting I think.

Photo via Gotta Be Mobile

Ready To Have A Baby? (Part 2)

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In the previous post, we took a look at two of the important things that you would have to consider financially if you are planning on having a baby. There are some other things that you would have to make sure you can provide your baby with. Let us take a look at them.

Dressing your baby up
I don’t mean dress up as in designer onesies and other clothes. You just have to make sure that you have suitable clothing for your baby. Clothes for everyday use and for when he or she goes out – those are all you would really need. Though you might be tempted to buy fashionable items from designer brands, which seem to be quite popular today, do not waste your money on them.

Diapers
In the old days, they didn’t rely too much on disposable diapers. I still remember my mother using reusable cloth diapers for my youngest brother. They may not be as convenient as disposable nappies (you have to wash them all the time) but they are actually cheaper in the long run. More so, these cloth nappies are actually better for the baby as they promote better air circulation.

Baby products
Soap, powder, baby oil, and the like are necessary for your baby’s daily hygiene. Just remember that you do not really have to spend on expensive items, though. The basic baby soap and powder would do just as well as the more expensive ones.

Achoo – Excuse Me!

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Sneeze baby
Baby sneezing

I was browsing through some of my favorite parenting blogs earlier when I ran across an article talking about “sick” manners. Naturally, the post’s title caught my eye. What does the blogger mean by “sick” manners? Kori Rodley Irons says:

“Cover your mouth when you cough” is just the beginning of the manners that can keep an ill person from being a complete horror in public. Ideally, of course, we wouldn’t leave the house when we are sick but that just is not the reality. It is up to us as parents to teach our children what is appropriate manners for coping with an illness while out in public.

Ah, I see what she is trying to say. As I read on, I realized that indeed, there are many children who do not know how to conduct themselves properly when they are sick. On the one hand, children should not really be out of the house if they are not feeling well. On the other hand, minor illnesses such as a cold or cough are sometimes not enough reasons to keep a child cooped up. This is especially true when the illness is not so serious.

Do you teach your child to cover his or her mouth or nose when he or she sneezes? When he or she coughs? This is something very basic that sometimes it is overlooked. I have seen countless children at the mall or the park who do not seem to know about the concept of covering their mouth or nose.

Then again, as Kori said in her post, it is not only the children. Adults are also guilty of the lack of manners! Again, it is by example that we can best teach them.

Photo via turi_b

The Right Time For Toilet Training

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toilet training.pngToilet training can sure take a toll on one’s patience. For one, you usually have to wait until your child is ready before you can start. And while you’re toilet training already, sometimes it’s a hit-or-miss thing (no pun intended!).

My eldest daughter, P, has just started toilet training. She’s already three-and-a-half and it’s only now that she’s started. My wife and I had actually been planning to toilet train her before starting school (she’s attending Beginners’ level right now), but apparently she wasn’t ready yet. So she’s been wearing her nappies even to school until that time a few weeks ago when she told us she didn’t want to wear diapers anymore.

Toilet training doesn’t really come at a “right” or “prescribed” time or age. You just have to wait until your child is ready. You have to wait until your child is mature enough to understand that she has to go to the toilet; otherwise she’s going to wet herself and/or the floor (or other furniture) if she misses.

How do you know she’s ready? It’s usually when she can already tells you she wants to go pee or poo-poo. This means she’s already aware of how it feels when one is full, and she’s already aware that she should hold it in until that time she has access to a toilet (or a toilet trainer).

Remember, there’s no age “too old” or “too young” for toilet training. This depends on emotional maturity and readiness, so it can come at different ages.