Is your child a picky eater? Try these solutions.

Most parents have had to deal with a picky eater in the family while their kids are growing up. You want your children to eat healthy, nutritious meals, but you don’t want the dinner table to become a battleground every evening. Here’s some advice for feeding your family without unnecessary struggle:

• Start early. Get your children used to eating fruits and vegetables as soon as your pediatrician says you can. Helping them develop a taste for good food when they’re young will influence their choices positively when they’re older.

• Stick to a routine. Eat at the same time every day so kids know when to expect their meals. Limit between-meal snacks so children aren’t full when they sit down to the table.

• Introduce new foods gradually. Offer something different along with foods that are familiar. Be patient as your child gets used to a new fruit or vegetable—you may have to serve it more than once before he or she accepts it.

• Set the right example. Be willing to try new foods and meals yourself, to show your family that everyone should experiment. Don’t reject something you don’t like immediately; try a little of it, and resist the urge to say, “I hate this,” even if it doesn’t appeal to you.

• Get kids involved. As soon as they’re ready, ask your children to help decide on your mealtime menus and preparation. They’ll be more likely to eat a taco they make themselves, especially if they have some choice over what they put in it.

• Keep mealtimes short. Don’t expect your children to try something new when they’re bored or restless. Try to keep lunch and dinner down to 10-15 minutes so they don’t feel trapped and resentful at the table.

• Don’t force kids to eat. Encouraging them to eat good food is important, but insisting they eat something they don’t want can backfire, leading to them eating less, or overeating unhealthy foods they prefer. You want to teach your children to make good choices, not make every food decision for them.

Could the Sandman Help Eliminate Childhood Obesity?

Getting less sleep could increase your child’s risk of becoming overweight or obese, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have found. In fact, for each additional hour of sleep children get, their risk for obesity drops by 9 percent.

Researchers found that children with the shortest sleep time had a 92 percent higher risk of being overweight or obese when compared with children who experienced longer sleep durations. Short sleep durations were categorized as follows:

• Children younger than 5—less than 9 hours per day

• Children ages 5–10—less than 8 hours per day

• Children older than 10—less than 7 hours per day

Previous research has recommended the following daily sleep times for children:

• Younger than 5—11 hours or more per day

• 5 to 10—10 hours or more per day

• Older than 10—9 hours or more per day

The findings were originally published in the journal Obesity. 

What to Teach Your Kids in Case They Get Lost

Most parents experience at some time that sickening moment when they realize that they have lost sight of their child when they are out and about.  By taking a few precautionary measures, parents and caregivers can minimize the risks and have a plan for what to do next. 

·        Always impress upon youngsters the importance of staying with the group and not wandering off alone.

·        When you reach your destination, decide on a designated meeting point that children can find easily should they become detached from the rest of the party.

·        Write down your cell phone number and put it in the child’s pocket before you set out.  Let the child know that it is there and that he/she should give it to an appropriate person if they get lost.

·        Advise children that if they need assistance they should only approach someone such as a security guard, police officer or someone who is clearly a member of the staff.

·        Always take careful note of what children are wearing before you set out, or better still, take a photo of them on your cell phone.

·        If you are going somewhere that is very crowded, try to ensure that children are wearing something bright that will help them stand out from the crowd. 

·        If possible, provide older children with a cell phone and youngsters with a walkie-talkie so that you can communicate with them.

Feed your children well: Give them good choices

Childhood obesity is becoming a major health issue, and parents everywhere are concerned about teaching their children to eat nutritious meals and maintain a healthy weight. Here are some basic ideas for instilling good nutrition habits in your kids from an early age:

• Set the right example. Let your children see you eating good food, not junk.

• Provide a healthy variety. Don’t force foods on kids, but make nutritious food available in your home so they can choose what they want.

• Avoid power struggles. You can’t control what other children eat, nor what your child eats at a friend’s house. You can set the rules for your own home, so do it and don’t obsess about what others do.

• Involve your children. Take them to the store so they can see what you choose and so they can make a few selections of their own. Enlist them in helping prepare meals so they see what goes into a healthy dinner. Talk about where fruits and vegetables come from, and what goes into processed foods.

• Eat together. As much as possible, schedule dinners so everyone in the family can join. This helps you influence what your children eat at meals.

• Remind everyone to slow down. The faster people eat, the more they eat, generally speaking. Don’t let your kids race through dinner; urge them to take their time with every bite.

• Drink water. Water is better than soda and other sugary drinks, and helps kids feel full between meals.

Improve Your Child’s Smile

A nice smile is one of the best assets a person can have - but it’s an asset that needs taken care of from an early age. The good news is that there are some easy tips for parents to follow to make sure that their kids’ oral hygiene is up to snuff.

Children who are under the age of seven should always be supervised by a parent when brushing their teeth. They should brush their teeth twice a day for two minutes with fluoride toothpaste. The recommended level of fluoride for a child under the age of three is 1,000 parts per million, and for children over the age of three, between 1,300 and 1,500 parts per million (which is the same level found in adult toothpaste).

Parents should also cut down on their children’s level of intake of sugary foods and drink and take them for regular dental checkups.

Give your child a great smile! 

What are the best pets for young children?

Taking care of a pet can be a valuable learning experience for children. Just be sure to choose the right pet for your child and your family. Dogs and cats aren’t the only possibilities. Here’s a look at some other options for animal companionship:

• Fish. Perhaps one of the easiest pets to take care of, fish can provide companionship without a ton of responsibility beyond cleaning their tanks and feeding them. They don’t require much interaction and are a popular starter pet for most children. They don’t take up a lot of room, but you should be careful not to overfeed them.

• Ants/earthworms. If you and your child aren’t easily grossed out, taking care of ants or earthworms could be a good choice. Ideal for outdoorsy and science-oriented kids, ants are quite capable of taking care of themselves. Just be sure to not leave the lid off the container or let it get knocked over. As for earthworms, they’re quite low-maintenance and can be moved to your garden if your child loses interest.

• Rodents. Small mammals such as mice, rats, hamsters, and guinea pigs are excellent pets for those who do not have a great deal of living space. Handle them with care when feeding and exercising them, and clean their cages often. They don’t live for too long, but they are more active at night, when children are home from school.

• Rabbits. While also rodents, rabbits require a different level of care from those previously mentioned. They need a good deal of exercise in and out of their cages. Rabbits also need to be handled with care by their owners and can bite if provoked. They’ll need things to chew on and a roomy cage where they can have their own litter box.

• Birds. Birds such as parakeets or finches can make excellent pets if you make the commitment. Selecting the right kind of bird is key, as their temperament and level of activity should be matched to the family. It can take time to train them, and they can live for several years, so be sure that a bird really fits with your family.

Talking to Baby

Talking to children and answering any questions they may throw at you is one of the fundamental ways in which they learn.  Talking, however, isn’t just important once youngsters have already mastered basic language skills, but well before they have even uttered their first words. 

Human beings aren’t born with language skills, but rather we acquire them gradually from an early age and build on them throughout our lives.  Even as very small babies, we begin to learn the art of communication, which means that by constantly talking to your child you can be gradually teaching words and sentence structures, not to mention the things that go along with spoken language, such as facial expressions and gestures.  Instead of simply repeating the words “mom” or “dad” to get your baby to repeat them, talk about everything that is going on in order to add to their memory banks and make it easier for them to learn a greater number of words in a shorter period of time.  For example, you can talk to them about the foods that they are eating, describe what you are doing or chat about the things that you see on a visit to the park.  The baby will eventually associate the words with the things you are talking about.

Babies may not understand what you are saying when you chatter to them incessantly, but the constant communication will help them build their own language skills that much sooner.