Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Home Remedy for Post Nasal Drip...

Note: Always consult your pediatrician first.
Not recommended to children 5 years of age or younger...

Does your child(ren) keep coughing in the middle of the night due to having post nasal drip? You might of heard about this simple home remedy that you can do. This will help to dry or thin out the mucus in the nasal passage, that is causing the post nasal drip to occur.



All you need is: Water & White Distilled Vinegar

Put a pot of water on to boil. Once the water comes to a boil, put one cup of White Distilled Vinegar in the boiling pot of water. Turn the pot of water with the White Vinegar off. Pour the combination of water and white vinegar into a bowl (be careful not to burn yourself or your child(ren) in the process). While you are holding onto the bowl (never leave your child(ren) unsupervised). Have your child(ren) breath through their nose the vapors that are coming up through the steam (have them do this for a least 10 to 15 minutes). Again this will help to dry or thin out the mucus, that is causing the post nasal drip.

You will want to repeat this about every four hours...



Friday, November 19, 2010

No More Slips or Falls...

This is for all you parents, that like doing a little Arts and Crafts.

Your toddler’s little feet keep slipping out from under them. Those darn socks; what is a parent to do? You can go to your local arts and crafts store and pick up a product called Puffy Paint. Then go and buy a packet of socks. Put the puffy paint on the bottom of the socks. There is no limit to what you can come up with; when you start putting the puffy paint on the bottom of the socks. You can make it into different themes for different occasions and so on. Now also make sure that you try to find puffy paint that will not bleed onto other clothes; when you go to do the laundry. I would recommend you wash the socks separately from your other clothes no matter what. Overall this is a fun little Arts and Crafts project that you can do with your child, depending on how old they are.

At the end of the day when the Puffy Paint is dry your toddler will not be slipping as much as they were before.


Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Your Child(ren) will Not Sleep by Themselves...

What is a parent to do? When we first got started that was a battle; our little ones were not going to go to bed without a fight. We asked our pediatrician to give us some suggestions on what we could do.

Because between the two little guys; my husband and I were not getting any sleep. The pediatrician told us, and you have probably heard this before. “Just put them in their rooms; tuck them in and walk away, and let them cry themselves to sleep”.

Now let me make something really clear; I'm not saying don’t listen to your pediatrician, they do have some good advice. I just personally couldn’t do that; I was one of those mommies that hated to hear my baby’s cry.

So I sat down one morning and tried to think of something that we could do. I put some steps down on a piece of paper; hoping and praying it would work.

Simple Example:

Step 1: Bath time - to get them to relax and wind down for the night.

Step 2: Bedtime story - reading a cute little story to them each and every night.

Step 3: Night Light - No sleeping in the dark

Step 4: Teddy bears: Giving them a teddy bear or a stuffed animal of their choice to have in bed with them to make them feel safe or in some cases; feel that they were not sleeping alone.

Step 5: This step is optional, this might not work for some child(ren) - (Right outside their door) Let your child(ren) know you will be right outside their door until they fall asleep. Our children felt comfort in knowing that we were very close by.

Let me tell you it was hard work to do that each and every night. It took my husband and I a good month or so to get these little ones in a routine. But we were pleasantly surprised that keeping to this routine each and every night finally did pay off.

I’m not going to sugarcoat anything, we did go through a lot; our children at first did put up a fight, I’m not going to sit back and say that it was a piece of cake once we put these steps into place it took a lot of hard work and dedication.

Parents you are probably going through a lot, and are not getting enough sleep at night because one of you is sleeping with one of your child(ren); just so they will sleep through the night. Or maybe your child(ren) are sleeping in your bed between you and your spouse.

Now how crowded can that be? I know that you are not getting a good night sleep at all. You are probably waking up the next morning with a arm in your face and a foot in your side.

Or your about to fall out of the bed because your child is laying across your bed, and there is no more room for you; and lets not forget that your body is killing you from laying in the same position all night long.

Parents I have been there, and I can tell you we were a mess; we couldn’t even think straight. I have given you some suggestions that worked for us. But the bottom line is you owe it to yourselves, and your child(ren) to get into a routine and stick with it.

By the end of the day you will look back at all of the things you went through; and realize that sticking with the routine that you came up with was well worth all of the hard work.

Your child(ren) will now know when you say it is bedtime; that means it is time to stop playing and rest their eyes. When that day comes; that will be the happiest day for you and your spouse.


Thursday, November 11, 2010

Number Recognition...

This is a fun little activity that you can play with your preschooler. This activity will help to keep your child(ren) thinking about what number comes next.

Have your child(ren) stand in front of you with their back facing you. You are going to trace with your index finger on their back a number of your choice.

When your child(ren) think they know what the number might be. Have them say the number out load to you.

Start out simple at first:
Then up your number selection the further you go.

Remember don’t go too fast, do it slowly so that your child(ren) has time to think about what number you are tracing on their back. Your child needs to look straight ahead, no peeking...

Number Recognition Game:
If this number activity is becoming too easy for your child(ren). Make it challenging, add a timer to the mix. Get a piece of scrap paper, so you can keep a tally. Start the timer, and see how many your child(ren) can get right, before the timer goes off.

Tally up the numbers...

Make it a fun activity that the whole family can enjoy.


Friday, November 5, 2010

Child(ren)’s Tooth Decay...

Parents were you aware that juice can and will; start eating away at your child(ren)’s teeth enamel?

This is due to the fact that orange juice and other kinds of juices out there have acid in them, and acid is known to eat away teeth enamel.

Here are some suggestions that you can do to help prevent your child(ren) from having any tooth decay problems:

Of course you don’t want to stop giving your child(ren) juice; because it is good for them. So what I recommend is have your child(ren) drink their juice through a straw. If your child(ren) drinks from a straw, this is known to slow down the process.

The juice will bypass your child(ren)’s teeth; unlike if they were drinking it directly from their sippy cup or from a regular cup. You can also buy those sippy cups that have the straw already built in.

Does your toddler still use a bottle for a pacifier? I would suggest that you start ASAP; putting plain water in their bottle especially right before bedtime. Parents you don’t want that acid or sugar sitting on their teeth all night long.

You can also water down their juice; half juice, half water.

Always remember to brush your child(ren)’s teeth after every major meal; or at least twice a day...