Showing posts with label Parenting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Parenting. Show all posts

Monday, July 16, 2012

Tips on Going to the Restaurant with your Baby

crying baby at a restaurant


We all need to go out, change our mood a little especially those of us who are stay at home moms. But finding a baby sitter isn't always easy and we end up stuck at home just to avoid the screaming and fussing scene our baby could perform when he is out of the house.Try following these tips to have a relaxing quiet dinner with your family.

1- Rush Hours aren't a good idea: Avoid going to the restaurant during rush hours - no Sundays, Holidays or prime times- choose  a time when it's not the busiest so if your baby decides to make a scene there won't be that many people around to see it. You'll also be seated sooner and get quicker service by dining earlier in the evening. If you can, call beforehand to find out the best time to make a reservation.

2- Choose a convenient restaurant: Not a children restaurant because it will be too crowded for you and the baby nor a five-star candlelit restaurant that will mind having children around.

3- Feed baby before you leave: Try feeding your baby before you leave the house and if you're lucky he will sleep at the work and all the way throughout the dinner.

4- A well prepared baby-bag: Get his bag ready an hour sooner so you can make sure that you haven;t forgot anything: enough diapers, wipes, a change, sippy cup or bottle anything your child will or might need.

5- Take a corner table. Ask to sit away from any other guests if you can. You won't feel as bad if Baby starts to fuss, and it will give you some privacy if you need to nurse.

6- Bring him plenty of distraction: but avoid toys that makes too much noise.

7- Make it short: a baby doesn't have so much patience to handle long hours of slow dining. As Baby gets older, he might be able to handle longer amounts of time in one place.

8- Relax. If your child does act up in the restaurant, do your best to calm him down, but don't let it ruin the evening. Chances are almost everyone in the place has been in your situation at one time or another. If fussiness does turn into a full-blown meltdown, you or your spouse can take your baby outside or to the car for a break. Sometimes a simple change of scenery does the trick.

Sometimes it sounds so hard to go out when your baby is still too young but you need a change, and you cannot end up locked in that house just because you don't know how to handle your baby at a public place. Let those "How To Be Super Mom"tips be your guide and enjoy that dinner!

Saturday, July 07, 2012

How can I make my child eat healthy food

How can I get my kid to eat better? How can I make him eat healthy food?
These two questions are asked by almost all parents, we all want what's best for our children. We all wish we could put them on a healthy, well balanced diet. And in order to do so, you should ask these two questions from the day you give birth. We should not wait until after the damage has been done and say: Oups! My kid hates veggies and fruits and healthy food, what can I do? By then, the solution is hard to be applicable. A kid is like a sculpture, once broken fixing it takes a lot of hard work to be repaired and the damage will always be showing.

Start offering healthy food since day one: cut off all junk food, fried food, plain starchy food like plain pancakes, plain pasta, plain bread and plain rice. Don't let these be a choice of a meal. If you want to offer pancake, offer them with some fruits on the side. You can even draw funny faces to make eating more enjoyable.
When you want to offer pasta to your family, cook it with homemade sauce. It could be a plain tomato sauce or one that is full of vegetables, the importance is to let you child get used to different tastes. Therefore your weekly menu must be rich with different ingredients ( for more help you could use our weekly menus).

Teach yourself how to cook healthy and eat healthy:Learn that you are your child's role model and he will follow your steps. When he sees you eating fruits and veggies he will be encourage to do so.
When you cook, make sure to skip using butter and oil to be serving the best ever for your family. Try steaming or grilling instead of frying. And reduce the use of fattening ingredients: like yellow cheese, heavy cream,... etc.

Let meal time be fun time. It is very important to teach our children discipline during meal time but it is no harm  to add a little fun so kids will look forward to it. Let them help set the table. Kids love to do so. Allow them to choose the color of napkins, set the places of each person, you can even help them make colored place cards.
Invite them to join you at the kitchen, for once they will learn how to cook and this will be very useful to them from many different views and they will be more familiar with the ingredients and enjoy eating what they have helped making.

Make adorable plates: You can make faces with pancakes or vegetables. Make a drawing from colored mashed potatoes. Add shapes and colors. Get creative, that is the key.

So from the first day you look at those small adorable loving eyes, start planning how you will get them to eat better. Don't let things go out of hands but in case they do I will help you with more articles and solutions.

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Sunday, June 17, 2012

How a Super Mom could help reinforce the father-child bond

The role a Super Mom could play to strengthen the daddy-baby bond



Care, inspiration, and participation: three keys to father-child relationships. Even of some of them find it hard to express themselves most of the fathers care about their children.

According to sociologist Lewis Yablonsky, a man's fathering style by his enthusiasm for being a father, his own father's comportment, how the mass media projects a father’s image, his profession, his personality, the way family members relate to each other, and the number of children he has.

In a 1980 Gallup poll, six out of ten fathers said their families were "the most important element of my life at this time." Only 8 percent said their families were unimportant to them. When asked what they found most satisfying about their families, fathers rated "children," "closeness," and "being together" as personally important.

We should recognize, while talking about the daddy-baby bond, that the mother plays an important role in strengthening the relationship between the two of them.

1-      Encourage your husband to take in charge of a feeding or two during the day. Store pumped milk, if you’re breastfeeding, and let your husband give the baby the bottle while holding him close to his chest and looking in his eyes to allow the little one to gaze up at him.



2-      Let him take in-charge of the night shifts. Not only you will get more sleep but he will get to spend more time with his child and enjoy the preciousness of childcare.



3-      Stop being the first to go hold the baby when he cries, let your husband play a role in soothing her tears. Try singing to her, walking her around, gently rocking, or find the closest pacifier for her to suck on. She must learn that Mom isn't the only one who can give her what she needs.



4-      Humor is infectious. When laughter is shared, it binds people together and increases happiness and intimacy that is why your husband should try his best to add little humor to his relationship with his baby: silly faces and peekaboo games could work like a charm at early ages.



5-      Be the one to create that precious, every day, family time. With work and school, you will hardly find the time to bond with your children so create a time to take a walk all together, play a board game, dance or watch a nice family movie.

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Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Introducing Solids


baby food

When should you introduce solids to your baby?


After many readings I decided to simplify this answer in few words to give you all the information you need without you having to read pages and pages to get to your desired answer.

Most of the pediatricians advise the start of solids when the baby is 5 ½ or 6 months:

  1. His digestive system isn’t ready until he reaches 6 months
  2. By six months of age the intestines are more mature and able to filter out more of the offending allergens. This is why it's particularly important to delay solids if there is a family history of food allergy, and especially to delay the introduction of foods to which other family members are allergic.
  3. The tongue and the swallowing mechanisms may not yet be ready to work together. Prior to four months of age, a baby's swallowing mechanism is designed to work with sucking, but not with chewing.

How to start:

  1. Only introduce solids at lunchtime to avoid bedtime disturbance, and start between feedings that way your child won’t be starving and will accept new food easily.
  2. You should give your baby one new food at a time and wait 4 days before you introduce a new one. Meanwhile watch for any allergic reactions like diarrhea, rash or vomiting. If any of these occurs contact your pediatrician.
  3. Remember that your baby may only want a teaspoon at first
  4. Don’t force it, if your baby doesn’t want it, try again another day.
*Don’t make mealtimes a performance, with you turning every spoonful into a fast running train or driving airplane. Your baby probably won’t eat anymore and in fact may refuse food just to enjoy the show. When he doesn’t want anymore, just call an end to the meal. ~Sarah, health visitor~ 
(Scattergood, Emma. The first-time parent’s survival guide, ward lock book, UK, 1998)

Please download the UNICEF booklet a start4life. It will help you have a good start of solid introduction (http://www.unicef.org.uk/BabyFriendly/Resources/Resources-for-parents/Weaning---starting-solid-food/)

Good Foods to start with 

(all the following information were taken from the UNICEF booklet a start 4 life)

From 6 months


First foods: mashed or soft cooked sticks of fruit and vegetables like parsnip,
potato, yam, sweet potato, carrot, apple or pear, all cooled before eating.
Or try soft peach or melon, or grabbable bits of soft ripe banana or avocado.
Or baby rice mixed with your baby’s usual milk.

*My pediatrician never advise the use of rice cereal or any other processed food.

Next foods: soft cooked meat such as chicken, mashed fish (check very
carefully for any bones), pasta, noodles, toast, pieces of chapati, lentils, rice
and mashed hard boiled eggs. Also, full fat dairy products such as yoghurt,
fromage frais or custard (choose products with no added sugar or less sugar).
Cow’s milk can be used in cooking or mixed with food from 6 months.

Cups: introduce a cup from around 6 months and offer sips of water with meals.
Using an open cup or a free-flow cup without a valve will help your baby learn
to sip and is better for your baby’s teeth.

From 8-9 months

Gradually, in this time, your baby will move towards eating 3 meals a day.
It will be a mixture of finger foods, mashed and chopped foods.

From 12 months

Your baby will now be eating 3 meals a day, chopped if required, plus mum’s
milk or cow’s milk and healthier snacks like fruit, vegetable sticks or toast and
rice cakes. They can now drink whole cow’s milk and have full fat dairy products.
Choose full fat because children under 2 need the extra fat and vitamins in full
fat dairy products. From 2 years old if they are a good eater and growing well
they can have semi-skimmed milk. From 5 years old, 1% or skimmed milk is ok.




References:

Murkoff, Eisenberg and Hathaway. “What to expect the first year”, Workman Publishing, New York.
Scattergood, Sarah. “The first-time parent’s survival guide”, Ward Lock, UK, 1998



Monday, June 11, 2012

Parenting: The reason behind thumb sucking

Before worrying about how to stop our children bad habits, we should always understand the reason behind their behavior and we should learn when is the right time to start considering such behavior a problem.

baby sucking his thumb


Today we will be talking about thumb sucking the most natural act in all babies. When they are born children suck their thumb due to the sucking reflex that helps breastfeeding, some ultrasound revealed that babies start that sucking process from the womb. This reflex disappears at about 4 months of age; thumb sucking is not purely an instinctive behavior and therefore can last much longer.

A baby could suck a thumb, fingers or even his whole hand, this will help him feel comfortable when he is hungry, sad or sick. He may also use his thumb to fall asleep at bedtime and to lull himself back to slumber when he wakes up in the middle of the night.

Most infants suck their thumbs. Toddlers suck their thumbs too. Little by little, most children stop on their own between ages 3 and 4.
Although your child's habits may bother or even worry you, relax. In most cases, a habit is just a phase in the normal developmental process and is not cause for alarm.
If it lasts after your child turns 5, then you could consider it as a problem cause in most cases it will lead to dental problems; his teeth could become improperly aligned. A child may also develop speech problems, including mispronouncing Ts and Ds, lisping, and thrusting out the tongue when talking.

In some rare cases, thumb-sucking after age 5 is in response to an emotional problem or other disorder, such as anxiety. A child with this type of problem needs to be evaluated by a doctor.


Related Topics


How to get your child to sleep alone








Monday, May 21, 2012

Parenting: How to get my child to sleep alone at night?

How to be super mom and help my child sleep alone?

 


How can I get my kids to stop crawling in my bed at night? This is every parent's question.
What's greater than being able to sleep all night without any disturbed moments?
The techniques are so simple we just have to be creative and patient.
I have 2 kids myself, my 4 years old never slept in my bed even though she has tried all the tricks she could come out with.  But by increasing her self-confidence and by helping her learn how to fight her fears she managed to sleep alone in her bed and she is very proud of her achievment!

1- Find out the underlying reason behind his behavior

There is a reason your child wants to sleep with you, and correcting her behavior should tackle the underlying issues. Investigate to find out your child’s motivation, perhaps using a creative approach such as acting out bedtime with dolls, or having your child paint pictures. Once you find out the reason, work to dispel the fears and insecurities.
"The things you are most likely to find are: your child has night time fears, i.e. she is afraid of the dark, being alone, closet monsters, etc.; she is jealous of one parent or a sibling; she is afraid of losing your affection if she ‘grows up,’" suggests Dr. Alan Greene, pediatrician and author of From First Kicks to First Steps.

2- Make your child's bed inviting and comfortable


You don't have to spend much, a warm and inviting wall paint colour, few stickers to decorate and beautiful bed sheets and covers will do! If your child is old enough let him pick his own room colour, buy him bed sheets and covers with his favorite cartoon characters,...etc. (For more tips on room designing please post your question here or on facebook www.facebook.com/maria.supermom)

3- Bedtime Routine


Take a warm bath, brush your teeth, read a bedtime story. Everything that is realated to sleeping time could be called sleep associations. If your child is used to taking a bath everyday before sleeping this will become the cue that will help your baby understand that it is time to go to sleep and to help him feel comfortable doing so. Becareful, let the bedtime routine be relaxing for your child and easy for you to maintain (For more details on sleep associations : http://www.phdinparenting.com/2009/02/01/sleep-associations-the-good-the-bad-the-ugly/#.T7nfdsVsInk )


Those are the most important techniques to be followed to help your child sleep alone. But still, some parents are facing more complicated sleep-alone problems like excessive crying and screaming, and issues related to separation anxiety. Therefore I ask you to post your case in a comment,  on our facebook page www.facebook.com/maria.supermom or by email : mariaelaaraj@gmail.com and give us the chance to help you.



References:
www.supernanny.com : Get your child to sleep alone
www.phdinparenting.com: sleep associations
www.parents.com
Your Baby and Child: From Birth to Age Five, by Penelope Leach

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Parenting: Infant Reflux: Recommended Lifestyle Changes










Acid reflux is a painful condition that causes stomach contents to back up into the esophagus after food is consumed. The National Digestive Disorders Information Clearinghouse explains that both adults and babies can suffer from acid reflux, although it is very common in babies when babies cry, cough or do any other action which causes their lower esophageal sphincter to open up, allowing stomach contents to back up. Some of the ways that babies are fed and what they are given can affect acid reflux in babies. 
Babies are being medicated for infant reflux at an alarming rate these days, often before common sense lifestyle changes are recommended. As a society we have been programmed to look for medication as a quick symptom mask but when it comes to a baby we are more concerned that the product is "natural".
Recommended lifestyle changes to sooth acid reflux in babies

Infant Reflux - Breastfeeding Natural Remedies


     


Thursday, May 17, 2012

Parenting: Why choose homemade baby food?


Parents have long depended on jarred baby foods for convenient feeding. In the past few years more and more processed food options have entered the children's food market. The big brands have expanded into pre-packaged  toddler meals  and  school lunches  all in the name of helping busy parents who need things to be fast and convenient. Even for those parents with the best effort and intention, there may be times when you just can't make or safely pack your own food.


Preparing homemade food is not as difficult as it seems especially when SuperMom is around to help. Let me, at first, project the benefits of homemade food:

  • More nutritious: Homemade food is more nutritious than commercially prepared baby foods because it retains more of the nutrients, especially vitamin A and B. This is because the food is less processed. The jarring process necessitates the use of very high heat under pressure. Much more than you can generate when cooking at home. Unfortunately, many vitamins are destroyed by heat.Some of the baby food on the market has additives and thickening agents including cornstarch, flour, chemically modified starches or  tapioca  (corn syrup, starch). This means your baby is getting less fruits and vegetables and more  filler . Consumers are also getting less nutrition and value for your money
  •  No chemicals or preservatives: Your food will not have anything added, that you didn't put there. You're not trying to preserve shelf life or disguise any of the ingredients in your food. Preservatives include partially hydrogenated oils or trans-fats, which are linked to diabetes, cancer and heart disease.
  • Less cost
  • Better taste: Allow me to put it this way: would you prefer eating microwavable food or fresh homemade casseroles?

Then lets offer the best for our children!


Here are few tips to help you make homemade baby food in no time:

  1. Always store glass jars and pouches: keep all the mayonnaise or pickles jars you buy from the store, wash them well and sterilize them (Always choose glass over plastic to prevent chemical reactions with the stored food)

  2. Baking/Roasting and Steaming are the preferred methods to use when cooking homemade baby food to maintain most of the nutrients and taste, boiling is the second best method.

  3. To reduce preparation time, choose one day a week to prepare the homemade baby food and store them in the freezer.
  4. Always make extra jars for emergencies and long trips

Soon we will post a step-by-step instructions on how to prepare baby food at home!

 Add this article to your "how to be super mom" manual