Kathy's blog

Much like adults, kids have energy peaks and valleys throughout the day.  As parents, we know that their swings from one extreme to another can be much more dramatic.  One minute, they are buzzing around like the Energizer bunny, and the next, they are in zombie mode.  While the main focuses for keeping kids’ energy level on an even keel are familiar-exercise, a balanced diet and good, regular rest-it’s not always easy to make them a regular part of daily life.  The following will offer you a collection of tips and strategies for doing just that.  These include quick games for a good workout, an energy-boosting snack, and relaxation activities that will leave kids recharged.

Keep Active:  Whenever we walk, jump, run or wiggle, we use energy.  So it might seem strange that one of the best prescriptions for generating energy is to do more of the same.  Over time, exercise increases the capacity of your heart and your muscles, which in turn gives you more energy to do more exercise.   Activity that uses the large muscles and raises the heart rate and the body’s core temperature will wake you up.  And it should be fun, because exhilaration also increases energy.  Here are two simple and playful exercises recommended for building long term stamina:

Sneaker Leap:  Tie an old sneaker to one end of a 7-foot length of rope.  Squat down and swing the sneaker in a circle at a slow but constant speed, transferring the rope from hand to hand as it goes around you.  Have your child stand in one spot and jump over the sneaker when it reaches him. 

Bubble Bust:  Blow a bunch of bubbles and for each one, call out a different body part, such as elbow, knee, nose, or toe.  Challenge your child to burst each bubble using the specified part of his body.

As different and unique as each baby is, it’s perfectly natural to wonder if your child is progressing “normally”.  It’s hard not to be concerned if your child doesn’t seem to be hitting that mammoth milestone of walking at the same time as his cousins or your friends’ babies.  Here are some truth about the process that will help to put your mind at ease.

What They Say:  The leg muscles are the most important for walking.
Truth:  Walking involves several muscle groups.  Strong little legs are great, but your child’s neck, back, and arm muscles are crucial as well.  The core muscles of the trunk help with posture, and developing them prepares an infant for sitting an standing as well as walking.  To help them along, prop up your baby so she has a better view of what’s going on around her.  She’ll have an incentive to reach out, lean forward, and turn in several directions-all of which work those important areas of her body.  Give her lots of supervised tummy time, too, and encourage her to life her head and chest by holding and interesting object n front of her, right eye level.  While leg muscles do matter, there is no special exercise you need to do to develop them-and no way that playing with your baby will ruin them.  People  used to believe that if you let your baby “stand” in your lap while you held her around the chest would cause to become bowlegged or cause problems walking, but this is not true.

Your baby will progress through rapid and remarkable changes in his first year. He is new to the world and has to learn about every little stimulation, emotion, and behavior that constitutes his environment. Understanding the different stages your baby will go through will help you not only enjoy each little discovery, but help you mark the various milestones you baby will achieve during his first year of life.

0 to 4 Months: Stare Down

When researchers shows newborn babies a picture of three dots arranged as a face (two dots for eyes and one dot for a mouth), the babies looked at it longer than they did when the dots were arranged other ways. Babies are hardwired to recognize faces, which helps them connect with their loved ones early on. They like to look at anything that resembles a face, even something as abstract as an electrical outlet.

So put your feet up and relax when you hold your newborn. He'll get plenty of stimulation just by staring up at you. In the next couple of months, bright lights, music, and sounds will likely capture his attention as well, and that's just fine. It means that he's also getting curious about the world around him.

To stimulate your interaction-seeking baby: Put photos of family members in a flipbook of his own; read books with close up photos of babies and animals to him, make him giggle with funny facial expressions.

5 to 8 Months: Time to Eat

Make a spot for your baby and her high chair at your dinner table. The ideal time to introduce solid foods is between four and six months. That's when a baby's digestive system can begin to handle them. Cues that your baby is becoming developmentally ready to try solids are:

1. If your baby looks longingly at you when you eat, drinks more than 32 ounces of formula a day, or, when nursing, pulls off and looks around as if searching for a snack, she'll likely devour starter baby cereal.

It sounds funny, but sometimes being a parent is a joke; and there's nothing wrong with that! In fact, a lighthearted outlook and a sense of humor at the ready are sanity-saving tools that have helped many a frazzled parent!

Take it from a mom of five; laughter really is the best medicine. A diaper blowout right as the whole family is loading into the minivan to get to a photo session is not something to laugh about. Neither is trying to keep your cool with a toddler who keeps wandering off the trail during a family hike. But these and a slew other little distractions are better dealt with a little humor and a whole lot of patience. Keeping it light works. Being playful keeps everyone's moods on the positive side and makes it easier to deal with the conflict at hand and then get on with the show.

Humor is a key tool to successful discipline. Humor takes us to a completely different level of consciousness. Humor helps break the negative mood not just for children, but for grown-ups, too. It helps get parents out of a reactive state. When moms or dads issue angry commands, kids of all ages tend to dig in their heels and resist. And no one benefits then.

For toddlers, this might mean distractions such as tickling or chasing to get them laughing. Animating stuffed animals is a common strategy. Parents are a lot more likely to be successful if the stuffed monkey says, "It's time to brush your teeth! Watch me brush mine!" Soon the kids will be laughing and then you go ahead and get the task done on a lighter note.

Instead of working against each other, parents and children can use humor to work together toward the shared goal. You're turning it from a command to a shared experience. One father broke the tension with his kids by making believe that he was a reporter interviewing them. Another parent pretended to be reading her child's horoscope, which said that was the day he was going to stop procrastinating and get his bedroom cleaned.

If you're thinking it might be time to tame your child's unruly locks, read on for some tricks to avoid meltdowns and help make his first haircut a happy occasion to remember. As much as you'd like to hope for a perfect experience, be prepared to have a few moments of anxiety on both your side of the scissors, as well as your child's. The first trim definitely takes some prep time for both parent and child.

Find a Kid-Friendly Salon

Choosing stylists trained to work especially with kids is important when your child is young. They know how to interact with toddlers and how to make the process less intimidating. And on top of that, most of these salons have a fun atmosphere. The walls are bright and colorful, other kids will be there, the equipment is kid-size, and the chairs usually have neat designs like animals, princesses, or racecars. Kid-friendly stylists also allow parents to be part of the experience. If your child has a problem sitting still, for example, they might put her in your lap for the cut (some places even have double-headed capes that fit two).

Prepare Ahead Of Time

When setting up the appointment, make sure you pick a time when your child is less likely to be cranky (well before or after naps and meals). Many parents make the mistake of combining the appointment with a bunch of other errands. If you add "stop at the salon" to a long list of other errands, your toddler will be tired and impatient by the time you get there. If possible, drop by the salon a day or two in advance, so your child will be familiar with the place and will feel more at ease when the big day arrives. Another good idea is to play a game of "barber shop" at home. Pretend to do his hair with a comb and spray bottle then switch places and let him have a turn "styling" your hair.
Choose Your Words Wisely

If you have ever had the privilege of receiving a massage, then you know that the experience is heavenly! Not to mention the many benefits. Even if there were no proven benefits other than relaxation, I would highly recommend the treatment to anyone.

When I was pregnant with my 4th baby, I met a lady who offered massage appointments in your home for a very affordable price. Before I met her, I admit that I wondered about the quality of her work, but for the price she was charging for the full hour, I thought, "What the heck! Even a bad massage is a good massage!" Because I don't not feel great at all when I am pregnant (surprise) I was excited to meet her. Turns out, she was fabulous! She was a mom of 3 herself and was really big on natural remedies for pain and healing.

We got talking about my upcoming baby and she mentioned that she would be glad to teach me a quick Infant massage routine. I wasn't about to turn that down! I know the many benefits that massage has given to me and I knew that it would be awesome to learn some techniques that could soothe colic, digestion, constipation, earaches and teething discomforts. Especially since I had 3 babies with one or more of these symptoms. She also pointed out to me that since the baby is cramped up inside the womb for so long, a good massage makes sense.

I made an appointment with her to come back after my son was 2 weeks old, to make sure that his umbilical cord had fallen off and that he was healed from his circumcision. I watched her as she explained what she was doing and I could not wait to practice these techniques on my baby!