Thursday, November 18, 2010

Toxic Plastic! Are Your Kids Drinking from Toxic Sippy Cups or Bottles?

Last year there was an article on the local news station that discussed briefly that the plastic cups, bottles, containers, and sippy cups could be potentially toxic. The news briefly discussed some brand names of sippy cups that had been recalled and went on in a matter of 30 seconds. I found this to be alarming and a little misinforming. Since then, I wonder if the things I have in my home are safe or not, and I how could I tell.
Well, the other day I was watching a show called The Doctors. On this show, there are 4 doctors that host the show a gynecologist, plastic surgeon, pediatrician, and ER doctor. These 4 doctors and sometimes special guests, answer many question that people write in and ask but are too afraid to ask there own doctors and maybe can't ever get a straight answer. The other day, the doctors were asked a question about toxic or poisonous plastic containers including sippy cups and bottles. The pediatrician on the show said that on the bottom of all plastic container in your home, like sippy cups and tupper ware, there should be a triangle and in the middle of the triangle will be a number. If the number is a 1, 2, 4, or 5 than it is safe. If it is another number it may not be and throw the item away. This really helped.
The Doctors is shown at 11:00am US eastern time and has become very helpful. You can also find it on line and ask your own embarrassing and not so embarrassing questions to them at http://www.thedoctorstv.com/

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Minimize Your Child's Nagging for the Holidays!

The holidays are quickly approaching and if you have kids you are probably experiencing more nagging than normal. You may have also found that there are many more advertisement on T.V mostly geared towards children. Let's just put two and two together...
T.V with more advertisements + children = nagging kids
Okay. I'm not one of those mothers that lets their child sit in front of of T.V all day. However, I find nothing wrong with appropriate children program's and I have always monitored their shows and the contents there of. But I realized that not only do I need to monitor their TV shows but also the entire station and channel it is on. Some channels that have perfectly fine T.V shows for children, also bombard the kids with bright, flashy, and enticing commercials for products. Most of which are either fad toys that easily break after one use or are foods that are so highly processed that I wouldn't allow my children to ingest. But because of the flashy advertisements and the poppy music with the child actors shouting,"cool!" and "awesome!" I have to hear from my child for the rest of the day and every time we enter a store, "I want that", "I want this", and "I saw that on TV". Well this gets old fast.
I realized that I have to monitor the T.V channel and not just the show. I found that there are some channels that show almost no advertisements for products, such as the Disney channel or PBS. Another wonderful thing I have encountered was On Demand. It helps me to pick out their favorite shows, allow them watch, and never worry about flashy advertisements or poor content.
Doing this act has not only minimized my child's greed and need for everything colorful, it has also lessened (not eliminated) the amount of nagging I hear while at home and at the store. It may seem small but most mothers know if you can do something to avoid any level of nagging it's probably worth it.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Helpful Tips for Potty Training a Girl.

Most people with a child in diapers looks forward to the day when they hear "I went in the potty". Sometimes this process can be a bit of a headache but I know that when I was potty training my daughter, I looked to anyone for help and/ or advice. For anyone who is interested in advice how to successfully potty train their little girl here you go...
1. Potty training should start around the age of 2. Some may start sooner, some may start latter, but approximately age 2.
2. Don't start the process if you (the parent) are not ready. Your child will respond to you.
3. Once you start the process of potty training keep moving forward, never back. Regression can cause more problems than you want.
4. First keep track of her bladder schedule. Know when you change diapers. Ex, first thing in the morning, before lunch, after nap, after dinner, before bed-time.
5. Once you have her bladder schedule known, you know when you should put her on the potty for 5min time periods.
6. Purchase regular underwear for home and pull ups for bedtime and when out in public.
7. Let her choose her underwear and pull-ups, this will give her encouragement to be able to wear something she likes.
8. When she is out of diapers don't put them back on her. She needs to be able to feel wet. Diapers tend to pull moisture away and let her feel dry when she is not.
9. You may be doing more laundry than usual during this process but think of the money you will save on diapers.
10. If your little one does not have 24/7 access to the bathroom, purchase a mobile potty and put it in the same room she spends most of her time.
11. Reinforce positive behavior. Make a BIG deal when she successfully goes in the potty.
12. Put little to no emphasis on the negative or any accidents.
13. If you are comfortable, let her fallow Mommy into the bathroom to show her how the "big girls" do it.
14. Keep your cool. This can become frustrating but stay positive. Its a very big step for both you and
your little one.
This is the process I used to potty train my daughter and from diapers to underwear was only a 1 month process.
Every child is different and never compare your child's potty training progress to anyone else. I hope my advice helps out and enjoy the end result.