Kids and Health

Children need good health if they are going to be ready to learn. Sickness, lack of energy, lack of sleep and lack of love and attention all contribute to a child's health. Here are some things I've learned being the mom of 3 little boys, one ? on the way and being the "day" mom for 2-3 kids each week while their parents are out doing their jobs.

1. Cheap cereal usually does not cut it as a breakfast food. Daily Nutrition.

Kids (especially those in school) need full stomachs and lots of different dietary components to really get going in the morning. So, save your kids brains and bodies and take a few minutes to feed your kids a really filling breakfast.

Here are some ideas: French toast with fruit preserves or fresh fruit on top and maybe some powdered sugar to make it look extra enticing ;), Pancake PBJ's - just put two pancakes together with a little PB and J in the middle, Eggs and toast, Eggs in a english muffin, Granola, Oatmeal and raisins, Farina and honey, you get the idea.

Accompany all these with some fresh fruit of some kind if you can - apples, oranges, and bananas are generally available year round and seasonal fruits like grapes, strawberries, any other type of berry or peaches, pears, etc. make a nice change.

Your kids will thank you for the extra effort with better behavior, less whining, better grades and a much more successful future.

2. SLEEP IS ESSENTIAL.

I put this in bold and caps for a reason. Nothing is more detrimental to a child than lack of sleep. A child's ability to interact socially, reason logically, pay attention in learning environments and respect adults are all directly related in someway to the amount, quality and regularity of sleep they receive.

I discovered this by trial and error with my own babies. My first child was DIFFICULT. He was colicky, didn't sleep well at night, never was able to transition to formula, etc. But I think the one thing I wish I could change, was my understanding of babies, infants, children and sleep at the time. With his sleep habits ranging from 3 hour wakings as a newborn to 45 minute wakings as a 9 month old, I was determined with my second child to do something (anything) different.

I had talked to many mom's about their solutions and everyone had a different one, so I took my inquiries to God and prayed for some sort of solution. The next week as I wandered through Target a book caught my attention it is titled "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" and is by Marc Weissbluth, M.D. What a God send, literally! In the book this former pediatrician turned child and infant sleep study specialist explains how a child's body and sleep habits work. It is filled with his examples of other suffering parents (and infants) and covers topics ranging from newborn through teenage years, albeit the latter is covered very briefly and 3/4ths of the book is dedicated to newborn through preschool age. Needless to say I highly recommend this book!

My second child sleeps like a dream, his head hits the pillow and most nights before I could count to 20 he is usually snoring. As an infant we went through a phase when he would have to go to bed at 6pm because he was growing or tired or sick, he would sleep from 6pm to 7 or 8am most days without waking, and still take 2 naps the following day. When he was 2 I would often find him missing, and in my search for him I would find he had crawled into his toddler bed mid-day for a nap. I would usually discover later in the day that he was ill or teething. How miraculous is that really? A toddler that knows how to listen to his own body's needs. :) He also pops out of bed (almost literally) at about 7am each morning with a happy and sometimes loud "wake up everyone its morning time". Sleep training - its a really BIG DEAL!

My 3rd child hasn't been quite as well trained, since his brothers are often busy with activities during nap time, and they stay up a bit later than my little one needs to, but he still sleeps 90% - 100% better than my first ever did. I have been able to change my first one's habits slightly, but some of the staying up late, not knowing how to wind down on his own, and not stopping when he is tired still linger from his infancy.

Many studies also show that children who don't get a full nights sleep and toddlers and infants that don't get enough sleep appear to have ADD or even ADHD. Infants in particular have a higher tendency to be cranky, ornery, eat less, develop colic and cry without apparent reason when deprived of sufficient sleep. Even if your infant doesn't seem to need a nap during the day or screams when put to bed at night, he is showing definite signs of over exhaustion. I have many friends that will attest to this and who would also endorse Dr. Weissbluth's book for the change they saw in their infants when they put the understanding they gained from this material into practice.

3. More outside and toy time and A LOT less TV/Computer/Nintendo time. AKA helping kids have more energy!

Call it what you will, a glowing screen often comprises a good portion of our child's day. Health boards, pediatric specialists, etc. have been harping on us for years to not let our children spend too much time in front of such devices. Why? Well, they don't learn how to use their imaginations, problem solve, create, build, interact socially with other kids, learn to resolve conflict and a myriad of other life essential skills. The sitting and staring actually depletes a child's energy levels, their strength, stamina, and health all deteriorate. (Maybe we as adults could take a page out of this book too!) The work of kids is play, it's how they learn to be an adult, maybe it doesn't always make sense, but it's always the truth. If kids are too busy glued to a glowing whatever that is doing all the entertaining and thinking for them, they will never get in that essential element of play and will not move beyond the "play" stage of their life into the learning and responsibility stage the way God and nature intended.

Now, let's be clear, I am not an anti-technology person by any means. My boys love games involving Lego anything on the WII and with their Dad in the evenings and sometimes an hour before dinner they are allowed to play and enjoy that form of entertainment. They also have several favorite movies and are often spoiled with the opportunity to watch them at different times when perhaps I need some quiet time or I have a particularly demanding project to complete. But we have limits, and I get to say "no" several, several times a day to requests for these activities. Nonetheless, decide today what your limits are for your kids. Write them down and stick to them, it's not always easy, but most things worth doing in life aren't, but they are 100% worth the results.

So, what to replace those long hours with? How about outside activities (picnics, playgrounds, walks, bike rides, building snowmen, sledding), READING, coloring, painting, play dough. Or if you have older kids, piano, music, singing, learning how to cook, helping with chores, learning a new hobby, board games, language learning, studying a subject that interests them, READING, READING, READING, friends, sports, you name it, the options are endless. And if you ever get stuck in a rut, read about what they used to do for fun before the TV was invented, you may find some new family favorites. BTW, reading was what people used to do before TV, and trust me it's a lot more exciting most of the time, and you get to learn more moral lessons and values because it doesn't have to be crammed into an hour limit, something this society desperately needs today.

4. Family Time and Religious Time.

Some of the most important time in a child's life for them to develop self confidence, feelings of security and being loved is by consistent and regular family time. If you believe in God keep him as a regular part of your family time. Talk to your kids about His teachings, pray and read scripture together, teach them what you believe and why you believe it.

Use family time for fun, play games together. My children are relatively young and so the card and board games that I enjoyed as a youth with my parents and sisters aren't an option for us yet, so instead for family time we often play tag (outside) or hide and seek (inside), it's really fun, even if the little ones don't quite catch on to how to play and say "boo" as you walk into the room instead of actually hiding :)

Family time can and should also be used to develop friendships with other families, it can often build lifetime friendships between your children and your friends children, and the best part? Usually your friends or those families you choose to associate with frequently, share your own values and therefore their children will be a positive influence on your own children.


Summary

For most of us our children are the most important thing in this world. Above and beyond all we want to see them happy and successful citizens, workers, family providers and hopefully parents in the future. It is our responsibility and ours alone to ingrain in them good eating, sleeping, social and religious habits. Without our guidance they will not succeed. Here's hoping for love, health and happiness for you and your little ones.