How to Make Sure Your Baby’s Teeth Come in Properly

The part of infancy where a baby begins teething can be hard for everyone. Babies will start to feel and express a lot more discomfort. Breastfeeding mamas might find the process painful. But you’re going to want to make sure that everything goes as smoothly as possible so your child can have the little pearly whites they deserve. 

Start Brushing Their Teeth

Good brushing habits are the foundation for anyone’s good dental hygiene. Brushing and flossing are the keys to avoiding as many dental problems as possible as a teenager and an adult. That’s why it’s so important to develop the habit as early on as possible.

Not only will this help your toddler adjust to the brushing process itself, but it will also help keep their baby teeth healthy. Baby teeth are a kind of trial run to help you understand just how well your child can maintain their teeth on their own. I know from being a teacher that kids can get in to dental health problems early in life. You definitely don’t want this if you can avoid it.

Get Them to Break Harmful Habits

Lots of babies develop small habits and tics to help them deal with the stresses of life. Often, those habits will be something of an oral fixation. It’s very common for babies to try and put anything and everything they can reach into their mouths. Grinding or gritting the teeth and jaw as well as sucking their thumb are also common possibilities. 

Kids a year or older should stop sucking their thumbs to prevent teeth development issues. If you are worried about helping them overcome these habits, try talking to their pediatrician about what can be done. You can also learn more about potential baby teeth concerns here

Regular Pediatric Appointments

It’s so important to have the input of a professional during your child’s developmental stages. Regular medical checkups are a must, even if nothing is obviously wrong. That’s the only way you’ll be able to catch problems early–before they grow into something more serious and expensive. Pediatric dentists should also be consulted if necessary. Remember: small problems aren’t the end of the world, but if you let them fester, they can become truly bothersome. Serious problems might even alter how your child lives their day-to-day life.

Teeth aren’t an easy thing to take care of. Building up habits takes years, and most kids don’t want to go through that kind of effort. Little children can be notoriously resistant to parental attempts to help them brush their teeth. The important thing is that you keep trying, and that you keep making sure that they get the help they need.

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How to Keep Your Home Healthy and Clean

It is important to make sure that your home is a clean and healthy environment. This will help you to be healthier and more comfortable as you’re spending time at home. This is especially important if you have babies or young children, since even minor problems can cause them to become sick. Here are a few tips that will help you to keep your home healthy and clean.

Maintain a Cleaning Schedule

First of all, it is important to maintain a cleaning schedule. Set a schedule for all of the weekly cleaning that you need to get done. For example, you’ll want to clean your bathrooms, kitchen, bedrooms, and living spaces. You’ll want to vacuum, disinfect, clean, and more. You can split up tasks to make sure that something gets done every day rather than trying to get it all done on the weekend. Try to share the load with some of your family members if that will help you to get all of the necessary cleaning done each week.

Don’t Wear Shoes in the House

Another tip that can help you to keep your home healthy and clean is to avoid wearing shoes inside your house. Removing your shoes at the door can help prevent damage to your carpet. Having a clean carpet can be especially helpful when you have small children crawling around a lot. It can also help you to avoid tracking allergens and bacteria that might be present in different outdoor areas.

Do Yearly Cleaning Maintenance

There are certain cleaning tasks that are more in-depth that you’ll want to take care of yearly. These maintenance tasks will help you to keep your house clean even though they will take a little bit more work. For example, you should have your air conditioning ducts and vents cleaned regularly to get rid of any dust or debris that might be stuck inside. If these ducts aren’t cleaned, your AC units could be blowing a lot of dirty air into your house. You can also always hire a professional for extra help and experience.

So, if you’re trying to make sure that your home is a healthy and safe environment, remember this article. Make sure that you maintain a cleaning schedule, don’t wear shoes in the house, and do yearly cleaning maintenance. This will help your home to be a healthy environment for all of your family members living at home.

Check out this article on how to get your child to adopt healthy habits!

Jurassic Quest Drive Through: An Experience

Jurassic Quest: What You Want To Know About the Drive Through Version.

Jurassic Quest is normally a museum event where you can walk around, dig for fossils and do other fun things. The Covid adapted show is a drive through event that takes place in various cities.

I attended the show at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA and these are my thoughts:

Dinosaur Logistics:

This event is amazingly well organized. Tickets are purchased online and a QR code is emailed. You use this code to enter the event. About 2 days before, you get a link to download the audio portion of the tour. You can easily sync up the audio to the Bluetooth in your car. And if you have any issues, there is a person there to trouble shoot just after you enter. At this time too, you receive any add ons you bought with your tickets. Souvenirs can be purchased on your way out. I counted about 5 different things; an inflatable T Rex and Triceratops, a dinosaur egg, a sword, and an “I survived” …T shirt for Mom and Dad. There is a photo opp where a worker takes one photo in your car with dinosaurs in the background. You have to be ready and be quick because you get about 5 seconds. You go online later to see it. Portable restrooms are located at the end of the tour. There are spaces to park. Overall, it takes about an hour to complete.

Jurassic Quest: Driving Through The Experience

“Scenes” are set up along the way and the audio tour guide explains a little bit about the dinosaur, or animal (they are not all dinosaurs) that you are near. Tip: It is good to have one person in charge of the audio. You have to pause it often as you move through. The audio script is similar to that of a theme park where there is a little bit of fun tension built up and “missing T Rexs” running around. If your kids are small enough, you could make a lot of this element. There are also some cute, funny comic relief lines.

Life Sized Dinosaurs

Many of the dinosaurs move and this makes the event fun. Some have feathers or fur too. Others are brightly colored. Even under these austere conditions, the models give you a real idea about what these creatures probably looked like in real life.

Tip: If you have a moon roof or convertible, you have an advantage to see. Many of the models are very tall or elevated and so it can be tough to see a couple of them from the inside of the car. No one is allowed to hang out the car windows.

Tip: The tour mentions different countries and continents. You may want to review the tour in advance and show your kids on a map the places mentioned.

Final Jurassic Thoughts:

Kids aged 3 to 9 or so will love this event. Adults, be prepared. It takes about an hour and there is 3 to 4 minutes of downtime as you wait to pull up to the next scene. This happens about 3 times. It may be good to plan ahead some things to talk about so your kids don’t feel impatient.

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How to Get Rid of Pests Without Harming Children or Pets

Unwanted pests in your home can create a very stressful situation. Whether you are dealing with rodents or bugs, these uninvited guests can be very unhealthy and dangerous. Not to mention pests in large quantities is just a gross situation. Luckily, there are a number of ways that you can get rid of pests in and around your home. If you have children or pets present on the property, you may want to think about finding a way to control an infestation naturally. This will reduce exposure to dangerous chemicals.

Remove Their Habitats

In order for a large quantity of pests to be in or around your home, they must have a habitat somewhere in the vicinity. Depending on the pest that you are dealing with, the habitat could be in a variety of locations. For example, fleas love to hide in small spaces. You might find them deep within the fibers of your carpet or in the small gaps between your baseboards and flooring. And if you have furry pets, obviously that’s their favorite place to be. Ants can create nests just about anywhere, but the most common places are within walls or under flooring. Once you get rid of their home, you reduce their ability to reproduce. This will make it easier to slow down the infestation.

Use Natural Insecticides

Chemical pest products can be effective when it comes to remove pests, but these chemicals can be extremely dangerous to have around humans. Research some natural products that use things like essential oils to repel and kill pests. Some plant-based oil pest control products target neurotransmitters unique to insects, which in turn makes them safe for use around children and pets.

Keep Your Home Clean

A clean home isn’t really what pests are looking for. They’re looking for a food source, and they’re looking for a protected shelter. If you keep your home clean, remove garbage daily and wipe down surfaces when they’re messy, this will deter pests from wanting to make a home inside of your home. Don’t leave food out, keep clutter off of the floor, and make sure your pets are clean when they come into the home. Pets are one of the most common ways an infestation starts.

Some pests like moist and dark areas. If you have a very small leak in your wall or around pipes, this can attract a whole host of pests. If you know that there is a repair issue present in your home, make sure to have it addressed right away.

While it can seem overwhelming to be dealing with a pest infestation, there are ways that you can get rid of your unwanted visitors. Stick to a more natural approach if you want to make sure that your children and pets are safe during the extermination phase.

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Children's Songs Your Kids Will Love

Today, kids are all about media. Between videos and pics on cell phones, it is almost impossible to grab their attention in any different way. Today, I want to let you know about an album of children’s songs that can keep up with the contant competition for attention.

Tumble Bee by Laura Veirs: The Bottom Line For Children’s Songs

This is a great album that has 13 tracks and offers a substantial variety of meters, tones and sounds. Two of the tracks “Down in the Medder” and “Prairie Dream” are instrumentals. This is an attractive feature, especially if you are looking to introduce toddlers to music without any words.

Songs That Are Playful

Tumble Bee has at least three children’s songs that are “catchy”. The tune is fairly easy to pick up, “The Fox”, “Why Oh Why”, and “Little Lap Dog Lullaby” are the ones I might use in a classroom setting, or at a party to break the ice.

The Fox is a super fun song and is sure to cheer up a pouting person. It would also be a great way to start a play date if you felt your kids were shy. The song is easy to learn, is similar to Old McDonald in some ways, and catchy. Your kids will be humming to themselves in no time. This tune would also make a great song to play as you head out on a road trip.

“Why Oh Why” is set to a beat of three; a fast three, and it is fun to sing. Why can a bird eat an elephant? Why can a mouse it a streetcar? Why does a horn make music? These are a few things your kids will find out in this delightful song.

“Little Lap Dog Lullaby” is a bit of a misnomer, if you ask me. It is fun and addictive. Not something that would make most kids sleepy. Though does resemble famous lullaby lines like “Papa’s gonna buy you a mockingbird“, the pace and lyrical elements make this tune too fun to fall asleep to.

Songs That Are Fast

“Jack Can I Ride” showcases a Scott Joplin like piano accompaniment. The words are fast paced and may take a few times around to learn so your toddler can sing along. About midway through the song sports a square dance feel with fiddles and all. Be careful or you will find yourself saying “Do Si Do”.

“Soldier’s Joy” does feel like your little ones could square dance to it. While slower than the traditional square dance version, it takes pretty intense verbal skill to say the words as fast as Laura Veirs does. There is also a male voice on this song so your kids can hear both singing together.

Jamaica Farewell is included in the songs that are fast paced. In reality, it is slower than the others in this section. But I included it here because the lyrics are sung fairly quickly and may take little ones a while to learn. The calypso sway and imagery of the words makes this children’s song the right thing to do for almost any occasion.

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Got Boxes? How to Turn a Spare Box into a New Toy for Your Kids

Spare boxes can be so much more than a pile of cardboard to go out to the recycling bin. With a bit of creativity, you can create all sorts of new toys for your kids. What you make with a cardboard box may be their new favorite toy.

Shape Sorter

You can get creative by using a small box as a shape sorting toy. There are a number of benefits for toddlers to play with these toys, including teaching cause-and-effect and establishing motor skills. Simply create a bunch of shapes all over the box, such as stars, hearts, and triangles. Then, cut them out using a sharp knife. Your kids can, then, work on getting the shapes into the correct cutouts over the box. If you want to get fancy, consider coloring the different cutouts. This way, you can add some more learning by having them name the colors as well as the shapes.

Puppet Theater

Think about how much fun it would be to give sock puppets, string puppets, or even dolls their own theater to perform in. Old moving boxes are great for this project because they tend to be larger than your average Amazon box. Appliance boxes can work well for this, too. You can go as fancy as you want, cutting out certain aspects of the box out to create a stage. Then, you can hang fabric at the openings in order to form a curtain. It will make it a fun place for your kids to exercise their imagination. Plus, it can be used over and over again.

Robots

Robots have always been cool because of what they promise to be able to do for you. While you won’t be able to create the electronic components, cardboard box robots can provide fun for hours on end. Whether you create a cereal box robot or you use shoeboxes or other robots, you can decide what they’ll look like. Stack multiple boxes on top of each other and glue or tape them together. Use other household items like cups to create arms and legs. Then, let your kids go wild by adding some personalization using markers.

Roll up your sleeves and get a little creative. Find as many boxes as you can, in various sizes, so that you have more to work with. It can create hours of fun for you and your kids.

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3 Reasons Moms Should Exercise with Their Kids

After having a child, it is easy for moms to put their own health on the back burner as the time to eat well or exercise seems to melt away. Maintaining personal health should continue to be a priority, however. One way to do this is by making exercise a family activity. Here are three reasons why it is beneficial for families to work out together.

It Encourages the Formation of Positive Habits

Parents are the primary educators of children and children are more likely to carry habits they learn in their childhood into their adult lives. Consequently, by exercising with their children, moms can demonstrate how important physical activity is and encourage that positive habit to continue. This concept has been supported by a recent study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics where it was found that the activity level of mothers had a direct correlation with the activity level of their preschool-aged children. As exercise was a larger priority for mothers, their children participated in more physical activity. This effect can be heightened by working out together with children.

It Increases Communication

It's not a secret that schools today are violent, so it's important for moms to have a lot of opportunity to talk with their children and learn about what’s really going on in their lives when they’re out of your sight. Exercising together gives families a structured environment to talk before, during, and after the workout. Participating in physical activity together is also a bonding exercise that can make communication between moms and children easier and more effective. It's clear that spending more time together makes the bond between mother and child stronger.

It's Just Plain Fun

Spending time doing physical activities with your children is simply a fun activity that can bring moms and children together and build a stronger relationship. For the biggest benefits of working out together, you should invite them into physical hobbies you have. Playing sports like soccer or frisbee may be obvious activities to enjoy, but more structured workout routines, like yoga, are extremely beneficial as well. While you might not think about it, there are actually many positives of yoga for children. Yoga is known to improve posture and flexibility, both important factors for growing children. Yoga also improves mental health and gives children the tools they need to understand themselves and have a stronger mind-body connection.

With these reasons in mind, it is clear that making exercise a family activity is beneficial for everyone, in more ways than just physically. Seek to incorporate exercise for the recommended 150 minutes a week.

Here are a couple more articles we think you’ll like!

• 4 Biggest Hidden Dangers to a Child's Health

• Family Fun at the Huntington Library

Why You Should Give Your Child An Allowance

How Allowances Can Help Parents

As a teacher, I had to manage 20 plus kids all day for 180 days every year. And most of the time, this meant getting 20 people to do things they would prefer NOT to do. So how do teachers manage kids and have careers that last 20 years or more? Trust me when I say using too many words is NOT your friend. Yelling and screaming is not your friend.

Part of the way teachers get kids to do things they don’t naturally tend to do is by setting up consequences. And this is where YOU come in as a parent. This is where giving your child an allowance can help you manage them now, and in the future. The reason it works is because it builds on two key factors kids need (1) Empathy and (2) Consequences.

What An Allowance REALLY is

An allowance is something given to a family member. It is a gift. Many people believe that allowances should be earned for working around the house. In other words, paying kids to do household chores. But in my experience as a teacher, what this does is send the message that kids are not really part of the family. Being part of a team, or a family, means that certain things have to get done, for everyone. Chores are something family members are expected to do. Shopping, cleaning, homework are all things that families do. Chores are what make kids feel needed and that they are and integral part of the family. “I am part of this family, and I need to help run our life together”. That is the ultimate message chores send kids. Your kids are not service providers. They’re family. It is expected that they contribute to the success of the family’s well being.

Empathy and An Allowance

Empathy is something that is necessary for all parts of life. But ironically, it does not occur to kids to be empathetic naturally. It is a skill that has to be taught. To understand what another person feels is something we learn to do. And ultimately, being able to be empathetic leads to a happier and more productive life. It allows for more meaningful relationships. Ultimately, empathy is the key skill to happy living.

So, when you give your child an allowance, you are saying, “I understand how you feel about wanting things. I want things too. Everyone wants things. So because you are part of this family, I am going to give you X amount per week. You can save or spend your allowance as you wish (providing it is not illegal).” In doing this, you are modeling empathy. You are also setting the stage to teach how to handle life’s frustrations and realities.

Let Your Child Spend Their Allowance As They Wish

It is normal to want to put restrictions on what kids can do with their money. As grown ups, we know how hard money is to come by. But the truth is, money is one of those lessons everyone has to learn the hard way. It is almost certain you child will misallocate or spend all their money way before their next allowance pay date. When that happens, your chance to model empathy again AND teach how to deal with unpleasant consequences will arise. Here is a possible exchange that may happen:

KID: Mom, I need my allowance again. I want to buy X.

MOM: Me too. I need my paycheck again. I want to buy X. You get your allowance on Friday.

KID: No Mom, really. I need my allowance. Other moms give their kids their allowance early.

MOM: I understand about needing money. And you get your allowance on Friday.

KID: Mom, C’mon. Just this one time. I really need to buy X.

MOM: I can relate. I need to get my hair done. And you get your allowance on Friday.

If this kind of exchange continues, you can ask “What do you think my boss would say if I asked her to pay me early like this”. “What do you think you need to do so you always have money to buy things with your allowance?”

In this dialogue, you are teaching your child the value of money and the consequences of how it feels to have no money. You are also empathetic. But there is no yelling, or shaming or telling your child they should have done this or that. It is all implied. Your child is getting the message. You love them, you will pay their allowance on Friday, and you understand what it is like to run out of money. That’s a lot of life lessons being taught. So use an allowance as a way to manage behavior and show your kids how much you love them.

Some of the ideas in this blog post are from the book Love and Logic

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4 Biggest Hidden Dangers to a Child's Health

As a parent, you want your child to have the best possible upbringing. This means protecting your son or daughter from hazards that your son or daughter might encounter both at home and in the outside world. Let's take a look at a few of these potential hazards and the steps that you can take to mitigate them.

Peanuts and Seafood

Many children develop allergies at a young age, and you don’t find out until they are exposed to the allergens and they get sick. In some cases, your child could suffer negative health consequences from merely touching a surface that is contaminated by peanuts. The same could be true if your child eats, smells or touches fish or other seafood. If your child shows any signs of an allergy, take your son or daughter to the doctor immediately. It can also be a good idea to have medication handy in case of an emergency.

Mold

According to Behind the S, mold most often affects children, pregnant women, and people with breathing problems. The most common kinds of mold form in damp conditions usually present in a basement, attic or bathroom. If you see black mold, be sure to call a professional right away. It can have an adverse impact on your child's life, and it can also put your own life in danger.

Falling Objects

A blow to the head can cause significant injury to a small child because its skull and brain are not fully developed. This can be true even if the object falls from a relatively low height. To prevent your child from being hit by a falling object at home, keep items on shelves secured with zip ties or similar objects. You can also keep potentially dangerous objects in a shed or other space the child won't occupy.

The Family Pet

You should never leave your child unsupervised when feeding, playing with or otherwise interacting with a cat or dog. This is because even a friendly animal can get scared or angry in an instant, and it could lead to your child being bitten or experiencing other injuries in an attack. According to American Family Physician, dog bites account for 1% of all injury-related emergency department visits in the United States and more than $50 million in inpatient costs per year. Immediate treatment will be necessary to stop the spread of bacteria throughout the child's body.

Children are often curious about the world around them and can be oblivious to the potential consequences of their actions. Therefore, it is important that they are properly supervised to ensure that they don't get hurt. Taking proactive steps to mitigate hazards can also make it easier to keep your kids safe when you can't watch them.

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