The Parenting Expert
Safety1st Video: Nanny Robina talks about bathroom safety tips.
From car seats to strollers, high chairs to play yards, monitors to childproofing products, and more… For decades, parents have placed their trust – and their children’s safety – in our hands. Safety 1st is dedicated to helping provide a safer world for children through product development with an unwavering commitment to safety, innovation and value.
Visit www.safety1st.ca/eng/nanny-robina
Safety1st Video: Nanny Robina talks about kitchen safety tips.
From car seats to strollers, high chairs to play yards, monitors to childproofing products, and more… For decades, parents have placed their trust – and their children’s safety – in our hands. Safety 1st is dedicated to helping provide a safer world for children through product development with an unwavering commitment to safety, innovation and value.
Visit www.safety1st.ca/eng/nanny-robina
Safety1st Video: Nanny Robina talks about the baby monitor and electrical outlet covers.
From car seats to strollers, high chairs to play yards, monitors to childproofing products, and more… For decades, parents have placed their trust – and their children’s safety – in our hands. Safety 1st is dedicated to helping provide a safer world for children through product development with an unwavering commitment to safety, innovation and value.
Visit www.safety1st.ca/eng/nanny-robina
• Never leave standing water in the tub or sink, it only takes two inches of water to create a drowning hazard.
• Use soft corner padding on sharp corners of furniture.
• Remove hanging table clothes. A small child could pull it down causing items on top to fall on him/her.
• Make sure there are no pictures on the wall above the crib, to avoid objects falling and hurting your infant.
• Organize kitchen drawers to ensure all cutlery and sharp knives are at the top and secured with child safety drawer locks. Keep other items that are less hazardous, such as tea towels, at the bottom.
• Always use a bath mat for bathing toddlers to prevent slipping.
• Ensure you lock and chain your front door, especially once your toddler starts to walk.
• Move all bio-hazard cleaning fluids out of children’s reach and secure with a lock.
• Position your furniture so that a small child cannot climb up to a window.
• Place a lock on the toilet to keep curious kids safe.
• When out and about with a baby and toddler, consider using a safety harness to prevent your toddler from running ahead.
• Place a safety lock on the stove.
• Cover all electrical outlets to keep curious kids safe.
• Always cook using the back burners on your stove. Turn pot handles toward the rear of the stove so your child can’t pull hot pots off.
• Keep stairs clear of clutter that may pose a tripping hazard while carrying your baby.
• Never leave your child/baby unattended in a bath tub.
• Place a gate on stairways and at entrances to keep your toddler safe.
• A changing table should have guardrails and a strap to help prevent the baby from rolling off it.
• Make sure your tap water is not scalding hot, the maximum recommended water heater temperature is 90 degrees Fahrenheit/32 degrees Celsius.
• Re-arrange furniture as your baby starts to crawl to make rooms safer; remove the coffee table if it is glass or has sharp corners.
• Always tie up the cord for the blinds, making sure your baby can not reach them.
• Help protect your child from harmful sun rays with a car window shade.
• When exiting a car, always ensure that your child leaves through the door closest to the paved side instead of the road.
• Place pet foods out of reach of curious tots as they pose a choking risk.
• Don’t leave toys in the crib, or anything else that would help the child climb out.
• Make sure all windows are securely locked with childproof locks.
• Dispose of or recycle any plastic bags, they may get into little hands and cause suffocation.
• Fireplace Hearths should be completely blocked off with a gate to protect your child from the danger of fire.
• Use soft corner padding on sharp corners of furniture.
• When washing dishes, make sure all sharp and glass objects are out of reach and placed securely in the drainer so they cannot fall down.
• Ensure all household drugs, cold medicine and other medicines are placed on a high shelf and secured with a childproof device.
When your child “wakes up” with a night terror, go in and check on him but don’t speak to him or try to comfort him. Your child will resist and fight you, he will appear confused and perhaps does not know whats going on, from this you will pretty much know it is a night terror.
Trying to soothe your child at this time will only make him more upset, but you should not try to awaken him at this time either.He may think you are attacking him, this may bring on more fear. Instead, just let the night terror run its course, and stay nearby to make sure your toddler doesn’t hurt himself.
Your child may also be having bad dreams. Your child’s imagination is developing, and they are leaning so much at this age that their imagination can’t help but carry over into their sleep. They go to bed thinking and all sort of tricks come into their mind and that can make for a very unsettling night, and an imagination that just runs wild!
When he wakes up after a bad dream, go in and comfort him. Stay for a few moments, that should do the trick, if needstay with him until he falls back to sleep if he asks you to, but avoid bringing him to your bed, this will only make for some major bed time shenanigans!
Other common causes of night-wakings sleepers include illness, and of course Separation anxiety which often
comes around the age of 9 month 12 months and would not be unusual it came a bit later too.
When your toddler wakes up during the night, be soothing and calming, but boring don’t let him feel this is fun, else you know
it will become a regular little stint!. Let him know that everything is okay, but that it’s time to sleep. Keep the chit chat to a minimum and the lights low. It may take a few nights or even a few weeks to get back on track, but the more you stick to his regular routine the sooner the problem will be resolved.
Sweet dreams to you all.
What do you do when your children figure out the art of lying? Yes, that may come along around the age of three possibly four. At that age, they’ve realized that the truth often gets them into deep trouble…that stern look when you question “who did it?” is enough to send anyone running or in this case to lie.
Now let’s not confuse lying and telling tales. Some children have difficulty knowing the difference between reality and fantasy. And that’s the difference between the two.
There are many reasons your child may start lying. The most common one is the fear of disappointing a parent. The most obvious reason would be to avoid punishment. Or it could be a cry for help or possibly your child just seeking attention.
On a serious note, most children at some point will try lying to pass on the blame for something they did wrong. Younger ones will blame an incident or accident on another child or sibling.
Older kids will tell an outright lie to cover up their guilt and avoid punishment. The emotions at work here are guilt, anxiety, and fear.
What ever the reason, you need to take action. Here are some pointers to help you:
What ever happened to the terrible twos? Are you thinking your baby sailed through them? and I bet you feel so proud right? Well get real moms, it’s on it’s way and you can expect it any time between the age of two three and four.
So stand guard with a stern look firm voice and action!
Toddler taming is really not that painfull, The key is to stay consistant and keep firm and it will be over in no time at all.
It’s about understanding your toddlers frustrations, and then understanding when they are just ” pushing your buttons!”
Keep the right balance of compassion understanding, and remain cool your now half way there.
My Tips For Toddler Taming
Try to head off a tantrum before it starts. “Oh, look what I see out the window.” Your toddler has now stopped to see what you’r looking at, “Oh you missed it.” Distracted for a second and now the tantrum has been for gotten and it has passed.
If the tantrum is full blown, take time out. Right now, there is no reasoning with any toddler.Try not to address this behaviour as children of any age thrive on attention– negative or positive!
Make sure your child is safe, stay near, but go about as if nothing is bothering you.
Allow your child to have a meltdown. Then sit and chat about the tantrum and behaviour that is not acceptable. Suggest that
next time he take time out in a quite place to vent. And then he can leave the grumpy head behind and come back with a happy head!
This is a part of growing up it will pass quickly with a little guidance. Monitor the meltdown times: after a long day;
when hungry and tired, maybe more exceptable.
Never make an idle threat. It will come back to bite you in the butt!….If you threaten to cancell that trip to Disney you had better follow through!
Always handle this time with patience and understanding. If this is not possible, take a time out for your self. Go sit and have a cuppa!
As kids head back to school, it’s time to start thinking about packing a healthy lunch that requires little work and will be popular with your children.
It’s all too easy to pack the same simple lunch day after day. Eventfully your kids will tire of it and may decide not to eat it, so never stop introducing a little something new into your kids’ lunchbox.
Children of all ages have their favourites, but packing something different may be accepted with more ease if your little one sees the others kids eating it too.
So if they normally turn their noses up at Veggies and Hummus when you serve it to them at home, then try it as a packed lunch, just a smaller portion for them to decide if they want it on a more regular basis.
Once in a while, switch to a pita pocket filled with cheese, meat and salad; it may be welcomed over the usual thick slices of bread that you normally pack. Keep fruit
portions bite sized and fresher with a small ice pack.. Strawberries, blueberries and oranges are far more attractive to the eye over a sliced apple that may turn color, so leave the apple whole or if your child prefers slices, cover the fruit with lemon juice to keep the brown spots away.
I am in favour of drinking water throughout the day – keep juices and soft drinks for a special treat. There are no nutrients in fruit drinks that you cannot get with fresh fruit.
Yogurt is another great snack to get some dairy in their diets. An alternative is cheese – if your kids are not partial to cheese, then try some vegetables and a cheese dip over the usual ranch. Keep the veggies cut small enough for little hands to hold.
Finally pack a little some thing special – like a smiley face or a lipstick kiss on a fun photo of your child! It will make their day!
Painted by Evelyn Shifflett
www.rhinoink.ca/murals/
Pull out the tissues Moms, your baby is off to school!!
School is just around the corner, and it’s time to start making changes with your summer routine and get back to a normal schedule.
Your children have probably been going to bed late over the summer nights, and waking later too. Moving bedtime from 9:30pm to 8pm overnight will be met with screams of protest. Change hours slowly over the course of two to three weeks.
For example, start to take 15 minutes off the late night bedtime, so now bed at 9:15pm as opposed to 9:30pm. Give it two days, then another take another 15 minutes to 9pm and so forth, until you reach the bed time suitable for your children.
Move meals times around too – breakfast at 10am will no longer be an option when school starts. Schedule a couple of play dates that require an early start to get the kids up and moving.
If your toddler is off to JK for the first time, then get them out and socialized. Toddlers often fear and are overwhelmed by larger crowds, especially if they have never been exposed to a lot of people before. Take them out to places like parks and playgrounds where they can be among many other children.
Go shopping together and allow your toddler to help choose their first and very own special back pack so they see the excitement of starting school. Chat about any fears that they may have about starting JK and all the changes that are taking place. You can take time with older kids too – they may have their own fears about going back to school. Do not do this at the end of the day as children may take their anxiety to bed with them. Chat early in the day or over lunch and ALWAYS end this kind of chat on a happier note – sealed with a kiss and a cuddle with message of how much you love them.
