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Feature Article: Coughs, Sneezy, Runny Noses - What Do I Do? by Kim Pierson

Maintain a high level of humidity in the child's room or in the home. Be sure you clean your humidifier regularly, or it will spread irritants. If your child is troubled by breathing or a croupy cough, you might try taking him into the bathroom, close the door, turn on the shower, hottest setting, and allow him to breathe the air for 20 minutes.
Eight ounces of fluid every hour. Fruit juices are best, but drinking anything is better than nothing.
Encourage your child to get lots of rest. Try to keep him in bed, but if that doesn't work, just make sure he doesn't overexert himself. He can even play outdoors if he doesn't exercise too much.
Before you give in to the temptation of giving some over the counter medications, you may be defeating your child's bodily efforts to cure himself. Most of what you can do with medications can be accomplished through constant attention to hydration and humidity.
You might try Metholatum or another salve to rub on his chest, or if you're concerned about him getting it in his eyes, you can put it on his back. Also a bath with a couple of drops of eucalyptus oil in it will help clear him up.
You also might watch to see if dairy products make his phlegm thicker and harder to deal with.
Watch for respiratory difficulties and blueness of the skin, which may indicate bacterial pneumonia. In that case, get him to a hospital or doctor immediately.
Make sure he recieves a balanced diet, rich in nutrients and free as possible of the chemical additives that are present in most of the prepared foods sold today.

More questions? Join our email discussion group or live chats.

Feature Article: Child Safety In The Home by Kim Pierson

Young children spend a lot of time at home. This makes it very important that your home is as safe as it can be for your young toddler. Also make sure that anywhere your little one spends a lot of time, like grandma's house, has been checked for safety. Here is checklist of some of the most common areas to be aware of:

Around the House
Cover all of the electric sockets you are not using with plastic safety shields. Keep electric cords in good shape and put away any extension cords you are not using. Build a guardrail around anything that is hot. Keep the fireplace properly screened and any combustible liquids used in the fireplace out of reach. Keep long cords from blinds out of reach. Beware of poisonous plants. Lock windows above the ground floor and consider installing gates. Install a smoke detector on every level of the house. Check them when the time changes from or to Daylight Savings Time. Block all stairways with non-folding gates. Block tables with sharp corners and consider installing corner guards. Don’t put your child in a walker. Always strap your baby in a baby carrier, and place the carrier on a flat, sound surface. Keep children away from buckets, including diaper pails. Store guns and bullets separately, and lock them away. Consider getting rid of any handgun kept in or around the house.

Bathroom
Rid of razor blades in a safe place. Set the water heater at about 120 degrees. Lock all the bathroom cleaners, especially drain cleaners, in a safe place. Never leave the toilet seat up, children can fall in and drown. Never leave a child unsupervised in the bathtub. Lock all medications away from children’s reach and dispose of old medications down the toilet. Keep cosmetics and toiletries out of reach.

Kitchen
Lock all cleaners out of reach. Turn pot handles away from the edge of the stove. Unplug appliances such as coffee makers after use. Place a fire extinguisher near the stove, out of child’s reach. Keep small children away from the edge of dangling tablecloths when hot food is on the table.

Baby’s Room
Do not put anything, like a pacifier, on a cord around the baby’s neck. Never leave a rolling child unattended on a bed. Periodically check the baby’s crib to make sure all connections are tight. Cribs should have no more than 2 ½ inches between slats and between the mattress and frame. Remove tall knobs from the corner posts, because the can entangle a child’s clothing if they try to crawl out. Take small toys out of the crib when the baby is sleeping. Install spring loaded lid support devices on toy chests so that they cannot fall on top of the child’s head. Discard all broken toys, including balloons.

Remember, even a safe home isn’t safe without proper supervision. If you need to take your attention away from the child for any reason, make sure you have a safe place for them to be, like a playpen, for just a few minutes.

More questions? Join our email discussion group or live chats.

Feature Article: Why Breastfeed?

Everyone knows that breastfeeding is natural. That means that your breastmilk is made especially for your baby and his needs today. Your breastmilk is exactly what your baby needs, not more or less. The most important reason to breastfeed is that if you choose to feed anything other than your breastmilk, your baby will receive less than what he needs.
Breastfeeding provides a special bond that cannot be achieved with formula feeding. The baby is constantly monitored by one person, you. When holding and feeding the baby every two hours, you are giving a checkup to your baby. You are watching him and looking him over, watching for signs of change in the baby. This type of care is exactly what nature intended and cannot be duplicated.
Here's a short list of just some of the benefits to the baby: increased immunity, higher IQ, changes daily to match changing needs, less fussiness/crying, healthy skin, and avoidance of allergies.
And don't forget about mom. There are benefits to us as well: reduction of postpartum blues, aids in reduction of uterus after delivery, aids in weight loss, decreases risk of breast cancer, and brings about what I call "arm-chair parenting"! That is the ability of the mother to spend a lot of time in, especially the first three weeks, in the armchair nursing the baby. This time is important for you and your baby to get to know each other, and for you to give yourself a chance to heal and repair your body from pregnancy and childbirth.
Read more about why to breastfeed in The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding
More questions about "Why Breastfeed"? Join our email discussion group or live chats.

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