Thursday, March 27, 2014

Volunteer Night for Welcome Baby

 We love our volunteers!

After recieving dontations from the community over the past four months, we had some great volunteers from BYU's School of Family Life come put all of our home-visit packets together for us. They did a great job, and we so enjoyed having them. Thanks for all the time and hardwork you dontated to Welcome Baby and to new families in the community!

(Pictured: Melissa Bennett, Hannah Mae Swope, Dawna Baugh, Roberta Merrill, Hannah Brinton, Dana Raine. Not pictured: Julie Evans and Brittney Frehner)

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Are You Raising an “IAddict”?: Healthy Technology Use for Children



We live in a world overrun with iPads, iPhones, laptops, televisions, and every other technological device you can imagine. Raising a healthy child in such a technology dependent world can prove to be a daunting task for parents today. So, how do you know if your child is getting a healthy dose of technology or if they need some time away from the screen? And if your child is experiencing a technology overload, what should you do? Here are some tips from the experts.

Is it technology overload?
To see if your child is using too much technology, it is important to first be aware of their current habits. Start by recording the amount of screen time that your child has on a normal day. This includes time on phones, television, computers, tablets, iPods, and other electronics. At the end of the day, total up the amount of time your child spent in front of screens.

The next step is to compare these totals with those outlined by the National Institute for Health which are:
Children under age 2 should have no screen time.
Limit screen to 1 - 2 hours a day for children over age 2

Is your child over these limits? Follow the tips below  to help limit the technology use in your home


What can you do?
Dr. Gary Small at UCLA recommends that you establish the 1 to 5 rule in your home for children up to age four or five. This means that for every minute of technology use, the child should spend 5 minutes doing something creative, talking with people, playing with toys, or engaging in other activities that can calm an overactive brain. Establishing this rule helps children learn, grow, and embrace creativity without technology at a time when it is crucial to their development.

Other experts recommend designating “technology-free” zones in the home where cellphones, tablets, laptops, and other technology devices are not allowed. Some of the recommended areas include the dinner table and in bedrooms. Establishing areas that are free of technology can help foster more social interaction and strengthen relationships.

One of the most powerful pieces of advice is to set a good example of proper technology use for your child. Studies show that children pickup their technology habits from their parents. Set an example by putting down the phone to talk to another person, shutting off the TV to go outside and play, or reading a book instead of playing a video game.

Resources:

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Fun in the Springtime Sun!

How great has the weather been lately?! It just makes me want to get out and do stuff! With busy schedules and six long months since we were able to do some fun, WARM outside activities, it can be hard to think of fun things to do in that beautiful springtime sunshine. So I scoured the internet and came up with 10 great ideas for some new or nostalgic, active or relaxing, family-friendly or kid solo activities to do this spring break.

1. Plant something green
Whether you are outside getting an early start on your summer garden...

...or spending a rainy day making a beautiful indoor garden, springtime green is always a happy addition to a home.  

2. Take a hike
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Hiking is a great way to help kids connect with nature. Its also a great way for parents to refresh as well!


3. Go on a bike ride
Get out and enjoy the sunshine while you visit downtown or your local park on a bike ride.

4. Visit a farm
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5. Fly a kite
Flying a kite is the perfect match to a windy spring day. Get nostalgic and show your kids a fun new activity!

6. Jump in puddles
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April showers bring May flowers....and plenty of puddles for kids to play in! Send them out in the rain if you need to get out some of those winter wiggles.

7. Feed the ducks
Ducky ducky! Visit your local duck pond and have a picnic, for you and these cute little animal friends.

8. Pick strawberries
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Don't those look delicious! Investigate local farms in your area that let visitors come and pick their strawberry harvest and get to pickin'.


9. Play with sidewalk chalk

Help your kids create a sidewalk chalk world to take pictures in and then have an afternoon photo session.

10. Take a sun nap
What better way to recharge than to relax in the sun and get in a quick nap. Or a long one!

Get out and enjoy spending some time in the sun, or rain, this spring!

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Let's Eat!

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One of a babies favorite past times is feeding time! And as your baby gets older and hits different developmental milestones, they will  start to become more interested in doing things on their own. They start wanting to feed themselves, dress themselves, and show more interest in learning how to do some things independently. 

Here are some developmental milestones from Help Me Grow's Self Help/ Feeding Development handout to help you know what your child should be doing at each age until they are about a year old.  

Birth to 4 Months                                                                                                               
  • Coordinates sucking, swallowing, breathing                                  
  • Latches well to breast or bottle feeding                            
  • Gaining weight at expected rate                                       
4 to 8 months
  • Introduce puree spooned foods
  • Brings hands to mouth with toy or object
  • Shows discomfort when diaper is wet or dirty
8 to 12 Months                                       
  • Holds and munches on crackers 
  • Consistently finger feeding                                         
  • Time to introduce spoon and cup                                              
  • Beginning to help with dressing                                 
12- 18 months

  • Brings spoon to mouth- frequently upside down
  • Sleeps 10-12 hours a night
18-24 months

  • Able to chew completely
  • Self feeds independently
  • Beginning to undress without assistance, especially shoes, socks and pants
24-36 months

  • Able to eat any type of food presented to them
  • May have periods of picky eating
  • Dressing with assistance
  • Unbuttoning large buttons 
Some extra tips and tricks!
-Keep feeding opportunities relaxed
-Realize learning to eat is a messy process
-Allow your child to be involved in meal preparation and serving
-Smile when you serve those vegetables!
-Modeling eating and dressing from family and friends
-Solid sleep patterns are key to a happy baby
-Give opportunities for child to be independent with feeding and dressing
-Practice, practice and practice some more!

What are some of your feeding tips and tricks? Let us know by commenting below! Happy Feeding!

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

5 Tips to Make Mealtimes Meaningful

Eating is a big part of life!

The joy of food and of sharing mealtimes with friends and family is something that begins in infancy and continues into toddlerhood.

What I wish toddler mealtime looked like... (Photo Credit)
What toddler mealtime really looks like. (Photo Credit)








































But sharing mealtimes with a toddler can be difficult. Very difficult.

Mealtimes with my toddler go something like this:
Give toddler food in a bowl on highchair.
Food gets dumped onto tray.
1/2 of food ends up on the floor.
1/4 of food ends up on toddler's body and in hair (somehow it gets into her diaper as well...)
1/4 of food actually ends up in her mouth. 

With mealtimes being a little crazy and messy, it is easy to forget that mealtimes can and should be meaningful

At mealtimes, parents can teach their children the importance of nourishing and taking care of their bodies and can strengthen relationships with their little ones.

Here are 5 tips to make mealtimes with your toddler more meaningful:
  1. Remember mealtimes are about more than food. Mealtimes provide a great opportunity for parents and toddlers to make meaningful connections.
  2. Create routines/traditions around mealtime. Whatever the tradition or routine may be (blessing the food, sharing a "happy moment" of the day, telling jokes, putting on some fun music, etc.), having routines around mealtime makes things predictable and comfortable for your toddler and can be lots of fun. 
  3. Turn off the TV and put away all other screens (phones, laptop, iPad) during mealtime. These are distractions that can take away from meaningful family interaction. They can also distract toddlers from actually eating during mealtime. 
  4. Avoid mealtime power struggles. Provide your toddler with opportunities to make choices during mealtime. Do you want the blue cup or the green cup? Do you want your spaghetti on a plate or in a bowl? Would you like peas or carrots? Remember that you decide the food options your toddler chooses from, and they decide how much to eat. (More on this here).
  5. Make mealtimes fun! Make up fun food titles for your meals, include dips to dunk food into, get your toddler involved in food preparation and setting the table, cut food into fun shapes. (More tips here and here).
How do you make mealtimes meaningful with your toddler?

Additional Resources:

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

A Taste for Books

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Babies are never too young to be introduced to books. When you first start they may just want to stick the book in their mouth, but that's ok! Letting your baby explore books in the way that interests them will allow the reading experience to be more meaningful for both of you. When you begin to introduce books to your baby, start with short books and recognize that you don't have to finish the whole story.

Zero to Three is a child development website that has awesome tips on how to make reading with your baby fun. By starting young, you can encourage and motivate your children to develop a love for reading that will last a lifetime! 

Here are few reading tips from Zero to Three:

  • Babies cannot yet turn pages on their own, an 18-month-old will want to give it a try, and a three-year-old can certainly do it alone. Remember, it's OK to skip pages!
  • Talk or sing about the pictures: you do not have to read the words to tell a story.  Try "reading" the pictures in a book for your child sometimes.  When your child is old enough, ask him to read the pictures to you!
  • Show children the cover page: explain what the story is about. If you have an older toddler, ask them to guess what the story might be about.
  • Show children the words: run your finger along the words as you read them, from left to right.
Books are great tools for teaching children; from potty training, to heading off to kindergarten, to all the transitions in between, children books relate to kids in a way adults cannot, so get reading!

Have any favorite books? Let us know below so we can add to our own libraries!   



Thursday, March 6, 2014

Teaching Young Children about Loss and Grief

My baby cousin passed away recently – she was seven days old.  Baby Kate has two older brothers. One is five and one is three.  The three year old doesn't really understand the concept of death, but the older brother gets it – he knew that momma was pregnant and was going to have a baby and that that baby is now gone to heaven.

This is a difficult thing to talk about with young children.  Dr. Brazleton wrote about “Loss and Grief” in his book, Touchpoints and here are a few suggestions he gives:

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1. Talk about these tragedies with young children. “Grief is a vital and inevitable part of life. Longing for someone who is temporarily or permanently lost adds an important dimension to a child’s ability to care about others.”

Children are exposed to tragedies almost on a daily basis.  Do you have the radio or news on while little ones are in the room?  What kinds of questions do they ask?  How do you explain tragedy to them?  As Dr. Brazelton explained, it is important to answer your child's questions, and explain to them in a way that they can understand.

2. Share your feelings with your child – this helps children understand what you are feeling and why – if a parent “withdraws without sharing their experience, it’s a confirmation of their worst fear- grandma has died -and now mom is sad and she might die too!”

Children give their parents a sense of purpose and hope for the future.  My cousin said her baby girl died to save her mother’s life, the ultimate sacrifice, so that she could raise her two boys.  This motivated her to want to get out of the hospital and back home to parent her boys!

3. “When (the child) makes her weeping mother smile, the child can experience a rare sense of power in changing her mother’s mood to a positive one, if only briefly.  I am constantly struck with the observation that a small child will attempt to comfort a grieving parent.”

As the tears came again and again just after baby Kate passed, finally their three year old stood up and, pointing his finger to his mom said, “Mom, stop crying! You have got to stop crying!! Just stop it!..." This young child's reaction definitely turned those tears of sadness into tears of laughter. 

4. Tell the child as much as you think the child will understand – but not too frightening
“You must prepare her for conversations that she will overhear”

Ask your child who is sad with the loss of a loved one he knew: “Can you remember some of the things about him to tell me?” When the child shares some of his memories, they become more ingrained in his memory, rather than the sad feelings he is now experiencing.  

5. Often, when a close loved one passes away, a full range of emotions are experienced.  When a child learns to identify her feelings, this can lead to the development of empathy for others who are sad or upset. Children begin to develop empathy as they reach the stage of "imaginary play" and develop their peer relations.  The development of empathy begins around three years of age.

My cousin and her family will indeed continue to experience a range of emotions as they mourn the loss of baby Kate.  Although her younger son doesn't really understand yet, his parents have taken the time to explain to him as much as he will understand.  And their older son is only beginning to understand, but his parents continue to answer his questions and talk with him about how he is feeling.



For more information of helping children manage their emotions, check out a previous Help Me Grow blog post by clicking here

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Baby Chore Time!

Okay. Keeping a clean house with little kids is like owning a cat and expecting to never find cat hair in your mouth, your clothes and your food. But there is help! We're happy to announce we have found a solution for you! the BABY MOP!

Top 5 reasons you NEED a baby mop:

  1. Teach your baby a strong work ethic early on in their life.
  2. Your baby will learn not to drop and waste food.
  3. Baby will get a nice workout, burn off energy, and do muscle toning. And sleep better too!
  4. Not having to clean your floors saves you time so you can spend it doing things you enjoy.
  5. Save lots of money on house cleaning costs.

For more details watch the video! Read the Huffington Post article for serious reviews!

So funny! I totally laughed when I saw this. And read the comments. People thought it was serious and had some serious concerns! I wonder how many of these they've actually sold?

In any case...kids and clean don't really go together. I grew up in a large family of 11 kids and we always had chores to do. My dad would try to convince us that "we're a team! we all need to pull our own weight." and we really did have to (even though I didn't' believe him). I remember one night my sister and I had gone to bed without mopping the kitchen floor. Mom had asked us several times and we said "we'd get to it" and would skip off to play in the tree-house. I was probably 11 and my sister 13. Our dad got home late from work and mom was frustrated (rightfully so - 11 kids!! Dirty floors!) and so he woke us up (it was probably 11:30 or so) and marched us into the kitchen and had us on our hands and knees with rags and buckets while he leaned back on one of the kitchen chairs eating ice cream and watching us. It was actually pretty fun towards the end....it took us a while to finish the rather large kitchen space but once we finished, we all shared ice cream. I don't know what was said, but toward the end of the night we were laughing and having a good time. AND we knew that if we didn't do our chores...their would be consequences. I really appreciate that about my parents - they were fairly clear about the consequences (good and bad) if we did or didn't do what was asked us. My mom is a saint for doing what they're doing.

Chores are an important thing for kids to learn to do and to take responsibility for! When I was a sophomore in college, I was the resident assistant for the incoming female freshmen and SO many of these girls didn't know how to clean....I still shake my head over some of their attempts. In any case! its important. it takes time and young kinds can't be expected to do certain chores above their developmental understanding. That's why, when I found this chart, I had to share it!

Photo Credit
Its from this website and comes in English and Spanish.

Remember, every child is different! You know your children the best and know what would work for them given their strengths and weaknesses. But it can be done! Maybe your house is never perfectly clean (do those people/houses exist??), but at least you can feel the satisfaction of trying! Good luck!

What do you think? Is it a decent assessment? What would you change? What would you add? What are solutions you've found in your home?