Guest Post: Preparing Your Home for Parenthood When You Live with a Disability

Nesting is the act of preparing one’s home for the arrival of a new baby or child. Typically, nesting involves things such as painting a nursery, buying a crib, baby-proofing the house, and making sure everything is as clean as possible as the due date approaches. However, when you are a parent living with a disability, your nesting process is generally more intense.

Child Nutrition

As your children grow, their bodies and nutritional needs change! The rates their bodies are growing change, and this correlates to their hunger and nutritional needs. After about two years old, a slowing down in the rate of physical growth comes with a reduced appetite. Each child is different and needs different amounts of nutrients to keep them healthy. How much they need to eat also depends on their level of physical activity and their metabolic rate.

In the past few years, the number of overweight children has increased. The most recent data from 2016 states that 26% of children 2-5 years old were overweight and 14% were considered obese. Recent studies have found that if a child is overweight in preschool, chances are they are going to stay that way into adulthood. There are many factors that play into childhood obesity, but ultimately is does come down to diet and exercise.

Buckle Up, Proper Car Seat Safety

Proper car seat safety practices are one of the most important things a parent can do to take care of their children. How important are they exactly?  A brief look at some statistics can be harrowing to any parent. Nationwide, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of injuries and deaths for children ages 0-14. According to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, properly used car seats reduce the risk of death in passenger cars by 71 percent for infants and 54 percent for toddlers. For children 4- to 8-years-old, booster seats reduce injury risk by 45 percent compared to seat belts alone.

Toddlers and Touching

Before I get started I want to say that this topic might make some of you uncomfortable. However, as a Parent Support Specialist, who gets this question a lot, I feel it's important to address. The topic is toddlers touching themselves.

I often get a comment or a concern about a toddler who has started touching themselves in their private area and sometimes it’s in public. Parents don’t know what to do or what to say. Hopefully these tips can help when/if this starts to happen to you.

When can a child be left home alone?

Do you remember the first time you were left home alone? Perhaps you don’t; once you got older and more used to it, it became a natural thing. For children and for parents, however, this moment can be terrifying to say the least. How do you decide when you can leave your child home alone?

How To Dispose Of Medications At Home

6 Utahns die every week from an opioid overdose and 80% of heroin users started with prescription drugs. These are staggering statistics, so what can we as parents and caregivers do to help ensure that our families and children lead healthy, addiction-free lives?

TO FIDGET OR NOT TO FIDGET, THAT IS THE QUESTION

What’s the deal with these fidget spinners?! Fidget spinners seem to be a trend that swept the country for those that are both young and old. They are selling out of stores across the country. Fidget spinners can be found in a large variety of designs, colors and materials. People have even come out with DIY tutorials on Pinterest of how to make your very own fidget spinner. Over 4 million videos can be found online both teaching the users how to do different tricks with their fidgets and showing off their fidget spinner skills. Many of the video creators are young children in elementary school.

Stay Hydrated!!!

Parents are always reminding their children to drink water, especially in the hot summer months. But what about you busy parents? Are you getting enough to drink?

Snack Hacks: Healthy snacking to save you time and money

From growth spurts to picky eaters to busy schedules, it’s hard to raise children without a stockpile of ready-to-go snacks. Here are a few snack hacks that will save you time, money, and most important, give those growing bodies the right kind of fuel.

Homemade snack packs: Start by making a grocery list before you get to the store, and try not to go shopping on an empty stomach. Don’t be afraid to grab the big bags of snacks, they are usually cheaper and you can divide them later. Don’t forget to make a run down the Tupperware section and grab some snack baggies, sandwich zip-lock bags, and very small Tupperware (for dipping sauces).

Healthy Resolutions for You and Your Family

With New Year's well in our rear view mirror, so are a lot of our healthy new resolutions. Resolutions can be difficult for us to keep. Setting one big goal with the deadline a year away allows us to push off any urgency in making healthy changes. Some of us launched so hard and heavy into the goal that we're already suffering from burn out. While setting out for the larger goal of being healthier is a good thing, we often forget the importance of breaking our goals into smaller steps. Here are some suggestions on smaller goals to help improve the overall nutrition and health of you and your family.

Where Will I Deliver My Baby?

Congratulations! You are having a baby! Now comes the list of all the wonderful (and not so wonderful) things to plan for. One of the things on your list will be where to have your baby. My mom had all five of her children in a hospital. Each experience was different, but that was where she felt most comfortable. My Grandma had some of her children in a hospital and some in her home, but this was more because she had to rather than she wanted to.

Now, however, there are so many ways and places to deliver your baby. Today I’m going to focus on the places. They all have “reasons to do them” and “things that can interfere”, but they are all places that are common to have babies.

Summer Safety Tips

Summertime. School’s out, the sun’s up and the fun is never-ending. Well, that is until you’ve got a bad sunburn that hurts! Summer is packed full of fun activities to do outside but let’s not forget some important safety guidelines to keep us happy, healthy and playing all summer long!

Don't be Crying Out the Baby Blues!

Although mothers prepare for nine months for their baby to come, bringing home a baby can be overwhelming, exhausting, scary, and unexpected among many other things! Between feeding, burping, changing diapers, and sleepless nights, it may be hard to take time for yourself. Around 50-80% of new moms report experiencing "baby blues" which could then lead to a one in ten chance of getting postpartum depression. While these statistics may seem scary, many mothers never experience any symptoms of the baby blues or postpartum depression.

What You Can Do to Keep Your Kids Safe

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The safety of children and families is a priority for communities around the world. A few months ago we talked about the importance teaching children of every age how to be safe. The Gundersen National Child Protection Training Center encourages family safety nights twice a year to discuss different situations a child may face. The Gundersen Center helped to create the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center (JWRC), after Jacobs disappearance in 1989. These programs are working together to end child maltreatment through education, training, and prevention. 

Happy National Children's Dental Health Month!

Did you know that your oral hygiene is connected to your overall health? Clean teeth and gums can help you and your kids stay healthy, but the opposite is also true. How many of us have had a tooth ache or a cavity before? Pain and discomfort can lessen our quality of life and so can other chronic diseases that can be caused by poor dental hygiene!

Before the Baby Bump

The other day I was at my sister's house. When I walked in the door, my 7 year old nephew asked me if I was having a baby yet.  I laughed, since I have only been married for a few months. Just a few months ago I was getting asked questions about flowers, decorations, food, cake, guests, bridesmaids, and everything in between. Now, it seems like almost everyone wants to know when my husband and I are going to have kids, and if I'm expecting our first bundle of joy yet.

The Cold or the Flu?

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With cold and flu season in full swing, it can be difficult to tell what's causing your child's sniffles. Here are some tips on how to protect your child from the flu, how to tell the difference between the flu and a cold, and what to do if your child does get sick.

More than just Baby Blues

Preparing for a newborn involves an array of emotions. There are about nine months to anticipate the day that the baby will come, and then, when delivery day arrives, a new set of emotions fills the air for parents and for close family and friends. Everyone wants to know: What's his name? Does she have hair? Who does she most look like? When can I come over and hold him?

Emergency Preparedness Kits for Kids

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Emergency kits are very useful to have in case of an emergency, whether it's a natural disaster, large scale family emergency, or something small. I have an emergency backpack that I keep in my car, and it is fantastic to have. I've used it for all sorts of things that aren't for a natural disaster - things like a lighter for a candle, band-aids when I ran out, or for an anti-bacterial/anti-pain ointment when I got a bad cut on my finger. Emergency kits definitely have their use for things other than big emergencies.

Happy Recycling Day!

Happy Recycling Day!

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Here at Help Me Grow we LOVE the world we live in and we want to help make it a better place!

We all can do this by recycling; however, recycling is just a part of how we can help our environment. Today we are going to focus on the REUSING part of recycling. We have three fun craft ideas that you can do at home with your family with extra plastic bottles you might have.
(Idea found at this link)