Kid Cooking – Nick Style

As the school year is ending, many parents are looking for fun ways to keep their children entertained and learning over the summer. No parents wants to be the “bad guy,” constantly pushing their child to do educational activities that they find boring, but it can be difficult to find activities that are both fun and involve a learning component.

This is why the staff at Luna Lullaby was excited to hear that Nickelodeon will be releasing a cookbook based on one of its most popular shows, Dora the Explorer.

August 2010 Release Date

The book will be released by Nickelodeon Consumer Products in conjunction with Wiley Publishing and is intended to reach bookstores during August of this year. The title of the cookbook is Dora and Diego Let’s Cook and it will feature approximately fifty recipes as well as helpful tips for parents and children and Spanish phrases.

Importantly, the book focuses on good nutrition as well as safety in the kitchen, making it a great learning instrument for getting your child involved in the meal decisions and preparation in your home.

Although it does not come out until summer will be nearly over, it is a great idea to keep this book in mind when August approaches. The kids will be tired of the activities they have been doing and beginning to complain of boredom, so it will be a great time to introduce something new into the routine.

Cooking also  allows the opportunity to work with math skills, reading skills, and applying those skills by measuring and keeping track of time. There are a ton of ways you can turn Dora’s book into a great summer learning experience for you and your child.

For the parent of a baby with colic, there are only a few questions that truly matter. First, how can colic be treated or cured. After they find out that there is no certain cure for the crying that comes with colic, there is only one question that remains: How long will the colic last?

When it comes to this question, there is some good news and some bad news.

The good news:

The good news is that colic is temporary. There will be a time when your child stops crying for no reason and his or her cries become less anguished. In most cases, children first show signs of colic around three weeks after they are born. The symptoms are the worst around weeks six through eight, and by week twelve, the symptoms have abated.

The bad news:

For some babies, colic symptoms persist until the baby is six months old. There is no way to tell if your child is one of the children who will outgrow it by the age of three months or if your little one will keep crying for another three months.

Regardless of whether your child outgrows their colic by three months or not until they are six months old, it is important to remember that it will end. If you feel overwhelmed or exhausted by your infant’s colic, ask for help from friends and family. Keeping yourself balanced is an important part to helping your child get through the challenges of colic.

Colic is a challenging issue for infants, and it can be even more difficult for their parents as they struggle to help the baby and calm his or her tears. Swaddling is a technique that can be of great help to parents as it offers a unique type of comfort to the infant.

What is swaddling?

Swaddling is not a new technique, although it has become more popular in the United States in recent years. Today, most women do not even leave the hospital without getting at least a brief lesson in the correct way to wrap their baby.

When done correctly, the limbs of the infant are bound to his or her body in a way that is tight enough to restrict movement but not so tight as to cause discomfort. The swaddling blanket keeps the baby warm, which helps him or her maintain their body temperature during the first few days after leaving the womb.

At the same time, keeping the baby in a certain position emulates the tight quarters of the mother’s womb, imitating the security and safety the infant knew for the previous nine months. An additional benefit of the swaddling technique is that it effectively counters the baby’ startle reflex. The startle reflex is a way that baby’s will wake themselves by flailing their limbs, even out of their deepest sleep.

When swaddled, the babies are unable to flail their limbs and wake themselves, resulting in better sleep with fewer interruptions.

How swaddling helps with colic

This is a highly effective way for parents to calm their infants, whether or not they have colic. If you are looking for a safe and natural way to keep your baby calmer and quiet his or her cries, consider incorporating swaddling in your routine.

> Watch a swaddling demonstration video

Colic is a condition that occurs among infants fairly frequently. About one out of five babies can develop colic, although the severity of each case can vary.

The main way to tell if a child has colic is by the frequency and duration of his or her crying. Babies with colic are healthy, well-fed infants with no reason to cry; yet they cry loudly and seem to be in pain because they clench their fists, arch their backs, and flex their abdominal muscles. One way to tell if an infant has colic as opposed to just being fussy is by the rule of threes – A child that cries for three or more hours a day on three or more days per week for at least three consecutive weeks probably has colic.

If you suspect that your little one may have colic, it is important to discuss this with your medical professional to get a definitive diagnosis and ensure that it is not a more serious condition.

Colic – normal and usually temporary

It is important for parents of infants to remember that colic is a normal and temporary condition. Colic does not reflect any health problems or illnesses in an infant, and although the crying fits are painful to watch, the infant will not suffer in either development or growth.

Additionally, colic is temporary. Children generally outgrow colic around three months of age, although some continue to exhibit symptoms until six months. As the cause of colic is not fully understood, it is hard to explain why the condition passes on its own, but fortunately for parents who are raising a colicky infant, it does!

Colic and reflux are pretty common for infants. One out of five babies experiences colic, and up to half of all infants have reflux at some point in their first two years. In previous posts, we have covered the topic of colic extensively, so here we will focus more on reflux and how it is both similar and different to colic in infants.

Reflux vs. Colic

Reflux is the shortened name for GER, which stands for Gastro Esophageal Reflux. When acid goes the wrong way through the digestive system, it enters the esophagus from the stomach, and this is referred to as reflux.

Many adults experience this sensation as heartburn. In infants and toddlers, it is because the muscle that connects the stomach and esophagus, the sphincter there, is not fully developed. The sphincter does not keep the acid where it belongs but instead allows it to rise up into the esophagus. If this occurs too often, the esophagus can be damaged extensively and the acid can ruin the enamel on one’s teeth.

Not sure – ask your doctor

It is difficult to determine on your own whether your child is suffering from colic or reflux, so it is always a good idea to consult your physician when you have any concerns. However, one way to tell if your child has reflux rather than colic is if they are over three months of age. If they have passed three months, it is unlikely that he or she has colic because they are outside of the normal age range. Another way to differentiate between the two conditions is appetite: if your child is eating regularly, they probably do not have issues with reflux, as a decreased appetite usually accompanies reflux.

Toddler formula taken off the shelf

According to the latest announcement from the company’s spokesperson, Mead Johnson will be phasing out the production and sale of a product called Enfagrow Premium. This chocolate flavored beverage was intended to function as a “formula” for toddlers, full of vitamins disguised by a sweet flavoring.

Enfagrow Premium was marketed toward children who are picky eaters and may not get the vitamins and nutrients they need otherwise. However, the product was quickly targeted by popular parent blogger Marion Nestle who said that it would encourage children to crave sweet foods and beverages rather than developing a broader palette.

In this way, the product was encouraging childhood obesity by encouraging the harmful sugar and fat addiction that is currently plaguing the young people in America.

The medical community weighs in

These opinions reflect the position of the American Academy of Pediatrics which posits that feeding kids excessive amounts of sweet foods and beverages encourages them to prefer sugary foods over nutritious ones. The Academy recommends that parents and guardians limit the sugar intake of toddlers to encourage healthier choices and the development of a more rounded palate.

When announcing the end of this particular product, the spokesperson for Mead Johnson was careful to say that the company stands by the product as nutritionally superior to other beverages on the market for children but that the negative attention it had received was taking away from the products strengths. He did not acknowledge that it could be harmful to the development of healthy eating habit for children over the long-term.

Despite the incredible progress in medicine and science over the past hundred years or more, the causes of colic remain something of a mystery. It is not a new condition, but there has yet to be a definite answer as to what causes colic and why one child develops the condition while others do not.

Estimates vary on the actual number of infants who are affected by colic, but generally range between 15 and 25% of all babies. Experts disagree on the single cause of this condition, but common explanations for colic include the following areas.

Causes of colic to look for:

Indigestion or gas.

Gas can be extremely painful for infants, so one explanation for the cause of colic is that the infant is crying due to the buildup of gas in their digestive system.

Immaturity of the baby’s digestive system.

One way of explaining the indigestion or gas is that the infant’s digestive system is so new that it cannot process the formula or milk that it is given. This immaturity leads to gas, indigestion, and pain, causing colic.

Allergies or intolerance.

A third potential cause of colic is that the baby has allergies or cannot tolerate certain compounds or foods.

Temperament.

Finally, some people think that colic is a reflection of a baby’s very sensitive temperament, and that they develop better self control as they get older than enables them to control their crying.

The actual cause of colic may be any one of these or a combination of them, but understanding what may cause the crying that indicate colic is a smart way to evaluate possible ways of treating it.

Summer is approaching, and that means that parents will have more unscheduled time with their children. Without school taking up the majority of the day, children have the freedom to pursue any number of activities. For many families, summer day or sleep away camps are a great way to fill that time and broaden the horizons of the children.

However, this may not be a viable option this summer, which means that parents will be looking for innovative ways to keep their kids occupied. At Luna Lullaby, we believe in a healthy and balanced lifestyle, so we encourage kids to get off the couch, away from the computer or television, and get outside this summer!

3 Ways to Get Out and Have Summer Fun!

#1 – Go Swimming

It’s hot outside, which means it’s a great time to get in the water. Swimming burns more calories than other types of cardiovascular exercise, so it’s a great way to get in shape while staying cool.

#2 – Go Biking

Some people do not enjoy being in the pool, and even those who love the water may look forward to a way to shake things up and do something new. The great thing about biking is that you can travel greater distances than running or walking, so it is easy to make a day trip out of your physical activity.

#3 – Just go play

It seems obvious enough, but having fun is a great way to stay active. With longer hours of sunlight during summer months, it’s a great time to get some kids from the neighborhood and start a game of freeze tag or capture the flag.