Chicken Pox
Chicken pox is a common affliction that affects people of all ages but is most commonly seen in children.
The symptoms of chicken pox are red bumps on the body that turn into blisters and that increase in quantity over several days.
The bumps may look like insect bites or a rash and is often difficult to diagnose the first few days. Often, it is accompanied by a fever.
Watch the bumps to see if they turn into blisters and if more bumps emerge over a few days. If so, it is likely chicken pox.
Most cases of chicken pox do not even need a consultation with a physician and are easily treatable. However there are times when consulting a doctor is advisable.
If after three days you are still unsure of the diagnosis, consult a doctor. If the child is an infant, you should bring the child in for diagnosis. If your child’s bumps seem infected or are located on eyelids, it is best to get it checked.
Also, if your child seems unusually ill, has severe headaches, a high fever that lasts more than five days, or if the child develops other cold like symptoms such as a cough a doctor’s opinion should be sought.
Chicken pox is highly contagious and the child should be quarantined for the duration. Do not allow the child to interact with peers at school or with friends.
Once the child starts getting spots, it will take approximately seven days until he or she is no longer contagious. The day after all the spots have scabbed, the child will no longer be contagious and can resume normal activity.
The accompanying fever should only be treated if it is above 101° F. Studies indicate a slight fever will help the child heal. Motrin, Advil or Tylenol can be used to treat the fever. Use only acetaminophen and ibuprofen products for fever but do not use aspirin. A child can have a severe reaction to aspirin during this time so it is important not to use it.
The child should try not to scratch the bumps because it may cause infection. Take greater care to keep the fingernails short and clean during this time.
Frequent baths will help soothe the itching. Adding oatmeal to the bath will also help. Brands such as Aveeno are ideal for this. Benadryl or other off-brand topical antihistamines can be used as needed and greatly reduce the itching. These are readily available over-the-counter at any pharmacy.
Children who have chicken pox and who have a slight fever but otherwise seem well typically do not need to see a doctor.
Ensure they stay isolated until the ailment passes and they are no longer contagious. See a doctor if unusual symptoms occur or if the child seems very ill. Chicken pox is a common ailment, easily treated, and quickly recovered from. Most people only get one case of chicken pox in a lifetime.
Make your Kids Germ Smart?
Kids are the number 1 spreaders of germs and illness but it’s not because they want to be.
They simply don’t know they are spreading germs nor how to cough and sneeze without spreading dangerous germs.
That’s where Germy Wormy comes in.
The Germy Wormy Germ Smart for Kids DVD entertains as it educates kids how to “Protect the Fort” against bad germs with Germ Stoppers 5 and Germy Wormy.
The Germy Wormy Disposable Sleeve gives kids a fun place to give their germs to – instead of everywhere and everything else! Germs are like ice cream to Germy Wormy and he is sooo hungry. May he please have all your bad germs?
Kids have so much fun “feeding” the Germy Wormy they won’t even realize they are learning a healthy habit and keeping germs from spreading.
You can tell a child a million times to wash their hands,cough into their elbow and keep germs from their face but this tactic seldom leads to changed behavior.
Alternatively, when you show them why they should do it in a fun and appealing way, they jump on the bandwagon willingly!
• Customers report up to 50% reduction in illlness for children and those around them.
• Kid Friendly Fun – they get to “feed the worm”
• Increases children’s willingness to practice good hygiene habits
• Quickly empowers children with the knowledge of what they can do to stop the spread of colds and flu’s
• Go from germs everywhere to germs in one place and disposable!
• Catches the germs as they are released - less germs in the air or on surfaces
• Protects their clothes
• Ends chasing children around with a box of tissues!
Kids as young as two years old quickly learn and accomplish all of the healthy hygiene habits recommended by the Center for Disease Control (CDC):
Protect kids from the Spread of Colds and Flu Fun, Fast, Easy and Highly Effective Click Here to find out more
Taming a Tough Toddler at Bedtime
Putting your toddler to bed can sometimes be an exercise in frustration.
If you have experienced this, you might want to consider one of the following techniques to make bedtime a peaceful time.
Be consistent about bed times and waking times. Your toddler is more likely to respond positively if he’s used to a specified schedule.
The earlier your child’s routine is established, the easier it is to put them to bed without incident
Make the activities the same every night, and make the time before bed quiet and peaceful.
Whether a parent tells the child a story, provides a bedtime snack, puts in a short video, or plays quiet games before putting the child in bed, consistency is the key.
Try not to lie in bed with your toddler until he falls asleep. This might actually have the opposite effect, and might encourage your child to stay awake, and ask for drinks of water and more bedtime stories.
An alternative might be telling your toddler you’re going to complete a chore and that you’ll come back in and check on them in a few moments. It’s most likely that the child will fall asleep while waiting for mom or dad to return.
You might also want to talk about your child’s day with them. Keep your tone soft and quiet, and try not to excite your child in the process. Turning this into a nighttime story with your child as the main character is a fun option as well.
As the child grows older, if a consistent bedtime is maintained the task will become easier. The most important issue is consistency and repetition.
If the child can expect the same thing every night, and these customary tasks are pleasant, bedtime can become a delightful family ritual.
If however, your child is continually resisting sleep, talk with your child’s pediatrician, as their might be a medical problem at the root of it.
A great guide on this subject is Sleep Solutions for Your Baby, Toddler and Preschooler: The Ultimate No-Worry Approach for Each Age and Stage
Celebrating your Childs Birthday’s
The Party Works is your complete source for
- birthday party supplies,
- cake decorations
- baby shower party supplies
Their range covers over 2,500 different items which are always in stock ready for shipment at any time.
With over 10 years dependable family service and same day shipping available this is the ideal place to shop for your next Family Celebration.
Their Brithday celebration packs include a selection of Thank You Notes, Dinner Plates, Dessert & Beverage Napkins, 16 Lunch Napkins, Hot/Cold Beverage Cups, Plastic Re-usable Tablecover, Mini Treat Boxes, Pea Pod Mylar Balloon, Plastic Re-usable Fringed Banner and much more.
I have listed below some of the different themes available but there are dozens more to choose from.
Baby Einstein — Backyardigans — Bambi
Barbie — Batman — Beach Ball Fun (Pool, Beach)
Beauty and The Beast — Bee Movie
Birthday Party Room Decorations
Bob The Builder — Bolt — Bratz
Butterflies and Flowers — Buzz LightYear
Care Bears — Cars (Disney) — Cats & Kittens
Cinderella — Cowboy - Western
Daisy Duck — Dinosaurs Diggin — Disney Princess
Donald Duck — Dora the Explorer — Dumbo The Elephant
Elmo — Fantastic Four — Finding Nemo
Firefighter — Garden Party — Golf
Hannah Montana — Happy Feet — Harry Potter
Indiana Jones — Little Mermaid — Kung Fu Panda
Monster Truck — Power Rangers —
High School Musical — Kung Fu Panda — Lion King Friends
Madagascar Island — My Little Pony — Ocean Adventure
Sesame Street — Shrek — Sleeping Beauty — Snow White
Spiderman — Star Trek — Star Wars
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — Thomas The Tank
Wiggles
And if you want a special shaped or designed cake for your Childs birthday they have a full range of
- Cake Pans
- Cake Toppers.
- 3D Sugar Shapes
- Sugar Images for Cake Tops
Honestly they have so much to choose from all I can suggest is that you take a look for yourself.
The Right Baby Shoes Are Crucial
To The Development Of Babies Feet!
One of the questions many parents come up with during the early growth of their new child is “when will I have to start thinking about shoes for my baby?”
Obviously, when the toddler begins walking, it will depend a lot on how much and just where he of she is walking as to what kind of shoes to purchase, but one thing is certain and that is baby shoes won’t last very long as you the young offspring’s can grow faster than a house plant.
Correctly fitted shoes are important to anyone at any age but especially with a tot as their feet need careful care and attention as they develop. Having said that, far too many parents spend far too much time debating shoe brands, designs, styles and colors for their child considering they are redundant in a few weeks or months at best.
Additionally, the child is oblivious to the fuss surrounding their feet and so couldn’t care less what they look like or who makes them, so long as they are a comfortable fit.
Even so, baby shoes are a major consideration for today’s proud parents. A baby always in your arms and unable to walk or crawl will have completely different footwear to a baby that has started scurrying around independently.
As there are different stages of growth to a growing baby, then there is a need to be mindful that these different stages will require several changes in footwear both in quality and design.
If you read some reports from pediatricians, many will recommend that your baby does not wear shoes until they reach at least 15 months of age. But this is just a general guide as not all children are the same and you need to take into consideration whether your baby is walking or not. Some babies are up and about at a surprisingly early age.
You may have noticed that some parents buy shoes the moment their baby pulls his or herself into a first tentative stand, whereas others heed the advice of pediatricians and wait as long as possible so as not to constrict their children’s feet during early months.
But if you feel the time has come to purchase babies shoes for your pride and joy, then it’s always a good idea to look for something soft and flexible that will allow baby to use the movement of his or her feet to maintain balance and to toddle.
Most baby care stores should be more than qualified to assist you with the correct footwear for your child.
Another thing you might want to take into consideration when buying baby shoes is to opt for not only very soft, but very breathable material too, and perhaps more important than anything, make sure that the shoe is plenty big enough to allow for natural movement of the foot and toes and to allow for a bit of growth.
Footwear for babies and young children can be a costly business due to the need to replace it so often, so although you might be tempted to skimp on the price, remember that quality is important for the early development of young feet.
Providing a Safe and Secure Home for your Child
Accidents in the home are the primary cause of death in U.S. children. By taking a few simple precautions, these injuries can be avoided, making your home safe for your child and the children who visit it.
In your kitchen, you should be sure to install safety latches on cabinets and drawers. This helps keep them out of the everyday household chemicals you use to clean your home and dishware with, and also keeps them from grabbing sharp objects like scissors or knives from inside the drawers.
Use the back burners when cooking on the stovetop, and keep the handles of your pots and pans turned out of a curious child’s reach while cooking.
Safety latches should be installed on cabinets and drawers in your bathrooms as well to keep them out of unsafe household cleaning products and medicines.
Be sure to unplug any electrical appliance such as a blow dryer or curling iron directly after use and put out of a child’s reach. Teach them early that electricity and water do not mix and that no electrical appliances of any kind should ever be immersed in or placed under running water.
Toilet locks should also be used in homes that have small children to keep lids down. Young children are ‘top heavy’ and can easily fall into a toilet if they lean in to play in it.
Since a young child can drown in less than just an inch of water, it is imperative to closely supervise them in the bathroom at all times.
Around your house, be sure to secure furniture such as bookshelves and heavy furniture that could tip easily to the wall using brackets. Use doorknob covers to keep them out of rooms with potential hazards and to keep them from leaving the house unsupervised.
Make sure your window blinds do not have looped cords on them as they can present a strangulation hazard to a young child. And always cover your electrical outlets with protective covers to keep small fingers from them and small objects from being inserted into them.
Check your house over carefully for other potential hazards and address them immediately. With these precautions and some common sense, your household will be your child’s haven.
Traditional vs Non-Traditional Parenting
In the past 40 years, roughly since the 1960s, parenting (along with dozens of other life issues) has undergone a revolution in thinking.
Traditional methods were questioned, in many cases rejected, and a spirit of experimentation resulted in the adoption of many alternatives.
Many people during the 1960s began to believe that the restrictive, almost Victorian parenting styles of earlier generations were unsuited to a modern society. Many converging views led to that conclusion, including Dr. Spock’s books and those of other influential child psychologists.
The results of those ‘experiments’ has now been observed for the past 10-20 years and after a generation of experimentation, some have come to believe that the traditional ways were not so far off after all. The pendulum has begun to swing back to more traditional views of parenting.
But are those the only alternatives? Are the only possibilities a harsh and unreasonable discipline versus a soft and mindless lack of discipline? Many contemporary psychologists envision a third way.
Parenting is an enormously complex undertaking, requiring huge amounts of patience, struggle (both emotional and financial) and a long-term commitment. But that effort can be made much simpler by some relatively simple observations about human nature.
The first thing that will strike any parent is the unabashed joy that a child takes in exploring the world around him or her. Babies are fascinated by sights, sounds, movement and a variety of sensations. As the child matures, asking questions becomes a virtual mania, at least for a few years.
If a parent responds with enthusiasm to those early gropings, they are recognizing and supporting the fundamental attribute that young humans are using: curiosity. But, curiosity is another way of saying that the child is seeking to use his or her mind to understand and deal with the world.
Developing that faculty provides the foundation for other essential aspects of the child’s personality, including self-esteem, empathy, enjoyment of life and other positive characteristics.
To develop a healthy self-esteem, it’s necessary to feel that one can understand and deal with the challenges life brings, even to the young. To deal with others fairly, and to empathize with their circumstances and reactions, the child has to be able to understand what it’s like to ‘walk in their shoes’.
To enjoy life, the young person - just as do adults - has to be comfortable with their ability to achieve the values - both material and spiritual - essential to a successful life.
Parents can help in that effort by leaving open all the options that modern society can offer an individual. There is no need to return to the socially restrictive views of a hundred years ago, with its conformity, rigidity and frequent disapproval of individual choice.
But neither do parents need to succumb to moral anarchy or relativism and regard all options as equally valid. Human nature is not infinitely plastic and the demands of the real world will require facing facts.
The third way can represent the best chance a developing individual has for a positive life.
For more information on Positive Parenting Click Here