Breastfeeding is one of the best gifts you can give your baby. Here are five tips for making it as easy as possible:

1. Be Good to Yourself — The frequency of feeds varies as your baby grows. Early on feeding may be very frequent. Later, your baby may not need to feed as often, but no matter the frequency, it can take a lot of moms’ time and energy. While breastfeeding, be especially good to yourself and realize that during this window in time the most important thing you are doing is caring for your baby. Everything else can wait.
2. Drink Lots of Water — This helps you make the amount of milk your baby needs. Before sitting down to feed your baby, fill a large glass or stainless steel canteen with water so you can drink while your baby drinks.
3. Treat Yourself to a Nutritious Diet — I recommend continuing to take prenatal vitamins while nursing and being sure to eat healthy amounts of real food – this is great for mom and baby.  As an added bonus, the flavors mom eats come through breastmilk as a wonderful way to introduce baby to a rich variety of tastes.
4. Take Advantage of Your Hormones – Every time you nurse, hormones are generated that make you drowsy after nursing and take a nap when the baby naps. You are not being lazy. You are taking care of yourself so you can take care of your baby.
5. You’re Not Alone — If you have trouble nursing, call an expert for help. A Certified Lactation Consultant is an invaluable resource. You might also want to connect with a La Leche League volunteer or an experienced family member or friend. Getting the encouragement you need could make a world of difference.

Parents of kids who really don’t eat enough deserve better help than they often get. Still, most of the time when people say to me that their child is skinny and a very picky eater, the child does not need to eat more. When kids do need to catch up on weight growth, slower is better than faster. Even though we are eager to get them back on the curve, for long term health it’s generally best just to be moving in that direction.

Before focusing on trying to pack on the calories, be sure

1. They really are underweight (for their height)
2. It’s not for medical reasons that need to be addressed

 
Remember, the goal is to add calories, while still preparing them for long term healthy eating patterns — this means doing it without processed white flour or added sweeteners or fried foods.

Fats have the highest calories. Add fat (olive oil, peanut butter, avocado, cheese, butter, etc.) to healthy foods (veggies, whole grains, lean protein sources — you can gradually wean back the added fats later, just like switching from whole milk to 2% to 1% to nonfat).

Liquid calories are less likely to fill you up — smoothies and shakes and juices are great for this. I prefer using real food ingredients, not a chemistry set (like you might find in some manufactured versions). e.g. Whole fat dairy or soy. Add an oil. Add fruits. Maybe peanut butter. (note: getting rid of unnecessary calories in drinks is one of the best ways to help overweight kids. Liquid calories sneak in.)

When eating is restricted, I recommend a multivitamin, multi-mineral supplement, with DHA, as spackle to fill in any nutrient gaps.

Periactin, an allergy medicine, can be a potent appetite stimulant. It can be a godsend, helping kids with no appetite suddenly start eating 3 meals a day. For kids in the first 2 1/2 or 3 years of life – when long term flavor preferences are forming, and kids need multiple experiences with a wide variety of whole foods — I’d try the medicine sooner rather than later. These are precious months for food experiences, and should not be wasted.

All warm-blooded animals — including pets and uninvited rodents — produce dander that could trigger asthma in children who have become sensitive to it.

Dander is the materials shed from the animals’ bodies, which may include bits of feathers, hair, or dried skin. It’s sometimes affectionately called “pet pollen.” Bits of feces or saliva can also trigger inflammation.

Step One

Determine if there is an allergy to one or more indoor animals where the child spends much time. Timing of nose, eye, or chest symptoms may provide some clues:

• Do they get worse during or just after vacuuming carpets?
• Do they get better when away from the home or school with the indoor animals for a week or longer?
• Do they get worse in the first 24 hours of returning to the home or school?

The best way to tell if animal dander is a problem is by allergy testing. Children with persistent asthma who are regularly exposed to indoor warm-blooded animals should have allergy skin testing and/or blood tests.

Step Two

Decreasing exposure to animals that someone is sensitive to can greatly improve their asthma. Removing the animals from the child’s home has the biggest effect, but this is not always practical. There are other ways to help:

• Keep the animals out of the child’s bedroom
• Keep the bedroom door closed whenever possible.
• Decrease carpeting and upholstered furniture, and decrease contact by the pet with these items.
• Use HEPA air filters.

Weekly washing can greatly reduce the dander from some pets.

House dust mites are tiny creatures that live in pillows and mattresses, carpets, and couches – quietly eating dead skin cells and hair. And pooping. They require humidity and food to live. Many children with asthma are allergic to house dust mites and their droppings.

An oft-quoted rule of thumb is that up to ten percent of the weight of a two-year-old pillow consists of dust mites, living and dead, along with their waste products.

These critters are not a problem for all children with asthma, but when they are, taking control of house dust mites can make a huge difference in symptoms and in the amount of medication needed to control the asthma. For the right child, it’s well worth the effort.

Step One

Have allergy testing to identify a possible allergy to house dust mites.

Step Two

Take control:

• Enclose the mattress in an allergen-proof cover.
• Enclose the pillow in an allergen-proof cover.
• Wash the child’s sheets and blankets weekly (hot water is most effective for killing mites).

 
Consider:

• Reducing indoor humidity below 60 percent. Lower is even better, down to about 30 percent.
• Removing carpets from the bedroom.
• Discouraging sleeping or lying down on upholstered couches.
• Minimizing stuffed toys – especially on the bed – and washing them weekly.
• Removing home carpets directly over concrete.

When your little one falls from his bed, crashes his bike or simply runs into the wall during a game of chase, you experience his pain as well as that heart-racing panic feeling that you try to suppress. You rush to pick him up and hold him close as you wait for the first shriek once he catches his breath.

All parents have to deal with accidents, but here are five tips that may help you avoid a trip or two to the emergency room:

1. Understand the physics: Big heads and baby falls Babies’ heads are large in relation to their bodies. This increases the likelihood that they’ll hit their heads when they fall. Most of these falls can be avoided by attention – and staying between your baby and the floor.
2. Make friends with your helpful hardware man: Buy gates, locks and guards You can prevent many injuries when your child starts to walk by simply installing protective gates at the top and bottom of stairways, as well as window guards or locks on all windows above the ground floor. Don’t forget to baby-proof Grandma’s house as well, and any other home where your little one spends time.
3. Have helmet, will travel: The most important safeguard I can’t emphasize enough the importance of protecting those little heads with helmets. Start with the little ones, giving a shiny new helmet with the first shiny new tricycle. Use only helmets approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the Snell Memorial Foundation, the American Society for Testing and Materials or the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
4. Protect little elbows and knees: Buy the right safety equipment For kids on rollerblades or skateboards, wrist guards, elbow pads, knee pads and helmets have all been proven to reduce injury. Wrist injuries are the most common rollerblading, skateboarding, and snowboarding injuries, and those wearing wrist guards are more than 10 times as likely to avoid injury.
5. Let your kids learn by example: Yes, you need one, too Your little ones are much more likely to embrace safety techniques and equipment if you lead the way. Get a helmet of your own, and strap on the pads as well. Many of us were born before we realized that helmets save lives, and often I see parents riding without helmets with their kids, who are wearing safety equipment. If they see you without it, they’ll resist putting it on when you’re not there.

Read more about baby safety and avoiding crashes by older kids.

In an effort to identify plants that can filter air in sealed environments, NASA spent 2 years testing common plants to determine the best natural filters. The following list includes plants that perform the best in removing formaldehyde, benzene and carbon monoxide, three common yet toxic contaminants that we regularly find indoors.

• Bamboo palm (Chamaedorea seifritzii)
• Chinese evergreen (Aglaonema modestmu)
• English ivy (Hedera helix)
• Gerbera daisy (Gerbera jamesonii)
• Janet Craig (Dracaena)
• Marginata (Dracaena marginata)
• Mass cane/corn plant (Dracaena massangeana)
• Mother-in-law’s tongue (Sansevieria laurentii)
• Pot mum (Chrysantheium morifolium)
• Peace lily (Spathiphyllum “Mauna Loa”)

New mothers are excited about bringing home their newborn, but most of the time it’s not long until Mom feels the stress of the baby’s constant need. Even little things like taking a shower or running an errand may feel impossible when a baby’s in the mix. Moms need time to themselves away from the baby, even if it’s just a moment here and there.

Here are some suggestions:

1. Many children are comforted by the sound of running water and will sit peacefully close by while Mom or Dad takes a shower. Make sure the baby is dry, fed, and comfortable. Then put the baby in an infant seat or car seat. Take the little bundle into the bathroom so the baby can see Mom or Dad and hear a parent’s voice. When the baby gets a little older, games of peek-a-boo work very well from the shower!

 
If you don’t have a baby who enjoys shower time, try one of these ideas:

1. Set aside a time each day that is Dad’s special time to spend with the baby and Mom’s time to take care of her own personal needs. Establish a period that is long enough for Mom to really feel that she has had a break, but not so long that Dad feels abandoned. Even a brief amount of time can make a huge difference to a new mom! (Hint: Consider including a five-minute soak in a steamy mineral salts bath. It can seem like an hour to tired muscles.)
2. Arrange to trade childcare with another new mom from your neighborhood on a regular basis. If both babies spend an hour with one mom, then an hour with the other, each mom has one very busy hour and one hour to herself. It is ideal if both moms live in the same building or on the same block, but be creative.
3. If you don’t know of other new moms in your area, you may find older neighbors who are unable to spend time with grandchildren of their own and would love to spend time with your baby on a regular basis. Including them in your extended family can be a wonderful, mutually beneficial relationship.
4. Find out if Dad’s company offers “paternity leave” so the two of you can share more of the responsibility for the baby in those precious first few weeks.

The best way to avoid bee stings is prevention. Effective prevention means not attracting bees and not frightening them if they are present. Prevention techniques are especially important in the fall, when most stings occur. It takes 2 million visits to flowers to make one pound of honey. In the autumn, as flowers disappear, bees search more widely for food and take more risks.

To avoid attracting bees, try the following:

1. Avoid fragrances, including hair spray, scented soaps, lotions, and oils. Bees usually approach children with a sweet scent. Avon’s Skin-So-Soft may make bees less apt to explore, and it is safe even on young children.
2. Don’t wear brightly colored clothing, particularly floral patterns, i.e. don’t look like a flower patch. Bees also see in the ultraviolet range. If the pattern lights up under black light, it is particularly interesting to bees.
3. Be very careful with food. Cans of soda are notorious: Bees climb in unobserved, and are frightened into stinging when the child drinks. Something as small as a forgotten raspberry jam stain on a sweater can be a problem.

If a bee does land, take steps to avoid frightening it:

1. Hold still. Tell kids to pretend they’re statues. Rapid movement startles the bee and encourages stinging.
2. Try blowing gently on the bee. This can encourage it to move on while not startling it.
3. Wear shoes. Bees will of course be frightened if you step on or near them. Shoes don’t make them less frightened, but they do protect feet from frightened bees.
4. Wear long pants when you know you are going to be in an area that is likely to have bees in it, such as a field.
5. Wear a hat. Furry animals steal honey from bees. Bees are in a heightened state of readiness when they are close to hair or fur. They have been proven to have a lower threshold for stinging people with hats.

The teeth (or tooth) that causes the most pain varies from child to child. Some babies appear to have no teething pain at all. For others, it is sometimes the first tooth that causes the most discomfort — or those big molars, when they arrive. For many babies, working on several teeth at once is the worst. Try these simple remedies to help soothe a sore mouth:

• Massage — Rub the gums firmly and gently with a clean finger. The first few passes are sometimes a bit uncomfortable, but babies get more and more relaxed as the massage continues.
• Something cool to chew on — Wet washcloths or terrycloth toys fresh from the fridge or freezer can be very effective. Some babies are delighted with smooth, hard objects, like the handle of a hairbrush.
• homeopathic teething tablets or their new natural teething gel –Many parents report that these gentle remedies have been lifesavers.
• Infant pain-relievers — Infant acetaminophen or ibuprofen can provide stronger pain relief on occasion, if necessary.
• Topical anesthetic gels have mixed results. I do not routinely use them. They do deaden the pain, but many babies object to the strange sensation of mouth numbness. The medicines can also suppress the normal protective gag reflexes. The relief they give is very short. If you do use them for your baby, a little bit often works better than a lot.

Infections can be avoided both by decreasing the exposure to germs and by boosting your child’s immunity. Here are 6 powerful ways to decrease germ exposure:

• Switching Daycares: Using a daycare of 6 or fewer children dramatically decreases the germ exposure (and illness), especially in the winter months. Unfortunately, this may not be the most practical option.
• The Not-So-Secret Weapon: We all know that hand washing is a good idea, but when a daycare actually does wash children’s and provider’s hands at key moments, the results are spectacular. Key moments? The most important times are after nose wiping, after diapering or toileting, before meals, and before food preparation. Before a child picks his or her nose would be nice but is not quite practical :^).
• Instant Hand Sanitizers: Talk about convenient! A little dab will kill 99.99% of germs without any water or towels. I’m glad they are available with an active ingredient like Thymol that can kill 99.99% of germs naturally. It is an antiseptic, not an antibiotic, so resistance can’t develop. And here’s the cool part–it’s fun. Many kids think it’s a treat to get to use it! We asked our son’s daycare to try it, and they began washing all those times they knew they should.
• Paper Towels: (Instead of shared cloth towels.)
• Sleeping Mats: Washing of sleeping mats less than once a week results in more infections.
• Air Filters: HEPA filters can remove 99.97%+ of the pollen, dust, animal dander, even bacteria from the air. Certain houseplants can also be excellent air purifiers (if no one is allergic to them).