Children's Health

Traveling with an infant or toddler can be a unique challenge, especially when getting them to sleep. Marin parent coach, infant/toddler sleep researcher, and family therapist Angelique Millette has complied the following list of handy tips for traveling with children.

Angelique works throughout the Bay Area and across the country supporting families and helping them meet life's challenges. You can learn more about her and her services at www.angeliquemillette.com.

It's the summer time and many parents have been calling with questions about traveling with their young ones. I've put together a list of tips and suggestions, many of them tried-and-true, by parents:

Summer usually means a lot of time spent outdoors—at the beach, by the pool, playing sports, or enjoying the outdoors—which invariably brings up the need for adequate sun protection. While the only sure-fire way for you and your family to avoid the sun's damaging rays is by covering up with shirts and hats and hanging out in the shade, that may not always be an option, so we need to resort to using sunscreen. What would summer be, after all, without the ritual of slathering up the children with gobs of UV-blocking goo?

While many sunscreens promise a lot to the consumer (especially those with SPF 50+ ratings), do they really deliver the protection the advertise? Fortunately, the Environmental Working Group's 2010 Sunscreen Guide is available to help sort the good sunscreens from those that won't help much.

With the recent surge in whooping cough cases, we asked local pediatrician and frequent Marin Mommies contributor Dr. Steven Martel to answer some questions our readers had about this potentially serious illness.

The re-emergence of pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough, has garnered much media attention due to the recent epidemic.

Pertussis is a highly contagious, vaccine preventable disease caused by a particular bacterium. The disease spreads via respiratory droplets which result from sneezing or coughing onto surfaces. The disease usually begins with symptoms that are similar to the common cold, particularly runny nose and fever. Over the course of 7–10 days the affected person develops a spasmodic, difficult to control cough which can make it hard to breathe. The infection’s characteristic “whoop” cough is responsible for its common name. However, the “whooping” sound is uncommon in infants. The cough usually lasts for about 6 weeks.

Marin Mommies presents a guest article by child behavior specialist and Montessori teacher Terese Bradshaw.

Does this sound familiar? Mom has told 2-1/2 year old, Sarah not to run out into the street, but she does it anyway. Mom firmly tells her “No”, but Sarah just gives Mom that devilish little look that seems to say “You can’t make me” and tries to run away. What’s a parent to do? Some parents might believe punishment, like a time-out, slap on the hand or spanking would solve the problem. They believe that these punitive measures would teach the child a lesson. Other parents might believe that explaining to the child the dangers of the road will prevent them from running out into the street. None of these methods are very effective or helpful with a toddler. I am often asked “How do I get my toddler to stop a dangerous behavior like running out in the street or taking off in the store?” First we must understand the world from our child’s perspective. Renowned parenting author Jane Nelsen, of the Positive Discipline series of books, shares her insight into the world of the young child:

Help make your kids' snacking a nutritionally smart strategy! Nutritionist Amber Wilson, MS, RD, offers some tips on healthy alternatives to junk food.

Michelle Obama and celebrity chef Jamie Oliver have embarked on a mission to improve the health of our children. While we wait for a nutrition makeover of school lunches, there’s no better time to look at what our kids are eating outside of school. According to a study published in the March issue of Health Affairs, snacking accounts for 27 percent of children’s daily calories. The 30,000 children surveyed in the study snacked an average of three times per day on candy, chips and other junk food, and this unhealthy snacking added almost 600 calories each day to the children’s diets. But all it takes is a little bit of planning and creativity to make snack time both healthy and fun for your kids.

Snacking, when done smartly, is a good strategy for children because they have small stomachs and are unable to eat large meals at one time. Healthy snacks give kids energy between meals, and also help to focus attention and regulate mood. Focus on fruits and vegetables, lean protein and whole grains when choosing snacks for your kids and limit their consumption of sugary, high-fat junk food. Look through your pantry and throw out the cookies, chips, candy and soda.

Marin Mommies presents another guest article by Marin parent coach, infant/toddler sleep researcher, and family therapist Angelique Millette. She works throughout the Bay Area and across the country supporting families and helping them meet life's challenges. You can learn more about her and her services at www.angeliquemillette.com.

So your baby has colic or reflux. Or your baby fights sleep, is fussy, and high-needs. You are not alone! Research shows that early on, up to 25 to 35% of babies may have a more difficult time with sleeping. Possible reasons include digestive issues like reflux, when babies food may come back up just as they are going down to sleep or as they are sleeping. Also, temperament has been shown to play a role in how babies settle to sleep. Difficult-to-soothe or high-needs babies may need a lot more parent help to go from active play or alert time to sleep time. These babies may be very curious and alert and may simply need more "wind down" time in order to fall asleep. And for some babies, they may have more difficulty regulating sleep. These can be colic babies or colic/reflux babies but also some premature babies and babies who may have had medical interventions or procedures at/around birth or early postpartum. For these babies, sleep may present a real challenge. Because sleep cycles and patterns develop over time and with parents help, these babies are going to need a lot more help and time to regulate settling to sleep and sleep patterns.

Got a question about children's health? Ask the pediatrician in our new feature here on Marin Mommies! Submit your medical questions to us via email and we'll choose some every month to be answered by our frequent guest contributors, pediatricians Dr. Steven Martel and Dr. Oded Herbsman.

Drs. Martel and Herbsman are the founders of Child’s Light Pediatrics, Inc., an innovative, house-call based pediatric practice that serves Marin County and San Francisco. For more information, please visit them at www.childslightpediatrics.com.

Marin Mommies is pleased to present another great guest article, this time by Ally Kushin, Camp Director for Coastal Camp at Headlands Institute. She discusses the increasing problem of nature deficit disorder and highlights local opportunities to connect children to the natural world. Ally has worked in the field of environmental education for the past 9 years as a naturalist, park ranger, and camp director.

In 2005 the book Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv popularized the term “nature deficit disorder.” In it, he refers to the trend of children spending less time outdoors, resulting in a wide range of behavioral, social, and medical problems. Louv claims that causes for the phenomenon include parental fears, restricted access to natural areas, and the “lure of the screen,” referring to increasing electronic media consumption.

Children who spend more time in nature are known to develop increased concentration, memory, and self discipline. The latest research has established amazing connections between the amount of time spent in nature to everything from better grades to increased immunity to germs to stronger bones. read more »