A Survival Guide To Parenting And Childhood

Whether you are a first time parent or have welcomed an additional child into your family, parenting is a world filled with love, happiness and self doubt. Children, unfortunately, do not come with an instruction manual and it is quite normal to question your actions on a daily basis. Here are some handy hints to help make being a mother or father a little less confusing.

When traveling with small children, consider booking two rooms with an adjoining door. This will allow you to have your child sleep in a separate room without being too far away from you. It also provides more space to unpack without baby going through the suitcases. Be sure to double-check when you make the reservation that the rooms are physically connected with a door, not just next to each other.

For parents who have children that like to sleep in your bed, it is important that you get them to sleep in their own bed. This is because the older a child gets, the harder it will be to stop the habit. When they come into your bed, immediately put them back into theirs.

Exercise

Exercise caution when diagnosing siblings who start to display symptoms of an illness shared by another brother or sister. Although families with multiple children often share germs, viruses, and illnesses, sharing medications or neglecting to take each child to the doctor increases the risk of health problems caused by unchecked or misdiagnosed ailments.

Reinforce solid habits in your children early. As a parent its your job to encourage good habits such as studying, exercise, and being of sound mind and body. The involvement in your childs life pays off immensely in the ultimate end. While children all differ from a basic level, parenting can either stimulate or restrict certain behaviors, and lessons learned early carry on to their adult lifestyle.

Limit your young childs TV time to no more than a few hours a week, if any. Studies have shown that a childs mind is really not active when they are watching TV, because TV watching is a passive activity. TV watching does not exercise the brain. Instead, engage them in constructive activities which requires them to interact.

Nutrition

Start focusing on nutrition very early in the childs life. If you are able to convince them that they like healthy foods you can help them to avoid many of the health traps that the majority of adults suffer. You dont need to deprive them of treats, but show them healthy tasty treats.

Toddlers love to dip their food into different tasty treats. Cut up fruits and veggies and offer them healthy dips. These can be yogurt, tofu dip, cream cheese, or perhaps cottage cheese. This will add more nutrition to your toddlers diet and they will be none the wiser because they are having fun!

Never feed your baby or toddler low-fat or skim milk as a primary source of nutrition. Infants and young children need a larger amount of fat in their diet in order for the brain to grow and develop properly. Early childhood is definitely not the time to diet!

Avoid giving your young child a snack less than an hour before dinner. If you give your child a snack too close to dinner time, he will not have any appetite to eat his meal. This will result in your feeling frustrated that he will not be getting his proper nutrition.

In the years to come you will look back on your early days of parenthood and laugh at the mistakes and fears. In the interim each day with your child is a blessing and a joy. Cherish them and know that you are not alone in the concerns that you face but will always find support so that you do not have to face them alone.