If you have a child that?s a fussy eater, it?s setting you up for your child being a fussy eater for their entire life. That means it is up to you to do eliminate picky eating at mealtime. Your child turning up their nose is more than just annoying, it means your child is missing out on a wide range of foods that are brain boosting nutrients, covered earlier in the book.
Start at an early age to ensure your child enjoys eating a wide variety of foods that are healthy for them, because if you wait until they are older their habits will be more and more ingrained and you?ll be dealing with a nay sayer, and it gets a lot harder to change their mind as they get older.
My Child Will Only Eat.......
Which is it? Spaghetti hoops? Chocolate yogurt? Potatoes? Baked beans? If you haven?t said it yourself about your child, you?ve likely heard another parent, desperate that their child will only eat?.
If you didn?t nip your child?s fussy eating when he/she was an infant, there may still be some hope, but you shouldn?t wait any longer ? act now. Start by taking a tour through your fridge and cupboards and remove all those items that are so desired by your child. Once you do that, when they ask for them you have the perfect reply ? there isn?t any. Replace those items with healthier alternatives. For example, if they love chocolate yogurt you could add carob powder to make it healthier. If they love spaghetti hoops you could cook up whole wheat spaghetti and serve with fresh tomato sauce. Replace soda and fizzy drinks with orange juice and sparkling water. You?ll need to make the changes gradually, and be patient and sneaky if necessary. Oh yes and be persistent ? don?t give up.
Your attitude to food is very important. If you don?t like your greens, how do you expect that your child?s going to be fond of them. When you are serving different foods watch the expression on your face, so that it?s not giving your child any hints. If veggies don?t? excite you, it?s time you retrain your brain so that you can show the necessary enthusiasm for your child.
No Punishment, Reward, Or Bribe
If you have a fussy eater, try removing emotion from mealtime. Most food fads are actually emotionally driven. It?s often a method your child uses to assert their independence, so the fewer emotions you can bring to the table the better it will be. For example, don?t look hurt if your vegetable casserole isn?t the hit you hoped it would be, or if your child eats everything on their plate don?t go crazy with emotion. You should also never punish, reward, or bribe your child to eat a certain food[s], nor should you ever force a food upon them. That?s a sure way for rejection.
From the earliest age, eating needs to be something your child does to satisfy their appetite not to please you. It also doesn?t need to be a tidy activity. Don?t let your need to feed your child govern their eating. Rather it should be governed by their appetite. It?s normal for them to want to eat more food one day than the next.
Eating should be an activity that?s independent. As soon as your child is able to use their hands or spoon, whatever is easiest, and yes messy is good, in fact, encourage them to do so. Don?t worry about manners at an early age. Let eating be fun and then you can teach then tidy eating later.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/home-and-family-articles/is-your-child-a-fussy-eater-320999.html
Showing posts with label Child Care. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Child Care. Show all posts
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Is it Possible to Increase Child
The nutrition your child receives from infancy through his or her formative years is essential not only to building a strong body, but also to achieving optimal mental and intellectual ability as well as emotional health. This is why the way you feed your child is generally considered an important part of good parenting.
Recent advances in nutritional neuroscience show that particular nutrients have certain affects on the development of the human brain, which influence intelligence, mood, and behavior.
The brain of a human fetus grows rapidly from the 10th to 18th week of pregnancy. During this time the fetus develops thousands of brain cells, called neurons, every minute. Moreover, these neurons begin to develop into a system of interlocking connections, forming essentially a network of specialized nerve cells that can have long-term effects on the child?s development. Therefore, it is important for the mother to eat nutritious foods during this time.
This process of rapid growth and development of the brain continues for about 2 years after birth. Just as a car needs fuel, proper nutrition during this important developmental stage is essential. As a matter of fact, malnutrition, or shortages of essential nutrients, during this period can have devastating effects on the nervous system and neurological development as well as physical growth.
Although the total number of neurons doesn't increase much beyond the age of two, the number of connections that take place between them continues to develop dramatically over time. When a baby is born, every neuron in the cerebral cortex ? the outermost layer of the brain ? can connect with about 2,500 other neurons. By the time the child reaches the age of two or three, that number has increased to 15,000.
The connections formed within a child's brain are vital to memory, cognition, and learning. These connections are the conduits along which the electrical impulses that make up our thoughts travel. During the most prominent learning years, children are literally hard-wiring the ways in which their brains work every minute.
For example, as very young children develop language skills repeating words again and again, they literally hard-wire the images they see in the world around them with the sounds they make. Every thought a young child has is represented by a 'ripple' of activity across the network of neurons within his or her brain. Repeated thoughts and actions, whether related to speech or movement, reinforce and strengthen neurological pathways. Moreover, as the child develops more advanced skills, like crawling and walking, the connections from infancy that are no longer needed weaken dramatically. Unlike other organs in the body, the brain is constantly renewing and restructuring itself.
The connections that form within the brain, called dendrites, are very important to a child?s physical, mental, and emotional development. The places where one dendrite meets another are similar to the gaps in a spark plug. As dendrites bridge these gaps, synapses are created. In other words, as dendrites ?spark? across these gaps in synapses, messages are sent from one neuron to another. The way in which these synapses traffic information?a process called neurotransmission?within the brain is crucial to the healthy functioning of the body as well as the development of the intellect.
The parts of the brain that send and receive messages are made up of essential fats, such as those found in fish and seeds; the phospholipids present in eggs and organ meats; and amino acids, which make up the raw material of protein. The message itself, known as a neurotransmitter, is in most cases made up of amino acids. Different amino acids make different neurotransmitters. For example, the neurotransmitter serotonin, which helps a child to feel happy, is made from tryptophan. Adrenalin and dopamine, which keep children motivated, are made from phenylalanine. However, turning an amino acid into a neurotransmitter is no simple task. Enzymes in the brain, which depend on vitamins, minerals, and special amino acids work to accomplish this task. These vitamins and minerals also control the steady supply of fuel? blood sugar or glucose?that powers each neuron. From all this, you can see how the food your children eat does more than build their bodies. It also helps to develop their brains, from the neurons themselves to the synapses that transmit information throughout the mind and body. Thus, food plays a vital role in determining how your children think and feel. Although the basic structure of your child's brain is determined by genetics, the nutrition they receive and what they learn helps develop that structure, and ultimately their intelligence and ability to learn. It also affects how they adapt, and whether they have happy and fulfilling lives. While you can't change genes, you can control your child's nutrition and learning environment. For this reason, one of your main tasks, as a parent, is to ensure that your child receives optimum nutrition and a stimulating environment that encourages his or her capacity for learning. In the context of the development of your child's brain, optimum nutrition is all about ensuring that your child gets sufficient quantities of five essential foods, while avoiding some others.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/home-and-family-articles/is-it-possible-to-increase-child-313354.html
Recent advances in nutritional neuroscience show that particular nutrients have certain affects on the development of the human brain, which influence intelligence, mood, and behavior.
The brain of a human fetus grows rapidly from the 10th to 18th week of pregnancy. During this time the fetus develops thousands of brain cells, called neurons, every minute. Moreover, these neurons begin to develop into a system of interlocking connections, forming essentially a network of specialized nerve cells that can have long-term effects on the child?s development. Therefore, it is important for the mother to eat nutritious foods during this time.
This process of rapid growth and development of the brain continues for about 2 years after birth. Just as a car needs fuel, proper nutrition during this important developmental stage is essential. As a matter of fact, malnutrition, or shortages of essential nutrients, during this period can have devastating effects on the nervous system and neurological development as well as physical growth.
Although the total number of neurons doesn't increase much beyond the age of two, the number of connections that take place between them continues to develop dramatically over time. When a baby is born, every neuron in the cerebral cortex ? the outermost layer of the brain ? can connect with about 2,500 other neurons. By the time the child reaches the age of two or three, that number has increased to 15,000.
The connections formed within a child's brain are vital to memory, cognition, and learning. These connections are the conduits along which the electrical impulses that make up our thoughts travel. During the most prominent learning years, children are literally hard-wiring the ways in which their brains work every minute.
For example, as very young children develop language skills repeating words again and again, they literally hard-wire the images they see in the world around them with the sounds they make. Every thought a young child has is represented by a 'ripple' of activity across the network of neurons within his or her brain. Repeated thoughts and actions, whether related to speech or movement, reinforce and strengthen neurological pathways. Moreover, as the child develops more advanced skills, like crawling and walking, the connections from infancy that are no longer needed weaken dramatically. Unlike other organs in the body, the brain is constantly renewing and restructuring itself.
The connections that form within the brain, called dendrites, are very important to a child?s physical, mental, and emotional development. The places where one dendrite meets another are similar to the gaps in a spark plug. As dendrites bridge these gaps, synapses are created. In other words, as dendrites ?spark? across these gaps in synapses, messages are sent from one neuron to another. The way in which these synapses traffic information?a process called neurotransmission?within the brain is crucial to the healthy functioning of the body as well as the development of the intellect.
The parts of the brain that send and receive messages are made up of essential fats, such as those found in fish and seeds; the phospholipids present in eggs and organ meats; and amino acids, which make up the raw material of protein. The message itself, known as a neurotransmitter, is in most cases made up of amino acids. Different amino acids make different neurotransmitters. For example, the neurotransmitter serotonin, which helps a child to feel happy, is made from tryptophan. Adrenalin and dopamine, which keep children motivated, are made from phenylalanine. However, turning an amino acid into a neurotransmitter is no simple task. Enzymes in the brain, which depend on vitamins, minerals, and special amino acids work to accomplish this task. These vitamins and minerals also control the steady supply of fuel? blood sugar or glucose?that powers each neuron. From all this, you can see how the food your children eat does more than build their bodies. It also helps to develop their brains, from the neurons themselves to the synapses that transmit information throughout the mind and body. Thus, food plays a vital role in determining how your children think and feel. Although the basic structure of your child's brain is determined by genetics, the nutrition they receive and what they learn helps develop that structure, and ultimately their intelligence and ability to learn. It also affects how they adapt, and whether they have happy and fulfilling lives. While you can't change genes, you can control your child's nutrition and learning environment. For this reason, one of your main tasks, as a parent, is to ensure that your child receives optimum nutrition and a stimulating environment that encourages his or her capacity for learning. In the context of the development of your child's brain, optimum nutrition is all about ensuring that your child gets sufficient quantities of five essential foods, while avoiding some others.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/home-and-family-articles/is-it-possible-to-increase-child-313354.html
Child Care Development: What All Carers Should Know
The environment that a child grows up in is a very important element in his development. As longer hours are spent by children in child care facilities, it is important for administrators of these centers to be more diligent in looking into their programs for child care development.
Essential to a child's development are the approaches that a facility takes in his learning. Aside from the physical factors crucial to his progress, the child must also be emotionally, intellectually, and socially stimulated.
What types of development should be nurtured in child care centers?
Child care development comes in various forms. One is social development, to which child care facilities may greatly contribute if well-planned activities are properly implemented. When a child is in a day care center, for instance, he is constantly around other children, with whom he plays, works, and eats.
The child also learns how to deal with s - in this case teachers, volunteers, or caregivers who need to be well-trained in child care development. When these professionals show care and concern for their wards, the children react positively and would enjoy their stay in child care facilities more.
Child care development in these facilities also comes in the form of emotional maturity. As children interact with kids of various cultural, ethnic, social, and economic backgrounds, they obtain a deeper understanding of diversity and tolerance for others.
Another form of child care development that can be nurtured are language skills. Even toddlers learn a lot by uttering seemingly nonsensical words, as these are the first steps to language development. Children also take to singing naturally, which also helps in their linguistic learning.
Physical activities, a necessary program in almost all child care facilities, contribute to child care development in a variety of ways. Motor skills, both fine and gross, are enhanced via free play, playground time, and individual work such as painting and playing with puzzles.
Moreover, child care development is at its best when the facility also offers feeding programs. Balanced diets are essential for child care development because kids need proper nutrition in order to progress optimally. When they are given nutritious food, they learn better and are less irritable or hyperactive.
There are many instances when child care development is not easily detected at first, but is manifested in the long term. When there are enough activities to stimulate children's creativity and interactive skills, we can say that the facility satisfactorily fulfills its role in child care development.
When we speak of outdoor gates, we refer to the security of the center's perimeter itself. Even during outdoor play, the children must not be able to open the main gates by themselves and possibly venture out into the street. Indoor gates refer to the contraptions attached to staircases and other areas of the house or establishment where access to them may pose dangers to the children.
For the child's safety, all staircases must be blocked by a safety gate which no child should be able to open without assistance from an . In the same vein, washrooms and toilets must have all the features necessary for it to be child-friendly - that is, toilet seats must be at levels accessible for kids; there should be no bathtubs which could pose dangers to toddlers; and sinks must be within their reach.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/parenting-articles/child-care-development-what-all-carers-should-know-280483.html
Essential to a child's development are the approaches that a facility takes in his learning. Aside from the physical factors crucial to his progress, the child must also be emotionally, intellectually, and socially stimulated.
What types of development should be nurtured in child care centers?
Child care development comes in various forms. One is social development, to which child care facilities may greatly contribute if well-planned activities are properly implemented. When a child is in a day care center, for instance, he is constantly around other children, with whom he plays, works, and eats.
The child also learns how to deal with s - in this case teachers, volunteers, or caregivers who need to be well-trained in child care development. When these professionals show care and concern for their wards, the children react positively and would enjoy their stay in child care facilities more.
Child care development in these facilities also comes in the form of emotional maturity. As children interact with kids of various cultural, ethnic, social, and economic backgrounds, they obtain a deeper understanding of diversity and tolerance for others.
Another form of child care development that can be nurtured are language skills. Even toddlers learn a lot by uttering seemingly nonsensical words, as these are the first steps to language development. Children also take to singing naturally, which also helps in their linguistic learning.
Physical activities, a necessary program in almost all child care facilities, contribute to child care development in a variety of ways. Motor skills, both fine and gross, are enhanced via free play, playground time, and individual work such as painting and playing with puzzles.
Moreover, child care development is at its best when the facility also offers feeding programs. Balanced diets are essential for child care development because kids need proper nutrition in order to progress optimally. When they are given nutritious food, they learn better and are less irritable or hyperactive.
There are many instances when child care development is not easily detected at first, but is manifested in the long term. When there are enough activities to stimulate children's creativity and interactive skills, we can say that the facility satisfactorily fulfills its role in child care development.
When we speak of outdoor gates, we refer to the security of the center's perimeter itself. Even during outdoor play, the children must not be able to open the main gates by themselves and possibly venture out into the street. Indoor gates refer to the contraptions attached to staircases and other areas of the house or establishment where access to them may pose dangers to the children.
For the child's safety, all staircases must be blocked by a safety gate which no child should be able to open without assistance from an . In the same vein, washrooms and toilets must have all the features necessary for it to be child-friendly - that is, toilet seats must be at levels accessible for kids; there should be no bathtubs which could pose dangers to toddlers; and sinks must be within their reach.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/parenting-articles/child-care-development-what-all-carers-should-know-280483.html
How to Get Affordable Child Health Insurance in California
More than one million children in California do not have health insurance. That means these children may be lacking basic well-baby care, vaccinations, and dental care, not to mention necessary care during an illness. Here are the options that are available for affordable child health insurance in California.
Employer Insurance
Most Californians receive health insurance through their employers. This is the most economical form of insurance, as the employer usually pays part of the premium. However, small companies may not be able to offer affordable insurance to their employees.
Government Assistance
The California state government offers several programs to help families afford health insurance for their children:
* Medi-Cal is a public health insurance program for low-income children and families. It provides free comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage.
* The Healthy Families Program provides low-cost health, dental, and vision coverage to children whose families do not qualify for Medi-Cal but cannot afford other health insurance.
* Some local coalitions offer health insurance programs to families that do not qualify for either of these programs.
For more information on these state-sponsored programs visit the California Department of Insurance at: insurance.ca.gov.
Private Insurance
While private insurance is the most expensive form of health insurance, it's the choice for over 600,000 Californians and may be your best choice. With private health insurance you have many options to choose from, including HMOs, PPOs, and traditional comprehensive insurance.
To find affordable private insurance, begin your search by going to an insurance comparison website. This type of website makes it fast and easy for you to get and compare quotes from different health insurance companies. All you do is fill out one simple form with information about yourself and your insurance needs. Once the form is completed, you'll soon begin to receive quotes from multiple A-rated health insurance companies (see link below).
Visit http://www.LowerRateQuotes.com/health-insurance.html or click on the following link to get California child health insurance rates from top-rated companies and see how much you can save. You can get more insurance tips in their Articles section, and get answers to your questions from an insurance expert by using their online chat service.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/insurance-articles/how-to-get-affordable-child-health-insurance-in-california-276485.html
Employer Insurance
Most Californians receive health insurance through their employers. This is the most economical form of insurance, as the employer usually pays part of the premium. However, small companies may not be able to offer affordable insurance to their employees.
Government Assistance
The California state government offers several programs to help families afford health insurance for their children:
* Medi-Cal is a public health insurance program for low-income children and families. It provides free comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage.
* The Healthy Families Program provides low-cost health, dental, and vision coverage to children whose families do not qualify for Medi-Cal but cannot afford other health insurance.
* Some local coalitions offer health insurance programs to families that do not qualify for either of these programs.
For more information on these state-sponsored programs visit the California Department of Insurance at: insurance.ca.gov.
Private Insurance
While private insurance is the most expensive form of health insurance, it's the choice for over 600,000 Californians and may be your best choice. With private health insurance you have many options to choose from, including HMOs, PPOs, and traditional comprehensive insurance.
To find affordable private insurance, begin your search by going to an insurance comparison website. This type of website makes it fast and easy for you to get and compare quotes from different health insurance companies. All you do is fill out one simple form with information about yourself and your insurance needs. Once the form is completed, you'll soon begin to receive quotes from multiple A-rated health insurance companies (see link below).
Visit http://www.LowerRateQuotes.com/health-insurance.html or click on the following link to get California child health insurance rates from top-rated companies and see how much you can save. You can get more insurance tips in their Articles section, and get answers to your questions from an insurance expert by using their online chat service.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/insurance-articles/how-to-get-affordable-child-health-insurance-in-california-276485.html
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