Early Motherhood

National 5 A Day Week has an important goal, getting people to eat 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables every day.

Meeting this goal will help you stay within the Food Guide Pyramid guidelines of eating 3-5 servings of vegetables and 2-4 servings of fruit.

But how do you get kids to eat more fruits and vegetables, especially when they may only want to eat chicken nuggets and french fries and you are not supposed to force kids to ‘clean their plate’ or make meals a power struggle?

Rice is easily digested and has low allergen aspects, so it is commonly recommended as the first food you introduce to your baby. Many of the recipes for making baby cereals are time consuming, but with the use of the freezer and a blender, homemade rice cereal is simple and convenient.

This recipe is perfect for infants, but by adding a few “extras” it will tempt the taste buds of kids and adults.

Baby Cereal Ingredients:

• 3 cups of brown rice, cooked according to package directions
• 12 ounces breast milk, water, or infant formula

Baby Cereal Directions:

All children have fears at some point in their life and it is usually considered to be a normal part of development. These fears are only abnormal if they are persistent or keep the child overly preoccupied with the subject that is feared, so that it interferes with normal activities, if the child can not be reassured or distracted away from the fear (becoming a phobia), or if it is an irrational fear. Whether or not a fear is irrational depends on a child’s age and developmental level.

Why it happens
You put your toddler to bed at 8:30 at night. You hug him, kiss him, and wish him sweet dreams. It’s been a long day. The dinner dishes await you, your spouse has to pay the bills, the dog needs to be walked, the cat needs to be fed, and you haven’t had a moment to sit down and put your feet up. But nope — instead of spending the rest of the night catching up on your chores and spending some precious time with your partner, you’re in and out of your child’s room, cajoling him to go to sleep. He finally does — three hours later. Sound familiar? You’d be surprised at just how many of your fellow parents face this scenario night after night.

Irritant Diaper Rash

Although frustrating for parents, most children get at least one diaper rash, and many get them over and over. If your child gets frequent diaper rashes you might change the type of diaper you are using (cloth vs. disposable diapers), change brands of disposable diapers and/or baby wipes, apply a barrier cream after each diaper change, like Aquaphor or a cream with zinc oxide, and keep a symptom diary to see if you can link the rash to something that your child is eating or drinking.Other things that parents do to prevent diaper rashes include:

• frequent diaper changes