Parent Fact Sheets

Choosing the right pediatrician is very important because you may have a relationship with this doctor your 20 years. Start searching for a pediatrician when you are pregnant. Your best referrals can come from neighbors, friends and relatives. You can also ask your obstetrician for recommendations. When you have put together a list of prospective doctors, check with your insurance company and make sure your prospective pediatricians are approved with your medical plan.

Setting boundaries with your children is often difficult. Especially for working parents who may feel guilty about leaving their children with a childcare provider every day. However, when you fail to set boundaries, children often grow up with a sense of entitlement and feel that their needs are the most important needs in the family. They will often act out to get their way.

Children with no boundaries often: 

• Act out when they don’t get their way

• Are selfish

• Do not treat their parents and siblings with respect

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents In the past 30 years". Childhood obesity is a growing problem among children today. Childhood obesity has many short and long term effects on our children. Therefore, it is important that you, as a parent, teach your child to have a healthy balance between good nutrition and exercise.

HEALTH EFFECTS

When children whine, they are generally trying to get your attention. They have learned that whining can make you give in and give them what they want. This may be a learned behavior that works well with you and other adults. Here are some tips to help children stop whining and find a better way to communicate their needs.

Talk with the child and let them know that whining is not going to work. There are few ways to do this.

1. Acknowledge the child’s age and how they have grown up. For example: say, “You are four years old now and I love to hear your ideas.”

With the rising costs of heating fuel many parents have chosen alternate methods to heat their home during the winter. It is important to keep in mind that on the average approximately 500 people in the United States die from carbon monoxide poisoning each year. To protect your family, you can take the following simple precautions recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

• Have your chimney flue professionally cleaned every year.

• Make sure gas appliances are properly installed and vented.

When driving children in your car you should always be aware of the following:
1. Don’t buy or use the wrong seat. Don’t buy or accept a car seat that you haven’t tried strapping in your car using the seat belts or, newer model cars, the LATCH system. If you can’t get a tight fit, if the tether straps, don’t match up properly with the anchors on the car, or even if it’s simply awkward to handle the seat, don’t use it.

Car Safety

Car accidents are the leading cause of death among children. If you use your car to transport children, here is some information you need to know:

BUILDING YOUR CHILD’S SELF-IDENTITY

A child’s self-identity begins to develop during an infant’s earliest experiences. When your infant’s needs are met, when you smile at your infant, and when you talk to your infant, all contribute to your infant developing a positive self-identity.

Preschool children learn self-identity in two ways. •

Physical identity – a sense of size, strength, gender and race or racial awareness

Building a sense of competence is important for your child. Your children needs to have a supportive environment in order to learn competency. Your child will most likely get to the stage where they want to do everything themself. You may be experiencing your child saying, “ I can do it myself.” He doesn’t want you to hold his hand or help him get dressed. Your child is learning everyday what he is able to accomplish. It’s that sense of competence that tells your child he can in fact do it.

BUDGETING - HOW TO MAKE AND STICK TO A BUDGET

What is a budget? Quite simply a budget is a summary of the money that comes into the household and money that is spent out. A budget shows you where and what requirements you have each month and whether or not you can have enough money coming in to afford it. A budget also helps you track where your money is going.

 WHY DO CHILDREN BITE? 

INFANTS

Everything goes into an infant’s mouth, it’s part of how they learn about their world around them. Infants are also teething and biting may relieve some of the discomfort.

HOW TO HANDLE BITING INFANTS

Building a children’s self-esteem is an essential skill when you are raising children. What you say to them, how you say it, and how you treat them has a tremendous impact on how the child sees themself.

There are many opportunities during the day when you communicate with a child. However, you need to think about what that communication looks like. For example: Is your communication limited to giving instructions? Such as, “Pick up your toys” or “wash your hands”. This is not the type of communication that builds the child’s self-esteem.

 Parents are a child's first teacher.  Many studies have shown that when parents are involved in the child's education it effects how the child feels about going to school and how successful they are.  How a child is supported at home is directly related to the child's success in school.

Here are some ways that you can successfuly support your child duriing the school year:

BE FAMILIAR WITH YOUR CHILD'S SCHOOL

Being a parent can be a very rewarding and fun experience. Watching your children grow and develop gives you great pleasure. However, sometimes you may find yourself not enjoying your parenting. In fact, you may feel overwhelmed by the responsibility. This is normal, some parents at some time in their life will experience burnout.

Getting your child to do their homework can be very frustrating for both you and your child. Children have been in school all day and they want to relax, play, and do a number of things that are far more exciting than sitting down and doing their homework. No amount of yelling, threatening, or bribing seems to work. Homework is a necessary part of your child’s life this article will give you tips on making the homework experience more productive and less frustrating for both you and your child.

WHY IS HOMEWORK IMPORTANT

There are many things in your child's environment that can cause allergic reactions that are not related to food. What are the symptoms of non-food related allergies and how to prevent and treat them is discussed in this fact sheet. There are many things in your child’s environment that can cause allergic reactions that are not related to food. For example: Pollen, grass, animals, chemicals, medications and insect bites.

WHAT ARE THE COMMON SYMPTOMS OF AN ALLERGIC REACTION? MILD OR MODERATE

Rash, hives, and/or welts,

ADMINISTERING HERBS AND HOLISTIC TREATMENTS

Many parents are turning to herbs and holistic treatments to keep their children healthy, but the question is whether these remedies are safe for the child. What can you do as a parent to make sure these treatments are safe? How do you talk to your childcare provider about administering ‘herbal medications” while your child is in your care? Here is some important information for you and what you should share with your child’s childcare provider.

We live in very stressful times. All children will encounter stressful events in their lives. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry defines traumatic events as those that are beyond the scope of what one might ordinarily expect to encounter.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE TRAUMATIC EVENTS THAT MAY AFFECT A CHILD?