Help My Son Eats Only Plain Rice

I have a daughter who's 5 yrs. old who eats fantastically. She eats almost any food we serve her. Then I have a 3 yrs. old son who's quite opposite of the sister. He's very picky and during mealtime he only eats plain white rice. I tried giving him veggies, meat, fish and soup, but he won't eat them. Remembering the old days when my mom or aunt would forcibly let us eat veggies and fish, it was unforgettable... But those where the days which I don't want my child to experience, because I feel there's a better way to handle such situation. And when it comes to sweets, biscuits, cookies (He loves Oreo by the way) and pastries I have no problem, he even eats faster than the sister. Though I minimize giving this type of sweets, as they don't provide the kind of nutrition their body really needs. So what I did was to read articles regarding picky eaters and tried some of their recommendations. One of which was I tried mixing the steamed fish into my boy's white rice thinking he will never notice it since both we're white in color. Instinctively, the moment he puts the rice inside his mouth he was able to recognize the taste, so he right away remove it from his mouth and quickly drinks water to wash it off. Then the other thing was to cook the food in a colorful way, but no avail because his taste buds were not adjusted to the new taste. So what to do? For the moment I don't know, but as long he eats rice, noodles, some fruits and drink his milk he’ll be ok. Because sooner or later he will need to eat all these stuff to satisfy his appetite as he grows, just like me when I was a kid... Any friendly advice or suggestions? Because I still want to give these healthy food to my kids.

How I Put My Kids Early to Sleep

When our kids were babies they slept very long hours. Practically they slept almost the whole day and we were sometimes fond watching them sleeping. But as the months go by their sleeping pattern changed from almost a day to 11 or 13 hours a day in total this includes afternoon naps and evening sleeps. I read that sleep deprivation are one of the reasons why kids are cranky and irritable. Those kids who get a lot of sleeps tend to get more concentration and focus.

At night we normally put our kids to sleep at 9pm. However, it doesn't mean the moment we enter the room they will sleep right away, our kids will still ask us to play or read some story books since they're 3 and 5yrs. old. This is also a good time for parents, because it also provides us time to have a heart to heart talk with our kids. Further, playing before they sleep help our kids to drain out all the energy that was left in them during the day, thus it would be easier to put them to sleep. It is valuable to us to give this early training to them so that they can always have complete course of sleep. Likewise, when they go to school at an early times slot it will not be that difficult for them to wake up in the morning since they get the right amount of sleep.

The first thing we do, so we can put them to sleep early at night is to tell them in advance that they need to sleep at a particular time (e.g. 9pm). And usually they will ask you why... Tell them the truth that they need to sleep early... So they can have more energy the next day. Then every night we prepare the bedroom so it will be conducive for sleeping once the kids are inside. Our kids also go through bathroom routines before they sleep so they will feel fresh and clean. Next, when the hour comes we start to ask them to keep their toys and things. We would also help them to do this to make it clear we’re serious in putting them to sleep. After that we would turn off the TV and some of the lights in our living room. And once the lights are off they start to follow us in the bedroom. After a short a prayer and story telling, it's time for them to sleep. If they don’t feel like sleeping yet, we stay with them for couple of minutes at best 30 minutes.

By putting our kids early to sleep we're doing our kids and ourselves a favor. My wife and I have more time for each other, doing household chores and doing our own individual late activities. Most importantly, our kids will have a good and healthy sleep. Good Night.

How I give medicines to my kids

Every time our kids are sick we feel anxious and stress. Always monitoring if they're getting worse or well. But for them to be well we need to give them some medicines. The best and foremost effective antidote to relieve our children from their sickness is our love and affection. Sometimes just by giving our child our undivided attention turns out to be a saving grace to our child illness. But not all the time... That's why we turn to give them another dose of antidote, which are medications. It's a bitter pill for most parents and it can become a nightmare to most parents and the kids...Initially.

The first thing I usually do is to taste the kids medicine... Yes dear I taste it. It sounds absurd but it will already give me a gage if my kids will like its taste. And most kid medicines comes in different fruity flavors (e.g. Orange, cherry, lemon, banana and grapes) . One common flavour my kids love is orange. Second, depending on the age I put the medicine in a syringe for 3 yrs old below (see Fig.1) 

                         Fig. 1   Sample Syringe

or in a medicine cup for 4 yrs. up (see Fig. 2). 

                     Fig. 2   Sample Medicine Cup

Of course its easier to give in a medicine cup but the good thing about using the syringe is I can control the amount of medicine I give to my kids. And usually my kids will taste the first drop of the medicine. I also make sure to prepare a glass of water and a tissue by my side before giving the medications. This in case my kids try to spit or dislike the taste of medicine. When giving medication through syringe I let the tip of the syringe place at the side of the mouth thus letting the medicine flow through the side cheeks. This will help to minimize the flow of medicine to the tongue. If eventually they like the taste then great. But if not, then I proceed to my third step which is being creative. One example was giving them sweets or water before or after they take the medicine to wash out the bitter after taste. Another way was I give the medicine gradually, which of course would take me about 5 to 10mins to finish a 6ml of medicine. I was able read through some articles recommending to mix the medicines to my child food or milk, which in some cases it worked, but not always. There were also times that I need to carefully force in giving the medicine to my kids most especially if it's antibiotics. Antibiotic is one of the most disliked oral medicine by my kids though they have fruity flavours but it had a bitter after taste. When it comes to medicines it's important to follow the doctors prescribe medications and timing most especially on antibiotics. Failure to do so is like prolonging the agony of your child.

As a parent we will do almost everything  to provide the best care to keep them strong and healthy. Like most doctors will say "Prevention is better than Cure". And the best medicine for our children is our tender loving care and prayers knowing we are always there when they need us the most.

Weather Change Cause My Kids to Get Sick

I noticed that my 2 children ages 3 and 5 most of the time will get cough and colds every time there's a sudden change of weather. Here in Singapore there are only two types of weather dry and wet. But is it really due to the weather that my kids are getting sick? Or could it be something else that triggers them to get sick easily. As I do my research I found this article:

Why Does a Sudden Change in the Weather Cause Sickness?

Ashley Mackenzie

Ashley Mackenzie has been writing professionally since 2009. Her travel, consumer-related and instructional articles are regularly published online. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in literature and history.

By Ashley Mackenzie, how Contributor

Read more: Why Does a Sudden Change in the Weather Cause Sickness? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_5390019_sudden-change-weather-cause-sickness.html#ixzz2MjbK5KoP

As a parent it’s really difficult when kids gets sick aside from sleepless nights monitoring their fever, hearing them snore and cough or sometimes see them breath through their mouths while sleeping due to blocked nose, it’s a pain to see them like this. Usually, one stop to the doctor they will be given anti allergen, nasal spray, cough, cold and fever medicines. Then if after 2 or 3 days the symptoms persist and the cough and colds gets worst we will bring them back again to the doctor to be given a more stronger dose  or different kind of medicines. It’s improtant to take note that we should be sensitive and cautious on the medications we are giving to our kids.  If we noticed that the medications is not taking effect after the 2^nd or 3^rd day and our kids are getting worst then its about time to seek a second opinion to address right away the problem. I’m not saying that on the 3^rd day our kids will be completely healed but at least you’ll notice a slight improvement on his/her breathing and cough. It’s not good to delay such things because a simple cough and cold can lead to complications like Bronchitis, Pneumonia and others.

After reading the article of Ashley it becomes clear to me how sudden weather change affects are immune system. Common colds and coughs are just symptoms telling us that our immune system is low, fever on the other hand tells us that there’s a bacteria inside our body. Nevertheless catching common cough and colds is a part of life that all of us must experience in order to adapt into this ever changing world from the microorganisms to the weather.