Children Archives - 3 Kids and Us

5 Ways You Can Help Your Child Thrive at Childcare

January 11, 2022 by admin

When your child starts attending a childcare centre, they are taking an exciting next step in their learning journey, and you can help them along the way.

As a parent, there are many things you can do to help your child succeed in a childcare environment, making the most of learning opportunities and engaging meaningfully with curriculum programs. You can support your child to learn, play, discover, and grow.

Here are 5 ways you can help your child thrive at childcare!

1. Be prepared

Good preparation is the key to a successful childcare journey!

Being prepared for childcare can help you to avoid common challenges, staying calm and collected at drop-off time. The night before your child attend childcare, make sure you’ve organised everything they need (lunch, clothes, a backpack). This will save you a last-minute rush in the morning!

Before your child starts at childcare, prepare them for changes in routine and the new challenges they might face at their centre. Focus on the positives as much as possible, and slowly introduce your child to centre routines.

2. Stay consistent

Staying consistent with childcare routines and expectations can make life much easier for your child.

Find out what routines and schedules are in place at your child’s early learning centre, and consider implementing some of these at home. You might adjust nap times or meal times to align more closely with centre timetables.

Maintaining consistency between home and childcare can help your child to feel secure in their environments. They’ll know what to expect each day, and they’ll be able to face new challenges with confidence.

3. Communicate with educators

Your child’s educators will be an important part of their learning journey, so it’s important that you communicate with them regularly.

Each day at centre drop-off and pick-up times, speak to your child’s educators about their interests and learning needs. Ask how your child is doing at childcare and if there are any concerns you should be aware of.

Communicating with educators can help you develop a clearer sense of your child’s strengths and weaknesses, providing you with the knowledge you need to help your child succeed.

4. Make quality time

When you child begins attending a childcare centre, they may have less time at home with you, so it’s important that you continue to spend quality time with them outside of centre hours.

Take time to talk to your child, asking them questions about their friends, their educators, and the things that they are learning. Spend time with your child, and listen to them when they communicate with you.

Quality time is an important part of ensuring that your child continues to feel secure both at home and at childcare. This will make it much easier for your child to learn and thrive.

5. Build on learning

Learning doesn’t have to stop at childcare. You can help your child build on their skills and knowledge at home!

Find out what skills your child is working on at childcare. Are they learning about the environment? Are they practising sports, music, or communication skills? Whenever possible, introduce these concepts to games and activities at home too.

By building on your child’s learning at home, you can help them learn concepts more quickly, and you can provide them with the support they need to develop new skills and achieve their full potential.

Still searching for the right childcare centre for your child? Visit MyXplor to find childcare centres near you! For example, a parents based in Rowville might visit the MyXplor Rowville Childcare listing to find local centres.

What Is the Ideal Temperature for Your Baby’s Room?

December 20, 2021 by admin

Bringing a new baby home comes with many new challenges and considerations. From baby-proofing the stairs to covering electrical outlets, new parents have a long list of changes to make their home ideal for a baby.

One overlooked factor, however, is the temperature of the baby’s room. The heat in your home could contribute to poor health in your newborn; if the room is too warm, the baby could overheat in their sleep. Newborn overheating has tentative links to SIDS, the condition in which babies unexpectedly die in their sleep.

Read on to learn more about how to find the ideal temperature to keep your baby comfortable.

How to Determine the Best Baby Room Temperature

The best way to gauge the ideal conditions for your baby’s room is to use yourself as a tester. Adults typically sleep best in cooler rooms where they can be under blankets without getting so warm they sweat in their sleep.

However, blankets and other wraps may increase the risks of SIDS due to accidental strangulation when babies become tangled in the sheets.

Remember not to overdress your baby for sleep. To keep your baby comfortable, create an environment where your baby can feel warm wearing only a onesie or simple pajamas.

How to Maintain Your Baby’s Room Temperature

The thermostat in your home controls the temperature for the entire house, but many factors can affect the temperatures in individual rooms. Problems with ductwork and poor insulation can cause certain rooms to feel cooler or warmer than the rest of the house.

Getting an indoor thermometer can help you accurately determine the temperature inside your baby’s room. If the temperature is too high, opening windows or using fans can help make the room more comfortable. If the baby’s room is too cold, using a space heater can help warm up the space in the wintertime.

In an emergency situation where the power goes out, especially in the winter, it is vital to ensure the temperature of your baby’s room.

How to Tell if Your Baby Is Comfortable

After the effort put into maintaining the ideal temperature, it can be tough to tell whether your baby is comfortable or not.

If your baby is breathing heavily and sweating, even if the temperature feels comfortable to you, it may mean your baby is too warm. You can touch the back of your baby’s head to see if they feel overly warm or cold and adjust the room temperature if needed.

If you’re taking your baby in an RV, a camper, or a boat, you can always use an Xtreme Heater to warm the cabin. Then watch for these signs to ensure your baby is happy.

If you keep these aspects of temperature control in mind, you can ensure that your baby stays comfortable and sleeps soundly through the night.

5 ingredients that should not be in your baby’s organic formula

November 12, 2021 by admin

When choosing baby formula for your baby, the first thing you should pay attention to is the product’s composition, especially ingredients to avoid in it. Many parents prefer organic formula as a source of clean ingredients in a baby’s diet.

What ingredients should not be in the organic formula?

1. Sugar in baby formula

Sugar is a hazardous product for babies and toddlers. It was found that sugar causes children to be deficient in B vitamins, which are extremely important for babies’ digestion and their growing bodies.

2. Soy

There are debates about the benefits and harms of soy in baby formula. But one thing is clear: baby food should not contain genetically modified soy!

Natural soy can be used in a baby’s diet only as a therapeutic measure and prescribed by the pediatrician.

3. Palm Oil

Unfortunately, palm oil is prevalent in baby food production, mainly because it contains palmitic acid found in mother’s milk. At the same time, the palmitic acid molecule of breast milk is structurally different from that of palm oil. This acid in palm oil binds with calcium, making it insoluble soap in the baby’s stomach, which is quite dangerous, leading to colic and constipation.

4. Gluten

Many moms, of course, know that baby food should never contain gluten. What is wrong with this plant protein, which is found in most grains? This substance is basically poorly broken down in the body of some children, which can provoke the development of Celiac disease.

5. Phytin

Phytin is a very unnecessary substance for babies – substances that interfere with the absorption of calcium, salts, and vitamin D. The problem is that phytin contains phosphorus. This substance binds calcium salts, not allowing them to be absorbed.

Holle is a world-famous Swiss manufacturer of organic and Demeter certified baby food. Holle Bio formula does not contain genetically modified ingredients, sugar, flavorings, colorings, or preservatives. This formula is divided into stages depending on the baby’s age and nutritional needs.

Holle stage Pre is suitable for babies from birth;

Holle formula stage 1 – from 0 to 6 months;

Holle stage 2 – from 6 to 12 months;

Holle formula stage 3 – from 12 months of age.

Video Game Tips for Oblivious Parents

November 2, 2021 by admin

Your child often spends time clicking buttons on a controller and talking to their friends online. What are they up to? They must be playing their “Xstation 64” again. Video games have gotten a bad wrap in the past, but having been out for several decades, many have come around to them, though there are still misconceptions and those who are less aware of current gaming trends (which is understandable, as video games aren’t for everyone). By utilizing audience segmentation, many gaming companies tailor their games for specific audiences based on age, gender, and countless other factors.

Current statistics show that, while gaming is not exclusive to younger audiences, twenty percent of gamers in the United States in 2021 are under the age of 18. Because so many children and teens are playing video games in today’s day and age, it’s important to stay informed of their activities. This doesn’t mean you have to monitor everything your child is doing on their gaming device, but keeping yourself aware of their actions is a good rule of thumb. But what is there to know?

ESRB Ratings

Just like movies, video games have their own rating system that tells you if it is appropriate for the age of the player, which can be found on the box of a game or online. If you do a majority of the game buying, this might help you decide whether to let your child play a certain game or not. “E” stands for “Everyone,” and is essentially your “G” or “PG,” if movie terms help you understand, while “T” for “Teen” is equivalent to “PG-13,” and “M” for “Mature” being your “R” rating. Games can vary on content, so you might need to research specific games to see how each of them stack up, but this is a good starting point. If your child is only nine but you allow them to watch PG-13 movies, letting them play a game that is rated “T” might not be a big deal, but you might not want them playing “Grand Theft Auto” for a while.

Microtransactions

Games have changed a lot since the early days of Mario. Nowadays, many games have microtransactions, which are virtual in-game purchases one can make via credit card or external scratch card purchases. Does your kid talk about something called “Fortnite” frequently? This is one of many games that contain microtransactions. Do they play a lot of “Madden NFL”? Same thing. While these microtransactions are not dangerous alone, and the occasional purchase might not matter, if your credit card is linked with any account your child is playing on they could potentially use it to buy virtual goods.

Don’t be alarmed, doesn’t have to be an issue as long as your child understands that a credit card is not a bottomless well of money. You can also tell them that if there is something they want, they need to ask you first. If they are too young to understand this, or if you would rather not entrust them with your money, simply disconnect your card from their game console or avoid games with these features. This doesn’t mean you have to cut them off from ever playing another game, but you also don’t want to check your statement one month only to find a thousand-dollar bill waiting for you.

Watch the Clock

Contrary to popular belief, video games will not rot your child’s brain; in fact, studies have shown that playing them can actually prove beneficial for developing thinking patterns and hand-eye coordination. That being said, it’s understandable that parents don’t want their children sitting in front of a screen for hours upon hours each day. It might be wise to limit them to a certain amount of time each day during the week, such as one to two hours–perhaps they can play longer on the weekend if you so choose to let them.

As long as they are getting their homework and chores done and aren’t developing an addictive habit, there is nothing wrong with allowing them to play otherwise. They might ask for ten more minutes, or to let them finish a match with their friends if they are online and in the middle of a game, and this is fine, just be sure that they are not overextending their reach and that you both have a mutual understanding of fair play.

Thoughts

Hopefully, these tips will shed some light on the world of gaming for parents with children who frequently indulge in them. Games have allowed many to experience unique ways of storytelling, interact with their friends, and find comfort, especially during the pandemic. There have been many studies over a decade long that have determined that video games do not elicit violent tendencies or rot brains, and are simply a hobby that acts as an entertaining stress relief, no different than reading a book or watching a movie, but at the end of the day, it’s your household.

If you’re fine with letting your children play video games freely or with restrictions, that’s totally okay; if you would rather they didn’t play them and prefer that they instead spend the time doing other activities, that’s well within your right as well. Regardless, it’s good to stay informed and in touch with your children’s interests and activities, whether that be on a console, tablet, or out at the park.

What Hobbies Can Parents And Children Do Together?

September 16, 2021 by admin

It’s good to have a hobby. No matter who you are or what else you are doing in life, if you have a hobby, you will keep active (physically or mentally, and sometimes both), have something to look forward to always have a topic of conversation, and be able to de-stress more easily.

Of course, the problem can sometimes be the work-life balance. You have to work and enjoy your hobby, but is that really possible when you also have children to take care of? This is why hobbies can sometimes fall by the wayside; you just don’t have the time. However, if you can find a hobby that your children can do with you, you’ll be able to fit everything in and enjoy yourself immensely, as well as getting some extra bonding time with your kids. Read on for some ideas to get you started.

Reading

Reading might not seem to be a hobby as such, but it can be if you do it right. Simply reading a book is an excellent way to relax, but reading a book and then discussing it, writing a follow-up, or learning more about the author makes it more of a hobby.

Since reading is so good for children (children who read at home often do better at school, and their creativity will have an outlet and even improve through reading), it’s the ideal hobby to do together. You could choose to read the same book and then talk about it, or you might have your own books but use your reading time to find new places to read – even outside – or bake some treats to enjoy while you’re reading. Reading by itself is great, but it’s even better when you turn it into a hobby.

Gardening

The more time children spend outside, the better. They aren’t focused on their screens, they’re getting a break from schoolwork, and they’re breathing in the fresh air, as well as getting exercise and topping up their vitamin D levels. Of course, the same goes for the adults who are with them; being outside is good for everyone.

A hobby that involves being outside and that you and your children can do together could be gardening. This hobby offers a good amount of physical exercise, but it also teaches you something; you’ll need to know what plants will thrive, what to add to your soil, how to weed, and, importantly, what landscape gardening tools to use.

Gardening is a hobby without end; there is always something to do, so you’ll never get bored, and if you need to fill some time, gardening can be the solution there too.

Collecting

Collecting might sound like a generic, vague hobby, but once you determine what you want to collect, you can spend a lot of time and enjoyment searching those things out. Some of the things you might collect could include:

Old postcards
Stamps
Music memorabilia
Spoons
Pin badges
Anything to do with a certain animal
Wooden boxes

The list goes on and on; whatever it is that catches your eye and makes you want to know more and have more can be your collection.

You don’t have to collect the same thing as your child; you might find that you have completely different tastes, and they want to collect gemstones while you want to find old cookery books, but this doesn’t matter. Going out together to scour the local shops, antiques markets, or boot sales to see if you can pick up any more items is always going to be fun.