Busy Moms Need Nourishment!

Recently I reconnected with a good friend who recently had a baby that is now six months old. She was excited to get out of the house and spend time with our circle of gal pals. Out of the group, we are the only two moms. It had been long time since she was able to join us for an outing.

Recalling life with a newborn, I asked how she was doing and she said she was extremely tried and was having a hard time remembering to feed herself throughout the day.

Mmmm.....Sounds familiar.

She was tall and slim so it not appear that weight reduction was a concern.
I have met a good many new moms in a similar situation whose role seems so demanding that self nourishment typically was last on their priority list.

My suggestion to her was to try to prepare food for herself when her daughter was sleeping like cutting a variety of vegetables and storing them in zip lock bags; making a sandwich when warming a baby bottle or organizing simple nutritious meals the night before that she can warm up in the microwave.
For those of you who remember to eat and looking to get back to your pre-pregnancy weight, here are some simple suggestions:

- Eat breakfast daily, it may help to control hunger later in the day
- Choose skim, 1% or 2% milk and water over sugary juice / pop drinks
- Eat veggies and fruit at all meals and also for snacks

Of course, it is always a good idea to talk to your doctor about your individual nutritional needs so you stay healthy.

It's only natural to want to give a lion's share of time and attention to baby. New moms often need to be reminded that one needs adequate nourishment to be in top form for the time-consuming 24/7 role. Practicing such self-love is good for baby too.

Burns Affect Young Children Too!

Today is the start of Burn Awareness Week in British Columbia. Burn Awareness Week is designed to teach kids grades 3 – 12 how to be responsible for their personal safety, and increase family awareness of potentially harmful situations. However burns can affect baby as well. Burns are a common cause of preventable injury, affecting over 1 million people, leading to the hospitalization of almost 40,000 children each year and over 1000 deaths. And half of these injuries are in children under that age of 4 years.

Although children are often burned by contact with hot liquids, household appliances, sun exposure, etc, scalding burns are the most common burn injury in younger children. These burns can occur as a toddler knocks over a coffee cup or grabs the handle and spills a pot of boiling water on the stove. Toddlers and preschool age children are also commonly burned by curling irons and other household appliances.

Here’s a list of tools and suggestions on preventing burn injuries young children