Online Health Resource

Integrated Health Associates of Ann Arbor has updated their website with lots of useful resources. One tool that families may find especially useful is the Pediatric SelfCareNavigator. It's a handy checklist of symptoms, organized anatomically, that can help parents decide whether childhood illnesses and injuries require immediate medical attention and/or how to relieve minor symptoms.

As we enter the colds and flu season, it's a good idea for GH parents to review our Health Policies. When GH Staff send a child home due to illness, we use two main criteria to make that decision: the sick child's comfort and well-being, and the well-being of other children and staff in the program. Sometimes an easily communicable illness can affect some children and adults more seriously than others. Other times, a child with a relatively mild illness can feel miserable. And occasionally, children with colds or low-grade fevers may feel perfectly fine in a group setting. In all cases, we need to do what's best for all the children.

-- Admin

Strategy: Halloween Candy

There are two basic approaches for dealing with the piles of Halloween candy that trick-or-treaters collect: disciplined and undisciplined.

"Disciplined" folks believe that setting limits is the best way to ensure kids don't go overboard. These parents may set a daily limit of two or three pieces, may surreptitiously make much of the candy disappear, or might say flat-out: " "x" number of pieces is enough. The rest goes in the garbage." The benefit to this approach is that kids don't eat too much; the danger is that by imposing external limits, parents may make the forbidden candy seem more enticing and may not help kids learn to set reasonable limits for themselves.

"Undisciplined" folks take the opposite approach and impose no limits. They let kids eat what they will and experience the consequences. The children might eat ten or twelve pieces before they hit their limit, but once they do, biology kicks in and they'll almost always be sickened (hopefully just to the point of mild stomach upset). Subsequent snacks, if any, will be increasingly smaller. Of course, some kids will eat a horrifying amount of candy before they get sick of it. It's not the end of the world. At the same time, for kids who are already struggling with food issues, it doesn't make sense to give them a pile of it and say, Dig in.

And then there are people who find a happy medium between the two extremes. Reduce the pile of available candy so that potential binges are smaller, for example. Or give kids an allowance for the week and let them decide how many pieces they'll eat at once. (Sidebar: did you know that the ability to delay gratification is often an important factor when measuring success in endeavors from schoolwork to budgeting to sports?!) Whenever you're adding calories to your daily intake, it's always a good idea to increase activity. Take a walk. Play tag. Dance. Just get up and move. Try pairing healthy foods with treats: an apple and a bite-sized candy bar is a perfectly reasonable snack, and more satisfying than several pieces of candy. Always remember that out-of-sight is out-of-mind for kids and adult, so storing the candy somewhere that you're not likely to lay eyes on it frequently will help limit overindulgences, too.

And now there's this tip from dentists: eating several pieces at once is better for your teeth than doling it out several times during the day. In fact, candy may not be any worse for a child's teeth than potato chips, for example. What matters is what dentists describe as the stickiness of food -- how long the food particles maintain contact with the tooth's enamel. The longer it sticks, the more time the accompanying acid will work on the enamel. So a chocolate bar that melts off teeth is better for them than a starburst or potato chip which may stick around for a long while.

Happy haunting!

--Admin

Back to School

Okay, we admit it: back to school season threw some of us for a loop this year. Yes, we are trained professionals. Yes, we give (good!) advice to other parents and families navigating this transition each year. And yes--sometimes it's still hard.

But we re-grouped! We are rolling with the punches! And we have a few reminders that may help your family iron out some of the wrinkles, too. None of our tips are rocket science, but even for highly trained professionals like ourselves (wink), an occasional review can really help.

Getting enough quality sleep is critical for parents and kids.

• Timing is Everything. Determine out an ideal bedtime for each of your children (it may not be the same for all of them!) and work backwards to figure out the rest of your schedule: dinner, homework for schoolage kids, baths, etc. Schedule your mornings similarly.
• Routines Are Important. Routines give children security and help parents stay on task and accomplish all the important things on our lengthy to-do lists. Once you determine a functional routine, stick with it. Give it a good two weeks to become a habit. Post reminders (checklists for backpacks and bedtime promote independence) and plan ahead. Pack bags, make lunches, and select clothes the night before to make mornings less stressful.
• Most Adults Need 6-8 Hours of Sleep Each Night. We're talking to you, yes you. Your sleep routine should be as sacred as the one you have for you kids. After all, you're the captain of the ship!

Eating well helps people be more efficient, focused, and manage stress.

• Breakfast is Essential. For people (young and old) who don't feel hungry in the morning, a small meal such as a yogurt or glass of milk with Carnation added plus a piece of fruit is a great start to the day. For those who like breakfast, make sure it is nutritious -- whole grains and protein last longer; sugar-y, processed foods like poptarts usually lead to a serious slump mid-morning.
• Snacks Make a Difference. Many kids are crabby at pick-up time because they've used up their fuel for the day and have to wait another hour or two until dinner. If you can't shift dinner earlier on weeknights, have a small snack ready: cheese, fruit, yogurt, or whole-grain crackers provide a nutritional boost that can prevent dinner-hour meltdowns.

A positive attitude is contagious:

• Model, model, model. Children are like family barometers: they pick up on our tiredness, frustration, and negativity. We need to model a coping, capable attitude for them if we want them to exhibit these traits. It's okay to acknowledge that things are hard, as long as we also emphasize good coping skills: don't sweat the small stuff, we can always start over, and we can make things better if we try are all positive, can-do messages for kids having trouble with transitions.

--Admin