Playgrounds, foods, and germs – and other toddler mom concerns.

This post is in collaboration with NightLight Pediatric Urgent Care. All opinions are my own. #Connect2Care

 

 

I’ve worked in education for over a decade of my life. Sure, my immune system had to seriously adjust, but I have never been this sick in my life. It’s been about 2 weeks, and Lila Sophia knows about the struggle, too. It seems like we’ve been passing it back and forth this entire time.

The NightLife Pediatric Urgent Care tour came at the perfect time – just before we were enveloped in the never-ending cold cycle. I loved familiarizing myself with the clinic, and getting to know the way they run things. If and when the time comes that she needs urgent care, I will not hesitate.

Lila Sophia is in daycare, and we also have her doing a toddler gym program. I realize that both of these activities lead to plenty more colds because of interacting with other children, but I don’t want to live in fear of germs. I had the opportunity to ask one of the NightLight Pediatric team members a few questions in regards to my anxieties and am confident in my decision to stare germs in the face and just clean up afterwards. 🙂

 

Playgrounds, foods, and germs – and other toddler mom concerns.

When I asked about Lila playing in public areas such as gyms and playgrounds I was given these tidbits:

• Playing with other kids develops their social and motor skills, as well as the immune system.
• Watch out and inspect for loose nails, screws, or splinters.
• Make sure the ground area is covered with shock absorbing material.
• On sunny days, along with slathering on the sunscreen, make sure metal slides and bars are not too hot as they may cause burns and blisters.
• Children should always be supervised while playing.

 

Why Googling a rash is not helpful – clinical history matters

Some rashes can be due to allergies and some can be caused by infections, irritation, and non-allergic immune responses. Hives stem from an allergic reaction, are usually itchy, and can move around. A rash that comes from an allergic reaction appears differently depending on the person, while some rashes can look exactly the same but have different causes. A rash caused by a virus can also look like a rash that stems from a medicine allergy. Clinical history is important.

I can vouch for that…when Lila had a reaction to her MMR vaccine, that didn’t even pop up in the search for hives/rash all over the tummy. Instead I freaked that it was a multitude of other things! In my defense, Daniel took her to get her shots, so I didn’t think to look out for the side effects.

 

When Lila Sophia is not surrounded by others or playing in public places, I wanted to make sure we had developmentally appropriate toys at home now that she is one year old:

Because she is working on her verbal and fine motor skills, toys that stimulate multiple senses are best. Colorful stacking blocks, shape toys, and musical instruments. They should be durable, easy to clean, and make sure they don’t have small parts. And then of course reading to your child is always important to help them develop and bond with you.

Lila has been obsessed with books lately. Her attention span is pretty short, but she has been bringing books over, turning pages, and pointing to the images as we read. It’s been an absolute joy. Watching her play with oversized blocks has been cool, too! She’s recently figured out how to put them back together after pulling them apart. Musical instruments have been a favorite for  awhile now and Daniel is all for it since he loves playing the piano for her.

 

Along with my concern with germs, I had a few miscellaneous questions about food and potty training.

Babies should start with simple foods, like cereals, vegetables, and fruits – which we did – yay! Introduce one food at a time and wait a few days for signs of an allergic reaction before moving onto the next. High-risk choking hazard foods are grapes, uncooked carrots, hot dogs, and popcorn. I never knew about the carrots, hot dogs, and popcorn! Although I’m pretty cautious regardless of the food since Lila still has ZERO teeth. Ya, you read that right. She is an excellent gummer!

Unless you’ve noticed your baby reacting negatively when you drink milk [via breast milk], cow’s milk can be introduced after your baby is one. We are actually waiting for my breast milk supply to run out before doing that, which should be any day now… Whole milk is recommended because the higher fay content aids in brain development, but make sure to limit your child’s intake to 24-32 ounces [3-4 cups] so they can eat a variety of solid foods as well.

Potty training varies based on a child’s interest, but it’s usually between 18-24 months. I plan to aim for 18 months with Lila because she’s super observant and nosy, so I think it will work out, but we’ll see! They need to be physically and mentally capable of performing all the tasks needed to be successful, like recognizing the urge, and controlling it until they reach the bathroom/toilet. Emotional readiness is important as well, which can be gauged by their responses when potty training is even suggested.

 

If you happen to make it to NightLight – first off – I hope you and your kiddo are okay! But be sure to mention how you found them [Roxy @ Grrfeisty.com what what!], and then please let me know how it goes!

xoxo