As parents we want what’s best for our children: a warm, loving home, a good education, all the things that we didn’t have, all wrapped up with a bright future. This is all well and good, unless we become so focused on our desires that we forget what’s inherently best for the child.

What is Hyper-Parenting?
This phrase was coined to describe a dangerous trend being seen in the past several years. Parents in middle and upper-middle class homes are becoming so involved in every detail of their child’s academic, athletic and social lives that they’re not allowing their children to just be children. They’re unnecessarily augmenting their environment and over-scheduling every minute of their day.
These parents have forgotten that childhood is the preparation, not the event. Children aren’t supposed to be perfect, well-rounded, miniature adults; they’re supposed to be children. (more…)

With the weather turning colder, your family will be spending less time outside and more time inside with the heater running. Your body’s natural immunity against common illnesses will be put to the test now more than ever and it’s no wonder that this is the time of year when you and your children are most likely to come down with a cold or the flu.

What is Immunity?
Immunity is defined as having resistance to infection or a specific disease; and your immune system is the network within your body that recognizes and destroys invading or foreign bacteria, viruses and germs.
The immune system is like no other bodily system, as it is not just one organ but an interaction between many organs, structures and substances within the body. Your immune system has the task of patrolling and protecting the body, and does this using white blood cells, bone marrow, the lymphatic system, specialized cells and body tissues, and specialized substances that are present in the blood. All of these components must work together to protect the body against viral or bacterial infections and disease. (more…)

It seems that this particular time of year has become synonymous with “stress”. From November through early January, our lives become a hodge-podge of special meal preparations, shopping and traveling. It can be a little overwhelming and very taxing on our health; yet it doesn’t have to be. With just a few simple decisions, you can have a wellness holiday.

Holidays at Home
Probably one of the most stressful events during this time of year is the “family gathering” especially if you’ve been elected to have it at your house. This can mean days of cleaning and hours of cooking.
Some ideas to help avoid this added stress include the following:

• Don’t try to be Martha Stewart – Ask everyone to bring a dish and offer to be the one who prepares the turkey
• Ignore the heavy-duty cleaning – If your house is clean overall, then who cares if the baseboards are a little dusty?
• Rent a hall for larger family gatherings – many American Legion or community and church halls are available for rent even if you aren’t a member and include full use of the kitchen facilities.

This is supposed to be the most joyous time of year, not the most stressful. Be willing to admit that you want to enjoy your family, not resent the work involved in getting together, and seek a compromise that makes everyone happy. (more…)

Any parent with a newborn to preschooler knows about car seats; a necessary evil that comes with any automobile trip. Whether it is a short jaunt to the grocery store or a three hour drive to visit relatives, the child restraint system is required by law for your child’s safety. But how safe is it?

NHTSA Recommendations
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration states that for your child’s safety you should consider the following guidelines:

• Infants (birth to one year of age or weighing at least 22 pounds) require a rear-facing convertible seat
• Toddlers (over one year of age and weighing 20-40 pounds) can be in a forward-facing convertible seat.
• Editor’s Note: The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children remain rear-facing until they are too big – which means they are either too heavy (usually 30-35 pounds for most convertible car seats) or too tall (there is less than one inch of space between the top of a child’s head and the top of the car seat). Note that the length of the child’s legs or the fact that they touch the back of the vehicle seat are not safety issues nor comfort factors in terms of keeping a child rear-facing.
• Young Children (ages 4 – 8 years, unless at least 4’8” tall and weighing more than 40 pounds) need a seat belt-positioning booster seat in a forward-facing seat position
• Any children ages 12 and younger should ride in the backseat at all times.

(more…)

It’s the most natural thing in the world, but if you’re considering conceiving for the first time then you probably have a lot of questions.

Reproductive Health
One of the first things to consider when contemplating pregnancy is your reproductive health.

• Do you have regular menstrual cycles?
• Are you seeing your chiropractor regularly?

Yes, the two are most definitely connected since a healthy nervous system may be directly related to a healthy hormonal and menstrual cycle, and a healthy menstrual cycle is key to conception. (more…)

From toddlers to teens we need to be concerned about what choices our children are making when they’re thirsty. Even noncarbonated drinks, such as fruit drinks, ades, iced teas, etc., are adding empty calories to our children’s diets every year. So, what are our children reaching for in their thirst?

• Sports drinks
• Energy drinks
• Soft Drinks
• Juice

If you have a teen, it may be possible they already have a Starbucks addiction. Consider what your kids are consuming and make appropriate changes. It’s a matter of health.

Sports Drinks

Lauded as the best way to re-hydrate, these drinks are advertised as full of electrolytes and all “that an active body needs”. What they don’t tell you is that these drinks contain high fructose corn syrup (sugar) and unhealthy additives. (more…)

The Well-Balanced Child

Every parent wants to raise the perfect child: healthy, happy, loved and respected with high achievements and even higher goals. We want our children to “have the things we didn’t have” and to achieve their dreams. This is all well and good, unless we become so focused on our desires for our child that we forget what’s inherently best for the child.

Hyper-Parenting

“Hyper-Parenting” is a phrase that has been coined to describe a dangerous trend in child rearing in middle and upper-middle class homes. In these families, parents become overly involved in every detail of their children’s academic, athletic and social lives. They unnecessarily augment their children’s environment and over-schedule them.

In parents’ heartfelt desire to help children succeed, they hinder the kids by not allowing them to be, simply, children. (more…)