Monthly Archives: June 2011

Mother’s Milk: Nursing Nutrition

June 23, 2011Breastfeeding, New postsBreastfeeding, nursing, nutritionAlicia

As a newly nursing mom, what you eat will still affect your baby’s nutrition. Having a breastfed baby has many health benefits, and also encourages bonding between mother and child. In order to make sure that you are doing the most to keep your baby healthy, it’s important to keep track of your nutrition as well. Here are some great tips for keeping your diet healthy while breastfeeding.

Eat a well-balanced diet for YOUR body. Don’t rely too much on one food group or another. By keeping your diet healthy, you are keeping your baby’s diet healthy as well.
Don’t force yourself to lose weight while you are breastfeeding. Too many mothers try to do one-day cleanses that release toxins that have built up over years while they are breastfeeding. This causes the toxins to appear in breast milk. Going on too few calories can hurt both quality and supply of milk. If you are bent on losing weight, try to lose 1.5 pounds a week at most, and do it in a healthy and reasonable manner.
Avoid drinking caffeine. Caffeine has negative effects on babies, including hyperactivity and colic. Don’t drink caffeine while nursing.
Eat foods that taste good to you. Many doctors theorize that the flavors that you ingest will also be ingested by the baby. By eating your favorite foods, you will get your newborn used to the flavors they will experience once they begin to eat solid foods.
Continue to supplement your diet with vitamins, but consult a doctor first. Although your baby is no longer inside you, he still needs nutrition from you. Take a multivitamin supplement suggested by your doctor in order to keep your baby well-fed. Be careful, it is possible to ingest toxic levels of certain vitamins. Ask your doctor what you should take as a supplement.

Above all, the most important thing to remember when you are choosing what to eat when you are nursing is to remember that as long as the food is healthy and tastes great, you made the right choice.

Do you (or did you) worry about what you eat/ate while nursing? Do you have any nursing tips you’d like to share with us? Leave them in the comments below.

Keeping Teens Safe on the Road this Summer

June 22, 2011Safety, Travelsafe driving, summer, teensAlicia

One of the greatest fears for parents of teenagers is an unexpected accident when their child is behind the wheel. Each year, the days between Memorial Day and Labor Day are the deadliest 100 days for teen drivers and their passengers, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA). To minimize this risk, parents should learn the facts and teach their children how to drive safely.

Sarah Robinson — engineer, Michelin test-track driver and one of the few female test drivers— teaches teens safe-driving skills. She also offers parents tips on maintaining a safe vehicle and how to effectively teach their young drivers about safety.

Sarah’s tips for teaching teen drivers

Situational awareness: To keep yourself out of danger, nothing is more effective than being aware of your surroundings.
Vision: Train your eyes to anticipate danger, focus as far ahead as you can see and use your peripheral vision to observe your immediate surroundings.
Stay focused: Distractions can result in fatal accidents. Parents should set rules limiting the number of passengers riding with a teenage driver. Using a cell phone, text messaging, changing the radio station or iPod tunes, or applying makeup should never be done while driving.
Speed and distance: Obey the speed limit, adjust your vehicle’s speed to match weather conditions and maintain a proper distance from the vehicle ahead of you.
Defensive-driving class: Practice is the best defense against accidents. A third-party instructor often can influence teens more effectively than the limitations of the typical parent–teen dynamic. Instructors are trained to teach teens car-control skills so they can avoid or minimize accidents.
Seating position: Proper seating position maximizes your ability to control your vehicle. Sarah provides tips to ensure drivers are positioned with arms the proper distance from the steering wheel and legs from the brake and gas pedals.
Set mirrors properly: Side mirrors can help maximize the view of the road, rather than reflecting the side of the car.
Steering position: For optimal control, hands should be placed at the three-o’clock and nine-o’clock positions on the steering wheel.
Tire pressure: Parents should teach their teenage drivers to check the pressure of all four tires once a month. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 33,000 injuries and 700 deaths occur every year due to underinflated tires.
Safety equipment: Prepare the vehicle with the necessary safety equipment and an emergency kit. Cars equipped with stability-control systems, antilock-braking system and airbags help reduce accidents as well as the severity of injuries if an accident occurs.
Parents’ role: Parents can play a significant role in teaching their teenage drivers basic safety. First, they should be a good role model to their children when they are in the driver’s seat. Next, they should establish safe-driving rules and enforce them. They also should enroll young drivers in defensive-driving courses. Finally, parents should explain the responsibilities and dangers of handling a 3,000-plus-pound vehicle.

Enjoy your summer and talk to your teens about safe driving!

How To Keep Young Kids Occupied In The Summer

June 16, 2011Summer Time Funfun, kids, summer, vacationAlicia

Summer is most probably be every kid’s favorite season, especially with the summer holidays. It is also the best time for parents to spend time with their children as a family. However, while you are at work, the kids need something to occupy themselves, and everyone knows how expensive summer activities could be. Here are some suggestions on how to keep young kids occupied in the summer without burning a hole in your pocket.

You do not have to send your kids to summer camps, unless you could afford hundreds a week. However, you could survey around town to look for affordable summer activities. Like for examples, libraries usually always have summer reading activities that could keep your child busy, and at the same time it is productive. Or yet even better, what you could do is find like-minded parents around the neighborhood and organize your own group activity.

Another low-cost form of quality time and fun with the kids is to bring them out for picnics. There is not a young child who would not enjoy going out for picnics. The food can be prepared from home, and be sure to plan fun activities for the family. Picnic is a good time for fun and family bonding. It is also one of those times where you get to gather your family all at once, and have a good meal together.

The summer could also be a great time to teach your young child something new. Depending on your interest, if it is something that you do not know yourself, it would be even better if the both of you learn at the same time, for example, gardening, craft making and so much more. Teaching or learning together with young kids could prove to be one of the best ways to bond.

Summer is the time where the best movies of the year are released. The cinemas are often lined up with great movies suitable for young kids. Bring them to movies, or arrange an outing for them in a group to watch movies together. You might be surprised how enjoyable watching movies could be for them.

Do not stop your young kids from having fun, as summer should be an exciting time for them, not a boring one. The best thing to do is, when summer is almost arriving, you should plan ahead activities for your children to keep them occupied and engaged throughout summer with productive and fun activities.

How do you keep your young child(ren) occupied in the summer? Join in the conversation.. leave a comment below.

8×10 Kodak Photo Books are Buy One, Get One Free June 6-19 – Great Father’s Day Gift!

June 14, 2011Father's Day Gift Guide, New postscvs, Father's Day Gift Guide, Kodak Photo Album, targetAlicia

My 11 year old son came home from a one week Boy Scout summer camp Saturday. Waiting for him on his bed was a Kodak Photo Book that I created from photographs that my father took of the ceremony at camp the night before. (Side note: my father lives in Florida and drove to the camp the last day my son was there.)
When he saw the photo book on his bed, his jaw dropped and he asked “Mom.. HOW did you do that”!? He was amazed that I (1) had access to photographs from his summer camp, over 8 hours away and (2) could create a photo book that fast. Little did he know I didn’t make it by hand and that it took about 20 minutes to create. I created the entire photo book online at the CVS website. First, I chose a theme, then I chose the photographs I wanted to include in the photo book, the page backgrounds, and typed the captions. That’s it!

He was so excited to look at the photographs and it was the perfect way for him to tell me all about his week at camp. Each photograph in the photo book prompted a detailed explanation of what exactly was happening at that moment, who was in the photograph. Information that I otherwise would never have learned.

Photo Books are a great way to capture and store photograph memories for years to come. I know my son will keep his Boy Scout Summer Camp photo book forever. He’s so proud!

Father’s Day Special!

From June 6 until June 19, Kodak Picture Kiosks at participating Target and CVS retailers are offering Buy One, Get One FREE 8x10Kodak Photo Books ($19.99 value!) – a perfect gift for Father’s Day!

Take a break from the ties and power tools, and get dad a sentimental gift that he will proudly display on his desk or coffee table. KodakPhoto Books let you pick the perfect pictures, background themes and more and are made right in-store, so it is easy and fast to create a one-of-a kind gift. Once you’ve made one for Dad, make one for Granddad or your uncle too.

Don’t have pictures on you? Kodak’s Socially Connected Kiosks let you pull cherished photos right from your Facebook albums so it is easier than ever before to create a customized photo keepsake.

To find the Kodak Kiosk nearest you, visit: www.Kodak.com/go/Kiosk

Meet my Cube Dog Interactive Pets, Penelopi and Alfie
#CleverCubeDog

June 9, 2011iPad, iphoneCube Dog, iphone appAlicia

Thank you to Cube Dog for sponsoring this review. For more information about Cube Dog please visit the Facebook page or download it on iTunes.

My 11 year old has been asking for a puppy for a couple of years now. He promises a clean room, he’ll put deodorant on every day, and hell get all A’s and B’s. While he’s been great about putting deodorant on and got all A’s and B’s this year, he kept his room clean for about three consecutive days. What does that mean? I’m off the hook! Besides the fact that he didn’t keep up his end of the bargain, I am a bit opposed to getting a puppy as I know I’ll be the one taking care of it 90% of the time and I just don’t have the time or mental capabilities (I’m a super stressed mommy) to comitt to a puppy.

However, I am not opposed to interactive pet apps. Cube Dog is a free app where you can create a customizable virtual dog from start to finish right on your iPhone. Once you’ve created your dog, you’re ready to play with it! The app includes cool features like the ability to photograph your dog on-location using your iPhone camera. If that’s not enough for you, Cube Dogs can do everything from fetch a bone to play baseball! Create your own unique Cube Dog in minutes by selecting various parts and colors.

Imagine an adorable, playful, odor-free dog that is small enough to fit in your purse and never does anything that requires you to use a plastic bag to ahem “clean up”.

My female Cube Dog’s name is Penelopi and she’s silly, tough (she throws ninja stars), and sweet. My male Cube Dog’s name is Alfie and he’s just plain mischievous.

My favorite feature of the Cube Dog app is being able to take a photograph of my Cube Dogs with any background, right from my iPhone camera. I caught Alfie in the act of sipping my husband’s soda and eating cookies, while I captured Penelopi enjoying my daughter’s train set, watching a little TV, and relaxing on some books in the living room.

The Cube Dog app provides endless entertainment for kids while waiting at the doctor’s office, eating at a restaurant, or while you catch up on laundry and it’s free to download! Cube Dog is compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPod Touch 3rd generation, and iPod Touch 4th generation, and they all require iOS 4.0 or higher.

More about Cube Dog

‘Like’ Cube Dog on Facebook and watch for a fun contest running June 13-17.

Disclosure: While Cube Dog provided me with the app to review, the opinions I’ve expressed here are solely my own and represent my honest viewpoint. Cube Dog, Clever Girls Collective and I promote Blog With Integrity.