Be Assured That Your Loved One Is Getting The Best Care With Assisted Living Facilities

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Probably the question that most bothers children of the elderly is whether or not their parents are getting the best care possible in their assisted living arrangements. This is a valid concern as one always feels a little guilt ridden that we cannot care for them ourselves.  This is natural and not something we should feel guilty about but the feeling lingers nevertheless.

The best way to put your mind at ease and ensure that your parents are getting the best care is to consider their needs.  How independent are they? Can they manage on their own with a little help or do they need full time supervision and care?  These sort of questions decide for you whether they need assisted living services or a more comprehensive option like assisted living facilities or retirement residential homes.

There is no right or wrong answer. It is important to try as much as possible for the elderly to maintain their self respect and live as  independently as possible for as long as possible.  Visit them regularly to make sure that they are getting the basic care they need.  Take note during these visits of any signs of elder abuse but remember that old folk do bruise easily so be sure of your facts before accusing staff of abuse.

If you loved ones seem malnourished, unkempt and seem to have unexplained injuries you need to find somewhere else for them to go.  Any good facility will have staff that are kind and caring and if you take a casual look at the other residents, you will see if they look happy and content.  If most of them seem well cared for, then you can be certain that your parent will also be well cared for.

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Lead Paint and Child Development

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jjLooks that Unfortunately Last: Lead Paint

An often unforeseen hazard in homes is the existence of lead paint, which is very hazardous to children. Lead is a heavy metal that was commonly used in a variety of household items in the last century. However, studies detailing its toxicity and danger to human health led to laws that prohibited its use in domestic situations. Lead used to even be an additive for gasoline. Today, lead is considered such a hazard that it’s not even used in such once-common items as fishing sinkers. But until it was made illegal to use in paint in the United States in 1978, lead was an important ingredient in paint for several reasons. Lead paint has an extraordinary color, and it’s very useful for protecting areas from corrosion, since lead itself does not react to moisture. However, lead can poison people, and it’s especially harmful to children under the age of six. Lead paint and items with lead dust have a sweet taste, which tempts children to consume them.

Effects of Lead

In heavy doses, lead can be fatal by causing severe liver damage. However, in the cases of most children, they can suffer neurological damage from eating lead that can lead to physical and mental challenges. Lead in a home can be found in houses that were built before 1978. Generally, houses built before 1940 almost certainly have lead paint, or once had it. House from 1940 to the mid-60s have a good chance of having lead paint, but from the mid-60s it was being phased out, and in 1978 it was made illegal. Lead paint can chip off, or children can peel it off of walls. It can also become exposed during renovations in the form of toxic dust. There are safe ways of testing for the presence of lead in the home, and there are also hotlines to call for help with protecting yoru family from lead paint.

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Disciplining Young Children

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Disciplining Children under Five

The discipline of very young children is a majorly challenging area of parenting. It’s so difficult that many parents have little or no understanding of how to proceed with disciplining a child who doesn’t seem to understand right from wrong, or good and bad behavior. The irony is that there is such a huge array of advice on the subject, but so few parents who seem to understand or incorporate it. Some parents seem to give up and let the child rule the roost. However, experts say that children as young as a year old can start to learn how to listen to their parents.

Manipulation and Communication

A normally-developed  child has around 1,000 words in his or her vocabulary by the age of three. They command an understanding of cause-and-effect and relationships that parents easily underestimate. So for a parent, it can seem like a young child cannot control their tantrums and crying when they are denied something. However, the truth is that in most cases the child starts the tantrum because they are blackmailing the parent into getting what they want by making a scene. Giving into this manipulation only reinforces the behavior. Experts say that when a child starts to scream about a situation, there is no way to ‘make’ the child not scream. What can be done is to give the child an option. For example, if there’s a social setting and the child starts getting upset when denied a want, the parent can say: ‘I understand you’re upset, but if you want to cry, you can do so in your room, because mommy and daddy are talking. But if you want to stay here, you will have to stop crying,”

This kind of offered choice has the effect of calming the child down by making him or her realize that their behavior can’t be used as a weapon.

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Importance of Breastfeeding Still Underestimated

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Breastfeeding Still Misunderstood

According to experts, the importance of breastfeeding an infant is still misunderstood in the United States.  Researchers have conclusively shown that a mother’s breast milk is the most nourishing food a baby can receive. It beats any kind of baby formula or milk, and is essential for a baby’s healthy mental and physical development. But experts say that the importance of breastfeeding is underestimated, and that it’s importance cannot be understated. Breastfeeding a baby is important for proper brain development, for preventing SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), for fighting infections, and the prevention of developing diabetes in childhood, to name a few things.

Breastfeeding from Birth

According to experts, breastfeeding should be conducted from birth, and a baby only needs breast milk. An expecting mother should learn how to breastfeed from a health professional, or a doula (an expert in birthing and the care of young infants). In fact, the first few days after birth are the most important time for a mother to breastfeed her infant. The breast milk at that time is in a form called colostrum, and it’s incredibly dense in nutrients and essential fats. Breast milk has far more essential nutrients than any kind of formula.

Benefits for the Mother

Breastfeeding is very important for a mother who just gave birth. Breastfeeding releases hormones that relieve stress and help prevent post-partum depression. Breastfeeding also creates a physical and emotional bond between mother and child. It is also essential for weight loss after birth; the creation of breast milk draws directly from body fat stores. Breastfeeding and its benefits go beyond just the health of the baby; they extend to the health of the mother, and they are essential in creating a good relationship between mother and child.  Lastly, breastfeeding is also more economical than purchasing formula.

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Important Baby Milestones To Remember

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There are a variety of different milestones that your baby will go through, eventually very early on in life. Planning and preparing for these milestones is important if you want to capture them on film, and if you want to make sure that you get to enjoy them first hand. Here are some major developmental milestones that you should watch out for.

1. Smiling: Smiling should begin at about 8 weeks, at least real smiling that isn’t fueled by gas. This is when your child has developed enough to produce a smile in response to seeing you or some other pleasant stimuli.

2. Rolling Over: This begins at 2-3 months. She may lift herself into a sort of “push-up” position, then kick her feet and rock back and forth until she rolls over. It can take up to five months to properly learn rolling from back to front and back again.

3. Grabbing: At 3-4 months she will learn to grab things, dropping them and picking them up again. This is where she learns that she is capable of manipulating things with her hands.

4. Sitting Up: At 8 months of age your baby will have the strength, control and balance to sit up. Her eyesight is now improved enough that she can see objects further away, giving her motivation to sit up and check out the world around her.

5. Crawling: She will begin crawling between 6 and 10 months, looking to broaden her horizons. It will begin with general repositioning, then graduate into scooting and crawling anywhere she can go.

6. Pulling Up: At about 8 months of age, pulling up will become a priority. She will begin to stand on her own, but will not quite have the necessary balance to step away from a standing position.

7. Walking: Walking begins between 10 and 18 months and is a very large developmental leap. Walking requires coordination, muscle strength and balance along with emotional maturity. Once your child begins to walk, the entire world is open for her to explore, and she certainly will try to do so.

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