Keeping them healthy at Daycare

LEGAL DISCLAIMER

This article offers suggestions for dealing with common issues that arise in the operation of a daycare facility, but by no means is intended to be a proper medical guideline.  For more legal and proper instruction, consult your family doctor or medical professional.

The relationship between a parent and a daycare facility is never more important than when it comes to the health and well-being of the child.  Communication is key and so is the knowledge of how to deal with common illnesses early before they get out of hand and emergency situations that may arise.  All parents need to go over the policy at the daycare and emergency plan so everyone is crystal clear on what will take place should anything occur.  Again, good communication makes for a happy and long-lasting parent-childcare worker relationship.  In all my years of dealing with many parents and children, I've acquired some essential knowledge that I'm happy to share with you.

All licensed daycare centers have to have full medical records on hand for each child, also known as, "their file".  This includes immunization history, allergies, dietary requirements, and needs to be updated with any ongoing "ouch reports" resulting from instances that happen onsite.  It's required by law that the health policies of the center be posted on a wall highly visible to everyone.  This must include CPR and emergency first aid procedures and the direct contact phone number/address of the nearest emergency room and fire department.  All parents should make sure that the daycare they have chosen has full first aid kits in each room and that the accessibility is proper and immediate.  Also ask to see the daycare's liability insurance accreditation.  If any childcare operation refuses to share this, denies you access or doesn't seem to comply, WALK AWAY!

When you first bring your little one to a daycare facility, there's some important things that need to be discussed right away.  Parents needs to know what's going to happen should something start to go wrong.  Discussing the daycare policies on sickness (the sick policy) when you first sign up is vital.

As part of the screening process it's required by law that you fill out an emergency response form.  This includes a list, in priority order, of who is to be contacted and for what level of medical problem.  Also, who has the authority to advise and pick-up the child must be made clear.  Make sure effective contact information is in place, like a personal cell phone number, not an office receptionist number, as time can be critical.  In severe emergency situations, it may be necessary to call 911 right away, but the parent then needs to be contacted as soon as the child is stabilized and out of immediate harm's way.

Here's some of the policies that I've established for my daycare and the families I serve:

If a severe injury or medical malady happens, CALL 911 right away!  This would include bone fractures, choking, severe bleeding, head trauma, poisoning, electric shock, burning, or the onset of a pre-existing, dangerous condition(such as a seizures, severe asthma attacks, heart murmurs, etc). 

If a fever is over 100 degrees, consult the mom or dad immediately.  Common rises in temperature can be caused by something as simple as teething, or a common cold, but to be on the safe side I always call as it is proper and can avoid bigger problems.

Any signs of a bite from another child or animal can be very dangerous and needs to be addressed right away.  The introduction of bacteria and chance of infection is not to be underestimated.

Diarrhea, vomiting, running nose, constant cough, pink eye, head lice, or blood in the stool should be reported to parents as soon as it occurs.  Though daycare professionals are not doctors, they are the first point of observation and have an obligation with the parents to get that potentially growing or contagious issue handled ASAP!

If an simple accident like a scraped knee, a bruise, a cut, a sliver, or similar minor injury happens, I always apply immediate first aid, again to assist in avoiding any infection or furthering of the damage.  An "ouch report" then needs to be generated and handed to the parent or effectively sent home with the child with an area for parental signature that needs to be signed and dated and returned to the daycare Director same day if possible, or often first thing the next morning, so it winds up signed by both parties and added to the child's existing file.  Often a child will choose to hide the small scrape or problem, so be sure to follow the proper rules to keep the communication clear and to legally protect yourself and your child.

Of course we all want our children and those we care for to stay healthy and happy where the environment is proven safe and the plan of actions is thoroughly understood.  Being aware of how to act in any given medical or emergency situation can make all the difference in the safety and well-being of your child.

For more detailed information about common medical issues with young children and the effective means for dealing with them, here are some great links that I encourage you to use and benefit from:

First Aid For Kids: What To Know To Help Your Child
https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=eBWoBgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&hl=en&pg=GBS.PA1

The Kids' Guide to First Aid: All About Bruises, Burns, Strings, Sprains & Other Ouches
https://www.amazon.com/Kids-Guide-First-Aid-Williamson/dp/1885593589

Kids to the Rescue!: First Aid Techniques For Kids
https://www.amazon.com/Kids-Rescue-First-Aid-Techniques/dp/1884734782/ref=pd_sbs_14_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=AKJFSYR2VDZ7WPW0NW4B

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If you have questions, concerns, or have some great advice that you would like to share on this blog, you can write me directly at: askadaycarepro@gmail.com

Love your kids, love your life!

Jennifer Schwartz
"Ask A Daycare Pro" 

HAVING FUN DURING THE HOLIDAYS; INDOORS AND OUT

Here we go again... it's another Winter season and with it, all the expectations of the forthcoming holidays.  Here's some suggestions for how to keep you and your little ones as busy as Santa's elves, while avoiding the possible "holiday blues".

There's plenty to do both inside and outside and staying active keeps everyone happy and joyful.

Things to do outside:

Take a winter walk.  Warming up those cold muscles and "getting the blood flowing" is important in these months especially in colder parts of the country.  Going to the park you can see the holiday decorations, meet new friends, or even have a snowball fight!  For the science-minded parents, explaining "where snow comes from" can be an educational and rewarding talk as well.

Ice skating has been a popular family activity for many, many years across the world.  Teaching the little ones to skate for the first time is a chance to realize another "first achievement" goal.  Holding the child's hand side-by-side builds trust and love.  This is a good opportunity to applaud as they proudly show off their new skill.  There's also sledding and skiing, making snow angels or the classic "building a snowman".

Going and picking up a Christmas Tree and/or a holiday wreath and decorating the house is always fun and creates memories to cherish for all involved.

At the shopping mall, checking out the window displays is often a fun and "eye-filling" time.  One thing I like to do at my daycare is SNOW GRAFFITI.  Simply take food coloring of various colors, mix with water, and blend inside a spray bottle or sport water bottle.  Similar to sidewalk chalk, the kids can make their own colorful outdoor displays without causing any damage to themselves or the surroundings.

Make a honey birdfeeder.  By taking a simple used paper towel or toilet paper roll and covering it in honey (NOT GLUE!) you can roll it in bird feed you pick up at the store.  Make sure to hang it close to a window so the children will delight in the exciting outdoor activity.  Another "one for the birds" is to string raisins, popcorn, cereal along the branches of a nearby tree so your local "feathered friends" can have something to eat in the cold while the kids enjoy watching the action!

Things to do inside:

Let's cook and bake!  This winter time of year offers that opportunity to prepare many things including sweets and treats that the family has been used to having for many years.  Nothing says the holidays like the sweet smell of hot cocoa, fresh baked cookies, apple cider, and that delicious pie grandma is famous for.  (Remember to get that recipe this year!)

Arts and Crafts.  Kids always enjoy getting messy making "free art".  Provide them with construction paper, glue, tape, markers, crayons, glitter (and lots of paper towels!), various cereal nuggets, paint, chalk, stamps and other elements that will allow them to be creative.

Making custom holiday cards or tree ornaments is a good family time activity.  There are various flour and water recipes available on the internet* to make ornaments you can bake and have the kids customize so they feel they have a special area of the tree, wreath or house. 

Even though there are plenty of bags in the attic or basement of last year's decorations, giving the kids the opportunity to express themselves makes them feel special and turns each year into a new environment and fresh experience.  At this time of year, many catalogs are available (old picture books too!) that have images for creating collages with which kids always seem to enjoy making. 

Now that you have plenty of things to put up, it's time to decorate the house or apartment.  First, MAKE A PLAN TOGETHER so everyone has tasks that allow them to share in the fun.  Trimming the tree is the most famous part, but there's also the hanging of lights both inside and out.  You can run garlands and greens along stairway railings, hang wreaths and ornaments, replace standard candles with red, silver or green, prepare the menorah, or spiritual offering(cresh), or other means to customize your home.  Replacing tablecloths and placemats with holiday-centric ones reminds everyone at dinner that "the season is upon us".

Whatever activities you do choose to do, make sure that everyone in the family is included and involved.  By raising the spirit and creating joy all throughout your household, you are making moments that will matter and will last forever!

*Here's a simple and safe ornament dough recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/9528/ornament-dough/?internalSource=hub%20recipe&referringContentType=search%20results&clickId=cardslot%202

If you have questions, concerns, or have some great advice that you would like to share on this blog, you can write me directly at: askadaycarepro@gmail.com

Love your kids, love your life!

Jennifer Schwartz
"Ask A Daycare Pro"

Making Your Own Baby Food

I found this great site of recipes for little ones recently.  If you are someone who likes cooking and especially organic foods and wants a cool, simple page, check it out:

http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/baby-food-recipes.htm

"Love your kids, Love your life!"
Jennifer Schwartz
www.askadaycarepro.com

"This is one small step for baby... one giant leap for familykind."

Who doesn't remember that historic moment of family joy when a little baby takes those cute first steps?  True, baby's first tiptoe across the room is adorable and very photographic, but the meaning and significance for the child go far beyond a joyful moment and connect deep into their thoughts and emotions.

In my years working with and studying the behavior patterns of all types children, I've found that some babies are fast learners while others simply aren't.  Also, some develop faster physically and have early muscle growth advantages over others who simply develop at their own natural pace.

Diet, nutrition and exercise are vital as well.  There are many things involved in getting to that point of being able to watch an infant walk a few steps.  Here's a few things I've learned over the years that should help you take the proper course in making sure your baby is able to take bold strides.

Encouragement
Applauding, smiling, happy facial expressions, encouraging words, rewards of various kinds are all means of showing the young child that it's important and necessary for us all to learn to walk.

Proper Nutrition
In order to take on those steps, the baby's balance, muscular growth, and confidence all depend of good proper nutrition.  Breast milk, various baby formulas (Similac), foods and liquids rich in lutien, DHA, vitamin E, calcium, iron, zinc, etc. are all necessary to establish the chemical make up of a healthy child as they move into the next stage of their development.  

Proper Exercise
Strong little bodies require a lot regular movement as they are in rapidly-growing "formative" stages.  Things such as baby bouncers and walkers, exercises (like teaching them to simple roll over), aquatic "floaters" they can paddle in the pool with, all help to keep little leg muscles moving and bones developing.

When an infant is left sitting in bouncers, cribs and strollers a majority of the time, they don't develop their body, mind or spirit properly.  In fact, this lack of development has been proven to lead to later feelings of disassociation that come from the rejection or teasing (bullying) from kids their same age who have become healthier, smarter, or more self-confident earlier in life.

Proper Balance
Finally, developing your child's sense of balance takes time.  I always establish at my daycare safe places where the kids can practice holding themselves upright to develop their own sense of balance and to "find their legs".  Since different heights are required, I always make sure that it's "injury proof", solidly built, and easy to grab and hold onto.

Practice
First of all, you start by sitting down with them facing you, and hold them by their mid-forearm.  Gently lift them to their feet while encouraging them with smiles, expressions, and applause.  As you continue they will get better at standing on their own.  Now find a balance bar or "hold on handle" that is at the proper height for the child intended.  This should be as close to standing "eye-level" as possible as that is the right height for their legs to be at when fully extended.  Now, while sitting behind them, slightly lift them and place their hands on the bar or handles with your hands on their hips.  Now help them to rise to their standing position.  At some point when you both feel right, begin letting go for a second at a time.  Make sure to encourage them all along the way!

Before you know it, your baby will be ready to take it's historic and highly developmental march across the room.  Have plenty of cameras and tissues ready as it will be a moment you and they will never forget.

If you'd like to read up more on how your baby will take it's first steps, I suggest getting one of these books or this great calendar as you can:

"Mayo Clinic Guide to Your Baby's First Year: From Doctors Who Are Parents, Too!" by Mayo Clinic Baby Experts
http://a.co/dN3VSeK

"What to expect the first year" by Heidi Murkoff
 http://a.co/g4QWXHe

"The Baby Exercise Calendar; Baby's First Year of Movement" by Diane Massad and Kidskills International
http://a.co/hYyt9QO


If you have questions, concerns, or have some great advice that you would like to share on this blog, you can write me directly at: askadaycarepro@gmail.com

Love your kids, love your life!

Jennifer Schwartz
"Ask A Daycare Pro"

Positive Ways to Deal with an Angry Young Child

Caring for any young child involves many things such as giving direction, providing necessary discipline, and setting boundaries.  It's important to show children from a young age the proper path for making good life choices.  When they develop positive behaviors early on it helps them transition into being caring and loving adults for a lifetime.

"Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn"

Benjamin Franklin

Sometimes a child will simply not fit the normal pattern and will require a different approach and this isn't something you should be afraid of.  There are solutions to deal with all children regardless of how unique they are.

Let me share a personal story.  I once had a child in my daycare that I found out had been dismissed from several other daycares due to her very violent and aggressive behavior towards her teachers and other kids.  She would hit, scream, bite and otherwise act out in improper ways.  When she first came to me she was trying the same methods she had learned up till then to get my attention.  She would hit me, throw things at me, yell and scream just like before.  She didn't want to listen to anything that I was telling her, especially when I was acting as the authority figure.

I quickly realized that I would have to come up with an approach that no one else had done previously in order to deal with her specific case.  I needed to reverse the process and show her that the behaviors she had adopted simply weren't going to work on me.  When she would act out by throwing things, hitting me, or would use forms of aggression to get negative attention from me, I wouldn't play into it.  Rather, I would ignore these acts and would instantly bring up unrelated topics and questions to change her way of thinking. 

"Kids require you most of all to love them for who they are, 

not to spend your whole time trying to correct them."

Bill Ayers

For instance, if she started punching at me, I would say, "Do you like birds?" or "What's one of your favorite songs?" or "What color crayons do you like the best?"  By my continuing to not take the bait, over time she stopped her aggressive attempts to get my attention and began to look for more positive, loving ways to interact with me.  I then reinforced this by acting less like the bad cop and more like her friend.  Over time she began hugging me more, holding my hand, wanting to sit on my lap to read a story together and in general found a new method of bonding with me rather than being combative.

Now that we were friends and not enemies, I started a process of reinforcing positive behaviors that would affect her deeply and would remove most negative emotions from her thought process.  When she would do something gracious towards myself or another child in the daycare, I would applaud her actions and make her feel special, not like she's a problem, unimportant, or didn't matter.

Becoming the child's friend and not their enemy is essential.  It's as simple as talking to them with respect, laughing, and bonding in meaningful ways while reinforcing the good feelings of love and comfort inside their hearts.  Establishing these proper emotions and reactions in the early developmental stages will help them become more emotionally stable adults.

"As the tower of building blocks that you and your baby construct together 

gets taller and stronger, so do the future communities of our world."

Jennifer Schwartz

If what we are talking about here is beginning to help you relate to an angry young child, and you'd like to get even deeper into the subject, I recommend you follow the links below to some well-written books that will explain it much further.

"How to be a friend" by Laurene Krasny
https://www.amazon.com/How-Be-Friend-Friends-Families/dp/0316111538

"Cool down and work through anger" by Cheri J. Meiners
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8060619-cool-down-and-work-through-anger 

"Redirecting Children's Behavior" By Kathryn J. Kvols
https://www.amazon.com/Redirecting-Childrens-Behavior-Kathryn-Kvols/dp/1884734308

If you have questions, concerns, or have some great advice that you would like to share on this blog, you can write me directly at: askadaycarepro@gmail.com

Love your kids, love your life!

Jennifer Schwartz
"Ask A Daycare Pro"

It's HALLOWEEN! How to make it a fun but SAFE day for all to enjoy!!!

Oh, boy here it is again!  That day of wiping chocolate from their faces (and the floor!).  That mystical, happy, and memorable evening when we all want the best for our kids and take many steps to avoid problems.

Before sending them out or marching with them yourself to gather the sugary prizes in the neighborhood, perhaps take a second to review the materials provided from the American Red Cross:
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It’s that time of year when ghosts and goblins take to the streets for some Halloween fun. The celebration is growing more and more popular with everyone – kids to adults – and the American Red Cross has some safety tips people can follow to help stay safe this Halloween while enjoying the festivities.

SAFETY TIPS FOR TRICK-or-TREATERS

As parents get their kids ready for Halloween, here are some tips they should follow:

Use only flame-resistant costumes.

Plan the trick-or-treat route - make sure adults know where children are going. A parent or responsible adult should accompany young children as they make their way around the neighborhood.

Make sure trick-or-treaters can see, and be seen. Give them a flashlight to light their way. Add reflective tape to costumes and Trick-or-Treat bags. Have everyone wear light-colored clothing to be seen.

Instead of masks, which can cover the eyes and make it hard to see, use face paint instead.

Be cautious around animals, especially dogs.

Visit only the homes that have a porch light on. Accept treats at the door – never go inside.

Walk only on the sidewalks, not in the street. If no sidewalk is available, walk at the edge of the roadway, facing traffic. Look both ways before crossing the street, and cross only at the corner. Don’t cut across yards or use alleys. Don’t cross between parked cars.

Make sure a grown-up checks the goodies before eating. Remove loose candy, open packages and choking hazards. Discard any items with brand names that you are not familiar with.

TIPS FOR WELCOMING THE KIDS ON HALLOWEEN

If you are planning on welcoming trick-or-treaters to your home, follow these safety steps:

Sweep leaves from your sidewalks and steps.

Clear your porch or front yard of obstacles someone could trip over.

Restrain your pets.

Light the area well so the young visitors can see.

Use extra caution if driving. Youngsters are excited and may forget to look both ways before crossing.

DOWNLOAD RED CROSS APPS

Download the free Red Cross First Aid App for instant access to expert advice for everyday emergencies whenever and wherever they need it. Use the Emergency App for weather alerts and to let others know you are safe if severe weather occurs. The content in both apps is available in English and Spanish. Find these and all of the Red Cross apps in smartphone app stores by searching for ‘American Red Cross’ or by going to redcross.org/apps.
(courtesy RedCross.org)
 

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Have fun and make exciting and great family memories to cherish! 
"Love your kids, Love your life!!!"

Jennifer Schwartz
askadaycarepro.com
askadaycarepro@gmail.com

AVOIDING REYE'S SYNDROME

Reye's Syndrome is a serious and deadly affliction that can happen when children are given aspirin or several other chemicals during a viral illness like chicken pox or flu or simple high fever.  It's important for parents to know the facts and take it seriously.

This great page with a statement from Dick Van Dyke could help you avoid disaster.
http://www.reyessyndrome.org/ingredients.html

I myself am a survivor.  If you have a personal story about it or have questions write me directly at askadaycarepro@gmail.com.

"Love your children, love your life!!!"
Jennifer Schwartz
askadaycarepro.com