JMS09

Summer brings great opportunity for kids to be outdoors with fun activities. More time outdoors is healthy, but can make children more vulnerable to some–hazards extensive sun exposure, insect bites, poison oak or ivy, and skin exposed to more cuts, abrasions and other injuries. Fortunately, you can protect your child from most dangers without exposing them to more toxic drugs or chemicals.

The most important remedies to have on hand include activated charcoal, aloe vera gel, lavender, tea tree oil, calendula, and black salve.

Although moderate sunshine is healthy, children can easily get too much sun. A safe sunscreen or protective clothing should be used if spending long periods of time in the sun. If your child does get sunburn:
Aloe Vera rubbed on the skin is very healing and soothing . Use raw aloe Vera gel cut from the whole leaf or aloe products made from a substantial amount of real aloe.

Give your child a cool (not cold) bath with a few drops of lavender or chamomile essential oils, or gently apply cool, wet compresses to the skin. To rehydrate the skin, apply a gentle moisturizing cream. Do not use petroleum-based products since they prevent excess heat and sweat from escaping. Avoid any products that contain benzocaine, which may cause skin irritation or allergy. Keep your child out of the sun until completely healed. If blisters develop, do not let him or her scratch, pop, or squeeze the blisters. They can easily become infected and cause scarring. However, scarring can be prevented / remedied by squeezing the contents of a vitamin E capsule directly onto the affected area. Heat exhaustion or heat stroke can be accompanied by sunburn and can happen when kids become very overheated and dehydrated. These conditions are serious. Call the doctor if along with the sunburn, there is an unexplained fever higher than 102 degrees, the skin looks infected, or your child has trouble looking at light. Also call the doctor if your child experiences nausea, vomiting, fainting, delirium, or diarrhea when overheated.

When your baby has stopped breast feeding and gets all of his nutrition from other sources than the breast, he’s actually considered weaned. Even though babies are also weaned from the bottle as well, the term weaning often refers to when a baby is stopped from breast feeding. When weaning is a mother’s idea, it normally requires a lot of patience and can take time, depending on the age of your baby or toddler, and also how well your child adjusts. The overall experience is different for everyone.

Weaning is a long goodbye, sometimes emotional and sometimes painful. It doesn’t however, signal fo the end to the intimacy you and your child have developed during the nursing stage. What it means, is that you have to replace breast feeding with other types of nourishment.

Starting weaning
Your the best judge as to when it’s the right time to wean, and you don’t really have a deadline unless you and your child are actually ready to wean. The recommended time for weaning is one year. No matter what relatives, friends, or even complete strangers tell you, there is no right or wrong time for weaning.

How to wean
You should proceed slowly, regardless of what the age of your child may be. Experts say that you shouldn’t abruptly withhold your breast, as they results can be traumatic. You should however, try these methods instead:

1. Skip a feeding – Skip a feeding and see what happens, offering a cup of milk to your baby instead. As a substitue, you can use a bottle of your own pumped milk, formula, or a cow’s milk. If you reduce feedings one at a time, your child will eventually adjust to the changes.
2. Shorten feeding time – You can start by cutting the length of time your child is actually at the breast. If the normal feeding time is 5 minuts, try
3. Depending on the age, follow the feeding with a healthy snack. Bed time feedings are usually the hardest to wean, as they are normally the last to go.
3. Postpone and distract – You can postpone feedings if you are only feeding a couple of times per day. This method works great if you have an older child you can actually reason with. If your child wants the breast, say that you’ll feed later then distract him.

Sometimes, a baby that is breast fed may suddenly decide to refuse breast feeding. The baby will pull away from the breast, then toss his head from side to side. This can happen at anytime, so there really is no way to predict it happening.

Reasons why

Refusal to feed from the breast could occur when the baby is in pain. Normally, this can be due to an ear infection, sore head from vacuum delivery, thrush in the baby’s mouth, or teething. The use of dummies, teats or nipple shields may also contribute to refusal. Some
babies actually find it difficult to feed from the breast and bottle as the sucking action is very different. Some become confused, therefore it’s always best to avoid using any type of teats or dummies.
Sometimes, the milk just takes bitter. This can be due to antibiotics, if you starting or in the middle of your period, or nipple creams. If the milk tastes bitter, your baby will normally not want to feed.

Also known as mastititis, breast infection is normally due to empty breasts completely out of milk, germs gaining entrance to the milk ducts through cracks or fissures in the nipple, and decreased immunity in the mother due to stress or inadequate nutrition.

The symptoms of breast infection include severe pain or soreness, hardness of the breast, redness of the breast, heat coming from the area, swelling, or even chills. The treatment of breast infection includes bed rest, antibiotics, pain relievers, increased fluid intake, and applying heat. Many women will stop breast feeding during an infection, although it’s actually the wrong thing to do. By emptying the
breasts, you’ll actually help to prevent clogged milk ducts. If the pain is so bad you can’t feed, try using a pump while laying in a tub of warm
water with your breasts floating comfortably in the water. You should also make sure that the pump isn’t electric if you plan to use it in the bath tub.
You should always make sure that breast infections are treated promptly and completely or you may risk the chance of abscess. An abscess is very painful, involving throbbing and swelling. You’ll also experience swelling, tenderness, and heat in the area of the abscess. If the infection progresses this far, your doctor may prescribe medicine and even surgery.

Clogged milk ducts can be identified as small, red tender lumps on the tissue of the breast. Clogged ducts can cause the milk to back up and lead to infection. The best way to unclog these ducts is to ensure that you’ve emptied as completely as possible. You should offer the clogged breast first at feeding time, then let your baby empty it as much as possible.

If milk remains after the feeding, the remaining amount should be removed by hand or with a pump. You should also keep pressure off the duct by making sure your bra is not too tight.

Sore nipples

A lot of mothers complain about tender nipples that make breast feeding painful and frustrating. There is good news though, as most mothers don’t suffer that long. The nipples will toughen up quickly and render breast feeding virtually painless.
Improperly positioned babies or babies that suck really hard can make the breasts extremely sore.
Below, are some ways to ease your discomfort:
1. Make sure your baby is in the correct position, since a baby that isn’t positioned correctly is the number one cause of sore nipples.
2. Once you have finished feeding, expose your breasts to the air and try to protect them from clothing and other irritations.
3. After breast feeding, apply some ultra purified, medical grade lanolin, making sure to avoid petroleum jelly and other products with oil.
4. Make sure to wash your nipples with water and not with soap.
5. Many women find teabags ran under cold water to provide some relief when placed on the nipples.
6. Make sure you vary your position each time with feeding to ensure that a different area of the nipple is being compressed each time.