1 – A Nurturing Sleep Routine: You’ve heard this before but have you actually tried it? Most of us slump in front of the TV and then drag ourselves to bed. It may feel good at first but it can affect the quality of sleep.

Instead create a modest but relaxing sleep routine. Make it nurturing – a shower or bath, a good relaxing read, a crossword or sodoku puzzle (from a book or newspaper – not your phone). Experiment to see what works. You will likely find that it is much more nurturing than watching TV or surfing the web.

As your routine become more ingrained with time, you will find it to be effective and enjoyable. Have fun creating this.

2 – Nix the Blue Light: This is a tough one for people nowadays but there is so much research on blue light and how it negatively affects our sleep that it’s hard to ignore. So what to do instead? Put your phone on dim light setting at least an hour before bed and turn or notifications if you can. Set it as far from you as possible.

Keep your room as dark. Any light that hits the pineal gland in our eyes can keep us awake. The pineal gland secretes melatonin which helps us sleep. Light can make it secrete less melatonin.

You man also want to have your melatonin levels checked. If they levels are low, talk to your doctor about taking an organic melatonin supplement to help you fall asleep and stay asleep.

3 – Keep work and bills out of your bedroom: There is plenty of time to worry about work and bills during the day. Having these in our room affects us more than you may think. Make your room a refuge from the stressful things and you will likely sleep better and be more refreshed when you wake up. Addressing responsibilities well rested will help you to be more proactive and effective.

If this feels like too much work, pick just one idea and implement it this week. Add another in a couple of weeks and before you know it, you will be sleeping better.

Being home sick for long periods of time can present many challenges. One of them is boredom. Resting in one room watching TV or having screen time can make kids tired and crabby when it goes on for too long. Here are some ideas to make things interesting:

• Felt board – These are great for story telling. You can buy the shapes or cut out your own. The same goes for the board – buy one or cover the top of a pizza box with felt.
• Make cards and send – Your child may be cards but making them for others can help your child stay connected and be proud of themselves – they can be sent to friends, grandparents, even people in the military.
• Pencils with Attitude – decorate the ends of pencils with pom poms, glue, googly eyes, glitter.
• Magnets on a magnetic tray – Use a cookie sheet or buy a board and various magnets.
• Make up stories – You can do a running story where one person starts the story and then the other person continues it. It can be verbal, written, or recorded. Or your child can record stories on your phone and send it to a grandparent.

Match ideas to your child’s energy level. Don’t make it overwhelming. Encourage your child to use his/her creativity in coming up with other ideas. The whole family can get creative and make a list of ideas. Your child may even enjoy planning out a list of materials and steps.

Enlist the help of family members and friends so it doesn’t add to your pressure. For example, maybe a crafty friend or an older child who can do a craft with your child while you take a nap or read a book to recharge.
Creativity raises positive emotions in your child and that’s good for everybody!

Most people change scenery many times in a day.  We go in and out of the car or bus, into different offices at work into different classrooms at school. When a child is home sick for a long period of time, he/she often spends most of the time in one or two rooms which can be boring.    Here’s one way to change it up a bit. 

Change locations – Perhaps your child stays in her room and watches TV in the morning.  Then he goes to the den, put his feet up and does some schoolwork.  Later he can be in a sunny place for lunch and maybe hang out in a sibling’s room for a couple of games of cards or a game of Trouble. 

Plan a movie night – Make it special in a different room, with snacks.  Stay out of the room until movie time if you can and leave when it’s over.  Make it feel special. Younger kids may want to make tickets, play money, and even sell snacks for pretend or Monopoly money.  We used to have plastic cups that looked like the bags that movie popcorn comes in for movie nights.

Build a fort – Your child can build it or watch you build it and then rest in it with a book, a friend, or a beloved pet. This can be a fun way for your child to interact with a friend they don’t get to see because they are not going to school.

Camp in your backyard – We personally would not do this, but you may like it 🙂 Your child can rest and have an adventure at the same time.

Get Creative – Are their friends or relatives houses where your child can rest and still enjoy a change of scenery?  If it’s not too much, this could be great for your child and can give you time to run an errand or grab a cup of coffee with a friend.

Use your creativity, resourcefulness and let your child do the same if it’s age appropriate.  There are some things we can’t control, but often controlling the little things can help improve someone’s day.

J&D Ultracare knows the importance of taking care of kids. That’s because we’ve been providing highly skilled nursing services to medically fragile children in the New York Metropolitan area since 1985!

While we nurse patients in their homes, we also provide families with training to keep them independent as well. As long as parents know the right information, they will be able to take care of their own kids with ease. That’s why we wanted to share an article written by Lone Tree Pediatrics that goes over some great tips for taking care of newborn babies. We picked three of our favorite tips below, but if you want to read more, we encourage you to read the article by clicking here.

Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help

Some parents feel they need to take on the burden of childcare all by themselves and feel that if they ask for help, they are somehow a bad parent. This is simply not the case! Parenting is full of challenges, and for first-time parents, a huge adjustment. Therefore, don’t be afraid to ask for help from close family and friends, especially if they’ve already had kids. They are excellent sources of information.

If you have concerns or problems regarding any area of newborn care, speak to your pediatrician. They will be able to point you in the right direction or provide reassurance.

Bonding Is Vitally Important

When your baby is born, you will be overwhelmed with emotions, and you are likely to be exhausted. But it is crucial during the first few months that you take the time to get to know each other. This can mean holding, swaddling, stroking, and humming. The baby will respond to this contact, and an emotional attachment will form, which will help put them at ease from the stimulation overload they receive from the outside world.

Bonding also helps with emotional and physical growth throughout your kid’s childhood.

Crying Is Their Way to Tell You Something

During the early years, your baby will cry a lot. This is their primary way of communicating with you. It can be something as simple as, “Hey! I’m over here! Come and hug me!” Or it could be an indication that they need a diaper change or a feeding. During the first few months, you are likely to be paranoid or overly sensitive to their crying and worried it is an indicator of something more serious. You are right to be concerned, but some telltale symptoms usually accompany more serious issues.

As you get used to having the little one around, you will start to find a way to communicate and develop a loose routine. If your baby is crying because they want a hug, holding them close will usually calm them down. Hunger and a full diaper are easily solved, and with time, this tends also become routine. But there are times when crying can indicate a problem.

If you have used our nursing services in the past, please consider writing us a review by clicking here. This spreads the word about J&D Ultracare, which will help us find more patients in need! If you are interested in working for us, you can send us your resume here.

Are you following us on social media? If not, please consider liking us on Facebook! This is one of the best ways to support our agency, plus it’s great for keeping yourself up to date on the posts we’re writing. Click here to be taken to our Facebook page and learn more.

J&D Ultracare has been providing professional nursing service since 1985. What inspires us are the smiling faces of children we help everyday in the New York Metropolitan and Hudson Valley areas. To this day, we’re the only agency in Hudson Valley dedicated to pediatrics, proving the value our nurses provide to children in need.

Earlier on the blog, we wrote a great post that helped parents raise their newborn children. Our tips went over effective ways to take care of kids when they are young, but parents also need to prepare for new challenges as they get older. An article from a publication called Care goes over nine different ways to teach your growing kids about responsibility. We think this is very important and wanted to share three of our favorite tips from the article below. If you want to read the full article, you can do so by clicking here.

Start Young

You can’t suddenly spring responsibility on a teenager and expect he will know how to follow through. Imagine your high school daughter calling you at work with the complaint: “Mom I’m hungry. When are you coming home?” You say: Make a sandwich! She replies: “I’ll just wait for you.” Handing out responsibility to kids needs to start early. Think: toddler.

Let Them Help You

Don’t grumble and mope when it’s time to do housework. Smile and invite your son to help (even if he makes the job take longer). It’s team work, precious time with your child and a lesson that will one day send him off into the world with the ability to sort lights and darks! “When your child is invited to participate, he feels valued,” says Dr. Ruskin. “He will take these good feelings and learn to take ownership of his home and feel pride in maintaining it.”

Show Kids the Way

Play to a child’s skill level, suggest both experts. First, you can demonstrate how to complete small tasks. If your son wants a snack, show him where the apples are and how to wash one off. Does your daughter always throw her dirty clothes on the floor? Place a hamper in her room and show her where the day-old jeans belong. Make responsibilities age-appropriate and even use the word “responsibility,” says Dr. Barzvi, when informing your son about the tasks you expect him to complete on his own. It sounds grown-up and important!

If you have used our nursing services in the past, please consider writing us a review by clicking here. This spreads the word about J&D Ultracare, which will help us find more patients in need! If you are interested in working for us, you can send us your resume here.

Are you following us on social media? If not, please consider liking us on Facebook! This is one of the best ways to support our agency, plus it’s great for keeping yourself up to date on the posts we’re writing. Click here to be taken to our Facebook page and learn more.