Tag Archives: healthy

Going Healthy, Health, Lifestyle, Parenting

Building A Healthy Bedtime Routine For Your Kids

02/27/2023 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

A healthy bedtime routine can help your child fall asleep on time, stay asleep without needing to come to you, and even ensure they feel safe and secure in their room throughout the night. And when they know there’s no monster under the bed, everything else gets easier! But how can you build a healthy bedtime routine?

It’s important to set one as soon as possible, but you can still make changes here and there as your child gets older. If something doesn’t work, you don’t have to stick with it; a routine can be flexible while still providing structure and stability! As such, let’s go through some good bedtime routine habits below.

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Don’t Take Too Long

Bedtime routines feel like they can stretch on for hours at a time. But if they actually do, that’s not necessarily a great thing. This can delay your child’s sleep, and cause them to be more grumpy and restless in the morning.

So try to keep things moving at a steady pace, and try to finish it all up in about half an hour. 30 minutes is longer than you might think, and you can get pyjamas on, clean teeth, and finish a story well within this deadline.

Offer Your Kids a Choice Between a Story or Something Else

Reading to your child to help them drop off at night – it’s one of the best feelings as a parent. Knowing they feel safe with you there, and going through a story that ensures they’ll have sweet dreams instead of a nightmare, are two simple actions that form a big foundation for good parenting. But if the stories aren’t doing it anymore, you can swap them out for something else!

Give your child the choice here. Do they want to read a book, or do they want to cuddle and talk about their favorite cartoon instead? Give them the options to choose from, as they might get stressed out trying to come up with something to do themselves (and they may ask to continue playtime, which would be unsuitable for the bedtime routine!).

Make Changes One at a Time

Routine changes can’t happen all at once. Say you want to extend their bedtime by another half hour as well as stop helping them with bathtime; do this one at a time in different weeks to ensure your child doesn’t become overwhelmed.

Similarly, it’s common for children to have braces fitted, and if your child is dealing with them, focus on getting them used to sleeping with them. Purchase some custom-fitted night guards, for example, and integrate them into the routine slowly. During this time, make no other changes to ensure your child can get used to something new before moving on again – they might end up finding bedtime stressful otherwise.

A healthy bedtime routine is a little different for every child. Make sure you craft one with your kids in mind, and be as flexible as you can about it!

Going Healthy, Health, Parenting

How To Look After Your Children’s Eyesight

02/26/2023 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

As a parent, it’s important to be mindful of your child’s eyesight. Just like their teeth, your eyes are a vulnerable part of the body that if mistreated are going to be damaged over time.

There are many causes for poor eyesight but there are plenty of ways to help ensure your child has a good vision for as long as possible. If you’re already a wearer of glasses or contact lenses, you’ll appreciate how useful it is to have 20/20 vision. With this being said, here are some tips that will help look after your children’s eyesight in the future.

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Minimize device usage for tablets and mobile phones

It seems like all new generations nowadays are growing up with a mobile phone or tablet in their hands. Grateful generations above will appreciate the ability to switch off their electronic devices but for younger generations, it’s not so easy.

It’s useful for a parent to try and minimize screen time and device usage when it comes to their tablets and mobile phones. Too much screen time can do some damage to their eyesight, especially if they’re spending hours on it at a time.

Not only that but if they’re using these devices late at night, their eyes will naturally start straining in order to see the screen. This only gets worse when they’re tired. With that being said, set times in the day or evening when screen time isn’t allowed. It’ll help curb their reliance on these electronics too.

Ensure they’re wearing sunglasses when out and about

When they’re out and about, make sure they’re wearing sunglasses if the sun is shining. As children, they may find themselves looking up at the sky and towards the sun. Obviously, this is dangerous for your eyes as it’s burning away that exposed tissue on the eyes.

For children though, they don’t know that until they’re told not to. Sunglasses can help them enjoy the sunshine without having to worry about damaging their eyesight. It’s also great for helping them avoid squinting when the sun gets too bright. Children’s eyesight is a little more vulnerable, especially when they’re still developing.

Teach young children the importance of eye safety

The importance of eye safety goes beyond just their early years. The potential damage caused now could have a long-lasting effect on their eye health in the future. With that being said, be mindful of young children when it comes to eye safety.

For example, make sure they know to wash out their eyes with sterile water when there’s a potential infection or something has gotten into their eye. Ensure they’re not poking anything into their eye that could cause damage. There are a lot of simple eye safety tips that as an adult, you’d know, but for children, they won’t learn until they’re told.

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Encourage them to let you know if they’re having any trouble with their eyesight or if there is any pain or discomfort within the eye itself.

Get regular opticians checkups

Regular opticians checkups are essential for children and should be introduced from a young age. Just like other healthcare appointments, a trip to Merivale Vision Care is a must. It’s worthwhile getting them used to the opticians from a young age, especially as the experience can be a little daunting.

By providing them with eye care from an early age, it’s helpful to ensure they are being checked over properly and have any potential underlying problems ruled out. This can help you to deal with issues like pediatric myopia before they become more severe and get proper corrective eyewear prescribed for your child so that they don’t need to struggle day to day.

Provide them with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables

Fresh fruit and vegetables are great for eye health and for the little one’s health in general. Make sure you’re incorporating plenty of fruit and vegetables that are known for being good for eyesight. These include:

Carrots
Sweet potatoes
Green leafy vegetables.

The more fruit and veg they have in their diet, the better it’ll be for their health in general so ensure they’re getting their five a day every day.

Be mindful of any changes in their vision

It’s important to be mindful of any changes within their vision. As a parent, it’s easy enough to notice something different in your child’s behavior or mood. This may be done to a problem with their eyesight whether it’s noticeable now or not. Make sure to be mindful and to question if they’re experiencing any pain or sudden change in their eyesight.

Looking after your children’s eyesight is essential so with that being said, be mindful, attentive, and encouraging toward your child’s eyesight this year and beyond.

Going Healthy, Going Strong, Health, Tips

How To Get Rid Of Loose Skin

02/23/2023 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

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Rapid weight loss is the most common cause of loose skin. Perhaps you were overweight and you’ve managed to lose a huge amount of weight, but now you’re left with loose flaps of skin? Or perhaps you’re a woman who has recently had a baby and you’ve got loose skin from where your bump used to be? In either case, having loose skin can be frustrating. Not only does it not look nice, but it can rub and cause rashes if you’re not careful. Fortunately, there are several ways of reducing this loose skin. Below are a few solutions to look into.

Build muscle mass

Building muscle mass can be a healthy way to fill out the areas of loose skin. This is most achievable if you are still quite young and not already toned.

Weight-lifting exercises can help to tone up arms and legs to reduce loose skin here. Sit ups and core exercises can meanwhile help to tighten the abdomen by building abdominal muscles, while squats and lunges can build glute muscles to reduce sagging skin around the butt. Consider which areas of your body have sagging skin and try to focus on toning up these areas.

Use firming creams

Firming creams are often recommended for people with loose skin. These creams work by increasing the turnover of skin cells, helping to tighten up areas of thin loose skin. Ingredients typically include retinoic acid or tretinoin.

This guide to firming creams compares some of the best options on the market. Some are designed to target specific areas of the body such as the arms or the tummy, while others can be used on all parts of the body.

Try massages

A massage could help to stimulate collagen production in an area with loose skin. This can help skin to become firmer.

Your best option is to visit a clinic that specialises in skin treatments as well as massages. Such professionals will have a better idea as to the type of massage therapy needed to help make skin firmer and may even be able to use lotions or infrared devices to further help tighten up skin.

Alternatively, you can try massaging areas of your body yourself. There are also devices that you can buy that use infrared and RF technology to help boost collagen production within the skin.

Explore cosmetic procedures

When it comes to large amounts of loose skin, cosmetic procedures may be the only solution.

Surgery is the most effective way to reduce large amounts of loose skin quickly. This is typically done in various stages if there is loose skin on different parts of the body. However, it is important to note that surgery has the potential to be expensive.

While surgery is a major decision, it provides the most permanent results for body contouring. Many patients find that consulting with a board-certified plastic surgeon in Philadelphia helps them understand which specific procedures are right for their needs.

These professionals can explain the recovery process and set realistic expectations for the outcome. Having a clear plan makes the transition to a new body shape much smoother. It is also a good time to ask about non-surgical options that might complement the surgical results.

Radiofrequency treatment is also an option. This involves heating the skin to induce collagen production. The likes of postpartum skin tightening often uses this treatment and can help remove excess skin gained during pregnancy.

When it comes to small amounts of loose skin and wrinkles, another option is chemical peels and laser resurfacing. This also promotes collagen production to decrease the appearance of loose skin.

Maintain a healthy lifestyle

Your skin may start to firm up on its own if you are looking after your skin well.

This includes making sure that you are consuming a healthy diet that provides your skin with all the nutrients it needs. Citric fruits are full of vitamin C, which is important for our skin’s collagen cycle – by consuming oranges and lemons, you could help to fight sagging skin. Garlic, tomatoes and egg whites are other foods that are important for our skin.

To make sure that these nutrients are getting to your skin, you should also consider giving up smoking and not drinking too much alcohol. Both smoking and heavy drinking can restrict blood flow and prevent nutrients getting to the right places. This can not just prevent loose skin from tightening up, but may even lead to further sagging of skin. Finally, make sure that you are getting enough sleep. It is while we are asleep that our skin produces new collagen, helping to fight sagging skin. You should aim to get 7 hours of sleep per night. This is not always possible for new moms trying to reduce loose skin around their stomach, however catching up on sleep with naps and sharing night feeds can help. If you cannot get a good night’s sleep for other reasons, there are many other solutions to help you improve your sleep quality.