Screen Time for Kids

 

As parents we all hear / know that too much screen time for our kids (or for ourselves for that matter) is not good. But why? And how much screen time is too much?

All researches seem to agree on the fact that we need to keep kids’ screen time to a minimum for health, psychological and educational benefits. However, recent studies seem to show that parents believe that technology and “gadgets” are of help to their kid’s development. Kids own tablets and/or phone at a very young age. Of course the reasons behind this are easy to understand (and fall for): convenience, keep the kid entertain, hope for him/her to be tech-savvy…The truth is, no matter the content, purpose, support (TV, educational, video games, homework, phone, etc.) ; screen time is screen time and should be limited as it is linked to several issues in children: 

• addiction
• lower academic grades
• lack of social connection
• increased incidence of illness
• decreased “problem solving skills” needed in real life
• sleep disruption (particularly if used before bed time)
• health issues (obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease)
• premature mortality ???

Below the maximum screen time advised by different health organizations and experts:

AGE	Recommended Screen Time
<2 years old	None
2- 5 years old	<= 1 hour / day
5-18 years old	<= 2 hours / day

The French government recommends no screen time for children under 3, and has even banned TV programmed aimed at this group. Australia and Canada have similar guidelines. Some Asian countries even have legalized for parents to monitor how much time their kids spend in front of a screen (though this may be extreme measures)…

You might also be amazed to learn that plenty high techs leaders send their kids to school that exclude screen time until teenage! When a technology journalist suggested to Steve Jobs, in 2010, that his children must have loved the just-released iPad, he replied flatly: “They haven’t used it. We limit how much technology our kids use at home.”

Now, if you worry that by removing any screen time your kid may be bored, comfort yourself with the fact that many professionals agree that being over stimulated is worse than being bored. Children need to learn how to deal with boredom with healthy alternatives: Physical activities, Social activities, Hobbies …

Where my daughter goes to daycare in the Netherlands, they are true believer that over stimulation is not good for kids, the space is studied to limit the amount of colors, noisy/electronic toys: kids have fun playing with each others, educational toys using their imagination, arts and crafts, and playing/going a LOT outside (weather is not even that great there, but if it is not extra windy/rainy they spend time out). It is so nice as a parent seeing your kid having fun jumping outside, gardening, playing with sand…

Also note that background noise at home (TV/radio turned on in another room), also ruins your child’s concentration.

My last comment to close that topic: remember that parents set the example. So if your kids see you regularly turn on the TV when you get home, or while eating dinner ; they will take that as a standard and reproduce it. I know it’s a bummer, as honestly when I get back home home from work and walking the dog, or when it is grey and rainy outside, I would sooooooo feel like putting a nice movie and lay down – and honestly still do from time to time. So I am not saying you can never do that, just be aware of the influence you have on your child and what you are setting as standards for him/her.

 

Sources:

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/may/23/screen-time-v-play-time-what-tech-leaders-wont-let-their-own-kids-do

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/feature/digital-home/how-much-screen-time-is-healthy-for-children-benefits-3520917/

https://www.aap.org/en-us/advocacy-and-policy/aap-health-initiatives/pages/media-and-children.aspx

http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2014/08/28/343735856/kids-and-screen-time-what-does-the-research-say

Introducing Baby and Dog for the 1st time

This is a video we made the first time we came back home from the hospital with
our baby girl, and how we introduced her to our dog (black Labrador).



As a note: I am not saying this is THE way to do it. We have put quite a lot
of training into him so his behavior may not reflect another dog’s. One good
advice we were given, is to bring every day from the hospital, one of the linen
used to swaddle our baby and put it in our dog's bed. This way he gets used to the
baby smell, and eventually understands when he sees her.

Shaving your Baby’s hair

My husband’s mother is Russian, and in Russia there is a tradition that you shave (= cut very short) a baby’s head when he/she turns 1 year old. She had it done to herself, and did it to her 3 kids (2 daughters, 1 son). Talking with different people from different backgrounds, I have learned that quite a lot of different cultures do it as well (some several times during the kids growth): eastern Europe, India, Korea, Vietnam, Greece, and many others… The reason for this? It may be a tradition, linked to religion or a particular belief, but they also all agree with the same outcome: shaving your baby’s head is supposed to help the hair grow evenly and thicker.
Hmmm… interesting… Beautiful thick hair, well that is definitely something I wish for my daughter! She has quite good genes already on that end, but I have to admit, when I see the result on my mother in law and sisters in law, I can’t help but think that if one shaved head at 1 year old is the price to pay it is definitely worth it! Now, it is not something we do in France so I have to admit I had quite a pinch in my heart cutting my beautiful baby girl’s hair (she had by far the longest hair of her age group and I was so proud of this!).
Putting some thinking into this, it also made a lot of sense to me: from my teenage time my mom kept on telling me never to shave but always to use wax or the epilator – as shaving would only make my hair grow thicker. And this is a true fact by the way, I shaved my legs a couple times and it took me a month of using the epilator twice a week (rather than once) to get my growth back to normal. It was awful and I hated it – and swore never to use the razor again lol. (I will write a blog entry about this). But if you do not believe this, then you can try shaving your upper lip, or you forearm for instance, and see how the hair grows back: my bet = thicker.

To sum up = I did it! My good (Greek) hair dresser friend trimmed my baby girl’s hair at around 1 year of age. Today, 1 year later, my husband and I think this was indeed a great decision and will do it as well for the second. Her hair have grown back so thick, nothing like those baby hair she had before – I think they are even thicker than mine! She beats all the kids of her entourage. At her daycare the nannies love to do her hair because she is the only one with such a head full of hair. The only inconvenient: she does get quite hot from the head in the summer time…
You can see below the before/after pics. Please let me know if you did it as well / or consider doing it or what you think about this, I would love to read your story.

// Recipe // Healthy & Filling Pancakes (coconut milk, almonds, berries, chia seeds) – no added sugar, no added fat!

Healthy, filling and yummy pancakes – perfect for those Family Sunday Mornings! They contain everything you need for a healthy meal without the guilt of splurging: protein, healthy essential fats and vitamins. No topping even needed as they are delicious by themselves!
And honestly, you will fill completely full with only 2 of those!

Ingredients for about 10 to 12 pancakes:

1. 175g of whole wheat – unrefined – flour or almond flour (1 1/4 cup)
2. If you did not use the almond flour, 1 cup of chopped raw almonds
3. Chia seeds
4. 4 eggs
5. 500 to 700 ml (2 to 3 cups) of coconut milk, depending on the consistency you like
6. 1.5 cup of chopped blackberries (and/or blueberries)

Mix Ingredients 1 to 3. Then make a funnel and add the eggs, mix with a fork. Add the milk slowly, while mixing, then the berries.
Make one pancake to test the consistency and adjust milk/flour if needed.
Tip: Use coconut oil on a paper towel on your pan to avoid sticky pancake (every 2 or 3 pancake should be enough if you have a good Tefal pan) –> no fat needed in your pancake mix!
Serving: either by themselves or with a touch of honey / maple sirop if you have a sweet tooth . Add these to your green juice and Udo’s oil and you have a great day ahead!

**Baby series** The 5 S System (from ‘The Happiest Baby on the Block’)

I think one of the best thing we did a couple days after coming back home with our 1st new born was to watch that video “Happiest Baby on the Block” from Dr. Karp.
It is quite scary to go back home, left alone from all those nice nurses who know everything about babies, to find your baby crying, not knowing why and what to do about it… This 5S System showed us how to calm our baby in at least 90% of the times!!! Unbelievable! The principle is easy to remember and easy to apply, and we just loved it. So here is the summary:
The first 3 months, a baby is not quite yet “in the outside environment”, what I mean by this is that to calm and reassure him/her you need to re-create the “womb environment” –> this is where he/she felt good. To do so here are the 5 methods that you can do, either one or a few or all of them at the same time. Each baby is different and you will find that yours may like some of those better than others

1. Swaddling – I loved that one. In the womb your baby used to be all tight and feel the warmth of mommy. By swaddling him/her you can re-create that feeling. For a guide on how to safely swaddle your baby you can check this video https://youtu.be/LLqfRQdUP7k. We particularly liked to use the receiving blanket.
2. Side/Stomach position – Hold your baby on his/her side (on your arm, head resting on the ear in your hand.
3. Swinging – In mommy’s womb, baby was used to be rocked all the time, as mommy moves around. By gently swinging/rocking your baby with small movements you can recreate that motion feeling. For our baby this was an important one, I guess because I was moving so much
4. Shushing sound – Ha! This is another good one. We always think that babies need calm and quiet, but actually in the womb it is pretty loud due to the blood flowing through the arteries by the baby “nest”. You can recreate that feeling by making the “shhhhhhhh” sound, quietly by your baby’s ear.
5. Suck – last resort, to my mind, but definitely a great one for a lot of babies I hear (including mine). Either by sucking a finger or a pacifier. “Sucking has its effects deep within the nervous system,” notes Karp, “and triggers the calming reflex and releases natural chemicals within the brain.”

Here you go! The golden technique! Try it at home, you will see the miracles it can make

More information on the website: http://www.happiestbaby.com/the-five-s-way-to-calm-a-fussy-baby/

Fun ways to announce pregnancy

We were looking at how to announce this amazing news to our friends and family and here is an example of what we did…
1. First we announced it to our close friends and family members with a riddle, that we sent by mail. You can see below the document we sent (click on each picture to enhance it)


2. Later on (when the12 weeks uncertainty period was over) we made a funny picture, to share publicly with all our friends and family.
We did not have too much time to have it professionally done but the idea was just to announce it in a cute and fun way, so we did what we could on a sunny day

Please share your announcements as well – it makes it easier for the rest of us when we try to figure out what to do

PS: I forgot to say... the answer to the riddle was
1. 28
2. October
3. Family
4. Upgrade
5. 5.0 (because 5 family members including our doggy)

Last chance hint: "A bun in the oven"

Ingest (essential) Fats to help you lose fat

Intro note: a lot of explanations from this blog entry has been taken from my Life (health) mastery seminar I attended at the Mastery University from Antony Robbins. The below mostly comes from Dr Udo Erasmus, Phd – authority on Fats, oils, Nature and Human Nature. For more information: http://udoerasmus.com/

As wikipedia truly states: “Only two fatty acids are known to be essential for humans: alpha-linolenic acid (an omega-3 fatty acid) and linoleic acid (an omega-6 fatty acid)”. Studies have shown (1) that our body requires them both for good health, however we cannot synthesize them. This is the reason why it is essential to get them through daily intake.
Before taking you directly to the solution on how to get healthy fats, let’s have first a look at what are the different fats so you will be a better judge in the future of what comes to your mouth…

Unsaturated fats

“Unsaturated fats, which are liquid at room temperature, are considered beneficial fats because they can improve blood cholesterol levels, ease inflammation, stabilize heart rhythms, and play a number of other beneficial roles. Unsaturated fats are predominantly found in foods from plants, such as vegetable oils, nuts, and seeds.” (1)
Omega 3 and 6 are present in these types of fats. Most people don’t eat enough healthful unsaturated fats. The American Heart Association shows evidence that eating up to 15 percent of daily calories of polyunsaturated fat—in place of saturated fat -- can lower heart disease risk.
They are also essential food for the brain. Recent studies have found far more good linked to those fats: decreased risks of Alzheimer or Parkinson diseases, decreased rates of depression, and of course good embryonic development (brain activity). They have also been linked to healthy skin and are an essential element to detox.
Great food sources of omega 3 and 6 include:

• Fish
• Oils: Flaxseed, canola, sunflower
• Seeds: Flaxseed, sesame, sunflower, pumpkin
• Nuts: almond, walnut
• Avocadoes

Saturated fats

“Saturated fats are mainly found in animal products. Although all foods containing fat have a mix of specific types of fats. Even healthy foods like chicken and nuts have small amounts of saturated fat, though much less than the amounts found in beef, cheese, and ice cream. “ (1)
A vast amount of studies recommend to limit the amount of saturated fats in the diet and to replace those with unsaturated fats to increase the ratio good/bad cholesterol – and thus decrease the risk of heart diseases.
Those fats are commonly present in: dairy products, meat products, pizza, cookies,…

Trans fats

The worse types of fats and the ones you definitely want to keep out of your mouth. Trans fatty acids are produced by high temperatures and hydrogenation that turns oils into margarines, shortenings, shortening oils and partially hydrogenated oils. A slight molecule change, but a drastic change of its properties, its performance in our body and its effect on our health. To pass on the chemical demonstration, the thing to retain is that our body’s capacity to break down acids is limited. When our intake exceeds our maximum, disease begins to manifest, because our body attempts to use altered molecules for vital structures and functions.

In a Nutshell….
Bad LDL cholesterol can be reversed by drastically decreasing these last 2 types of fats, and by increasing the intake of good (HDL) cholesterol (= Unsaturated Fats).

If you need to remember something:

• Ingest daily Essential fats/oils (= unsaturated fats) to cover your intake of omega 3 and omega 6. The recommended dose is 1 tablespoon/50 lbs (25 kg) of body weight / day.
• Oils are very sensitive: Light, Air, Heat –> buy them in a dark glass bottle (the reason for glass is that plastic can leach into oil faster than water, and plastic does not belong in the body), refrigerate them and consume them fast.
• Organic is the way to go! Regular oils are washed to remove pesticides then cooked to allow to be stored. This process actually damages considerably the oil and is harmful to our body.
• Oils are damaged (and become hurtful to our body) with high temperature – don’t cook them! Remember: Oils are vindictive: “If you fry them, they will fry you!”
• The ratio Omega 3 / Omega 6 is 2:1 – since it can be hard to measure, some oils already provide you with the needed ratio from different seeds. At home we are big fans of the “Udos’s oil – Omega 3-6-9”, since the process to manufacture them takes into account all the points mentioned above. You can find it in the refrigerate section of your health store, or, now that we moved abroad, on online stores…
• Tropical Fats, which include coconut, cocoa, shea nut,... used in their natural state are also very good to add to your diet as they are very high in vitamin E, tocotrienols, carotene and other nut-specific unique ingredients –>  try them at home!

Remember: “Its not FATS that make you FAT” – Udo Erasmus

My personal testimony: Since we started taking our daily “oil shots” (to make this fun we drink it in a shot glass), I honestly saw a big improvement on my skin: a lot less dry, looks hydrated and less  (to none) breakout – after all this money I spent all these years on expensive face creams, the thing that works the best is my oil shot!

(1) http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/types-of-fat/