Parenting Questions and Answers

Circumcision is a practice that needs to be done among men in our culture. Newly born boys who have just been circumcised need utmost care to prevent infections and to keep them as comfortable as possible.

Here are a couple of suggestions for preventive care after the operation:

1. Clean the area thoroughly every time you have to change your kid’s diaper.
2. If there is a bandage that is used to protect the area, change the bandage during every diaper change.
3. If the doctor used a Plastibell device, call your doctor if it does not fall off after about 10 or 12 days.
4. Apply petroleum jelly to help prevent irritation and infection.
5. If you find a small amount of blood in the diaper, it is normal but then if the stain is larger than the size of a quarter, then call your doctor immediately.
6. If you see symptoms of infection, redness or swelling or a yellow discharge, call your doctor.

According to a recent study, a child’s risk of developing allergies often increases by up to 50 percent because of the pollution caused by traffic. It increases when the child grows up next to major roads.

The study was published in the issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. It revealed links to asthmatic bronchitis, hay fever, eczema and allergic sensitizations. Children who are living close to major roads are likely to be exposed to a high amount of particles and gases and also to freshly emitted aerosols which are more toxic.

The researchers have consistently found very strong associations between the distance to the nearest main road and the allergic disease outcomes. Those who are living closer than 50 meters to a busy street had the highest probability of getting the allergic symptoms as compared to those who are living further away.

There are moments that your child will feel down especially after losing to someone or after failing at doing something. What would you do in times like these? Encouragement is something that is really helpful but it should be backed up. How? Your kid has to regain composure back and must have that self-confidence back up and running in his system.

There are things that you could do but I would recommend that you try to teach your kid a little trick that he still did not know. My son got his confidence back after missing his chance on a game winning shot back in the summer league last year. You know what trick he learned? Creating a double star using a rubber band.

He had a really hard time. But then after a couple of tries, he did it without my help. Since then, he got his confidence back and he now has this thought that if he dedicates himself in whatever it is that he does, he will succeed. Failure is a part of life and there’s no way that one can avoid it but there is always a way to do something about it.

It is true that pregnancy can change a lot about you. That is, physically and emotionally. In the physical aspect, it can change your skin. So expect a couple changes in your skin if you are an expecting mother. Here is a list of what you should expect.

1. Stretch marks. These are pink or reddish streaks that can occur on your abdomen or breasts.
2. Melasma - These are dark spots that can appear on the face. They are usually caused by a change in hormones.
3. Oily skin and acne
4. Varicose and spider veins which are caused by increased blood circulation.
5. Dry and itchy skin on the belly.
6. Moles and freckles that become darker.
7. Excess skin beneath the breasts or arms.

Two brothers, about 8 and 10 years old, were exceedingly mischievous. Whatever went wrong in the neighborhood, it usually turned out they had a hand in it.
 
  Their parents were at their wits’ end trying to control them, so hearing about a priest nearby who worked with delinquent boys, the mother suggested to the father that they ask the priest to talk with the boys.
 
  The father replied, "Sure, do that before I kill them!"
 
  The mother went to the priest and made her request. He agreed, but said he wanted to see the younger boy first and alone. So the mother sent him to the priest.
 
  The priest sat the boy down across a huge, impressive desk he sat behind. For about five minutes they just sat and stared at each other. Finally, the priest pointed his forefinger at the boy and asked, "Where is God?"
 
  The boy looked under the desk, in the corners of the room, all around, but said nothing.
 
  Again, louder, the priest pointed at the boy and asked, "Where is God?"
 
  Again the boy looked all around but said nothing. A third time, in a louder, firmer voice, the priest leaned far across the desk and put his forefinger almost to the boy’s nose, and asked, "Where is God?"
 
  The boy panicked and ran all the way home. Finding his older brother, he dragged him upstairs to their room and into the closet, where they usually plotted their mischief.
 
  He finally said, "We are in BIIIIG trouble."
 
  The older boy asked, "What do you mean, BIIIIG trouble?"
 
  His brother replied, "God is missing and they think we did it!"

Colic is defined as an attack of unexplained crying among many infants. This is something that totally frustrates new parents as well as many neighbors. So how would you know if your baby is a colic? Simple. The American Academy of Family Physicians have given the following suggestions and facts for new parents:

1. Colic dos not really mean that your baby is unhealthy or has some attitude problem. The true meaning of it is still yet to be known.
2. Do not think that it is your fault.
3. Colic generally stops after 3 months and shall rarely occur beyond 6 months.
4. When they are crying, it is not a bad idea to give them some extra attention.
5. When crying happens, try to calm your kid down. There are things that you can try out like feeding him in an upright position, burping him and rocking him gently in a rocking chair.

On my way home yesterday, I stopped by my favorite coffee shop to have some drink and hopefully meet an old buddy to chat with. Luckily, I really did meet one of my good old friends. She was alone typing stuff in her laptop. I asked to share seats with her and she gladly acknowledge. She was my college buddy who got married a couple of years ago and she has a 3 year old son.

I asked how she was doing and she said that they are doing great. Which is really nice to hear. And then she suddenly told me that her son is always looking for a father figure. He keeps calling other people "dad" even if they are not his dad of course. The thing is, he never quite got a picture of his dad since he left to work abroad when he was still a baby. He makes it a point that he calls every time he has the free time. But still the son is looking for his presence.

She is scared that maybe one day, when her husband comes home, their son would not be at ease with him which is really a bad thing to see. I told her to just keep talking to her child about his dad and also, keep showing pictures and due to the advent of the Internet, it would be best if they could see each other through live chat or something similar to that. Hopefully, when he comes back home, his child will still be able to recognize him.

According to research conducted in different countries, those who have high blood pressure during their childhood are most likely prone to hypertension when they become adults.

According to the researchers, the concept of blood pressure tracks from early childhood to adulthood and it predicts adult hypertension which can easily lead to heart attacks and other serious ailments. Their main findings show that there are large variations in the degree of blood pressure and that there are factors that affect this such as the child’s age, weight and many more.

The key lesson of this study is to detect high blood pressure at an early age, treat it and hope that it can prevent hypertension when the children turn into their adolescent and adult years.

While browsing through my e-mails, I came across one of the messages sent by a close friend of mine. This e-mail has something to do with the different changes that would occur once you have your own baby. The nature of the article was really funny however, there is some truth injected in it that could really not be avoided. Here it is and I hope you enjoy reading it.

Your Clothes

1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your
OB/GYN confirms your pregnancy.
2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible.
3rd baby: Your maternity clothes are your regular clothes.

The Baby’s Name

1st baby: You pore over baby-name books and practice
pronouncing and writing combinations of all your
favorites.
2nd baby: Someone has to name their kid after your great-aunt
Mavis, right? It might as well be you.
3rd baby: You open a name book, close your eyes, and see where
your finger falls. Bimaldo? Perfect!

Preparing for the Birth

1st baby: You practice your breathing religiously.
2nd baby: You don’t bother practicing because you remember
that last time, breathing didn’t do a thing.
3rd baby: You ask for an epidural in your 8th month.

The Layette

1st baby: You pre-wash your newborn’s clothes, color-coordinate
them, and fold them neatly in the baby’s little bureau.
2nd baby: You check to make sure that the clothes are clean and
discard only the ones with the darkest stains.
3rd baby: Boys can wear pink, can’t they?

Worries

1st baby: At the first sign of distress - a whimper, a frown - you
pick up the baby.
2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten to wake
your firstborn.
3rd baby: You teach your 3-year-old how to rewind the
mechanical swing.

Activities

1st baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing,
and Baby Story Hour.
2nd baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics.
3rd baby: You take your infant to the supermarket and the dry
cleaner.

Going Out

1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter, you
call home 5 times.
2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to
leave a number where you can be reached.
3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she
sees blood.

At Home

1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the
baby.
2nd baby: You spend a bit of every day watching to be sure your
older child isn’t squeezing, poking or hitting the baby.
3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the
children.

According to a recent study in the behavior of children, those teens who cut themselves more than three times are more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior. It has been noted in the study that these teens used condoms less during sex and are more prone to share their cutting instruments and they have less self restraint as compared to those who have cut themselves once or twice.

The researchers said that the continuous cutting of one’s self points them into the direction for future research regarding the behavior of troubled teens and their self-destructive nature.

If your child has been cutting themselves, it is recommended that they be taken to a psychiatrist and that they be recommended for additional psychiatric evaluation to address their sexual risk behaviors and also to minimize their HIV risk.