My son, AJ, takes his lunch to all day kindergarten everyday. He also takes two snacks and a drink. So, my job as a parent is to make sure that my home-made lunch is just what he needs to get him through the entire day, provide him with energy, help him concentration, and give him enough protein and natural sugars to prevent a hypoglycemic attack, which can easily happen with him.
So, what do I provide him?
1. One fresh fruit, either a peeled pear or apple (he has a salicylate intolerance and can not tolerate the peels although they provide the …read more

Formula storage is one of the most tricky things about feeding a baby so I recommend purchasing a formula travel case and packing extra, empty bottles.
To properly store formula:

Feed your baby prepared formula immediately.
Immediately refrigerate prepared formula up to 24 hours.
Discard any extra formula after one hour because bacteria can grow VERY quickly.

If you are traveling, use the formula dispenser.

At Hidden Valley, Jodie Shield, a registered dietitian, helps kids all around the country eat their veggies. Jodie has been a a consultant and a spokesperson for more than two decades. She is a former national media spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association and has worked with the Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago.
She is currently a complemental faculty member of the College of Health Sciences in the Department of Clinical Nutritian at Rush Univesity in Chicago.
As parents, you know how tough that can be, right? Here are twelve tips from Jodie to help you out you with a …read more

For a long time we tried to figure out why our son would wake in the middle of the night ravishingly hungry. Every doctor we visited told us to make him grow out of this “baby” issue and not feed him.
The problem with this was that if we did not feed him he would be up for hours, screaming and crying.
It wasn’t until we visited the Pfeiffer Treatment Center that we figured out the problem. AJ has hypoglycemia, a metabolic disorder associated with low glucose levels. Although he does not have diabetes, he does get nighttime induced hypoglycemia as well …read more

In these economic times it can be quite costly to purchase jars of baby food. I was forced to purchase baby food with AJ because of the texture of so many foods and and his severe sensory problems. When Gus joins us soon at the age of one year I hope that he will be past the baby food stage and will be able to eat table foods.
Making your own baby food is easy and much cheaper than purchasing premade foods (I also recommend stearing clear of foods marketed for babies). All you ned is a blender (or food …read more

In celebration of the 80th Child Health Day on Monday October 6, and keeping with the theme “Eat Healthy and Be Active for a Healthy Future” I compiled a gigantic list of ways to help you achieve this goal for your family. Here are –
80 WAYS TO KEEP YOUR CHILD HEALTHY
HELP KIDS STAY ACTIVE:

Bike to the library together.
Walk or bike to your children’s sports events to cheer for them.
Have your children come to your sports events and cheer for you.
Celebrate special occasions—birthdays, anniversaries—with something active, such as a hike, a …read more

Together with this contest, I asked readers to vote on a poll : What does your child do after school? The top three answers (out of 176) were:

Does homework right away (56 or 32%)
Has sports, games or practices (44 or 25%)
Plays with the neighborhood kids (39 or 22%)

From this poll we find that more than half of children of Kids Health Notes readers continue their education even after school, either through sports activity or doing their homework. Very good!
Now for the contest. Some of the entrees appeared at the poll post, so as a courtesy to them I …read more

After buying at least a hundred jars and plastic brand food, I decided it’s time to make homemade baby food for by 8-month old. It wasn’t a difficult transition but it’s a little more work than buying from the store. Still the pros of homemade baby food outweigh the convenience of jarred food.
VARIETY. There are only so much variety that the jarred food can offer a baby. Jarred fruits are more varied, but the vegetables are limited to those that most babies can/will eat. With homemade, I was able to tailor-cook and give zucchini, yellow squash, butternut and …read more

Instead of the usual sugar-loaded breakfast bars and pop tarts, try these powerhouse breakfast ideas to get kiddos healthy and ready for school.
The bonus – each recipe only takes less than 10 minutes to prepare.

Breakfast rounds Muffins on peanut butter, apples and cinnamon
Gloomy Day Smoothie brings enough sunshine and energy to your day!
Eggs in a Nest a fun way to get kids eating eggs!
UFO Bagels galaxy-traveling breakfast spaceships give kids some protein power
Microwave Omelet Pop in the microwave, add some toppings and yummy!

Try these other breakfast ideas for busy mornings and your children will be …read more

The Australian government has found a creative way to reduce childhood obesity: have students grow their own garden, and cook their produce.
A project spearheaded by culinary celebrity Stephanie Alexander, the Kitchen Garden Project is a class taught in elementary where students grow a productive vegetable garden and cook the fresh fruits of their labor in a home-style kitchen in the school grounds.
“As well as learning what 125 grams of butter is or a cup of flour, they discover how wonderful broccoli can taste when it’s stir-fried quickly and served with extra-virgin olive oil and toasted sunflower seeds that …read more