by Rachel, RN
Raising healthy children in present day society is a challenge for many parents because of busy work schedules, easy fast-food options and engaging electronic devices that keep kids idle. As a mother of three and an RN I am challenged daily with providing my children a healthy lifestyle. I am definitely not an expert in this area but here are some things that work for me and my family.
Find activities that your child/children enjoy
Growing up I was lucky enough to be exposed to many sporting activities so naturally I would like to give my children the same opportunity. My oldest child is not very interested in sports so when he chose to drop out of hockey after two months I wanted to replace hockey with another activity. After trying out karate he decided he didn’t like that either so I was concerned that he wasn’t going to like any physical sport. I really wanted him to be involved in two activities a week so having him only involved in one really concerned me. His only activity was swimming and he loves to swim. So I had to redirect my focus and sooth my conscience with the fact that at least he is doing something he enjoys and focus on the quality of the activity and not the quantity.
Play with your kids
Unless there are other kids outside to play with, my children are not too enthusiastic about going outside, even on a warm sunny day. Even though we have a great swing set and lots of outdoor toys my kids need lots of encouragement to venture outdoors. However I find that whenever I go outside to mow the lawn, garden, or even sit and relax on the deck my kids will drop what they are doing inside to come outside with me. Kids just want to be around people. As their parent I feel I need to take the initiative to go outside and play with them. My kids are still young so perhaps as they get older, they will require my presence and encouragement less and less.
Cook from scratch
I know that time is limited for us moms especially if we work, have many kids, or just simply enjoy a bit of “me” time. I’m no gourmet chef and I certainly don’t pretend to feed my kids all organic, health foods. In truth my kids eat at MacDonald’s more than I am proud to admit but I do try to make up for our occasional poor food choices by providing foods with less preservatives and making things from scratch as often as I can. My kids really enjoy muffins for breakfast so once a week I bake muffins with pureed fruits and veggies. I usually substitute half the oil or butter with the purees. I make cookies the same way and then freeze the cookies and muffins so they stay fresh and thaw them out as needed. Instead of buying frozen pizza I always keep pizza sauce on hand and cheese and buy fresh pizza crust and toppings whenever I’m planning to make pizza. It’s so easy and everybody gets the toppings they like, so it satisfies even the picky eaters!
Provide food choices
I know this seems like a no brainer but it really works! I’m embarrassed to admit this but I sometimes make up to three different meals a night. One meal for the adults. One meal for my two older kids. And another meal for the baby. Sometimes my two older kids even get something different. This drives me crazy! To prevent this nightly craziness I’ve started choosing their meat/fish for them and offer them a choice of veggies or fruit. Also offering dips and the way it’s cooked gives them a sense of control in what they are having for dinner. My middle child is the pickiest eater on the planet! She is four and has never let pasta pass through her lips! Until recently she only ate store bought chicken strips or nuggets until one night I put my foot down and told she had to eat baked chicken breast like the rest of the family. At first she wouldn’t eat it but when she realized I wasn’t caving she asked if she could dip her chicken into peanut butter and she loved it! Who would have thought chicken and peanut butter taste good together? Who cares, she’s eating less processed chicken!
Earlier meal times
Pre kids, my husband and I used to eat supper around 7pm. It seems as the kids get older we have started eating earlier and earlier. In my house the request for snacks increase in frequency by the hour from 3 pm onward. We now eat supper just after five. As a rule there’s no snacking past four so they’ll be hungry at dinnertime. This helps to ensure that they eat at least some meat, veggies, and fruit instead of filling up on less nutritious snacks.
Fun In hygiene
Most kids do not find the monotonous task of brushing their teeth and washing their hands fun and exciting but it’s one of those things that must be done. As an RN I’m embarrassed to admit that my kids are bad hand washers. However providing fun foaming soaps has upgraded them from terrible ones. The same goes for fun toothbrushes, toothpaste, bubble bath and even new bath toys. These can all help ease our little ones into becoming more enthusiastic about cleanliness and the spreading of germs.
Sleep Routine
I consider myself a pretty relaxed parent when it comes to most things but when it comes to sleep I try to keep my kids on a rigid routine. In my experience sticking to a routine around naptimes and bedtime has a huge positive payoff. Call it coincidence or not but all three of my kids have been great sleepers. Obviously vacations, travel, and the occasional late night out throw things off a bit but I find sticking to a timeframe and routine around bedtime and naps really increases your chances of having well rested, happy children.
Modeling healthy behaviours
I believe as parents we have to practice what we preach. If we expect our kids to eat healthy and be active, we have to be active and eat a balanced diet as well. My kids have known the term “working out” and the word “gym” from a very young age. My two oldest kids spent many hours sleeping and playing at the gym daycare as babies while I worked out.
Unfortunately for my kids I’m a picky eater so generally my kids only eat what I like to eat because I buy the groceries. Although my diet may be limited I try to eat mainly healthy foods and my kids see this. My kids also see when my husband eats a handful of chips or chocolate from the cupboard just before supper! I have to remind him that he is not modeling healthy eating behaviours prior to supper, not to mention this does not rate high on the fairness scale with my kids. Occasionally my son will ask me to buy different fruits and we try them together. One of these days he may even introduce me to something new and I might like it!
Mommy time = happiness for all!
Having a little time for one’s self is essential to being a good mother. I’m very lucky as a mother of three to have a great balance in life between family, work, and “me” time. This balance enables me to be more patient and attentive to my kids which results in them being happier. It’s amazing how working out, having lunch with friends or an afternoon shopping can reap benefits for the whole family!
Most valuable advice
One piece of parenting advice that has helped me the most in achieving a healthy family would be sleep advice that I found in a book. It said that babies from birth to six months old have a wakefulness period of no longer than two hours at a time. I practiced this advice with all my children and I really feel this enabled them to be good sleepers. As soon as my kids rubbed their eyes, yawned, or became cranky in this short window of alertness I would always lay them in their crib or put them in the swing before they became overtired. The majority of the time they would drift asleep without a peep. Luckily for us having good sleepers as babies has translated into good sleeping toddlers and school-aged children.
I realize none of these tips are ground breaking, scientific based practices but rather simple everyday commonsense and probably widely practiced methods. These are just a few things that enable me to provide a healthy environment for my family which in turn makes me feel like a better parent.