Stubborn Itchy Cough

The weather for the past few months have been very unpredictable.Almost everyone is sick and not feeling well. Especially children tend to get flu, phelgm, cough and fever. When my daughter have a cough I will brew this for her to drink. This is something good to strenghten her immune system and it is suppose to help eliminate phelgmy itchy coughs..

One can easily purchase a packet or two from the local chinese medical shops. It consists of dried honey dates, dried figs, dried sliced pears, chinese almond and a piece of sweetened dried mandarin orange. A packet of RM5.00 is enough for a family of 4 -5 persons. It is also children friendly cos it’s sweet and will not overdose.

To brew it, just put 3 litres of filtered water into a soup pot, pour in all the contents and boil steadily for 2 hour. The taste is not bitter, it is sweet so is nice for children to drink. My daughter is 3+ years old, so I give a 1-2 cups a day. Kids below 2 is not advisable to drink.

Sibling age gaps: how they affect families

Now my daughter is already 3+, is about time to have a 2nd child? All my friends always question me when am I having my 2nd child. To many of them said that age gap is important. Not to far apart is good. So I start to some research on what is true. I can't really find the exact answer. Here are some of the suitable articles found.

Is there a "right" gap?
There's no absolute "right" gap, although there might be circumstances in your family that mean it's sensible to wait less or more time before trying for another baby. In any of these circumstances, you might feel time isn't on your side and you need to get moving. On the other hand, if you're in your twenties and have toddler twins there might be a lot of sense in delaying a third baby.

But it's not true that there's some magical gap that makes life easier and better for all concerned. Every age gap has its pros and cons, and personality factors mean that what might work well in one family isn't as successful in another.

What would a small gap be like?
Generally speaking, the closer in age your children are, the harder work it is for you in the early months and years. If the gap is very small (some couples even manage to have two children within the space of a year) it can almost feel like having twins, with all the demands of two babies at one time. Life will probably be a hard slog for a while, and things like getting out of the house, travelling and getting a good night's sleep may be difficult.

On the plus side, a small gap means that the existing child will never really remember life without a sibling which some parents think will reduce rivalry.

There may be childcare considerations too. If you're working it may be easier to sort out childcare for two or three children of a similar age together rather than having years of planning different childcare arrangements.

In the long term, a small gap probably means it will be easier to entertain children during the school holidays as they're more likely to want to do the same sorts of things. Although looking even further ahead, you may have a lot of higher education costs within a short space of time.

What would a big gap be like?
A bigger gap of three or more years means you'll be plunged back into caring for a baby having come up for air after your last child. For some people this is a definite advantage. If you love looking after a small baby and want to cherish every moment of it, having a bigger gap means you may have more time to devote to the new arrival while the older child or children are at playgroup, nursery or school.

Couples with big gaps between their children often say they have "enjoyed them more" because they were able to concentrate on each child without feeling constantly under pressure. But other parents who relish a sense of freedom as the baby years are behind them might not be as pleased to be back to breastfeeding and night-time waking.

For some women, the sense of getting your body back into shape before diving again into pregnancy is important. It's sometimes easier to lose weight gained during pregnancy and to keep it off if you have a bigger gap.

What's the best advice?
But the best advice, if you have a choice, is to wait until you feel you can cope with whatever is already on your plate before you start planning to increase the burden. If you feel you're only just keeping your head above water, and you have time on your side, it makes sense to wait until you're more confidently on top of things before increasing the already-heavy demands of being a parent.

Written by Joanna Moorhead

What is the best age gap between siblings?

In my family, my sister and I are 6 years apart. We do talks, share and quarrels very often. For us, I would said that distance plays a strong role than age gap! She moved back to Penang lasat year and I'm at KL. So we seldom see each other that often. And because of the distance we tend to talk more everytime we meet. If gap is a concern than 1 - 5 year gap is the better gap between kids.

Looking at my family and the families of my childhood friends, I believe there are other factors that affect the relationship between siblings, like:

1. The age of the parents
2. The kids' genders
3. The neighbourhood and social surroundings
4. The parents' professions and financial situation at different stages of the kids' lives
5. Sickness, medical or mental problems and other major events in life
6. The kids' relative order in the family

In another hand, a smaller gap between babies gets the hard work over with more quickly but the expenses come closer together and there may be more squabbling later as the children's interests overlap. While, larger gaps give you the opportunity to enjoy each child as an individual and to give them your undivided attention for the first few years. It also means you can spread the cost of having children over a longer period of time.

In general, it is sensible to wait at least six months to a year before trying to conceive again in order to give your next baby a healthier start to life.

What do you have to say about age gap? Any viewers?

Tips for introducing new foods to a picky eater

Your child has an innate sense of how much food his body needs to grow and be healthy, and it's up to him to decide what he's going to eat. The best thing you can do is to provide a wide variety of healthful foods in a positive, relaxed environment so that mealtimes will be enjoyable for everyone.

Here are some specific tips on how to handle a picky eater:

1. Serve a variety of good foods for your toddler to eat at each meal. When you do offer a new food, simply place it on your child's highchair tray without making a a big deal about it. Make sure the food you choose is age-appropriate.

2. Introduce new foods one at a time and in small amounts. Instead of offering an entire meal of unfamiliar foods, for example, offer standard fare or favorites along with something new. Always offer a meal that includes at least one thing you know your toddler likes.

3. Use toddler-size portions. A serving of bread for a 1-year-old is only 1/4 slice, and a serving of rice, potatoes, or pasta is only about 2 tablespoons — much smaller than an adult serving size.

4. Understand that some children's palates are more sensitive than others' and they simply won't like the texture, color, or taste of some foods. That's why a child might claim to dislike a food he has never even tried.

5. Look for ways to boost the nutritional value of the dishes your toddler enjoys. Add some wheat germ or tuna to his macaroni casserole and little chunks of fruit to his favorite cereal, for example.

6. Resist the urge to offer sugary foods in an effort to get your toddler to eat more. You want to develop his sense of culinary adventure, not his sweet tooth!

7. Minimize distractions at the table. If a sibling is running around nearby, your toddler may have trouble maintaining interest in the food being served.

8 Fun Ideas To Get Your Kids To Eat Their Veggies

Do you have trouble getting your kids to eat their veggies? To be frank, I don't. My daughter loves to eat veggies but she is a picky eater. Here are some fun and sometimes sneaky ways to get some veggies in toddlers.

1) Make big pot of vegetable soup, and then add some fun noodle shapes. You can use alphabet noodles or look for some fun novelty shapes. You may be able to find some cartoon characters, toy and sports shapes etc. I have even seen pumpkin and Christmas tree shapes. With a little luck your kids will be too busy spelling words, or identifying the shape to notice all the veggies they are eating in the soup.

2) If you can’t make them eat it, make them drink it. Pour some vegetable juice over ice and add a straw, a cocktail umbrella or a stick of celery and watch them drink it up. Your kids may not get as much fiber as eating the entire vegetable, but getting them to drink their vegetables is better than not getting any vegetables in their system.

3) Have you tried offering them some raw vegetables with some ranch dressing to dip them in? Many kids who don’t care much for cooked vegetables will eat them up if they can dip them. Just grab a bag of baby carrots and cut up some red and yellow peppers and some cucumber. Arrange them on a plate with a little bit of ranch dressing or your favorite vegetable dip on the side.

4) Take it even a step further and let them create artwork out of their vegetables. Offer raw vegetables in different colors and shapes and encourage them to make a vegetable collage on their plate. You can easily make a face using slices of cucumber as eyes, a baby carrot as nose and a slice of red pepper as a mouth. You can use watercress or shredded carrots or even some cheese as hair. Before you know it, you’ll find them sampling their “art supplies”.

5) To get them to eat more vegetables at dinnertime try a little salad bar. Put out some lettuce, some sliced or chopped tomato, slices of cucumber, shredded carrot, slices of red and yellow peppers, small broccoli flowerets and anything else you can think of. You may also want to offer them some choices when it comes to salad dressing. Favorites in our house are Ranch, Italian, Catalina, and French. To top it all of set out some croutons and shredded cheese.

6) Get the kids together and make a cold vegetable pizza. Start out with a can of crescent rolls. Unroll the dough, but don’t pull the triangle shapes apart. Instead push the seams together and bake on a baking sheet according to the package directions. Let the sheet of dough cool completely, then spread with some crème cheese (we like a vegetable or herb flavored one) and top with some thinly sliced raw veggies. Cut into squares and serve.

7) Get them involved in the kitchen especially when it comes to cooking. Ask them to wash the vegetables, if they are old enough let them cut veggies (under your supervision of course), let them help you stir, or anything else you can think of that would be age appropriate. You’ll be amazed at how proud they will be of their finished product. Believe me, they’ll try just about anything if they made it.

8) If everything else fails, hide the vegetables in other food. My mom used to make us some special orange mashed potatoes. We thought it was very fancy, but all she did was to cook some carrots with the potatoes and mashed them right in there. You can also cover broccoli with tomato sauce or cheese. Think of a dish your child really enjoys and sneak a little bit of vegetable in there.

Give a few of these ideas a try and see which ones work best for your children. Keep at it and sooner or later they will start to develop a taste for vegetables