Little Facts & Tips for Moms

Acid Reflux

If your child has reflux the natural solution is GUM. "Chewing gum stimulates the flower of saliva, which neutralizes stomach acid and makes kids swallow more often" says Leo Heitlinger, M.D. 

Parents Magazine, January 2011 Issue

Crazy?

Listen to those voices in your head! Talking something through with yourself can help you exercise self-control and stop you from making rash decisions, says research from Canada. 

Parents Magazine, March 2011 Issue 

-so talking to yourself is ok, that's good to know!-

Righty or Lefty?

Kids typically don't show a preference for one hand over the other until age 3 or 4. Stephen Christman, Ph.D. Righty: Almost 90% of kids are right-handed, meaning the brain's left hemisphere controls their writing and other fine-motor skills.  Righties are often better at multitasking; it's easier for them to use both sides of the brain at once.Lefty: Lefties might be more creative; they tend to have a larger corpus callosum, a brain sstructure that controls out-of-the-box thinking. 

 Parents Magazine, April 2011 Issue

-my husband is a Lefty...and he is very, very creative!-

Ewwww!

Restaurant high chairs are covered with bacteria, according to a study from the University of Arizona - scary news, since babies & toddlers put their mouth on everything. When scientists swabbed the seats and arms of high chairs in 30 restaurants, they found bacteria counts much higher then those on the average public toilet seat, even though the chairs all looked clean. Two thirds tested positive for potentially harmful bacteria, such as E.coli and MRSA. Your best bet is to bring along antibacterial wipes to clean the chair, says researcher Charles Gerba, Ph. D.  

 Parents Magazine, April 2011 Issue

-I always clean & then put my high chair cover on them-

Always flush with the lid down. 

According to Charles Gerba, PhD, a professor of microbiology at University of Arizona in Tucson, flushing the toilet with the lid up is not wise. "Polluted water vapor erupts out of the flushing toilet bowl and it can take several hours for these particles to finally settle -- not to mention where," he says. "If you have your toothbrush too close to the toilet, you are brushing your teeth with what's in your toilet." 

 WebMD, 'Germs in the Bathroom' article

-pet peeve of mine!!! 

especially if someone is in my house & they leave the lid up! 

I even made a sign to put beside the toilet paper-