Head lice no more with Oilganics Treatment Shampoo!

I was nothing short of horrified when my mother discovered that my 4-year-old daughter had lice (otherwise known in the Philippines as "kuto"). "Kuto"??? No way, I thought. Not my little girl. At the time, I barely even knew what lice or kuto meant, except that it was something utterly distasteful. I did not fully comprehend at the time how disgusting and annoyingly itchy they were, and how easily and quickly they spread throughout one's scalp and hair. I shuddered at the thought of all those little insects with their numerous legs crawling all over my daughter's head!

I wanted them out. FAST. We got a fine-toothed comb and tried the manual method at first. We shampooed her hair 2 to 3 times a day. Still they continued to spread. Research revealed a quick-acting lice shampoo that only required one treatment, but it seemed as popular as it was controversial. For every site lauding its effectiveness, there was another talking about how it was actually an insecticide and could be dangerous for very young children. I was desperate to find another, natural solution.

Finally, I stumbled upon a smartparenting article entitled How to Get Rid of your Child's Head Lice. It talked about an all-natural head lice shampoo that was safe to use. I immediately jumped to the Oilganics website, which featured their shampoo and conditioner. It would take two weeks of regular use to get ride of the lice, but it was NATURAL and SAFE. I hung on to those two words and used it on my daughter (and everyone else in our household!).

Two weeks later, my daughter was finally lice-free! We continued to use the shampoo and conditioner for a month for good measure.

The best part is - I recently had my hair rebonded with L'Oreal Extenso Rebond and my hair remained straight and shiny despite chucking the expensive L'Oreal shampoo and leave-on conditioner for Oilganics (at a much cheaper price!). I'm considering asking Oilganics if their product can still be used long after the pesky lice have gone :-P

MommyPatch to the Rescue!

My daughter has extremely sensitive skin that seems to be prone to all kinds of insect bites. The worst part is that the bites get really red and huge due to her allergies. Unfortunately, most people in our family (including my little girl) are also sensitive to strong smells so Citronella wasn't our answer.

Or so I thought. Enter MommyPatch Anti Mosquito patches, an effective mosquito repellent crafted through Citronella oil. Although a tad pricier than its counterparts, it's subtle scent more than makes up for the added cost - saving both our irritable noses and my daughter's skin! No more mosquito bites and oddly enough, we noticed that the ants, bed bugs, roaches, and whatever else had been triggering her allergies have been successfully kept at bay as well. The patches are effective for 12 hours and because it uses 3M adhesive, we're able to reuse them throughout the day before one last application on my tot's pajamas at night.

You can find the patches at SESOU Nature Source in Alabang, Glorietta, Trinoma, or Market! Market! or at any of the MommyPatch local and international distributors listed on its website.

Toilet Training: Tips, Trials, and Tribulations

As is evident in the numerous articles, tips, and mommy tales on the subject - the right approach to potty training appears to be a case-to-case basis. Below is my own personal experience in training my tot, as well as the highs and lows of the process.

(1) We started by showing my daughter how the rest of us use the toilet to help her get used to the idea. There are also a lot of books (FisherPrice, Dora, etc.) available to introduce your toddler to the concept of using the toilet or potty.

(2) As soon as my daughter was able to sit on her own, we started sitting her on the toilet whenever she would poop. This takes a lot of patience and alertness on the part of the parent/caregiver. The moment we see her put on her "poop" face, we would rush her to the toilet and told her that this was "poo poo". Eventually she was able to say "poo poo" before the actual deed, giving us ample time to find a restroom. We have not yet transitioned her from diapers to underwear at this point.

(3) At around 18 months, when my daughter was already able to communicate with us using words and short phrases, we started removing her diapers and putting her in underwear for a couple of hours every morning. This involved a lot of accidents at first, afterwhich we would explain that this was "pee pee" and she should use the potty to avoid getting wet. The adjustment time varies. This was done to my niece when she was 2 years old and she was so disgusted after she wet herself that she immediately took to the potty. My daughter took a bit longer. For a few days, I sat her on the toilet during times when I expect her to pee, such as right after waking up and after snacks. When we did away with the diaper entirely, I sat her at least once every 1-2 hours. One of my neighbors put her daughter on the toilet every 15 minutes, but I think this may have been a little extreme. Eventually my daughter managed to say "poo poo" and allowed us to rush her to the nearest toilet before relieving herself.

(4) Sometimes a reward system helps. Most books on potty training come with stickers to give to a toddler for every successful use of the potty. Since I did not allow my daughter to eat sweets or candy, we got into the habit of giving her a marshmallow every time she used the potty.

(5) At first, I thought having her use the toilet directly was a good thing, but soon discovered why a potty was handier - particularly while traveling. The farther we traveled, it became increasingly difficult to find a clean public toilet and my daughter refused to use the potty. She started holding her pee until we got home which put her at risk for urinary tract infection. Thus, we trained her to use a potty at home. Now she's able to adjust and use either a toilet or a potty. We've took it up a notch by teaching her to use a potty for "pee" and the toilet for "poop".

(6) Teach your tot early on to wash up after relieving himself/herself.

(7) It's good to get a toilet seat made especially for toddler and young children - the type you place on top of your own toilet - to lessen the risk of them falling in. Make sure to check if you're using a regular or elongated toilet in order to buy the appropriate seat.

(8) Make sure your child uses the toilet before he/she sleeps. This lessens the probability of wetting the bed.

My daughter was fully toilet trained by age 2. She was the one who told me when she didn't want to wear diapers anymore. We've had some instances of her "wetting the bed" and for the longest time, poo-poo and pee-pee were both "poo-poo" to her, but we eventually worked out the kinks. This process takes a lot of patience and practice on both your parts. The important thing is to keep at it and not to be discouraged. Everyone eventually gets it right. My favorite advice on this subject is from a parenting magazine I once read that said (loosely translated as I don't remember the exact wording) "you don't see seven-year-old kids running around in diapers - a sure sign that at some point, all kids learn how to use a toilet".

Choking Hazards

As a new mom, one of my early fears was dealing with a choking baby. We often see toys labeled "not for children under 3 years" or "choking hazard" so we know from the get-go that it does happen and it's no laughing matter. So what are the things babies can accidentally swallow and what do you do when faced with this kind of emergency? Below are a couple of links to articles that are very helpful in this regard (courtesy of BabyZone):

Top 10 Things Kids Accidentally Swallow

What To Do If Baby Is Choking

Taste Makes All The Difference...

The sales representative at Mercury Drugstore suggested Natravox as a better tasting alternative to Augmentin. I checked my pedia's prescription and it was on the list of options for my tot's antibiotics, so we got a bottle and tried it out. Finally - a full dose of medicine without the kicking, screaming, spitting up, and vomitting! My daughter claims that it tastes just like chocolate. *Whew.

* Both Natravox and Augmentin are still in powder form when you purchase them, but you can ask the staff at the drugstore to prepare (i.e., mix in the water) it for you.

How To Make A Toddler Take Medicine

My toddler has a throat infection and refuses to eat much or drink her milk. She was prescribed an antibiotic, but the challenge was getting her to take it. I tried the direct approach which led to a full blown tantrum and ultimately, vommitting out the medicine and what little she had eaten that day (this was very painful to watch!).

My mother suggested mixing in the syrup from my tot's favorite jelly. I extracted the red syrup from strawberry jelly, mixed it with the medicine, and finally managed to get my daughter to ingest it with little fuss. Here are some other tips I picked up from friends and other online articles:

(1) Mix with milk - just enough to cover the taste of the medicine. This is the most popular method, but it didn't work for me because my toddler is refusing milk due to her sore throat.

(2) Have the child lick ice or drink cold water first. This supposedly numbs the taste buds - I didn't try this since I thought it might make my daughter's sore throat all the more worse.

(3) Find a better tasting alternative. You can ask your pediatrician, or the staff at the drugstores (you'll be amazed at some of their insights). I used to have a hard time giving my daughter medicine for fever, until we discovered Calpol - it's very tasty and my tot refers to it as "strawberry candy".

(4) As a last resort, an IV may be best if the child is no longer eating or drinking. Pediatrician should be consulted first.

* Note that it is always best to consult your pediatrician for possible alternatives to the medicine and before attempting to mix medicine with certain foods/liquid.

* Having trouble measuring the liquid through a dropper (this is especially true of some really thick paracetamols)? Try a syringe. Just remove the needle and you'll have a dropper that gives you a better chance of getting the right amount of medicine prescribed.

Useful Articles on Toddlers and Babies

I signed up for Babyzone Newsletter shortly after giving birth and have become so accustomed to receiving updates and newsletters that it never occurred to me to blog about it until now. To be honest, I feel like it's part of my regular routine to see the telltale email in my inbox. The site provides news, information, and updates that are extremely helpful to a new mother. The best part is that it follows your baby's age. During my tot's first year, I would receive  newsletters highlighting the milestone for the week, things to expect, and how to deal with changes in my baby. After the first year, I thought it would stop (and was quite disappointed at the thought). To my surprise, I still get emails from Babyzone and this time with articles fit for my toddler! The most memorable and useful articles would be on first aid (particularly what to do when baby starts choking), toys that have been recalled, teaching a toddler manners, and how to keep a toddler occupied. My husband was particularly grateful for the article on how to keep a toddler entertained. He was having problems dealing with our baby and the article taught him several ways to play with our tot to keep her entertained while mommy is busy.

The newsletter is free so you have nothing to lose and so much information to gain by registering :)

A Healthy Update to Wendy's Fries

Wendy's has recently introduced a new kind of french fries - made from russet potatoes, fried in 0 trans fat oil, and sprinkled with sea salt. Finally, a french fry I can give to my toddler - without the heavy guilt trip of feeding her junk food! The serving is quite small, but the fries themselves are tasty. They leave the skin on to prove that it's actually made from potatoes. ;)

Original Dora DVDs at P50!

Head on over to the video stores if your kid's a Dora fan - they're selling all original DVDs at only P50 each. A saleslady informed me that the distributor is changing so they're selling out the old stocks. Dora DVDs are already sold out at most of the popular video shops, but they're still some available if you keep looking - as of last weekend, I was able to get a box set from Astro Vision and I noticed that Rustan's Department Store still has them. Good luck and Happy Shopping!