5 tips to avoid ear infections
• Prevent exposure to colds and flu viruses with frequent hand-washing.
• Keep your child away from others who are sick.
• Keep your child away from others who are sick.
• Don’t let your child drink from bottles or cups while lying down. This allows fluids and germs to flow into the middle ear.
• Stay up to date on immunizations.
• Keep your child away from cigarette smoke.
Sleep and biological age
Mothers who sleep less than seven hours have an older biological age than their peers. With every hour of additional rest, risk of early onset disease decreases—a reminder for mums to prioritise sleep!
Source: The University of California
Allergy reminder
– Check to see if new auto-injector prescriptions are needed
– Create an anaphylaxis emergency plan and share it with your child, the school and caregivers
– Pack delicious snacks for school to avoid temptation to eat classmates’ food
– Remind your child to let others know when reactions occur (face masks may cover up some symptoms)
– Supply safe snacks for outings
– Put names on lunch bags and water bottles
Source: Food Allergy Canada
Safe cannabis storage
Since legalisation, Canada has seen a 6.3 fold increase in hospitalizations for unintentional cannabis poisoning among kids under the age of 10. Despite requiring plain and child-resistant packaging and a maximum of 10mg of THC per package, provinces that permitted cannabis edibles such as gummies, chocolates and baked goods saw twice as many sick kids. Source: medicalxpress.com
How to give your baby medicine
Children’s medicines are specially formulated to deliver just the right amount of medicine to your little one…
• No matter the medicine or brand, discuss with your doctor and follow the label directions prior to use to ensure you’re administering the correct amount
• Never give adult or children’s medicine to infants
• Don’t use more than one product containing acetaminophen at the same time
• Don’t use dosing devices from other products as they can vary greatly
• Never give your child more than 5 doses in 24 hours.
Get help early for kids
Data shows that…
• 70 percent of those with a mental illness see symptoms before age 18
• Mental illness affects some 1.2 million of our children and youth
• By age 25, that number rises to 7.5 million (about 1 in 5 Canadians)
Source: MHCC