The American Academy of Family Physicians lists these common risk factors for ear infections in children:

• Being around cigarette smoking.
• Having had ear infections before, frequent colds, or having a family history of ear infections.
• Going to a day-care center.
• Being born premature or at low birth weight.
• Going to bed with a bottle or using a pacifier.
• Being male.
• Having allergies that cause congestion.

Secondhand smoke increases children’s risk of developing asthma, ear infections and cavities and increases infants’ risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

Here are some healthy habits and guidelines for parents and caregivers to follow when caring for young children prone to ear infections;

• Breastfeeding appears to lower an infant’s risk of ear infections.
• Children under age two should not lie flat when they bottle-feed.
• No one should be allowed to smoke around children. Secondhand smoke increases a child’s risk for ear infections. In fact, even smoke from wood stoves can irritate breathing and increase the risk of an ear infection.
• Children in day care centers tend to have more colds and a higher risk of ear infection. Although it would be best to keep an ill child at home, this may not be possible. Parents should work with day care center staff to ensure proper hand washing, tissue use and cleanliness.
• Regularly practice proper hygiene in the home to reduce spread of germs that lead to infection; regularly wash and disinfect all surface areas, toys and play things and common play areas, teach children to always wash their hands after sneezing or coughing into them.

Sited & Related Links;
HealthDay | Ear Infections
HealthDay | Almost half of kids still exposed to secondhand smoke
NY State Health | Ear Infections [*PDF]
American Academy of Family Physicians | Ear Infections in children; What you should know

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Allow these fun times as a chance to listen to your kid, play on their terms, while maintaining fair play and encourage healthy social interactions. Young kids, toddlers and preschoolers alike spend most of their day playing by ‘our rules’, let this be a chance for them to dictate things a bit; it is good for their confidence and promotes self assurance.

1. Masterpiece Theater – turn the living room into a cinema! Put dolls and teddies on a row of chairs. Take money for tickets, then show a DVD. An interval with a chance to buy a snack is popular!

2. Mix it up -  Assuming the weather agrees, take your kids favorite toy outside. Right now my boys are all about their Geo-trax train set. We bring all the kits outside and they set them up under the cool shade of our lemon tree, they love it!

3. Scavenger Hunt – If you’re running to the store, turn it into a Scavenger Hunt and have each of your kids ‘find’ the items. It’s funnest with one kid. If you do it with more than one kid you will quickly find yourself trying to find your kids as they all bolt throughout the isles, I have anyway.

4. Off-off-off Broadway. Take brown paper grocery bags and cut out some holes for eyes and have your kids decorate them as their favorite storybook characters. When they’re done, have them act out the story. “Where the Wild Things Are” is a favorite. We end up doing plenty of improv’ that quickly decends to a wacky chase through the house or yard.

5. Teddy Hunters - Play hunt the teddy. Dress up the kids as safari hunters and take it in turns to hide it in the house. Put on some appropriate music (example; Lion King soundtrack) and if they can’t find the teddy by the time the song ends, it’s the other kid’s turn.

Related Articles:
Dad’s version of kids’ crafts and activities
Little Elephants
How to make paper airplanes for the kids
Five cheap and easy ways for dad to bond with the kids

INTERVIEW: Dr. David Elkind – The Power of Play

Father’s Day is coming up and here is a list of fresh links for decent free Father’s Day coloring pages. Use the back of some old documents and recycle a bit. This will give them an opportunity to create something nice for day without spending a dime.

Granted this image caters to a dad comfortable with his internal (or external) ‘geek’. Geek or no geek, every dad will appreciate this outstanding collection of free Star Wars Coloring Pages available, or perhaps Star Trek or even a coloring book of Gangsta Rap Stars. If you Pop is a republican, here’s a fantastic John McCain or for the Obama Pappa there are plenty of printable sheets, alongside wonderful coloring pages of Salvador Dali, Ghandi and many others famous people.

There is also a small selection of puzzles can print for their ‘Old Man’ so he can have something to do with all that spare time you give him on his special day. For those dad’s more into other sports, cars and other more traditional things, scan the list below and see if anything sparks interest.

[*The image above is perfect for printing on standard sized paper, just right-click and save to you computer or send right to the printer.]

Father’s Day Coloring Books;
Star Wars Coloring Pages
Star Trek Coloring Pages
Famous People Coloring Pages
Skateboard Coloring Pages
Basketball Coloring Pages
Baseball Coloring Pages
Football Coloring Pages
Football Coloring Pages

Father’s Day Puzzles;
Football Word Puzzles
Free Printable Word Puzzles

Related Articles:
The best kids activity and coloring pages ever
Great coloring pages online
Great free educational coloring pages
Mod coloring books for your lil’ Picasso
Gansta Rap Coloring Book

Although our kids are still quite young, my wife and I feel it is important they are involved with cooking and mealtime at some level. It promotes a healthy sense of responsibility, safety in the kitchen, offers some special bonding time between you and the kids and lots of opportunities to learn different concepts along the way. Think about it; there’s lots of potential for basic math and science lessons (ex. why do they call it a teaspoon? why does yeast make dough rise? how many quarts in a gallon?) when whipping something up in the kitchen.

Generally, there is one or two times a week where I grab the cutting board and prepare dinner. Whenever possible, I try and engage my toddler in the kitchen and have him be Daddy’s helper. He absolutely loves it. He’s very receptive and very serious in the kitchen (it’s very cute, he’s four and a half). We usually make pizza together.

If you are not comfortable in the kitchen, don’t fret. Choose one thing, make it simple and master it. Here’s a basic recipe for pizza dough that I tend to use. It’s very basic.

• 1 envelope active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar or teaspoon of honey
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• pinch of oregano flakes

Put warm water in a cup; sprinkle yeast over water and stir in sugar. Let yeast stand for about 10 minutes, or until it begins to bubble. Sift flour and salt into a large bowl; pour in yeast mixture and oregano – then beat until a stiff dough is formed. This is where we cheat a little (save some time) and use a electric mixer with the dough paddle attachment at a low speed. When it’s well mixed we turn dough out onto a floured surface; knead about 5 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Add extra flour as necessary to keep from sticking to hands and board.

Place in a large bowl greased with shortening; turn dough over to coat the other side with shortening. Cover with towel; let rise in a warm place, away from drafts, for about 30 minutes. This is the hardest part because 30 minutes is a long long time, so I try and use this time as an excuse to take the dog for a walk or play ball in the backyard.

By the time we come back the dough will be double in bulk. Punch dough down and divide in half. Grease two 14-inch pizza pans and grease hands lightly. Place half the dough in each pan and stretch to fit bottom and up sides of pan. Let the dough relax (it will start rising again, which is good) while you shred the cheese and prep the toppings. Keep dough slightly thick around the edges. Find yourself a good pizza sauce recipe, there’s a million of them. Don’t use spaghetti sauce, it’s too wet. It makes a soggy pizza.

Fill with favorite fillings and toppings and bake about 15 to 20 minutes at 425°. While it’s in the oven we clean up (very important habit to teach the kids, right) and give the mixer a good wiping down before Daddy puts it away.

For my son I think the whole process is like playing with Play-Doh. The only thing cuter is how he gives every slice he eats the “Brooklyn Fold” like his old man (folding it onto itself the long way, like a pizza sandwich).

Sited & Related Articles:
Wikipedia | teaspoon
Wiki-Answers | How many quarts in a gallon?
WiseGeek | Why does yeast make dough rise?
Google | Pizza Sauce Recipes

Family Fun | Kids Recipes
Kids Cooking Club
That’s my Home | Kids Recipes
Amazon | Cook Books for Kids

Go for essentials- onsies, bibs, socks, etc. You get the idea, don’t get the run of the mill stuff- you want to get something memorable (also not too expensive, from my experience with three babies- expensive does not necessarily mean ‘quality’). Get natural fiber stuff and if possible get natural rubber toys and pacifiers.

Pictured above is some excellent stuff from the Modern Baby Company. There products are consistently made with quality fabrics (super-stretchy onesies and tops make it easy to change the kid) and sweet modern designs.

Most adults are likely to have a common cold two to four times a year. Children, especially preschoolers, may have a common cold as many as six to 10 times annually.” ~ Common Cold, Mayo Clinic

We all know the symptoms, it plays out like a NyQuil commercial; runny or stuffy nose, itchy or sore throat, cough, congestion, slight body aches or a mild headache, sneezing, watery eyes, low-grade fever (up to 102 F, or 39 C) and mild fatigue. In lieu of the recent trend by pediatricians and toxicologists to put pressure on the F.D.A. to clear over the counter cough & cold medicines from the shelves, what are we left to do when un-medicated kids have symptoms that linger for days and sometimes weeks?

Illness can occur throughout the year, but tends to cluster in the winter due to flu season. These illnesses can seem to spread like wild fire affecting other students, teachers, and family members. Families and schools need to balance the child’s school attendance with the risk of spreading the illness to others in the school. Sometimes even minor illnesses require the child to stay home just to prevent the further spread of a contagious disease.” ~ Gwenn Schurgin O’Keeffe, MD, FAAP, Pediatrics Now | When to keep kids home

So what symptoms are worthy of missing a day of school? Here’s an at-a-glance list of the deal-breakers:

• Fever: indicative an infection elsewhere in their body. A child with a fever greater than 100.5 degrees Fahrenheit needs to stay home from school until the fever is gone for at least 24 hours. If the fever does not resolve in 2 to 3 days, or if your child appears sick with any fever, call your doctor.
• Rash: many rashes will resolve spontaneously and are not reason alone to keep a child home from school. Any rash associated with symptoms such as trouble breathing or swallowing, fever, or ill appearance, should be evaluated by your physician. Rashes that are itchy or scaly may be contagious and should be evaluated before sending a child back to school.
• Cough alone may not be a deal breaker, unless it is deemed contagious or is interfering with sleep or is frequent enough to interfere with their day. If the cough is productive and has phlegm or is associated with fever or trouble breathing, keep your child home from school and call their pediatrician for an appointment.
• Diarrhea: where the stool frequency is often many times an hour. Diarrhea that is bloody or associated with fever, abdominal pain, or vomiting should be evaluated by your doctor.
• Vomiting: with or without diarrhea, needs to stay home from school. Your child can return to school when the symptoms have stopped and the child has eased back to their regular diet.
• Sore Throat: children can attend school with mild sore throats if no other symptoms are occurring. Any child with a sore throat associated with fever, vomiting, abdominal pain, or difficulty swallowing should be evaluated by a doctor before returning to school. Call your child’s school to see if strep throat is going through the school population; if so, they should be evaluated by their doctor. A child with a diagnosis of strep throat needs to stay out of school until on antibiotics for 24 hours.
• Lethargy: if your child appears really sick, keep your child home and arrange an evaluation by your doctor that day. If you can’t get through to your doctor and you are really concerned, either call 911 or bring your child to the nearest emergency room for evaluation.

And of all the popular opinions I found they all mention enthusiastically the best deterrent of spreading germs and disease is to consistently and routinely wash your hands and practice go hygiene.

Sited & Related Links:
Mayo Clinic | Common Cold Symptoms
NY Times Health | The Cough-and-sniffle Question; When to Keep a Child Home
Pediatrics Now | When to Keep Kids Home

meta-DAD | Wash your hands
meta-DAD | How cough and cold medicine can adversely affect your child
meta-DAD | Use with caution – cough and cold medicine not for the young ones

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