One of the biggest challenges parents will face is finding ways to keep their kids healthy. You want them to be at their best, have energy, get enough sleep, be able to focus on their studies and live their life to the best of their capabilities. Your main task will always be to make sure your children are doing okay. However, it is not always easy. Life can present multiple challenges and make you face different obstacles you must overcome. After all, parenthood is a never-ending rollercoaster with several loops and drops along the way. Luckily, experts and other parents share their knowledge, experience, and expertise with the world to make parenting a little bit easier. Special needs advocate Alicia Trautwein is one of those who help you keep your kids healthy.
A few years ago, Alicia Trautwein and her children received different diagnoses. Among them, she and two of her children were diagnosed with Autism, which led to this mom doing her research online. This is how she discovered there was not enough information on neurodiverse families and women with Autism. But instead of drowning in a sea of no information, she decided to take matters into her own hands and create a space where other parents like her could find the support they were looking for. That is how her blog, The Mom Kind, came to life and became a community of neurodiverse families having each other’s back.
Through personal posts and guest posts, Trautwein has provided advice, experience, knowledge, and support to thousands of readers. Nowadays, hundreds of posts on her blog discuss different topics — from parenting, dealing with your diagnosis, and figuring out how to deal with the pandemic to how to take care of yourself, your marriage, and your family. One of those posts discusses the most significant challenge parents have to face: keeping their kids healthy.
As a special needs advocate, Trautwein writes posts that will help neurodiverse families navigate different challenges. For that reason, she shared six tips that will help parents and caretakers keep their kids healthy.
- Teach them to start eating healthy: For this mom, being healthy starts with eating healthy — “Make it a habit to serve them nutritious food every single day. You can be as creative as you want with your kids’ meals. The best way you can teach them to eat healthily is by eating with them. Eat with them on a table and show them how you positively eat those fruit and vegetables.”
- Take them for annual checkups: It is essential to have a healthcare professional check on your kids regularly to make sure they stay healthy — “You can take them to your family-friendly doctor, who’ll conduct general checkups to see any potential sickness or see how your kid’s health is doing. The earlier you take your kids for checkups, the less likely they’ll develop any fear of visiting hospitals or dental clinics.”
- Keep them active: It is no lie that exercising and staying active will keep both your body and your mind healthy — “Another integral part of your children’s health is exercise. Teach them how to be active. The more active they are involved at such a young age, they’ll surely bring that same attitude as they grow into teens.”
- Create a sleeping schedule for them: How many times have you told yourself a good night’s sleep is all you need? — “Sleep is as significant as a balanced diet and physical exercise. Your child’s brain is still developing. Thus, sleep is crucial for their health, particularly the brain. Everyone knows what a lack of sleep can do to a person’s health. You wake up feeling tired, no energy to do any activity, and your brain lacks focus and concentration. Frequent sleep deprivation can negatively impact your immune system.”
- Limit screen time: Nowadays, we are used to spending most of our time in front of a screen (computers, iPads, phones), and this can have a negative impact on our health — “For kids, spending too much time on screens will only take away their healthy habits like exercise, enough sleeping hours, and even appetite. The best way to counteract this situation is by limiting their screen time to no more than 30 minutes.”
- Let them socialize: The last year has been extremely hard for children who were unable to meet up with their friends, spend the day outside playing and seeing their families. Socializing can be vital to a child’s development — “Part of keeping your children healthy is letting them socialize. Teach them how to make genuine connections with the other kids, their relatives, and your own family. A socially active child is known to have better self-esteem, better self-discipline, and more independence. Furthermore, frequent social interaction will also prevent your child from feeling any stress, anxiety, or even depression at such a young age.”
Parenting will probably be the most challenging journey you ever embark on. However, it is one you will never have to do alone. There is a large community of parents out there helping one another. Alicia Trautwein is one of those looking out for other parents who want to keep their kids healthy.
