healthily guiding your family though the festive season
eat well
We all want to enjoy the festive season, but even the youngest members of the family need looking out for during the season of excess! For breast and bottle fed babies, vitamin supplements are especially important during the long dark days of winter. The mothers of breast fed babies should remember that everything eaten will pass into the breast milk in one form or another - so if sprouts give you wind, think of your baby! This equally applies to alcohol, so any drinking should be in moderation.
For the weaned infant and toddlers, entice them with a new range of seasonal foods, but watch out for the temperature of the food as young mouths are easily scalded and also look for the hidden lumps as well as the hidden foreign objects in the Christmas pudding!
We are all aware of the rising frequency of weight related nutritional issues, not just at Christmas, so keep portion sizes reasonable for everyone, not just the children.
Watch out for small decorative objects dangling off the Christmas tree or seasonal bush - very attractive for little hands and they often get put in the mouth so be careful as you put up your decorations.
keep warm
After all the food comes the festive season outings, including outdoor activities. Hopefully your home heating has withstood the recent snowy and cold conditions, and your home and children's sleeping areas have been maintained at 18-21 degrees Celsius. Babies and young children have relatively large body surface areas and as a result can quickly lose heat from their heads and bodies - so if you are out and about, burning off the festive calories, make sure your little ones
are kept well wrapped - a woolly hat, lots of layers, gloves and warm socks.
Most toddlers and pre-schoolers love messing around in the snow - but remember little feet can easily get icy, cold and wet.
Even if wearing furry wellingtons, take spare socks and for cold hands take spare gloves. If your little one starts to shiver, even if apparently wrapped up warm, take that as a sign to get into the warm as soon as possible.
be healthy
For those of us staying home over the festive season, coughs and colds will be around us all but particularly in young children. Many children seem to have a perpetual sniffle all winter. During the cold days of the winter holidays, many children stay indoors often playing closely with their older brothers and sisters, so passing colds back and forwards to each other. Usually the colds are minor but added bacterial infection can prolong fevers and give rise to ear aches and tonsillitis. Keep a good supply of paracetamol and ibuprofen in your medicine cabinet. Watch out for a few red flag symptoms such as a fever persisting beyond 48 hours or refusing feeds for over 24 hours, which may be an indication of something a little more concerning. If you are concerned visit your GP or nearest NHS service immediately.
