Healthy Sassy Smiles! Information About Healthy Dental Development

Wow, is this One Sassy Doctor’s husband obsessed with our kids having good teeth. Perhaps that’s because his late father was a dentist. Or perhaps he knows how healthy teeth create healthy smiles and reflect a positive projection into the world. Well, I married him for his glowing smile, so I suppose he’s right (lucky guy…).

Anyhoo … with tooth decay being the primary dental problem among children ages 2 to 5, we’re fortunate that it can be completely prevented! If we encourage healthy dental habits starting from the baby years (sassy baby years, if I may…), this will help foster positive habits and the healthy glowing smiles we want to see when they are all grown up.

Here are some One Sassy Doctor informational tips on healthy dental development—starting from birth!

One Sassy Doctor’s Interview with Speech Pathologist, Ms. Anne Freilich, M.S., C.C.C. Licensed Speech Language Pathologist

Speech and language is the pathway I entered the world of developmental toys & feeding products—and how One Sassy Doctor was conceptualized. My little guy has speech delay, and during a session with his speech pathologist, I came up with the idea for the U-Play™ Mat. So, the connection between writing this blog and interviewing a speech pathologist feels very natural. As a pediatrician, I really did not understand speech delay and development until faced with this as a parent. Language and speech development have become a special interest for me since, and I’m super excited to bring you this interview today!

Imitation is the Greatest Form of Flattery

It’s ridiculously cute to see a little one imitating mommy, daddy or an older sibling. It’s even cuter when the imitating is just a little bit “off”—for example, my daughter said “in the meantime”, and her little brother later said, “You are going to go into the mean time. Mommy why is time mean?”

Some little ones even imitate themselves!

And, believe me, my little one is certainly imitating my dramatic flair in this shot!

Juicy Advice From Our One Sassy Doctor

When it comes to juice, I draw a line in the sand. I am not the perfect parent (believe me!) and faced some juice challenges when my sons’ daycare served juice. So, this advice is not coming from someone who never gave her kids juice. My kids are heavy water drinkers, but have tasted juice (preferably watered down) at birthday parties and at daycare during meals only (and I limited it to once a day). However, none of them had a dose of juice until they were three years old. Not a taste. We made sure to stick to breast milk, formula, whole milk, lower fat milk and water at the appropriate ages.

Our Double Twin Travel Adventure!

We’re hopping and bopping over here at Sassy—on the move and in the groove. Getting up and getting out is a wonderful part of parenting, but it presents challenges as well. In this first blog post in our series on “Get Up & Go, Sassy Style”, I’m going to share a personal story about my family’s trip to California a few years ago—where my husband’s family lives. Here are the preparation and execution steps we used for this massive undertaking! I’m also going to share the mistakes I made and lessons learned. At the time, our twin girls were close to four years old, and our twin sons were close to one year old.

Playground Safety: Dr. Jen's Take on the New York Times Piece

A repost from www.playthisway.com.

As a pediatrician with a sub-specialty in child abuse, and a mother of two sets of twins, I read the New York Times article Can a Playground Be Too Safe? with significant concern. In this piece, John Tierney explains the history of New York City’s playgrounds and safety. Specifically, regarding a 10-foot-high jungle gym in Manhattan near his childhood home, he explained that as long as he was the parks commissioner, the monkey bars were going to remain in place. This was despite researchers at the time, who cited accident statistics and the importance of safer playgrounds. Fast forward to 2011, and this article, in accordance with Mr. Stern’s 1990’s edict - critics saying that playgrounds may “stunt emotional development, leaving children with anxieties and fears that are ultimately worse than a broken bone”.

Wow, do I disagree.

Dr. Jen’s Favorite Grill Recipe

I cannot express enough how much I love going to the local farmer’s market, picking up whatever is fresh and abundant, and plunking it on the grill. Although I’m careful to avoid charring (not good for little ones!), I do grill veggies and serve to my kids. I also used to put veggies on the upper rack and serve as finger food (cut in small pieces) for my kids when they were toddlers. I do not recommend pureeing grilled veggies for baby food. Please read my posting on food safety.

Ticks & Lyme Disease FAQs

Here are answers to some commonly asked questions about Lyme Disease, thanks to the awesome American Academy of Pediatrics resource, Healthy Children!

Ticks & Lyme Disease

Lyme Disease and other tick-bourne illnesses are a serious health issue—and we can engage in activities that reduce the risk of getting bitten by a tick, and responding appropriately when we notice a tick. I chose to write about this topic on the One Sassy Doctor blog for two reasons—it’s a growing problem nationwide, and I have had personal experiences that have made spreading awareness about this topic very important to me.

Dr. Jen's Tips for Water Play & Safety with Children

Summer time means more water play! One Sassy Doctor wants you to hear loud and clear: Water can be a lot of fun, but safety should be number one! (A rhyme, remember, bear with my goofy sense of humor!)

Here are Dr. Jen’s Tips for Water Play & Safety with Children:

Dr. Jen’s Tips for Dealing with Stranger Anxiety

This is a repost from www.playthisway.com.

An 11-month-old is in the peak period for stranger anxiety, and it’s a challenging phase. And it will end. As my grandma, my mother, and now I like to say when we face many of life’s challenges, “This too shall pass.”

Here are Dr. Jen’s Tips for Dealing with Stranger Anxiety:

Outdoor Play

My husband often says, “When in doubt, let’s go out!” I believe getting outside, even for a brief period of the day, is a very important part of raising healthy, active, adventurous children.

But it’s not always easy! In my stomping ground, good old New York, it’s cold for a fair portion of the year. We all have our own reality—mine in the winter is:

1. 12 boots 
2. 12 gloves 
3. 12 hats 
4. 12 scarves 
5. 12 coats 

Although we do engage in fun winter outdoor play (stay tuned, we’ll write about that on One Sassy Doctor in the future!)—the start of spring & summer really do boost the mood of the entire family. Welcome sunshine and warm weather! Whoo hoo!

Dr. Jen’s (Grandma’s) Chicken

In my last couple posts, I mentioned how much my family loves my chicken, so I thought I would share the recipe with you!

Ingredients

• 1 roasting chicken (4 to 6 pounds) preferably with a pop-up thermometer! 
• Salt & pepper 
• Fresh thyme (bunch) 
• Two soft lemons cut in half 
• 1 head of garlic 
• 10-15 whole carrots, peeled with stems cut off
• Large sweet potatoes or yams peeled 

Baby's First Foods

These are some fun initial foods for baby, some may surprise you! Remember please (please!) that these foods should be pureed—super duper pureed—soft MUSH.

Overview of Baby’s First Year: What Goes IN

We’ll save “What Comes Out” for a later blog posting—right now I’m too pooped to write about that (ha ha). Pardon me.

So what happens during that magical first year of life—where baby goes from complete reliance on mom’s body during pregnancy to self-feeding by the age of one?

It’s a magical—and sometimes messy—transition! We’re setting baby up for healthy lifetime eating habits during this first year, and One Sassy Doctor has some research for you to back this up!

No Grief Baby Teeth!

A repost from www.playthisway.com!

Ahhhh. Baby is finally sleeping through the night and, just maybe, you are too? YOU ARE ABOUT TO ENTER THE TEETHING ZONE. We’ve all been there! And we’ve all gotten through it. But those periods when your little one is uncomfortable can be made better if you understand Dr. Jen’s TOOTHY advice:

Touch & Play

Your baby's sense of touch is getting better. The sense of touch is most developed in their lips and gradually develops to your baby’s arms and legs.

Provide colorful objects of different textures, shapes and sizes for your infant to hold and explore. This is a good age to introduce an infant gym with interesting objects that dangle for your baby to bat at. Or hold a toy just out of reach for your baby to reach for, swat and grab hold of. Just don't string up toys on cribs or other baby equipment — your baby could get tangled in them. An infant gym will also provide a soft textured surface for baby to learn to roll over on as she gets a little older.

Toy and Play Safety Tips for Caregivers, Nannies and Babysitters

Repost from www.playthisway.com.

While it is important for you children to have fun while in the care of others, it is even more important for your child to be safe. I’ve outlined some basic toy and play safety topics for discussion with your caregiver below:

1. Make sure your caregiver understands how toys are intended to be used, and that instructions are understood.

2. When opening new toys, it is important to discard plastic wrappings. When assembling toys or changing batteries, it is important to secure small parts and batteries in a safe place. Also, tools used such as a screwdriver, may present their own safety hazards.

3. Make sure your caregiver understands age recommendations for toys and what your expectations are for safe play between different aged siblings. Do you want older children to play with small parts in a designated area of the house? Do you want your caregiver to double-check after clean up?

Car Seat Recommendations: What You Should Know

A repost from www.playthisway.com.

The American Academy Of Pediatrics (AAP) stepped up recommendations for car safety in a new policy, issued in a recent issue of Pediatrics. Based on an important 2007 study in Injury Prevention, the AAP now recommends that parents keep toddlers in rear-facing car seats until the age of 2, or until the reach they maximum height/weight capacity for their car seat.

What is Play?

Babies love to be played with and also should be encouraged to play alone. Although not yet capable of engaging in play with other children until the age of 12-18 months, babies love to watch older children play and be the object of (massive amounts of) affection. Cuddles, “raspberries” on the tummy and peek-a-boo are examples of ways an adult or older child can play with a baby. Passive forms of entertainment, such as watching a mobile or enjoying a small dose of a developmentally appropriate video, are also opportunities for babies to benefit from play.

To this day, my kids love when we pretend we each are a pizza maker and a pizza—we roll each other out on the ground, spread out cheese toppings (tickling), flatten each other out and then gobble each other up! That was a baby game, that became a silly, goofy family tradition. (I promise, kiddos, I won’t do that at your weddings!)