The Mom Crowd

Everyone has dealt with it and every one of us will deal with our children being constipated at some point in their young lives.  We all know how miserable it is to not be able to go and when our children are hurting, we can feel helpless.  As I type this, my 4 year old is miserably walking around squatting, grunting, and looking simply pathetic.  (We have struggled with potty training, especially with going poo-poo in the potty, but when he’s constipated, all bets are off and the potty isn’t an option.)

WebMD suggests that if your child has less than 3 bowel movements a week and they are hard and difficult to pass, your child may be suffering from constipation.  Some kids are more prone to dealing with bouts of constipation and those of us parents with these “lucky” kids have learned a few tricks of the trade that often help.  Here are some tips to helping keep your child from getting to the point they just can’t go. 

FIBER!  Try to incorporate lots of fresh fruits and veggies into their diet.  If they are picky eaters, try raisins  or fruit juice.  Also, try to decrease the amount of refined sugars they digest.  Refined sugars have a tendency to constipate.

WATER.  WATER.  WATER!   Keep them hydrated.  Fluids will help soften and keep things moving.  If you can, try warm liquids. 

BATH TIME!  A warm sitz bath can sometimes help relax the tummy and help things along. 

SYMPATHIZE!  Encouarge your child to keep trying to go to the potty and don’t make them embarassed if they have an accident.  Remember, they are still learning control of all of their bodily functions and sometimes pain overtakes reason! 

If your child is experiencing constipation often, it may be wise to consult your pediatrician.  Constipation can sometimes be a sign of other health conditions that need to be checked out… and sometimes it can be caused from just eating too much cheese!!!

Does your child deal with frequent constipation?  What tips do you have for parents experiencing this for the first time? 

Photo Courtesy of Cynergist

Health insurance is a hot topic in the US right now.  While congress debates the topic, I thought I’d share an option some families have that many are unaware of to insure their children.  Most people are aware of Medicaid, a government run health care option for low income families.  Many people do not qualify for Medicaid due to the income and financial guidelines.  However, every state in the US has “Medicaid Waivers” that allows certain individuals who do not qualify based on financial criteria to participate in Medicaid through these waiver programs.  Typically, for a child to qualify for Medicaid, the government will evaluate the family’s income and assets to determine eligibility.  Medicaid waivers evaluate the individual’s income and assets to determine eligibility and does not consider the parents’ income and assets.  In other words, my daughter qualifies for Medicaid through a waiver based on HER income and assets and our total family income and assets are not factored into her eligibility determination.  The waiver is offered to different populations of people.  Some state Medicaid waivers are offered to individuals based on their intelligience quotient.  Some state Medicaid waivers are offered to individuals based on their medical issues and health.

Every state is very different in how they run their Medicaid waiver programs and every state offers different benefits outside of Medicaid to their waiver participants.  So, to keep my dear readers from becoming too confused, I am going to share with you how one Texas Medicaid waiver works.  Keep in mind, in the state of Texas, there are actually many different waiver programs that all are slightly different from one another, however a basic understanding of one of these waivers will give you a general idea of how Medicaid waivers work.

My daughter is on the Medically-Dependent-Children’s-Program Medicaid Waiver (AKA: MDCP).  When she was a few months old, I put her on an interest list, which is basically a waiting list to be evaluated for eligibility for MDCP.  It was very easy to add her to the interest list and I called religiously every month to see where she was on the list.  A month before her third birthday, I received a phone call from MDCP stating my daughter had come up on the interest list.  We set up an evaluation in my home and she qualified for the MDCP Medicaid waiver due to her health issues and medications.  We chose to keep our primary health insurance for her and she started receiving Medicaid as a supplemental health insurance, so we no longer had to pay for her deductibles, co-pays, prescriptions, cost-shares, or any other health related expense.  Her MDCP Medicaid waiver also brought along several other benefits, including:

• MDCP pays a portion of our primary health insurance premium.  It is cheaper for Medicaid to be a supplemental health insurance, so as an incentive for us to keep her on our family’s primary health insurance, we are reimbursed a portion of our monthly premiums.
• MDCP provides respite.  Due to her health care needs, she needs to be left with caregivers who are aware of her health issues, medications, and special needs.  MDCP pays a person who we have hired to take care of my daughter in our home.  This has been a huge blessing for my family.  We were able to hire a person we trust to take care of her when we needed someone to watch her and are confident that if she needs any medical attention, that person will be able to take the proper steps necessary.
• Her waiver provides medical equipment and supplies that are not otherwise covered by health insurance.  My daughter is almost five and is still not potty trained.  Her waiver provides diapers and supplies for her.
• Her waiver provides transportation or mileage reimbursement for the many doctor and therapy appointments she has every week. 

A lot of states, but not all, have waiting lists for their Medicaid waiver programs.  To see what types of Medicaid waivers are offered in your state, click here: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MedicaidStWaivProgDemoPGI/08_WavMap.asp  When you click on your state, a list of waivers will pop up.  The state of Texas has 25 waiver programs.  You may need to scroll to another page to see all the waiver programs in your state.  When you select a program, you will have the option to download the very long and confusing program description.  I suggest, instead, contacting or looking up your state’s Department of Aging and Disabilities website to find more information (in layman’s terms) about your state’s waiver programs and process of applying.  Medicaid waivers can be very difficult to navigate, but very beneficial to families who have children with a lot of medical issues or families who need respite care due to their child’s higher level of needs.

August 1 – 7 is World Breastfeeding Week. The main purpose of WBW is promote breastfeeding in emergency situations worldwide.  An emergency can happen anytime and anywhere. They want to inform mothers, breastfeeding advocates, communities, health professionals, governments, aid agencies, donors, and the media on how they can actively support breastfeeding before and during an emergency.

WHY WORLD BREASTFEEDING WEEK 2009?

• Children are the most vulnerable in emergencies – child mortality can soar from 2 to 70 times higher than average due to diarrhea, respiratory illness and malnutrition.

• Breastfeeding is a life saving intervention and protection is greatest for the youngest infants. Even in non-emergency settings, non-breastfed babies under 2 months of age are six times more likely to die.

• Emergencies can happen anywhere in the world. Emergencies destroy what is ‘normal,’ leaving caregivers struggling to cope and infants vulnerable to disease and death.

• During emergencies, mothers need active support to continue or re-establish breastfeeding.

• Emergency preparedness is vital. Supporting breastfeeding in non-emergency settings will strengthen mothers’ capacity to cope in an emergency.

In every country around the world breastfeeding needs to be supported and promoted, especially areas where clean water is limited and government conflicts can create national emergencies. Infant mortality rates in time of crisis can be dramatically decreased if a baby who was breastfed can still be breastfeed. “Breastmilk is the one safe and secure source of food for babies, instantly available, providing active protection against illness and keeping an infant warm and close to his/her mother. During the first three months of conflict in Guinea-Bissau in 1998, the death rate amongst 9–20 month old non-breastfed children was six times higher than amongst the children of the same age-group who were breastfed.“ Even women who are HIV positive can still breastfeed.

“Once an emergency strikes, simple measures can make all the difference in the world to a mother caught up in it. Ensure  that mothers are secure, have priority access to food for the family, water, shelter, and when necessary, safe places to breastfeed (with privacy, where culturally required).”

When Katrina hit New Orleans access to clean water was limited, but mothers who breastfed could still breastfeed their infants. Then they were evacuated to shelters where breastfeeding may have been frowned upon, because it isn’t widely culturally acceptable here in the United States. I wonder if there were comfortable places made for women to nurse. I know I feel more comfortable nursing in private another room or using a nursing cover.

So what can you do to help promote breastfeeding in an emergency?

Be Prepared

• Exclusively breastfeed your baby until s/he is 6 months of age.  Continue to breastfeed your baby to 2 years or beyond.

• Encourage your local mother support group(s) to discuss emergency preparedness. For example, plan ways that the group could staff a safe place for mothers and provide mother-to-mother support to breastfeeding if large numbers of people are made homeless.

• Make contact with local emergency authorities and community groups and tell them about IFE.

During an Emergency

• Continue to practice optimal breastfeeding.

• Offer support to other mothers who are having difficulties or to mothers of newborns in an emergency.

• Consider wet nursing if needs are identified, e.g. orphans, very ill mothers.

• Help organise safe places for mothers with mother-to-mother support for breastfeeding.

Support from Afar

• Identify agencies that support breastfeeding in emergencies and fundraise for them.

*All the information in this blog post is from World Breastfeeding Week’s Action Folder. I would highly recommend downloading it and reading it.

How are you going to celebrate World Breastfeeding Week? I am going to keep nursing my 5 month old!

You can ad a twibbon to your twitter profile pic to show your support. http://twibbon.com/join/World-Breastfeeding-Week

Sponsor Saturdays is a new feature on The Mom Crowd. Each Saturday we will be highlighting one of our six sponsors.

***Keep reading all the way to the end to find out how you can win a BUD Luxury Duck or Little Honey 100% Natural Bug Repellent Band! *** 3 Winners! ***

Design Room Group is one of our newest sponsors on The Mom Crowd. They have the coolest rubber ducks and modern gear for children. Jenny Pithie is a mom to two beautiful girls, a wife to a nature loving husband and the owner of Designroom and Little Honey, modern products for kids and their parents. She was kind enough to do a Q & A with me about her store and her family.

Amanda: How did you come up with the concept for the Design Room Group?
Jenny: Design Room Group was formed to bring to the US great Australian designed children’s products.  My husband is Australian and I always find really cool stuff when we visit.  After the birth of my first child I noticed all the amazing kid’s products when we would visit and I decided to try to bring them to the US.  It has expanded over the years to include other products I like, but the main focus is Australian design and now our own label coming soon, which is Little Honey.  We continue to bring in some cool Australian products including great natural children’s skin and hair care coming soon.

A: What are your most popular products?
J: The ducks by far…we sell lots of our rubber duckies.  They are so cute, unique, fun and we have always been phthalate free and lead free so you know you are getting a quality product.  The gurgle pots are also a big hit.  Not only do they look great in your kitchen, but they are fun for kids.  When you pour the pitcher it makes this gurgling sound like a fish.  My daughter’s friends just crack up when they come over.  Lately, we have been selling heaps of the beach balls and swim rings.  They were featured in InStyle and Cookie which didn’t hurt!

A: Do you have any products that you wish people knew more about? If so, what are they?
J: Our 100% Natural Little Honey Bug Repellent Bands.  This is a super cool product that we developed with a leader in natural bug repellents.  They really work and they work well.  They have been tested by the Australian government and endorsed by the PGA.  We love them because they are so great for kids.  Just pop one on their wrist or ankle and they last for a full five days!  If you put them back in their reusable bag, they last even longer.  They stop releasing the natural vapors once they are put back in the bag!  The way they work is natural essential oils are injected into the plastic before molding the band.  Once the band is removed from the bag the natural oil vapors are released and form a “vapor barrier” within five feet of wherever they are placed.  Great for camping or just out for a walk.  My dad loves them for golfing or mowing the lawn and I always put one on the stroller or on the table outside when we are entertaining.  They smell like peppermint…no stinky smells, no toxic creams.

We love it too as we have just teamed up with Malaria No More and will be donating a portion of all sales to their cause.  A cause that is helping fight malaria, which kills a child every 30 seconds and is treatable and preventable, tragic.   As a mom, it breaks my heart to think how these other moms must feel to watch their children suffer, I knew we had to try to help.

A: Your products have been featured in many magazines. Which magazine feature are you most proud of?
J: I was super excited about the Elle Magazine spread as it was our first major publication and I had been working tirelessly to try to get the business going, so it felt good that we were being recognized by such an awesome publication.  I also love whenever we are in Cookie, because I think they are the best kids magazine out there and love that they love our stuff.

A: Finally, you are the mother of 2 daughters, what advice would you give to new moms?
J: Relax.  As much as you want everything perfect for your precious little ones, you can’t do everything and the most important thing is just spending quality time with them.  Everyone tells you they grow up in a flash and they are not kidding.  Recently I went to the graduation at my daughter’s preschool and her whole little life flashed in front of my eyes..and it wasn’t even her graduation! So, enjoy every minute of it!

***Enter to WIN a BUD Luxury Duck OR Little Honey 100% Natural Bug Repellent Band *** 3 Winners! *** Now Closed

Jenny has generously offered to giveaway 2 BUD Luxury Ducks and 1 Little Honey 100% Natural Bug Repellent Band!  All you have to do to enter is go to Design Room Group’s website, pick your favorite duck design, and come back here and write in the comments of this post which is your favorite design! Winners will be chosen at random and announced next Saturday morning on Aug. 8th. Good luck!
WINNERS!

I used Random.org to choose the winners of the giveaway.

Winner of the first BUD Luxury Duck is… Lindsay!

Winner of the second BUD Luxury Duck is… Trina!

Winner of the Little Honey 100% Natural Bug Repellent Band is… Jenn!

Thank you to everyone who entered! Be sure to check out our next giveaway – a Madeline Baby Sling OR Nursing Cover from Tot-to-Go!