children Archives - Serendipity Mommy

Why Meh Dai?: Pros and Cons to Consider

May 2, 2021 by Mandy

Did you know that there are around 140 million babies born every single year? With so many little humans joining new families, you might be welcoming a baby into your own family soon. If you are, you might also be feeling a bit overwhelmed with everything you need for your little one.

We have put together this guide to help you with an important item – the baby carrier. Keep reading to learn the pros and cons of the meh dai carrier to see if this is the best choice for you.

Pros of Meh Dai

One of the major pros of a meh dai baby sling is its versatility – it can be used for both front and back carrying. Another meh dai benefit is that it is not too complicated to figure it out. It is a small learning curve to master this carrier.

Another pro is that you can use it through toddler age. This is a much longer time frame than most carriers on the market. Of course, it is worth mentioning that you will be able to nurse your baby hands-free as well.

If you suffer from back issues, the meh dai will distribute the baby’s weight over your entire upper body, making it a great option for moms with back pain.

Cons

If you are planning on wearing baby all day, this might not be the best carrier to use because it is not comfortable for long periods of time. Sometimes the straps can dig into your shoulders as well if they are not padded.

For moms that prefer to hip carry their baby, then this is not the easiest option there are easier hip carriers out in the market. If you have a hard time tying and untying knots then a meh dai might not be for you.

The meh dai is not ideal for rainy days either. It is difficult to keep the straps from getting wet and uncomfortable. You can learn more about other alternatives to compare your options.

Where Does the Meh Dai Come From?

Originally this baby carrier came from Asia. It is popular in China and Asia because the baby is seated in the body panel and the straps are tied around the person wearing the baby. The Meh Dai will feel in between a structured baby carrier and a flimsy wrap carrier.

Feeling Like a Meh Dai Pro?

We hope that now that you know the ins and outs of the meh dai carrier, you can make an informed decision on whether or not you want to use this carrier for your new baby. You can even opt for different types of baby carriers so that you have one for every need.

Did you find this article helpful? If so, please keep browsing around the rest of our family section for our latest tips and tricks.

Smart Ways to Encourage Dental Health Habits in Your Kids

April 30, 2021 by Mandy

Children have an entire world to explore and a lively imagination that makes everything fun. They love to make up games and play with their friends, but the entertainment comes to a halt when they have to brush their teeth. Taking care of their gums and teeth shouldn’t be a daily challenge. Use these smart ways to encourage dental health habits in your kids to make every part of their day something they can look forward to.

1. Participate With Them

Kids don’t want to feel watched or judged. Standing next to them and staring while they go through their dental routine will do just that. Instead, participate with them so brushing and flossing becomes a family activity. They’ll love the extra time with you and feel less like they could get in trouble for doing something wrong.

2. Play Their Favorite Music

The American Dental Association (ADA) recommends that everyone brush their teeth for two minutes every morning and night. It’s not very long, but two minutes can feel like an eternity for kids. Play their favorite music by finding songs roughly two minutes long. They’ll dance along and spend more time brushing than if they were left alone in a quiet bathroom.

3. Make Creative Menus

One of the smart ways to encourage dental health habits in your kids is to think outside of the bathroom. Feeding your family foods that are low in added sugars or don’t have any at all will help them avoid cavities. Try making menus that switch up your daily meals with sugar-free recipes like chicken alfredo zoodles or taco stuffed sweet potatoes. You’ll protect everyone’s health and keep cavities from forming between cleanings.

4. Schedule a Checkup

Going to the doctor is a great way to take care of your teeth. They’ll catch and treat diseases that result in poor dental health, like:

Diabetes
Osteoporosis
HIV/AIDS

Although your kids won’t be at risk for every disease that could harm their teeth, everyone benefits from staying healthy. Your doctor may recommend an extra trip to the dentist if they suspect that ongoing health challenges are affecting your child’s teeth or gum line, possibly saving them from detrimental consequences.

5. Find the Right Dentist

No one wants to disappoint their friends. Kids will take their dental health more seriously when they consider their dentist a friend instead of a scary person who cleans their teeth.

Parents should find the right dentist for their family and consider switching if your current dentist isn’t friendly, inviting and great with kids. When they give your children tips or recommend changes in their routine, they’ll take the professional advice more seriously because they feel comfortable.

6. Upgrade Their Supplies

Sometimes children don’t want to use mouthwash or brush their teeth because they don’t enjoy the taste of anything. Switch things up by trying new flavors or getting a toothbrush with their favorite characters. They won’t dread their dental routine if they enjoy what they use.

Kids might also struggle with dental routines because they can’t easily reach the sink. If you have to hold them up to the water, they might feel uncomfortable. Parents can make a faucet extender or find one online to fix the problem. They come in fun shapes and colors so any time spent at your bathroom sink is easy and fun for young kids.

7. Surprise Them With Rewards

Children are also motivated by challenges and rewards. Ask them to brush their teeth on their own for a week or remember to use their mouthwash. If they don’t forget a step or skip anything because they’re tired, they’ll win a prize.

Rewarding kids for something as simple as not complaining when it’s time to floss is a great way to reinforce positive habits. They’ll get something new to play with or an extra playdate with their friend and connect their joy with taking care of their teeth. Use a sticker chart or calendar to keep track of which days they meet or exceed your expectations so they have a visual reminder of their progress.

8. Start Habits Early

People can learn new things at any age, but starting good habits early in life turns them into muscle memory. Brush your baby’s teeth when they start coming in and point out dental care scenes in your child’s favorite movies or TV shows.

When they see and do the same things every day, they won’t be able to think about going to school or heading to bed without using their toothbrush. Automatic habits also feel less like chores. The sooner your kids start learning about how to take care of their teeth, they’ll keep up the habits more easily throughout their life.

Encourage Better Dental Health Habits

Kids don’t always look forward to dental routines because it takes time away from when they could play with their toys or watch TV. Parents can use these smart ways to encourage dental health habits in your kids so they enjoy lives free of cavities, crowns and extractions. Try new tips to see which work best for your family and instill the importance of dental hygiene.

How to Pick Toys for Kids?

April 29, 2021 by Mandy

How do you know which gifts are perfect for your children? This blog post will give you a few tips to select the best toys that will grow with them, challenge, and even improve their social-emotional, language, physical, and thinking skills. Keep on reading to know more about the guidelines when opting for the best toys for kids:

Look for Toys that Promotes Your Kids to be Active

If you have toddlers, they usually do all types of physical tricks since they are more confident and stronger with their bodies. It’s your job to be an appreciative audience for the latest playground of your little one. Moreover, search for toys that enable your kids to develop and practice physical skills.

Invest in Readable Toys

Magnetic alphabet letters, books, and art supplies like fingerpaints, crayons, and markers can help your kids develop early reading and writing skills. Note that “real-life” props, such as magazines, catalogues, and take-out menus, are exciting for your kids to play with and look at. With these toys, your kids can be more familiar with print, text, and letters.

Choose Toys That Promote Problem-Solving and Exploration

Your kid’s playtime is the time when they can practice and learn new skills all over again. Toys that provide them with the opportunity to learn something out on their own—or with a bit of coaching—can help them become persistent problem-solvers and establish logical thinking skills. Moreover, these toys can help develop your kid’s spatial relations skills, fine motor skills, and hand-eye coordination. The key to finding these types of toys for kids is to look for a reputable toy manufacturer that provides high-quality, kid-friendly products.

Give Your Kids Toys That Looks Similar to the Real Thing

If you think your child is becoming better at knowing how the objects work in their world—like light switches or television remotes. During this point, kids tend to enjoy playing with “real life” props— such as your mobile phone or even computer— since they want to be capable and big as you. Toys that look like the real thing can enable your kids to learn spatial relations as they try to fit things together, practice problem-solving, and improve fine motor skills as they use their hands’ small fingers and muscles while playing with these toys.

Search for Toys That Inspire Your Kids to Use Their Imagination

When your child turns three, their creativity starts to take off since they can start imagining that something is something else, and they can take on the role of someone else and portray it themselves. It would be best to invest in toys that your kids can utilize during this developmental stage as they grow and act out stories. Pretend plays can help establish their literacy skill and language, the ability to put events in the right order and learn problem-solving skills.

Find Toys That Will Grow with Your Kids

If you have a child, perhaps you’ve already experienced purchasing a toy that they only played with for two days and neglected it after. If so, you can prevent that from happening again by finding toys that can be fun and interesting to use even at various developmental stages. What you need is a toy that can serve multiple uses in one product.

Host a Memorable Baby Shower with Help from Miami Event Planners

April 27, 2021 by Mandy

The birth of a new baby is special. Friends and family often enjoy showing their support for the mom-to-be by hosting a baby shower. The event gives people the chance to enjoy an afternoon together while providing the new parents with practical tips and gifts. However, planning a baby shower usually involves more work than people expect. This blog highlights three ways that hiring a Miami event planner can help the baby shower go off without a hitch.

Event Planners Have Industry Knowledge and Connections to Pick the Perfect Location

The home of the mom-to-be is not always the ideal location to host a baby shower for a variety of reasons. For example, she may have other children who need to nap and the noise from the baby shower would keep them awake. She could also just want to get out of the house for the afternoon. Whatever the reason, event planners in Miami can use their knowledge and connections to help the hosts locate the perfect baby shower venue. Some possibilities include:

Bed and breakfast
Botanical gardens
Farm or barn
Outdoor picnic venue
Vineyard

Help with Planning Fun Games

Playing games at a baby shower can be so much fun that people forget how much work goes into planning them. Another thing to consider is that the people giving instructions and handing out supplies often do not get to play because they are too busy tending to guest needs. With a Miami event planner on the scene, both the mom-to-be and the hosts do not have to involve themselves with setting up any games. They can simply relax and have a great time with the rest of the guests. Event planners can also suggest baby shower games. Here are some popular ideas:

Baby photo game where each guest brings a picture of themselves as a baby, and other guests try to guess who each baby is as an adult.
Place a tag with the name of a baby item on the back of each guest and have them mingle and ask questions of other guests until they figure out what is on their back.
Diaper change relay where guests form teams, and each person completes one part of the diaper change before handing the doll off to the next team member.

The Perfect Party Favors

Assembling bags of baby shower party favors is when the creativity of Miami event planners really shines. Even better, the planners will take care of shopping for all the items, preparing the bags, and setting them up before the guests arrive. From scented candles to a small box of chocolates, guests will appreciate going home with something just for them.

Twenty Three Layers is an event planning company in Miami that offers professional planning, decorating, catering, and more for baby showers. The company also has locations in Los Angeles and New York. Baby shower hosts can contact 23 Layers to start planning a memorable shower for their friend, family member, or co-worker. Neon River Weddings, the sister company of 23 Layers, offers wedding planning services.

How Do Commercial Playgrounds Facilitate Your Child’s Learning?

April 9, 2021 by Mandy

For children, every play session is an opportunity for learning.

This is something that was widely recognized last year, with many calling for a ‘golden age of play’ when the kids of America inevitably went back to school. It is an outlet for expression, nurturing abilities they posses already whilst gradually phasing in new ones. Therefore, the playground is the perfect backdrop for all these varying developments.

How do these settings facilitate your child’s learning? Read on after the jump to find out.

Developing Social Skills

When kids gather in a playground, they will invariably begin to interact with one another.

Whether they build friendships or experience dealing with a few difficult characters, they will develop their social skills. They may begin to contemplate lines of enquiry like:

Where can I find common ground with others?
Which types of people should I steer clear from?
How do people respond to my behavior?
What slang or speech patterns make me seem cool with my friends?

Their answers to these questions will understandably be elementary, but they are the building blocks to a stronger understanding. Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic has left many children feeling anxious and isolated in their homes, so there is also the consideration that public playgrounds for kids are needed more sorely than ever today. Social stimulation is integral for the wellbeing of all, and your children can be their truest, happiest selves in these types of environments.

Teaching Recycled Construction

Even the way some parks are built can present a worthwhile learning curve.

The commercial playground equipment from BigToys is exemplary of this, helping to preserve the environment and foster imaginations equally. They answer one of their most frequently asked questions, “What Makes BigToys Green?”, with an explanation that they use conditioned woods and recycled metals and plastics to build their playgrounds. Kids often take one thing and imagine it as another, and a compatible philosophy has been applied here with great results.

This means that the children playing in these environments can respect the space too. After all, the teens of today are becoming more environmentally conscious by their own merit, so if these types of ideas can be introduced early through the playground, even more positive change in future generations can be assured.

Expanding Cognitive Capabilities

While on the surface it might seem like the playground is just a simple way to have fun, it is a framework that may encourage more complex forms of thinking in your child.

It has been frequently argued that screens endanger kid’s imaginations, so the only viable solution to this problem is to send them outside into environments where their creativity is boundless. This is what a playground provides in plentiful supply. For example, a themed playground design in a spaceship, pirate ship, or castle may flare their imaginations considerably.

Not only this, but inclusions such as climbing frames may encourage them to problem solve somewhat by intricately coordinating their movements to get higher. Moreover, swings may subtly teach them a little about physics and momentum. In the end, while the features of a park can be fun for kids, they are not included randomly for mindless glee, but for subtle and practical learning opportunities.