Being the father of five healthy kids, sometimes I forget that not everyone has the same experience. Every time I'm around other parents and their kids, I'm shocked to see how unhealthy some of these kids are.
I feel like I know a little bit about this subject, so I will offer a little bit of information on having healthy kids.
1.) Chiropractic - I bet you didn't see this one coming. When we think about the birthing process and how traumatic it often is, especially with forceps and vacuum extractions, this is a no brainer. Babies are so fragile that even the best of birthing experiences can still create a subluxation.
Each one of my kids has been checked by a chiropractor after birth. With our oldest, it was three hours later. With our next two, it was within a couple days. With our fourth, she was checked within the hour of being born.
Having a vertebral subluxation is no fun as an adult. Think about how it feels for child that can't communicate with words; a lot of colic and a lot of sleepless nights, for both baby/toddler and parents.
The moral of the story? Get your kids' spines checked!
2.) Get educated on vaccines - Within a child's first six months, it is recommended that they get upwards of 16-18 immunizations containing multiple diseases and multiple preservatives. No child's immune system is even developed by six months, so how can they deal with this onslaught of immune system bombardment?
Look at the rise of conditions like autism and ADD/ADHD. No one can prove that increased numbers of vaccines caused the astronomical rise in conditions like those. But seeing how autism rates have skyrocketed since the 1990s, along with increasing numbers of recommended immunizations since the 1990s, I have a hard time ignoring the connection.
Once when our oldest daughter was younger, back when we only had one child, I remember getting into a discussion with a lady at church about vaccinations. Her brother was an MD so she thought she knew more about what my kids needed than I did. She was adamant that I needed to get my daughter vaccinated. Her kids were always sniffling, coughing, and sneezing. My daughter hadn't experienced any of those things even once. That logic didn't make sense to me.
It's up to you to decide if you want to take this course of action. If you decide against immunizations for your kids, make sure you are doing the other four things in this list. If not, your kids will have very weak immune systems and they will be susceptible to a whole host of things neither of you will want them having.
3.) Cut down on the junk food and increase the fresh fruits and vegetables - Regular diets of mac n' cheese, milk, pudding snacks, candy, and ice cream will not foster a feeling of well-being in kids. Processed foods with 30 different ingredients that you can't pronounce are not the best thing to be feeding a child.
Try giving them some fresh organic apples, bananas, oranges, and pineapple. Sneak some greens into a smoothie. We often make a smoothie in the Vitamix with a huge handful of spinach, a big kale leaf, frozen strawberries or blueberries, a few bananas, and some water. The kids love it and they don't even know they're drinking spinach and kale.
4.) Get the kids to bed early - Besides being a wonderful thing for the parents, getting the kids to bed early insures they will be rested and happy. Children need a lot of sleep. I'm fine with six hours of sleep. My kids? Not unless I want them turning into little demons.
No matter what, my kids all wake up around 6:30-7:00. If we put off bedtime until 9-10 pm, they will be too tired and too cranky the next day. Bedtime for the kids in our house is around 7:30. This way the kids get 11-12 hours of sleep. Our younger two still take afternoon naps as well.
Now, if only my wife and I got that much sleep...
5.) Get those kids outside - Kids need to get off their butts and go play outside. Sure my kids watch some shows and movies during the day, but they also get outside and run around. Lately it hasn't been all that often because it's been so cold here in Texas. But usually they will go outside and run around and play on the swings.
There is no reason for obesity and Type II diabetes to be increasing among children. Humans are not meant to be indoors as often as we are. Back in the days of our grandparents, they got outside and did yard work, gardening, and manual labor. With the abundance of white collar jobs dominating the work force in our society, manual labor is all but forgotten.
Our kids see what we do and want to do the same thing. When I go running, my kids want to go running.
When I play a video game, they want to play that game, too.
So get those kids outside and get them playing! They'll do it a lot easier if you go outside with them (hint, hint, wink, wink).
Again these are the things we do for our kids in my house. Based on our experience with our four kids, these five strategies have worked like a charm.
By Brandon Harshe, D.C
1.) Chiropractic - I bet you didn't see this one coming. When we think about the birthing process and how traumatic it often is, especially with forceps and vacuum extractions, this is a no brainer. Babies are so fragile that even the best of birthing experiences can still create a subluxation.
Each one of my kids has been checked by a chiropractor after birth. With our oldest, it was three hours later. With our next two, it was within a couple days. With our fourth, she was checked within the hour of being born.
Having a vertebral subluxation is no fun as an adult. Think about how it feels for child that can't communicate with words; a lot of colic and a lot of sleepless nights, for both baby/toddler and parents.
The moral of the story? Get your kids' spines checked!
2.) Get educated on vaccines - Within a child's first six months, it is recommended that they get upwards of 16-18 immunizations containing multiple diseases and multiple preservatives. No child's immune system is even developed by six months, so how can they deal with this onslaught of immune system bombardment?
Look at the rise of conditions like autism and ADD/ADHD. No one can prove that increased numbers of vaccines caused the astronomical rise in conditions like those. But seeing how autism rates have skyrocketed since the 1990s, along with increasing numbers of recommended immunizations since the 1990s, I have a hard time ignoring the connection.
Once when our oldest daughter was younger, back when we only had one child, I remember getting into a discussion with a lady at church about vaccinations. Her brother was an MD so she thought she knew more about what my kids needed than I did. She was adamant that I needed to get my daughter vaccinated. Her kids were always sniffling, coughing, and sneezing. My daughter hadn't experienced any of those things even once. That logic didn't make sense to me.
It's up to you to decide if you want to take this course of action. If you decide against immunizations for your kids, make sure you are doing the other four things in this list. If not, your kids will have very weak immune systems and they will be susceptible to a whole host of things neither of you will want them having.
3.) Cut down on the junk food and increase the fresh fruits and vegetables - Regular diets of mac n' cheese, milk, pudding snacks, candy, and ice cream will not foster a feeling of well-being in kids. Processed foods with 30 different ingredients that you can't pronounce are not the best thing to be feeding a child.
Try giving them some fresh organic apples, bananas, oranges, and pineapple. Sneak some greens into a smoothie. We often make a smoothie in the Vitamix with a huge handful of spinach, a big kale leaf, frozen strawberries or blueberries, a few bananas, and some water. The kids love it and they don't even know they're drinking spinach and kale.
4.) Get the kids to bed early - Besides being a wonderful thing for the parents, getting the kids to bed early insures they will be rested and happy. Children need a lot of sleep. I'm fine with six hours of sleep. My kids? Not unless I want them turning into little demons.
No matter what, my kids all wake up around 6:30-7:00. If we put off bedtime until 9-10 pm, they will be too tired and too cranky the next day. Bedtime for the kids in our house is around 7:30. This way the kids get 11-12 hours of sleep. Our younger two still take afternoon naps as well.
Now, if only my wife and I got that much sleep...
5.) Get those kids outside - Kids need to get off their butts and go play outside. Sure my kids watch some shows and movies during the day, but they also get outside and run around. Lately it hasn't been all that often because it's been so cold here in Texas. But usually they will go outside and run around and play on the swings.
There is no reason for obesity and Type II diabetes to be increasing among children. Humans are not meant to be indoors as often as we are. Back in the days of our grandparents, they got outside and did yard work, gardening, and manual labor. With the abundance of white collar jobs dominating the work force in our society, manual labor is all but forgotten.
Our kids see what we do and want to do the same thing. When I go running, my kids want to go running.
When I play a video game, they want to play that game, too.
So get those kids outside and get them playing! They'll do it a lot easier if you go outside with them (hint, hint, wink, wink).
Again these are the things we do for our kids in my house. Based on our experience with our four kids, these five strategies have worked like a charm.
By Brandon Harshe, D.C
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