As a parent do you commit these mistakes

Almost all parents meticulously follow their child’s growth plan and vaccination chart. Still, parents tend to gloss over certain facts which can prove detrimental to the health of the child. Keep reading to learn about most commonly committed health mistakes by parents. And yes, even educated parents tend to make such mistakes.
1. Did you de-worm your child

“When was the last time you de-wormed her?” asked Dr. Rajiv Chabbara, Consultant Paediatrician and Neonatal Intensivist to Mehak Aggarwal. She had brought Suhani, her three-year-old daughter for a health check, as she wasn’t feeling too well and would complain of a stomach pain after having food. Mentally, Mehak calculated and spoke weakly, “Never.” Dr. Chabbara wasn’t in for a surprise. Even educated and well-informed parents fail to de-worm their kids, comments he. Children between the age group of 5 and 15 should be regularly de-wormed, says he. The common worm infestations are thread worm, round worm and hook worm.

Lifestyle changes

To keep worm infestation at bay, parents should inculcate healthy habits in children.

• Make sure children always wash their hands after going to the bathroom and before eating.


• Keep fingernails short to reduce the chances of picking up worm eggs underneath them.


• Wash all the vegetables, fruits thoroughly before eating raw.


• Meat, especially pork should be thoroughly cooked before eating.


• Ensure that children don't play barefoot in soil.


• Neem powder and onion juice help remove intestinal worms.

2. The dosage dilemma
Though all medicines prescribed to the child contain instructions for dosage, still many parents tend to be lax when following it. The conventionally used method of administering medicines through spoon is highly flawed, comments Dr. Chabbara. Priti Prakash, mother of 10-year-old Tanu realized when the fever of her daughter refused to go down even after giving the medicine the doctor had prescribed. She immediately bundled the child to the hospital. When the paediatrician on duty enquired, he figured out that Prakash was giving way too low dosage for a 10-year-old.

3. Do you know your kids blood group?
Usually parents know their kids’ blood group, but Anita Dewan didn’t. When the time came to fill in the pre-school forms, she filled the blood group as B positive, because she and her husband were the same blood group and she suspected her son’s blood group to be the same. Dr. Chabbara warns against making such speculations on your own. Blood grouping should ideally be done in all the kids as they are born. It is, however, compulsory for those kids whose mother's blood group is O or Rhesus negative; as kids born to such mothers have increased propensity to get significant jaundice tells Dr. Chabbra.

Also, it is good to know the blood group of your child so that during emergency you can inform the treating doctor to avoid any medical delay in adverse consequences. Nowadays, schools also ask for it as a mandatory requirement.

4. Have you checked your infant for underactive thyroid
A bit of skepticism saved Jagruti Motwani. Her ten-day-old baby girl would sleep throughout the day and showed no interest in feeding. She felt that something wasn’t right with the child and got her tested for IEM (Inborn Errors of Metabolism).

The test revealed that the child was suffering from underactive thyroid, a health condition that could cause mental retardation. Experts are of the view that there should be compulsory inclusion of thyroid test at birth. In India, the incidence of thyroid hormone deficiency at birth is one in 2,500 newborn babies, while it is one in 4,000 newborn babies in developed countries. Untreated under-active thyroid can cause mental retardation in the infant. A simple heel prick at birth can reveal the condition and it can get treated with oral medicines.

5. Pay attention to your child’s hearing
The good news is, hearing problems can be treated if it gets caught early — ideally by the time a baby is 3 months old. And, the bad news is, most of the parents don’t have proper awareness that hearing loss is a common birth defect, which if evaluated at the right time can be cured. So it's important to get your child's hearing screened early and evaluated regularly to keep hearing loss at bay.

6. Get squint treated
Many parents believe that children will outgrow squint, and this includes educated parents too, says Dr. Ajay Sharma, Medical Director, Eye Q chain of hospitals. This is not true. Squint is a misalignment of the two eyes so that both the eyes are not looking in the same direction. This misalignment may be constant, being present throughout the day or it may appear sometimes and the rest of the time the eyes may be straight. Treatment plan for squint include spectacles, eye exercise and surgery.

7. Do you beg your paediatrician for antibiotics?
Many parents do this, says Dr. Chabbara. Antibiotics are just not needed for viral fever. Hence, listen to your doctor’s words of advice, urges he.

How to Foster Parent -Teacher- Child Relationship

“Easier said than done," you must be thinking! After all, there are teachers your child will love and teachers he may not. There are teachers you'll like and dislike as well. In fact, there should be a self help book stating Teachers are from Saturn Parents are from Jupiter to help navigate the difficult path of parent-teacher relationship. Priya Singh makes an attempt to provide some useful strategies on the subject.

Your child’s teacher is the second most important person in her life, but of course after the parents, says Mamta Singla, Consultant- Clinical Psychologist, Artemis Health Institute, Gurgaon who witnesses about 80% of her OPD full of class room behaviour complains of a child! Keep reading to know what goes inside the mind of a teacher and benefit from the valuable nuggets of advice from the expert.

What Parents Should Do

Keep in touch with the school. Stay aware of what your children are learning, what their assignments are, and how they are doing. Make a point of visiting the school and talking with the teachers through parent/teacher conferences. If you can’t visit, schedule a telephone call to discuss your child’s progress. Remember that the teacher is on your side. Teachers truly care about your children and want them to be successful. "The child's success is our success," tells Kirti Mathur (M. Ed.) English Teacher, DPS, Indirapuram.

Create a problem-solving partnership, instead of confronting a teacher immediately with what's wrong. If your child's teacher contacts you about a problem or something that happened at school, understand that the teacher is trying to work with you to resolve any conflict that may be getting in the way of your child's development. Do meet with the teacher to brainstorm and to find out ways to help your child, instead of starting the blame game," recommends Dr Rohini Broota, Consultant Child Psychologist, Moolchand Medcity Hospital Delhi.

Try not to boast. Of course you think your child is brilliant, but bragging over his accomplishments may send a message to the teacher that you think he may not be good enough to teach your child. Always think before you speak as you don't need to sell your child to the teacher, notes Singla, rather you have to trust that your teacher will come to know what's important herself. Telling a teacher that your child loves to read will thrill the teacher. But challenging your teacher with statements like 'he read 50 new books over the summer,' may backfire.

Think like a child! Offer praise, support and encouragement. Parents and families play an important role in influencing a child’s confidence and motivation to become a successful learner. Encourage them to complete assignments and introduce them to outside experiences that will enhance their self-confidence and broaden their interests.
Also, you must be interactive with your child to know more about his behaviour in school. Ask child about his class work and school environment. And if you get to know that the child’s relationship with his teacher is not good, you must listen to the child and contact the teacher.

What Teacher Should Do?

Involve parents in classroom activities. Teachers can let child’s family know how they can be helpful and can ask for their assistance with specific activities. Parents can interact more with the teacher by participating in classroom materials, serving on a committee to select classroom equipment and materials, or by sharing information about their kids’ careers, tells Singla. At least quarterly activities of such kind can greatly help the child. The more involved parents are in what goes on in the classroom, the more likely they are to understand the teacher’s goals and practices.

Give parents a voice in decisions. Parents’ viewpoints should be considered in making decisions about their children’s schooling.

Foster good communication during parent- teacher conferences. During PTM’s create a comfortable environment in which parents’ feel free to share information, ask questions and make recommendations.

While these are no magic recipes that are easy to cook, but yes following these strategies you can help your child get close to the teacher and excited about learning (or at least get you through some tough spots along the way). Help kids plan their time, complete their homework, and make the most of school years. Before you realize, your child will be graduate to college and the memories of school days will rest in your heart forever.

Tackle Teenage Drinking

As the trend is so much in the fashion, so it’s really difficult to prevent teenagers from experimenting with alcohol, but parents can encourage sensible drinking habits. Read to know the right way to handle this early stage hang over.

What gets teens to splurge in alcohol? The 3Ps, ‘peers, parents and present trend to be a ‘wannabe’, are the major causes behind teens being inclined towards boozing these day. It is observed that children who have been raised by so-called indulgent parents, who tend to give their kid lots of praise and warmth, but offer little in the way of monitoring of their bad behavior — were…three times more likely to participate in heavy drinking, says Dr. Rachna Singh, Artemis Gurgaon. Furthermore, friends also play highly influential role behind developing this habit, adds Dr. Singh.Apart these, some children also indulge in drinking to show their rebel while others just go for it for the sake to move with the latest trend.

Warning signs parents should watch out: Coming late nights, insisting most of the time for night outs, and demanding for more pocket money are some initial stage traits that should be observed by parents. Children who have just entered the drinking zone tend to avoid their parents or anyone when they come back to home. They would show little interest in studies and have more inclination towards friends. Also, sudden decrease in their regular appetite can be noticed.

For parents of 13 years and above, it is really important to scrutinize every change in the personality of their child. If your kid has started talking more about freedom and space, and if you have notice some instances of money being stolen, then you should get watchful towards his habit and try to be friendlier with him to understand his ways more closely.

Right way to bring them at ease: Scolding or frowning is not the best way to handle underage drinking habit. There are other more effective ways and non violent methods to fix it. ‘Insight’ is the real word to guide your tot about adversity of alcohol. Try to instigate self-awareness in your child’s mind that this lifestyle isn’t the correct one. Be friendly with them and discuss the positive as well as the negative aspect of drinking.

Drinking alcohol with parents “may help teach them responsible drinking habits or extinguish some of the ‘novelty’ or ‘excitement’ of drinking” according to Dr. Arti Anand, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Ganga Ram Hospital. The best way to handle children who drink is to be affectionate warm, loving parents. Further she adds, be disciplined with kids, set boundaries for them, and punish the child fairly when rules are broken; as sometimes, following strict rules with consequences, may stop a teen from binge drinking.

In case if he has become a chronic drinker, you must consult a psychologist or rehab experts.
For those looking to recover & rehab: There are many underage alcohol re-habitation centers in Delhi and at most of the urban cities that organize cessation classes for underage kids to deter their drinking habit. These alcohol rehab and drug treatment centers provide the mind stability and professional prevention skills, that addicts require the most to come on their path of recovery. Also, if required, they offer supervised detoxification that may involve medication in a hospital setting. Usually they prefer for social detoxification (i.e. no medication) in a non-hospital setting to make kids feel ease and little homely.
Most of these programs focus on medical stabilization, abstinence, and lifestyle changes and tend to keep patients up to 30 days at the centers. Staff members managing these centers are primarily medical professionals and trained counselors.

Raise alcohol smart kids: Don’t make alcohol a taboo in the family, talk about its ill- effects. Introduce social drinking in the family, for special occasions where the child is in a secure and homely environment. Most importantly don’t create a fear, act normal about it.
Parents also need to remember to have open and regular conversations with their children about drugs and alcohol, which is a very important component of prevention. It’s important for parents to communicate that they have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to their children’s use of any substance.

We know that having these conversations isn’t easy, and it can be very difficult to think about where to start. But, in the real parenting world, you must realize that there are times when you need to determine to yourself – let’s face it – for the ultimate wellbeing of your kid.

What Should You Look for when Deciding on a Summer Camp?

Come summer and you can see scores of parents hunting high and low and seeking feedback of friends and colleagues on that ‘perfect’ summer camp? Why summer camps have all of a sudden gained so much popularity? Without doubt, for working professionals summer camp is a good way to keep their child engaged in a constructive activity during the summer holidays। But, beyond that what benefits accrue to children who go for summer camps। Are there any takeaways for real, or is summer camp just an expensive proposition to keep kids busy? Find the answers to all the crucial queries that you might be thinking about this summer. Lets review the check list:-



1. Focus—Other than keeping your child occupied summer camp should have an objective, which is to enrich the personality of the child. At the end of the camp the child should learn a new skill which would not be possible otherwise.





2. Distance from home—In the name of learning a new skill or art the child should not travel long distance. After all, its summer holidays and summer camps should not be an arduous task.





3. Interest of the child—Of late, grown ups as well as kids come with shorter attention spans. Camp conductors find it a challenge to keep the child hooked in the activities. Hence, it’s advisable to consult your child when choosing on the camp. If your child is interested in dancing, enroll him for dancing classes and if he is into fitness, he will like to go to fitness classes.





4. Peer pressure—You just can’t ignore this factor while deciding on a summer camp. If all your child’s friends are going for swimming lessons this summer, inadvertently, your child too will insist to join his friends.





5. How old is the summer camp—While summer camps are mushrooming every other day, still you should go for those camps which are being conducted by schools because they have an established system in place. After all, when there are 20 to 30 children together you need infrastructure in place—qualified teachers, spacious and air-cooled rooms (at least) individual attention, clean rest rooms, availability of drinking water and conveyance.





6. No technology—As it is children have more than enough exposure to technology in the form of video games, Farmville sessions on Facebook and Play Stations. When they are not gaming, they are watching cartoons. Hence, when choosing a camp keep in mind that the curriculum should keep technology to minimum.





Summer camps should throw in outdoor activities like trip to a farm, nature walks, planting a sapling and pottery which the child would not be able to do in his regular life. Summer camps are designed to be fun and that’s the whole purpose of it. The camps should spell a departure from academics. The focus should be on learning in a light-hearted way. Moreover parents need to refrain from keeping huge expectations of the summer camp. At the end of the day the child should enjoy the summer camp.

When Your Child Experiments with Lie

Parenting is akin to enrolling yourself in a school. Everyday springs new surprises and has lessons to offer, wise parents keep learning and moving on. Often, parents feel shocked when they learn that their otherwise honest and truthful child has begun to experiment with lies. While some lies are innocuous and are products of overactive imagination, there are some, which are spoken intentionally. Now, there is a good and bad news attached to it—the good news is that the child has become grown up enough to tamper with facts to wriggle out of awkward situations like an adult to save his skin and the bad news is that he has learned to lie.

‘Though, Suhana never lied to me’, says Anchal about her seven-year-old daughter, but these days I often catch her lying to me without batting an eyelid. “Agreed, her lies are not big and are usually in response to the questions that she prefers to avoid, yet lying is not good”, says the worried mother.

Why kids lie?
Lying is a symptom and it calls for parental affection and concern. Eight-year-old Sagarika complained of unexplained aches and pains in her leg just before the Kathak class. The pains would last only for an hour. Her mother insisted on taking her to the class and sat through out the session. She found that Sagarika was not able to dance like the older girls in her class and felt de-motivated for this reason. When she joined the class meant for girls of her age group, she became the star dancer and her pains vanished. ‘Now, in fact, she looks forward to her Kathak class’, says the beaming mother.

Sometimes what we call lying is just a figment of imagination. Kids live in make-believe world and their thoughts correspond accordingly.Many a time unknowingly parents introduce their children to the web of lies. What do we expect our children to learn when we ask our spouse, friend or staff to answer a phone call for us and concoct an excuse for us. The impressionable minds of children are quick to learn that adults tamper with facts, and so can they.

Often, parents tend to attach strings to their love towards the child. Sometimes this can coerce your child to tamper with truth because s/he wants to conform to the standards set by parents. Manisha, a mother of two children shares her childhood memory, “When I was young, once I scored less marks in Maths. Studies were of paramount importance in my family. Hence, I lied to my parents that I have scored well, but I have misplaced my report card because it would reveal my lies.”

Whats the remedy?
If you find your child experimenting with lies then make them understand that lies erode trust. Have faith in your children and try to get to the root of lying; you might find a fear lurking there. As a parent it is also good to understand thsi fact that as kids grow they become more independent and want to exert that too. And therefore with their growing mind often lying becomes an escape route to wriggle out.

Try to see them the reason behind your questions and they are likely to conform to your expectations. You will see a difference in their approach, thereafter.