Tip of the day

I ran out of baby paracetamol (dymadon) recently- age 1 month to 2 years, and had to give my bub childrens paracetamol.  The only difference between the 2 is that the dosages on the bottle were not there for children under 2 years.  The medication was the same, the strength was the same, it was exactly the same thing, in a different bottle.  fortunately I knew how to work out how much to give her.

you don't need baby paracetamol and children's paracetamol for children of multiple ages in your house.  You can work out the dosage by this: (15mg per kg per dose)

ie if your baby is 9kg..........9kg x 15mg= 135mg.  the concentration of each paracetamol preparation will vary.  to work out how many mls to give, divide the dosage required by the concentration.

ie if you need 135mg and the concentration of the drug says every 5 mls contains 250mg........135mg divided by 250mg in 5ml is:                             135 (mg)/250 (mg) x 5 (ml). 

or you know that every ml contains 50 mg, then it will be 135/50 x 1

the dose will be 2.7ml.

If this isn't 100% clear then don't try to work it out for yourself.  I don't want to be responsible for overdoses!!!!!!  I do this every day, so its easy for me and I know what I am doing.  Just sharing what I know in case any one else finds themselves with the same problem.

When gifting to children, prior to wrapping we have found it handy to unpack packaged toys and undo all the ties, put in batteries then repack with out doing the ties up, then when the prssie is unwrapped the toy is all good to go!!! No anxious impatient child asking can I play with it yet, is it ready etc etc. Because lets face it, we all know how exciting new toys can be!! ;)

Do your kids come home with a different set of cardboard box creations everyday?  Wondering what to do with them all?  Unless you build on another room, you can't keep everything, but you don't want to throw out your childs' hard work either!

At kindy yesterday, the kindy teacher gave me this tip...............

Take photos of each crafty creation and put them in a special scrapbook! 

That way the effort of creation was not a waste but you don't have to keep piles of cardboard boxes stuck together.

hello recycling bin :)

When trying to get your kids to leave the playground (or other fun activity), try a 5 minute leaving warning (or "put it away" warning) and then a 1 minute leaving warning before saying its time to go.  This gives kids more time to mentally prepare for leaving their fun and might encourage compliance with that leaving request (other than just saying its time to go).

Keep your kids snuggly warm at bed time this winter with hot wheat bags.

My kids love these- I made them one each out of patterned fine corduroy material. Wheat can be bought from large pet stores/fodder stores really cheap.  You can add some aromatherapy oils.  I used lavender for my hyperactive son, and eucalyptus for my respiratory virus/asthma prone daughter.  Only a tiny bit though, when warmed the smell can be quite overpowering.  Don't over heat-  stay safe and avoid burns.

I go to bed with mine on cold nights- the perfect partner replacement, LOL.  great for old fart aches and pains too- like me after netball!!

cheaper than running an electric blanket.

Keep all the rolls out of your glad wrap and tin foil, any white or brown paper your meats are wrapped in (if it's still clean of course), and straw ends you have to trim off to fit in cups, packaging from parcels, etc, and pop it in a craft box for the kids. I have a huge craft box for rainy days with all this sort of stuff in it & we have loads of fun making things when it's just too yucky to go outside or if one of us is sick!

Don't ask me how this happened, but the other day I had discovered the terrible twins had drawn on their hands with permanant texta.  sent them to the bathroom to get washed up, left for a minute and returned to find black wet texta handprints all over my white painted door. @#*!

I tried the commercial chemical stuff first- the handprints didn't budge.  I was trying to think what would get the texta off without stripping the paint.  well, this worked- damp cloth with a large amount of bicarb soda made paste-like on the cloth, then rub over the stain gently until it disappears.  It dries a bit crusty though, so just needs a second wipe over with a clean damp cloth.   MAGIC.

When my girls wake usually if they have a sore throat in the night we use a drink bottle or dinky cup with a straw with water which we leave in their rooms less spillage when they call out mum offer them their drink and they full back to sleep.

Less in their lunch box is sometimes more (depending on if you put the things in you know they are going to eat diabetes,age,ect will be different.In my daughters lunch box is a sandwich,yogurt separate a piece of fruit a large bottle of water based on my six year old.

Whenever I have added one more item she has never eat it because really they just want and need a healthy snack. Of course change the two things in their lunch box making sure its what they like if I ever add say crackers with the yogurt then the yogurt will be left ect crackers are okay somtimes too.

This is what I have found breaky in the morn between 745and 800 eating all their breakfast porridge and a watered down juice,they go to school around 10 fruit time around eleven recess around 1230 lunch so really they have had four food sessions before one o'clock and when they get home afternoon snack and they eat all their dinner. This is based on my six year old older children would probably different amounts. 

Two things in their lunch box and a piece of fruit I would definitely be putting more in if they didn't eat their breaky. I have just found alot of people over the years say their children don't eat anything so less and healthy things in their lunch too much for some children is over whelming and looks to hard when really they want to eat quick and play with their friends.

Work out what you realistically think they will eat  and go from there. 

What a great group! 

My tip...can't remember where I saw this but to make sure you have a nappy bag for while you are out and about, put one inside each nappy you put in your nappy bag/backpack/car or what ever.  You will always have one!