Creating a Sugar Addict

Can you rank the following 8 ounce servings of beverages, with "1" having the least amount of sugar and "6" having the most?

• Kool-aid
• soda
• chocolate milk
• apple juice
• white milk

I will give you the answers later. Which of these items will you allow your baby to consume within the first 12 months of life? 

click photo to see other child tooth decay

Sugary beverages, including formula,  will not only cause Baby Bottle Tooth Decay but can set your child up for obesity. How does tooth decay start? The germs in our mouths live in the white, sticky material called plaque. When the germs feed on the sugar in our food, they give off an acid. The acid will eventually cause cavities in the teeth. The more sugar your child eats, the more likely he or she is to have tooth decay. It's important that you limit the amount of sugar that you give your child.

You should never put anything in your baby's bottle besides formula, breast milk or water. And you should never, ever put your baby to bed with a bottle. Even formula, when left in the mouth as baby falls asleep, will cause tooth decay. 

Babies are not born with a desire for sugar. Children may begin to crave sugary foods after being exposed to them. 

Here is a math problem for you: 4 grams of carbohydrate = 1 teaspoon of sugar. You can use measuring spoons and sugar to visualize the amount of sugar consumed.

• If white milk has 22 grams of carbs, how many teaspoons of sugar?
• If Kool-Aid has 24 grams of carbs, how many teaspoons of sugar?
• If chocolate milk has 25 grams of carbs, how many teaspoons of sugar?
• If apple juice has 29.3 grams of carbs, how many teaspoons of sugar?
• If soda (only 8 ounces) has 30 grams of carbs, how many teaspoons of sugar?

By the way, the above beverages are listed in ranking order of least sugar to most sugar. 
Check out The 20 Worst Drinks in America 

View this video from The Real Bears.org to better understand the implications of giving sugar to your child. 

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We have been learning about the importance of Prenatal Nutrition. As a class, you brainstormed an alphabetical list of healthy foods, learned how to read food package labels, discovered how much a serving size really is and most importantly, how your food choices will affect your baby for the rest of his or her life.

I'd like for you to consider the differences and similarities between healthy vs junk food by completing the interactive venn diagram from ClassTools.net below. Not only should you think about what's inside the food but what about the outside? What is the difference in the appearance, serving size, texture, and smell of healthy food vs junk food. Is there a difference in how most healthy food is prepared vs how to prepare junk food?

Work on this as a class. When you are finished filling in your answers on the image below, please save a copy of this diagram before leaving this sight.See the bottom right corner for choices and click the circle icon to embed into a blog. Just copy the URL for your diagram and email the link to me.

If you want to post this on your own blog just copy the html then insert the code into a new post.

I will add your completed Venn Diagram at the bottom of this page for visitors to view.

Click here for larger version

Click here for larger version

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Why Do Babies Cry?

Just seeing this crying baby puts me in distress!

What do you think when you hear a baby crying in public?
What do you want to do?
Would you let your baby cry for long periods of time?
There was an interesting research article in the Wall Street Journal three weeks ago about Letting Babies Cry It Out. Please read this article.

We have heard many relatives assure us that "crying is okay, it is good for their lungs, makes them stronger". But it's really hard for parents and caretakers to let babies cry because of the physical impact it has on each one of us. When a baby cries the hairs on our arms or back of necks will actually rise. This causes us to instinctively want to sooth the baby to make ourselves feel better. But is crying normal? Should you stop a baby from crying? Is your baby in pain?  Check out the Purple Crying website to get a better understanding about crying babies.

I have taught our new GRADS parents about the Happiest Baby approach to calming a fussy baby.
Please skim over these frequently asked questions on Dr. Karp's website about using the Happiest Baby approach. Compare Karp's strategy with the suggestions in this slide show about calming fussy babies.


Please comment in the box below:

1. How do you feel when you hear your baby or any other cry?
2. What is your opinion about letting babies cry it out?
3. What new piece of information did you learn about Purple Crying?
4. Compare the Happiest Baby approach with the slide show for calming fussy babies.

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