Mommy Moods & Kids Long-Term Health

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1 in 5 people will experience mental illness in any given year in Canada. This is truly an epidemic. It doesn’t only affect the person, their jobs, their health, it affects the people around them.

Sadly, it has a long-term negative effect on children. The ACEs study of Adverse Childhood Experiences found that children who grew up with the experience of a depressed family member in the household had an increased chance of long-term health consequences like chronic disease, mental illness, substance abuse and early death.

This is not great news. This is why it’s so important to address mom’s health when we’re talking about children’s health. They are part of the family unit. Everyone in the family affects the other.

This is why I’m passionate about working with moms.

Watch my short video about this and a small thing you can do TODAY to help both mom and child.

Talk soon,

Whitney

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Supermoms Throw Out the Rules

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The biggest lesson I’m learning as a mom is to let go of the strict rules and how I “should” parent, or should do this or that.

I’d ask everyone for feedback. What do you do? How do YOU handle this situation with your kids. What SHOULD I do about bedtimes, sleep routines, their diet, their grieving, their extracurricular activities.

We have so many decisions to make as parents and we put so much pressure on ourselves to “do it right.”

But what is right? Who says there is only 1 right way to raise a child? Who says there is only 1 right way or path for a child to be happy, healthy & hearty so they can ultimately be OK?

There isn’t any 1 path. It doesn’t exist. If someone tells you it does, then they are lying to themselves.

Each child is unique, each child has their own temperament they were born with. Each child responds differently to different things. Maybe your child is great at sports, maybe they like quiet artwork activities. Knowing our children is one of the keys to happiness as a mother. Not trying to fit them into the prescribed box of a “perfect child.”

Allowing them to be free, allows us to be free. Then we don’t have to follow any rules. We get to make up the rules!! How amazing is that?!?

Whitney

Want to be a better mom? Get the Supermom Survival Guide here. 

 

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Little People, Big Eaters

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How do we get our kids to love food and be healthy eaters for life?

That’s one of my personal missions and part of raising healthy, happy & hearty kids.

I recently spoke at Food Revolution Barrie about kids and nutrition. Here is the presentation I did. I’d love to hear what your biggest health issues are when it comes to kids.


Talk soon,

Whitney

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Meet our new intern

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Do you have a friend or family member who would benefit from seeing a naturopath but has limited funds? Now is the perfect opportunity to become a patient and get an individualized plan.

Francesca is joining our clinic this week for the next couple months to complete her naturopathic studies.

Her super powers: She’s a brilliant mom of 3 and has a special interest in fertility, pregnancy and babies. 

Francesca will be supervised by one of the naturopathic doctors at Rooted, so your friend or family member has the benefit of 2 people working on their plan.

Costs are reduced:

  • First Visit $60
  • Follow ups or Acupuncture $30

Contact the clinic or simply book online under “Student Intern”

See you soon!

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I Found More Rope

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This week has been a bit crazy.

My oldest has been home sick for a couple days with a fever and bad cough.

The night times have been rough. I’m sure you can relate – no matter what age your kids are now. There are just some of those nights.

At the end of 2016, I made a list of all my “wins” and accomplishments. 

One of them was that I got up every night and night-time parented my kids. WIN!

I got up and comforted, cuddled and reassured either of them or both of them. Sometimes at the same time (those times are super hard!).

But there were times that it was really, really hard. There were times that I was at the end of my rope. That I felt like I didn’t have it in me.

Sometimes I would cry. Sometimes I would leave the room, let them cry while I took a time out to regroup and go back in and try again. Sometimes I needed some late night texts with my sister to get me through.

Somehow, I always found more rope.

I know we’ve all been there. When you’re exhausted and feel all alone and briefly hopeless. When you’re at the end of your rope, what do you do to find more rope?

The ability to bounce back….that’s called resilience.

And how do we build resilience in our children??

The #1 way is for those children to have one (or more) consistently supportive adult in their lives. A person who is their cheerleader and will be there no matter what.

So, if you’ve found more rope…and you keep on finding more rope when you’re at the end of it…you’re being that person to your child and building resilience in them.

Keep it going. One step, one night, one moment at a time. Sometimes those nights can be hard…but the cuddles are worth it.

Talk soon,

Whitney

p.s. join me over at Guiltless Grace on Facebook with some other supportive moms as we get through this together with grace and poise but without the mommy guilt.

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“You actually spend time with your kids?!”

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I was recently at my doctors office with both my daughters. The receptionist wanted to show them the dancing snowman she had on her desk. It was really sweet to watch my girls in awe of this magical snowman.

Then she said to me that the girls behaved so well and she could tell that someone actually spends time with them!

I was shocked. What did she mean?

She said it was obvious when she saw the children where the parent doesn’t spend much time with their child. Language is not as developed and behaviour is a bit worse.

I have been doing some research for my upcoming book. So I wanted to look into this further.

We all assume that spending time with our children is a good idea. But how much? What do we do during that time? What are the benefits?

  • talking with children helps develop language skills and stimulates brain development
  • the more words your baby is exposed to the better they are prepared to read on their own
  • children who were read to as newborns have a bigger vocabulary and more advanced math skills
  • the number of words a baby hears is directly related to her language skills
  • babies who’s parents spoke to them a lot had higher test scores at age 3 than those who weren’t as verbal
  • reading to them teaches them about emotions early on
  • reading shows her that reading is fun and not a chore, she will develop lifelong love of learning

Steps You Can Take:

  1. Do a Mommy Cooking Show – when you are in the kitchen and your baby is in her high chair, face her towards you and describe everything you’re doing. It will help her vocabulary and you’ll be spending time together!
  2. Visit your Local Library – I know I get bored of the books we have at home. They might too! If you keep switching up the books, this keeps her brain growing and learning new words, shapes, colours and emotions.
  3. Discuss the Emotional Situations in Books – studies have found that babies aged 19-21 months know the difference between right and wrong. Use their story books to explain different situations e.g. how to treat one another, feeling compassion for the sad elephant and happiness towards the animals playing nicely together. This gives her context to real life situations so she will start to develop empathy and a good conscience.

I’d love to hear about your favourite books!

One of my favourites is “Sometimes I like to Curl Up in a Ball” by by Vicki Churchill and Charles Fuge. It has lots of good fun and emotions, about playing fair, not always winning the race, and coming home for a snuggle at night. 

Dr. Whitney Young, ND. Super Baby Coach.

I’d love for you to join me in my moms group on Facebook called Guiltless Grace – how to raise a happy, healthy, & hearty kid without the Mommy Guilt. We share lots of things about food, exercise, play and overall raising healthy kids.

Resources:

www.parents.com/baby/development/intellectual/benefits-of-reading-to-your-newborn

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