The Connected Collective

A great idea to empower our kids with their eating

You know what's better than saying "this food is good for you"? Tell them what foods do in their body! Why do I keep sharing this message? Because we keep selling our kids short labeling foods and good/bad, healthy/unhealthy. Here are some examples of messages I like for different ages⁠:
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For 2-3yo kids I usually break it down by color. Although it's not 100% accurate, it’s a good framework to get started. ⁣⠀⁠⠀
❤️ Red: gives you a strong heart⁣⠀⁠⠀
🧡 Orange: helps you see in the dark⁣⠀⁠⠀
💛Yellow: helps your body heal cuts⁣⠀⁠⠀
💚Green: gives you super powers to fight off sickness⁣⠀⁠⠀
💜💙Blue and Purple: Give you a strong brain⁣⠀⁠⠀
💟White: gives you energy⁣⠀⁠⠀
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For 4s and 5s you can start being more specific - like carrots and sweet potatoes help you be able to see in the dark. Clementines help your skin heal cuts. Broccoli helps your night vision, your skin heal, AND your bones be strong.⁠⠀
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For 4s/5s and 6s you can introduce the idea that some foods do a lot of things in their bodies and some foods do a few things.⁠⠀
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For 6s and 7s you can introduce the concept of vitamins and minerals - tell them HOW carrots protect their night vision (via vitamin A). Learn about the body.⁠⠀
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For 8s and 9s - learn even more about different things in foods. ⁠⠀
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And so on.⁠⠀
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All the while, model the way you want your kids to eat in your home and serve them the balanced diet you want them to eat. That's more powerful than anything you could ever tell them.⁠⠀
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If you need help getting your child to try new foods, my free child eating guide 🔥 From Stress to Success - 4 Ways to Help Your Child Eat Better without Losing Your Mind is in my bio ⁠.eat.in.color⁠⠀
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Level 2 update

I will still be operating as normal, just with extra cleaning in place again and I will be wearing a mask.

Hand sanitiser is available at the clinic if you require, and I will ask again that patients wait outside before their appointments just over the next three days until we have a clearer idea of our restrictions.

Keep boosting your immune systems with vitamin c, d, and zinc. Eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables and get fresh air daily.

Interesting for you mamas and papas whose little ones don’t like it when you sit down 🌸🌸🌸

Hold your babies, people!! Preferably up, as far as the child is concerned... and much to the dismay of tired parents around the world who are exasperated at an infant’s insistence at holding them standing.

A study by Esposito et al. (2013), published in the Journal of Current Biology, demonstrated for the first time that the calming response to parents holding them is a coordinated set of central, motor, and cardiac regulations and is a conserved component of parent-infant interactions in mammals.

Using electrocardiograms (ECG) to monitor twelve healthy human infants’ heartbeats, along with their behaviour and vocalisations, they recorded mother-infant pairs during behavioural tasks that consisted of the child lying in a crib, being held by the mother who was sitting on a chair ( ), or being held by the mother who was walking continuously ( ).

The researchers found a sustained elevation of heart interbeat intervals due to carrying in awake infants could not be explained by any known cardiac vagal reflex, including the orienting reflex (brief period of heart rate deceleration by mild sensory stimulus), suggesting that carrying evokes a sustained heart rate reduction in concert with the rapid behavioural changes in human infants via a novel mechanism.

The researchers furthermore found that in mouse pups, carrying induced calming responses similar to those in human infants, even though maternal carrying methods differed. This draws parallels between the carrying-induced state evoked in human babies and other mammalian young such as cats or squirrels who adopt a still, compact posture with their hind legs drawn up when maternally carried. The reduced mobility, reduced distress vocalisations, and reduced heart rate appears to be adaptive.

The calming responses evoked by carrying are thought to be an evolutionary measure to increase the survival probability of the infant in cases of emergency escape by the mother and child, and so ultimately works to strengthen the mother-infant relationship. There is adaptive value in this behaviour in carer-infant relationships and, as a consequence, infant survival.

The study found that the effects of carrying on the infant’s parasympathetic nervous system were significant, and it provides a scientific understanding of this physiological infant response that could be beneficial for parents and early childhood educators to understand.

Considering the physiological response of the infant when being carried may lead to greater parent and carer patience, reduced frustration and an increased appreciation of age-old parenting techniques such as and parenting.

https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(13)00343-6