Parenting Advices

Knowing what skin problems might await your child outdoors can help you prevent them.

Kids are prone to particular skin problems during summer because of the hot humid climate. For instance, fungal growth is fostered in sweaty areas because it thrives in moist conditions. Children’s skin can also be quite sensitive to heat and overheating often aggravates itching in already affected areas.

Top Summer Skin Problems for Kids

Millaria. More commonly known as prickly, it is caused by the blocking of the flow of sweat from the sweat glands to the skin’s surface. “The sweat will look for another way to get out so it escapes into the skin.

Prickly heat manifests as tiny pink to red spots that can be intensely itchy and painful. In worse cases, the spots may sometimes appear as if they are infected with pus. The spots or bumps often show up on covered parts of the skin, especially where there is friction from clothing. The forehead, body folds, the upper back and chest, trunk, abdomen, and the arms are also common sites.

Mild cases may respond to dusting powders like cornstarch and talcum after bath. For moderate to severe cases, however, it’s best to bring your child to the dermatologist or pediatrician as mild topical and oral steroids may be prescribed.

Placing your child in a cool environment, preferably an airconditioned room will help ease prickly as well as frequent cool baths and light cotton clothing.

Intertigo. Also described as superficial inflammatory dermatitis, it’s an intensely red, macerated, glistening rash with scaling on the edges. This is commonly found among overweight or obese children and affected sites are usually creases of the neck, and other skin folds. Friction — the rubbing of skin against skin plus heat and moisture — result in redness that eventually leaves it macerated. Secondary infection by bacteria or fungi then occurs and patient may experience a burning, itchy sensation.

It’s recommended to bring your child immediately to the dermatologist who may prescribe antihistamines; anti-fungal therapy may also be prescribed.

At home, apply a saline compress to help dry affected areas. The procedure involves placing a gauze on top of the rash then slowly applying saline solution (available in drug stores) using a proper gauze, for 10 to 15 minutes three times a day.

Help prevent intertrigo by keeping skin folds clean and as dry as possible. Applying dusting powders in th folds after a bath will lessen friction in the skin and provide a cooling sensation to the patient. Dress your child in loose and soft clothing and underwear. For obese children, weight loss will help reduce the size of fat folds.

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No more teacher, no more books! Give the nanny a break with these quality-time things to do in the season of sun and fun.

1. Alumni homecoming, here we come. Take your child to your old high school or college and show them your old classrooms, library, etc. Your kids will love to hear stories about how you were as a student and it is also a great opportunity for you to teach them valuable lessons. Treat them to a meal at the old cafeteria or the nearest fast food.

2. Figure a puzzle. Take home one of those giat jigsaw puzzles that contain 500 to over a thousand pieces and make it a family project for the summer. Delegate a special table where you can leave the puzzle and where everyone can gather around every night for some cozy before-bedtime bonding. Have some mugs of hot chocolate or bags of popcorn handy to complete the picture.

3. Attend toddler classes. Bond with your young ones by signing up for music and movement classes.

4. Pack the picnic basket and go to the park. You can take your family to a picnic in the nearest park, or maybe somewhere out of town. That way, you can spend some time in a park that you’d visit for the first time. Your children would surely enjoy interacting with other kids while you can have a sweet bonding time with your spouse.

5. Enjoy car wash day. Take out the garden hose, pails, sponges, tire brush and soap and have a fun morning washing the family car. Children will love getting themselves wet and will relish pointing the hose at mom and dad. Sure, you can pay someone else 50 bucks to wash the car but it wouldn’t be as fun as getting the family soaked on a hot summer day.

6. Have a family project. A bird-feeling platform, a tree-house or a hand-crafted toy — let your family’s creativity flow with a project that you can all do together. My husband and I recently finished making a sandbox for our daughter. Not only did it save us a lot of money, but it also gave our three-year-old a sense of accomplishment as she helped us paint and pour the sand into her box.

7. Think green. What better way to teach your child about the environment than by actually experiencing it. Try boating at the lagoon or swimming at the salt water pool for starters then stroll along the park while learning about the different plants.

8. Home Theater. Microwave popcorn, ice-cold sodas, snuggling on the bed in tattered pajamas — you can’t beat family bonding while watching films in the comfort of your own home. Renting DVD movies is a great cheap thrill and we recommend getting these family-bonding flicks:

• Father of the Bride, starring Steve Martin as an aging dad who can’t quite let go of his recently engaged daughter, this film is both touching and hilarious as it follows the misadventures of a family planning its first wedding.
• Freaky Friday. Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan star as a mom and daughter who can’t get along. When they switch bodies one freaky Friday, they are forced to adapt living each other’s lives for a day.
• Back to the Future. Michael J. Fox during his ’80’s heyday, this film is a classic comedy. What would it be like to meet your parents in their teens? Parents will love the retro feel of the film while kids will be encouraged to imagine, what if we can go back in time?

9. History lives. Give your children a historical lesson they’ll truly remember by taking them to where history actually happened.

10. Enjoy the pool. Don’t feel like driving out of town to take the kids swimming? Enjoy first-class pool facilities at hotels in the city that have fitness centers where mom and dad can relax or use the gym. Of course, you can bring your own picnic basket but at least you can forget about cooking for a day as you enjoy the hotel’s yummy meals and first-rate service.

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Bust the hidden allergies in your home to keep your place — and your kids — healthy.

Cecile goes into a room and starts to sneeze and itch all over. Usually immune from allergies, she now finds herself affected by the unusually large amount of dust around her.

Although the windows are closed, dust still penetrates through the window sill and finds its way into the home. Our home is a hotbed for allergens — dust, dust mites and mold are only some of the common causes of allergy. Enjoy the summer months by reducing the amount of allergens in the home.

Keep your home and bedroom a safe refuge by making it a healthy place to be in. Here are some tips from the 3M Handy Book of Health & Personal Care (Anvil Publishing, Inc., 2005) to keep it that way:

• Wash beddings in hot water every week.
• Vacuum carpeted rooms regularly.
• Wash curtains often.
• Remove items that collect dust; if it must be in the room, dust them regularly.
• Airconditioners control room temperature and reduce humidity, so clean airconditioner filters regularly to prevent molds.
• Remove pet hair from furniture if your pets are in the house.
• Bathe pets regularly.
• Expose mattresses under the sun.
• Shampoo or expose rugs to sunlight and beat them to remove the dirt.

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