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As the summer holidays come to an end, "back to school" offers a new beginning of sorts. Everyone is stocking
up on supplies–new pencils, new notebooks... in short, everything you need to be fully equipped for
the year ahead. The team at Where Kids Come First wanted to do the same. We recently asked you to
give us your ideas on how to improve the newsletter to better meet your needs. We took many of your comments
into consideration, and what you see here is a "new" newsletter, where you'll find a blog,
a Q&A, profiles of people, and of course our always popular health tips.
Happy reading!
The editorial team at Where Kids Come First
At the Montreal Children's Hospital heroes come in all forms. Patients, family members, caregivers,
healthcare providers and volunteers all perform super human acts every day. When you walk through
the halls of the Montreal Children's Hospital, you find heroes everywhere–maybe they're not
wearing a cape nor have big bulging muscles or super powers, but they are there, right under your
nose. This section is a tribute to all those heroes among us. Please feel free to share this
heartfelt video
with your friends and family.
This past summer two writers from the MCH–both moms of young children–decided to start blogs about
life as a mother and the concerns and questions that come with it. We invite you to check in
regularly to read their blogs... and since they both have access to specialists at the MCH, they
can get answers to those everyday questions that come up when one has children.
Without further
ado, we'd like to introduce Denise, who is mom to Frédé (1) and writes the French blog, and Julia,
who writes the English blog and is mom to Mya (7), Brooke (5) and Max (2). We hope you enjoy
this little peak into the lives of a couple of real moms!
MINI-MED SCHOOL
Starting October 6, 2009, you can spend 1½ hours a week with six leading medical specialists
from the Montreal Children's Hospital of the McGill University Health Centre. If you are naturally curious
about science and medicine, Mini-Med is the school for you!
[+]
WEBINAR ON THE H1N1 VIRUS
There is obviously a lot of pent up demand for information about the H1N1 virus. The Montreal
Children's Hospital is hosting two free webinars about H1N1. The English webinar will be held
on September 14 at 8 p.m. With this new technology specialists from the Montreal Children's
Hospital can talk to busy parents right in their homes. And parents can ask questions.
Unfortunately, the English webinar is already full. However, there are still some
places available in the French webinar to be held September 16 at 8:00 p.m. If you
are interested register now! [+]
Remember you can always watch a recording of both webinars at your convenience.
They will be posted on our website after the live broadcasts.
Do you have a question of a general nature that you'd like to ask one of our specialists?
If your question is selected, the answer will be published in the next edition of the newsletter.
My 10-month-old granddaughter has started to walk but she often falls backwards. What can we do to prevent her from hitting her head when she falls? Maria, grandmother, Longueuil
R :When children try standing up by
holding on to furniture, they instinctively fall backwards and put out their hands out to protect their
heads. To help make sure they don't hurt themselves, you can show them how to fall on their bums
gently.
Learn more on how to avoid falls in young children[+]
The best response will be published in the next issue!
What should you do when your child doesn't want to go to school?
R :The best thing is to make sure
your child goes to bed early enough so that they wake up in a good mood and have the time to eat
breakfast without rushing. If they're still grumpy after that, I talk to them about interesting
things they might learn at school that day, or the friends they'll see, or that they'll feel
good for not missing a day of school. Sara, mother of three kids, Montreal
Bread, pasta and potatoes are fattening foods.
False: Evelyne Pytka, a nutritionist
at the MCH, explains: "These foods are an important and nutritious part of a diet for any child. By
themselves, these foods do not cause any excess weight gain. Watching television or playing video
games for too many hours, and eating oversized portions of food of all sorts is what will contribute
to putting on too much weight. To find out more about healthy portions for your children, consult
Canada's Food Guide".[+]
