Summer is here and time is right for dancing in the streets. Well, maybe not, if you have little kids under your supervision. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have a great vacation with kids. In so many ways, time off with kids is more meaningful and enriching than a week on the beach without them ever could be.The first rule of thumb for planning any family adventure is to figure out what will work for the entire family. Normally, I’m not one for saying that having kids should hold you back from doing the things you love to do.

To the un-ending misery of fellow travelers, we took our babies on 12 hour plane trips to the other side of the world where we let them sleep on our laps while we ate long gourmet meals. We refused to let their tiny existence ruin our plans, and they often did not throw up or even break too many things. But now that they are older and have opinions and their own desires, we have to admit that things are more complicated. Here are a few things we learned along the way:Traveling with Babies are cheap and immensely portable. Pushing a stroller is like having a perpetual shopping cart where you can also store extra clothing, purchases and even a snack and bottle of wine. Babies remind you that you need a nap and provide a wonderful reason to stop and sit in a park. They change the rhythm of a holiday in a positive way if you can appreciate it.

As a dad, I traveled with a five month old and four year old from San Francisco to New York. Everyone treated me as if I had accomplished the most heroic effort of my life and I certainly didn’t play down my travails when I met my wife at the other end. Your mileage may vary, but I’ve always found the horrors of travel with babies way over-stated, even when traveling alone. The fact of the matter is that during this time period of life with babies, you’re in the baby zone and little that they do can fluster you in the same way as if it were a crisis you had to endure outside of parenthood. Even standing in an airplane bathroom over the Pacific for what I remember as hours holding a baby crying about teeth or congestion, I’ve never regretted bringing our kids along on a trip. Carefully plan travel with babies, though, making sure you have enough diapers and formula, which are never as easily available as you think they will be. And, think twice about African safaris or anything labled must-see adventures on a Harley.

Surprisingly, big cities make good vacations with little kids since you can often walk them around different spots, sticking them in strollers. New York, Boston, San Francisco and Chicago are great cities for walking holidays that provide a lot to see just by wandering from place to place on foot. Unfortunately, most other U.S. cities are too spread out to tour in this way.

It cannot be emphasized enough that breast milk is the best source of nutrition you can give to your baby. A complete food source specially formulated for your baby, breast milk contains all the nutrients (there is at least 400), hormones and antibodies your baby needs for optimal development. Despite many attempts to mimic breast milk, no formula has ever succeeded to replicate all the benefits that breast milk provides.

As your baby grows, your breast milk will change to suit whichever stage of development your baby is at. Your breast milk is tailored for your baby and your baby alone – no formula can boast such claims. Aside from the brain building, infection fighting benefits of breast milk, breastfeeding also helps to nurture a special bond between you and your baby. The skin-to-skin contact, cuddling and holding involved during breastfeeding is an important part of a baby’s development that is not only beneficial to baby but to you as well.

Okay, so we know that breastfeeding is beneficial to you and your baby, but how does one get started?

Ideally, you should begin breastfeeding your baby as soon as possible after delivery. Let your doctor know about your decision to breastfeed your baby and ample opportunity can be arranged for you to nurse your baby while you are still in the delivery room. This first nursing session is one of the most important sessions because a baby’s root reflex (the urge to suckle) is strongest right at birth and begins to diminish the longer you wait.

At this stage, your breasts are producing a substance known as colostrum that contains important antibodies that help protect your baby from infections and to line your baby’s intestines to prepare them to receive full milk. Colostrum will continue to be produced for the first 3-5 days after delivery before the breast begins to produce mature milk.

Breastfeeding for the first time can be quite a challenge and it is important to get as much support as possible. If you aren’t sure how to go about it, get help from the hospital’s lactation consultant, or a good friend or family member who has breastfed a baby before. Having the right support can sometimes make the different between mothers who persist with breastfeeding and those that eventually give up. Remember that breastfeeding is an art that will require a lot of patience and practice.

If your baby has trouble finding or staying on your nipple, don’t panic. Remember that there are two inexperienced individuals in the picture – you and your baby – and you both need time to adjust to one another and develop a nursing relationship. It is important to learn how to get a correct latch, position yourself comfortably and to break the suction when you need to. Make sure you have learned these three things before you leave the hospital.

A proper latch at the start should not be painful. However, nursing during the early days can cause your nipples to feel raw. This sensitivity will eventually subside – but be prepared for it to last a couple of weeks. Applying a barrier cream like Bepanthen after each nursing can help to lessen the sensitivity. Because of this initial tenderness, it can be difficult to tell if the pain is from an improper latch. If you aren’t sure, check with the lactation consultant. With a proper latch, the baby’s mouth should cover most of the areola (the darkened skin).

If your baby hasn’t gotten a proper latch, break the suction and start again. It is important to ensure that your baby learns how to latch properly and not to continue nursing if your baby has latched on poorly. If allowed to continue, your baby will develop a bad habit of latching on poorly which is not only painful for you in the long run but makes feeding time more inefficient for your baby.

During the first few days, you should nurse frequently because the more often you nurse, the more quickly your mature milk will come in and the more milk you will produce. A good practice to adopt is to breastfeed for 10-15 minutes per breast at least 8 – 10 times a day. If for, any reason, you are not able to nurse your baby, you can help encourage your breasts to produce more milk by applying a breast pump to it. One recommendation is to use an electric pump on the lowest setting for as long as you would otherwise nurse your baby.

Crying during the early days is often a sign of hunger and it is important to feed your baby before he or she starts crying. Sometimes this may mean waking up your baby to begin breastfeeding. You may also find that your baby falls asleep easily during feeding. Jaundiced babies, especially, tend to be very lethargic and often don’t wake up for feeds. They especially need to be woken up to feed because breast milk helps them to excrete bilirubin (which is the breakdown product of red blood cells that causes jaundice). A good guide to follow is to wake your baby up if it has been four hours since the last feed.

Dental problems range in their degree of seriousness. The following tips can prove helpful:

Dental problems in children could be hereditary. Regular brushing and flossing may not be enough to prevent serious cavities. Consult your dentist to correct the problem while your child is young.

Heredity affects hardness of enamel, size, and shape of teeth and jaws. Problems may require dental restorations or orthodontic intervention.

Children now do not always have to wear painful braces and metal wires to correct irregular teeth. There are various dental corrective appliances available in plastic. Dentists now advise dental corrections at a young age.

It is now easy to fill dental cavities. Dentists have more choices for filling teeth. Materials for filling teeth include composite resins rather than the traditional silver-mercury alloy. Composite resins are bonded and hence, fillings do not have the tendency to pop out. Resins are available in a range of tooth colors.

Dentists prefer using stainless steel and/or plastic crowns to cover teeth in case of malformation of baby teeth, fracture, or extensive decay. This maintains tooth form and position for optimal jaw development.

If your child is into sports, encourage your child to wear mouth guards to help prevent injuries.

You should schedule regular meetings with your dentist to make your child comfortable with dental visits. Practice good dental habits like regular brushing and flossing to prevent major dental problems. Also, limit the intake of sugary and sticky foods for your children, as these affect dental health immensely.

What Should You Do in Case of a Dental Emergency?

Dental emergencies can occur anytime and hence, being prepared beforehand is essential and helpful. Always keep all contact numbers of your dentist in a handy place so that it is easy to contact them in an emergency. Common dental emergencies in children include chipped teeth due to accident and teeth knocked out or loosened due to trauma.

If a traumatic incident occurs, knocking your child’s tooth out or just causing a loosening or mobility, contact dentist immediately within an hour, if possible. The dentist can re-implant the tooth and save it. Until then, rinse tooth in water (distilled if possible) without touching tooth root.

You can try to place tooth back into socket and secure it with a wet wrap. If this is not possible, preserve tooth in a cup of milk or saliva until you meet the dentist.

If your child feels pain due to a chipped tooth, it indicates possible injury or exposure of the tooth nerve. Meet with your dentist as soon as possible for evaluation for possible root canal treatment or similar measures to save tooth. Your dentist may treat the tooth temporarily and later fix a bonded restoration to make up for the chipped tooth. If there is no pain, set an appointment with your dentist and meet them at the earliest convenient time. The emergency is not as pressing, but future nerve damage cannot be ruled out until the dentist examines the injury even if there is no immediate pain.

If your child is into sports, ask him to use protective mouth guards. These plastic guards protect teeth as well as the lips, gums, and cheeks. Semi-formable mouth guards available at sports shops require boiling to give a perfect fit. Dentists also make mouth guards with molds that fit in snugly.

Dental emergencies can occur due to severe toothache arising from dental cavities, infections, food stuck between teeth, and broken fillings. Rinse your child’s mouth every hour with warm water. Clean affected tooth area with toothbrush and floss thoroughly. Use toothpick to dislodge any food material stuck in between teeth. Use an ice pack on affected area to relieve pain. Refrain from placing aspirin on child’s gum, as it could cause aspirin burn. If there is any swelling around eyes or cheeks, place ice pack. Ice packs should only be left in place for ten minutes at a time, then removed for ten minutes. Then repeat the cycle. Take your child to a dentist immediately.

If you have small children, keep your home safe and free of furniture with sharp edges and corners as much as possible. Toddlers often suffer dental injuries while they are learning to stand. Children sometimes injure their teeth while ramming into water fountains while drinking water. Accidental bumping into each other could cause teeth injuries in children.