Related: Top Children’s Doctors
Richard Kampanatkosol
Neonatal-perinatal specialist at Advocate Children’s Hospital in Oak Lawn
BUILDING ADVENTUROUS EATERSIn the morning, eggs are our go-to. And we always have a plethora of avocados, which we’ve used to explain healthy fat and macronutrients. We also encourage them to try new things: “If you think you don’t like it, take one bite.” When they do that, a lot of times they end up liking it.
JUVENILE WORKOUTSI work out every morning. So with fitness, I try to lead by example, hoping they will emulate that. We’ll walk around the park just to spend time together. Bike rides are huge for us, too. My boys are in muay thai — Thai kickboxing — and I am as well. I told my oldest son: “You can start with weight training when you’re older. For now, start doing sit-ups and push-ups.” So every morning, he does 50 sit-ups and 50 push-ups.
THE BEST POLICYMy wife and I appreciate that our kids still come to us with questions. We always emphasize that it’s OK to have feelings and to share them. We tell them, “We’re never going to be upset with you for being honest. If you have questions, we’ll always be honest with you.” They know they have a safe space.
PREGNANCY PRECAUTIONSMy wife’s a neonatal nurse, and I deal with premature infants. With both of us being in health care, we were more fearful than other new parents. We never traveled when she was pregnant. A lot of people take babymoons, but we didn’t want to take that risk. We’ve seen moms who were out of town and delivered early, and we wanted to be near a center that could handle a premature infant.
ASK AN EXPERTI try to keep up on basic things in pediatrics that aren’t in my field. For example, as kids get older, what should we be teaching them about? What’s important for a 12-year-old, say, in terms of diet? And then there’s drugs, alcohol, sex. I’m still learning. I always turn to the American Academy of Pediatrics or ask pediatricians.
Lorraine Canham
Pediatric hematologist-oncologist at Comer Children’s Hospital
FUN HOUSEChildren don’t always want to hear that healthy eating is going to help them long term or that good sleep hygiene will keep their mind functioning during the day. But you can find ways to keep things approachable by being silly — a funny face, an unexpected sound. If you can make washing your hands a game, it goes down much better.
FRESH FRUIT VS. JUICEElliot really enjoys berries, so breakfast is usually some combination of strawberries, blueberries, and some other fruit. Juice is not something we heavily incorporate; a lot are wonderful for you, if they’re 100 percent juice, but if it’s a concentrate or highly sugared, those are empty calories.
EARLY READERSIt’s important at a young age to get them used to reading books and spending time together. We usually have 30 minutes of reading time before bed, but Elliot has a lot of excess energy, so reading is never boring. Sometimes we do the wiggles, sometimes stretching, sometimes it’s reading the book upside down, where silly Mommy and Daddy need to figure out how to read.
FREEDOM TO CHOOSEModeling is important. So we brush our teeth together, wash our faces together, change into pajamas together. Also important: giving opportunity for choice. Elliot has three flavors of toothpaste. Every night, he can choose. Is it the blue one that tastes like tutti-frutti? Is it the mint one? And then there’s the orange one, which I hate, but whatever. It’s giving him a little bit of power over decisions.
SUNSCREEN ALWAYSElliot’s not a big hat wearer, but he knows in order to go outside, he has to have sunscreen on, and that’s true whether it’s sunny or cloudy, summer or winter. Obviously, in the short term, sunburns really hurt. We also know, in the long term, there’s associated cancer risk, like melanoma. In the winter, when most of his body is covered, we still use facial sunscreen for those tips of the ears and nose. It’s one of those random things I carry in my backpack. My friends know: Lorraine may whip out sunscreen.
Philip Thrush
Pediatric cardiologist at Lurie Children’s Hospital
TUTU organizersWe’ve instilled in them a sense of being responsible for their own stuff. If it’s a flute day after school, it’s your responsibility to make sure you have your flute. If you need something for ballet, it’s your responsibility to make sure it’s in your bag. They’ve both been great about that because they’re motivated to do well.
THE MEAL DEALBecause we’re busy, we’ve tried different meal services — Blue Apron, HelloFresh, Meez Meals. We get three to four dinners per week that way, which is one less thing to think about. There’s a nice variety, the meals are relatively healthy, and we can tailor them. Let’s say we get pork al pastor enchiladas. There is no way my 11-year-old is going to eat that. But we can pull off some of the pork and cook that up for her.
NOT LEFT TO THEIR OWN DEVICESScreens are never going away, so you need to set limits. But the beauty of technology nowadays is that it also gives us tools to help curb some of the problem via parental controls. Yes, the easy thing when kids are upset is to give them more of what they want — which is why my wife still has not shared the passcode with me to give them more time on their iPads. It’s a lot harder to set limits when there isn’t consistency. Now there aren’t even fights about it. They actually got really good about learning time management.
SUNSHINE SUPPLEMENTThe only vitamin I have a strong opinion about is vitamin D. We live at a latitude where most people are deficient, even in summer. Easily 90 percent of my patients are on a vitamin D supplement.
ACTIVE PUSHIn the culture we live in, it’s easy to be passive. That extends into diet, exercise, overall wellness. It’s much easier to go to the McDonald’s drive-through than to make a meal, or to sit on the couch and watch TV than to go out and be active. Some 20 percent of kids over 2 in the U.S. are obese. Our approach to health has to evolve. For parents, that means encouraging play: riding bikes, shooting hoops with friends, those kinds of things.