A few weeks ago I got to chat with Tomàs, the founder of ,,Nixi for Children. ,,Nixi for Children decreases fear and anxiety in kids by using virtual reality to prepare kids for surgery, procedures, and other medical experiences! I absolutely love their mission and applaud them for the incredible work they are doing in Spain, where Child Life is not very present! You can visit their website by clicking ,,here. You can watch my full interview below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGxXhg4Oom0&feature=youtu.be Thank you for having me ,,Nixi for Children! It was so fun to connect on our pass ..read more

Flu season is around the corner! Did you know that getting your flu shot this year will be more important than ever before? Because COVID-19 is putting more strain on healthcare systems, decreasing flu spread by getting your flu shot will reduce the overwhelm for our hospitals and staff! Every year the CDC studies the effectiveness of each annual flu shot, and while the effectiveness can vary, they estimate the flu shot reduces flu spread by about 40-60%! I'm going to discuss why it's important to help kids with shots, how to prepare your preschooler for, support your child during, and help y ..read more

Flu season is around the corner! Did you know that getting your flu shot this year will be more important than ever before? Because COVID-19 is putting more strain on healthcare systems, decreasing flu spread by getting your flu shot will reduce the overwhelm for our hospitals and staff! Every year the CDC studies the effectiveness of each annual flu shot, and while the effectiveness can vary, they estimate the flu shot reduces flu spread by about 40-60%! I'm going to discuss why it's important to help kids with shots, how to prepare your child for, support your child during, and help your ch ..read more

(This post was developed in partnership with Aflac. I was compensated for writing this, but all opinions are entirely my own. #ad) COVID-19 poses new challenges to quickly build rapport with patients. New restrictions, including increased personal protective equipment (PPE), are placing difficult obstacles to get to know and evaluate them, and this can be especially problematic when working with children. Therapeutic relationships between medical staff and their patients are important because they provide respect, trust, advocacy, and warmth. As a Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS), I bel ..read more

Are you wondering how you can help your baby during her vaccines, shots, blood draws & IVs? It's easy to feel powerless, as though there's not much you can do to help your baby. Guess what? There's more you can do than you probably think! AND There are ways you can actually help decrease your baby's pain during that awful poke! I have 8 different research-based interventions to help your baby feel more comfortable during these injections! WHY BABY NEEDS TO BE COMFORTED AND HAVE PAIN REDUCED DURING NEEDLE PROCEDURES Before we dive into my tips to help baby during needle procedures, it's im ..read more

Do you love Amazon? Amazon is my best friend when it comes to easily buying books and toys to help educate my kids before their upcoming medical procedures! Not all books about medical experiences are great for kids to read. Some can be too scary, include the wrong word choice, and/or give too little or too much information. This is why I wanted to have a place where I could recommend books that are actually beneficial in preparing your kids for procedures. The last thing we would want is a preparation item to create more fear in your child! I also buy my kids toys to help distract them du ..read more

Hi! It's been a minute! If quarantine has been anything for you like it has for me, you're probably feeling all over the place and ready for some routine! I've been in full-time mom mode lately, with all three of my kids needing some special attention. Who am I kidding, I've needed some, too! I'm excited to get back to creating more content for you because the reason I started this blog is to empower parents during medical experiences, and we have sooo much more to cover! In May I was a guest on the THIS is Legit Motherhood Podcast and I spoke about Empowering Parents to Help Their Kids Cope ..read more

Yesterday I was on KSL News at noon talking about Helping Children Feel Comfortable Wearing a Mask! You can find the video clip and article here. Thank you to Studio 5's incredible Brooke Walker for having me on! If you missed my post on How to Help Your Child Wear a Mask, you can find it here! Keep playing ..read more

It’s now illegal to go anywhere without a mask in my county. Same for you? Once this order was in place, I knew my kids would need lots of practice wearing masks inside before I could trust that they could keep their masks on outside for our walks and bike rides. I knew exactly what to do to help my 3-year-old and 5-year-old become more comfortable with wearing a mask and I want to share my Child Life tips with you! You can also watch me share these tips on my KSL News segment Helping Children Feel Comfortable Wearing a Mask. Here are some ways you can help kids fear masks less and maybe even ..read more

Uhhh... you have to help your child with a COVID-19 nose swab? Sorrrrry!! I'm glad you're here, though and not letting the anxiety of the test result cause you to forget about preparing your child for testing! Way to go for thinking about how you'll need to get your child ready for the dreaded swab! For kids, a simple nose swab can be very traumatic! Lots of kids have never had nose swabs and most kids hate them.Kids need to be prepared for them! Let's talk about how you can do that. 5 STEPS TO PREPARING KIDS FOR COVID-19 TESTING! (adjust based on your child's age/developmental level and anxi ..read more