HEALTH needs to consider how you actually feed your family, rather than simply telling you what to do.” says Deb. “There’s no point in someone drawing up complicated recipes and plans if you don’t like to cook!” Though you might already know what you’d like your child to be eating, having an expert look from the outside and help with the ‘how’ of feeding can be incredibly helpful. “There can be a lot of confusion around things like allergies and intolerances. A dietitian can work with parents to identify problem foods, additives or food chemicals. We then expand the food range as much as we can around those results, to still give that child a varied, healthy diet.” If you are finding mealtimes stressful; if feeding a child is beginning to affect family relationships or you have concerns about a child’s growth, then seeing a dietitian experienced in family feeding may be beneficial.
PSYCHOLOGY
Today, there is plenty of mental health Mental health in support available for kids who need it. these earlier Young people aged 12-25 can access years is incredibly headspace – a low cost service that important. provides early intervention mental health services. This can be accessed via a website (eheadspace.org.au), phone line (1800 650 890) and via the many headspace centres located across the region. For kids under 12 years old, seeing a specialist face-to-face is helpful. “Mental health in these earlier years is incredibly important. Sometimes it is difficult to notice changes in mood or behaviour given how busy family life is, but it is good if we can take a bit of time to reflect on how our kids are going. There could be many underlying reasons that might be causing a change in behaviour,” Dr Jill Cumberbatch, Clinical Psychologist at Dandelion Clinical Psychology for Children explains. “It could be the environment – school or home – social relationships, bullying, developmental issues, learning struggles, transitions or change or family breakdown to name a few possible causes for a child to struggle. There are many things that can accumulate and result in emotional difficulty which can lead to the change in behaviour that we see. “It is so very important that we accurately understand why a child is struggling so we know how we can resolve it.” Changes to look out for are shifts in sleep patterns, withdrawal, emotional meltdowns or lashing out at others, getting into trouble at school, or just seeming to be more troubled by everyday occurrences. Jill believes that early intervention is key. “The more proactive and preventative we can be for children under 12, the less they will struggle later in their teens,” she says. “Quite often, the difficulties that are happening in the early years can be easily sorted out. So, it’s much better to reach out for help and get things resolved early. It’s all about prevention, building happy, resilient, confident children, so they can be happy, successful young people and adults.” First stop to access a Psychologist for your child is to head to your GP. They can provide a Mental Health Care Plan which gives up to ten sessions per year through Medicare with a Psychologist. Feel free to shop around for a Psychologist before you go to the GP to find one that fits with your child and yourself. Some are bulk billed, and some will charge a gap fee depending on your circumstances. Your GP may also be able to recommend a Psychologist who works primarily with children and families. If you are concerned but aren’t sure whether a Psychologist is needed, Jill recommends keeping a diary to keep track of any incidents, and then seeing your GP with this information. “If it’s something that happens over a couple of weeks, it could just be the rise and fall of everyday life. But if it’s sustained over a longer period of time, and that nagging thought is still there, head to your GP to have a chat.”
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CHILDREN’S HEALTH SERVICES IN YOUR AREA Avenue Dental. Established on the Sunshine Coast for over 26 years, Avenue Dental is built on long-term trusting relationships, delivering the highest quality of dentistry. They offer a complete range of dentistry from emergency appointments to cosmetic dentistry, children’s dentistry, teeth whitening, dental implants and smile makeovers. Caloundra, Maroochydore, Kawana / (07) 5443 8111 / avenuedental.com.au Beyond Words. Servicing the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, Beyond Words Speech and Language Therapy works with a broad range of clients with a variety of communication disorders and with differing levels of severity such as speech and language delay, social skills difficulties, literacy difficulties, ASD, Aspergers Syndrome, down Syndrome and stuttering. Maleny / 0431 590 216 / beyondwordstherapy.com.au Children’s Sunshine Chiropractic. Conveniently located in two locations on the Sunshine Coast, Children’s Sunshine Chiropractic has practitioners who are trained in paediatric chiropractic care and are baby and child focused. With over 45 years combined experience, the practitioners continually undergo educational training and are some of the best trained practitioners on the Sunshine Coast. Caloundra & Buderim / (07) 5491 7743 / childrenssunshinechiropractic.com.au Dandelion Clinical Psychology. Dandelion Clinical Psychology has been created to provide a dedicated children’s clinic of excellence for child and family psychological assessment and intervention. The vision is for ‘every child to smile inside’ and offers the highest standard of psychological assessment and therapeutic intervention for a wide range of mental health struggles and presentations for children under 12. Maroochydore / (07) 5452 9804 / dandelionpsychology.com.au Health Naturally Chiropractic. Health Naturally Chiropractic offers gentle adjustments for the whole family. Families and individuals consult the office for many different reasons Whether you have been to a chiropractor before or looking for new ways to become healthier, Health Naturally Chiropractice look forward to supporting you with your health care goals Maroochydore / (07) 5451 1121 / facebook.com/HealthNaturallyChiropractic Kids Dig Food. Specialising in family-focused nutrition and dietetics services, Kids Dig Food provides no-fuss solutions for the fussiest of eaters to kids where weight is a concern. All Kids Dig Food services aim to be practical, real, achievable and most of all fun, helping you learn to eat well together, without the battles. Brisbane & Sunshine Coast / 1300 971 609 / kidsdigfood.com.au Talk Plus Allied Health Centre. A team of experienced speech pathologists that support children, parents and educators to help children achieve their best speech, language, literacy and communication skills. Talk Plus Allied Health provide speech pathology services for children of all ages using evidence based practice in a caring and professional manner. Caloundra / (07) 5491 5400 / talkplus.com.au Nurture Paediatrics. Nurture Paediatrics offers children and parents/carers a personal approach to paediatric care. The team is committed to providing children and their parents/carers with long-term, holistic healthcare and support, and the bespoke service offers parents/carers reassurance that their child’s health is also their greatest priority. Buderim / (07) 5345 5733 / nurturepaediatrics.com.au kidsonthecoast .com.au • kidsinthecit y.com.au