The weather is changing these days, getting slightly colder than usual. And like clockwork, my two-year-old returned home from the daycare yesterday with a slight cold. This is the story at home whenever the weather changes. The fact that she is a fussy eater is perhaps the reason for her immunity not being as strong as I would have liked it to be. It’s a constant source of worry for me.

In fact, ask any mother and she will tell you how she is always fretting about the well-being of her child. It’s a parent trait, I suppose and I’m no exception. On any given day, my daughter’s wellbeing. Her health and her immunity are my top causes of concern. A lot of my decisions as a mother and eventually, the kind of mom I am, stem from these very concerns for her. And I’m always on the lookout to be better at being a mom and keeping her healthy.

In my quest to doing just that, I came across a post by a fellow mom who wrote about her exploits of being a #YesMom while aided by ActivKids Immuno Boosters for improving her kid’s immunity. Truth be told, it piqued my interest because honestly, I was anything but a #YesMom, which sounds positive, tough to be but definitely positive.

Come to think of it, I say more no’s to my daughter than yes because I’m concerned that she’ll fall sick. Something as trivial as letting her run around the house without her socks makes me anxious because what if she catches a cold? What can I say, she is such a fussy eater that I’m not very certain about her immunity. Whenever she asks for an ice cream my instant reaction is a no. If it wasn’t for my husband, I would have probably never allowed her to have ice cream! Yes, just like the mother you see initially in the video above. Hence, the post by the fellow mother drew me in and lead me to do some reading on ActivKids Immuno Boosters. This is what I found out on their site.

“ActivKids Immuno boosters is a nutritional bar (choco-bites), fortified with vitamins and minerals. It supplements your child’s regular diet and helps him/her receive up to 100% RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance) of key immunity nutrients (Vitamin A, Vitamin B9, Vitamin C, Iron) that have been reported in published scientific literature to play key roles in building immunity.

ActivKids Immuno Boosters helps build Immunity in kids. It contains adequate nutrients and minerals that have a proven role in immunity. Kids who are fussy eaters or eat junk foods may lack balanced nutrition resulting in poor immunity as reflected by frequent infections and instances of falling sick. 1 choco-bite of ActivKids Immuno Boosters helps kids receive upto 100% RDA of key Immunity nutrients.”

Two things in there captured my attention – immunity and fussy eaters. Kids typically do not like eating greens or vegetables and hence it becomes imperative to substitute those nutrients using a supplement. My daughter doesn’t like eating any vegetables. I have to hide it in a way that she doesn’t realise she is eating some. Hence, the idea of using a supplement made sense to me. In fact, I had been thinking about it for some time now.

What I liked after reading about this product was that it was in the form of choco-bites. That itself makes it easier to get the kids eat it without much fuss. ActivKids Immuno Boosters, being a product of Cipla also brings along a kind of trust which parents look for before using any new product on their kids. A couple of articles on the product and several Google searches later, I realised how I could try and be a #YesMom too if my confidence in my daughter’s immunity was bolstered.

But my daughter is just 2 years old. So, even though I would have liked very much to start now, I still need to wait for at least another 2 years before giving it to her. So while I had to think of other ways of reinforcing my two-year old’s immunity, I ended up recommending ActivKids Immuno Boosters to my sister-in-law for her son who is about 5 years old.

Like me, she too is always worried about his immunity for he is also a fussy eater. I guess it runs in the family! I told her about how mothers backed by this new product are trying a hand at positive parenting more consciously. The #YesMom initiative and the personal experiences that I had ended up reading, I shared all of it with her. And what do you know? That was enough to get her hooked while I waited for her feedback. Of course, she did check with her paediatrician before giving it a go. He gave a nod which wasn’t really a surprise with it being a Cipla product.

So, backed by all the material that I had read up on the web, her paediatrician’s nod and stories of moms like us, she took the first steps with Immuno Boosters. And about 2 weeks later, she told me about the visible changes in her parenting style. Sceptical initially, she too was surprised by the shifts she was starting to notice, subtle but there. It had to be practised initially but still, it was an improvement over the constant no’s she was used to saying.

Her son is still a fussy eater because that will take time to change but he has definitely taken to the Immuno Boosters choco-bites. And that has helped her relax a bit. She is not as reluctant now to let him play out in the open for a long time for fear of him falling ill, catching a cold especially. Or, let him be in the bath a little longer without the fear of him sneezing the very next minute. And as a result, there are fewer tantrums and meltdowns at home. In fact, he is actually happier. Fewer confrontations always make for a happy mother-son combination, doesn’t it? Maybe this is the magic of being a #YesMom.

It’s a small step of course but a step nonetheless. She has even decided to try giving him a bath at night if he wants to because that’s the confidence a good supplement gives you. So, bath time is probably going to be a little less dramatic at her home going forward. She had become so accustomed to saying no to everything her kids asked her to do that she didn’t even realise it could actually have a negative effect. Or, rather saying yes would have a positive effect on not only the kids but her as well. Yes, she is gradually becoming a full-fledged #YesMom to both her kids not just her son.

What can I say, she has inspired me to try to be a #YesMom too. So what if my daughter is too young to start off on the Immuno Boosters, I can still try making my foray into positive parenting from now itself. Who’s to stop me? For those of who want to try out the product, it is available here

So, this last weekend I consciously tried to not get worked up when she refused to eat her meals. Instead, I tried to break those into smaller meals and feed her whenever she wanted to and without fuss. Surprisingly we both were happier as a result of it. I know it will take time to completely switch over to being a #YesMom but I have made a start along with my sister-in-law and that’s something.

Tell me, are you are #YesMom or do you know anyone who is one?