Tag Archives: Baby

Pay Less For Your Prescriptions.

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Check if you qualify for free prescriptions

People in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland all have free prescriptions. People who live in England are not so lucky. However, if you are on some benefits, are pregnant or have had a baby in the last 12 months then you will be entitled to free prescriptions. Check with your pharmacist.

Use An Alternative

Check that the medicine you have the prescription for is not available over the counter. It could be cheaper to buy it without the prescription. A lot of commonly prescribed medicine is available over the counter.

Prepay.

You can get something called a prescriptions prepayment certificate. It covers all of your NHS prescriptions for a certain period.

For example, if you need four prescriptions in a three month period, you would be better off buying a three-month certificate which costs £29.10. You can get these from the NHS Prescription Pricing Authority website nhsbsa.nhs.uk/1127.aspx or call 0845 850 0030

Ask Your Doctor To Buy in Bulk

You can ask your doctor for a single prescription to cover a certain amount of time. It is not well known but this means that a 1-3 month prescription would only cost £7.65. Instead of buying four different prescriptions over that time, which would cost £30.60. Talk to your doctor about prescription charges and how you can save money.

Other ways to save on medical bills it to take out temporary medical insurance. Your health is the most important thing in life so invest in it as much as you can.

BELLE CROWNED BEST CELEBRITY BABY NAME OF 2011

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BELLE CROWNED BEST CELEBRITY BABY NAME OF 2011

 

Belle, daughter of Bounty’s ‘Celebrity Mum of the Year 2010’ winner Holly Willoughby, has won her first crown at nine months old, as she is awarded the accolade of having the ‘best celebrity baby name of the year’.

 

The moniker topped the poll to find mum’s favourite celebrity baby name, beating off strong competition from other celeb tots, including Harper-Seven (Victoria Beckham), Madison (Mel B) and Delilah (Kimberley Stewart).

 

The name Belle, which means ‘beautiful’ in French, is also one of Disney’s best-loved characters from the story ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and mums love the name because it is ‘pretty, girly and elegant.’

 

Second favourite is Sophia, which was the 28th most popular baby name of 2010 and is the name given to the daughter of footballer Peter Crouch and model Abbey Clancy.  In third place is pop/rock singer Pink’s tot Willow Sage.

 

The Beckham’s Harper-Seven narrowly missed the top three, coming in fourth place.

 

For the boys, Flynn, son of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ star Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr, came top of the poll.  Already a super-cute baby, he is sure to follow in his father’s footsteps and ‘bloom’ into a handsome young man. Mums commented that the name is both ‘cute for a baby, as well as romantic and dashing for when he grows up.’

 

Former-Baby Spice Emma Bunton’s son Tate, is the second most popular boys’ celebrity baby name and completing the top three is Harry – son of model Danielle Lloyd.

 

In total, over 101,000 votes were cast on the online poll, which was compiled by parenting club Bounty and sponsored by www.HomeAway.co.uk, the UK’s largest holiday rentals website.

 

Lisa Penney, spokesmum for bounty.com said: “We all love to know what celebrities call their babies (even if we don’t like to admit it!) and our records show that what celebrity parents call their children can help to increase the popularity of the name.

 

“The top ranking names like Belle, Sophia, Madison and Flynn are the names which our mums can more easily identify with. The less popular, more unusual names such as Kahekili (Evangeline Lily) or Bear Blu (Alicia Silverstone) may not seem out of place in the celebrity kindergarten next to the likes of Suri, Apple, Zuma Nesta and Princess Tiaamii, but these names are certainly not the norm in the average school playground.”

 

Other celebrity named babies that proved popular this year include Hero (Myleene Class) and Lyra (Sophie Dahl).

 

Towards the bottom of the top 20 and demonstrating mum’s least favourite celebrity boys and girls names of 2011 are Mariah Carey’s Moroccan and Jessica Alba’s daughter Haven.

 

  1. Belle
  2. Sophia
  3. Willow
  4. Harper-Seven
  5. Madison
  6. Delilah
  7. Flynn
  8. Hero
  9. Lyra
  10. Tate
  11. Monroe
  12. Harry
  13. Polly
  14. Bear Blu
  15. Indio
  16. Kahekili
  17. Bingham
  18. Arthur
  19. Haven
  20. Moroccan

 

Wendy’s Baby Diary – 25 weeks (or 5 months 2 weeks). Nevermind.

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There’s been a break from the baby diary after a long holiday with no internet, and when I got home I continued to abstain for a while.  But like all pleasurable things it was difficult to give it up for long.

Baby Swimming

The latest event for the baby is swimming lessons. He’s
been twice now and each time cried and been quite upset. We’re puzzled because
he enjoys his bath times, and he kicks in the bath, smiles, even laughs but swimming
is not a hit.  Maybe it’s because he gets dunked in the pool by the teacher, or because there are a lot of other babies crying, and it’s all a bit confusing. But apparently babies like swimming underwater.
Speaking of which (I’m reliably informed) the baby on the cover of Nirvana’s
Nevermind album is 20 years old now and was only paid $25 dollars. On the plus
side he’ll never be embarrassed by his parents getting out the family album.

Weaning

We’ve not tried many different foods yet, so far it’s
been purees of carrot & potato, apple & banana, Farley’s rusks and baby
rice. Dillon still prefers milk, formula or breastmilk. I’d like to get him off
‘the boob’ as night-times can be pretty tiring. But I’ll miss it when
breastfeeding stops. Not sure when but definitely before he can say “ham
sandwich”.

Eczema

Dillon gets a really bad rash on the back of his legs when he sits in his Bumbo chair – so he may have an allergy to latex. Or it may just be a baby thing. I’ve tried Sudocrem, then Diprobase, now hydrocortisone, which seems to be working.  Lots of baby have rashes and sensitive skin in general as they gradually get used to all the different things in the environment. Hopefully it will clear up by he’s 12, in time for teenage acne.

NCT

I’m a member of the National Childbirth Trust which provides antenatal classes for new parents-to-be, and is probably the best way to get to know people who are having children at the same time as you. We take it in turns to host monthly coffee mornings – or afternoons! It’s invaluable to
have other people going through something the same time you are and to share
your feelings of confusion, guilt, joy, and fatigue. The dads haven’t seen each
other since the mums were pregnant but I’m sure they’ll meet again.

NCT classes really push breastfeeding and there is a lot to say on the subject – I wrote an article about the pros and cons vs formula here http://www.femalearts.com/node/49 – I think it is
difficult to breastfeed exclusively and take my hat off to anyone who’s managed
it.

Highchair

Was assembled today and Dillon sat proudly in his new
throne, played with his toy and ate his puree. It’s a Cosatto Noodle Zuton if
that means anything to anyone. It’s got different heights and vertical
settings, a big tray with different shape compartments, is big enough to
prevent the baby from knocking stuff off the table which he was doing before whenever
we had dinner. I’ve purchased a load of plastic glasses for me and hubbie, in
an attempt to avoid glass breakages.  I’m sure things will get worse the more mobile the baby gets and the house will slowly disintegrate (at the same time as my hair going grey and my husband’s
hair falling out). No one tells you how glamorous parenting is.

 

© Wendy Thomson 2011

Wendy Thomson is the editor of www.femalearts.com an online publication
which promotes women in the arts and in business.

Wendy's Baby Diary: 21 Weeks – On Holiday

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I write this at 8.40pm, missing the last day of the Edinburgh fringe festival, my bottom lip jutting out in disappointment – so near and yet so far. We are staying in Kippford in the Scottish borders, a good 2 hour drive from the land of the fringe.

But this is a lovely part of the world to be in – staying in a beautiful holiday home with a fantastic view of the estuary and rolling hills, with yachts, a kite buggy and waterskiing  in view and a shell beach accessible from the property’s front garden it is idyllic for Dillon’s first holiday.

Bottom teeth

Dillon has a second tooth visible already and he’s not yet 5 months old. It is happening so quickly!

High pitched

Dillon has been babbling for a while but recently he has started high pitched squealing, sounds like he is practicing to be a choir boy or piglet.

 Car travel

It took us 7 ½ hours to get to Scotland including a stop at services, which was very close to how much time it should have taken. All this was thanks to Dillon being very well behaved on the drive. We seem to have learnt from our previous mistakes – we can’t leave him in the back seat unattended, he needs to have his mum there with milk, dummy, teething materials and anything else he may require to hand. Then we have a good journey.

Infacol

The baby has been crying a lot in the evenings and we think this had been caused by wind. Although it takes some getting used to, giving Infacol to Dillon before a feed seems to have helped his digestion and temper a great deal.

 Nose and Gums

I love the triangular shape of the underside of his nose and the top set of gums in his mouth. When he was smaller his chin quivered. The skin on his cheeks is so soft I’ve never felt anything like it. These traits are common to all babies, I never realised how adorable I would find them. His smile and laugh light up the room. Sometimes I want him to stop growing and just stay how he is – perfect. But then I’m so sentimental I cried at Abba’s Slipping Through My Fingers (Mamma Mia)before I had him. I can’t get over the thought that once I was his size, once his grandparents were, once everyone was a tiny helpless baby – even the biggest, toughest, wealthiest, tallest, most beautiful, oldest, powerful people were tiny, possibly breastfed and wet themselves.

There is no internet connection here so I don’t know how long it will be before I can get this online.

Until next time – cherish each moment.

 © Wendy Thomson 2011

Wendy Thomson is the editor of www.femalearts.com an online publication which promotes women in the arts and in business.

Recession Delays Women Having Babies

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The recession is having a direct effect on birth rates, with one in four women being forced to delay or reconsider having a baby, according to the 2011 Red National Fertility Report.

The results, published in Red’s October issue out on Tuesday 6th September 2011, shows the effect the recession has had on women trying for a baby – from how much they would be prepared to pay in order to conceive, to postponing motherhood due to redundancy and the rising costs of living. The report surveyed over 2,500 Red Magazine readers aged 30-45.

Key findings include:

· The recession has resulted in a 25% drop in babies tried for, with 10% of women saying the recession had made them postpone trying for a baby, and 15% saying they’d decided not to try at all.

· Baby prices have dropped more than house prices – with the average amount women would be prepared to spend to conceive dropping from £15,000 to £12,000 – a 20% drop in just 12 months. * The average house price is down 2.65% from July 2010 to £163.981 – Halifax House Price Index.

· The percentage of women who would be prepared to spend £50,000 to guarantee them a baby has dropped even more dramatically from 10% to 6% – a 40% drop over the same period.

· Following increased financial pressure on the NHS, when it comes to offering free IVF, 62% of women don’t think it should be available for anyone who wants it – up 17% from 2007 (45%). This suggests that when funds are tight, fewer women perceive having a baby as a right for all.

· Due to lack of IVF on the NHS, 61% have paid for IVF privately, with only one in five getting all their treatment for free.

Sam Baker, Editor-in-chief of Red Magazine, said of the findings: “This report provides an incredible in-depth view on the effect the recession has had on women’s baby plans.
The comparable figures show that the last year has hit women and their families hard, with many having to postpone or reconsider trying for a baby.”

Brigid Moss, Red magazine’s Health Director added: “Fertility treatment can be expensive, and this report shows that fewer people have been able to afford it, while the NHS provision for fertility treatment remains a postcode lottery. The report shows that having problems trying to conceive and treatment is also stressful, too. Both of these factors only add to the stress of someone who’s having problems trying to conceive.”

THE REPORT IN FULL:

MONEY

· The recession has resulted in a 25% drop in babies tried for, with 10% of women saying the recession had made them postpone trying for a baby, and 15% saying they’d decided not to try at all.

· Baby prices have dropped more than house prices – with the average amount women would be prepared to conceive dropping from £15,000 to £12,000 – a 20% drop in just 12 months.

· The number of women prepared to spend over £50,000 to guarantee them a baby has dropped even more dramatically from 10% to 6 % – a 40% drop over the same period.

· Due to lack of IVF on the NHS, 61% have paid for IVF privately, with only one in five getting all their treatment for free.

· A staggering 100% of women surveyed would, or have, cut back on school fees to pay for fertility treatment. 94% of women say they would cut back on all aspects of their lives to pay for fertility treatment if they needed it (includes holidays, eating out, pensions, savings, health insurance, clothes and selling possessions).

· Most women paying for fertility treatment have said that the money came from savings (88%), but 17% received a gift or loan from their family, 13% took on extra work and 13% put fertility costs on their credit card.

· 23% would consider moving / down-grading their house to get free NHS IVF provision to help them conceive.

· 17% of women who need fertility treatment have been prevented because of the costs, and 12% said the recession has directly prevented them from having treatment or more treatment.

GOVERNMENT POLICY / NHS

· Following increased financial pressure on the NHS, when it comes to offering free IVF, 62% of women don’t think it should be available for anyone who wants it – this is up 17% from 2007 (45%). This suggests that when funds are tight, fewer women perceive having a baby as a right for all

· 74% of women believe the government should ensure women are provided with three free cycles of IVF on the NHS.

· 95% think it’s unfair that there are different NHS IVF provisions depending on where you live.

· Nearly 60% believe that women should be given IVF on the NHS even if they have a child with their current partner, rising to 90% if they have a child from a previous relationship.

· BUT 62% don’t think that IVF should be available on the NHS to anyone who wants it.

SUCCESS CONCEIVING

· 23% of the women asked have had problems conceiving.

· For those who have had IVF treatment, 38% have only had it once, and 10% have had it more than five times.

· When it comes to the success of IVF, 45% got pregnant and had a baby, 31% didn’t conceive and 5% conceived naturally.

· 18% would consider going abroad for treatment if provisions were not available at home.

STRESS

· Fertility treatment is more stressful than the recession – 59% found it more stressful than dealing with financial concerns.

· 40% find the process more distressing than the ending of a relationship.

· Three in four (71%) found it more stressful than moving house.

· Nearly two thirds (62%) found fertility treatment more stressful than being made redundant.

· A third of women (36%) said that fertility problems made them depressed with 2% even signing off work due to stress / mental health problems.

· Nearly half of women(47%) said their husbands found it hard to cope when they were not getting pregnant.

EGG FREEZING

· 27% of women have considered freezing their eggs for the future.

Beyonce Reveals Pregnancy At MTV Awards

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She has been a workaholic superstar, entertaining the world since her teens, but now Beyonce has entered another phase in her life –  becoming a mother. Beyonce and her husband, rapper Jay-Z, are to become parents for the first time.

Beyonce revealed she was pregnant at the MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles where the former Destiny’s Child singer flaunted her growing baby bump. Beyonce performed her song “Love On Top” at the awards, telling the audience to stand up and said: “I want you to feel the love that’s growing inside of me.”

When the song finished, she took off her jacket, smiled broadly and rubbed her tummy.

Jay-Z was congratulated by Kanye West who were both in the audience and he gave Beyoncé a big wave.

Wendy’s Baby Diary: 20 Weeks – Posset and Celebrity Babies

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Bedtimes

We failed to install consistent bedtimes. We put the baby to bed at 7pm – he didn’t sleep. Then 8pm, then 9pm… Now, we just take the baby to bed when we go up at 11pm! If it’s this hard at four months, how are we going to cope when he’s older?  He’ll fall asleep on the sofa, but as soon as you move him, he’s awake and crying. It can take up to an hour to get the baby to sleep. And sometimes he just won’t go to sleep at all.

When we’ve worked out a routine, I’ll let you know.

Deposits of posset

Yesterday, Dillon threw up three times but waited between each bout for me to change my top, so I got sick on three different outfits . It really is horrible having a load of churned-up milk down your front. At least it’s mainly milk, with a bit of baby rice and doesn’t really smell. Baby vomit is called posset and Dillon made his deposits.

Head scratch on Cosatto cot

On Tuesday morning, Dillon got a long scratch on his head from the Cosatto ‘Close to me’ bedside cot. There’s nothing wrong with the wooden frame of the cot itself, it’s the plastic clips inside it that are rough and sharp and unfortunately we didn’t notice this until Dillon’s head was bleeding.  Since babies are growing beings with cells multiplying like crazy, it scabbed up quickly and has nearly healed in a week.  We filed down the plastic clips and covered them in bubble wrap while one angry customer email to the manufacturer is on its way.

Just wait until he starts crawling, then I’ve got a lot more to worry about!

 First tooth

The first tooth is coming up. He’s been crying with teething pain for a few weeks now, gnawing on his fist, on toys, on material, on teething rings and recently we tried a dummy which really helped. And now we can feel the first tooth which has broken through the bottom gum and is slightly protruding. How exciting!

 Nicknames

It’s so tempting to give nicknames to the baby as he changes so quickly and looks so cute. Recently, we’re calling him The Tooth, The Overlip, The OverLord, Churchill, and since he got the scratch on his head, Gorbachev, Harry Potter and Zorro.

 Celebrity babies  

Dillon was born days apart from David Tennant’s daughter Olivia (born 31st March 2011 – on Dillon’s due date) and James Corden’s baby son Max (22nd March). He’ll also be growing up at the same time as the Beckham’s daughter, Harper Seven – what a name! When I see celebrity children in papers and magazines, it is odd to think my son is growing up at the same time and in some ways their lives will be running in parallel.

Swear Words

We tried to stop swearing when I was pregnant, but habits are hard to change. Now I’m worried every time a four letter word slips out of our mouths, our friends or someone on TV, that Dillon has heard it and one day will repeat it. We’ve set the parent locks on the TV and threatened to fine each other. I think a swear box will have to be started.

Until next time – my new four letter word is FLIP!

 

© Wendy Thomson 2011

Wendy Thomson is the editor of www.femalearts.com an online publication which promotes women in the arts and in business.

Wendy's Baby Diary: 19 Weeks – Who's Holding The Baby?

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Childcare

This week, I’d like to discuss the emotive issue of childcare – who to leave your baby with, from what age and what your options are.

Parents

There is an argument for mums to look after their children full time until they go to school and I think that is what my mum did for me. You could even home school if you wanted to continue being with your children full-time and believed that was in their best interest.

I’m finding the childcare situation hard. I love being with my son and he is my responsibility. At the same time, childcare is so demanding that, occasionally, I want a break to be ‘me’ again and not the constant food source / entertainment / companion. We’re in a fortunate situation that Dillon’s grandparents want to babysit for us when they can, but we are also looking into a nursery place for when I go back to my studies and to work.

Nursery

The advantages of a nursery are that your child learns to socialise with other children from a young age, to share, to interact and be stimulated, even educated. I think the main disadvantages are going to be if it’s not a good nursery. There is also the cost (up to £60 a day), which is hopefully outweighed by you being able to earn a salary.

Another consideration is the waiting list. I had no idea how long it can take to get a place. It can take up to months, especially for popular nurseries.  Some mums even sign up for a nursery place while they are pregnant! I was told the best start date for a baby is September / October, because a bunch of kids leave in September when they start school and all the younger age ranges move up a class. By January, most nurseries are full again.

Relatives

Relatives may have no charge attached but it’s important to not take them for granted. Some grandparents almost want to be a parent again and they may offer full time childcare, and in some situations this is the only viable financial solution for a family.

Nanny

Other options are a childminder or a nanny or au pair but I’m not looking for full time childcare and I don’t want someone looking after Dillon in our home. I think the main disadvantage of an individual is if they wanted to be abusive or neglectful there is no-one around to notice. At a nursery, there are a lot of staff and more controls are in place over professional standards of care and competence.

The only way you can tell if a nursery is right for you is by visiting a nursery in person. I went to see two last week and both were well advertised, one was rated Good in an OFSTED report, the other OUTSTANDING and within the first ten minutes of being in each nursery I knew that one wasn’t right for my son and the other one was.

Babies’ age

In terms of age, I’m looking for Dillon to start at nursery two days a week from six months old.  Maternity leave in the UK is allowed for up to 12 months, so six months may seem very young, but some nurseries accept babies from six weeks old. I was told that the average age for babies starting at nursery is currently between nine and 12 months old. A benefit for starting childcare at six months or earlier is that the baby is not so attached to the parent that they get upset when you leave them.

Whether Dillon misses me or not at nursery, I know I will find it hard to leave him there. But I want to provide for him and I want to be a good role model. I hope it all works out.

What the baby has been doing this week

Dillon is a smiler. For the first few weeks of their life babies only smile when they pass wind! and they start to genuinely smile from between six and eight weeks old. I wish I had written down when Dillon first smiled or laughed, but it is genuinely delightful when he does and he has been doing so for a good six weeks, maybe longer. He responds very well to people smiling at him if they hold their faces close and he imitates other people’s laughter.  In the past couple of weeks he has noticed our dog fetching balls and toys and this makes him laugh.

Classes

We’ve recently signed Dillon up for baby sensory classes and also to swimming classes starting in September, so I’ll report on those when they start. I went to a free taster class for the baby sensory and it was very good for the children, a lot of songs, baby signing, toys, a puppet show, a light show (felt like an early introduction to children’s theatre!) and a chance to meet other mums and have a chat. Dillon spent the hour staring at everyone and everything and slept really well afterwards.

Until next time – if you work with children, please be good to them!

© Wendy Thomson

Wendy Thomson is the editor of www.femalearts.com an online publication which promotes women in the arts and in business.