A term time break. The summer holidays. This used to mean something when I was in school, but since my son is still in toddlerhood it does not hold the same excitement. I am not saying it has no effect on my life: the toddler groups close or become less frequent. When they are open they are busier than ever. It seems like everyone, apart from our family, has taken August off and is having a wonderful time sunning themselves in an exotic location. Cry. But what really changes during term breaks is that I end up going to the park with my little one. Parks that are busier than ever.
Usually my little one and I are too busy to go to the park. His social life is packed with different events and lessons. From Monkey Music to his toddler groups. But toddlers need to learn, get fresh air, and burn off their energy. Fun for toddlers, but not always for the mama. I usually love taking my son on the swing, and watching him do the assault course. There are a lot of parks near where we live in South-West London, and they all have something different to offer. But the real interesting thing is the people that each park attracts. Some are easy-going with friendly toddlers, others are full of aggressive children and mothers who do not care. General piece of advice to them: it is called parenting, not let-them-do-whatever-they-want-ing. I reckon I could write a book just on the politics of park life.
I recently had a lovely conversation with a little girl about Star Wars, had an aggressive 10-year-old call my two-year-old a ‘s**t f**k’ because he wanted to go on the bus, and strike up a conversation with a friendly Irish mother whose sons toy my son kept trying to steal. It went well until she told me that 5-year-olds are harder work than two-year-olds and then I just wanted to start drinking, everyday.
I have had many great conversations with other mothers and their children. Not every experience has been great however. Where there is all of life that will not happen. Recently it started to rain just as I took my son to the park, we waited under a tree until it passed. Another mother came to the fence near us and started saying how she had lost her phone to a friend, and had left it on the fence. She gave me the eye and I gave the eye back, irritated. She then went all over the park looking for her phone. A while later she came up to me and asked ‘if I had seen a phone’. I told her, no. The rain passed and I took my son into the park for some fun. I looked over at one point to see the mean mother, who had previously been bitching about me to all of her friends, On Her Phone. No apology. Difficult mothers cannot be entirely avoided. Neither can the competitive ones. One mother kept telling me my son was 3 ‘because he looks 3’ It is hard to argue with that kind of logic.
Negative moments aside I now get why I saw so many mother in parks before I become a mother. Some looked exhausted and spaced out, others were on their phones, and some looked happy as they watched their child play. The park allows parents to socialise while the children burn off energy. On a tough day, it takes some of those hours away when they feel endless. So I might see you at the park, but I will make sure it is a friendly one. Feel free to strike up a conversation.
Super smooth kids’ porridge Ready Brek and Walker Books’ popular children’s brand We’re Going on a Bear Hunt are embarking on a joint adventure. The two bear-loving brands come together to serve up a nutritious helping of outdoor fun in a bid to help parents and kids adopt a healthy, balanced lifestyle. Ready Brek will be inviting kids and families to create their very own bear hunt featuring fun activity ideas to try at home on their packs.
The free We’re Going on a Bear Hunt guide, inspired by the hit Channel 4 animated film, will feature beautiful artwork from the film, each guide suggests games and activities showing kids how to go on their very own bear hunt swishy-swashing through grass and splash-sploshing through puddles. Packs also include three delicious recipes to collect; Bear Hunt Banana Muffins, Protein-packed Bear Hunt Bites and Bear Hunt Blueberry and Apple Flapjacks which are all nutritionally balanced, energy boosting snacks that will keep little adventurers going.
The on-pack promotion is on sale now (in the UK) and will feature on packs including Ready Brek Original 450g (RRP £1.99) and 750g (RRP £2.99) and Ready Brek 450g Chocolate (RRP £1.99). Packs will be available in Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Waitrose and Coop.
Over half of parents vote for Corbyn as political baby names become hot new trend
53% of parents find it ‘very hard’ to choose the right name for their baby – and a third disagree with their partner over what to pick
70% believe children are judged by their name
23% say political names are on the rise with Corbyn and Cameron the top picks
Surge in popularity of Muslim names used by non-Muslim families
Wacky new naming trends include ‘unicorn names’, ‘tough names’ and even ‘text message names’
7% of families regret their child’s name
New parents are electing to name their children after politicians – with Corbyn the hottest new baby-naming trend, a new poll by video parenting website www.channelmum.com reveals.
After the Labour leader’s post-General Election popularity surge, over half of parents (52%) would consider using the name Corbyn for their child. The name has already soared 50 percent in popularity between 2014 and 2015, but is now expected to see an even sharper rise.
Overall, political names are one of the fastest-growing new UK baby naming trends with 23 percent of mums and dads seeing more politically-inspired names in their area.
Interestingly, while 38 percent of parents would consider the name May, only four percent would use Theresa for a newborn. Cameron was the next most popular, liked by a third of parents, followed by Jeremy, enjoying fresh popularity with 15 percent of families.
However, only five percent would name their baby Boris or Diane, six percent Donald and just one percent believe Nigel will become a fashionable name again. But Nicola was especially popular in Scotland, where 13 percent of mums and dads report its popularity is increasing, and 12 percent of Welsh parents are seeing more Leannes locally.
Across Britain, 1,305 parents were asked which names were increasing in popularity in their local area. The poll revealed a huge 70 percent of parents believe people judge a child by their name – and as a result, seven percent ‘regret’ their choice of baby name. However, three quarters of parents (75%) would be upset if their child wanted to change their name.
A third of couples quizzed admitted they disagreed and even rowed over naming their baby, with 53 percent admitting choosing a name is ‘very hard’. And while two thirds (65%) eventually settled on a name while still pregnant, 19 percent wait until they see the baby’s face when born – and an indecisive four percent wait six weeks until the legal limit for registering the baby’s birth and name.
The study also found that while over a third (35%) of parents use family names to honour relatives, one in five (20%) opt for unique spellings no-one else has to ensure their child stands out.
And with over 62,000 different baby names used annually in the UK, there are a number of wacky new baby-naming trends starting to break through.
The fastest-growing up-and-coming trends revealed by the poll include traditional Muslim names going mainstream, with six percent of the parents quizzed seeing more non-Muslim families using Muslim names. The most commonly-used Muslim monikers include Zane, Zahra, Ayesha, Farah, Anila, Omar and Jana.
One in ten has seen an increase in babies with ‘tough names’ including Axl, Maverick and Diesel, and by contrast, Unicorn names including Rainbow, Twinkle, Sassy, Sparkle and Princess are also beginning to gain popularity (4%).
Football ace Paul Pogba and Towie star Sam Faiers have helped to repopularise the name Paul, with one in 25 parents seeing it used again. There is also renewed interest in 1970s names including Michelle, Susan and even Gary is making a comeback.
And Viking and Scandi names are on the march, with Magnus, Agnes, Linnea, Freya, Annika, Astrid and Britta more popular, according to 13 percent of parents.
Meanwhile, the more bizarre name phenomenons include text message abbreviation names like Ily – meaning I Love You – spotted by one percent of parents – and three percent who have seen US place names including Texas, Miami, Arizona and Tennessee used as baby names.
However, the most common current trend is surnames as first names. Two thirds of parents report this is on the rise in their area, with top names including Cooper, Grayson, Parker, Quinn, Jones, Carter, Mason, Jackson, Hunter and Riley.
Traditional but not twee English names are undergoing a revival, with 61 percent of parents embracing monikers includingSarah, Penelope, Emma and Lucy.
The rise of gender-fluid culture means Gender Neutral names are becoming more popular. Alex, Charlie, Elliott, Ellis, Max and Sydney are among the names spotted more often by 41 percent of parents.
And while it may be the least-used letter of the alphabet, X names are in-vogue, with Jaxxon, Xanthe, Xander and Jaxton the most picked for new babies, and voted more popular by 35 percent of parents.
Meanwhile, 16 percent of mums and dads have seen a flood of babies with water names including River, Lake, Delta and Coast, while 13 percent report meeting tots named after the cast of the film Frozen, such as Elsa, Kai, Anna and Olaf.
However, the study also showed the most disliked baby name trend is text-message names, shunned by 71 percent of parents, followed by double-barrelled names such as Lily-Mae, which half of parents refuse to use.
A further 44 percent wouldn’t name their child after a sports team while 38 percent loathe unusual or unique spellings. And the Kardashian trend of using the same first letter for each child was turned down by 27 percent of families.
Siobhan Freegard, founder of ChannelMum.com said:“What’s in a name? Well rather a lot. Names reflect both changing fashions and our changing society, such as the rise in use of many beautiful Muslim names. With 70 percent of families believing their child is judged on their name, a vast amount of love, care and attention is poured into picking the right moniker.
“Corbyn is the stand-out naming trend this year, and we expect to see lots of babies conceived at Glastonbury or over the election period named after the Labour leader.
“But remember a week is a long time in politics and your child will have that name for a lifetime, so do consider the effects of naming a child after any politician.”
HOTTEST UP AND COMING TRENDS
Political names (23%)
Viking / Scandi names (11%)
Tough names (10% are seeing an increase in this)
Non-Muslim families using Muslim names (6%)
Unicorn names (4%)
70s names (4%)
US place names (3%)
Text abbreviation names (e.g. ILY for I Love You) – 1%
MOST POPULAR CURRENT NAMING TRENDS
Surnames as first names (66% have seen an increase in this)
With over two decades of experience of pregnancy and birth, and more than 650,000 users every month, Emma’s Diary, the essential pregnancy support resource has been able to look back at key trends to compare the contents of the modern day hospital bag compared with that of 20 years ago and the contrasts are remarkable.
No need to carry a camera
One of the big differences is that we no longer need to carry a camera in our hospital bag today, providing we have our phone and charger, most cameras on mobile phones are so good today that we don’t need both. Equally, the convenience of reading a book on our Kindle or tablet eliminates the need for a physical book and doubles up as a way to communicate with family and friends online.
Clean eating trend
The trend for clean eating has also seen the choice of snacks and drinks change dramatically over the years, with high-energy drinks, fresh smoothies and snacks such as vegetable crisps and protein bars being popular in 2017.
CDs replaced with streaming music on our devices
The devices we use to listen to music (a popular past time for women in labour) have also changed beyond all recognition as we have moved from portable CD players (and the need to carry CDs in our hospital bags) to streaming music on our mobile phones and tablets. Although our tastes in music may have evolved, using music to help soothe and relax us during labour is still an important element.
Some things never change
We still need disposable pants and they still look as ghastly as they always did! Baby clothes, mitts, maternity pads, nursing bras, slippers, toiletries, tissues and baby wipes are still very much part of the modern day hospital bag.
According to Emma’s Diary – here are its top 15 contents for mums to be hospital bags from 2017 and 1997 (20 years ago).
2017 Mum’s Hospital Bag Contents:
Mobile 4G smartphone/iPhone
iPad/tablet
Music downloaded to your phone and earphones (Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You, Bruno Mars’ That’s What I Like and The Weekend’s Starboy have been chart toppers this year)
Lip balm (such as Burt’s Bees)
Snacks and drinks (water, smoothie, isotonic drink, vegetable crisps)
Kindle (Into the Water and Caravel are popular books this year)
Baby wipes
Birth ball
TENS machine
Slippers, socks, nightwear
Maternity Pads
Baby clothes and nappies
Nursing bras
Disposable pants
Toiletries and hair brush/clips
1997 Mum’s Hospital Bag Contents:
Portable CD player (or the minidisc player launched in 1992 for those gadget lovers!)
CDs/Mini discs – (Blur’s Beetlebum, No Doubt’s Don’t Speak and Spice Girls’ Spice up your Life were all chart toppers this year!)
Paperback book (Cold Mountain and Harry Potter were popular
Mobile phone (probably a Nokia 6110 or similar)
Camera (film, polaroid or first digital if you were into gadgets)
Snacks and drinks (water, Orbitz drink, bag of Doritos 3D)
Lip balm (such as Nivia)
Tissues/cotton wool balls
Slippers, socks, nightwear
Maternity pads
Baby clothes and nappies
Nursing bras
Disposable pants
Toiletries and hair brush/clips
Address book (with contact numbers)
Mum of two and Marketing Director at Emma’s Diary, Faye Mingo commented: “It’s been great fun looking back at the change in contents of the hospital back of 1997 compared with today. So much has changed and yet so much is still relevant today. What is probably the most astonishing is the change in the way we communicate and connect with others and how that has had a direct impact on what we now take into hospital, whether that’s related to the music we listen to, the books we read or how we converse with others – times change!”
A leading London hospital dramatically reduced the rates of a life-threatening infection in newborn babies thanks to a simple screening test.
New research published today from a pilot study[1] at Northwick Park Hospital reports that screening pregnant women for group B Strep (GBS) reduced the rate of these potentially deadly infections in their newborn babies by 83%.
Yet in countries that have introduced antenatal GBS screening – recognised internationally as best practice – rates of these infections have fallen by significantly, by 70-90%.
Group B Streptococcus (GBS or Strep B) is the UK’s most common cause of life-threatening infection in newborn babies, causing sepsis, pneumonia and meningitis, and claims the life of one baby a week.
Previously Northwick Park Hospital had one of the highest rates of group B Strep infection in newborn babies in the country, almost three times the national average, despite following national guidelines.
To combat this worrying figure, Dr Gopal Rao, Consultant Microbiologist at Northwick Park Hospital, decided to set up the screening programme in his busy UK multi-ethnic community to see whether this would help reduce the rate of group B Strep infection in newborn babies.
Over 6,000 pregnant women chose to have the test. This involved taking two simple swabs (which the majority of women chose to do themselves at 35-37 weeks of pregnancy) – after being given information about GBS.
The Family Friendly Raves Return To Raise the Roof AND Raise Money for Family, Healthcare and Education
Big beats for tiny feet are back, as a new season of Diddy Rascals events are launched for 2017, with the exciting addition of Diddy Rascals Movies, and a festival.
Launched in 2016 by former Ministry of Sound alumni and now part of the charity Humanitas all Diddy Rascals events are not for profit, helping Humanitas provide long-term, professional support to individuals in areas of devastating poverty around the world. Three basic human rights are family, healthcare and education and this small but mighty charity has been on the ground providing real relief since its inception in 2001.
Diddy Rascals Raves: live DJs play a soundtrack of classic house pitched perfectly to both parents and kids, while inflatables, face painting, horns and glow sticks give it an authentically ‘old-skool’, playful vibe. A chill-out room gives younger kids the chance to hang out in the ball pool, enjoy the lights and soak up the ambience. Ideal for 2 to 8 year old mini-ravers, younger or older siblings are welcome.
EVENT LISTINGS
Saturday 20th May, 1-3pm, Half Moon, Putney, London
Sunday 28th May, 2-4pm, Harpenden Halls, Harpenden, Herts
Sunday 11th June, 1-3pm Hitchin Town Hall, Hitchin, Herts
Saturday 1st July, 1-3pm Half Moon, Putney, London
A rolling programme of enjoyable movies for mums and dads, screened in an entertaining, safe environment that allows mini wanderers the chance to roam and play without fear of being ‘shushed’. Kicking off with a screening of la La Land on 16th May.
MOVIE LISTINGS
Tuesday 16th May Harpenden Halls – La La land (12A, 2016)
Tuesday 6th May: Hitchin Town Hall – La La land (12A, 2016)
Diddy Festival
Lets pump it up and get raving in our special inflatable fun factory out in a field. Expect all the wild antics from our raves but in our inflatable room, plus face painting, messy play and much more family fun.
FESTIVAL LISITNGS
Sunday 16th July, 12-6pm, The Priory, Hitchin, Herts
Personalised video specialists, vCreate, today announce a new funding initiative aimed at ensuring that all 200 UK neonatal networks are equipped with personalised video by 2018. According to Bliss, the UK’s special care baby charity; over 90,000 babies are admitted to neonatal care in the UK because they have either been born prematurely, or full term but sick.
The decision to look for corporate sponsors to fund the provision of secure video within neonatal units will make technology, that would have previously been out of reach due to unavailable budget, accessible for the wider neonatal community.
Ben Moore, founder of vCreate, explains why he believes this innovative approach to funding will make all the difference: “It’s clear from our discussions with medics that digital technology such as this has huge potential to transform the way services are delivered across the NHS. Delays or lack of central funding can leave the people who deliver the care hamstrung; there’s a proven case for a solution, a need for change, but budget for such initiatives isn’t readily available.”
The team at vCreate is in search of corporate sponsors to fund instances of vCreate by neonatal region. With vCreate, staff are able to send short videos of babies to parents when they are away from this hospital. Ben added: “We’ve already seen how secure video is enhancing patient care following the successful pilot programme at the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow, and there’s been widespread media and public interest in the project.”
Royal Glasgow Hospital for Children is the first in the UK to trial vCreate in their neonatal unit.
Neil Patel, Consultant Neonatologist, explains how vCreate is supporting mums and dads through what can be an extremely stressful time: “The idea originally came from a parent of one of our patients. He uses personalised video in his work to connect with clients and asked if we could send him video updates of his own baby. We then asked more families who all told us there is nothing more reassuring than actually seeing their baby. It’s a personalised video platform that makes it quick and simple to create a video which can then be securely accessed by the baby’s parents on any device at any time.”
vCreate believes that the funding proposition delivers for both the public and private sectors. The public sector gains innovative video technology when they need it, and private sector sponsors have the opportunity to support families of premature babies.
As part of the sponsorship package, corporate sponsors can expect to see their company logo across the vCreate application which would be seen by the parents logging in to watch the videos; plus media coverage across multiple channels, and positive brand and CSR association.
For corporate sponsorship enquires in relation to vCreate, get in touch on 0333 121 8422 or via email at theteam@vcreate.tv.
Almost 20 years ago I began working in children’s homes. Many of the children had endured years of abuse and other traumatic experiences by the time they ended up in care, this impacted on their ability to feel safe, relax, and sleep at night. Due to having Asperger’s, a high-functioning form of autism I obsessed about learning communication skills. I used this knowledge with the children I was working with. The children were often happy to have stories read to them at bedtime. I used to read stories to them, but rather than putting on different voices for different characters, or reading the stories lively, I used to read them in a relaxed tone of voice in time with the child’s breathing. Any sentences with words which could be associated with relaxing or inward absorption I would say with extra calming emphasis. This slight shift in how the stories were being read often helped the children to feel calm and comfortable and fall asleep. I started teaching what I was doing to other children’s home staff and to parents to help them to be able to help children sleep comfortably at bedtime without arguments and conflict, and years later wrote two books of children’s stories based around this approach: Sleepy Bedtime Tales, and Relaxing Tales for Children.
How do you help children to fall asleep at night?
The first thing to be aware of is what actually happens for us to fall asleep. Obviously being tired helps, so not letting a child sleep during the day is a huge help, secondly the environment is important. As bedtime approaches parents can start ‘putting the house to sleep’. What I mean by this is that a few hours before bedtime parents close curtains, turn off main lights and put on small lamps to make the home dimmer, and begin to focus on doing calm, low stimulation things with the children. The focus is on slowing them down, and making the environment quieter. If children are running around until bedtime their heart will be racing and they will be excitable and harder to relax, likewise, if they have been watching emotionally stimulating TV programmes before bed this will reduce their chances of falling asleep. Parents ideally limit screen time in the hours before bed. Mobile phones, tablet PC’s, computers, and TV’s all give off a lot of blue light which triggers the ‘wake-up’ processes in our brain – not what you want when you are trying to help your children sleep.
Once bedtime is approaching parents can have structure around what happens, and let the children know bedtime is approaching. It is more effective to say that it is bedtime in half-an-hour, and then giving notice at fifteen minutes, and then finally saying it is now bedtime, than it is to wait until bedtime and then tell the children it is time to go to bed when perhaps they are in the middle of a game or something and now they have to cut the game short.
Different children like different things at bedtime to help them sleep. Some are happy to be read a story. Although it is fun to read stories and get all involved in portraying the characters, putting on voices, and actions, this isn’t conducive for sleep. The stories need to be read in a calm and relaxed manner ideally framed for the child that they can lie down with their eyes closed, listening and imagining the story as they fall asleep. Most children accept this and enjoy imagining the story play out in their mind. The parent can then read slowly and calmly, adding emphasis and time when giving descriptions to help the child become increasingly absorbed in the inner experience. Another approach children like is for the parent to sit with them stroking their arm, back or hair. If this is done in time with their breathing, so each up-stroke is with an in-breath, and each down-stroke is with the out-breath then the stroking will build rapport with the breathing, and once the breathing is matching the stroking the parent can stroke slower or longer strokes and the breathing will deepen and the child will fall asleep. If the child wakes up during the night they can be encouraged back to bed, then the parent can calmly repeat the same again until the child falls asleep once more.
A term time break. The summer holidays. This used to mean something when I was in school, but since my son is still in toddlerhood it does not hold the same excitement. I am not saying it has no effect on my life: the toddler groups close or become less frequent. When they are open they are busier than ever. It seems like everyone, apart from our family, has taken August off and is having a wonderful time sunning themselves in an exotic location. Cry. But what really changes during term breaks is that I end up going to the park with my little one. Parks that are busier than ever.
