Innholdsfortegnelse for November - December 2019 i Your Baby & Toddler

Shasha Ogbonna: No money! Lauren Inge Henry: Not yet, waiting for specials and for them to lower their expectations. Besides, Father Christmas still has to decide if one of them is getting plastic coal or not – I’d do real coal, but that child would just destroy the house with the black soot Rouchell Piek: My baby is turning 3 on the 1st of December. I need a birthday gift first Andrea Marince: No! Would love to but sadly, I’m unemployed and still have two out of three birthdays coming up next month Dorothy Shantell Mutizwa: Not yet… waiting for a new member of the family, then have to buy birthday presents before Christmas presents Rochelle van Bavel: No haven’t yet. We’re waiting for January specials…

BRING ON THE ADVENTURE After years of working in the corporate world, Natasha Sandhir and AJ Ratani packed their bags and travelled the world, like many a young couple before them. But with one big difference: they were parents, to a son, Aarav. The result of their experience of travelling with a baby and then a toddler in tow to six continents and 41 countries is this book called How to Travel with Kids Without Losing Your Mind. If the thought of doing something similar has ever crossed your mind, this book might just be that nudge you need. It reads as a step-by-step survival guide of where to start and how to go about your preparation before lift-off. Get a copy through Amazon or from 2idiotstravel.com GET FIT AND…

• Sticking to conventional ideas of who is allowed to play with what can create the wrong impression about the role of the opposite sex. Keeping dolls away from your boy might leave him thinking that girls have to be carers. And Lego-deprived girls might expect boys to always become breadwinners. • It prevents children from experimenting with new ideas that might not be based on perceived gender interests. • It dictates play within set gender boundaries and prevents children from learning skills conventionally associated with the opposite sex. • It limits the scope of career choices. “Stereotype toys” encourage children to remain within their gender roles, and this acts as a barrier to learning skills associated with the opposite sex and thus eventual career choice. • It kills creativity…

✓ Place photographs of their grandparents in the home, and share stories and anecdotes about them with your children. ✓ Build a basic family tree with your child, and explain their heritage and the people that came before them. ✓ Ask a senior family member or friend if they are willing to take on the position, and cement it by assigning them the official role by including them in significant moments in your child’s life, encouraging them to spend time together and even letting your child choose a unique nickname for them.…

The difference, says Joburg-based clinical psychologist Jana Morgan, may not be altogether clear-cut. Jana says maternal burnout differs from postnatal depression in that it generally occurs in mothers with children over 18 months of age. It is predominantly linked to parental traits and to a lesser extent to social and marital factors. Lastly, with burnout, the depressive mood is not generalised but experienced in relation to one’s parenting role and tasks. “It’s not normal for a woman to suffer in new motherhood. It is also not normal for her to feel anxious most of the time or for her to feel overwhelmed most of the time, and it is not normal for her to feel trapped and angry and uncertain most of the time,” says Blanche Rezant, a programme manager…

If your child is taking antibiotics, it is a good idea to give him extra probiotics. This is because antibiotics change the balance of organisms in the gut which could lead to an increase in harmful bacteria. As a result of this, your child might experience gastritis and diarrhoea, or bloating and intestinal pain. If your doctor doesn’t prescribe probiotics, ask her about it. Also ask when you should start with the probiotics, as taking them at the same time as the antibiotics might interfere with the efficacy of the antibiotics.…

Q: My baby is due very soon. I am HIV positive. I want to do what is best for my baby. I would like to breastfeed, but I’m finding a lot of conflicting advice on whether I should or should not. Please help me. Should I breastfeed? A: Congratulations on your impending arrival. Understandably you will want the best for your baby, and therefore it is fantastic that you want to breastfeed. Before you decide whether it will be right for yourself and your baby, you’ll need to consider the following information. Breastfeeding provides significant benefits to both you and your baby – such as supplying your little one with the perfect balance of nutrients as well as a variety of antibodies. Breastfeeding has also been shown to reduce the…

1 Ensure your baby’s vaccinations are up to date, as this is the only antidote to a bunch of the serious childhood illnesses. Visit a baby clinic near you for an updated schedule of when babies need to be immunised and for what. 2 Stick the numbers of the emergency services, fire brigade, your GP, paediatrician, clinic sister and poison centre on your fridge. 3 Breastfeed if possible. Breastmilk protects babies against infections and contains ingredients that help boost your baby’s immunity. 4 Always complete a course of antibiotics, and never store leftovers and use them again for your baby or your other children. 5 Keep track of all your baby’s illnesses. Jot down the illness and how old baby was when he contracted it. This information might come in…

SIGNS OF POISONING ✓ Burns or redness around the mouth ✓ Empty or half-empty containers ✓ Pieces of plants or berries in your child’s mouth ✓ Drowsiness or unconsciousness WHAT TO DO? If you suspect your baby has been poisoned, assess what has been swallowed, when it was done and how much was ingested before calling for medical assistance or for an ambulance if your baby is unconscious. ✓ Remove any visible objects from his mouth. Keep these and the container of the product with you, and tell the paramedics exactly what he has taken ✓ Do not try to make your baby vomit anything up ✓ Also don’t give your baby anything to drink until he has been assessed or you’ve been told it’s okay TIP: Call the National…

STRAWBERRY FROZEN YOGHURT suitable from 6 months 1 cup frozen strawberries 1 cup plain yoghurt 1. Place all the ingredients in a blender and blitz until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. 2. Pour into squeeze pop moulds and freeze. 1 CHOCOLATE BANANA POPS suitable from 9 months 1 2 tablespoons cocoa powder 1 tablespoon boiling water 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup 2 ripe bananas 1. Grease an ice cube tray with olive oil. 2. Mix cocoa powder and boiling water in a small bowl to form a paste. Place paste and the rest of the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blitz until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. 3. Pour into the oiled ice cube tray, filling each hole almost to…

Difficulty rating: **** Time to prepare: *** Cleaning up: ***** Activity time: 60 minutes Children love Christmas time – not only because of the gifts, but also because of the decorations. Let your little one take part in decorating the house while encouraging his creativity and developing his fine motor skills at the same time. 1 Paint small polystyrene balls (available at craft stores) with non-toxic poster paint, and allow them to dry. You can also use different methods like colouring them in with felt-tip pens or spray-painting them. 2 Help your child to cover the surface of the balls with glue or make small glue dots all over the balls. 3 Roll the balls in glitter. 4 You can also ask your toddler to decorate the balls with star…

THE TUMMY THE BICYCLE Activate the oblique muscles in your abdomen What to do ✓ Lie flat on the ground with your knees bent and your feet hip width apart. ✓ Gently lift your one knee up toward your chest, and then lift the other. ✓ Interlace your fingers, and put your hands behind your head. ✓ Inhale to prepare, drawing your belly button in toward your spine and tightening your pelvic floor. Lift your chin to your chest while you exhale. ✓ Straighten one leg as far as you are able to without losing the contraction of your core, while twisting the opposite shoulder toward the bent knee. Exhale through the movement. ✓ Inhale to prepare and as you swap your legs, exhale. Repeat for a minute. Look out…

EMBRACE THE CHANGE AS A NEW MOM When you’re a first-time expectant mom, there’s no shortage of advice offered by friends, family and strangers. In the beginning it’s all quite welcome. I appreciated some of it while I took some with a pinch of salt and an awkward grin. One of the most common things I was told was that, “It’s going to change your life” or “Life will never be the same” or “You don’t know what you’re in for.” These often ended in a scary giggle or a shake of the head. This doesn’t in any way help a new mom’s anxiety. I mean, of course having a baby is life changing, but all these comments make you wonder if it really is that bad. Well, nine months…

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1. Travel as light as possible. Use your baby carrier to hold all your travel documents, so you can whip them out as needed, without having to scratch in your bag. – EMMA DAVIES 2. If you’re breastfeeding, ask for a better seat at the check-in counter. Also ask for assistance with luggage. You’re allowed to use a pram all the way until you enter the plane. – KAT KONCZAK-FLANIGAN 3. Try to book the aisle seat right at the back of the plane, as the changing table is usually in that toilet. If your baby starts stirring, it’s also easy to get up and bounce/settle at the back of the plane – CLAIRE ROSS 4. Baby’s ears hurt the most during descent – so get them to suck. As…

✓ Play dough is a great gender-neutral toy. It can be made into anything a little imagination can think of, is reusable, has hours and hours of play in just one tub and is great for tactile play. ✓ South African-made Planx is another perfect example of a gender-neutral toy. This versatile set of wooden blocks can be used in myriad different ways by children of both sexes. ✓ Bicycles, tricycles and scooters are another gender-neutral favourite – if you’re willing to forsake the obvious pink/blue models and go for something less obviously colour coded, of course. ✓ The Leapfrog LeapPad is an excellent educational toy that appeals to both boys and girls – again, it’s up to you as a parent to choose the more gender-neutral packaging. Interestingly, this…

FOR YOUR BODY and your little one’s body to work optimally, a healthy digestive system is essential. More than 500 different kinds of bacteria are hard at work in the digestive track. Exactly how many and what their characteristics are differs from place to place. Every person on earth has a unique gut microbiota profile that is shaped early in life. However, this profile, or biome, isn’t fixed, but is constantly being impacted upon by all kinds of factors, for example diet or illness to name just two. Dr Anton Janse van Rensburg from Johannesburg says that unfortunately many aspects of our modern lives aren’t conducive to a healthy biome. “Because of antiobiotic use, smoking, stress, anti-inflammatories, antacids for the stomach and the absence of fermented food in our diets,…

MODERN LIFE HAS made your child most reliant on her visual sense. Vision is not merely her ability to see, it is also the ability of her eyes to distinguish details and detect similarity and differences between objects and light. It is a survival sense. It makes her aware of what and whom are in her environment. For example, her visual sense will detect the movement of a snake in the bush nearby. It helps her remain safe. But it also helps her notice details in the world that make her performance in practical life fun and efficient. For example, when she looks at a cup of juice, her eyes inform her that it is tipping downward and needs to be levelled before the juice spills out. Her vision also…

1 Cosmetics and toiletries This includes mouthwash, nail polish, hair remover and even baby oil. 2 Medication Yes, it’s an obvious one, but be careful with anti-depressants and sleeping pills as well as medication for heart and blood-pressure conditions, diabetes and pain relief. Also be wary with medications you take regularly – the routine of it all makes it easy for you to forget and leave them lying around. 3 Vitamins This is especially true in the case of iron supplements – overdoses can be really dangerous. 4 Cleaning products Move all your household cleaning products to a cabinet out of baby’s reach – not the cupboard under the sink! Think high here! Not even dish-washing liquid is safe. Put away the drain cleaner, oven cleaner,…

OLAF’S NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS by Disney Book Group with a Glitter Globe R270 Based on the life of Olaf, possibly the most famous snowman ever, this book is an ideal read for the night before Christmas, as the family gathers around the tree anxiously awaiting the arrival of Christmas Day and the opening of presents. Fans of all generations will delight in Olaf’s innocent and funny account of the night before Christmas when all through the house, not a creature is stirring… until Olaf wakes up from a sound coming from the roof. Read along as he has the adventure of a lifetime with a mysterious stranger in red. The 32-pager is designed as a paper-over-board picture book and includes your very own glitter globe to keep and cherish. HUG…

Step-by-step gingerbread house 1 cup butter ½ cup brown sugar ½ cup golden syrup 1 egg 2 cups cake flour 3 teaspoons ground ginger 1 teaspoon mixed spice 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda Sugar glue: 1 cup castor sugar Icing: 3 cups icing sugar, sifted 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1-2 tablespoons boiling water To decorate:  Smarties, Jelly Tots, white marshmallows 1. Use an electric hand or stand mixer to cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the syrup and egg, and whisk until well combined. Add the remaining ingredients, and beat until a dough forms. Cover the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes. 2. Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Line a baking sheet with baking…

I’VE ALWAYS THOUGHT of Christmas as just another day. This often surprises people, especially when you consider the fact that my twin brother, late grandmother and I are all Christmas babies. This isn’t an indifference I’ve always carried. Like all children, I bought into the pomp and ceremony of Christmas. I’m one of four children, and the gifts I received were never expensive and over-elaborate – there simply wasn’t any money for this – but always well-considered and from the heart. A set of toys, a piece of clothing I’d been badgering my parents about throughout the year and, always, a handwritten note from my father wishing me both a happy birthday and a merry Christmas. But toward teenagehood, I’d bought out of the lie. It was obvious that there…

We receive so much advice about breastfeeding… If it’s not about how long you should breastfeed, it’s about the reasons why. With all this advice – coming from grandmoms and nurses to random strangers sitting in the booth behind you at a restaurant – there’s still so much that is untold. We hear all the good things about breastfeeding – the benefits – but no-one really prepares us for some of the cons: that it can really be difficult to start, painful as hell, and how challenging it can be to get the baby to stop. As I write this letter, my other hand is helping my 13-month-old baby, whom I love to death, breastfeed. I cherish these moments, even more so now that they are about to come to…

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IF YOU’VE EVER walked through a major toy shop, you’ll know what we mean when we talk about gender marketing. Aisle upon aisle of candy-pink “girl” toys – and, on the other side, blue, yellow and red stacks of toys for boys. Even Lego, long the last outpost of gender-neutral toys, caved in and produced, at the end of 2011, a line of pink and purple blocks themed “Friends” aimed explicitly at girls. What infuriated many women was the notably curvier figurines and the storyline – a beauty salon, bakery, pet shop and design studio, among others, set in “Heartlake City”. It caused an outcry, and a pair of American consumer activists even launched an online petition that garnered nearly 50 000 signatures to make Lego back down. Lego, however,…

Be careful of legal advice you find on the internet, as it can often be outdated or even false. A good starting point is reading applicable legislation such as the Children’s Act 38 of 2005, the Maintenance Act 99 of 1998 and the Domestic Violence Act 116 of 1998, as these may help you handle situations that often arise during single parenthood. In making difficult legal decisions or taking legal steps, it is important to make an appointment with an attorney who has sufficient experience in family law, in other words, a specialist matrimonial attorney and not a general practitioner. You can contact the Legal Practice Council (lpc.org.za) in the province where you live to obtain contact details of such specialist attorneys. As Cape Town advocate Cathy McDonald notes, however,…

All families are different, says Zelna Lauwrens of Equal Zeal, a company that offers personal development programmes (equalzeal.com). How much you want to spend on parties and presents depends on your approach to raising children. But Zelda warns to be aware of the power of brands on children. “They know exactly what they want, and the generic substitute simply won’t do,” she says. “This is not only happening in the teen years, but increasingly in primary school.” Fortunately, there are some basic parenting principles that hold true across class and culture: • Children need to feel safe and loved. • They need your time and attention with no conditions attached. • They need boundaries and limits but also the space to take risks and make mistakes. • They need to…

By now you’re probably keen to know where and how you can get these good bugs and their food source into your system. Sources of prebiotics ✓ Bananas, berries and other fruit ✓ Oats ✓ Wheat ✓ Onions ✓ Barley ✓ Tomato ✓ Leeks ✓ Asparagus ✓ Other whole grains ✓ Legumes (lentils, beans, chickpeas) ✓ Spinach and other greens Sources of probiotics ✓ Yoghurt, if specifically stated on the label that it contains living cultures. ✓ Some formula or follow-on milks, or baby cereals, if it states that it has been added on the label. ✓ It is sometimes added to juice, energy bars or breakfast cereals – check the label. ✓ Fermented foods like kefir, kombucha, sauerkraut and amasi ✓ Probiotics are also found in supplements in various…

WHAT WILL YOUR baby do – and how can you care for her best in the 10 days following birth? And, just as important – what is happening to you right now? And how can you nurture yourself during this somewhat daunting time? DAY 1 BABY After birth, your baby will receive an Apgar score to test her state of health and vital signs, and then snuggle up to you for some bonding time and possibly a first attempt at breastfeeding. (The Apgar test is given to newborns soon after birth to check heart rate, muscle tone, and other signs to see if extra medical or emergency care is needed. The test is usually given twice: once at one minute after birth, and again at five minutes after birth). You’ll…

BABIES YOUNGER THAN three months – especially those who have no older brothers or sisters – usually only suffer from niggles such as a blocked nose, nappy rash or oral thrush. The more serious illnesses – like flu and pneumonia – only hit between four and six months. We look at the illnesses your baby can catch during the first 12 months of his life. Lise Yzelle, an experienced clinic sister from Bloemfontein, describes the symptoms and tells us how these conditions are usually treated. COMMON COLD Children under two catch between six and eight upper-respiratory-tract infections per year. Most often, the condition is rhinitis, a term that broadly refers to a runny or blocked nose. Symptoms Cold begins with a low-grade fever accompanied by a runny nose. The discharge…

Eye tests for babies? Yes! Vision defects in babies are difficult to pick up, as you can’t have a talk with your baby about what she can see or not. That doesn’t mean her eyesight can’t be tested. In fact, it should be tested, as one in every five 4-year-olds has an undetected visual disorder. The first screening should take place as early as possible, and a new bit of technology makes this possible. The plusoptiX Vision Screener performs a non-invasive test that takes just seconds to do and provides accurate screening in children as young as six months. The outcome is given as a simple “pass” or “refer” result, indicating whether a comprehensive eye examination by a paediatric ophthalmologist is necessary. Ask your health care provider about it, as…

Q: There was a terrible accident in our street a while ago where a small child got trapped in a closing gate. This was a real wakeup call for me, as I think of gates as things that guarantee our safety, not endanger us! Is there a particular type of gate that is safer, or what can I do to make sure that the same thing doesn’t happen to my children? They often play in the front garden where the gate is, and a car arriving can’t necessarily see if they are near the gate’s path. A: It’s an unfortunate truth: too many children have already died due to a lack of legislation around the installation of electric gates. Gates can be deadly; especially if they are not installed correctly,…

✓ A good SPF ✓ Burn shield ✓ Paracetamol (or other medication for pain and fever) ✓ A non-sedating antihistamine ✓ Disinfectant solution ✓ Insect repellent containing DEET in a concentration of 10 to 30 percent (safe for babies from two months) ✓ A rehydration solution (you can make your own using 1 litre of water, ½ teaspoon of salt and 8 teaspoons of sugar) ✓ Topical antiseptic cream ✓ Antibacterial ointment ✓ Antifungal cream ✓ Saline drops for rinsing eyes, blocked noses and cleaning wounds ✓ Medicine for diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting ✓ White wine vinegar (deactivates venom from stinging sea creatures) ✓ Talcum powder for removing beach sand from skin…

Q: My husband and I hold very different views on discipline. I believe in giving our two-year-old a smack when he’s naughty, and my husband is really against smacking. As you can imagine, this leads to quite a heated debate. I don’t understand why he’s so against smacking or how to resolve this. Do you have any advice? A: Presumably the debate is not about whether or not discipline is required at all. Rather it is about what form that discipline should take. If you take that as your starting point, the problem is simple enough. The traditional argument in favour of corporal punishment is that it’s convenient, and that, “It never did me any harm.” The truth is that it is very convenient for the parent, but generally ineffective…