Mouth to Mouth

By |July 30th, 2016|

I was bewildered by all the Internet chatter about the picture of Victoria Beckham kissing her children on the mouth. The horror and the outrage!

That same day I was discussing feeding babies spoon foods, and a mother wondered what they did before blenders. Good question, because these two things are connected.

Transitional feeding seems to be necessary for humans from around six months of age. It is a time when breastfeeding doesn’t yield enough iron or protein to maintain optimal growth in babies.

In many animals the mother prepares soft foods by chewing it herself and then transferring it into the […]

A Conversation about Childcare.

By |May 19th, 2016|

II had an interesting conversation with a friend a few days ago.

He sighed “We are having such trouble getting our little girl into childcare – there are so few places available. We are feeling so stressed and guilty that she might not get the early education and sociability that she needs?”

Time for a reality check.

  • Humans are amongst the most social species on the planet. We have been honed by countless generations of ancestors who selected themselves to reproduce by their ability to socialise. It doesn’t need to be trained into us. It’s inherent.
  • In our first couple of […]

Travelling with a Toddler: It’s not all bad.

By |February 16th, 2016|

UUp at the crack of dawn to try and get the timing of the baby’s nap to coincide with the plane taking off. But she, like a pet dog, knows there is something big afoot. She would rather walk around than eat breakfast.

At Sydney Airport: First send in handsome son-in-law to check-in counter. We get a big smile from airline lady and get assigned seats with lots of extra empty seats around us. Cool! Then when we hit the queue for border control with the little one in the lead, a nice official tickles her chin and hurries us […]

Toxins in Breastmilk

By |August 24th, 2015|

 

II’ve had a question about the article that appeared in the ‘The Australian’ recently about the ‘build-up of chemicals in breastmilk’.

It comes from a report from Grandjean et al in the Environmental Science & Technology Journal on August 20th. See this reference for the press-release. It also contains the reference for the original article.

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/…/breastfeeding-may-expose-inf…/

Prof Philippe Grandjean is a world expert on the issue of industrial toxins in our environment. After a lifetime of work in the field in 2013 he published a book on the subject :“Only One Chance, How Environmental Pollution […]

Important Things About Your Baby’s Skin

By |May 19th, 2015|

NNow that the first few weeks of new grandfatherhood have passed, during which kissing my granddaughter was not advisable (see my previous blog “Six Guidelines for Grandparents”), after three months she became old enough to cope with germs from other than her parents. So now I can succumb to the yumminess of her chubby cheeks.

The thing is all babies are designed to be kissable, and huggable. It’s all part of the kindchenschema, a word that describes the face of a baby that we intrinsically find appealing at a very deep level. The big head, […]

More Guidelines for Grandparents

By |January 30th, 2015|

 

With my burgeoning experience as a grandparent and the response to the recent ‘Six Guidelines for Grandparents’ ( www.babydoc.com.au/six-guidelines-grandparents/ ) I’ve thought of a few more, which I hope will help the older generation tread the fine line of assisting the new parents without interfering.

1)            Names. You named your babies, now leave it to them to name theirs. If they want to call him T-Kool…. smile, nod and don’t say a word!

2)            Always ask the mother whether you can touch or pick up the new baby. As a grandparent you don’t have the right (and mum’s […]

Six Guidelines for Grandparents

By |December 26th, 2014|

 

Behold Georgy and baby Lara.  On the 15th December 2014 I became a grandfather. Little Lara came into the world and I can now stop secretly worrying about things totally out of my control…

With this new qualification and experience, I feel it is an appropriate time to contribute some guidelines:

1)            Just because it happened to you, doesn’t mean it will happen to your daughter.

So many times I hear remarks like “Well I couldn’t breastfeed you, so you’ll probably have problems too”. This is unhelpful.

2)            Bring food and cleaning equipment, not advice (unless it’s asked for).

That’s what new mothers need: household […]

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