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When to Start Infant Care

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Leaving an infant in someone else’s care can be difficult, but it is usually harder for the parent than for the young infant. Finding an arrangement that you feel comfortable with is more important than the age at which your child begins care.

Sometime between the ages of 12 and 15 months, you can expect that your baby will become very aware of the difference between you and strangers, as well as the fact that when you are out of sight temporarily you are not gone forever.

These stages don’t last long, and babies’ reactions vary. Many babies become upset whenever their parent leaves the room, even at home. These are normal and important milestones in your baby’s development. Although it can be difficult to start a new child care arrangement at this time, these separations and reunions help your baby learn that you will come back again.

Generally though, young children pick up on a parent’s feelings. Whenever you start care, your baby is more likely to be happy with a child care arrangement if you’re happy with it.

If you’re starting care for your infant, a child care consultant can give you some ideas and tips to help you understand your feelings, plan for the change, and work with your provider to make the separation as easy as possible for you and your child.

A child with special needs

A child with special needs, like any child, should have care that is comforting, stimulating, and safe. Depending on the child’s needs, he or she may require some additional support services. If your child has any special needs.

A child care consultant can help you think through your child’s needs and identify resources and programs that may be available to you.

Pregnancy Symptoms Advice: Secretions and Leaks

Pregnancy hormones increase your normal, mucus secretions, but any odour or discolouration should be investigated for infection. Thrush is more common in pregnancy because of the changed acidity of the vagina. Even if you aren’t suffering any irritation, but think you have thrush, get it treated to avoid your baby being infected at birth.

Particularly towards the end of pregnancy, some women are unsure if they have wet themselves, or whether their waters have broken. This wetness could be urine, due to the weight of your baby and the relaxation of tissues, meaning that you leak when coughing or laughing.

Emptying the bladder can often help or you might want to wear a pad to avoid embarrassment. Starting your pelvic floor exercises as early as possible, and continuing them for life, will help to avoid long-term continence problems.

The leakage could be increased vaginal secretions or even a show in the run-up to labour. Or it could be amniotic fluid following rupture of the membranes surrounding the baby. If you are unsure what it might be then speak to your midwife.

Age Groups at Child Care Centers

Not all child care programs take children of all ages. The person or program that will be caring for your child may separate children by age or mix them together in a variety of different ways. Some of the most common age groups at child care centers are:

• infant: 6 weeks to 15 months
• toddler: 15 months to 2 years
• older toddler: 2 years to 2 years and 9 months
• preschool: 2 years and 9 months to 5 years, usually divided into groups by age
• kindergarten: 5 to 6 years
• school-age: 6 years and older

Understanding your child care needs

When you’re thinking about different kinds of child care, you will want to consider:

• the age, personality, and needs of your child
• the needs of the rest of your family
• the location of your workplace, home, and the child care you’re considering
• the hours your child will need care
• what you can afford to pay

Once you’ve taken these considerations into account, you’ll want to identify your options, and then base your decision on the quality of the choices that are available to you.

Your child’s needs

You know that if you want peace of mind about your child’s well-being while you work, you must feel that your child is safe, happy, and treated with respect and affection. Think about what will make your child feel comfortable. Some children need small, quiet groups. Others do better in larger groups with lots of activity. You are the best judge of your own child’s needs. Talk to the providers you visit about your child’s personality and needs.

Remember, too, that your child is growing and changing, and will have different needs in the future. Although it is impossible to anticipate all of these needs, thinking about some of them can minimize the number of changes you might have to make. Forming attachments with their caregivers is important for children, so consider your options carefully before making a change.

Pregnancy Symptoms Advice: Nausea and Vomiting

The pregnancy hormone HCG (human chorionic gonadotrophin), and thyroid hormones are thought to cause the debilitating sickness of pregnancy. Avoiding triggers such as fried or rich foods and caffeine can help. Eating plain toast or biscuits helps some women. Keep sipping fluids. Even if you are sick, some fluid will be absorbed.

Different Types of Child Care

Child care generally falls into two very broad categories: child care provided by friends or family members, and child care provided by someone else in your community.

If you plan to rely on friends and family for child care (a grandparent, for instance, another parent with different work hours, a close friend, or even an older child), this article can help you with tips and ideas for making the arrangement work as well as possible for you and your child. You may also want to find out about other types of child care in your community. Many parents combine child care given by a family member with a child care arrangement in the community, using a grandparent two days a week, for instance, and taking a child to a nursery school for the rest of the week. Knowing more about all the types of child care that are available to you may help you decide what seems best for your child.

It will also give you more choices when you need to find backup child care, or when your child grows older and needs or wants a different kind of child care.

This guide mentions different types of child care that may be provided by someone in the community:

• crèches
• toddler groups
• pre-schools and playgroups
• day nurseries
• Sure Start Children’s Centres
• out-of-school or ‘kids’ clubs
• childminders
• nannies

It is important to remember that all of these forms of child care have advantages and disadvantages, and that within each you are likely to find a tremendous range of quality. You may find safe, nurturing, educational child care in any one of the different types of child care in your community, and you may find child care in that same type that’s of such poor quality that it is harmful to your child. Over the coming weeks I will describe each of these, to help you you understand these basic types of child care.

Niggles and Discomfort in Pregnancy

The birth of a baby is usually anticipated with excitement but the way your body is behaving may sometimes leave you feeling anything but celebratory.

You may have heartburn, nausea and vomiting, and muscular and ligament pain. You may experience dreamlessness, swelling, itching and forgetfulness. You may wonder who described these symptoms as ‘minor ailments’ when they mate you feel so uncomfortable and even miserable.

You won’t be surprised to hear that all these discomforts are down to your hormones. The delicate balance in your body before pregnancy is now reset to a different position in order to nurture your baby and prepare lor the birth.

Hormones

Oestrogen and progesterone help your breasts and uterus grow. This extra weight, together with that of your growing baby, can lead to an aching back and legs in later pregnancy the weight of your uterus can cause fluid to pool in your legs, leading to swelling. Maintaining a good posture, gentle exercise and resting with your feet up can help.

At around 12 to 16 weeks you may feel faint as your blood volume increases. This dilutes the constituents of your blood, including your iron levels. Anaemia (low iron) can make you feel tired and very low levels can affect your baby and your ability to clot your blood. Eating iron-rich foods like dark meat, green vegetables and pulses will help. Drinking orange juice also helps you absorb more iron from your diet.

Tissue relaxation

The hormones progesterone and relaxing make the tissues of the body softer and more relaxed. This can lead to ailments such as varicose veins, piles and headaches. You can buy special cold pads that can be applied locally, and creams or paracetamol may help, but always read the labels or consult your midwife or GP before taking medication.

Relaxation in the digestive system can cause heartburn and constipation. Acid from the stomach can track back up the food pipe (oesophagus). In the bowel the normal rhythmic movements that pass the contents along is less effective. Eating a diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables, little and often, may help, as well as being healthy for you and your baby. Some women find that nibbling plain biscuits or drinking milk helps to alleviate heartburn. Indigestion remedies can also help.

Taking iron supplements can cause constipation. If you are affected, ask your midwife about alternative preparations, for find out if you can reduce the dose. Using the correct position for opening your bowels can help, with your knees above the level of your hips, copying the natural squatting position. A step designed to enable small children to reach the sink will help you find this more natural position. These steps are also great for achieving a good breastfeeding position after your baby is born, if you don’t have a nursing chair.

Looking for Childcare for Your Child

Every year, more parents are joining the work force. Already, more than half of all children under the age of 6 live with two working parents or a single working parent. All of these parents have one thing in common: The problem of how to care for their children while they go off to work.

Choosing child care that’s right for your child is very important and can be very difficult. You have to understand and explain the kind of help you need. You have to examine your own values and beliefs about bringing up children. And you must be confident that the caregiver you choose has values you respect and will give your child individual, caring attention.

All forms of child care have advantages and disadvantages, and within each you are likely to find a tremendous range of quality.

Right from the beginning you will want to look for:

• a steady, reliable arrangement
• caring people who like children
• a healthy and safe environment
• interesting, challenging daily activities for your child

But these qualities can come in many different forms and types of child care. As you begin your search, think about the kind of child care you may want for your child.

Different Types of Antenatal Tests

Screening tests

A screening test shows if you are likely to have a baby with particular disabilities. It cannot tell for certain whether your baby has a condition. Screening tests are usually either scans or blood tests and won’t affect your baby or harm his or her development in any way. These tests are often called ‘non-invasive tests’.

In most areas of the UK, all pregnant women will be offered screening for Down’s syndrome. This will be either a blood test or a nuchal translucency scan. If you choose to have the screening test and the results show your chance of having a baby with Down’s syndrome is more than 1 in 250 then you will be told you are ’screen positive’ or ‘high risk’. However, within this category there is a wide range. A risk of 1 in 100 is very different from a risk of 1 in 4, although both are described as being high risk. A 1 in 100 result means you have a 1% risk of your baby having Down’s syndrome and a 99% chance that he or she will not. But a risk of 1 in 4 means that your baby has a 25% chance of having Down’s. If your results are screen positive, or higher than 1 in 250, you will be offered another type of test (a diagnostic test).

Diagnostic tests

Diagnostic tests are used to find out for certain whether your baby actually has a specific condition or disability. Apart from the anomaly scan, diagnostic tests can affect your baby and have a slight risk of miscarriage. They are tests done on samples of fluid or tissue near the baby. These tests are often called ‘invasive’ tests.

The most common diagnostic tests are:

• Amniocentesis
• chorionic villus sampling (CVS)
• fetal blood sampling
• a detailed anomaly ultrasound scan

Amniocentesis - this is usually performed between 15 and 18 weeks of pregnancy. A tiny sample of amniotic fluid (the water surrounding the baby) is collected through a needle guided by a scan. The results usually take between two and three weeks. The cells from the sample have to grow so that the baby’s chromosomes can be checked.

Some hospitals now offer a special antenatal test to check for some conditions, and this can give the result in three days. This is a ‘molecular’ test and the cells do not need to grow to be checked for certain conditions. You would probably have to pay to have these special tests. The risk of miscarriage from having an amniocentesis is about 1 in 100 (0.5%-1%). After this test you should go home and rest for 24 hours.

Chorionic villus sampling (CVS) - this is usually performed between 11 and 13 weeks of pregnancy. A tiny tissue sample is taken from the placenta with a needle guided by a scan. Initial results are available after a week with full results ready in about three weeks. The risk of miscarriage from having CVS is about 2 in 100 (1-2%). After this test you should go home and rest for about 24 hours.

Fetal blood sampling - this test isn’t as common as the other tests. It can be carried out later in pregnancy at specialist centres. A sample of blood is taken from the umbilical cord to diagnose infections and problems with the blood. Results take between three and four days. The risk of miscarriage from fetal blood sampling is about 2 in 100 (between 1-2%).

Anomaly scan (also known as the 18 to 22 week scan) - This detailed scan checks the structure and organs of your baby, including the brain, heart and lungs. Some hospitals have better scanning equipment than others and the anomaly scan does not always pick up a specific problem. You can ask at your hospital about how well they detect problems. Although you do not have to wait for results, sometimes you may need to have the scan repeated. This might be because the picture is not clear due to the way the baby is lying or because the sonograpner (the person doing the scan) would like to refer you to someone else. There is no known risk of miscarriage from the anomaly scan.

Which is right for me?

You may not feel sure about which antenatal tests to ask for or accept. You may need to ask for more information before you decide whether a particular test is right for you. You can refuse any test or procedure that you do not want, or ask for more time if you are not ready to decide which test to have, although some antenatal tests need to be carried out at certain stages of pregnancy.

You may find it helpful to talk about the antenatal tests with your partner or family, other parents, your midwife or a counselor. Think about the advantages and disadvantages of having an antenatal test, and how you would feel if your baby has a disability. You should be given time to think about your options. But remember that most women have healthy babies.

Saving Your Child’s Benefits Can Offer Great Returns

According to new calculations from the Children’s Mutual, a child could have more than £29,300 savings at 18 years old if their families invested child benefits into their Child Trust Fund.

Recent research found that 29 per cent of parents presently say they’re saving their children’s child benefit. Whereas most families use child benefits for essentials. The Children’s Mutual advised to consider saving all or part of the benefits for the children’s future.

The chief executive of the Children’s Mutual, David White, said:

For parents who can afford it, investing child benefit into a child trust fund account could make a sizeable difference to their child’s future.

According to our calculations, £29,300 could cover a first-home deposit, the cost of a wedding or make a significant contribution to higher education costs in 18 years’ time.

The Children’s Mutual has launched a free helpline on 0800 040 7262. The Essential Guide to Money for Parents was designed to help future or new parents know about what benefits they are entitled to, covering everything from tax credits, government benefits to NHS services.

Antenatal Tests Available

For many women the initial joy of finding out that they are pregnant is quickly followed by a silent hope that everything will be fine with their baby. For others, the thought that something may be wrong might not cross their mind, until they are faced with having to make decisions about which antenatal tests to have. You will be offered many tests during your pregnancy. Some of these will help you to find out more about the health of your baby before he or she is born. But the decision about whether to have a certain test, and what to do if the result is not normal, may leave you feeling anxious and confused.

Your choice

You can accept or refuse any antenatal tests you are offered when you are pregnant. You could choose to have no tests at all or you could choose only those that you feel are right for you and your circumstances. Before you make any decision, you (and your partner) should think about what having the tests means. You may find yourselves worrying while you wait for the results, or you may find yourself having to decide whether or not to continue your pregnancy.

Antenatal tests available

There are two types of test to find out whether your baby has certain conditions that could cause disabilities. These are:

1. Screening tests; and
2. Diagnostic tests.

Talk to your midwife if you are worried about the antenatal tests. You may want to talk about what action you could take if the test showed your baby had a problem, or you may want more information about the support that you and your family could get whatever decision you make. Remember it is your decision whether to have the tests. Waiting a few days before you are certain of what you want will not make any difference to the result of the test.

Copyright © 2008 Raising Babies

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