Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Parenting Videos: Puppetry for Children
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Dad's Role in the Delivery Room
Dad's Role in the Delivery Room
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Do you want to help out on the next season of Room to Grow?
The format of the program has changed to a magazine lifestyle format and we are looking for baby product contributors and parenting professionals who would like to appear on the program.
We are also looking for mums who would like to present specialised segments. Auditions will be held early next year and segment presenters required include: eco mum; mum who likes to cook and doesn’t mind sharing her recipes; a crafty mum; savvy business mum; and a mum who is into fashion, new products and design. You must live in the Melbourne and Geelong area.
Also we are always looking for mums, dads and bubs to appear on the show as part of interviews, cutaways and vox pops.
After broadcast, the program will be made into short video segments on Room to Grow’s webpage and the TV show will also be distributed via podcast. The series will also be streamed on the Channel 31 website.
If you are interested please email me elisa@roomtogrow.tv, and I will contact you as soon as I can.
Look forward to hearing from you soon,
Elisa Allen
Room to Grow TV"
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Parenting Videos: First Aid for infants & children
Parenting Videos: Home Safety. First Aid for Infants & Children
Monday, October 19, 2009
morning sickness in pregnancy
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Nappy rash treatment
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Parenting Video tip: What to pack in your nappy bag
- nappies
- change mat
- nappy fasteners
- nappy disposable bags
- wipes
- barrier cream
- hand sanitiser or gel
- spare clothes for you
- water bottles
- formula or breast milk
- bibs
- burp cloth
- insulated bottle holder
- baby food and spoon
- dummies
- cloth nappy or wash cloth
- spare clothes for baby
- blanket or wrap
- tissues
- toys
- food and drink
- suncream
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Useful Child safety websites
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Childproofing products from Homesafe
Childproofing products
Once your little one starts crawling and getting into everything, it's time to have a look at how to make your house safer! Noel Caulfield from Homesafe shares with us some important childproofing products to help make your home safer.
Meredith: What are some additional things I can do to ensure safety within the kitchen, like the stove for example?
Noel: There is a device called hob guard. This is a surround that goes around your burners and it attaches to the bench top using self-adhesive pads. So it is very easy to put on, it stops pots from being pulled over the front of the hotplates and also protects the knobs if the knobs are up at bench level.
Meredith: Can we go through the different rooms in the house…the lounge room for example, what are the danger zones there?
Noel: What you should be looking for in the lounge room is low level sharps, for example coffee tables. A lot of people have glass top coffee tables and the corners can be terribly dangerous, corner cushions can go over the corners. You need to get the right corner cushions, because many don’t stick on the corners and they're made of teething plastic so the kids actually chew the corner cushions off. We recommend a foam base cushion that’s typical of what you might put on. Other things you are looking for is fireplace surrounds; if you are using an open fire or a gas fire make sure that is protected by some sort of gating product; looped blind cords, they are potentially dangerous in all the rooms of your home. If you do have looped blind cords just get some simple hooks and put them up above 1500 so that the loop of the cord is 1500mm above floor level and that will stop them getting into any sort of grief with those.
Meredith: What other things should you be looking at in the lounge room, obviously cords and leads from stereos and televisions?
Noel: Most houses these days, because of the electronics, we tend to not have enough points and lots of power boards. The power board I recommend is a power board that has a safety device. It has a turntable positioned over the terminals and that simply opens and then snaps closed as soon as the plug is pulled out.
Meredith: What is the concern with power points?
Noel: The concern with power points is that a toddler can place an object like a hairpin in a power point. Now I should probably go back one step, and that is you really need to ensure that your switchboard is protected by safety switches. Now most modern houses are, but if they are not it costs about $250 AUS for an electrician to come and safe guard your power board. That will shut your power down pretty much immediately, but there still requires a purge of power before it shuts down so you still should cover your power points.
Meredith: How do you cover your power points?
Noel: For standard power points you can buy these plugs for all most nothing. The plugs plug into the power wall sockets and isolate the power point from the child.
Meredith: Is there anything else we should look at in the lounge room?
Noel: I will mention low level glass. It's not necessarily isolated to lounge rooms, but many people are not aware of the fact that if their houses are built say between the mid seventies and the mid nineties, they're likely to have low level glass that is extremely fragile. What we tend to do with those houses is we rip up carpets, polish the floor boards and create runways within the house. A toddler on a push toy can get up a fair amount of speed and if they hit the windowsill, that will propel them into the glass which can cause them some serious injury. Now what we do with glass, obviously you can replace the glass with safety rated glass that’s quite expensive, but a relatively inexpensive solution is to use a safety film which needs to be professionally installed. It will reduce the ability of the glass to smash and shard and it’s the sharding that causes all the damage.
Meredith: I know we have only just briefly touched on a few tips and thank you very much for this interview.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Make your home safe for your baby
Contact Us
Babies first haircut
choice is up to you as to when you decide to cut those lovely locks off,
there is no specific age. I have written a few helpful tips that I
found worked when I got my child's first haircut.
- Take your child into the hairdressers with you when you get your
haircut and do this a few times before your child gets their haircut,
you want them to get used to the noise and the salon.
- Plan the haircut, work out what part of the day your child is most
happy and relaxed, early morning or after your child has had a sleep
or eaten.
- Role play - kids love to mimic what we do, pretend to play
hairdressers with your child. Set up a pretend salon, use a water
spray bottle if you have one, wrap a towel over the shoulders,
pretend to cut your or your child's hair or your child's dolly with your
fingers.
- Choose a hair dressers that you know and if you don't, well choose
a child friendly one - hairdressers that have been trained to cut children's hair.
- When your child is getting their haircut, stand back still in view
of your child so the hairdresser can work. If this is not working,
entertain and distract your child by talking to them or give your
child one of their favorite toys. You may even have to sit in the
seat with your child on your lap.
- Our hairdressers use a toddler booster seat on the barber seat and
usually have a Wiggles or Thomas cape for the child to use. Very handy
if the hairdresser wants your child to tilt their head they can simply
draw attention to a place in the cape and the child will look.
- If you have other children, get their haircut done as well. This
will encourage the youngest one to have their haircut to keep up with
their older brother or sister.
- If you want to capture this special occasion as a memento and you
are going to use a video camera or take photos, make sure you're not in the way of the hairdresser and your child is calm and enjoying the
haircut. Bring along a friend to take the video of the before and after shot. Also keep a little hair sample for the scrapbooks.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Looking for mums who love to write!
Cheers
Elisa
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Natural wood teething ring
Natural wood teething rings
Great for mothers that are thinking green when choosing products for their baby, choosing natural materials such as wood is a great non-toxic alternative. There are many different versions of wooden teething rings out there in the market. Most of them are hand made and made out of maple or cherry as they’re solid woods that won’t splinter. Most of the teethers are also finished with bees wax, however it is best to ask what the teething rings have been finished with before you buy.
The teethers can be introduced to your baby at 3 months +. The teethers are easy to hold by an infant and can be used as a toy as well. The care for the teether is important to know. Like your wooden chopping boards or any wood product, they are naturally anti-bacterial, however you still need to clean and oil wood. Don’t submerse the teething ring in water, it is best to clean the teether with warm mild soapy water then rinse in water and leave the teething ring to dry. To seal the teething ring, use a food oil such as olive oil. The best recommendation I have found so far is to coat the ring with beeswax and allow it to dry before you give it back to your baby to chew on.
The wooden teething ring can be found on-line or you can buy it at your local baby boutiques, especially your eco friendly baby shops.
You may also like the article on plastic teething rings
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Toddler Sun tips
- young children have very sensitive skin, so make sure you use 30+ sunscreen
- put sunscreen on their face, arms, torso and legs
- Do not take babies out into the sun, always keep them in the shade
- Always seek doctors advice before venturing outside with your bub
- use disposable swimmer nappies and a sun suit that covers most of the child body
- A wide brimmed hat or one that has fabric sides and covers the back of the neck
- sunglasses must have a UV filter protection for your child's eyes
- take a sunshade tent if there is no shade where you are going
- remember only short periods of exposure to the sun
Friday, September 11, 2009
I found this fantastic website Babypoop
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Parenting Videos: Nappy Rash
- change your babies soiled nappy as soon as possible
- Keep bottom clean and dry
- poo is acidic and can burn your babies skin
- clean bottom with water instead of wipes
- aloe vera gel makes a great barrier
- use nappy rash cream to prevent nappy rash
- create a barrier using nappy cream
- airing the affected area, keeping them out of a nappy for a while
- apply olive oil on baby skin to create barrier
- see a doctor if the rash is not healing up
Teething rings and teething toys
Your baby will tend to start chewing on their fingers or toys to help relieve the pressure in their gums, so that’s when it’s a good time to introduce a teething ring or toy. As the teeth cut through, a teething ring can help soothe. It's also beneficial during teething as the chewing action helps to push the tooth through. There are so many teething products out there, you have lots to choose from so to help you through it I have reviewed some teething rings.
Teething rings can be made of plastic, metal and rubber. Make sure that what you are giving your child is safe to put in their mouth and never freeze, steam, boil, or put them in the dishwasher or microwave as your teething rings could burst or crack or the plastic may degrade. The best way is to wash the teething ring in warm soapy water.
The first teething ring on my list is
IcyBite Hard/ Soft Keys from Nuby
Age: suitable for 3 months +
Features: The key's cooling gel is nontoxic, it's also BPA free (its a chemical (bisphenol-A (BPA) used in plastics), it has bright colours for visual stimulation and a good sized ring to make sure the keys are easy to hold and shake. The tops of the keys are constructed of purtex. Bumps and riders that the child can chew to massage sore gums.
Performance: I bought this for my son when he started teething and he loved it straight away. It wasn’t just a teething ring, he also used it as a toy. He could clutch it in his hand to shake it and individually move the keys around the ring, which is great for his hand eye coordination. Easy to use, each of the 3 keys has a different shape and texture and in our experience every corner of the keys and the ring has been chewed, bitten and sucked on.
Reliability: After the good workout that our son gave the keys, they are still in quite good shape with no splits in the gel pockets though there are lots of little teeth marks and scratches. He is now 2 ½ years old so they have lasted very well.
Tips: When placed in the fridge it becomes cold, the gel is designed to stay cooler for longer than normal water filled teethers.
Cost: Varies from $9:00 to $12:00 AUS available at all your usual parenting outlets.
Rating: 4/5
This is not an advertisement from Nuby, I will only review products if I think they will befit and are suitable for the parenting community. All products submitted for review are given to charity.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Friday, September 4, 2009
This week features on Parenting Videos
- Its all about nappies "The pros and cons of disposable nappies and Diapers"
- this weeks tip Parenting Tip: breastfeeding positions
- recipe this week is Homemade Wholemeal teething rusks
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Parenting Videos: disposable nappies or diapers
Transcript Parenting Videos: Disposables nappies or diapers
Meredith: What about this one? I suppose a more traditional style the standard disposable nappy…
Kylie: standard disposable nappy.. again various different sizes you can buy, they are water proofed on the outside so its supposed to stop leakage on the outside, you don’t have to with some of the cloth nappies buy a plastic cover so you don’t get the moister coming through to the outside. They have a softer lying inside for the babies skin and the moister is supposed to go into the lining part, so it gets drawn away from the babies skin.
Meredith: Are chemicals used?
Kylie: They are manufactured with chemicals and they are not bio degradable also a bigger impact on the environment
Meredith: and what about on the babies skin given that there is bleach and chemicals used in the absorbency gels?
Kylie: certainly, you can get babies actually having more nappy rash with this kind of nappy than with some of the cloth nappies. Purely down to the fact that the chemicals, the baby is sensitive to the chemicals and also the plastics used on the inside and outside of the nappy, like allergy reactions which stimulate more nappy rash things like that…
Meredith: the pros of this disable nappy?
Kylie: its very easy to use, that’s why a lot of people use them, throw it away, you can buy them in most shops, its very easy to use….
Meredith: There is another type of disposal nappy lets go with that one…
Kylie: this one is eco friendly disposable nappy, its not used chemicals in the products for making it the same as the major brand. Its biodegradable
Meredith: fully biodegradable?
Kylie: Not fully biodegradable there are certain parts of this nappy that don’t biodegrade. There are other nappies that you can buy from recycled products that are fully biodegradable.
Meredith: What recycled products are used in these nappies?
Kylie: different kinds of pulps, paper and things like that, they are not bleached, they have no chemicals used in them at all, where as this one just to make it white has been bleached.
Meredith: so the pros of that would be, in terms of the environment, the nappy would be less of an impact on the environment and a little friendlier.
Kylie: certainly friendlier that this kind of disposable nappy, but not the friendliest version of the eco friendly disposable nappy
Meredith: What would be the friendliest of the disposal nappies
Kylie: the one that has no chemicals in it and it would biodegrade a lot easier….
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Parenting Tips: breastfeeding positions
- Cross cradle hold
- Cradle hold
- Football hold
- side-lying hold