April 2010
The excitement of starting on solids with a baby can quickly wear thin. I remember offering rice cereal to my first child Tom when he was six months old and revelling in the novelty of it. I also remember the novelty wearing off about three weeks later when I realised the extra planning and cooking involved in feeding this extra mouth.
Second time around with my daughter Minnie, I wasn't as excited about the weaning process. But I was a little jovial as I tried to force that first spoonful in.
Third time around, I contemplated not starting solids and whether I could just breastfeed the child forever so as to avoid the whole process (a fleeting thought, mind you!). Anyway, as baby Daphne approached six-and-a-half months, I sighed, pulled out the Farex baby rice and introduced her to the wonderful world of food.
Sure, introducing new flavours to little mouths is hard work, but at least you can share the load. Having breastfed my children, I find sharing the task of feeding solids a great way to enlist the family and give me some time out. The glass is always half full!
If you have chosen to breastfeed your children, well done on making that decision. You might be one of 90 per cent of Australian women that give it a go. If you're still feeding when your baby is six months of age, kudos to you for persevering. According to the Australian Breastfeeding Association, less than 50 per cent of breastfeeding mums make it this far.
Breastfeeding is hard work. Even if you succeed with your first child, you have to start all over again and teach the skills to your second. I've had cracked nipples and blundered my way through attachment for all three children. But somehow we made it past the first eight weeks. And in my experience, if you can get that far, it's easy to continue - but I never suffered from low supply or continual bouts of mastitis. I have met mums who struggled and were desperate to feed their babies. And you know what, for all its health benefits, I don't think breastfeeding is the "be all and end all". Not if it makes mum unhappy. All babies need a calm and happy mum and if that means giving your baby a bottle, then don't feel guilty about it.
March 2010
Right now my daughter Minnie and I are enduring a terrible phase together. She and her older brother Tom are settling into childcare for the first time. I predicted my son, who is four, to take longer to adjust to it, and Minnie, at two-and-a-half, to thrive. I thought her extroverted personality would pull her through. But I was wrong. Tom races from the car park to get into the building and Minnie's eyes well up with tears as soon as we open the front door.
Half the battle was finding the right centre for my children. The biggest fight is on now, settling them into their new routine. And while it's only one day a week, it's a massive adjustment for such little people. Knowing that one child is so miserable tears me up but I do have to rationalise it with my work commitments.
I used to edit this paper solely from home, in and around nap times and mainly after the kids were in bed. I'm part of a growing network of workers who have become home-based to care for younger children. Technology has made working life that much more flexible, but consequently it's blurred the working and home day together and sometimes it's hard to know when to switch off and "call it a day". It's difficult to juggle emails and editing articles with story time and play dough.
And that's why I'm at home, writing this as Minnie adjusts to her new playground.
My advice is to tour as many centres as possible. I started off knowing nothing about childcare and by the sixth or seventh visit, I was an expert in asking the right questions and getting a good gauge on the place and whether it suited my family. The result is that while I know Minnie is battling right now, I have comfort in the safe hands looking after her.
October 2009
As the flowers blossomed in spring, so did my family. I recently gave birth to my third child, Daphne, and am now settling into life as part of a party of five. It was a joy to be pregnant again, and with an older child (Tom is four) who has been excited by the journey and is rapt in his little sister. Unlike my other daughter, Minnie, who at two years didn't really understand why mum's belly was huge, but seemed pleased with the life-sized doll that came home from hospital.
Through the tales of my mothers' group, I realised just how lucky I was to have three uneventful pregnancies. While some women struggle to fall pregnant, others battle to keep the pregnancy due to a condition called cervical insufficiency. In this edition, we look at what some women have to endure to give birth to a healthy baby. From a stitch at 18 weeks to lengthy bed rest, this kind of pregnancy can cause great anxiety for the parents, and in particular the mother as she hopes her body won't fail her.
From women's bodies to children's, we reveal a condition that is becoming frighteningly common - pre-teen anorexia - occurring in children as young as five. We look at the signs to watch out for and explore why this is happening to our kids.
For parents of older children, we have some important tips for cyber safety. Cyber bullying is a relatively new way for aggressive teens to target their victims. While it is difficult for us to monitor our children's use of a computer, there are ways to make the internet safer in your home.