World Village » Parenting

Being Patient With Your Little Ones

Tessa — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 05:10:59 +0000

I had my first baby on Nov 23, 2008 at age 35. I have to tell you that I am so glad that I waited to have him, because if I had had him in my 20’s I don’t think I would have been ready mentally to care for a child and I was not financially stable, so I knew that having a baby during my 20’s was not a good idea for me.Becausefo one thin I was still in college and I knew I had to focus, and besides for me my 20’s was for me a time t find and get to know myself. Lookng back that was the best decision that I made was to wait to start my family. Having patience is the utmost number one characteristics to have when having a baby, because we as females dream about getting pregnant and anticpating the birth of our babies. Sometimes we often want a baby for the wrong reasons such as waning someone to love unconditionally, a way to hold on to the fathers. Then when then that dosen’t work a lot of mothes end up resenting the baby. Rememeber a baby is brand new person thats come into the world, as mother getting to know my baby was a rewarding experience, so I took full advantage of my maternity leave, I got t know his likes and dislikes his sleeping and eating patterns. I didn’t mind getting up with him late nights he just became my TV buddy. See as a mother its your job to get to know your baby, he or she getting to know you will have to wait because at that moment the only thing your baby cares about is knowing your near by and will keep him or her safe. It is ok to pick up your baby when they cry, every baby is different and unless these so called experts have children of their own they are not experts, You the mother are the expert. When your baby has one of their crying spells this is when your patience play an important role especially when driving you car either pull over if you can and tend to their needs, or if you can’t get to them you can slightly turn the radio up that may calm them down and your nervs as well, then when you get home just hold your baby and let them know that your their and its ok. Being a patient mom is the best loving gift you can give your baby. A lot of mother failed to realize that and ar pying the price for not having the patience to love and nurture their babies and harmedthem instead, don’t be like that. And remember that children are gifts frm God no matter what act was taken to get them.

Fostering Children From Ethnic Minorities In The UK

joedavid — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 19:29:50 +0000

Fostering and ethnic minorities

Foster carers and all the professionals who work with children and their families from ethnic minorities need to be culturally sensitive to the social and economic stressors that black and ethnic minority families experience as a result of racism and discrimination.

Ethnic minority families face a range of issues that white members of society do not such as personal and institutional racism, the impact of immigration, nationality laws and separated families. These issues can be further compounded by other problems of parenting such as discipline and conflict between generations.

Often each family member will have specific roles which are not usually the norm within white, European families and therefore parenting within ethnic minority families needs to be considered and accepted in the cultural context of the family.

It is often the case that within some Asian families, the older children will be expected to take on responsibility for the younger brothers and sisters which if considered in a western cultural context, might be perceived as the older child being made to be a ‘carer’ and therefore overly responsible or even as sibling bullying.

The ‘Excellence not Excuses’ report showed that social services still face very real challenges in making sure that the needs of ethnic minority children and families are met. In particular, the report found that:

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although anti-racist and equal opportunity policy and procedures existed, they were not consistently implemented or sustained

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workers often had difficulty in identifying child protection issues because they did not understand the needs of ethnic minority children and families

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processes for recruiting foster carers and care staff did not always recognise the changing needs of the population of children looked after

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reception and information services were not always welcoming or responsive enough to people for whom English was not their first language

·

classification categories across councils were not consistent and information was not available or was not used for constructive service planning

Local Authorities have a legal duty to consider a child’s religion, racial origin, cultural background and first language when placing children ‘in care’.

Local Authority social workers are required to find the best match possible between the potential foster child and foster carer. Social workers will attempt to match foster children with foster carers who have had similar backgrounds although this is often not successful due to the lack of ethnic minority foster carers within the UK where there is a shortage relative to the number of children of different ethnic backgrounds being looked after by local authorities.

Foster carers are often asked to look after children with a different racial and cultural identities to them therefore they need to be sensitive to the children’s background, this would have been a significant part of the assessment the foster carers would have undertaken as part of their approval. Foster carers however have access to continual specific training with regard to learning and updating their knowledge about different cultures.

For foster children from ethnic minorities to have their needs met appropriately, the information about their family history and cultural heritage is vital not only to the child’s sense of personal identity and wellbeing, but also to their sense of cultural identification. Foster carers need to constantly consider;

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The extent of quality and quantity of information the child has about their own roots and heritage, and how deficiencies in this information can be addressed;

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The specific family structure in which the child lives, and the patterns of attachment which operate within this particular black family including any attachment figures who may not be blood relatives;

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The impact of migration, separation and trauma on the child and wider family network.

Prior to and during the foster placement, foster carers need to discuss with the child’s social worker how best to address the child’s needs. There will probably be practical considerations such as for some children their religion may mean they cannot eat certain kinds of foods.

Although social workers do their best to make the best matches possible, ethnic minority children and their families are still struggling to receive support from social services which focuses on their needs. There remains a major concern with regard to the quality, quantity and suitability of services such as fostering, available to families from ethnic minorities throughout the UK.

It is of paramount importance to choose the right fostering agency, there are over seven hundred in the UK. Simply Fostering, the UK national foster carer recruitment website provides help by answering questions and identifying the most suitable local fostering agencies with vacancies.

Simply Fostering help people interested in becoming foster carers to act on the Government’s advice to ‘contact more than one Fostering Agency if you are interested in a fostering career’.

For comprehensive and easy to understand information, help and advice, contact Annette or Joe at www.SimplyFostering.co.uk and www.fosteringtransferagent.co.uk

UK Missed Fostering Opportunities

joedavid — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 19:16:08 +0000

UK Fostering, changes for the better

Last month the government missed yet another opportunity to make significant changes that would have better recognised and supported the service provided by foster carers to our most vulnerable children and young people.

Following a recent government enquiry it was decided not to introduce a national fee based system for foster carers and government again stated their opposition to a foster carer registration scheme.

There is a shortage of approximately eight thousand foster carers at any one time in the UK which causes two major problems. One being the obvious lack of numbers and the other being the lack of choice for placing social workers when trying to find the most suitable foster carers for their children.

Without stating the obvious, how can most people who are interested in becoming foster carers and who need to continue to provide for themselves and their families, pursue their interest if they have no clarity about the finances available, for them to then risk leaving a job as required by most fostering agencies.

Another significant issue is the lack of financial security if foster carers do not have a child in placement – no child – no payment. Again the government turned down the advice stating that it was not appropriate because any fee levels should be set regionally as any pay will depend on a many different variables such as levels of foster carer’s experience and individual expertise. National foster carer retainer fees were also rejected as inappropriate to be set by government, again because of the differences in fostering services across the UK and skill levels of foster carers.

Government has shown that they do not have the resolve to take on the antiquated fostering system that requires a foster carer to undertake an assessment to be approved then to undertaken another one requiring the same information, checks, training and time frame if that foster carer wants to exercise the right to move to another fostering provider!

A national foster carer register would have resolved this but it would also mean that foster carers would be free to look after children for any fostering provider or agency, not something that would be welcomed. However if the government created a registration scheme and provided and funded centralised fostering assessments, this would resolve the injustice, increase the number of foster carers, recognise foster carers for the professional they are and drastically improve the chances for our vulnerable children.

The government’s offering is to make changes in the national minimum standards for fostering and to require that Local Authority foster carers be made aware about the details of payments and how the payments are required to be used. Also the standards will be amended to make sure that payments to foster carers be continued when allegations against carers were being investigated and/or until complaints had been resolved.

Small but welcome changes – Another missed opportunity.

It is of paramount importance to choose the right fostering agency, there are over seven hundred in the UK. Simply Fostering, the UK national foster carer recruitment website provides help by answering questions and identifying the most suitable local fostering agencies with vacancies.

For comprehensive and easy to understand information, help and advice, contact Annette or Joe at www.SimplyFostering.co.uk and www.fosteringtransferagent.co.uk

Simply Fostering help people interested in becoming foster carers to act on the Government’s advice to ‘contact more than one Fostering Agency if you are interested in a fostering career’.

Finding Quality Foster Carers

joedavid — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 19:13:14 +0000

Family Services – Recruitment

Simply Fostering help people interested in becoming foster carers to act on the Government’s advice to ‘contact more than one Fostering Agency if you are interested in a fostering career’.

For comprehensive and easy to understand information, help and advice, contact Annette or Joe at www.SimplyFostering.co.uk and www.londonfostering.org.uk

There is ample evidence that the diminishing lack of choice of foster placements is a fundamental aspect of placement instability, disruption and placement breakdown. Fostering is a social care service, and a significant factor in the support available to meet the needs of the society it finds itself in. A fostering service therefore tends to reflect the needs of the community by the type of foster carers approved and the type of foster carers they seek to recruit.

There are no foster carer stereotypes, quality foster carers might be aged twenty one to seventy years, married or living together, single, divorced, widowed, in a single sex relationship, be working or unemployed, own a home or rent, have birth children or not.

Simply Fostering web site feedback

A significant number of people interested in fostering were put off from pursuing an enquiry due to the stigma of having their personal details remain on social services files if they decided not to continue with an application.

Enquirers felt intimidated by the application process however significant numbers felt more reassured by IFA’s than by Local Authorities who tended to give the impression that they were “offhanded” in their approach.

IFA foster carers felt that the relationship with their fostering social worker was on more of an equal footing than did Local authority foster carers who described a more negative, unequal partnership with their fostering social workers.

Local authority foster carers moved to IFA’s due to not feeling valued and for a more generous or appropriate support package. IFA foster carers moved back or transferred to Local authorities due to lack of placements with IFA’s

Foster carers are generally happy with the service they receive and the relationship they have with their fostering provider. However from the evidence, there is a significant majority of approved foster carers who are not happy with their agency and would consider transferring to another fostering provider if the move improved the service they provide for foster children and the day to day life of themselves and their family.

Facts

Successful recruitment requires long-term policy direction, clear targeting and a professional marketing approach. A sound knowledge of the area and the particular agencies’ fostering needs;

· Potential applicants require rapid, structured and knowledgeable response appropriate to individual enquiries

· Fostering providers need to encourage and to listen to their foster carers. The evidence is that foster carers are becoming the most successful recruitment source.

National registration scheme

Foster carers are deterred from exercising their right to move to another fostering agency because they are concerned about damaging their relationship with the agency who holds their approval and because they are required to undergo another full foster carer assessment.

Family Services believes this should be challenged, who else in the childcare workforce has to ‘re qualify’ every time they change their circumstances? Foster carers have no choice but to be self employed, however if so, they should also have the right to be available to choose which agency they provide their unique and valuable service for without the unreasonable requirements imposed by providers.

Family Services finds that all the evidence supports a National register for foster carers providing it recognises the true extent of the unique service they provide and supports foster carers to exercise their rights under regulations.

Foster carers would benefit from the status and freedom of movement by the ‘professionalising’ of their role and children would be better safeguarded by a scheme which ensured that foster carers themselves be responsible to an independent body for meeting a minimum standard of service and quality of care.

From the evidence, a foster carer’s registration scheme would be a significant factor towards attracting and retaining quality foster carers to provide quality placements.

Fostering fees?

Due to the care needs of demands of foster children and the requirements of fostering providers, foster carers in most instances are expected to be available to foster on a full time basis. There are a large number of fostering agencies that Family Services, through the web site Simply Fostering work with, who will not consider new foster care applicants unless one of them if they are joint applicants either does not work or is prepared to give up work.

As a consequence, to be a foster carer with these agencies often means committing to the risk of losing a much-relied on income when fostering, as for the majority of foster carers no child in placement means no fostering allowances. This obviously precludes many families from fostering, in particular, single people unless they are in receipt of Benefits, or in relatively rare instances, are paid a retainer by their fostering provider.

Family Services believes that the IFA’s fee based structure is a more successful model than the outdated payment structure adopted by Local Authorities. The evidence being that foster carers prefer it and foster carers are transferring agencies because of it.

Quality placements – Quality Foster carers

Quite simply, quality placements require quality foster carers; adults who naturally have children’s welfare as their priority and who have the potential to look after children who are not their own.

Quality foster carers possess real empathy with children and their situation. They foster for the right reasons; their primary motivation is to make a positive difference in children’s lives. Successful foster carers have resolved any painful issues in their past and have moved on to become emotionally stable adults who can make and maintain positive relationships.

Quality placements are those where all of the members of the fostering family are listened to and who feel secure in their position in the family. Quality placements are associated with foster carers who value training opportunities and who genuinely recognise that learning is lifelong. Successful foster carers access appropriate resources efficiently; they are confident and can converse at all levels.

Although there are particular factors involved in quality foster care, quality placements are made when there is sufficient choice of foster placement and when the matching between the foster placement and the foster child is considered carefully and not needed to be driven by the pressure to place.

There are many factors which attract and maintain quality foster carers however, Family Services concludes the following that the government should consider:

Local authorities ‘think outside of the box’ when developing their recruitment strategies (Simply Fostering received over one thousand completed enquiry forms)

A form of retention or non placement benefit payment for all experienced foster carers

A national fee based payment structure

A registration scheme for foster carers

Fostering Abused Children

joedavid — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 09:02:26 +0000

Fostering children who have been sexually abused

It is of paramount importance to choose the right fostering agency, there are over seven hundred in the UK. Simply Fostering, the UK national foster carer recruitment website provides help by answering questions and identifying the most suitable local fostering agencies with vacancies.

For comprehensive and easy to understand information, help and advice, contact Annette or Joe at Simply Fostering.

Simply Fostering help people interested in becoming foster carers to act on the Government’s advice to ‘contact more than one Fostering Agency if you are interested in a fostering career’.

Fostering children who display sexualised behaviour is one of the most difficult tasks faced by foster carers. Most adults find it uncomfortable to talk about sex but for foster carers it can be a significant part of caring for children.

Abuse is something that causes actual, or is likely to cause significant harm to a child. It may be physical, emotional, sexual or neglect.

Categories of abuse:

Physical:

Includes children who are physically hurt or injured by being hit, shaken, squeezed, burnt, bitten, or by being given alcohol, inappropriate drugs or poison.

Emotional:

Includes persistent lack of affection, where a child may be constantly shouted at,

threatened or taunted which may make the child very nervous or withdrawn.

Sexual:

Includes full sexual intercourse, masturbation, oral sex, anal intercourse and fondling. Also showing children pornographic material.

Neglect:

Includes the health and development of a child being impaired.

The majority of children exhibiting this behaviour have been abused themselves and they may have received affection or power and control over another child by behaving in a sexualised manner.

All ages of children can be affected; children under five don’t always have the language to talk about their feelings and so act out their abuse.

Children can direct sexualised behaviour at foster carers, children, strangers or family members. Foster carers receive specialised training to help to distinguish normal sexual exploration from behaviour that may put at risk other children in the household and outside the home.

Other young children in the household may be vulnerable to a foster child behaving sexually with them. Foster carer’s children can be at risk both of false allegations and of sexual advances which they do not have the understanding to deal with.

Foster carers constantly monitor what are usually normal family routines which for children who have been abused, might make them feel threatened. Foster children might see adults or children having a cuddle as the start of sexual abuse and because the abuse might have been their only experience of affection, they respond sexually.

Foster carers look at their own behaviours and identify those that might be seen as risky. Reading an abused child a story in their bed might have been a scenario for the start of past abuse and therefore a trigger that causes a sexualised reaction.

Foster carers reduce the risks by finding out as much as possible about any child who might be placed with them. However, this information is particularly important regarding a child who is known to have suffered sexual abuse.

Reducing risk

Before the placement, foster carers assess the effects of having a child who has been sexually abused in the household, particularly someone who may test the family or seek comfort by displaying inappropriate sexualised behaviour.

All foster carers have a Family Safe Care Policy which can be adjusted to meet the needs of foster children and to reduce the risks for families who foster.

Contact www.SimplyFostering.co.uk for comprehensive information and good advice about fostering and becoming a UK foster carer. Also visit www.londonfostering.org.uk

Foster Carers The Best Recruiters

joedavid — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 08:57:55 +0000

The best foster care recruiters?

There is a minimum shortage of 5,000 foster carers in the UK today and in order to keep the fostering service buoyant, that figure needs to be doubled.

Fostering is about caring for a child in your own home. For a whole variety of reasons there are around 39,000 children (in England) who are placed with foster carers by Social Services. Many of these children will eventually return to their families. In some cases this may take a matter of days or weeks in others it may take much longer.

Since the start of operating in 2008, the independent web site Simply Fostering has found plenty of evidence to conclude that “the best recruiters of successful foster carers are foster carers themselves”.

This is not news however, it was found that although some fostering providers pay a finders fee, foster carers are seen as people who are a small part of an agency’s marketing campaign when in many circumstances they should if not be driving it, at least central players.

Simply Fostering found fostering families are both passive and active recruiters. Just being foster carers creates a doorway to fostering for people interested in looking after children and a positive presence in communities who’s most often comments are “I don’t know how you do it” or “I would like to give it a try but I’m not sure….the kids are all trouble aren’t they?”

Foster carers are almost always reported by foster carers as the people they found most useful and memorable if they had contact with them during their assessment process or on pre approval training courses.

Obviously there are dissatisfied foster carers out there who are probably putting people off from fostering however there are more who are enthusiastic, committed and love what they do and it’s these foster carers who have the potential to increase foster carer numbers by being active recruiters.

Simplyfostering believe that agencies should look much closer at enlisting foster carers who often have extremely relevant skills within their family and network. Foster carers are not only foster carers but people who often have lifetimes of professional experience relative to marketing or relevant transferable skills.

Foster carers who are interested in getting involved in the recruitment of foster carers for a few hours a week should be provided with basic marketing training, financial support and the space to develop their ideas and interests. Fostering providers spend huge amounts of money on their recruitment campaigns and almost all have little to show for it.

As part of the recruiter role foster carers should be encouraged to develop the contacts they have in their communities such as with their schools, hospitals, clubs and employments. Foster carers themselves have the potential to identify barriers to recruiting and through their contact with other carers, help to retain fostering families.

As someone involved in fostering, I know that fostering providers see foster carers as ‘foster carers first’ and not as the individual they are who has a great deal more to offer. This is blinkered thinking and completely misses the fostering agency’s best recruitment resource – foster carers themselves.

Simply Fostering help people interested in becoming foster carers to act on the Government’s advice to ‘contact more than one Fostering Agency if you are interested in a fostering career’.

A foster carers perspective – Joelle has fostered eleven children

Deciding to be a foster carer seven years ago turned out to be more work than I expected but on the other hand, the most rewarding thing I have done other than get married and have my own children. Fostering is for the children and I do it for the right reasons, to keep them safe for themselves and their families. It’s often hard to let go but it’s great seeing a family coming together and that makes giving them back much easier.

Not only me but my kids have benefited from being part of fostering. Through the difficult times, especially when their things got ‘borrowed’ by foster children, my kids were helped by the thought that they will never have to leave their family and that there is someone out there in a worse position than they are. There were times though when they were glad when certain children were moving on!

Every child I looked after had experienced loss and grief and all of them had mixed emotions about not living with their parents.

Children need someone they an trust to start feeling better and usually contact with their family, being a foster carer means you need to help children keep in contact.

I haven’t met a foster child who wasn’t confused and angry about being put in foster care and when you talk to them they are either angry at themselves believing they are to blame, or angry at their parents for letting them down.

If you are thinking about fostering remember that children need to feel really part of your life and the things you and your family do. Never lie to them or keep bad secrets and never moan about their family or their social worker – be positive, be honest and always aware that you have the privilege to really make a massive difference for the better in children’s lives!

For comprehensive and easy to understand information, help and advice, contact Annette or Joe at www.SimplyFostering.co.uk and www.londonfostering.org.uk

Foster Carers Perspective

joedavid — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 08:52:22 +0000

Annette has fostered eleven children

There is a price to pay as a fostering family, you have to work out how to give everyone enough time and attention so we all feel part of the family all of the time.

Even when I looked after children who had a really hard time from their parents, I know that most often the best place for children is to be with their own families. Not all the parents have been abusive, one child’s parents had died and a couple had to have serious operations but most children had been hurt in one way or another, mainly because their parents could not cope with looking after them.

Every child I looked after had experienced loss and grief and all of them had mixed emotions about not living with their parents. I know social workers try very hard to keep families together and the ones I worked with so far feel frustrated and sometimes even angry about the lack of choices and support they have to give to families……it all seems to come down to money.

All I know is the children I’ve fostered have only needed someone they can trust and a warm bed and good food to start feeling better. The next step has almost always been to make sure they have contact with their family which can bring it’s own problems, a big thing about being a foster carer means you need to help children keep in contact with their family.

Some, but not many children have been relieved to be in foster care but most want more than anything to be back with their families, even if a parent or relative has abused them. I haven’t met a foster child who wasn’t confused and angry about being put in foster care and when you talk to them they are either angry at themselves believing they are to blame, or angry at their parents for letting them down.

I see a big part of a foster carer’s job is to help a foster child to understand why they feel like they do and that they should feel ok about it. How can children and older kids cope with life without help? Life has dealt them a rotten hand sometimes and they need help to learn to cope. Sometimes they scream and yell, or run away, or hurt themselves, or hurt other people.

Recently I have been taking Parent and Child Foster care placements which offer a home to a baby or young child together with its parent. This is usually for a period for between 12-24 weeks.

It may be that a parent has not had a positive family life and postive input from a foster carer can provide the help a young parent needs with reassurance, guidance and support during a period of considerable changes.

As a foster carer, I help them to develop their own parenting skills whilst ensuring the child was in a safe, secure and nurturing environment. It is a very interestin area of work, especially taking part in assessments and encourage young mothers without taking over their parental responsibilities.

There is a growing need for more foster carers in the UK who are interested in looking after young, most often teenage mothers and their babies. I looked after a young mum, lets call her Tracy. Tracey left school at 15.

After a several periods in children homes she was back living with her mother but they continually argued. There was a lot of alcohol being drunk in the family which hardly helped and Tracy soon became pregnant.

When she came to me she said; ‘I planned it, I wanted to have my own baby but when you’re young, you don’t realise what you’re getting yourself into – like the responsibility, and it is a big responsibility. You just think about having this nice baby and showing it off.’

Tracy was not coping and it was decided that she and her unborn babt were at risk so her local social services agreed it was best to place Tracy in a foster home. With no qualifications and an unstable home-life, Julie would have faced an uphill battle trying to provide a secure and loving home for her baby. The statistics show that babies born to teenage mothers often end up in care.

‘At first they wanted to put me into a hotel-place, the local mother and baby hostel. I went there and it was really rough. I hated the look of it but I had been in a foster home before and I quite liked it, so when they asked me if I would like to be placed with a family I said yes.’

Tracy was five months pregnant when she moved to foster care. She had her baby son, stayed for six months then moved into her own flat and with help, started a hairdresser course at her local college. With the help of a foster carer, mum and baby were given the best start possible.

If you are thinking about fostering remember that children need to really feel part of your life and the things you and your family do. Never lie to them or keep bad secrets and never moan about their family or their social worker – be positive, be honest and always aware that you have the privilege to really make a massive difference for the better in children’s lives!

Simply Fostering help people interested in becoming foster carers to act on the Government’s advice to ‘contact more than one Fostering Agency if you are interested in a fostering career’.

For comprehensive and easy to understand information, help and advice, contact Annette or Joe at www.SimplyFostering.co.uk Visit www.fostering.name

Getting Used To Little Boys

Tessa — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 23:21:16 +0000

GETTING USED TO LITTLE BOYS: First and Only Child

When I was 25 yrs old, I began to have that motherly craving to have a baby, I singled and wasn’t dating, but I knew I wanted one. As time went on so did my life but I was always careful on not getting pregnant because I knew I didn’t want to start a family without being maried. So as I approached my 30’s I thought well I might want to get used to the idea of never becoming a mom it seemed that everyone that I knew was having a baby, people older and younger than me. When I turned 34 I met my soon to be husand on Christmas day of 2007 and guess what, I finally was pregnant, I mean I knew the first time when I was but, the baby wasn’t showing up on the pregnancy test given by my doctor and the home pregnancy test wasn’t giving me the postive results, so I went on with my daily routine of working out and dieting, until one day at work I was sitting at my desk and I felt this movement inside me and I was like what in the world, and over the weekend all I wanted to do was sleep. After 2 moths after I went to the doctor, I got a positive result on the home pregnancy test. The doctor confirmed and yes he gave me a do date of Dec 7 ,08. Anyway I kept track of two different dates because like I said I felt movement two months efore the aby showed up. My little boy was born November 23, 2008. He was so adorable and he already had a stubborn personality, he’d fight with me while I tried to put his t shirts on his pampers anything. My little boy is 15 months old now and boy he is constanlty getting into something his hands stay grabbing at things from one thing to another. When I used to keep my nieces, I would just sit them down and they woldn’t bother a thing they wouldn’t even move, not my baby. When he was an infant, I had to learn to be a marathon diaper changer because he almost got me in the face. But ever since he I have been loving every moment of this mom experience, I look forward to turning in my heels and sandals for athletic shoes and gear, because I know there are many busy days ahead with my little boy Trent.

Coping With Excessive Hair Loss After Pregnancy

Kristie Brown — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:32:27 +0000

You've just had a new baby, and you're still trying to recover from childbirth. Your baby is fussy and won't sleep at night, you still have a few pounds of baby fat to lose, your pre-pregnancy clothes no longer fit, and the cost of supplies for your new little one are presenting a surprising amount of financial drain. Nothing more could possibly go wrong, right? That's when your hair starts falling out. Hair loss after pregnancy isn't a new phenomenon by any means, but you can't believe it's happening to you. At the rate your hair is falling out, you expect to be bald within days. Is this new baby really worth everything you're going through?

The key to this situation is not to panic. Things will get better, you will adjust to the new mode of operation in your home, and your hair won't continue to fall out at this abnormal rate. The reason it's doing it now is because that while you were pregnant, a higher percentage of hair went into its resting phase. Some of the hairs on your head are always at rest and then eventually fall out to allow for new hair growth. During pregnancy, however, more hairs are resting without dropping out, so after you've delivered your baby, that's when they will begin to fall out. You may even experience a few thin areas or even balding spots, but don't worry, because your hair will begin to grow normally again soon.

Even though it's during pregnancy that so much hair goes into the resting state, it isn't going to start falling out until approximately 3 months after delivery. That's because during pregnancy your hormone levels are so high that the hair just doesn't fall out, even if it is resting. Once you've had the baby, and your hormone levels return to normal, all of this resting hair may fall out at one time. In fact, you can lose as much as 60% of your hair following a pregnancy. It's wise to prepare yourself for the possibility so that when it happens you won't have another reason to get upset.

Another thing to keep in mind is that during pregnancy the increased estrogen levels in your body keep more hair growing than would normally remain in place. This results in a thicker, fuller head of hair than you've ever had in your life. Unfortunately, this abundance of hair is what is going to fall out after your pregnancy ends and the estrogen decreases again. The best idea is to enjoy the lush, full hair while you have it and resign yourself to the fact that it won't always be there, because experiencing hair loss after pregnancy is normal.
For more info visit http://www.stopfemalehairloss.com.

Make Infant Night Nursing Easy

BabyGiftsToys — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 21:26:09 +0000

Because the newborn baby’s biological clock hasn’t established yet, they may wake you frequently during the night. And baby’s crying and screaming can make new parents very exhausted. Most of the new parents are struggling with the night nursing issue. In fact, if new parents can prepare baby’s night necessaries in advance and have knowledge of how to respond to baby’s sudden events, night nursing could be easier.

If you are struggling with the night nursing issue, here has some tips and advices from experienced parents may help.

Some experienced parents give me the inspiration to write down these useful night nursing tips.

Knowing the possible events may occur during the night nursing:

1, Baby is hunger or thirst

2, Baby suppress urine or has damp diaper or bed

3, Baby feels too hot or too cold

4, Baby is bitten by the mosquito or other insects

5, Bad sleeping position causes difficult breathing

6, Sudden sickness

Controlling the temperature to create good sleep environment

1. Window: Open the window to get some fresh air, and then close it before sleep.

2. Crib: Don’t set crib under the window or the air conditioner.

3. Clothes and bedding: Don’t let your baby go to sleep naked even in the hot summer, protect the baby’s belly with some light baby blankets. Depending on the temperature, put on light-weight cotton sleeper or heavy fleece sleeper.

4. Air conditioner: The wind direction should not toward baby’s bed and as far as possible. Adjust the air conditioner to the natural wind mode or breeze status during the sleep.

Preparing baby night necessaries in advance

1, Feeding supplies: Breast milk feeding is more convenient. Lying down is ideal for night feedings; when baby is small, you may need to lay her on a pillow so the baby can reach your nipple. Or you may store expressed milk in the refrigerator. This will free you from feeling tired down by breast-feeding, and allow your baby to be fed by your partner if you feel really tired.

If your baby drinks formulas, you need prepare 1-2 ready-to-feed bottles, milk power, and hot & cold water. Don’t put these supplies too far away from you. After feeding the baby, give them some warm water to drink to keep their mouth clean.

2, Diapers and bedding: Changing diapers during the night will keep baby dry and comfortable. Make sure your baby don’t sleep on the damp bedding, if bedding gets wet, you must change it. So always keep some clean diapers and bedding set aside.

3, Clothes: Vomiting milk will make baby clothes dirty and wet, so always prepare two sets of clean baby clothes ready for current season. You may buy from baby depot.

4, Comfort supplies: Soft toys, rattles, latex nipples, or music can calm down the baby, and provide comfort for the baby. You may prepare some comfort supplies for the night. If baby’s crying, these comfort supplies can be very useful.

5, Paper towel: You will need paper towels during the night before and after feeding or changing, so be prepared.

6, Common drugs and thermometer: You need prepare drugs for insect bitten. If you baby keep crying all the time, and have red flash on the cheek, take the temperature. Sometimes you need rash to the hospital, so always prepare some hospital necessary supplies in advance for both the baby and yourself. Put them aside.