Guest Post, Author at Inspired Living SA

Babies, Children, Family, Mothers, Parenting, Parenting Advice

Tips on Creating Healthy Sleep Habits for Your Child

How is your child sleeping? Give him the gift of a Good Night’s Sleep!

Sleep. We all need it, and we don’t know how important it is until we can’t get enough of it? Are you a mother? Then you know EXACTLY what I’m talking about.

Can you still remember what it feels like to look into your partner’s eyes? To have time to read a magazine, take a long bath and just generally have a life? Or are you constantly on pyjama drill? Wondering when this “punishment of motherhood” will end.

Sleep is vital for all humans to be healthy: it’s when we recharge so we’re at our personal best. Bad sleeping habits are linked to issues such as obesity, poor performance, ADHD, car accidents… to name just a few! If your child is not sleeping well, you’re likely not to either and this could be detrimental to your health as well as your child’s! However, if addressed early on, sleep problems can be overcome. The bad news is bad sleepers do not just “grow out of it”. But the good news is there is a lot you can do about it!

Here are a few myths about sleep that you need to be aware of:
Myth #1 ~ All soothers are good for my child’s sleeping habits.
Unfortunately not all soothers (be it a dummy, taglet blanket, moms fingers, milk) are good for your child’s sleeping habits. It depends on your child’s age and tendency’s, but chances are that he can use some of these to aid him/herself in falling asleep which never teaches him the skill of self-soothing.

Myth #2 ~ The later I put my child in bed and the more tired he gets during the day, the better he will sleep.

Actually it works the other way around. The better rested your child is, and putting him/her to bed at an appropriate bed time, actually makes them sleep better and longer.

Myth #3 ~ Some children are just bad sleepers and they will grow out of it eventually.

Did you know that studies have shown that adults who tend to have insomnia and bad sleeping habits were actually bad sleepers as children? Sleeping is actually a skill we need to teach our children, just like walking, eating and drinking. Your child will not grow out of it! The earlier you address it the better!

Myth #4 ~ I can wait to start teaching my child the skills to sleep when he is older or on solids.

The fact of the matter is that we as parents interfere with our children’s healthy development of good sleep cycles. There is so much that we can do better from the day they are born to implement healthy sleep associations and awake-sleep cycles.

Myth #5 ~ The only way I can teach my child to self sooth is to leave him to cry-it-out.

Teaching your child to self sooth is not just a matter of leaving him to cry. There is so much that you can do as parent to follow a structured sleep plan that will give your child’s this skill. Sleep is influenced by so many things; stimulation, routine, feeding habits, bedtime, health, discipline, and a trained professional can help you to implement changes in your child’s life that learn him the art to self sooth. Remember that crying is your child’s way of protesting change, and not all crying is bad.

Myth #6 ~ It is selfish of me to want to have my child sleep through the night.
Remember that teaching your child self soothing strategies are not about you! Consolidated, uninterrupted 11/12 hours of sleep is what your child needs.

By taking the necessary steps to achieve restful, consolidated sleep for your child you will be giving them a skill they will carry with them throughout their lives. And this is truly a gift.

The Author Petro Thamm is a mom, and founder of Good Night Baby, a certified Sleep Sense Consultancy. For more help on sleep related matters for your baby and/or toddler, contact Petro via email at: [email protected], or you can visit their website by clicking here or join their Facebook fan page.

Source: Information & Images from Goodnight Baby

Babies, Children, Competitions, Family, Lifestyle, Parenting, Parenting Advice

Babies In Mind

Having a baby is a beautiful and wonderful thing, but it can sometimes feel traumatic, depressing and even frightening. Everyone has their own birth experience and stories to tell but very often they will neglect to mention the ‘best kept secret’, that babies are sometimes hard and parenthood – particularly motherhood can be gruelling but at the same time, of course, it is the best thing in the world.

I thought I would share some facts on motherhood and parenting with you:

• Women are more likely to become depressed in the first year after having a baby (and the last trimester in pregnancy) than any other time in their lives.
• 10-15% of mothers develop postnatal depression (PND), and in developing countries and poverty-stricken areas, the figures are much higher.
• Research has shown that 1/3 of Khayelitsha moms suffer from PND.
• Suicide is the leading cause of maternal death in developed countries.
• The new father can also get depressed. Dads often feel left out and unwanted when babies come along.

As a new mom, it’s so hard to feel frustrated, disappointed, confused, depressed and anxious when you’re expected to be blissfully happy. The media contributes to this problem by perpetuating a lie about motherhood and babies by publishing only pictures of young, beautiful, skinny, model mothers, and bouncy, smiley, contented babies. There are relatively few pictures in baby and parenting magazines of the graveyard shift, mothers looking and feeling like hell, trying to soothe an unhappy baby, trying to breastfeed a screaming baby who can’t seem to latch, etc. In the context of this fairy tale, idealized image of how motherhood and babies are supposed to be, the reality can feel like a huge let down. It can even feel like a betrayal.

The truth is that real babies can disappoint their parents sometimes …especially sick babies, colicky or reflux prone babies, unplanned babies, high need babies who cry a lot and are irritable and difficult to soothe, babies who don’t feed well, and babies who are abnormal or handicapped in some way. It’s very disappointing when you realize that your baby can’t meet your own unmet needs and he won’t be everything you want him to be.

It is vital to have a support system during parenting, especially in the first few months. The loving support of a spouse is really important! Part of the dad’s role in the beginning is to look after the new mother. Support from friends and family is also protective, as long as it is the kind of support that empowers rather than controls. Often your own mother can be the most powerful factor that either strengthens or undermines your ability to cope as a new mom. Connecting with other people, especially other new moms, is extremely important. New mothers are often socially isolated, and being alone with an unhappy baby is not easy.

If you find yourself struggling as a new parent or if you need emotional support or guidance with your baby, contact one of our Babies in Mind practitioners in your area, either to join one of our workshops, attend one of our talks, or for individual consultations. All our practitioners are mental health professionals with specialized training and expertise.

Babies in Mind, written by Jenny Perkel, is all about staying sane during the wonderful but challenging first year of your baby’s life. It is the guide to help you understand both yourself and your baby from a psychological perspective. Feeding, sleeping and crying usually bring the most stress to parents and their babies. They are the classic sanity wreckers. Read about these and other sanity wreckers like high need babies and postnatal depression.

We are excited to let you know that we have three copies of the Babies In Mind to giveaway! Babies In Mind, written by Jenny Perkel, author of Babies in Mind and Streets of Jewels, she is a clinical psychologist, a mother and a trained nurse / midwife who has published numerous articles about babies, children and parenting for South African magazines.

All you need to do to win a copy of this wonderful book for yourself or a friend is show us some Facebook love! Follow the simple steps on the entry form below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Competition Details:

The Babies In MInd Giveaway will run from 2nd December 2012, until the 10th December 2012. The winner/s will then be selected via the Rafflecopter form and announced on my blog and on Facebook. The winners will also be notified via email.
Please leave a comment on this blog, below the post, stating that you have completed the above, along with your details in the comment section below this post (please use a valid email address). Your details will be used to validate your entry if you are selected as a winner.
Conditions of entry: Anyone may enter this giveaway but please be advised that the various companies sponsoring prizes on Super Mom Blog, are based in South Africa and therefore prizes will only be shipped within South Africa. The prizes may not be exchanged for cash.

Children, Education, Family, Parenting, Parenting Advice

How to Spark your Child’s Physical and Intellectual Achievement

Do you want your child to develop a strong, agile, and healthy body? Do you wish your child could master the skills needed to excel at a variety of sports? I am sure all parents want their children to experience success and to have fun while they develop fine and gross-motor movements as well as good balance, co-ordination and rhythm. (Unfortunately many sports programmes for young children target one specific set of skills and are competitive and challenging in a way that could warp a child’s self-esteem or emotional development.)

Do you want to raise a creative child? One who can come up with amazing ideas, amuse himself, solve problems and enjoy the magical side of childhood? Of course you do! The problem is that these days it seems like every toy and every children’s programme focuses on education, not creativity.

The good news is that you can foster both the creative spark and the optimum physical development! Start by tweaking your attitude: the strict rules of rugby are great for the Springboks, and statements such as, “No, no, the sun should be yellow,” can either hinder a child’s willingness to participate in sport or halt creative thinking. Encourage participation and creativity by being open-minded and non-judgmental.

Participation in physical activities that are fun and non-threatening and also being involved with stimulating creative activities lets children develop their skills in a way that works for them. Physical and intellectual development are often closely intertwined. Even 6 year-olds can do basic multiplication – they often figure it out on their own through playing games.

Here are ways to spark both the physical and intellectual development of your child:
1. Free play Open up some time for free play – just relax and let your children play as children. Avoid complicated toys; rather, opt for things such as building blocks, dough, a ball, a hoop, a Frisbee, crayons and paper or just kitchen utensils. Free play is about letting children solve their own problems, as opposed to showing them what the answer is.

2. Music – music is fun! Children respond immediately to music. Encourage them to sing, dance and try their hand at various instruments. Dancing or moving to music is great exercise too!

3. Story Telling Every child loves books, and every parent loves a child who reads: they’ll do well in school. But books and stories are also a great source of creative fun. When children learn they have the ability to take stories off the page, they feel empowered to let their own amazing ideas take over. Children of almost any age have the ability to compose their own stories; they just need some encouragement from you.

4. Drawing, Colouring and Crafts Isn’t doing crafts just creative by nature? Not always. Choose hands-on projects that include a component that your child contributes. Sometimes that’s as basic as choosing the colours they wish (No, the sky does not have to be blue!), or doing a project where you don’t have to follow the instructions word-for-word to get a fun result.

5. Outdoor games: With basic equipment and fine weather, your child will enjoy simple physical games! Use a hula hoop, a Frisbee, a skipping rope, a ball balanced on an empty coffee tin to aim at and hit with a pool noodle for a bat. Create a target and let him throw balls of different sizes, shapes and colours. Set up a series of 5 small objects on the lawn about 1,5 meters apart – in a straight line – and a target or goal at the end. Give your child a ball (preferably a small soccer ball), and ask him to control the ball with his feet only, weaving in and out of the line of objects. Once he reaches the last object, he must take aim and kick the ball into the goal.

Every child possesses unique talents and unlimited potential. It is up to us – parents and educators – to identify, nurture and develop those latent talents. However, with such busy lifestyles and demanding careers, parents often do not have the energy, the expertise or the time!

“Beyond Potential” is a group of ex-teachers (and present parents) who understand too well the rigors of modern parenting. They have created an innovative programme with the specific aim to help parents and teachers in their challenging task – to stimulate a child’s imagination & creativity, enhance perceptual, physical and cognitive skills – while the child experiences fun, excitement and discovery!

The Programme is for children aged 2 – 10, and consists of:

“Buzzi Brains” = Educational Games, Stories and Discussion, Arts and Crafts, Fun, mind-stretching Activities and Brain Gym.
“Buzzi Bodies” = All the skills needed to excel at sport in Primary school. (Soccer, Cricket, Tennis, Rugby, Hockey, Netball, Golf, Rhythmic gymnastics and Athletics.) Develops gross & fine motor movement, balance, locomotion, spatial relationships, co-ordination, rhythm & timing, strength and flexibility.

To find our more about Beyond Potential and other products that they offer click over to their website here.

Disclaimer: The above article was supplied to Super Mom Blog for publication by Beyond Potential.