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Parenting. Give it time.

Hello!

Sorry I have not written for so long! I have been so busy trying to finish off my degree and my level three CCLD.

But the good news is that hopefully I shall soon be starting work as a nanny!

Anyway, recently I found this Welsh Government website. It is so useful!

It contains developmental guides and tips and tricks for those difficult moments like bedtime, mealtimes and coping with crying! As well as guides to things like how to bottle feed and keep it all hygienic for baby. 

Please take a look whereever you live.

http://giveittime.gov.wales/?lang=en

Heuristic Play

Here is a very interesting link to Heuristic Play in the Early Childhood Years. Don't be afraid of the complicated term, heuristic play is simple and can be applied easily in the home or Nursery!

You can easily do this at home as the resources you use are everyday objects and recycled or reclaimed materials.

http://www.earlyyearscareers.com/eyc/latest-news/implementing-heuristic-play-into-early-years/

Tell it Right, Start it Right Campaign

Please support the Down's Syndrome Association 'Tell It Right, Start It Right Campaign'. It promotes positive attitudes in NIPT. More information and the donation page can be found on the following link.

http://www.downs-syndrome.org.uk/about/campaigns/tell-it-right-start-it-right/

A parent’s recent experience of NIPT:

“Someone from the hospital called me on my mobile. At the time I was in my open plan office at work. She did not ask if I was OK to talk. Instead she just went straight to saying that the blood test had come back positive for Trisomy 21. At the time I couldn’t remember whether Down’s syndrome was Trisomy 21 or another of the Trisomies.
If someone is going to give such significant news over the phone, they should check that they are in a position to talk and that they have some privacy. I also think that plain English should have been used. Trisomy 21 may be the medical term but almost everyone knows the condition as Down’s syndrome and I can’t be the only person who wouldn’t understand what she was saying.
Once I found a private place I was able to confirm what the test results meant. I was then told that I should come in that afternoon for CVS or amnio (I can’t remember which it was I was offered) to confirm the finding and determine which twin was affected. I wasn’t asked if I actually wanted invasive testing and it wasn’t presented to me as an option. I was told I should do it and I should do it that afternoon. I told her I didn’t actually want invasive testing because of the risk to the babies. She described the risk as small, but couldn’t actually tell me what it was when dealing with twins. She was pretty pushy that I should come in.
I don’t believe there was any reason I had to come in that day. I assume most people would want more information sooner rather than later but I would have been fine having a couple of extra days to process the news. I am pro-choice but we had discussed it and already decided that if one of the babies had Down’s syndrome we wouldn’t want a termination. And even if I had wanted one, I was only 14 weeks along – there was enough time to spend a few days thinking about it before doing anything invasive”

Sense

9/10 Parents said that their child had less opportunity to play

Disabled children miss out on vital play opportunities, according to new report by Sense. Read more: http://bit.ly/1S1mnBm and watch this moving video highlighting the challenges disabled children face https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UCfBd6O5h8

Depression and Pregnancy/Childbirth

Thanks to the information from the Mind season on BBC - especially "My Baby, Psychosis and Me" I have been looking into supporting parent's mental health during pregnancy.

Mothers and fathers who experience some issues with their mental health during pregnancy and after birth should not be afraid of the stigma surrounding any mental health issues. As a society I feel we should accept and support these parents during a very stressful time of anyone's life!

From watching "My, Baby, Psychosis and Me" I have learned that parents are often kept with their baby unless under very extreme circumstances - so parents need not fear separation from their child if they speak about their problems and seek support from others.
I feel it is important to raise awareness of this issue, as our duty as family, friends and practitioners is to support and care those we come into contact with and love.

This following link is a post to an article discussing whether mothers should have screening for depression in the UK. 

http://www.netmums.com/pregnancy/pregnancy-problems/21-reasons-why-the-uk-should-screen-women-for-depression-in-pregnancy

My Baby, Psychosis and Me.

Really looking forward to watching "My Baby, Psychosis and Me" tonight on BBC One. The episode will document the story of two brave mothers whose childbirth triggered postpartum psychosis - also touched upon by BBC One's Call the Midwife last Sunday.

"This condition is absolutely treatable and women shouldn't hesitate to seek help, but many hide their symptoms"

Dr Alain Gregoire, Winchester Mother and Baby Unit

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35543747

Alison John and the UWTSD Inclusion Conference

The wonderful Alison John attended and spoke at the UWTSD Inclusion Conference today! I would really recommend any practitioner to take a look at her work.

Here is her campaign to 'Liberate a Loo.'

'Toilets are not "Disabled!" If anything they may be temporarily impaired in some way, a broken chain, loo set, no mirror, no sanitary protection! I could go on. But the toilet is not discriminated against.
The term Disabled is used to describe an experience that can happen to particular people within our communities.
We accept that some people have significant impairments, and we as a society do discriminate against them and therefore we do Disable People.
This national movement is about changing the language we use to describe people and things. I would suggest that the term "Accessible Toilet" describes more accurately what it is, the term also suggest anyone who requires a little more space could use it.'

http://www.alisonjohn.com/liberate-a-loo/

Birdfeeders!

Here is my trial birdfeeder I am going to make tomorrow in my Nursery placement setting.

If you were interested in making your own:
It links to -
-ESDGC
-Welsh Government Well-Being Goals
-Understanding of the World 
-Fine motor skills


Find out how to make them here:
http://happyhooligans.ca/homemade-bird-feeders-cheerios-bl…/

A Wonderful Blog!

This is amazing and very inspirational, it is about a dad who writes about his newborn son's journey with Down's syndrome. I'd recommend everyone to have a look .


See here for his blog: https://georgejonessite.wordpress.com/

The Equality and Inclusion of Disabled Children course by Children in Wales and Inclusion Conference

Completed The Equality and Inclusion of Disabled Children course by Children in Wales last Thursday! Looking forward to the training offered in my Inclusion Conference this Thursday.

More information to follow.

Well-being of Future Generations Act

Here is a resource to learn about the Well-Being of Future Generations Act which is from Wales.

I feel it is the first step into a worldwide spread of taking sustainability into consideration especially when concerning children. 

Baby CPR

Here is a brilliant resource for remembering Baby CPR (under one year or very small), as it is different to the older child or adult CPR. Remember - if your child is not breathing than CPR is the best chance of survival for your baby, do not avoid CPR in fear of "hurting" them.


Here's a quick note of what to do:

• Send a bystander to call for an ambulance, if you are alone start CPR immediately (999 or 112 if you have no signal).
• 5 initial breath puffs over nose and mouth. 
• 30 chest pumps (using only two fingers in the center of the chest)
• Two rescue breaths over nose and mouth.
• 30 more chest pumps.
• *** If you are alone and have not called for an ambulance, now is the time to do it after 1 minute of CPR***

Continue 30 chest compression followed by 2 rescue breaths until help arrives!

What to do if a child starts choking!

Paediatric First Aid

Did a great paediatric first aid course today! Here is a video to show what to do if your child (or anyone) starts choking by St. John's Ambulance.

Adult and Child

Baby Choking

Therapeutic Value of Play Course - 18th January

The Therapeutic Value of Play

On the 18th January I went to a course of the Therapeutic Value of Play, it was very interesting and mentioned both practical elements you could involve as well as the more complicated Neuroscience bits!

I'll go through a few of the practical elements because I think the Neuroscience might be a bit too heavy for a blog. A good thing for practitioners to note is that in order to train as a play therapist you must be over 25. 

Practical Elements: 

Messy Play! - One of my favourites for doing with children.

Things to consider: Dry messy play or wet? 

Some children don't like wet or dry messy play depending on them individually, although both have great sensory elements to them, developing fine motor skills as well.

Dry messy play ideas:

Rice, pasta, dry play dough.

Wet messy play:

Cornflower and water, oil or conditioner. An added feature could be to allow the children to add food colouring or flavouring to it which can make it have a great smell!

Silly noises game!

This one is great for playing with groups. Simply write a load of matching names of animals on small pieces of paper, then send the children out making the noise of the animal they have chosen! The aim is to find their matching pair without talking and only making the animal sound. I personally found this very amusing, especially walking over to people shouting "COCK A DOODLE DOOO".

This of course is brilliant in helping develop communication and listening with children.

My String Story.

This one is quite interesting, simply give a child a piece of string, offer them a few props of natural resources or toy animals or people and tel them to make up a story along the string.

A good added bonus to this one is to put the children in pairs (probably the ones from the silly noises game) and allow one child to listen and the other to tell the story, then simply swap turns. It teaches patience, listening and turn taking!

"Healing happens through play" (Axline, 1974)

"Play is children's natural medium of communication." (Landreth, 2002)

Welcome to my Blog!

Hello!

Welcome to my new blog! This is based off my Facebook page. I also have profiles on Childcare.co.uk and other Nannying websites such a Tinies.

My aim is to provide and share information suitable for parents, carers and practitioners as a form of reflective journal for me, so I can continually improve on my practice.

Please see my facebook and Childcare.co.uk profile below.

https://www.facebook.com/awatkinschildcare/timeline

https://www.childcare.co.uk/profile/1996342

The next few posts I put up will be backdated a little bit, but I shall try and upload here the same time as on facebook in future.  If you want to contact me, the quickest way would be through Facebook (general inquiries) and Childcare.co.uk (jobs).