Ready, Steady… Walk

YOU are still your baby’s best toy. Your baby will love people talking to them and making faces with them. Read and sing to your baby and let them lie on your tummy to play and gently rumble. You will notice in the second half of their first year, their physical activity and abilities really step up a gear!

You may have noticed your baby is moving more and more every day—it may sometimes feel like they’re in constant motion! That’s great, as all this activity is helping to make their muscles strong for crawling and learning to walk.

You never get a minute to yourself, yet you’ve never felt lonelier? Yes, that’s the paradox of lonely parents. While you’re likely smitten with your newborn, there’s a certain kind of loneliness in parenthood that can come with being at home with a baby, day in, day out.

In Australia, almost all mums intend to breastfeed. While breastfeeding is a natural way of feeding, it isn’t always easy. The most important advice is to seek professional help if you’re experiencing difficulties and find a good support network early on.

If there’s one feeling that unites mums and dads all around the world in the rollercoaster of parenting emotions, it’s guilt—and most commonly it’s a mother’s guilt. Let’s break the silence on parent guilt and other common feelings.

Taking care of a newborn baby is a full-time job which requires dedication from you and your family. So, if you’re a working mum and you’re planning on returning from maternity leave to go back to work, you can only imagine how much that’s going to test your organisational skills!

Did you know? Offering sugary drinks to your baby adds extra calories to the diet and can negatively affect their teeth health?  Offer water in a cup instead.  

With social media providing a window into our lives for all to see, parent shaming online—or more commonly mum shaming—is something we need to all be aware of. Find out how online shaming and cancel culture can affect parents today.

When your baby has a fever it is naturally a concern. Fever is a symptom that occurs when our bodies are fighting an unwanted intruder such as a bacteria or virus, and may or may not need to be assessed by your doctor.

Now that your 10-12-month-old is really getting the hang of feeding themself, keep offering them a wide variety of foods and textures to establish good, healthy eating habits. 

Most formula fed babies will be very happy on the baby formula you first choose. However, it’s important to know that not all formulas suit all babies. Below is a list of common feeding problems some babies may experience, however in most cases you will find these aren’t really cause for concern. If your baby experiences any severe feeding problems after consuming baby formula, such as vomiting or diarrhoea, you should seek the advice of your doctor or health care nurse immediately.

Cow's milk allergy is a common food allergy in childhood, impacting approximately 1 to 2% of preschool children. Fortunately, the majority of children outgrow this allergy by the age of 3 to 5 years, with less than 0.1% of school-age children affected.  
 

The skin is your baby’s largest organ and plays a really important role in protecting your little one from external bacteria and infections. Your baby’s natural skin barrier is still developing, making it more sensitive to outside irritants and more likely to lose moisture from the inside.

It’s easy to fall into the habit of offering your baby the same foods every day, especially if you know they’ll happily eat them. Here are some simple food ideas for your 9 to 12 month old to expand their diet without compromising on those all-important nutrients.

Most babies start solid foods at around 6 months. Baby-led weaning, where your baby feeds themself finger foods, is a way to help them discover new flavours and textures at their own pace.

Statistics show that Australia has one of the highest rates of allergies in the world, although it’s not entirely understood why. The causes of allergies in children are complex and linked to several factors. If you suspect your child is allergic to a food or substance, always get it checked out by your doctor.

Around 10-12 months, babies are ready for harder finger foods & self-feeding. This article will give you some great menu ideas for your little one as they grow toward toddlerhood.