With so many different baby monitors now available on the market, it is difficult to know where to begin when choosing which Baby Monitor you should purchase. It seems every monitor available offers differing capabilities and features.

Here are some of the features you may wish to consider before purchasing a baby monitor:

• Number of channels/ Privacy options (using wireless technology)
• Temperature Display
• Night Light
• Two Way Talk Back Facility
• Movement Sensor Mat (alerts parents when infants stop moving for certain time periods)
• Light Display
• Video Capability
• Distance/ Range

At present, there are no baby monitors on the market which include all of the above features. There is however the option of purchasing two items to monitor all of the above features, these include optional Movement Sensor Mats.

MBM has researched ten of the most popular monitors currently on the market and has identified which features these monitors do/ do not have.

 

The Baby Monitor which ticked most of MBM boxes was the ‘TOMY Video Monitor’. This Monitor retails at £149.99 from www.mothercare.co.uk

Although this is the most expensive of the monitors that MBM researched, we believe that no cost is too much in comparison to the safety of our infants and children as well as the peace of mind for parents.

If you would like to review your infant/ baby monitor, then we would be happy to share your thoughts and opinions with our readers. Please email your review, along with any relevant images to review@mumsbabymagazine.com

The Department of Health issued Guidelines in 1998 suggesting that infants should now be weaned from six months onwards rather than the traditional ‘four month’ milestone that many Health Visitors previously suggested.

So when is it right to begin weaning your infant? The Department of Health suggest that the following signs are a useful way in which to identify when your infant is ready to begin weaning.

1. Your infant shows interest in chewing, whether its their hands or on objects
2. Your infant is able to grab and reach things with accuracy
3. Your infant is sitting upright unaided.

The NHS ‘ Start 4 Life’ campaign recently introduced ‘The Banana Test’ which is said to be an efficient method to identify whether your infant is ready to begin weaning. According to the NHS, if your infant is able to grab a piece of banana and put it into their mouths and eat it, then they are ready to begin eating solids.

With current guidelines suggesting that we should withhold weaning until six months of age, it does seem odd that many of the infant foods on supermarket shelves suggest that they are suitable from ‘four months upwards’. According to the Government Guidelines, these foods are not following recent research and therefore the age guidelines printed on infant foods are outdated and incorrect.

Weaning before your child is ready can increase the chances of your child contracting infections and allergies. Until six months of age, your child’s digestive system is still developing.

Although parents are now warned that they should be in “No rush to mush”, it is hard when your infant who has been sleeping through for the past three or four months begins to wake in the middle of the night. The Governments current guidelines state that infants under six months who wake in the middle of the night are not hungry for solids and should be quenched with either breast milk or formula.

However, if it were completely wrong to begin weaning at four months of age, as has previously been suggested (until 1998 when the Guidelines suddenly changed) then surely the companies selling baby foods advertising from four months onwards would have a fair share of legal battles to pursue. Upon reading more into the Government Documentation upon weaning it actually states “Solids should never be introduced before four months.”

It is important that your child is ready to begin weaning when you make the decision to introduce solids but this should be BABY LED not Government led! Each child is different and each child will achieve different milestones at different times in their lives, this includes when they are ready to be introduced to solids. You, as a parent will most likely know when your little one is ready for food, as they become interested in watching you eat and start to reach out to try foods around them.

Here are some basics for what to do first when you and your baby are ready to begin weaning.

1. Ensure that the equipment you use (feeding spoons, bowls, etc) is clean. It is advisable before six months to sterilise all feeding equipment. After six months, putting items used into the dishwasher should suffice.

2. Sit your child in a high chair so that they are upright and comfortable. Many high chairs now on the market can be used from birth onwards. You may want to use your high chair before your child is four months and able to try solids, perhaps as somewhere safe to place your child for a moment or simply to allow your child to become comfortable in their eating place for the future.

3. Ensure that you have a muslin cloth/ wipes close to hand and have protected your child’s cloths with a bib, Long sleeved bibs tend to be very handy during weaning!

4. Start by offering your child one to two teaspoons of baby rice mixed with their milk (breast of formula milk) during the first week of weaning.

5. Slowly introduce new fruits and vegetables which have been cooked and processed into a mush. (pear, apple, sweet potato, and carrots are excellent foods which can easily be mashed up). These foods can be offered along with baby rice, so that your infant is offered something they are familiar with.

6. Increase the amount of food according to your babies needs. If your baby would like more then offer more! From around nine months onwards you should offer 3-4 servings of food per day as well as the milk feeds. A routine such as Breakfast and milk, snack , dinner, snack and milk , tea, supper milk will soon fall into place.

7. Let babies try finger foods as soon as they show interest. Try to offer a wide range of foods and textures.

8. Rather than plumping for what seems to be the easier option and purchasing bottled foods and tinned baby foods, TRY COOKING YOUR OWN. Not only is it fun but its more nutritious for the child and is far more satisfying watching your child eat the food you prepared by hand.

9. Try to sit down to eat as a family, start as you mean to go on.

10. Remember to encourage foods that you yourself may dislike! Just because you aren’t keen on your greens doesn’t mean that your little one should miss out.

 

Here are some NO NO’s for weaning…

• Never force weaning, One piece of advice that the Department of Health give which SHOULD be followed is “Enjoy it, Encourage it, Don’t force it”.
• Do not use refined sugar or salt in any of your infants foods.
• Do not offer your infant nuts, honey, low-fat foods (those created specifically with lower amounts of fat such as low-fat butter)

If you do decide to wean your child before six months then also avoid the following foods:

• wheat based foods such as bread, rusks etc which include gluten
• eggs
• fish
• shell fish
• nuts
• seeds
• soft unpasteurised cheeses

Upon weaning your child, you will often find that they drop their intake of milk. Before twelve months infants should have between 500-600ml (about one pint) of milk per day. Also, remember that cows milk is unsuitable until your child reaches the age of one year. When introducing cows milk, ensure that it is full fat and pasteurised.

There are many infant and child nutritionists out there who have written and produced a wide range of popular publications upon weaning. These can be very helpful in finding suitable recipes for your little one. Two of the best known child nutritional authors are currently Gina Ford and Annabel Karmel, both of which have a range of books published upon weaning and feeding infants. Although, it is wise to bare in mind that there is some debate as to whether some of the routines and weaning techniques suggested in differing books are correct. As always with parenting, it is down to the parent and the baby to decide what is best for them!

During the early days of parenting, the size of changing bags tend not to be a huge issue, parents usually only need a few things when they are out and about to keep a newborn happy. However, as your little one begins to grow they begin to need more than just a bottle and a few nappies to keep them happy!

This is the time when parents find that they cannot carry everything they need to take with them in the average changing bag. Children who attend nursery often require a lot of baggage space as they need to have all the essentials with them throughout the day and for those parents who use reusable nappies (cloth nappies), it is often difficult to fit all the spare nappies, inserts, wash bags etc into a changing bag for a full day out… these are two valid reasons for upgrading your bag!

The ‘Hauck Blue and Brown Changing bag’ is available from www.childsplaysussex.com for only £17.88. MBM road tested this bag and found that it can fit all of the following into it with ease!

• Four cloth nappies and inserts.
• One changing bag.
• One packet wipes.
• 1 wrap.
• 2 bottles.
• 1 Milk Dispenser.
• 1 Sippy cup full of water.
• 1 Small bag of spare clothes (vest, tee-shirt, trousers, socks).
• 1 box containing two pacifiers.
• 1 tube Bonjela.
• 1 Box Sudocrem.
• 2 Sachets of Nurofen for Babies.
• Purse.
• Cheque Book.
• Mobile Phone.
• Drink (Usually small bottle of Coca Cola).
• Lipstick.
• Epipen.
• 1 Bag of food (including one bowl, two spoons, a yoghurt and raison snacks).
• 1 Toy, sometimes more if required (usually stuffed and quite large).
• 1 Nursery Book.
• 1 Pair sunglasses.
• 1 Pair baby sunglasses.
• 1 Bottle Sun Tan Lotion.
• 1 Muslin Cloth.

The Hauck Blue and Brown Changing Bag has an adjustable strap, this is ideal for carrying the bag on the handle of a pram as it possible to tighten it to the correct height. This bag is made from padded material which is nice and stretchy for fitting in those last minute essentials, whilst still being small enough to be stored underneath the average pram.

The Hauck Blue and Brown Changing Bag has the following features:

• One large front pocket (which zips up and is ideal for personal items)
• Two back pockets wide enough to fit a pack of wipes into each pocket if not more.
• 3 inner waterproof bottle pockets
• 1 separate plastic zippy pocket ideal for wet clothing.
• 2 elasticated side pockets ideal for pacifiers, spare bottles or a small toy.
• 1 Changing Mat

Not only is this bag a bargain but it looks great and has plenty of room for the essentials!

Reading is an important activity which you cannot start soon enough with your little ones! It is even recommended to try reading to your baby during pregnancy to help your baby recognise the sound of their parents voices, It is never too early to start!

Although little ones may not fully understand the full content of books, there are ways in which to spark interest in reading from birth onwards. By introducing picture books which include the use of repetition and rhyme, your little one can have their visual senses stimulated whilst listening to a rhythmic and memorable rhyming stories which  they will over time remember and treasure.

Julia Jarman and Adrian Reynolds released ‘The Big Red Bath’ in March 2005, available in a board book edition, this charming book uses repetitive rhymes and onomatopoeia’s to tell a story of two children, Ben and Bella, an assortment of animals on a journey through the imagination. The pictures are visually stimulating and captivate children’s interest. ‘The Big Red Bath’ won the ‘Stockport Schools Book Award for Early Years’.

Following ‘The Big Red Bath’s’ success, Julia Jarman and Adrian Reynolds released the sequel to this  ‘The Big Blue Bath’ in October 2007.

The Big Blue Train features bright, exuberant pictures which capture the imagination. Once again Jarman and Reynolds make use of repetition and rhyme, creating a rhythmic storyline featuring the well loved characters Ben and Bella.

The Big Red Bath is available from www.amazon.co.uk for £4.10, The Big Blue Train is also available from www.amazon.co.uk for £4.39. These brilliant books are ideal for reading aloud from bump to birth and beyond!

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