Child Development, Health & Learning | Annabel Karmel https://www.annabelkarmel.com/advice-category/child-health-and-development/ Baby Food, Recipes, Books & Products for Babies and Children Fri, 08 Jul 2022 08:52:15 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 https://www.annabelkarmel.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/fav2-60x60.png Child Development, Health & Learning | Annabel Karmel https://www.annabelkarmel.com/advice-category/child-health-and-development/ 32 32 Toddler Top Tips to Healthy Food Habits https://www.annabelkarmel.com/advice/toddler-top-tips-to-healthy-food-habits/ Wed, 02 Feb 2022 15:27:34 +0000 https://www.annabelkarmel.com/?post_type=advice&p=94491 That anticipation of wondering whether the meal you slaved over for hours will end up on the floor or not is a gamble with very little reward! Most parents (myself included) are all too familiar with that sense of dread, especially when faced with a fussy eater on their hands, but fret not, there are […]

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That anticipation of wondering whether the meal you slaved over for hours will end up on the floor or not is a gamble with very little reward!

Most parents (myself included) are all too familiar with that sense of dread, especially when faced with a fussy eater on their hands, but fret not, there are ways to combat messy mealtimes.

Here are my and children’s behavioural experts ToddlersTeensAndBetween top tips to help your little eater develop healthy mealtimes habits and a smoother food experience for all!

  1. Give them a choice

Giving toddlers a ‘this’ or ‘that’ choice allows them to have some autonomy and control during mealtimes. This choice doesn’t have to be what they’re eating, rather the order they can eat it in, what plate they have it from and where they sit to eat their meal!

  1. Routine is supreme

Set and stick to firm boundaries around mealtimes: these might be that they sit down on their chair or where they eat each meal. This embedded routine will provide your toddlers with a cue for mealtime structures and will help build a good association with food and eating!

  1. Remain impartial

Maintain a neutral reaction to food. All food is fuel. It all serves a purpose and when we relax our little ones begin to embody that relaxed energy and eat intuitively, listening to their own bodies cues to decide how much and what to eat. If we don’t label food as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ or ‘naughty’ then all food becomes what it is, fuel.

  1. Get them involved with tasks

Most children adore assisting you in the kitchen with fun tasks. Things like squeezing fresh orange juice or cracking eggs are well within the capabilities of a young child. It’s amazing how being involved in the planning and preparation of a meal can stimulate a child’s appetite!

  1. Let them eat with their eyes

Without going to unnecessary lengths, try to make your child’s food not only taste good but look good too. Make mini portions in ramekins, chicken skewers or thread bite sized pieces of fruit onto a straw. Salad lollipops are a great way to try lots of different foods and textures in one go.

  1. Lead by example

Eat together to show your fussy eater how good the food is – your little ones love to mimic, it’s how they learn. Eating together and sharing the same, or parts of the same, meal can create a really positive atmosphere all around. When your little one sees their family enjoying their meals, it can be enough inspiration for them to give it a go themselves.

  1. Hide those veggies

If you’re worried that your fussy eater isn’t getting enough nutrients then you can always sneak them in to their food! For example my Bolognese sauce contains multiple hidden veggies that even the most seasoned detective would struggle to spot!

  1. Stay hydrated

Children are particularly at risk of becoming dehydrated because a child’s body is less effective at perspiring and produces more heat during physical exertion. Because children also tend to be more physically active than adults, heat and dehydration can happen more quickly. A child that is ‘always hungry for snacks’, could in fact, simply be thirsty. Try offering drinks instead of repeated snacks.  

  1. Get cooking

Getting kids in the kitchen and taking an active interest in what they’re eating is essential for their general health and wellbeing. Particularly if you have a fussy eater, as they’re far more likely to eat something that they have prepared themselves than something you’ve put in front of them. Plus, it’s such a wonderful and creative way to spend quality time together and cook up some memories to treasure for a lifetime – my Fun, Fast & Easy Children’s Cookbook was cooked up for exactly this reason!

  1. Healthy ‘junk’ food

Try making your own healthy junk food using good quality lean meat for burgers, English muffins for pizza bases and a good way to coat homemade fish fingers is to dip them in seasoned flour, beaten egg and crushed cornflakes. For dessert it’s easy to make fresh fruit ice lollies from fruit juice and pureed fruits. Try swapping fast food McDonalds for Krispie chicken nuggets, or fries for sweet potato wedges, you can substitute greasy pizzas for cauliflower pizzas, and add extra veggies to hidden veggie burgers.

If you’d like more support with the behaviour of your toddler, you can subscribe to Toddlers Teens and Inbetweens’ course HERE  or be in touch with Toddler expert Gemma on the AK expert page and book in a bespoke Troubleshooting Guidance Call today!

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]]> Gagging vs Choking: The differences you need to know when weaning your baby https://www.annabelkarmel.com/advice/gagging-vs-choking/ Thu, 27 Aug 2020 11:11:41 +0000 https://annabelkarmel.com/?post_type=advice&p=76052 Introducing solid foods to your baby and starting to wean is a big milestone for parents. The process of slowly moving from milk feeds to trying a variety of different tastes and textures can be exciting and daunting at the same time. One question I am always asked by parents at the start of their […]

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]]> Introducing solid foods to your baby and starting to wean is a big milestone for parents. The process of slowly moving from milk feeds to trying a variety of different tastes and textures can be exciting and daunting at the same time. One question I am always asked by parents at the start of their weaning journey is ‘what do I do if my baby chokes?’ alongside ‘I don’t want to offer my baby finger foods as they might choke’.

It’s a common misperception that gagging and choking are the same thing and they are often confused… but they are most definitely not the same and it’s important to be able to recognise the difference between the two.

Is gagging normal when weaning my baby?

Think of gagging as your baby’s in-built protective mechanism against choking. Babies have highly sensitive gag reflexes that are triggered very close to the front of the tongue, especially at the start of weaning.

This means that your baby will often gag when they first start on solid foods and for the first few weeks of weaning. This might mean they simply push food out of their mouth with their tongue, or they may retch or look like they are about to be sick. They are rarely distressed by this and will often simply continue eating again straight after.

Gagging occurs because your baby needs to develop and mature their oral motor movements with time as they learn to eat. They don’t yet have the control to coordinate chewing and moving food to the back of their mouth to swallow, so they gag to stop food going down the wrong way. It’s quite clever really!

Therefore, don’t be put off if your baby gags during the early stages of weaning. They are simply learning to train their oral muscles to work in a new and different way and move food from the front of their mouth to the back in order to swallow.

As your baby continues on their weaning journey and practices eating, the gag reflex will move further back in their mouth and they will naturally gag less.

It’s important to note that some babies may have more pronounced gag reflexes, for example if they have suffered with reflux, vomiting, or had tubes for feeding for example. If you’re worried about your baby’s gag reflex always seek help from your GP who can then refer you to a specialist speech and language therapist.

What do I do if my baby gags during feeding?

Firstly, try not to panic and remain calm. This is easier said than done I know, but if you recognise that they are gagging (and not choking) it is important to let their body naturally sort it out for itself rather than intervening.

Try waiting a few seconds, maybe count to ten slowly in your head. It is very likely they will bring the offending food to the front of their mouth and spit it out or start to eat it again.

By stepping back and allowing them to gag, you are allowing them to learn how to coordinate their muscles and perfect this new skill.

It’s important to remember that you should never leave your baby alone whilst feeding and make sure that they are always well supported or able to sit in an upright position. This will significantly reduce the risk of choking as the gag reflex may not be as effective if they are leaning backwards.

How do I tell the difference between gagging and choking?

Choking is very different to gagging. This is when your baby’s airway becomes blocked. They may be coughing and trying to remove the offending obstacle, but they may also be unable to cry, cough or make any noise at all. They may be unable to breathe and you may see their lips or face turn blue.

This is a medical emergency and they will need immediate help.

What foods are a choking risk for my baby?

  • Whole nuts – always give nuts ground or as a smooth nut butter
  • Whole grapes, blueberries or cherry tomatoes – always serve them quartered
  • Fruits with stones such as cherries – remove the stones and serve quartered
  • Bony fish – check and remove all bones before offering to your baby
  • Cook vegetables so that they are nice and soft for them to chew

What do I do if my baby chokes?

The NHS website, Resuscitation Council UK & the Red Cross websites all have great advice as well as step by step videos to teach you basic first aid and support. You may want to attend a local First Aid Course and your GP should be able to advise you about local courses to you.

If you baby is showing signs of choking, here are some simple steps you can take as advised by the NHS.

 

  1. If you can see the object, try to remove it. Don’t poke blindly or repeatedly or you could push it further back and make things worse.
  2. If your baby is coughing, encourage them to keep coughing, this might help to bring up what they are choking on. Don’t leave them.
  3. If the coughing isn’t effective (its silent or they can’t breathe in properly) shout for help immediately.
  4. If you baby is still conscious, but they are either not coughing or their coughing isn’t effective, use back blows.

Back blows for babies under 1 years old

 

  • Sit down and lay you baby face down along your thighs, supporting their head with your hand.
  • Give up to 5 sharp back blows, with the heel of one hand in the middle of the back between the shoulder blades.
  • If back blows don’t relieve the choking and your baby is still conscious, give chest thrusts.

Chest Thrusts for babies under 1 year old:

 

  • Lay your baby face up along the length of your thighs.
  • Find the breastbone and place 2 fingers in the middle.
  • Give 5 sharp chest thrusts (pushes) compressing the chest by about a third.

Following back blows and chest thrusts reassess your baby or child as follows:

  • If the object still hasn’t dislodged and your child is still conscious, continue the sequence of back blows and chest thrusts.
  • Call out or send for help if you’re still on your own. Don’t leave your child.
  • Call 999 if the blockage doesn’t come out after trying back blows and chest thrusts. Keep trying this cycle until help arrives.
  • Even if the object has come out, get medical help. Part of the object might have been left behind, or your child might have been affected by the procedure.

If your baby or becomes unconscious with choking:

  • Put them on a firm flat surface and shout for help.
  • Call 999, putting the phone on speakerphone so your hands are free.
  • Don’t leave them at any stage.
  • Open the their mouth. If the object is clearly visible and you can grasp it easily remove it.
  • Start CPR

It is important to be able to recognise the difference between gagging and choking and the different ways you should treat both.

Remember, gagging is your baby’s natural in-built protective mechanism to prevent them choking as they learn to feed themselves. Choking however, is when their airway is blocked, and they will need immediate help and First Aid.

This article is written by Dr Chintal Patel.

Dr Chintal Patel is a NHS General Practitioner in London.  She works with families and children and specialises in women’s health.  She also writes a recipe blog sharing health and nutrition information and runs cookery classes for families.   

For more helpful advice visit Dr Chintal Patel’s website www.drchintalskitchen.com and Instagram account @drchintalskitchen

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]]> Weaning premature babies https://www.annabelkarmel.com/advice/weaning-premature-babies/ Tue, 15 Oct 2019 08:55:11 +0000 https://annabelkarmel.com/?post_type=advice&p=66889 There is a lot of weaning guidance available for babies born on or around their due date (from week 37 of pregnancy onwards), however, not a lot for those whose baby decides to make an early appearance, which is actually around 10% of all babies! What is premature? A baby is called premature (or preterm) […]

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There is a lot of weaning guidance available for babies born on or around their due date (from week 37 of pregnancy onwards), however, not a lot for those whose baby decides to make an early appearance, which is actually around 10% of all babies!

A baby is called premature (or preterm) if they were born before 37 weeks. Just because they are born early, does not mean they will need specialist weaning advice, because babies born after 34 weeks who are healthy and growing well can follow standard weaning advice for babies born at full term.

You might have heard the term ‘corrected age’. This takes into account how early a baby was born and is counted from their due date. For example, a baby born at 32 weeks who is 14 weeks old, would be 6 weeks corrected. ‘Actual age’ is the baby’s age from the date they were born.

The corrected age allows healthcare professionals to assess your baby’s development appropriately. In this example, the expectation would be for your baby to be reaching the usual milestones of a 6-week old rather than a 14-week old baby.

It is likely your baby will have missed some or all of the third trimester of pregnancy, which is when most of their important nutritional stores, such as iron, are laid down. It’s also when protein and energy is used for a large growth spurt.

Over the last decade the nutritional care that babies receive on the special care baby unit has improved dramatically, so lots of preterm babies manage to catch up with their nutritional status in the first few weeks.

However, because all babies are different, some may still be at risk of under-nutrition or poor growth needing individualised weaning guidance. Your healthcare team will advise.

The general weaning NHS guidelines that advise that weaning should start at around 6 months of age, don’t apply to most premature babies.

Currently, there is a lack of government guidance on when and how parents should start weaning their preterm baby and that’s because there is very little research available specifically on preterm babies.

The key is understanding your baby’s developmental milestones and looking out for their readiness cues.

Consider the three signs for being ‘ready for weaning’ for term babies and see how the preterm baby might differ:

1) The tongue-thrust reflex – This is nearly always present in preterm babies and actually eating food regularly helps it go.

2) Being able to sit unaided – A lot of preterm babies don’t have the motor skills to be able to sit up unaided, but as long as they are appropriately supported in their highchair/seating, you can start weaning.

3) Good hand-eye coordination – Many preterm babies won’t have mastered hand-eye coordination at the start of weaning and will need to practice this as they learn to eat.

As you can see, the usual developmental readiness cues do not apply to a preterm baby, however, the following cues can be helpful to decide whether a baby is ready to start solids. Babies don’t need to have all of these in place, and I’m a great believer that parents are often the best judge of when their baby is ready:

• Holding their head steady when sitting upright in a supported position – Many babies achieve this at around 4 months corrected age.

• Picking up toys and putting them to their mouth to explore.

• Leaning forward, mouth open ‘asking’ for food.

• Some feel that showing an interest in the food that others are eating could be a sign for being ready for weaning, but many babies do this anyway and so should not be taken as a cue in isolation.

They are not:
• When your baby appears hungry and is demanding more milk.
• When your baby is waking more frequently through the night to feed.
• When they reach a certain weight.
• When they reach a certain age.

Yes, it can be, as there comes a point when a baby’s energy and nutrient requirements can’t be met by milk alone (breast or formula) and so starting solids is necessary. However, fruits and vegetables, which are traditional first weaning foods, are low in energy. At the same time, starting solids may lead to their milk intake decreasing as it becomes displaced by food. Therefore, a steady progression towards a balanced diet including meat, fish, dairy foods and starchy carbohydrates is important to provide the additional nutrients required.

Yes, aside from the risk of poor nutritional status and growth, many babies benefit from the challenges that weaning brings and it may actually enhance the progression of their eating and drinking skills.

However, it is not uncommon for parents to want to delay the introduction of solids as they feel that their baby is not yet developmentally ready and so getting regular support from your healthcare team if you are feeling unsure is important.

In addition, we often see premature babies remaining on pureed food for longer than necessary due to concerns that they may not cope with lumpy textures and choke.

Because challenging textures are necessary to develop the muscles in the mouth at the right time, research suggests that a delay beyond 9 months uncorrected age for the introduction of lumpy textures could lead to feeding problems later on.
There is a developmental ‘window of opportunity’ when babies are open to accepting new flavours and textures and it is important that premature babies don’t miss this.

There are two approaches to weaning:

• Traditional weaning – this involves feeding the baby smooth purees from a spoon, gradually increasing the texture and finger foods alongside.
• Baby-led weaning (BLW) – this involves providing food in its whole form and allowing the baby to explore the food and self-feed.

Safety is the most important factor to consider. If you are considering BLW your baby must have adequate stability in an upright seated position to minimise the risk of choking.

Effective hand-eye coordination is also needed for successful BLW, without this, babies simply aren’t capable of bringing the food up to their mouths.

Nevertheless, hand-eye coordination is a skill babies need to learn through regular practice, so a combined approach by offering finger foods alongside purees can be helpful.

It is known too that BLW babies consume less nutrition at the start of weaning while skills are being learned [5]. Therefore, if growth is an issue and a carefully planned weaning diet is important, BLW may not be possible in order to achieve the required catch up growth.

At the start of weaning it’s also important to introduce a cup to teach your baby drinking skills. At the very start the cup is more about practice and familiarity rather than a way of getting fluid in to your little one.

Use a free-flow, two handled spouted beaker, which is filled no more than half full, so it doesn’t need to be tipped too far for the water to flow, and so it isn’t too heavy for the baby to lift.

An open cup is good too but the water may flow too fast for premature babies and so starting with a free flow spouted beaker which controls the flow is often helpful.

Repeated exposure to rejected foods is important for preterm babies just as it is for term babies in order to help them like new tastes and flavours. The wider the variety of flavours offered in the early stages of weaning before 9 months corrected age, the more likely a child will be to eat a wide range of foods when they are older.

Including your baby at family mealtimes whenever you can, bring the highchair up to the table and let your baby have some of what you are having. This is known to be very beneficial in terms of learning how to eat and drink. Babies watch and mimic others and learn how to eat this way. Evidence suggests that children who join in at family mealtimes accept a wider range of foods than those who eat alone.

All babies, regardless of when they were born, are recommended to have a daily supplement of Vitamin A, C and D (the exception to this is babies having more than 500ml formula/day as they will be receiving these already from the formula):

Vitamin D 8.5 – 10mcg
Vitamin A 200mcg
Vitamin C 20mg

Many premature babies will also be on iron supplements until they are eating well enough, when their dietitian will advise them to stop.

It’s important to take notice of and respond to your baby’s cues when it comes to feeding. For example, when your baby has had enough food, they will turn their head away or if they want more they will lean forward with an open mouth.

We know that from around 4 months both premature babies and babies born at term can communicate their needs to their parents.

If you would like to learn more about nutrition and feeding for babies and toddlers head over to my blog www.childrensutrition.co.uk

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]]> 10 things you need to know about looking after your children’s teeth https://www.annabelkarmel.com/advice/looking-after-childrens-teeth/ Thu, 07 Mar 2019 10:54:19 +0000 https://annabelkarmel.com/?p=58228 As a mum, I appreciate the daily struggles and dilemmas that parents and carers have around doing what is best for their children, and I even find a lot of the information available confusing and conflicting-what can be good for your general health can actually be harmful to teeth. So, to help, I have put […]

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As a mum, I appreciate the daily struggles and dilemmas that parents and carers have around doing what is best for their children, and I even find a lot of the information available confusing and conflicting-what can be good for your general health can actually be harmful to teeth. So, to help, I have put together my own ‘10 things you need to know about looking after your children’s teeth’….

1. Toothbrushing

Start brushing as soon as teeth start to erupt (come through), at around 6 months of age, using an appropriate fluoridated toothpaste. Night time brushing is the most important time, and brush on at least one other occasion, using a smear of toothpaste for under 3s (at least 1000ppmF), a small pea sized amount for 3-6 year olds (more than 1000ppmF), for children 6 years and over the recommended amount is pea size 1350-1500ppmF (family toothpaste). Aim for 2 minutes each time, encourage your child to spit out but don’t rinse the toothpaste, supervising brushing until your child is at least 7.

*ppmF concentrations are based on current UK guidelines

2. Bedtime Routine

Aim for nothing to eat or drink except water in the last hour before bed. When we sleep our saliva production reduces and harmful acid stays around the teeth for longer at night. It may be impractical to do this with younger children but as your child increases in age, start eliminating the bedtime and night feeds (easier said than done I know!).

3. Bottle Use

Only ever give milk or plain water in a bottle and introduce free-flow sippy cups from around 6 months, anything else in a bottle (eg cordial or fruit juice, even ‘no added sugar’) can predispose teeth to ‘nursing caries’ (rapidly occurring decay that is caused by bottle use). Sugary drinks have no place in a child’s daily diet. From age 1, drinking from a bottle should be discouraged.

4. Sugar

Reduce the amount and frequency of sugar intake, stick to meal times only for treats if you are going to give them, once per day maximum. Sugar, honey or any other natural or artificial sweetener should not be added to weaning foods or drinks. Examples of healthy snacks include fresh fruits, raw vegetables, a small amount of cheese (low salt versions), hummus, unsalted rice cakes and toast.

Click on the image above for delicious dip recipes!

5. Labelling

‘No added sugar’ doesn’t mean ‘no sugar’ -some of these products can contain a large amount of natural sugar and may also contain artificial sweeteners. Sugar free means there are no sugars (less than 0.5g) in the products, but often these can be acidic and erosive to teeth. This can lead to the  softening of the outer tooth surface (enamel) leaving it more vulnerable to wear and to decay. Examples include a high sugar diet, sugar free carbonated drinks, flavoured waters and adding fruit to water in water bottles.

6. Fruits and smoothies

Dried fruits, particularly raisins, and smoothies can contain lots of natural sugar, so things perceived as a “healthy” snack can alone contain children’s recommended daily allowance of sugar. Dentists advise that these products should be given only occasionally and consumed with a meal.

7. Make a Sugar Swap

Apricot and Cocoa Energy Balls Recipe Image

Get into the habit of counting sugar that your child is consuming and make sugar swaps when possible. The recommended maximum daily allowances are 5 cubes of sugar for 4-6-year olds, 6 cubes for 7-10-year olds and 7 cubes for 11 years and over. One cube sugar is approximately 4g of sugar. It can be surprisingly easy to exceed the maximum daily amounts. (There is presently no official maximum intake for sugar consumption for under 4s, but food and drink with added sugars should be restricted as much as possible). Personally, I find the ‘Sugar Check’ tool at www.savekidsfromsugar.co.uk a useful visual resource.

Click on the image above for a delicious sugar-free, no-cook snack!

8. Caregivers

Be aware of what children are consuming with other care providers, including grandparents and nursery settings. Be aware particularly of cereals and snacks, in my experience they have not always been low sugar.

9. Dummies

Prolonged use of a dummy can be associated with speech and dental disturbances. Teeth can get a gap at the front (an open bite) or the top teeth can stick out more (an overjet). NHS recommendations are to stop dummy use by one, in reality two may be a more realistic goal for parents, as long as you are working on reducing and stopping use. As children grow rapidly around this stage, dental disturbances usually tend to correct themselves, but the earlier that use is stopped, the more likely this is to occur.

10. Dental Visits

Visit the dentist at least once per year and then as advised by your dentist. Parents and guardians are encouraged to take children in their care to a dentist when their teeth start to come through and ideally by their first birthday,

If you live in England, you can find details of how to find an NHS dentist https://www.nhs.uk/ in the NHS Services section, click on ‘find a dentist’. If you can’t find a dentist accepting NHS patients, you should call NHS England’s Customer Contract Centre on 0300 311 2233. For other regions, you should contact your local health board who will be able to direct you to the appropriate department.

Helen Clint

Article written by Helen Clint

Helen Clint qualified with Honours from University of Liverpool in 2005, with a distinction in Oral Health. She works as a primary care dentist in general practice in Liverpool. She enjoys all aspects of dentistry, but since becoming a mum herself is passionate about improving children’s oral health. She has completed her MJDF (RCS England) and is an Educational Supervisor.

She has two children under 5, so can empathise with parents and knows from a personal perspective how tough parenting can be!

Helen is an NHS England Clinical Entrepreneur on this year’s cohort of the Programme. Her aim is to make the Oral Health message more relatable and accessible to families and she has launched her own social media account as a platform for this.

Follow Helen on Instagram @dentalmummy

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]]> What’s cooking kids? https://www.annabelkarmel.com/advice/cooking-with-kids/ Mon, 18 Jun 2018 08:42:41 +0000 https://annabelkarmel.com/find-time-fit-in-family-dinner-copy/ From the most eager of eaters to the faddiest of little foodies, children of all ages can benefit from cooking in the kitchen. There are lots of simple tasks for tiny hands from peeling to grating, to mixing and rolling. Some of my happiest memories are of my children cooking and baking. Cooking with kids […]

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From the most eager of eaters to the faddiest of little foodies, children of all ages can benefit from cooking in the kitchen. There are lots of simple tasks for tiny hands from peeling to grating, to mixing and rolling. Some of my happiest memories are of my children cooking and baking. Cooking with kids is a great way to spend quality time together. I used to love watching their faces peering through the oven door, waiting for their cakes to rise or for their jacket potatoes to crisp.

Preparing simple meals together from scratch can help to instil a love of good healthy food. And cooking with kids doesn’t need to be complicated or time-consuming – why not start with a simple savoury muffin, or a quick and easy frittata recipe (with lots of tasty topping). We all know that kids love to ask questions – my three children would always ask me about anything and everything! Their thirst for knowledge never ceased to amaze me. That’s why I fed their curiosity in the kitchen, which worked wonders – although I quickly learnt their enthusiasm waned when it came to washing up.

I want to point out that there isn’t a ‘best before’ date on learning how to cook and whilst starting young equips children with the knowledge and skills to make good food choices as they grow-up, it’s never too late to learn good habits. So how can you have a cracking time in the kitchen?

 

Early birds

cooking with kids by Annabel Karmel

Children can join you in the kitchen earlier than you might think. Whether it’s counting out, weighing or stirring ingredients, mashing, cracking eggs or rolling dough, little ones can give you a helping hand.  At the age of 4, 6 and 7 I encouraged my children to cook the supper for the family every Friday. It’s a great way to teach them how to cook and about different foods, where they come from and how to handle utensils sensibly.

Keep it simple

The very hungry caterpillar recipe by Annabel Karmel

Cooking with kids can be anything from measuring out ingredients to decorating pizzas! Just remember that children (especially toddlers) have short attention spans, so start with recipes that are extra easy and provide a result reasonably quickly. Even if you’re simply making a spot of lunch one afternoon then why not get your little helper in the kitchen prepping a sandwich with you. My Very Hungry Caterpillar sandwich is a super simple recipe (albeit with some added fun factor) and pancakes, omelettes and cupcakes are great options too.

Get messy

kid eating chocolate Annabel Karmel

Let’s face it; cooking with kids is never going to be mess-free. Spending time in the kitchen should be a fun and memorable experience, so don’t worry about a bit of mess. Make sure you wear aprons or old clothes and use plastic tablecloths to make tidying up easier. Trust me: ingredients like chocolate get everywhere!

Go go gadget

Herby Chicken Nuggets with Spiralized Sweet Potato Curls recipe by Annabel Karmel

I love using a spiralizer and kids will too. I promise you, sweet potato and courgettes will have never looked so good or been so appealing! Try baking sweet potato curls in the oven with a little olive oil and a sprinkling of herbs and it turns them into the most delectable dish. And, we all know kids love spaghetti so you can get them to help you make a healthy alternative with courgetti.

Art attack

Animal cupcakes recipe by Annabel Karmel

You can even get creative when cooking with kids! Decorating their creations, whether that’s cupcakes, mini pizzas or a bowl of fruit salad, will very quickly become their new favourite tasty task. Lay out ingredient bowls and assign mini helpers with themed foodie challenges such as animal bagels, or funny face pizzas.

Food school

A fun game to play whilst cooking with kids is to try taste testing with new foods. Blindfold each child so they can’t see, then introduce mystery foods and ask them to guess what it is. Giving them facts is likely to make them more interested in what is going into the food they are preparing (and eating). Cooking with kids is more than teaching them about a balanced diet, as they weigh and measure out ingredients they are developing maths skills without even realising! And following recipe instructions and being mindful of utensils are both good life skills.

Getting children to take an active interest in what they’re eating is essential for their general health and wellbeing. And if you have a fussy eater, they’re far more likely to eat something they’ve prepared themselves than something you’ve put in front of them.

My ethos is that we as parents need to help give our children a positive relationship with food, and that means letting them help out in the kitchen. Yes it be might be messy, or chaotic and their enthusiasm might disappear halfway through a recipe, but believe me, they’ll always be back to eat the goods at the end.

Annabel’s brand new Real Food Kids Will Love cookbook is packed full of advice, top tips and over 100 simple and delicious recipes which the whole family can enjoy together – from 15 minute meals to healthy fast food favourites, cooking with the kids, lunchbox snacks and more.

Many recipes include handy swap-outs to cater for those with food allergies, intolerances or particularly fussy eaters! There is also a range of meat-free and vegan meal options too, meaning mealtimes can be made healthy and fun for the whole family whatever your family’s foodie preferences. 

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]]> Reading to children – impact on vocabulary https://www.annabelkarmel.com/advice/reading-to-children-vocab/ Fri, 16 Mar 2018 13:07:35 +0000 https://annabelkarmel.com/?p=47646/ The words we use when speaking and reading When we speak, we are often lazy. We ask for the “big one”, “his”, “the thingamybob” and use contextual clues to fill in the gaps. It’s not a criticism, it’s what we do. In the home we are more likely to be casual with our language then […]

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The words we use when speaking and reading

When we speak, we are often lazy. We ask for the “big one”, “his”, “the thingamybob” and use contextual clues to fill in the gaps. It’s not a criticism, it’s what we do. In the home we are more likely to be casual with our language then we are when writing in a professional capacity or speaking in formal situations.

Children learn their language from the people around them. They will learn the words they are exposed to. And we often don’t expose them to as many words as we know. Moving from the home in to the literary worlds of magic, mythical creatures, outer-space and the deep sea also moves children in to worlds filled with new words. Educator and Author, Jim Trelease says 30 in 1000 words in children’s books are rare, whereas only 9 in 1000 words an adult says to a three year old is rare.

Through the delightful Commotion In The Ocean by Giles Adreae we learn:

  • Iceberg
  • Blubber
  • Bulbous
  • and of course… Commotion

In Roald Dahl’s classic Revolting Rhymes we discover:

  • Elizabethan
  • Delinquent
  • Brazen
  • Noble

The benefits of a broader vocabulary

As we read aloud to children we can use imagery, our voices, expressions, actions and further examples to reinforce the meaning of words.

Exposing children to new words allows them to expand their vocabulary. This in turn, allows children to use those words to express their emotions, intentions and decisions. It helps them understand new information and ideas and is linked to better literacy and numeracy scores further down the line.

A few years ago, Scholastic and YouGov carried our an extensive piece of research presented in their Kids & Family Reading Report. Here is what they found:

The good news

  • 75% of parents with child under 5 years old say they started reading aloud to their child before age one

  • Across all ages, the majority of children (6-17 years old) loved or liked being read to at home.

  • The three top reasons children enjoy being read to are that ‘It is a special time with my parents’, ‘Reading together is/was fun’ and ‘It is relaxing to be red to before I go to sleep”.

  • 85% of parents of  0–5 year olds say developing vocabulary and language skills and using their imagination are the top benefits they want their kids to gain from reading books for fun

The not-so good news

  • Only 33% of parents with a child under 5 years say they began reading aloud before the age of three months

  • Only 41% of parents with children under 5 were advised to read to their child from birth

  • 21% of parents of children aged 6-17 stopped reading to their child before age 9

  • Among kids ages 6–11 whose parents no longer read books aloud at home, nearly one-third (31%) did not want their parents to stop

Visit the AK Kids Book Club for inspiration on reading to your children.

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]]> Reading to your baby: under 12 months https://www.annabelkarmel.com/advice/reading-to-your-baby-under-12-months/ Thu, 15 Mar 2018 10:50:35 +0000 https://annabelkarmel.com/?p=47549/ It’s never too early to start reading to your baby. Whilst a baby won’t understand everything there are benefits to reading at each stage. The mother’s voice during pregnancy: During pregnancy, around 30 weeks, babies develop the mechanisms for hearing. Babies can hear their mother’s voice in the last ten weeks. There are lots of […]

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It’s never too early to start reading to your baby. Whilst a baby won’t understand everything there are benefits to reading at each stage.

The mother’s voice during pregnancy:

During pregnancy, around 30 weeks, babies develop the mechanisms for hearing. Babies can hear their mother’s voice in the last ten weeks. There are lots of other sounds going on in there including the mother’s heartbeat and other voices. Reading to your bump may make you feel a bit silly at first but it can be a great way for you or your partner to bond with your baby.  Once your baby is born they can recognise voices that they heard in the womb and turn their heads towards them from an early age.

Reading to your preterm baby:

A mother’s voice is important in early childhood development. It has even been shown to improve the health of babies born early. In a recent review of 512 preterm infants, a mother’s voice was found to improve the health and behaviour of preterm babies. The benefits included decreased heart and breathing rates and improved alertness such as opening of eyes.

Reading to your baby 0- 8 weeks:

Reading out loud to your baby is a great way for babies to find comfort. Your baby won’t understand the words, but they will recognise your voice and your smell and enjoy the comfort. You can read anything at this stage; a newspaper, an email, or one of the many leaflets you’ve received from your Health Visitor! If you would like to read a baby book, it is interesting to note that babies respond more to faces than objects at this stage and they can only see about 20cm in front of them. Babies, of all stages, respond well to rhymes, rhythms and repetition so consider books with these elements.

Reading to your baby 8 weeks- 6 months:

By six months your baby will respond with smiles, gurgles and babbles to voices, faces and interactions. Mirrors can be an endless source of entertainment and some baby books include these. Your baby will reach out to touch the pictures. Lots of books have textured pictures to add to the sensory experience.

Reading to your baby 6 months- 12 months:

At this stage your baby will listen carefully, make noises and point and recognise familiar words such as bye-bye, mummy, dog. Reading to your baby at this stage will be more interactive as your baby looks at the pictures and at you. Your baby will almost certainly put grab the book and pages and try to eat them so cardboard books are good at this stage. When reading with your baby at this stage you can point to and name the pictures.

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]]> Toddler snacks https://www.annabelkarmel.com/advice/toddler-snacking/ Fri, 14 Jul 2017 10:55:32 +0000 https://annabelkarmel.com/?p=37184/ When is a good time to give my toddler snacks? Toddler snacks should be given once or twice a day, alongside three meals. Try to give your toddler their meals and snacks at regular times and don’t give snacks just before meals. Don’t let your child graze too much throughout the day. We are a […]

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When is a good time to give my toddler snacks?

Toddler snacks should be given once or twice a day, alongside three meals. Try to give your toddler their meals and snacks at regular times and don’t give snacks just before meals. Don’t let your child graze too much throughout the day. We are a nation of fussy eaters, and continuously giving children snacks and not allowing them to get hungry is part of the problem.

What to consider with snacks?

When your toddler comes home from nursery or you’re out and about for the day, your little one is probably going to get pretty hungry. It’s a good idea to have some toddler snacks ready to go so you have something to hand when you’re faced with a hungry toddler! You want to make sure snacks are low in salt and sugar, are nutritious and quick and easy.

Fruit and Veg Snacks

Fruits and vegetables are packed full of vitamins, minerals, fibre, antioxidants, and water making them a great, nutrient-rich, toddler snacks.

Whilst whole fruit may be disregarded, fruit or vegetable slices displayed in fun ways such as being skewered on to straws, can seem much more fun to your little ones! Try to keep the fruit and veg varied as this will help your toddler get a good range of vitamins and minerals. Cucumber sticks, sliced blueberries, dried apricots and strawberries all make great snacks.

Top Tip: If you cut up a few carrots and put them in cold water in an airtight container, they will last for several days in the fridge.

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Carbohydrate Based Snacks

Low GI Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates and fats are the main source of energy for toddlers. Carbohydrates are foods which break down in to sugars. This breakdown process releases energy which we can use. When we think of carbohydrates we often think of bread, rice and potatoes which break down in to glucose (a type of sugar). But fruits are also carbohydrates as they contain fructose sugars as well as glucose sugars, that’s why fruits are naturally sweet. Dairy foods also contain sugars called lactose which provide sweetness. There are also nutrient poor carbohydrate foods such as biscuits and cakes which should be saved for occasional treats.

We can look at the Glycaemic Index (GI) of carbohydrates to help see how healthy they are. GI is a measure of the rate at which blood sugar levels rise after eating a particular food. Low GI foods release energy slower than high GI foods meaning you feel fuller for longer. This slow energy release also means that blood sugar and insulin levels are more stable which, in turn, keeps concentration and energy levels much more stable. Whole grain foods and natural carbohydrates such as pasta, wholegrain bread, oats and basmati rice all have a low GI.

Top Tip: Slightly flatten bread with a rolling pin so the sandwich isn’t too big for your toddler’s mouth

Recipe Saved

Pasta Shells with Butternut Squash

Protein Rich Toddler Snacks

Protein Toddler snacks

When we eat proteins, we break them down in to amino acids which we can then use to build muscle, organs, our nervous system and more. We can categorise amino acids as ‘non-essential’ (those our bodies make themselves) and ‘essential’ (those we need to eat as we can’t make). Most of the ones we can’t make are found in animal sources such as meat and dairy products so even vegetarian diets contain most essential amino acids as cheese and eggs provide these. However, there are very few vegan foods which contain all of the essential amino acids, quinoa, soy, and chia seeds are exceptions.

Top tip: Roll up wafer-thin cooked meats in to cigar shapes for a quick protein boost that’s easy for your little one to hold. 

Scrambled-Egg Tortilla Wrap Recipe by Annabel Karmel
Recipe Saved

Scrambled-Egg Tortilla Wrap

Tasty Beef Croquettes with Five Vegetables recipe by Annabel Karmel
Recipe Saved

Tasty Beef Croquettes with Five Vegetables

Snacks with Healthy Fats

There are different types of fats, some are healthier than others. As a general rule, unsaturated fats come from fish, eggs and plants and are healthier than saturated fats which come from animal sources (meat and dairy), with the exception of coconut and palm oils. Fats are a source of energy and they are need to carry fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) around the body. Essential fatty acids (Omega oils) which help build cells, regulate the nervous system, strengthen the cardiovascular system, build immunity, and help the body absorb nutrients, can’t be made by the body. They are found in fatty fish and to a lesser extent in flaxseeds, walnuts, kale, and soybean oil and algae.

Top Tip: Oily fish, such as salmon, mackerel and fresh tuna, are also a rgeat source of vitamin D and calcium and should be eaten by you and your toddler at least twice a week

Cod & Salmon Quinoa Balls Recipe by Annabel Karmel
Recipe Saved

Cod & Salmon Quinoa Balls

Sweet treats

Toddler snacks, sweet

Enjoying regular healthy snacks is a good habit to get your child into and can instil a love of healthy food early on. That isn’t to say that chocolate and biscuits should be banned; forbidding something can make more tempting. But if your child isn’t used to having regular sugary snacks, she isn’t likely to miss them if they aren’t there.

Top tip: Sweet treats don’t have to be nutritionally poor. Adding dried or fresh fruits, oats and nuts to sweet treats can can help you balance the sweetness with the goodness. 

Tasty Carrot & Oat Energy Bars recipe by Annabel Karmel
Recipe Saved

Tasty Carrot & Oat Energy Bars

Mini Energy Balls recipe by Annabel Karmel
Recipe Saved

Mini Energy Balls

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]]> Cooking with toddlers https://www.annabelkarmel.com/advice/cooking-with-toddlers/ Fri, 26 Aug 2016 13:56:04 +0000 https://annabelkarmel.com/?p=341 Children love to ask questions; they’re naturally inquisitive and want to explore the world around them. There are many ways to feed your children’s curiosity – starting in the kitchen. These activities provided a great opportunity to teach them all kinds of invaluable skills – as well as the importance of eating a healthy, balanced […]

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Children love to ask questions; they’re naturally inquisitive and want to explore the world around them. There are many ways to feed your children’s curiosity – starting in the kitchen.

These activities provided a great opportunity to teach them all kinds of invaluable skills – as well as the importance of eating a healthy, balanced diet. With childhood obesity on the rise in the UK, there’s never been a better time to get children involved in cooking at home. By preparing simple meals together from scratch, you’ll stand a good chance of instilling a love of good, healthy food. Of course, it’s good to bake a few fun treats along the way, too.

It’s important to remember that cooking from scratch doesn’t have to mean producing elaborate, time-consuming meals – it might be a simple as boiled eggs and soldiers!

A healthy outlook

Getting your children to take an active interest in their diet is essential for their general health and wellbeing. And, if you have a fussy eater, they’re far more likely to eat something they’ve prepared themselves than something you’ve put in front of them. If you allow your children to cook with a variety of foods, they will learn all about getting the balance right between choosing healthy, wholesome options and enjoying occasional treats.

Start early

Kids can join you in the kitchen earlier than you might think. Children around the age of three years old love to measure with spoons, mix, stir, roll dough and cut out shapes with cookie cutters, albeit with a helping hand. They also love playing with different textures of food.

Give them bowls of various ingredients and let them explore, while you do the actual work! Remember, children (especially tots) have a short attention span, so choose recipes that are really easy and provide a quick result.

frozen-banner-fish-pie

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]]> Potty Training https://www.annabelkarmel.com/advice/potty-training/ Thu, 18 Aug 2016 16:04:29 +0000 https://annabelkarmel.com/?p=359 Life before nappies may seem like a distant memory, but before you know it, potty training looms and a change-bag free future beckons. Signs your child is ready The most important thing to remember with potty training is not to tackle it until your child is ready; this may be any time from 18 months […]

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Life before nappies may seem like a distant memory, but before you know it, potty training looms and a change-bag free future beckons. 

The most important thing to remember with potty training is not to tackle it until your child is ready; this may be any time from 18 months to three years with the average age being about two and a half. From about a year, children will begin to recognise when they have a full bladder or rectum, however as with all areas of childcare there is no one size fits all solution.

Look for signs that your child may be ready to start; can they follow instructions? Can they walk and sit down unaided and pull their nappy or pants up and down independently? Be driven by your own circumstances and child’s progress and ignore the competitive coffee shop mums, feeling pressured to push your child before they are ready will lead to a more prolonged and painful potty training experience.

If you’re in the midst of a life change such as going back to work or having baby number two, when you parenting peers are kicking off potty training, don’t panic. For you, nappies may be best for everyone for a few more months until both you and your little one feel settled. It isn’t a race, and if it were then the tortoise is more likely to get the hang of toilet-ing before the hare. Practice and patience will help you progress to the potty.

Involve your child in the transition to toilet let them choose a potty and ‘big pants’ and get your stickers, reward charts, pompoms and OTT enthusiasm at the ready! Prepare to find wee and poo very exciting. Reward every successful sitting and let your child hear you telling family members how proud you are of their progress. Some children’s books tackle the realms of toilet training and they can be helpful tools in getting your little one on board.

Removing fear from the process is sensible, as little people often worry that they are going to fall into the toilet it makes sense to help make them feel as secure as possible. A stool and adaptor seat can be helpful to prevent children becoming scared of The Big Toilet.

An element of routine will no doubt have made many of your parenting projects to date easier, and the same can be said of potty training. Over the last few months you may have noticed that your child needs changing at roughly the same time each day, in which case it is logical to remove their nappy and sit them on the potty or toilet at these times and see what happens. Explain the process and go slowly; if your child resists being bare bottomed then leave the nappy on to start with but continue to sit them on the potty, as this will build an association. You want all associations to be positive so don’t physically restrain or force them to sit there.

When you boldly go nappy free in the process is up to you. Some parents commit to no nappy (in the day time) right from the start and are prepared for a fair few accidents for the first few days. Other parents prefer to use training pants or pull up nappies which serve as a sort of hybrid, so your child can still experience the autonomy of pulling them up and down by themselves but they still offer protection from little leaks. Once your toilet trainee is consistently finding the potty in time you can make the move to big-kid pants. Whether you stock up supplies and stay at home for the few days or boldly travel about as usual is up to you, and dependent in part on life’s other demands, which sadly won’t wait while your little one gets the hang of things.

A child that is exposed and educated into the world of Grown Up Toileting is likely to be more prepared, so let them see what you are up to and talk them through the process; needing to go, preparing to go, going, cleaning up, getting dressed again, flushing and washing your hands. Boys can start off doing sitting down wees and graduate to standing when they are a bit more experienced.

It can be frustrating for parents when children seem to be going with the potty training flow, mastering a number one, only to struggle with doing a number two. Bowel movements often take a bit longer to master as learning to go with the urge to push takes more control than emptying your bladder. For some children flushing away a part of them can feel distressing. Make it a positive experience by waving goodbye to what you are flushing away. Note that the sound of a flush can be frightening, in which case say goodbye and then wait until your child has left the room before you pull the chain. Teach children to wipe from front to back, this is especially important in girls to prevent urinary tract infections.

Temporary set backs put the toil into toilet training but are part of the process and not an indicator that you or your child are failing in anyway. When they happen, stay calm and reassure them. Remember that the muscles that keep the bladder and rectum closed are still developing and the potty is a new task to learn. Patience and positivity are required! Your child stumbled many times before mastering movement but they kept going, the same will be true of this latest task set for them to conquer.

You can help reduce the number of accidents by dressing your potty protégée in clothes that are easy and quick to remove. Ask frequently if they need to go, as often accidents happen when a child is engrossed in another activity, so help them out by prompting them to pee.

Wait until the days are consistently mastered before you worry about nappy-free night-times, but keep an eye out for dry or just damp morning nappies which are a sign of readiness. Invest in waterproof sheets and mattress protectors and be full of praise and explanation when you first go nappy-free at night. Make sure you put your child on the toilet or potty just before bed and consider placing them on again before you go to bed – this is called lifting and encourages them to relieve themselves if they need to go. Wake them just enough to have a conversation, or open their eyes, so that they don’t learn to wee in their sleep.

Depending on the proximity of the toilet to the child’s bed, consider leaving a potty in their room – with a nightlight. Put them back on the potty first thing in the morning, even if there was an accident in the night. The occasional bed-wetting may happen for quite a while but always reinforce the positive as fear of failure and being told off can aggravate problems. Bed-wetting is considered normal up to the age of five; however, if you have any concerns make an appointment to chat to your doctor.

Toilet training can be frustrating, but on a troublesome day take a look back to birth and remember how far you’ve come and how many childcare challenges you have already conquered. You can reward yourself for potty progress too, after all you deserve a sticker for coping with all the extra washing and wiping!

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]]> Learning through play https://www.annabelkarmel.com/advice/learn-through-play/ Wed, 17 Aug 2016 16:22:03 +0000 https://annabelkarmel.com/?p=363 A child’s foundational skills are developed through play. Just think, what’s more fun than having the freedom to run, jump, balance on one foot, play with blocks, or other open-ended toys! Researchers have identified numerous types of valuable play for little ones, including ‘Quiet and Creative’ and ‘Social and Active’, both of which are encapsulated […]

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A child’s foundational skills are developed through play. Just think, what’s more fun than having the freedom to run, jump, balance on one foot, play with blocks, or other open-ended toys!

Researchers have identified numerous types of valuable play for little ones, including ‘Quiet and Creative’ and ‘Social and Active’, both of which are encapsulated in the activities below. It may be child’s play, but it can have a ripple effect on young imaginations.

Key development areas for children in the early years include:

Here are seven simple activities for you to do at home with your own little explorers to encourage them to play and learn or as we like to say ‘Learn through Play’:

Messy Play

 

Children love to use their senses and get messy using sand or water for example. Messy play encourages exploration, the development of their motor skills as well as exciting all of the senses!

Try pouring water through a sieve, making bubbles with washing up liquid, squirting shaving foam or making sandcastles.

Play Dough

Encourage your child to use their hands in playing, squeezing and manipulating playdough. Why not have a go at making your own – there are lots of simple recipes available online and it also acts as a nice ‘messy’ activity to get your little one involved with too! When playing with playdough, it encourages children to use different fine motor skills, it challenges their coordination and it can even help to build confidence too.

Open ended toys

Toys such as building blocks and rainbow pebbles are great options for your child as they have endless opportunities for play; sparking children’s imaginations. Use in small world play, in learning to count and in the practice and development of speech. They can be stacked, sorted by colour and size and used to make fun pictures and patterns.

Handy helpers

Involving your toddler in what you are doing is a great way for them to learn about the world around them. Tasks that you might class as mundane such as hoovering, or cooking dinner might be fascinating to them!

Words and numbers

As well as learning life skills at home, you can ignite a passion for letters and numbers. Counting games can be incorporated into almost any routine at any time, and by keeping it playful, you minimize any anxiety around getting things wrong a few times before getting them right.

And likewise with letters. Children are currently taught the alphabet with the use of phonics; the goal of this technique is to enable early readers to decode written words by sounding them out and blending the sound-spelling patterns together.

Singing

Lullabies and nursery rhymes have been on children’s soundtracks for years, and with good reason too. If you don’t know any nursery rhymes, then you can simply make up a song about their day.

As well as being soothing and comforting, music is a great way to help develop language and listening skills.

Story time

Reading to your child is recommended for lots of reasons including learning to listen, instilling a love of books, and it’s a good for bonding activity too. Even if independent reading is still some way off, your child will memorise favourite stories and ‘read along’ with you. Children’s books with rhythm and repetition are particularly good for this.

Remember that children may find it frustrating the first time they start a new activity. But do persist and encourage them to persist too, as the more time they have to explore, the more advanced they are likely to become in terms of fine-tuning their fine motor skills, improving balance and coordination amongst others. Many play advocates from around the globe have been sharing their expertise on ‘Learning Through Play’. You can hear from our global Play Advocates here!

So, when we can let’s try to move away from technology in those early years and build those key foundational skills so that children become lifelong learners through play. Encourage your child to use their imagination, become curious about the world, explore their surroundings, be active and above all, learn through play.

Learning through play with Edx Education

From early childhood active play and art & craft accessories, to maths and classroom resources, Edx Education’s innovative toys and resources provide children a fun and engaging way to learn.

YumYum Instagram Link Follow Edx Education on Instagram

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]]> Common concerns https://www.annabelkarmel.com/advice/common-concerns/ Mon, 15 Aug 2016 12:25:11 +0000 https://annabelkarmel.com/?p=382 Here are a list of some common ailments, how to spot the symptoms, and how best to get your toddler feeling tip top as soon as possible. Nits Head lice are the insects that live in the hair, nits are the empty white sacs where the lice eggs have hatched from, and are attached to […]

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Here are a list of some common ailments, how to spot the symptoms, and how best to get your toddler feeling tip top as soon as possible.

Head lice are the insects that live in the hair, nits are the empty white sacs where the lice eggs have hatched from, and are attached to a hair shaft using a strong glue-like substance making them difficult to remove.

A usual outbreak contains about 30 lice per head. The lice are the size of a sesame seed and cling onto the hair shaft with little hook-like claws on the ends of their 6 legs. They survive by biting the scalp and feeding on the blood. They move about by crawling so can only be caught by head-to-head contact with someone who already has them.

Once hatched, it takes 10 days for the lice to mature to adults and can live for roughly 1 month in someone’s scalp. Lice will die if they are away from a human’s head/body for more than 2 days so it is very rare to catch them from a pillow or a towel. Lice congregate behind the ears and at the nape of the neck so make sure to check thoroughly in these areas.

Dispelling the myths:

  • lice cannot hop like fleas, burrow like mites or fly like mosquitos
  • you cannot catch head lice from pets
  • not all cases of nits cause itchy scalps
  • Itching does not guarantee their presence – only live lice on wet combing confirms diagnosis.

Treatment options

Only treat if live head lice are present on combing as this confirms a live infestation. Don’t treat them ‘just in case’. Don’t forget to wet comb the rest of the family for any live lice, as they will need treatment too.

Treatment used to consist of insecticides but lice would often develop resistance to them, so these types of treatments have been replaced with silicone and oil-based preparations which have a physical rather than a chemical action on lice.

  • Dimeticone 4% lotion (trade name: Hedrin®). This is a silicone-based product which is thought to work by blocking the lice’s breathing tubes but it is not thought to kill unhatched eggs, so a second treatment is needed. It should be applied twice – 7 days apart with each application left on overnight and then washed off with shampoo and water. Dimeticone is suitable for all ages, and is available on prescription. You can also buy dimeticone over-the-counter (although not for children younger than 6 months of age).
  • Wet combing using the Bug Buster® comb and method. This method removes head lice (but not eggs) without having to use a lotion to kill them, and is similar to detection combing. This treatment can be very time consuming as it takes up to an hour to do wet combing sessions properly and you need to repeat this every 4 days for 16 days to ensure you are removing the lice that hatched from eggs after the previous session. Wash the hair with ordinary shampoo, rinse and put on lots of ordinary condition. Detangle the hair with an ordinary brush/comb and then, using the specialised detection comb, start combing from the scalp to the ends, paying particular attention to behind the ears and nape of the neck. Check the comb for lice after each stroke, wiping any onto a tissue. After combing the whole head, rinse out the conditioner.
  • Isopropyl myristate and cyclomethicone solution (trade name: Full Marks Solution®). This works in a similar way to dimeticone. You apply the solution to the scalp and leave in place for 10 minutes. The hair is then combed with a fine-toothed comb to remove lice. Then wash the solution away using ordinary shampoo. The treatment should then be repeated in 7 days time. It is not suitable for children younger than 2. It is available on prescription and also to buy over-the-counter.
  • Coconut, anise and ylang ylang (CAY) spray (brand name: Lyclear Spray Away®). This too works in a similar way to dimeticone. You apply the spray to the hair and scalp and leave in place for 15 minutes. The hair is then combed with a fine-toothed comb to remove lice. Then wash the spray away using ordinary shampoo. The treatment should then be repeated in 7 days time. It is not suitable for children younger than 2. It is available on prescription and also to buy over-the-counter.
  • Malathion 0.5% aqueous liquid (has various trade names e.g. Derbac-M). This is a chemical insecticide that has been used for many years and poisons the lice. You should apply the lotion twice – seven days apart. Each application is left on for at least 12 hours (overnight) and then washed off with shampoo and water. It is available on prescription but you can also buy malathion over-the-counter (although not for children younger than 6 months). Please note: shampoos, mousses and creme rinse preparations of malathion or other insecticides are not recommended, as they do not work as well as lotions or liquids.

Here is a helpful video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jy9HRqAd-VE#t=14

Chickenpox is a highly infectious disease mainly of children under 10 years old, though it may occur at any age. It is characterised by a temperature and a rash of red itchy spots that turn into fluid-filled blisters. They then crust over to form scabs, which eventually drop off. It is caused by the virus called Varicella Zoster. Some children only have a few spots, but other children can have spots that cover their entire body mainly on their face and trunk but can be in scalp, ears and genitals. Chickenpox outbreaks often follow a seasonal pattern with the most common months being from March to May.

The virus stays dormant within the nervous system until occasionally in later life, it can be reactivated and cause shingles – a painful blistering condition.

Can you prevent chickenpox?

There is a chickenpox vaccination available privately for children above 1 year old. Although this has been part of the American childhood vaccination schedule for some time, the UK vaccination committee do not recommend routine childhood vaccination against chickenpox as the post-vaccination immunity is less than natural immunity after an actual infection.

Once your child has chickenpox, how do you stop it spreading?

Keep children off nursery or school until all their spots have crusted over. Also try to keep them away from public areas to avoid contact with people who may not have had it e.g. newborn babies, pregnant women and anyone with a weakened immune system e.g. from cancer treatment.

Treatment options

Although chickenpox in children is considered a mild illness, your child will probably feel pretty miserable and irritable while they have it.

  • Painkillers – only if they are in pain or have a fever, you can give them paracetamol. Do not given ibuprofen as this can cause unusual skin reactions during chickenpox.
  • Avoid dehydration – if they have a sore mouth, suck on ice lollies will help soothe as well as hydrate them. Avoid salty or acidic foods if their mouths are sore.
  • Stop the scratching to avoid future scarring – cut fingernails very short, put gloves on at night (or socks over hands) to prevent scratching in their sleep, calamine lotion (the pink stuff!) helps if dabbed onto the spots with cotton wool.

When to see a doctor: Occasionally children can become more seriously ill with chickenpox and need to see a doctor, so contact your GP straight away if your child develops any of the following:

  • The blisters on their skin become infected
  • They have a pain in their chest or difficulty breathing
  • Ongoing fever with new blisters forming after 6 days from the first spots

Most colds are caused by viruses. In three or four days your body will make enough antibodies to kill the virus and you will feel better without needing to see a healthcare professional. If your child develops a runny nose/’the snots’, whether the mucus is clear or bright green, doctors will not prescribe antibiotics because they do not work against viruses. Only if there are other more concerning features associated with the runny nose will they consider them.

The best advice is to treat your child’s symptoms at home, and here are some helpful tips:

  • Try placing a bowl of warm water in the room where the child sleeps. This raises the humidity which may help to loosen thick mucus overnight, so you can help them blow it out the next morning!
  • If they are not yet able to blow their noses you can spin out a wisp of cotton wool between your fingers and thumb and then put it up your child’s nose and give it a wiggle! This should cause them to sneeze out the mucus for you so be ready with a tissue!
  • Saline (salt-water) drops or sprays may be useful if your child will allow you to use them! Saline drops thin the mucus and so make it easier for them to clear it. You can buy saline drops from a pharmacist who can also advise on how to use them. If saline is used too often, the skin around the nose may become a little sore.
  • Keep them hydrated – like with any cold or flu-like illness, make sure they drink plenty of liquid otherwise they will generally feel worse, plus their mucus will become very sticky and hard to clear.
  • Vapour rubs are a popular treatment and are applied to the chest and back but there is little scientific evidence as to how well they work at unblocking noses.

As soon as their first baby teeth begin to appear you should start to clean them. At first you may find it easier to use a piece of clean gauze or cloth wrapped around your forefinger. As more teeth appear you will need to use a baby toothbrush. Use a smear of fluoride toothpaste and gently massage it around their teeth and gums.

As the child gets older it may be difficult to do it this way, but you can gradually give them more responsibility for cleaning their teeth. It is important to clean their teeth twice a day with a toothpaste that contains at least 1000ppm (parts per million) of fluoride. After 3 years old, you can use toothpaste that contains 1350ppm to 1500ppm. You should supervise brushing until the age of 7 and make sure they don’t eat or lick toothpaste from the tube, encouraging them to spit out excess toothpaste.

When to see the dentist?

It is best to discuss their first visit with your dentist first, but you could take your child with you to your own routine check-ups. This can help them to get used to the surroundings. Generally speaking, the baby’s own check-ups can start any time from about 6 months or from when the teeth start to appear. When you visit the dentist, be positive about it and make the trip fun. This will stop your child worrying about future visits. Don’t forget that your dentist will be able to offer advice and prescribe medicines for teething pains etc., and will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

If you are unsure about how to look after your child’s teeth, ask your dentist or health visitor.

Constipation is common in childhood, and the causes are countless. Many parents don’t recognise the signs of constipation which include: soiling underwear, foul smelling wind/stools, excessive wind, straining whilst sitting on the toilet, passing enormous stools (sometimes with minor bleeding) or small pellets like rabbit droppings, deliberate withholding to stop passage of stools, tummy pain or swelling and poor appetite to name a few.

Some non-pathological causes include painful stooling so they hold it in, dehydration either from not drinking enough or being unwell with a temperature, fussy eaters who don’t eat enough fibre, psychological issues e.g. illness of parent or birth of new sibling, early toilet training and some medicines e.g. Gaviscon for reflux can cause constipation.

Treatment involves laxatives, behavioural interventions and a balanced diet and fluid intake.

Acute diarrhoea in children is commonly caused by infection from a virus e.g. rotavirus. It should clear up quickly and mainstay treatment is ensure adequate hydration as they can lose a lot of fluid through watery stools e.g. by using oral rehydration salts (e.g. Dioralyte). Chronic diarrhoea usually has a non-infectious cause e.g. cow’s milk intolerance and more serious illnesses often associated with weight loss or rectal bleeding – in which case you should see your GP urgently.

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]]> Schools https://www.annabelkarmel.com/advice/schools/ Sun, 24 Jul 2016 14:08:28 +0000 https://annabelkarmel.com/?p=212 Our favourite headteacher Karen Collett gives us a lesson in how to choose the best school for your child, and how to support their learning. Finding the right school When it comes to finding the right school, the most important piece of advice I can give is a reminder that you know your child better […]

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Our favourite headteacher Karen Collett gives us a lesson in how to choose the best school for your child, and how to support their learning.

When it comes to finding the right school, the most important piece of advice I can give is a reminder that you know your child better than anyone else, so choose the school that feels like the best fit for the child that you know.

It makes sense to factor the OFSTED inspection report into your decision but you might not want to base things totally on this. There are a lot of factors to take into account when reading the inspection report such as; when was it written? Is the same headteacher at the school now as when the inspection was conducted? Are the same members of teaching staff still there?

A school can change a lot with different staff and under a new leader, with a different vision; a school can become an entirely different place – one that is not yet reflected in an up-to-date report. You can get a good feel of the day-to-day running of the school from past newsletters, many of which may be on the school website. These and the ethos of the school are as important as the academic results.

Find out the school vision statement as this will underpin the school values. As a parent of a child at any school it is important that you support the vision. Do you feel that you can share the prospective school’s vision? If not then it is probably not the right school for your child.

Visit the school and get a feel for it. Can you picture your child in the school? Would you be happy sending them in each day and leaving them in the staff’s care? You are going to be leaving them there for roughly six hours a day, so it is very important for both you and your child that you are happy and confident with your choice.

We all remember our first teacher and subsequent inspirational, kind and fun ones. We also remember some teachers for all the wrong reasons! Primary school teachers play a crucial role in shaping your child’s future, and at our school we aim to develop a love of learning in children so that they will develop into ‘life long learners’. Children who view learning as an exciting challenge are more likely to want to learn, and parents play a huge part in this process. It is therefore vital that the relationship between parents and teachers is a good professional one with the best interests of the child at heart.

I always say to parents that if they are worried or have any queries about anything then come and ask straight away. Don’t let things build up or fester and DON’T listen to playground gossip. Playgrounds are dangerous places and I have heard many a rumour that has developed from no truth whatsoever, resulting in poor parents worrying totally un-necessarily.

Communicate as much as you can with your child’s teacher and other staff. After all, your child is in their care for a good number of hours per day and during term time they probably see more of their teacher than you!

Most schools have allocated times in the morning or after school where you can quickly chat to the teacher about small problems. Larger concerns or lengthy conversations need an appointment. These things can be discussed to the point of resolution, rather than a quick snatch of a conversation on the playground – whilst the teacher is also making sure that all the other children are safe.

Do also remember that the teacher is the ‘expert’. In the same way that doctors do not like you to go in with self-diagnosis or be told how to do their job, neither do teachers! You and your child’s teachers have the same goal, so the need to work together is important.

Many schools will hold some kind of induction meeting for new parents or ‘meet the teacher’ evenings at the beginning of the school year. Do attend these and find out as much as you can about what your child will be learning. I have lost count of the number of parents who tell me that the only answer they get is ‘nothing’ when asking their children what they got up to at school that day. Quite disconcerting for parents who are new to the playground!

If you are informed about your child’s learning you can prompt them by asking questions such as ‘do you remember learning about repeating patterns today?’ or ‘your teacher tells me you have been learning how to use full stops’ This may prompt them into remembering what they have done. Remember that a lot is packed into the school day so tired children may not a) remember everything or b) be bothered to talk about it.

If you are lucky enough to have double the fun with twins then you may be constantly wondering which is the best way forward for them in terms of schooling. It is inevitable that one is going to excel more than the other in different ways and you may be trying to find the best way forward to support them.

I would say with any children, twins or not, try to stay away from making comparisons. Children progress at hugely different rates and over the years I have seen children who had made a fairly slow start in development suddenly excel at an enormous rate in later years. Try not to be too impatient and let children progress at their own rate.

It is an age-old argument whether to have twins in the same class or not. As a head teacher (and human being!) I figure that I would want to be close to my nearest and dearest. In my experience twins, especially at a young age, are incredibly close and being together helps them to feel safe and secure. It is not rocket science that children learn best when they feel safe and secure so why not have them together? Of course this is all very ‘twin dependent’ but in our school the vision is ‘excellence, care and fun for all’ and I believe that twins will live out that vision best if they are together.

September 2014 saw the introduction of Universal Infant Free School meals. All pupils in reception, year one and two in state funded schools in England should be offered a free school meal. Children in other key stages are offered a free school meal if they are in receipt of certain benefits.

There is a legal requirement for schools to offer a lunchtime meal that meets the school food standards where they apply. It is recommended that this should be a hot meal.

Extensive research has shown that children who eat better learn better. Children who have a warm nutritious meal in their tummies at lunchtime will perform better in the afternoon. Studies show that only 1% of packed lunches meet the nutritional standards currently applicable to schools. It is much harder to meet the standards with a packed lunch.

Food education is also back on the curriculum and this can be incorporated in the school lunch providing a whole school approach. This will lead to children loving their food, understanding where it comes from and what foods are nutritious to them.

Menus are usually provided in advance. You may think that your child won’t eat many of the foods on this menu but I promise that you will be surprised at the amount of children who try new foods in school because their friends are eating them. Many parents have been shocked at the different foods that children eat in school that they don’t eat at home. Be brave and let your children try the school foods. They will soon tell you if they don’t like it, but the benefits when they enjoy the meals will be enormous.

There has been a huge shift in the past few years in how we teach reading and spelling in schools, and phonics is having a huge and positive impact in helping children learn to read and spell.

Phonics is recommended as the first strategy children should be taught to facilitate reading and writing. Words that we read are made up of small units of sounds called ‘phonemes’ and phonics teaches us these to help pupils hear the sounds in the words, and then blend them together to read words and segment (separate) them to aid spelling.

To support your child’s phonics learning, find out what scheme your child’s school is using and use the same one at home. There are lots of websites that help reinforce what is taught in school but ensure you follow the same system, using different or conflicting schemes could lead to confusion.

Try to avoid the ‘uh’ sound you might have learnt to say for sounds like ‘b’, ‘c’, ‘m’ – say the ‘purest’ sound you can (a ‘short’ ‘b’ rather than ‘buh’, a long ‘mmm’ rather than ‘muh’). Ask your children’s teachers if you are unsure.

Children are currently tested in phonics in year one. The test is conducted on an individual basis and results are as much a reflection on the school as the child. They also enable teachers to optimize your child’s learning.

The following glossary of terms may help you to understand the language of phonics:

  • Phoneme: a single unit of sound that you can hear
  • Grapheme: a single unit of sound that is written
  • Digraph: 2 letters that make one sound e.g. oa, ie, ch
  • Trigraph: 3 letters that make one sound e.g. ear, air
  • Tricky words: words that can’t be sounded out such as the, my, no, me.
  • CVC: A consonant-vowel-consonant word, such as cat, pin or top. You may also come across the abbreviation CCVC for consonant-consonant-vowel-consonant words such as clap and from. Also CVCC for words such as mask and belt.

Why why why?

All parents are familiar with young children’s endless enthusiasm and intrigue in the world around them. Keep them engaged! Being inquisitive is what makes learning fun, especially for pre-schoolers who are years away from a yes/no exam paper.

Don’t worry if your four year old has already foxed you with questions like: ‘how deep is the sea?’ or ‘how high is the sky?’ Getting things wrong or admitting that you don’t know the answer to a question is as important a lesson to learn as the correct answer. Showing your child where to look for answers (books, on the internet, a teacher) will set them on the path to independent learning too.

Beyond the blackboard

Learning doesn’t stop once the bell rings. Life lessons, allowing your child to figure out who they are as an individual, can be taught anytime, anywhere. Developing character, confidence and wellbeing are as important as the skills learnt in the classroom. Not all children are on a path to Nobel prizes and scholarships, but they all deserve to be happy and secure.

Quash the coach

Extra tuition has its place and supplementing learning can do wonders for a child’s confidence and ability, however the coaching culture seems to have hit an all time high and it doesn’t always have the desired result. Young children feel the pressure and burden of expectation and this can stifle their potential rather than fulfill it.

Have trust in the teachers at school. Top up tutors may have a coaching style or syllabus that doesn’t mesh well with the schools and that can jar a child’s learning rather than oil it. One of the best lessons you can teach them is who they are as a person, not who you might like them to become.

Computer compliance

Technology has moved at such a pace that parents are often a few steps behind their tech savvy offspring. Cyber safety is a very real concern but with the correct parental controls in place, giving your children computer time is not just advisable it is essential. Computers are no longer confined to an IT suite. Technology is a portable part of the school day just as it is at home, and just as it will be when they enter the world of work. Of course children need running, jumping, screaming, skipping outdoorsy hobbies as well, but don’t feel you need to be too stringent on the screen time.

Successful failure

The term helicopter parenting was coined to describe those parents that hover so close to their children that they never learn to fall, literally or metaphorically. It’s a tough thing to accept even as a grown up but sometimes you learn more when things go wrong than you do when they go right. Although it may feel like it, it really isn’t the end of the world when life for your little people doesn’t go just how they or you would wish.

Chill-dren

Tempting as it is to sign your children up for every club going (they enjoy it, you enjoy the peace) remember that youngsters are more over stimulated and over organised than ever before and they need some down days. Let the children chill occasionally as learning to be bored is no bad thing!

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]]> Common concerns https://www.annabelkarmel.com/advice/family-health/ Fri, 22 Jul 2016 14:55:24 +0000 https://annabelkarmel.com/?p=214 The British Red Cross works to make first aid simple and easy to remember. Many accidents and injuries can be calmly dealt with using  a little knowledge and confidence until, where necessary, help arrives. The Red Cross walks us through five all too familiar family situations but for more information, advice, apps and course details […]

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The British Red Cross works to make first aid simple and easy to remember. Many accidents and injuries can be calmly dealt with using  a little knowledge and confidence until, where necessary, help arrives.

The Red Cross walks us through five all too familiar family situations but for more information, advice, apps and course details visit www.redcross.org.uk.

When a baby or child chokes they will be unable to breathe, cry, cough and may make no noise at all. The first aid steps to help a choking baby or child change according to their age.

If a baby (0-12 months) is choking:

 

1- Give up to five back blows.

 Hold the baby face down along your thigh with their head lower than their bottom. Hit them firmly on their back between the shoulder blades.

2- If back blows do not dislodge the object, give up to five chest thrusts.

Turn the baby over so they are facing upwards and place two fingers in the middle of their chest just below the nipples. Push sharply downwards.

3- Call 999 if the object does not dislodge.

Continue with cycles of back blows and chest thrusts, until the object dislodges, help arrives or the baby becomes unresponsive.

If a child over one year is choking

 

1- Give up to five back blows.

Hit them firmly on their back between the shoulder blades.

2- If back blows do not dislodge the object, give up to five abdominal thrusts.

Hold the child around the waist and pull inwards and upwards above their belly button.

3- Call 999, if the object does not dislodge.

Continue with cycles of back blows and abdominal thrusts, until the object dislodges, help arrives or the child becomes unresponsive.

Hot drinks are a common cause of scalds and burns in children, their skin is thinner and more sensitive than an adults and so burns more easily at lower temperatures.

If a baby or child has been burnt:

 

1- Cool the burn under cold running water for at least ten minutes.

2- After the burn has cooled, cover it with cling film or a clean plastic bag.

3- Call 999 if necessary.

Always seek medical advice for a baby or child that has been burnt.

If you don’t have immediate access to cold running water to cool the burn, you can use milk, juice or beer – any cold liquid is better than none.

A baby or child having an asthma attack will wheeze and find it difficult to breathe.

1- Help the baby or child to sit in a comfortable position and take their medication.

2- Stay calm and reassure them.

If they don’t have their medication or the attack becomes severe call 999.

Harmful substances and poisons include alcohol, drugs (prescription or non-prescription drugs), chemicals (including household cleaning products) and some plants if you swallow them.

If a baby or child has swallowed a harmful substance they may vomit or have abdominal pain, or you may see empty containers nearby. They may have evidence of the harmful substance around their mouth, or smell of it. Babies and children can have different reactions to harmful substances, and sometimes it may take some time for symptoms to occur.

1- Establish what they have taken, when and how much.

The emergency services will want to know this information.

2- Call 999.

The substance could be extremely harmful and the baby or child may need urgent medical attention.

Febrile seizures are caused by a fever or high temperature. Babies and young children having a seizure may arch their backs, stiffen their bodies, clench their fists and twitch. They may be red faced, hot to the touch and sweaty.

1- Protect them from injury but do not restrain them.

2-Remove outer clothing to cool them.

3-Once the seizure has ended help them to rest on their side with their head tilted back.

If this is their first seizure or the symptoms continue seek medical advice.

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]]> Teething https://www.annabelkarmel.com/advice/teething/ Mon, 18 Jul 2016 10:56:58 +0000 https://annabelkarmel.com/?p=439 Your baby was born with tooth buds in their gums and their pearly whites usually start to appear at about six months. It can take over a year for all the milk teeth to come through but most babies have a full set by the time they are two and a half. What to expect […]

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Your baby was born with tooth buds in their gums and their pearly whites usually start to appear at about six months. It can take over a year for all the milk teeth to come through but most babies have a full set by the time they are two and a half.

The bottom front teeth are usually the first to appear, followed by the top front ones a couple of months later. The top lateral incisors (either side of the top front teeth) follow at about nine to 11 months and the bottom lateral incisors at about 10 -12 months.

The back teeth (molars) come in at 12-16 months and the canines – which are towards the back of the mouth – arrive at 16-20 months. The second molars complete the set at 20-30 months.

Here are some telltale signs that the teething fun and games are about to commence:

Swollen red gums Teeth have to push their way through soft gums, which can cause them to swell. Pressure from chewing can help to ease the discomfort.

Gum rubbing Your baby is helpless to stop the discomfort but may put their fingers in their mouths to try to stop the pain. You can help them my giving them a dummy, chewing the teat will be more effective than chewing their hands.

Not feeding as well Sucking causes more blood to flow to the swollen gums so feeding can be a miserable experience for a teething baby, which is why they may turn away from the breast or bottle.

Drooling A soggy chin from too much dribble can make the skin sore, try to wipe it gently with a soft cloth. Barrier creams can help to protect against irritation.

Flushed face Rosy cheeks don’t always come with a temperature and there is no research to prove that teething comes with a fever. If your baby feels flushed and warm ensure that there is nothing else making them unwell; ear infections are easily mistaken for teething and if you are unsure consult your doctor.

Irritable and restless Your happy baby could be a bit crankier than usual for a week or so while the first troublesome teeth make their appearance known. Teething soothers can provide a distraction and cheer them up.

Waking at night Your teething baby may become unsettled at night, which can be particularly frustrating if you had just hit a six-month-more-sleep milestone. Be reassured that not all emerging teeth will cause this much bother.

Like most areas of parenting it is just a phase and one that you will both conquer!

Teething gels contain a local anaesthetic and antiseptic. They cause a temporary numbness so it is best not to use them just before you breastfeed, a numb tongue could stop baby sucking properly and the gel may also numb the skin around your nipple making it tricky for you too.

Solid silicone-based teething rings are considered safer than liquid filled ones because they can be sterilised and can’t leak. Putting them in the fridge so they are chilled can optimise their effectiveness.

Freezing a wet flannel for baby to gnaw can help and frozen fruit slices like peaches or melons or hard vegetables can soothe inflammation Never leave your baby unattended with food items, they may be growing teeth but they need to learn to chew and food items can be a choke hazard.

Yummy Yoghurt Lollies are a teething treat, great for baby to suck or chew to help soothe sore or swollen gums https://www.annabelkarmel.com/advice/teething/

By letting your baby play with a toothbrush as soon as teeth start to appear, you can introduce the concept of brushing. Choose one that is the right size – a chunky handle will be easier to grip.

Much as baby will be keen to take the lead, it’s important that you remain the toothy teacher, brush in a circular motion over gums as well as teeth twice a day. Given that teething babies are desperate to chew, chomping on a toothbrush is a good way to mix work and pleasure!

Babies like to copy, so let them see you brush your teeth. As they grows, so too does their sense of independence and if they resent you brushing their teeth, try letting them have a go first while you ‘tidy up’ afterwards. As with most areas of parenting the more fun you can make the chore the more successful (not stressful) it is likely to be.

You can reduce the chances of tooth decay by avoiding high sugar foods and drinks, and encourage drinks to be had from a cup not a bottle.

Use just a smear of age appropriate toothpaste on the end of the brush as chances are it will be swallowed. Dentists recommend that babies have at least 1000ppm of fluoride in their toothpaste. Too much fluoride can lead to mottled enamel so if you live in an area where fluoride has been added to the water, or are unsure if you need to consider supplements, have a chat with your dentist.

Drama at the dentist is not uncommon for little ones but by taking your child along to your appointments you can reduce their fear. If you are anxious about your own appointments then consider letting them accompany a friend or relative to their appointment. It is not usually necessary for your child to have an in-depth check-up as soon as teeth begin to appear but most dentists are keen to expose children to the experience so it becomes familiar.

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