Swaddling babies incorrectly can cause them hip problems, doctors warn

Parents have been turning to the old-fashioned practice in order to settle their babies and help them sleep better. Swaddling, which involves wrapping the baby in sheets or blankets with their legs out straight and arms pinned so that they cannot move, has been shown to induce sleep and soothe excessive crying and colic. But, say doctors who specialise in orthopaedics, evidence shows that the practice increases the risk of developmental hip abnormalities. Professor Nicholas Clarke of Southampton University hospital writes in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood that one in five babies are born with a hip abnormality, perhaps because of a breech birth or family history. Although these can resolve unaided, swaddling can delay it.
Clarke says that parents should be advised on "safe swaddling" if their babies are at risk of hip development problems. "In order to allow for healthy hip development, legs should be able to bend up and out at the hips. This position allows for natural development of the hip joints. The babies' legs should not be tightly wrapped in extension and pressed together."

Swaddling can cause hip problems The Guardian 28 October 2013

Mild Iodine Deficiency in Womb Associated with Lower Scores on Children’s Literacy Tests

A longitudinal study, published in Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, examined standardized test scores of 228 children whose mothers attended The Royal Hobart Hospital’s antenatal clinics in Tasmania between 1999 and 2001. The children were born during a period of mild iodine deficiency in the population. As 9-year-olds, the children who received insufficient iodine in the womb had lower scores on standardized literacy tests, particularly in spelling. However, inadequate iodine exposure was not associated with lower scores on math tests. Researchers theorize iodine deficiency may take more of a toll on the development of auditory pathways and, consequently, auditory working memory and so had more of an impact on students’ spelling ability than their mathematical reasoning ability.

newswise.com 30 April 2013

Napping when your baby naps

A recent, small-scale, study seems to suggest that mothers who nap interact better with their babies.

So, what does this mean for new parents? Even a few naps per week when you are significantly fatigued can be help promote more positive interactions with your baby! The authors also suggest that scheduling weekend naps may be useful for mothers that cannot nap during the week.

http://www.secretsofbabybehavior.com/2013/01/new-study-effect-of-maternal-napping.html

UK study looks at language development in babies

Researchers at the University of Lincoln are creating a new guide to decoding baby talk. About 1,500 babies aged eight to 18 months are taking part in the survey, which is the first of its kind. Kerstin Meints, from the university, said: "We are creating a large database of children to get an idea of how many words they understand and say at what age." It is hoped the study will help to identify language problems from an earlier age and become a useful tool for speech therapists.

Watch BBC video here 29/1/13

Babies Learn Language Basics While Still in Womb

A study reported in this Medical Daily Article recorded the responses of babies at 30 hours old to sounds some in their native language and others from different languages and found that babies can already differentiate.

MedicalDaily.com 2nd January 2013

Review: The Essential Baby Care Guide

The Essential Baby Care Guide is a fabulous new DVD set that has been created by the Essential Parent Company. The 8 hours of content provide comprehensive information on 1. Feeding, 2. Care & Development, 3. Sleeping, and 4. First Aid and Accident Prevention.

The resource has been created with new parents in mind and is designed to provide information on everything you need to know from birth to 12 months, though as the parent of a 14 month old I can confirm that it contains some very valuable information which extends beyond it's target audience.

I have to say that having agreed to review this item I was a tad surprised when it arrived and was over 8 hours long! Not only did I think that sounded very long, I also thought it would need 'expert' reviewers to do it justice. As soon as I sat down to watch, I was hooked. Robert Winston is a great presenter. His gentle voice is easy to listen to and informative. At the beginning of each disc, he describes this resource as a parenting course which you can attend from your living room. That's just what it is: it covers everything, from the very basics, yet without being condescending. The advantage of being on disc rather than a course is that you can watch it again, whenever you wish, or when the information is needed.

If I was expecting my first baby now, I would definitely be buying this. I remember that feeling of getting home with Arthur and thinking, "right, we have a baby - what on earth do we do now?"  Of course I had books, but, well, when you're just had a baby there's not a great deal of time to read books! Watching a DVD is much more manageable. I could have sat in the nursing chair and watched this quite easily. It's also better than a book because you can see what they are talking about, they show you how, instead of just telling you.

Although my son is now 14 months, I still found the resource valuable. For example, after watching the section on sleep I realised that actually we could have a sleep problem. I hadn't noticed because Arthur sleeps well at night and always has, but having seen the DVD I decided that we would tweak his nap times slightly, and rearrange our schedule on a Friday to make sure he got his afternoon nap. He now sleeps even better.

As I mentioned, I am not an expert on any of the topics, but as the resource is advised and narrated by Professor Robert Winston and includes expert advice from The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative, St John Ambulance, Midwives and Sleep Experts, Meningitis Research Foundation, The National Literacy Trust, and the Child Accident Prevention Trust, I think we can be sure that it offers sound advice.

I certainly makes sense to me. A great resource.

If anyone else would like to borrow these DVD's and write a review that would be great. We already have an expectant first time mum lined up to take a peek, but if there are any new parents out there (who have the time) who would like to view please let me know.

We are hoping that once the review process is over the resource will be held by the antenatal teachers so that more parents to be get the chance to preview the resource.

There are several  official videos to be found on YouTube, and you may also want to like the Essential Parent Facebook Page to get updates, tips and competitions

If you would like your own copy, it is available nationwide from John Lewis, Amazon and www.essentialparent.com.  This website also has more information about the resource, plus some videos, tips and previews. You can buy the whole set for £35 or individual DVD's for £10 each.

If you wish to buy the full set, you can get £5 off  and purchase at reduced price of £30 by purchasing direct from www.essentialparent.com and entering the code ElyNCT at checkout. For each DVD set sold The Essential Parent Company will donate £5 to the branch.

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