Happy Days » Child Care

Almost any mom will admit that she wants her baby to be one of the clever ones - a smart little chap. We know life is easier for bright and clever people. For this reason as parents we invest time and energy in ensuring that our baby develops optimally and is well stimulated. Research is constantly looking at the key influences on intelligence. Timothy Taylor, PhD, in his book The Artificial Ape, published in July 2010, looks at the inventions that changed the course of human development. As we know, human babies are born less mature than almost any other mammal on earth and their survival depends on...

The process of interviewing and selecting the prefect nanny is potentially very challenging, there are many wonderful women (and men) with a passion for children looking for work as nannies. The key is to find the perfect nanny for your family and home. When looking for a potential nanny, there are a few considerations to make before you brief placement agencies or prepare to source potential candidates in order to set up interviews. Ask yourself the following questions, many of which are not entirely politically correct, however one needs to be honest with oneself when looking for someone to care for...

By: Meg Faure, OTR. A few years ago, my husband and I embarked on a three-month trip with a two and four year old. We have camped with our little ones from the time they were 9 months old and taken all three of them on flights from as little as 6 weeks old. I am a big fan of routines and an even bigger fan of sleep so how did we do all this travelling, many have asked. Well the key to travelling with ease and making sure that sleep is not too disrupted is to be prepared. Herewith my top 10 tips: 1. Keep one day-sleep in a consistent sleep space, as soon as you arrive in your new place. This will...

The world has changed.  We no longer live in villages or in close communities where the women of families can support each other through childbirth and childrearing. Many extended families are split up and whether the distance between family members is only a few hours drive or a 12 hour flight the distance is magnified when you add a new baby into the family. I live a 12 hour flight away from my extended family.  My husband and I have no immediate family nearby, but we do survive and we make it through all the ups and downs of parenthood. How do we cope?  Here are 10 ways to make living away from...

When you have difficult sleeper you search for any reason why your baby is waking! Is he teething? Is he hungry? Could he be lonely? These are the thoughts that may cross your mind! Working as an Occupational Therapist I see a number of cases of sleep problems in my practice. I thought I would share a few that were clearly related to separation anxiety and the solutions I gave. Jack was 8 months old and had been a good sleeper. Although he had never slept through the night, his night wakings were limited to one at 1am and one at 4am. His diet had been good and he had a good day sleep routine. He fell...