FEBRUARY 2015

Valentine crafts

for the kids

A month of

dates

Empowering parents to be the best they can be

When

children

miss out

Inspiring kids for

their future

If you run a childcare centre, primary school or OOSH why not

give us a call to help with your fundraising this year.

NO financial outlay, NO hidden costs, NO dealing with un-

healthy chocolates or trying to keep track of products.

Phone: 0415 216 186 or Email: info@smallstepsparenting.com

February 2015

Special Features

12 22 2728 32

Online safety and your kids Sneaky exercises Random facts A month of dates News story and lifetime opportu-nity

Articles

When children miss out How would you cope with a sick child? Inspiring kids for their future Tips for baby’s first summer Burns in children

6 8

14 20 24

Regulars

Letter from the Editor Make a Change Monthly Recipe - Skillet tuna mornay Ask a professional - questions from readers Your Story - Premature and perfect Small Steps to business - with Chris Crowe Something Extra - by Carolyn Galbraith Kid’s fun What’s happening online

5 9

10

11

16

18

26

31 34

Contents

Our gorgeous cover image is by Kate DiBlasi Photography

from the Editor

Julie-Anne England

All articles in Small Steps are for editorial purposes and not necessarily the opinion of the publisher. Small Steps does

not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any of the information, content, or advertisements contained on,

distributed through, or linked, downloaded, or accessed through this magazine or the corresponding website or face-

book page, nor the quality of any products, information or other materials displayed, purchased, or obtained by you as

a result of an advertisement or any other information.

In no event shall Small Steps be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, punitive, or consequential damages of any

kind whatsoever with respect to the service, the materials, and the products. You are encouraged to exercise discretion

while browsing the Internet. No part of this publication or the corresponding website is to be copied or reproduced

without permission.

Dear Reader,

I always love the beginning of a new year…

The feeling of a blank canvas, a fresh start. It

fills me with an expectation and an excite-

ment of what’s to come.

Small Steps Parenting Magazine has lots of

exciting plans for 2015 and we are so thrilled

that you could be alongside us to support us

in our growth and plans for the future.

This article is jam packed with lots of inter-

esting reads and we have some great new

regular contributors who will be sharing on

first aid for kids, family relationships and

more. One of my favourites this month is the

month worth of dates for couples. It gives you

a total 28 dates which you can spread out for

the year or just choose your favourites.

Try to plan time for your family this year and

make this the best year yet!

Letter

5

0415 216 186

info@smallstepsparenting.com

Www.smallstepsparenting.com

Contact us

Creative Director

Julie-Anne England

Contributing writers

Abby Fleming, Carolyn Galbraith,

Chris Crowe, Clare Christie, Dianne

Ward, Kim Hendricks, Kirsten

Mitchell, Lynne Hall, Michael Voss,

Ruth Bosanquet, Sarah Cannata,

Simone Yuen

ISSUE 17 SUMMER 2015

Join our community on

Facebook to share your

thoughts on parenting,

connect with other mums

and dads, win prizes and

get great activities and

kid ideas

When children miss out

There’s no doubt Australia is one of the

best countries in the World to bring up

children. With it’s fantastic weather, it’s

vast outdoors and beautiful coastlines, Aus-

tralia a playground of giant proportions and

a country that encourages children to get

out there and ‘have a go’. If you add to

that the child safety measures that are in

place here to protect our children along

with a free education system it’s becomes

clear just how lucky our Aussie kids are.

However, not all of our Aussie kids are that

lucky, for some life is a genuine struggle.

In Australia today there are one million

children living under the poverty line. To

put that into perspective, that’s one in

every ten children who experiences hunger,

poor living conditions and going without

every single day. Forget iPads for birth-

days, some of these children would be

lucky to get a decent meal. And the shock-

ing part about this is that this is happening

in Australia right now, not in a developing

country overseas, right here on our door-

step. Every day in our land of plenty, 10%

of our Australian children are driven by

hunger and the NEED for food, not the

want.

All Australian children are given the op-

portunity for a free education and to go to

school but for a child who lives in poverty,

school can be a nightmare. If these chil-

dren actually have the means or the energy

to get there, once inside the school gates

they are expected to focus and pay atten-

tion, if you can’t focus due to hunger then

that’s when trouble begins and so the cycle

of poverty starts once more.

One of the main ways to break the cycle of

poverty is through an education but if a

child doesn’t have the right nutrition or

equipment to go to school, a way to avoid

getting in trouble and an easier option

would be to stay away.

6

These children going without have to grow

up fast, dealing with very grown up situa-

tions, taking control sometimes of their

younger siblings and they are exposed to

daily stress and situations some of us could

never imagine.

Poverty tends to push them in the same

direction of their parents or carers, avoid-

ing school leads to poor education, for the

girls it leads to teenage pregnancy and for

the boys there’s a distinct link between

poverty and poor education into crime and

violence.

It’s not all doom and gloom though and

there are ways every day Australians like

us can help and a way to teach your own

children about giving back.

Imagine what kind of place Australia could

be if we could cater for these children, if

there was a way to reduce the numbers of

children living in poverty. Imagine what

their future could be like but also the future

of Australia. If every child got a fair go, if

every child was fed and watered and in a

safe environment, in a school and came out

with an education, with job prospects with

self-esteem and self-belief in themselves.

Imagine if in this generation of children we

could do something and in ten years’ time

Australia was able to reduce the number of

Aussies in poverty by half and had more

Australian’s in the workforce creating an

even stronger and educated Australia.

The best ways to help change these stats is

to contact schools and education associa-

tions in your district and ask the questions

‘which schools need our help?’ how can I

help in my community?’ and also get your

own children involved, encourage them to

donate some of their clothes or old toys to

schools where the students may be the

needy.

Emma Ritchie is the founder of Goodie

Goodie, an Australian social enterprise

who provide a free school breakfast to Aus-

tralian children in need with the sale of

every Goodie Goodie muesli bar.

www.goodiegoodie.net.au

www.facebook.com/emmajeangracedesigns

Phone: 0408 660 673

How would you cope with a

sick child?

If your baby is born or

your child is diagnosed

with a serious medical

condition, how would

you cope financially

after the trauma of being

told of the condition.

Would you need to take

time off work to care for

your child or would you

employ a nurse to do that

for you? Would your

health fund or savings

cover the cost of the

medical care and the

other costs involved

which might include

special accommodation needs? What

would the costs be financially and emotion-

ally if it is a life time condition? Would

the Government Disability Support Benefit

be sufficient to cover your child's on-going

needs?

These are the issues parents with perma-

nently disabled children face. Often the

emotional distress of being told your child

has a serious disability is only the begin-

ning of the journey. The journey can end in

total financial disaster unless you are ade-

quately insured, either prior to the birth (ie

pre pregnancy) of your child or during the

child's formative years if that is when the

injury or illness occurs.

There are baby options and child cover

insurances available, linked to an adults

insurance policy, to provide lump sum pay-

ments to cover for a range of medical con-

ditions for your child. These conditions for

a new born include congenital blindness,

cleft lip, development dysplasia of the hip,

Down's syndrome, infant death and still-

birth and other conditions. For a child aged

over 2, the conditions include brain tu-

mour or damage, cancer, stroke, organ

transplant, meningitis or meningococcal

disease, severe burns, blindness as well as

death and other conditions.

This type of lump sum insurance benefit

does not replace the need for your child

being covered by medical insurance but

should be seen as additional financial cov-

erage for what might be non-medical needs

as well such as home care and resources.

If you have any questions on the above

please contact me at mi-

chael.voss@arrowfa.com.au.

Best wishes Michael Voss CFP

Disclaimer: This is general advice only

8

9

Do you know someone who needs a helping hand?

If you know someone who is having a tough time right now way don’t you write in to us

and let us know. We would like to extend our hand to help by offering a $50 grocery gift-

card or a pamper session or a gift basket to meet their current need. So far because of peo-

ple like you that have written in, we have been able to provide a grocery giftcard and

flowers for a mum with sick kids, a pamper session for a mum who just lost her baby, a

makeover and photo shoot for a mum after the death of a child and more. You can make a

difference.

Simply send your emails through to info@smallstepsparenting.com and impact a life.

It only takes one life to make a difference.

Change Change Make a

Here at Small Steps Parenting Magazine we believe that each

one of us has the power to make a difference in our world.

Make a change is about that. It is about doing one thing each

month to make a difference in someone else’s life and create a

change in the atmosphere in our own community.

Ingredients:

30g butter

1 onion, diced

3 tbsp plain flour

2 cups milk

2 good tablespoons pesto

1 cup grated tasty cheese, plus

1/2 cup for the top

400g tuna

1/2 cup breadcrumbs (fresh or

packet)

1 cup of cooked pasta

1/2 head cauliflower very finely

chopped

Method 1. Add butter to your skillet or large pan, then add onions and fry for a few minutes - don't

colour too much.

2. Sprinkle over flour and cook for a minute then add about 3/4 cup of milk and whisk until

sauce thickens, then gradually add remaining milk, whisking continuously until sauce is

thick and smooth.

3. Add the cheese and pesto, stir until combined then, add the finely chopped cauliflower

and tuna.

4. Stir gently until all combined. Then add pasta.

5. Pour into a baking dish, top with bread crumbs and extra cheese and bake for about 20

mins until golden.

This recipe is brought to you by Dianne Ward. Dianne is a mother of two young children,

freelance food writer and founder of e-mag The Sassy Cook. Learn more about Dianne on

our website.

Skillet tuna mornay

10

This dish is perfect for any season and can be whipped up in a hurry with pantry ingredi-

ents. I've used cauliflower in this dish - mainly because I love it - but also because it can be

well hidden if your little ones have issues with eating vegies!. Its perfectly acceptable to

use packaged breadcrumbs for the

topping but if you did feel like

making your own, its a very quick

ten second spin in the food proces-

sor and using grainy bread will add

another level of texture. This will

be great served with cherry toma-

toes and chopped cucumber.

11

Ask a Professional...

QUESTION: I’m a young mum with a two year old and I find myself really low on energy

much of the time. Is there something I can change in my diet to gain more energy?

Yes, having a small child is enough to make most people feel tired however sometimes

it can be because you are not focusing on your own nutrition. Try the following steps to

help get you back on track:

Firstly, make sure you are drinking plenty of water. Being hydrated helps to

flush out your system and boost energy levels.

Eat six small meals a day as opposed to three large ones. It will help keep your

metabolism going.

Be sure to eat 2 serves of fruit and five

serves of veges per day. Some examples

of a serving size is a cup of chopped

vegetables or a small piece of fruit.

Aim to choose low GI carbohydrates.

These release energy over a longer pe-

riod of time, helping to give you energy

for longer. Some examples are low fat

dairy products, sweet potato and leg-

umes. They will also help to keep you

fuller for longer.

This answer has been supplied by Abby Fleming who is a nutritionist. Learn more about

Abby on our "About Us" page on our website. This is general information only and

should be considered along with the care from your health care professional.

Contact Lisa 0416 030 584

www.tuttifruttilollybuffets.com.au

Weddings

Baby Showers

Parties

Online safety and your kids:

Let’s create a better internet together

The internet… when used appropriately, it

can open up a whole new world for your

kids. When it isn’t, the internet can pose a

heap of dangers and worries for parents – the

kind of worries that keep parents awake at

night.

Even if the thought of the internet makes

you cringe, you can’t deny that the internet

is an important aspect of young people’s

lives. The Like, Post, Share: Young Austra-

lians’ experience of social media report that

was conducted in 2013, only reiterates this

further.

The report found that the importance of the

internet increases with age and significantly

in terms of three age bands: eight to nine

years, 10-13 years and 14-17 years.

In other words: the internet is here to stay.

With Safer Internet Day (SID) celebrated on

the 10th February, every parent needs to bat-

tle-harden themselves and ensure they’re

doing everything within their power to pro-

tect their children online.

Unsupervised internet usage can result in a

number of damaging consequences includ-

ing:

Unsuitable content: A decent portion of

websites simply aren’t suitable for those

little munchkins’ eyes. The study referred to

above found that 20 per cent of children

aged between eight and 13 had seen some-

thing that had disturbed them on the internet

in the last year.

Cyber bullying: Those horror stories aren’t

just headline fodder: they’re real. The inter-

net means that bullying is no longer re-

stricted to the playground and it goes with-

out saying that cyber bullying can mean

some serious consequences for your kids.

Viruses: We’ve all clicked on things that

aren’t necessarily secure and kids clicking

on unsafe sites can ultimately lead to viruses

invading your machine.

So, what can you do to be pro-active in

terms of trying to prevent any of these nasty

what you need to know

12

consequences impacting your child?

One thing’s for certain: Banning the inter-

net altogether won’t work and isn’t a rea-

sonable solution.

Think back to when you were a kid: What

did you do as soon as your mum or dad said

‘no way?!’ Chances are, you went ahead and

did whatever they told you not to anyway.

It’s only human nature. The difference is, the

times have changed and you’re competing

on a different playing field now.

Marianne Doyle, Senior Advisor at Cybers-

mart says that no two approaches in terms of

managing technology in households are the

same. She provides the following pointers

for parents:

Recognise that it’s okay to say ‘no’ –

some online apps and social platforms may

not be appropriate and certain age restric-

tions may apply. Reinforcing these age lim-

its when talking with your children is cer-

tainly helpful.

Put consistent rules in place – some

parents prefer to limit the amount of time

spent online or on a certain device while

others set a certain time of the day that tech-

nology can be accessed. Be consistent with

your chosen rules and stick to them!

Define and be clear about your expec-

tations when it comes to online behaviour

- these shouldn’t differ from your expecta-

tion of their offline behaviour. How people

are treated online and offline shouldn’t

change.

Communicate – Talk about the online

world with your kids. Talk about what

they’re doing online, the platforms they’re

using and how to deal with any issues that

may arise.

It’s only natural for your kids to be inquisi-

tive about the online world and whether we

like it or not, it’s a big part of our lives. The

answer isn’t silence: get talking with your

kids about what is one of their favourite ac-

tivities and keep that dialogue going.

Sarah Cannata works for Help-

MeChoose.com.au, an online comparison

service. As Communications Manager, she

writes about health, lifestyle and a range of

other topics on the Help Me Choose blog.

Get in touch with Sarah by emailing her at:

sarah.cannata@helpmechoose.com.au

13

Giving you the tools to

deal with accident and

emergency at your home

or in your workplace

www.citadelfirstaid.com

Phone: 1300 854 353

Inspiring kids for their future

14

Children are a blank slate…. A little vessel

growing and learning everyday. As parents

we all want the best for our children and

often spend time day dreaming about their

future and how we can make it the best for

them.

I believe that children should be excited

about their future and be allowed to dream

big! So how do we inspire children for their

future?

Always encourage them in their pur-

suits - this will give them a confi-

dence in their own abilities and a trust

in having you by their side regardless

of what they are doing.

Teach them problem solving skills -

this will equip them for dealing with

situations in later life and allow them

to see that they have the ability to

overcome. As they are growing don’t

just give them the answer to things

immediately… encourage them to

think of different ways around the

problem and help

them when

necessary.

Encourage them to dream big. Don’t

use words such as can’t, impossible

or it’s too hard. Instead use positive

words and let you children know that

they can achieve anything if they set

their minds to it.

Encourage them to plan for the future

even just a few months down the

track and set goals to achieve them.

Helping your kids to complete tasks

will allow them to feel satisfaction

over their effort and allow them to

have more confidence.

Help them create a dream board -

provide them with magazines, news-

paper and travel brochures and let

them cut out images and glue them to

a cardboard sheet. The aim is for

them to find pictures of things they

would like for their future whether it

is a picture of a new bike, a photo of

a holiday, a picture of someone work-

ing the job they want etc… Once it is

completed they can hang it on their

bedroom wall or somewhere else they

will see it often so they can stay fo-

cused on their dreams.

Talk to your kids about your own

life where you had set yourself a

goal and achieved it.

Always teach them to never

give up! What may appear as a

failure can often be the teach-

ing point that can launch our

success.

Encourage them to always

keep learning! The more we

learn, the better we can be-

come!

After a disappointing result or an un-

expected consequence encourage

your child to look at what they learnt

from the experience. Ask them what

they would do differently next time.

Praise them for the effort they put in

and don’t make them feel bad for the

result they got.

Help them celebrate the wins! Make a

big deal when your child accom-

plishes something that they had aimed

for. Place stickers on a wall chart,

take them out for ice cream, buy them

something they have been wanting or

just plan a night in front of the TV

with their choice of movie.

Encourage creativity. Even very

young children can be encouraged in

their creativity through spending time

painting, drawing, building with

blocks and playing make believe.

Each of these things fosters a creative

child and a creative child, if encour-

aged, will become a creative adult.

Using these steps will allow you to foster a

child that is ready for their environment and

excited about their future. By equipping your

child to plan for their future you are proving

a basis for the best future possible!

Written by Julie-Anne England, mother of

two, child care expert and Small Steps Par-

enting Magazine’s Creative Director.

Learn more about Julie-Anne on our website

www.smallstepsparenting.com

15

16

Your Story

Lisa’s story - Premature and perfect

I want to tell you about an amazing man.

One of the most incredibly compassion-

ate, honest, witty and selfless men you

would ever hope to meet. I was lucky

enough to meet Mr Wonderful and am

very proud to call him my Husband.

Mr Wonderful, or Ren as he is otherwise

known, works full-time in the corporate

sector. He’s mad keen about everything

related to soccer and (when he’s not

watching it or talking about it) plays for a

local team each year. He’s a great cook,

has a fantastic bunch of friends and is the

eldest in his family.

Oh, and one more thing about Ren, he

was born 3 months prematurely.

I didn’t mention it sooner because it is

such an irrelevant part of his life now.

Everything about Ren is “normal” (for

lack of a better word) and his premature

birth has left no physical or mental defi-

ciencies.

Of course, when Ren was born over thirty

five years ago, it was an extremely rele-

vant and important part of his life. As it

also was for his Mother and Father, who

had sadly lost another child at birth some

years earlier.

Ren came into the world, three months

prematurely, kicking and screaming -

much like he does on the soccer field to-

day. He weighed just 2 pounds, 2 ounces

and was about the size of a soft drink can.

Neonatal equipment was less advanced in

the 70s compared to today, although Ren

was closely monitored in the hospital for

several weeks.

At one stage, his weight dropped to just

over one pound and he was given a 50/50

chance of living. Fearing the worst, his

parents had him baptised in the hospital.

Ren’s Mother, Joan, recalls that her frag-

ile son’s mouth was too small for a bottle

or breast feeding so she would feed Ren

with a little liquid dropper every few

hours.

“It took him an hour to consume just

50mL of fluid and then his stomach

would swell up and you could see all the

veins through his tissue-thin skin”, Joan

told me with a reminiscent smile.

His thigh was about the size of your

thumb and there were no nappies or baby

clothes small enough to fit around his tiny

body. Handkerchiefs had to suffice for

nappies and dolls clothes were used until

Ren grew.

Joan read books to him nearly every day,

through the humidicrib, as his weight

increased and he became stronger week

by week.

After six and a half weeks, Ren’s parents

were overjoyed that his health was im-

proving and he could come home. In

coming years, they were delighted that he

continually met all of the usual milestones

for mental and physical development.

Several years later, Ren’s two younger

brothers were born, also some months

prematurely. Just like their older brother,

both boys have grown into wonderful

adults, with no signs that they were ever

so premature.

Ren’s brothers are married and now start-

ing families of their own. They have also

excelled in their respective careers and

share the same enthusiasm for sport.

There was no clear reason for their pre-

mature births. Ren’s Mum and Dad were

in their early twenties and in excellent

health. Both parents were (and still are)

mentally and physically fit and extremely

proud of how their precious, premature

boys have grown into exceptional men.

Earlier this year, Ren and I visited the

hospital where he was born all those years

ago. The staff had changed but, after

some searching, they were still able to

find records and photos of Ren and his

brothers from all those years ago.

I’m writing this simply to share a positive

‘success story’ about premature births.

I’ve heard the anguish and fear in the

voices of new or expectant mothers, con-

cerned that their child was or might be

born prematurely.

Of course, every birth situation is differ-

ent but please know that premature babies

can grow up into intelligent, talented and

responsible adults. I should know be-

cause I married one!

I would never have known that Ren was

born 3 months premature, had he not told

me all those years ago. I look at him and

simply see my amazing, handsome Hus-

band.

Written by Lisa Cox

17

“Our wedding day was the day I married my best friend”

18

Books are bought, new shoes purchased,

hats found and lunchboxes are packed!

School’s back for thousands of kids in

Australia and parents everywhere are hap-

pily sending them off – some with tears

(the parents that is!) and some with a big

sigh of relief!

If you are a business owner with children,

the school holidays, while wonderful, can

be challenging. Depending on your indus-

try, having the kids home for the summer

can be easy, or a nightmare! If you are

lucky, while they were at home on holi-

days, you worked at night time, or maybe

early in the morning and spent time with

the kids during the main part of the day.

If you had to work during normal day-time

hours, hopefully you were able to arrange

play-dates or other activities for your chil-

dren so that your business still operated.

Now that they’re back at school though,

things can truly get back to normal. It’s

your time again and let’s make this year

YOUR year and your time to shine starts

NOW!

If you haven’t made plans and set goals

over the quiet January period, now’s the

time to do so!

Set some big scary goals! I have a quote

on my wall that says “If your dreams don’t

scare you, they’re not big enough”. Make

your goals bigger than you can imagine

and then go for it!

To make them less scary, and totally

achievable, break those goals down into

smaller action items… and then work like

hell. It’s the only way to make your

dreams come true.

And if you are thinking of starting your

own business because your little one has

just started school, then now is the time to

start doing your research and start plan-

ning for the year ahead so that you can set

up a successful business.

So what sort of business should you start?

Well, what do you love? What are you

good at? What skills do you have? There

are many options to start your own home-

based business. Here are just a few ideas

to get you thinking…. There are many,

many more ideas out there for businesses!

Crafty items business – if you are good

with your hands and love to sew, paint

or create, then find out what will sell

well and go for it! https://

www.etsy.com/au/ is a good place to

list your gorgeous hand made items for

sale.

Party plan – there are literally hundreds

Schools back – Time for YOU to

shine and DREAM BIG

of

different ones. What would you love

to sell? Tupperware? Educational toys

and games? Skincare? Cooking essen-

tials? Do your research and check

them out! Here’s a site we’ve found

that will help you: http://

www.partyplans.com.au/

Computer-based jobs such as Virtual

Assistant, IT, Website creation,

graphic designer, copywriter, recep-

tionist, transcriptionist, and pretty

much anything else you can think of!

Once again, do your research on run-

ning and setting up a business. For

help with where to start a computer

based business, contact me for a chat

about your options as this is the indus-

try I work in! chris@c2admin.com.au

Find out as much as you can about your

potential competition, what you can earn,

and where you can sell your product or

service.

And then plan, plan, plan! I can’t empha-

sise this enough. And then, using that pre-

cious time that is yours while your kids are

at school and once you have your plans in

place, TAKE ACTION!

I’m all about planning, but I’m more about

taking action. You can have THE best

plans the world has ever seen, but unless

you put them into action, they will sit in

the drawer and nobody will know how

brilliant they are.

Be brilliant – remember, this is YOUR

time to shine!

Until next month,

Chris Crowe

Specialist VA Coach

www.c2admin.com.au

If you have a business question you would

like addressed in a future article in this

magazine, please email Chris at

chris@c2admin.com.au and she will en-

deavour to answer them in an upcoming

edition.

www.angelbabes.com.au

Baby’s first holiday celebration can

be the cheapest one you ever have because

they will have no memory about what they

didn’t get. While you will no doubt get

caught up in the spirit of presents, your baby

will have a lot of fun playing with the wrap-

ping, enjoying the noise of crumpling paper

and playing peek a boo with the Christmas

boxes or the packaging. It’s lovely watching

your baby’s look of wonderment as she

looks at the Christmas lights, colour and

movement of the Christmas decorations. A

trip into the city to see the Christmas stories

in the shops can also be exciting for babies

closer to the age of one as they watch the

colour and movement.

The holiday season is hot in Australia so

your baby needs to be cool, comfortable and

well hydrated. Here are ten tips for getting

through your baby’s first summer:

1. One of the hardest things to do is trusting

in the fact that you need to take clothing off

your baby rather than adding more. Babies

are very happy in just a nappy at home so

leave the dressing up for special occasions or

whenever the weather is a little cooler.

2. Muslin wraps are perfect for our summer

heat and humidity. All your baby needs is a

nappy on and to be wrapped in a muslin

wrap. If more covering is needed, another

muslin wrap can be used as the sheet on top.

Small babies in particular still like to feel

snuggled.

3. Be careful with covering the pram with

anything as it can reduce air circulating and

risks overheating your baby. You should

also be able to see your baby at all times

while in a pram or stroller.

If the back baby’s head is damp, she is hot.

Put a hat on your baby as soon as you can,

before it becomes a game for her to take it

off and throw it out of the stroller. You’ll be

surprised at how many you lose and how

20

10 tips for baby’s first summer

21

much she enjoys the game!

4. Use a fan to circulate the air around your

baby especially if you use a clear silicone

bassinette (which are brilliant and handy but

don’t allow airflow). Your baby will not get

a chill or a cold from the fan or from air con-

ditioning, only a virus will give your baby a

cold. Anytime you feel the baby is too cool,

just layer with another cover on top of the

baby. This is certainly one of the times you

never need to wake a baby to put more cloth-

ing on! Blowing a fan over the baby also

keeps the mozzies from landing!

5. Breastfeed babies need a lot of fluids and

amazingly your breastmilk adapts in volume

and characteristics for the frequent feeding

babies need through the hot weather. The

good news is that babies under the age of six

months don’t need boiled water or any other

fluid except breastmilk. Phew, saves time for

you as well!

6. Formula fed babies can be offered cool

boiled water in addition to their feeds to sat-

isfy their thirst on hot days. Babies become

very lethargic and quiet if they are too hot or

need more fluids. You can’t depend on her

to grizzle or be unsettled as a sign of over-

heating or needing a drink. Anytime you are

not sure, off some clothing and give her a

drink.

7. Dip your baby in and out of a tepid bath at

each nappy change through the day. It cools

her down and makes her feel more comfort-

able, like a quick dip in the pool. She will

have dripped dried on the towel by the time

you put the nappy on. This can work on hot

sticky nights too.

8. Remember the saying ‘mad dogs and Eng-

lishmen go out in the midday sun?’ this

should apply to all of us and especially ba-

bies. Keep your baby out of the sun between

10am and 2pm. There are some very cute

‘rashies’ on the market for babies that should

be worn anytime they are in the sun or wa-

ter. Reflected sun will burn your baby even

though you think she is shaded and pro-

tected. Be careful when baby wearing

(which is a great thing to do) making sure

her head is covered and her feet and arms are

loosely covered so they don’t burn. There

are some brilliant baby wearing designs that

allow you and your baby to stay cool in sum-

mer.

9. Look after yourself! Lots of fluids to sat-

isfy your thirst and try and keep up healthy

snacks especially when you don’t feel like

your usual meal. Sleep when your baby

sleeps, be careful with the holiday drinks as

they can be dehydrating and reduce your

baby’s interest in feeding and put your milk

supply at risk. Stay indoors through the heat

of the day and sleep when your baby sleeps.

Share a tepid bath together, feed the baby

and have a sleep while she sleeps!

10. Enjoy the holiday season with your baby

but don’t push yourself. December and Janu-

ary are especially hot and sticky, catch up

with friends and meet in the malls when it’s

really hot to stay cool and comfortable! Take

the baby to the movies when it’s mothers

and babies day. Have a safe and happy holi-

day season.

Written by Lynne-McKensey Hall IBCLC

0419245966 www.betterbeginnings.com.au

Breastfeeding and Baby Matters

Also seeing clients at:

Suite 106, Level 1 Quadrant C,

Main Street, Rouse Hill Town Centre

Whether you are male or female, mature,

young, pre natal or post natal … your pelvic

floor can be one of the most underestimated,

overlooked and under activated muscle in

your entire body!

What are the Pelvic Floor Muscles?

Imagine a hammock of muscle that stretches

from the tailbone to the pubic bone (front to

back) and from one sitting bone to the other

(side to side). Above this hammock are your

pelvic organs. It can move up and down

plus can be consciously controlled. The

muscle not only supports the pelvic organs,

controls bladder and bowels, it also aides

sexual function and supports abdominal and

lower lumber muscles, stabilising the spine

and pelvis. In a pregnant woman the uterus

and baby is supported during their term

and assisted in birthing. In men it supports

the prostate.

How it can weaken?

Multiple or close age gap between births, a

large baby birthed (over 4kg), instrumental

deliveries or tearing. Constipation; chronic

coughing; high impact exercise or heavy

lifting (including lifting washing baskets and

children!); obesity and age. As the ham-

mock of supporting muscle weakens and

bears down, pelvic organs may drop and can

result in an organ prolapse.

How do I know if I have a prolapse?

Incontinence…If you struggle to hold your

urine or faeces, it is a sign your pelvic floor

is compromised. For females, if you feel

“something coming down”/ lump in the va-

gina, reoccurring UTIs, discomfort during

sexual relations.

How can I remedy a weak Pelvic Floor?

Exercising the pelvic floor can be done as

often as possible…anywhere…no excuses…

no specific scheduled time needs to be set.

It can be done whilst driving, washing up,

bathing the kids, ironing etc etc. In fact it is

important to practice in all different actions

of life for relevance to YOUR life!

22

The sneakiest but most important exercise

…your pelvic floor

23

How to perform your sneaky workout?

Contract the muscles around your front

and back passage and vagina, and lift up inside as if trying to stop passing wind and urine. Lift these up as high as you can and

count to 10 and then let them fully go. Repeat 3 times. Practice short pulses, for fast twitch reac-

tions (ie coughing and sneezing). Lift up

your Pelvic Floor and count 1-2 and release,

repeat 10 times. To avoid urinary tract in-

fections, never try to lift your pelvic floor

midstream whilst urinating.

Note: always seek medical advice if you

suspect you have a prolapse.

Written by Kirsten Mitchell is a personal

trainer and owner of Moves to Motivate.

Learn more about Kirsten on our website.

www.facebook.com/pramwrapclips or phone: Belinda 0413 358 907

Burns in children

From kids washing up under a very hot tap,

to an accidental tipping of a coffee cup,

burns are a potential hazard in every home.

In fact, burns, especially scalds from hot

water and liquids, are some of the most

common childhood accidents.

Babies and young children are especially

susceptible — they're curious, small, and

have sensitive skin that needs extra protec-

tion.

Although some minor burns aren't cause

for concern and can be safely treated at

home, other more serious burns require

emergency medical care. But taking some

simple precautions to make your home

safer can prevent many burns.

Sunburn

As we are in the holiday season, families

are going away together, to spend their

time with extended family, by going to the

beach or the pool, to swim.

Even though the sun does not feel hot at the

time, because we are cooling off in the

water, the sun can do irreparable damage to

our skin, without us realising it.

By taking some simple precautions to make

your holiday enjoyable, we can prevent

severe sunburn for us and our children.

Wearing a hat which covers your face and

neck, applying 30+ or higher sunscreen

regularly through the day, especially after

swimming, reapply. Remember, the

younger your children are, the more sensi-

tive their skin. Did you know, that cloudy

days are the worst time to become burned

by the sun? Even trips in the car, there is a

risk of severe sunburn.

Types of Burns

Burns are often categorized as first-, sec-

ond-, or third-degree, depending on how

badly the skin is damaged. Each of the in-

juries above can cause any of these three

24

McGraths Hill Children’s Centre Inc

69 Andrew Thompson Dr, McGraths Hill

Open 6.30am-6.30pm

From birth to 6 years

Nutritious meals daily

Community based - Not for profit centre

Preschool transition programs

types of burns. But both the type of burn

and its cause will determine how the burn

is treated.

All burns should be treated quickly to re-

duce the temperature of the burned area

and reduce damage to the skin and underly-

ing tissue (if the burn is severe).

What to Do:

If your child is severely burned, call

000 right away. While you wait for

help, begin these treatments:

Remove clothing from the burned

areas, except clothing stuck to the

skin.

Run cool, not cold or icy, water over

the burn until the pain eases.

Lightly apply a non stick dressing or

moist cloth.

Do not put any ointments, butter,

or other remedies on the burn —

these can make the burn worse.

Do not break any blisters that have

formed.

Seek Emergency Medical Care If:

The burned area is large (cover the

area with a clean, soft cloth or towel).

The burns came from a fire, an elec-

trical wire or socket, or chemicals.

The burn is on the face, hands, feet,

joints, or genitals.

The burn looks infected (with swell-

ing, pus, or increasing redness or red

streaking of the skin near the wound).

Think Prevention!

Be careful when using candles, space

heaters, and curling irons.

Keep children away from radiators.

Be alert around hot drinks.

Check the temperature of bath water

before putting a child in the tub.

Check smoke alarm batteries at least

once a month.

Keep a fire extinguisher in the

kitchen.

Do not allow young children to play

in the kitchen while someone is cook-

ing.

Always make sure your children are

in the shade on a hot day.

Make sure they wear sun protection

swim wear.

First aid is an essential skill for the en-

tire family to learn. Learning CPR and

what to do in an emergency could save

your child’s life.

To book a first aid course call Citadel

First Aid on 1300854353 or

go to our website

www.citadelfirstaid.com for more de-

tails.

Written by Kim Hendricks, owner of Cita-

del First Aid and mother of two.

26

Learning to read can be a challenge for

any child, and the process can be stressful

for any parent. Often the child

wants to be able to read immediately and

finds the process of 'sounding out' words

laborious. And many early readers

have a limited vocabulary and so can be

either boring, baffling or both.

This is especially so when a child already

has difficulty with language or with under-

standing; but it can also be the

case for gifted children who are wanting to

read for meaning and aren't enjoying the

process.

So what can parents do to link meaning

and interest to the learning process?

The first step, of course, is to read to your

children regularly - exciting books which

draw the children in. Going to library

regularly and allowing your children con-

trol over choosing and borrowing their

own books - both fiction and non-fiction -

is a great way to develop an interest in

reading.

But giving your children the power to

choose their own words is also important.

From an early age (before age two) I have

written up words that are important to my

children - mum, dad, dinosaur, picnic - on

the bathroom wall. At bathtime and chang-

ing time they would look at the words,

point them out, tell me what they said. The

words were their words.

Once my daughter had a number of words,

I made some cards for her with her favour-

ite words on them. Occasionally she'd ask

me to add to the cards with words like

'market' or 'beach' - her favourite places.

As she grew older she wanted 'princess'

and 'circus'.

My son's favourite word is 'snackbox'!

The children develop a relationship with

the written words, so that the words be-

long to them. They point them out if they

see the words in real life, and explore

characteristics of the words - why, for ex-

ample, does the 'c' in 'circus' have two

different sounds?

While I have introduced the letter-sound

relationship to them (d for dog and so on),

the true relationship is the sense of owner-

Relationship-based

reading

27

ship they have of words, of their words.

And not only does this system help their

reading, but it gives you insight into the

things that are important to them, the ideas,

routines and themes which are of particular

interest to them at that time.

Studies have shown that while most chil-

dren leave school able to read, few pick up

a book voluntarily once they're adults.

Learning to love reading is as much part of

the teaching process as learning the me-

chanics of reading. It's not something you

can teach with rewards or competitions -

it's about the relationship between the indi-

vidual and the words. And that relationship

is something worth having.

In 2009 more babies were

born in October than in

any other month.

A newborn babies head

accounts for 25% of it’s

entire weight

In 2013 Sophia was the

most popular girls name,

for boys it was Noah

30% of pregnant women

crave non food items, an

eating disorder called pica

The most popular day to

give birth is a Tuesday!

The average weight of a

newborn baby is 7.5

pounds. As of 2014 the global sex

ratio at birth is estimated

at 107 boys to 100 girls

Random Fun Facts

24

February 1st - Why not start off the month

with a date to get him enjoying himself? Go

for the sporty date and take him out for a

game of bowling, tennis, golf or other game

he would enjoy. Let your competitive side

come out and maybe have some fun prizes

for the winner!

February 2nd - As summer will be soon

coming to an end, plan to spend an evening

at the beach. Pack your swimmers and chase

each other through the waves. Don’t forget

to get some great snaps!

February 3rd - Find something you both love

like chocolate, coffee, Mexican etc and

spend a whole day out looking for this thing.

Look up chocolate cafes, homemade fudge

shops and more. Try to centre your whole

day around your choice.

February 4th - Hiking is a great way to ex-

pend some energy and see the local scenery.

Don’t forget to pack water and sunscreen

plus a few snacks. You could even do some

bird watching if you and your date enjoy

that.

February 5th - Waterfight! Grab some water

pistols (the really big ones) plus some water

bombs and get soaking!

February 6th - If you are the adventurous

type plan a day to go four-wheel driving.

There’s no better way to say “I love you”

than squealing around a sandy track!

February 7th - Find a photo booth in the

local mall (or set up your own at home) and

create lots of fun memory strips. Go pre-

pared and take hats and scarfs for a bit of

A month of dates

It’s the month of romance

but for those of us who

have been in relation-

ships for a while we get

a little bit bored when it

comes to dating our

spouses. So here is a

month worth of dates to

keep the romance

alive….

25

extra fun. Put the strips up where you can

see them often to remember your date.

February 8th - Decide which interests you

most… speedboats, sleek cars, motor homes

etc and spend the day viewing them at your

nearest store. See if you can do some test

driving.

February 9th - Take a class together,

whether it be dancing, learning a language,

fitness or cooking. You be surprised how

much fun you can learning together.

February 10th - Get your aim on with a fun

game of lazer tag… or you could even go

paintball if you don’t mind the bruises. Ei-

ther way it’s a great way to have some fun

running around with your partner.

February 11th - Set up a blind tasting for

each other. Have some sweet and savoury

things and let your partner taste each one

while being blindfolded. Award points for

correct guesses.

February 12th - Grab another couple (or

more) and have a scavenger hunt. Get some-

one else to organise clues and in pairs run

around to be the first one to finish! Winners

get a free dessert at the local restaurant.

February 13th - Love being near the water?

Rent some canoes or paddleboards and get

out into nature. You can even turn it com-

petitive by racing each other.

February 14th - Since today is the interna-

tional day of love why not have a stay in bed

date with your spouse. Eat breakfast in bed,

play a board game and watch a romantic

movie (and of course enjoy some snug-

gling!)

February 15th - Create a yearbook of the

year before. Look through all your favourite

photos and put them into a keepsake year-

book of your memories. You may even want

to scan movie ticket stubs, mini golf score

cards and anything else you might want to

remember.

February 16th - Try out a restaurant that you

have never been to. If that makes you nerv-

ous, you can check out some reviews online

first. For those of you who are more adven-

turous why not get in the car and drive using

a coin to direct your way…. Heads is left,

tails is right, every second street is a straight

through. Stop at the first restaurant you find

and enjoy!

February 17th - If you have ever dreamed of

being Robin Hood (or Maid Marian) perhaps

you would enjoy trying your hand at arch-

ery. Look online to see if there is somewhere

nearby and get shooting! It really is a whole

lot of fun.

February 18th - Go geocaching. For those of

you who haven’t heard of it, it is using a

GPS transmitter (like your smartphone) to

find a hidden object… basically like a treas-

ure hunt! It’s becoming really popular these

days and you can find some very unusual

items. Try getting a geocaching app to get

you started.

February 19th - Meet for the first time…. Go

out somewhere each on your own. Casually

make each other’s acquaintance and start a

conversation as if you just met. Allow the

conversation to grow and then take it to a

restaurant, movie or kissing spot. This is

always a lot of fun to watch observers with

this as they can’t believe it could be so easy

to pick up!

26

February 20th - Have some fun in the

kitchen together and cook up a three course

dinner. Plan the entrée, main and dessert and

then sit down together to enjoy it. Make it

really restaurant style by setting the table

and adding candles and soft music.

February 21st - Get to know each other even

better. Each of you write down at least 20

questions on a piece of paper. Then you have

to answer all the questions about your part-

ner while they answer it about you. At the

end award them one point for every answer

they got correct. Include questions such as

“what is my favourite childhood memory”,

or “my first pet’s name was…” Loser gives

the winner a massage!

February 22nd - Grab some snacks and sit

down together and write a marriage bucket

list. Write down everything you want to do

together, even the ones you think might not

happen. Plan to do at least a handful of them

this year if you can.

February 23rd - Dress up and grab a friend

to take photos of the two of you together.

Change outfits a few times and get some

great shots that you will treasure forever.

Get a professional if you have the budget for

it and choose a really great location.

February 24th - Have a night time picnic.

Find a great location where you have views

over the city, pack some delicious treats,

bring your candles (and mossie spray) and a

really big blanket to sit on. Use this time to

talk about your future plans, your favourite

memories and get to know each other a little

more.

February 25th - Go sightseeing together.

Even better both bring your own camera and

take pictures along the way. At the end of

the day, sit down and look through each

other’s photos. You could even print your

favourites and make it into a memory book

of your day out. See who’s photos are the

most creative. Make sure you get some with

the two of you in it together…. go selfies!

February 26th - Create the perfect keepsake

by having your portraits done. You could go

caricature, watercolour or pencil sketch and

then have it framed to keep. Make sure you

get the date put on it too.

February 27th - Enjoy betting? Make a date

night out of it…. Give each person a handful

of plastic coins and bet on everything you do

that night…. What colour the next traffic

light will be, what colour the next car to

drive past is, how long your meal will take

to arrive, what colour hair your waitress will

have etc. For each wrong bet the loser must

give one of their coins to the winner. At the

end of the night the one with the most coins

wins! Winner also gets to choose dessert!

February 28th - Create your own treasure

hunt. Sit down together and plan clues and

locations. Decide on what the treasure will

be and hide it in the chosen location. Invite a

group of your friends to find the treasure

through the clues you send them via SMS.

While they are searching enjoy watching

your favourite TV show together. At the end

of the hunt invite everyone over for dessert.

Share your date stories with us

and we will choose one to

share in our magazine or on

our blog. Send your stories to

info@smallstepsparenting.com

and win a $50 meal voucher!

Kids Fun!

29

Full instructions plus printables are all available from our website. This resource is avail-

able for download from the resource page on our website.

I love you beary much printable

Bee mine, paper craft

27

Mother of two and Creative Director of

Small Steps Parenting Magazine , Julie-

Anne England has her eyes set on a brand

new goal…. Being one of the lucky ones to

be picked for a brand new reality show.

This is your Life Change, is the brainchild

of Mark Bowness of BBC Paradise or Bust

fame, in which six lucky individuals are

transported to a remote Fijian island to turn

their hopes, dreams and aspirations into

reality. And here’s the kicker it’s totally

FREE – all expenses paid!

The selected six will work with a team of

experts including a life coach, business

coach and personal trainer to transform

themselves, both physically and mentally,

and develop a comprehensive plan to turn

their ideas into reality! With their lives

transformed, they will return home to start

their new journey and have a positive im-

pact on their own families, friends and

communities.

Julie-Anne’s dream is to grow the quality

parenting publication in order to touch

more lives and impact more families. Julie-

Anne believes that parents have within

them the abilities to be the best parent they

can be for their child and she aims to pro-

vide the information and support they need

to do this. She also wants to increase the

reach for impacting the lives of individuals

and families who are doing it tough.

“Last year we were able to directly impact

the lives of families by providing gift bas-

kets, hampers, gift cards, Christmas pre-

sents and more to families dealing with loss

or struggling with financial uncertainty.

Knowing that we were able to make a dif-

ference is everything I had dreamed of

when I created the magazine”

Opportunity of a lifetime may be a few Small Steps

away for Julie-Anne England

28

Julie-Anne said.

Mark, and his Australian based team -

business coach, Ryan Magdziarz and

personal trainer, Sofia Toumbas - are

looking for six people from any walk of

life with big ideas and a desire to change

their lives and the lives of others, “…a

teenage mum, a corporate lawyer, an

unemployed graduate – anyone with a

compelling story and a big idea to make

the world a better place can apply,” Mark

said.

The life changing prize package is valued

at $200,000 and the whole adventure will

be filmed for what Mark anticipates will

become a groundbreaking new TV series,

This Is Your Life Change.

“Whether it’s launching a business, de-

veloping a product or starting up a char-

ity - we are looking for people who are

willing to step out of their comfort zone

and create the life they know they were

born to live. We want people with an

undeterred passion to make a change that

will benefit not only themselves, but also

the broader community,” he said.

More than 1400 people have already

applied for the opportunity via the pro-

ject’s website ThisIsYour-

LifeChange.com, from 17 counties, with

thousands more expected to join them.

The six successful applicants will be

flown free of charge to the remote island

of Vorovoro in the South Pacific, where

the transformations will take place!

Applications are now open

www.thisisyourlifechange.com

MEDIA ENQUIRIES: Mark Bowness

- 0499 077 127 - me-

dia@thisisyourlifechange.com

Receive our quality publication conveniently

delivered into your inbox each month or sub-

scribe to the gorgeous full colour print version to

receive it right to your door!

www.smallstepsparenting.com

info@smallstepsparenting.com

www.smallstepsparenting.com

On our blog... There is plenty of fun to be had through

our blog this month. Find

Fun quiz to do with your partner

Preparing for school printable

Fun dice game for kids printable

10 things to do before summer ends

Getting your year organised

Plus lots more

Join us on Facebook Join our growing parenting community on Facebook and share your

comments and thoughts on being parent.

Join some fun competitions and win great prizes, subscribe to our

coming print magazine and get some great craft ideas, parenting tips,

kid activities and more.

Come and join the fun now!

Grab your copy next month..

Handmade and quality children’s products

www.angelbabes.com.au www.facebook.com/myangelbabes

Handmade breastfeeding cloths

Kids dancewear

Gift wear

Wall decals

Baby and toddler clothing

Summer hats and more