Got left-overs? Keep this in mind when packing up food in plastic. A few days ago a new series of tests released by US-based organisation, Consumer Reports revealed that many leading American brands of canned foods contain Bisphenol A (BPA) -a toxic chemical linked to health risks including reproductive abnormalities, neurological effects, heightened risk of some cancers, diabetes, heart disease and other health problems. BPA is used in the lining of cans and the toxin leaches from the lining into the food. According to Consumer Reports just a couple of servings of canned food can exceed scientific limits on daily exposure for children. Sadly, of all foods tested, infant formula was among the top three foods that had BPA levels of highest concern.
The US federal government is currently studying the dangers of BPA and advocates are calling on the FDA to ban the use of BPA in food and beverage packaging by the end of the year. US-based companies in other industries, including Wal- Mart, Target, Nalgene, and Babies R Us have already made commitments to stop using BPA.
Want to reduce your intake of BPA?
1. Need to buy canned stuff? Then swap to foodstuffs in glass jars. Especially as canned tomato sauce is likely to have higher levels of BPA, because the high acidity of the tomatoes causes more of the chemical to leach from the lining of the can.
2. Consume fresh fruits and vegetables instead of canned. In addition to their BPA-free benefit, fresh produce usually has more nutrients, which often get lost in the process of canning.
3. Purchase beverages in plastic or glass bottles Canned soda and juice often contain some BPA.
4. If buying formula, use powdered infant formula instead of ready-to-serve liquid An assessment from the Environmental Working Group found that liquid formulas contain more BPA than powdered brands.
5. Think in terms of moderation follow a sensible approach, eating less of those foods that are higher in BPA.
6. Check out http://www.babypotz.com/- BPA-free pots for safely storing all your home made and left over baby foods!
source: http://www.enn.com/health/article/40728

Baby! Baby! What an Adjustment!
At first, it may appear to be coincidental. You are having trouble becoming pregnant and you also have a problem with low back pain. Are they related? Can low back pain actually cause infertility? The answer to the first question may be "yes," while the answer to the second question is more along the lines of, "The cause of your infertility may also be the cause your lower back pain."

Resolving back pain may also improve nerve supply to reproductive organs, restoring fertility.
Many women have problems conceiving because of a condition known as endometriosis. In fact, endometriosis is the cause for 30-40% of female infertility. This condition occurs when uterine tissue, known as endometrium, attaches itself to tissue and organs outside the uterus, including other reproductive organs, the bladder and the gastrointestinal tract. While the primary symptom of endometriosis is painful menstruation, back pain may result as well.
Obviously, it is imperative for you to see a health care professional when either one or both of these conditions are present. If your diagnosis is endometriosis, chiropractic care will often reduce much of the pain and discomfort associated with it. In addition, several chiropractic case studies have documented case studies in which infertile women have become pregnant after starting chiropractic care. (from Dr Carl Irwin - www.carlirwin.co.uk)

THE LAUNCH PARTY!

WOW! What a night! We had a fantastic evening, champagne, fabulous goodies, wonderful friends, family and wellwishing supporters of The Holistic Parent. Officially launched with a symbolic cutting of the ribbon, Dani and I declared our venture 'LIVE'!
Expert therapists offered informative and entertaining talks, stall-holders tempted us with the most beautiful of gifts and baby paraphernalia and our guests took home a fab goody bag - courtesy of Natracare, La Spiezia, Spirit of Nature, Nelsons, BabyLondon, Mumsense, Cupcake Bouquet, Falling Stars, BabyPotz and more!
One lucky lady won the prize draw, and took home a Stokke Tripp Trapp highchair, BabyCare TENS machine, Cupcake Bouquet, Baby Concierge vouchers and a 30 minute massage!
We now welcome parents-to-be and new parents to join the Holistic Parent Club and benefit from amazing offers and parenting infromation.....that you may not find elsewhere! Check out http://www.theholisticparent.co.uk/JOINTHEHOLISTICPARENTCLUB.html for details.
Oh and a special mention has to go to Roger, Ralph and Sara-Beth....without whom this whole project may have nose-dived!
Danine Irwin - co-founder The Holistic Parent

Puppy or baby?

OK! so Dani and I had a very business-like day yesterday, one whole day's worth of meetings!

But, the difference was that it took place at home - so we could use the large kitchen table to stack piles of paper on, have our laptops and mobiles all over the place (emf's flying around!), provide ourselves with copious amounts of tea, and above all, now all our 6 kids (between us) are at school, keep our little puppies company! How cute...labradoodle and cockerpoo, 'socialising', the dog trainer called it, (we thought it would be great to have them play in the garden whilst we worked!)Well, we both decided 'give us back those toddler years anyday!' Those puppies did not stop chasing each other around the table, under the table, yapping, growling, nipping and leaping over or off each other! We lost count how many times they pee'ed on the floor, us Mum's were 'frazzled'! So, after 4 hours we decided it was time for 'time out'! We needed a rest, let alone those pups! One went one way, the other went another....the peace as those doggies fell asleep was so blissful....reminiscent of those early days when our little bubbie darlings dropped off to sleep....like baby...like puppy! It's all a dog's life after all!

Sugar....Baby?

10 Reasons NOT to Eat Sugar!
Sugar, in its many forms, is an increasingly common ingredient in processed foods. Many of us eat the equivalent of 53 heaping teaspoons of white sugar every day!
Here are ten reasons to avoid refined (white) sugar:
1. Sugar contributes to tooth decay because it decreases the effectiveness of a particular type of white blood cell that “eats” bacteria.
2. Sugar causes the body to release more adrenalin, which may explain hyperactivity in young children.
3. Calcium loss in urine occurs when a person consumes a soft drink containing sugar.
4. Ingesting sugar makes the pancreas work harder to produce insulin. Diabetes results when the overworked pancreas can no longer eliminate sugar from the blood stream.
5. Bleached with chlorine, when white refined sugar is exposed to certain organic compounds it converts to dioxin, a lethal compound.
6. Sugar can hinder weight loss because high insulin levels (see #4 above) cause the body to store excess carbohydrates as fat.
7. Sugar increases the likelihood of chronic fatigue.
8. Sugar increases mood swings, irritability and anxiety.
9. Sugar compromises the immune system because it lowers the efficiency of white blood cells for a minimum of five hours.
10. Eating sugar can decrease helpful high-density cholesterol (HDLs) and result in an increase in harmful cholesterol (LDLs).

Ostrich Burger anyone????

I recently had the luck to go away for a night with a couple of friends of mine. All of us busy working mums so the arranging of this luxury was not the most simple of tasks. Other halves had to make sure they could be certain places at certain times, play dates had to be arranged so children would not be stranded at school, multiple packing of multiple suitcases had to be undertaken as well as making sure that school bags had everything that was needed for the next two days so that afore mentioned other halves would have no reason to berate us for taking this much deserved break. However, eventually off we set, our guilt at leaving our children firmly under control (kissing them until I had to be physically removed does not count!) and very much looking forward to our road trip.

We had booked ourselves into a hotel for one night with bed, breakfast, dinner and luxury spa treatments thrown in (I know, not exactly the true definition of 'road trip'!) All of us giddy with the knowledge that for the next 24 hours we did not have to cook for anyone, clear up after anyone, act as referee for pointless arguments or worry about anything other than how we were going to fit in a cream tea between everyone's massages.

And, Dear Reader, it was fantastic. I can honestly say I have never been so relaxed in my life - I was definitely slurring my words after the massage and, unless the incense had been infused with pure alcohol, I put it down to the fact that I was not rushing around like a headless chicken for once in my hectic life. We all agreed that this was something we should do on a regular basis and it was bound to make us better mothers/wives/friends if we gave ourselves that much needed 'me' time.

But then it went slightly pear shaped! We set off on our homeward journey feeling chilled, well fed and rejuvenated and very much looking forward to seeing our loved ones (funny how a night away can make your little monsters seem like angels!). The journey should have taken us one and a half hours max ....... it took us five and half hours!!!!!!!!! There was pile up after pile up followed by road works and because we had been on the road for so long we went hurtling, head first into Friday rush hour traffic. Ordinarily this would not have been a problem. I am sure we would have sung along to the radio, continued our girly chats and played 'if so and so and so and so were the last men on earth.....' However, busting to go to the toilet for four and half hours of the journey with literally NO SERVICE STATIONS anywhere along the route was no laughing matter.

I have never been so desperate! To make matters worse I was driving so I could not even cross my legs. At one point I decided that my only option was to go on the hard shoulder. I pulled over, got everyone else out of the car (never let it be said that in times of trouble, Dear Reader, I forget all about road safety) and desperately looked around for somewhere private to squat. I should explain at this point that I get SEVERE stage fright when it comes to going to the loo. I have never been one to go to the toilet with a girlfriend because I am paralysed at the thought they can hear what I am doing. It took me several attempts to go with my children and that was only because baby twins left on their own tend to cause quite a bit of damage! So quite how I thought I would be able to relieve myself on the hard shoulder of the M25 with cars crawling by (remember we were in a traffic jam - so more chance to cop an eyeful!) I don't know. Needless to say it just was not possible and demanded everyone get back in the car. What must I have looked like. This mad eyed woman crying hysterically on the hard shoulder whilst clutching an empty water bottle and a packet of baby wipes!!!

After pootling along for another two and half hours, by which time my friends also really needed to go but had wisely decided to keep their discomfort to themselves, we were finally able to pull off the M25 and into the nearest place likely to contain a toilet. Now, not only do I suffer from stage fright but I am also a toilet snob. I scout out the toilets as soon as I arrive anywhere and places are either deemed 'OK for Dani' or 'not OK for Dani' based on their facilities. For example, the toilets in certain cinemas - not OK for Dani. Toilets in certain chain restaurants - not OK for Dani. However toilets in the Grove Hotel in Watford - most definitely OK for Dani. Never let it be said I have high standards, but you get the picture. Now it so happened that the first place we saw was a pub. A pretty grotty one at that and not one that I would normally have been seen frequenting (OK, OK I am a snob - what can I say?) however, any port in a storm and they did seem pretty chuffed with the ostrich burgers that apparently they now had available. We rushed in, trying to blend in with the locals - which is not easy when bent over double and doing a sort of cross legged shuffle - and burst into the, surprisingly, tastefully decorated toilets. At last, a private cubicle with a seat and everything. I shut the door, hastily undid my belt, sat down..... .and remembered that on the other side of the door were my two friends who would undoubtedly be able to hear what I was doing. Inevitably, I froze, I couldn't do it. Desperation started to kick in until, luckily my friends made me laugh at the ridiculous situation and I relaxed enough to............Bliss - better than any massage I have ever had!!!

Whilst writing this blog I was thinking how I could shamelessly plug Natal Hypnotherapy and The Holistic Parent and it occurred to me that our journey was just like labour - stick with me on this one. Like labour, I started off having a pre-conceived idea of how long it was going to take. Like labour, when things started to get a bit uncomfortable I thought there was no point in totally giving in to the dis-comfort as it was likely I still had a way to go. Like labour, there came a point when I did not think I could take it any more and reached an all time low and just like labour I had the vital support of people I felt safe with who enabled me to relax and let nature takes it's course. Support and remaining calm and relaxed are the two most important elements of an empowered labour and, who knows, after it is all over you may have an insatiable appetite for an ostrich burger!!!

To Alex and Pippa because we now know so much more about each other than we ever thought we would - love ya xxxx

Dani Diosi
Co-founder of The Holistic Parent

HALLOWEEN is coming!

Clocks have gone back, leaves are falling off the trees, evenings are long and dark, the air smells of fumes (I mean autumn!) - so it must be late October....pumpkin time, trick or treat and weird and wonderful costumes.....but if you really want to see something scary, read those sweetie wrappers your little darlings will discard all over the place....recognise any of those ingredients? I doubt it! Check out www.greenhalloween.org for some alternative ghoulish ideas! I really like the idea of donating all those sweeties to our unsung heroes on the front line!
by Danine Irwin - www.theholisticparent.co.uk

Bed-Sharing-UNICEF

UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative statement on new research into Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and bed-sharingFollowing the publication of new research on risk factors involved in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and subsequent media coverage, UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative has issued the following statement, the full version of which can be accessed by clicking the link at the bottom of the email.
The SWISS study, designed to investigate the factors associated with SIDS in 0-2 year-olds, draws a clear link between increased risk of SIDS and alcohol or drug use when co-sleeping with a baby, particularly on a sofa.
Much media coverage yesterday focused on the study’s statistic that 54 per cent of the infants in the study died whilst co-sleeping, without noting whether it was in a bed or on the sofa. In fact, the percentage of infants that died whilst sharing the parental bed was 38 per cent, which was the same as the percentage of infants that died in the cot.
The study, examining 80 SIDS infants and two control groups, one randomly selected, one of babies at high-risk of SIDS, showed that many of the deaths in a co-sleeping situation could be explained by “a significant multivariable interaction between co-sleeping and recent parental use of alcohol or drugs (31 per cent v 3 per cent random controls) and the increased proportion of SIDS infants who had coslept on a sofa (17 per cent v 1 per cent).” Other significant factors included pillow use, swaddling, smoking during pregnancy, whether the infant was preterm and whether the infant was in fair or poor health for the last sleep.
The authors conclude that “the major influences on risk were from factors amenable to change within the infant’s sleeping environment….Parents need to be advised never to put themselves in a situation where they might fall asleep with a young infant on a sofa. Parents also need to be reminded that they should never cosleep with an infant in any environment if they have consumed alcohol or drugs.”
In recognition of this, the UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative has for some time been working to assist health professionals to discuss bed-sharing with parents so that risks can be identified and minimised, rather than attempting to promote restrictions which cannot be applied in parents’ real worlds.
A sample bed-sharing policy has been developed for hospitals and a leaflet for parents produced with the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID). Both are designed to promote safety whilst protecting breastfeeding, by educating health professionals and parents on the benefits, contra-indications and safety issues surrounding this practice. UNICEF has also been urging NHS trusts to acknowledge the gap in health professional’s knowledge and provide training on all aspects of bed-sharing, including best practice for hospitals and how to communicate the key messages effectively to parents depending on their needs and circumstances.

Birth Trauma?

Birth Trauma – Can it Determine Future Health?

Most chiropractors will agree that the birth process is probably first point in life to insult or damage the cranial/spinal system. Many also recognise that intrauterine constraint due to a mother’s pelvis that is distorted or out of balance; can lead to asymmetrical strain patterns being applied to the baby’s skull during late pregnancy. Logic indicates that such a distortion increases the likelihood for a complicated or difficult delivery -- the increased forces of which are borne by the upper joints of the baby’s neck where the spine meets the base of the skull.

A number of early childhood conditions such as inner ear infections, colic, feeding problems, and lowered immune function may be related to damage at this level and as such respond well to cranial chiropractic care. But what of the long-term consequences? Can early craniospinal damage lead to nervous system damage, setting the stage for reduced efficiency in the body’s ability to grow, develop, self regulate and heal? And by doing so, will this lead to ill health later in life?

Our craniospinal health clearly plays a great role in our overall health and wellness. Therefore, the assessment and maintenance of the human frame should start early, and continue throughout life, if optimum health is to be achieved.

Gluten foods

If You want a diet that is gluten free - do not think that spelt, rye and oats are safe to eat as they do contain gluten. They may well contain gluten ina more water-soluble form that means it can digested easier but they are not free from it - so caution of you are suffering with coeliac disease or if you are about to wean a baby - rice flour and corn flour are however gluten free.
Danine Irwin
The Holistic Parent

Breastfeeding improves children's nutrition.

UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman emphasised the contribution that breastfeeding can make to improving children’s nutrition, health and development, speaking in Nigeria on Friday at the start of World Breastfeeding Week (1-7 August). Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa. While Nigeria’s under-five mortality rate has dropped from 230 deaths per 1000 births in 1990 to 189 per 1000 in 2008, Nigeria still accounts for 12 per cent of global deaths of children aged under five.“Undernutrition is an underlying cause in one-third of all under five deaths,” said Veneman. “During the first six months of life, breast milk completely meets an infant’s nutritional requirements. Yet only 13 per cent of children in Nigeria are exclusively breast fed from birth to six months of age.”Providing encouragement and support to mothers to breastfeed their infants, alongside support for the health and well-being of mothers themselves, is an important key to reducing infant malnutrition. According to the Lancet, optimal breastfeeding in the first two years of life, and particularly exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months, can have the single largest impact on child survival of all preventive interventions, with the potential to prevent 12 to 15 per cent of all under five deaths in the developing world. Emergencies The theme of World Breastfeeding Week 2009 is ‘Breastfeeding, a Vital Emergency Response: Are You Ready?’ UNICEF is using the week to promote better nutrition and highlight the role that breastfeeding can play in protecting infants from undernutrition and illnesses that are common byproducts of natural disasters and other emergencies. “In emergency situations, children and families often have to survive without adequate food, safe water and sanitation,” said Veneman. “Breastmilk offers an excellent source of nutrition for infants and, especially where clean water is lacking, helps keep young children safe from dangerous water-borne illnesses like diarrhoea.” Breastfeeding also provides infants with protection from infectious and respiratory illnesses, boosts their immune systems and helps protect them from chronic conditions later in life. “In the past 10 years, 14 countries, including some that have experienced disasters and crises, have shown more than 20 per cent increase in rates of exclusive breastfeeding,” said Veneman. “When the value of breastfeeding is recognised and concerted efforts are made to promote and protect the practice, progress is possible even in difficult times.” Currently only 38 per cent of infants worldwide benefit from exclusive breastfeeding. Action to support breastfeeding mothers and promote exclusive breastfeeding can help save children’s lives and promote healthy development. This year’s World Breastfeeding Week provides an opportunity to sensitise policy-makers, donors, implementing partners and the general public to the benefits of breastfeeding, to its particular importance in emergency situations, and to the need to protect and support mothers to breastfeed during emergencies.

GRAND LAUNCH EVENT

YOU ARE INVITED TO THE HOLISTIC PARENT

GRAND LAUNCH

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 8th

7pm-9.30pm

THE EDGWAREBURY CORUS HOTEL
Barnet Lane, Elstree, Herts. WD6 3RE

Tickets £12

(must be purchased in advance from www.theholisticparent.co.uk)
speakers - gifts - therapists - goody bag - refreshments - prize draw

Pregnancy Cravings

Ok, so I've been preggers 3 times and each time I had a different culinary item to satisfy my cravings....first time around it had to Cadburys Dairy Milk! I just couldn't get enough, then pickled onions and last time Maccie-D's Filet-O-Fish! (all in secret, of course, just in case anyone accused me of eating for 2!)Share with us your mad/ serious/ or totally weird cravings!
Danine Irwin - co-founder, The Holistic Parent

children and play

The Holistic Parent
Your child, your choice

WHY SHOULD CHILDREN PLAY?

Written by Shelina Ladha BA, MA, MSc, PGCE, PGDip
Educational Psychologist and Counsellor/Therapist

Contact details: - 07961382123

Every child is a unique and exceptional individual whose needs should be respected, valued and understood. All children have their own characteristics and personalities and come into the world ready to learn, participate and be stimulated by other people and their environment.

Early relationships and experiences strongly influence and shape how children develop and learn. Understanding and supporting babies and children to develop a positive sense of themselves and encouraging them to explore and discover their competencies in contexts that are meaningful to them is the starting point for learning. Babies and children thrive on interaction and communication. They become resilient, confident and learn new skills through trusting key and consistent adults who engage positively and empathically with them.

Children learn many skills and attitudes through play. Their curiosity and exploratory impulses should be nurtured and encouraged in order to help them to increase independence, build confidence, take initiatives and manage developmentally appropriate tasks.

Throughout the literature there is widespread acceptance that play has positive effects. Children’s play reflects their wide ranging and varied interests. Within play activities children usually choose to undertake more freely, activities of their own choosing. They are often personally directed and may or may not take place with an adult. When children have opportunities to play with ideas in different situations and with a variety of resources, they discover connections and come to new and better understandings and ways of doing things. As children become more mobile, new opportunities for exploration open up. A safe and interesting environment helps children to develop curiosity, co-ordination, physical abilities, self-control, and social skills.

An interest in play as a means of helping children to learn became evident in the 1920’s with Freud’s work highlighting the emotional aspects of play, ie play as providing one of the ways in which children learn to control their feelings and deal with anxieties. Piaget’s theories of how children take in and make sense of their world and experiences took play to another level in the 1940’s with attention shifting to the importance of play in cognitive development.

Research over time has highlighted the importance of play in relation to a number of other key areas and skills including problem solving, language, literacy and social development. Play enables children to be curious, inventive and persistent without the pressure or fear of making mistakes that is otherwise associated with having to achieve or needing to learn.

Health benefits of play and the physical activity involved in energetic and active play is recognized to encourage co-ordination and physical skills. Play also enhances children’s mental health by building self esteem, independence and respect for others and can foster resilience, tolerance and compromise. Within a stimulating environment young children’s learning will be enhanced as they are active learners who are quick to absorb information by using all their senses within the structures provided in order to build concepts and ideas from their experiences.

Play is a key way in which young children can learn with enjoyment and challenge.

Music Maestros

So, we should all get our kids playing a musical instrument, that will make them concentrate more.....more calm, more clever, more interested, more....more.....noisy......more......expensive!Ok so mine plays a trumpet - not exactly peaceful - but I am impressed, even if a little biased, and we did buy the instrument on Gumtree!
Delete post
Written by Danine Irwin, the Holistic Parent, Herts, NW London

Packed Lunch

So, September brings us new term, new schools, new shoes, new uniform, and best of all....school lunch provided! No more packed lunches! That's in my case anyway, after 7 years of making a packed lunch every school day, exhausting my large repertoire of healthy posh nosh (only the best for my little bubba!) he will now be fed school lunch! Ok, so I may not save any money, he does have a healthy appetite and is of course growing - that will cost me, but surely it's got to be better - hot, wholesome food every day! After all, how exciting can a pitta get? How crunchy does chopped up cucumber stay? How do you get a banana to stay in its' skin and not squelch out all over the lunch box/bag? How do you persuade your mates to stay sitting with you when you open up an egg mayo sarnie? What else can you use as a healthy filler to crisps (those are a treat anyway aren't they?) Oh and not forgetting the yogurt - half eaten and returned to it's place so 'your parents can see what you ate' - then dislaced all over the place! Urgh!....For £1.99 per day, give me and my brood shepherds pie, peas and 'mud in the puddles' any day!

Stuck for ideas for your little ones' lunch box? Check out our nutrition demo/workshop on our website!
The Holistic Parent, your child, your choice
Danine Irwin and Dani Diosi

Honey and the sweet life!

The next few weeks will be all about eating honey and the sweet life we all will have ahead of us - but did you know that honey is unsuitable for babies under the age of 1yr?
This is because of the botulism bacteria - so, as sweet as it is, it may not be all that it claims to be. An alternative to honey is often agave syrup and this should also be avoided.
Brought to you by The Holistic Parent

Tips for Being a More Light-Hearted Parent

Tips for Being a More Light-Hearted Parent

Shared via AddThis

We're expecting...... A Puppy!

Well, I have finally succumbed and agreed to get a dog. My husband can't believe his luck. Previously when the subject has been raised I have declared that the only time a furry, four legged friend would be allowed in this house was when hell froze over - well, the devil and co must be donning their mittens, because I am now so excited about this possible addition to our family that I am thinking of names and dividing them into boy/girl and either categories!

I have started my research into different breeds looking particularly at temperament (needs to be friendly and affectionate) size (can't be too large or too small) coat (don't want to be picking up dog hair all day) and exercise demands (Lets be realistic! I have three small children, a job and a shopping habit to look after, I am not going to be able to spend 3 hours a day walking him!) My Internet searches have brought to light all sorts of useful advice such as making sure we meet the parents to assess their personalities - if too aggressive or shy, we are apparently supposed to avoid at all costs. When training them, I have to assert my 'leader of the pack' status - this seems to involve making him walk behind me and never, never letting him eat before I do. It even appears that some breeders don't let you take the puppy until they have partially toilet trained them - convenient!

This got me thinking .......humans don't tend to do nearly as much research when deciding to have a baby. The majority of them go to the doctor and then go to the hospital to have their babies and do exactly what they are told, when they are told. They tend not to seek second opinions, or go and visit different locations for giving birth. How can people know there are alternatives out there when they don't even ask the questions?

This all leads to a much more serious problem of leaving parents unprepared for parenting their babies because they have learnt not to trust their own instincts. Going down the hospital/medical route often (not always) leads to much more intervention which stops the natural birth hormones from working. If the hormones have not been present during the birth it can make the journey of becoming a parent much harder. Especially when you consider that a baby's temperament can not be chosen, they are not born partially potty trained and although many 'experts' have developed various ways of 'training' babies designed to put new parents out of their misery and show the tiny helpless baby who's boss (yes, I am being deeply sarcastic), it really does not make the job any easier.

Being a parent relies on instinct, it is essential for knowing when your baby needs feeding or just needs a bit of comfort. Instinct allows you to take the advice that may be of use to you and your baby and disregard the rest. Instinct encourages you to respond to the needs of your baby as and when they need and not when the 'experts' tell you you should. Natal Hypnotherapy birth preparation courses and the workshops held at The Holistic Parent (totally unashamed at the obvious plug!) encourage and help parents to be and new parents to develop the up most trust in the most important and vital skill they have - their instinct.

Still, the Internet searches on puppy training have been very useful and I am actually quite excited at the thought that I will be able to exert the leader of the pack status, I always knew I had, over somebody in my household (The devil may yet have the last laugh!)

Dani Diosi
Natal Hypnotherapist
NCT Antenatal Educator
Co-founder The Holistic Parent

Time waits for no man (or no mum!)

I am bereft! It is slowly dawning on me that in a matter of weeks, my baby will be starting school. Ok, officially she is not a baby - she is 4 and officially she has been attending full time nursery since last year, and I actually have been through this already with my older two. But the fact of the matter is..... I am bereft! Where has my baby gone? It does not seem 5 minutes ago that she was a tiny newborn who was dependent on me for everything and now she will be going off to school where somebody else will have the pleasure of seeing her facial expressions when she is enjoying something, or seeing how animated she becomes when chatting to her friends or even, dare I say it, have to coax her to do something when she has most determindly set her mind against it!

I think my feelings of bereftness have a lot to do with the fact that this part of my life is now over. The baby days are well and truly gone and I am onto the next chapter of my life. I have no intention of having any more (I have done my bit for the continuation of the human race) but I am sad that my babies are slowly becoming young children (teenagedom is already manifesting itself in my 6 year olds!)

I want to tell all the pregnant couples I teach through my Natal Hypnotherapy classes and the new mums and dads we see at The Holistic Parent to really treasure the early days because even though they may seem they are lasting forever at the time, they really are all over in the blink of an eye - mine being slightly teary at the mo as I contemplate the newly named school uniform and sigh at the thought that she really is no longer a baby.....

Dani Diosi 23/08/09
Natal Hypnotherapist
Co-founder of 'The Holistic Parent'
Twin Specialist

Baby Massage Course

Just had a baby? Would you like to find out about baby massage and provide your little one with the best start in it's life? Join up for our next baby massage course held in Edgware, Middx. Starting on: Thursday 10th September 2009 11am-12pm
4-week course £45 including organic massage oil, handouts and expert instruction
Click below to sign up NOW!
http://www.theholisticparent.com/CourseandWorkshopBookings.html

Natal Hypnotherapy

for more info on natal hypntherapy see this:

http://theholisticparent.co.uk/NatalHypnotherapy.html

Welcome

Welcome to the first blog of The Holistic Parent.

There is so much more to come, keep a regular watch for info on all our up and coming workshops, courses and talks on all things related to pregnancy, parenting and our health and wellbeing. Visit our on-line shop for many recommended items to help you through those frist few years.

Let us know what you think regarding parenting issues and what you'd like to see!