IVF is a medical technique used for couples experiencing a variety of infertility problems—in particular, male factor problems, endometriosis, advanced maternal age or blocked or damaged fallopian tubes.

Here is an explanation of the process:

Before you begin

Before you start, the doctor will complete a thorough diagnostic and treat you and your partner for any conditions that might compromise your fertility (including medical conditions like auto-immune problems or elevated sugar levels, lifestyle issues like a high BMI, smoking or excessive alcohol intake, and emotional conditions like stress).

If the doctor diagnoses IVF as a solution for your fertility problems, you and your partner will need to assess the cost and emotional challenges of the process and decide if it is right for you to go ahead.

The IVF process

If you choose to begin IVF, the doctor will determine which programme is best for you (either short course or long course IVF—these differ in duration but contain many of the same elements).

The clinic staff will then create a detailed, patient-specific programme for you which usually includes the following stages:

1. First Scan

IVF begins with a scan to establish the state of the lining of your uterus.

2. Hormone injections

If the doctor is happy with the results of the scan, you will begin hormone injections.

These can be self-administered but if the thought of injecting yourself is stressful, ask your partner for help or visit your clinic or pharmacy daily and request that the nurse does them for you.

Typically, there are two sets of injections and the timing of administering them depends on your programme. They are:

3. AGnRH Antagonist which is given subcutaneously. This injection is designed to take control of your cycle, suppress the release of the body’s hormones and prevent premature ovulation.There are very few related side effects but some women do report headaches and hot flushes.
4. A FSH or FSH/LH injection, given subcutaneously or intramuscularly. This is designed to hyperstimulate the follicles in the ovaries to produce as many eggs as possible. You may feel bloated and uncomfortable so try to drink lots of water.

3. Follicle scan

After five days of the FSH or FSH/LH injections, the clinic will scan you to determine the number and size of the egg follicles.

Usually the follicles are small at the first scan. If so, you will continue hormone injections and scans until the biggest follicle reaches 18mm or more in size.

4. Ovulation injection

This injection(which can again be self-administered) is usually given at a specific time in the evening.

Egg retrieval will then take place 38 hours after the ovulation injection—about eight hours before the egg is due to be released from the ovary.

5. Aspiration

The clinic will tell you what time to check into the clinic for the egg retrieval.

The procedure is only about 15 to 20 minutes but takes place under strong sedation, so plan to take the day off work.

The doctor will retrieve the eggs and your partner will produce a sperm sample to fertilise the eggs. When I woke up from the procedure, the number of our eggs was written on my hand (clinics know that women need details and their partners are often bad at remembering or communicating them).

This can be an emotional day because your hopes and expectations are linked to the number of eggs and how mature they are.

Ask your partner to drive you home and be available to support you if the news is bad.

6. Embryo fertilisation (naturally or through ICSI)

Once the eggs are retrieved, the laboratory scientist will place them in a dish along with the sperm. The dish is put in an incubator where fertilisation occurs.

If necessary (usually when there is male infertility or when fertilisation has failed to occur or has occurred abnormally in the past), the lab will use ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) to fertilise the eggs. During ICSI, the lab will select and then inject a single sperm into a single mature egg.

7. Embryo development (the waiting period)

The clinic will decide when to do the embryo transfer (either on day three or five after aspiration). In the period between aspiration and transfer you will phone the clinic every day to get an update on the growth of your embryos.

This can be a very stressful time, especially if the embryos are poor quality. Remember that stress at this point can no longer affect your embryo quality but it can impact negatively on your experience of IVF as well as your emotional preparedness for the embryo transfer and early pregnancy.

If you are feeling overwhelmed, it is best to seek some help.

8. Embryo transfer

The clinic will schedule a time for the embryo transfer. This is a minor procedure, not requiring an anaesthetic.

Before transfer, the clinic will talk about the number and quality of embryos and give you a more accurate estimate of the likely success of the procedure.

Depending on the quality of the embryos, this may be an emotional and challenging day but do try to stay hopeful.

9. Waiting stage

Following the transfer, you will be given medication to maintain a healthy uterine lining which will result in heightened emotions and symptoms that resemble pregnancy.

Symptoms can include; tender breasts, bloating and frequent urination. This is a period of high stress where emotions can vacillate wildly from hope and optimism to despair.

Try to keep busy and not attempt anything too physically or emotionally strenuous during this time.

10. Pregnancy test

This takes place 11 days after the transfer. The clinic will perform a blood test and then communicate the results.

If the test is positive (and I sincerely hope it will be), you will continue on your medicine and return to the clinic for regular scans. Many clinics will continue to care for you through the first trimester following which you can see an obstetrician.

A negative result can be devastating though. It is common to go through all of the stages of grieving: shock, disbelief, numbness, anger, depression and lots of “why” questions. This is normal but friends and family may not understand so it may be a good time to seek external help (especially if you find that you cannot move on).

Hard as it is, it is also important to speak to your doctor about factors that may have contributed to the failure,as well as next steps.

Having a plan can make the difference between depression and continued hope.

Top tips

1. Cost

IVF is expensive – leading clinics quote between R35 000 and R50 000 per IVF cycle depending on the procedures used (this excludes medication).

Although semi-government hospitals offering IVF may be cheaper, you will still need to budget for it or obtain IVF-specific finance (speak to your clinic about options).

South African medical aids don’t fund IVF but pressure groups continue to lobby them so watch this space.

2. Your emotions

IVF is very stressful. Be sure to set up a good support structure and if necessary seek professional help to cope with it successfully.

3. Readying yourself

Prepare well. Infertility experts understand that a large number of factors contribute to a couple’s success with IVF. Try to make any necessary health, psychological and lifestyle-related changes prior to the treatment to maximise your chances of success.

About the Author: Robyn Wolfson Vorster is a writer, survivor of IVF and a passionate adoption advocate.  She is mom to a biological son (7), an adoptive daughter (2) and two step-daughters in their twenties.

Acknowledgements: Medical content derived from Medfem clinic and Vitalab. With grateful thanks to Mandy Rodrigues for the content about how you will feel.

The post What to expect from IVF appeared first on All4Baby.

Snuggling up, listening to your mom or dad read your favourite fairytale not only releases feel good hormones; it also helps you relax and fall asleep easily, creating wonderful memories of a childhood filled with love, fantasy and adventure.

The benefits of reading

This special moment of bonding between you and your toddler also provides you with an opportunity to focus on your toddler’s intellectual, social and ethical development.

While reading;

• Talk about morals and values.
• Develop critical thinking by posing questions for discussion.
• Focus on new words, their meanings and how they are used in a story which will  help expand your toddler’s vocabulary.
• Explain how punctuation works in making sense out of words.
• Use rhythm and rhyme to stimulate your child’s brain.
• Practice listening, concentration and comprehension skills as your toddler listens to find answers to questions you pose about the story, or to find out what happens to characters in the story.
• Encourage your toddler to use his imagination to make predictions about what will happen next in the story, developing his creative thinking skills.
• Teach your toddler to order his thoughts and focus on the sequence of events by asking him what happened first, second and next in the story.
• Encourage a love of reading, setting your toddler up for success both at school and in life (research supports this fact).

Embrace your inner child

It doesn’t matter if you are not a great reader yourself, start with simple books and watch your own reading skills improve as you read to your child.

Embrace your inner child and make reading to your toddler a fun time of the day, rather than viewing it as a chore.

Toddlers like to read the same story over

Toddlers often want to read the same story over and over again because it provides consistency and predictability, which makes them feel secure. Be patient and let them get more involved in reading the story, especially over time.

It’s about more than just reading

Remember this special time of the day with your toddler is about more than just reading. It is a time for them to attach to you, especially if they have been separated from you all day.

As Katherine Patterson, a child author advises, “it is not enough to simply teach children to read; we have to give them something worth reading, something that will stretch their imaginations, something that will help them make sense of their own lives and encourage them to reach out toward people whose lives are quite different from their own.”

Happy Reading!

About the Author: Claire Marketos www.inspiredparenting.co.za
 

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In addition to focusing on stretch marks as a result of these transformations,Bio-Oil explored the emotional effects of these changes and the adjustments women have to make as they transition from teenager to woman, and from woman to mother.

Stretch marks affect 88% of pregnant women

Stretch marks commonly occur during pregnancy, affecting up to 88% of pregnant women. Research indicates that adolescents are also affected, with up to 70% of girls and 40% of boys developing stretch marks during puberty, some from as young as10 years old.

Bio-Oil commissioned husband and wife team, Rob and Karin Schermbrucker, to capture the Marks of Change as experienced by 14 ‘real’ teenage girls and women, none of whom are professional models, but who were willing to share their experiences.

Understand your body’s journey

“Understanding the body’s journey allows one to embrace the changes and celebrate the process. As a wife and mother of two, I was able to identify with the journey from teenager to woman and from woman to mother,” said photographer Karin Schermbrucker.

“I was challenged as to how I would translate the ‘marks of change’ visually, and emotively capture the essence of these two pivotal times in a woman’s life. Our ‘models’ arrived, awkward, closed and somewhat self-conscious but left feeling free and beautiful!”

Marks of Change exhibition

Through a series of emotive photographs and video, Bio-Oil presented the Marks of Change exhibition at a special briefing session for the media. In addition to this, Bio-Oil invited medical professionals to explore the topic in an expert panel discussion. Dermatologist Dr Ayesha Moolla, gynaecologist Dr Jana Rossouw, life coach and psychologist Megan de Beyer and clinical psychologist Maropeng Ralenala answered questions around these transitional phases from an expert skin, body and mind perspective.

Kirsten with Amelia Jane, 2 weeks old

Stretch marks, or striae, occur when the body expands faster than the skin covering it, resulting in internal tears in the deepdermis. When these tears heal, they form scars known as stretch marks.

Although stretch marks do not represent a significant medical problem, they can cause emotional distress to those who develop them.

The likelihood of developing them varies according to skin type, age, genetic disposition, diet and the hydration of the skin. Dr Moolla highlights that, “recognising striae early is crucial. The condition may respond to products and prescription treatment if commenced on newly developed striae.Once the striae are older, they are more refractory to treatment”.

Tracey with Rain, 2 months old

Mothers’ Marks of Change

During pregnancy the body expands so rapidly that the skin isn’t always able to adjust sufficiently, resulting in stretch marks,which affect up to 88% of pregnant women.

Research shows that one in three women feel self-conscious, embarrassed,worried or even ashamed about their stretch marks.

“It’s difficult to say what position a woman’s body will be in until she has had her kids, but it’s a sacrifice you need to make to have your children,” says Tracey, mother to Rain, 2 months old.

Lisa, mother to 11 month old Erin, shares this sentiment; “The changes in my body are because of my children and I wouldn’t have them if it weren’t for them. I’d be happier if they weren’t there, but not if it meant my children weren’t there.”

Lisa with Erin, 11 months old

Whilst many women experience negative emotional responses to their body post-pregnancy, these marks are also seen as a treasured reminder of their child’s birth. “Your body never goes back to how it was before, but I don’t think you expect it to because as a person you have also changed. It would feel very incongruent to have such a huge change happen internally and that not be reflected in some way,” says Kirsten, who is featured in Marks of Change with her second daughter, two-week-old Amelia Jane.

As a mother to two young children, Karin Schermbrucker reflects on the Marks of Change initiative with affection; “It was without a doubt, one of my most favourite shoots. My time with the women and the final images reminded me how much I love being a woman and just how magnificent and perfectly created the female form is.”

About the Author: To see the Marks of Change video visit www.youtube.com/BioOilSouthAfrica #BioOilSA #marksofchange For further information on Bio-Oil visit www.bio-oil.com

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A urinary tract infection (UTI) is a bacterial infection in the urinary tract.

Pregnant women have an increased risk

Urinary tract infections are most common in women, especially if they are pregnant.

Physical and hormonal changes in the urinary tract during pregnancy often create the ideal environment for bacteria to flourish, which make pregnant women more susceptible to infection.

As the uterus grows, its increased weight can block the drainage of urine from the bladder. This stagnant urine is likely to cause urinary tract infection.

The increase of progesterone also causes the muscles that line the urine-making urethras to relax, which can allow bacteria to rise up into the bladder more easily than when you’re not pregnant.

Complications of a UTI in pregnancy

If the UTI goes untreated, it may lead to a kidney infection, which can be potentially life-threatening for mother and baby. Kidney infections may cause premature labour and low birth weight.

UTI symptoms

• Feeling an urgent need to urinate
• Frequent urination
• Finding it difficult to urinate
• Experiencing a burning sensation whilst urinating
• Cramps in your lower back or lower abdomen
• Urine that looks cloudy or has an odour

An asymptomatic infection

Pregnant women might not experience any symptoms, and it is therefore recommended that all pregnant women get checked for this ‘asymptomatic’ infection.

Treating a UTI

Conventional antibiotic treatments may clear up the infection, but they also kill the good bacteria in your body, which can be detrimental to your health over the long term.

About the Author: UTI’s during pregnancy can be safely treated with DMannose. DMannose is a pleasant tasting soluble powder that works quickly to stop UTI in its tracks by flushing the E.coli bacteria from your system, thus ensuring that the infection won’t recur. For a comprehensive stockist list, see the DMannose website under the “pharmacies” tab.

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In addition to keeping it simple and predictable, here are some top tips to creating a bedtime routine for your little one.

1. Keep it short – no longer than 30 minutes.
2. If you have a child older than 6 months, feed him or her  prior to bath time.
3. A bath is the best “activity” to kick-start your bedtime routine with.
4. For a toddler, set an egg timer for 30 minutes before bedtime to get him used to the idea that sleep is soon to follow.
5. No iPads or TV (or any other electronic devices) for at least two hours before bedtime. Rather invest in some quality family time.
6. Keep bedtime early. Typically, after 8pm it should only be mom and dad left in the living room.

Remember that children (until they reach a stage of puberty) need to sleep for a solid 11 or 12 hours at night. Therefore, an early bedtime for the whole family is a good idea.

In addition to a well rested child, you and your partner will still have a few hours left in the evening to enjoy quality time with each other.

About the Author: Good Night is a child and baby sleep consultancy that specialises in helping parents with children who struggle to sleep soundly. For more information, visit: www.goodnightbaby.co.za

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Travelling

Many parents worry that travelling might thwart healthy and established sleeping patterns. However, before you swear off travelling, or panic about an upcoming trip, here are some pointers that can help.

• Plan the length of your trip. Be honest about what you and your toddler can handle. While older children might be able to deal with 10 or more hours in the car, younger toddlers and babies can’t. Generally speaking, young children should not be subjected to confinement in a car for more than six hours a day. This is just as much for your sanity as it is for theirs.
• Children are prone to suffer from a bout of car or motion sickness so be prepared for this. Consult your doctor or pharmacist ahead of time for medication.
• To avoid frustration, confusion and last minute run-around on departure day, start packing a few days before you leave. Ensure that you pack their favorite sleeping toy and blanket.
• Get your car packed and ready the night before if you are planning to leave early in the morning. This includes getting snacks, drinks, a spare set of clothing, first aid kit and other essentials prepared. Toys, books and other key things to keep your child occupied should be stored in the car where it is easy for them to reach while not causing any safety concerns. Make sure the DVD player or iPad is charged and the screen set up where it won’t distract the driver.

Jetlag

Well-rested children cope with jetlag and time differences much better than if they are deprived of sleep. If your baby has had a good sleep schedule prior to leaving, she should be able to fit into a new time zone easily.

• If your baby is showing signs of needing an extra nap to catch up on rest, try limit it to 45 minutes. And, if the nap is close to bedtime, rather move bedtime up and skip the nap.
• To adjust your toddler to a new time zone, try spend time outdoors as the light is a good time cue  which will encourage their little bodies to adjust easier.
• Keep light to a minimum before bedtime – this will help stimulate melatonin production and encourage sleep.

Sleeping

• Do not over-schedule or over-plan. Even though you’re on holiday, too much stimulation and back-to-back activities aren’t advised as these cut into rest (and put more pressure on the parents too).
• Even though you’re on holiday, try not to bend the rules too much, even though babies and toddlers frequently test the sleep boundaries in a new environment. The best thing to do if there are wakings or crying, is to treat it the same way you would at home. You can go in every five minutes or so to offer some comfort. If you remain consistent, your child will adapt much easier to the new environment, and is likely to sleep well.
• Make sure you bring your child’s sleeping toy and blanket, and be aware that if bed sharing happens on holiday and not at home, your child is likely to demand the same setup at home. Most hotels have cots – inquire before you go, and if not, take a camp cot with you.
• If your child is older than eight months, try to set their cot or bed up in a private space for them to sleep in.

About the Author: Good Night is a child and baby sleep consultancy that specialises in helping parents with children who struggle to sleep soundly. For more information, visit: www.goodnightbaby.co.za

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Most moms do however, instinctively feel that ‘something is not quite right’ and will repeatedly visit the GP or health visitor but end up deeply frustrated feeling it must be something that ‘they are doing wrong’ as no-one seems to listen or understand.

What is reflux and what causes it?

Reflux is simply the ‘backward flow’ of the stomach contents up into the oesophagus.

This is most commonly due to the natural immaturity and weakness of the muscle and valve that lead into the stomach therefore allowing the baby’s feed along with gastric acid to be involuntarily regurgitated.

Most people only recognise reflux if the baby vomits, but this is simply not true and many babies who suffer never vomit.

Quite simply, the force at which the stomach contents come back up determines whether the baby projectile vomits, is frequently sick, continually spits up or is never actually sick, which is known as Silent Reflux. This occurs when the stomach contents continually fluctuate up and down inside the oesophagus causing intense pain with ‘heartburn’ like symptoms – but with no actual vomiting it can be even harder to diagnose as reflux.

What are the typical reflux symptoms?

• Vomiting or spitting up
• Arching the back or neck and body goes rigid
• Irritability and pain
• Frequent hiccups, excessive dribbling
• Gurgling, gagging, choking episodes
• White coating on the tongue [not oral thrush]
• Excessive mucous, sinus congestion
• Raspy/wheezy cough, often worse at night
• Very windy, hard to burp, excessive ‘bottom’ wind
• Excessive feeding or refusal to feed
• Difficult to settle, poor sleep patterns
• Bouts of inconsolable crying

Just to make diagnosis even more difficult, reflux has many different symptoms and individual babies will display different signs of the condition.

Not only are the outward signals determined by the actual root cause and severity of the reflux, but also by the baby’s individual temperament and personality.

For example some will scream with pain whilst others just learn to deal with it and rarely cry, some may be relatively happy although vomit a lot whilst others may refuse feeds, are rarely sick but be quite miserable.

What is the treatment and on-going management for reflux?

Reflux cannot really be ‘cured’ but the symptoms can be controlled, and I always say ‘we have to crack-the-reflux-code’ for each baby to find what helps relieve the individuals’ symptoms”.

There are a range of medical antacid treatments including infant Gaviscon, which by reducing stomach acidity will lessen the burning pain experienced through a reflux attack.

It is also important to understand HOW to maximise the positive effect of finding the right combination of milk and medication.

It is vital to establish a good feeding and sleeping structure as you cannot just medicate a baby and expect everything to fall into place.

The baby may have had weeks or even months of being in discomfort which will have created many negative behavioural associations to feeding and sleeping that will need to be redressed through re-building the baby’s association to milk and food, implementing a daily routine for milk, naps and mealtimes and also you may need to implement some sleep training for night-time.

Although most infants will outgrow reflux as their digestive system matures, many may continue to have problems throughout toddler-hood, but through many years of working with reflux babies, I discovered that there is less likelihood of any long-term negative effects through an early diagnosis, proper treatment and an effective, on-going management plan of the condition.

Weaning a reflux baby

Many parents are told to “wean early” if their baby has been diagnosed with reflux. Whilst this does ultimately help in the majority of cases, firstly, it is imperative to ensure that the reflux, and or, food intolerances and allergies are correctly diagnosed, treated and managed before introducing solids.

Introducing solids to an already distressed digestive system in a baby with untreated reflux can sometimes make matters worse than before.It might induce further vomiting, could create a negative association to solids foods or anything given from a spoon and sometimes even create a complete refusal of solid food.

We also need to be cautious with what is introduced for first foods, as the usual suggested purées of apple or carrot are actually very acidic and often exacerbate an already sensitive gut.

Some babies prove to be intolerant to various different vegetables and fruit; others are sensitive to fish and many to dairy and cows milk protein products. Some are sensitive to other foods containing egg, wheat, soya or gluten!

It can be a minefield when weaning a reflux baby and it is often just through a ‘trial and error’ basis that you can discover which foods suit your baby and those that don’t.

Article Author: By Allison Scott-Wright www.alisonscott-wright.com

For more information on weaning, introducing food groups and how to create delicious, nutritionally balanced meals visit Bumbles Cookery Club http://bumblescookeryclub.co.za/ Be sure to sign up for the monthly newsletter and look out for fun updates. Like Bumbles Cookery Club on Facebook for fun posts, news and information.https://www.facebook.com/bumblesbabies/timeline

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And interestingly, the biggest increase in risk occurs when you go from having had no children to one child.

40% of women experience bladder weakness

In fact, the EPINCONT study conducted in Norway showed that if you had no children, your risk of incontinence would be 10%. Vaginal delivery increased that to 21% and a C-section increased the risk to 16%.

With this in mind, and with figures that indicate up to 40% of women experience bladder weakness as a result of pregnancy, the focus of this year’s World Continence week, being held from 23 to 29 June, is Pelvic Floor Exercise in Pregnancy, Childbirth and Beyond.

Natural delivery preferred

The difference between the two forms of childbirth is because of the child’s head going through the birth canal. But, experts say this is not good enough case for more C-sections, estimating they would have to do eight to nine C-sections to protect one woman from bladder weakness.

Vaginal delivery is still preferred because C-sections carry other risks.

Other factors that contribute to bladder weakness

There are also other factors that contribute to bladder weakness – being overweight also heightens your risk of incontinence – each BMI unit you add to your body composition increases your risk of urinary incontinence by 8%. (A normal BMI is below 25.) So it’s vital that all women – whether or not they are mothers – ensure they stick to a healthy body weight.

Practice pelvic floor health

Pelvic floor health is a crucial step in preventing incontinence and should be practised by all women of childbearing age before, during and after pregnancy to keep the risk of urinary incontinence as low as possible.

Clinical trials show that pregnant women who do proper pelvic floor exercises are half as likely to experience incontinence in late pregnancy than women who do not, and are also less likely to have symptoms six months after their baby is born.

The pelvic floor muscles run around the anus where they converge, and then continue around the vagina and urethra. After giving birth, the area may feel tender and it may be hard to clench the muscles.

Exercise your pelvic floor daily

To start with, lie on your back or side with your knees bent. Clench the sphincter around your anus, then clench forwards and upwards around the vagina and the opening of the urethra. Imagine you’re doing up a ‘zip’ up, starting from the back and clenching all the way forward to your clitoris. Do several gentle clenches, ideally 20, one after the other, and do these exercises daily.

Struggling with urine leakage?

And if you are struggling with urine leakage, a purpose-designed incontinence product is a must. TENA’s products are designed to deal with issues beyond leakage and odour – they absorb liquid fast, limiting the time any moisture is in contact with your skin.

They also have superb retention properties, and the material is designed so that the liquid spreads through it, ensuring that no single area is soaked through.

For more information or advice, please call TENA on 0860 673 377 or visit www.tena.co.za or shop online at www.tenashop.co.za.

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Researchers at the University of Iowa studied how 16-month-old children learn words for non solid objects, from oatmeal to glue. Previous research has shown that toddlers learn more readily about solid objects because they can easily identify them due to their unchanging size and shape. But the oozy, gooey, runny stuff? Not so much, researchers said.

Word learning increases in high chair

Yet, according to the latest findings, that changes if you put toddlers in a setting they know well — a highchair. Word learning increases, because children at that age are “used to seeing non solid things in this context, when they’re eating,” says Larissa Samuelson, head researcher and associate professor in psychology. “And, if you expose them to these things when they’re in a highchair, they do better. They’re familiar with the setting and that helps them remember and use what they already know about non solids.”

Toddlers who interact with food are more likely to name them

In a new study published this week in the journal Developmental Science, Samuelson and her team exposed 72 toddlers to 14 non solid objects, mostly food and drinks such as applesauce, pudding, juice, and soup. They presented the items and gave them made-up words, such as “dax” or “kiv.” A minute later, they asked the children to identify the same food in different sizes or shapes.

The task required the youngsters to go beyond relying simply on shape and size and to explore what the substances were made of to make the correct identification and word choice.

Making the correct association through interaction

Not surprisingly, many children gleefully dove into this task by poking, prodding, touching, feeling, tasting, and throwing the non solids in order to understand what they were and make the correct association with the hypothetical names, the researchers said.

The toddlers who interacted the most with the foods were more likely to correctly identify them by their texture and name them, the study determined. For example, imagine you were a 16-month-old gazing at a cup of milk and a cup of glue. How would you tell the difference by simply looking?

Setting matters, too

The setting matters, too, it seems. Children in a highchair were more apt to identify and name the food than those in other venues, such as seated at a table, the researchers found.
“It turns out that being in a highchair makes it more likely you’ll get messy, because kids know they can get messy there,” Samuelson said.

Access the new study: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/desc.12147/abstract

(AFP Relaxnews)

The post Toddler nutrition: Why your toddler should play with his food appeared first on All4Baby.

Skin type

Stretch marks tend to be associated more with darker-skinned women than with lighter-skinned women.

In a mixed race study, 77.8% of those with darker skin developed stretch marks in pregnancy, while only 45.2% of lighter-skinned women got them.

Age

Interestingly, it has been found that as you get older, you are less likely to develop stretch marks.

Family and personal history

In a study conducted in 2004, it was found that of the women who developed stretch marks in pregnancy, over half had mothers with stretch marks. In the same study it was found that 81% of the women with pregnancy stretch marks had pre-existing stretch marks.

Weight

Stretch marks depend on the extent to which the skin expands. As such it is thought that rapid or excessive weight gain can exacerbate their formation.

It is, however, better during pregnancy to focus on eating the correct healthy foods than to worry about how much weight you are putting on.

Skin and condition

Maintaining a nutritious diet and keeping skin well-hydrated will ensure that it is better able to stretch during pregnancy.

About the Author: Bio-oil has been trusted by pregnant women since 1987. For more information, visit www.bio-oil.com

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