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It’s pretty much a given that your hormones go haywire when you’re pregnant but most people ignore how mental illness can be affected by pregnancy. I myself suffer from Bipolar Disorder and when I found out that I was pregnant with my second child obviously I couldn’t continue with the medication I was taking; I found the ‘withdrawal’ symptoms tough to handle and found that my moods were more erratic than they were with my first pregnancy amongst other problems. The trick is to make sure that tell your midwife about any mental health problems that you have and they will ensure that you get the support you need through the duration of your pregnancy.
There are various agencies within the NHS that support expectant mothers and also after the birth. These include the Mother and Baby Unit which is based in most cases at your local hospital which are usually accessed following a referral from your GP. The best thing is to ask your midwife what services are available and how to access them. You don’t have to suffer alone there is help available in so many sources.
Originally a Nursery was typically a private establishment that provided daycare for children from birth through to school age and a playgroup provided preschool education and prepared a child for school, however in an attempt to get playgroups to take themselves and the educational element more seriously they are now referred to as preschools by official bodies such as OFSTED.
However now the terms Nursery and preschool are now used interchangeably for example most infant schools have a Nursery attached to them which is targeted at children aged 3. The only thing I can suggest is ignore the name and treat each daycare provider as individual and decide which is the right place for your child.
At the moment I am in the process of looking at putting my daughter into daycare to encourage her to mix with other children and learn the social skills associated with mixing with her peers such as sharing and taking turns. So to find the right childcare provider here is an easy to follow list which you may find helpful:
- Make a list of all the daycare facilities in your area
- Cross off any that obviously don’t meet your criteria (wrong age, too far etc)
- Call the remaining providers and ask them to send you an information pack (obviously for some small providers they may not be able to offer an information pack but they can give you any information you ask
- Based on the information you are given choose your top 3 and arrange to have a look around
- Once you have visited the providers decide which one you liked the best and enrol your child
- Take your child for a few sessions to get them settled in before they officially start
Once you have found the right place to send your child ensure that you explain what is happening to your child otherwise it can cause your child to feel abandoned and can make it difficult for your child to settle, as it is a strange experience being away from their parents with people they don’t know very well. It can also cause behavioural problems as they may not be able to verbally express how they are feeling so may express it through bad behaviour, so the key is maintaining good communication with your child and making sure that you find time to spend 1 to 1 with them so that they know that you still love them and that they can talk to if something is wrong.
Until recently I knew that you could increase your child’s knowledge but what I didn’t realise was that you could actually improve your child’s intelligence! The brain is essentially a muscle so the more you stimulate, by exercise and nutrition, the better it is able to focus and think clearly this is because the synapses fire quicker and more neural pathways form.
You can enhance you’re child’s intelligence and knowledge by:
- Minimising the amount of TV your child watches
This sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised how much TV the average child watches because parents are rushing about doing other things so sit their child in front of the TV to keep them out of their way. Another reason is that parents believe that alot of the programmes have an educational element. You can reduce the amount of TV by putting music on instead.
In extreme cases children who watch alot of TV tend to learn fixed phrases and can’t apply the vocabulary correctly. It doesn’t enable other areas of development such as their fine motor skills as they focus on the TV, they’re also not as active as most children either sit or stand in front of the TV which can cause childhood obesity.
- Keep your child’s brain hydrated
Water is the only drink that goes directly to the organs all other drinks are processed in the same way as food, this would explain why some children who drink alot of juice and squash throughout the day don’t want their main meals because their system is trying to cope with processing the juice. Water keeps the brain hydrated which keeps it working at it’s best, if the brain becomes dehydrated its learning capacity drops as well as concentration. It can also cause behavioural problems as a dehydrated brain causes headaches, I don’t know if it’s just my daughter but when she is feeling unwell regardless of what the complaint is she tends to have more tantrums and be more “clingy”; I’m sure I’m not alone with this.
- Give your child toys that will stimulate them and promote different areas of development
I know this sounds slightly sad but when I am buying toys for my daughter I find something I think she will like then think “well what can she get out of it?” If the answer is not much in most cases I won’t buy it because I know that she will get bored of it very quickly and it will then sit in a cupboard until have a clear out, which makes it a waste of money too. As a result although my daughter doesn’t have loads of toys she will sit and play with those that she does have for hours, it’s a great feeling watching as she explores new ways to use the toys. For more information see Toys that could enhance your child’s development
- Make sure your child gets enough sleep
Most children need an average of between 12-16 hours sleep. Make sure that you have a good bedtime routine, and if your child needs it let them take a nap during the day, my daughter sleeps from approximately 7:30pm ’til 7:30am and then if she’s had an active day she may have a nap mid afternoon. Tired children don’t concentrate very well and also are not as receptive to learning.
- Encourage your child to mix with other children
Children learn best from each other. This is because children are at approximately the same level whereas adults tend to either talk to their children either by incomprehensible babbling or by talking to them like an adult. This is not intentional it is just a case of most adults not knowing how to talk to children. Not only this but children who socialise with others tend to pick up new things and also stimulate areas of the brain that are not stimulated in children who are isolated such as the area of the brain that deals with language and also that which deals with social interaction.
Does anyone ever notice the total look of surprise when a child uses their manners?
I didn’t until yesterday when I took my daughter (aged 22 months) to a birthday party and because when people asked if she wanted things she said please and then thank you when given whatever it was, the look of surprise on their faces was enough to make you laugh.
I didn’t think it was unusual for a child to be well behaved and polite as I have always been taught that this is right so why do other parents find it odd? I’m guessing that it is because in today’s society manners don’t seem to count for very much, some blame the parents who live on council estates claiming that they are lazy and don’t bother teaching their kids manners but this is unfair as I know quite a few parents off council estates and their kids are polite. Others blame the parents who work long hours and put their kids in daycare but this is unfair because daycare places encourage children to be polite. The final theory is that children are afraid that being ridiculed by their peers for using manners if their peers don’t or simply forget; this is plausible because most people want to fit in with their peers so adopt the same behaviours as them, or if they forget again that is possible as everyone forgets things from time to time.
So in conclusion manners don’t seem to be as important as you progress down the generations but those who do use them shouldn’t be greeted with a look of shock as it makes the child doubt that what they are doing is right, which is unfair if that is what they have been taught is the correct way to behave.