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The Manduca baby carrier was designed in Germany and worldwide babywearing experts, as well as the Australian Physiotherapy Association and the Australian Breastfeeding Association, recommend and endorse it. This soft but structured baby carrier, is designed to carry newborns from 3.5kg to pre-schoolers up to 20kg. For carrying infants, there is an inbuilt seat so that the baby can be positioned in the supportive “M” position where their hips and upper thighs are well supported by the carrier in a seated position and their little knees are higher than their hips. There’s also inbuilt support for the infant’s head and neck from the padded wraparound top panel. Adults of different sizes will also find the Manduca baby carrier easy to use, too. The waist belt can extend
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Some helpful info and tips. Adding some special style and colour for babywearers, there’s the Tula baby carrier, which is available in a beautiful range of limited edition fabrics and prints. Tula carriers offer comfort and practicality and are designed to provide parents and children with years of secure portability – enabling you to maintain an active life together. The Tula carriers come in a range of fabrics, from Indonesian batik prints to Scandinavian-inspired designs. The Tula carrier has ergonomics in mind, and this soft but structured carrier is easily adjustable for both front and back baby carrying. It is designed primarily for babies from 7kg to pre-schoolers of 20kg, but the Tula can carry newborns (from 3kg) as well, if the Tula Baby Insert is used. There’s
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Uber-relaxed parenting This parenting trend will see mums and dads copying the style of veteran parents and relaxing a bit. You know – less intense – more relaxed inclusive style of parenting. No helicopter parenting to be seen here, no micromanaged playdates and Mandarin lessons. Getting back to the basics , back to nature. Letting children enjoy the joy of new discoveries (even with the mess) and have more moments to just explore and be and enjoy… being children. Phew. Downsizing People just do too much these days and kids can get over-tired and emotionally exhausted. Dance classes, playdates, language lessons, choir, you name it, there’s an entire calendar full of busy! In 2016, parents are going to take their feet off the pedal a bit and spend
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Putting yourself first occasionally is selfish Yes it’s ok to look after yourself. Constantly caring for the needs of your kids and family without looking after yourself can lead to exhaustion and martyr-dom. Be attentive to your children’s needs but make sure that you schedule some time to laugh, refresh, refuel and something to pamper and revitalise yourself. When travelling on a plane they instruct in case of an emergency to put on your own oxygen mask first – so you can most effectively help your young ones. The role of the mother is vital and this advise is very wise. There’s a “right” way to be a parent An insidious myth that sets people against each other. You know your kids best because you spend the most
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The ever-ready mum This mum always has band-aids, snacks, baby wipes, antibac and a can-do attitude on her. She had a bottomless nappy bag full of helpful treasures and she’s also generous to a fault and doesn’t judge you for only packing two nappies. The strong-stomached mum Got a weird rash? Gunk coming out of an ear? Give her a call, she’ll be right over to diagnose and comb. This mum has no problems with the messier aspects of parenting and gets a real kick out of ick. The baking mum She lives in – and for – her kitchen and welcomes everyone in. She loves the fact that everyone loves her food and doesn’t miss an opportunity to dish it out to people of all ages and tastes. Delightful
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Wonderful Benefits of Keeping your Baby Close to You for that Amazing First Year Skin-to-skin contact has been big news among parents in recent years – we know it’s good for babies, but how, exactly? Up until a couple of decades ago parents were encouraged to leave their babies alone for hours at a time, so what has changed? Why are we now told to keep young babies closer to us? There are lots of reasons, and here’s just a few. More sleep Among newborns, close contact is useful because it calms them down. They don’t cry so much and this makes for better sleep. Better sleep helps their brains to develop a bit more efficiently and also stops their parents from suffering too much. So it benefits parents
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Why Those Silly Faces and Sounds are So Vital to Your Baby’s Development We’ve all done it, even if that adorable baby isn’t ours… Yes, we’re talking about pulling goofy faces and repeating random phrases and noises: “Who’s my big boy? WHO’S my BIG BOY?!” “HEEERE’S MR BEAR!!” And so on. It seems that we just fall into this pattern of behaviour as soon as we’re handed a baby and we don’t stop to think about why (or, indeed, who’s watching…). Teenagers, grouchy old men, shopkeepers, you name it, we all start spouting “parentese” – that over-exaggerated, simplistic and repetitive baby-talk. Why? Well, because it’s essential for an infant’s social, emotional, intellectual and physical development. Learning through play and imitation: Babies learn through play and imitation and by
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