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June was a busy month in my household as my beautiful and feisty, might I add, nieces came to stay with us. It was mayhem and adults fell into bed exhausted by the end of the day but seeing kids have fun and be cheeky with each other was so wonderfully uplifting, especially as they don’t get to see each other often, with us being London based and them living in Europe.

One day, after my saintly sister-in-law looked after three kids, while I had an acupuncture appointment, I took my family to a very well-known and much loved gastro pub in Chelsea for lunch. The place was half busy but there was a well-known rock star wife and a in-demand model there, so the glamour factor, as ever, was present.

We ordered the food, the drinks arrived swiftly and my youngest niece took a shine to one of the waiters, who sweetly reciprocated. As the little one is a bit fussy with her food, my sister-in-law got down to feeding her a home-made meal, so that later we can all eat to our heart’s content but there was trouble on the horizon as the cute one saw freshly baked that was brought to our table and wanted to have it. My sister-in-law refused to budge and the obvious happened-my niece started screaming. Initially she was ‘discreet’ but as no bread came her way, the screaming got louder. I looked in sympathy at my sister-in-law, as any parent would-does any pregnancy book ever warn you of the regular occurrence of toddler tantrums and how people react to them?

Well, people started giving us looks and not of the adorable kind. All of a sudden a skinny elderly lady materialised by our table and started screaming-yes, I kidd you not!!!-at us, telling us to take the child out and calm her down as we were ruining everyone’s lunch. At first I was so taken aback by this rude and horrendous outburst-the woman looked positively insane that I was lost for words. A minute or so later, when I regained my composure, I told her that it was lunch time, not dinner, it wasn’t a Micheline star restaurant but a gastro pub and we had as much a right to be there as anybody else in the room. The woman had no ounce of fat on her body but her sour look on the face said it all i.e so not happy!!!!!!!!

My niece eventually calmed down, finished her food and got her bread, while me and my sister-in-law, my son and my bigger niece savoured our food with gusto. The model gave us haughty glances, but stopped smiling and the rock star wife, who smiled at my niece before, passed our table on the way out and walked to the demented lady-maybe their were old acquaintances or maybe she wanted to show her her moral support? The woman in question, who after her outburst, hid behind her companion, shortly left too. I, for one, was left angry for a few hours, because hypocrisy drives me mad.

My child and my nieces have been going out with us since they were babies, to appropriate places and appropriate times-for example, I wouldn’t take them to ‘business’ frequented restaurants or haute cuisine restaurants until they were older. We always make sure that our kids are well-behaved or occupied with snacks, crayons, DVDs etc-I don’t leave home without making sure I have everything with me but people with kids are entitled to have a life as much as the people who don’t have kids or who choose to live their kids at home.

My parents took me and my brother out with them, and I knew how to behave in the restaurants form an early age-I want to enjoy my son’s company and allow him to be social while eating at nice places, which I think is part of the educational process. But certain people are so full of themselves, so discontent and arrogant that they think they have rights that people with kids don’t. Have you ever seen the disdain on the faces of the first class or business class passengers where parents try to placate their crying baby? And I always want to smack those people and tell them to get off the high horse and have some sympathy for tired and yes, embarrassed, parents. Everyone is entitled to make their choices but no one should be allowed to impose theirs on other people. And I always considered Brits to be tolerant, if not loving with kids…….

Unfortunately our kids are being born in a much worse environment then we did. The air is more polluted, the water is less clean, there are more diseases and natural disasters, more additives in the food and things we use on our skin. All of the above are among the factors that make kids more susceptible to being born with asthma and skin conditions like eczema. At the same time, we, adults and parents can make a conscious choice too, by paying attention to what we are eating and drinking, how we are cooking and cleaning the places we live in and what we put on our kids skin, meaning both clothes and skincare. I would also haste to add that our kids need to go out and play with mud and run in the parks, without us being paranoid and wiping their hands every five  minutes too.

I have a dear friend, whose child developed eczema in the second year of life and while it’s quite mild and not distressing to the child, one worries as a parent and wants to make it go away. So, where do you start?

I strongly believe in a combination of medical and holistic-while not taking the importance of doctors or medicines off, I know from my own experience that holistic medicine or practitioners can be of great benefit to one’s health, be it a child’s or adult’s. For now, I can recommend a Canadian skincare brand that was developed for kids and that my friend ‘road-tested’ (both the Super Smoothie Cream, that smells so good you will be tempted to think of cupcakes or cookies every time you open the jar, and the Milk & Oatmeal Bath Powder) and now uses regularly and lovingly on her child, whose skin is getting better.

 Below is the Q&A with Tawna Hill, a lovely founder of the Tawna Hill Baby Natural baby care.

Can you possibly tell me a little about your background and how long it took you to develop the products?

One would think that kids don’t belong in the ‘cooking’ area of the kitchen-the mess, the dangers, the frustration…?

Not so, thought Rebecca Coleman when she started her blog ‘Cooking with my kid -creating an adventurous eater one recepy at a time’ . The premise behind it is to cook 365 recepies together with her son, letting him take an active part in choosing and cooking the ingredients, thus making him enjoy a variety of foods. Definitely something to add to you regular PC links. 

http://www.cookingwithmykid.com/

Life is full of surprises, sometime good and sometimes not so. You are prepared for some and some leave you bewildered or helpless. The latter recently happened to our friends.

We all went out to have lunch with kids and were having a jolly good time in one of the Chelsea’s french bistros. The food was delicious, the waiters attentive and kids were not fussy about the food for a change. One of our friends was feeding his toddler son seafood soup which the child was very much enjoying, when all of a sudden he started crying, coughing and being uncomfortable. Initially we thought that the spoonful was hot, one of us thought that the child might have bitten on a peppercorn but the child’s dad was convinced it was a small fish bone. I, for one, was completely lost, having never come across the fish bone stuck in the throat. Our friend just gave his son a piece of bread, then another and eventually the little guy settled and continued eating courgettes and potatoes with chicken and the peace was restored at the table, with adults breathing the sign of relief.

When I came back home I went on the Internet and called a friend of mine, who is the doctor, because  I wanted to be prepared for the future, in case a similar thing happened to my son or to anyone I know.

So, the advice is this-if the child is relatively ok and breathing, try giving him or her some soft bread or a ball of cooked rice or a piece of banana. A spoonful of olive oil might be handy too. However, if the child is uncomfortable, try not to put your fingers in their throat and just go to the closest A&E, so the doctors can deal it. In most cases the fish bone will resolve itself.   

Parenthood is full of surprises, and noone fully prepares you for the fact that you have to be on your toes for the rest of your life. Worth it though .) 

I don’t know about you, but I was always a foodie. When I was growing up I didn’t cook much, as I had my mother, aunt and both of my grandmothers indulging me and did they all feed me and our extended family with gusto and skill! When I got married I obviously had to make more of an effort in the kitchen, as my husband has a voracious appetite but I can’t say that I loved the process in the beginning.

Going out was always a treat but I appreciate it even more so now, when my palate is more ‘experienced’. However, it was the birth of my son, which made the food and how it tastes even more important to me. Don’t get me wrong, I did and still do buy on occasion organic baby food but I paid attention to what my son was drinking and eating as soon as I started weening him.

He, like all the kids, has his preferences and can be fussy when trying new things, but I try to make sure he eats a variety of food and try to respect his choices.

Sometimes I might cook something really easy, like scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and sometimes I might aim for chicken and prune tagine, but it took one meal out recently to make me change my mind about compromising.

Over the Easter weekend we drove to the zoo outside London, as a way of indulging our son and ourselves with seeing the animals in the fresh air. Lunch time came and I started looking around for a place to sit down and eat something warm, because even though it was sunny, the wind was freezing. There wasn’t much choice, so we wondered  into the the little cafe. Ok, there was a salad bar and a choice of meals, like lasagna, fish or sausages with chips, peas and carrots and soup but it didn’t look too appetising and neither did it taste well in the end. It was fresh, as in it wasn’t past its ’sell by date’ but it tasted like cardboard and when we finished the meal and I looked at my husband and son and made a decision never to compromise on the food in the future, just rather take home-made sandwiches in addition to the snacks and water that I always have with me for my son and see what the lunch options are. Life is too short and well-made food not only fuels out bodies but gives us pleasure, so I am never taking that for granted again.

More and more people seem to be developing skin conditions and many are blaming the environment we live in. Paediatricians will also tell you that kids skin problems are on the rise too, which is even more distressing for children and their parents.

I have a few friends who have eczema and in a couple of cases it’s their kids who have it, even though  it doesn’t run in the family. The straightforward solution is to go to the GP or paediatrician, get examined and receive various prescriptions for strong moisturisers or steroid creams.

Personally, I am not a fan of steroid creams when it comes to children-even though it does help, I must say. I have spoken to my local pharmacist, who is not only a lovely man but a very knowledgeable pharmacist too. He recommended the product directly below, as an option to hydrocortisone cream.

The first thing that will definitely sort you or your child out is called ‘Eumovate Ointment’ and you can get it on prescription. It does contain clobetasone butyrate but it also has soft and liquid paraffin in its formulation. It is very potent and one shouldn’t use it for longer than a week but it does get the results quickly, without drying the skin unlike hydrocortisone in some cases.

In terms of natural solutions there are two, for which I can vouch. The first one is the bath oil by Aveeno, which contains oats and is deeply moisturising, which is a god’s scent when it comes to eczema, as often your skin is not only dry but itchy too. Another solution is ‘ECZ-Easy calendula & plantago soothing balm’ by Inlight, which is particularly lovely for kid’s skin. It works really well and it dampens the redness and dryness of eczema (you can buy it via Victoria’s Health site).

Whatever option you choose, don’t despair, try different things and see what works for you, as we are all so individual.

When my generation was in nappies (and not of the Pampers kind) computers weren’t as mainstream as they are now. What a difference a decade (or two) makes.

My little guy got his first laptop (a toy one!) aged one but he prefers to ‘torture’ mine, while I try to  make sure it stays out of his reach! However, a few days ago I came across the site that has put an end to our differences .)

KNEEBOUNCERS was born out of frustration of a 9-month old little girl and her father’s desire to help her. Jim Robinson couldn’t find a site where his daughter could play games without using a PC mouse. He, together with Kurt Dommermuth, developed six colourful (and very cute) characters called Caesar the Puppy, Freddy the Bear, Horatio the Hippo, Foo Foo the Bunny and Sammy the Monkey (and you should see their nicknames, they are bound to make you giggle) and 15 games, ranging from the obvious shapes, colours, numbers, to peek-a-boo, music-maker and my favourite, bed jump (what you don’t do in everyday life, you can do on computer). The site is easy to navigate and each game can be played by pressing any random key-try to stay away from the ‘power’ button though, which my son loves but it sends my laptop into hibernation.  

See what your little one thinks of it, but I bet he or she won’t be disappointed. 

 http://www.kneebouncers.com/

There are so many buggies out there that choosing one gives you a headache. I have gone through a few, the firm favourites being Quinny’s buzz 3 and Zapp (and my best friend adores Phil & Teds).

However, as kids get bigger our everyday journeys with them, often loaded with shopping bags, turn our bodies into wrecks by the end of the day. All you want is a compact, durable, not too expensive (Maclaren for well over £200 anyone?) buggy with a shopping basket that will fit in more than a raincover or a book.

Well, you are in luck, there is one such stroller from Petite Star called Zia. I wasn’t a 100% sure when I bought it but the more I walk with it, the more I like it. It’s very easy to fold (mine came with a free transit/carry bag at Mothercare); it’s got big handles; the rain cover covers the child AND your handbag , it fits snugly around the buggy and is easy to put on/take off; the shopping basket is positioned at the back and allows you to put in quite a few items; its wheels are quite manoeverable; and it’s suitable from birth as you can pull the back of the buggy into the almost flat position and your sleeping toddler will enjoy such comfort too. Also, this one seems slightly bigger than Quinny zapp and might last longer if you have a tall toddler. Oh, and I am sure than you will like the price, especially as you can shop around for deals.

Fopr more details & technical information, go to the following link:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Petite-Star-400B-07-Zia-Black/dp/B001CMCWTM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=baby&qid=1264784773&sr=1-2

Finally, just one more observation-don’t leave your toddler unattended in it, unless he/she is properly strapped in-if you only strap the child in around the waist and he/she leans out to the side, the kid just might make the buggy fall over and get a bump in the process. One can never be too careful with the little mischief-makers .)

When you have a small (or not so small) child or an animal at home, accidents that require cleaning are bound to happen more often than not. A girlfriend of mine, herself a mother of two boys and an owner of a dog (small but old) and a cat came out with a solution to her ‘accidental’ cleaning disasters-a portable dustbuster. Yes, there is the mop, the vacuum cleaner or a roll of Bounty towels but a dustbuster is small, handheld-kids, want to help mummy?-and solves the problem of spilled water, dirty boots, broken flower pot etc. pretty quickly. Just today my son decided to ‘topple’ a glass umbrella stand-how many times did I tell him not to touch it?-and with shattered glass everywhere I needed to deal with it fast, before he or our dog got a cut or the glass pieces went everywhere. So the child was ‘deposited’ on a ‘naughty step’ and I got on with ‘hoovering’ small glass fragments. It was all over very quickly and not for the first time I knew that this little device allowed me not to get overly cross at the times when tempers can be frayed. My dustbuster is by black&decker, it’s easily charged, wall mountable and as I said above, can pick up dirt and fluid. It’s easy to clean and can also be used outside, for example cleaning the car if your child ate the croissant in the back seat and the floor is covered with bread flakes and crumbs. There are many models and types that would suit your needs and they certainly won’t cost you a lot, while providing long term service. Try it and see if your life gets a little bit easier (and your vacuum cleaner and your back get a little bit of a rest).

No one can dispute that travelling with small kids can be tiring to say the least. But there is one thing that I started doing last summer that makes me a little bit more secure. If you are travelling with your partner, divide the contents of your two suitcases between yourselves. If you are travelling with children, apply the same practise. And if the airline losses your luggage, you are more likely to have some clothes for each one of you-it’s unlikely that they will lose all of your luggage-and a better peace of mind.

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