Fish glorious fish. My family is big on fish; my 18-month-old toddler chows down on salmon couscous, Pollack in pie or homemade fish fingers.

Fish are highly nutritious and eating fish twice a week is recommended for both adults and children. Fish contain huge amounts of protein, are low in “bad” fats and contain Essential Fatty Acid (EFA’s) – Omega-3 fatty acids.

The Omega 3 fatty acids that fish have are EPA and DHA. These EFA’s are not found in any other protein source, not even in meat or plants.

When first introducing fish to your baby, it is best to select one of the ‘white flesh’ fish types. Flounder, Haddock, Cod, and Sole are ‘white flesh fish’ and are considered some of the safest to introduce; they are the most easily digestible and lowest on the allergen list.

Mother & Baby (July) offers 5 ways to get your children to eat fish…

1.    Lightly steam a boned coley fillet and mix with mashed potato for a first fish purée.

2.    Roll chunks of Pollock in whisked egg and breadcrumbs, and bake for homemade fish bites.

Continue reading →

This week, our favourite mummy blogger post is by Jacq from Mymumdom.

Jacq is a mum of 4, kiwi in the uk, visiting vet, terrible cook,  reluctant cleaner, enthusiastic dog walker, willing taxi driver, resigned speech therapist, gardener, best mum in the world, skivvy, teacher, scapegoat, nurse, entertainer, worst mum in the world, judge and jury.

AND blogger. Read about some of the funny things our mummy blogger’s youngest son has to say:

Things My Son Says

DS has Verbal Dyspraxia, and his speech is very poor. So when he does say something new, it’s worth a blog post of its own.

He is 3.5 years now and it is becoming more and more obvious that he is different. We get a few odd looks when he is trying to tell me something with his uhs and oohs, but he hasn’t yet realised he is different. He’s very social and will happily go up to a strange child of the same age in the playground and say ‘ Ell-oh’. I’m not sure how long this will last;  I’m aware children with VD do become more withdrawn as they get older.

His peers at nursery do treat him differently. They are quite protective of him, and he has a little girlfriend who will speak for him given half a chance.  But he is certainly not excluded in any way because of his speech delay, there is always a crowd  of children calling his name and waiting for him when he arrives at nursery.

So what can he say? He can say simple words such as yes, no, mummy and daddy, up and off. He hasn’t yet mastered any of the sounds that use the back of the throat, such as the c in cat, g in goat and -ck in back. He’s reluctant to even try, so we are trying various tricks to try and get him to attempt the sounds.

Continue reading →

A really fun way to get a dad involved in story time is to make it personal.

Create a written world in which Dad swings in the trees with the monkeys, hangs upside down alongside bats, hides in the bamboo with a panda and visits the hippo’s birthday party!

I don’t mean that mums should suddenly pick up a pen and quit their day jobs to write stories about their ‘baby daddy.’

Itsyourstory creates personalised books complete with photographs and illustrations.

There are various titles in the collection, and some great personalised books for Dad.

One of which is a Zoo Adventure book that follows Dad and his little one as they visit the local zoo together and meet all the animals from pandas and pythons to penguins and hippos.

Continue reading →

The Aussies have it all figured out. Inhabitants of the land Down Under are well aware of the detrimental effects of sun and, in retaliation to those pesky UV rays, kit their kids out in protective swimming gear.

Children’s retailer Little Terra, inspired by Aussie savvy, has chosen to stock the Radicool 100+ UPF Skins range, from Australia.

The collection includes tops, shorts, hats and all-in-one suits that combine an exciting, colourful style with optimum protection from UV rays.

The Radicool range has been described as extremely dense and robust and with proper care easily copes with chlorinated water. The clothes are comfortable to wear and the fabric breathes and dries quickly.

The quality means they will be able to be used over and over again as ‘pass me downs’ to other children, with the UV protection remaining intact.

On a recent trip to Portugal I spent many a minute slobbering my then 16-month-old daughter in factor 50 sun cream.

Whilst patting myself on the back for being a responsible parent, I am also aware of the fact that lightweight clothing generally offers a relatively low UPF.

Continue reading →

Imagine carrying your baby in the womb that you were carried in! Unquestionably weird but totally possible, thanks to a 56-year-old mum who has agreed to take part in a ground-breaking new medical procedure. Yes, a womb transplant.

Telegraph.co.uk reports that Eva Ottosson will donate her uterus to her 25-year-old daughter Sara, who was born without reproductive organs.

If the procedure works, Sara will have her own eggs fertilised using her boyfriend’s sperm and then implanted into her donated womb.

Science is pretty darn amazing if you ask me!

Continue reading →