Reading the same favourite bedtime story repeatedly night after night might bore you to tears, but your child is soaking up the details as you read and will likely learn more new words than if you were to read from a different book every night of the week.

This is the finding from research led by Dr Jessica Horst from the University of Sussex.

Her team conducted a study that tested the impact of reading the same new word in the same book three times versus reading the same word in three different books, and revealed that children reading the same book were more successful at retaining the new words than those who read the same new words in three different books.

So, which is your children’s favourite bedtime story? Here are some suggestions for timeless fun, night after night…

• The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle, an excellent tale that many of us remember from our own childhoods, but which still sparks children’s imagination today. Contains counting, days of the week, and a whole host of treats for foodies! Continue reading →

Children get colds, it’s pretty much a given. The stats, according to WebMD, say that pre-schoolers contract between 9 and 12 per year, which seems like a lot; our children could suffer a cold a month.

No thanks!

Although our kiddies most certainly will have their fair share of snotty noses and wheezy chests (no matter the season) there are some things that we can do to help prevent colds. Here are some tips to prevent your child from getting a cold:

1. Sleep – make sure your little ones are getting enough sleep. Sleep is an immune booster; if sleep is minimal, immunity is bound to be low and children will thus be more susceptible to getting a cold.

2. Wash hands – colds are usually spread through touch so teaching your child to wash his hands at regular intervals during the day is a good way to prevent a cold. If you turn hand-washing into a habit hopefully your child will comply at nursery when you aren’t around to remind him. Also keep a bottle of hand hygiene gel with you when you’re out and about.

3. Hand over mouth – if your little one does end up with a cold, teach him to put his hand over his mouth when he coughs or sneezes; this will (hopefully) help prevent his siblings from getting the same cold.

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Deciding to send your child to nursery or pre-school is a big step. For many of us – myself included – there is little or no choice: we have to work to pay the bills, so our children have to spend at least part of their week in childcare.

For others, who are able (and willing!) to spend all week at home with their children, sending them to a setting outside of the home can be a way of developing their social skills in preparation for starting primary school.

Whatever your reason for choosing to start your child in a nursery or pre-school, it can be a daunting prospect – usually more so for you than for your child! Quite apart from the practicalities of finding a setting that you and your child are both happy with, you might be battling with internal feelings such as guilt, doubt, and separation anxiety.

In my experience, the best way to maintain your confidence (and, therefore, that of your child) in taking this step is to be quite clear on your reasons for doing it. While opinion is divided on what age is best for a child to spend time away from home and parents, attending childcare at an early age can have benefits in terms of social interaction and emotional development.

Of course, every child is different, and as their parent, you are best placed to know if your child is ready.

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When you become a parent, your whole world changes. Your priorities, your spending, your sleep patterns, your living space – everything is different.

Suddenly, there is something, someone, in the world more important than anything else you ever considered to be important before, including your spouse, and yourself!

As amazing as this feeling and the instant, unconditional love it brings with it can be, becoming a parent can also be all-consuming in other, less enjoyable ways.

Where once you made choices based largely on what was best for you, you now have to think almost entirely on behalf of someone else.

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I don’t know about y’all but I operate at warp speed throughout most of my day – work and children; it’s hectic. Barely…have…time…to…breathe.

One thing that makes my life a whole bunch easier, is quick fix lunches. I have a three-year-old whose favourite thing in life is a peanut butter sandwich and who is a fruit-a-holic – thank heaven for small mercies.

And then I have a one-year-old; kids this age can be tricky because they usually don’t have any molars and so we have to choose softish foods that still need some chewing but won’t induce choking. So, what’s quick and easy? Here’s my list of quick lunches for hungry toddlers:

• Avocado – my lifesaver! Mash it up and mix it with some mango or banana (basically any ‘mashable’ fruit, stewed or fresh) and yoghurt too. Yum!

You could also cut it into ‘holdable’, chewable pieces – whatever your little one prefers.

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