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£200 in vouchers to breastfeed your child…?!
When I heard the latest news today that a pilot scheme is being planned in parts of Sheffield and Chesterfield to encourage more mothers to breastfeed their babies – I held my breath and listened out to hear what would be the latest way for new mums to feel even more pressure to live up to the often used adage ‘breast is best’.
So, wait for it…. – £200 in shopping vouchers if you breastfeed for the recommended six months. Oh great, brilliant. Or rather slightly condescending and/or patronising… thinking that the chance for a bit of retail therapy can form the basis of someone’s decision as to whether or not to breastfeed their child. And sometimes the choice to breastfeed is simply a decision that’s taken out of your hands. So what would happen then? Surely it would be as if that parent was being penalised.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for breastfeeding, but what horrifies me is the pressure us mums are put under – by both our peers, elders and organisations – to consider it as the only option.
I was lucky – (when I say lucky, I still had initial problems getting my daughter to latch on and throughout breastfeeding, Lansinoh was a regular addition to my shopping list!) but sometimes it upsets me to think about, and witness, the stress and difficulty some mothers (and of course their partners looking on) go through getting their babies to latch on / breastfeed – made only worse by judging comments or the feeling that they’re simply giving up or not trying hard enough.
Only time will tell if this pilot scheme works – happy babies aren’t just the result of simply being breastfed. A happy home goes a long way too.
Above all, surely education and support is the best way forward, instead of what appears to be a case of pure bribery?
Rant over.
Normal service (ie celebrity chat etc) will resume shortly!
Fruit Bowl’s #5in5Challenge and Sneaky Vegetable Recipes
I KNOW I’m not the first parent and I certainly won’t be the last to struggle with getting their child to consume their recommended five-a-day fruit and veg intake!
I truly believe that half of parenting is trying to think of ingenious ways to sneak vegetables into meals – the craftier, the better.
This January, children’s snack brand Fruit Bowl has stepped in to help with their #5in5Challenge – and it involves stickers!
Any purchase from their site in January would have included a free #5in5Challenge 5 A Day Chart designed to help parents encourage little one to enjoy their five portions, every day for five days.
My three-year-old always equates stickers with fun, so he was more than happy to rise to the challenge. It also helped that he’s a fan of a range of Fruit Bowl snacks – especially the Strawberry Peelers.
To top it off Fruit Bowl also teamed up with BBC’s Masterchef semi-finalist, Theo Michaels, to create a week’s worth of child-friendly recipes using his new meal planning service, FiveDinners.
The recipes are designed to take the hassle out of mealtimes for parents and provide children with at least two of their five a day, every day.
Free books from Uber and Puffin!
ANYONE having to deal with World Book Day prep right now? I’m literally printing off (fake) money as I write this for my daughter’s outfit tomorrow..!
Well, to celebrate World Book Day on March 7, Uber has joined forces with Puffin and the National Literacy Trust to launch a free mobile book service.
The idea is aimed at parents rushing home to read their child a bedtime story after new research has shown ‘that 43% of British parents admit that working schedules prevent them from reading a bedtime story with their children’.
The mobile libraries, curated by Puffin and the National Literacy Trust, will see a range of books available in select cars for parents to take home.
They include Charlotte’s Web, Mrs Pepperpot, Goodnight Peter Rabbit, Little Leaders and Wonder.
It’s being trialled in London and Manchester, with 1,000 books available until they run out.
Anything to get parents and children reading together sounds great to me, so it’s definitely a thumbs up from The Media Mummy.
Tom Elvidge, Uber’s UK General Manager said: “We know modern life is busy and getting home for bedtime can be a challenge for many parents. To mark World Book Day, we want to make life just a little bit less stressful and make it easier for families to enjoy some special time together.”
While Jonathan Douglas, Director of the National Literacy Trust, added: “By encouraging a love of reading at home, parents can help their child develop the language and literacy skills they need to flourish at school and in all areas of their life.
“Amid increasingly busy family lives, research shows that finding just 10 minutes a day to read with your child can make all the difference – whether that’s sharing a story at bedtime, over breakfast or even on the school run.
“We are delighted to support Uber’s campaign; we hope it will succeed in bringing families together and stories to life.”
Drawing on walls and furniture at the Cartoonito Club launch!
It sounds like every parent’s nightmare but to mark the launch of the Cartoonito Club, children were given the chance to – yes, you heard right – draw on the walls and furniture!
And it was in fact a dream come true for the children attending as they showed off their artistic skills colouring in characters from the channel such as Masha and the Bear, Daisy and Ollie, and Fireman Sam. I’m also proud to admit that I also got in on the action!
My daughter couldn’t get enough of it, while my newly-turned one-year-old boy put pen to paper (or wall) for the first time! I will of course have to explain this is not an activity to be repeated at home…
Famous faces and their offspring were also lining up to get involved and we spotted the likes of Billie Faiers, Tamara Ecclestone, Russell Kane, Vanessa Feltz and Shappi Khorsandi showing off their skills with their little ones.
Dubbed the world’s first living colouring book, the event in London’s Soho marked the launch of the TV channel’s online creativity hub, where fans of the above mentioned shows (as well as many, many more including classics such as Thomas and Friends, and Bob the Builder!) can download colouring in sheets and activities to keep them occupied.
And to be honest, with the long school summer holiday fast approaching this has got to be a gift from heaven, right?
Check out the video below about the day (and look out for my cameo!).
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiFB7RPPVJc?rel=0&w=560&h=315]
https://www.cartoonito.co.uk/cartoonito-club
https://www.facebook.com/CartoonitoParentsUK/