Toddler lethargy

With Emily walking unaided almost all the time, a side-effect has set in - tiredness. I think now she's exerting a lot more energy walking and balancing, it's really taking it out of her energy-wise.

Where before she'd go to bed around 8ish, she'd wake around 6.30am. Now she's going to bed at the same time and we're having to wake her around 7ish - teenager like.

I'm not sure where to go on this one. We either feed her more to get her calories / energy up; get her to go to bed earlier, which won't be easy; or just deal with it.

I'm hoping this is common amongst toddlers who start to get more active and doesn't point to something more sinister like toddler anemia or thyroid issues.

Baby dehydration

Image via Wikipedia

Just when you think that breast feeding is the defacto best method for feeding your child, a horror story about dehydration, salt build up and gangrene appears in the press.

The BBC (among others) has run with a story today outlining how breast feeding your child CAN lead to - in extreme cases - death. So much for breast is best.

Apparently, in the early stages of life, it's a bit of a crapshoot getting your child to latch on to the nipple correctly. Then you're never sure how much is being taken in. If the child isn't taking in enough, hypernatraemic dehydration can occur. When this happens,"the levels of sodium in [the child's] blood rise dramatically, and if untreated, this can lead to seizures, gangrene, brain damage - and in the worst cases, death. "

When Emily was born we were told that the collostrum that was in Sue breasts (think the crusty topping in a gold top bottle of milk) might not enough to feed the hungry belly of a large baby like Emily, so we supplemented the first few nights with formula until the milk ran free.

Thankfully we never had an issue with Em "clamping on," as it were. There's enough crap out there without having to worry about the "fool proof" method of nourishing your child.

large and in charge

The count down is on until the girls get back and I, for one, can't wait!

The word on the phone is that Emily is large and in charge. Rolling from back to tummy, almost walking (not!) and ready to start Uni!

We've been buying those "you will know it's time to turn the page" books for her which is a hoot. I had them as a kid - complete with dodgy little 33 1/3rd 7" vinyl. Of course, as Emily is a child of another century - her books come with CD!

In other news, apparently Emily might have problems later in life as she was a large child. According to a number of online articles, the larger the baby the more the risk of breast cancer at a later date.

WONDERFUL! I'd better get my hugs in when they get back next week in that case.

Caesarian fears that might not be true

Image via Wikipedia It's Tuesday, so that means a whole new week of fears and issues regarding every aspect of life.

Today, it was Caesarian babies' turn to feature in the "your life is screwed" category.

As most news outlets were running a story saying that children delivered by C-Section are more likely to acquire childhood diabetes than children delivered normally.

So with all the issues and fears and worries around normal and healthy children anyway, we now have a potential health timebomb ready to explode at a moment's notice.

Really, it's all I can do to get out of bed in the mornings sometimes.