Hello I have just posted a cheat sheet on my site Everyone Can Build a Castle. That Cheat sheet is all about Happiness and Wellbeing. This one I am posting on this site is about Protecting our kids from sickness.
These sheets are completely free to download and print, and please share. I post them every week, so please check this site out subscribe if you would like to be kept updated on my posts on this site.
Many thanks for reading,
Carrie X
Hello and welcome to another blog. What an Autumn so far. It is the first week of the new season and it is warm here in the UK, and means being practical when your kids are off to school or nursery or if you have babies then keep them safe.
If they are off to school and they are allowed to wear a school summer dress or shorts for girls and boys, then put these on. Try dressing them in light colours, and avoid black if you can. My son has to wear black tracksuit bottoms and a while Polo Shirt, and when it comes home he will change into something lighter, like shorts and a cool cotton t-shirt.
If they get too hot then if they can take their clothes off into something cooler then do so and in the shade hydrating with water and use a cold towel on their forehead. In hot days do a cooling bath, wash or shower and light bed clothes for when it is hot in the evenings too.
Remember sun cream and make sure you pack some sun cream in their bags, and if they get bitten then make sure you have a insect repellent that is safe for them to use and keep a eye on it, as if the bite gets bigger get medical support, as they can get infected and cause blood poisoning and swelling. I got bitten on my foot and because I picked it, sorry for the TMI, but it swelled up really badly and had to take antibiotics.
If they pick up a Tick, then, they don’t pull it out if you not experienced and take them to the doctors or the hospital for them to remove it. Some children can be allergic to bites and stings, and so make sure they have their EpiPen and know how to use it and that it is in date to be used.
If they wear a hat then make sure this in in their bag, but my son doesn’t like hats and is impossible so I just make sure he keeps cool and has cold water and nothing that can causes dehydration.
So yes it is the beginning of the school year and so more blogs to come.
Many thanks for reading,
Carrie X
Watching video by Zoe Sugg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnJjc0q9Chs who is due to have another baby, was sharing items that she is going to use for her next baby that she used with her first child.
As a new mum I had no idea of what was good to use and what wasn’t. We bought bottles and a pump that was a pain in the arse because when Henry, my son was born, found the teats of the bottles we bought, Tommy Tippee, too soft and so was recommended Avent Bottles, with a variable teat, and I bought a manual pump, but I could have chucked it out of the window, It was a Complete waste of money, so used an electric pump to express milk and never looked back, and there are portable ones and so is a must to have, along with a good steriliser. We had a microwave steriliser and an electrical travel steriliser. There are other ones that you might find better, but the Microwave one for us worked, along with the travel steriliser.
Henry never breast fed, because it seemed that he couldn’t latch on, and wished I had kept on trying but he still had my milk by expressing, and if I were to have another child would try breastfeeding for a lot longer to see, and all babies are different. I never took a bottle I was breastfed and then went straight onto using a cup, and with Henry he didn’t take to a cup at first either. I would recommend Hipp Formula milk.
For skincare I would recommend Boots Baby range. My son for a while suffered with eczema, and why we change his formula milk to Organic, which I recommend above, and used Boots Baby wash and cream and I still use it on him when he has a bath or shower, or even when he has a wash.
I still use Sterimar for his nose, that Zoe talked about in her video, and great for clearing children noses, along with Vicks, as when ever the weather changes he gets a cold and Oabis oil.
There are a few Apps for kids that I think are good and there is Youtube kids App which has good videos to watch tailored for young children and CBeebies App, and so if your child has tablet, those are the two I’d recommend. Henry does watch actual Youtube, but be careful with that, because there are fun videos for kids on there but some can still, if not careful encourage bad language, and what I have done is cleared them, and there is a parental lock you can use, and that blocks certain apps and videos on Youtube from your children watching them.
I would recommend in opening up a child’s bank account. Henry has a savings account for when he is older, 18 years and I add to this each month, and worth it, as you do have to think about your children’s future. I did a video talking about this along giving gifts for kids: https://youtu.be/i–zbKpxuos
Audio books. These were a good alternative to reading a book, when tired and sleep deprived, these made a difference and would recommend the Disney ones, and the songs too. Henry still likes a story before bed and loves the Tiger who came to tea, and Billy Goats Gruff. He can read books himself and we use Biff and Chip books. He has development delay, but they are becoming easier and on Youtube you can watch Blippi, which my son loves and went to see his show today, and was really good fun, and have also seen, the show The Tiger Who Came To Tea, The Gingerbread man and Zog. Check out the Polka Theatres, The Rose where we went to today, and saw Zog there too, and the Theatre in Woking.
We are going to see the Shrek Musical at the end of September at the Wimbledon Theatre, and very in expensive.
Sheet protectors for children’s beds, especially if you are toilet training and bed pads too for any accidents at night, along with a portable toilet seat. Henry didn’t take to the potty and went straight to using the big toilet. Every child is different and there are potties that play songs and says if they actually went.
A travel cot. We had one that was super convenient and you have to buy the mattress separately, which I had no idea until we went to buy one, but was a great investment and there are bedding too that you can buy to fit the mattress, and as long as it is in good decision can be passed on to someone else or for another baby.
When it comes to school uniform, you can get good sales on Polo shirts from stores like ASDA, Pepco Poundland, TU Sainsbury’s and Marks and Spencer, or you can buy second hand, check out my last blog: Going back to school, and bought Henry a string rucksack from Amazon, to store his PE Kit, and PE Shorts. His school rucksack he will be using daily, was Smiggle. Their prices can be quiet high, but was a good investment, because we were using it for his Swimming lessons on Saturday and dries really quickly and easy to carry.
I hope you like these recommendations and find them helpful, and if you’d like to read more of my blogs then you can, by following me and if you have any items you’d recommend of Must haves, then you can, by leaving a comment below.
Many thanks for reading,
Carrie X
Today my son’s dad and I went to see his new school that he is going to because they have smaller classes and hopefully helps him to concentrate more and not be easily distracted.
My son has ADHD and on the Autism Spectrum, and it is challenging, but when it comes to my son the one thing we want to do is along with his school, to do more challenging learning, by reading bigger books, because he can do a lot more than what he shows at school and so we want his learning to not be limited and to expand.
With this new school he won’t be given homework, and so will be learning at school, and feels this leaves space for us me and his dad and grandparents to create activities that is educational but fun, example have him do painting to help with grip as his writing is getting good, but not consistent and will help with his grip and he has a wooden dinosaur to paint and if you check out The Works they have wooden objects like houses, to paint and craft.
I want to get him doing chores, like making his bed when prompted but I want him to do this automatically without being asked. He decides when we wake up and I thought being a mum meant to pulling him out of bed, but no it is the other way around, he drags me out of bed.
My son this weekend wanted to take a picture with my phone and I was a big sceptical but feel bad in feeling reluctant to let him so I let him take photos and going to give him a camera as I do have one that I haven’t used I just need to find the cable to transfer photos to my laptop and print off.
I want him to learn more in terms of cooking and doing more baking that he does with my Step dad and when he is tall enough to help wash up and he has shown interest in doing laundry and has asked me if he can put the clothes in it, and so going to teach him and yes it may be a challenge because of separating clothes to wash, but the more I let him do the laundry the more he will learn more on everyday challenging tasks.
Thank you for you who follows this blog site and if you are new then welcome, and if you like my blogs then you can follow me, and so when I publish a blog you will be alerted by email and this blog site is all about parenting and my life a mum, and what I have learned as a parent.
I do write a newsletter each month and so if you’d like to read them check out my blog site Everyone can build a castle, where each month I post it and talks about my content that I post on other blogs and my content on Youtube, as I do have three Youtube channels.
Many thanks for reading,
Carrie X
I am not going to moan about the weather as I was getting fed up of the cold and so can’t have it both ways and so it all about being sensible, and making sure your kids don’t get too hot, and protected from the heat.
I use factor 50 for kids and should be 35+ and I put it on Henry, my son, before and during the day and that he is not outdoors for too long, but he actually wanted to go indoors by he own accord, when we had the paddling pool out in the garden this weekend, and get into the shade for a bit.
Kids will let you know if they are too hot and so find shade the best you can and that they are hydrated and not left in cars on their own and that you are with them, have the windows open all the time as they can overheat quite quickly or have your air con on, also have them wear light coloured clothing and have a set of sun glasses and hat.
The one thing I like to have is after bite, especially if you are near lakes and woodland areas and if you are going abroad, along with after sun and if they suffer from Hayfever, make sure you have anti-histamine that is safe for kids to take, and that they have a bath and shower to get rid of any pollen and of the sunscreen, and wash their clothes too.
Be aware of ticks, if you see this on your child’s body get medical help straight away and have someone who knows what they are doing to remove it, and if bites start to swell, get medical help right away, and try an avoid your children from scratching or picking at it as because they can become infected, and cause blood poisoning and become infectious quite quickly.
If they have a verruca make sure these are treated as these can spread along with cold sore,s and avoid kissing, and with Nora Virus, which can develop through heat. If they do develop symptoms then keep them away for 48 hours and indoors making sure you sanitize your home and they wash their hands to avoid any of these too be passed on.
This is not to cause anxiety but just tips so you are stress free and have fun, and for it not to be spoiled due to sickness.
Many thanks for reading,
Carrie X
Oh yes it is a tricky business. Now this is not to gloat as why would I do that? Henry when he was a baby would sleep well and we never had that many issues, and would sleep through the night, but he began to wake up super early, and I hoped this would change, but no.
When he would get sick he would often just want to sleep, and so he is pretty good but would need more comforting as when he would nap in the afternoon would wake up super grumpy and so would read to him which he found soothing or a song he liked at the time, Only You by The Flying Picketts and he would then be okay.
He would get overtired and so would begin to start fussing and chucking things, and when he was a lot younger would around 6pm be unsettled and want to be held, and so we created a ritual, so dimmed the lights, put the heating on, bath him and play lullaby music and blow bubbles but made it nice and peaceful, making sure he was well fed and was recommended this book, talking to a mum on the bus and worked like a treat.
We didn’t put him too early or too late, and weaning helped also, because we were able to cut down on milk and was a relief not doing a late feed, because he would be wide a week, so was good to just let him sleep.
Now he is 9 he will stay up a bit later, he goes to bed between 8:30 to 9:30, and so often I have to scrape him off from the sofa as he likes cuddles with me before bedtime , and he will go to the toilet, brush his teeth and then I will read a book and goes out like a light.
When they have so much energy kids they, which I didn’t know can have a energy spurt before bedtime and when you think they are tired they jump up and want to play with their balloon, play tennis or cricket, and I am like “No not now” so what I do to prevent this is make sure he has uses up all his energy by being super active and productive during the day and it is simply having a kick about as this helps me too to stay active or rugby, go for walks in the morning, do a bit of learning and do some activities in the day, like painting, gardening with my mum, last weekend we took him to the Ninja Warrior Adventure park in Guildford as it was my nieces birthday and Sunday we went to a local festive called Pub in the Park and so good, and I have filmed it so a weekend in a life coming soon on my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@typicallondongal
We have cut down on Screen time as this can have an affect and today I listened to a good podcast, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVGlEU_ueAw she talks about cutting down on screen time and it has made a difference because he would rely on it and he can sleep for a good 6 to 9 hours all through the night now so yes worth trying.
Blackout curtains can help along with double glazing windows, and a bright light if they can’t sleep in darkness, a cuddly toy to give comfort and fresh bedding.
Then there is bed wetting. This has been a challenge and we have had some recent bedwetting issues, and as they grow it can continue to be a hurdle when it comes to bedtime. I do limit how much my son drinks in the evenings as he still has the odd accident, but is getting better.
I never knew that toilet training could take so long and he went on his first residential trip last month, but couldn’t stay over because of using toilet and because of him finding his way back to the pods they were staying in. He is soon to be going to his third school because his first one couldn’t meet with his learning difficulties and so was given a place at the school he is now, but they think that he needs to be in an even more of a specialised school and I am nervous about it. With toilet issue it is important that he has easy access to these facilities and can easily go without fuss. We do pack spare pants just in case but like I say things have begun to improve and he will not wait until the last minute which is what he was initially doing.
I do hope it doesn’t affect his development, and he does dream, and this has been a challenging in terms of bedtime as he will wake up startled some nights, and he talks in his sleep and make sure that he has enough air and is properly tucked in. I avoid snacks in the evening and make sure he has a good fulfilling dinner and he will have a bath or shower, with the occasional wash and this does help him settle and he will in part of the evening sit with us and have quiet time.
So I hope this helps you, thank you for liking my blogs on this site and for subscribing, it really means a lot and if you have topics regarding parenting that you’d like me to talk about then please leave a comment below.
Many thanks for reading,
Carrie X
Hello, hello and hello. Do I say it, that we are approaching the Festive Season of joy , yet because the prices of things going up it can put strain on it rather than enjoying it, so if you have any toys your kids don’t use anymore then why not donate them so other kids can enjoy them too, and work together so we all can still smile and enjoy Christmas.
I filmed my first gift guide yesterday and so this will go up by next week and going to do a series of blog posts and videos of how you can create your own gifts and experiences for Christmas.
Christmas is spending time with family and friends. Forgetting all the hate and things that annoy you and having a good dinner and a good day.
Go second hand, it can really benefit but do you maths. I do buy items and going to find decor in charity shops but still keep a list and have a budget.
You can create your own Advent Calendar and I am going to look around and see the different ones and Poundland often do some brilliant Christmas decor so I will taking a look and my favourite online store Amazon for decor and presents and make them fun.
Yes it is! and I am so looking forward to the street parties because of this birthday to the Queen. She is an amazing lady and so would love to meet her in person to tell her, instead though my son wrote to her and received a reply.
I would encourage you to have your children write to her and I did as a kid when at Primary School, wrote to Prince William and called him, “Mr William” and I can’t remember if I did receive a reply, but glad I did that.
We Brits like a celebration, and so there will be many street parties, and so why not do one aswell even if you aren’t from the UK, as it will be a memory that will be great for them to tell to their children in years to come.
Have your kids create decorations for it and flags. I remember back when I was a kid celebrating the Royal Weddings, and celebrating the Queens I think 25th anniversary of being Queen and I appeared in a local paper, The Fulham Chronicle, and was dressed in a blue, white and red outfit, and then you had the Royal Weddings.
Tell the story of the Queen, and her life leading up to being the Queen. Have them write a story of the Queen and of the this Jubilee celebration. It will be a good memory and if you take photos for the celebrations, create some wall art, like a collage of this anniversary and with Henry we made a crown.
I wrote about this in my daily blog on google: https://mydailythougthsandfeelings.blogspot.com/2022/05/what-to-do-when-it-is-raining-during.html
Have your children make their own invitation to invite people to your street party and have a seating plan.
Create some cup cakes and have them decorate them for the day.
Then there is Bunting, all you need is string and paper and cut them into triangles, and have them decorate plates for it and cups. Play some Jubilee games like parcel parcel, lucky dips and egg and spoon race. Just making it fun for them to cherish and look back to smile so if there are other celebrations in the future, then they can then tell their kids and lots of things can be passed down, like clothes and have a Platinum Jubilee jumble sale.
The ideas are endless but having fun is the key.
Many thanks for reading,
Carrie X
I can’t believe how much having a my son Henry has changed my life and you can’t underestimate what having a child means and what joy it brings as well as difficult times.
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Getting though the early days of birth is to get to know your baby and if you feel low talk to someone, because it can be isolating, and you may get things wrong like bath time like me and my son’t dad did. We planned to do it when having a coffee, and before I ran the bath my son’s dad stripped him off and went disastrous but we soon learned.
The items that will help with getting yourself together is to have different changing areas depending on the space you have and I had a basket from TKMaxx and used it to store my changing products with nappies and even vests and babygro and did the same for upstairs in his bedroom too, and worked wonders.
Try and Save yourself as much time as possible and have things to grab
The other thing is to not worry about fancy products but what suits you. I wasted money at a baby show on a baby changing bag, and was too heavy to carry around, and so in the end I purchased a less expensive bag from Avon, believe it of not and much better.
Expensive doesn’t always mean quality
When it comes to feeding your baby again have a station or stations, a bag that has a place for a bottle, along with nappies and breastpads as your boobs will leak. Like with the baby changing, put your nursing pillow where you can easily grab it to feed and nursing bras and clothes definitely worth money.
I had trouble with my milk and took it for granted and so wished I had prepared myself for that, but I still gave him my milk by expressing and so never fear, there is support out there but to make things simple, you can give both formula and breastmilk.
Comfort is a must and how you feel about breastfeeding, I had a real hard time, but wished I had continued because it is just easier in a way that having to carry around loads of bottles of milk is a challenge, but if you feel worried chat with your Health Visitor or midwife, and help give you good advice and ask about feeding your baby beforehand, if you can.
The birth of my son happened so quickly in the end that we had not prepared ourselves at all.
Pack your bags as soon as you get to 25 weeks
Feed your baby on what you feel is comfortable with,
STOP THE GUILT
Enjoy the feeds because it is a great way to bond with breast and formula
With tiredness and rest, when it comes to sleep it does change and try to rest as much as possilble to give yourself time to recover.
If the baby is a sleep and you need to get bits done then give yourself small tasks like laundry and a bit of dusting, but for a while recovery is more important for your health and wellness as you can from my own experience, become run down and I ended up with a viral infection and effected me in seeig my son. I do put this down to not allowing myself to recover properly and stress.
It takes time to get used to this new stage in your life but you can get through it, so allow yourself time to be with yourself as this is important, and do some tasks you not done for a while which means, catching up on a book, afternoon snooze if your baby naps. I say this because it has been said that all babies nap through the day, but Henry didn’t for a while and would only sleep when being held, so just take your time and take each day as they come, and also never fear like you are on your own.
A good place I would read is the site the babycentre, this site tracks your baby’s growth and what they should be doing at each stage, as preparing yourself for this transition is a must, and it helps you to look forward to it and helping you develop as a parent and the develop of your child.
I’d like to thank those that have followed me on this blog and liking my blogs, honestly it is a dream to be part of the blogging community and I do also create youtube videos, which includes parenting and have online courses and books.
Here are links to those, so please check them out and if you wish to share my blogs, along with my courses, books and videos, please do.
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Many thanks for reading,
Carrie X
This is the time of the year is where I plan for Christmas. but also set goals and I do this for myself and for my son too. This year is no different and already written them and one is to help Henry with his writing and listening goals. I want him and me write a story together.
I keep them in my A4 notebook but going to write them up on plain paper and stick them on the wall.
Write goals that you can do together and don’t put too many just enough that you can break down. My son has development delay so they won’t mean anything yet but doesn’t mean I can’t set them and then when the time comes, I will have him creating his own and have rewards laid out for when he completes the goals, and talk about them.
This is something i am still going to do, to see how much he understands, but do the what we have done, what we can do now and what we can do next.
The other method I would like to try is me choosing some goals and have him come up with some, and have him circle which ones he would like to do and mark them off as each one is complete.
I want to sit down and talk about what he loves at the moment and how we can make the things he likes in helping him with his learning and development.
The goal I want is to help him continue to experience new things in his life and because he love quizes, I want to make him his own quiz and got him some buttons like when I worked for a enertainments company had and before the shift they would have us play games to liven up all of us ready to take calls that come in, as it was a call centre, and want to use this idea to play a quiz show at home.
Set up challenges. So for Henry i want to help him do more exercise and to go on regularly walks and would like to do trial walking for myself too, and it be a mother and son thing.
It can be a simple as that when setting kids goals. I would like to set a few goals for myself too in terms of Henry and that is to do more reading of books with Henry and take him to the cinema, as he hasn’t been to one yet, but would like to take him to see a film at a cinemas, and take him on more trips up London and other places too.
So get some sheets of printing paper, I have some back at my old home and so going to pick some up, decorate with stickers and you can elaminate them use felt tips and have them all planned out for each child. So, lets get ready for Christmas and for another new year.
Many thanks for reading,
Carrie X
The parenting adventures 