Baby products

There is an amazing range of pure products lovingly made by a local couple living on a farm just outside East London and they call themselves 'Casa Castile'.  The 'healing balm body mouse' is too wonderful.  Made only from Olive oil and shea butter it is excellent for all skin types but especially for the sensitive skin of little ones.  I have used it to massage her from top to tail and as a bum balm and it is wonderful. 

They also have a lovely lavender body/hair wash.

They are at the Lavender Blue market every Saturday or you can contact them on 043 7343269.  Do yourself and your baby a favour and buy some!

Yours in mothers trying their best

Recommended read: Conventional and alternative view

My good friend and a complementary/alternative expert, just gave me a lead on a really good book.  I thought I would share her recommendation with you.

Been meaning to tell you about the best birth and pregnancy book ever called:'Birth and Beyond; The first 9 months' by Yehudi Gordon. Every subject has a conventional and an alternative view which I just loved. Also deals with such a variety of subjects and problems that no other book covered. Wish I could lend it to you but I borrowed it myself and had to give it back. Expensive, but worth every cent!


Saturday at 1:22pm.  Just ordered 'Mother and baby health: A - Z of pregnancy, birth and beyond' by the recommended author from Amazon.com for R138.00. They have a great option to buy second hand, so if you are willing to wait a few weeks for shipping, it can work out really inexpensive! Thanks for the tip...  can't wait to read it.

Yours in mothers trying their best

Mumford and Sons

Mumford and Sons = The most soulful, restful and awesome music to rock, sway and sshhhh your baby to.  Listen to 'Little Lion Man' , 'Feel the Tide Turning' and 'Awake my Soul' which makes me cry everytime.  Too beautiful.

Yours in mothers trying their best

Which baby sling is best??

My baby is now a good 8 Kg's + and still needs the rocking of my arms to fall asleep.  An hour of ssshhhhhing, swaying, rocking is about the maximum my newly developed biceps can handle... but as a result, I went on a search for the perfect baby sling and here's what I found, in a nutshell.

Kango pouch *** (borrowed from a friend) = appearance is really smart and substantial, lovely padding.   But shoulders soon took strain and I found taking her out once asleep without waking her, impossible.  I also needed another pair of hands to help me put her in and take her out.  The clasps always seem to be bumping her face, her chin, cheek, eye etc.

Babysense sling ** (expensive at R400) = very cool looking, stone and soft to touch, made of 100% cotton.  But although they say your baby can't suffocate, I wasn't convinced when her chin disappeared onto her chest and she started grunting!  I haven't used it since.  Waste of money.

Fleece double wrap***** (borrowed from a friend) =  Simply the best!  Easy to put her into and to take her out.  She can be positioned to sit up using the two wraps or lie using just one.  Warm for winter, possibly hot in summer?  But a great product.  Be warned, don't put your baby down with the wrap around her.  I found her sleeping with the fleece fully over her face and this material is definately NOT breathable.   See picture.

At the end of the day, no sling totally alleviates the weight from your arms. but if I have to choose...  choice number three is by far the best.

Yours in mothers trying their best

Book worth buying - food for thought for mother and great reference guide

This review is about:

The Magic Trees of the Mind: An Innovative pgm Nurture your Child's Intelligence Creativity Healthy Emotions by Marian Diamond



The book is really tough going for the first +- 80 pages with the discussion centering around the anatomical structure of the brain and its development and was a little over my head. However, having said that, if you perservere, it is an excellent read and I found it hard to put down once it moved on.

A tremendous amount of food for thought and a superb reference guide, full of recommendations and ideas on how to enrich your childs life. The author is an inspiration and I will definately refer back to this book for years to come. It really challenges parents to 'up their game' and understand the vital role they play in enriching and shaping the future of their child.


Yours in mothers trying their best

Letter to the Daily Dispatch Newspaper re immunizations

3 June 2010

Dear Eddie,

I think I have a story worth investigating.

Having just given birth to my first baby, I took my daughter for her immunizations to the British Travel Clinic.  I was told to bring my medical aid details and that there would be a consultation fee.  I was knocked sideways when the bill for the combination vaccine and the optional Rotavirus and Pneumococcal vaccine came to a whooping +/-R1300!  I had assumed the vaccines recommended by the World Health Organization were free and that I was only paying for the Rotavirus and Pneumococcal vaccine.  Expensive but worth it.  I was wrong; I was paying for the lot.

Luckily my medical aid did cover the cost using my savings – but this was money put aside for medical emergencies.  While having tea with a friend and also a new mother a few weeks later, she suggested I go to the Drake Road, Nahoon clinic for the follow up Booster innoculations.  There you have to wait your turn but the immunizations are free, all of them I was told!  I was shattered to learn that I could have gone there in the first place.

When the time to vaccinate came around again, I went to the clinic where I was informed that they had no stock whatsoever.  The sister in charge said that she was powerless to help me and all the other mothers in the waiting room.  For the welfare of my child she suggested I go to a private clinic. 

I ended up going to BayChem and another +/- R1100 later (slightly cheaper because of a Nationwide shortage of the Rotavirus vaccine), I left. 

So, my questions to the Department of Health are:

1        Will I be reimbursed the R2400 for vaccines that I paid for which should have been freely available, and presumably without charge? 

2        Will they contact the mothers who were turned away to notify them when stocks become available and how will they trace them?

3        Will the Department of Health be held responsible for disease outbreaks as a result of babies not receiving vital vaccines timeously?

The advertisement campaigns currently running on Radio Algoa “Don’t wait.  Vaccinate!” and in magazines like Living and Loving (June 2010 edition) are a complete waste of financial resources, money that could be used to ensure supplies don’t run out.

To make matters worse, I am still waiting for maternity benefit payments from UIF after 4 months since application.   How are young mothers expected to pay to vaccinate their babies with no income?  Bear in mind I still have more booster vaccines outstanding!

I am fed up, bothered and bewildered, does being an honest tax payer really pay dividends?  I feel it is long overdue that the individuals responsible for the collapse of these essential services are held accountable and that mothers like myself who are now out of pocket, are reimbursed.

 

Yours in mothers trying their best,

Claire Neithercut

Giggles

Madi giggled for the first time last night, 9th June 2010, just over 3 months old - her Dad was talking to her on the couch.  He wiped tears from his eyes which in turn got me weeping too!  What a precious milestone to have witnessed.