Why not subscribe to Nipper News? posted by Jana on 29 January 2009, 2:25 pm, under Opinion

Friends keep telling me how much they enjoy Nipper News and how useful they find it, which is great! And then they add 'when I get a minute to go on the website'. Obviously, they're all busy mums too. So in case there are more of you out there who would like to read Nipper News more often but don't get round to it due to hectic schedules, I'll tell you what I tell my friends: you can subscribe to it, you know. Just put your email address in the green box at the top of www.nippernews.co.uk and you'll get one email a day with all the latest stories and bargains delivered directly to your inbox. (We promise it's only one email per day, we won't spam you and we won't pass on your address.) So what could be easier? See you on Nipper News!

Is Calpol bad for children? posted by Jana on 26 January 2009, 1:50 pm, under Health

Since I mentioned the story on this week's show, here it is for all of you to read:

http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/families/article5568550.ece

After a recent scare linking paracetamol to possible health risks, is it time to stop using the pink stuff?

Health visitors and the baby blues posted by Jana on 18 January 2009, 3:28 pm, under Opinion

Somehow it didn't surprise me that offering women with postnatal depression cognitive therapy through a health visitor rather than drugs from their GP (especially if they're breastfeeding) is more effective at beating the baby blues. What did surprise me was that those health visitors were trained to spot the symptoms six to eight weeks after the birth. In my experience, health visitors come to check you out early on (two weeks after the birth in my case, when the reality of caring for a newborn hadn't sunk in yet, as I'd shared duties with Simon until then) and if they don't think you're 'at risk' (presumably from drug addiction and alcoholism - how do they check for postnatal depression, as any new mum is at risk from that?), they invite you to see them at the weekly drop-in meetings, where, of course, you'll never see the same one again. They're also at pains to convince you that you don't even have to come to those. In any case, I cannot imagine wanting to open up to a stranger who's rushed off their feet with 20 other mums and babies around, in a big room with no privacy whatsoever.

That's very different from the experience of the women in the study (and we even moved to a different local authority where we still don't have a named health visitor, so mine wasn't a unique experience). While I think many health visitors do a great job, there simply aren't enough of them to go round, especially in the current baby boom. Therefore I can't see this model being rolled out nationally with the same success. I do think there is a case for having more competent, patient, friendly health visitors, because I'm convinced that only part of the baby blues is due to hormones. The other parts are isolation from friends and family, the newness of having a small, demanding person around, often with little respite, and having to adapt to this new life as a mother, perhaps even full-time. And I think a health visitor could be a constant in this time of change. Then you might actually want to tell them things you wouldn't tell your best friend.

That's my opinion anyway. You might have had a totally different experience.

One survey - two stories posted by Jana on 8 January 2009, 2:19 pm, under Opinion

Comparing these two of today's headlines, Ofsted: Half of schoolchildren bullied and Children in the north of England are the happiest in the country, you might be shaking your head about what wildly different results surveys on the same subject can come up with. However, you'll be amazed to learn that the results reported here come from one and the same survey, the one where Ofsted asked 150,000 10-15- year-olds across the country certain questions about their happiness, bullying, substance abuse, happiness with play areas and participation in positive activities.
This week the government has released the survey results by area and all of a sudden we also find an article with a positive spin on what made rather sad reading in the first piece. These two articles are even more remarkable as they both appeared in the same paper, although on
different days. What makes me suspect a government press release on this issue is an almost identical positive story on the BBC called Pupils 'are happier in the north', which even highlights some of the same "good" and "bad" points. Other news media reported almost identical excerpts from the survey.
Anyway, there you have it. The glass is either half full or half empty. Take your pick.

Pink or blue? posted by Jana on 4 January 2009, 9:32 am, under Opinion

Do you think too many products for little girls are pink? Frankly, I noticed that once my nipper was 12 months old, it became nearly impossible to find clothes that had nothing pink on them. Since I don't like this colour, especially the rosy shade used for baby products, I had been dressing my little girl in white as well as light shades of yellow, green and, yes, blue. Mum thought I was mad but I thought blue went exceptionally well with my baby's big blue eyes. But now yellow is impossible to find, and green and blue invariably come in dark shades and with brown and black, so that only little boys can carry it off, particularly when accompanied by train and car motifs.
So I've had to give in but I go for red or purple whenever I can. It is frightening, however, how much my nipper likes pink, and she looks cute in it too! So if I intend to get rid of this obsession with pink, which I do, I'll have quite a fight on my hands! I wonder whether parents of little boys get equally frustrated by the available colour schemes?

Happy New Year! posted by Jana on 31 December 2008, 12:40 pm, under Opinion

Happy New Year to all our listeners, readers and subscribers! We hope to bring you more exciting news and irresistible bargains next year and look forward to welcoming you back on the blog/show!

From Simon and Jana

Merry Christmas! posted by Jana on 24 December 2008, 3:22 pm, under Opinion

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas! From Simon and Jana

So many bargains! posted by Jana on 14 November 2008, 3:29 pm, under Opinion

If you can't find a bargain at the moment, you're probably not shopping in the first place. I swapped sofa shopping for the High Street experience yesterday and found lots of discounts and 3 for 2 offers. So far so good and I bagged a few bargains. But of course, soon my feet ached and my arms became numb from carrying all that shopping, I had to pay for the parking and it took me ages to get back home. So now I'm back on my comfy sofa with the intent of having my purchases delivered, preferably for free.
Anyway. I only told you that in case you're wondering why so many online bargains are coming your way today.

It's the chairs, stupid! posted by Jana on 4 November 2008, 2:30 pm, under Opinion

So pupils are increasingly suffering from back pain and it's the cheap chairs' fault! I'm not saying that's not the case, but looking at the picture the BBC has helpfully provided with the story, I can think of several other reasons why these kids might get a bad back. For once, whatever happened to good posture? Three of the girls are nearly lying on the table, one of them is clearly writing with her nose, not a pen, and another is perching on the extreme edge of her chair and seems in danger of toppling over. Furthermore, since all the children face different directions, to see the teacher/blackboard some will always have to crane their necks and twist their backs. (Incidentally, I also wonder how much this design contributes to bad behaviour in class -- in my experience such 'group work' set-ups always led to chats about boys and after-school activities.) And finally, what we can't see here but what I notice every morning when the local middle school pupils set off for class is that their backpacks are often half as big as them and obviously heavy, and in addition they are laden with more bags (Gym kit? Lunch box?) and musical instruments cases.
I would understand if they wanted to be driven to school.

Finally! posted by Jana on 20 October 2008, 2:14 pm, under BPA

The BPA story has made it into the mainstream UK press! The Daily Mail has picked up on the imminent ban of BPA in Canada. Let's hope other papers will follow suit so that UK parents finally get to hear about this!

BPA ban in Canada first of many? posted by Jana on 18 October 2008, 3:14 pm, under BPA

I have said before that North America seems to be ahead of the UK with regards to realising the dangers posed by bisphenol-A. Now that Canada is about to introduce legislation that aims to reduce the use of the chemical I hope that the relevant British authorities will take note and review their own position. It does seem odd to me that one country should deem a chemical dangerous enough to consider banning it while another thinks it is safe for use in products for
infants. Unfortunately, the suspicions surrounding BPA are still not widely publicised in the UK and therefore parents cannot make the choice of whether to avoid polycarbonate bottles and cups. Strange really in a country where choice is supposed to be a good thing, or does this only apply to schools, hospitals and directory enquiries?

Corporal punishment back to school? posted by Jana on 5 October 2008, 1:43 pm, under Opinion

Isn't it strange how the UN report accusing the UK of shortcomings in its dealings with children (in particular a call to ban corporal punishment) coincided with a survey that claimed a fifth of UK teachers wanted to bring the cane back? I am shocked that so many teachers, especially those teaching at primary schools, feel this is their last resort. Then again, I don't know what sanctions are available to teachers nowadays, and I would like to be a fly on the wall of a classroom to see what the interaction between teacher and pupils is like. Could it be that modern teaching methods (pupils working in groups and not facing the teacher, as frequently shown on TV) encourage disruptive behaviour? Could it be that parents rubbish teachers and teachings at home and back up their children against the teacher no matter what? Or could it be that teachers themselves no longer command the respect they used to? Perhaps through no fault of their own, as government policies have reduced them from creative, inspiring authority figures to boring, repetitive drones, always with one eye on an upcoming, hated test?
I'm sure the answer lies, as so often, somewhere in a complex web of factors. But if this is how so many teachers feel (and what must their job satisfaction be like?!), I hope someone will take this survey seriously and start thinking about a remedy.

Happy Birthday to us! posted by Simon on 25 September 2008, 3:56 pm, under Opinion

I've just looked back into the archives, and Show number 1 of Nipper News was recorded and released on September 25th, 2007. That means Nipper News is 1 year old today!

ADHD and the lack of discipline posted by Jana on 25 September 2008, 3:50 am, under Opinion

I was interested to see that NICE thinks Ritalin is over-prescribed and should not be given to the under-fives, and more importantly, recommends giving parents lessons on how to deal with their "unruly" children before considering medical intervention. The implication is that many of the children currently on these drugs do not actually have ADHD but are just a bit "boisterous". It had been a mystery to me why so many children should have developed ADHD (along with why so many women "don't have enough milk" for their baby -- the most common reason for giving up breastfeeding I have heard -- and are teenagers getting smarter year after year since exam results always improve but the tests don't get easier? I think someone should investigate.) Anyway, the ADHD story reminded me of the book The Pampered Child Syndrome: How to Recognize It, How to Manage It, and How to Avoid It - A Guide for Parents and Professionals by Maggie Mamen, which suggests that too many children are diagnosed with conditions such as clinical depression and ADHD when all they really need is proper boundaries at home. Where parents used to be too strict, perhaps nowadays many are too lenient, citing love for their children, perhaps feeling guilty for working long hours or putting the children through a divorce, but forgetting that children need boundaries they can push against? Be that as it may, I'm certainly glad fewer children will be taking drugs. Goodness only knows what these do to a developing brain, and then of course there is the "a drug will fix it" message it sends to children.

Asthma or spina bifida? posted by Jana on 20 September 2008, 8:36 am, under Opinion

Now this story could scare a mother-to-be. You think you're doing the best for your unborn child by consuming vitamin supplements in recommended doses and now it seems they could be harmful. While I'm not a fan of vitamin supplements anyway -- I prefer eating a healthy diet -- I always assumed vitamin supplements in pregnancy would be okay, as my body would need more and so would the baby. Yet I must confess that this story is not putting me off such extra dietary help, as so far the link has only been made in mice, and we don't know what other factors are to blame. And even if it is true, I think I'd risk my baby developing asthma for the sake of avoiding a diagnosis of spina bifida.