Blog

Dr Wendy Hunter, MD

I’m a parent, so I know what it’s like to feel bombarded by information about how to keep our children healthy. I’m also a pediatrician, so I’m challenged to keep up with the latest health trends. Through all the social media and parent gossip, I’ve found that the simplest habits, like washing your hands and getting plenty of sleep, have been so helpful that my kids haven’t missed school for a sick day in years! Here are my top simple strategies that have the greatest impact on keeping kids healthy.

Read every day

Reading helps children learn language in ways they can’t through speaking alone. Choose books with rhymes; they are fun to read and develop language skills. Since I don’t speak like Dr. Seuss at home I made it a point to read rhyming books to my kids. Reading also builds vocabulary. In fact, children are exposed to 50 percent more unique words in books than in television shows or adults’ conversations.

The country will pause to mark Remembrance Day this Sunday, so we’re looking at ways to remember with young children. 

Amy Borg, our guest blogger, shares her advice on how to make a long car journey far more bearable.

When you prepare for the birth of your baby, you might enjoy shopping for tiny babygros and outfits, and carefully folding them away as you wait to meet your baby. It can be hard to imagine how quickly your little one will outgrow their first set of outfits, and their second, and even their third! 

You’ll hopefully know by now that here at My First Five Years we are all about play. But you might be surprised to know that play is definitely not just for children. There are many scientific studies that have researched the importance and power of play for all ages. Dr Stuart Brown, a leading researcher on play, says that “we are built to play and built by play,”[1] and according to Scott G. Eberle[2] (editor of The American Journal of Play), “We don’t lose the need for novelty and pleasure as we grow up… play brings joy. And it’s vital for problem-solving, creativity and relationships.” 

I’m Cath, one of the My First Five Years content team. Before joining My First Five Years I taught under-fives for 25 years, so my working life has been filled with play. At My First Five Years, we are all about information for parents supported by research, so what does the research tell us about playing with our children? 

I am sitting in our front room, half-dressed as a princess (I cannot fit the costume over my head properly so it is currently looking like a synthetic, glittery straitjacket for misbehaving grown-ups). My three-year-old is serving me plastic cake from a small red plate. I say serving me, often he is insisting that I put the grotty-looking thing into my mouth and when I resist, he shouts toddler obscenities at me. He’s like a very pushy parent (?) and I am counting down the minutes until I can escape and make a cup of tea, or put the washing away, or do anything other than another second of this role play.

Last week was baby communication week, with a focus this year on listening to newborn babies.  

How do you feel about handwriting? Is it a traditional art or something that is still relevant today?  Our own handwriting often feels very personal, tailored to our own unique style, which makes it a part of our self-image and even an expression of our personality.  I remember spending a long time perfecting my signature! Handwriting is an important way of communicating and expressing language, and just like speech, it also leaves a lasting record. It is a physical way of expressing thoughts and ideas and communicating with others.  When your child masters writing their name or their first sentence, they may feel extremely proud to have made (and left) their mark and this may feel like a really important rite of passage.   

Before having our baby, I had fully intended to breastfeed. It was really important to me, I had breastfed before and knew the benefits. But two weeks and numerous extra visits from the midwife later, I realised that, actually, the most important thing was that our baby was fed.