Pyper was on our bed with us, and so was the cat.... hmm ok I can hear what you are saying!!!
Pyper turned around and then burst our crying, and the cat jumped off the bed, i gave Pyper a hug as I didn’t see anything and just thought she was being a bit silly! After the hug she kept playing and then 10 minutes later I saw red scratch marks under her left eye and also on her nose and eye brow, I wondered what the hell was going on, and thought the damn cat must have scratched her. It must have been fast as it was directly under her eye and on her eyelid, it scared me, thankfully it didn’t look like it got her eyeball and she seemed to be fine. ... read more >>

A NEW TOOL TO HELP NEW ZEALANDERS RECOGNISE AND ACT ON CHILD ABUSE

Written by Anthea Simcock
Published by CPS

For every child that’s killed or hurt through child abuse, there is an adult saying; “I was worried about that child, but I didn’t know what to do.”

“How Can I Tell?” gives all New Zealanders the skills to recognise when a child or a family is in need of help is the aim of the new book, “How Can I Tell?”

The book also includes advice for what appropriate actions to take if people suspect abuse.

As the subtitle of the book indicates, this book will help New Zealanders recognise when a child or family needs help. It has been designed to be easy to read and carry, to show the positive side of protecting children and at the same time to contain lots of helpful information.

Every Zealander has a responsibility to recognise when a family or child needs help and “How Can I Tell?” will assist. It's not about telling tales or being a nosy neighbour. ... read more >>

This week I was reminded that being a father is a priviledge and not a right. I remember thinking that in disgust that violence against children is something that needs to stop and it needs to be stopped ASAP so why isn’t it? Why is violence towards children especially in a small country like New Zealand occurring on an ongoing basis.

I found this article which made me mad and also want to do something about it and addressing it and not sweeping it under the carpet is something that I want to make sure happens.

- Scott

Three children repeatedly beaten with a broom handle were so hungry they had to rummage in rubbish bins, and yet neighbours were too scared to report the cruelty they witnessed.

Kylie Tekani, 30, of Porirua, has been sentenced in Wellington District Court to eight months' home detention after pleading guilty to three charges of cruelty to a child and assault with a weapon. ... read more >>

Even when you've shown your little crawler or walker hot to go up or down the stairs it's still important to secure them. It's one thing to watch your toddler climb up or down stairs with you behind them ready to step in as soon as they look like they are about to fall but another thing altogether to let them do this by themselves. So make sure you've got safety gates in place and don't remove them too early.

There are lots of baby product brands who offer safety gates such as Kidco Baby Gates, Evenflo, Cardinal, Guardian Angel, Dreambaby and many others. So there's bound to be a selection of gates at your local baby store. Make sure you measure the width of your staircase (wall to wall) before you go out to buy them. When I went to buy ours I got the measurement completely wrong and we had to go back for an extension. ... read more >>

This weeks product review is on Safe & Sound Car Seat, Pyper has just about grown out of her capsule, Im a bit sad about that, we have to buy another one, so that is more money but once again its based on safety so what can you do!

Renee’s parents brought this for us, and to be honest its a very good looking car seat.

You would have to be stark raving mad to buy this product.

Pros

* Do last for a long time if your child doesn’t get past 18 kg’s
* Sturdy big and bulky
* Its blue and if you spill things on it doesn’t get dirty as easy

Cons

* Had to pay to get the hooks put in to strap the
* Only reclines in the back facing position
* If the straps are in the hook, you have to literally put Pyper in over them like a high jump track star.
* They are expensive.
* Big and bulky
* It has a 3 point (6 straps) harness that you have to just about push into Pypers chest to get it secure! ... read more >>

Recently some good friends of ours gave us a call to come down and look after their 2 other children as there 3rd child had tripped and fallen into the front glass door. I live up the road so went straight there, when I heard an ambulance had been called my brain didn’t connect with the seriousness of it. I was thinking as I was going down there it can’t be too bad! Well when I got there I saw a jagged hole where the glass use to be and then I was told it was bad! Still didn’t think much of it, the mother was looking after the 2 younger ones as the father was looking after the older injured one. They knew I wasn’t good with blood at all, and they made sure they kept him away from me. ... read more >>

Well that’s what I should have done I think … instead I ended up in A&E with a sore eye which turned out to be corneal abrasion. What happened? I was playing with Noah on the floor when he suddenly lashed out and accidentally scratched my eye. Somehow my eye lid wasn’t fast enough to close in time so he basically hit the eyeball with his fingers. Needless to say that he ALWAYS has razor sharp nails no matter how often we trim them (is this a baby thing?).

At first I wasn’t too bothered about it but after an hour my right eye turned bright red and it just kept “crying”. All this time it felt like I had something in my eye but I just couldn’t see anything in the mirror. Over time it also got more and more painful (I had no idea that the eyeball itself contains so many nerve cells!). Eventually I caved in and went to the after hours medical centre. ... read more >>

There has been a bit of publicity recently about the formaldehyde in products coming out of China. But a lot of the dangerous products are lurking in supermarket and department store aisles and we've been bringing them home for years. So Dads (and Mums), it is time to stand up to the manufacturers of cleaning and personal care products.

Here are some reasons why:

Most of the manufacturers don't give a toss about the impact of their product on the health of your family. United States data shows that of the 17,000 chemicals that appear in common household products, only 30% have been adequately tested for their negative effects on our health, and only 10% have been tested for their ability to cause nervous system disorders. Why is that? Because there is no law requiring pre-market safety testing, and manufacturers are not required to list the exact ingredients on the label. ... read more >>

One of my favourite dad tasks is baby massages. We started doing this around 2 weeks after birth as we noticed chafing and dry skin on our little one. So we start using "Johnson's baby oil" by Johnson & Johnson which didn't really work. In fact the situation got worse and we ended up with lots of little rashes and spots all over the baby's body. Also it didn't actually help alleviate the skin dryness. An allergic reaction? We don't know … but something else worked really well though ... olive oil (literally the stuff we use for cooking).

We got this tip from a midwife after showing her the irritated skin of our baby. She told us to try olive oil or almond oil and it really did the trick. Within days the skin rashes were gone and our baby’s skin felt very soft and moisturised. Even better olive oil is a lot cheaper than the baby oil we used ($6.95 for 200ml). ... read more >>

Here's a cool and fun way to raise kids' awareness of UV exposure - UV sensitive beads. UV Beads have a chemical substance embedded into the plastic that will change color when exposed to UV radiation (sun light). The beads will remain white indoors as long as they are kept away from windows or doors where UV light can leak into the room.

This is especially great for kids in New Zealand and Australia where exposure to UV radiation and potentially developing skin cancer as a result is a real problem. You can do all sorts of experiments with them and make them into bracelets, ear rings, hair bands etc. You can also attach them to a wrist watch, mobile phone or key rings. The key thing is to get your kids to check them regularly when they are outside - ESPECIALLY ON AN OVERCAST DAY. Cover up, when they light up! ... read more >>