Common Childhood Illnesses: A Guide

As someone with young children in your care daily, it’s important to have a basic understanding of common childhood illnesses and how to treat them.

Here are 5 common illnesses, their symptoms and how to treat them:

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How to Combat the Post-School Meltdown

How many times have you picked your little one up from school, watched them wave goodbye to their teachers and friends with happy, smiling faces, only to turn to you with furrowed brows, crossed arms and a sullen temper?

If this is you, you’re not alone.

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Back to School: How to Support Your Child as They Transition to a New Year

It’s back-to-school time for children all over the UK next week. Whilst a lot of children find starting, or going back to school very exciting, moving into a different year can be difficult for some children, and moving to a different school can be even harder.

We’ve put together our top tips to help you support your transitioning child to ensure a smooth start to the new school year!

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How Nannies Can Help with Back to School

Back to school is often a nightmarish time for working parents. At a time of year where colds, illness, and head lice are rife, not to mention tantrums and an unwillingness to go back to school, it’s a time where your nanny can make the difference between a bad day and a great day.

We’ve put together our top tips for both nannies and parents to help with the back-to-school transition.

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What is Child-Led Play and Why is it So Important?

Child-led play is exactly what it sounds like; children choose what to play and the adults follow the child’s lead. The sole purpose of this type of play is to allow children to explore and discover independently whilst making their own choices and decisions about what to do.

We’ve put together some tips to help you encourage child-led play whilst also identifying learning opportunities:

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Why You Should Visit Your Local Library This Summer

The summer holidays can be stressful for parents and nannies alike. Trying to find new and exciting activities to keep the kids entertained every day is no easy feat. When you consider the many rainy days experienced in the average British summertime, you might find that you and your children are going a little stir crazy.

Over the summer holidays, libraries all around the country will be pulling out all the stops kids entertained by putting on various activities including hosting character visits and read-a-longs to craft or computer sessions, and much more.

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Double Trouble – How To Cope With Twins And Multiples

Having one baby is hard work, we all know that. The thing is, unless you have a multiple birth (or children very close in age) you don’t realise just how tiring and relentless (although extremely rewarding!) looking after two or more tiny tots can be.

So, as always, we have a wealth of top tips to help if you have your own, or nanny for, twins or triplets:

Having one baby is hard work, we all know that. The thing is, unless you have a multiple birth (or children very close in age) you don’t realise just how tiring and relentless (although extremely rewarding!) looking after two or more tiny tots can be.

So, as always, we have a wealth of top tips to help if you have your own, or nanny for, twins or triplets:

  • Routine is king. This, of course, applies in theory to all babies. You’ll find it is much more necessary with twins. Make sure you put the babies down to sleep at the same time, and try to feed them at the same time (or one straight after the other). Even of one cries for food whilst the other is sleeping, in the first couple of months it can really help to wake the other one to feed as well.
  • Togetherness. If possible, keep your babies together, whether this is in the same cot or just in the same room. Twin babies are almost always comforted by knowing the other one is nearby, and having physical contact with each other. They’ve had nine months of sharing everything, so it would be a massive adjustment for them to then spend a lot of time, or sleep, without the other.
  • Support system. It’s important to get as much help as you can as a parent of twins. If your partner has returned to work and you find yourself alone and incredibly stressed, pull in your support network. Ask relatives and friends or regular baby-sitters to provide relief, if you haven’ got a nanny. Remember that it will be easier for anyone to help you if you suggest specific tasks, such as feeding or bathing one of the babies, taking them out for a stroll, shopping, cleaning the kitchen, or preparing a meal.
  • Get some ‘me’ time. It’s important to have a little bit of time each day, if possible, to relax. Even if it’s a 20 minute bath when your partner gets home from work, or half an hour of reading before you go to sleep. It’s a fact that stress and anxiety are more common in parents of twins, so making sure you grab a few golden moments of time for yourself is key.

For more help and information on twins and multiple births visit Twins Trust | Twins Trust – We support twins, triplets and more…

Perfect Summer Holiday Activities for Children

British summertime is often unpredictable when it comes to the weather. It’s not unheard of to experience rain, sun, wind and even snow all in the same day. That’s why we’ve put together our top summer holiday activities for kids that you can do, no matter the weather.

British summertime is often unpredictable when it comes to the weather. It’s not unheard of to experience rain, sun, wind and even snow all in the same day. That’s why we’ve put together our top summer holiday activities for kids that you can do, no matter the weather.

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Childcare is Tough! Stay Energised with These Top Tips!

Being a parent is tough! Being a nanny is tough! Working in a nursery is tough! Raising a child is one of the most rewarding, but also one of the most challenging things you could ever do. The trouble with constantly taking care of the needs of your child or young charges is that it’s easy to push aside your own which can quickly lead to burnout that can affect both you and your children.

Try these top tips to help you take care of and re-energise yourself:

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Gender Stereotyping – What Is It and How to Avoid It

The topic of gender stereotyping with regards to children has been gaining a lot of traction in the news and online. You’ve probably already seen at least one article, video or news feature on this topic.

But what is it?

Gender stereotyping is associating certain expectations or ideals depending upon someone’s gender. In relation to children, this could be that typically, girls should like the colour pink and should play with dolls and kitchen sets, whereas boys should like the colour blue and should be more physical in their play, making mess or playing with action figures and video games.

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