With the birth of my new son, Nicholas my daughter of almost three years is showing signs of jealousy.

We were anticipating this as it is a normal reaction, my daughter, Amanda has been the center of attention for two and a half years and that attention, now has to be shared with her brother. What also aggravates this situation is the fact that she is the only girl in our family, all her cousins are all boys and so she has always been spoilt by the everyone in the family.

Preparing for the birth of Nicholas, we bought several presents for her so when visitors came with gifts for our new born we would have something for Amanda, so she wouldn’t feel left out. This actually worked well, she was so busy playing with her new toys that she didn’t notice so much that the attention had shifted.

But the following days things got a little worse, she started to wet the bed, she wouldn’t eat much, she would give horrible evil looks to Nicholas when ever anybody visited and gave him attention and worst of all she started to bully other children in nursery.

Everyday for about a week the school would complain saying Amanda had kicked, punched or bitten another child. On one occasion she actually took on two kids at once, its good that she can stand up for herself but on the other hand I don’t want her to be a bully.

I would talk to her to try to explain that hitting is wrong but everyday we would receive another letter of complaint.

I came up with the idea of including Amanda in nearly everything we do with Nicholas and it seems to be working. The bed wetting has stopped and we haven’t had any complaints from the school for a while now.

So now when we bath Nicholas I take Amanda in the bathroom and get her to interact too.
She gives me the soap when I need, I let her wash his belly, and she stays next to Nicholas the whole time helping.

Another thing I have been doing is letting her hold him, of course I am securing him but he is resting on her lap and she then talks and plays with him.

Doing these things may seem trivial but it is a good way to help grow the bond between brother and sister and reduce jealousy.

I also find the time on a Saturday to take Amanda to a park for an hour, just me and her.
I believe this is a good thing to do as it increases the bond between me and my daughter and also it is giving her 100% attention.

Now one month later Amanda loves Nicholas, so much she wont leave him alone. She keeps asking to hold him, she especially loves letting Nicholas grab her finger, when he cries she comes along and tells him not to cry and everything is ok and she loves having photos taken with him.

One thing she does that makes me laugh is that when my wife breast feeds Nicholas, Amanda lifts up her top and asks to do it.

Every where we go or when we get new visitors she always shows Nicholas to people telling them he is her brother instead of being jealous of him she is now proud of him.

If you have a similar story to tell then send it to chris@chrisescars.com and will post it on the site or you can add it in the comments box below.

A group of Pediatrician scientists have discovered better ways to help bring up children.
So now the manual has been rewritten instead of following a set of rules we have to read the baby’s signs.

Years ago scientists, doctors and professionals carried out research and then gave advice on how to raise a child but now with new research they have discovered new ways that contradict the old ways.

Read the following list and see which you think is better the old way or the new way.

1. Potty Training

Old Way;
It was recommended to have your child out of nappies and toilet trained before the child reached two years old.

New Way;
Now they are saying it is normal and acceptable to allow your child to remain in nappies up to the age of 4.

2. Mouth Hygiene

Old Way;
We were told to clean the babies teeth as the teeth start to grow.

New Way;
They are now saying we have to clean the babies gums before any teeth start to show because the babies saliva mixes with milk and creates bacteria in the mouth which can affect the new teeth.

3. Baby’s weight

Old Way;
When the child reaches two the ideal weight was 12.7 Kg (28.13 Ibs). Scientists used to believe that a fat baby was a sign of a healthy baby.

New Way;
Now they are saying the ideal weight is 11.6 kg (25.57 Ibs) because they are now worrying about obesity in infants.
For example: out of 100 babies overweight 75 will end up being fat when they get older.

4. Feeding

Old way;
It was recommended to give plenty of eggs to infants after they reach 6 months because eggs are rich in proteins.

New Way;
Now its not recommended until the child is over 1 year old because eggs are also rich in Albumin which is a protein that can provoke allergies. Infants under one year old don’t have a fully developed immune system and so are vulnerable to this protein.

5. Colic

Old Way;
Before scientist used to believe colic was related to poor indigestion that caused gases and used to recommend medicine.

New Way;
Colic is more related to stomach contractions. It is not possible to eliminate colic but you can reduce the affects by massaging the abdominal area or placing a hot water bottle on their belly.

6. Sleeping Position

Old Way;
For years doctors and scientists have been telling us to sleep the baby on the side to prevent cot death.

New Way;
Now they are saying they were wrong all these years and the baby should sleep belly up and the head slightly elevated so that it is higher than the rest of the body. The reason for this is that babies can suffocate more easily on their side than on their backs.

7. Breast Feeding

Old Way;
It wasn’t a problem if you breast fed or bottle fed your new born baby.

New Way;
It is strongly recommended to breast feed the baby until they 6 months old because breast milk is high in nutrients. There is more than 250 beneficial nutrients in breast milk and also it increases the bond between mother and child. The baby should be fed when and how often they so desire and not at regular hourly intervals.

8. Crying

Old Way;
It was thought that when a healthy baby cried it was just for attention and so we were told it was ok to leave them cry.

New Way;
A baby that cries must never be ignored, you have to make sure they are not hungry, too hot, too cold, need a nappy change and so on. 90% of the time if a baby is crying it is for a reason.
If it is for a attention it is because the baby needs to feel safe and secure and a little cuddle does that.

Another thing that these scientists are recommending is not to force your child to learn to read and write under the age of five. Doing this can cause them to develop learning difficulties in the future.

It is ok to teach them if they show an interest but never force them to learn.

Everybody who has children can relate to this.

The baby is born and whether its a girl or boy they always look so cute, family and friends come to visit and they always remark how beautiful he or she is and then they look at the parents.

O my god!
No longer is the mother sparkling with beauty with the life inside her, instead she has transformed into a mess of tiredness with black skin sagging under her half closed eyes. Her face droops and the glowing smile is now upside down and of course where theres tiredness theres irritability too.

The dad always gets more sleep but he himself too looks tired and all because of the arrival of an innocent angelic baby.

The biggest problem we faced was that when our new born son woke up for feeding, straight after he would get colic and cry a lot which would quite often wake our two year old daughter.
Then it would take an hour or two to get her back to sleep and by that time our son is just starting to wake back up again for food.

In the day our son Nicholas sleeps around three hours in the night he goes just two hours between feeds and this is because babies grow more in the night and so require more food.

My wife had a cesarean with our second child, Nicholas and so for the first few weeks she was not able to lift the baby so every time he woke we both had to get up, the only difference is in the day I had to work while she could take a nap in the afternoon but I cant complain because now she gets up with him and I get to keep on sleeping. I do get up and help occasionally but theres not a lot I can do anyway as he is on breast milk.

Baby Facts

New born babies don’t know the difference between day and night yet and their tiny stomachs don’t hold enough breast milk or formula to keep them satisfied for very long so they need to feed every few hours, no matter what time of day or night it is.

A newborn may sleep as much as 16 hours a day (or even more), often in stretches of 3 to 4 hours at a time and like the sleep all of us experience, babies have different phases of sleep: drowsiness, REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, light sleep, deep sleep, and very deep sleep. As babies grow, their periods of wakefulness increase.

As the baby grows these short 3 to 4 hour stretches will increase allowing you to sleep more.
At first, though, the need to feed will outweigh the need to sleep. Many pediatricians recommend that a parent not let a newborn sleep too long without feeding. In practical terms, that means offering a feeding to your baby every 3 to 4 hours or so, and possibly more often for smaller or premature babies. Breastfed infants may get hungry more frequently than bottle-fed babies and need to nurse every 2 hours in the first few weeks.