Parenting 101: 15 January 2013

Jenni Johnson, our resident ‘Baby Whisperer’, has been a practicing child-care practitioner for 15 years, and owns a busy ante and post natal clinic in Durban. This week she talks about goal setting and life skills, among other things. 

* Help your child to make New Year resolutions. Goal setting is an important skill to take all the way to adulthood. Choose 3 resolutions for a young child and up to ten for a teenager. Good hygiene, healthy eating, and being polite are examples.

* Young toddlers from 1 - 2 ½ years old have an underdeveloped control system. They cannot wait and can’t take turns. Parent them by steering them away from trouble. They don’t understand adult logic.

* Windiness only presents from 2 weeks old in a newborn so excessive crying before then is likely due to hunger. If in doubt in the first few weeks, feed – feed – feed.

* Help your child work through the challenges of childhood with consistent love, support, perspective and guidance. This provides the foundation for mental toughness training in adulthood.

* I advise the following if your child/baby gets gastro. Change formula to a non-dairy one and offer frequent fluids. If breastfeeding feed often. Watch for signs of dehydration like no wet nappies. If baby does 4 poo’s in an hour or starts vomiting see a Dr. Gastro can carry on for 10days!

* Catch Jenni on-air every day just after 10am with her tip of the day.

At Jenni’s ante and post natal clinic in Durban, parents are taught a system that gives them structure and routine to the baby and childhood years. Jenni has a nursing background. She’s a registered nurse, midwife, psychiatric nurse and private nurse practitioner.

Jenni’s online clinic, can be accessed online via www.jennisays.com. For appointments, e-mail [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter via @JenniSays or on Facebook by 'liking' The Berea Baby Clinic.