Parenting 101: 2 November 2012

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 sleep and exercise, among other things. 

* Teach your children how to include exercise as a normal part of life. The benefits are physical fitness, confidence and a high self-esteem, more energy, better memory and a good feeling about themselves.

* From the age of 3½ your child is able to understand negotiation and so you may not be able to persuade him that your clothes choice is the correct one. Allowing him to go to school in his pyjama bottoms because they’ve got spiderman on them is not going to mean that he gets his way all the time.

* A newborn baby will often sleep from feed time to feed time. A 1 month old will have wakeful times in between feeds. At 2 months your baby needs three sleeps and 2 catnaps in a day. 7 month old babies cut down their long sleeps to twice a day. All this is possible with a good routine.

* A nutritious diet is vital for everyone - in particular growing children. Food doesn’t have to be difficult, time consuming or expensive to prepare. I teach the less fuss made, the less stressful it will be for you and your child.

* Books are a wonderful birthday present but because they may be thought of as not very exciting compared to the toys one sees, they are often not given. Tie a few books in a bundle with lots of ribbon and attach a novelty item to the parcel, like a Spiderman mask or a wand or for a baby some bubbles.

* 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.