Tag: Parenthood

Pampers Debuts a New Flat Diaper for Preemies and You Can Help the #LittlestFighters

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Just in time for Prematurity Awareness Month, Pampers has come up with a novel solution for preemies who can’t wear diapers.

When a baby is born preterm, parents face challenges they didn’t expect—including some they didn’t even realize existed. For instance, you might have known that many preemies don’t wear clothes in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit), but did you know that some can’t even wear diapers? But now there’s a new option: a first-of-its-kind flat diaper from Pampers that allows better access to these tiny babies for doctors and nurses, and protects preemies’ delicate skin.

An alternate diapering solution

Why do preemies need alternatives to traditional diapers? “Because a premature baby still needs to develop, it is important that he or she sleeps with minimal environmental stimulation, such as noise and light—or ill-fitting diapers,” Amy Wiford, Pampers Nurse Specialist and a NICU nurse for 10 years, tells Parents.com. “It is also important to support proper developmental positioning, with less disruption via minimal handling.”

Without any elastic, tape, or fragrance, the diaper is designed to lay flat under the baby to maximize skin exposure for treatments like phototherapy for jaundice. “Conditions that might make it difficult for a preemie—especially extremely low birth-weight infants—to wear a regular diaper include Hyperbilirubinemia (jaundice), abdominal defects and surgeries, and severe skin breakdown,” Wiford says, adding that a flat diaper can help to fulfill unmet needs of preemies in the NICU with these types of conditions, by promoting open-air healing as well as giving healthcare professionals better access to care for complications due to birth defects and/or post-operative care.

Supporting the “littlest fighters”

Prematurity has increased for the second year in a row; the preterm birth rate in the U.S. is now 9.8 percent. “Many people don’t know this, but preterm birth is a national health crisis,” Wiford says. “Thankfully, advances in medical science have allowed many of these babies to thrive in the NICU.” Support for preemies is crucial for research, education, and advocacy programs for these tiny babies and their parents.

For Prematurity Awareness Month this November, Pampers has partnered with March of Dimes to donate a box of flat diapers to every NICU in the country. If you have a baby in the NICU and are interested in flat diapers, which are only available in hospitals, ask your nurse or healthcare professionals if they’re right for your little one.

Check out Pampers’ new video on these littlest fighters featuring Rachel Platten’s “Fight Song”—we dare you not to cry! Parents.com By Tina Donvito. Picture by Pampers.

And if you’re interested in giving back, share a story about your baby’s fighting spirit on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram using the hashtag #LittlestFighters until November 17 and Pampers will donate $5 to the March of Dimes—or subscribe for any new Pampers on Amazon Prime from November 11-17 and Pampers will donate $10.

xxxxxx,

Janice

Being a mum is the equivalent of 2.5 FULL-TIME jobs, according to new research

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We’ve often heard the saying “being a mum is a full-time job”; but, according to research, it’s actually closer to being two-and-a-half full-time jobs!

A new American study has found that the average mum works an astonishing 98 hours per week – over twice the average working week of 39 hours.

Researchers examined the schedules of 2000 working mums, with children aged five to 12. They found that the average work day of a mum starts at 6.23am and ends at 8.31pm.

They found that even on their “free time”, mums tended to fill their time with tasks; and, of course, the weekends were just as busy as the week days!

Most mums reported having just one hour and seven minutes of “me time” daily. We spend most of our “me time” in the bathroom trying to get a quick shower unaccompanied…

40 percent of mums surveyed said their lives felt like a series of never-ending tasks, while 70 percent reported feeling pressure to provide a healthy diet for their children.

“The results of the survey highlight just how demanding the role of mum can be and the non-stop barrage of tasks it consists of,” said Casey Lewis, Health and Nutrition Lead at Welch’s, the juice company that commissioned the survey, told Yahoo.

The survey also examined what “life-savers” mums relied upon when trying to do it all became too tough.

The extensive list includes wine (us too), grandparents or a reliable babysitter to step in from time to time, Netflix (for the kids or the parents), wet wipes, drive-through meals, healthy snacks and juices, toys and iPads.

Coffee, napping when possible, and the ability to put on an “angry” voice as required were also on the list of top 20 mum-approved lifesavers.

We can definitely testify to the power of all of the above in a stressful situation – particularly coffee in the mornings, or a glass of wine after a very long day.

What do you think, mums? Does this sound like a typical week in your life?

We would love to know what you use as a life-saver when things get difficult. Via Mummypage life as a mom. Leave us a comment and let us know.

xxxxx,

Janice

Why you could be a victim of digital kidnapping

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As a parent, it is your priority to look out for and protect your children. It’s a natural instinct. What if I told you that in some ways you are putting them in more danger than you can imagine?Have you ever heard of digital kidnapping? Prepare to have your world turned upside down.

Social media platforms are easily accessible nowadays. Almost everyone has an online profile. It’s a place to share your inner thoughts, opinions, personal and even intimate moments — a new engagement, new home, new pet, a new vacation, and especially a new baby.

New mothers love sharing pictures of their children online, but some vow to post minimal or no pictures of their children. I’m not a mother myself, but understand the need or desire to share every moment of your precious baby with your friends and family. Their height, their weight, their likes or dislikes. Your child is your biggest accomplishment and you should be proud that child is all your own — but are they?

Look up hashtags like #proudmommy or #momspam ( I mean even I am guilty of using the #proudaunt tag) you will find thousands of happy kids or babies, sharing happy moments with the world. This is where the story get dark, now look up hashtags like #babyrp #childrp or #orphanrp. The ‘rp’ stands for role play. Your child’s picture has been taken by a complete stranger. Your child had a new name, a new life story, and a new mommy or daddy. Your child has been digitally kidnapped.

Before last night I never even heard of the term or trend, until I saw a Facebook article shared by an old university classmate. Her caption was simple, ‘this is why I never post pictures of my child online.’ The article led me to a news story of a young mom named April. In 2012, she gave birth to twins, Sophia and Vivienne. She was a mom that loved to post pictures of her children online. April even joined a special Facebook group where she would upload pictures of her babies, which were often met with adoring comments and support. Then, one day she got a message from a total stranger alerting her that her kids pictures were found on another woman’s page.

The twins were now named Adaya and Kamberlin. These babies had a new mom. Her name was listed as Ashley and she spoke about the love she had for her children and even shared false medical issues the girls were suffering from. April was a victim of a digital kidnapper. The police were not able to do anything as there was ‘no crime’ or actual harm to the children. Despite threats of legal action and reports of a false profile, Ashley kept posting pictures of her ‘children’. Flash forward to 2016, and April was still fighting this digital kidnapper and even appeared on an episode of Dr Phil where she revealed just how far the story escalated.

April and her husband hired a private investigator to investigate Ashley- this fake mom came with a criminal profile and a longstanding “history” of her twins being taken away from her by her mother. Worst of all, there were pictures of her fake daughters all over her house — on her bedstand, on the living room walls, and in the entry way.

While this story is extreme, it speaks volumes to the society we are living in. People share every moment and detail online for temporary hits of pleasure and satisfaction from virtual strangers and distant friends. This trend goes hand in hand with artists having their material stolen and passed off as someone else, or even online fraud and identity theft. People catfish everyday, pretending to be someone else in order to get a date.  Cases like this did not exist 10  to 15 years ago because your personal treasures and moments were kept in a photo album inside a drawer and pulled out only when close friends or family come to visit. Now, nothing is private and nothing is sacred. Our culture has evolved so dramatically that this is the new normal.

The babyrp hashtag has been hidden on Instagram due to reported content that doesn’t meet the website’s ‘conditions,’ but from the few posts that remain, strangers role play the lives of babies and kids, giving them an entirely different life and creepy fantasies. This is truly the dark side of Instagram and, as I said before, the trend is small but growing thanks to our obsession with social media. So, what can you do?

• The obvious, would be to limit the amount of posts with your young kids on social media or use platforms that only temporarily share the pictures like snapchat or Instagram Story.

• Don’t include any identity details in the pictures

• Download an app that helps you watermark pictures, similar to professional photographers.

• Tighten up your privacy settings: you have the option to make your profile private on sites like Instagram

• Review your friends lists and make sure you’re actually willing to share these photos with your online friends and consider e-mail for larges sets of pictures

Digital kidnapping is not illegal and it is hard to control, just be aware of what you post online and make it difficult for people to identify your child as their own. Womenspost Leanne Benn.

xxxxx,

Janice

Attention, Moms: You’re Doing Great

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As rewarding as parenting is, it can also be frustrating and full of self-doubt. To help quell the worries that most parents encounter at one point or another, Constance Hall, an Australian mom and blogger, shared some wisdom on her Facebook page on Sunday.

Hall wrote that, a few weeks ago, a friend of hers told her that she was “such a good mum.”

“Feeling like a total fraud,” Hall wrote, “I blurted, ‘I don’t feel like a good mum. The kids are driving me so crazy, I’m losing my temper and falling asleep at night wondering where I’m going got [sic] get the patients [sic] for another day.'”

Her friend’s response, however, floored her.

“Babies cry, it’s how they communicate. Toddlers scream, children whinge, and teenagers complain,” she recalled her friend saying. “But guess what Con? It’s better then [sic] silence.”

“It’s the silent children, the scared toddlers, the teenagers that don’t come home and the parents who aren’t in communication with their children that I worry about,” her friend, who works as a child therapist, continued. “And kids don’t drive you crazy, you were crazy already. That’s why you had them.”

It’s a simple reminder, but one that really hit home for Hall: “And just like that, I felt like a good parent again,” she wrote. “Deep breaths, you’re doing a good job.” Judging by the fact that Hall’s post has already been shared over 118,000 times at the time of writing, it looks like her friend’s message resonated with plenty of other people, too.

“My son and I have been butting heads the last couple of days,” one Facebook user commented. “I did not sleep last night and spent the whole of today wondering what I am doing wrong. This post could not have come at a better time, thanks I really needed this.”

“I needed this, and all the lovely comments from all the other moms feeling like they are doing a craptastic job,” another wrote. “Thank you all from the bottom of my exhausted heart!!”

Hall’s note of reassurance may seem like a small gesture. But as commenters have noted, sometimes you need to be reminded that you’re doing fine and it’ll all be okay — even if it doesn’t always feel like that. Via Refinery29 Kimberly Truong.

xxxxx,

Janice