Read to your children every night

Reading books to your children is one of the most important things you can do to promote literacy development, says our resident baby expert, Jenni Johnson….

In addition to just regurgitating the words on the page, try adding some play acting as this develops your child’s imagination as well. Don’t be afraid to deviate from what’s on the page. Incorporate different accents for the characters, add drama with theatrical hand gestures, build anticipation by including pauses, and let the emotions of the story register on your face.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Preparing breakfast the night before works well and if time becomes a problem then this meal can be eaten on the way to school. They are egg and sausage muffins cooked in advance in a muffin tray as a batch. They freeze well and are packed with protein. Vegetarian sausage can be used too, they also have hidden veggies in them. I’ve put the recipe on jennisays.com.

To look after and increase a breast milk supply, feed on demand, drink lots of water, eat a rusk or a couple of biscuits with something to drink before you get out of bed because hours may go by before you get to having breakfast. Eat lots of protein. Fenugreek and alfalfa tabs as well as some aruyevedic natural remedies will do no harm and are worth trying. If you’re struggling please leave a message on jennisays.com and we will get back to you..

I teach to rub your babies gums with a gauze swab when the itchy pre-teeth phase starts, then when your little one has only a few teeth use a toothwipe which contains small amount of fluoride free toothpaste. Move onto a soft toothbrush or finger-brush and use a small dot of toothpaste once your little one has 4 or so teeth, if done every day it will become part of a routine and any resistance to teethbrushing will ease off. Visit the dentist with your child by the age of 2+.

Relationships should never be put at risk of being ruined because of the children. To guard against this put your relationship first then the children, a happy relationship makes good children, finding time together without them, connecting as you used to before they came along is going to carry you through the downtimes. Intimacy keeps a relationship alive. Put the kids to bed at an appropriate bed time and lock your bedroom door.

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

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. 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 a practicing child-care practitioner for the past 15 years. 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.