I am pretty sure you would be so taken aback if you woke up one morning and saw your baby standing in his crib staring right back at you. I would, no doubt. Now, as a mum, you had better start getting used to such surprises, because such are the skills and abilities that come…

Sleep is very important to a child’s health and well-being. And more so, creating a sleeping comfort zone for your baby is crucial in getting the required quality sleep that his body needs, to function as it should. Apart from providing a nice room that has dim lights, a stable bed and clean and soft…

Safeguarding your baby It is a tragedy of immense proportions that thousands of unborn babies-about 40,000 to 50,000-risk being infected with HIV by their mothers every year, according to the Kenya National Aids and Sexually Transmitted Infections Control Programme (NASCOP). The sad thing is that the unborn victims are as innocent as many mothers; most…

In the recent past some mums have asked Pregnant the question: ‘can the uneven shape of a baby’s head be reshaped after birth?’ This feature explains what parents can do if the shape of their baby’s head does not self correct as expected. How Common Is Uneven Head? Quite common! It can happen when the…

We see them in our daily activities—stooping into a flower, sometimes just buzzing about, other times doing a gentle hit-and-run past your foot, or charging in swarms. Bees and wasps can cause pretty painful and serious stings. The stings are irritating and painful but one sting is rarely fatal unless you are allergic to its…

Guidelines Rigid timings should not be set for feeding. As a general guideline, five minutes per breast per feed on the first day, 10 minutes on the second day and 15 minutes thereafter can be tried. Early initiation of breast- feeding is important. The baby should be put to the breast as soon as possible. In the…

I was never a big fan of school in my days, it now seems. School came across as a punishment, exam time only compounded my hatred, let’s call it lack of enthusiasm, for school. I was sure my mother hated me—sending me to school and seeking to check on my progress. Now older and wiser,…

Where my ancestors came from, when a child got mumps, they would be advised or led to a certain tree and urged to sing certain songs and dance around the tree to cast away the mumps. After which the child will be required to walk back to their home without looking back. It was believed…

What is it that we really want out of this life? Most of us complain when it seems like we have too little. We wrongly imagine that those who have everything they need have nothing to complain about. The good nurse at the infants’ nursery has been kind enough to give me a newspaper to occupy…