New brochure helps parents find services for children with autism.

A new brochure about autism spectrum disorder, now available as part of the Federal Government's Helping Children with Autism package, is designed to help parents and carers find the best care for their children. "Autism can seem like bad behaviour, and no two children will have exactly the same set of problems so it can be difficult to recognise," says psychologist and brochure co-author Dr Rebecca Mathews, from the Australian Psychological Society. "However, parents are best placed to know their own children, so if they feel something is not right they should ask for an assessment. It is also important that parents know which health professionals provide assistance with autism and how they can access these services." Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a lifelong neurodevelopmental disability that is part of the broader category called pervasive developmental disorders, which includes Autistic disorder (autism), Asperger's disorder, Pervasive developmental disorder – Not otherwise specified, Rett's disorder and Childhood disintegrative disorder. The new brochure, I know every child is different, but I'm still worried…A guide to the assessment and treatment of autism spectrum disorder, outlines the signs of ASD and the recommended process for assessment and treatment, including the various roles of the allied health professionals who may be involved. It was developed by the Australian Psychological Society, Speech Pathology Australia and Occupational Therapy Australia under the umbrella of Allied Health Professions Australia, with funding from the Federal Government. "ASD principally affects a child's social skills, ability to communicate and behaviour, so interventions focus on developing life skills and the ability to interact and communicate with others, and on changing unhelpful behaviours," Dr Mathews says. "Evidence shows that an interdisciplinary approach with a team of health professionals is most effective for children with ASD. A team approach could include a paediatrician, child psychiatrist, psychologist, speech pathologist and occupational therapist." Under the Helping with Autism package there is also funding available for a range of early intervention services for children with ASD. The brochure outlines how people can access this funding. For more information the brochure can be downloaded at www.autism.ahpa.com.au, or to find a psychologist, call the Australian Psychological Society's Find-a-psychologist service on 1800 333 497.

Being Vegetarian And Breastfeeding

Some people claim that vegetarian mums probably are not able to provide adequate nutrition to their newborn baby by way of their breast milk. In particular, the claim is made when mother is a vegan. Since Vegans don't have dairy or milk products, are they taking in enough calcium to pass it on to their infant in breast milk?
There is however little basis to this claim so long as the mother has a balanced diet that includes enough nutrients such as calcium, zinc, and vitamin B12 which are important for the mother as well as the baby. The fact is that the body manages to create a good balance in terms of nutrients to a baby by way of breast milk.

It is actually possible to get these vital nutrients from food sources: bran cereals, peanuts, beans, wheat germ, spinach, yeast and pumpkin seeds provide zinc.
There are also many vegetarian and vegan food sources that provide adequate calcium.
If the mother is a vegan who does not have any dairy or fish, then getting vitamin B12 is a problem. It may be required for her to supplement her intake with a B12 supplement while pregnant or nursing.

Source: Bliss Tree

Monday Madness - Brand New Clothing Under $10

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Monday Madness - GAP Clothing under $3

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SOTW: KeJa Photography & Design

Tell us a little about yourself.

I am a stay at home mum, married for 5 years to Shawn and have two gorgeous boys Keegan and Jarryd. We live in Sydney. We love picnics and the beach.

How long have you been in business for?

3 months

How did you come up with your business name?

It is a combination of my sons names Ke -Keegan Ja - Jarryd Photography and Design

What did you do before this?

I was a Preschool Teacher

What's your best advice for new sellers?

Keep Strong and keep going don't let anyone get you down.

What do you have in stock that you cant believe hasn't sold?

My Photo Collages with frame.

What do you enjoy doing besides selling on BabyBidz.com.au?

I moderate a mums forum www.mumsmeeting.com, we go on picnics, taking LOTS of photos and designing all my products, spending time with my hubby and gorgeous sons.

What is your favourite movie, TV show and website?

An officer and a Gentlemen, 2 and a half men, babybidz.com.au and facebook.

It’s a good day at work when…….

I get a photosession booking and make people happy with my work.

If I ran the Internet for the day I’d….

Buy lots and lots of photography equipment

You’d laugh if you knew this about me.

I eat all the chocolate of the tim tams before the middle hahaha, I don't know I am pretty borning lol.

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There Could Be A Cost Of Not Breastfeeding, Says Study

While it is now well established that breastfeeding is the best option for a newborn baby as well as the mother, research keeps adding to the sum of our knowledge about all the different reasons why and how it is so good.

Now a study tells us that as many as 900 babies (to say nothing of billions of dollars) a year could be saved if exclusively breast fed for the first 6 months of life.

The benefits of breastfeeding are still underappreciated feel experts and could help prevent a number of illnesses that are commonly seen in newborn babies: ear infections, SIDS, asthma, stomach viruses, juvenile diabetes, and even childhood leukemia it is thought.

This is because of the antibodies that are contained in breast milk.

Further benefits of breast milk can not only fight infections, it can impact the levels of insulin in blood which can positively impact the child's risk of getting obese or diabetic.

In purely economic terms as well, it is estimated that about $13 billion are indirectly lost due to the fact of less breastfeeding. Cost of the illnesses themselves include hospitalization and treatment for diseases that could have been prevented by breastfeeding.

Source: Associated Press

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Helping A New Born To Become A Smarter Adult

This is a statement many mothers consider in the first months of the motherhood when for the first time the new born is reaching out to touch that something that is moving before his eyes or is smiling when talked to.

The first signs of baby intelligence are manifested when changes interfere within the baby's environment. This is so far from the theory that the baby inherits the intelligence from the parents.

Usually the way our baby's mind grows and develops is conditioned by the amount of factors the little one is made to react to.

If the environment offers the baby a large opening and many interactive options the baby will react by improving attention.

For example, when taking the baby out for a walk during the first month you can see that he or she tends to fall asleep after looking vividly around and processing the light, the movement and the sound. This is how their little mind tends to process the information and during their sleep this information is registered and stimulates the brain.

We are so embarrassed when presenting our baby to different persons the little one gets scared and starts crying. This has a very good reason and has nothing to do with our baby being silly.

Human beings represent oceans of information abruptly introduced in our baby's world. They talk, laugh, reach out and touch the baby and many times so much information turns to be too much especially if the baby is very young.

How can we help our baby be intelligent?

That is easier than you might think. All we need to do is to offer our babies time and opportunity to learn, react and respond by introducing them to the environment.

This can be done from the first days of the baby's life but parents must keep in mind that the babies have a very different way to process and understand the world.

They depend very much on their senses and for the first two years of life this is their main way of interacting with the environment.

For the baby to come in physical contact with the environment he will relate to your senses. This is why parents are encouraged to play with their babies and by it to stimulate their learning process.

Before reaching the age of 4 months the baby is occupied to discover his or her body. We can see that they spend a lot of time looking at their hands or analyzing the things we show them. The babies show a lot of interest for the faces of their loved ones and for the sounds they make.

The calm voice, the laughter and the touch become something very clear for the baby. This is the time when the babies start to understand the rules and also the disposition of their parents.

From this point the learning process is increasing with every new element the parents are presenting the baby.

What we should be aware of is that we must not push them, bore them or make them lose interest. The main point of their very early education is that they feel a compulsive need of spending time with us.

If during this time we take the challenge and offer them the information during games, physical exercise and interaction, the babies will register it and process it learning faster than we as adults could ever learn.

The Changing Table – Do You Really Need One?

As a new parent it is understandable that one wants to buy all the things that you imagine may be required for a new baby.

Among those things is a changing table, which many take for granted is one of the basics required to furnish the nursery.

Many people find that a changing table is very convenient. However is it really necessary? Does one really need a changing table? Consider these factors:

• There are several other items of furniture that could double up as a changing table, such as the top of a dresser, a high table etc. Or you can always change your baby on the floor or the carpet or on the bed.
• Many experienced parents will tell you that this is a wasted expense and that the money could have been used better for something else.
• Also consider if you will cart your baby back to the nursery each time a nappy change is required.
• Do you have the space to fit in a changing table? You should ideally have enough space around the nursery to move comfortably around.
• When baby starts to roll over, a changing table may get a bit dangerous
• Also consider that a baby outgrows diapers fairly quickly after which a changing table is quite superfluous.

What have you used as a change table??

5 Tips In Choosing Toys For Toddlers

Parents who are new to having children should remember that the formative years of a child is the most important. When children are in their toddler years, their learning capability is amplified 100% given the fact that they learn something new every hour.
Everything they see, touch, and hear is added to their experiences which eventually harness learning for toddlers.

Toys for toddlers[Toddler toys] help in promoting these learning experiences which is deemed vital to their learning curve. Toddlers will always be toddlers, they generally learn through playing and observation.

When looking at a child, one might think that nothing goes on in that head of theirs, but they are wrong. These toys for toddlers are usually what parents purchase for their children knowing they are easily attracted to them.

For parents who are new to raising children, perhaps having to choose what toys for toddlers are actually good for the children could prove to be an obstacle.

Given the fact that there are hundreds of toys to choose from, parents will find that there are certain details of toys for toddlers that they should consider.

Here are some of the tips parents should keep in mind when buying toys for toddlers:

1. Buy toys that are appropriate for their age bracket. It is important for toys of toddlers to be just right for their age. Most of the time, these toys are larger than normal toys for children.

The reason for this is that toddlers could accidentally swallow small parts which could lead to a disaster. Another detail to take note of is to purchase toys for toddlers that do not have sharp edges.

Toddlers can hurt themselves by puncturing their soft skin or poking themselves in the eye.

2. Consider purchasing toys that promote creativity. Toys for toddlers that follow certain themes such as cars, houses, airplanes, and others could help promote the toddler's natural thinking and imagination.

This also helps in promoting their verbal capabilities and learning. Remember that when purchasing these toys for toddlers, the goal is to basically enhance their mental attributes.

3. Purchase toys such as puzzles. Toys for toddlers that encourage complex thinking and problem solving help toddlers develop their skills that differentiate shapes and sizes. They also encourage toddlers to expand their mental imagination.

4. Buy toys that promote physical development of toddlers. Purchasing things such as ride on toys and toddler walkers help in developing their physical abilities. It is important that parents consider that these toys are relevant for a toddler's physical progress.

5. Books and visuals is a must. Enhancing toddler's ability to differentiate colors and shapes can be better promoted through books and reading materials.

Regardless of toddlers actually understand what is written on them, parents should continuously narrate the different shapes and colors found in these books.

You can find a range of toys at BabyBidz.com.au

Cloth Diapers Making A Comeback?

If you are a new parent, you are probably still discovering all the different ways in which the new entrant into your life makes you spend money; not least the amounts you spend on the copious numbers of disposable diapers soiled by baby.

According to one estimate, the average parent spends as much as one and a half to two thousand dollars on diapers with each baby. Is there an alternative to disposables though? Apparently there is and it's catching on.

There are several reasons why people shy away from cloth diapers: the fact that they are fiddly to put on (pins, ties etc.), plastic pants are required on top, that you need a ton of bleach to clean them.

The new age cloth diapers however have evolved beyond all that: they are as easy to use as disposables, they have microfiber inserts and use Velcro to keep them fastened. As for laundry, all you have to do is put the soiled diapers in a plastic lined laundry bag and then into the washing machine they go.

And they are cheaper than disposables to use. Whereas disposables could cost a thousand dollars or more, cloth diapers could cost as little as a few hundred dollars to get started and then one could possibly use them for next baby as well!

Check out our range of cloth diapers.

Vitamin K Shot – Necessary Or Unnecessary

Vitamin K is the element that the body needs for proper blood clotting. In humans, the bacteria lining the intestines produce Vitamin K. However, in the immature digestive tract of a newborn, this vitamin K producing flora is absent, which raises the risk of hemorrhagic disease in newborn infants.

This is the reason that new born babies in the United States and many other western nations are routinely injected with the vitamin K shot.

Experts are now questioning the necessity of giving a new born infant this jab. It is their view that the vitamin K itself is required since babies are born with insufficient quantities of the vital vitamin.

However, the method of administering it, i.e. by giving the nesonate an injection, is being called into question. Experts demand that safer, less invasive and less painful methods of administering the vitamin K be adopted.

Though hemorrhagic disease in newborns is rare, risk factors are known to increase if it was a preterm delivery or the baby had low birth weight.

A C section, a vacuum extraction or forceps delivery also increases risk. If a mother was on certain medications during pregnancy, the risk increases. Undetected liver disease could increase risk, as can an unusually long or short labor.

Tips To Help Your Baby Deal With Separation Anxiety

Separation anxiety is something that happens in the normal course of development of most babies; even for healthy secure babies.

While it is not an abnormal occurrence or something that has to be worried about, separation anxiety is quite stressful for a parent to witness, who may feel torn at having to leave the child even for a short period of time.

Separation anxiety is something that starts to happen by about 8 months of age or when the baby senses itself as being separate from its primary care giver and does not understand yet that things that are out of sight do still continue to exist. Separation anxiety could continue till the child turns three.

When a parent or principal caregiver of a baby goes away, the baby cries, not understanding the concept of 'returning in a while'.

The child may also cry when the parent returns because at the time he or she is reminded of the feelings felt when the parent left. Separation anxiety may be lessened or controlled to a degree with the following tips:

• Don't sneak off when the baby isn't watching or is unaware of your leaving. If the child asks for you later and finds you gone, he or she may find this even more stressful than if he or she saw you leave. There may even be some sense of betrayal that mommy sneaked off like that without telling.
• Never scold or berate a child for starting to cry as you begin to leave. Rather lovingly explain that you have to go somewhere for a specific purpose. Even if the baby is not old enough to understand or fully comprehend the words, the power of a loving embrace and gentle soothing words is considerable.
• If you made a promise, keep it. If you said you would return by the time it got dark then make sure you do. A broken promise is not likely to lessen the baby's apprehension or resultant separation anxiety the next time that you leave.
• Give a build up to the person who will be looking after your child when you’re gone. Tell your baby about how much fun he or she will have with aunt or uncle who will be looking after them. In fact you could initiate a game that will carry on after you leave and the other caregiver then taking the lead in engaging with the child.
• Don't let the tears or the sad face coax you into staying a little longer and then a little longer and so on. Sometimes it may just be best to explain that you have to go gently but firmly and then leave. There is really no sense in prolonging the agony so to speak.