7:00am Saturday 11th October 2008
Lisa Salmon looks at the weird, wonderful and sometimes weary world of parenting.
NEWS FOR PARENTS :: The top Christmas toy predictions have been revealed by Toys R Us, with High School Musical, Ben 10 and In The Night Garden heading children's expected wish lists.
The High School Musical Dance Mat and Hannah Montana Tour Bus are expected to be high on the girls' wish list, and for boys it's the Ben 10 Omnitrix watch and the latest craze, Bakugan Battle Warriors.
For younger children, there's In The Night Garden Upsy Daisy and her bed.
But parents who don't recognise any of the toys can take comfort from the fact that Lego and the latest edition of Monopoly are high on the wish list too.
:: Male primary school teachers are vital role models for boys, new research suggests.
Almost half of men say that a male teacher has been a fundamental role model in their life, a survey commissioned by the Training and Development Agency (TDA) found.
More than a third (35%) of the men questioned felt that having a male primary teacher challenged them to work harder at school. Half were more likely to approach a male teacher about bullying, and 49% were more likely to approach them about problems with school work.
The survey was commissioned to tie in with a new TDA campaign urging men to consider teaching. It's a much-needed initiative, as men currently account for just 13% of registered primary school teachers - and it looks like that's bad news for little boys.
:: Despite celebrity children being named after fruit, New York boroughs and days of the week, Jack and Olivia are the UK's favourite baby names.
A new survey by The Children's Mutual found that the traditional names Jack, Thomas, Oliver, Olivia, Grace and Emily made up the top three for boys and girls.
But parents are still giving their children celebrity baby names, with Cruz, Brooklyn and Moses all sneaking higher up the table. There were no babies in the poll - of 121,000 of the trust fund's account holders - named Sunday after Nicole Kidman's newborn, although there were a number of Tuesdays.
:: Mothers who breastfeed for a year over the course of their lifetime are almost 5% less likely to develop breast cancer, according to the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF).
Breastfeeding has been found to lower the levels of some cancer-related hormones in the mother's body, reducing the risk of the disease.
Dr Rachel Thompson of the WCRF says: "The longer you breastfeed for, the more you will reduce your risk.
"So if a woman breastfeeds two or more children for at least six months each over her lifetime, it's clear she can make a significant impact on her cancer risk, not to mention all the other benefits of breastfeeding."
So, yet more evidence that breast is best.
ASK THE EXPERT Q: "Is it true that probiotic supplements can help stop babies getting eczema? Which supplements are they, and when do they need to be taken?"
A: Professor Julian Crane, of Otago University in Wellington, New Zealand, has just led a study into the effect of taking probiotics on childhood eczema. He says: "From our recent study and others, it appears that some probiotics are associated with a reduction in the incidence of eczema.
"Our study has found when you give pregnant women the probiotic supplement L. rhamnosus during the last five weeks of pregnancy and for six months after birth while mothers are breastfeeding, and then you give their infants the same probiotic up to two years of age, there's a 50% reduction in eczema by the age of two.
"Of particular interest in our study was that we trialled two probiotics but only one, the Lactobacillus, reduced the incidence of eczema. It appears that different species of probiotic and possibly even different strains have very different effects.
"Currently we don't understand how some probiotics might exert this effect, nor do we know what is the optimal dose of organisms or the optimal timing of administration. But this is an exciting and interesting result."
WEBSITE OF THE WEEK: bullying.co.uk The award-winning Bullying UK website offers practical help and advice to children and parents on how to deal with bullying both in school and outside. There's a parents' problem page and a parents' panel, as well as tips from other pupils and even advice for adults about bullying at work.
THREE WAYS TO...help a teenager deal with acne 1. Encourage them to wash their face twice a day.
2. Talk to them about how to keep their hands away from their face and not to pick or scratch spots, so there's less chance of scarring.
3. Be sympathetic but realistic, and remind your teenager that no matter how bad the acne is and how low their self-esteem, life must go on.
WHEN IS MY CHILD READY... to move from a cot to a bed?
Some children will start climbing out of cots from around the age of 14 months, although many will be happy to stay in a cot until they're two or even older. Toddlers will often make it clear when they're ready to move to a 'big bed' by climbing out or crying about being in the cot. The general rule is that when they can escape from their cot, it's no longer safe for them to be in it.
READER TIP If you put your child in time-out for not doing what you told him or her to do, repeat the instruction immediately after time-out to give them a chance to behave properly.
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