Hot weather-how to keep children cool

Hope you have enjoyed the glorious weather we have had this week and didn't have to many showers this bank hol weekend. I have spent a very chilled weekend mostly in the garden drinking cider and reading some trashy chick lit. Hopefully I've started my nanny tan finally.

How have you been keeping cool when the weather has been hot? Here's my quick guide to keeping your little ones cool in the sunshine/warmer weather.

1. Keep hydrated- this may sound obvious but I can be bad in cooler weather for having my intake. Add some fruit to water to make it more interesting in taste and colour.
2. Avoid the direct sunshine between 11-3. If you have a parasol or some shaded area your children can still play outside but can be protected when the sun is at its strongest.
3. Use appropriate sunscreen-higher factors better
4. Paddling pools- these are great as you can pick them up so cheap from supermarkets at the moment. You can add their fave toys, buckets, spades for more fun.
5. Water fights-because it's fun
6. Go to pound land or equivalent cheap store and by some lolly moulds. There are many flavour ideas on Pinterest you can create with your children.  This is another way of keeping them hydrated.
7. Cover up. Uv tops, hats and t shirts are great for protecting delicate skin.
8. Check temperature in bedrooms. Keep room ventilated as much as possible and invest in small fan. I read this week if you put a frozen water bowl in front of a fan it will blow colder air. ( just make sure the moisture goes nowhere near electrics)
9. Give cooler baths, showers
10. Don't over dress for bed- keep children in thin layers, babies in short vests or even just a nappy.

Activity of the Week-Obstacle Courses

Its been a while since I've written an Activity of the Week blog so I thought I better do one.  This week I am focusing on Obstacles Courses.  This can be done with small children to older children and its really fun.
What myself and my charges do is that we get a variety of garden equipment/toys and set ourselves challenges.  We also time ourselves and see if we can improve on our time. Below I have listed some bullet point ideas of things you can do.

• play tunnels to climb through
• bouncing tennis balls on rackets for a certain amount of times
• getting a ball in a net
• hopping on one leg
• jumping in a bin liner/sack race
• skipping
• press ups for sporty individuals
• bouncing on a trampoline
• running laps
• throwing hoops

I'm going to create a pin board on my pinterest with some further ideas link is www.pinterest.com/nbicester

My thoughts...Manchester

As we woke up today social media and the news are full of the tragic events that took place in Manchester last night.

22 people dead (as I write this), many more injured at Manchester Arena after a pop concert that was meant to be a great night out for lots of young people.  Some this would of been their first concert and hopefully not their last.  I had never been to Manchester till the last four years in which I now have attended three concerts at the arena and had an amazing time.  It saddens me that many people were wanting to have the same experience and instead their night ended like this.

I recently wrote a blog on the Westminster attack and my thoughts written in there are very true today so I thought I would link it below.  I have included links within this blog to useful information in how to  deal with these situations and explaining to young children.  I hope this helps.

https://nannybicester.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/terrorist-attacks-in-our-childrens-world.html

I want to end this short blog by just saying my thoughts go out to all affected by this terrorist attack and to commend all the hard work the emergency services and people of Manchester are doing today and the days that follow.

How to cope with teething babies and toddlers

Teething. It's a horrible time. Not just for the child but for parents,nannies and anybody else looking after young children. This blog will give a quick insight into tips and tricks to make the process bareae and signs to look for if you think a new tooth is coming through.

Teething can typically start between 4-6 months of age in babies but it is possible for it to start a little before or after.

Signs to look for

• Constant dribbling
• Rosy red cheeks
• Red and sore gums
• raised temperature
• gnawing or chewing on hands,feet, clothes and anything else

How to ease teething

• Teethers in fridge
• Flannels in fridge
• Teething capsules
• Calpol or nurofen to minimise pain, discomfort or if temperature is raised
• distraction with fun activities

What you need

• plenty of bibs, dribble cloths
• teething capsules
• medicine
• lots of teethers

Hope you found this blog useful and if you are going through the process now Good luck!!

Nanny Blogs and Parenting blogs/vlogs I love

Hi everybody in this blog I wanted to share with you some blogs I read and love that are written by fellow nannies and parents. As you know I am not a parent but do find watching/following parenting social media great for giving me ideas and for my general understanding working with parents. I have put links below to websites/YouTube channels which will be where you can find social media links.


Parenting blogs/vlogs

Johnathan and Anna Saccone-Joly

Recently have started flowing this family on YouTube and what I like is that they are both very active parents and you get female and male perspectives.  Anna also writes a really good blog as well.  I think her blogs/vlog hauls on what to take for kids on holiday for example are really useful to fellow parents.

https://m.youtube.com/user/LeFloofTV

http://www.annasaccone.com/

Mum track mind

Fi is a very straight talking mum who shares her honest accounts of motherhood and recently has done some really interesting blogs about being a working mum. She is a mum of children older and younger so has her hands full!

http://amumtrackmind.com/

Giovanna Fletcher

I love the Fletcher family they are cute #familygoals. Giovanna is a lovely friendly warm person who shares her experiences of motherhood in her regular vlogs on her YouTube page. 

http://www.giovannasworld.com/

Mum of Boys and Mabel 

I came across this blog via Facebook as my uni friend knows Louise(the writer) and shares her blogs so one day I decided to have a look.  She has recently started vlogging as well and I'm so jealous of the gorgeous pics she shares of Dubai on her social media.
http://www.mumofboys.co.uk

Nanny blogs/vlogs/podcasts

Recently I have been exploring social media to find other nannys who also write about their experiences and post photos of what they do.  As a fellow nanny blogger I have to be careful about the content I want to share because of confidentiality so I decided to make my blog be about my previous experience working in childcare and activity ideas and tips.

New hobby of mine is listening to podcasts and I have found Chronicles of  Nannya.  This podcast covers a variety of topic from potty training to micromanaging parents.  These podcasts are really good and thought provoking for nannies/mannies. http://www.chroniclesofnannya.com.  This link will take you to the page with more information and links.

My mini break to Dorset

This week I spent a few days away with my best friend and her baby girl who is 5.5 months old.  We stayed in Sandford, Dorset in Parkdean holiday park.
http://www.parkdeanholidays.co.uk/dorset-holidays/sandford/sandford-holiday-park.htm
This was baby Harriet's first trip away and I was honoured to be able to spend it with her and got to witness some firsts for her during the mini break.

Day 1
After a couple of hours drive from Bicester and Rugby we met up in the nearest little town which is Wareham which is on the river Frome and has some lovely shops and pubs. We all went for lunch at a pub called The Quay Inn http://thequayinn.com/. 
Wareham has a couple of supermarkets (not full size) so we decided to stock up on some essentials for breakfast and snacks as we were staying in self catering accommodation.

When we arrived at the holiday park after 5pm we were really surprised by the level of our accommodation which was a three bed static caravan.  My best friend had booked this through the Sun newspaper £9.50 holiday breaks and I can definitely say I recommend it for a cheap holiday in the uk. Separate blog to come on the holiday park.


Day 2
We decided to head out to Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door which are popular attractions in Dorset.  we had a nice lunch at a pub called  Lulwworth Cove Inn http://lulworth-coveinn.co.uk/.    After my lunch of gammon and chips in a beautiful pub garden we  then set off with the buggy up what I can only describe as an epic hill.  My advice is not to attempt doing this with a buggy and put your small ones in a carrier as it was a challenge to say the least.  When we got to the top slightly sweaty and aching legs we were treated to an amazing view.  We didn't walk down the steps onto the beach as they were not buggy friendly but wow!! There was a refreshments stand at the top for a well deserved drink.  You can get to a nearer car park for Durdle Door but to actually see it there is still some walking involved so bare this in mind.

We then enjoyed a delicious ice cream from Finleys café.  I had a scoop of banana and scoop of cookies and cream and it was absolutely delicious.
http://www.finleyscafe.co.uk/icecreams.html
In the evening I popped down to the shop on site and grabbed us a cheap pizza and we enjoyed another quiet evening eating, glass of wine and watching some tv.  Well I did as well as lying down in baby sick(not pleasant haha) and playing with Harriet.

Day 3
My best friend had not been to Monkey World before so we decided to go here on this day.  I'm not going to go into loads of detail as I have been here a couple of years ago and have written a blog post on it before which I will link here. 
https://nannybicester.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/my-day-out-at-monkey-world-dorest.html

Compared to my first visit not as many of the monkeys were out and about as the weather was colder but we still had an enjoyable day and had a salad/jacket potato lunch in the café which provided good portions, reasonably priced and tasted good.

In the early evening we headed back to our holiday home and enjoyed dinner at the restaurant on the holiday park.

Day 4 am
I had to drive back to Oxfordshire at midday for work so we had a lazy morning and finally went to explore the indoor swimming pool.  Harriet loves swimming and I had my first experience of swimming with a baby which I will say was good.  However it was more like a quick 15 min dip in which you don't actually get to swim haha.  I thought the pool facilities were good and they even have an outdoor heated pool but it was much to cold for that.

I'm going to write a separate blog about the holiday park and the facilities but I just want to round up that I really enjoyed my mini break.  I wish I  had longer as there is definitely lots to do in Dorset for families and even for couples in close proximity.

Nanny Bicester x