Keeping Your Children Warm this Winter

Keeping Your Children Warm this Winter

A guest post from Galt Toys

 

While it is proven that we cannot catch a cold from being cold, getting too cold is unpleasant and means our body has to fight harder to keep itself functioning normally, and so we may be more susceptible to catching viruses such as the common cold, flu or something worse. Children have weaker immune systems than adults, and we parents know how important it is to keep them snuggly warm. In this post, Galt Toys offers some great tips for keeping your child this winter!

Out and About

For babies, prams offer a large amount of protection from the elements, but warm layered clothing, blankets and a rain cover are essential for keeping them snug and protecting from cold winds and rain. Snowsuits are fabulous, but keep an eye to make sure your child doesn’t get too warm, and remove or undo it if going indoors.

Toddlers who are finding their feet or who are becoming increasingly confident on their feet should have warm sturdy footwear, or wellies with thick socks to protect their little tootsies. Vests, t-shirts, hoodies, coats and snowsuits are essential (although not all at once) and can be layered accordingly.

Older children need a warm outer coat, and perhaps thermal underwear for the coldest days. All children should also have a hat, as most heat escapes from the top of their head, as well as gloves and a scarf if necessary.

Around the house

While we are all conscious to keep our homes warm, it is important to keep a child’s bedroom warm. Stay away from portable heaters and electric blankets where possible, as these can be dangerous to younger children (although less dangerous to teenagers as long as electric blankets are turned off!).

Instead, add extra sheets or a warmer quilt and lined curtains to keep the heat in that is already there. Warm pyjamas with long legs and sleeves are your best bet, and bed socks may be necessary if you have a child prone to discarding bedding during the night. Babies might benefit from a sleeping bag to prevent them losing their covers and becoming cold.

Attend to other cold problems around the house, such as draughts and cold windows by using excluders or heavy curtains. A door curtain for the front door may be useful in older properties or those without double glazing.

Bedtime routine

If your child is a little older, warm broths, hot meals and hot drinks at bedtime are excellent ways to warm your child from the inside. Look for healthy recipes online for some inspiration. A warm bath before climbing into warm pyjamas will also help them to get all snuggly ready for bed.

A warm child will be healthier, happier, and may even sleep better! Do you have any fab tips on keeping your child warm this winter?

Mothers doing it wrong. Again!

Mothers are getting it wrong. We are putting our children before our husbands. How bloody dare we?!

At 11:00 today, ITV's This Morning had a debate with Andrew G Marshall, a marital therapist and author, who has written a book about putting your partner first.

In his book, I Love You But You Always Put Me Last, he offers suggestions to strengthening your relationship with your partner, (wife or husband) and making sure that you put them first, for example, greeting your wife first when you get home, children second, or by putting a lock on your bedroom door.

Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby both challenged him over his ideas. Firstly, he doesn't have children and secondly, that a partner often becomes more attractive because of the way they put the children first, by being a good dad / mum. 

Who should you put first, partner or child? Only 16% of respondents to the poll on This Morning said partner first, 84% saying children.

These are Marshall's The 10 Golden Rules:

1 Don't neglect your marriage: it is the glue that keeps the family together.

2 Being a parent and a perfectionist don't sit easily together. Instead, aim for good enough.

3 The main job of a parent is to take your children's feelings seriously, but this doesn't mean giving in to every whim, rather explaining why something is not possible or sensible.

4 Happy relationships need good communication skills as well as love and connection.

5 In disputes about how to raise your children, there are no right or wrong answers. Listen to each other, be assertive and negotiate.

6 Don't draw children into adult issues or let them take sides.

7 Encourage your children to be self-sufficient and don't become their servant. In this way, you will have more time to invest in your relationship.

8 You need to feel loved by your partner and not just a service provider. To this end it is important to be romantic, have fun together and make sex a priority.

9 When there's a problem, try not to label your partner or the children as the cause: look at your own contribution.

10 If something is good enough for your children, it is probably good enough for your partner, too.

These are taken from an interview published on the Guardian website here.

Now, obviously, I haven't read the book, but there are a lot of people agreeing and disagreeing with Andrew G Marshall online and in social media. 

But my main thought is 'for G-d's sake, why can't mums get a break, do we need more guilt?'

I appreciate that yes, in most cases children wouldn't be there if if wasn't for your partner, and yes you need a balance, but how many us feel like we are already putting so much effort in to trying to find that balance?

Me & Daddy have struggled being a couple since Little Lady arrived, but even though I'm stressed and need a break at times, my child will always come first.

I haven't got any more space in my head or heart for guilt about my partner not being first. Am I looking at this wrong? Should I be rejecting that guilt and thinking that a happy marriage will bring happy children?

What do you think? Do you agree with Mr Marshall?