Baby and Toddler Sleep Pattern

It’s spring again, which means the clocks go forward an hour, therefore the start of  British Summer Time (BST). In some ways that’s lovely, because it means summer is on the way and the nights will get lighter. But if you have a child who you’ve just got into a good bedtime routine, you might find that the changing of the clocks affects their sleep. Bear in mind that your baby or toddler doesn’t actually know the time – they use their own inner clock – use that to your advantage. The secret is to be prepared, and with just a little bit of effort you’ll find their sleep routine gets back to normal really quickly. Here are some tips to help you prepare your little one for time changes. Read more

abdominal exercise baby winkz blog - Dr Joanne HelckeMy Favourite Five Tummy Tightening Exercises For New Mums

Let me ask you a question: what is the first abdominal exercise that pops into your mind? I’m no mind reader but I’ll tell you what it is: it’s “sit-ups”, otherwise known as “crunches”, isn’t it? Yep, there are so many abdominal exercises to choose from and yet the world is totally obsessed with doing sit-ups, as if they were the answer to all our wobbly abdominal woes!

Let me let you into a secret. Ok, it’s not a secret but let me disillusion you: you could do 1000 sit-ups a day and it won’t change any of your tummy troubles! In fact, if you have recently become a mummy and your abdominals are separated, chances are, you’ll make matters worse by doing crunches because they’ll actually stop your poor abdominals from realigning and coming back together. Read more