Description

Su Laurent brings us handy hints and tips to make life easier, such as baby milk and vaccinations.

Transcript

Nina Sebastiane: Hello, well it’s that time again when Su Laurent joins us to answer your baby and toddler questions. The mailbag full today so let’s get straight into it and welcome Su to the studio. Su Laurent: Hi Nina. Nina Sebastiane: Now, I’ve got the first one here, I am breastfeeding and my baby has gone from seven pound seven ounces to nine pound two ounces in three weeks. Am I feeding him too much? Su Laurent: Perhaps it’s absolutely wonderful. Well done you I would say. Nina Sebastiane: Exactly. Su Laurent: That’s fantastic Nina Sebastiane: It’s good breast milk. Su Laurent: Yes. And breastfed babies you just go with the flow, that’s the great thing about it. You don’t worry about that, as long they gaining enough, that’s –- there’s no problem and your baby is obviously doing brilliantly. So, keep going. Nina Sebastiane: Okay, don’t worry about that. Su Laurent: No, no. Nina Sebastiane: Absolutely fine and yes it’s good quality stuff. Next one up, I am sure you’re going to hate me for asking this. Can you assure me that the MMR is really is safe? What’s wrong with individual jabs? Now, this keeps popping up. Su Laurent: It does all the time, and I must say it’s one of those -- it’s the question that does rather grind me down after well. I’ll just start by saying that all three of my children had MMR and the boosters and everything. I wouldn’t have done that if I hadn’t felt it was absolutely safe. This is the most important message really that I give to all the patients I see as well. Now, everything we do, every single drug we give, every immunization, obviously carries with it a minute risk of some descriptions. So all we are doing is we’re weighing up risks versus benefits. And that the fear – the link of possible autism or possible bowel diseases has time and time again been shown not to be there. So, I think it’s very, very important that all our viewers realize that it is much more risky if your child not to be immunized and therefore to have a much higher risk of getting a complication from measles for example than it is to be immunized. Nina Sebastiane: Okay, alright. And again as far as the individual jabs are concerned, what is the main difference between having the three together in the one? Su Laurent: I would say the main difference is your pocket. Because a lot of people have profited from individual jabs. You can’t get them done on the NHS; it cost you sixty pounds per jab, and that got to be done. So that’s three jabs, they got to be done thrice over, as a consultation as well and 180 quid twice because there is the preschool booster as well. There is absolutely no evidence to show it is better to have single jabs and in fact the problem with having single jabs is people will tend to do one or two of them, then they tend to miss out the others because it’s three jabs for your poor old baby, it’s just not fair, isn’t it? Nina Sebastiane: Well I have to say, I almost became needle phobic with my daughter, with all the injections. So, having three in one for me was a god send. Su Laurent: Yes. Nina Sebastiane: When in the end, I couldn’t take her anymore. I had to send my partner. Su Laurent: The other really important message is when they are two, three and four months; we are giving them six all together. Nina Sebastiane: Yes Su Laurent: And I don’t know why suddenly we should be worried about giving them three when they are thirteen months old because we are, and they really do make a difference. Nina Sebastiane: Yes. So don’t worry about it, it is really safe and you know if in doubt, go and speak to someone like your GP. Su Laurent: Exactly. Nina Sebastiane: Okay next one for you, what are the signs that a baby is teething when will my baby get its first tooth? Now this is one close to my own heart, because my daughter didn’t get hers until thirteen months her first tooth and again my – I think grandmother was saying things like, you’re going to have to the doctors because there’s something wrong and I was like, Oh my God, she’s not going to have teeth? Su Laurent: Well, teeth are very interesting. Some babies are born with teeth and it’s a bit scary when you open your baby’s mouth and there are the little tooth hanging out, usually it’s a little tooth just on its own and actually quite often you just pull it out because it’s just sort of an extra one but that’s quite unusual. But the range, the normal age or the average age for the first tooth is about six months. But it’s quite common to not have a first tooth until thirteen months. And interestingly enough you can have a whole mouthful by a year and my four year-old had 16 teeth by his first birthday. And even my dentist said, no you don’t mean 16, you mean eight. I said, no, no, look and he couldn’t believe it. So, the range is enormous and it’s all noble. Nina Sebastiane: I mean is there a ready treatment when you get your teeth, that happens to work out? Su Laurent: I have no idea. A friend of mine who’s come from a whole family of dentists, his children didn’t get any until after a year. Nina Sebastiane: I think that sort of divine justice, isn’t it? Su Laurent: Exactly. But we all just mention something about teething because so much is put down to teething, I am always seeing children who have been told, I am being told all that teething, the teething and they’re apparently teething for months and months before the first tooth comes out. And the signs of teething are sort of bright red cheeks quiet often and sort of baby is a bit irritable and very hard, rather swollen sore gums. Nina Sebastiane: Yes. Su Laurent: But a lot of people also will sort of throw in, my baby will put -- always putting a fist into the mouth, always chewing but of course that’s normal. Babies will, always -- anything they can find out, they will mouth. So, that in itself isn’t a sign of teething. Nina Sebastiane: What about a bit of raised temperature, because I know with my daughter, she -- things tend to sort of happen, she gets a bit grisly. You do notice this that one cheek is a bit rosy and she is just a bit under the weather. Su Laurent: You can get a little bit of a temperature, that’s normal and also get a little bit of diarrhea as well with teething. Nina Sebastiane: Right, okay, I didn’t know that, it’s very interesting. Okay, should I restrict foods that seem to change my baby’s bowel habits, we are onto the poo subject again. Su Laurent: Back again with some poo. Foods, obviously every foods is going to have a different effect on your babies bowel and so you should -- if your baby is just having different color poos or different frequency but it’s not in any way in distress, no, just keep going with them. If on the other hand, you find something particularly makes your child have profuse diarrhea or you find something that makes your child seem to be very, very constipated, then you might want take a have a little chat with your Health Visitor about that. But in general, a very good rule to follow, and all children know this but very few of them do it, is five portions of fruit and vegetables every single day. Well, I say it to everybody just a mantra. Nina Sebastiane: Okay, yes ma'm, right. When can I stop sterilizing my baby’s bottle? Now this is interesting for me, because obviously on baby number two, you know with my first daughter, we’re kind of well passed sterilizing things, it goes in the dish washer or just get a quick little bit of fairy liquid in it and that’s that. But I am worried about the next baby and obviously going through the whole poll all over again? Su Laurent: I am going to say something very controversial on television. Nina Sebastiane: I am ready. Su Laurent: Which is, I don’t believe in sterilization at all. I didn’t sterilize any of my children’s bottles. And why you might say, well, the most important thing is that the bottle should be clean and that you shouldn’t leave milk hanging around in bottles for hours and hours at room temperature. Those are the things that you should really must remember. But as for being absolutely sterile, they don’t need to be and in fact, there is lot of evidence really to show now. We bring up our children in far too sterile environment, we’re not exposing them to enough germs. So, what should you do? Always really clean out your babies bottles. Always clean the plates and things that they use and the cups they use and –- Nina Sebastiane: Teething and attachments. Su Laurent: And that teething attachments very well. If you are lucky enough to have a dish washer, stick them in the dish washer, because that heat’s up to quite a high temperature and that will more or less sterilize anyway. But otherwise, do not leave bottles with little bits of some dungy milk around the bottom, it’s making them clean that really matters. And in America, they do not in general sterilize. Nina Sebastiane: Really? I went for the opposite actually, they would have been extra, extra sterilizing. Su Laurent: Isn’t not interesting? Beautiful say, but no they don’t. And in fact, I mean, who needs to have a huge big thing of smelled Milton hanging around in their kitchen. It occupies lots of space and everything smells slightly bleachy, doesn’t it? I never liked the sterilize. Nina Sebastiane: You making me think that very carefully now but what I am going to do next because I’ve got one of those microwave sterilizers and it has lived in the microwave a year and a half and it was part and parcel. Su Laurent: Yes, yeah. Nina Sebastiane: And everytime we went away, if we were going away for a weekend or going see granny up in Scotland or whatever, we have to pack this. Su Laurent: Yeah, it’s big. Nina Sebastiane: Damn thing to take with us. Su Laurent: Yes, yes, and I have never done it Nina Sebastiane: I am kind of feeling a little bit well. If you say it’s alright, well, then I might well give that a go. Su Laurent: Absolutely. Nina Sebastiane: Okay, controversial but very interesting. When can I give my baby cow’s milk? Su Laurent: It can be actually a year. I am talking about doorstep milk here. Nina Sebastiane: Yes. Su Laurent: So outside of bottle a year, I mean a little bit of – little bit certainly never before six months. Nina Sebastiane: Alright. Su Laurent: Beyond six months, you might use a bit of cow’s milk to mix in with cereal or whatever but usually the best advice is a year and the reason we say a year is because if your formula feeding before a year you are going to have lots of extra vitamins and things added in. So, while you’re getting your baby established on solids, you know you got to give him enough iron and all the other things that they need to get. Nina Sebastiane: I always been of the opinion that cow’s milk really is for cows, you know it’s for baby cows. Su Laurent: Ans babies can’t cope with cow’s milk much younger than that. Nina Sebastiane: Yeah. Su Laurent: And obviously if you are breastfeeding similarly, obviously we promote on Baby Channel breastfeeding for everybody who can breastfeed and who wants to breastfeed. And again switching from breastfeeding, you might want to after a year, add in some cow’s milk and then just start to wean off breastfeeding whenever you feel comfortable. Nina Sebastiane: Okay. But a year essential is a good bench mark for it. Okay. I’ve been told that my toddler might have glue ear, what is it and what could we do about it. Su Laurent: Glue ear is actually a very common thing and the ear is connected to the back of the nose by something called a U station canal, and you probably know everything connects there, if you get -- often if you’re get running nose, you’ll get sort of ear ache as well. What happens is, a substance builds up in a middle ear which looks a bit like glue, which is why it’s called glue ear. And sometimes the substance doesn’t clear and so over the course of time children get multiple ear infections and the substance stays there and there is no air in the middle ear, it’s all those gluey stuff and it makes the hearing very muffled. Glue ear in both ears in a toddler can mean that all they’re hearing is very muffled sound and therefore they don’t learn to speak as early they might or they don’t speak as clearly as they might. And if somebody thinks, your GP thinks you toddler might have glue ear, it’s important the baby or your toddler gets a hearing test and an assessment of whether or not they really have got it. Sometimes and many times glue ear will clear itself up completely by itself and sometimes your GP may recommend some nose drops to help clear out the canals. Nina Sebastiane: So, this is something you can go to the GP and ask for to try and clear it Su Laurent: Exactly. And -- but sometimes they to have something called Grommets to put in. Grommets are making a tiny little hole in the ear drums, sucking out all the gluey stuff and then leaving a little bit of plastic in the hole to keep the hole open to make sure the air keeps gets into the air all the time and the glue doesn’t reaccumulate. Nina Sebastiane: Is there any risk of that? Su Laurent: It’s a risk of an anesthetic because you know any anesthetic again carries a very small risk, but it’s very, very small. Then otherwise no, what will happen is the grommets eventually just pull out by themselves and the eardrum heals over by itself. Nina Sebastiane: Okay, it sounds like perforate to ear drum, it sounds as – so you really refer it? Su Laurent: that’s what you are doing, you are perforating the ear drum but in order to improve hearing. Nina Sebastiane: Okay, great. He Su, we run of time again and I’ve thought plenty more questions. May be we’ll have to invite you once again to come and have a chat. So Su, thanks very much. Su Laurent: Okay. Thank you very much, thanks.