New Child Care Subsidy: I fear efforts to close the gender pay gap could suffer

There is some trepidation among parents as the start date for the new Child Care Subsidy kicks in.

We know there are benefits for a number of two-parent working families.

But we already know that many families won't qualify for the subsidy because parents won't meet the new work, study or volunteer test. And we already know that many families have found the process of registering complex and, in fact, for some, just too damn hard.

All these are serious concerns that could lead to parents not qualifying for support, which will punish their children by denying them access to early learning.

But there are also real dangers that the new system will undermine the ability of professional women to continue their careers and will further entrench the gender pay gap.

This is about the woman I was 25 years ago, with young children, trying to continue a career.

I had worked full time as a journalist and then media relations advisor until my first child was born. A few years of being self-employed part-time led to, before my children were at school, a full-time venture. But would that be viable under the latest childcare subsidy system?

According to KPMG modelling, a mum who is professionally qualified, and works three days a week with two children in long day care, ends up only a little bit better off financially if she increases her weekly workload from three to four days.

Using a salary of $100,000 a year on a full-time equivalent basis, and assuming her spouse earns the same full-time salary and that childcare is $120 a day, the extra day's work results in the professionally trained woman effectively working for less than the minimum wage.

But going from four days a week to full time is worse. After tax and extra childcare costs, the family's disposable income is actually reduced – the family is going backwards financially.

Now, I am the first to argue that working is not simply about the money. Being able to keep working in your profession as a mother of young children is both a blessing and a curse.

You feel the guilt and struggle with sleep deprivation, yet at the same time have these wonderful moments when you aren't defined by whatever food remnant remains on your blouse. In fact, for me it meant I got to wear work clothes and feel like I wasn't only defined by my ability to get a child fed, bathed and in bed.

And I got the satisfaction of improving my professional standing and laying the groundwork in my business so that as my children grew, I was well placed to expand and grow.

But how much harder would that have been had I known that not only was I costing the family in terms of stress, but that my decision to work full time was also going to send the family financially backwards for those years of childcare? It's a pretty strong disincentive.

While you'd like to think families would try and look at the incomes both parents bring in as a single combined amount, it's hard to escape the cold hard fact that less money to spend is purely the consequence of one parent's extra days' work.

These work disincentives not only reduce the earnings for a woman in the short term, but flow through our finances for the rest of our lives.

This sort of policy makes it harder for professional women to close the gender pay gap.

What does the disincentive lead to in terms of professional standing and promotion prospects of a woman? And what are the financial consequences for women's superannuation balances?

At the very least, it risks putting some of us back behind the starting line, and means there's an even bigger gap to make up when we do return to work full time, presumably when we no longer have the heavy costs of full-time childcare.

Baby care for grandchildren simplified

We need to see more technological advances for the It's-Been-Way-Too-Long crowd when it comes to new babies.

We've just welcomed a new grandkid into the world which means, 1, we're old, and, 2, I'm going to have to relearn the whole nurturing: diapers, Goodnight Moon, acting goofy, making faces.

I get some practice making faces already. Deadline produces some significant (and why isn't that word pronounced "sign-iffi-sant"?) expressions. Being assigned (and why isn't that "a-sig-ned"?) a particularly dull or irksome story. When the better half pulls a Columbo and says "Just one more thing ..."

If I need a refresher course on puffy cheeks or funny eye-rolls, I can just go the mall and watch teenagers talking with their parents. I know I had that mastered when I was 16!

Baby handling at the hospital has changed. Instead of being plopped into a nursery full of babies, behind a huge window where Dad and Grandpa watch, as if they're trying to identify a pickpocket from a lineup of diapered leprechauns, the baby today is dropped into what looks like a clear Tupperware bin and heated, poked and scrubbed before being left for the duration in Moms room.

They swaddle them now — like the One in the manger, but without the hay or shepherds or sheep — wrapping them so tight they look like little husks of corn with faces, or that tight. It's supposed to remind him of life in the womb, but he seemed so tightly bound that I feared, if I tried to hug him, it would fire him out of his bindings like a cartoon banana.

What am I going to do when my daughter hands me this little boy to watch and my wife Roberta has to step out? All those "incompetent men with babies" scenes in movies are pretty much lies and exaggerations in this modern day, except in the case of me. It's been something like 24 years since I've peeled a diaper from a pre-glued bottom.

A couple of inventions would make my confidence so much greater.

Baby Pop-ups. I've noticed at the hospital that they record every centimeter of what this kid eats up in formula. They talk about whether he's had enough yet, or maybe too much. I don't have this kind of training, so now I'm worried that if I have him for the day I'll either starve him or overdo it and have him looking like Garfield without fur.

Can't someone make one of those pop-ups like they have on turkeys when you roast them? It can fit neatly in his ear canal or something, and when he's had just the right amount of food, the body pressure makes the little thing pop out and I know it's time to burp him.

Baby Tuners. This could be a simple app, and it could work two ways. These babies look incredibly fragile and I never know if I'm giving him just the right support or tilting him a little too much topside or downside.

I have an iPhone app called Guitar Tuna. It shows a picture of the tuning pegs on a guitar and when I pluck the D string it has little lines that waver to the left or right until I get the note just right. Couldn't this work for holding babies?

The second part would measure baby crying wavelength. Is he hungry? Sleepy? Made a mess? I would get the app with the time option — you know, if he's made a mess how long can I safely pretend I don't notice until the wife gets home?

Finally, Baby Wipers. Not Baby Wipes. Baby Wipers. Just like I have on my Subaru. They can be connected to a little halter or belt that you just strap onto the baby. Click a button and your soiled baby becomes squeegee clean. If you really want this product to sell, include the little squirters that fire soapy stuff across his bottom too. The wipers can have two speeds: intermittent and regular. High speed might seem a good idea at first, but suspect the end result wouldn't be pretty.

TheMomsCo launches baby care range, to expand offline presence

Mom and baby care consumer goods startup The Moms Co has launched its baby care range, 6 months after it raised capital from Saama Capital and DSG Consumer Partners even as it readies to expand its offline presence.
                                                     

As part of the toxin-free range, the Gurgaon-based firm will launch 8 products including Baby wash, shampoo, oils and creams among others.The Moms Co has partnered exclusively with Amazon India to retail the new range online and is looking to target the Rs 2,940 crore baby care and pre and post natal care market in India, which is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8% by 2021.

The range has been launched offline as well through its 4 brand stores in premium hospitals across Delhi and NCR.

Beyond the baby care range, The Moms Co is also looking to ramp up its offline play and is looking to establish an additional 6 stores taking the cumulative offline play to 10 stores this year.

“The first leg of our expansion outside Delhi-NCR will be in Bengaluru, which today accounts for 20-30% of our sales,” said Malika Sadani, Founder and CEO of the firm. The Moms Co will continue to establish stores in women and maternity speciality hospitals across metros.

Modelled on the US-based toxin-free consumer goods firm The Honest Company, founded by actor Jessica Alba, The Moms Co aims to be the one-stop shop for natural, toxin free, certified products for new and expecting mothers and their babies.

What Happens When You Let Babies Feed Themselves?

I remember the first time my daughter discovered her hand. The look of amazement on her face was priceless. It wasn’t long before she was putting that discovery to use, trying to put everything she could find into her mouth.
                                                   

Babies want to feed themselves. It sometimes feels as if parents spend more time trying to stop them than encouraging them. Over the last few years, however, some people have begun to ask if we are doing the right thing.

Baby-led weaning is an approach to feeding that encourages infants to take control of their eating. It’s based on the premise that infants might be better self-regulators of their food consumption.

Those weaned in a baby-led approach seemed to be more responsive to being sated and were less likely to be overweight. A case-control study from 2012 also argued that baby-led weaning was associated with a lower body mass index (B.M.I). Such trials cannot establish causality, however, and may be confounded in unmeasured ways.

Both got standard midwifery and child care. But one group received eight more contacts, from pregnancy to the newborn’s ninth month. Five of these were with a lactation consultant, who encouraged the mothers to prolong breast-feeding and delay the introduction of solid foods until 6 months of age. The three other contacts were with research staffers who encouraged parents to read hunger and fullness cues from their infants and provide their babies (starting at 6 months) with foods that were high in energy and iron —  easy to grab but hard to choke on.

The researchers were thorough. They frequently tested parents’ adherence to the baby-led approach throughout the second half of the first year of life, with outcomes collected by researchers who did not know which group participants had been assigned to. Before randomization, most of the mothers were planning to spoon-feed their babies, so this was a new way of thinking.

Add scoops of formula in the feeding bottle for easier preparation when on the go

When you are travelling long distance with your toddler who still needs milk or is dependent on formula feeds (once or twice during the day), you will know that preparing formula on the go becomes a bit problematic. First, you have to pack the big bottle of formula food, boiled water in a flask, feeding bottles all of which makes you diaper bag become heavy and bulky. Toting a heavy diaper bag and taking care of a toddler while travelling isn’t easy. Instead, it makes your travel and holiday even tiresome and stressful. But no matter where you are holidaying and how much time you have to stay outdoors, you cannot ignore your child’s hunger pangs, especially if she throws a tantrum for a bottle feeding. Here’s few thing to keep in mind if you are formula feeding your baby.
                                                   

I am not in favour of formula feeding, but I have been guilty on some accounts to give my child the bottle when natural nursing was not possible, especially while outdoors. Now, I know many mothers like me who love to travel but stop from doing so as travelling can disrupt their child’s meal times. If you are on a road trip, I am sure you have already made preparations to carry some semi-solid foods for the little one. If your child is dependent on formula feed or bottle feeding which sometimes they turn to just for comfort, it might be difficult for you to prepare a feed when on the road. But here is an easy solution for the same:

To make things easier add the scoops of formula in the feeding bottle and use it when needed. When your child breaks into a tantrum or cries for a feed just add lukewarm water and shake the bottle a little to prepare a feed. This will save you time and help you prepare the feed within seconds. Read to know how many formula feeds the baby needs during the day.

However, remember to add scoops of formula in a clean, sanitized and dry bottle. If the feeding bottles have droplets of water or moisture inside avoid using it to store formula food for later use. This might make the powder go rancid within half-an-hour after coming in contact with the water droplets or moisture. Ideally, once you mix the powder with water you should use the formula within the first half-an-hour. So if there are residual water droplets in the bottle it could make your child’s food rot if kept for long.

Community donates care packages for babies

Hannah McNulty knows first hand the struggles associated with helping raise a premature baby. This holiday season, she has decided to provide parents of infants who are born prematurely with a early Christmas present.
                                           

Through the help of local sponsors, McNulty was able to donate 15 totes full of heart-felt cards, diapers, wipes, blankets, gift cards, lotion and lip balms to Mercy Health-St. Rita’s Hospital. Attached to each donated tote is a purple ribbon which symbolizes prematurity awareness.

Giving back to the community is important to McNulty because her brother, who was born six weeks early, was placed in special care. The same young man who doctors feared would not make it past birth is now healthy and will be turning 14 in January.

“My family didn’t have to spend time over the holidays in special care, but we thought it would be nice to help those who do,” she said in a news release.

Jesus and Erika Delgado, who on Dec. 21 welcomed Lorenzo Delgado into their family, were the first couple to receive one of the Christmas totes. They were more than pleased to get some extra assistance during the holiday.

“The thing that feels the greatest is the idea of someone expressing the love of humanity to their fellow human beings,” said Jesus Delgado. “It really warms your heart that there are people out there thinking of people in general and it makes everyone who hears the story want to do the same.”

St. Rita’s clinical nurse manger for labor and delivery, Lisa Shafer, said the hospital is always grateful to receive donations for the babies because they know it will have a great impact on the families.

“We understand that it can be difficult for families to not be home over the holidays, and donations like these help bring smiles to their faces and a festive air to our hospital,” she stated in a news release.

THIS AMAZING PROGRAM OFFERS PARENTS MENTAL HEALTH CHECKUPS DURING ROUTINE CHILD VISITS

It’s your baby’s well-child checkup and things are going smoothly. Your baby has been weighed, the doctor has listened to her heart and lungs, peeked in her ears and throat, and has officially given her a clean bill of health. You’re preparing to gather up your diaper bag to leave when the doctor turns to you and asks, “I see your baby isn’t sleeping very well. How are you doing with that?”
                                               

You might be taken aback for a moment, but when you stop to think about it, you might realize that you’re actually not doing very well … at all. Having a medical professional inquire about your mental health provides you with the opportunity to open up about symptoms you’ve been experiencing, so you can get the help you need.

Dr. Rachel Briggs, director of pediatric behavioral services at Montefiore Medical Center and the associate professor of pediatric psychiatry of Albert Einstein College of Medicine, tells Babble that the way the program works at their offices is simple:

Before a child’s appointment, caregivers are given a health assessment screening questionnaire that they usually fill out in the waiting room. The pediatrician will then review the screening tool, and based on certain information provided, connect the caregiver with a HealthySteps specialist (usually a social worker, nurse, or psychologist) who can provide further assistance and resources right then and there at the same appointment.

Dr. Briggs adds that there are two basic parts to the program: the first being more preliminary issues, such as sleep disturbances or sibling rivalries, and the second is for families that are more at-risk. For the second leg of the program, a HealthySteps specialist makes a special point to attend every appointment the child has and provides additional screening and assessment tools. Parents can take the American Academy of Pediatrics’ ACEs screening tool to determine their risk level.