The OxytocInn

01/09/2022

Repost from

Meals meant for me

Big thanks to Jo for this wonderful post all about portion sizes. - why you are welcome, I really enjoyed these posts 😉🙃

When you book a consultation with one of us to discuss starting your child's solid food journey, you will often hear us talk about hands and how they play such an important role in any food journey (your own included!)
Not just because it's smalls, and they love to get their hands into EVERYTHING!!! But because they are the perfect measuring tool for creating a balanced "me-sized" meal.

🍞🍚 Carbohydrates - pastas, rice, grains etc. For these you want a portion around the size of your child's clenched fist.
For your breads, pittas, wraps etc you will be looking at something around the size of your child's flat hand. Same amount of carbs, just a different visual measurement guide.

🍉🥦 Fruits and Vegetables - carrots, berries, cucumber, bananas etc - for these you want to use your child's cupped hand as a guide for fresh fruits & vegetables.
For dried fruits like raisins, mango, apple rings etc we would class a portion as half a cupped hand.

🥚🐟 Proteins - beans, meat, fish, eggs etc - for these a portion is the equivalent of your child's palm.

🧀🥛 Dairy - cheese, yoghurt, milk (inc. any age appropriate dairy alternative versions). For these you want to look at your child's middle finger and index finger together, from the top down to the second knuckle.
For children over 1 year, a portion of milk is 150ml (adult's it's 190ml). A portion of yoghurt is between 125ml and 150ml for young children. Be aware that rice milk is not a suitable dairy alternative for those under the age of 5yrs.

For other great resources around starting your child's solid food journey with portions that are not too overwhelming and that work alongside milk diets please check out Henry and 1st Steps Nutrition. (1st steps also has a great selection of "eating well" guides full of recipes suitable for the whole family!

Keep you eyes peeled for a post around milk volumes between 7 months and 1 year old coming soon from us!
Fancy a chat about starting solids? Book in with us via the Milk Hub website (link in their BIO)

29/08/2022

There is a lovely image being shared around this week by showing the cost of cooking the same meal (I don't know which meal unfortunately) using a variety of cooking appliances. In most of the spaces I have seen it shared, the accompanying text isn't being shared as well, which led to a lot of confusion on my part with the costs in the image ~ not FYFs fault at all, the text when I found it covered exactly what I needed to know!

However, there was a good side effect to my confusion... It got me thinking, and got me to look up how much it costs to use my cooking appliances (plus a few others for comparison). Those who know me know Im not passionate about numbers, they take a different level of brain space than feeding or parenting support for me and Im 100% more of a practical approach person 🙃

To begin with the numbers made no sense, because I wasn't looking at it the right way! I was looking at bigger numbers that were not right for helping me truly cost meals, what I needed was to work out an hr's cost for the appliance, that could then easily be divided by 60 to give me a cost per min. It's simple when I type it, but yesterday it took me ages to realise that's what I wanted (thank you summer holidays brain!)

So, what did I do? I started by looking up the kWh(kilowatt hour) or wattage(w) of my appliances ~ thankfully most smaller plug in appliances have it on a sticker on the bottom/back! If your appliance uses w not kw there are online converters to make it easier.

I then needed to find my current suppliers electricity tarrif (not as easy as I had hoped, the website was stressful + my online bill didn't show it clearly!)

Once I had both of these the calculator came out 😉 A fairly simple method of taking your electricity rate, multiplying that by the kWh of the appliance. This gives 1hrs usage cost. To get a more accurate costing for a specific meal you can divide that hr's cost by 60, which gives you 1mins usage cost. Depending on the chosen meals cooking time, you then can find your exact usage costs.

I've attached some examples based on the East of England's CURRENT unfixed rates, a few different cooking methods + the method used.

25/08/2022

✴️Were your ancestors made to feed other people's children before their own?
✴️Were they forced to watch their own children starve whilst their owners children flourished from the milk from your own body?
✴️Have you been consistently misdiagnosed because your skin does not show red areas?
✴️Or been refused pain relief or support as "you have a higher pain threshold"?

No? That's why we have Black Breastfeeding Week.

No discussion should be needed around ensuring that everyone is treated the same, it SHOULD be part of everyday life. But, there does need to be discussion over the fact that even now, there is differences in care due to skin colour. Mastitis is just one small example in the infant feeding world. Yes, white skin can present with red tones when it is angry and inflamed, but not always, and other skin tones do not! Some present as slightly darker than normal, some even present as lighter than normal when angry and inflamed. Yet, the textbook description is still "red and angry" with images of white breasts. Brown Skin Matters and The Melanated Mammary Atlas are doing some amazing work to try to change that!

This is why I am always learning, always searching for new resources, and why I follow amazing Black breastfeeding supporters, IBCLC's, Doulas and education resources that are around. Education starts with yourself (and I mean me here as well!) and the Association of Breastfeeding Mothers conference is giving lactation supporters and educators the opportunity to further their education again this year by featuring Ruth Dennison and Mars Lord.

So whose voice will you amplify today, instead of drowning them out with "what about us"

02/08/2022

This years world breastfeeding week is about education, and sometimes that education journey starts by learning your own normal! Do you know what feels normal for you?

Did you know I am a Breast Cancer Awareness educator? I did their training for a very simple reason. You!

I often talk about learning what is normal for you when discussing hand expressing. About learning to recognise and be familiar with the little lumps and bumps within your mammary tissue caused by milk ducts, muscle, fat, lobes etc. What a perfect time to talk about what isn't normal, and what might need a chat with your health care professionals!

Does that bump feel soft and pliable like a pea or kidney bean? Or is it hard, more like a lemon pip? That patch of skin that's changed recently, looks a bit like the texture of orange peel. Is that hot patch that's a different tone to your normal skin colouration the start of mastitis or something else? Save this post so you have the 12 symptoms that should prompt a chat with your health care professionals in a nice, easy to understand image!

Breast cancer can affect ANYONE. We all have mammary tissue, regardless of our s*x. It's also handy for our partners to learn the signs, after all, they sometimes touch our bodies too!

Look out for NEW:
🍋Thick areas
🍋Dimples in the breast
🍋Nipple crust
🍋Different to normal skin tone, hot areas
🍋New fluid (thats not due to lactation)
🍋Skin sores
🍋Bumps
🍋Growing and prominent vein
🍋Sunken ni**le (not existing inverted ni**les)
🍋New shape or size (thats not due to lactation)
🍊Orange peel textured skin
🍋Hard lump

A good time to check your breasts/mammary tissue is at the end of your menstrual cycle. However that doesn't work for a large amount of people due to either lactation delaying the return of your cycle, or you simply not having a menstrual cycle (for any reason). For those without a cycle the suggestion is that you pick an easy to remember day each month to check. 1st of the month is a good one, but you may have a favourite number and decide that day is the one for you!

Make sure you feel from your your armpit, to your collar bone, to the bottom of your rib cage.

05/04/2022

28/01/2022

A request from one of my many roles withing Southend 😉

As part of the Infant Feeding Focus Group for Mid and South Ess*x, we are seeking parent experiences in relation to feeding your baby and the support that you have received and/or reached out for.

The below link is a questionnaire about your feeding experiences - this is relevant whether you have fed your baby breastmilk, formula or a combination of both. All surveys are anonymous, although there is an option to leave your email address if you would like to be invited to an online event where your feedback and questions can be directed to the Infant Feeding Leads across the Trust.

The link is here: https://forms.gle/ZTiH8zQfQpTeM2eN6

If you have any specific questions or feedback that you would prefer to give directly, please contact Jemma Percy by email:

jemma.percy@outlook.com.

Thank you all so much for continuing to share your experiences so we can make improvements going forward 💜

Jo. X

14/12/2021

When the legacy of an amazing woman has a generational impact, and will continue to impact on generations to come ...

The kids are now off for an extra week over Xmas as Mr E's class had drastically increasing numbers of illness in both children and staff... This is not a post of complaint! I am thankful that our school took this difficult step, they know the impact on working families, but also know that the risk to health is greater. Their staffs health, as well as the health of our children and I hope this measure will mean more people are able to enjoy the holidays, rather than spending them I'll.

The unfortunate impact of this is children now missing out on their week of fun Christmas prep, art and activities. But! After an hour's rummaging through storage boxes, craft draws etc there is now a FULL reusable shopping bag of Xmas craft fun to be had. 🙈

This is a living echo of a nanny who gifted sacks of arts and crafts for Xmas to see us through the following year. A gift and tradition that has inspired a whole generation of creativity within my sister's and myself, and continues to inspire future generations because of that freedom to explore different crafts and means of self expression.

Thankyou Nanny!

Do you have any family traditions you would like to share? Inspire someone else today!

*x

09/12/2021

What an honour and a privilege it was yesterday to be able to attend the Carol Service at Westminster Abbey, hosted by Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge. It was a service to recognise and celebrate the work of individuals and organisations across the nation who have gone above and beyond during the pandemic.

The amazingly generous people over at Parents 1st used two of their nominations to recognise the work of the , and the trustees chose to nominate myself and the incredible Lizzie to attend, as recognition for all we have done to support families in , as well as the roles we have been playing to help improve health outcomes for families, infant feeding support, perinatal mental health and more, on both national and local levels.

Of those who attended, we were small, we were not part of a national group, but a small local community network of volunteers. As a group of volunteers we have provided support, guidance, safety, tea and tissues all throughout the pandemic, only stopping face to face support when our venues were needed for vaccination centres, and the weather was too bad for outdoor support. The support, both peer and professional, that Cake Club has offered has been crucial. It meant feeding journeys were not ended prematurely. That isolation did not become too much for new families. It meant that when many statutory services were not running, families had a place of nonjudgmental, empowerment to turn to. I am so proud to be a small part of the astonishing network we have grown into. From one small session a week, to sometimes 10 sessions a week, across 8 venues!

I couldn't be prouder to be a part of this amazing team of people, who all go out of their way to help others, in whatever form of support is needed.

You can watch the service on Christmas Eve at 7:30pm on ITV, and celebrate the strengths and joys of many wonderful individuals and organisations. You never know, you may even spot us amongst the guests if you look hard!

*x

22/11/2021

Small people like to be nosey! It's true, and as parents and caregivers we like to find ways to help them explore the world around them. When we carry our children this is no exception, and there are many options we can explore to support this important stage of a child's learning and growth. The first option most people think of when a child's head, neck and upper torso control are strong enough, is world facing. For some this can be great, but this can be quite overwhelming for some small people and, dependant on the size of your small, can become quite uncomfortable for the person doing the carrying.

So, what other options is there? Well, one of the most overlooked options is to simply let a small have a little more movement in their upper body. Instead of ensuring the carrier reaches to the nape of the neck, try bringing it to their armpits instead, allowing them to have either one or both arms out. This gives them more freedom to move, whilst still keeping their body and centre of gravity facing you. It also means when things become a little too much and they want the comfort of being able to hide their face, it's very simple to do.

Another option could be a hip carry, where they are still tummy towards you, but instead of being positioned central to your front, they are more towards one side, again enabling them more freedom to look around and learn, whilst providing a place of safety if required.

There is also back carrying. It's a great step for little explorers who like to watch the world go by, and can help with your comfort as smalls turn into not so smalls, or even biggers!

If you want to explore some options to help your small ones learn more about the world around them, or want to discuss if your child is developmentally ready, then why not come along to a cake club session, or message and see if a 1-2-1 consult with your local babywearing consultant (cake club now has 3 who support at our groups!) or a group workshop might be a better option for you.

*x

14/11/2021

To all those who have served, those who currently serve at home or away and those who will serve in the future.

Thankyou. For your lives, your dedication, your strength and the strength of your loved ones.

To my friends and family who have lost loved ones and colleagues, to the children thinking of their loved ones far from home.

Thankyou. Your hearts will always hold the memories of your loved ones, even if your recollection of images fades. Talk about those little moments, the small things like a joke shared, a touch, a picture held in time. They will not be forgotten, we will remember them.

05/11/2021

I talk about alot of topics, but one that crops up time and again is privilege.

Todays food shop has brought it up in my mind again. There has been so much talk about the impact £20 a week can have to a family... THIS is what I bought today for just over that at £24.25.

I went to just 2 places, our local food waste scheme run by Food club and supplied by , and . I picked wisely, food club first, then Lidl after to supplement. I was extra lucky that Lidl had some of their £1.50 veg boxes left!

So, next time you think £20 a week isn't a large amount think of this list and consider the impact on a family struggling through no fault of their own to make ends meet and put healthy meals and snacks on the table.

2 cooking apples
Punnet of grapes
3 red eating apples
3 lemons
18 Jaffa oranges
23 easy peeler satsumas
5 beetroots
12 carrots
4 parsnips
10 jacket potatoes
35 red potatoes
15 onions
2 peppers
Punnet cherry tomatoes
21 on the vine salad tomatoes
3 bunches spring onions
1 punnet baby chestnut mushrooms
1kg green beans
250g salted butter
5 red Pepper hummus tubs
4 mini nan breads
4 large seeded burger buns
1 cheese+chilli chiabata twist
4 large scotch eggs
24 beef meatballs
12 breaded chicken goujons
3 salt+chilli pork rib racks
6 slices Wiltshire ham
2.5kg+ silverside beef joint
6 egg custard tarts