Haven Caravan Holidays on Consumer TV Watchdog

I was interested to see Haven faced criticism on TV's watchdog a few days ago as I have just returned from one of the featured sites: Coombe Haven at Hastings.  I have been there before and I think it is such good value for money that I have booked to go on two holdays next year at two different Haven caravan holiday parks.

Haven Coombe Haven on Watchdog

Having said all that I would not want to book the cheapest caravans.  If you book the more expensive caravans they are promising that it will be almost new and they have full gas central heating.  The cheaper models are smaller, older and just have a gas fire in the lounge.  Not surprising then that there is damp.  Pets are also welcome in the cheapest models.

I understand that families with pets might want to take their pets with them on holiday. BUT it was the dogs on site which were possibly the worst thing.  Not Haven's fault but thoughtless owners.  Dog Poo.  It was not every where, but when I saw it it was a big problem.  There was a terrible incident with a disgusting slide in the kiddies play area, I will spare you the details.  There was dog poo on paths at places where inevitable people are going to walk in it. 

Haven Devon Cliffs on Watchdog

Next year i have booked to go to Devon Cliffs.  Also featured as having terrible dirty accommodation.  Although i have bravely booked these caravan holidays in England I must be honest now and own up that some of my dearest relatives live just 10 minutes away from the Haven Devon Cliffs park.  They have a house big enough for us to stay if the caravan site is too awful.  I have booked on the site because the facilities are excellent value for entertaining the children.

My other Haven holidays have been similar.  Coombe Haven only 2 hours from my home and a good friend lives in Hastings (in a big house). And next year I have booked to stay in the closest site to home, only one hours drive away.

Haven in Devon in this film

Getting a Toddler to Use an Asthma Inhaler with Face Mask & Spacer

I had seen inhalers and big scary face masks and plastic spacers prescribed to young kids left right and centre.  But had no idea how you would teach a toddler to breath in the medicine from the ventalin inhaler through this big plastic transparent contraption.

If there is one good thing about being admitted to a Hospital Children's Ward for a few days is that you get to learn how to administer the medicine and the child learns to take it.  Of course, there are techniques to these things. AND as we all know our toddlers will do amazing things for other people which they will not do for mummy.

The nurse told me that until the child was compliant it will be almost impossible for one adult on their own to get a toddler to take an inhaler via a spacer & mask at first.  Makes sence, the child is scared of the look of it and how can you pin them down to take it when they wriggle and you need to press on the inhaler.

How to Get a Toddler to Take an Asthma Inhaler

In hospital I held my child whilst the nurse held the medical devise.  When the inhaler was squeezed we counted to ten, slowly.  We also watched to make sure the  little plastic value by the mouth was moving a clicking (listen hard, it is quiet).  After so many sessions my son get used to this, now at home he wants to do it or hold it.  He wants to be can't reach the inhaler to push it down. 

Even when he doesn't want to take his medicine it is now easy for me on my own. I sit him on my lap, hold him tight to me facing away and hold the face mask to his face.  He doesn't wriggle too much because he knows what is happening and he is not frightened.

This film shows how a child should use and look after the inhaler with spacer. but I have not managed to find a film of using an inhaler with spacer and non-compliant toddler or baby.

In Hospital With Asthma

An extra special birthday treat for twin 1. On his second birthday he took a ride in an ambulance to A&E and was admitted to the children's ward for 2 nights because of asthma.  I stayed with him, of course.  Dad, granny and others stepped in to keep the other children safe.

As I've had asthma myself I could totally identify with how he felt.  No energy, just wanting to sit still and do some heavy breathing. 

I don't know how & why but it does seem that the eczema, asthma and his sesame seed allergy all seem to be linked in some way.  Luckily my older son and twin 2 do not suffer from any of these complaints.

Pictures of Twins at 19 & 20 Months

I am pleased to report that both of the twins are quite fond of wearing their sun hats.  They also like having sun cream applied and love having their nails cut.

Our daughter is going to be an artist, she likes to get very creative with her food and any mucky stuff she can get her hands on.  Yes she appears to be left handed. Boy, on the other hand, does not like to get his hands dirty at all.  He can even eat sticky chocolate birthday cake with a spoon and totally resist the temptation to touch & disasemble it.

 

They are such goodlittle helpers around the house, for example, helping to put the shopping away, that's right in the fridge...

18 Months Old & Both Twins are Walking

At almost 18 months to the day, now boy twin is really walking.  He will go across the room, pick things up and carry them and looks really pleased with himself and his new skill.  His twin sister has been doing this for almost 6 months.

They are also mastering feeding themselves.  They have been playing with food for a long time but just in the past week or two they have bbeen able to clear a bowl of sloppy food, like beens or porridge, with their spoons. 

Well done twins.

Nice Glass of Red Wine, with my beans on toast, at 5.30pm - it helps!

Delighted to read that a longitudinal study has found that women who drink wine gain less weight than the teetotaller and the beer drinkers.  It seeems something is happening in the metabolic process so that calories in wine do not so easily turn into fat around the tummy!  It must be true, I read it in the Times this Sunday. My personal guess is that the no-alcohol women were seeking comfort in extra cake and chocolate!

I'm sure I'm not the only mum who longs for a glass of wine - by lunch time, infact, a pint of lager sounds good, too.  "Never before 5," is my motto, and I resisted until about 5,30 tonight when I sat down with the 3 kids to my beans and hash browns.  Actually, I had my first glass whilst doing the cooking, not that you can really call it that.  Progromming the microwave for the babies' ready meal, opening a can of Heinz finest, poping Hovis Granary slices in to the toaster.  My, it was delicious though I say it myself.

Helter Skelter

I took the twins to Helter Skelter in Broadstairs, a play centre for children aged 0 - 8, on Monday.
What  a nice surprise when the lady at reception asked if they were twins because they do discount. I think it is two for the price of one and half!

HS in Broadstairs is new, it is in York Street behind the Methodist church hall.  It is quite small, I guess compact.  Well thought out, I think best for children under 5.

So in Thanet we are well provided for by way of children's soft play centres:

• Wallies World has re opened at new premises in Margate, along the sea front. I have not been there.
• Jungle Jims at Birchington, Quex Park.
• Play Bay, in a basement under the amusement arcade, at the seafront in Ramsgate.
• Also Chally Chalk at the Pub (some chain) next to the train station in Margate.

The first steps of twin number one

Twin 1 has just started taking his first steps, at 17 months of age. He is following in his older brother's footstep as he was also 17 months when he started to walk.

Twin 2, however, she has been walking for ages, around about her first birthday. I am told girls are usually advanced. Well I can see a big difference in these two, but I know of boys who were walking at 9 months so I'm not sure if it is down to sex and gender.

One of the Twins has Eczema (not EXMA!)

Whilst one has porcelain soft skin the other has suffered from dry skin and eczema since whenever I can remember.

Red, Sore, Weeping in the Creases: ankles, knees, wrists and hands

It was last summer when he was about 9 or 10 months old when the weeping wounds on his ankles were bad enough to warrant a trip to the Doctor.
Remember, I have twins, so I simply do not make appointments and I never go to the doctors' surgery, it is all just too difficult to get out of the house on a schedule.

Well, GP prescibed hydrocortisone cream to treat the eczema flare up and E45 as a general moisturiser.  As expected the cream did a marvellous job, within a few days the weeping gashes had closed.  But the redness around his feet never got better. I didn't keep using the hydrocortisone because I know is not supposed to be used continuously.

Reactions to Creams & Moisturisers Causing Eczema Flare Ups

To cut a long story very much shorter it slowly seemed to emerge that the more I put moisturiser on little Edward the worse his skin got: slowly redder, looking burnt and blistered.  I came to the conclusion it was the cream because it would appear only in places that had been moisturised.

Again, remember I have 3 children, so unlike some more diligent mothers, I neglected little Edward.  He did not get smoothered in moisturiser all over on a regular basis.  I was told he should because off his dry skin and small patches of eczema, but if I put cream all over his legs and tummy when they were just a litle dry, the next day they looked worse and red.

Specialist Skin Doctor at the Hospital

My GP made an appointment at the dermatology department.  The Eczema Doctor prescibed a potent corticosteroid ointment called Elocon 0.1% for use once a day for 5 days.  This treatment ended on Sunday 31st Jan. For the first time ever he had beautiful soft skin coloured legs with no red patches and no itching and scratching.

This lasted over a week but sadly I have to report that yesterday the redness reappeared, he was scratching again at night and today I used the milder hydrocortiscone ointment which she also prescribed which is to be used at the first sign of a flare up.  I hope this will stop the ezcema in its tracks but other parents will know you get so used to it being there it is hard to believe it will ever go.

Be careful where you take advice on the web, lots of people are selling products and have dubious credientials, Here is some sound advice on treatment for a baby:

My Boy Girl Twins are Very Different

It is certainly interesting to see the differences between my 2 babies as they grow and develop. Being the same, the differences are obvious, whereas if I try to compare them to my older son my memory may be blurred by time. In fact, it is important to treasure, as much as possible, this time with the little ones because it is amazing how much you forget those unforgettable moments.

The differences which I am referring to are development of abilities, personalities, interests: particular as my twins are a boy and a girl.

Already, I cannot remember when darling daughter began to walk, even though it must have been within the last 6 months. I know my older son started walking at around 17 months and his baby brother looks set to be even later. The twins are 17 months old this week and darling baby boy has only taken a few steps.

So my girl has always been more able that the boy: turning over, sitting up, walking...
Nether of them show much interest in talking but the do lots of baby chattering to each other and with me. Victoria has always had a big smiling personality, she wears a grin which is so wide it must hurt her cheeks. Edward, Earnest might be a better name, serious, smiles only briefly, his smiles and giggles seem so much more valuable because of their rarity. If he is always like this, however, I think he could find it tough making friends.

It has been most interesting to see Victoria take to playing with dolls and teddies in a way that Edward never has. Whist both of the babies have a healthy curiosity about everything, Edward is more interested in the things you might associate with boy behaviour: how technical, gadgety things work.

I am not the type of mum to give them gender specific toys, by the way, I am happy for them to play with anything that will not hurt them (too much).