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Child care

Children being bullied at school and by friends. What should be done?

At Nightingale we are keen to promote all topics related to Public Health.

Raising awareness on the subject of Children being bullied at school is one such topic.

There are many warning signs that may indicate that your child is affected by bullying, either being bullied or bullying others. Recognising the warning signs is an important first step in taking action against bullying. It is important to remember that not all children who are bullied or are bullying others will ask for help.

Some signs that may point to a bullying problem include:

  • Unexplainable injuries
  • Lost or destroyed clothing, books, electronics, or jewellery
  • Frequent headaches or stomach aches, feeling sick or faking illness
  • Changes in eating habits, like suddenly skipping meals or binge eating.
  • Children may come home from school hungry because they did not eat lunch.
  • Difficulty sleeping or frequent nightmares
  • Declining grades, loss of interest in schoolwork, or not wanting to go to school
  • Sudden loss of friends or avoidance of social situations
  • Feelings of helplessness or decreased self esteem
  • Self-destructive behaviours

Possible signs that your child is bullying others

  • Gets into physical or verbal fights
  • Has friends who bully others
  • Are increasingly aggressive at home
  • Gets sent to the principal’s office or to detention frequently
  • Have unexplained extra money or new belongings
  • Blame others for their problems
  • Don’t accept responsibility for their actions
  • Are competitive and worry about their reputation or popularity

Children do not necessarily feel able to tell grownups about their problems for various reasons

  • Bullying can make a child feel helpless; children may want to handle it on their own to feel in control again. They may fear being seen as weak or a tell-tales.
  • Children may fear backlash from the child who bullied them.
  • Bullying can be a humiliating experience; children may not want adults to know what is being said about them, whether true or false. They may also fear that adults will judge them or punish them for being weak.
  • Children who are bullied may already feel socially isolated. They may feel like no one cares or could possibly understand.

So what next?

In the first instance, at a primary or secondary school, see the class teacher/form tutor and explain your worries in a friendly non-confrontational way.

Questions that you might consider:

  • Ask how your child is getting on with others in class and raise any issues of conflict with other children.
  • Ask if the teacher has noticed that your child seems unhappy and isolated and is being excluded from games or social groups in the playground or regularly not having a partner to work with in class.
  • Ask the class teacher, or the head of house at secondary school, if he/she can keep an eye on the situation and let you know if they have any concerns.
  • Ask what the teacher suggests would be the best way of sorting it out. This puts the ball very firmly in their court and makes it clear that action is required.
  • If you have spoken in person to the teacher follow this up with an email conforming key points, ask that a copy be placed in your child’s school record and also ask for a written response or action plan from the school.
Categories
Babysitting

Professional babysitters are the new nannies, helping in your child’s overall personal, social & emotional development.

 

Professional babysitters are the new nannies
Professional babysitters are the new nannies

Welcome to parenthood. Nothing compares with this cherished stage of life when you’re being able to hold your baby in your arms; it’s the best feeling in the world. It’s not just your child which as a mother you have brought a new life to the world but with every childbirth, a new mother is born too. The paternal responsibilities are not left alone. Becoming a father is a transformational experience for a man as well. In this most emotional moment in the life of parents, you need a special someone to guide you rightly about parenthood, teach you about newborn care, baby care and babysitting. In times of an emergency, that special caregiver should ensure that you do not panic and is equipped with life-saving and first aid training to revive your baby in its most delicate phase. When your baby grows a few months older begins another phase – time to train him, like a brick over a brick to build a wall. Your baby needs to be trained in behavioural development, sleep, food and potty training and create a positive environment for your baby’s overall personality development. Even parents who are not first-timers would agree with the positive role played by a trustworthy and qualified babysitter in making your journey of parenthood an exciting experience, especially in a metropolis like Dubai where both parents are often a working couple and cannot spare time to engage with their infant round the clock. Let’s try and understand who’s a babysitter and how can she make your parenthood a rewarding experience from newborn care to parenthood and beyond.

Who’s a babysitter?

A professional babysitter is someone who’s fast replacing nannies or mother’s helper when it comes to taking supervision of your child and work as caregivers. Today she is a professional nurse with degrees and certification at babysitting, trained with pediatric first aid, CPR and multilingual training to ensure that your child is in safe hands, his/ her safety is never compromised and adept at handling any kind of an emergency situation and as a mother you don’t have to constantly phone back home to inquire about your child while out for work or even spending time out with your husband. Let’s take a look at the various definitive advantages of a professional babysitter over a nanny type personality or even parents who are amateur at the task and often needs to be enlightened about parenting with tips and techniques.

Advantages of a professional babysitter

Post Natal Newborn Care

Newborn care is the most daunting task in parenting. For a mother when in one hand there is the post-natal stress of maternity to deal with on the other, your infant needs the most delicate of care. Overanxious parents often lacking proper knowledge of maternity techniques end up disturbing their routine of sleep and hence fails to foster a positive environment required for newborn care. A professional babysitter can help in the following ways.

  • Provide care and supervision to a newborn baby
  • Provide postnatal care and support for mothers
  • Establish a routine for a family including good sleeping habits
  • Educate parents about health, safety, and hygiene of new born
  • Provide support with breastfeeding
  • Help with baby feeding techniques, teach how to sterilize baby feeding equipment
  • Maintain a hygienic environment

Babysitting & Child Personality Development

For parents, a baby at home is their most precious belonging. Modern day life in Dubai also doesn’t provide for either of the parents to be constantly with the baby and dedicated to its care. This is where the role of a babysitter again comes in, essentially when a baby is a few months old or even a toddler. In such a scenario a professional babysitter not just supervises or takes care of your baby but helps in his/ her overall brain and personality development, train the child with positive parenting techniques from the comfort of your home or even at malls or hotels. Let’s see the role of a babysitter at this important phase of your child’s development.

Bespoke Babysitting – Tailored to Your Needs

  • Provide sleeping and potty training and deal with fussy eating habit
  • Behavioral management that includes how to reward good behavior traits in a child
  • Allergies and medical condition management support
  • Look after special needs such as autism, Down’s syndrome and other disabilities
  • Provides babysitting from the comfort of home
  • Babysitting at Malls and Hotels with the same degree of care

Babysitting for the Child’s Personal, Social and Behavioral Development

  • Engage with a child and foster childcare through confidence-boosting activities like fun games that set learning goals for a child and helps in his / her emotional and social skill development
  • Encourage a child to express himself and focus on language and communication development
  • Develop motor skills of a child required to play with larger toys and leads to the physical development
  • Foster love for reading, stories, and overall literacy development
  • Help the child to sing, dance, learn art and craft and act by playing imaginative roles
  • Help a child recognize numbers and develop numeracy skills

In the leading metropolis like Dubai, professional, trustworthy and certified babysitters are fast becoming the new nannies for children. They make parenting a positive, smooth and exciting experience for the new age couple be it their first time or subsequent brush with parenting. If you want to experience a similar parenting and reward a superlative infant care for your child ensure your babysitter passes all tests as mentioned in the categories above and best suited for the task. Nightingale Dubai for who establishing excellence in baby care and babysitting in Dubai is their mission, they could be your pick for the best of baby care services for your child.

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