CathyMum's Blog

Even with all the efforts many parents put into making sure their children are not exposed to smoke, a new study suggests that smoking around children should be cut out completely. In the study of 2,401 children from Finland and 1,375 children in Australia between three and 18, the researchers questioned children about their parents smoking habits and then measured the thickness of the...

As a parent, we always want what’s best for our children and very often, we overspend on birthday gifts and Christmas presents because we want to give them everything. However, a new research shows that expensive gifts don’t help children develop creativity. Nor do they encourage physical activity in tots. A group 120 primary school kids in Melbourne were given cheap toys to play with. This...

After he felt guilty about missing the birth of his first two children, mechanic Steve Denyer, 37, was left with no choice but to help his wife deliver their third. During the birth of his first child, Steve had appendicitis, which meant he missed the birth of little Mason, who is five now. During the delivery of their second child, the dad-of-two fainted at the sight of blood. Luckily, he was...

In an age of group selfies, pet selfies and bum selfies, it’s not surprising that an app for baby selfies now exists. The Baby Selfie app, created by software developer and father Matthew Pegula, allows tiny tots to become part of the emerging selfie trend. The app, which attracts a baby’s attention with fun customisable sounds, detects their presence and takes a snap of them once the...

Della Wolf Kangro Wiley Richards is the first child to be officially born with three parents. The little girl from Vancouver, British Columbia, was born to two lesbian parents Danielle Wiley and Anna Richards, as well as to her biological father, Shawn Kangro. Canada passed a Family Law Act in March of last year, which allows for up to four parents to be named on a child's birth certificate...

A pregnant woman, who had her taxi taken by another person, was left to give birth to her baby girl on the streets on New York. The unexpected delivery happened when Polly McCourt, 39, realised her baby was coming out too fast, so she left her apartment on East 68th Street and Third Avenue and searched desperately for a taxi. Since her baby’s head was already showing, she has no choice but to...

According to new research, going to university for a long period of time and having a well-paid career is leading many women to delay having kids. The results of this is a huge rise in the number of pregnant women over forty. For the first time, the official count of pregnancies revealed that the number of women in their forties expecting children has overtaken the number of expectant mums in...

Obesity levels in Europe are so common that the World Health Organisation fears it is becoming a ‘norm’ among teens. Nearly a third of teens weigh more than they should and in a report on obesity levels in over 50 countries, it was found that obesity rates among 11-year-olds were highest in Greece, Portugal, Spain and Ireland. “Our perception of what is normal has shifted; being overweight...

Now that youngsters have easy access to a number of social media sites, they are more exposed to cyberbullying than ever before. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that cyberbullying in post-primary schools has gone up by a third. A new report from the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD), showed that cyberbullying in secondary schools has gone up by a third in the last...

While there has been an ongoing debate on whether or not homosexual couples should be allowed to marry, the results of a recent Red C poll showed that the majority of Irish people think same-sex marriage should be allowed in Ireland. In a recent survey, the results showed that over three quarters of Irish voters support same-sex marriage. Chairperson of the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (GLEN...