Mums Express

25/07/2026

BABIES ARE MESSY (AND THAT'S OK)
From a cute little spill to a tsunami overflow, most babies regularly bring up milk. This typically doesn't mean that baby has over-fed or there is a medical problem, and here is why...
The gastro-oesophageal sphincter, or 'valve' that stops the stomach contents from coming back up, is immature in young babies. Combine that with a maturing baby's increased activity and baby lying on their back, and you can see that it is easy for some milk to flow or "reflux" back up that short distance from a baby's stomach to their mouth (and nose sometimes!)
While a newborn sleeps a lot and doesn't spill much milk, in the following weeks and months spills and spews become increasingly common as baby is more mobile. If your baby is mostly settled and isn't bothered by the spill, overflow, or spew, and if their weight gains are tracking normally, you can consider this a laundry problem and not a medical problem.

24/07/2026

“If you are finding parenting hard, it doesn’t mean you are incompetent” Some great perspectives shared here…

23/07/2026

Every interaction builds bonding and trust

First smile. First laugh. First hug. These are the moments of human...

19/07/2026

We are a proud sponsor of the Armadale Soccer Club Inc. women’s team. A huge welcome to the team’s newest family member who attended her first game today at only 2 weeks of age!

17/07/2026

EAT A RAINBOW
Meal planning and preparation can feel hard when your days and nights are filled with feeding and caring for a baby and/or young child. Colourful fruit and vegetables have great health benefits and can provide an easy source of nutrition. Ideas include
- keep chopped fruit and vege sticks in the fridge
- slow cooker soups eg pumpkin, cauliflower - set and forget
- frozen berry or banana smoothies
- microwaved corn on the cob: 4 min on high, rotate and repeat

Rainbow foods offer lots of health benefits for body weight, lipid profile, inflammation, cardiovascular disease, mortality, type 2 diabetes and cancer. See the review by Blumfield et al (2022) https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27134061

16/07/2026

So much wisdom here....I know you need to read this today.
Be kind to yourself mamma, you've got this! 💙🩷

15/07/2026

Looking for solutions to help your unhappy baby through the 'witching hours'? Try engaging your baby's 'transport response' by carrying baby while walking at a steady pace for around 5 minutes.
This has an innate calming effect on young babies that slows their heart rate and helps them to settle. Once calm, sit and hold baby for another 5- 8 minutes while they drift off to sleep. This is a great strategy for the non-breastfeeding parent, as they don't smell like milk!
For further details see Ohmura et al, 2022
doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.08.041.

13/07/2026

There are no bad babies! Babies depend on their parents 24/7 for food, safety, security and love 💗💙

We need to talk about the “is he a good baby?” question.

Because somewhere along the way, “good” became code for sleeps through the night, settles easily, and doesn’t need much. And by that logic, half the most normal newborn behaviour on earth gets quietly filed under “bad.”

So here’s your official guide to telling the difference. On the left, all the things that get a baby unfairly labelled difficult, the night feeds, the contact naps, the 3am parties for one. On the right, actual bad behaviour. The white-collar crime. The tax evasion. The Ponzi schemes.

Notice your baby isn’t on the right side, mama. Wanting you is not a character flaw. It’s just a baby being a baby.

Tag a mama whose “badly behaved” newborn has, to date, a completely spotless criminal record. 🤍

10/07/2026

The Circle of Security program help parents to better understand and meet their children's attachment needs. Babies and young children need both exploration and comfort and safety, with the parent providing both a Secure Base and a Safe Haven.
See details below for the next course available ERICA Women's Centre