A short but interesting piece on BBC London News raises the inevitable ethical questions of allowing such easy access to these tests.

Ian Meekins from International Biosciences, manufacturer of the test, is unsurprisingly in favour of the kit which provides “indisputable answers to emotive questions”, claiming that “people have the right to be able to get those answers.”

He may well be right. There is a certain level of choice involved here, although the finances required to receive test results could be a barrier in themselves — the kit costs £30 but a further payment of £119 is required in order to have the test processed.

The method for collecting the DNA samples is simple. Use a separate mouth swab for the mother, the child, and the man who is testing for paternity, and then send the swabs away to be analysed.

That’s the finances and the procedure taken care of, but what about the rights and emotional wellbeing of the child?

Josephine Quintavalle from the ethics organisation Comment on Reproductive Ethics is convinced that children are not being protected.

She said that, most often, the tests are not done for the benefit of the child, and are taken without their consent. It’s disputing, warring couples where the male involved is effectively deciding whether to accept or reject the child.

“We have a duty to protect children and their rights in this instance,” she said.

However, the Hackney chemist selling the kits said that he will provide counselling to those families who need it.

Sadly, in these days, the issue of paternity comes up a lot, and while a kit like this makes it physically easy to determine who the biological father is, we surely have to question whether it’s always the best thing to do.

I am sure there are plenty of situations where men who are not biological fathers are doing a fine job of bringing up children. Granted, there are other issues such as the right for a child, at the appropriate time, to know who their biological parents are, but particularly when very young children are involved, is there potential to do more harm than good in making these sorts of tests so readily available?

Presumably, if trials are successful in Hackney, the test could be rolled out nationwide.

An emotive subject, surely, but I’d be interested to hear your views.

Read the original news story at BBC News Online

That being the case, there are still cases where grandparents are unable to see their grandchildren due to familial breakdown and a lack of communication, and it seems to be for this reason that the Conservatives have suggested that grandparents will be given greater recognition under a Tory government.

In cases where parents split and divorce, new laws could ensure that grandparents are still granted access to their grandchildren, or even be given priority in custody cases, depending on the circumstances.

David Shields, from the Grandparents’ Association, said that the current law means grandparents have no voice or say at all. “They have no more rights than a stranger. They don’t even have a right to stay in touch with their grandchildren,” he told the Daily Mail.

We hear stories of grandparents who, after sharing many happy times with their grandkids, and helping out their children and inlays, are told they can no longer see them because of acrimonious divorce and custody battles.

It seems a great shame that the only way for generations of a family to see one another is through the legal system, but perhaps that’s better than nothing.

In the ideal world, even in split families, children would naturally be able to see their grandparents on both the maternal and paternal side without the need for people to fight over them.

Children so often get used as pawns in messy separations, and grandparents could even provide some much needed stability in times of turmoil.

No separation is totally without mess. Perhaps a change in the law would help all those involved in particularly messy scenarios, while more amicable (or, at least, accommodating) families can sort things out for themselves.

What do you think? Does Britain need a change in the law to boost grandparents’ rights?

That’s probably good news for cash-strapped parents.

A few old favourites get makeovers, including LEGO, Monopoly and Transformers.

The Toy Retailers Association found that the average price of a toy on the top dozen list was around £26. That’s £6 less than two years ago.

“With licensed toys combining the fun and familiarity of popular characters as well as collectable, pocket money priced toys making a big comeback this year, we are in for an affordable, family orientated Christmas,” said the association’s chairman Gary Grant.

“The list also reveals a trend towards nostalgic characters and brands which have been updated with a modern twist. Consumers are reverting back to heritage brands which will last longer than the Christmas season.”

The dozen is:

1. Bakugan Battle Pack
2. Battle Strikers Starter Set
3. Ben 10 Alien Force Kevin’s DX Action Cruiser
4. Bendaroos Mega Pack
5. Go Go Pets Hamster
6. GX Racers Tightrope Terror
7. Kidizoom Multimedia Digital Camera
8. LEGO Games 3841 Minotaurus
9. Monopoly City
10. Princess Peppa’s Palace
11. Sylvanian Families Caravan
12. Transformers Movie 2 Voyagers Figures

Every year, some 70,000 babies are born in need of specialist neonatal care in England alone. Added to this, the birth rate is increasing and more premature babies are surviving than ever, which puts additional pressure on overstretched services.

To celebrate thirty years and highlight the issues, Bliss has produced a special report — Three Decades and Counting — which documents the charity’s support and pushes for improvements to special care baby services.

Chief executive of Bliss, Andy Cole, said “We are delighted to be celebrating our thirtieth birthday with the publication of this special report, looking at how Bliss and the services for newborn babies we support have developed. After 30 years of fighting, 2009 should mark a significant change in the fortunes of premature and sick babies and the care they receive. Special care baby units have been stretched to the limits for far too long. We call on the Government and the NHS to ensure that the NHS Taskforce’s recommendations are now delivered without delay.”

Bliss

However, other factors were also found to be linked and harmful, such as when a parent smokes, drinks alcohol or uses sedating drugs before bedtime.

Researchers suggest that further education is still required to reduce the risk of cot deaths, despite the success of the “Back to Sleep” campaign from the early ’90s.

“Parents need to be advised never to put themselves in a situation where they might fall asleep with a young infant on a sofa,” said researchers, adding that parents should never sleep with an infant in any environment after consuming alcohol or drugs.

Young single parents have been targeted as the most likely to ignore safe sleep advice, and for this reason the web site Bubbalicious.co.uk has been launched to provide support.

Via

There’s a range of all-in-one and full-length bodysuits, tops, bottoms and hats, made in soft jersey and available in five sizes (0-3 months, 3-6 months, 6-9 months, 9-12 months and 12-18 months).

Take a peek at the new collection here.

A survey of over 3,000 parents by Green Giant found that one in three children have been described as fussy eaters by their parents.

Added to this, two out of three parents say that their kids are fussier than they themselves were when growing up.

One in twenty children hide food they don’t want to eat (one mother reported that her six-year-old son is regularly caught flushing peas down the toilet), while others sneak food onto other plates or feed it to the dog.

Of course, sulking, tantrums and claiming to be full also make an appearance ion the list of tactics used by children trying to avoid eating unappetising food.

To appease the kids, one in five parents say they have to cook different meals for each family member, while a similar number buy special “reward” puddings.

General Mills nutritionist Vanessa McConkey RNutri says: “These findings reinforce the importance of getting back to the table – sitting down together as a family to enjoy mealtimes, without the many distractions revealed by this survey. Kids can be very fussy and encouraging them to eat a proper, nutritious meal can be difficult for parents.

“Instilling healthy eating habits early on in life will help ensure children eat a healthy, balanced meal, rich in vegetables and fruit and get more of the nutrients they need. It will also increase the likelihood of these healthy habits being carried on throughout life. Choosing vegetables like canned sweet corn can make it much easier to ensure children get one of their recommended five a day.”

Healthy eating is a real marketing buzzword at present, as you’ll see if you watch a few food adverts on TV, but it can be a difficult balancing act to find food that kids will eat and that’s reasonably good for them.

Do you consider your kids to be fussy eaters? How have you tried to resolve the issue, or have you found yourself giving in to their pressure?

Share your thoughts, tips and tricks in the comments below.

Claiming to be the UK’s first full parental control system for children’s mobile phones, Mobile Sentry is mobile phone software that allows parents to set up allow/deny contact lists, monitor SMS text messages, block the mobile Internet, install download protection, track the phone via GPS (when available), and report on all communications sent and received.

It might seem a bit “Big Brother”, but it may help those parents who recognise the need for their kids to have a mobile phone but aren’t totally comfortable with them having free reign.

It costs £5.99 per month to keep the service active, and it only works on Symbian-based phones (which includes a lot of the Nokia mobiles and some Sony and Samsung models, but not the likes of the iPhone).

The Mobile Sentry website will even monitor the phone to check that the software hasn’t been uninstalled.

It’s not a foolproof system but, particularly for younger children, could provide the peace of mind that parents need.

Mobile Sentry

That means parents in a typical family of four, having paid up to £110 just to get in (and that’s before being ripped off at the burger/ice cream/cold drinks stands) could face ejection for:

1. Kissing or hugging their kids
2. Holding their kids’ hands
3. Treating their kids like babies
4. Shouting or telling their kids off in public
5. Telling their friends embarrassing stories about when they were younger
6. Trying to be cool
7. Daring to go on rides with their kids
8. Wearing embarrassing clothes
9. Calling out to their kids
10. Telling bad jokes

In fact, a press release for Chessington World of Adventures states that “A sign banning embarrassing behaviour is displayed on-park and whilst Chessington bosses have said that they won’t throw parents out for flouting the ban, they have briefed employees to point out any rule breakers in order to save children being left red-faced in public.”

That didn’t stop bosses having to apologise to a family when an overzealous junior employee tried to eject the embarrassing (read: doing their job as a) parent.

The news comes just a couple of months after problems at the theme park left visitors stranded on a monorail and residents in a large part of the surrounding area without power … twice in one week. Park management deny a capacity problem, but perhaps their time and energy would be better invested in improving the park instead of stopping parents from doing what they’re supposed to.

Kids that are easily embarrassed by their parents can always forego the expensive trip and stay at home instead.

Four year old Thomas Donkin from Wigtownshire received the very special delivery, which included a personal letter from Dolly herself, from postman Alan McColm this week. In her letter to Thomas Dolly explained: “I love books and the adventures they bring; and it is my hope that children everywhere would be able to enjoy the fun that books offer.”

Children in Wigtown were some of the first in the UK to become part of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library – launched in the UK in December 2007 by the music star to encourage a love of reading in pre-school children. Its roll out in the UK built on the educational programmes resounding success in the US and Canada, where it has now delivered over 22 million books.

Thomas’ father Chris Donkin commented: “It’s a great scheme. We all look forward to the monthly arrival of Thomas’ books from the Imagination Library and share in enjoying the tales they contain. This month’s delivery was of course particularly special as it contained a letter from Dolly herself.”

Children in Wigtown have been receiving books through the scheme, which is part-funded and run by the organisers of the Wigtown Book Festival, since April 2008. Stena Line Wigtown Book Festival event spokeswoman Catherine Campbell said: “We are all absolutely delighted that a child from the Wigtown area received the 100,000th book, especially as it coincides with the start of this year’s annual book festival.”

“The festival runs 25th September to 4th October, with over 180 events taking place including a full children’s programme, so we’ll certainly be taking time to celebrate the book’s arrival.”

Since Dolly launched the library in the UK, the Imagination Library has been adopted by communities across the UK. Dolly Parton explained: It’s my dream that every child has a library of books which their parents can read to them from the moment they are born. I’m really excited that we’ve now shared 100,000 books with kids in the UK.”

Dolly Parton launched the scheme in her home county of Sevier, Tennessee, in 1996. The scheme works by local sponsors paying for children in their community to receive the books. In 2007 Rotherham Council became the first UK authority to join the Imagination Library, which is part of Ms Parton’s umbrella charity, the Dollywood Foundation, with more communities signing up in the past 18 months.

ImaginationLibrary.com