From the outset, the BCT Pregnant and New Mums’ Drop In has endeavoured to be a safe, friendly place to make new friends and share experiences of being a new mum - the good, the bad and the ugly! By Kate Ellwood | BCT First Aid and Hypnobirthing Teacher My baby won't...
The BCT runs birth preparation courses throughout the year, both for first-time parents and for those expecting second or subsequent children. Our...
BCT member Abbi shares her very personal story of how her family coped with the neonatal birth of little Chloe. Chloe was born on the 18th March...
Kind en Gezin (translates as ‘Child & Family’), together with its partners, aim to create as many opportunities as possible for all young...
Our birth culture has often encouraged anxiety, with horror stories passed down from generations of women, strangers, friends and colleagues. The media shows ‘warts and all’ documentaries following women having difficult, painful and frightening birth experiences,...
Finding the perfect new venue for the BCT at Chaussee de Waterloo in Ixelles - with two large rooms, a window display area and a very long, walled garden, just for us to use, it is such a great space! – was only part of the story. Now we needed to design the interior...
Parenthood brings with it so many things – immense love, comedy moments, sleepless nights…and plenty of questions from your children that leave you wondering “How shall I answer that?” At some point, one of the big issues every child grapples with is death, whether...
Raising children with several languages is a chance and challenge for parents. Our world has become multilingual, and we are ourselves global citizens used to working and socialising in several languages. Letting our children learn languages at an early age is a...
A friend of mine once told me that when she had her first baby she’d put in an order for one with “no nappy rash and no colic”. If only it was that simple! She was lucky enough to get a baby with neither of these things. Most of us aren’t so lucky. “My baby started...
Potty training takes time, effort and patience. It can be stressful but be full of joy and delight. When your little toddler manages to wee in the potty for the first time the happiness is complete – both for you and for your toddler. The excitement and the proud look...
It was mid-February 2009, when nine months into my first pregnancy I woke up one morning and realised that, for the first time in several nights, I hadn’t been woken up by the usual jabbering of limbs in my abdomen. I went for an orange juice, something that always...
Little by little, I am trying to instil the routine of brushing teeth into my three-year-old son. What was at first a fun activity to do together is now becoming a challenging task. Although used to brushing his teeth since his second birthday, my son now does not...
We are blessed to live in a country with one of the best healthcare systems in Europe, but, navigating the system is not without its challenges, and I don’t mean the bureaucracy! The main challenge that taxes me, the couples I see attending the BCT Pregnancy in...
It was only thanks to Lena Maas, BCT friend and playgroup leader, that I found out my son Alexis had diabetes. She had remarked on how tired I looked and I explained that for some weeks now he’d suddenly started wetting the bed at night. And sometimes not just once a...
An honest guide for new parents Sex is such a very small word for an activity that holds such an important place in our lives and relationships; an activity loaded with huge meaning and emotion. And we do it for many and varied reasons. Sex can be the cement that...
A while ago, I asked the members of the BCT Facebook group their opinion on the ‘right’ age to leave a child home alone. Even though I knew the answers would be diverse, the interest in the topic was higher than I had anticipated. As I expected, there is no ‘right’...
Ask a parent at what age children should be dry at night and they’ll probably say three or four years old. Ask an expert and they’re more likely to say six or seven. Bedwetting is the most common childhood urological complaint. It is also one of the most common...
‘I can’t eat that! The daily dinner table battle cry from children who won’t try meat, pasta, potatoes, carrot or food with ‘bits’ in. Dealing with fussy eaters is a universal parental challenge and in fact nearly two thirds of parents describe at least one problem...
Have you already heard about ‘TENS machines’ and wondered what in the world they were? Or perhaps this is the first you’ve heard of one and now you are curious! Allow us to introduce this drug-free pain-management tool for use during labour… TENS is an acronym that...
