In advance of announcements on legislative change to maternity and paternity leave a new study for Working Families and Netmums found overwhelming opposition to plans to reduce maternity leave to 18 weeks. Working Families employer members have also voiced concerns about reducing maternity leave to18 weeks and warn of hidden costs to business.

From 12 months old, our toddlers will change rapidly as they learn to walk, talk and master many of the skills needed for life. Growingupmilkinfo.com is a website to help parents find out more about toddler nutrition, giving mums and dads the information they need to support their toddler during this amazing period of growth and development. To recognise this important period, Growing Up Milk Info has even re-named toddlers as ‘Little One-ders’

Parents, grandparents and carers are putting childrens’ lives in danger by allowing them to travel in cars without booster seats before they are legally allowed. The research of 1,000 carers showed that three-quarters of respondents (74%) have stopped or plan to stop using booster seats while their children are aged ten or under, despite the law saying that children must be aged 12, unless they are over 135cm tall.

Almost three in ten first time mums (28%) have been forced into the red, racking up an average of almost £2,500 of debt because of maternity leave according to a new study by uSwitch.com, the independent price comparison and switching service. The financial burden of maternity leave forces one in ten (10%) to borrow from their nearest and dearest, but 14% resort to credit cards, loans and overdrafts. In fact, just one in four (25%) new mums feel financially prepared.

‘I haven’t bought anything for ages’ and ‘I deserve this’ are the top excuses used by guilty women after a shopping spree, it recently emerged.  A third of shoppers use a pre-prepared list of excuses to justify their spending to their partners – ‘It’s a bargain’, ‘I need this to cheer me up’ and ‘it was on sale’ completed the top five.