In this episode:

• Introduction and background to the health visiting service
• Introduction to developmental Reviews
• Ages and Stages Questionnaire
  • Communication
  • Gross Motor Skills
  • Fine Motor Skills
  •  Problem Solving
  • Personal Skills
  • The Rest of the Questionnaire
• What to expect from the visit
• When it doesn't go to plan - our personal experiences

You can find more Science Baby at... Our blog: https://thesciencebaby.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_science_baby/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesciencebaby Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thesciencebaby

And if you like what you see, consider supporting our work with a one-off or recurring tip: https://ko-fi.com/leilabattison

Inside:

• An introduction to teething and how both of our children are experiencing it
• What is actually going on inside your baby's mouth when their teeth appear
• The order and timing of teeth emergence, and the reasons for that pattern
• Why baby teeth fall out again
• Common teething symptoms
• How to sooth teething discomfort
• Caring for your baby's new teeth

Reach out to us with your teething tales contactthescience@gmail.com

And you can find The Science Baby elsewhere on the web:

Our blog: https://thesciencebaby.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_science_baby/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesciencebaby Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thesciencebaby

And if you like what you see, consider supporting our work with a one-off or recurring tip: https://ko-fi.com/leilabattison

When you're all caught up with Science Baby, you can find our recommended podcast Sick Society here 

In this episode:

• How the fourth trimester sits alongside the three other trimesters of pregnancy
• What baby is experiencing
• What emotional changes you can expect and why
• How your experience might differ if you’re breastfeeding
• What physical changes you can expect
• Should you expect to bounce back during the fourth trimester, or even afterwards?

In this episode:

• We talk about our own babies' features, and how often they were compared to their dads. 
• Why it might be a good idea to look like the father, from an animal evolution perspective
• Do babies actually look like their dads?
• The science says its all in our heads
• Why not looking like dad might be a good idea
• How dad's investment can change how similar he thinks they are
• The future of our babies' features

You can find more Science Baby at...

Our blog: https://thesciencebaby.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_science_baby/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesciencebaby

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thesciencebaby

And if you like what you see, consider supporting our work with a one-off or recurring tip: https://ko-fi.com/leilabattison

In this episode:

• The idea that IVF might have some lasting impacts, something which Leila didn’t really consider while she was undergoing treatment
• The additional benefits of IVF, including genetic testing and bespoke medication
• How long the process takes, and how that feels when you’re in it
• How the treatment might change within and between IVF cycles
• The emotions you feel while undergoing treatment
• The emotions you feel after treatment
• How you feel physically during and after treatment
• How IVF mothers are treated as high-risk pregnancies, and the pressure for birth intervention
• The effects you feel after an IVF birth
• The possibility of longer lasting medical risks
• The likelihood of success with IVF treatment
• How you can support yourself throughout your IVF journey

In this episode:

• Leila's IVF Journey
• Introduction to the acronyms of assistive reproductive tech: IVF, ICSI, IUI, IVI
• Additional interventions possible with fertility treatment
• Who is eligible for IVF, privately and funded by the NHS
• How to get referred for IVF
• Fertility testing
• Details of IVF treatment
  • Down regulation
  • Ovarian stimulation
  • Trigger Injection
  • Egg collection and sperm collection
  • Fertilisation and embryo development
  • Multiples and embryo freezing
  • Embryo grading
  • Embryo transfer
  • Progesterone pessaries
• Frozen embryo transfer

In this episode: 

• Welcome to my Codpast! Felix and Kim chat about what it's like to be 2, and we catch up on life and milestones
• We look back at the last few episodes and respond to your comments and questions:
  • Poop
  • Breastfeeding
  • Pregnancy Loss
  • Hair Loss
  • Weaning
  • Healing
• We answer your questions in a quick fire Q&A, and get some ideas for future podcast episodes!

In this episode:

• We introduce the idea of handedness being potentially linked to language, noting that left lateralisation of language in the brain could be linked to the predominance of right-handers within humans.
• We talk about the genetic basis for handedness preference
• We discuss when a hand preference is likely to emerge in our babies and toddlers
• We examine how much the external environement can affect dominant hand use
• We use brian lateralisation again to explain why mothers tend to cradle their babies on the left, regardless of which is their dominant hand
• We discuss a study that found that kids who show an early preference for their right hand tend to be more advanced with language - noting its strengths and weaknesses, as well as the opposite pattern seen in Science Baby
• We talk about the experience of our young left-handers in a right-hand world. 

Leila and Kim are no exceptions, and we share a very cathartic chat about how and why our marriages have changed, and what we can do about it. 

In this episode:

• We set the scene by describing our relationship foundations before having kids
• We compare notes on how our relationships have changed since having kids
• We take a look at the statistics of relationship degeneration after having children, including results from the Science Baby Parenting Survey
• We examine the reasons behind the changes, including a loss of protective relationship behaviours, an unequal division of the mental load, and the snowballing effect of maternal gatekeeping
• We describe how our loss of personal identities contributes to our dissatisfaction at this stage of life
• We discuss a study that suggests that marital unhappiness could just be a product of western society 
• Finally, we talk about some of the tools and techniques for dealing with relationship issues. 

I'm a big fan of Philippa Perry's book "The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (And Your Children Will Be Glad You Did)", which you can buy here. 

But no sooner do those injuries appear, than they heal, uncannily quickly, and rarely leaving behind any scars at all. We dive into what's going in inside their tiny Wolverine bodies to give them this super-healing ability. 

In this epsiode:

• We spend a bit of time catching up, including an update on Kim and Stella's weaning journey
• We share experiences of our little ones injuring themselves and then healing without a trace
• We discuss growth and skin renewal rate, and how that changes through life
• How this manifests itself in baby fingernails and toenails growing incredibly quickly
• We dive deep into the cellular biology of healing and scarring, exploring the role of collagen and other cells in rebuilding the skin, as well as a balanced immune response to protect and regulate, and the overall instructions given by our genes. Through this, we push the analogy of building a skyscraper to its limit. 
• Also, a brief mention of the role of stem cells, although those will get their own episode at some point in the future, too.

Right now, Kim is just about to start weaning, and Leila is shocked to discover that she and Felix have been at the solid foods game for over two years. So this is a great opportunity to compare notes on when is the right time to wean your baby, as well as some of the things to look out for in those early months. 

In this episode:

• We share our expectations and experiences with weaning onto solids
• A bit of historical context about weaning timing, explaining why recommendations have swung from one year, to 4 months, and back again
• Is baby's digestive system really that immature? What's actually going on inside their bodies as they transition from milk to food
• What are the signs that you should look for that your baby is ready for weaning?
• An important chat about choking risk - why it happens and how to mitigate it
• A final note on allergens, and how advice has changed over the years

Solid Starts is the app that we mention in this episode, which helps to guide you on appropriate foods to introduce, and how to prepare them for babies of different ages. 

https://solidstarts.com/app/ 

Around three months after giving birth, many women are alarmed to find their hair starting to fall out. Although this is a pretty ubiquitous anacdote shared among new mothers, the science - where it exists - tells us that it might not be a real phenomenon.

In this episode, Leila and Kim dive into the pitiful research that has been done to figure out if postpartum hairloss is a real thing, and what might be causing it.

In this episode:

• We compare notes on our hair growth during pregnancy and its subsequent loss after birth.
• A brief review of the limited research that's been done into postpartum hair loss.
• We consider whether this hair loss is a real thing, or if it's all in our heads. 
• A run down on how hair grows normally, and how this growth cycle is changed by the transformative process of having a child. 
• How the amount and timing of hair loss is affected by things like breastfeeding and the seasons
• How and why our babies also lose hair, and how that's tied to many of the same processes. 
• What we can do about postpartum hair loss

In this episode:

• Leila and Kim share and compare their personal experiences of pregnancy loss and how it has changed their attitudes to actually having a child
• A look at the frequency of pregnancy loss, and the documented causes
• We dissect how the language we use shapes the way we and others think about pregnancy loss. 
• Some advice on what to say to someone going through a pregnancy loss
• How pregnancy losses are treated in the workplace, and how that's beginning to change.

Find out more about Baby Loss Awareness Week: https://babyloss-awareness.org/

Charities that can offer support and guidance for people going through pregnancy loss:

https://www.sands.org.uk/ 

https://www.miscarriageassociation.org.uk/ 

In this epsiode:

• We compare our very different baby feeding experiences - Kim has breastfed, while Leila never nursed, but used a combination of pumping and formula.
• The history of breastfeeding for mammals and our species, as well as the development of modern infant formula
• What exactly is in formula and in breast milk
• How breast milk is made from blood and bones
• How breast milk changes dynamically in response to your baby 
• What the data shows about the differences breastmilk vs formula makes. 

Some of the information in this episode comes from Emily Oster's brilliant book Cribsheet, which you can buy for yourself here.

And if you have a snotty baby and you don't want to do it the old-fashioned way, you can find a multitude of snot suckers out there:

• Bulb
• Snot Pooter
• Motorised thingummy (aka a nasal aspirator)

Note: the shopping links here are affiliate links which earns us a very modest commission to help fund this podcast.  

In this episode:

• The era we're living in right now is shaped by our interactions on social media
• How algorithms work to find and serve what you secretly want
• Our personal experiences with social media through our parenting journeys
• How social media has evolved in recent years
• The fundamental need for social comparison and how social media is changing that
• What we can do to protect ourselves

Find more Science Baby content at thesciencebaby.com 

In this episode: 

• Our personal experiences with poop
• What is poo, what is meconium, and why is baby poo so colourful
• The gut microbiome and vaginal seeding
• The diminishing gastrocolic reflex
• Why mums love the smell of their babies' poo

In this episode: 

• Our personal experiences with out babies' sleep
• The biology of sleep, including sleep-wake homeostasis and circadian rhythms
• Helen Ball and colleagues' book 'How Babies Sleep'
• The science of sleep cycles and sleep consolidation
• Differences between children
• Cultural pressures
• How to cope, including cosleeping advice

A chance for you to get acquainted with your hosts, Leila and Kim. We're two science communicators and first time mums trying to understand the science behind pregnancy, birth and beyond.

In this episode:

• Our respective journeys to motherhood
• Our professional and nerdy backgrounds
•  We chat about matrescence, maternal mental health and the medicalization of birth
• Why we want to make this podcast, and what you can expect