In this episode, we’re talking all about hayfever in children - how it can affect them, how tricky it can be to spot, and how to help manage hayfever symptoms during pollen season.

We explore just how unpleasant hayfever can be for little ones, from feeling generally unwell and tired to dealing with a wide range of symptoms. Because younger children can’t always explain how they’re feeling, it can be difficult to know whether it’s just a cold or hayfever. We talk through the common hayfever symptoms in children, including sneezing (very common for Becks!), runny nose, coughing, itchy, watery or red eyes, headaches, earaches, tiredness, and that itchy or scratchy throat that may be described by little ones as a sore throat.

We also discuss how hayfever symptoms can vary day to day, and how different types of pollen affect children at different times of year - tree pollen in spring, grass pollen in summer (often worse during harvest time), and weed pollen in autumn.

Antihistamines can help relieve hayfever symptoms, but we touch on how they may still cause drowsiness in some children - something to be mindful of, especially when they may already be feeling run down. If your child has more severe hayfever, we highlight the importance of speaking to a GP or pharmacist for advice and support.

Claire also shares some simple, practical tips for managing hayfever in children and helping them feel more comfortable during high pollen days.

With hayfever season approaching, we hope this episode gives you helpful, realistic ways to support your child through it.

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Our Hayfever blog – My child has hayfever, what can I do to help?

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This podcast is produced by Decibelle Creative

Trigger warning: In this episode we talk about birth trauma and Hannah’s personal experience of this. If you don’t feel ready to listen right now, please take care of yourself and come back when the time feels right 💛

In this episode, we’re joined by Hannah, who we first met when she was a student at Norland College. Hannah shares her experience of the traumatic birth of her daughter, and why she feels so strongly about raising awareness and supporting other parents who may be going through something similar.

We talk about the importance of having someone to advocate for you during pregnancy and birth, and what can happen when that support isn’t there. Hannah reflects on her experience in hospital, the moments and interactions that have stayed with her, and how it felt to meet her daughter for the first time in NICU. She also shares the ongoing impact once they returned home, from feeling overlooked and unsupported, to navigating continued concerns and ‘red flags’ in her baby’s care.

We also explore how birth trauma doesn’t always end when you leave the hospital. Hannah opens up about the time it took to for her to realise she needed to seek support, finally doing so through her GP, the emotional toll it had on her relationships, and the difficult decision-making process when considering having another baby, including the support she received from a birth trauma therapist.

This conversation highlights how important it is that parents feel heard, supported and cared for and raises important questions about how maternity services can better support families. Hannah also shares her thoughts on the need for greater awareness of birth trauma and why she is supporting calls for maternity reform.

Hannah talked to us about a petition currently circulating around maternity reform. This is being debated on 20 April 2026 and, if you are listening before the deadline of 7 July 2026, she (and we) would urge you to sign it.

Sign the petition here

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Our podcast episode (September 2025) with Trudi Webber from Make Birth Better, was all about what birth trauma is, how it can happen along with tips for looking after yourself emotionally when preparing for, during and after birth – you can listen to this episode here

For information about a Bespoke Family Parent Consultation click here

‘Your Guide to...’ (our downloadable webinars including preparing for and welcoming your newborn, behaviour, toilet training, sleep and more)

This podcast is produced by Decibelle Creative

Claire wasn’t a really sicky child (Becks was!) but she has a phobia of sick so this was a great topic for her!!

We talked about:

1. Sickness bugs (aren’t they a gift..!) and some tips to help.
2. Getting sick off a carpet – use shaving foam!
3. Sick phobias and parenting – it's a real thing.
4. Dehydration – the signs to look for.
5. How children should be 48 hours clear before going back to nursery or school and why (and no swimming for 2 weeks). They will probably tell nursery anyway!!
6. Foods to help with recuperation.
7. Triggers for sickness and how they can continue (think of that drink that made you sick 😉)
8. How sickness bugs creep up on you with no warning – you just have to go with it (but make sure you are ready with a sick bowl, kitchen roll and marigolds!)!

Always remember to seek medical advice (GP, Pharmacist or 111) if you are worried.

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For information about a Bespoke Family Parent Consultation click here

‘Your Guide to...’ (our downloadable webinars including preparing for and welcoming your newborn, behaviour, toilet training, sleep and more)

This podcast is produced by Decibelle Creative

A topic that we are contacted about quite regularly – we absolutely expect broken sleep in the first months, and then sleep is really good (whatever that means to us) then it starts to change and feels like it’s all gone wrong...

1. Don’t panic! - we talk about all the things that could be impacting this and the possible reasons why sleep has changed.
2. How illness can impact on children’s sleep and how to get back to a routine that suits you with the least amount of upset.
3. Feeling scared and how this can affect sleep (we have some blogs on how to help with this).
4. Situations when little ones are disturbed because they are practicing things like crawling, rolling, babbling etc.
5. How routines (daytime and bedtime) can affect sleep.
6. Sleep associations – whatever children go to sleep with they will look for it to help settle them back off in the night when they wake up.
7. Treating it like a puzzle and the importance of taking notes so you can see any patterns.
8. How nothing is unfixable and everything is sortable (and we are here to help with a Bespoke Family Parent Consultation if you need it!)!

Our sleep blogs - https://www.bespokefamily.co.uk/blog/category/Sleep

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For information about a Bespoke Family Parent Consultation click here

‘Your Guide to...’ (our downloadable webinars including preparing for and welcoming your newborn, behaviour, toilet training, sleep and more)

This podcast is produced by Decibelle Creative

When / why do children become more fussy? We spoke about the neophobic stage (which goes right back to when we were cave people!) as well as other reasons why babies and children might be choosy about food.

1. What happens when panic sets in and our children refuse to eat?
2. Some tips to help children with learning about what they like and portion control.
3. Offering alternatives?
4. Watching our children eat “please just try it!!!”and how it feels for them.
5. How the neophobic stage is also the ‘terrible twos’ stage.
6. ‘Tricking’ / bribing children to get them to eat.
7. Did Claire’s dad buy cabbage for tea! Of course he did 😉!
8. How important it is for children to be sitting in a position where their back and feet are supported to eat comfortably and well.
9. Sweet and savoury – puddings, how we are conditioned from childhood, building good food habits.

Our food and weaning blogs - https://www.bespokefamily.co.uk/blog/category/Food+and+weaning

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For information about a Bespoke Family Parent Consultation click here

‘Your Guide to...’ (our downloadable webinars including preparing for and welcoming your newborn, behaviour, toilet training, sleep and more)

This podcast is produced by Decibelle Creative

We started the conversation by acknowledging that some adults don’t necessarily show much affection even though they are very caring people and children are the same.

We spoke about:

• How there is nothing better than a lovely cuddle from a child and it can feel difficult when a child doesn’t necessarily want this from us.
• The other ways that children show affection to us.
• The importance of never expecting children to give hugs or show physical affection
• 5 Love Languages – how physical touch isn’t always the most important to fulfil children’s affection.
• Quality time and the importance of this to children.
• Being the ‘preferred parent’

Our blog - Why doesn't my child show much affection?

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For information about a Bespoke Family Parent Consultation click here

‘Your Guide to...’ (our downloadable webinars including preparing for and welcoming your newborn, behaviour, toilet training, sleep and more)

This podcast is produced by Decibelle Creative

There are swear words in this episode so please make sure that little ears aren’t listening 🙉 ...!

This episode is all about when your child, all of a sudden, says a swear word (or something they think is a swear word!) and what you can do about it. We spoke about:

• How sometimes in families where there is so much swearing that the children don’t actually swear!
• Overuse of swear words and how much more it is heard on a day to day basis now (including in songs on the radio and as graffiti!! - Claire has a funny story about this 😬).
• When children take you by surprise with a swear word!
• When children copy us 🫣!!
• How children love making people laugh and how it can be confusing when we then change our reaction from laughing to saying "no don’t say that!". Ways we can react instead.
• What to say when children ask what a swear word means 😳.
• Some of Claire’s funny experiences of children swearing in nursery!
• When children get older and use swear words.

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Read our blog on this topic here – How to handle children using swear words!

For information about a Bespoke Family Parent Consultation click here

‘Your Guide to...’ (our downloadable webinars including preparing for and welcoming your newborn, behaviour, toilet training, sleep and more)

This podcast is produced by Decibelle Creative

This episode is all about looking after children when they are feeling under the weather and the bugs that they bring home from nursery and school (how is it that we sometimes feel so much worse than they do?!).

We talked about lots of things you can do to help little ones feel better and more comfortable as well as:

• The time of year that children tend to get more bugs (or whether that’s really a thing).
• The chickenpox vaccine and what this means for babies, children and families.
• Hygiene – washing hands, hand sanitiser, keeping toys clean etc.
• Temperatures – what is a high temperature and how do you get it down?
• When you shouldn’t give Ibuprofen.
• The medicine box / cupboard and what should be in it.
• Keeping hydrated.
• When a baby has a temperature or isn’t well.
• The importance of not randomly Googling! How you should always refer to the NHS or call 111 for answers / guidance.
• First Aid training and how helpful this can be.
• Tips for when children are coughing (including some old wives tales!) and the nasal aspirator (snot sucker!).
• Changing habits and routines and how to re-introduce them when the child is feeling better.

NHS Apps:

Handi App The HANDi app offers simple and straightforward advice, for the following conditions in children:

• diarrhoea and vomiting
• high temperature
• ‘chesty baby’ illnesses, such as bronchiolitis, asthma and croup
• ‘chesty child’ illnesses, such as wheezing and asthma
• common newborn problems
• tummy pain
• head injuries.

The Healthier Together App

Similar to HANDi, it uses a symptom checker to guide parents on whether to treat at home, seek GP advice, or attend emergency services.

Instagram @bespokefamily

For information about a Bespoke Family Parent Consultation click here

‘Your Guide to...’ (our downloadable webinars including preparing for and welcoming your newborn, behaviour, toilet training, sleep and more)

This podcast is produced by Decibelle Creative