I’m sure that many moms, especially first timers find the very idea laughable, that a mom can over-bond with her baby. But that seems to be the opinion of Nicole Kidman’s mother. According to reports, the actress was quoted as saying, “My mum thinks I’ve over-bonded with my baby, but I don’t care.” Yes, most women experiencing motherhood for the first time wouldn’t much care either.

Kidman also said in an interview, “I can’t bear to be separate from my baby; I’m totally devoted to her.” Well that certainly sounds like new mom euphoria to me. Perhaps her mom just has a different parenting style. Thankfully Kidman still seems to be doing her own thing. It’s tough sometimes to raise and nurture your child with all the advice you’re bombarded with.

Interestingly, a quick search on Google for the term ‘over bonding‘ revealed results that only had to do with animals. Well, on the first page at any rate. So does it even exist, or is it just something Kidman’s mom coined to get her point across? Is it even possible for a mom to over-bond with her baby? And what does that entail really?

I guess this raises the age old issue of parents disagreeing with the parenting methods of their children. After all, if they brought them this far, surely they must have done a great job right? Maybe Kidman’s mom is just angling for a little more time with precious Sunday Rose. For that we can hardly blame her.

New moms are understandably protective of their babies, and spending every possible moment with them seems like the most natural thing in the world. How would you react if someone suggested that you might have over-bonded with your baby?

Incidentally, Kidman’s character in the new film Australia, can’t have children of her own. This seemed to be the case with Kidman, who eventually adopted after suffering miscarriages while married to Tom Cruise.

She went on to reveal that no less than seven babies were conceived during the filming of the movie. “There is definitely something up there in that Kununurra water. We all went swimming in the waterfalls, so we call it the fertility waters now,” Kidman said. Maybe that will be a new selling point for the country’s tourism.

One minute per day, six minutes per week. This is the average time that Australian daddies spend alone with their kid(s) without mommies around. When it comes to the routine care of the kids – bathing, feeding, changing, the average can go up a bit – 60 minutes (1 hour) in a working week although daddies tend to do it as a team with the mommies (90% of the time) and seldom alone. Mommies, on the other hand, average 3 hours a week on childcare solo duty, not counting the hours spent multi-tasking with household chores.

However, on the weekends, Aussie daddies tend to spend more time with the kids but still seldom alone but as part of family activities. If ever Daddy takes over from Mommy for a couple of hours on the weekends, it’s for fun activities such as sports or going to the park, but very seldom for basic care.

This is a according to findings by social researcher Lyn Craig of the University of New South Wales, as reported by The Australian.

In other words, compared to some developed countries, the disparity in parental duties in Australia is much greater compared to some countries although the “minute-a-day figure was fairly typical across the world – only Scandinavian countries showed a slightly higher figure” the report says. Denmark is especially remarkable, with Danish daddies doing as much as 17% of childcare solo.

“Men tend to contribute when they’re free, when they can do the fun things, and when it is a family group situation. Women are the default carer, so they tend to do much more of the routine tasks and multi-task with their other household duties at the same time as looking after children” according to Dr. Craig.

The big difference between Danish and Australian parenting styles may be due to the fact that more Danish women work full time (65% in Denmark vs. 12% in Aussie). However, in Aussie, childcare tends to be Mommy?s job and Daddy?s hobby regardless whether Mommy is working full time or not.

To explore further this issue, Lisa Millar of ABC online interviewed Dr. Craig together with 2 “typical” Aussie dads. The two dads do not agree with the 1-minute-a-day estimates but they do agree that the time they spend with their kids during the week is “ridiculously low.” They also admit to spending more time with kids in fun activities, probably to give Mommy more time to take care of the household chores.

Question to daddies: how much time do you spend alone with your kids? Do you think there is a disparity in parental duties in your home?

You know the age-old expression that “there’s something in the water”? According to Nicole Kidman, swimming in Australian Outback waterfalls is the cause of her unexpected pregnancy.

Nicole says that she, and six other women who swam in the same waterfall pool all became pregnant during production of her last movie, Australia.

Her daughter, Sunday Rose Kidman Urban, was born in July this year, when Kidman was 41. Pretty first names, but the multiple last names don’t get any easier after a few months…

She says the pregnancy was completely unexpected, especially after a miscarriage she suffered while married to Tom Cruise.

She’s so convinced that the waters were the cause of her pregnancy that she’s encouraging other women to visit the town of Kununurra and swim in the water too.

Would you go all the way to Australia to get pregnant?

Source

In the Australian state of New south Wales, family affairs ministers are drawing up plans that may pay moms to stay home with their babies for the first two years. It’s aimed at moms who want to stay at home, but have to return to work for financial reasons.

The Commissioner for Children and Young People, Gillian Calvert, says that “we have evidence that maternal employment during an infant’s first year of life can have a detrimental effect on their cognitive development.” and that the mother-baby interaction is vital for building social and communication skills.

Wouldn’t that be nice, to be paid to stay at home? I’d be happy to accept the check if I lived in Australia!

What I don’t like is the implied criticism of working mothers. While many moms would be delighted as me to not have to go out to work, the decision to stay at home, or go back to work, is a personal one based on many factors. While finances play a large part, it’s also about mom wanting to go back. Many women love their jobs and would feel a huge loss if they had to quit, or were guilted into it by government, or society.

A mom who works in a fulfilling job, who leaves her baby with a loving, nurturing caregiver, is surely just as good as a mom that stays at home with her baby? Especially if working mom gains immense personal satisfaction from her career and comes home happy, rather than a sad mom who’s had her arm twisted into quitting something she loves to do?

What do you think? Is the Australian government right to criticize working moms? It would be fabulous to not have to work if you don’t want to, but is it right to lump all working moms together and tell them that their babies brain development will suffer?

On Friday, July 25th, Australian courts ruled that the unnamed Lesbian couple who underwent In-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment for one baby and instead got two, had no valid claim and dismissed the case. The controversial lawsuit has sparked outrage amongst many in Australia, with the couple, who insist that the unplanned twin birth had affected their relationship negatively, asking for $400,000 from the doctor who had implanted not one but two embryos.

Most of Australians who learn about the lawsuit are overwhelmingly against the couple, and has convinced others even more that homosexual couples should not be allowed to undergo IVF procedures.

The Lesbian couple, who to this day remains anonymous, have issued a statement that states their love for their twin daughters, now 4 yrs. old. The statement also clarifies that their lawsuit was about the negligence of their obstetrician in implanting two embryos instead of one.

What do you think of this lawsuit? Are you glad it was overturned, or did you think the couple had a valid claim?

Here’s an incredible story of a miracle baby girl born in Australia this week.

Ectopic pregnancies, where a baby starts to grow inside a fallopian tube instead of the womb, usually end in miscarriage, or are terminated because of the risk to the mother. An ectopic pregnancy can irreparably rupture the fallopian tube, requiring a hysterectomy, or can even be fatal to the mother.

For this mother, her baby daughter didn’t just start to grow in her fallopian tube, she started to grow inside her ovary. This kind of pregnancy is incredibly rare, and usually impossible for the baby to survive.

Little Durga – her name means “goddess” was born healthy and well, weighing 6 lb 3oz, at 38 weeks. And what is incredible about this case, is that her mom, and her doctors, had no idea until Durga was delivered by cesarean section.

The hospital reports that Durga and her mom are both doing well.

Doctors say that it is unheard of for a baby that begins developing in an ovary to reach full term, and are astounded that her mom’s ovary didn’t break. Truly a miraculous case!

Miracle Baby Born in Australia