PAEDS

I am incredibly humbled to be named as a finalist in two categories of the Community Achievement Awards :

✨ Regional Development Business Achievement Award
✨ Awards Australia Foundation Health & Wellbeing Award

I put my heart and soul into PAEDS. Not because I set out to build a fortune or create something flashy, but because this genuinely feels like my life’s work.

I believe every child deserves the best possible health outcomes, regardless of their postcode, ethnicity, background or family circumstances. Paediatric healthcare, health literacy and injury prevention sit at the heart of everything we do, and taking that knowledge into communities where it can make a real difference is what drives me every day.

A beautiful friend and colleague recently described PAEDS as “the no-fuss experts in the field.” Not here for the gloss or the glamour, just quietly getting on with the work of making a difference to kids’ health.

That description meant more to me than she probably realised.

Because that is exactly who I hope we are.

Trusted. Genuine. Practical. Evidence-based. And always, always for every child.

To be recognised for work that means so much to me is incredibly special. ❤️

So humbled to be a finalist in these incredible awards. Community Achievement Awards Australia

Somewhere along the way, parenting choices became teams.

Breast or bottle.
Bassinet or co-sleeping.
Baby-led weaning or purées.
Routine or go with the flow.

And suddenly, choosing what works for your family can feel like choosing a side.

But parenting isn’t a competition, and another family making a different choice doesn’t make yours wrong.

Ask the questions that matter: Is it safe? Is my baby thriving? Is this working for our family?

If the answer is yes, you don’t owe the internet an explanation.

If it works for your family, it doesn’t need defending.

The end. 🎤

Four kids. One adult. Most days, that’s the maths in my house.

I’m a paediatric nurse and I still think about this- because knowing what to do is only half of it. The other half is whether help can actually get to you fast when you’re on your own.

So here’s what I’ve set up. None of it is dramatic. All of it buys time.

🔑Car keys live in one place. If I have to get a child to hospital, I’m not turning the house over while my heart is going.

📱My phone is on me or in the central part of the house. Somewhere my big kids can find it and dial. And it’s charged. Boring, but it’s the whole thing. I live rural- I need to get help without the barriers

❤️If I ever have to do CPR, I’m on my own but my kids are running to grab a defib at the local CFA. I’m envious if you live suburbia! I would be taking my child to the street. I know that sounds mad. But in suburbia someone will see you - a neighbour, a car, the postie - and they will stop. Two sets of hands beats one, and you’ve just made yourself easy for the ambulance to find. Same for choking. Don’t be alone in your home.

🗓️New allergens happened on a Wednesday at 10am. Never a Saturday night. Mid-morning midweek means the GP is open, the chemist is open and the roads are quiet. One new food at a time, repeat for the next exposure.

That’s it. Five minutes of setting up, and I go into every solo day a bit calmer.

Save this one so it’s there when you need it. And if you’ve never done a paediatric first aid course -come and do one with us. A post is not training.

In an emergency, always call 000.

If you’ve ever watched a paediatric nurse or doctor hold your baby, they often subconsciously run their hand over your baby’s head. There is good reason for this ⬇️

One really useful piece of information we use to measure the health of your bub is from this little soft spot- on the top and back of their head.

Covered by some tough membranes, it’s where the skull bones haven’t completely fused together, allowing RAPID brain growth during your child’s first year of life.

When we feel it we are looking to see
1. Is it still open and a good size- we don’t want them closing too early and restricting brain growth
2. Is it flat, sunken or bulging- this tells us information about how well your baby is hydrated and if there is any pressure inside their head- caused by different things including brain swelling, excess fluid or bleeding

Don’t be afraid to touch it or wash over it. And use it as part of your assessment when your babe is unwell. This is something we teach you in all our classes 💙

Every single child deserves a childhood

Not just the ones who fit neatly into a picture
Not just the ones in the beautiful clothes, with perfectly styled nurseries and every opportunity available to them

The child with epilepsy
The child with diabetes
The child who is tube fed
The child with a tracheostomy

The child with medical needs means that joining in sometimes takes a little more work from the adults around them.

They deserve childhood too.

They deserve all the fun too, without the answer automatically being “it’s too risky”

Inclusion isn’t simply inviting every child~ it’s making sure the people around them have the knowledge, skills and confidence to include them.

That’s why we exist.

We educate the people around children - adults and kids so that medical complexity doesn’t become a barrier to belonging

Childhood isn’t meant to be reserved for those who are “easy to accommodate”

Every child matters. Every child belongs

Parents have never had more access to health information

And yet I wonder if we’ve ever second guessed ourselves more?

We can search every symptom, research every possibility and find hundreds of opinions within seconds

But access to information is not the same as knowing what matters

Parents don’t need to become Paediatricians

You need trusted people who can help you understand what to look out for, what you can manage at home and when you need to seek help.

Our goal as parents is not to know everything.
It’s to know enough to feel confident in what we do next.

We believe you deserve that confidence and we want to teach you. More than ever before. 🤍