Sunday Morning for Sunday 28 January 2018

7:11 Anthony Turton: the Capetown water crisis

Cape Town, South Africa's second largest city with 3.7 million people, is running out of water. The city is facing its worst drought in 100 years, and its water supply is predicted to run out on 21 April  - what they're calling Day Zero. Dr Anthony Turton is an environmental adviser who has studied water issues extensively and talks about the unprecedented water crisis facing the city’s inhabitants.

7.32 Hot weather leads to hungry kereru

It's hot and dry in plenty of places and that may be having an effect on one of our most loved birds - the kereru. After hearing about kereru being found on the ground - weak from starvation - we thought a call to Auckland's famous bird lady Sylvia Durrant was in order, to find out what we can do, if anything, to help the kereru when its food source becomes scarce. 

7:43 Back to school: Whetu Cormick

Many schools re-open this week. And we're hearing constantly about the teacher shortage, particularly in Auckland. There are many reasons for that -  including the status of the teaching profession having diminished over the years, and of course wages. President of the NZ Principals' Federation Whetu Cormick talks about the challenge, and the end of National Standards. 

7:52 Australian Open finals: Dave Worsley 

Dave Worsley wraps up the women's Aussie Open final last night and the maiden Grand Slam win for Caroline Wozniacki. And previews Sunday's final between Roger Federer and Marin Cilic.

8:10 Insight: Paralympic sport - fair play?

The ethos of the Paralympic movement is fair and equal competition.  At its heart is the classification system designed to ensure people of equal impairment compete against each other.  The International Paralympic Committee has warned that some athletes are exaggerating their disability - known as intentional misrepresentation - in order to get into a more favourable class.  In this BBC World Service Assignment programme,  Jane Deith speaks to athletes, coaches and officials who are concerned that the system is being abused

8.37 Jodi Mindell: The facts about your baby’s sleep

Clinical psychologist Professor Jodi Mindell is a paediatric sleep expert who works at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia and is also associate director of the Sleep Centre at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
Her 2005 book Sleeping Through the Night was a bestseller and she's written or co-written at least seven books about paediatric sleep problems. She says New Zealand is leading the way in baby’s sleep research, and also has one of the earliest bed times for babies, which she says is a good thing. She recommends this site to check out your baby’s sleep.  

SEE THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE FOR QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY JODI MINDELL AFTER THE SHOW

9:06 Mediawatch

On Mediawatch: the PM’s pregnancy sparks a media frenzy and a media boss criticises the new government’s broadcasting policy. Also one Kiwi’s outrage went viral in the media recently - but was it for real or fake news?  

9.41 Gordon Ramsay: ‘Never trust a fat chef’

British chef Gordon Ramsay earned his first Michelin star in 1998 and his Restaurant Gordon Ramsay has three - a big deal in the culinary world. He has opened more restaurants than some of us have had decent meals, sold a stack of books -  both memoir and recipe - and of course become a TV star with the likes of Hell's Kitchen, MasterChef, Hotel Hell, The F Word and many more. His latest book, "Gordon Ramsay's Ultimate Fit Food" reflects a growing awareness of the importance of eating decent tasty food for good health. He says what he cooks in his restaurants isn’t the same as what he cooks at home and parents need to take responsibility for what they put in their children’s mouths.

10:04 Lloyd Jones: The Cage

Lloyd Jones' latest book is a compelling if deeply unsettling read. The genesis of The Cage - about two strangers who turn up at  a hotel fleeing some kind of mysterious catastrophe - came from an equally unsettling moment Lloyd Jones witnessed in Europe. He says the book was written from a sense of indignation he felt while he was in Budapest in 2015, where he observed the indifference of locals to the thousands of desperate Syrians on their streets.

Lloyd Jones will be part of the New Zealand Festival’s Writers & Readers programme 8-11 March, in conversation with Australian writer Charlotte Wood.

10.39 Pip Hall: tackling a Maurice Gee classic for the stage

Award-winning playwright Pip Hall has been writing full time, with parenting thrown in, for two decades.
The daughter of Roger Hall has now taken on one of NZ's best loved sci-fi stories, Maurice Gee's classic novel Under the Mountain.  It's a story that's rarely been out of print and has already been a TV mini-series in the early 1980s and a feature movie in 2009. Under the Mountain is the story of young red-headed twins Theo and Rachel who must save the world from terrifying aliens who are awakened from their slumber under Auckland's volcanoes. It will run from February 7 at Auckland's ASB Waterfront Theatre as part of the Auckland Theatre Company's 25th season.

11.04 Ruth Lockwood: Turkish delight  

Ruth Lockwood is a New Zealander living in Turkey and has worked in Cappadocia tourism for nearly three decades. It's a city renowned for its caves and culture and Ruth, who grew up in Napier, has combined a career in both.  She started by creating a cave hotel and later set up a Turkish rugs and textiles gallery called Tribal Collections. She's now considered highly knowledgeable not only on local textiles but also on many aspects of Turkish culture. Recently she branched into another area, charity work, setting up Helping Hands to try to make a better life for the Syrian children who have arrived in Turkey.

11.38 Gary Young: being Outlandish

The TV series Outlander is a bit like a Scottish version of Game of Thrones - historical drama complete with violent battles, time-travel romance, and a little bit science fiction. There have been three seasons of Outlander, and a fourth season - from the popular Diana Gabaldon books - is in production. Almost two years ago, Kiwi actor Gary Young  landed the biggest role of his life in the series, playing Mr Willoughby.  We caught up with him to ask how it's changed his life.

Your Feedback to the show
 

LISTENERS' QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY PROF JODI MINDELL AFTER THE SHOW
Do you have any ideas for a five year old who has always had difficulty settling to sleep despite all routines being carried out as suggested? Susan

 There can be a number of reasons that a 5-year-old has a difficult time settling to sleep.  Often it is related to stalling and making multiple requests.  If this is the case, a bedtime routine chart can be very helpful, showing all the steps of the bedtime routine.  This will keep the evening on track and will cut back on all the extra requests, such as asking for another story.  In addition, we often recommend a bedtime pass if there are multiple requests after lights out.  A bedtime pass is simple.  A parent can use an index card or a chip that the child can turn in for one more request (such as a last trip to the bathroom or an extra hug).  Once the pass is turned in, then there are no more requests honored.  Another common reason is anxiety, so think about whether your little one is worried or afraid at night.  If so, there are a number of excellent parenting books available on helping anxious children develop coping skills.

Our two-year-old wakes 2-4 times a night. She is in her own room. She is still breastfed at night only - is this why she wakes up at night? Would she sleep through the night if she was no longer breast fed? Help! We are exhausted. Elizabeth

I hate to say it, but it is likely the breastfeeding. Think about what happens at bedtime. If your little one is nursing to sleep, or even just getting sleepy when nursing, that is likely what she needs to return to sleep when she naturally awakens during the night.  If so, a good first step is to stop the bedtime nursing. Be careful not to replace it though with another habit, such as drinking from a sippy cup, to fall asleep. Once she is no longer nursing to sleep at bedtime, give it a week or two. You’ll then see if you will need to take the step of cutting back on the nighttime nursing too or if she just starts naturally sleeping through the night.  

We have a two and a half-year-old in her own room and a seven-month-old in a cot in our room. They both sleep very well through the night. We want to get them sharing a room but we're nervous about them keeping each other awake. Does she have any tips for sibling room-sharing? How do we support them to continue their good sleep habits? Rose and Charlie

Lots of little ones share a room, and it can lead to wonderful memories as kids get older. Surprisingly, most children sleep through the other one waking at night. The best strategy is to do exactly what you do now and to start off the very first night that they are together with how you want bedtime to go. So if you typically put each down at bedtime with a last hug and kiss, and then leave the room, be sure to stick with that. Be careful not to make changes to help the transition, such as staying in the room for the first few nights if you normally do not, otherwise you may be doing it for weeks and months to come.

Do you think it's a good idea to give a tired baby a short sleep in the afternoon and then wake it from that sleep? ie does interrupting sleep then affect sleeping patterns in the night? Amanda

Although many parents dread waking a sleeping baby, it absolutely makes sense to do so to stay on schedule. If your little one normally naps until 4:30 and goes to bed at 7:00, then go ahead and wake her at 4:30 if she is still sleeping.  That will keep the evening on track and she’ll be ready for her 7:00 bedtime.  In addition, if she is seeming extra tired in the afternoon, a short nap can be a good idea.  Before the age of three, naps typically do not affect nighttime sleep.  

 I'd be interested in knowing if parents are justified in altering their baby's bedtimes due to the extreme heat lately. I can't get my baby to sleep before 9.15pm at the moment . Very Hong-Kong-esque. Kathy

If a home is air-conditioned, then the heat outside will likely not affect sleep schedules.  But if your home is not air-conditioned, it would not be surprising that a baby has a hard time sleeping before the temperature drops in the evening. 

More tips at  babysleep.com. Jodi Mindell will be answering questions on the Facebook page on March 1st (US time) for Baby Sleep Day.