Category Archives: Motherhood

Being a mum

Confessions of a baby spammer

10 Wednesday Dec 2014

Posted by in Baby and toddler products, Family, Motherhood, Opinion

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Baby spam

Mixed in with the sleepless nights, bowling ball boobs and baby brain, there’s one more thing that I’d forgotten happens to you when you have a baby: you can’t stop taking photos.

There are the sleeping photos. (Baby sleeping. Baby sleeping in new position. Baby sleeping while being cuddled. Baby sleeping in new baby-grow. Baby sleeping on grandparents. Baby sleeping in moses basket.)

Then there are the awake photos. (Baby pulling funny face. Baby pulling another funny face. Baby wind face. Baby in cute outfit while looking thoroughly unimpressed.)

Then there are the “firsts photos”. (First bath. First outing outside of the house. First trip to the supermarket. First time in car seat. First trip to the park. First time in pram.)  Continue reading »

10 Baby life hacks for new parents

27 Thursday Nov 2014

Posted by in Baby and toddler products, Family, Motherhood

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Baby hacks

Ah babies. The cute, innocent, loud little things. If only they came with an instruction manual eh? So they may not come with a “How To” guide, but there are a few very simple solutions to every day problems that you’re bound to face with your newborn. Here are ten baby hacks that have helped in our first few weeks of life with a second baby.

1. Keep a change box in the living room

A box full of nappies, baby wipes, a couple of clean vests and babygrows will come in handy downstairs. You’d be surprised how exhausting walking up and down the stairs a million times a day can be.

Change box

2. Bulk buy Infacol

If you have a baby who struggles to bring up their wind then Infacol is your friend. It’s magic medicine that you drop into their mouth before each feed and can help your baby do a big burp afterwards. We used it lots with our first and a little with our second. But there’s nothing more annoying than running out of Infacol at 3am, so when you buy it – buy twice.

Infacol baby Continue reading »

Second babies and the benefit of hindsight

25 Tuesday Nov 2014

Posted by in Family, Motherhood, Sleep

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I write this with a baby strapped to me, sleeping in her baby wrap. This is something I would never have done with my first baby, now aged four. In fact, it’s just one thing in a long list of “don’ts” that I think would have made life with my first born a heck of a lot easier.

New baby

I remember as a new mum first time around constantly being told that it gets easier. “When she gets to 12 weeks old you’ll have a routine,” “She’ll sleep through the night by the time she’s six months”, “The wind issues will stop once she’s a bit bigger”. Looking back, I spent a lot of those early days looking for magic answers to situations deemed as problems – by me and others.

As a second timer I have the benefit of hindsight. If my baby is struggling to nap then that’s OK – I just put her in the sling. In fact, napping hasn’t been a “problem” because I’ve not put a ban on the baby sleeping anywhere other than her moses basket. First time around I was so concerned about setting up bad habits that I agonised over letting my baby fall asleep on me, or in the pram, or anywhere else for that matter.  Continue reading »

The recipe for happiness

16 Sunday Nov 2014

Posted by in Family, Motherhood, Opinion

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Happiness

Happiness. At this time of year, more than ever, we seem to be bombarded with ideas of happiness and told where we need to go and what we need to buy to be happy. As we strive for that elusive happy there are lots of people ready to tell us what’s missing in our lives – the things that will provide that extra bit of happiness we’ve been missing.

The Christmas ads roll out, full of smiling families all laughing merrily over their glasses of champagne and beautifully lit Christmas dinners. Is this what we need to do to be happy? Add some posh candles to the table and – hey presto! – the happiness factor is ramped up by at least ten points, supposedly.

And then there are the adverts for kids’ toys. Every one promises to make that child’s day “extra special”. Our children are told they need all this stuff to be happy. The latest Frozen toy will complete their life. All kids need an iPad or an Elsa costume to be properly fulfilled. You’re a bad parent if you can’t provide this for your kids. Shame on you – don’t you want your child to be happy? Continue reading »

A week in the life of a family of four

08 Saturday Nov 2014

Posted by in Family, Motherhood

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So after the weird time-warped first two weeks when the (self-proclaimed) Northern Love Machine was on paternity leave, and then a strange middle week before half term and then half term itself… it now feels like we’re settling into a new kind of normal.

I’ve survived one whole week of doing the school run at both ends of the day. I’ve even done my first solo bath time with two children. And I’m starting to forget what more than two consecutive hours of deep sleep actually feels like.

Bub is one month old and as gorgeous as ever. So far she’s proving to be a very different baby to her sister. Perhaps it’s because we’re already a family with our own routines or perhaps it’s because Frog is a diva with a capital D (no bad thing), but our new baby girl has just kind of slotted in. She occasionally grumbles a bit and she is a milk fiend but apart from that it’s…. (and I know I may completely eat my words after writing this)… easy. Continue reading »

The A-Z of Post-Birth Recovery

24 Friday Oct 2014

Posted by in Baby and toddler products, Breastfeeding, Motherhood, Pregnancy, Well being

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Post Birth Recovery

Just over two weeks ago I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. She’s my second baby, so you’d think I’d be familiar with the tender post-birth recovery period by now, having gone through it all before. Well you’d be wrong.

What I remember from last time around appears to have been filtered through a rose-tinted memory box in my head. It’s all newborn cuddles, quiet naps, endless bouquets of flowers and snuggles on the sofa. The actual body bits – the rather gross bits – have all been blanked out.

So in the interests of keeping it real, I’m sharing my A-Z of post-birth recovery symptoms with you. Be warned, much of this is TMI, but if you think we all bounce of bed looking like super-model Gisele Bundchen after having a baby then you’re in for a shock.

A is for… After-birth pains

Newsflash: contractions don’t end the moment you’ve had your baby. Annoying but true, the uterus has to shrink back to its pre-baby size. This means after-birth pains which feel like a cross between a contraction and an intense period pain. They get worse the more babies you have, so this time around I was shocked by how uncomfortable they were compared to with my first baby.  Continue reading »

Things I’d forgotten about life with a newborn

13 Monday Oct 2014

Posted by in Family, Motherhood

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Me and babyThis time last week I’d just had a baby. It’s been seven days of life with a newborn – a life full of things that have slipped my memory since last time. I’ve been shocked at how much I’ve forgotten about these first few days of new motherhood.

Time takes on a new quality

While the night hours can stretch on into an interminable length until you crave the daylight, the daylight hours can pass in a blink of the eye. The effect is that time kind of blurs into one until you forget what day it is and have no idea if it’s morning, afternoon or evening. It’s disconcerting, especially when you realise your baby is already a week old and has changed so much already. It probably answers why I can’t stop taking photos of her, I want to freeze every image before it speeds on by and she’s at school already.  Continue reading »

The day I had a baby

08 Wednesday Oct 2014

Posted by in Motherhood, Pregnancy

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This is a long post. Forgive me.

I wasn’t going to write about the birth, once this baby eventually made an appearance. I’ve always thought birth is an intensely personal experience and I hated the idea of being self-indulgent with a birth story plastered all over the internet. Throughout this pregnancy, though, I’ve gradually changed my mind. Reading about other women’s labours has helped me stay positive and balance out all the screamy birth scenarios you see on films and TV. I still wasn’t sure if I’d write about my own labour, but my mind is now made up. So, here it is. The day I had a baby… Continue reading »

Siblings are not personality changers

16 Tuesday Sep 2014

Posted by in Family, Motherhood, Opinion, Pregnancy

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Lake

“A brother or sister will be SO good for her.”

That’s a sentence I’ve heard a lot in the past nine months. It’s always meant well, coming from a place that refers to the excitement my four year old will feel at becoming a big sister. But, in some cases, I think there’s another meaning too. One that alludes to sharing, not always being centre of attention and having to accept a shift in the family dynamic. In short, “It will be good for her not to be an only child”.

Only children can come in for a lot of stick. Spoilt, egotistical, unable to share, doted on too much, opinionated, loud, unable to socialise… these are all some characteristics that I’ve seen associated with only children. You only need to think of Violet Beauregarde in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to get the idea.

There have been times in the past when my daughter has displayed one of these traits and I’ve had a, “Time for a baby brother or sister!” thrown in my direction. As if her behaviour isn’t just normal toddler stuff, or part of her personality, but is a direct consequence of being an only child.  Continue reading »

Lasts

22 Tuesday Jul 2014

Posted by in Family, Motherhood

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Sunny skies

Since becoming a parent I’ve been acutely aware of the passing of time. When you have a small person growing before your eyes you have this constant reminder of the transience of things. Tiny hands and tiny nails growing bigger with every passing day, to a distant tick, tick, tick. Strangers telling you, “Make the most of it – they don’t stay small for long,” as you battle through tantrums. Even the most grim of parenting moments seems to be a reminder that nothing is forever.

I remember, in technicolour detail, folding my daughter’s outgrown newborn clothes and putting them away safely in a box to be stored in the loft. I cried as I did it, a mixture of raging hormones, sleep deprivation and the dawning realisation that time was passing too quickly.

I would cuddle my newborn tightly in my arms in cafes, sniffing in that new baby scent – a mixture of milk and magic baby perfume – and feel secretly sorry for mums cradling a bigger baby. My baby was still tiny, I was behind them. I still had all this time to enjoy. Continue reading »