Monday 29 December 2014

The New Year Tag!

I've been tagged by the lovely Mummybexm to do the New Year Tag so here goes :)

Image courtesy of noppasinw at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
What was your highlight of 2014?
Most definitely the arrival of Baby R. 2014 was the year of preparing for Baby R, him arriving and then 7months of creating memories. He was the highlight of my year!

What are you most excited about for 2015? 
Watching the little man learn and grow. He's changed so much in the last 7 months. It's hard to imagine how different he will be this time next year. I'm also looking forward to my sisters wedding, it's going to be an amazing day! The little dudes 1st Birthday. Just so much to look forward to and memories to make! 

Any New Years Resolutions?
Two at the moment.
1) Especially once I return to work, I want to make a conscious effort to enjoy quality time with my husband and son. It's easy to sit together, watch TV together etc. But I want to make sure we spend quality time enjoying each other and making memories we can look back on together.
2) 2015 I will get to my goal weight! Over the last few years I have been on various diets and have lost 9 stone in total so far. This year I want to loose the final 2.5 stone to reach my goal. This year I will do it. Ending the diets and embarking on a lifetime of healthier eating.

Blogging High?
I just enjoy blogging. I find it very therapeutic and I'm just enjoying putting my thoughts in to posts. So my blogging high is that I'm doing something I enjoy so much!

Picture Of The Year?
A picture of me hugging my little man while he slept. He was only just over a month old in this picture. I have loads of pictures I love of my little boy (of course) and nearly all of them are my 'fave'. This Christmas I got quite a few to add to the bunch, but my Hubby & I are wary of sharing pictures of him on my blog. He is referred to as Baby R, and his pictures don't reveal his face. New to blogging and parenting we are trying to find the balance of how much to share with you. As he's snuggled in to my neck we figured this was a nice picture to share with you while maintaining the privacy we are trying to preserve for him.

Who do you tag?

I tag anyone who wants to do this tag! Leave me a comment or tweet me if you've done this tag so I can read your answers!

Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas. Have a Happy New Year and see you all in 2015! xoxo

Tuesday 23 December 2014

Merry Christmas one & All!

Christmas is a time for family and for that reason Blogging Mamma will be taking a break from the blogging & the tweeting for a few days. I am going to enjoy some mince pies, way too much turkey and a truck load of chocolate over the next few days all in the name of Christmas. After two sober Christmas' (due to pregnancy) I am looking forward to a glass or three of wine!

Most importantly I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with my little boy and his Daddy. For our little family this is going to be the first Christmas of many and I want to treasure every second and watch every smile, hear every giggle Baby R makes while being surrounded by his nearest and dearest. I want to look back on his first Christmas with fond memories that will last me a life-time, not frustration that my blog wouldn't publish or my tweets wouldn't send!

So Blogging Mamma is signing off, but before I do, I wanted to take this moment to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. I hope you all have a lovely time, surrounded by those you love. I hope Santa leaves you everything you wish for and I hope the new year brings you happiness & health.

As my Christmas present from you to me, please go and read the following two blogs. Both mean a lot to me personally. Leave feedback, say hello, comments make me happy! 

Dear Baby R - Open letter from me to my son on his 1st Christmas.
Review of Paediatric First Aid Course - my review of a first aid course provided by Spearhead Training, partnered with Birmingham Childrens Hospital. A very worthy cause if you are looking to donate at Christmas!

Hope you enjoy the blogs above, and this festive time of year!

As always thanks for reading xoxo 
Love Blogging Mamma xxx

Review: Paediatric Emergency First Aid course by Spearhead Compliance Training

There is nothing worse than seeing your child ill or injured, except maybe not knowing what to do in an emergency.

Like most parents, I want to be able to keep Baby R safe at all times. I don't want him to ever be ill, to get cuts or bruises, to choke on anything or to ever get in to scrapes. Unfortunately babies and children will at some point in their lives be ill or experience an injury of sorts and I want to be prepared. That is why I jumped at an opportunity to complete the Spearhead Compliance Training Paediatric Emergency First Aid Course.

**Disclosure** I was allowed to complete this course for free in return for a review and in return for helping to raise awareness of the Birmingham Childrens Hospital Charity fundraising. This review is my honest opinion, being allowed to complete the training free of charge has not affected my opinion.



About Spearhead Compliance Training -  Spearhead is a company that delivers compliance based training to organisations nationwide. It was founded by two Directors who served with HM Forces delivering training in hostile environments. Spearhead now comprises of more than 65 ex-military trainers who all possess the skills required to deliver these training courses.

They offer a wide range of courses from Health & Safety to Food Hygiene, from Teacher training to first aid. There are both face to face sessions & e-learning available (dependent on the course you wish to partake in).  Their courses are for individuals and workforces a like.

About the Paediatric Emergency First Aid Course -  The aim of the course is to give you the knowledge to be able to provide immediate care to a child who is ill or has been injured prior to the arrival of qualified medical assistance.

The course costs £20 per person.

Spearhead are supporting Birmingham Childrens Hospital and so 50% of the training course fee is being donated to this worthy cause. It is estimated that more than 3000 babies/infants died in the year ending April 2014. Spearhead want parents to learn the vital First Aid information that could save a babies life, as well as helping to fundraise towards a charity that deals with sick or injured children.


"Every year, over 257,000 sick children from across the UK are treated at Birmingham Children’s Hospital. Many face incredibly difficult circumstances.  Their stories of courage, determination and hope are truly amazing. The medical and nursing teams provide the best possible treatment and the very highest standards of care, but want to do so much more for the children who rely on them. You can help by completing our course or donating on their website HERE"

They have a goal of raising £10,000 towards this cause and hope to achieve this by getting 1000 people to complete the course by May 2015.


My thoughts on the course - The course provided me with a good basic knowledge of how to administer first aid to babies, infants and children. It highlighted how the care required changes as a child gets older.

I found the course easy to follow. Sometimes online courses can be very long winded, full of complex terms and hard to take in given the amount of information thrown at you. This course was broken down in to 11 easily managed modules. There was a range of text, pictures and videos to aid your learning. You are also able to mark each page (with a manageable amount of learning) as completed so that you can go away and come back to your learning later on, learning at a pace that suits you.

I was shocked with some of the statistics given as part of this e-learning. For example -

  • Choking is the 3rd most common cause of infant death in the UK after road traffic accidents and house fires, killing on average 24 under 5's per year in England and Wales.
  • 50% of the population doesn't know what to do if someone chokes.
  • You have 3-4 minutes from when the child starts choking before death can occur.
  • Only 50% of the population would do back blows (the correct procedure) while 10% would attempt to stick their fingers down the childs throat which could push the blockage further down, worsening the situation.


I particularly like the videos of how to administer CPR & First Aid. They were easy to follow, not too long and weren't accompanied by overly long text explanations. Once you have completed all the modules one of the co-founders, John Loveday, has left a video thanking you not only for completing the course but for your contribution towards their fundraising effort. I thought this was a really nice personal touch.

After the message from Mr Loveday you are given a test, once you have completed & passed the test you are then able to print off a certificate to show you have completed the training.

I found the course very easy given the clear and concise nature of it's learning material. I left feeling more knowledgeable and comfortable that I would know what to do in an emergency situation involving a baby/infant/child. On top of this personal gain you get the added knowledge that you have contributed to such a worthwhile cause.

Final thoughts - I would highly recommend this course to parents, grandparents or anyone looking after a child on a regular basis.

Go along, improve your knowledge and don't be the 50% of people who wouldn't know how to cope with a choking baby or child. I have in the past found e-learning very boring and fruitless but can confidently say I learnt a lot from this course.

I will leave the links for the training down below, along with the links for the Birmingham Childrens Hospital Charity incase you want to read some more about the amazing work they do or want to leave a donation.

As always thanks for reading! xoxo

Spearhead Compliance Training Website
Online Paediatric Emergency First Aid Course
The Birmingham Childrens Hospital Website
The Birmingham Childrens Hospital Donation Page



Monday 22 December 2014

Dear Baby R - Open letter

Dear Baby R,

This year is your first Christmas and it's time to start some family traditions that hopefully one day you'll excitedly look forward to and love sharing with me, your mummy. One of the traditions I want to begin for you, is to write you a letter every Christmas and save them for when you are older. We can read your letter together on Christmas eve and look back on the past year together, how loved you are and what I look forward to in the next year. This year as you are too young to understand, I will read your letter for you and put it away safe in your baby box for when you are able to read them yourself.

One year ago Mummy was 19 weeks pregnant with you and was waiting for her 20 week scan. I couldn't wait to see your tiny heart beating again, your arms & legs waving and I was even hoping to find out if you were a boy or a girl. You had other ideas for us though and decided we would have to wait, making sure the ultrasound technician couldn't tell. Stubborn from day one!

We had no tree up for Christmas last year as we were in the middle of moving to our new family home. There was no tree, no lights and no mantle piece full of 'babys 1st Christmas' cards! I was already looking forward to this Christmas and imagining what it would be like with a 7 month old, but what I imagined wasn't even close to how magical this Christmas has seemed with you here.

In January 2014 we moved in to our new family home, and through January, February & March we settled in and started preparing everything ready for you. In April we decorated your nursery (which was and still is my favourite room in our home) and Mummy went on maternity leave. The first four months of 2014 were me excitedly waiting to meet you. You weren't my little boy then, you were the unknown, but I couldn't wait to meet you and I was already head over heals in love with you.

In May you made your appearance and what an entrance it was. Once you decided to shift you weren't waiting around. You had mummy, daddy, the midwives & the Dr's all in a tizz! Yet despite the commotion once you were born and eventually placed in my arms you were calm and quiet. You slept peacefully that night in the hospital and I lay wide awake counting my lucky stars that you were mine. My precious little baby boy. I was thankful and so proud to be your mummy.

Since then you've met your family, shared countless kisses & cuddles. You've made me laugh and you've made me cry tears of joy.  You've grown so very quickly from my newborn to my 7 month old and just as quickly I went from a 'new' mum to mummy who couldn't imagine or remember life without you. Every little thing you do, things I can do & take for granted, suddenly brought me so much joy. Your first smile, the first time you grabbed and held on to something, the first time you rolled over or sat up on your own and the first little babbles of conversation.

Every day you amaze me, you make me smile and you bring so much joy to my life. I want you to know that you were loved before you were born, before you were held in my arms. Each day you and your loving, cheeky personality make me love you more than I ever thought possible. I love watching you learn and grow. Your willingness to try new things and adventurous nature inspires me. Over the next 12 months I can't wait to see you learn more and that personality of yours grow and blossom even further. I look forward to your first birthday, although it also scares me how quickly it's approaching. My newborn is a baby now, and before long will be a toddler. I'm trying to treasure and savour every moment with you, while encouraging you to learn and grow the way I know you must.

I also look forward to seeing you enjoy time with your family, and watching you build friendships with the new babies that have been and will soon be born. I look forward to being mummy. I'm proud, blessed and over the moon that I'm your Mummy.

This year, although the christmas tree lights, the decorations and the cards seem to peak your interest you are too young to understand Christmas. You don't understand about Santa, or even why Mummy & Daddy are so overjoyed that this Christmas will be better than any Christmas we've ever had. Santa, the gifts and the countless festivities mean little to you today. While you nap and dream away, I write this letter for an older boy who hopefully will know how loved and treasured he is.

Baby boy, you are mummy's miracle in more ways than one. You have enriched my life beyond belief. I am blessed to have you. I am rich beyond measure to be loved by you. Have the best 1st Christmas ever, and I look forward to all the Christmas's and all the letters we will get to share together.

I love you to the moon and back Baby R.

Lots of Love, Kisses & Cuddles
Mummy xxx

Sunday 21 December 2014

Snappy Sunday - Winter Warmer

With Christmas descending, and the days to deliver cards and gifts running out, it has been one very busy week in our little family. 

My week has been spent writing the last of my Christmas cards, arranging all the gifts ready to be dropped off and getting myself prepared for Little mans first Christmas. Yesterday we visited friends & family delivering cards and gifts. Today while Hubby was working me and the little man enjoyed a quiet day in the house. Once Hubby finished work we headed out to visit the newest member of our family born this weekend. What a little cutie she is. Baby R seems like such a big boy to me now! Nothing like a newborn to make a child seem so much bigger.

Once we got home I put the little man to bed and made myself a hot chocolate before settling down to youtube, catching up on twitter and my emails. 




One of my favourite things to do at Christmas is to have a hot chocolate, settle on the sofa and watch a film so I may have to have a 2nd hot chocolate once all my blogging and commenting is done tonight!

Hope you've all had a lovely weekend. As always thanks for reading! xoxo

Saturday 20 December 2014

Sassy Bloom December Unboxing



When I'm not being a mummy, writing my blog or working my way through one of my many to do lists (I like lists) then I'm usually watching YouTube videos. It is on YouTube that I discovered the subscription box, and I wanted one! However I could never quite justify spending money on a box full of beauty, health or food related objects. Especially with a new baby in the house who needed so many things and needed them more than I needed a box full of stuff.

So I was really excited to hear about Sassy Bloom. A baby product subscription box full of items for your little man, or little miss! The website states that it's perfect for pregnant mums, from the 3rd trimester, right up until your child is 2 years of age. Each box is tailored to the subscriber and their child. So my box is designed with a 7 month old little boy in mind. You can have a monthly subscription for £29 a month, a 3 monthly subscription which works out at £26 per box,  6 monthly is £24.65 per box and annual is £22.92 per box.  I opted for a monthly subscription initially while I suss it all out.

It's worth mentioning that if you sign up for their newsletter you get a code for your first box to be half price. I did this and so I paid £14.50 for my box. **disclosure -  I have signed up and paid for Sassy Bloom myself. This is not an advertisement or paid for review. All opinions are my own!** 
Sassy Bloom state that the minimum value of any singular box will be £40 RRP.  They also operate a referral service, where every customer is given a unique code to pass on to their friends and family. When someone signs up to Sassy bloom using your code you will both earn £10 off a Sassy Bloom box. If you want any further information on Sassy Bloom you can check out their web page Here. If you want to use my referral code to earn you (and me) £10 off a box then Click Here

My first Sassy Bloom Box


The first thing I noticed when I opened my parcel was that I had two boxes. My Sassy Bloom Box, and an additional box which was too large to fit in the first box. 



What is it? My first product/item was Bamba's First Comforts Baby Signing Kit. Its a plush monkey (Bamba) that comes with a plush bottle, spoon, blanket, wash mitten & mirror. Using Bamba and the other plush toys you are able to play with your child while teaching them to communicate through sign language and simple words. 

My Impression? I was really excited to get this item. I am partially deaf and so have been trying to use some simple sign language around Baby R. I had looked in to getting this kit but as it's RRP is £30 I decided it was a bit much to spend on a singular item. To see it included in my Sassy Bloom parcel was a very pleasant surprise. I love that the entire kit comes with little compartments for each part of the kit, and the lid to the box has a quick reference guide to the signs.


Baby R's First Impression? He already loves Bamba who is soft, and a rattle, plus his long limbs are perfect for chewing. The other pieces of the kit have been curiously examined. Time will tell!

RRP? £30

Overall Impression?  10/10, good quality item that I was interested in previously. Baby sign appears to be quite a trendy thing at the moment and so I imagine this would go down well with a lot of parents.







Next up I opened the actual Sassy Bloom Box. I will say I was a teensy bit disappointed to find that the decorative ribbon was lying untied underneath the boxes. It was no major issue, but it would have looked prettier wrapped around the box.







What is it? MAM Dipper Set - Green. This is a spoon and fork set perfectly sized for little hands to attempt cutlery. They have a safety shield to avoid baby pushing them too far in to their mouth.

My Impression? First of all my reaction was how cute they look (lots of ooo's & aaahhh's). Impressed with the safety shield as Baby R has a habit of ramming things too far back. They are quite light and perfectly sized and shaped for little hands to pick them up. Good to introduce cutlery but at the moment Baby R tends to use his hands when feeding himself. If he can't use his hands he sits back and waits to be spoonfed.

Baby R's First Impression? He seemed mildly interested, which given it's cutlery and not a toy seems to be a good thing? Think this will be good for him to encourage use of cutlery but think patience and practice will certainly be required.

RRP? £5.25

Overall Impression? Good quality, solid product. Very practical. Seems like they will come in handy as Baby R learns to feed himself using cutlery. Probably wouldn't have purchased these myself but looking forward to trying them!




What is it? 4 Munchkin White Hot Safety spoons. Long handled, soft tipped, easy grip spoons. The coloured tips turn white when the food is too hot for baby, stay coloured when food is the correct temperature.

My Impression? I really like the munchkin brand of products so I was happy with this product straight away. I also really like their white hot safety range. I have their rubber duck with the white hot bottom. Baby R tends to use it as just a toy duck now, but in the early days of bathing a baby it provided some reassurance that baths weren't too hot and that is what these spoons do. Simple, effective and spoons always come in handy.

Baby R's First Impression? Pretty much the same as the MAM dipper set. He showed mild interest before discovering Mummys camera. Then her keys. Pretty much everything I didn't want him to touch. It's not really a toy so his lack of interest doesn't concern me. He'll show plenty of interest when they have porridge on in the morning :)

RRP? £4.99

Overall Impression? I love the munchkin products and this safety feature. Good quality. Spoons are always useful. Another practical item that is welcomed.




What is it? Fisher Price - Jungle Colours book. Its a solid chunky book for children. Brightly coloured to stimulate learning.

My Impression? I love books and I really enjoy introducing books, stories & reading to Baby R. This book is great as its solid, I would wager quite difficult to break (unlike some of the torn books Baby R owns). It's colourful & educational. BUT as much as I love this book and will use it with Baby R eventually I was a little bit disappointed to see very clearly written on the back of the book "This book is for sharing with children over one year old." The book will get used and it's still a nice product, but as the boxes are tailored for you/your child I felt it was wrong of them to send a 1yr old item to a seven month old baby.

Baby R's First Impression? Prior to discovering the aforementioned warning on the book Baby R had a play and promptly tried to eat the book. His eyes lit up at the animals and bright colours. This is definitely a hit with him.

RRP? £3.99

Overall Impression? It's a lovely item. A bright colourful, good quality, sturdy, educational book. What is there not to like? I really do like the item, but I think this should have been kept for the box of an older child.






What is it? Blue personalised dribble bib. It's a soft cotton bandana style dribble bib with velcro fastening and it's been personalised with babys name.

My Impression? First of all let me just say I've covered the name in my picture. But under the leaflet is Baby R's full name and it's been stitched really well. The bib is very soft, seems to be good quality and is a lovely powder blue colour. Baby R has been teething since he was two months (bless him!) but has only recently had his first two teeth push through. The stream of dribble has been worse than usual, and of course this means soaking wet tops and lovely rashes! Bibs always come in handy so I like this product and I love anything personalised so this was a really lovely touch.

Baby R's First Impression? It went in his mouth almost immediately. If it's soft he's going to chew on it. Put it around his neck and he didn't pull it off so I'd say that was a success!!

RRP? £7.00

Overall Impression? It's a nice bib, love that it's personalised. Wouldn't have paid £7.00 for it if I'm honest. It's a dribble bib at the end of the day, I would want a pack of bibs for that price not just one. But as part of a box it's a really nice item.




Also in my box was a £25 voucher for Hello Fresh. I don't think this was an 'item' as such, when giving feedback on the box, this wasn't one of the items listed so I think this was just a little bonus voucher/coupon. Hello Fresh is another subscription service. They deliver ingredients and recipe cards for you to cook meals. It's a lovely idea, but it's not something I will be trying as I think it's over priced for what it is. You don't get the actual meal you get ingredients and a recipe. Yet 3 meals for 2 people is £40+. With a baby in the house I want more than 3 meals for £40.

There was also a little card telling me more about the referral side of Sassy Bloom. It also gave me information on other ways to earn Sassy Rewards and/or a free box. For example providing feedback on your box, posting a photo of your little one using the items etc.




So that was my first Sassy Bloom box and I was really impressed and quite pleased with the items I received. I paid £14.50 and the Bamba set alone was worth more than that, so everything else was a freebie in my eyes. I liked the range of items and the brands I was given. There were items I wouldn't have bought/known about so it's really nice to be made aware and given things to try that otherwise you wouldn't have. For the most part it was all very relevant to Baby R and his age group. Everything except the book was for the 6 month mark and he is not quite seven months. The total RRP of the box was £51.23 so it was definitely worth what I paid.


Thank you for reading my first Sassy Bloom Unboxing, I will be continuing my subscription for now and so towards the end of January you can expect my next unboxing post! Did you get a Sassy Bloom box this month? What were your thoughts and what was your favourite item from your box? Mine was the Bamba signing kit! 

As always thanks for reading! xoxo

Friday 19 December 2014

Baby R's Reflux

I mentioned in Parenting Choices and 0-3 Month Must Haves that Baby R has suffered with reflux. It dawned on me while writing those posts that until Baby R was diagnosed and treated I had heard very little about reflux. There's not a lot of support for this kind of thing, or at least not in my area. I found it very difficult to cope with, to get a diagnosis and to get the treatment my son needed. Part of the reason I struggled so much with getting a diagnosis was the assumption of healthcare professionals, that as I was a first time mum I was probably also just being over protective and worrying too much. I'm sharing my experience to empower parents to believe and to trust that they really do know their child better than anyone.

Baby R was born in May 2014, his birth was a whole other story of me being ignored that resulted in a stressful, scary and traumatic labour & delivery for both of us. I didn't get to hold my son for almost 2 hours after he was born which wasn't what I planned or imagined while I was pregnant. I always had this image of him being passed to me as soon as he was born and me cuddling him. I didn't get that and it's still a bit raw thinking back. But I digress!

When I was pregnant I had decided I was going to breastfeed my baby. I had done many hours of research and discussed it all with my husband. I knew that as I would be going back to work we would have to eventually transition to bottle fed but while I was home I wanted to at least attempt to breastfeed. For the first few weeks this was a brilliant bonding experience. It was very unglamorous at times of course. Loosing used nursing pads down my parents sofa wasn't the highlight of my life that's for sure! Thanks Mum for finding them before poor Dad did! *BLUSH* But on the whole, it was an experience I enjoyed and would recommend any mother tries.

Baby R was (still is) a fantastic baby. He fed every three hours for about half hour except for night times when he would go 5 hours, which started day 1 in the hospital. He increased his evening sleep to 7 hours, 9 hours and then 12 hours by the time he was 6/7weeks. I'd hit the baby jackpot and knew exactly how lucky I was. Even the midwife commented that he seemed to have read the baby books and knew exactly what to do and when.

Sometimes he was a little sick after a feed, but nothing out of the norm. I put it down to eyes bigger than his belly, a bit of wind or posseting which is common in babies hence the muslin clothes we drape over our shoulders. But around 6/7 weeks it felt like Baby R took a giant step backwards. He started wanting feeds every two hours and then every hour and a half. Instead of feeding for half an hour, he was feeding for 45 minutes to an hour. I was getting half hour inbetween feeds in basic English, and it was horrific. In addition to this the little bit of sick/spit up became a lot more than that. He was being really sick. It didn't matter how much or how little he fed. Whether I winded him during or after the feed. Didn't even matter if I kept him sat up in between feeds and didn't let him lie down. Within a few minutes he'd start being sick and continue to be sick for hours on end. Only stopping at bed time. I gave up on bibs. Sick just soaks through them, drips off them, or even avoids them entirely and lands on mum instead. My hair, shoulder, leg & shoes were constantly used for target practice and while it started off as a little joke, it very quickly became not very funny at all.

The worst part was absolutely the fact that my son was being sick. It was horrible to watch. It was heartbreaking to see him arch his back in pain/discomfort, to cry and scream when there was no more wind and nothing else for him to be sick with, and soon it started to take it's toll on me too.

It was awful that he'd start his hungry cry and I resented him. That I had to feed him again? Then I felt guilty. He was a baby and I was being so mean in my head towards this perfect baby boy that I loved so much. My life went from this amazing three hour cycle to, Me all day everyday sat in a chair with him feeding off me or being sick on me. I hated leaving the house. Breastfeeding in public is daunting and offputting at the best of times. Add one child with reflux and it was... horrific. I'd walk in a shop and know I wouldn't buy anything because I'd have to find a cafe to feed him before I even reached the till. In the cafe I'd get flustered trying to feed him and mop up sick, this made him fussy which made feeding a nightmare. I went out if I had to. I tried to keep it to peoples houses, and tried not to show I didn't want to be there. The washing machine was constantly on. If it wasn't washing bibs, muslin clothes, tea towels, burp clothes or baby clothes then it was washing my clothes, bed clothes... you get the picture. I was starting to feel quite depressed about it all. I resented my son for being constantly hungry, I resented myself for feeling that way, I resented my husband, for no reason other than he got to go to work and have a break from the sick. I resented anyone who told me it was normal. This wasn't normal. Babies didn't arch their backs and scream after feeds, they didn't regurgitate an entire feed and demand another one. In what way was this Normal?

He'd see the health visitor and they insisted this was normal. He was gaining weight and was fine "Keep doing what you're doing". So I did. I kept going. I forgot to eat, I forgot to drink and I sat in a chair feeding him. I wiped up the sick and then I kept going, kept doing what I was doing. Autopilot kicked in. More appointments, he was still fine, still gaining weight. I wasn't fine but I felt guilty so I stopped asking if there was anything that could be done and kept doing what I was doing.

When he was around 8/9 weeks old I couldn't cope anymore. I made up some bottles and sent him out with his Dad. I cleaned the house, I ate and I drank. I hated him being out but I felt human and a small part of me waited smugly for Dad & Baby R to come back flustered. Only they didn't. They came back all smiles. He had gone four hours between feeds, and had only been 'a little bit sick'. I was pleased Baby R had felt better today but I was utterly confused and took it very personally.

The next day we resumed breastfeeding and straight away he was sick sick sick and a lot more sick. Something clicked in my head. I'd read somewhere about reflux. The arching of the back, the constant tears, the random little cough he had developed. It all made sense. Powdered milk was a bit thicker maybe that's why he was keeping it down? So once again I addressed my concerns with the professionals but once again I was told I was wrong, he was gaining weight so he was fine. I decided it must be me. I couldn't get anyone to listen to me after all.

At 12/13 weeks old I eventually gave up on breastfeeding entirely. I couldn't keep feeding him every hour. At least if he went on the bottle other people could help me out and the physical demand on my body wasn't so high. It wasn't a decision I took lightly but I felt for my own sanity I had to go to bottle feeds. I knew this would make the health visitor sit up and listen too. I rang her and waiting for the telling off, for the 101 reasons why breast is best and I was a horrible mother. But instead she listened and said "if you've stopped breast feeding then I know there is an issue. Keep a diary of his feeds, how often he's sick etc. I will come see you in 3 days and we will go from there." Three days & 8 sides of A4 later she sat down read my notes and said what I had suspected for a few weeks. Reflux... His stomach muscles weren't properly developed yet so milk and stomach acid was leaving his stomach and coming back up his esophagus. The acid was painful, hence the back arch. The acid was burning his throat causing the cough. The amount of sick was basically an entire feed and hence why he kept wanting to feed. It was at this point she told me he was still gaining weight but it wasn't the amount he should have been and he'd gone from the 50th percentile to the 25th percentile and wasn't far off the 9th percentile line. I was livid. My pleas for help had been ignored while his growth chart had shown there was a problem for weeks!!

We were sent to see the Dr who immediately prescribed gaviscon. This doesn't work for a lot of babies, but for my son it did. He stopped being sick, his feeds grew further apart. His cough is still there but it's nowhere near as bad. He doesn't arch his back and he's clearly not in pain anymore. I'm told that by the time he's 12months he should have grown out of it and his stomach muscles will have strengthened enough to keep his food down. Along with the change from liquid to solid foods the outlook is good.

This blog post has been my experience with reflux in babies. Let me know below if you would like a more factual post of reflux, what I've learnt from the Doctor since his diagnosis. Also let me know if you've had an experience with reflux. How did you cope? What led you to the diagnosis and what was your godsend. Ours was gaviscon!

I've forgiven myself for feeling worn out, stressed, tired and even resentful. I've forgiven myself for being human and feeling what any mum who knows something is wrong but can't get help would feel! If you're in the same situation stay strong, your baby needs you and it's easier said than done, but us Mums have a way of eventually getting the help that's needed!

As always thanks for reading and don't be shy to say hello! xoxo

Sunday 14 December 2014

Snappy Sunday - drip

Today has been a wet kind of day. Not just because of the rain, which I can't really complain about seeing as it's winter. But also because I managed to have a 'minor' plumbing malfunction and soak myself this evening.

I recently noticed our kitchen tap was a bit leaky. Pools of water were gathering on the draining board and it became apparent my tap was loose, wobbly and leaking water. So it was decided a new tap was required. This morning, before we set out to visit family we called in to B&Q and found something suitable for the kitchen. My Hubby turned off the water and then I climbed in to the cupboard under the sink and tried every which way to remove the old tap. It eventually came apart and it was time to install the new tap. However the new pipes included didn't fit with our plumbing set up. Being the absolute genius that I am I decided to attempt to use the old pipes with the new tap. Not the best idea I've ever had.

I put the new tap & old pipes together. Hubby turned the water back on. There was water absolutely everywhere! I put the baby to bed while hubby dried up the kitchen and then returned to refit the old tap until we can get some new tap connectors. I swiftly ran my self a hot bath and decided to indulge in the nice warm bubbly kind of water after my encounter with the cold variety.

Tomorrow we will attempt to get a new tap fitted and hopefully it won't result in a soaking cold mummy! Given that my day has been wet, rainy and damp I thought I'd share this picture of the leaky tap that caused my trauma.

Enjoy! As always thanks for reading! Xoxo

Thursday 11 December 2014

Parenting Choices

Having seen the 'controversial parenting tag' floating around I decided to do my own take on this and do a Blog post discussing some decisions that we all have to make for our children. The tag itself is quite long (13 questions) so I've gone for a smaller figure of five!

I'm not easily offended so I do accept my decisions may not be what you would choose for your child. I welcome discussions and opinions on parenting. This blog is always open for conversations and debates. All I ask is that any comments or discussions are respectful towards me and towards each other.

Ok so in this post I am going to explore 5 choices my husband and I made regarding our son. If you like this post leave me a comment and maybe I will do a part two at a later date! 

1) Dummies, soother, suckers. What ever you call them, they are basically a rubber/latex/silicone teat for your baby to suck on. The decision we made, was to not use a dummy. We were open to using one if it appeared nothing else would soothe or calm our son, but we decided to not buy any prior to his birth and instead see how our baby coped without. 

We had three reasons for making this particular decision. Initially I breastfed, and it is recommended you don't give a dummy to a breastfed child until they are a month old. This is to avoid nipple confusion and any detrimental affect on your milk supply. As I wanted to breastfeed for as long as possible I decided that I would definitely not want to affect this by giving my baby a dummy.
The second reason was that I felt I didn't know the nature or personality of my child, so how could I decide they needed a dummy. It was our opinion that initially a new born would only cry if something was wrong (i.e. hungry, dirty, hot/cold, tired or ill) and so we decided putting a dummy in their mouth would not solve any of those issues and may affect us learning (as new parents) what was wrong and what each cry meant.
The third reason is that prolonged usage of dummies has been shown to affect speech and the development of speech, damage their teeth and also help the build up of germs that cause ENT infections in children.

Now my son is six and a half months old, he's never had a dummy and given our experience I would not change my mind. I am grateful I won't have to take it from him when he's older and I feel we made the right decision for us. I would do the same with any future children. If our second child was more clingy or grizzly and wanted more comfort I wouldn't rule out a dummy as I am not dead against them. But I certainly wouldn't purchase any until I knew my child needed that additional comfort and nothing else I tried worked.

2) Bottle or Breast? Let me start by saying I completely understand and support mothers regarding either option. It's not an easy choice to make, there's a lot of information thrown at pregnant women telling them what is best and what health officials want you to do. It isn't always as simple as picking an option either. I was very easy on myself, I intended to breastfeed but if it didn't work out I was OK with that. I knew there was a chance baby wouldn't take to it or that I wouldn't be able to stick at it. So I gave myself the realistic aim to breastfeed for as long as my baby and myself were willing and able. As soon as it stopped working for us I would be OK with considering alternatives.

Now I could probably write an entire blog post on my experience with breast feeding, how the first days and weeks went. How the struggles changed as time went on, but yet how quickly I grew to love breastfeeding. I breastfed my son for the first 12-13 weeks of his life. Although from about 10 weeks he was a mix of breast and bottle. By 12-13weeks he was entirely bottle fed. The reason I opted for breastfeeding was I felt it was the best choice for my baby due to the following pro's: 

  • There is scientific evidence that breastfed babies are less likely to contract infections due to the immunity support breast milk provides.
  • Breastfed babies are thought to be less likely to develop allergies and asthma.
  • It's free, readily available and there are no bottles to sterilise or prepare. Baby wakes up at 3am and you feed them, no trudging downstairs to make a bottle up.
  • It is said to avoid over feeding. Your body produces exactly what baby needs.
  • It automatically adjusts temperature. No burning babies mouth if you haven't cooled it down properly.
  • Contains fatty acids that promote brain development.
  • Let's be selfish here for a moment it is said to have amazing benefits for mothers, for example if you breastfeed you reduce your risk of breast cancer & osteoporosis. It helps new mums loose weight. Releases chemicals that encourage your uterus to contract and return to normal quicker than a mother who doesn't breastfeed.  

The reason I ended up changing to bottle feeding, was my son had reflux and my health visitor/baby clinic were not as helpful as I think they should have been. The reflux was really hard on my son & myself. I joke about it now, but I think I was in danger of becoming quite depressed, and felt royally guilty that things were not good. I'd slap on a smile and pretend it was funny how often he wanted to be fed, but it was exhausting. Eventually I had to make a call on what to do so I made the decision to bottle feed. This helped short term, but eventually he was prescribed infant gaviscon. Thankfully this worked for him as I know it doesn't work for all babies. By the time the gaviscon had worked enough for us to see an improvement in him, it was no longer an option to return to breast feeding. 

Would I change my mind given my experience with my son. No. Absolutely not. I loved breast feeding him initially, and if we'd had better support so that we could have resolved the reflux and continued to breastfeed then I would have. It was incredibly amazing for bonding with him and I honestly felt it was the best decision. Changing to a bottle I feel no guilt, and any woman who bottle feeds shouldn't feel guilty either. There are of course benefits to breast feeding but it isn't for every mother or baby. I am of the opinion you should try, see if it works for you and your baby. If you manage even a month you have done amazing and provided your child with those benefits for an entire month. If you manage to breastfeed until they are weaned then that is amazing, and that would be my goal with any future children. Breastfeeding wasn't working for us at the time, and I needed to make sure I was happier to give my son the care he deserved. So all in all I am pro breast feeding, but I am 100% in the corner of any mum and the decision she makes.

3) Cloth or disposable nappies. Oh how I'd love to be an environmentally friendly mother, and gain some amazing brownie points for using cloth/reusable nappies. However I opted for disposable nappies because in all honesty they are so much easier, so much quicker and less maintenance is required. As a new mum you have enough to do. As a mum with a baby who had reflux there is more than enough washing to do without adding reusable nappies. I knew I was going back to work before he would be potty trained and so decided why invest in expensive, time consuming nappies that wouldn't be used once I was back in work? Would I change my mind? No. It's a nice idea, but honestly I don't have enough hours in the day to be adding another chore to my list.

4) Co-sleeping. I'm sure I could google this and find plenty of pros and cons for both sides of the argument. But instead I will just tell you I opted to not co-sleep and I didn't even keep my son in my bedroom for the recommended 6months. He was in his own cot, in his own room around about 8weeks. I can feel the disapproving head shakes already. But here's why I didn't co-sleep, or keep him in my room long term. Co-sleeping isn't recommended anyway, and I do feel it is dangerous to have the child actually in your bed. It is not a decision I'd ever forgive myself for if something had happened to my son while he slept in my bed. I know you can get co-sleepers that attach to the side of your bed so that you can't actually roll in to their little section, but I didn't even want to explore this. I felt it was very important for my son to have his own space. His own bed (moses basket initially, and then his cot) and eventually his own room. I wanted him to feel comfortable sleeping without me right next to him, as in time he would have to do this anyway. I moved him to his own room once he was sleeping through the night for more than a week in a row. I know a lot of people have disagreed with me for this, as it's recommended they share your room for the first 6 months. But then they tell you that you won't sleep for the first year of their life due to night feeds... yet my son didn't wake in the night. Every child is different and my child didn't need me in the nights so keeping him in my room was pointless and I would imagine it would have been really hard to move him at 6 months.. whereas now, it's our routine. He knows no different.

5) The cry it out method. My son is a little young to have had this method used on him much. Initially as a newborn he ONLY cried when something was wrong or he needed something and so I wouldn't have dreamt of leaving him cry it out. These days he MAINLY cries when something is wrong but about 5% of his tears are "hang on why aren't you holding/watching/playing with me". So a decision had to be made. Do we give in to every whimper or adopt the cry it out method. I wouldn't say we are 100% committed to the cry it out method but we certainly don't give in to every whimper either. I think I tend to judge by his cry whether he's genuinely upset, or whether he's just a bit over tired or not wanting to do something that needs to be done. If he gets distressed then of course I wouldn't leave him cry, but if it's more of an over tired whimper then letting him grizzle a bit until he falls asleep isn't going to harm him. We try to judge it by individual circumstances and not adopt an overly soft approach to parenting but then keep in mind he is still only 6 months old so he does sometimes just need his Mum or Dad. As we are only just approaching the age where this is applicable it's too early to say whether or not I will change my mind on this.




Well that's my little 'Parenting Choices' Blog. I hope you enjoyed. If you did, please let me know down below or you can email me bloggingmamma86@gmail.com

Leave a comment below if you would like a part two. Let me know some of the decisions you've had to make and what helped shape the decisions you made.

Would you be interested in a blog regarding reflux in babies? Any feedback would be welcomed as I want to make this blog as enjoyable and informative for you all as possible. Don't be shy come and say hello!!

As always thanks for reading xoxo

Monday 8 December 2014

Babies First Christmas - How much is too much?

My Christmas shopping is all done, the Christmas tree is up, I've started the wrapping and I've written about 75% of my cards. All in all I'm feeling pretty smug prepared for Christmas. 

This year is my sons first Christmas and so far this has involved buying way too much sentimental 'First Christmas' bibs, baubles, PJ's, hats, door signs. The list goes on. Although I'm glad to have things that we can keep to remember his first Christmas (such as the tree baubles, and the wooden advent calendar personalised with his name), I can't help but wonder how much is too much?

Along with these 'momentos' is the mountain of gifts. I tried to be sensible and buy things he needed anyway. Instead of him receiving clothes and toys as he hits the 9-12month marker over the next few months he'll get them for Christmas. Instead of buying the toy box I wanted and using it now, it's been saved for Christmas. Yet as I wrapped the mountain of funny t-shirts, cute socks, trendy trousers, bath toys, books and endless musical toys that will drive me crazy by 9am Christmas day, I couldn't help but worry I needed more while telling myself off for having too much!

I even decided the usual wrapping paper wasn't good enough for his gifts. Oh no. 'Baby's First Christmas' paper was needed. You know? Just incase me or Hubby forgot it was his first Christmas. The wrapping paper would remind us and we ... no there is actually no reason why I needed that wrapping paper.  At 7 months my son will not understand Christmas, he definitely won't remember his first Christmas and isn't likely to suddenly disown me because I didn't get him enough or his wrapping paper was the wrong one!

People keep telling me the first Christmas is (much like the first birthday) more for the parents than the child. I have no doubt that is absolutely true. I am definitely looking forward to watching and helping him open his presents, before he decides to spend most of the morning playing with wrapping paper. I find the whole idea of starting our little traditions absolutely magical. As one of the biggest kids and Christmas lovers out there, I can't wait to share this with my son as he grows and starts to understand who Santa is.

I finally decided last week that I definitely had enough. No more santa hats, Christmas bibs, baubles, PJs, stocking fillers or gifts were needed. I have many years ahead of me to fill my house with cheap Christmas themed rubbish magical Christmas themed decorations.

Luckily for this 1st time parent, my child won't know whether they have been given too much or too little. So I'll retreat from my blogging go back to wrapping and obsess over how much stuff I should or rather shouldn't have bought!

Let me know below how you decide how much is too much when it comes to gifts for your nearest and dearest. Mums, did you feel the same on babies first Christmas? Did you succumb to the never ending novelty items available? Was Christmas V2 easier?

As always, thanks for reading xoxo

Sunday 7 December 2014

Snappy Sunday - Christmas is coming!

Happy Sunday all! Hope you've all had a fantastic weekend doing whatever makes you happy. This week has been crazy busy in our house. As Christmas approaches I am trying to fit in seeing as many people as possible, wrapping all the gifts and also planning ahead for some home improvements in the new year. It's all very exciting... well for me it is! 


Last year as we were in the final stages of buying our house, packing up and moving so we didn't have our Christmas tree up at all. This year with the little one, and us being settled in our home I decided 1st December the tree was going up!

It's a little mish mash and not exactly art work, but I love it anyway! Full of colour, flashing lights and my little boys face lit up when he saw the tree all decorated. It got me so excited to see how much he will enjoy Christmas this year. He will be 7 months old by then so still too little to fully understand, but i'm sure all the wrapping paper to scrumple up and boxes to play in will be a little adventure for him.

I've really enjoyed gathering some special ornaments that when he's older will be the ornaments from his first Christmas. A wooden train, a '1st christmas' bauble, a rocking horse and some other bits. I think I've enjoyed finding his little contributions to the tree as much as our cat has enjoyed taking baubles off the tree and hiding them in random places in the house... All fun and games when you have pets and babies!

Share below what you've been up to this week. When do you normally put your tree up? Is December 1st too early?

As always thanks for reading xoxo

Sunday 30 November 2014

Snappy Sunday - 5000 +

Happy Sunday everyone! I hope you've all had a lovely week/weekend.

This week has been a manic one for me, making arrangements for when I return to work, shopping, meeting up with friends & family, attending a baby shower and of course looking after my little man. I feel like I haven't stopped but have enjoyed the craziness of it all. I like to keep busy.

In the midst of all that my blog hit 5000 views!! I missed the dead on 5000 and so have had to screen shot the big 5003. Such is life,


Thank you to everyone who has read and continues to read my blog posts. It really is exciting to me that people read my ramblings and seem to enjoy them! Please say hello and introduce yourselves down below, let me know what you've been up to, how you found my blog and what type of posts do you enjoy the most.

If there's anything in particular you'd like me to write about let me know down below.


Enjoy what's left of the weekend and as always, thanks for reading! xoxo

Wednesday 26 November 2014

3-6 month Must Haves

I can hardly believe my little man is already 6 months old. It seems just yesterday I watched his Dad hold him for the first time, eventually got a cuddle myself and spent the night in hospital just watching him sleep, totally in love and amazed this little boy was all mine.

Yet somehow 6 months have passed and my little man is constantly growing, changing and learning. 

If you haven't already seen my Newborn and 0-3 month must haves, click on the links to check them out. Here's my 3-6 month must haves, there's 3 new additions this month, and 1 wish I hadn't bothered purchasing.

1) ELC wooden highchair toy. This keeps the little one amused while I am preparing food, or cleaning up after food. The bright colours, wooden beads and mirrored base make for an intriguing toy (well as far as a 6 month old is concerned). It occupies him and you can see the cogs turning as he learns to move the beads around the track.


2) Door jumper/bouncer. I have the Bright Starts playful pals door jumper. Babies seem to love door bouncers and my little boy is no exception. He's been pushing on his feet trying to stand, on & off since he was only a few weeks old. So once he was able to hold his own head up we got him a door bouncer. He's always liked it but I would say it's been since he was about 5 months that he's properly enjoyed the bouncer. I couldn't be without it, especially now he's outgrowing the bouncers and swings and wants more activity during play time.

3) Pretty much all of the linkable rattle, teething, hanging toys for play gyms. But in particular the Fisher Price Funny Feet Zebra.

The linkable toy makes it perfect to add to a play gym, toy bar on a bouncer or attach to the car seat/pram. The soft toy is a hit with my son, he loves biting and chewing on teddy's and soft toys. The 2 teethers are definitely a hit. The rattle is a fun little noise maker... but also a teether as far as my 6 month old is concerned! As is the clacker. Suitable from birth, but most definitely been reached for a lot more since my son was about 4-5 months. 

Wish I hadn't purchased?

The Bumbo, bear with me if you have and love this product! It's absolutely nothing the Bumbo has done, it is a good quality product and excellent in theory. Sit your child in so they can sit up and play. 
The reality with my little Tinker? He just doesn't like it. He begrudgingly goes in the Bumbo, can't wait to come out. He shows little to no interest in toys while in the Bumbo, and even though he is more than capable of holding his head and sitting upright, he starts to slouch and refuses to sit upright in protest. I have no idea why he has such a dislike for this product, but after a few almost successful uses, a few not so successful and then a few very unhappy attempts we finally gave up and the Bumbo has gone to it's final resting place... on top of my fridge freezer until I figure out what to do with it.



That's it for my must haves for now. Let me know below what your must haves for any age group of child are, if you've tried (loved or hated) any of the products mentioned in my posts. And let me know if there's anything you'd like to hear my opinions on. I'd love to get some feed back from you all to help me continue to improve my blog! Say hello in the comments below! :)

As always thanks for reading xoxo

Sunday 23 November 2014

Snappy Sunday #3

This week has been a week of taking some time out for myself and allowing myself to not feel guilty about that. I decided to be a bit selfish with my time.

On Thursday my son & I had a lovely day with family. I love watching him play and learning to interact with his cousin. Friday we had a quiet day at home and this weekend my husband and I have just enjoyed our son. Watching him babble, play, laugh and learn. There's nothing better than the smile on his face and the sound of his little giggle.

I, like most people, spend an awful lot of time on social media websites. Whether that be Facebook, Twitter or even YouTube. While sharing pictures and stories about my son with friends & family, while 'staying in contact' with people, I sometimes feel I miss actual social interaction. So as part of being selfish with my time I deactivated my Facebook and Twitter. Limited myself to 1hr a night on youtube and left my blog for a few days. I put all my energy in to my family and homelife and it was refreshing.

I will leave you with the quote below. Give yourself a bit of attention once in a while. Doing that or having 'me time' doesn't mean you have to neglect everyone in your life, it just means allowing yourself the time to invest in what really matters to you. For me thats my nearest and dearest.

Let me know down below how you like to relax and what you do to take a break from the hussle and bussle of life.

As always thanks for reading! xoxo

Tuesday 18 November 2014

0-3 Month Must Haves

If you haven't already then check out my Newborn Must Haves by clicking here.

Babies grow so quickly, and as they grow they seem to need even more 'stuff'. Things that were 'life savers' for our newborns don't necessarily have the same importance as our babies learn & grow and their needs change. As parents, we find ourselves buying many different things to fulfill those needs. Some things work out and some not so much. Here are my 0-3 months Must Haves.

1) Bright Starts Snuggle & Teethe Giraffe - The perfect cuddle/teething toy. At 6 months old my son still loves his 'George'. It was originally purchased as a gift for my son off his Auntie. It's soft and cuddly but also has a crinkly material in parts that babies love to scrunch. Silky patches, which just like labels seem to make babies very excited, and the 'feet' are a plastic that they can chew on. I loose count of how many teething items I bought and tried on my son. He still has no teeth but has been teething since he was 2 months old. George was the first toy he put in his mouth and used for teething. I love that he uses it for comfort, play & teething. It's the perfect take a long item if you are going out... although possibly I should have bought a toy ring to attach George to the pram. George #1 fell out of the pram on a very rainy day and was never seen again. George #2 was accepted and loved with no issues. Thank goodness!

2) Baby Einstein TV - Found this Youtube channel while looking for nursery rhymes and lullabies to play for him (as my son loves music... or maybe it's just noise he likes!)  I stumbled across Baby Einstein TV and my son loves it. His attention span for watching anything isn't great usually but he will watch these videos. Or if he's playing and this is on in the background he seems more content to play. I don't feel as bad about playing these to him as I would if he was sat infront of a cartoon as they introduce music, art, maths, science and language to infants. 

3) Baby lotion - Once the initial newborn perfect skin was replaced with milk spots and baby acne slowly my sons face started to get very dry. It didn't take long for dry patches to emerge on his arms, legs & body. I tried baby oil, it did nothing for him. I tried different bath products to ensure it wasn't a reaction to his bubble bath. But there was no change. So I pulled out the Johnsons Baby Lotion and after every bath I rubbed in some lotion all over making sure to cover the dry patches. Within a week the dry patches were gone. I use the lotion after every bath now and although he does sometimes still get dry skin, it's nowhere near as bad.

4) Bibs - Initially I began to wonder why I had so many bibs. My son didn't really dribble much and was rarely sick after a feed. That all changed around 8 weeks when he had a double bout of bad luck. First off his teething began super early (and with still no teeth to show for it, I can't help but feel for the poor boy), drool covered clothes were no fun. So the bibs were a must have.

In addition to this he started showing signs of reflux out of nowhere. He was sick, and I mean really sick. It didn't matter how well he was winded, or how long I sat him up for after a feed. He would start being sick anywhere from 5-20 minutes after a feed and would continue being sick for the full 3 hours between his feeds. I went through bibs like there was no tomorrow, but at least I didn't have to change his clothes every single time he was sick!!

I only have 1 'I wish I hadn't bothered - The Clevamama On The Go Bottle. It was a 'lets give it a try' moment. I suspected the issue my son had was reflux but was trying to get the help I needed to solve the problem. I thought this might be an interim solution. If he could take a bottle sitting up then maybe he wouldn't be so sick? 

In theory it's a great idea. Except the straw system pulls apart way too easily for little hands and milk goes everywhere. In addition to this it seemed to require a lot more 'work' for my son to drink his bottle and after three separate attempts with this bottle he point blank refused to even try. Maybe it was just me & my son, maybe it just didn't work for us, but I really wish I hadn't bothered with this purchase.


That's it for my 0-3 month must haves. As my son is 6 months in just 4 days I will soon have a 3-6 month must haves post for you. 

Hope you enjoyed, and as always thanks for reading! xoxo

Sunday 16 November 2014

Snappy Sunday - mallow nights

It's been a busy but lovely few days for hubby & I.

We have spent the weekend visiting family again. Today we took baby boy to see his Great Grandmother (my Grandma). He was all smiles, giggles & raspberries for her. As much as we have always loved visiting family, seeing our little boy with family makes it even more special.

After that we called in to see Nanna & Poppa before heading home. We forgot that town was incredibly busy tonight due to the Christmas lights being switched on & the parade. So we spent a long time sat in traffic. 

Once we got home we put our little boy to bed and decided a treat was in order. So I toasted some 'Mega Marshmallows' on the gas hob! Yummy it was too! Here's three pictures that summed up today... and probably the weekend too. As it's been a busy and grey, yet treat filled weekend.

Hope you all had a lovely Sunday! Let me know in the comments what you've all been up to! :) xxx



Autumn scenery on our travels


Mega Marshmallows


So bad, yet so good!