BABY ADVICE – NEW YUMMY MUMMY

4 MONTHS SLEEP REGRESSION.

The Famous 4 months sleep regression … or as I call it Hell !!!
Why did I call it Famous ? Because almost every parent has googled: sleep regression; 4 months old doesn’t want to sleep; 4 months old waking up at night ever 2 hours, 4 months old doesn’t want to nap …. it’s probably one of the most googled subjects by parents. Everyone talks about it, reeds about it and once you have 4 months old baby knows about it.

You feel like you and your baby finally have an amazing bond, some sort of routine, you understand each other; you start feeling confident and believe in your parental skills; you even feel human again as you are getting much more sleep each night; and you might even have got your baby to go to sleep on their own … and then … BANG …. everything changes overnight. One thing to remember is : It’s not you, it’s them 😊

Me and my husband have found it harder than the newborn stage …

I was lucky enough to have my little one get up only once at night for feeding, at 3 months we got a good daily routine and started to slowly get Skylar to go to sleep on her own … until the regression started and made her get up every 2 hours, stop napping, or nap only for 30minutes, wanted to be rocked or nursed to sleep.

I have done my fair share of googling this subject with the first one and a little bit with a second one. And these are my findings combined with my own experience.

4 MONTHS SLEEP REGRESSION

The 4 month sleep regression marks a permanent change in your baby’s sleeping habits. Before your baby hit the 4 month mark, your baby slept like a baby – babies don’t go between deep and light sleep … they are in deep sleep all the time. This explains why newborns and very young infants tend to sleep anywhere and through anything!

As your baby’s brain matures, around the 4 month mark, her sleeping patterns change – they become more like ours. Now, she is cycling between light and deep sleep – just like we are.

4 MONTHS SLEEP REGRESSION SINGS :

How to recognise that the 4 months sleep regression has started? There is more night waking and short naps. Every time your baby cycles out of deep sleep and into slight sleep, theres a good chance she will wake up – and once she’s up, she will more thank likely need your help to fall back to sleep.

Sleep stages follow a predictable order that flow together in sleep cycles. These sleep cycles last about 60-90 minutes during the night (sometimes 120 minutes as they are developing) and are marked by a brief waking that happens at the end. And this is the cause of most “sleep problems.” This waking is meant to be to protect us by allowing to briefly check in with the environment that everything is ok. When we fall asleep, we expect our conditions to remain constant throughout the night, so if your baby has fallen asleep in your arms and you transferred him to the crib, the crib will feel wrong when he hits the checking wake up. This means that after every sleep cycle your baby will probably wake up and you can interpret his or her cries as, “Hey Something is wrong here ! Where is Mummy ?! Where is Daddy ?!

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUR BABY IS GOING THROUGH SLEEP REGRESSION :

Routine

Babies thrive on consistency and routine, so be sure to provide it. If you haven’t already, this is a great time to create a calm, soothing bedtime routine that can consist of a bath, a book or a song, then bed.

You also need to have some routine before naps, to help your baby learn that it’s time to sleep (making the room dark, kiss, story, or whatever works for you). Within your flexible schedule, be sure to include consistent feedings so that your baby isn’t hungry, especially if she or he’s experiencing a growth spurt.

Feeding

Just keep feeding your baby if that’s what they want when they get up. At around 4 months old babies go through a growth spurt and also there are changes to the breast milk which might affect the amount of milk needed by your baby.

You also need to get as much sleep as possible so there is no point of trying to get them to sleep without any help, this will only upset you and your baby (trust me I tried).

Try and move feeding times so that your baby doesn’t go to sleep straight after the feed or put them down when they are drowsy not asleep. This will work in the day but not necessarily at night.

Be patient

You cannot do anything to stop it or to make it go away. You just have to bear with your baby until she adjust to this new situation and works out how to sleep longer.

You can support this adjustment by doing the above and giving them lots of love.

Also don’t go and feed your baby the second that they move or make the smallest sound. Give them some time to try and go back to sleep. Sometimes they will just moan for a little bit or talk and then go back to sleep. They will let you know if they need you by crying loudly 😊

HOW LONG CAN THE SLEEP REGRESSION LAST?

It can take anything from 2-6 weeks. It usually just goes away without warning.

If after 6 weeks your baby still wakes up at night all the time and needs to be fed to go back to sleep then your baby has developed an unhealthy habit.

It took Chloe around 2 weeks and Skylar around 4 weeks. So there is no rule and every baby is different.

This is the biggest sleep regression but there is also one at 6 months, 8-10months, 12 months, 18 months and if that wasn’t enough; also at 24 months old 😬

Baby sensory classes !

BABY ADVICE

Baby sensory is one class that I would recommend everyone attend with their babies. It’s the most incredible class which combines music classes, sing and sign classes, massage and SO MUCH MORE. It provide ideas for play, massage, tummy time, movement, visual development, hand-eye coordination and music in simple practical ways that can easily be repeated at home.

Each class is different and very exciting with themed weeks. You and your little one can enjoy everything from a beach party, going on a animal adventure, exploring the sea, having fun in the snow and much more. There are also special additional classes to help you celebrate the special days like Father’s Day, Mother’s Day Or Babies First Christmas.

It is designed to stimulate, educate and help you bond with your baby. It also helps you meet new mums and make friends.

I have done it with my first baby since she was 6 weeks old and I am doing it now with my second. I love it and so does my daughter. If you want to find out more just go to the baby sensory website http://www.babysensory.com 

TANTRUM TANTRUM TANTRUM !!!!!!

BABY ADVICE

We had had 2 very difficult weeks with Chloe. From nowhere she started having the most horrible tantrums. Never in my life have I seen something like that! She was like a child possessed screaming, crying, throwing herself on the floor …. this would last for almost an hour at a time!!!!!! What made the whole experience very upsetting is that there was nothing that me or my husband could do to help Chloe. Seeing your child, who is normally as good as an angel (and the naughtiest things she does is not to come straight away when you call her) change in to such a mess is very distressing. I have spent hours researching what it is and what can trigger it and decided to share my knowledge.

WHAT IS A TANTRUM / MELTDOWN

“Tantrum” is commonly used to describe milder outbursts, during which a child still retains some measure of control over his or her behaviour. Tantrums are part of normal developmental behaviour for children aged 1-3 and over. They are not “naughty” or used deliberately to wind you up.

“Meltdown” This is opposed to a meltdown, during which a child loses control so completely that the behavior only stops when he wears himself out and/or the parent is able to calm him down.

WHY DO THEY HAPPEN ?

Emotions and inability to deal with them are behind it.

ANGER – If the child feels angry because : You don’t want to give them chocolate which they need, don’t want to buy them new toy which they have to have, don’t let them watch more tv.

ANXIETY – is a big trigger; it causes kids to freak out, overriding the logic that would enable her to see that her anxiety is out of proportion to the situation.

FRUSTRATION – very often due to limited language, or lacking the skills to complete tasks for example: getting stuck with a jumper half-way on, or a piece of puzzle that won’t fit.

INDEPENDENCE – they want to be independent and do things themselves : walking, choosing theirs clothes, eating etc.

TIREDNESS AND HUNGER

CHANGE TO THE ROUTINE – this can unsettle your child and make them feel unsafe. Any new routine, changes in the family like an arrival of a sibling.

Or any of the reasons that Chloe has had them :

Offer them a cup of milk.

Ask them if they want to get up.

Ask if they want to eat something.

Change them out of a dirty nappy.

Ask if they are ok.

Because I looked at her.

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

At that would sometimes happen ….

HOW TO STOP TANTRUMS

To stop tantrums you need to help the child gain control over their emotions. Some of the most common issues that cause children to act out in negative ways are hunger, tiredness, frustration, boredom or over-stimulation.

Once you identify the real reason behind your child’s actions, you can often solve this at the first sign of negative behaviour, before your child dissolves into a full-blown tantrum.

DISTRACTION – one of the ways to stop the tantrum is to take attention away of what has triggered it. Show them something, ask them to help you etc. Get them to focus on something else.

IGNORE – if the tantrum has started then ignoring it is very often the best thing to do. Leave the room and the child very often stops the tantrum because there is no audience and they get no reaction.

HUG – sometimes they just need to be cuddled and told that it’s all ok and that you are there for them.

GIVE THEM SPACE – if it is a full blown tantrum or meltdown sometimes the only thing you can do is to leave them until they calm down.

TALK TO YOUR CHILD – if there are some changes coming to their life talk about it and explain them to your child in advance. Kids understand much more than we as parents think they do. Ask them why have they behaved like that and tell them that next time if they feel like that they can do “something” else like talk to you, come for a hug etc. With time they will learn how to deal with it.

Most important of all is to remember that you are the grown up. It can be very hard and very frustrating for the parent. I went through every single emotion I can think of when Chloe was having those terrible tantrums : sad, worried, annoyed, frustrated, angry, tearfull, heartbroken ….. when it was getting to me I raised my voice at her, told her that I would take her toys away or once when I couldn’t handle it I even compared her to “good and nice Skylar” (something I promised myself I will never do). When the situation is getting to you just take a very deep breaths and remember you are the grown up who understands what is happening or leave the room until you are composed.

Our tantrums lasted just over 2 weeks and hopefully will never come back again.

What worked for us is:

– Giving Chloe space. When the tantrum started I would take her to her room, explain that I will leave her and come back when she calms down.

– Once calm I would give her lots of cuddles and ask why she has behaved like that. Most of the time she wouldn’t know, I would try and help her identify the feelings.

– Explain to her that she cannot behave like that, that this is a very naughty behaviour and that there are consequences. Most of the time I would take away her dessert for a day or she wouldn’t have story time, wouldn’t be allowed to watch her favourite Peppa pig or go out to the playground. Also what didn’t work is taking toys away. She has lots of different toys so taking one didn’t make any difference, she would just play with something else. It has to be a real treat that you take away.

– Tell her to stamp her feet when she gets angry and tell us when she feels it coming. She would tell us now that she is getting very sad.

Good luck to anyone who is going through it. Share any good ideas that you have on hot to deal with it.

HOW TO GET BABY TO 😴

BABY ADVICE

When they are born they just sleep all the time (mostly on you) . Evenings are filled with this tiny, warm body snuggled in to you; Those are the best evenings you ever had… and then they grow and you need to start thinking about routine – How will I get them to sleep on their own? How will I get them not to be attached to my breast / bottle for the whole evening/night?

How do I get my baby to sleep on their own ? Swaddle, Sheepskin, Whisbear and some notes taking and rocking will be involved (oh and dummy is they take it – Skylar refuses it)

1. OBSERVATION

Observe for a week when your baby gets tired or sleeps. Look out for tiredness symptoms like rubbing eyes, pulling ear, yawning, falling asleep when being fed or when taken for a walk. Make notes each time your baby goes to sleep; if you do it over a week you should see a clear sleeping pattern forming. That’s when you will start to put your baby to sleep to make sure that they are ready for a nap. Why is it important? You won’t be able to get a not tired or overtired baby to sleep.

As a guide

3-6 months old baby 4 naps a day

6-12 months old baby 3 naps a day

12-18 months old baby 2 naps a day

18 months and over one nap a day.

Please do remember that this is just a guide and every baby is different .
2. MAKE THE BED

Make it warm, cosy and comfortable. They love sleeping on you because you are soft, comfortable and warm. Putting your baby to a cold Moses basket or crib/cot will not make them want to stay there. That’s where sheepskin is an amazing accessory. It keeps your baby body temperate perfect, is soft and cosy.

3. WRAP IT UP

Swaddling has worked perfectly for me with both of our girls. It makes babies feel secure, stops their arms from waking them up. They feel exactly how they did when they were in our tummies.

4. TURN UP THE WHITE NOISE

We all heard that white noise is good for calming babies as that is what they hear for the 9 months that they were inside us. It won’t get your baby magically to sleep but it will help them. We used Whisbear which reacts to noise and automatically turns itself on, which is great at night.

5. SET-UP THE SCENE

Dark and quiet rooms are very helpful with getting your baby to sleep especially when the baby gets a little bit older.

6. PUT DOWN & PICK UP OVER AND OVER AGAIN

Purpose of it is to teach your baby to self soothe. You put your baby down when its drowsy but not fully asleep. If he/she starts crying you pick them up and rock them so they are drowsy again and put them down…. over and over again.

7. OLD BORING ROUTINE

Babies from around 3-4 months should have a bed routine and daily routine. Though routines are boring and oh so predictable kids love them. It also gives you a chance to plan your day and get everything done when your little one is resting. Don’t get me wrong a daily routine doesn’t mean that you have to be home every single day 7 days a week at the same time and cancel all appointments or meetings which don’t fit in your baby schedule. Babies can nap in the pram from time to time or their nap can be moved if needed. I am a firm believer that we shouldn’t run our life around baby and baby’s naps, it’s all about balancing your needs and baby’s needs.

Our gorgeous Skylar just turned 3 months. Until now she would always fall asleep on my breast, and I would spend the whole evening just cuddling her; on another hand she always sleeps very well at night, waking up only once or twice for food and then going back to sleep. It’s the time now to start getting proper routine in place and to slowly start teaching her how to go to sleep on her own.

My main advice to everybody is : just chill! There is a lot of different techniques and opinions on how to teach your baby to self soothe (which I will write about in my next post) some you will like some you will disagree with. Don’t put pressure on yourself and your baby. See what works for you, and do what you want to do; as far as it works for you and your baby and both of you are happy that the only thing that matters.

NAPS – WHY BABY DONT LOVE THEM AS MUCH AS WE DO ?????😊

BABY ADVICE, MY BABY EXPERIENCE

Chloe never was a sleepy baby. Everyone tells you newborns sleep all the time … Not Chloe! From the beginning she was awake for around 4 hours or more at once. As the time went by and she was getting older and older she was awake more and more …. And some more.

I mentioned before that the key for us to get Chloe to sleep nicely and easyly without waking up crying was longer naps (apparently 30 min 3 times a day isn’t good enough). I also mentioned that it wasn’t too hard to get Chloe to nap for 1,5 hour …. Spoken to soon !!!

If you are struggling with getting your little one to nap for longer than 30-45 minutes, don’t worry! Most of us are!If you aren’t then you are really lucky! There are days when Chloe naps like a dream! She always wakes up after her first sleep cycle but going back to sleep is a hit and miss. Sometimes it takes few seconds and she is back asleep, sometimes 5 minutes of her talking … sometimes 15, sometimes 5 minutes crying … Sometimes 30 minutes. If we have one of the bad days I give up after 20 minutes and take her for a walk. That way Chloe gets her sleep (takes 5 minutes in the pram and she is out) and I get my coffee and magazine break in Coffeeshop 😊

I tried all of the advice that you can find out there on how to get them back to sleep:

– sussh and pat ( she doesn’t want to lay on her side to do it 😊)

– having good routine (we always go to sleep at this same time)

– making sure that naps are when Chloe needs it and when she is tired (you can establishe it quite easily by observing your baby)

– staying in the room with them ( doesn’t work, Chloe things that I am there to play with her)

– speaking to Chloe about the need to sleep to have more energy to play (some reason she doesn’t ether understand or agree with me)

What works best for us is to keep coming in to the room, putting her comfort blanket to her cheek, dummy in to mouth and leaving the room. Sometimes I need to do it 100 times but 90% of the time it works.

Good news is apparently it will get much easier when baby is 6 months old !!!!!!

HOW/CAN ? You prepare for your second child :-)

BABY ADVICE

How to prepare for your second child.I don’t think that there is anything you can do to prepare yourself for second child; but there are quite a few things you can do to make it easier for your first born.

BOOKS

As soon as your bump becomes visible start reading your child stories about “baby in mummy’s tommy” and them becoming big sister/brother .My favourite books were :

And “Princess Poly I am new big sister”.

. When/if you find out what you are having you can start reading books about them getting baby sister / brother. This will help them to understand what is happening and what is to come.

GET THEM INVOLVE

It’s very important that you get them involved in baby related things. We got Chloe involved in preparing for the new arrival:

– helping to fold baby clothes (or shall I say unfold? 😂) which she loved, she would pick up every single garment and say: mummy look it’s so small !

– taking her to midwife appointments to check that “baby is ok”.

– help decorate her sisters nursery (choosing where to put toys, what photos to put in to frames)

– going shopping to buy things for the baby and asking for her help with it.

PRESENT FROM THE BABY

What makes the inconvenience of the arrival of the sibling more bearable is a nice present. Your Firstborn is more likely to “like” someone who gave him present (especially when it is something that they really wanted).

VISITING RULES

Make sure that your guest give your child as much attention as they will give to the baby. It is a very good idea to get your toddler to show quests where the baby is and ask him questions about the baby. It will make them feel very important.
LITTLE HELPER

Get your toddler to help with the baby. Getting involved in everyday tasks will stop your toddler feeling excluded. Giving nappy and wipes, bringing blanket etc all of those little things will make them feel as a very important big sister/brother.
UNDIVIDED ATTENTION

The hardest thing for your child to deal with will be lack of attention. They live gets thrown up side down; one day they are the only person who gets your attention the next day there is someone who gets much more of your attention than they do. Make sure that each day you do spend quality time with your toddler. Put aside an hour a day when your baby is sleeping when you can have lots of fun with your toddler; it will be hard when you are sleep deprived but it will make a huge difference to your child.

NEW ROUTINE

You won’t be able to follow all of your old routines of bathing, feeding, reading stories, tucking in to bed. Make sure that you make new ones which involve the baby and work with having two kids. My husband does Chloe’s batch time and bed time routine but I make sure to take Skylar to Chloe’s room for her bed time story. This now has become our new family routine and Chloe loves it.

Those things has worked for us. Chloe has adapted very quickly to the new family dynamics and is in love with her baby sister .

Cosmetics for your baby and toddler.

BABY ADVICE

I have been using Childs Farm cosmetics on Chloe for a long time now so I was very pleased to see that they have just launched range for Babies. Childs Farm is an award winning British brand that uses natural ‘free-from’ ingredients and essential oils to produce mild, kind and delicious smelling toiletries that care for the skin and hair of newborns, babies and children.

The gorgeous smells of the cosmetics comes from organic sweet orange, mint, tangerine, grapefruit and tea tree oil.

They use only natural detergents which come from beets, corn and coconut.

Use of natural moisturisers like vegetable glycerine and honey.

Highly recommend theirs baby and toddler range. We love it !

Yet another SLEEP REGRESSION!!! 😳

BABY ADVICE, MY BABY EXPERIENCE

As soon as the terrible two’s have descended on us so did the sleep regression. On a positive note our terrible two’s lasted only 2 weeks and we now have our daughter back!!!! Yuppieeee!!!! The sleep regression lasted around 3 weeks and I dare to say it was more painful! Disturbed sleep while pregnant and working full time does not go well together! Did you hear that Chloe?????!!!!

Between the ages of 18-24 months kids go through yet another sleep regression; I hate them!!!! I can just about cope with a teething toddler and lack of sleep that this has been giving us in the last 14 months or so. With teething at least I know that it will last 2 or 3 nights and I also have my best friend Neurophen supporting me 😊 afterwards we will be getting our full night’s sleep; so it’s not too bad. With sleep regression we lose our evenings and our sleep at night!

It all started from the innocent “not being able to go to sleep on her own. We had that previously for 2 or 3 nights if she was teething but not for almost 3 weeks, and not so dramatic! As soon as Chloe wasn’t able to see me or my husband she would be up standing in her cot crying her heart out; I must say it was heartbreaking! As soon as she would see us she would lay down and try and go to sleep, while checking every couple of seconds if one of us is still there. It started taking her over an hour to fall asleep!!!!! 😳 Then came the waking up at night and crying for her Mummy a few times each night 😳

We have tried a trick our friends told us about; each night stand/lie down a little bit further torwards the door, then you stand outside the door and, then finally you don’t show yourself you just shusshhhh them (or as my friends did you put only socks on the floor right next to the door so they think that you are still there … But you are not 😂) And luckily it worked very well!!!!With every step towards the door the night started to improve as well, she was calling/crying for us less and less.

We are done with it now but it was hard guys. We are now back to the odd disturbed nights with the standard: teething, cold or one of 50 different reasons when they wake up at night 😊

NO !! NO !! NO !! NO MUMMY !! NO DADDY!!

BABY ADVICE

My happy, very good, cheerful child has changed overnight in to a crying, whining NO NO NO NO to everything baby !! Welcome to the Terrible Twos stage!

4 days ago Chloe woke up as a totally different child. Instead of seeing her happy smiley face in the morning I got crying Chloe who was getting in to tantrums every 5 minutes about everything !!! And that’s how she is since then.

Everything is a “NO”! Oh no it’s not only one NO, its “NO NO NO MUMMY” !!! With a finger shake added for impact and very often a tantrum when she is throwing herself on the floor and crying like crazy without a reason …..

It starts from the early morning:

Mum: Chloe do you want to go downstairs?

Chloe: NO!

Mum: Chloe do you want your milk (she loves her morning milk)

Chloe: NO!

Mum: I go and make it anyway, while I do it I am being told million of times “No No No mummy”, then she throws herself on the floor and starts to cry … I try to cuddle her; she throws herself on the floor and cries while saying “No mummy No”; I make the milk and leave it on the table … Few seconds later she is drinking it?

Mum: Chloe let’s go and play

Chloe: No

Mum: If she doesn’t want to play I will make myself a coffee …

Chloe: No No No No mummy !

Mum: Eeerrrrr No what? I am not even looking at her at this moment !!!! And then she is off to play happily.

Mum: Chloe let’s go and change your nappy.

Chloe: NO NNNNOOOOO mummy. Off I take her screaming and crying upstairs, and I will just say that changing a nappy becomes a performance of its own.

This gives you a taste of how my last few days have been looking. Everything is a “NO”, lots of crying, tantrums … And try to tell her No to something 😂 the meltdown that you get is something.

This episode in your toddlers’ life is called the TERRIBLE TWOs or as some likes to call it TODDLER REFUSAL! It can develop at any time between 19 months and 30 months. Comes unannounced and strikes with full power, then disappears without a word (I hope so !!!!). It can last anything from a few days to a few weeks but the specialists say that it will definitely go away sooner or later, so remember and keep repeating: it’s just a phase, it’s just a phase…. The reasons behind this behaviour is simple- toddlers say “no” because they can. “They’ve just found out that they have a will, and they want to exercise it,”(Susanne Denham, Professor of Developmental Psychology at George Mason University). When it comes to the tantrums different specialists say different things: some say that we are being tested by the kids to see if having a tantrum will give them what they want, some say that it’s because a toddler cannot express itself, some say that it’s just a reaction to escape a demand and some that it’s pure attention seeking.

There are tricks which can help with this difficult stage and I must say they work. Sometimes they will make the tantrum go away, sometimes they will prevent it, but remember they will not stop it totally and you have to be prepared for the battle of wills.

1. Offer choices

Give your toddler options. Options on how to do something, not if they want to do it. It makes them feel in control of what they are doing and that makes them happy.

If you ask him/her if they want breakfast the answer will be a very loud NO though we know that they want to eat! Instead give an option of cereal or toast.

I found meal times especially difficult. Chloe would just scream when I put her in her highchair, she would scream if I took her off … I didn’t have a clue what to do! So I started giving her lots of different things on her plate so she could choose what she wanted to eat (one main meal which is what we are eating and lots of different vegetables, few plain pasta, a fruit). This and taking the highchair tray off so she could “sit with us at the table” worked miricles and she started eating pretty much everything again.

When dressing them give options of two outfits and get them to try and dress themselves.

Going for a walk I would ask Chloe what shoes she wants to wear and if she wants to walk or take the pram.

2. Distraction

If she/he kick off with yet another tantrum just get them to look at something, pretend that you hear something, show them another toy etc. Works 70% of the time. This will stop them crying for long enough so you can show them something what will keep them occupied. I always say “Chloe have you seen the train?” (she is obsessed with them) and then take her to another room and try to play with her.

When changing a nappy (which for some reason Chloe started hating with a passion) I use toys to stop the tantrum and crying. I tell her that we will change theirs nappies afterwards and she can clean theirs bums, or I tell her that all of her favourite toys are looking at her, and they will scream and cry when she tries to change their nappies 😁 so far it has been working.
3. Ignoring

Sometimes nothing will work and you just will need to let them cry and calm down a bit. If the reason behind the tantrum is you saying “No” to something then you will have to ignore it. As tempting as it is do not give in and stay strong, if not your toddler might learn that if they behave that way they will always get what they want …. And you don’t want to incurage behaviour like that, do you ?😊 or you can just lay down and scream with them 😊

4. Little helpers

Get them to help you with whatever you are doing. Kids love to “help”, it makes them happy. Be prepared for everything to take twice as long, but I will be worth it. Helping with hanging the washing, folding clothes, tidying up, dusting etc

Have you gone throught this stage ? Do you have any tips ? Please share with us !

Toddler Traveling guide ☀️🌴☀️🌴☀️🌴☀️🌴☀️🌴☀️🌴☀️🌴☀️🌴

BABY ADVICE, MY BABY EXPERIENCE

Time for another holidays special post. I have written one of these last year about traveling with a baby. This is an updated version and angled more towards holidays with a little toddler. We are going on holidays YUPPIE ! In a few hours time I will be on a beach in glorious Cypriot sun TRYING to get some rest😁.

It can be quite overwhelming to pack for holidays with the little one; it can be quite tempting to just pack everything which might result in you needing much more than the allocated 20 kg. These are some tips on what you have to take and what is good to have based on all my traveling experience.

ESSENTIALS :

1. 50 UVA & UVB sun cream – ideally waterproof.

2. SunHat – just make sure that the shade from the hat covers your baby’s neck. More than one is advisable as they get covered in sand and ice cream surprisingly quickly.

3. Swimsuits – UVB protected ones are the best as you know that they are protecting your precious toddler on top of the sun cream.

4. Swimming nappies – lots of them 😊

5. Antihistamine – If you are going to a hot country your baby/child can get a heat rash. Aloe vera cream will help with a mild rash, cooling affected area, and wearing loose cotton clothing. If those things don’t work it is good to have Antihistamine Syrup.

6. Hydrocortisone Cream – another thing which is handy to have just in case. If the heat rash isn’t going anywhere after using antihistamine syrup then this mixed with lotion will.

7. Nurofen / Calpol – or any other pain / fever relief that you are using. You never know when you might need it. I never leave the house without a bottle in the changing bag.

8. Thermometer – a must-have when traveling with a child. We travel quite frequently and I must say I always end up using it. Last thing you want is your baby feeing hot and you not being able to check if they have a temperature or what the temperature is.

9. Nappy bags – at home we use a nappy bin so I never remember to take nappy bags or to refill them in my changing bag. Last thing you want when you are relaxing in your lovely hotel room is the smell of a stinky nappy !!!

10. Beach shoes – let’s remember that our precious babies feet skin is very delicate (not like ours, which requires lots of work to be smooth for a week or so) ; and that they are much more sensitive to temperature.

11. Sunglasses – yes they do look really cute in them but it is more about protecting their eyes than a fashion statement 😊.

12. Bag full of surprises – are you flying ? Is the fight quite long? Be prepared with lots of little things ready to distract your toddler. I have been very lucky as Chloe is quite good at flying; but I am still always prepared. New book which she hasn’t seen before, crayons, stickers, favourite toy, snacks etc. This will make sure that you can keep your baby entertained … You know how quickly they can get bored!

13. Dummy – or bottle/food if you don’t approve of dummies. This is to make sure that your child’s sucks on something at the take off of the plane and when plane starts to descend. Make sure to have something ready to prevent pain in your cute one ears.
GOOD TO HAVE
1. Towel Poncho – kids don’t like to sit in one place, wrapped up in towel waiting to dry and warm up a bit. This is the perfect solution, they are covered, warm and can run around.

2. UVB beach tent – this is very good and much more practical than trying to keep your monster under an umbrella. Chloe loves playing in her one.

3. Formula – this obviously is only if your child still has morning and evening milk. Reason why I suggest to buy it is because kids react differently to cows milk in other countries. When we went to Poland to visit my family Chloe got diahorrea from the milk (on which I was brought up and was totally fine with).

4. Favourite food – I always take Chloe’s favourite snacks just in case she gets a bit funny with her eating. New place, new environment, new people, new routine … It can really confuse baby/child which in turn can affect their eating.

5. Wet wipes – lots and lots of them. I swear you go through them at the speed of light!

6. Favourite bed time book and favourite toy – It all helps child adapt quicker to the new surroundings and makes us feel safer.

7. Travel cot mattress – With all of the suitcases that I have when traveling with Chloe, all the hand luggage needed and pram I have opted for not owning a travel cot. Instead I have a travel cot mattress which you put over the cot. I obviously always bring our own, fitted sheet for the cot as well. That way I don’t have to carry the travel cot, and I have peace of mind that Chloe’s sleeping environment is safe.
8. Swimming costume – you will need more that one. You will have to change your toddler in to a dry swimming suit after the get out of water. This will prevent them getting cold and getting a heat rash.
9. iPhone / iPad – with favourite cartoon. I am against giving those to kids but let’s be honest there are situations when all rules go out of the window and you will do anything to stop your child screaming
Hope that this little guide will help you pack useful things on top of all of the clothes and nappies required 😁

Oh and if anyone has invented something to prevent your toddler from eating the sand please share !!! 😂