baby girl – NEW YUMMY MUMMY

Going back to work …

I need to grow some balls, and grow them quickly! !

Today I am going back to work 😢I can’t even tell you why am I so upset. Is it because I had to leave my girls ? Is it because I know that I won’t see them all the time? Is it because I am going back to work ? It is because I won’t be the first one to see every single new thing that Skylar will do? Is it because I am worried that Skylar won’t know what is going one? Is it because I worry that she will think that I abounded her ? Is it because I won’t be there for my girls all the time, and every time that they needs me? It’s probably all of the above. I know that the nursery is good for kids, they learn a lot there, do loads of things that I wouldn’t do with them at home, teaches them social skills etc. But the truth is : no one, no matter how amazing they are (girls do have an amazing grandparents) will be able to look after your child as well as you are.

I know that after few weeks we all will be fine, settled in to our new routine, making the most of our new life … but until then I will have a cry here and there …

Breast … feeding 😊

MY BABY EXPERIENCE

Breastfeeding wasn’t a question for me, it was just an obvious choice.

It was very easy with my first one and after a rocky start with the second one, we are both enjoying it as well. I love breastfeeding, I love the bond that I have with the baby and all of the extra cuddles that I get because of it. But it’s not that straight forward. Breast feeding though it’s the most natural thing in the world can be very difficult to establish. There are so many Mums out there that try and cannot do it for lots of different reasons, there is also a lot of babies who can’t get the hang of it. As mums-to-be we get a lot of advice, lessons and support but none of them prepare you for how hard it can be to breastfeed, they only stress how important it is. There needs to be a better education on it and much better support for everyone who struggles. There also needs to be much more empathy towards mums who struggle or can’t do it. I have heard some many bad stories from Mums who were looking for help and had someone make them feel even worse than they already did! You cannot give a Mum who is struggling to breastfeed her baby advice like: just breastfeed and don’t give your baby a bottle, she will eat when she gets hungry ….. really? And lastly no mum should judge how the other one feeds their baby, bottle or breast, we all do what we think is best for our babies and what works for us …

what was your baby feeding experience ?

HAPPY 1/2 BIRTHDAY MY BABY !

MY BABY EXPERIENCE

WEEK 25 has ended ! SHE IS 6 months old today !!!! 6 months old !!!!! How ??!! When ??!! She is growing so much so quickly!!! Too much too quickly !!! 6 months of disturbed sleep, early wake ups, mountains of washing . 6 months of feeling so happy and so loved/loving that it’s impossible to describe. 6 months of cuddling, kissing, feeding, dressing, caring, worrying and looking at my gorgeous little girl growing into quite a big baby (she is outgrowing 6-9 months old clothes already and weighing 8,5 kg!!!!). 6 months of feeling very blessed to be a mummy to such a gorgeous little girl. 6 months of seeing Chloe becoming the most loving and wonderful big sister …. HAPPY 1/2 BIRTHDAY BABY GIRL !

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4 MONTHS SLEEP REGRESSION.

BABY ADVICE

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 😬

Precious time …

MY BABY EXPERIENCE

Am I cherishing every moment ? Am I enjoying every second of this little tiny body in my arms ? Is every moment as precious as I wanted it to be ? When a baby is born we are in this lovely bubble of love! We want to enjoy every second of having a new born baby and being a mum/dad. First weeks are like a dream, you are in a bubble of happiness (and also a little bit delirious from lack of sleep😂)… then real life gets in your way… First little things crop in like having to cook, clean, have a shower or go to the shop … Then comes the tiredness, need for adult company and coffee , spending hours on google researching why my baby cries, baby doesn’t sleep, baby doesn’t eat, what to do … how to do it …. , going to baby classes, going for a walks, visiting friends, play groups, having to start giving your baby some independence …. then you realise that they are already 1 Month… 3 Months…. 6 Months … 1 Year Old … And the question you constantly ask is 1. When has the time gone???!!!! 2. Why is my baby growing so fast ???!!!!

Even though you probably cherished every second of being with your baby you will look back and think that you haven’t made enough of this special time, you will question yourself have I taken enough photos of my little baby?, have I given him or her enough cuddles? have I been staring at him or her enough? have I remembered every single special thing that they did for the first time ?

When my second daughter was born I was saying that I need to enjoy everything more than I did first time round (don’t think that it is possible really) But I constantly keep thinking how quickly she is growing and questioning if I make the most of it ? Yes I think that I am, but I am sad to let go … sad that I won’t see her first smile anymore, sad that she isn’t this tiny newborn baby anymore, sad that I have to buy next size clothes … and at the same time very excited about seeing her grow and develop ….

I love the baby stage so much that I might start having a baby every year just so I can enjoy it all over again, all the time 😂

Babies grow very fast so cherish every second as you won’t be able to get it back ! Enjoy sharing your life with this tiny person and making memories together, nothing else matters!

YES I AM WRTITING ABOUT SLEEP AGAIN !!!!

MY BABY EXPERIENCE

I thought that I had it all sorted: perfect napping routine, Chloe sleeping throuh the night and Chloe bed time routine… And then it all went wrong!! Without any reason Chloe started to refuse to take her usual naps, or would sleep only for 30 min. Then as soon as we moved her to her own bed at night she started getting up twice a night for her milk. To add to everything the last 3 evenings she just became so active and excited before going to bed that putting her to sleep became a nightmare !!! We went from my husband reading her bed time story and Chloe falling asleep quietly to her just kicking, talking and jumping round her cot like crazy.

Why oh why does it happen ??!! There is no reason for any of it as we haven change her routine! ! I think that she is playing a game with me !! Or she is teaching me the lesson of who the boss is 😁

So off I am back to the drawing board.

1.I need to figure out new day routine as Chloe obviously doesn’t like the old one. Need to go back to observing her to see when she wants to nap and for how long. Then fit her feeds in between to make sure she has enough. Hopefully if she starts getting more sleep in the day it will help with her night sleeping.

2.Change her evening routine. This one is really weird as we have had this same routine for the last 5 months and up until recently it worked perfectly !! We eat dinner, have a bath, get ready to bed and then read the story. While Chloe lays in her bed… Will try to chang it a little bit and see if reeding the story before putting her in to the cot will work.

I just drive myself crazy asking question Why Why Why ?! And not getting any answers ! Why is she not sleeping? is she too tired? Is she teething? Is she not tired ???!!!!

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 !!!!!!

BEST SWADDLE ever !

BABY STUFF - DO WE NEED ALL OF IT ?

GRO SNUG is 2 in 1 Swaddle and Newborn Grobag from The Gro Company.

The Gro-snug enables you to swaddle arms in or out for a great night’s sleep. Extremely easy to use with only a long zip that opens from the bottom for nappy changes. Because this snug has a zip instead of folding it makes it impossible for the baby to wriggle out of it. Unique design creates space for hip healthy natural positions!

Remember that you shouldn’t swaddle baby who can turn around.

Meningitis B Vaccination … Yes or No?

BABY ADVICE

It has been very loud recently about the Meningitis B vaccination. As you all heard (or not) in UK from the 1st of September 2015 all babies are receiving the Meningitis B vaccination. UK is the first country to roll it out to all babies being born. This news is great but what about all of the babies born after 1st of May 2015 who are not entitled to it ?

If you don’t know much about Meningitis B this is some general information available on NHS website:

Meningococcal group B bacteria is a serious cause of life-threatening infections, including meningitis and blood poisoning, worldwide and the leading infectious killer of babies and young children in the UK.

There are 12 known groups of meningococcal bacteria, and group B (Men B) is responsible for about 90% of meningococcal infections in the UK.

Meningococcal infections tend to come in bursts. In the past 20 years, between 500 and 1,700 people every year, mainly babies and young children, have suffered from Men B disease, with around 1 in 10 dying from the infection. Many of those who survive suffer terrible permanent disability, such as amputation, brain damage and epilepsy.

Once I found out that Chloe won’t qualify to get the vaccination on NHS me and my husband decided that we will do it privately. Somehow though life got in the way … We tried to book an appointment and were placed on a waiting list… Then when we finally managed to get one we had to cancel it due to holidays …. And then with busy lives we forgot about it…

Untill recently when a very sad story came out about a 2 year old little girl called Faye Burdett who lost her battle with Meningitis (rest in peace little angel). This story has shocked everyone and sent parents in to a panic to get their kids vaccinated. I was one of those parents, I just couldn’t risk it even if the chances of getting this awful disease are small. I must say that after the story has broken out it became almost impossible to get the vaccination ! There is a national shortage of the vaccination and most of the clinics have a very long waiting list with no date of when the vaccine will be awailable (hopefully in the summer). We were lucky to get it but it was expensive. What is very sad to see is all of the private clinics making a fortune from petrified parents. The vaccination costs £75 but most private clinics charge now £200 upwards!!!! This makes my blood boil!!!

So what is your opinion dear parent? Would you pay for the Vaccination though in theory the chances of your child getting it are 4 in 100,000? Or do you think that we all got in to a silly panic after the case of poor little Feya?

There is right now a big debate going in parliament about introducing this vaccination to older children after a petition to the government was signed by over 800,000 people and became the most signed petition ever …. Let’s see what will be the outcome of it.
You can reed more about Meningitis B on http://www.meningitis.org/menb-vaccine 

Christmas is done now it’s time to Party!!! We need lots of sparkle and glam!! Last minute baby outfits!

YUMMY BABY & KIDS FASHION

Christmas is finished ! It is time to start thinking about New Year Day !!!! We Mumms need to glam up but we cannot forget about the little ones. Need a last minute outfit ? There is a small selection of New Year Eve Party outfits for your little one (a lot of party clothes are now on sale so you can grab a real bargain!).
H&M