baby days Archives - Mami To Five

Newborn Essentials List ~ Just the things you REALLY need!

When it comes to having a baby, the first time parent can be forgiven for getting completely overwhelmed by the array of items that are classed as ‘essentials’. Honestly though babies need very few things for the first few months and the real essentials can be as cheap or as expensive as you are willing to pay.

If you are preparing for baby on a budget remember, not only can most items be picked up second hand for far less money than new, but you can also sell them on again when you have finished with them. Meaning you can then go on to fund even more things you need. After all it’s not as if newborns are running around ruining their clothes!

Why we waited so long for another baby

When O was a baby, I would occasionally get questioned about the big age gap between my children, people would presume that he was either from a second marriage, or that he was unplanned. After all, my others were all close in age and much older. As he, and especially his sisters, have grown up there have even been the odd occasion where you can just tell people are wondering who his mother is! But actually there is a good reason for such a big gap.

Ten years ago, had you asked me if I was going to have another baby, I would have laughed and said something along the line ‘Oh god no! No more babies for me thank you very much.’ At the time I had four small children aged from a baby up to five years old. Life was sleepless, noisy and everyday was jam packed with nappies, laundry, breastfeeding, school runs and PND.

Let Me Tell You… How to Remove Cradle Cap

Does your child have cradle cap? All of mine have suffered with it as babies to varying degrees, some for longer than others. It’s actually a really common condition that first appears within a few months after birth and although it often looks quite unsightly it’s *usually* completely harmless (I’ll explain the usually bit later).

Most of the time it will disappear of it’s own accord with no treatment at all but some cases might need some encouragement before it clears up. Needing medical treatment for cradle cap is rare.

My Captured Moment ~ Meeting the new baby

Here is the day the kids first got to hold O at four days old, they had actually seen him already over in Special Care, but had been unable to touch him. They were so happy he was finally with me on the ward.

I can’t get over how young they all look, isn’t it amazing what almost 2 years can do? I had a little giggle at the girls’ disheveled hair, They weren’t quite teenagers yet so I doubt brushing hair was high on their agenda unless prompted back then. I also love LV’s face, it’s a cross between excited and petrified 🙂

My Captured Moment ~ Special Care Baby

This photo was taken in the Special Care Baby Unit when O was two days old. He had come on in leaps and bounds since his rocky start and moved from the ICU straight into the nursery, totally bypassing the HDU where he was expected to go, and was well on his way to joining me over on the maternity ward.

I hadn’t actually seen this photo before today. My laptop is still away being fixed so I’ve been using my mums old one (while trying to fix and debug it) and found this while moving some photos to dropbox.

I love looking back at photos of my kids that I haven’t seen before, especially newborn ones. But I have to be honest, this photo also shocked me a little. You see I’d been quite poorly during the last few weeks of my pregnancy and it really does show here. I just cannot get over how gaunt my face was!

11 Breastfeeding Tips for New Mothers

With a brand new great nephew born into the family this month we also gained a brand new breastfeeding mum.

As I oohhe’d and ahhhed and had special Auntie Katie snuggles with the teeny one and one of his big brothers, who has just found himself ousted from the spot as baby of the family. I found myself sharing breastfeeding tips, advice and titbits (no pun intended!) of informatiion. Don’t worry it wasn’t unsolicited advice!

I’ve thought of a few extra bits since so here are my:

1. No matter where you are never, ever ask permission to feed your baby. You would never consider asking if it was okay to bottle feed. It’s all milk, it just comes out of a slightly different container 😉 Remember you have a right to feed your baby anywhere you are legally allowed to be!

2. Never ask if anyone minds if you breastfeed because the chances are someone will decide they do mind! If you don’t ask they probably will never even notice (unless you sit right in front of them) and if they do, well they have the right to leave if it bothers them that much!

3. Drink plenty of water. You will get extra thirsty, especially about 5 minutes after you sit down to feed! Invest in some sports bottles that you can keep in the fridge so you can just grab one before a feed, I also recommend keeping one next to where you usually sit in case you forget!

4. Snack often. During the day you might feel like you are tied to the sofa permanently with continuous feedings. If you are at home alone you might find you have gone all day and not even had breakfast yet! Make sure you have plenty of snacks at hand (where you sit to feed-next to your drink!) so at least you can nourish yourself too!

5. Keep growth spurts in mind. Once you seem to have settled into a feeding routine don’t be surprised if your usually contented, two hourly feeder suddenly turns into a booby monster who wants to feed and feed, and feed some more. They are more than likely going through a growth spurt and need all the extra calories you can give. But don’t give in and think they need a bottle, it will settle down again within a few days.

6. If you are concerned about modesty use the ‘two top method’. When I’m breastfeeding I always wear one tight fitted strappy vest top that is stretchy enough to pull down under my boob, then a looser top that will comfortably pull up over the top and won’t be constricting over babies face. This method means you won’t be baring your boob or belly to the world and you don’t need to worry about using a nursing cover.

7. Use a baby carrier. Of course this isn’t just limited to breastfed babies, I personally think all babies and parents benefit hugely from babywearing and the bond it helps develop. But for a breastfeeding pair it means, with possibly a little adjustment, that baby can be snuggled close with mum, have instant booby access, and mum gets to carry on with whatever she was doing, be it household chores or walking around the shops! Try and get an ergonomic carrier as they are much better for babies hips, and the grownups backs than most high street carriers. A stretchy warp is just perfect for the early weeks.

8. Invest in good breastpads. This is one area that I really didn’t mind spending money. Personally I used Tommy Tippee ones as I found they were shaped nicely and didn’t show through my clothes as much as some cheaper brands. I also got slightly less leaking, although lets be honest even a bath towel wouldn’t help some days!

9. Invest in good nursing bras. What with all the leaking milk and baby sick, you will likely be washing your nursing bras a fair amount! If you purchase three decent ones you can wear one, one washing and have one ready in an emergency. But also bear in mind that your boobs will change size so you might need to invest in some bigger ones in a few months time.

10. Lanolin. To save your nipples from becoming sore and cracked I always recommend pure lanolin. No nipple cream, even those containing lanolin, can compare to the protective and soothing properties of pure lanolin. It can be costly, but you only need a tiny amount at a time so one tube will last a long time!

and last but probably most importantly:

11. Savour and enjoy every moment! Whether you breastfeed for three days or three years, that last feed is often unexpected, a little upsetting and can leave you feeling lost afterwards. Make sure you take the time to enjoy this special period, doing the one thing that only you as a mum can do for your baby.

Is there anything else you would add to this list of breastfeeding tips?

I am linking this post with You Baby Me Mummy’s The List linky. If you like a good old list, why not pop over to read some more?

My Sunday Photo ~ Exhausted

Earlier this week the Mother and Toddler group we go to celebrated Saint Davids Day by throwing a big fun day event. There was a bouncy castle, sports and craft activities, songs and story time all in Welsh or with a Welsh theme. It was a fabulous day and the turn out was great as the nursery class at the local Welsh primary school (that my children go to) was invited along with the Cylch Meithrin (Welsh pre-nursery group) that I used to work in.

Not long after we got there O was ‘adopted’ by two little girls from the school who held his hand and walked around with him pretty much for the rest of the event! It was so sweet, especially when they were both asking him ‘are you a boy or a girl?’.

After three hours of constant bouncing and playing I was actually surprised we got home with him still awake but as you can see by this picture he didn’t last too long before he finally keeled over!

I hope you all celebrated Saint David’s Day with style? 😉

My Captured Moment ~ The Hair!

This picture always makes me smile when i come across it. It was taken back in 2003 when LM was just 4 months and the twins were 2 years old.

E&Ff had just got to the point where they would let me do their hair and as you can see I took full advantage! I do have to admit that most of the time, they would only let me actually put the hair up in bobbles if they were sat on the windowsill in the living room and wave at the elderly woman who lives across the road!

Mortgages, Babies and Maude

A few years ago, nine to be precise, we moved our mortgage to a different provider. At the same time as switching to a better deal with Abbey (which is now Santander of course), we were also able to take advantage of the equity we had in our home. Luckily for us we’d bought our house before the boom of the noughties so we actually had a fair amount of equity we could borrow against.

You see we were expecting LV at the time. Our car was a standard 5 seater, a tight but comfortable fit for the three girls’ seats in the back, but completely unsuitable for a family of six! We also had some work that desperately needed doing around the house before the baby arrived so getting it all finalised couldn’t come quickly enough.

We had done a lot of the leg work by post but one morning when I was 22 weeks along we had to go into the nearest branch to actually go through everything and sign all the final paperwork. You wouldn’t think a simple meeting like this would be one to stick in someones mind, but of course things can never go smoothly so this is one meeting I’ll never forget!

We’d arrived in good time and soon enough, we were sat in a nice office and offered cups of tea. The kids were made at home on the floor with the snacks, drinks and colouring in I had brought. Quite why we’d arranged this for during the school holidays I’ll never know, but there must have been a REALLY good reason I’m sure! I think the mortgage adviser (let’s call her Maude for simplicity’s sake **Not her real name of course**) was a little taken aback with our pint sized troop but she was lovely and even gave them extra paper from her printer to colour on.

Now I’d already had problems during the pregnancy (which I swear I will write a full post about soon!) so feeling uncomfortable was the norm, but that particular day I hadn’t felt quite right since I got up. About halfway through the meeting I started feeling regular pains. Not contractions. Not enough to really hurt. But definitely pains none the less.

Now Maude could obviously see I was in discomfort and offered to reorganise the meeting. But that was the last thing I wanted! The chances of getting Lee there again was slim to none (did I mention that he REALLY hates meetings like that?), plus if the baby did arrive early, which we already knew was a possibility, the last thing we would be wanting to do was go to a mortgage meeting. So I opted to stick it out for as long as I could.

Poor Maude, I’ve never seen someone convey so much information quite so quickly, while at the same time remaining completely calm, making sure we understood everything we were being told, were making the right choices for us and giving us bare facts so we weren’t influenced by her opinions.

Before we knew it, everything was signed and we were packing up our brood of girls, who had all behaved perfectly might I add, to drop me at the hospital while Lee went in search of a babysitter!

I did spend around a week in hospital, over LM’s third birthday I might add, but luckily I didn’t go into full blown labour and within a week of leaving we had a brand new mortgage and the extra cash we so desperately needed.

I do hope Maude got to have a well deserved cuppa after that meeting, and also got someone else to hoover up the crisp crumbs off her office carpet!

Do you have any interesting anecdotes about what should have been a very dull and serious meeting?

***Disclaimer, this post has been sponsored by Santander, but the story is my own and has not been influenced by them in any way***

My Captured Moment ~ Tiny Baby, Huge Nappy

This photo tickles me everytime I come across it. O was three days old and he had finally come to join me on the maternity ward from SCBU. Without the feeding tube which was a surprise to me! Of course in true newborn fashion he needed changing pretty quickly and it was only then did I realise that I hadn’t taken into account just how dinky he was!

Being only 5lb 3oz born he REALLY needed the size 0 ‘micro nappies’. All I had was the size 1 newborns. When pulled up to close some of the gaps around his legs it went right up to under his armpits! Even the midwife had a giggle and got some sent over from SCBU to tide me over until I could get some brought to me.

The silly thing is, he wasn’t my first to need the micro nappies and he was a month early, so I have no idea why I didn’t even think he would be so small!