Swaddling

I'm a big fan of swaddling. I swaddled my first child until she reached ten pounds and was big enough to wear a baby sleeping bag and I've swaddled my second, who is now eight weeks and reluctant to 'let go' of this particular method of sleeping. He's worn his sleeping bags a few times, but he does prefer to be swaddled and I usually bundle him up for his day time naps at least. If he's struggling to settle at night I will swaddle him also.

It was feebly in the news that swaddling can do long-term damage to a child's hips. This is because a baby's hips naturally place the legs in a frog-like position to help the ball socket joints to learn to rotate properly, apparently if a baby is too tightly swaddled, forcing strait-legs, it can damage the hips. I leave the bottom of my swaddle open so he is free to kick his legs as and when he pleases. Sometimes at night I will twist it gently and place it beside him in bed. He still has movement, but it is harder for him to kick it off and get cold. I have such a fear of him getting cold and I have no idea why, as far as I'm aware, being a little chilly is safer than over-heating.

On my recent quest to find out when a baby should stop being swaddled as Bear's now older than Moo was and still going, I came across a lot of conflicting information but my biggest fears were confirmed by a few different sources; the older the baby, the more dangerous it can be. One woman wrote on a well-known forum thread that her son sadly died aged seven months due to improper swaddling by a nursery worker. Obviously, it is unsafe to restrict a child's arms once they are rolling.

Bear loves to be swaddled and I will admit that at times it can be a real life-saver, yes, he wiggles free often but it also brings him comfort and helps him sleep, it's never caused us any problems with breast feeding despite that being a common problem and I know that he's warm all snuggled up like that.

My biggest concern at the moment is rolling, yes, I know that we're a few months off of that, but I remember Moo rolled over in her sleep a couple of times weeks before she ever rolled consciously and I really don't want him to become too dependant on his swaddling habit for sleeping. Should I try to wean him off of it now so that it's long gone by the time it could ever pose him any threat? I found all the information online to be highly contradicting. I personally found it worked for both my children and I don't believe that the way I do it poses any risk to his hips, circulation or body temperature...however I know it's only a matter of time before these are no longer the issues, and something more sinister starts to lurk.

Does anybody have any tips for getting their baby to settle in a sleeping bag? He doesn't enjoy having his arms free whereas Moo loved it and would often pull them free from her swaddle, and happily have a snug tummy!

Clare

Ozeri Duckymeter

One item I would say that any new parent needs is a bath thermometer considering how sensitive newborns are to temperature. There are lots and lots of different ones out there, but I believe that this blows all the bog standard ones strait out of the water (sorry, couldn't resist).

Using a round, easy-to-read screen (about the size of a 50p piece), the Duckymeter screen lights up either blue, green or red to indicated temperature. Blue is cold, green just right and red too hot. The reading is displayed in farenieght and is clear enough to read from a standing position above the bathtub.

The thermometer is of a reasonably large size, bigger than an average rubber duck and has no buttons or switches, it's sensor activated. The LED screen remains constant whilst in the water, checking the temperature every second. The display will light up blue if the water temperature falls below 95 degrees and red if it goes above 102.2, leaving a reading anywhere between firmly in the green, and therefore safe, area.

Moo is hugely fond of all of her bath toys (and will often be found playing with them on the bathroom floor in the middle of the day), and when bathing with Bear, she gets a lot of enjoyment out of this duck thermometer! For me I find it very reassuring and takes a lot of the doubting I had with my eldest over the temperature of the water, I had been bathing her in water that was too cold and had no idea so it's great to have the thermometer constantly updating the water temperature for me.

Here are my pros and cons...

Pros.

- Constantly checks the water temperature to give you an up-to-date reading.

- Easy-to-read screen.

- Automatic so no buttons or switches.

Cons.

- Can sometimes take a long time to tun off after removal from bath.

The Ozeri Duckymeter is priced at £9.99 and available from Amazon.

Clare

Please note we were sent this item for review, however all thoughts and opinions or my own.

Adjusting to Life with a Newborn Again

Oh Heavens I had forgotten what life with a newborn is like; squishy, lovely, surreal, euphoric, heavenly...I love him oh so much, he is a new part of my world that was previously made of his father and his sister. They are everything.

But then there's also all the really, really hard stuff.

Like spending my time at home wandering around with one or both breasts out of at least my bra if not my bra and top, or forgetting how long it's been since I last washed my hair (I think I'm on day eight...yes, I repulse myself).

Looking back to my pregnancy, especially the last few weeks, I foolishly thought that this would be the easy bit, that carrying him was hard and it would all be smooth sailing so long as we were both healthy after birth. How very wrong I was.

Sure, it hurt to get in the shower, but I managed it, I had time for it and I definitely never forgot how long it had been since I did it. In those last weeks I lived in leggings and vest tops for comfort and make-up and I were basically estranged. Now my 'slap' is a distant memory and I'm still living in 'Jeremy Kyle-worthy' attire because it's the only thing I can breast feed in/hides baby and toddler sick/wee/poo/vomit/food...let's not even talk about the dust gathering on my GHDs.

Yesterday I even went to the registry office with breast milk on my top and baby wee on my leggings.

I recently turned to my good friend who's eldest is Moo's age and youngest just turned a year, I told her that I didn't know how I was ever going to get anywhere ever again. She laughed and reassured me that it did get easier...but I was relieved that the fact I've tuned into Godzilla-Mummy was totally normal (at least he thought so).

Don't get me wrong, I love, love, love my children. They are all I have ever wanted...I just had no clue it would be so hard having a newborn in the house again, or rather, trying to slot a newborn into our lives.

Also...is it normal for a two-week-old baby to guff this much?!

Clare

The Baby Box Buzz

Somewhere around late 2010, early 2011 a new phenomena hit the UK; beauty boxes.

Based on a French idea, they're monthly subscription boxes costing around £10 a month that give you a chance to sample brands (not always luxury, some more affordable) that you might not necessarily discover otherwise. The front runner of this was Glossybox which I subscribed to for awhile, but I found their customer service to be somewhat lacking (and I am very much focused on service when it comes to value for money), I also subscribed to Jolie Box which was my favourite of the two. I subscribe to neither now as the novelty wore off somewhat as I was only interested in make-up. Glossybox are still prominent in the beauty world, though every beauty blogger and then some seems to have them and approximately once monthly my Bloglovin' is filled with 'unboxings'.

All that said, it's old news and old hat and to those of us who are getting just plain 'old', it's done and there's something new on the scene; the baby box.

Once again, an idea that started in Europe and has made it's way to our humble, little island; this time offering a monthly subscription box of 'baby essentials'. As a mum, this now excites me more than a box aimed just at myself, and I think that the majority of parents will agree. Being a mum is a huge sacrifice and you do tend to stop focussing so much on yourself, it's nice to have treats, yes, but I'd much rather spend my disposable income on my children than myself because their happiness is my everything. That said, the new boxes on the scene do promise to include treats for Mum and Dad too so hooray for that! I love a treat!

The obvious advantage to a monthly subscription service is that as a busy mum to one or more, the best products on the baby market suitable for your child are being delivered strait to you, negating the need to shop, price-compare and stress! I need that in my life! Need. Do you hear me? Need!

There are two big names on the block and here's a quick round up of what they each have to offer!

Nonabox.

Originally a European brand (Spain, Italy, Germany and Austria), they've hit the United Kingdom, launching last week with their boxes from new baby up to two years of age, saying they target the contents to your 'stage of motherhood'. They promise to provide a variety of luxury products from the United Kingdom for you and your baby at a cost of £25 per month (including delivery) with the contents averaging a retail value of around £70 with 7-10 items per box. They also plan to have themed seasonal boxes throughout the year.

Nonabox are currently offering 20% off when you sign up online as well as a free Cloud B Sheep Aroma pillow worth £16 to the first 1000 subscribers.

Image curtesy of Nonabox.

Sassy Bloom.

Sassy Bloom is a British brand (whose first customers were Wills and Kate) who also intend to launch this month. With prices starting from £22.15 per month (with free postage), Sassy Bloom promise to deliver a specially tailored 'sassy box' monthly to you with contents aimed specifically at your child's age across a range of luxury brands in development, nibbles and practicality from around the globe as tried by their panel of mothers and babies! It's not just branded baby goods either, there'll be treats for parents too as well as personalised gifts. The brand vows to bring to you the 'latest and greatest', in tried and tested products of the baby world elite! Each box guarantees a retail value of upwards of £30 in retail value with 5-6 items per box.

Sassy Bloom are running a competition on their website at the moment to give away a generous twelve month subscription to one person! They're also giving away five monthly boxes and promise a complimentary box with every twelve-monthly subscription.

Image curtesy of Sassy Bloom.

I'm not here to tell you which box to subscribe to because to be honest, both excite me in a way that handbags and blushers once did!

Unlike beauty boxes, it is a much quicker moving market. Children grow quickly, but there are constantly more being born to replace those who have grown up and new products with modern designs being released constantly whereas there's only so many sample lipsticks and hand creams one person can own (seriously, I had such a stash of it all from beauty boxes, I was giving it to my friends)! Because of this, I'm confident that the baby box will be huge and will be staying!

If you're really not sure but would like to try, you could buy one as a gift for an expectant friend as they would make a wonderful present for a new-mum or mummy-to-be! Look out for reviews coming soon...

If you've got your mitts on one of these boxes then lucky you, what did you think? Please let me know!

Clare

Please note this is not a sponsored post from either company, nor a comparison, it is an informative piece about baby box subscriptions within the UK. All information is accurate on date of publishing and all opinions are my own.

When your waters break first...

Hello all...I'm still here...plodding along like a big, old pregnant hippo (I have the temperament of one at the moment). My thoughts are most definitely on impending labour and so this brings me to today's post.

It was the day before my due date in 2010 and I stood up to go to the loo when gush. My waters broke. My husband didn't believe me and assumed I'd wet myself...there's nothing quite like someone being supportive, right? 

The media would have a lot of us think that this happens all the time, usually in really inconvenient places like a wedding or the supermarket but apparently, this is not the case; you are less likely to have your waters break first than you are for them to break during labour. For most women, contractions are the first sign of labour.

If your waters breaking is the first sign of labour, however, they are more likely to go at night; during the night or like me, when you get up out of bed either for the loo or to get up in the morning. A lot of people will tell you that you will know when it's your waters, and you may well do...but you may not. There has been more than one occasion in the past week where I have thought 'was that my waters'?

It wasn't, FYI, but it just goes to show that even though I have experienced it once, I'm still not 100% sure of what it feels like, I think that's partly my shocking memory skills! I'll get on to ways to tell if your membranes have ruptured or not, further down.

You are more likely to be one of the 25% to have your waters break (or ruptured membranes) first if...

- Your baby is in a back-to-back position. If this is the case, I have one word for you; epidural.

- You have caught an infection.

- An injury has caused a puncture in the sac.

- Your baby is in an oblique position.

- You have an unusual amount of amniotic fluid (too much/little).

Your waters may or may not go with a pop, sometimes it can be a trickle (mine went pop and then trickled). Ways to tell if it's your waters and not wee are...

- It won't stop, it'll just keep trickling. You will have no control over the flow either, unlike urine.

- It will smell different, some people describe it as a sweet smell. Don't be mortified if your midwife gives them a sniff, it's totally normal (if a teensy bit grim).

- It'll take more than a standard towel to keep up, even a maternity pad will need to be changed often.

- They'll be clear (or with a slight pinkish tinge). If they are brown, green or any other colour, including red with blood, seek medical advice immediately.

If you suspect your waters have broken first, call your midwife/delivery unit at the first instance to inform them, they will run you through some questions and probably invite you in for an examination whether your contractions have started or not. They may well start immediately...but they might not. It was over 24 hours until I started to feel even the first twinge of contractions, which is a situation that presents it's own problems.

If you are lucky enough to have your contractions start immediately after your waters break then congratulations, you are well on your way to getting that baby out! It isn't uncommon for waters to break late in labour, or to even have them broken by a medical professional so if yours have broken and your contractions are going too then kudos!

If your contractions don't start immediately, not to worry, most will start within twenty-four hours of your waters going, however with your waters leaking, there is a risk of infection to you and your baby. The longer you go between the rupture and the beginning of labour, the higher the risk of infection. It's not a huge deal, you will be given anti-biotics throughout/after your labour to ensure that you are both protected if twenty-four hours have passed and baby is still not born. If twenty-four hours pass and no contractions have started, you will more than likely be advised to have an induction by your hospital. If you are booked into a birthing centre or midwife-led facility, the time is reduced to eighteen hours, after which your care will be passed on to the nearest consultant-led service.

And that's pretty much it for general things to know if your waters break first. Never be ashamed to call your midwife, doctor or anyone else for advise if you're unsure, no one will laugh or judge you for being overly-cautious...or if you've had a bladder leak. Honest. No matter what you have to say, I'm guaranteed they've seen/heard worse!

If you're reading this, pregnant, good luck, congratulations and you'll be fine!

Clare