The 4th trimester is a time of adjustment for both mum and baby. Particularly in the earliest days and weeks after Reuben’s arrival, sleep deprivation set in and hormones were flying all over the place. As such, it was probably no wonder that I had more ‘mum guilt’ than ever…and still have too much 3 months in. As parents, so much is expected of us. Yet, the greater problem is probably that we expect so much of ourselves.
Parenting
10 Garden Activities to Entertain the Kids
Collaborative Post¦ When you’re searching for ways to keep the kids entertained, you want to be sure that they’re getting the most out of their playtime too. As spring approaches in full bloom, kids will want to be out in the garden, exploring and keeping busy.
Tongue tie division and the aftermath
The other week I wrote about how Reuben was surprisingly diagnosed with a posterior tongue tie just before he turned 8 weeks old. I was really worried about taking him for his tongue tie division. Of course, Covid-19 rules meant that my husband couldn’t come in with me for much needed support. Although I’d been assured that it doesn’t really hurt babies and the reason they cry is due to the discomfort of having their mouth held open and poked around, I was still concerned.
The 4th trimester in a pandemic
The 4th trimester with my 10 week old son has been very different than with my 4 year old daughter, thanks to the pandemic. Of course, my pregnancy and the birth experience were effected by it too. It’s all been very strange and somewhat unexpected as I thought things would have vastly improved by a few months into my pregnancy.
The 10 commandments of breastfeeding
When it comes to feeding a child, every parent knows there are things you must have in place first whether you’re breastfeeding or bottle feeding. If you forget something, you’re likely to regret it for the rest of the feed. It’s even worse if you get nap trapped after they’re finished!
The other day, I finally managed to boob Reuben to sleep after hours of him being a bit grouchy. He slept in my arms while I did some writing and caught up on admin tasks. The thing was, I forgot to get myself a fresh glass of water before I fed him. He slept in my arms for hours and I made the most of it. However, I couldn’t stop looking up at that empty glass, feeling increasingly thirstier as the minutes ticked by. It got me thinking about all the things we need to have in place before breastfeeding. Being a bit tired and dehydrated, for some reason I started thinking about it in a 10 commandments kind of context. So without further ado, here are my tongue in cheek 10 commandments of breastfeeding: