Tag: New Mum Blogs

New mum blogs is like an online diary of experiences and thoughts, tips and ideas, updated at least once a week (and in some cases every day). It’s a brilliant way to connect to other parents, particularly if you’re a Stay At Home or Work At Home Mum. It can also be a fantastic record of your child’s early years and a way to help family and friends keep track of their progress.

It’s the virtual equivalent of having lots of friends round for a coffee morning. You can get support and input on everything from getting baby to sleep through the night to potty training and starting nursery

Sleep easy by choosing the right cot

With prices ranging from €80 for a basic cot up to €1300 for a solid wood luxury cot, it’s worth shopping around to choose the one that is perfect for your baby’s early months and years. Whether you decide to buy a cot-bed which will last until your child is five or six, or whether you want a cute cot for babyhood, you will be searching for the best in safety quality, durability and value for money.

Cots:

There is a huge range of cots to choose from and you would be wise to do some extensive research and to consult with the staff in your local baby accessories shop before making a purchase. Ensure that you always look out for the BS EN 716: 2008, safety standard. This ensures that the cot is deep enough to be safe for your baby, that the bars are the correct distance apart, and that the cot does not have cut-outs or steps. If you are using a borrowed or second hand cot, ensure that the distance between the bars is no less than 2.5cm (1inch) and no more than 6.5cm(2.6inches). This is to prevent babies head slipping between the bars. Cots used to have drop sides, for easy access, but these day cots have static or non- moveable sides. It is acceptable to put baby in the cot as soon as they are home form hospital, although many parents prefer to use a cradle, moses basket or carry cot till the baby is a little bigger. A height-adjustable base is common in most cots and cots beds. You can choose the highest lever for the first few months in order to lift your baby in and out easily. The lower level really comes into its own as baby starts to pull themselves up and become more adventurous.

Cot beds:

A cot bed is a cot where the sides and the end panel are removable, so that it may be converted into a toddler-sized bed later on. The best cot beds are durable, safe and easy to convert. Not surprisingly, these are extremely popular and are a much better investment, in that you get a longer life from the purchase. They may also help to assist in making the move from a cot to a bed as smooth as possible for your child. On the down side, a cot bed will take up more space in the room. However its life span in terms of usage is much longer than that of the cot.

Travel Cots:

Travel cots are portable cots that you can fold up and put in a bag to take away with you. Most have a plastic or metal frame, woven fabric and mesh sides, and a hard segmented bottom with a folding, lightly padded mattress. Before purchasing check weight (is it too heavy for travel?) size (again is it travel friendly?), do you need a mattress, stability, ease of assembly (for obvious reasons!) and naturally, cost. If you don’t actually leave home very often you must ask whether you actually need to purchase a travel cot. The assistant in your local baby accessories shop will be able to advise on the best travel cot for your needs.

Teething rail:

An optional teething rail can be incorporated into some cots. It’s a simple rail or a protective covering lining the side-edges of the cot which assists in avoiding the risk of damage. Some cots have casters or mounted wheels which are handy if you want to move it into to a different room. It also makes for easier cleaning under and around the cot.

Bedside cots:

You can buy cots with a removable side so you can position the cot right next to your bed. The base can be adjusted so your baby’s mattress can be lined up with yours, which makes night-time feeding easier.

Mattresses:

Just as it has become a huge part of purchasing an adult bed, there is a mind boggling range of mattresses to choose from. Make sure you choose the right size, ensuring that it is firm and flat and has a waterproof cover. Mattress should have the BSI number 1877-10:2011+A1:2012. There should be no gaps at the side.

Eating Healthy for two- The do’s and don’ts of your Pregnancy diet

Did you know that dietitians are now saying that during the later stages of pregnancy, your baby can ‘taste’ the foods you eat through the amniotic fluid. Treating your baby to a variety of healthy fruits and vegetables in the womb, will increase the chance that your baby will recognize and accept those flavours later on. Eating healthy for two can seem to be a complicated matter. There are foods to avoid and foods to enjoy. Some people encourage you to eat more while others frighten you with words like ‘obese’ and plain old ‘fat’. A good diet for a healthy pregnancy is mainly common sense. If you ate healthy before getting pregnant then there is little change required. If your diet was full of ready meals, takeaways and sugar rushes, then you have the incentive to change.

What not to Eat!

Some foods should be avoided when you’re pregnant. These include raw seafood, unpasteurized milk, cheese and soft cheese like Brie or Camembert. Avoid pate and raw or undercooked meat and poultry. Try not to be tempted by hot deli meals, hotdogs etc as they have a small risk of passing bacteria and parasites. Undercooked eggs should be avoided. Likewise, liver and liver products.

What to Eat!

Everything else! As you can imagine, this leaves a lot of good things to eat. It is worth noting that for the first six months of pregnancy you do not need any extra calories for a growing baby! In the last three months you only need 200 extra calories a day. This is the equivalent of a toasted pitta bread and two tablespoons of hummus or a couple of oatcakes and avocado!! Fruit and veg, protein and low fat dairy are the obvious menu options as you give the tiny person and yourself the most nutritious meals available.

Don’t feel like eating?

If you suffer from nausea or heartburn, you may find it easier to eat a little often rather than large meals at designated times. Bland starchy food, such as crackers or toast may be the short term solution.

Reduce caffeine and throw alcohol to the bin for the duration.

Treats during pregnancy: You are not being punished and don’t need to give up all your favourite foods. High salt and sugar snacks can still be enjoyed in moderation. But don’t feel too guilty if you succumb to temptation and the bowl of crisps or gallon of ice cream disappears in one sitting! Eat well and have a happy healthy pregnancy

The Latest Post-Pregnancy Trend that’s Sweeping the Nation

As the congratulations on your new arrival die down and you consider throwing out the dying flowers and ponder just how long you can leave those baby cards on display before them turning yellow, you might consider the lives of other new mums. How do they cope with the greatest life change since their own birth? Blogs and articles have made nosiness acceptable and allow you to see into the lives of other new mums. Sometimes, you see too much and sometimes you see what they want you to see. Just Google ‘new mum’ and ‘Blogging’ or ‘vlogging’ and amaze yourself at the amount of new mothers who are documenting their daily lives and sharing it with the masses. Now you may well ask yourself how they have the time to write a blog, pick a fancy font and upload cool pics in which their hair is brushed and their clothes match while you have tried three times, unsuccessfully to brush your teeth today. Under the circumstances and all things considered, it is OK to dislike the blogging mum!

Smug Mum Blogs: These are the worst. So Uber cool, with black and white art house pics of Mum rolling in 100% Egyptian cotton sheets that have never been hit by projectile vomiting and stray poo from hap hazard nappy changing. Stylised parenting by hipsters and cool dudes whose kids have gender neutral names like Charlie, Jordan and Trixie – Boo. Don’t look at these unless you want to feel more inadequate than you usually do. Never look at them late at night with a glass of wine in hand. Your computer might not be able to take the abuse.

Advising/Helpful Mum Blogs: If looking for advice on anything from the use of a recliner chair to when the first tooth might appear, a whole bunch of advising blogs are at your disposal. A lot of these are sponsored by Companies, but written by real humans like you and me and they can be the source of great practical advice. The style of the first few sentences is a great indicator of what to expect. Some blogs may even direct you to special offers on equipment, food etc. Others suggest new recipes and relate funny stories from other parents. The bulk of blogs come into this category and if you find one you like, it can be a source of information and reassurance. Basically you are reading a magazine online and the editor feels like a friend.

Funny Mummy: Oh yes, parenting is so funny that some mums need to relate, in a comedic manner, their daily escapades raising their offspring. You have to admire their ability to see humour in what can sometimes seem to be a relentless, tedious and thankless job. Funny mummy blogs (reading or writing) are probably the best solution to frustration when you cannot afford counselling. Laughter is the best medicine (or so that overused cliché says) so get yourself a dose of the best here. It will reinforce the premise that there is always someone worse off than yourself and does includes one blog called. People I want to punch in the throat. Hmmm.

One step beyond- Vlogging: Vlogging is blogging by video. Yes, believe it or not there are a lot of families who parent with a video/smart phone at the ready and upload such delights as their children having ears syringed or swinging in the park… both equally riveting (not) when you do not know, or may never know the people involved. How this will affect the
next generation is yet to be played out but I look forward to the day when one of the featured offspring has a melt down at the lack of privacy and the intrusion on their precious childhood and breaks some camera. No doubt that episode will get lots of hits. The motivation for this vlogging is not hard to understand when you see that a vlog like itsjudyslife has 1,388,444 subscribers and according to the website social blade (socialblade.com) nets the said Judy somewhere between 3 and 47 thousand euro a month depending on the hits. Remember if you log on to look at this vlog, you are putting more money in her pocket and only encouraging her. Down with this sort of thing!

So, new mums are blogging and vlogging and other mums are definitely reading and watching. Whatever the tone of these useful and distracting online click-bait missives, there is one over-riding question that every non-blogging mother will ask. Who has time for this stuff?

For those of you still curious, check out these mom blogs!

irishparentingbloggers.com
peopleiwanttopunchinthethroat.com
hipstermum.com
jollymom.com
mamaandbabylove.com/how-i-almost-became-the-smug-mom
mindthebaby.ie
notanothermummyblog.com