Getting it right the second time around

Regarding children, a friend once said to us "You make all your mistakes with your first", we didn't think much of it and carried on our merry way.

Well, now that we have Dot we really understand what he meant, and more to the point, I feel filled up with guilt that I didn't do better by Squidge. There's so many things I could have and should have done better with Squidge, but I just didn't know.

Early weaning

This pretty much makes me feel sick to my stomach... Squidge was slowly weaned onto solids at 18 weeks, 1.5 - 2 months earlier than recommended. I thought he was ready, and I was impatient. I'd give him a couple spoons of baby rice each day for a couple weeks, then moved on to puree's. I had no idea what I was doing, but I thought it was right, even my health visitor said it was fine to do (and shouldn't have really). I'm not making that mistake this time. I'd mistaken Squidge watching us eat as him being ready to wean and hungry - not the case at all, it's not an indication that they're ready, they're just interested in everything we do, and around that time they become interested in our mouths, so naturally they'll be interested in us eating.

Formula fed

Dot is breastfed exclusively and I'm really proud of that. With Squidge, I always said that he couldn't breastfeed - he'd scream and scream when he went near the breast. But I had no support and no knowledge... if I knew then what I know now, I'm pretty sure I could have made it work. I had no idea about breastfeeding support groups on Facebook - they have been an incredible source of knowledge to me and have helped so much. I wish I could say that Dot hasn't had any formula, but sadly it was his first feed :( Despite telling them that my wish was to breastfeed, after he was born the midwife or healthcare support worker, literally walked in the room and fed him formula - I was overwhelmed by the birth and had a room full of visitors. He then had formula top ups for the first couple weeks until I decided to ditch it and go EBF.

Naps away from me...

When Squidge was a small baby, I was advised to get him to nap in his cot and not the poddle pod, to get him into a routine - at the time he was about 4 months old. I had no idea what was right or wrong so I went ahead and did it. But I've since been informed that babies should have their naps in the same room as their parents until they're at least 6 months old. I seemed so keen to get Squidge through each stage so fast, I didn't stop and think whether what I was doing was actually best for him. This time I'm making sure all day naps with Dot are in the same room as me, and typically on me, gotta drink up all those cuddles while I can :)

What would you do differently second time around?

Follow me on
Google Plus | Bloglovin | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest

Dot 5 month update

It's hard to believe Dot is now 5 months old, 5 whole months he's been in our lives filling us with joy. He's such a different baby to Squidge... Squidge definitely cried more, but slept better. Squidge was quieter, didn't babble as much and didn't move as much, whereas Dot doesn't stop moving! He's so chatty too, it's just lovely hearing him. I'm filled with such a mix of emotions with Dot, I'm making sure I'm savouring every last second of him being a baby, as he's our last planned child. I really can see how people end up having massive families!

Weaning

We're holding out for him to be 6 months, I'm making sure I'm doing it right this time (I started gently weaning Squidge when he was 18 weeks... feel awful about that now, I really thought I was doing right by him). And we're doing baby led weaning - I've been reading up about it, and love that you skip doing puree's (that's meant for babies who are being weaned early). So as long as he can sit up unaided by 18th Feb (when he's 6 months old), and doesn't automatically push food out of his mouth, we'll be beginning our weaning adventure then, exciting!

Clothes

This boy... he costs me a ruddy fortune in clothes :P He's such a big boy! So, at 5 months old he's in size 6-9 months currently - doesn't sound extreme, but he's been in that size for about 4-6 weeks, and now some of those baby grows he's growing out of already! He has a drawer full of proper clothes (from nice places like Next) and he's not worn half of them as I tend to keep him in baby grows (keeps him looking more like a baby) :) 

Sleep, ha!

Well, given that he's a breastfed baby, I don't expect him to sleep through the night, but oh my goodness, a stretch longer than 2 hrs would be very welcome! Because he feeds so regularly (every 2 hrs) we've started bed sharing with him as when he was sleeping in his cot I'd physically be up every 2 hrs, then it'd take me a while to get him back to sleep in his cot - so I'd be getting a lot less sleep every night. This way when he stirs, I offer the breast, he has a feed and goes right back to sleep, as do I. We make sure we follow the safety guidelines for safe bed sharing, and so far it's working for us, it's particularly lovely waking up to his little face just inches from mine each morning :) Funnily enough, while I'm writing this he's putting in a really long day nap (sods law!), currently at 3hrs 40 mins... if only he could do that at night eh?

Development

He's doing well, I think he's probably doing things around the time he should. He can roll over and over to get around the room, although he can't roll in both directions yet, just right and right and right :) He can do a couple/few seconds of sitting unaided, but I think that's more accidental than anything. He also loves standing, he has really strong little legs. He'll do brief periods in the Mamas & Papas Snug I bought for him, and still goes on his Fisher Price keyboard play mat, but as he rolls so much he's never on it for long. He's also loving his Disney Finding Nemo jumperoo and has started using it properly (bouncing).

He's also teething at the moment - I can see some bumps where the teeth are right under the gums, but I don't feel like any teeth will be poking out soon. Sadly, because of his dairy allergy he can't have Nelsons teething powders (the ones we used to give to Squidge) as they have lactose in them, so we're sticking to teething gel when he seems to need it. His gums are definitely getting rougher!

He's also said 'Mama' a couple times, usually when he's distressed (aww).

Anyway, I think that's about it :) I'll be back next month with his 6 month update and hopefully a pic of his first taste of food - now to decide what that should be for my little dairy-free boy :)

Follow me on
Google Plus | Bloglovin | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest

I'm back!

Ahoi! You may remember a sunny May in 2016, when I said farewell on this blog and started up a new blog www.pixiedoes.com? Well I gave it my best, but it dawned on me the other day that this blog, without being updated still gets more views each day/month than my other blog, and it has better credentials, so I'm bringing it all back to here.  If you didn't follow me over to pixiedoes.com you're in for a bit of a surprise! I've had another baby! Nickname is Dot, he's 5 months old and just perfect :) I'll do a little 5 month update on here this week as he's only just turned 5 months. I've also started up my YouTube channel again - we've all been struck down with awful horrible colds this last couple weeks so I'm a bit behind, but I have lots of videos planned.

I'm currently on maternity leave until May and I really want to start getting blog posts up regularly and YouTube videos, so watch this space :) I'm so excited to be back here, it feels right. I'll miss blogging over on pixiedoes.com, but it doesn't make any sense to carry it on.  So for now, I'll leave you with some pics of us as a family of four, welcome to the blog Dot :)

Follow me on
Google Plus | Bloglovin | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest