Lidl baby box

Maternity and Infant have teamed together with Lidl to offer a free baby box this week to mammies and mammies to be!!

 Just register on https://maternityandinfant.ie/lidlbabybox/
to receive yours.

Mammies favorites: Baby grows

I have tried them all Next, Primark, Heatons, Dunnes Stores, Mothercare, Tescos and even Aldi and here is a rundown of my  favorite babygrows and why I liked them, and my least favorites too!!

You would think the more you spend the better the product but its not always the case. Some of the cheapest baby grows I have used have been far superior.

Pennys or Primark baby grows are one of my favorites. They are a great length for long babies like my Logan. The foot space is roomie which is something I find a lot of baby grows are lacking. They wash pretty well as in they dont look overly worn when washed a few times but the edges where the clips are can get a little warped and need to be stretched back to form. I would give them an 8/10 just because of the warping.

Dunnes Stores as with all there kids clothes seem to be made for short stocky kids so these are always worn first when Logan goes up a size. The foot space isn't great its always too small even when the grows are a bit on the bigger size. The material is good and they wash well and can take a good few washes before they start to look worn. Dunnes Stores seem to have gotten notions about themselves and there pricing has gotten out of hand.  4/10 

You would expect Next to be the best and fit wise yea they are sized well, the foot space is good and I love the added fold over sleeves so you dont need mitts. But I found after there first wash they looked old and worn, the colors were not as vibrant and they just looked old. the material is heavy and seems like good quality so I dont know why it is they dont wash well. Next is not cheap so its disappointing that they are not better quality 7/10

Heatons baby grows are fine for the first couple of weeks when you move up a size but they are generally sized very small. The material is very light and they dont wash very well. They loose all there softness once washed and the material begins to look very faded after a couple of washes. 4/10

The babygrows from Mothercare are lovely quality. They are sized nicely with a good amount of foot space and plenty of room for long legs. They wash nicely and dont fade even after several washes. They are on the pricier side but with Mothercare you get what you pay for 8/10

Aldi is my favorite shop we do most of our shopping here and of course they dont disappoint even in the clothing. The aldi babygrows are sized brilliantly they are long and roomy with a great amount of foot space. The material is light which is nice in the summer heat but they wash really well. Logan has been wearing these for weeks and they still look like new even after many washes. They are the cheapest of all the baby grows and the only fault I can think of is as the material is a bit lighter they wont be so great in the colder winter months. 9/10

So if your on a budget I recomend you go for Primark or Aldi for your babygrows and if you want somthing a bit pricier or are buying as a gift go for Mothercare.

Dummies!! The great debate!

Are you a dummie mummie?? 
With my first baby I did not want to have Corey reliant on a dummy. Every thing I read said they where no good, they would mess up his teeth and cause a lisp. And I didn't want to go through the struggle of weening him off it as he got older. I had one for him and tried him with it for a week but as I was breastfeeding I felt he didn't need it and when he didn't take to it straight away I stopped trying! 

But with Logan I am much more relaxed and I'm not trying to be the world's best mom, just a good mom! If it gives him joy and makes my life easier I say go for it ! I tried alot longer and he wasn't to impressed with it at first. But since I gave up breastfeeding its has become our lifeline! He used to use me to sooth himself to sleep once he finished feeding and when we moved onto bottles he needed to dummy to help him relax and get to sleep as he has a strong need to suck! 
I would rather use a dummy than have logan become a thumb sucker! Dummies are shaped to sit in a child's mouth the same way it's mothers nipples would when feeding. Thumbs are not pliable or the right shape and can have a negative impact on babies jaw development. It is also easier to ween a child off a dummy as you can take it away where a thumb is alway there.
Sucking on a soother can train a child's oral motor function which will aid with learning to speak. My Corey never had a dummy and he has a very prominent lisp and my nieces and nephew had dummies and they are lisp free.

Not all babies have a strong suck reflex so they may not need a dummy where other babies so and as long as it's not used as a plug when the child doesn't really need it and only as a soother to fall asleep then I see no harm in using a dummy. But it's a personal choice for every parent! 

Water wipes

This video from Water Wipes highlights the importance of skin to skin contact with your baby. It's somthing I recommend if you can do it straight after birth or as soon as possible if complications arise. 
Skin to skin contact stimulates mums milk supply, develops babies sucking instinct and regulates there breathing. It has been shown to help pre-terms babies by reducing stress and regulating there heartbeat. It also benifits mam and dad by enducing calming effects and lifting there moods.
Please check out this video but be warned it might enduce broodyness and even a few tears!!
 https://youtu.be/O7E_c3G3LPA

#purelove

Two months old

Logan is two months old today! I can't believe it it's gone so fast but I can barely remember like before him.
A few things iv learned in the past few months with Logan are 

Babies cry.....sometimes for a nappy change or because they are hungry and sometimes for unknown reasons like just to hear the sounds of there own voice! Dont let it stress you out. If they are fed and burped, have a clean nappy and aren't to hot or cold and are still crying it's nothing to do with you....your not doing somthing wrong....they don't hate you (they are babies they have no concept of hate) crying is just a part of there development.

I can survive on little sleep...I love sleep I was getting at least 12 hours a day of it while I was pregnant and even before that I could barley function on less than 10. But in the first few weeks of having Logan I have managed on very few hours some days just 3 hours broken over 24 hours and still got through the day. At the moment we are at 3 to 5 hours at night then a feed then another 3 to 5 hours then up to get Corey ready for school then another 2 to 3 hours so I'm getting at least 8 hours of broken but thoroughly enjoyed sleep.

Puke on me and I'll still find you adorable....well as long as your a baby as your puke is just milk not chunks of food. its fine I'll actually coo and say how cute......its quite deranged!!

Super long hair and babies don't mix....I was growing my hair for 5 years and it was at my waist and I loved it! But it was a pain to tie up, it was always in the way when I went to feed Logan and most of the time it had baby puke in it! So I got it cut to my shoulders cause ain't no body got time for that!!! 

And that's just 2 months in I wonder what I will learn over the next few months........

Cosleeping/breastsleeping

For the first week of Logan's life we had no idea what to do about the sleeping situation. We were trying to figure out how to get this tiny new born baby who had been apart of me for 9 months and 2 weeks (he was obviously very attached) to sleep alone in his crib for the first time. And he hated it!
Logan was cluster feeding at the time so I was waking quite alot and there was no point in Niall not sleeping as he wasn't needed for feeding. So I like a big fool slept sitting up on the sofa or lying on the sofa while Logan was in his bassinet for spurts of 30 min to an hour at a time. Now I had a bruised tail bone along with the normal post birth pains so as you can imagine sleeping on a sofa was causing alot of discomfort. Then one night in the second week I decided enough was enough! Niall was kicked out into the guest room and myself and Logan cuddled up in my bed together and we havnt looked back since!

Sleep deprivation.....what's that??? I sleep (mabey not as deeply as I used as I'm very aware of the tiny person beside me) amazingly for someone with a new born! We are now in a 'routine' (I hate that word) where Logan will sleep in his crib beside the bed for sometimes up to 5 hours!!!! Then when he wakes Niall is kicked out onto a mattress on the floor (sleeping in separate rooms started getting to us) and Logan is popped into the bed beside me with boob on demand for the rest of the night! Usually within a minute he is back asleep and only starts wanting to feed at about 7am. 
We also nap together during the day as he won't sleep for long in the daytime without me beside him. Which means I'm forced to nap in the day time so I catch up on any lost sleep! 
Now I know alot of people will tell you not to sleep with baby in the bed! It's a very personal choice! We are very careful to keep blankets and pillows to a minimum and make sure Logan isn't covered to much and he doesn't get to warm!

I see this time as the 4th trimester. Logan is learning about life outside the womb as an individual. But he is so used to being with me and close to me that I feel it's unfair to make him sleep alone! He is only 8 weeks old and who knows what will happen I don't plan on cosleeping forever but while I'm breastfeeding it just seems like the logical choice. It happened so naturally, I never doubted my choice for a second. Logan is such a happy and content child and I feel it has somthing to do with cosleeping!

Breast is best but formula is pretty damn good!!

So from day one I was breastfeeding, from the moment I found out I was pregnant that was the plan. I breast fed Corey all those years ago and Logan was going to be the same.

Logan latched on and fed straight away no problem but after a day I noticed my nipples were getting more and more painful and chapped and so of course I turned to google. But everything I looked up told me the same thing 'breastfeeding shouldn't hurt', 'if it hurts your doing it wrong' so of course I started doubting myself and Logan. I started worrying that if he wasn't latching right he wasn't getting milk and as he had a touch of Jaundice the thoughts of him not getting really milk freaked me out. I tried different positions and awkward angles to change his latch and after a few very long frustrating days I realized his latch was fine and we were doing it right it was google that was wrong!!
Breastfeeding shouldn't hurt..........after about a week or two! But for that first first week you may grimace every time you baby latches on and you may be in pain every time you feed. Remember your nipples are made of very delicate skin and they are not used to being sucked and pulled on for 12 hours out of the day (unless your into that kind of thing).They may get chapped or even bleed and if that doesn't hurt you your bloody wonder woman!! But please hold on and bare through it as it is totally worth it, the bonding experience is like nothing else in life.

So a few weeks passed and I spent most of it sitting under a very fussy very hungry baby. And on one very stressful evening Niall wasn't feeling well and I had enough so I reached for the bottle.....the formula bottle that is. Just from the look on Logan's face when he got his first taste I knew he was hooked. He settled down I was able to put him down into his rocker and gather myself together. He slept like a dream that night because his tummy was full and stayed full for longer and I was given a chance to refill for his next feed. So from then on he had a bedtime bottle. Then after a week a daytime and bedtime bottle and now we are up to 4 bottles a day and the rest breast milk. I have to say Logan is a different baby. He will sit in his rocker for up to an hour at a time and he is so much more content throughout the day, all he does is smile, where as in the first few weeks he cried and cried and fussed all day long. He sleeps for anything up to 5 hours when he goes to bed so I get a good stretch of sleep which benefits me.
Now while I know breast is best and I would always breast feed a baby and I will continue to breastfeed Logan for another month or so, formula is always there and if you have and extremely hungry baby or are feeling overly stressed out there is no shame in reaching for the bottle!! Your sanity will thank you!