Mammies favorites: moses basket or crib

Moses basket or crib?? With my 2 babies I have tried them both. It really is a matter of prefrence but i am still going to tell you the reasons for my favorite!

With Corey I had the moses basket. It was a hand me down from my sisters baby.
It was frilly and cute and portable. But Corey only fit in it for 2 months before he was too big for it. Moses basket are very small so dont expected to use it for very long. Our moses basket drooped down in the middle which drove me insane trying to fix. 

So for Logan we decided to go for a glider crib. Its much less fussy and frilly. And yes we cant bring it down stairs for naps but we had the tiny Love 3 in 1 rocker napper for that (Which was barley used for naps anyway as Logan likes to nap upstairs in his crib). The crib is so much roomier. Logan will is 4 months old and he is wearing 6-9 month cloths and he still fits in his crib. We decided this week to move him into his own room to see if he would sleep better and he does but we could have gettin a few more weeks out of the crib! 
The crib can be changed from stationary to rocking. And the rocking motion it has is so smooth it really does glider!
I feel the crib looks nicer but thats just my person opinion and taste. 

You are going to pay about the same for a crib or moses basket in and around €100 brands new so really its up to you! But we are crib people all the way!! 

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

Paternity leave and paternity benefit!

Finally Ireland is catching up with the times and the paternity bill is being published tomorrow! 

We were lucky Niall works for eBay and they gave him 2 weeks paternity leave so we didn't have to wait until the bill came into affect.
It's such an important time in anyone's life and no-one wants to go into work when they have a new baby. Niall even took off an extra week of his own holidays when Logan was overdue as he just couldn't concentrate at work with the anticipation!

It was a great help to me having Niall at home in those first few weeks as I was physically and mentally exhausted after the birth and having him there really lightened the load and made life so much easier. He cooked and cleaned and comforted baby when I couldn't or needed a break. He went to the shop when needed which I wouldn't have been able to manage myself in those first few weeks. He kept my company while I sat under Logan as he cluster fed all day and night. I completely believe having him there prevented me getting depressed and I never felt overwhelmed. And by the time he went back to work we were settled and relaxed into a bit if a routine and it made that transition very easy!! 

The bill means 2 weeks paternity leave for new dad's which they can take in the first 6 months of there babies lifes and €230 benefit a week which employer's can top up to make up the balance of there salary.
Hopefully this is just a start and it will grow from this as two weeks is great to begin with but in reality it should be longer!!