FAVOURITE BABY PRODUCTS

It really does seem like there are so many new and brilliant baby products since I had Vivienne seven years ago. Plus last time we were expecting a baby we really didn't have much as we were students at the time, so a few years down the line it really feels like a bit of a luxury to be able to get a few things to help make our lives a bit easier (I'm all for throwing a bit of money at being lazy and getting some sleep in particular..!)

When I was pregnant there was one week where three separate Mums told me that I *had* to get a Tommee Tippee Perfect Prep Machine (1). I didn't understand the fuss, but when I was looking at reviews online on one site there was something like 1,200 five-star reviews and 12 one-star, and people said it had completely changed bottle feeding for them. It went in the sale and we decided to go for it.. BEST DECISION EVER. Seriously, just go and buy this thing if you're bottle feeding. It makes a room-temperature bottle within about two minutes. I love this thing. We also bought the Tommee Tippee Starter Kit in the sale with steriliser, bottles, bottle warmer (useless, really..) and powder containers which was great value for money (I know it was in the sale, but it seems to be in the sale everywhere at some point).

My friend was given this sweet little fleece star-shaped blanket from Tuppence and Crumble (2) for her little boy and I loved it. You lay it in the pram and wrap it around them. On days where I was rushing to get out of the door on time (I'm looking at you, school run), I could put Sylvie in this and another blanket on top within about 30 seconds. You KNOW how difficult it is to get tiny baby arms into a cardigan or snowsuit quickly.. This thing was only about £20 and you can use it in a buggy or car seat too.

If you live near an Aldi and have a baby there's every chance you love Mamia products (3)  as much as we do. They are cheap and they work as well as if not better than other baby changing products out there. That's basically all you need to know.

At a baby massage class, one of the other Mums had this app to settle her baby and it really worked. I downloaded it on a whim and it sends Sylvie into a hypnotic state where she's drop off to sleep. It's called Sound Sleeper (4)and plays different white noises, you can set the time and even set it to 'listen' for when baby cries and it'll automatically play. I don't know why or how it works but it really does. 

We were lucky enough to be lent a Snuzpod (5) from my sister-in-law and we really love it. It's wedged in between our bed and the wall and brings Sylvie to our height but in a safe space by the bed. In the night it really makes all the difference to lean over to pop her dummy bag in or rub her tummy rather than getting up and leaning over a cot. The Sleepyhead also fits into it well.

This amazing Orla Keily print Gro Bag (6) was on sale in Mothercare and I really loved the print (we were also sick of little legs kicking cellular blankets off a few weeks in). This is a 2.5 tog, lightweight baby sleeping bag but has clever little functions like poppers under the armpits to temporarily make it smaller for tiny babies, and a velcro opening at the back and a double zip so that you can thread buggy or car seat harnesses through it and they can use it like a footmuff when travelling too. We'll definitely be making the most of this when we're away next month. (I also picked up another GroBag in a different print from TK Maxx for half the price - definitely worth keeping an eye out).

You may remember from my Paternity Leave post that our first baby bag was stolen from David's car when Sylvie was a few days old. I was especially annoyed and upset because I'd bought one that I really loved and had really looked into - the Tiba and Marl Raf Hold-All (7). I loved that this didn't look like a changing bag and didn't look too 'Mumsy'. David and I would also both use it for nights away when the baby's grown out of it. It has compartments inside, a shoulder strap, and clips onto the buggy handles so the bag hangs at waist height when you're pushing which is great for dipping into the bag here and there when you need to.

The Sleepyhead (8) is another thing I would tell every parent to get - it's another product that has really just *worked* for us. It's a baby nest that you can put into a crib, cot, co-sleep with it (not our thing, personally) and use it on it's own as a travel cot when baby is still very little. It also has handles and weighs very little so I carry it around the house with me as a safe and comfortable place to put Sylvie during the day. It also comes in a plastic travel bag so you can easily pack it for a night away and keep it clean. The only downside is how much spare covers cost for it (about £45 I think), but the Snuzpod fitted crib sheets stretch over it perfectly as an easy hack.

I wasn't aware of any of these things seven years ago, but I definitely feel everything has been made a bit easier with these things in our arsenal this time. When there's enough going on with a new baby every little thing that helps feels a bit miraculous!

THE ROUTINE

Since day one, we've had Sylvie in a routine. Not a strict routine, or one where we've ever left her to 'cry it out', but she's been in a planned feeding routine since the beginning. We did the same thing when we had Vivienne but didn't start immediately, when we got her into feeding at set times she started sleeping through quite soon after, so we thought we'd give the same routine a go with Sylvie in hope that it helped her too.

Sylvie was born just before 9pm, came out screaming hungry, had a big feed and then slept until about 1am, she was up again about 3.30am, then slept until 7-8am. Great, we thought. It won't last, but at least we've both had some sleep to keep us going for now. The next night she was up at 3.30am for a feed, then straight back down. The next night she was up once for a feed then back down.. we didn't dare believe this was 'it' and she was a real decent sleeper - it was too early to tell. She slept through for the first time at two and a half weeks and now she's sleeping until 5-6am wanting a dummy to tide her over until 7am when she has her first feed.

I do really think that we just got lucky, and also that, strangely, she didn't seem to be born nocturnal like most babies seem to be. But I also do think that the routine has helped too. When she was first born we fed her every three hours, so 7am, 11am, 1pm, 4pm, 7pm and 10pm. She'd take varying amounts initially but generally about 100ml or so each time in the first few weeks. We offer her a feed, she's never declined, and give her the next hour to have it before taking it away. Luckily she's never had to cry it out or get to a point where she's anywhere close to being distressed - the closest we've got is picking her up and cuddling her to tide her over until her next feed time. Once or twice we've had to feed her a bit early.

A few weeks ago, with her getting older and taking more milk each time, we've cut a feed out and now do 7am, 10.30am, 2pm, 5.30pm and 10pm. She usually sleeps between the two evening feeds.

I didn't realise that this was any sort of controversial until I mentioned to be health visitor something about her feeding times and she looked at me in horror saying 'You're not feeding her in a routine are you?' and for some reason I backtracked and said 'Oh not really, we feed her when she's ready..' which is a white lie. Her routine coincides with when she expects to feed now 99% of the time. I think routine feeding can be lumped together with controlled crying by some, and at no point have I let her become distressed.

Anyway, on my app The Wonder Weeks it says we're in for a four-month developmental leap soon, AKA the Four Month Sleep Regression, so this routine malarky that we're so convinced by may well be tested a little more. This leap also coincides with our first family holiday, so with all this going on it may well get a bit chaotic and less regulated! For now, though, we have our fingers crossed and will carry on feeling optimistic about our sleepy Sylvie..

PATERNITY LEAVE

We felt so lucky with how David's paternity leave fell.. As Sylvie was born on the 2nd January, David's leave started on the 3rd and went on (with him working here and there at home) for the next three weeks.. meaning he actually got a solid five weeks off including Christmas. We spent his leave getting settled as a family of four. 

I napped here and there, I tried to get David to do the same in the first few days, we tried to get into a rough bottle feeding routine (every three hours), we were up alternate nights with the baby, we walked as much as I could in those first few days, but also took it easy, we practised getting out with the pram and baby bag together, (remembering everything we need and more!) and even ended up in the pub one or two days for a bite to eat and a sneaky gin and tonic.

It's worth acknowledging that we are incredibly lucky in that Sylvie has been a good sleeper from day one. Vivienne was too, and I don't believe it's anything necessarily that we've done, and it's just happened to be that way. Sylvie was born at 8.50pm, and was up twice the following night, and has only been up once each night for a small feed since. I'm fully aware this may not last but so far we are taking it as it comes and appreciating the situation for what it is. I love this shot of her below, snoozing away, while we popped out for a bite just after registering her. 

One of the less-than-pleasant moments during David's paternity leave was five days after she was born. We'd been out with the pram and baby bag, and fed her 'out' while at the shops, we came home and brought the shopping and the girls in and settled in for the night. The car had only just been emptied of all the hospital bags, it was early days with the little one. The next morning David discovered that his car had been broken into, glass smashed all over the drive, and someone had stolen our changing bag (of all things..). It was the first thing that knocked me out of the honeymoon period and I ended up crying a fair bit about 'it all going wrong'. In the grand scheme of things we got off lightly, but it was a shitty thing for someone to do nonetheless. The next day I sulkily paid out for another identical bag so we could pretend that it had never happened.

During this period it also hit home about what it means to juggle two kids.. when feeding times clash with picking up time, when the baby need changing just as you need to be at tennis, when it takes 25 minutes to leave the house (seriously? how?! it just does..) and then you remember about the project work due in and the money needed for this trip and to put a wash on so there's clean uniform... it's all fun and games. 

Anyway. I'd love to do the paternity leave period all over again.. it was lovely to have company during the day, for it all to be new and fresh and exciting, to relive the moments of looking at each other saying 'she's here!' over and over again.. Such busy and chaotic bliss. I guess that's family life.

1 WEEK OLD | PHOTO DUMP

I have to say.. I haven't had my 'big camera' out anywhere near as often as I'd have liked.. but hey! Photos are photos. The best camera is the one you have on you, and all that.

These are a little selection of pictures from the first few weeks. In the purple sleep suit she's a day and a half old, in the second she's still jaundiced (bless her..), the one with me at the bottom is the day we brought her home from hospital, the bottom one is *in* the hospital wearing real clothes for the first time.. she's such a dot. As I write this she's already changed so much.. <3

POST-BIRTH THOUGHTS

- Oh my god, she's here.

- It really does all come back to you.. I feel I actually know what to do.

- In my notes they said David and I were 'confident', which made me feel incredibly proud considering how we felt when Vivienne was born

- It was also amazing seeing how unremarkable my birth was this time. After intervention and mess and a long, long labour last time it felt little bit ridiculous to read that there was so little to report this time. I feel very lucky.

- I got the water-birth that I wanted. It was bloody difficult but wonderful. 

- I can't believe I have a positive birth experience under my belt. *This* is what that feels like.

- That hypno-birthing stuff really does seem to work.

- Sylvie is so tiny, and so big all at once.

- I can't believe she's here.

- She looks like Vivienne, but not exactly. They look like sisters, not twins. It all feels perfect.

- I feel OK. It was so much less traumatic this time. Mentally, too, I feel so much better this time.

- It's possible to hate being pregnant and then miss it too. Every so often I feel like I want to give birth again.. which is crazy I know.

- Did we call her the right name? I loved all our baby name ideas.. Did we pick the right one?

- We did. She looks like a Sylvie. Sylvie seems right for her.

- Will I be able to spend enough time with Vivienne? We need to make sure we give Vivienne enough attention and individual time to make sure she finds all the change as easy as possible.

- I can't believe she's *here*. She could potentially have been born 25 days later..

- Vivienne is already a wonderful big sister. I'm so proud of her.

- You really don't mind the nappies. And the million loads of washing. And being up in the night (for now..) And being so physically tired. It's worth it.

- I CAN'T BELIEVE SHE'S HERE.