Things I’d forgotten
Vomit, poo, sleep and self doubt
I remember now
Survival
For the first six weeks
The goal is just survival
For our family
The Baby Sleep Plan BS
Like most new mums, bringing my baby home (around 12 hours after she was born) was a total shock. I had done so much preparation for the labour and birth (which seemed to pay off – my birth experience was really positive), but felt like a total idiot for not (apart from one antenatal class where we learned to put on a nappy and watched a breast-feeding video) even contemplating what the heck I was meant to do with this little creature once we got home.
And the thing that caused the most shock was sleep, or more accurately, the lack of sleep. It wasn’t as if I’d thought it’d be easy to get my baby to sleep, I just hadn’t thought about it at all. Sure, I’d heard of ‘sleep school’ and tales of parental sleep deprivation, and I knew, especially in the early days, that there’d be feeds at all hours, but I just didn’t expect getting a baby to go to sleep (and as an extra bonus, stay asleep) to be so darn hard.
The point of this post isn’t to detail our sleep woes or to provide advice about what has worked and what hasn’t, but to call BS on the stories of sleep fixes that fill books and blog posts, and that are desperately lapped up by tired and anxious parents like me.
New baby gift ideas
When you have a baby, all gifts (and home-cooked meals and practical assistance) are gratefully received. Not only did we receive some lovely clothes, toys, and books (including the gorgeous (but expensive) outfits that you’d be unlikely to indulge in yourself), but the gifts and cards provided a much needed reminder, amongst the stress and chaos of becoming a new parent, that we were part of a wonderful, loving community.
I know that I’ve found it difficult in the past to select gifts for friends with new babies – wanting to get something unique but useful, and often not knowing what they already have plenty of or what their intentions are in terms of sleeping, feeding etc. So, if you find yourself stuck for ideas for friends or family in the future, here’s a list of 7 ideas for super-useful baby shower/new baby gifts… [Read more…]