Once baby comes along, new mums tend to be showered with loads of amazing pressies for baby. However, I think it’s really thoughtful and nice to spoil mum a little seeing as she has just been through a hell of a lot to bring their beautiful baby into the world.
Based on experience, here are some gift ideas I have for new mums should you be looking to treat a special friend or family member…
Having gone through the new mum journey twice now, I have learned a few things along the way which I feel would be nice to share. You may have been given some of this advice already from friends, family or read it online, but I think it’s necessary to repeat as the reality is, being a new mum is not easy.
Pregnancy and preparing for baby’s arrival can be so exciting that often you may not have thought about life after baby arrives. I’m not trying to scare anyone into thinking they need to know and plan everything, not at all, you couldn’t even if you tried, Ā but it’s just nice to hear from another mum what may lie ahead once you bring your baby into the world. Anything to make life a little easier and stress free once baby arrives, should definitely be considered.
Based on my experience of becoming a mum, here are some of my experiences and tips on how to get through the first few days and weeks as a new mum…
Seeing as we’re in the middle of holiday season, this post might come in handy for those of you yet to escape away for a break.
Travelling with babies and toddlers can be quite pull-your-hair-out stressful. There are so many things to pack and organise in advance of your trip, that when it comes to holiday time, I am usually exhausted before it even begins. To make the most out of your time away, and reduce the stress of being away from home comforts, I have put together a little list of essentials that we make sure to have every time we go away. Whether it’s a weekend down the country or a trip abroad (or even just a sleepover in nana’s!), most of these are on our packing list every time:
Continue reading “7 holiday essentials when travelling with baby and toddler”
This has been a busy year for us with our second baby girl arriving in January, and moving house and everything that comes with that, all of which is still ongoing. So as you can imagine, summer holidays were not top of our priority list and ended up organising it last minute dot com. Staying in Ireland was our only option this year, so when choosing the destination for our week away, it had to be somewhere with things to do for kids and not too long a drive from Dublin in order to keep our sanity on the drive!
After spending a good bit of time on the laptop researching places to go, things to do, and finding accommodation at short notice, we chose Waterford – Tramore specifically. It was only two hours from Dublin, has beaches for endless and free entertainment, and had various other children’s activities for good and bad weather. Happy days.
We spent the week exploring local areas (mostly the playgrounds), as well as taking in some of Ireland’s beautiful scenery. All in all, we had a great week and were glad we chose Waterford – we did loads, saw loads, ate loads, the usual, and it was just nice to get away from the every day busyness of life.
If you are looking for family get away ideas in Ireland before the summer is out, I would highly recommend this part of the country. There is so much to do and see. Here are some of the fun things we got up to over the week, which hopefully you find useful:
Congratulations, you’ve decided to take on the task of toilet training your toddler!
Before you start, make sure you have stocked up on the necessaryĀ supplies to get you started.Ā Next up you need to have a loose plan of action on how you are going to train this little person of yoursĀ to do their business in the toilet and not a nappy.
Before we began the process with R, we though it would be real easy, that R would pick it up in a couple of days, and we would be home and dry (excuse the pun!) within no time. However,Ā after day one we felt totally lost and were wondering what we had gotten ourselves into. With a little plan in place and a lot of patience, we got there and by day 7, there were no more accidents.
Here are my top 5 tips to toilet train your little one in a week:
Continue reading “6 top tips for toilet training your toddler”
How exciting..our first mini break as a family of four down to Courtown for some fun family time away from all the distractions at home. Of course the weather was lovely and sunny with blue skies as far as the eye could see in week leading up to it, but then decided it would lash down on us for the weekend! Anyway, as per usual, we were not going to let the rain spoil our fun, after all this is Ireland we are talking about so it is to be expected that it will rain when you have something planned!
Being my first time to Courtown (I know, crazy, most people my age spent every Summer down there when we were growing up!), I wasn’t sure what to expect. I have heard from so many people that it’s great, the kids will love it, there is so much to do and the beach is just fab. So off we went, car filled to the brim with everything we need for a long weekend away (a ridiculous amount stuff by the way, which almost made me not want to go because I didn’t think I would fit in the car!), including R’s bucket and spade for some beach fun. She was so excited about building sandcastles in the giant sand pit, which we call the beach, so as you do, she held it on to the bucket and spade for the whole drive! Continue reading “Courtown for kids in the not-so-good-weather”
We braved the challenge of toilet training our two year old recently, and came out the other side winning š
We were to-ing and fro-ingĀ for a few months whether to take the leap and toilet train her or not even though she had been showing most of the signs – asking about the toilet, dry nappies, telling us when she was doing her wees/poos, etc, but just kept putting it off. Having a newborn at the same time was already taking up a lot of our sleep deprived time, so I wasn’t sure if I was ready for the extra pressure to be patient through this process!!
However, one Saturday afternoon we were out for lunch and before we left daddy said he just needed to nip to the toilet first. to which R then stated, ‘I want to go too’ and there in the middle of the restaurant, she proceeded to pull her trousers down to her ankles and was trying to pull her nappy down from under her vest! Hilarious and a little embarrassing! We took this as the final sign we needed and bit the bullet.
Continue reading “8 essentials to successfully toilet train your toddler”
For busy mum’s on the go, or just to make life a little easier, this Fuelbaby Bottle is ideal!
As a mum of two, I am constantly on the go – planning, cleaning, preparing, packing…repeat.., so anything to make my day hassle free is much welcomed.
Packed in it’s quirky branded box, this clever new bottle range which comes in three different colours – blue, pink and yellow, is made with two separate compartments – the topĀ for water and the bottom forĀ formula. Continue reading “Review: Fuelbaby Bottle”
Have you been caught out without a clean soother for your crying baby while out and about? If so, then you need this mini portable soother steriliser by Milton!
So many times over the last few weeks i have been out with F, who is only seven weeks old now, and she has spat out numerous soothers to the dirty floor of a shop or the street outside, and I didn’t have a clean one to settle her. I was carrying spares in the changing bag, but when you have a toddler in tow who loves to help with her baby sister, dirty hands find their way all over F’s soother, or into R’s mouth pretending it’s hers, you go through a handful of soothers in one day. This mini portable steriliser has saved me a headache or two for sure!! Continue reading “Review: Milton mini portable soother steriliserĀ “
So it’s time to get my bag packed for labour seeing as the end of my pregnancy is near, and while doing so, I have decided on my must-haves for when I am in labour.
Obviously I have the usual items packed too, as per all the packing lists that you can find online – stuff for baby, stuff for mum after labour etc, but these are the few things I have at the top of my bag for the main event itself!
Although every pregnancy, every baby and every labour is different, I have still based my packing decisions on my experience of labour with R, as this is all I know.
Here are my essentials for packing..
Pain relief.
I have the TENS machine and a hot water bottle at the ready. I could not have got through labour without them the last time. The hot water bottle went on when I thought it was just back pain and then once I realised they were contractions and the pain increased, the TENS machine went on straight away! Continue reading “My must-haves for labour”
Not long to go now until baby number two joins us and life becomes even busier again, which has reminded me of a few things that I want to do before baby arrives..
Have a date night with my hubby.Ā
It’s nice to have some time just the two of you, away from the telly and housework, and of course your little oneĀ fighting for your constant attention, so a nice meal out for a few hours before baby arrives will be worked into the calendar for next week hopefully. (babysitter dependent, offers welcome š)
Catch up with friends and family.
Once baby arrives it can be hard to find time to catch up with friends and family. Your mind is totally preoccupied with parenting and baby stuff that even when you do, it’s difficult to concentrate fully on the conversation! Continue reading “Things to do before baby arrives”
As we move promptly into 2017, I have thinking aboutĀ about the year just gone by and what I have learned through my adventures as mummy to a 1 year old.
Being a first time mum, every day brings new challenges, new laughs (or cries!) and new insight into toddler life. Our little ones are also learning new things every day and it’s such a special privilege to be part of that journey with them.
Here are some of the lessons I have learned through parenting my incredibly active and super curious little toddler over the past 12 months: Continue reading “Parenting a toddler”
Mummy adventures 