Our Journey: co sleeping to a toddler bed

I was always led to believe that moving your child either from a cot to a toddler bed or from co-sleeping to their own bed was a nightmare! I had put off moving Mia for a couple of months because I was dreading it so much! However, it really wasn't that bad! What I would say that is if you are co-sleeping and wanting to transition your baby or toddler to a cot or bed you need to be firm and stick with it! Mia tried everything to get back into our bed, crying as soon as we left the room even if we had sat next to her bed for an hour waiting for her to fall asleep, thinking she had fallen asleep, but the second we moved she would wake and cry, continually waking all night - this is the hardest one as by 4am you are so tired you just want to give in and bring her in your bed as you know that at least that way you will get a couple of hours rest! Forcing her way out of the sleep sack so that she would wake up freezing and you would have to keep going in to put her back inside the sleep sack.

When I decided to stop the co-sleeping and move Mia straight to a toddler bed it was because we had previously tried to move her to the cot a few months before and tried the cry it out method (never again!) and she was so upset she cried pretty much continuously until 4am!! I felt like I was going to have a nervous breakdown and the whole thing was a total disaster which left Mia fearing that cot from that day on. I also think the fact she had always slept in a bed with us meant she was more used to a bed and that's why she has settled much quicker into a toddler bed. Another positive is that Mia doesn't try to get out of her bed. Never before has she got out of bed and started playing or trying to come downstairs (touch wood) I honestly believe that this is because she is used to being in a bed and is used to the fact that once we are in bed we didn't get out of our bed so why would she?!

The first month when we moved Mia we used to sit next to her bed and wait for her to fall asleep just so that she got used to her new room and new bed. She used to wake a number of times a night but we were strong and didn't give in and eventually the waking got less and less. After about 6 weeks we completely stopped sitting with her when she was falling asleep. I used to sit on the other side of the room on a rocking chair, no eye contact and browse the internet on the iPad. She had started though to get a little cheeky and just sit up in bed watching me so  decided it was time for Mia to learn to fall asleep on her own. Now I take her upstairs, change her nappy and get her dressed for bed, clean her teeth, read her 2-3 stories and say goodnight. I then leave the room. She cries (well more like moans) for 2-3 minutes and then falls asleep. She doesn't wake most nights until around midnight, usually because she has lost the dummy and then stays asleep until sunrise (I really need to sort out the blackout blinds!)

I think the most important thing when transitioning a child into a bed is to be consistent, keep a strong routine and never give in!

Ocado

I wanted to write this post to tell all my readers about how impressed I have been with the products and customer service from Ocado. 

Ocado is an online grocery store, so rather than doing your online food shop with Tesco or Sainsbury, you can try Ocado which is linked with Waitrose. I always was put off because I knew that Ocado was linked with Waitrose and I always believed that it would be very expensive to do my weekly shop there, boy was I wrong! Ocado has a great section on promotional offers where you can pick up real bargains such as fish fingers, frozen veg and potato waffles all for £5 which is pretty cheap considering fish fingers are usually between £2-£3 alone!

I have been doing really big weekly shops spending anything up to £100. A comparative shop with Tesco on this weeks groceries for example, my Ocado bill came to £94, Tesco would have been £130! That's a huge saving and in my mind enough to make me change grocery providers. 

Another thing I love is that they give you a receipt detailing all the use by date so you can easily plan your weekly meals and not risk anything going past it's use by date! I can pin this to the fridge and ensure that I use all the food before it goes off!

I would highly recommend trying Ocado for your weekly shop. There is also avarious discount codes you can use off your first shop which you can find here Ocado offers

Just to say, I have not been sponsored or paid to write this post, I am a genuine Ocado customer who was just highly impressed with the service I have received.

Cereal bars: are they really healthy?

I don't actually eat cereal bars but always believed they were a healthy snack, especially the ones full of seeds, nuts and fruits. I bought Mia a pack of cereal bars by NAKD in the flavour Apple Pie.

I was then searching google looking to get an idea of other cereal bars that are recommended for children and came across this article on the NHS website.

It stated 'Recent research by the consumer group Which? has found that most cereal bars are high in sugar and fat, making their healthy image a "myth".

I knew Mia's bars were OK as the ingredients stated were all seeds, nuts and fruit. No sugar whatsoever apart from the natural sugars found in fruit.

In the article Which analysed 30 bars from supermarket shelves and found that 29 out of 30 were high in sugar. The NAKD Apple Pie was the only bar not to have added sugars and to be the only one not high in sugar. What surprised me was this, 'the survey also found that often several different forms of sugar were used. Which? said this could confuse consumers because, by law, manufacturers must list all the ingredients on their food labels in order of quantity, with the greatest first. When several different forms of sugar are used in a product, each of these sugars is listed separately and appears lower down on the ingredients list. In the case of some of the cereal bars, this gives the impression that the bars contain less sugar than they do – the amount of sugar, if it was given as a total, would have had to appear higher on the list.' In essence people are under the impression that these bars are low in sugar when in fact they are high in sugar. 

It was also found that 11 of the cereal bars had the same number of calories as several digestive biscuits, making them not great if your on a diet! 

I think the worse part of this article was that Which found several of the bars marketed for children which all contained the highest amounts of sugar, one of these contained 11.8g of sugar in one bar. The daily guildline amounts on these bars were all for adults even though the bars were marketed for children. 

The bars given a green light for being low in fat, sugar and calories are: NAKD Apple Pie, Alpen Light Apple and Sultana, Alpen Fruit and Nut bar and the Nature Valley Chewy Trail Mix Fruit and Nut

Do you eat cereal bars? If so, which ones? 

Stretch Marks

The dreaded stretch marks. The one topic of pregnancy that you really don't want to think about especially with your first. It's like the unknown, will I? Won't I?

'It's all down to genes'

'If you use this cream or oil you won't get them' 

'It depends how big your bump gets'
 

Blah blah. I have done a post previously about my experience using bio oil which is supposed to prevent stretch marks and help them appear faded and lighter if you do get them.

Quite honestly when I found out I was expecting one of the first thing I worried about was stretch marks. Thinking my body was going to be ruined and look disgusting and that I wanted to do and try whatever might help prevent them. Call me vain if you like, quite honestly I don't care, I know pregnancy is a blessing and that in the scheme of things stretch marks are not a big deal, but I can't help how I felt about them at the time. I used Bio Oil, you can read more about that here My Bio Oil Review.

What I wanted to get across in this post is that, it's OK to worry about stretch marks and you shouldn't feel guilty about being anxious about what pregnancy might do to your body. I will tell you that now Mia is here I am less bothered by the stretch marks, obviously I would prefer to have a perfect beach body but this is the sacrifice you make to have children and I wouldn't change that for the world! But women shouldn't be made to feel guilty about changes to their body that they may not embrace straight away. It takes time to except that your body will never look or feel the same again and that if you want another child your body will change again but having children is the greatest gift and no amount of stretch marks or saggy skin will ever make you wish you had your old body back!

Have you ever felt under pressure to embrace your after pregnancy body?

Food for thought...

                                              

 

                                              

                                              

                                              

 

                                              

 

                                              

 

                                              

                                              

                                              

 

                                              

                             

                            

                            

                             

                               

 

 

I am a real fresh food fanatic when it comes to cooking for Mia and sometimes it's nice to look back at all the meals that I have made for her and feel proud that I haven't given in to sugary treats!

 

 

Baby Facts

Here are a few new things that I have learnt since becoming a mummy!

1. When babies teethe they can have disgusting green, sticky snot for days or even weeks constantly causing candles down their face! Yes this is one of the more gross things I have learnt since having Mia!

2. Babies can go through all sorts of bizarre fazes, walking on tip toes, shaking their heads randomly, pulling their own hair and hitting themselves in the head for a few examples. These can be a little scary sometimes especially hitting themselves in the head, Mia used to do this and sometimes quite hard but I was assured it was a faze that many go through and can often be used as a way of gaining attention. 

3. I can't ignore or zone out of Mia's crying. I have heard people say that you get used to crying and you learn to zone out. I have never and I don't think I ever will. 

Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Apptivity Case

                                    

The Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Apptivity case is an essential in our home. Mia loves technology and gadgets as she sees Adam and I using them she wants to use them too! Obviously there is a limit, as with everything to the amount of time we allow Mia to use the iPad, iPhone and watch the television.

 

I had seen other bloggers and youtubers talk about the Fisher Price Apptivity case and so was already interested in purchasing one for myself. After all iPhones and iPads are very expensive so you want to ensure it is protected when you let your toddler use them. I purchased our apptivity case for the iPhone as Mia's time to play on apps is usually when we are travelling home on the train and therefore I usually let her use my iPhone rather than the iPad which I don't always carry around with me. The case cost me £3.99 from Asda in a sale. They usually retail for around £10 for the iPhone case and £15 for the iPad case on Amazon.

 

The description states that the product is for iPhone 3G, 4 and 4S but not for iPhone 5 or 5S. I have an iPhone 5S and this case works perfectly with my phone. It fits snuggly inside the case and feels very protected. Mia has used my iPhone many times with his case and so far it has withstood Mia dropping it and bring rough with it. It is easy to get the phone in and out although complicated enough that your toddler couldn't undue it by themselves. You are supposed to place the phone inside a certain way up so that you still have access to the middle button to change apps etc, however I tend to put the phone the other way so that Mia can't access the middle button otherwise she exits an app and starts deleting and messing up my phone! Haha! I will write a separate post with some suggestions of apps for babies and toddlers. There are some brilliant free apps on the app store! The case has easy to hold handles which allows Mia to hold the case steadily with one hand while using the other hand to interact with the app.

 

Overall I would recommend this product and I would repurchase it as even if I had of paid the full retail price of £10 that's a lot cheaper than if my iPhone were to break!

 

 

                                                   

Vintage Wedding Ideas

If you are a regular reader of my blog you will know that I am getting married next year and that I am going for a vintage, English country, cornflower blue theme. Here are a few ideas that I love if you are planning a wedding with a similar theme!

 

 

Homeschooling

Have you ever considered homeschooling your child/ren? I have taught children who are being homeschooled, some who have never attended school and some who have left school due to various reasons. Homeschooling is not something I have considered for Mia. It's certainly not something I would do without careful consideration. I think the social side of school is imperative for children to learn to socialise with their peers. Even the arguments school brings, especially in an all girls school, these arguments, however horrible at the time help to build character and an understanding of the world around them. Welcome to real life as they say. Even as adults arguments and bullying happen in the workplace. It is possible to socialise children who are homeschooled into social situations with other children of the same age. This can be done through hobbies such as sport or creative classes. 

I have taught children who have left school through bullying or because the school wasn't giving the care and attention needed for that particular child. These cases are terribly sad and as a teacher they make me feel like our education system lets some children down which just shouldn't happen! 

For me if I did chose to homeschool Mia it would be pretty easy for me to do as I am a teacher so know the curriculum well. I also own/run a tuition centre specialising in maths and English so she could easily have an hour of each subject per day and I wouldn't even need to be her teacher as I have other tutors working for me. Trying to teach your own children is hard! If I lived in an area where I considered none of the schools 'good' that's when homeschooling would be the option. I'm very lucky in the sense that I live close to a number of lovely nurseries, primary schools. Not so sure about secondary schools but I think great secondary schools are hard to come by. 

There are many great websites with free resources available which you can use if you're homeschooling or even just helping your child at home with some extra work. 

UK Resources:

Primaryresources

Teachitprimary

Teachit

BBC Bitesize

TES

US Reaources:

Superteacherworksheets

Englishforeveryone

Mathsisfun

Being in the UK myself I obviously use and know more of the UK resource sites but the superteacherworksheets site is brilliant for maths, science and English and although you have to pay a small subscription, in my opinion worth it if you are homeschooling and need the bank of resources. 

Toddler fish pie recipe

Ingredients

Potatoes

Fish pie mix

Cheddar cheese

Flour

Milk

Sweetcorn (optional)

Peas (optional)

Method 

First peel and boil potatoes until soft. 

While potatoes are cooking make your cheese sauce to go inside your pie. 

Pour milk into a pan on a low heat and add flour slowly until the milk starts to thicken. 

Drain potatoes and mash. 

Turn off your pan with the milk and flour and add your fish mix, then add grated cheddar cheese. You can add as much or as little cheese as you like. The more cheese the more cheesy your sauce will be. 

Pour fish and cheese sauce into an oven proof dish. 

Cover the top with mash potatoes and sprinkle a little cheese over the top. 

Cook for 20-25 minutes at 180 degrees. 

Serve with corn on the side or other vegetables. Obviously check all fish for tiny bones before serving to a young child!

The toy farm

Mia's new obsession. 

Farm - £20 Ikea

Toddler haul

                           Next £11

                 JoJo mamen bebe £9

                 JoJo mamen bebe

   

                       HMV £6.40

Weekly snaps