NurseryValue store

With summer apparently just around the corner, now is a good time to start thinking about how to make your pushchair summer-fun ready. A good way to do this is by researching useful accessories. I have compiled a list of things I think are great to have on summer standby.

1. Pushchair liner

A pushchair liner is simply an insert for your pushchair seat. I find these really useful in summer when you no longer need to use the footmuff, but still want to protect the fabric of your pushchair. They come in a huge range of materials and designs, so there is bound to be one to suit your tastes. It is always worth making sure the one you go for is machine washable so it’s easy to remove all those ice cream marks!

2. Pushchair carry bag

If you are going on holiday, or travelling on days out during the summer, a travel bag is a great investment. It is a ‘holdall’ for storing and transporting your pushchair in. Not only does it keep your pushchair and accessories all in one place, but it makes it easy to move around, and protects it from scratching and damage. This is especially useful if you are brave enough to be travelling on an aeroplane as damage can sometimes occur during transit.

3. Parasol

When the sun does shine, you will want a way of keeping it out of your baby’s face. This is where a parasol comes in handy. They attach to the frame of your pushchair and can be adjusted to the correct position to shade your little one. There are many universal styles, as well as specific branded ones, but remember to check the attachments as some may need adaptors to fit your pushchair frame.

4. Changing bag

You may already have a changing bag, but it is most definetley a summer essential, so if you are due to become a mum this summer, make sure this is on your must have list! In the summer months, there always seems to be lots to carry – spare clothes, sun hats, suncream, picnics, drinks for you and baby as well as all the usual paraphernalia having a baby with you requires! So make sure you invest in a good sized changing bag that can carry everything you need. Some also have insulated pockets which can be great for keeping food and drinks cold on a hot summer day.

5. Raincover

Ok, not strictly a typical summer accessory, but we do live in the UK, so at some point during the summer it is likely you will need a raincover for your pushchair. Again, there are universal styles, and branded styles so make sure you get one which fits your pushchair securely to kepp out the summer showers! Some raincovers also have a window flap in the front which allows you to reach in and access baby without removing the whole raincover – consider whether this is something which would be useful for you.

I am hoping that summer is on the way to us very shortly so we can all get out and enjoy the sunshine!

Read more from Kate on her blog, and follow Family Fever on twitter and facebook.

Mummy Blogger Natasha gives us her best Money Saving Tips for Mums.

As I look over my expenses from last month, I can’t quite believe how costly Christmas has become now that I have a little one.  It shouldn’t be a shock; they say that babies cost about £50,000,000 in the first year or something mental like that.  But now that the festive cheer has gone, and all we’re left with are heating bills and un-kept New Year’s resolutions.  So I’ve come up with a list of a few things that should help us all make it through the next few pay days!

 > Meal times – as appealing as baby ready meals appear for their convenience, its far more cost effective to make your own.  If you’re cooking spag bol for the family, just remove a load for baby before adding any salt and these can be frozen in batches.  The same goes for dessert.  Got a load of fruit that’s getting soft?  Just whack it all in a blender and freeze in ice cube trays to pop out what you need when required.

 > Clothes and toys – ebay is a great source of clothes, purely because our babies are never in them for long.  There are also many Facebook selling pages for local toys and clothes available in your area.  Just do a search for your town and the word ‘baby’ or ‘sale’ and you should find loads.

 > Sign up to baby clubs – pretty much every supermarket out there has a baby club nowadays, and signing up gives you the heads up on events and money off vouchers.  It’s still worth shopping around though, sometimes the offers aren’t as good as they seem!

 > Bedding – baby sheets and blankets can rack up a ludicrous amount of money.  You can buy double sheets for adult beds, cut them in half and give them a quick hem on a sewing machine.  Alternative, drop it all off at Grandma’s and ask her to do it!

 > Nappies – if you’re brave enough, opt for reusable nappies.  If not, buy disposables in bulk when sales and events are on and stock up.

 > Days out – there are so many places to take the little one’s for an enjoyable day out without having to spend a penny.  Sites like www.daysoutuk.com, www.moneysavingexpert.com and www.visitengland.com are a great source of information.

 > Fun play – you don’t need to spend a fortune on toys to keep your sprogs entertained, lots of things can be made with simple household items.  Bottles can be filled with beans or rice to make fun rattles (just make sure the lids are stuck on with glue to sellotape), play dough can be made with flour and water for messy play.

If you have any other money saving ideas, please feel free to post them on our FB page!  Photos are also welcome.  

Picture the scene... beautifully immaculate house (ok, that may be a slight exaggeration!); late Edwardian property with period features, stripped floorboards.  In comes Shyloh.  And she’s hungry. 

For some reason I thought I’d go down the baby led weaning route.  To those who have no idea what that means, it roughly translates to, ‘let your baby fling food all over the walls, floor, cat, etc’.  Ok, it causes far more mess than fat kids in a pie eating contest, but in all honesty I think it’s been worth it.

I knew that Shyloh was ready to start eating solids when she stole a strawberry off my plate and shoved it in her mouth.  She’s lucky I didn’t try to take it back, as I’m usually very precious over my strawberries, but it was just too entertaining watching her suck the hell out of the fruit, drooling red slobber down her front.

From that point on, I became the puree queen – I was pretty anal about it, and made sure she started off on bland savoury foods, working her way up to flavoursome fruits.  Me and Thom had previously spent £400 on a blender (we were sucked in at a food festival, but the man said it’s the best blender in the world so it must be true!), so I was making sure I got my money’s worth. 

I started out pureeing things, as in all honestly, I was too scared to do baby led weaning – even though I had read up on it, I was terrified she’d choke on something.  But I didn’t really need to be concerned.  A baby’s gag reflex, unlike ours, is only halfway down their tongue, so if she attempted something that was too big for her, it soon came flying back in my general direction. 

Shyloh has been wonderful with her food, and continues to amaze me.  From about seven months old, she has been able to feed herself at meal times, she eats everything we eat, from coconut and chilli thai curry, to salmon and cous cous.  You can tell she really enjoys her food – I generally gauge this from how far the food has spread around her face. 

I must say though, not everyone is a fan of my method of teaching Shyloh enjoyment in eating.  My mum thinks, and I quote, that I’m, ‘bringing her up like a savage’.  I do try explaining the benefits but I’ve given up now.  I now just find secret fulfilment when Shy flings her food across mum’s freshly hovered floor. 

For anyone looking to try baby led weaning, I’d say go for it. I can give Shyloh a whole pear and she’ll work her way through it, leaving the core, or she’ll eat melon off the rind.  She’s learning to enjoy different flavours, textures and shapes at her own pace, whilst being part of family meals and eating healthily.  She’s awesome and I’m so proud of her, even if she does wreck my dining room three times a day!

I’ve just turned 30.  Yes I know, it’s hard to believe, given that I have the sprightly demeanour of an 18 year old, but nevertheless, here we are.  I always promised myself I’d have a child by the time I hit the big Three-O, but previously it was over drunken conversations with a close friend; ‘if I’m not settled down by the time I’m 30, you’re knocking me up, ok?’.  Thankfully for Thom (or unluckily, don’t think he’s decided yet!) he came along and changed my life forever.

I didn’t think I would feel any different turning 30, but I really do.  I’m pretty sure my body has become less cooperative with my brain.  I want to run marathons, jump off cliffs, go surfing, just like those girls on tampon adverts, but my body just isn’t up for it.  I take one look at the ‘Tank’ (aka, the Charisma) and wonder how I ever mustered the strength to push it up hills just after having a baby.  But it has its uses, for come winter (which will be in about a week knowing our luck with weather) me and Shy will be easing through the snow thanks to its massive tyres. 

I also seem to find pleasure in smaller things nowadays.  Don’t get me wrong, Shyloh is the source of my happiness, but you know you’re getting old when you’re excited about the new steam mop you’ve just purchased… not good.  Once upon a time it was dancing, movies and alcohol – these days it’s more about sleeping, mortgages and a nice cup of tea.  Putting it into words is depressing!

I knew my life would change with the arrival of a child, but I guess I wasn’t prepared for exactly how much.  I envisaged myself, a less attractive Anglea Jolie, swanning around the place, juggling life as an awesome Earth Mother, a full time worky person and amazing girlfriend.  In reality, I look dishevelled most days, I hate work, and I’m pretty sure Thom wants to kill me. 

Saying all that though, it’s amazing how Shyloh has the ability to make me feel ancient one moment (my own little vampire, slowly draining the life from me!), then the next, she does something so unbelievably cute that I feel as carefree as teenager on the last day of school.  I love her so much, I never knew quite how much happiness one tiny pooping, screaming, puking thing could bring. 

So to summarise… I guess I feel old, but young, all at once.  I intend to enjoy every waking moment with my Mini Me, not take life to seriously, and take each day as it comes.  Try new things, show Shyloh the world (ok, Aylesbury!), and always try to say yes to new things.  I’m pretty sure that should stop my aging in its tracks.  Stick that in your pipe and smoke it Dorian Gray! 

As we're soon approaching National Breastfeeding Awareness Week (25th June) I thought it only apt to write a blog about how my life has changed now that my boobs seem to be permanently out. It was always my intention to breastfeed, but I never really realised how hard it would be to get the hang of, and quite how difficult the whole process would be. I guess I imagined it to be something along the lines of; boob out, whack her on, jobs a good'un, but it didn't quite go like that.

I might as well take you back to the beginning - the birth of my wonderful monster. She latched on as soon as she came out, and almost instantly a feeling of utter pride washed over me. I found it amazing how this tiny thing, barely an hour old, seemed to know exactly what to do. Unfortunately, my euphoria was short lived, for by the time we got round to her third feed, it was like she'd forgotten. Plus, my nipples hurt like mad (sorry to any men reading this, but you have to know, it can be bloody painful at the start!). I asked a midwife for assistance, as I was deeply hormonal (not surprisingly), and concerned that Shyloh would starve... I was told to massage my breast and collect any drops that came out into a syringe. I immediately started sobbing, and it wasn't until the next duty midwife came along that she suggested laying down to feed her, which worked a treat. Obstacle number one over.

The early days are quite a blur, but I remember it being very tricky to get the hang of what I was actually supposed to be doing, and how best to teach Shyloh. Thom would have to make me a little bed of a million blankets on the living room floor so I could lay down every feed (glad we grew out of that!), and the cats would always want to lay with us. I felt like I was always breastfeeding in the early days, and to be honest I probably was, for there was a point where Shy would feed every 1.5 to 2 hours. We went to a breastfeeding clinic, and bless Thom, he had to sit there with a dozen women all with their baps out... probably would have been a pleasant experience for him under other circumstances! I also leaked like mad, I would be feeding off of one boob and the other would start gushing... ok, that's probably too much information, but you need to know these things!

I've had to feed in some pretty interesting places. Remembrance Day, slap bang on the 2 minute silence, Shyloh starts wailing so I resorted to feeding her on the floor of the cobble stoned market square in front of hundreds of veterans. During an interview... yes, you read right. Not only did I have to show my bits to four men I would potentially be working for, but baby then decides to puke everywhere. Suffice to say, I didn't get the job. I've had to walk through countless shopping centres, supermarkets, town centres, parks, restaurants etc with Shyloh attached to me. Great fun.

Thankfully, pretty much everyone has been really open and supportive when it comes to breastfeeding in public places, and my friends are used to me being half naked in front of them by now. My best friend was slightly uncomfortable to begin with, when I'd have to feed Shyloh he would sheepishly avert eye contact, slowly head towards the door whilst saying, 'I think I'm going to go see what Thom is up to' (bless him). I've had another friend, who is a glamour photographer and therefore used to boobs of all shapes and sizes, sit pretty much on top of me whilst I was feeding, stare at my boobs, going 'that's amazing, doesn't that hurt, why is she pulling like that, how many holes does it come out of, does it squirt everywhere or trickle out, what colour is it, that's sooooooo amazing!!'. I guess some people would have been traumatised by the barrage of questions, but I was really pleased that he was interested and wanted to know more about it all.

Not to say that everyone is in agreement. My mother, of all people has been a pain, and frequently asks me when I'm going to stop as it's an 'inconvenience' (grrr!). Once, in the very early days, she proclaimed 'that's not how you do it', and proceeded to shove my boob into Shy's mouth. I have had to bite my tongue on several occasions, and in the end sent her an email with information on breastfeeding so that she could stop coming out with ludicrous comments such as, 'you're milk isn't good any more', 'there is no point doing it after six months', and my personal favourite, 'if you carry on it's just selfish'. I have felt like slapping her in the face with a breast pad before, but I remind myself that it was all very different in her day.

There is a lot of support out there for women who want to learn more about it, or are struggling to get to grips with it. I don't think I could have coped without the breastfeeding cafe and the friends I made there. There are also groups, such as Le Leche League, who were a massive help when my milk production went down. For anyone who is thinking of breastfeeding, I would advise it wholeheartedly - I'm not going to bang on about the benefits as I'd be here all day, but I would say don't give up, it's hard work, but so so so worth it in the long run. I love the bond I have with Shyloh, and I will always remember this time fondly. It's been eight months now and I'm 'still' breastfeeding. An no, I have no intention to stop just yet. Why should I? There is so much contradiction when it comes to the how long to breastfeed for, but I believe that it's down to the individual. As far as I'm concerned, Shyloh will stop when she's ready. Ok, I may have to consider reevaluating this if she's coming home from middle school and asking for a feed! And anyway, if I stop now, I'd have to start buying milk to put it Thom's tea! Ha, just kidding Thom! Or am I? :) 

We have put together a check-list of optional and essential items that you will want to have with you as you prepare to go to the hospital for the birth of your child.

For mum
(Essentials)
• Nightgown or shirt to wear during labour (You might not want to wear the gown provided by the hospital)
• Dressing Gown
• Socks
• Slippers
• Comfy pyjamas (If breastfeeding consider nursing pyjamas)
• Spare bras (Again think about nursing bras if you plan to breastfeed)
• Spare underwear
• Varied toiletries which would include toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, shampoo and deodorant. (Further items are also recommended)
• Hair clip enabling you to pull hair back during labour
• A comfortable and loose fitting going home outfit
(Optional)
• Sweets are favoured by some parents to help keep your mouth moist during labour
• An activity book or small console/smart phone to keep busy during early labour 
• A baby book (These are used to record all the details of the delivery and your baby’s first moments)
• Cord Blood Collection kit
• Beauty products such as lipstick, make-up etc to help you look and feel better after labour
• Address book so you have everybody’s contact details when spreading the news
• A gift or several small gifts to show your gratitude to all the helpful nurses and midwives that have helped throughout

For partner
(Essentials)
• All relevant insurance information 
• The chosen hospital preregistration information 
• It’s also handy to bring your own change of clothes and toiletries
(Optional)  
• Things to be used during labour: soothing music, something to be used as a focal point, tennis ball, rolling pin or lotion for massage, watch, paper/pen, snacks 
• Book or magazine for reading 
• List of people and phone numbers to call 
• Camera/film camera

For baby 
• Clothing including t-shirt, socks, hat
• Going home outfit
• Coat or jacket (especially important during the colder months)
• Receiving blanket (and a heavier blanket if it's cold)
• Car seat/Travel System (This is a legal requirement for taking the baby home)