Mum out of Town - Page 2 of 2 - Handy hacks, time-saving tips... and the journey of one new mum

# CRYING BABY – THE MIRACLE YOGA BALL AND SLING COMBO

When you have a crying and/or colicky newborn baby, you get given so much advice from different people.

Hands down the worst thing that people say in those first few days and weeks is…. ‘don’t worry it only lasts a few months, most people see an improvement by 6 months!’. This was one of the most depressing things to hear when you are in that hazy newborn fog.

Ultimately all you want is for your baby to stop crying and for Mr Small the magic combination (and I have no idea how I stumbled across this) was:

WEARING THE CLOSE CABOO SLING WHILE SITTING AND BOUNCING ON A YOGA BALL

9th May 2018 0 comment

HANDY HACKS PREGNANCY

# ALCOHOL FREE ALTERNATIVES TO KEEP YOU SANE

When you are pregnant or breastfeeding and going alcohol free, you can get very bored of water… or tonic water… or elderflower…. on indefinite repeat…..

At a party, at the pub or just at home in the evening sometimes you just don’t want another sweet non-alcoholic drink or ANOTHER glass of water… cue searching for alternatives that make you feel like you are actually having a ‘grown-up beverage’.

These were my 3 pub/party sanity savers that helped me still feel part of the crowd:

5th April 2018 0 comment

BEST BUYS TRAVEL

# ERGOBABY 360 BABY CARRIER

We’ve used our Ergobaby 360 baby carrier since birth for Mr Small, and 9 months on it’s still a much used piece of kit.

WHY CHOOSE ERGOBABY?

The reasons I chose the Ergobaby 360 were:

5th April 2018 0 comment

MEDICAL ON THE JOB

# DIASTISIS RECTI (ABDOMINAL SEPARATION)

There are so many things that could happen to your body after you have a baby that nobody tells you when you’re pregnant….. Obviously not everything happens to everyone and scaremongering pregnant ladies is never a good idea but something completely unexpected happening to you can come as a bit of a shock!

For me this shock came in the form of Diastisis Recti (or Abdominal Separation).

For my whole pregnancy people were telling me how lucky I was that I didn’t look like I’d put on weight anywhere apart from my ever increasing bump – this sounded like a good thing but little did I know (not that I could have changed it) that this was a contributing factor to the substantial separation I suffered with my abdominal muscles.

9th March 2018 0 comment

BEST BUYS BREASTFEEDING

# HAAKAA BREAST PUMP

This unassuming little manual breast pump is a game changer!

I initially heard about the Haakaa in NCT classes but didn’t actually buy it until Mr Small was about 2 months old – I definitely wished I’d done so earlier!

More of this in an upcoming ‘Handy Hacks’ post but once we were in a routine I was pumping in the evenings with my Haakaa, so that my other half could do the dream feed when we went to bed.

The Medela Swing electric pump is great BUT I had 2 issues with my own pumping schedule:

9th March 2018 0 comment

DAY TO DAY

# A BLANK PAGE

So, it is actually happening, I have officially resigned from my job and won’t be returning on a permanent contract at the end of maternity leave. This feels like such a huge decision and one that so many mothers end up facing.

I think one of the most stressful things is the sense of the unknown as there are so many moving parts…. Not knowing exactly where we’ll be living, so not being able to look at childcare options and therefore not being able to even start thinking about a job.

THAT IS ONE THING I AM CLEAR ON THOUGH…. I DO WANT TO DO SOMETHING.

28th February 2018 0 comment

GO-TOs PREGNANCY

# THE PREGNANCY PODCAST

This section of the blog is a selection of ‘Go-To’ people, podcasts, books etc that have (at different times) educated me, amongst other things steered me in the direction to get up that all illusive full night of sleep, and also in some cases provided much hilarity and helped me keep my sanity!

When I was pregnant I didn’t really have time to read lots of preparatory books and was walking to work every day, so a podcast was the perfect alternative to feel like I was doing something to prepare for having a baby.

I stumbled across the Pregnancy Podcast after a quick search on iTunes and was hooked….

24th February 2018 0 comment

HANDY HACKS STORAGE

# THE NAPPY DRAWER

Even in my most organised mode I had not even considered that there was an art to how to arrange the top drawer of your changing table/chest of drawers! Taking advantage of the 3 weeks (which ended up being nearly 4) that I had between finishing work for maternity leave and D-day I was visiting a friend who had recently had twins and she not only showed me her nappy drawer but said I may want to take a photograph!!!

It turns out that before she went into hospital to have her twins, the nanny that she had got to help in those crazy early days completely reorganized the top drawer of the changing table…

24th February 2018 0 comment

BEST BUYS BREASTFEEDING

# MY BREST FRIEND

In all honesty, a ‘breastfeeding cushion’ was not top of my priority list when planning for a baby, in fact I went as far as to dismiss it as one of the items that actually I didn’t need to buy (even though I was planning to breastfeed if I could)…. The various lists of ‘unnecessary baby items’ often said that a few pillows or cushions were all that you needed to get you and baby into a comfortable and supported position…

Fast-forward 8 months and I rave to any pregnant friend about the My Brest Friend breastfeeding cushion – despite the slightly amusing (but memorable) name! In the first week home from hospital, breastfeeding was going OK but was pretty uncomfortable at times, so I took a very shouty Mr Small for a walk in the pram to the lactation consultant at the local children’s centre.

17th February 2018 0 comment

DAY TO DAY

# THE EDGE OF THE PRECIPICE

I’m writing this on the cusp of making what feels like a massive leap…..

I have a 10 year career in some of London’s top independent design agencies under my belt… and an 8 month old baby who I want to grow up in the countryside – something needs to change.

I should preface this with the fact that moving to London after graduating was never intended to be forever – in fact, during that first year I wanted to throw in the towel but somehow this wonderful, chaotic, cosmopolitan city got its claws in, and 10 years later I am still here.

I now find myself, halfway through maternity leave, faced with an exciting opportunity and a plethora of emotions….

12th February 2018 0 comment

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