Best Baby Buys- the first few weeks

Well it’s been 6 and a bit weeks since Freddie joined the Fordham family and I am loving every moment! The first few weeks were tough but I really feel that we have gotten to know each other now.. I understand his cries better and he is much more content in general. He is developing a lovely little personality and his beautiful smiles that he is beginning to show make every sleepless night worth it.

There are a number of products that I have used over the past few weeks that I believe have made life with Freddie even easier and I wanted to share these with you. I have lots of expecting friends at the moment and these are all the things I have raved about to them!

1. Cheeky Wipes- my top baby buy. I literally can’t imagine nappy changes without them. This reusable wipes kit is super easy to use (as you can chuck them in with any 40 degree wash), smells amazing (lavender bum!) and great for the environment and my wallet! I’ve had these since before Freddie was born and because of that I have only used a disposable wipe on his bum a grand total of 3 times. I adore them and all my NCT mummy friends agree; it’s their favourite baby buy too. (£39-£45 cheekywipes.com)
2. Ewan the Dream Sheep- ahhhh Ewan! Purchased on a recommendation from an NCT friend after we had used an iPad playing youtube videos of white noise to survive those first few nights! Now we wouldn’t be without him! Ewan is a fundamental part of our nighttime routine. I think it has really helped Freddie to tell the difference between day and night as we only use Ewan at nighttime. The noises keep him calm (even help send me off to sleep!) and the pink light creates a lovely glow. One thing to note: in 6 weeks we have had to change the batteries 3 times… A little too often for me considering we have only used it at night. It’s worth it though for the calm night’s sleep!
   (£29.99 amazon.co.uk)
3. Shnuggle Bath- we struggled with a standard baby bath for 6 weeks before discovering this on an amazon search. I found it really hard to hold Freddie and bath him effectively… It always felt like he wasn’t very secure and raised my stress levels completely. His first bath in this little thing was fantastic! For the first time we had no tears from him and he actually smiled as he splashed the water with his little hands. The back rest and clever bum bump keep him fully supported, leaving me hands free to wash him properly, and the max water level guide helps the water to be the perfect height (and this keeps him warmer for longer). (£19.99 amazon.co.uk)
4. Kokoso Coconut Oil- this pot of goodness is completely multi-purpose. I mostly use it on Freddie’s bottom as a nappy cream at every change. We are hoping to go full time into cloth nappies when he is a bit bigger and most standard barrier creams (sudocream, Vaseline etc) interfere with the performance of reusable nappies. It smells divine, melts into his skin perfectly and has prevented any nappy rash so far. I also use it as a general moisturiser for his dry skin and have used it a couple of times to try some baby massage. Of course you can buy lots of different brands of coconut oil but this one is made by a mum especially for mums and is quite good value considering how much you get in a pot. (£7.99 boots.com)
5. Liberty Sling- baby wearing was always on my baby agenda after a fellow mum friend wore her baby constantly in his first year. She showed me how easy it was and promised to help when my time came. I bought the same wrap she had as it was one of the cheaper ones around but still top on performance. I went for a black wrap (so it goes with most of my clothes!) but they have lots of lovely colours to suit every taste. It took a couple of attempts to feel confident with the tying etc but now Freddie loves being wrapped to me and we often favour this over the pram. I have used it when he is crying and within moments he is soothed and happy. He often falls asleep within minutes and it leaves me hands free to bake cakes, do the washing up or put my make up on!!! Baby wearing is the business!!!  (£24.95 amazon.co.uk)
6. Babymoov Lovenest- like the shnuggle bath, this is another product I wish we had owned since birth. For the first few weeks of his life Freddie has preferred sleeping with his head to one side. This has meant he has developed a slightly flatter patch on that side of his skull. As his mummy I think it’s 1000% worse than it probably is but I wanted to be proactive about it (and at least stop it getting any worse). I found the Lovenest pillow recommended by a paediatric osteopath on a website and purchased straight away. It has an indented bit which your baby’s head sits in to reduce the pressure and prevent your baby developing flat head. I’m not sure how much it has helped/will help Freddie’s head shape but I feel it gives me a bit more piece of mind. I will be recommending that expecting friends have one from birth as it’s not that expensive but could make a real difference. (£14.99 amazon.co.uk)
7. Infacol- thank you Lord for the wonder of infacol. For the first 3/4 weeks Freddie was a very cry-y little man. I could tell he was really struggling with trapped wind as he would wail after each feed and draw his little leggies up in pain. I umm-ed and ahh-ed about gjving him anything because it felt a bit too medicinal/clinical but after a fellow NCT mummy raved about how it had changed her little boy’s feeding times I thought it was worth a shot… Anything to reduce those heart-wrenching ‘mummy-I’m-in-pain’ cries! I now give him a dropper full of this before every daytime feed and it really helps him to get the burpies up much quicker and relieve the pain. He is much more content in the day because of this. (£2-£4 at most chemists/supermarkets)

I haven’t been paid/bribed/coerced into writing about any of these products… I just absolutely love them and wanted to share the love with you!!!

 

 

Dressing the bump… wedding style

Last weekend was the first of four weddings before the year is out (and the last before baby makes his/her appearance!)

I was majorly stressing about dressing the bump… especially at 35 weeks pregnant and knowing how uncomfortable I feel at the moment in pretty much any piece of clothing. Thankfully my saving grace was my amazing cousin, who, after giving birth herself in January this year, gave me an asos maternity dress that she had only worn once. It was perfect. I teamed the dress with black patent m&s heels (extra comfy ones which also were swapped for flats by about 4pm!) and my favourite f&f sequined clutch bag.

It was such a good wedding. We danced solidly until 11pm (I think baby liked it!) and didn’t get home until 1:30am. I felt like a pregnant rebel!

The next wedding will be with baby so my next dilemma is how to dress for a winter wedding whilst providing access to boobie milk?! Any answers/advice would be appreciated!

x

 

 

Cloth-bummy-mummy

Early on in my pregnancy I made the decision to use reusable nappies instead of disposables. I’ve never really considered myself a eco-warrior or a hippy, crunchy mummy type but there is something about reusable nappies that makes me super happy.

It’s the cute prints; the money-saving; the feeling of building up a collection; the fact that I won’t be putting harsh chemicals next to my baby’s skin… but mainly it’s the fact that it is something else to get a little bit addicted to. And trust me… it’s addictive!

I’ve been building my stash slowly throughout the last few months; taking advantage of pre-loved facebook sites, sales and discount codes to make sure I never pay full price for a nappy. I’ve tried to gather a selection of brands too as I know that all babies are different and what suits one baby may not suit mine. My collection so far includes:

3 x Totsbots Teenyfits (V4 brand new)

6 x Totsbots Easyfits (V4 3 pre-loved, 3 brand new)

3 x Totsbots Bamboozle Stretch (2 pre-loved, 1 brand new)

4 x Totsbots Stretchy Wraps (1 pre-loved, 3 brand new)

2 x Bambino Mio Solo (brand new)

4 x Bambino Mio Pre-folds and 2 x wraps (brand new)

5 x Bambooty Basics (brand new- look at that pineapple nappy!!)

As I put away the final lot of nappies (washed, dried and stuffed) last night I started thinking towards the future. I don’t know what it’s going to be like being a mummy. I have these vague ideas and expectations but I don’t think they even come close to the reality. I might use cloth for a week and hate it… I really hope not! But until baby fordham pops out (because it’s that easy right?!) I’m going to enjoy looking at my little stash and pondering how life will change in just a few short weeks.

I’ll keep you updated once mr/miss is here with how we get on with our cloth nappies. Wish us luck!!

x

 

Oh the places you’ll go….

It’s been 3 years since my last blog post on this site. Talk about a blogging break!

What’s changed in the world of familyfordham?! Let’s see if I can keep this brief…:

• I decided to take the leap and started a PGCE in Primary Education at Winchester University
• In that year hubby got a new job working for a church and that enabled us to move from our attic flat in London to a 2-bed terrace in Salisbury
• I started my NQT year as a Year 3 teacher
• We got a cat- Maisy- the most spoilt cat in existence (not by me… Who knew hubby was such a cat person!)
• We found out in February this year that we were going to have a baby!!!! (Due October and cooking rather nicely!)
• I finished my NQT year
• Now we are waiting for baby Fordham to make his/her entrance and marvelling generally at how much can change in 3 years!

And what’s stayed the same:

• Hubby still plays and teaches guitar and has a booming private tuition business which I am super proud of
• I am still baking, cross-stitching and generally enjoying the simpler things in life… instagramming the whole thing as per usual
• We love each other just like we did back then only with nearly 4 years of marriage and adventure behind us and even more adventure to come!

I’m hoping this blog will continue to be a place to preserve the memories of our (ever-growing!) familyfordham and I hope you enjoy reading about our little corner of the world again.

x

maisy/getting ready for baby fordham/bump