We all know as parents, how much we value our sleep at night. Trying to get your baby as comfortable as possible is one of the key things you can do to ensure they have a restless nights sleep.
Swaddling is a great way of keeping your baby cosy and safe. However, as i've mentioned before in previous posts, the hubby and I are pretty much useless in the swaddling department. No matter how many times we've been shown, we just can't get to grips with it.
I was asked if I would like to review a Swaddleme from Summer Infant uk. You may have read my review of their Stroller which I loved, so I jumped at the chance to try one of their swaddles out.
I was sent the Original Swaddle in jungle print which costs 12.99. There are lots of other colours available on the website. The print is very apt as Ophelia's nursery is safari themed.
The fabric is 100% cotton, the wings have a hook and loop fastening attachment and the leg pouch can be opened up separately. We've been using this for a few months but Ophelia is now almost too big for it. She will be 3 months old in a week. We've really got on well with it and Ophelia seems to be impressed too.
I particularly like the material. It's 100% cotton and you can tell as it's very soft and smooth. It stretches well and is easy to manoeuvre around babies body. Even though it feels soft, it certainly feels secure.
The material is also great for year round weather use. I used this back home in the UK during December and I also have used it here in Australia. So i've used it in polar opposite weather conditions. It was very cold at home and it's rather hot over here. You just adjust what baby is wearing underneath.
It's very simple to wrap. You place baby in the pouch and then wrap the wings across. It's so much easier than attempting to swaddle with a normal blanket. Also if you swaddle with a normal blanket you tend to add around 4 extra layers to baby so they can easily overheat. With this, you know you have a safe amount of layering. I love the fact that you can have easy access to the bottom half of baby. This was ideal for changing Ophelia's nappies at night-time.
We've loved using this product. I can't recommend swaddling and this particular wrap enough. Ophelia actually sleeps from 10pm to around 5.30am. I am so lucky. I'm not saying it's because of this swaddle but the fact that she feels comforted and protected, certainly adds to it. However from a young age she seems to wake up to noise. She's not one of these babies that will sleep through you hoovering. Any loud noise and she startles. This swaddle helps her from waking herself up from her startling reflex which has been a great help.
At almost 3 months she seems to be able to roll herself onto her side and stay there. This is rather alarming for me as i'm now petrified she's going to roll completely over. I'm going to have to get the next stage up in the swaddle range which is the Wrapsack, so I can let her sleep with her arms out when she becomes even more active.
Swaddling is a great way of keeping your baby cosy and safe. However, as i've mentioned before in previous posts, the hubby and I are pretty much useless in the swaddling department. No matter how many times we've been shown, we just can't get to grips with it.
I was asked if I would like to review a Swaddleme from Summer Infant uk. You may have read my review of their Stroller which I loved, so I jumped at the chance to try one of their swaddles out.
I was sent the Original Swaddle in jungle print which costs 12.99. There are lots of other colours available on the website. The print is very apt as Ophelia's nursery is safari themed.
The fabric is 100% cotton, the wings have a hook and loop fastening attachment and the leg pouch can be opened up separately. We've been using this for a few months but Ophelia is now almost too big for it. She will be 3 months old in a week. We've really got on well with it and Ophelia seems to be impressed too.
I particularly like the material. It's 100% cotton and you can tell as it's very soft and smooth. It stretches well and is easy to manoeuvre around babies body. Even though it feels soft, it certainly feels secure.
The material is also great for year round weather use. I used this back home in the UK during December and I also have used it here in Australia. So i've used it in polar opposite weather conditions. It was very cold at home and it's rather hot over here. You just adjust what baby is wearing underneath.
It's very simple to wrap. You place baby in the pouch and then wrap the wings across. It's so much easier than attempting to swaddle with a normal blanket. Also if you swaddle with a normal blanket you tend to add around 4 extra layers to baby so they can easily overheat. With this, you know you have a safe amount of layering. I love the fact that you can have easy access to the bottom half of baby. This was ideal for changing Ophelia's nappies at night-time.
We've loved using this product. I can't recommend swaddling and this particular wrap enough. Ophelia actually sleeps from 10pm to around 5.30am. I am so lucky. I'm not saying it's because of this swaddle but the fact that she feels comforted and protected, certainly adds to it. However from a young age she seems to wake up to noise. She's not one of these babies that will sleep through you hoovering. Any loud noise and she startles. This swaddle helps her from waking herself up from her startling reflex which has been a great help.
At almost 3 months she seems to be able to roll herself onto her side and stay there. This is rather alarming for me as i'm now petrified she's going to roll completely over. I'm going to have to get the next stage up in the swaddle range which is the Wrapsack, so I can let her sleep with her arms out when she becomes even more active.
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If you're looking for a last minute homemade gift to make for Valentine's Day then my chocolate treat is ideal. It's super easy to make with minimal effort. It takes about 10 minutes to make (if that) and then a few hours in the fridge to set.
Ingredients:
300g Milk chocolate melts
600g White chocolate melts
Red food colouring
Mini marshmallows
Love themed sprinkles
I used chocolate melts but i'm pretty sure you could use normal chocolate
Method:
1) Line a baking tray (about 25cm x 30cm) with baking paper
2) Place the milk chocolate melts into a bowl, then 300g of white melts into a different bowl and the other 300g in a separate bowl again.
3) Melt each bowl of chocolate separately. I melted them over a saucepan with boiling water but you can place melts in a microwave. Make sure they don't burn.
4) Add a drop of red food colouring to one of your melted white chocolate bowls. Mix together to make red chocolate. (I don't think I put enough red colouring into mine as it came out quite pink).
5) Now pour the chocolate one at a time onto the tray. Make sure you have the 3 colours side by side and allow them to touch slightly.
6) With a skewer (or something similar) make swirls in the chocolate, mixing all 3 colours together.
7) Then add your marshmallows and sprinkles to the top and place the tray in a fridge to set.
8) Once the chocolate is set, break it into pieces and then enjoy
As I mentioned before in my blog post I'm Bringing Sexy Back, I am trying to alter my lifestyle and become fit and healthy again. I'm trying to achieve this through a new attitude, exercising and eating a high protein, low carb diet.
There are various obstacles in my way which means I can't dive into this straight away. Firstly, I had a caesarean so I can't go crazy with exercise. I'm starting with lighter exercise and will increase the intensity every week. Secondly, I now have 2 children. Time is not readily available and thirdly i'm on a very long extended holiday. I'm in Australia until mid march so it's rather difficult to not treat myself at times.
There are various obstacles in my way which means I can't dive into this straight away. Firstly, I had a caesarean so I can't go crazy with exercise. I'm starting with lighter exercise and will increase the intensity every week. Secondly, I now have 2 children. Time is not readily available and thirdly i'm on a very long extended holiday. I'm in Australia until mid march so it's rather difficult to not treat myself at times.
I decided to join a gym here for a month to really get myself motivated. I also bought some light kettlebells to use at my mums house. I took photos in my bikini which I will share with you in a few weeks time to see if there has been any change in my body shape.
Week 1:
Monday:
Breakfast - Blueberry Greek Yogurt
Lunch - Slices of ham and cheese
Dinner - Chorizo and chicken recipe from the Lean in 15 book
Snack - Mango
Exercise - Gym using the cross trainer and some arms and legs machines
Breakfast - Blueberry Greek Yogurt
Lunch - Slices of ham and cheese
Dinner - Chorizo and chicken recipe from the Lean in 15 book
Snack - Mango
Exercise - Gym using the cross trainer and some arms and legs machines
Tuesday:
Breakfast - Plain Greek Yogurt with a banana
Lunch - Feta salad
Dinner - BBQ, Sausages, lamb kofta, salad and red peppers
Snack - Chocolate protein ball
Alcohol - 2 glasses of sparkling red shiraz (It was Australia Day so I had to celebrate lol)
Breakfast - Plain Greek Yogurt with a banana
Lunch - Feta salad
Dinner - BBQ, Sausages, lamb kofta, salad and red peppers
Snack - Chocolate protein ball
Alcohol - 2 glasses of sparkling red shiraz (It was Australia Day so I had to celebrate lol)
Wednesday:
Breakfast - Greek Yogurt
Lunch - Nandos Chicken thighs on their own
Dinner - Chilli from the Lean in 15 book which I loved. I was amazed I didn't miss the rice.
Exercise - Kettlebells circuit
Breakfast - Greek Yogurt
Lunch - Nandos Chicken thighs on their own
Dinner - Chilli from the Lean in 15 book which I loved. I was amazed I didn't miss the rice.
Exercise - Kettlebells circuit
Thursday:
Today I was rather ill with diarrhoea and vomitting. I only are 2 plain chicken wings in the evening as I felt so rough
Today I was rather ill with diarrhoea and vomitting. I only are 2 plain chicken wings in the evening as I felt so rough
Friday:
Breakfast - Blueberry Greek Yogurt
Lunch - 2 big rice cakes
Dinner - Chicken wings
Exercise - Gym, treadmill, arms and legs machines
Breakfast - Blueberry Greek Yogurt
Lunch - 2 big rice cakes
Dinner - Chicken wings
Exercise - Gym, treadmill, arms and legs machines
Saturday:
Breakfast - 2 boiled eggs
Lunch - Salad
Dinner - Salmon and salad
Exercise - Kettlebells circuit
Breakfast - 2 boiled eggs
Lunch - Salad
Dinner - Salmon and salad
Exercise - Kettlebells circuit
Sunday:
Breakfast - Scrambled egg with cheese
Lunch - Chicken salad
Dinner - Fajitas without the wraps
Snack - We went to the Guylian chocolate cafe so I obviously had to treat myself to one of their cakes.
As you can see i've had a rough start but as I said i'm not going into this fully for a few weeks, I'm easing myself in.
Have you got any good lunch time ideas for a high protein, low carb diet that I can eat out and about? I think this is where I have fallen down a lot. I haven't been meal planning for the week.
Breakfast - Scrambled egg with cheese
Lunch - Chicken salad
Dinner - Fajitas without the wraps
Snack - We went to the Guylian chocolate cafe so I obviously had to treat myself to one of their cakes.
As you can see i've had a rough start but as I said i'm not going into this fully for a few weeks, I'm easing myself in.
Have you got any good lunch time ideas for a high protein, low carb diet that I can eat out and about? I think this is where I have fallen down a lot. I haven't been meal planning for the week.
If you follow me on Twitter or facebook you'll know I have been struggling with Eva's behaviour. I can't pin point a time when she started becoming a bit difficult. It was certainly before Ophelia was born. She's not terribly naughty, it's more of a case of not listening. I think she thinks she's a grown up and she can do what she likes. She's quite independent.
I knew with Ophelia being born that I would have to attempt to address Eva's behaviour. I used a reward chart to help potty train Eva and that worked incredibly well so I thought that I'd give that a try.
I was lucky enough to be asked to review a Wow Toys reward chart. I picked the fairies one for Eva as this is more suited to what she's into at the moment. There's also a racers one and a dino one.
This reward chart is way more special than your average sticker chart. It's an actual interactive chart with 3 Wow Toys as treats. There's a magnetic star tracker for your child to move along the fairy garden path when they are being rewarded for good behaviour. The treats are rewarded at stars 1, 5 and 10.
The toys inside are a fairy figure, a unicorn figure and a chariot. I knew this would be a fab incentive for Eva as she loves nothing more than being given a treat.
We used the reward chart for when Eva helped me out with 'mummy' tasks such as helping to change her sister's nappy, putting toys away from the floor, behaving whilst I was breast feeding etc.
It worked a treat. In fact, it worked a bit too well. I found Eva was constantly trying to carry out tasks and then would run off towards her chart. She would have completed it in half a day if she could. We had to change it so that she could only move along the fairy garden path once a day.
I really liked the fact that the chart has a pop out hole meaning you can hang it anywhere. We hung ours on our kitchen door.
I'd recommend this reward chart for anyone having behavioural issues. It's a fab incentive for pre - schoolers to complete tasks. I love the fact that it's brightly coloured and stands out. It immediately looks exciting and inviting to a toddler. It's everything you'd expect from Wow Toys. The figures are super safe for children to play with. They are also compatible with all their other toys. Not only is it great for teaching children to listen to and act upon commands but it's great for encouraging role and imaginative play and sensory development.
You can buy Wow Toys from a range of stockists such as Amazon and Tesco. Check their website for a full list of places.
It honestly worked wonders for us. The only problem is she's now misbehaving again. Note to self I must order another one asap.
I can't believe I already have a 2 month old baby, well actually I have a 10 week old baby so nearing 3 months. The time is going way too fast for my liking.
The first month was way too much of a blur but I think that was partially because my mother in law died just days after she was born.
She had a good first Christmas and the lucky thing then got to have her first holiday as we flew to Australia to stay with my mum and sisters on boxing day. She was an angel on the flight and was no trouble at all. I can't believe at 5 weeks old she had a stamp in her passport. I think we've set her up for a travelling lifestyle.
We've also decided to stay in Australia until mid March. My poor hubby has had to go back and we are away from him for 7 weeks. He's coming back though for another 2 week holiday with us at the begging of next month.
Since being here Ophelia has been to the beach, had her first swim in my mum's swimming pool, met lots of animals such as kangaroos and koalas and seen some gorgeous Xmas lights.
We also had to get her first lot of injections here. What a palava that was. They have them at 6 weeks here so that's when she had them. She also had more than she would have at home.
I have no idea how much she weighs as we're not seeing a health visitor but she seems fine to me. She is honestly such a well behaved baby. She is happy and content all the time and constantly smiling. I am so lucky. Perhaps she'll turn into a demon later on!! I hope not. Since being her she sleeps very well at night. If I feed her about 11pm, the majority of the time she'll stay asleep until about 6am.
She loves me singing to her. Her favourite song to here is beautiful dreamer.
She idolises her sister. She's always looking for her attention and tries to talk to her whenever she's around.
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