peary peary nice

Having sprouted the start of a tooth we love to chew on cold things to soothe the gums. A piece of orange pepper might not be eaten but its great when the gums are sensitive.
This week we have also discovered tinned pear. This is sucked up so quickly that arms start flapping when a new piece doesn't arrive quickly enough.
another useful tip after a few screaming drives is always have with you a suitable healthy baby snack. We have been packing rice cakes in our nappy bag as we have been caught out a couple of times when my son has decided he doesn't want to be in car seat or he is overly tired ad a distraction like a little snack bite is very useful. Now I'm not condoning giving your child a packet of sweets or crisps each time is is in a bit of a bad mood, but the odd simple snack, to me, seems harmless.

baby led weaning : teething and food

As we approach our second month we are, well he is, getting better at handling food and getting it to the right place.
We have researched a little further into foods we shouldn't have, but have found this a mind field of opinions. No gluten, dairy, egg, peanuts or salt, but then again others encourage you should feed what you eat (although of course watching the salt and sugar levels). So, we have done it like this, as advised by Gill Rappley, introduce foods which we are a little weary of slowly and watched for any reaction. We also took into consideration any allergies in the family and try to avoid these foods, just in case, till he is a little older.
We have mainly loved rice cakes and melon for our snack this week and this has also been great for the gums. I cut the melon slice in half so that he has two pieces which fit his little fists better and once he got the hang of holding them there was no stopping him chomping away. Nice and cool and a little sweet. Rice cakes are also a great alternative to the Heinz baby biscuits I bought which ended up sticky and soft and covering everything!
We've had some lovely rice meals, potato and the odd chip. He seems more put off by new textures, but he has so far not refused anything, alhamdullilah.
I am looking forward to the wintry stews.

baby led weaning: day 8, give peas a chance

Balls and bolognese. I had a go at making some beef meatballs, putting in it some olives, ketchup and cumin. Very tasty and to this added some tomato sauce covered pasta. Lets just say he had sauce on his eye lashes, in his nose and the corner of his eyes!
The meat balls were crumbly so not all that easy to eat, but he had a good go and his pincer grip is greatly improving. I think this is something that can be practiced with foods like peas, sweetcorn and raisins.

He wore this great bib which has a fab plastic pocket and caught almost all of the fallen food! Making it easier to tidy up. Thumbs up for this product.
It was finished off with a lovely bit of soya yogurt and even this went more smoothly with the spoon action (less yogurt was flung over board).

I think I would like to make some hearty muffins next. Hmmm ... maybe with apricot as he does like those.

baby led weaning: battle of the baby corn

Toys to distract and keep them happy

Food is fun! This is definitely the message baby led weaning carries.
Children today struggle with many things as they grow up that children of the past would not have even considered.
Children fight technology to get to play outside as the Internet has made their life more restricting by being very addictive and open to abuse.
Some fight with education, they either don't get the right education and this hinders them or they are put under immense pressure to perform before they are ready.
Some fight against the mould they are often taught to fit into as children ,terrible two's, early sexualisation, the media feeding them images of their idea of perfection.
This can all lead to a very stressed younger generation.
Isn't it great then that we can take the pressure and stress of eating, trying new things and conforming to society's idea of an eating schedule away from weaning?
Some children do not mind being spoon fed but so many parents battle with their children to eat up, try something, not spit it out or just to sit down for dinner. Baby led weaning makes food and time to eat more pleasurable for the child and feeder.
The pressure to eat up or eat a certain amount is taken away. No tricks of trains and aeroplanes have to be played to get baby to open up for the spoon. Baby is trusted to try what they like at the speed they are happy with. They can investigate what goes into their mouths before eating it which is very important in learning to understand and trust foods are good or not so nice. When being spoon fed this exploration is taken away and they often spit foods out to take a look which then upsets the feeder and causes stress.
Yes baby led weaning is messy, but only for a while. This doesn't mean spoon feeding is BAD, but why not give baby led a try you might like it.

We had baby corn, green beans and a slither of organic carrot cake. Guess which went down fastest!
Baby corn needs investigating more as his face screws up each time it touches his lips, but he is not giving up, he kept trying.

cloth nappy: pop-in

Now that the cloth nappy journey has started I fear it will be like my sling addiction, lets try them all!
The pop-in is my second purchase, also secondhand.Colourful soft and definitely more nappy shaped.

Pros:

• cute colours (I have green, orange, blue and white)
• soft on skin
• change sizing birth to bigger as its one size, using poppers
• quick and easy to put on wriggly baby
• reasonably quick dry (I dry hanging by radiator)
• no poo leaks as the nappy has double gusset and good elastic on the waist band 
• not bulky

cons:

• a little small in height on my chunky baby
• not great for night as not easy to put a booster in and still fit his chunky botty
• can only wear for around 2 hours as the dampness then comes through

We are really enjoying these as they are good for the day time as they are not too bulky and quick to put on and they are great for the nappy bag too, nice and compact. Happy I bought them, would recommend these as part of a stash.

sling review: connecta

This pretty carrier has a great following and is very popular. Its simple, pretty and very versatile and when the company was recently in hand over there were many grumbles from women who were desperate to get their hands on one.
Colour:I love the pattern choices and colours of the connecta, I tried the carnival pattern above.
Texture: Its a nice soft strong cotton all over.

Dimensions and support: The connecta is based on the mei tai but has been turned into a ssc. For lovers of the mei tai this is a great quick alternative. It has a nice waist strap which can now also be padded with a separate belt. It is also a lumbar support to make it more comfortable for an extended wear. It has good, slightly padded shoulder straps which are nice and wide and spread the weight nicely. I felt the straps were supportive and the main body was a good shape, but when I tightened the carrier it was not comfortable. It felt like my son was pushed against me with a very straight back. I tried the back carry and this was even more uncomfortable.
Sleep test: Even though the front carry wasn't greatly comfortable my son did fall asleep in it, so maybe he was more comfortable than I was.
Recommend: Some mothers swear by this carrier and so I do believe it works for many, but maybe the fact that my little man is nice and chunky and I don't like feeling restricted means that this carrier just wasn't for us.

This is my personal opinion and every carrier is different for different people depending on body shape and baby shape and size. So I would always recommend seeking out a sling library to try before you buy.

sling review: African baby carrier (ssc)

My Deluxe African baby carrier arrived. The first carrier Ive bought in a while with no try out first.
My local sling library had not heard of it before so I researched myself and found this lovely website and facebook page with pictures and satisfied customer comments. The UK agent was very friendly and helpful in helping me to decide whether the carrier was for me.

www.africanbabycarrier.co.za
http://www.facebook.com/pages/UK-SA-Front-and-Back-African-Baby-Carrier/207521155953216

I was not disappointed. As soon as I got it out I could see how beautiful it was.
Colour: My carrier is green with a lovely brown striped accented pocket and sleep hood and hood straps.
Texture: Its a nice cotton canvas style material which is strong and durable yet soft. The body is not padded so nice and soft on the baby's body.
Dimensions: This is one of my favourite as many carriers are either too narrow, too wide, too short or too high. The body on this carrier is just the right height for my big 6 month old AND there is a fab zip at the base of the body which will allow me to extend it when he gets even bigger. Another fab part is the width as it goes nicely from knee to knee on my son and has soft cuffs to protect his legs. The belt looked very big in pictures but it is close to perfect. I have tried many padded waist belts on carriers and some have buckled under my baby or sat uncomfortably on the unpadded part but the wide belt on this carrier is very snug and comfy. The straps are long enough to be adjusted for male, female and different body sizes. The hood is nicely shaped to hug baby's head and can be adjusted to suit baby's height which I have not seen before in this way. Its lovely. The shoulder straps are in fixed rucksack position.
Support:If you were to use it with a little baby I would look into getting an insert like the one used for the ergo. Ive not tried it but I would investigate whether it would work. For my 6 month old however it is just right. The padded shoulder straps protect me nicely from his weight and the belt seems to help spread the weight well across my hips making my son seem very light, especially in front carry. He is well supported as the seat is deep enough and to make him snug the un-padded part of the shoulder straps can also be tightened.
Sleepy test: He soon fell asleep in the carrier and the hood was perfect to stop his head falling back. The hood straps are nice and long so can be reached easily when doing a back carry.
Recommend: This carrier is definitely worth buying if you are looking for a comfortable, beautiful, 3 months to toddler carrier. It is currently a small company in South Africa with an agent in the UK, but I believe if they traded here they would sell like hot cakes as they have all the good elements from other ssc's put into one.



This is my personal opinion and every carrier is different for different people depending on body shape and baby shape and size. So I would always recommend seeking out a sling library to try before you buy.