So Schmoo is 6 months, with 2 little teeth, eating 3 meals a day including chicken, lamb, beef, cheese and fish (hake and cod no less). He’s still sleeping through the night pretty well although we’ve reintroduced the late dream feed to make sure he gets enough milk as it was hard to get 500-600mls in him a day, when all he wanted was banana and mature cheddar! I’m still breastfeeding first thing in the morning and last thing at night which I love and don’t want to give up yet, but he’s on Aptamil 3 for his mid-morning and mid-afternoon feeds, as well as for top-ups before bedtime and the dream feed. He’s a whole lot of fun now – laughing and shrieking and grabbing and generally making me laugh, especially before and after bathtime where he goes MENTAL.
But anyway I wanted to tell you about 3 things that have made my life easier – as you know I’m all about the gadgets*:
1. The neckerchew
Invented by 2 mummys from my home town Edinburgh, this mops up the copious amounts of dribble that pours out of Mr S’s mouth permanently, and also gives him something to chew on given he’s teething constantly. It’s great because it’s round his neck so he can’t drop it and it’s something less to worry about taking out the house.
2. The Moby Wrap
I didn’t have a great time with wraps previously (I had, and got rid of, the Close wrap because it was just too complicated to work and Schmoo was always a little lop-sided in it; and the Babasling didn’t really fit him either), but I’ve always found the Baby Bjorn easy to put on, but terrible on your back, so I just took the pram out all the time. But the problem with prams is 1. sometimes you go places (health clinics, baby classes, etc) you can’t take a pram 2. baby wakes up the second you get in the door.
So, I found a second hand Moby Wrap for £25 in Fara and tried it the last time I went to the baby clinic. It’s made of soft cotton and, while it’s a little complicated to figure out how to wrap it, it’s not too hard and after a few attempts I got it right. There is something lovely about having Schmoo so close to me, and I think he loves it too. (Although we both keep each other very warm in it, so Summer might be a bit sweaty!).
But the BEST thing about it, is that, on the way home, rocked by the movement of my walk and calmed by the beating of my heart, he laid his head just gently on my chest and fell asleep. And he slept. And slept. And slept and slept. And even when we got home (which is when he’d wake up if he was asleep in his pram), he kept sleeping on me for another 40 minutes, allowing me to catch up on Breaking Bad,
He likes it so much that I can take it to parties, and wrap him up in it on me to have his afternoon nap (alternative = push him in pram until asleep which is always a pain). I worry sometimes he likes it so much that the doesn’t like napping in his cot so much but I make sure I take him out in the pram too to mix it up.
And for me, it’s so much better than the Baby Bjorn as its ergonomic and doesn’t hurt my back. I can’t explain why but he’s just at a good position on me that doesn’t hurt, and I can walk long distances, hands-free, without any discomfort. I’ve also heard the Ergo baby carrier is good for this too.
Here’s me and Schmoo having a nap / watching Breaking Bad.
3. The Phillips Avent steamer / blender
I am now the Queen of Purees. Were I to die tomorrow, my tombstone should read “She Came. She Saw. She Pureed.”
Now he’s on 3 meals a day, that’s a lorra lorra purees, especially given for 2 of those meals he has a savoury puree followed by fruit puree. So, I’m ordering veggie and fruit boxes from Abel & Cole, plus some meat and fish, and cooking up Annabel Karmel recipes a few times a month and batch freezing them. But still, I find myself whipping up fruits and veggies constantly.
So the Avent steamer and blender in one is brilliant. I basically take whatever fruit and veg are handy, peel and dice, then steam for a few minutes, flip the carton over and blend it all together. And you can then shove it all in the dishwasher. Definitely saves time and washing up and is strangely satisfying in a strange way.
* None of this is sponsored by the way, I don’t really believe in stuff like that, unless it’s something I was going to buy anyway (so if anyone wants to give me a Tidy Books bookcase that would be lovely. Ahem).
The Happy Baby Project 