Why I am so glad we baby-led

My daughter is 19 months old. She eats at the table using a spoon and fork off a plate or bowl, drinks out of an open cup and is generally brilliant at the whole eating/drinking/sitting around a table process.

Feb 2010, when Abigail was 7 months old, no teeth/hair!

We started weaning at 6 months old, in line with the recommended guidelines. I started by offering her a banana: I ate one in front of her and waited to see if she initiated interest in tasting it herself: a sign that she was ready to start eating solids (along with the disappearance of the tongue thrust reflex). I almost talked her through it really, "do you want some banana?", "yes?" (broke some off and mush it in between fingers and held to her lips). She had some banana and we took it from there. I can't describe how exciting it was - never thought it would be such a milestone! If you're interested in a time line, her first eat was 06/01/2010.

So long, and thanks for all the fish

This was the title of a goodbye email I sent to my colleagues when I used to work as an IT Specialist in 2004. I left my job headed by a most fantastic boss and a great bunch of people on the project too. It was a decision that went against the grain but that felt right, even though I didn't know what future lay ahead of me, and I was leaving a potentially secure and set-for-life job there. I left to go back to university, to do a Masters degree, which turned into a PhD in Psychology.

A similar feeling is running through me at the moment.  

I'm two weeks away from leaving my first research job since the PhD qualification.

Embrace it

I've never really had any fashion or, just dress sense. But before getting pregnant, I'd figured out a formula of sorts- what works and what I should stay away from. However, things aren't what they were since having my lovely baby, and my formula has had to be scrapped. Leaving behind the same person with little idea about clothes and even less time and money to indulge in any clothes shopping in the first place.

It's not all about stuff

Just wanted to make that clear, give me time and I'll bring in new areas of non-material subject matter.

The joys of sling

In 2009 and 2010 I was lucky enough to be a tester for the Mother and Baby Awards, courtesy of Jessica Milln. The first time, I tested toiletries, promoted to slings the next time. The main point of what I'm writing is to say how much of a difference testing the slings made to me and my husband. In particular, finding the babysense sling.

Bum Genius

My sisters and I were brought up in terry toweling nappies.I knew when I had children that I had no problem in doing the same for my children, no disposables for me. However, researching what to do when pregnant opened up a minefield. It took a long time to grasp exactly how these clever reusables worked (we’d decided to opt for next generation on from terries).


I scrolled through many, not necessarily user-friendly, reusable nappy websites. A lot assumed prior knowledge and talk of outer liners, inner liners, wraps, bamboo, cotton and so on were frustratingly inaccessible. I didn’t want to have a nappy that added more work to my soon to be new Mum life and looked for the most straightforward design.

The bumgenius nappies came up time and time again as the most simple, logical design.

Time starts now

Hello. This is the start of my blog. Nothing to say yet but wanted to write something. Back in a month (when I start up as a full time Mum after leaving life as a research fellow).