Major U-turn

" Your baby will get through up to 5,000 nappies before she is potty trained, so getting the right nappy for your baby is a must. "

Well, we're nearly there now. After throwing so many nappies in the bin since March (see old blog, Major Bummer), I contacted a nappy advisor through the fill your pants site, who have region-based advisors (mine's from Nottingham, Heather Rai). She suggested that I first freshen up the old nappies to improve absorbency, in case they've got clogged with detergent, nappy creams etc. You do this by strip washing, using washing up liquid or dishwasher tablets, see bumgenius site for more instructions.


I spent early this week washing them through and have been testing them on our 24 month-old for the last four days.

The Dettol vs. The Dirt

Sometimes I think that other people must think that my house and my child (and me) are dirty, because I really don't clean up her or the house as much as I could, e.g., I don't always wipe Abigail's face/hands, thinking bathtime will sort her out. Although I instinctively think that I'm ok to be relaxed about this, I thought it'd be worth investigating for my own peace of mind: I can either be defiantly dirty in my parenting or clean things up a bit. 

A bit less serious - Films

Continuing on from my excuse to mention Baby Boom previously, I thought I'd list some more - couldn't quite round it to ten, so my top 12 - in no particular order:

No use handing me a writ -- While I’m trying to do my bit

Following on from KT's comment about "There is enough guilt attached to motherhood already!", I wanted to mention a valuable chat I had recently. I met up with a friend a few weeks' ago now and we caught up on how things were going - since meeting up regularly since having our babies a few weeks apart, it has been harder to meet up since we returned to work. Last time we met was Halloween 2010!

Baby Boom - I love this film

We talked about the differences, but also similarities in how we are doing. She's a high flying accounts executive person, working really hard to squeeze in her work to a four day week, keeping up with what's expected of her position and salary. Yes, she can afford to have a cleaner, someone to do the ironing, has company BMW and the lifestyle choices that come with it.

Factors affecting feeding decisions

Breastfeeding by Picasso

Following on from my earlier blog, where recent articles highlighted the problems of low levels of breastfeeding in developed and developing nations, in addition to the main problem - parents being affected by myths and misinformation about breastfeeding - a further seven influencers will now be discussed.

My breastfeeding story

I am one of three sisters 

We were all breastfed and a big thing wasn't made of it, it was just the natural thing to do. So I always imagined that I would do the same for my children.


This is a photo of me and Abigail, moments after birth and she was placed on my tummy. In antenatal classes, I learnt about the instinct for newborn babies to move up your tummy, heads bobbing, moving in the direction of one or the other boob to feed (I now think that the change in areola size in pregnancy helps provide a visual target for their limited vision, that only can recognise high contrast images). Soon after being born, Abigail quickly fed (I didn't know what I was doing but she instinctively did, I just let her move and feed). This was extremely reassurring - I should just trust in the reflexes of the newborn, developed through years of evolution, and she'll know how to feed and get what she needs from me.

My take on breastfeeding

I have avoided talking about my opinions about breastfeeding this far, firstly, because of not wanting to offend or upset anybody who hasn't breastfed, particularly friends and members of my family, who I know think and feel very deeply about their choices and their children. The other is a cowardly reason: because I don't want to receive the backlash I've seen elsewhere towards those who support breastfeeding, being described as "middle class do-gooders" and the like.


Well, I suppose I've opened the floodgates now because I am going to talk.


In a series of blogs, I'm going to try to talk about my experiences and views on breastfeeding. Firstly, I'm going to describe how I got to this blog subject, and later my ideas for why breastfeeding is not the norm for every mother and baby.


Two recent articles that have prompted my decision to write about this are:

1. Daily Mail: Breastfeeding boom: Middle-class mothers lead the charge with 90% rejecting formula milk, by Sophie Borland.
2. New York Times: The Breast Milk Cure, by Nicholas D Kristof.