Formula or Breastmilk?

  This is something that you decide when you are pregnant with your little one and for some it changes just a week after their bubba is born. Choosing to feed your baby either formula or breastmilk and sometimes a combination is a very important decision for any parent to make, however some mammas can not breast feed for medical reasons, as this is how your little one will be eating for at least 4 months.

   We made the decision to breastfeed Raven for many reasons, these are:

   1. Breastmilk is the best and nutritious food that you can feed your baby unlike formula, your body will tailor make your breast milk especially for your baby even when they get a cold or ill.

   2. Breastmilk is completely free, so from the off start you are saving money. Also formula can cost a fortune, especially over time when your baby starts having more ounces.

  3.You don't need to warm up breast milk if its straight from the breast, you don't even need to sterilise anything. However if you express then you will have to sterilise bottles still. Also if you store breastmilk in the fridge you will still need to warm it up.

   4. It wont take you ages to prepare like formula does, so if your bubba wants food now, you can give it to them without any effort or making them wait.

   5. It increases the bond between mamma and bubba. I must admit, that feeling of having your little one look in your eyes whilst they are feeding is such an intense feeling of love and a very special moment.

  However as well as all of this good there is a little bad and that is, your milk supply can be affected by many factors. Combination feeding could affect your milk supply as well as your baby having a dummy, as sometimes their feeding cues can be mistaken and a dummy gets given, which makes baby feed less. This is one of the many reasons why we didn't give Raven a dummy.

  So here is why we chose breastfeeding and with everything, nothing is easy. I hope that this has opened your eyes up to why we chose breastfeeding and has given you an insight of the many good reasons to breastfeed.

V xx

Weaning at 17 weeks.

  

For the last week Raven has been a little terror; She has been waking every hour or two during the night, when she was sleeping for four hours at a time. She has also been struggling to nap during the day which has been making her super fussy throughout the later part of the day. As we do not have a dummy for Raven, this can be even more challenging.

   We had a lovely visit from the health visitor today to talk about weaning and to check on Ravens progress, during this visit I explained what has been happening with our darling little one, the health visitor actually explained that Raven could be very well ready for weaning at 17 weeks alongside still breastfeeding her until she is two years old, so that she still gets all of the health benefits of mummy's milk. Raven has also been showing other signs of her being ready: she can sit up now with little support and hold her head steady and because she can now pick stuff up and put things in her mouth.

  Well I am super excited about starting our little one on big girl food in two weeks time as she is currently 15 weeks old, originally I thought that it was only possible to wean her from six months but there is actually research that says that weaning early has no effect on your bubba as long as you wean properly with the recommended food which is some fruit and vegetables and baby rice only, until six months old. I also know that a lot of people have very strong views on not weaning until six months of age however I think it completely depends if your baby is ready, as every baby is different and it also depends on what your health visitor recommends, as at the end of the day, they are health professionals and are trained about everything to do with our little ones. If you have any questions or are considering weaning early at 17 weeks then I would highly recommend that you speak to your health visitor about this, if you haven't so already.

   So I will be making my own baby rice and baby purees, alongside some baby led weaning. I've decided to make my own baby food as its a lot cheaper and friendlier on your purses, you know exactly what's going into the food and quite a lot of store brought baby jars have high sugar contents. Also you can freeze any purees that you make so it doesn't take too long to make every time you feed bubba, for any working mammas especially.

  I will be updating you all on how the weaning goes, and I will also be posting all recipes that I use.  Until next time.


  V xx

She's 15 weeks old already!!

  Raven, our baby daughter has reached 15 weeks old already, how time has flown since we gave birth to this little bundle of joy. Here I have decided to update you all on how she is doing. THIS IS FROM HER 14TH WEEK UNTIL THE START OF THE 15TH.

   This week Raven has accomplished rolling over from her front to her back during tummy time, which she absolutely hates with a passion. People will tell you that this will come out of nowhere and that's exactly what it did. It took me and Luke with complete surprise. Seeing your little one flourish and hit their milestones is soo rewarding as a parent and it makes you even more excited for the many other milestones that are to come. We make sure that she plays on her play mat to do tummy time at least twice a day.

   Sticking her fists in her mouth and everything that she can get her hands on has also become a little obsession of hers. As well starting to suck her thumb, as we have decided to not give Raven a dummy. I'll explain why we chose to not give her one in a separate post to go more in depth about it for all of you mummies out there who are umm'ing and arr'ing about whether to use a dummy or not. Just be prepared also mummies, that you'll need loads of different t-shirts of your bubbas, to hand, as the dribble this week is unreal (for our little one anyway).

   Raven has been able to talk in her own little baby language for a few months now but this week she has become a right little chatterbox. There's nothing more enjoyable than chatting with your little one  and getting those cheeky smiles. We just can't wait until she says her first word, hopefully it will be mumma or dadda, which we keep saying to her, hoping that she will pick it up, instead of a different random word like poo poo. Which would be rather surprising and quite comical.

   Then there's the 4 month sleep regression, where your little bubba will change their sleeping habits and everything will go up in the air for abit. This normally occurs between three and a half months to four months old. Day naps become a struggle, bubba will wake up every hour or two in the night for a feed and by morning you will be struggling to open your eyes and dragging yourself out of bed. Luckily for me Raven's daddy Luke takes raven from seven am in the morning and I get a couple of sneaky hours of rest in bed. I also have chosen to breastfeed, so bubba has mummy to herself every night. Also Raven started to reject bottles of expressed milk, which would mean we could share the night feeds if she would take them, but instead she just wants mummas boobie; Which I don't mind as I get lots of cuddles.

   With this 4 month sleep regression, we have decided to stick to a schedule for nap times, to try to help her get her naps back in. I am also sleep training, using the fading method, which means either me or Luke put Raven down in her cot at nap times, when she's tired and stay in eye distance so she can see that we are there. If she starts to cry we stroke her belly or shhh her gently, until she falls asleep. Eventually once she falls asleep straight away using this method, we gradually move further and further away from her until she can sleep straight away without us soothing her to sleep. As we haven't given Raven a dummy, this means it can be extra challenging as she doesn't have that extra soothing there for her. However all it takes is patience and a lot of love and attention. I will also be posting a blog about this method, our progress on it over time for us and what schedule that we are following.

   So that pretty much sums it up for us this week, It's been a busy week for all of us and especially for our fast growing little girl. I'll be keeping you all updated on her progress every week, so look out for these posts and watch this space!

   V xx

 

 

 


 

Becoming a Mummy

I must say, I've always wanted to be a mummy, I was just waiting for the right man to come along, to start a family with. 

Along came Luke, my amazing and supportive partner, who I met at work. We ended up starting our relationship on 16th February 2017 and it is honestly one of the best things thats ever happened to me, along with starting our own family and having our little girl, who we called Raven, of course. 

We fell pregnant in September 2018 and gave birth to our amazing 8lb 8oz daughter on 12th June 2019. 

Becoming a mum has made me the happiest woman alive, I have never been filled with such an intense maternal love and words can not describe just how amazing holding your little creation in your arms, for the first time is and then helping your beautiful child grow into a precious person who you will love for the rest of your life.

So there it is, the first post and insight into alittle bit of my past and when I became a mummy. I've decided to share our journey and for myself to become a mummy blogger as to be honest, who doesn't like talking about their amazing family!

   V xx