Parenting

Jess at 4

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Dear Jess

Today you turn three, how is it that three years ago today you came into our lives. It doesn’t feel like two minutes ago since you was a baby not much bigger than Daddy’s forearm and now you are a full of life three year old. You are so boisterous. Yet you have become one of the most caring little girls I know. You have made so many friends at your new nursery in the last year. You do not care if they are not the same as you, there your friends no matter what.

This year has had some times where it has been Mummy and Jess. You seem to cope so well when you get used to Daddy been away with work. I am so proud of you because not many people could deal with having to cope with one parent away for a long period of time. You always speak about Daddy when he is not here. Of course, one of the biggest changes we have had this year is announcing your going to be a big sister. I do not think you can wait till after Christmas when you become a big sister. You keep telling us that you are going to have a little sister. We do not know.

This year we have got the rabbits which of course, you had to name Marshall and Tracker. Safe to say the paw patrol obsession has not gone away yet.  You love helping with the bunnies as much as you can and stroking them gently. Well until one of them tries to attack you. You have loved been able to spend time in the garden this summer now we have our own house. You have been making the most of all of the space. By using your paddling pool on the super hot days we have had this year. Lego and magnets are something which you have become obsessed with this year. You are always trying to build things I blame Daddy. You are always roleplaying with the lego figures. It is super cute to watch you.

When you started your new nursery last year after moving house. You never wanted me to leave because I was the only person you knew. Now we have a battle to get you to leave. You have made so many new friends and been invited to a host of birthday parties for sure we know your a popular child. This must mean your the kind of person everyone wants to be friends with. Currently you are annoyed you can not go to big girl school like some of your older friends however, next year it will be time for you. Just keep excelling at nursery like you are they keep telling us how bright you are.

I can only imagine the adventures we are going to have in the future. I for sure am looking forward to all memories which we are going to be creating as a family of 4. You are going to be an amazing caring, loving and helpful big sister when the baby arrives.  Don’t forget your always going to be Mummy’s little girl no matter how tall or old you are.

Love you

Mummy xxx

My Fears on Having Another Baby

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Going from one baby to two feels like a huge change and adjustment to make. There is times where I am a solo parent which means it is 1 on 1 for me and Jess. However, this is going to change when the new baby arrives. I am going to have two of them and only two hands. I keep thinking about every single scenario that might arise when we are a family of four. Things that might change, things that might be harder, how I will manage.

What about Jess?

I know she struggles to adapt when Daddy goes away. How is she going to cope when she has to share but me and Daddy?. Is this something which she is going to struggle with? I know she is a bit older as a sibling as she is 4 by the time the baby arrives. I know we are going to have to prepare her for the new baby just like we have to when Daddy goes away because its a big change. Truthfully we are unsure how she is going to react. I think it is going to be positive however, I can’t help but worry.

How will I manage if I have a C Section?

There is a chance that I am going to end up having another c-section. This does mean that I am not going to be able to do certain things like picking Jess up. Bending down is also something else which can be a pain after surgery this does mean that I am going to be unable to play as much on the floor with Jess. This is something which I am worried that could happen. I know Joe would be home for a couple of weeks however, I know recovery after a c-section is lot longer than that.

Difficult Birth

As some of you may know if you have been a long term reader. I had a bit of a rough time after having Jess it resulted in me losing a lot of blood. I have been told by my midwife at the time that it is good that I do not remember a lot of it. There was the crash team on standby and I ended up having two blood transfusions. I know I lost consciousness as a result of the amount of blood I lost. It ended up I lost around 25% of my blood. This is something which I fear happening again. At one stage it did put me off having anymore children and maybe looking at other ways of increasing our family.

Fear Of Loss

This is something which did not worry me about during my pregnancy with Jess. However, last year just before we purchased our house we sadly lost a baby. We actually lost the baby around 9 weeks in a missed miscarriage. We had not announced the pregnancy to anyone at this stage. This is something which I am scared of happening again. I do not think that I will believe that we are having another baby until we actually see them on the screen during the scan.

How will I juggle two on my own?

Of course, there is periods of time when I have to solo parent. I have a worry of how am I going to cope. Sometimes it is a balancing act already with having Jess and the rabbits to get to bed. I am worried that I am going to be unable to do everything in order to get her to bed in time. This is going to be more important once she goes to school. I am worried the new born would wake Jess up on an evening too. For some reason I can see me having to use a sling a lot in order to get jobs done.

The Age Gap

I know a lot of people who had children when I had Jess who have already had a second. Some have even had more than two. I worry that there is going to be too much of a age gap. This is going to affect how they actually manage to bond. I have a brother who is 5 years younger than me and we never found this an issue. Maybe this is something which I am over thinking as there is going to be 4 years between Jess and her sibling.

Gender Disappointment

I feel like there is a pressure, because we have Jess that everyone is going to assume that we want a boy. To be honest I know Joe would like a little boy in order to be able to keep his family name going. I would like a boy however, as long as the baby is healthy that is all that matters to me. I do not think at 20 weeks we are actually going to find out the gender. The surprise when the baby is born is something which I am looking forward to. After all I like gender neutral clothes and of course, we can always get dresses if its a girl once they have arrived safety. The same can be said for some of the beautiful boy items on the market.

What did worries did you have when you had another child?

Charlotte xx

Back To School Medicine Supplies

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This time of year sees the children heading back to school. I know many parents look forward to this time of year however, it can mean that your child is going to pick up all the bugs which come with school. This is a great time to stock up your medicine cupboard. So you are prepared should your child get a illness or injure themselves and need some first aid. I really need to go through our medicine cupboard because I can guarantee when Joe goes away Jess will need medicine.  So I am going to share some of our essentials.

Cough Medicine

This is a huge essentials for us Jess seems to get so many tickly coughs. Of course, we do not want her to have to many days off with something as simple as a cough. The one which we currently use is the Morrison’s Dry Tickly Cough. This is one which is not just for kids adults can also use this which means you of course are saving money. You do not need one for you and one for you kid. Of course, you can guarantee that your child is going to pass the cough on to you.

Calpol

This is another essential because you can guarantee that your child is going to get a fever. Or something over the course, of the school year. This is something which we end up having to give Jess because she has a couple of temperatures every few months. I am sure if you are a parent you always have some calpol and take it on holidays in case you need it. You do not have to purchase the branded calpol you can get the supermarkets own brand and it will save so much money.

Nit Comb

Nits are something which worry me because having a child in nursery I know there is a chance she could get them. This is one of the reasons I always make sure we have a nit comb. I also make sure that I run it through her hair regularly usually with conditioner on because they hate this. Making sure that she does not have nits is something which we have to do. This is something I know we are going to have to do all of her school career.

Hand Sanatiser

Washing your hands and getting your kids is a good way to avoid bugs. Of course prevention is a lot better than curing because your little one is not going to get ill as often. This is something which we have got Jess doing a lot now. I always have some hand sanatiser to hand there is a couple at least in our bathroom. There is a few in my bag as well. Nursery also encourage good hand washing this does mean you reduce the risk of your child getting bugs.

Plasters

Of course, they are going to be so many scraps and bumps which your child gets. Plasters are one of the things which you are always going to need. I can not even think about of the amount of times I have had to apply a plaster to Jess. Let alone myself because we both can be clumsy as each other. For sure it is worth shopping around when it comes to plasters. Usually we end up picking them in Home Bargains as it is one of the cheapest places.

Antibacterial Spray

If your child is like mine they will not want you to touch their graze or cuts. This does mean you can not apply things such as Salvon and Germoline. This is one of the reasons we purchased the anitbaterial spray from Morrison’s. You just need to do a couple of sprays of these and you need nothing else. You do not have to apply a plaster unless you want to. I know some kids do not actually like plasters that much.

I am sure there a ton more products which you could have in just in case. However, these are my essentials for our medicine cabinet.

What is your medicine cabinet?

Charlotte xxx

 

 

The First Trimester My Experience

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Recently we announced that we are expecting our second baby in early January. I am not going to share the date with you as there is a chance the baby will be delivered by elected c-section before their due date. Of course, I am going to be sharing updates about the pregnancy as well as them growing up just as I have done with Jess. Today I am going to be sharing my experience of the first trimester.

Before We Found Out 

We have spoken about extending our family in the near future. We knew that we were going to have a bit of an age gap between our children. This is because of the situation, of course, I wanted to finish university and we wanted a place of our own. We were not actually actively trying for a baby however, we are so excited to be having another child.

Finding Out Were Pregnant.

I had a lot of trouble with my knee which meant I had taken a lot of ibuprofen and naproxen. Of course, this can have effected my cycle, I was super tired and needing to rest a lot. I did not realise that this was actually an early pregnancy symptom. I was getting a hell of a lot of cramps which is normal for me when I have period pains. We know that naproxen can actually effect your periods so we did not worry when I was a couple of weeks late. However, when my period did not appear the next month we started to wonder. We did have to wait until Joe came home after an exercise. As soon as we did the test it came positive which in our hearts of hearts we thought it was going to happen.

Symptoms

I have had such a lack of energy there could be several reasons for this. One of them could be of course, there is a tiny human growing inside me. By the evening I just have very low energy levels. This has meant that I have been going to bed earlier.  I have had no appetite at all because I have been feeling sick however, up to now I have not actually been sick. Cooking is something which I can not do at the moment Joe is having to prepare meals for me as sometimes the smell makes me feel so sick.

Physical symptoms there has been a couple of them. My boobs have been growing for sure there starting to be too big for my bras. For sure I am going to have to invest in some new bras very soon, I dread to think how big my boobs are going to end up. By the evening they are so heavy and hard it is a joke, once I take my bra off it can be painful. I have noticed an ever-expanding bump it has become hard to conceal this which is annoying as we did not tell people till nearly 14 weeks. Back pain is something else which I have been struggling with as well. This could be due to my ever-expanding boobs and bump. However, as this goes live I am 21 weeks and people still claim they can not tell.

Appointments

The first appointment we had was the ‘booking in’. This was a pretty long appointment I seemed to remember it was around 45 minutes. I know they can last up to an hour. We went through my medical history including Jess’ pregnancy and background, my lifestyle.. We did not have to do either our families background or Joe’s. They copied them from when the same appointment when I was having Jess. I also had my blood pressure checked, weight and height done I was shocked to learn I have not put weight on yet. There was also a urine test and some blood tests which I only managed one of so I have had to go back and have a nurse do the other two. My blood does not like leaving my body.  We have booked my next midwife appointment at 16 weeks.

We have had our first scan as well, we actually had this at 13 weeks. The sonographer was amazing which is a huge relief because we had a miscarriage last year at 9 weeks. This does mean that this baby is actually our rainbow. We saw them moving around a little bit however, they have been a pain in the bum already. The baby was actually upside down which made it harder for the sonographer. She did managed to get all the measurements which we needed to. The pregnancy has been dated one day behind what we had previously. We could not get the nuchal element which is part of the downs screening. Instead of around 15 weeks, I am going to end up having another blood test and they will check at the 20 week scan for any abnormalities which are linked to downs, Edwards and pato.

During my 12 week scan, they actually have found a possible fibroid. This is something which are going to keep an eye on and measure at my 20-week scan. This will not be too long knowing how fast this pregnancy is going. Hopefully, this does not cause any issues I have been told not to worry. Of course, this is hard. We also found out at our booking appointment that we will have consultant-led care as well due to having a previous c-section. This does lead us to decide if we try VBAC or an elective c-section.

I can not believe that the first trimester, the months for sure are flying and we are getting close to meeting our precious bundle of joy.

How did you find your first trimester?

Charlotte xxx

 

 

Telling Friends and Family About Our Pregnancy

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We decided not to tell people till after the first scan. We wanted to make sure that everything was ok with the baby before we told everyone. I am still scared that something could go wrong but I think this is going to be something which not going to go away. I think that this is a result of already losing one baby. So today we are going to share with you how we announced our preganancy.

Jess

Of course, one of the first people we told was Jess. We actually told her on the day which we had our scan. We had been speaking to her a few weeks prior to her asking her to she would like to be a big sister. There is a lot of her friends at nursery who are already siblings. She has been showing interest in her dolls again. We found out that she would love to be a big sister when she is bigger. However, we sat her down and showed her the scan picture which she guess was a baby. I think this is because we have been showing her scans of other peoples announcements as there seems a lot of pregnant bloggers at the moment. We actually told her after Christmas she is going to be a big sister and that there is a baby in Mummy’s tummy. She is convinced the baby is going to be small and seems to excited about it.

Parents

We told our parent’s and Joe’s Nan in the same way. When we was in Mothercare Outlet we noticed they had some cards which said Grandparents to be on them. As a result of them been in the outlet they were reduced to 50p instead of £2. We decided to put a copy of the scan in the card I had to make copies of them as we only got two pictures. I think this was a result of the baby been upside down. Inside the card we wrote to Grandma and Grandad see you early January love Player 4. Player 4 has become the nickname for this baby as Joe is a big gamer.

Friends

It depends what kind of friends we are speaking about how they found out. There was some friends who went we ended telling the next time we actually saw them. Of course, announcing your pregnancy to close friends is not something you want to do over social media. You want them to feel special because this is a exciting for some of them as well. There is a number of friends who have been messaged before we announced it on Instagram these are people we speak to a lot. However, there may be a reason why we do not get to see them. We did not want them to find out as a result of social media.

Others

Of course we have announced the pregnancy on my Instagram along with the blog. We decided to use my light box to put the announce that the baby is due in Early January. We used a baby vest which we have already purchased for player 4. In the picture there is also the best picture from the scan which we got but as the baby was upside down it is not the greatest.

How did you announce your pregnancy?

Charlotte xx

Player 4 Loading

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As you might have guessed from the title of this post. Our family is growing we are going to be a family of 4 instead of 3.
We had an inkling that our family might be expanding around the end of May. However, as some of you may remember I damaged my knee and was put on strong painkillers. We put me been late down to that. I had also had a bug which I picked up from Jess.
It only when June I late again we thought we should actually do a test. However, Joe was on exercise for a good portion of this month. He didn’t really want me to do the test alone. I think he wanted to be present when we found out. As a result of this we was  actually close to 12 weeks when we got confirmation of our newest arrival.
Currently I am 18 weeks pregnant with the new arrival due January 2020. Of course, this may be earlier if we have an elected c-section. As some of you may know I had an emergency c section with Jess. I am unsure if I want to attempt VBAC or have an elected c-section yet.
Of course, we are going to be sharing our journey as we become a family of 4. There is going to be the shopping which we are going to have to do. We don’t have everything from Jess however we do have a pram and the cot.
Jess will be 4 nearly 4 1/2 when she does become a big sister. For us we knew we would end up with a semi big age gap because of how life has been. I think she is excited at the prospect of becoming a big sister. This is something a number of her friends are already. I can’t wait for her to bond with the bump and the of course the baby when they arrive.
I will be doing updates and posts about the pregnancy as we go through. I am nervous but excited about what the future holds.
Charlotte xx

How To Get Your Child To Move More And Sit Less

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According to recent surveys, 1 in 3 children are not exercising enough. Many do less than thirty minutes of activity a day apparently. With boys outnumbering the girls when it comes to taking part in some form of physical exercise. Of course, this will be of no surprise to you, especially if your children are currently sat in front of the television screen playing video games or watching their favourite shows. And if they aren’t doing that, they may well be sat on their scrolling through their Facebook feeds or watching YouTube videos on their phones. 

As the parent, you need to take action. Exercise is good for both your children’s health and happiness levels. It’s important to find ways to encourage them to move more and sit less. Here are some tips you might find helpful.

Be a good role-model

Don’t tell your kids off for not exercising enough when you’re sitting catching up with Friends reruns and watching adorable cat videos on YouTube. Take the opportunity to exercise yourself, perhaps by playing active games with your children in the garden, or by going on bike rides around your local area. Not only will you improve the fitness of yourself and your children, but you will get to bond with them too. Creating special memories that don’t involve screen time. 

Enrol your kids onto fun activities

We are just about to enter the school holidays , so there are bound to be activities in your local area that your children can get involved in. From holiday clubs to swim classes, do a Google search to discover the types of activities that are available. And going beyond the school hols, there might be activities at your child’s school or the local leisure centre. Get an idea of what your children are into, and encourage them to participate in the relevant groups or classes.

Stop taking the car everywhere

When it comes to your morning school runs, the car is probably a godsend. Especially if your children struggle to get out of bed at the appropriate time. However, why not find ways to speed up the school run so you can take the walk your kids to school instead of driving them. And if your children are averse to walking, let them use their bikes or scooters. If you are only ever travelling short distances with your kids, such as to your local shops or to their playdates, ditch the car and encourage everybody to use their feet instead.

Give them gifts that promote movement

Such as? Well, think footballs, roller boots, bikes, motion-controlled video games, basketballs, and even fitness trackers. Set them up with trendy running shoes too and fashionable tracksuits to give them greater incentive to get outside. So, when Christmas and their birthdays come around again, consider the types of activities your children might be interested in with a little push, and buy them something appropriate to match.

I hope these suggestions were useful to you, especially if your children are currently peering at you over their smartphones or gamepads. Let us know your thoughts, and if you have any other suggestions, please do us all our (and our children a favour) and share them with us.

Charlotte xx

 

10 Tips for First-Time Parents

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Looking down and seeing two lines, or the words pregnant.  These can feel like daunting moments everything building up to the birth of a brand new baby. Once your Son or Daughter has been born you may have feelings of what the hell am I going to do, I am never going to be an amazing parent or parents.  These are just some of the feelings and emotions I went through when Jess was born. I only had 14 weeks between finding out I was pregnant and becoming a Mum for the first time. You can read more about that here. Today I am going to share with you 5 tips for when you become a mum for the first time.

Batch Cook before the birth

This is going to be something which I am going to do should we choose to have another child. I remember not having a lot of energy to be able to do things such as cook. This could have been as a result of having a C Section. By batch cooking this means that there is enough meals for you and your family in. You will not have to worry about things such as cooking and having to do the food shop in those early days. Of course one less thing to worry about is of course a huge bonus.

Don’t worry if you don’t have a birth plan

This is something which I chose not to do. I saw it is as because a lot can change and your birth plan is the ideal scenario. I choose not to dot his then it did mean that I was not disappointed that I did not get the natural birth everyone wants. The feelings that I failed did not happen to me because I did not have my heart set on one way of giving birth. Jess ended up been born by C section as her heart rate was dropping a lot lower than they would have liked. I did not end up with the guilt of having the C section. So I would recommend not panic if you do not have a birth plan.

Get a range of size clothing

I was told that Jess was going to be a small baby should I have listened and been keeping her. I would have gone in to panic and bought a lot of tiny baby and newborn clothes. However, when she was actually born she was 8lb 2oz so this is not exactly small. I would recommend getting a range of sizes because the scans are not always accurate when predicting size. At least this way you are going to have clothes which fit your baby. Of course, even if they are a little bit too big for them they always have a bit of growing room.

Do things your way

People want to share with you the way that they did things and that you are doing things wrong. There were multiple things which people said that I was doing differently to how they would do this. For example, I would wash Jess’  dummy when she had dropped it on the floor.  Some people would have just given her it. There is a wide range of things people will tell that they will do different from nappies to how you feed your baby and weaning.

You’re still killing it even if the house is a mess

People see these celebs who snap back and look like they are doing everything they did before they have children. This is not the case for normal mums we do not have the time or the energy we did before children.  As long as your baby has been fed and they are clean. That is all that matters they are not going to remember the tidy house. This applies for when they are toddlers and children. They grow up so fast that you want to spend the time with them and creating memories.

Ask for help if you need it

If you feel overwhelmed by staying home all day with your tiny little baby, ask for help.  You can ask for help even if it is so that you can do something as simple as getting a shower or have a hot coffee.   You are new at motherhood and it is something which I do not think I have mastered at all and I have had nearly 4 years practice. I sometimes have to ask for help now because things can become too much.

Love Your Body

You have just birthed a baby no matter how you had the baby.  C section or a natural birth is one of the hardest thing you can do.  Your stomach is going to be baggy and squishy, you are going to feel flabby all over, and it’s going to take time. It has been home to your baby for 9 months, it may take 9 months or longer to get back to the shape that you were before. I am not back to the shape which I was before I had Jess and she is nearly 4.

Take your time before allowing visits

So many people will want to come and see your new baby. They, of course, are excited to meet your new arrival but they do not think of you and the recovery.  You may not want to have visitors as soon as you are home. I was lucky to be able to spend 7 days in hospital this does mean that I had a bit of time to recover before I had visitors.  Make sure you feel like your up to it before inviting them over. You can say no to people if you would rather stay in your pyjamas and enjoy the newborn bubble.  People if they actually care about you will understand and will come around when you want them to.

Don’t tell people the name you like

This is one which people have told me they would not do. This is due to people trying to put you off a name which you may like for your child. People have been known to air their views on names and try and make people change their mind. If you do not tell people this will not happen. Once you have chosen your name and your baby is here for some reason people seem less likely to tell you they do not like your child’s name. I am not too sure why this is the case but it seems to be.  Should we have another baby we will not be announcing the name until after they have been born.

Do Your Research Before Buying Products

This is one which I would recommend doing if you do not want to waste money. There are millions of baby products out there which the brands claim you need. However, for the majority of them this is not the case. You have other products which can do the job. Meaning that you are not spending as much money. For example nappy bins are one which some people tell you that you can not live without. However, for us we just used to put dirty nappies straight in our outside dustbin. This saved us the money of purchasing one and of course the space. There is a lot of reviews of different products. I always try and review things which we have that we love. By searching around reading reviews you can save money. You may find a better product which would work for you and for less money.

What would you recommend to first time parents?

 

Charlotte xx

 

 

 

Potty Training – Our Experience

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Girl Reading Book

Jess is now 3 and half which may seem late to have finally potty trained her. I think potty training was something which we were semi putting her off.  We have tried a couple of times to actually get her trained. I think the first attempt was around two years ago however, she was too young to be fully done. She got the aspects it and this meant Jess was not scared of the toilet or the potty.

We gave up because there was several signs of her not been ready. For example she was not telling us when she had an accident. Of course, this was fine with me at least we had everything which we had the tools to allow us to potty train. We had a step, a toilet training seat along side a potty. Jess occasionally would be using the toilet or the potty.

Last summer I was going to really kick start the potty training with her. I wanted her to be trained really before her 3rd birthday. However, as many of you may know our house move ended up getting delayed and this meant we did not have the summer. Instead I was having to take her on a lot of trains and a lot of travelling. This did mean that it was very hard to start potty training.

There was a lot of changes even towards the end of last year which stopped us been able to do it. For example of course we moved which meant that we no longer lived with my parents. Jess had to get used to this as well. Joe also went away for a couple of months around the same time my brother moved to university. Jess is very close to my brother they claim they are best friends.

Around the turn of this year Jess basically told us she was ready. She made us purchase her some underwear because she wanted to be a big girl now. We allowed her to use the potty when we was at home and wear the underwear. We spoke to nursery as they were on board and they wanted her to go in pants as well.  I think this was because they could also see the signs that she was ready. Jess was getting angry when she needed a nappy change I believe this was something to do with been embarrassed.

Of course, we kept her in pull ups when we was on days out and overnight. We chose to do this because of course, you do not always know where the closet toilet is going to be. When you first start training children do not always tell you much before they need the toilet. I think we kept her doing this for around 3/4 months. Once Jess was no longer having accidents when we was at home or nursery we allowed her to go on short journeys in big girl pants. We have not actually taken her on a couple day out without pull ups.

We ask her before we go out to try on the toilet and this then means that she reduces the amount of accidents. I think we have managed to do around 3 hours out of the house in big girl pants. We have not actually had any accidents when we have been out. Of course, I make sure that I have some spare clothes in my bag should any accidents occur.  I try not to get upset if she has an accident because Jess gets very embarrassed about it. This does mean that I have to reassure her.  I know it is going to be a while before we have Jess dry on a night. This is something which I do not have a problem with at all.

A couple of tips which I would give anyone who is going through potty training are allow your child to choose some pants. If you managed to do this your child will be more likely to want to wear their underwear. Make sure that you have the potty accessible to your child. This may be having it in the front room or wherever you child likes to play. This does mean that they then do not have to run to the toilet as fast. Then this does reduce the chance of them having an accident.  Do not put that much pressure on them they will manage to potty train in their own time. This is something which I did because you do not want them to get stressed about a lot.

What age did you potty train your child?

Charlotte xx

 

Baby and Bump Expo Review

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Bump and Baby Expo has been running for 3 years now. It is held at York Racecourse and it celebrates all thing baby whether your expecting or your baby is already here.It is a great chance to meet local business and get an up close feel for their fantastic products and services. You may be wondering why I attended since Jess is 3 clearly not a baby. We attending because we were invited and also we wanted to see what was on offer should we have another child.  There was plenty which was suitable for Jess as well which is always a bonus.

I wish we had attended an event like the York Bump  and Baby expo when we were expecting. I feel like I would have felt more prepared for my journey into parenthood. There is so much to be learnt even after nearly 4 years as a mum. There is so much I would do differently should we have another child. I can not believe how much certain elements have changed.

There was a wide range of handmade clothing and accessories everything you could need for your little one. You could actually purchase the items as well which is always a bonus. I fell in love with some handmade blankets which I will be ordering from should we have any more babies.  Another brand I loved was Snugglz I think I may order Jess a memory box from this company. They are a super local company to me. As you may know if you have read my blog for a while I love to support small business.

Another brand which caught my eye was the beautiful imagination creation as you can see the balloon display is amazing. I can totally see this at a baby shower if you are going all out. This would also look amazing at a wedding or any other event . You for sure do not need to be having a child to be checking these guys out. I was told that some of these balloons can last for up to 6 weeks. This is something which is amazing. They are Yorkshire based as well. They also have doughnut walls, candy carts and soon a processo wall. I know if we host a big party for sure they are a company who we will be using.

There was a few companies who were looking after mums post partum when it comes to exercise. Now this is something which interest me having a sports injury background. Highton Physiotherapy clinic offer a post natal MOT for mums which I think is amazing. For sure this is something which I will be looking into. They also help return to sport plans and accelerating c section scars. Now if you have had a c section you will know you just want it to heal. For sure there a company to check out if you are in the York area, I would even travel to see Victoria.

Another company who I found very interesting is Custom Fit this is a company ran by Claire. Who is a former midwife and now a personal trainer. She comes into your house and does PT sessions with you this is a huge bonus not having to leave the house with a newborn. She even allows you to stop if they need feeding. I know should we have another one this is something I would look into.

I also had a good chat with the lovely lady from Puddleduck swimming lessons is something which we want to start with Jess. We never have been able to find any in our area which are suitable however, Puddleducks have put us in contact with our local team. Hopefully we are going to be able to start very soon because it is a vital skill. It is a shame that the lady we met did not cover our area she covered Hull and York both places we have lived in the past.

There was a number of companies who were offering first aid course. For sure this is something which I should look into if you know Jess she is accident prone. I even have to have an extended first aid kit in the car in case she hurt herself on a day out. I think Joe and I are thinking about doing one of the course in order to be able to help if someone does become injured. As child first aid is slightly different to normal adult first aid. No matter how old your child is it is always worth while looking at these course.

The final company I am going to share is the reading fairy they are a class which meet in York. The classes are designed to develop the crucial building blocks for reading and language development from 1-5 years. They believe in learning through play and nurturing a love of reading. Jess spent a very long time at this stall because they had one of her favourite books We are going on an Easter Egg Hunt. We have actually been invited to one of there classes. I can not wait to be able to give you a full review of these classes because for sure they look like something Jess is going to enjoy.

There were also talks, Q&A sessions and meet and greets with Sally from Mum’s Back and Vicki from Honest Mum blog which were really interesting. This year Baby and Bump was held on the 7th April. Tickets cost £5 and the first 100 guests got a free goodie bag.

Have you ever attended a bump and baby expo?

Charlotte xx

This review was written in exchange for attending this event.  As always my honest opinions are my own. I would like to say thank you to Bump and Baby expo for having me and for the generous goody bag of treats I received. Some of the products I will be reviewing in the future.