Best laid plans

This week I had decided to increase Finn to three meals every day, Finn however had other ideas. He hasn't finished a bottle all week and has hardly any food.

Pesky teeth!

With Finn being so tiny anyway I've tried to get as much calcium and high calorie foods in him as much as possible but it's mainly been a stick of cheese here and a petit filous there.

So I thought I'd share with you my teething arsenal.

Sophie The Giraffe

I had heard much touted about this teether; made out of soft natural rubber, Sophie was 'born' in 1961 and has been a weapon of many parents for teething babies since. Sophie squeaks when gently squeezed (unless you plunge her in water like I did)  and has many parts to bit, chew and gum.

Finn seems to favour her ears and at mouth at the moment, but has had a chomp on her legs and back too.

I highly recommend this to any parent who many of tried many other products to sooth sore gums. I bought it Thursday and it has been pretty much glued to his mouth since, he totally loves it.

Manhattan Toy - Colour Burst Skiwish

One of my mummy friends has this for her little girl, and after Finn had been eyeing it up the other day I trawled the Internet and found it for £10 on amazon, in either classic colours, or colour burst.

It is a traditional toy made up of beads, rods and string. Perfect for being chewed on by babies and withstands much bashing and throwing and always returns to its original shape. I'm rather fascinated by it and so is Finn. Its great for little hands to grab hold of too.

Anbesol Liquid

Again this was recommended to me by another mummy friend. Anbesol liquid is available behind the counter at most chemists; it is an antiseptic and anaesthetic for relief of mouth ulcers, denture irritation and of course babies teething. You gentle wet your fingertip with the liquid and rub it over the gums. You can repeat this up to eight times a day, leaving at least half an hour before application.

I bought this about 2 hours ago and Finn has had his first full bottle in a week, so seems to be working very very well!!

I hope this helps if you have a grumpy teething baby like me!!

x

Fluffy bum..

Oh my them cute little fluffy bums are just well, the cutest!

I had intended to just buy cheap reusable nappies, then I found the Cloth Bum Mum facebook group and that took me on a very fluffy journey of all these cute little nappies.

I have been very restrained and not ordered myself a custom nappy yet, you can chose the fabric, cut, embroidery, everything! However I think come summer when Finn is toddling about in just his nappies, well I might have to invest in one!

This is some of my current stash

I'm hoping some lovely mummies will send me some pictures of the gorgeous rufflebum nappies to share with you, seriously to die for!

Daisy over @ daisytheclothbummum is doing a give away for a fabulous give away until 25th at 5pm for a Rumparooz Wetbag, perfect for storing all them stinky nappies in!

x

Random cuteness!

Normal service will resume tomorrow!!

Tots 100

So this morning whilst I have a sleeping baby on my chest, I joined Tots 100

Click on the link up there ^ to have a look around!

Does your little one cry in his sleep? Finn is currently sobbing his heart out bless him!

Wean on me..

Hello!

Sorry for my absence, Ryan has been away at interviews this week so I have been playing at being a single mum for a couple of days!

Finn is doing well with his blw and has now tried;

Cheesy pitta fingers//petit filous//cheese sticks//rice cakes//bread sticks//melon/clementines//chicken/panini//sweet potato//parsnip//hummus//carrot//sweetcorn fritters//pancakes//pasta//tomato's//pan fried apple//crumpets/jam on toast/philly on toast//porridge pancakes//banana//

Today he managed to gag on a bit of cheese and bring most of his feed up which was a bit scary but it didn't faze him and he stuck the rest of the cheese stick back into his mouth, gross child!

As I'm not evangelical about this blw lark I have tried spoon feeding him sometimes however he point blank refused to open his mouth, but give him a stick of something and he'll happily snaffle it down. The boy knows what he wants!

In the oven I have cheesy lentil wedges for his tea tonight hopefully he'll enjoy them.

Days 3 & 4

Day 3

Breakfast - Toast with low sugar jam & a petit flious

Dinner - Roast Veggies (again but he does seem to love them!), some spread on toast as they were too mushy, with hummus

Day 4

Just one meal today as I didn't get breakfast in as I had to go to the doctors, and Ryan took him to baby sign this afternoon.

Dinner - Sweet potato wedges, maybe with hummus, and cheese sticks.

I must master my roast veggies as they are either too soft and squish everywhere, or are too hard and he struggles to gum them, bad mummy.

Some times he is interest in his meals and will pick all the food up and study it, other times he'll sit there wanting it but only when I post it in his mouth will he take it.

If you have an Ikea Antilop Highchair please see Emma's post here about them being recalled.

Day 1 & 2 of Blw

I've started Finn on two 'meals' a day, I'm happy for these to chop and change each day as long as he is feeding himself twice, until he drops his milk feeds and I know he is getting some food in then we will up to to three feeds.

Day 1

Lunch - Eggy bread, we have no known allergies in our family and Finn didn't react to the eggs so we know then are fine!

Dinner - Roasted Veggies and pan fried apples. Bit of jabbing himself in the eye with these veggie sticks.

I thought on his first proper day of blw there might be some gagging which is to be expect but he didn't gag at all, he did cough up a bit of apple which went flying out on to the waiting dogs head though, I'm suprised at how well he handled everything to be honest.

Day 2.

Breakfast - Pre loaded spoons of petits filous

Dinner - Butternut squash spread on toast and some left over veggies sticks from last night.

I was amazed at how well Finn did with the pre loaded spoon. I dipped his spoon for him and then put it on the table and he pick it up and it went straight in his ear, then his cheek, then finally his mouth and each spoon after when directly in his mouth. He must of polished off nearly a whole petits filous and a little bit of my omelet too!

The start of things to come

I couldn't tell you how I discovered Baby Led Wean but I would hazard a guess that it was whilst browsing the multitude of baby books on amazon.

With Finn being premature and the current guidelines of not weaning your baby until 6 months, I was happy to wait until he was 6 months correct before either spooning slop into his mouth or giving him fingers foods.

Given that I had read on various forums that baby rice has the nutritional value of wall paper paste, that blw greatly enhances development and that I didn't much fancy steaming, chopping, mashing and blending, blw seemed the natural route for us to go down.

Gill Rapey is the lady behind the science with much research and experiments with babies from 18 weeks. It is suggested that your baby should be able to sit unaided so that if they gag, which is likely,

the food will be thrust out.

To start with Rapey suggests chip shaped finger foods as at 6 months most babies can't purposely open their palms to eat what is inside, that said there is no reason why their first meal can't be spaghetti and meatballs.

As we had a break through with Finn today, he stole my rich tea biscuit out of  my hand and shovelled it in his mouth, tomorrow I shall be going full team ahead with the weaning, with the mantra that 'food before one is just for fun' ringing in my ears.

Yes it will be messy, yes he might gag, much food will go on the floor, but he will be eating what we eat, at the table with us, controlling the amount he eats by himself, I just can't wait to start.

An adventure in cloth

Before Finn was born I had planned to use reusable nappies, however as he came with such a shock, 5 weeks early and a dinky 3lbs 13oz, it is something I hadn't really thought about again until about a month ago and decided I'd try them out in the new year, so here we are!

I scoured many websites and looked into what I thought would work as the best nappies for us. I settled on pockets nappies which you stuff with an insert and has a waterproof outer so you don't need a separate wrap.

I invested in 14, a mixture from Wee Pickles and Tiny Nippers to start with as I plan to only use them in the day. If you wanted to use them full time it is suggested that 21 is the lowest amount needed, 7 ready to wear, 7 washing and 7 drying.

I can see how you could get carried away though, a baby in a reusable nappy looks gorgeous, take a peek at Finn's fluffy bum.

Do you use, or have you ever thought about using reuseable nappies?

Who are we??

I'm Mel, I'm a 20 something wanna be yummy mummy (currently more slummy mummy!) and mama to my gorgeous boy Finley.

 Finn is just over 7 months, 6 months corrected as he was born 5 weeks early. We live Finn's daddy and my lovely fiance Ryan, our crazy Goldendoodle Bella, and very shy cat Lyla.

Welcome!

Hello!

I had intended this blog purely to follow our adventures in baby led weaning with my son, Finn. However as there is a prospect we might be relocated away from friends and family so I decided it would become a baby blog full of updates, reviews, adventures and photos.

So welcome, and I hope you enjoy following our adventures.

Love Mel & Finn xx