Book bashing

Last week I was feeling under the weather (again) and it felt like
Isobel's early waking had reached epic proportions.

I was super tired, super fed up and feeling like a decidedly not super
mum.

So, I went to Amazon and ordered a bundle of parenting toddler books.

I don't really know why I did this as I felt much more confident and
happier as a mum when I STOPPED reading baby books.

I mean why bother opening the package, why not just let PD beat me
about the head with it.

But, I had tried pretty much EVERYTHING

When Isobel was 4 or 5 months old she started sleeping through the night, it only took two nights of rocking instead of feeding and I had a baby who slept until 6:45 and woke up happy and chatty.

Then at 8 months she got sick, vomitty sick and by 9 months would wake up hungry at 5:30.

Once she was well, I tried the rocking thing again, often holding her crying until it got to 6 and then I would feed her, to get her out of any habit. Limited success from this one.

Then after a few months I just started passing her her bottle into her cot, she'd drink and go back to sleep until 7 ish - not a bad deal. Reducing the milk I thought she'd just grow out of it.

Until she stopped going back to sleep. Then I got super tired...

I browsed the world wide mummy web and everyone said it was bedtime routine. Well, as Isobel has a bath, a cuddle, a bottle and then waves bye bye and blows kisses from her cot, our bedtime routine isn't an issue.

And, she has always been really good at waking up, making a noise and then getting herself back to sleep. Unless, she is hungry...

Anyway, having boosted the economy by ordering books, I set about fixing it myself.

Cereal in bottle, helped a little. A snack at 6 in front of telly was not quite so helpful. But, supper at the garden table after nursery (where they give them tea at 4pm) seemed to help considerably.

We are still working on it, but I think we are getting there (except on days like Sunday when Isobel doesn't want to eat).

The books have arrived and at first glance I don't like Toddler Taming; the opening of Gina Ford is a good explanation of age groups and worth PD reading, nothing new in it for me, but, shock, horror, I actually like the way she has written it; Baby Whisperer for Toddlers seems OK; Potty Training in one Week again nothing really new but love the idea of getting baby out of nappies in a week. Yes I am aware that I preferred Baby Whisperer over Gina when I was pregnant but I'd still say best Baby book was Baby Development Week by Week.

So, I have books, but I suspect they will end up like the others - on eBay

Sent from my iPhone

That Friday night smell

In my past life it wasn't unusual for there to be the odd incident of vomiting on a Friday evening, mostly not my own; PD manages it to make room for the next round. So, I guess I should have been slightly glad for the opportunity to reminisce when, at bedtime on Friday, Isobel was sick all over herself, me and the bed. But that wasn't what sprung to mind as I tried to remove her pjs and vest and make her smell lovely again.

I didn't even reminisce for Friday when she did it all over again at bedtime on Saturday.

It's my own fault really, you'd think that after being Isobel's mum for nearly six months and by finally feeling reasonably confident of my abilities that I would continue to trust my own instincts, but it seems I'm easily swayed.

It was an innocent enough conversation about Gina Ford routines. Now I'm not following Gina Ford, in fact we are doing the Isobel Grace Findon routine, but, as I did concede before, Gina's routines do seem to follow a baby's natural rhythm so it is reasonably similar.

Anyway, I digress. As the conversation progressed it transpired that Gina's babys, at about six months, should be having their whole bottle after the bath not half before anymore. So, I thought I would give it ago...

Two nights, four loads of washing later (a white and a dark each night) we are sticking to the I.G.F. routine of half before and half after (and I get two cuddles this way).

This evening all I got was a sickly burp, hooray.

Baby Books

I am an avid reader, I don’t really like to go anywhere without a book, so for me one of the natural reactions to being pregnant was to log onto Amazon and see what books I could order. It wasn’t so much that I was worried about what I didn’t know, but more because I was excited and this was a way of adding to my enjoyment of impending motherhood.

Having been pregnant before I already had one book, and until the danger of miscarriage had passed I didn’t allow myself to buy anymore. My technical book of choice was ‘The Pregnancy Bible’ I love the way it is written: the fold out pictures of what is happening to my body and the graphics of the baby. It’s sensible, down to earth and helpful. (We did have ‘What to Expect when you are Expecting’ but gave it to a charity shop having decided it was too much like a text book and certainly not pretty enough.)

The Fat Ladies Club was a collection of mildly amusing stories about being pregnant, but it didn’t really do much for me. Maybe it’s because I think my girlfriends’ stories are funnier.

The next book I read was Jo Frost (Supernanny) Confident Baby Care, and I loved this book. I love the fact that she sees a parent’s role as being to show the baby how wonderful the world is, she made me excited to be a Mum. I have said if there is one book RD reads it should be this one, it will teach about technicalities such as nappy changing and swaddling but also about the joy of being a parent. Her advice is realistic and practical but loving at the same time.

Next I read a book I knew I’d hate, Gina Ford. I had to read it to make sure I wasn’t dismissing something out of hand without really knowing what it was about. I hated it. I like the fact the baby is quickly in a routine – who wouldn’t (and some of the bedtime advice might be useful), but it made me feel like being a Mum was only going to be a chore, not a thing of joy and wonder like Jo. I wanted to burn this book.

Having watched ‘Bringing Up Baby’ (and sharing the national Clare-Verity-should-be-burned-at-the-stake opinion) I did buy Dr Spock, but I haven’t read it, it looks like another text book.

On the recommendation of my Pilates teacher I have just finished reading Dr Gowri Motha’s Gentle Birth Method; this is where he had picked up the visualisations from. While I’m not entirely convinced thinking of waves will make labour easier, I thought it worth adding to my arsenal. Dr Motha has excellent credentials; she is a disillusioned obstetrician who decided that there must be a gentler approach to birth that would benefit both mother and child. Her pregnancy diet is strict – I don’t think I could give up my cheese and marmite paninis, and there are lots of herbal remedies, but as someone who believes in the strength of meditation and whose spiritual side likes to tap into the power of Reiki, the idea of visualisations and self-hypnosis to help calm and reassure does appeal. So I’ve also bought the CD. (I’m not so sure about the vaginal stretching; I know it makes sense but …)

I have a couple more baby books on my bedside table; I’ll let you know when I’ve read them.