Wellbeing

A NHM Reader’s Experience: Tongue Tie

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Additional Needs, Babies, Breastfeeding, General, New Parents, Newborn, NHM: Readers Experiences, Post Natal, Wellbeing 1 Comment

This is a heartbreaking read. I can relate to so much of what is in this post because Miss NHM also had a posterior Tongue Tie and it wasn’t identified until she was 9 weeks old.

Reading today’s post has bought bank a lot of painful memories for me of that very difficult time but hopefully this Mum’s experience may help other Mum’s who are going through, or have been through, the same thing. The last sentence on this post is spot on.

Thank you very much to the anonymous reader for sharing her experience. I know it’s not easy writing something like this but hopefully it’s helped as part of the healing process.

If you would like to share your experience of anything to do with being a Mum or parent, please get in touch.

A NHM Reader’s Experience: Tongue Tie

Tongue tie, as a first time mum I had no clue what this was and the problems your little one can face from it. Throughout my pregnancy as like all mummies to be, I just wanted my baby to be healthy and arrive into the world safely.

However Tongue tie was one of the things no one had even thought to make me aware of, considering it is so common with apparently 1 in 8 babies being born with it and how easily it is to fix. Hopefully by sharing our story I hope more mummies are made aware of tongue tie.

On the arrival of my beautiful baby girl, I was put in a side room at the hospital. The midwife initially checked my baby could breastfeed and then I was left to it. We saw a health assistant once more briefly to check that everything was OK, the paediatrician quickly checked her over and we were given the all clear to go home.

On going home we saw the midwife for the follow up visits. On one of these, they weighed my little girl and found she had dropped weight but this was less then 10% so they were not concerned.

However on her five day check, we went to the clinic and on weighing her, it was found her weight had dropped further. As a new mum, five days post giving birth you are very emotional and it is the last thing you want to hear that your baby is dropping weight, rather then gaining.

At the clinic I saw two older midwifes and they asked me to show them how I was feeding her. This was an eeekkkk moment as I’m not a mum that is confident breastfeeding in front of people. However I knew I had to suck this up and get on with it, so I did.

On doing this, I was told immediately the way I was holding her was wrong and to hold her like a rugby ball under my arm. I was then asked questions about my milk supply and they came to the conclusion this was failing and told me to get some formula in!

I held myself together but on leaving the clinic and getting back to the car, the tears just rolled down as it was the worst thing I could have been told, that I was unable to feed my baby well enough and all I felt was that I was a complete failure.

That evening I tried to struggle through but feeling so low and with no real support on breastfeeding, I caved and sent my husband to Tescos at midnight to buy formula. All I could think was I was starving my baby who was crying and getting more frustrated as she was struggling to feed, so I had to get some milk in her someway. However this did not solve our problems and just brought on a whole load of different issues.

We started on formula and within days we had stopped breastfeeding altogether as she just couldn’t latch properly. We thought this was best and her weight started going up. The midwifes were happy and we were subsequently discharged from their care. We thought great our baby is now on the right tracks and all will be fine. How wrong could we have been!

In the subsequent weeks our little girl started to suffer with colic, reflux and projectile vomiting whenever she had a bottle. The colic was the worst as our poor girl was literally in pain and cried continuously for hours on end as she was just full of wind, to the point she would rattle with it.

We spoke to the health visitor who said to see the GP, so we did. I explained all her symptoms and I was just given medication to try to help settle her. At no point did the GP or health visitor check in her mouth to see that she had a good latch but it was a case of being told that babies do suffer from colic, sickness and reflux when being fed formula and that it would pass.

However the symptoms were just getting worse to the point that one day while I was home on my own, I had given her a bottle but she started to choke and turn blue.

This is honestly the most scary situation seeing your baby looking terrified as they cannot breath. I managed to get her to throw up and she started breathing again but was inconsolably crying.

I took her straight to A&E as my instincts knew there was something wrong with her and this was not normal. On arrival, I asked her to be booked in and told the receptionist what the problem was, she looked over the desk and commented, well she looks ok now, she’s breathing! I couldn’t believe this and politely but in a no messing with me tone, said that I still wanted her seen to regardless of the wait.

On seeing the nurse in triage, due to her age we were taken through to see the doctor. I again explained the situation and what had happened but they had no clue why she had choked and put it down to one of those things.

The doctor in A&E referred the details to a paediatrician and we were taken to the day ward for observation. They again checked her over and I explained what had happened. The consultant said it sounded like she had just choked and that this can happen when babies are so little as they don’t have a gag reflex yet. She said if it happens again to put her on her front and pat her back which should clear it.

Each time we saw someone we were asked if this was our first baby and when we said yes, the ‘look’ of oh they are first time parents worrying too much came out. As she didn’t do this again while we were there, we were sent home with the advice we had been given.

Over the months proceeding this, we struggled on and found ways to help stop the choking with reflux wedges and sitting her upright for an hour after a bottle. While we did this the next challenge we had was getting her to drink a bottle. Our poor girl was still suffering and we felt like we just had to struggle on as it would get better in time, as this was what we were being told repeatedly.

On taking her to her monthly weigh in, her weight was really starting to struggle. The health visitor at my local one looked at me and said oh her weight has dropped what are you doing with her, what’s happened to change this?

Again this is not what I wanted to be faced with, a question to make me feel as though I was at fault for my beautiful baby girl not gaining as much weight as she should. I replied to say nothing had changed but I was still having the same issues. A

gain no one thought to check in her mouth and it was put down to a blip and she would pick up again. I swiftly left the clinic, again feeling as though I had failed my baby girl. I hated going to the weigh ins after this, to the point I would work myself up beforehand so I decided to buy my own scales and do her weight checks myself at home.

On approaching four months old, her weight had dropped to between the 9th and 25th centile. She was also getting to the point she would only drink an ounce or two of milk at a time and then she would refuse anymore. I knew this was due to the pain it was causing her so I spoke to my health visitor but she didn’t really help and said to go and see her on the next weigh in.

I thought this is not right and I was so worried as I knew my little girl was suffering, I needed to find out what was causing it so I decided to google her symptoms. Normally I would never do this as it can give you so many horror stories and cause unnecessary worry but I had to see if there was any possibilities of what was wrong with her. On looking at the search it all pointed to tongue tie.

The helpful reference was this chart that listed out the symptoms: image2

From looking at this list, my little girl had all the symptoms so I wasted no time and booked her into see the GP. The GP checked her but wasn’t sure so asked the midwife at my practice to have a look. She first of all put a finger in her mouth to see what suction she had and the poor girl didn’t have any. They agreed the best thing to do was to refer her to the paediatrician at the hospital that dealt with this and go from there.

On speaking with his secretary on the Monday morning, she took my details and then asked how my baby was fed, I said by bottle and suddenly the tone of the call changed, where she informed me that the paediatrician only dealt with breastfed babies.

Even with me explaining that there was no possibility she could do this and how her health was suffering, I was told he may see her but it would be at his absolute discretion, plus I would have to wait three weeks for this honour.

On putting the phone down I thought to myself sod that, I’m not being made to feel like a second class citizen for bottle feeding my baby as she couldn’t breastfeed so I looked online for somewhere I could have her seen to privately. This is where I found a website that listed all the tongue tie practitioners in the country,

http://www.tongue-tie.org.uk/find-a-tongue-tie-divider.html

I looked through the list of practitioners in my local area and called Katherine. On speaking to her and trying to discuss the problems we were having, I just broke down on her and cried.

Katherine was great, she said she could certainly help and gave me an appointment for the following day at her clinic. On going to the appointment, after explaining the symptoms and looking at her weight chart, she looked in her mouth and confirmed she had a posterior tongue tie which was restricting her tongue by over 50%.

Katherine explained that posterior tongue tie is not picked up so easily as it is not visible but it was very easily treated. Katherine told me what she would do to release the tongue tie which involved one cut to the piece of skin with surgical scissors and that it would take less then a minute.

She asked me to leave the room while she did it and by the time I got to the waiting room and sat down, it was all over. One little snip with the scissors by a trained health professional was all that was needed. This cost £95 privately and I can’t tell you the relief that I felt knowing I wasn’t an over bearing first time mum and that my instincts were right. More importantly, my beautiful little girl would hopefully now start to overcome this and be out of pain.

Picture of her posterior tongue tie
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Picture after the procedure

image3I will say this made a difference straight away. The colic and wind settled down as she was not sucking in air. The reflux also calmed down and choking stopped over the proceeding days.

However she had learnt to adapt to having a restricted tongue for the first four months of her life so she had to relearn how to use her mouth and the muscles with her tongue now freed.

This took several months to reeducate her but she is now a completely changed baby. She’s happy, no longer in pain and her weight is back up, which makes me one happy mum.

Looking back, I have such a mixture of emotions about what we went through as a family. From anger to pure sadness that my little girl was left to struggle and be in pain for the first four months of her life.

I also feel so let down by all the health professionals that saw her as no one picked this up sooner. Such a simple thing to fix but the problems and pain it caused her unnecessarily, when she could have been thriving and happy.

Ultimately I have learnt from this, that you should always trust your instincts as a mum, you know your baby best and don’t think you are worrying unnecessarily.

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Top Tip: Kilner Jar Salad’s

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Food, General, Mum "Top Tips", Organising, Wellbeing 1 Comment

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I recently read an American post about “10 Mason Jar (What the US calls Kilner Jars) Lunches to have on hand” via the Super Healthy Kids Blog which was recommended to me by a NHM Reader a couple of years ago and thought it sounded like a brilliant idea.

I was slightly sceptical about whether it actually worked but then I saw a work colleague with kilner jars on her desk and she said they were fantastic. She makes all her lunches for work on a Sunday, keeps them in the fridge and the salads are still in great condition by the following Friday.

As regular NHM readers know I’m always looking out for any short cut’s that will make my life a bit easier so I knew I had to try this.

It’s also pretty widely known that Mr NHM literally takes a step back when the word “salad” is used in any context ;-).

I don’t know if it’s his northern blood but he categorically refuses to eat anything remotely salad like. Combine this with a child who has suddenly developed a “fussy food streak” and the only person I’m making any salads for is myself.

I don’t have the time or inclination to spend every evening making only myself a salad…. until I tried the kilner jar method!

Honestly, it’s fantastic!

I did what my colleague suggested and made up 4 kilner jars for the week on a Sunday and put them in the fridge. I also made up a kilner jar with cous cous and raisins and stored this in the fridge. It took me about 15 minutes of time to make the 5 jars but I was doing them at the same time as cooking another meal.

I was expecting the salad and cous cous to be soggy by the time I used them but they weren’t, it was as if I’d just prepared them!

I have no idea whether it’s because the jars are air tight but they are MILES better than using tupperware or lock and lock’s.

I bought my kilner jars from The Range as they were the cheapest I could find.

The pictures in this post are from one of the recipes in the original “10 Mason Jar Lunches” post, “Chicken Taco mason jar salad”, and I adapted it to what I had in the fridge and the equivalent to the US products.

I used, rocket and watercress chopped up, then grapes and blueberries, then a chopped tomato, some sweetcorn, some cucumber and finely chopped radishes and topped off with some black beans (not in the picture as I got distracted!).

I made the sauce from mild salsa mixed with creme fraiche when I needed it as I’d decided not to put it in the jar because I’m still a bit sceptical about whether the sauces will keep. I’m definitely going to try it next time though.

When I needed the salad, I dumped it all out into my bowl, topped with the sauce and it was DELICIOUS!

I highly recommend using kilner jars for storing food like salads and cous cous. Now I’m sold I’m going to try it on LOADS of other different foods and will report back soon! :-D.

Let me know if you have any good “kilner jar” recipes as I’d love to expand my current repertoire.

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Review 2016: Cornish Yurts

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Reviews of Things to do, Travel, Wellbeing 0 Comment

Cornish Yurts

I’ve blogged about Our Yurt before on NorthHantsMum but I thought it was time I did a Review about it. Although I’m only publishing this review because Polly, who runs the place, has agreed that we can have “our” Yurt for every May half term for the next 10 years :-D.

About

We have been visiting Cornish Yurts for the past 4 years. I always said I wouldn’t be one of those people who went back to the same place every year, but when you find your little piece of heaven, it’s hard not to keep going back!

The sense of excitement of our impending Yurt holiday starts about three weeks before in our house. I’m excited about relaxing, Mr NHM is excited about cooking over an open fire and Miss NHM is excited about the beaches!

It takes about 5 hours to drive from Basingstoke to Cornwall and we always try to go early to avoid the traffic. We used to stop at Exeter Services on the way down but we’ve found a new place to stop now which is almost half way.

When you arrive at the Yurt you can drive your car up to unload but then the rest of the holiday your car needs to remain in the car park. You also get a lovely welcome from the farm dogs. Sprocket is definitely our favourite.

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When you arrive you get a “welcome pack” which includes local scones (normally still warm!!), Cornish fairings, a pot of locally made jam, the local paper (perfect for making fires with! Lol) and a pot of Cornish cream in your fridge.

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Outside

There are two yurts in an acre of land.

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As you can see there is LOADS of space to run around and play

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Each yurt has a picnic table and chairs outside the yurt and has a place for a fire

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Mr NHM with “Derek” his Dutch Oven

The kitchen hut is a shared space with the other yurt but each yurt has its own fridge. There is also a washing machine, kettle, toaster and every piece of kitchen equipment you would need whilst camping including a sieve and two huge hugs that would be great for squash or cocktails.

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There are platters in the kitchens so you can prepare your food in the kitchen and easily carry it back to the yurt.

Each yurt also has it’s own private bathroom with sink, toilet and shower.

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The yurts are on a working dairy farm and if you are very lucky one of Polly’s girls will give you a tour of the farm. We STILL haven’t had one BUT Miss NHM (5 years old) did get to go out hay bailing with AJ, the farmer, and is still going on and on about it. If you ask her what she wants to be when she gets older, she says “be a farmer on the cornwall farm”!!

Inside

Each yurt sleeps six people and has two double sofa beds and two single sofa beds.

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Each yurt also has a wood burner that is made out of an old oil drum and tyre and has a fire guard

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The Yurts have a wooden floor throughout and a wooden porch. There is a covered porch at the entrance where we store wood.

Each yurt also comes with its own wood. There is extra cost for this and Polly requests that you don’t waste the wood by leaving the fire going indoors or outside unnecessarily.

There is also an outdoor cooking area and each yurt has its own BBQ.

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There is an outside chess set, swing ball, a set of swings and a fairy table.

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Tips

Love that there is a washing machine in the kitchen hut.

Love that if it rains it makes absolutely no difference as you are still camping but there’s no risk of everything getting wet.

Love having private shower and toilet, so we can leave our stuff there.

Love that there’s only two yurts and so much space that Miss NHM becomes feral!!!

Food

We use “Derek” Mr NHM’s Dutch Oven, my small slow cooker and occasionally the BBQ on site.

Facilities

Fire extinguisher in the yurt

Private bathroom – toilet, sink and shower

Chest with a file with suggestions if things to do in the area

Games set with lots of different types of games like chess and backgammon in each yurt.

There is also a large chest of drawers for storing items with a couple of rugs in, just in case it gets cold, a small table and a large rug on the floor so you don’t get cold feet.

Each yurt has electric and our yurt has a lamp in it.

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Each yurt has its own rotary line.

The kitchen area also has tea lights, books of relevance like “Cornwall with kids”, a Dutch oven cooking book (Mr NHM is now in love with his Dutch oven after he got one for Father’s Day last year. The yurts used to have one but it wasn’t looked after properly by people staying here :-()

A 4 slice toaster and kettle in the kitchen

Washing baskets

Outdoor games like jeronimo

Baby Facilities

Very amenable to babies however you do need to be careful with toddlers near the fire. We took Miss NHM for the first time when she was 2.5 years old and it was fine because she learnt pretty quickly that the fire was hot and she needed to stay away from it.

You also need someone who can build a fire to be there, otherwise it will get cold pretty quickly in the evening times.

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Places we love to visit whilst here

Rosskillys. Fantastic ice cream and grounds you can visit for free. They also have farm animals you can buy food for. The pigs are very vocal!! Also do wood fire pizzas on Wed evening.

Poldhu beach – a short drive from the yurts. On Friday night they do wood fire pizza’s from 5pm to 7.30pm.

Kynance cove –  check the tides though as we had to wait for the tide to go out for two hours last year. Had a fab time playing on the rocks though. Also, not a great place for pushchairs as it’s a 15 minute walk if you don’t walk down the cliff face and then you have to carry your pushchair over some of the rocks. People do it though!

Kennack sands – this can become filled with chav’s as its very close to a caravan site.

We always ask Polly for her recommendations on places to go. She’s a font of local knowledge.

Parking

When you first arrive you can drive up to the yurt to unload but your car must remain in the car park until it’s time to pack up.

Prices

Extremely reasonable.

Rating out of 5

10 out of 5!!!

We absolutely LOVE staying here. It’s all the little details that make it so awesome, from the moment we arrive and Sprocket comes to greet us at the door and then Polly comes out to give us massive hugs. It really is our home from home!

Although, this time we didn’t get any scones because Polly was off to china for her birthday, and knew that it was “us” and we wouldn’t mind. I did mind as I was looking forward to those scones for weeks before!! Sorry Polly, I lied!!! lol.

You may think I’m crazy for sharing this with you, as there’s a risk it might become so busy that we can’t get in, but don’t worry, I’ve done a deal with Polly that we can always have “our” yurt during May half term. Whoop!!!!

If you do decide to book, make sure you tell Polly that you are booking via NorthHantsMum.

Hope you have an awesome time as much as we do!!!

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Spa’s in the North Hampshire Area

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Outings, Wellbeing 0 Comment

For those moments when the world feels like it’s falling apart around your ears and you need to plan a something special for yourself ;-).

Thank you very much to Shona for putting this post together!

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Spa’s in the NorthHants Area

Tylney Hall

Tynley Hall is set in 66 acres of parkland and you can picnic in the grounds in the summer. The Health Suite is housed in the old stables. There is an outside pool, tennis court, croquet lawn and mountain bike hire. There are five treatment rooms and a manicure and pedicure studio.

Price: Tylney Hall offer spa breaks from £119 per person including including an overnight bed and breakfast. They also offer spa days from £100 per person.

Tylney Hall

Norton Park Hotel

Surrounded by 54 acres of private grounds in Winchester, Norton Park is a former manor house built blending 16th and 17th Century architecture. The spa has a gym, pool, relaxation room, nail bar, sauna, steam room, ice fountain and heated loungers. There is also a spray tan room.

Price: Norton Park has an offer on at the moment (check out the link below). They are offering spa breaks from £79 per person and spa days from £70 per person.

Norton Park Hotel

Special Offer!!

The Hampshire Court Hotel

At the Hampshire Court Hotel there is an emphasis on the leisure facilities for everyone. There are five indoor tennis courts, a gym, sauna, steam room and two swimming pools (a separate one for children). There are 6 treatment rooms including a double room.

Price: Hampshire Court Hotel has an offer on at the moment (check out the link below). They are offering spa breaks from £79 per person and spa days from £65 per person.

Hampshire Court Hotel

Special Offer!

The Winchester Hotel and Spa

A few minutes walk from the centre of Winchester, the Winchester Hotel and Spa is a four star accommodation. The Spa and Leisure Centre comprises of a fully equipped gym, fitness suite, pool with resistance jets, a sauna, steam room, jacuzzi and relaxation area. You can also get manicures, pedicures, fake tan, massages, wraps, reflexology and Indian Head Massage!

Prices: The Winchester Hotel offers spa breaks from £99 per person and spa days from £82 per person.

The Winchester Hotel

Apollo Hotel – Basingstoke

The Apollo hotel offers a leisure venue complete with Horizons Spa. It has an indoor heated pool, sauna, spa pool and steam room. There is also a fully equipped gym and a bar available to relax in. There are 3 treatment rooms that offer facials, massages, exfoliation, manicures and pedicures.

Prices: Apollo Hotel offers spa breaks from £79 per person and spa days from £55.

Apollo Hotel

Carey’s Manor Spa

Carey’s Manor was voted ‘Best Spa in the South-East’ in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. They offer luxury leisure facilities and treatment rooms. There is a 14m swimming pool, jacuzzi, steam room, sauna and gym. For beauty treatments, you can have anything from a manicure to a Thai Massage.

Prices: Spa days from £95 and spa breaks from £180 per person

Senspa

Nirvana Spa

Based in Sindlesham, Berkshire, Nirvana spa offers a wealth of treatments including tanning, facials, wraps, manicures, pedicures and body massage. There are many facilities available too including gym and classes, pool, spa garden as well as complimentary workshops.

Prices: Spa days from £95 and spa evenings from £55.

Nirvana Spa

The Vineyard

Located in Newbury, the Vineyard provides luxury spa days and breaks and uplifting treatments.There are 5 star facilities including Jacuzzi, pool with massage jets, sauna and relaxation areas. You can have many different treatments, from hot stone massage to facials.

Prices: Spa breaks from £148.50 and spa days from £75

The Vineyard

Don’t miss out on future posts like this – you can receive updates directly to your inbox by email by adding your email address to the box on the top right of this page and hitting subscribe. You can also follow NorthHantsMum onTwitter,Google+,Facebook Page, Facebook Profile, LinkedIn and Feedly. I hope to see you there! 

Recommended beauty products for a new Mum!

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Clothes, Mums, New Parents, Pregnancy, Shopping, Wellbeing 0 Comment

I don’t normally have “beauty” posts on NorthHantsMum but Vicky, one of the NHM Writers, did such a great job on this post, it would have been wrong not to publish it!

Thank you Vicky for this great post!

I wish someone had bought me some or all of these products when I was a new Mum! lol.

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Recommended beauty products for a new Mum!

Is it just me or is there always some advert trying to tell you that this wonder product is what you’ve been waiting for? And that this is especially true for new mums. Whether it’s an all-singing all-dancing changing bag that unfolds into an amazing entertainment centre for your little one complete with iPad and safety harness (ok, I am exaggerating) or something as simple as a buggy clip (these are brilliant by the way), there is always something.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently and decided it’s time to be selfish on my blog, because I’m going to tell you about some wonder beauty products I have come to rely on as a new mum. And guess what, they aren’t for baby, they are for you!

Now don’t get me wrong, there are days when pyjama bottoms, an old t-shirt, greasy hair scraped up in a ponytail and not a scrap of make-up are the best anyone can hope for, but I’d certainly be lying if I didn’t say that there are times when you just want to look nice and be ‘like your old self’ again rather than wandering around in a zombie-like state in yesterday’s clothes.

I’m afraid I don’t really subscribe to the notion that you can never look nice or have time to do your hair or slap on a bit of make-up (if that’s what you want to do of course) just because you’ve had a baby. If you want it, or more to the point, need it that badly, you will find time – even if you do have to sing the ABC song on repeat at the same time!

So, let’s get on to the important bit, what are these products. For me, dry shampoo is an absolute must. I used to be a strict every other day girl when it came to washing my hair, not anymore! But since my little boy was born almost eight months ago, I’ve got a bit creative with up dos and my hair is actually in much better condition to boot, as I’m not straightening it to death every day. Batiste dry shampoo with a hint of brunette is my go to product. An absolute essential.

Next up is No 7 Instant Illusions. This does what it says on the tin. It gives the illusion of eight hours of uninterrupted sleep, brightens those weary faces and gives you a lovely magical glow. You can wear it on its own or under foundation. It’s essentially the budget version of Clarins Beauty Flash Balm.

Sticking to the skin for a second, Maybelline’s Baby Skin primer is also a dream product for me. Now this is definitely just for adults, not the little ones! It’s a really lightweight primer which again, does what it says on the tin, and gives you super baby-soft skin. It’s great either on its own or excellent as a base for foundation to give it some staying power – and we all need that!

I am a firm believer that mascara can transform your mood in one fail sweep – all puns intended. For me, it’s my desert island product. It opens up my tired eyes and gives me a little bit of put-together-ness. My all-time favourite is Max Factor Masterpiece Transform in black. People actually have asked if I am wearing false lashes several times, when wearing this… flutter flutter.

My final product (for this post anyway – I could go on…) is concealer. An absolute must for hiding those dark circles or camouflaging some post-birth hormonal breakouts. The Max Factor Mastertouch is my favourite. For me, it’s a budget version of YSL Touché Éclat. It suits my skin perfectly and there are several shades to choose from to ensure you get the best colour match.

So there you have it, a little insight into my inner sanctuary when it comes to beauty products. For me, there’s nothing better than personal recommendations, especially when it comes to skincare, hair care or make-up. Don’t feel guilty for taking 10 minutes to ‘put your face on’ or do your hair some days. It’s not called war paint for no reason.

For more of my inane ramblings, check out my blog misschiefv.wordpress.com

Inspirational Mum’s! Your Teething Baby: From one parent to another

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Babies, Inspirational Mums, Wellbeing 3 Comments

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My name is Emma Reed and I am a married Mother of one. My son, Jake, arrived as a fantastic Christmas present on 25 December 2013 and is now a very active toddler, keeping me very fit and always on my toes! I was lucky enough to be able to give up work to become a stay at home Mum once Jake came along and I love getting the quality time to spend with him.

During his growth he suffered terribly with his teething and I struggled to find help, support and advice even after speaking to doctors and a dentist. I began to research this development myself and found I became quite an expert! A friend once said to me ‘you know so much, you should write a book!’ and from that the idea just grew and one sunny day last August I began to write and never stopped. I would write and research whilst my son napped and in the evening. I have learnt how to create the covers and layout, I have carried out all of the research, as well as sourcing the images and speaking to every company I have written about. It has been a labour of love to try and get all the information into one place for other parents to be able to refer to and to be able to help.

I have included all the information that I felt I would want to know about teething- I think it is an area that is very overlooked, but considering every person goes through it in their lives you would think we would know a lot more and that more help and advice would be offered.

Your_Teething_Baby_Cover_for_Kindle

The book includes sections on what teething is, the order teeth appear, the history of teething, the remedies currently on the market, old wives’ tales, remedies from around the world, symptoms and oral care. I have also included parents quotes to give a personal touch. I really hope it can help and reassure many future parents.

The book is available on Amazon as a paperback for £10.99.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Your-Teething-Baby-parent-another/dp/1518680356/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1457016791&sr=8-1&keywords=your+teething+baby

Date Night Ideas for Autumn

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Autumn, Date Night, Exercise, Parents, Wellbeing 1 Comment

Do you have Date Nights with your partner?

We started going on Date Nights about a year ago. My little one was old enough to be babysat by a grandparent or trusted babysitter, so we thought we ought to make some specific time to spend together. Otherwise, the evenings just tended to roll into one another.

Date Nights have become even more important now my husband works shifts, as our evenings together are even more limited.

Date Night/Afternoon is a big thing in our house. I really look forward to Date Nights. It’s fun to plan what we are going to do and how we are going to spend this precious time together, out of the house, just the two of us, not as parents or as employee’s, but as a couple.

I’m putting together a list of Date Afternoon ideas too, so look out for that over the next few weeks.

If you always go out to dinner together – this list is a little bit more than that…

Some Date Night Ideas

Go Ice Skating

Party Night at Planet Ice, Leisure Park

Yes, this is pitched at people half my age and younger, but we went recently and had such a giggle.

Be warned that Planet Ice have changed the hire skates ice hockey skates, so I’m not as good as I used to be! Plus, after half an hour, we were toast! lol.

We did have a lot of fun though.

Go to a dancing session

There are lots and lots of dance classes for adults. These are just a selection of some I’ve found or been too over the years:

Jive Dancing Clubs – Basingstoke

Salsa – Basingstoke

Ballroom and Latin American – Basingstoke and Camberley

Go to an Ice Hockey match

Basingstoke Bison have an ice hockey match nearly every weekend at Planet Ice, in the Leisure Park. For more details, click HERE.

Go on an Owl Walk

The Hawk Conservancy is doing some “Owl by Moonlight” Walk in the evening times. For more details click HERE.

This looks really romantic and I’m hoping Mr NHM reads this post and takes the hint! :-D.

Go for a Spa evening

This doesn’t have to be just for girlies! lol

Below are just a few of the local Spa’s. I’m hoping to do a post on local Spa’s very soon…

Nirvana Spa – Wokingham

Hampshire Centre court Hotel – Basingstoke

Donnington Valley Spa – Newbury (I went here recently and it was FAB! Totally recommend the Afternoon tea package)

Go to a Roller Disco!

There is a Roller Disco in Newbury every Saturday evening at Northcroft Leisure Centre.

I’m itching to go to one of these events. We have some friends who go nearly every weekend to the Roller Disco. I remember fondly, the Roller Disco that used to be at the Sports Centre in town. Again, I realise I’m showing my age! lol :-D.

Go to the Planetarium

Intech Science Centre in Winchester hosts “Adults only” evenings.

What could be more romantic than watching the stars together :-D.

Go Sky Diving

I couldn’t really not mention the new Sky Diving facilities in the Leisure Park. This looks AWESOME and I’m hoping that I’m not too much of a woos to try it out! lol.

I hope some of these suggestions give you some inspiration. If you have any other ideas, please let me know as I’m always looking for something a bit different to do on our nights out together. Thanks!

11 Things for Mum’s to Do in Basingstoke without their children

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Mums, Wellbeing 0 Comment

As it’s coming up to Mother’s Day in the UK this Sunday (10th of March 2013) I thought it might be nice to put together a post with some ideas of how you might want to treat yourself by having some quality time to yourself.

1. Join the local Mum’s choir. Group on FB: “Ooh Mama! We’re a newly formed choir purely for Mummies to take some “me time”. No Audition! – singing just for fun”. Meet every Tuesday in term time. 8pm to 9.30pm at Christchurch Chineham.

2. Book a mobile Beautician to come to your house to give you a massage when your children are asleep in bed (and will hopefully stay there!) or for a manicure, or pedicure

3. Attend a “Mums on a Mission” class. Becky’s Studio has classes throughout the day and you can bring your children along too.

4. Arrange a catch up with some girlie friends for afternoon tea. The Parlour Tea rooms or check here for more Afternoon Tea’s HERE and HERE. Kill two birds with one stone and take your Mum with you instead!

5. Join a dancing class. There are lots of dance schools in North Hampshire. I’m working on a future post with a list of dance schools in the area. (HERE).

6. Have a personal shopper experience. Debenhams in Basingstoke has this service available and you can book a slot online via their website. (I used this service just before I went back to work after maternity leave, as I had no work clothes I could get into and I hate shopping for clothes. A friend came along with me and had our babies with us. The Debenhams team were really helpful and didn’t mind me breastfeeding) . Click HERE for a previous post on creating the perfect capsule wardrobe.

7. Book a blowdry at home. Click HERE for the link to a page on NHM for Mobile Hairdressers

8. Go Ice Skating at Planet Ice. So much fun and lots of exercise without even knowing it!

9. Go out for lunch with some friends. Click HERE for a previous post on reasonably priced restaurants in Basingstoke.

10. See something at the Anvil or Haymarket. There’s nothing quite like going to the theatre.

11. Attend a Burlesque class or Dirty Dancing workshop for lots of giggles.

The Importance of Skin to Skin

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Babies, New Parents, Newborn, Post Natal, Pregnancy, Wellbeing 0 Comment

This weeks theme is “Babies”.

I only picked up on how important skin to skin is when my little one turned a month old. We didn’t have a very easy time with breastfeeding, for several reasons, but it was only when I went to see Lorraine, one of the breastfeeding counselors at North Hampshire Hospital, that it became apparent to me how important skin to skin is. I am eternally grateful to Lorraine for her pearls of wisdom.

I made sure that in the morning I spent as much time as possible skin to skin with my little one. This was fairly easy to do as it was summer time (this was last year, so nowhere near as much rain!) but I can imagine that in winter time it can be quite difficult to do this. My husband also found skin to skin very rewarding and whilst we spent our first few days as a family in hospital, he spent a lot of time with our little one on his chest. The nurses at the hospital were all cool with it as I’m sure they’ve seen it all before!

Even if you aren’t breastfeeding, skin to skin is still very important. Once my little one switched to bottles I had to make a conscious effort to make sure that skin to skin still happened.

My little one is now 17 months old and if I am not dashing to work in the morning I always make sure that the first feed of the day is skin to skin. My little one has always had her milk first thing in the morning so it’s worked out pretty well to be able to do this. I’ve noticed that my little one always needs to touch my skin when I’m holding her now. She puts her hand on the edge of my top or around the back of my neck. It makes my heart sing when she does this and reminds me of when she was really tiny. I’m sure that the skin to skin approach has helped us to bond as I really miss it if we haven’t been able to make time for it.

Whether you agree with skin to skin or not, and based on my experience,  I would really recommend trying to do this as much as possible, especially in the first few months. I can imagine this is really difficult to do with your baby if you have more than one child. Does anyone have any suggestions about to manage this complexity?

If you would like more information about the importance of skin to skin, please check out some of the links below:

http://www.naturalchild.org/guest/jack_newman2.html

http://www.nbci.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=82:the-importance-of-skin-to-skin-contact-&catid=5:information&Itemid=17

http://www.nhs.uk/Planners/breastfeeding/Pages/skin-to-skin-contact.aspx

Local Parks and Open Spaces

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Basingstoke, Exercise, Outings, Picnic's, Walks, Wellbeing 1 Comment

I stumbled across this website whilst I was researching this weeks “things to do” post. As the weather was so fabulous this weekend I was researching things to do outside and this website popped up with a list of Local Parks and Open spaces in Basingstoke.

I learnt of a few new places, such as Beggardwood Park which has a maze and ampitheatre, that I didn’t know about that I’m hoping to be able to investigate when Spring really kicks in. Hope you find useful.

Local Parks and Open Spaces

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