I think the title of this post says it all really…. I wonder just how long Toby would have kept on in his loop of Twinkle Twinkle if I hadn’t helped him finish the song, eventually. Apologies for the weird hand waving by the way – he was in the middle of lunch and had hummous all over his fingers which apparently was very interesting!
Family
Here you’ll find all the posts that have anything to do with family life – from swimming and reading to days out and cloth nappies.
What Toby Wore // Gray Label salopettes
I’ve already mentioned my new found love of all things Scandi when it comes to clothes for the boys. Well, this week I’m featuring a not quite Scandinavian brand; Gray Label (which is actually Dutch).
I umm’d and ahh’d about these dungarees (or salopettes as Gray Label call them) for a quite a while. Toby hasn’t worn dungarees since he was about 18 months so I wasn’t sure what he’d make of them, and I didn’t know how much of a faff they would be with him still in nappies, or if he’s still wearing them when we finally get round to potty training. Added to that they are quite expensive….but then I just loved them so I decided to go for it.
I do wish they made them in adult sizes though – they look so comfy. There’s certainly plenty of room for Toby’s cloth nappy in that baggy bum! They’re actually really easy to get on and off for nappy changes, there’s just one button at the back for the straps but you don’t even need to undo it to take them off. They should last Toby for a good while too because there are three button holes to adjust the salopettes and he’s got them on the smallest one at the moment.
I’ve just put the salopettes with a white long sleeve vest from Tesco. I’ve found they do look better with a poppered vest because a t-shirt just comes un-tucked really easily. Toby has a few of these vests in age 2-3 but I’m not sure what we’ll do when they don’t fit any more (and of course they aren’t really practical for potty training either).
Toby’s boots are from Bobux. He loves them and can put them on by himself which is fab, and makes my life ever so slightly easier too.
(I don’t know what Toby is doing in this picture but I had to use it – it’s such a great catalogue pose!)
Gray Label is available from a few UK stockists – I got these from The Wee Department Store. I was really tempted to get some for Gabe too but for the amount of time they would fit him for I really couldn’t justify it. I’ll just have to make sure Toby looks after his so we can pass them down eventually. And before that I’ll have to resist buying him more in some of the other colours!
What Toby & Gabe Wore // Hand knitted hoodies
This week’s post features the boys new hoodies, hand-knitted and courtesy of Grandma who came to visit this week. Before Christmas my mum asked if I wanted her to knit anything for the boys – I asked for grey hoodies and she found a pattern. She did start making Gabe’s but then decided it would be too small so pulled it all back…then asked her friend who knits all the time if she would like to make them instead. The sentiment was there though so thanks Mum!
I love the hoodies, they’ve got plenty of growing room in them too so we should be able to wear them for a while. Toby loves his too and he really likes trying to fasten and undo the toggle buttons and he even manages it sometimes!
The hoodies have seen a trip to the little park at the top of our road this week (where Gabe had his first go on a swing too).
Toby loved having his hood up (and I think he looks super cute)
And finally the boys had their first go in a big trolley together this week too! Of course we all know that twinning is winning and I think they look adorable together.
JOHNSON’S 3 step bedtime routine challenge
I’m sure you have all heard of Johnson’s, they are a brand synonymous with babies – I know that the smell of Johnson’s baby lotion will forever remind me of childhood bath times. Well, those clever people at Johnson’s have come up with a clinically proven bedtime routine that can help babies fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. And they’ve challenged me to try it with Gabe and see if it actually works for us.
For the next week I will be following our normal bedtime routine with Gabe and recording some information about it in a special sleep diary. Then next week we will be using some of the products from Johnson’s Bedtime range and following their 3 step bedtime routine. We’ll be recording the same information as for week one in the sleep diary and hopefully we’ll see by the end of the two weeks if the 3 step routine does help Gabe get to sleep more easily and stay asleep longer.
At the moment Gabe’s bedtime routine is quite short and sweet. He only has a bath twice a week so on the days when he’s not having a bath I take him upstairs at about 6 pm, get him changed for bed in Toby’s room, then we sit on our bed while he has his bedtime bottle. Some nights he will fall asleep having his milk but some nights he can take a while to fall asleep, and occasionally he can have a complete meltdown and take ages to calm down and settle. After he has fallen asleep I usually sit with him fairly upright for about half an hour – because of his reflux he can quite easily be sick if I put him down straight away. The transfer to his crib is always a bit tricky and I’m always worried he’s going to wake up. He then tends to sleep until between 4 and 5 am and it will usually be at least an hour if not longer before I can get him back to sleep again.
The Johnson’s 3 step bedtime routine contains, as you would imagine, three easy to follow steps;
- Step 1 – Bath using Johnson’s Bedtime Bath or Wash. Bath time isn’t just about washing, it is also about playing, learning, and giving parents and babies opportunities to connect and bond.
- Step 2 – Massage using Johnson’s Bedtime Oil or Lotion. Massage is great for making babies relaxed and comfortable before bed.
- Step 3 – Quiet time. In the time before bed reading, singing or listening to music can help babies wind down and fall asleep.
I’m eager to try this new routine with Gabe; if it can help us to avoid those bedtime meltdowns or get him to stay asleep for an extra hour in the mornings then I will be a very happy mama! Do check back in a couple of weeks to see how we’ve got on. I’d love to hear about your bedtime routines too – what works for your little ones?
You can read about how we got on with our new bedtime routine here.
**Sponsored blog post by the JOHNSON’S® brand. I have received payment incentive and samples but all opinions are my own. JOHNSON’S® clinically proven bedtime routine consists of bath, massage and quiet time, tested on babies 7 months+, 1 week+ use.
Review: Tickle Tots nappy
I haven’t really mentioned it for a while but I use cloth nappies full time with both Toby and Gabe. Toby started wearing cloth when he was about 7 weeks old and Gabe has been in them since he was just 3 days old. Having used cloth nappies for over two and a half years now we’ve worked out which ones work for us and of course we have our favourites. That doesn’t mean that I don’t like to try out a new nappy every now and again, especially when it’s new to the market. So when the people at Tickle Tots got in touch and asked if we’d like to try one of their nappies I was delighted to say yes.
The Tickle Tots is an all in one nappy, meaning you can put it on as it is without the need for any extra covers or boosters. It has an absorbent core made from four layers of bamboo fleece terry which is part of the nappy. What is quite nifty about this nappy though is that it also has a pocket at the back meaning you can also add a booster if your little one needs extra absorbency, and I like the fact that a booster is included with the nappy. You can also use the pocket to turn the nappy inside out to help it dry more quickly.
This is a birth to potty nappy so it has poppers on the front to adjust the rise, and the velcro closure allows the tabs to be crossed for tiny babies. There are laundry tabs to stop the velcro sticking to other things in the wash and after a few weeks of use on both my boys the velcro seems to be holding up well so far.
Another great feature of the Tickle Tots nappy is its double gusset on the legs – which basically gives extra protection to avoid any leaks. It is especially helpful on smaller babies or those with skinny legs. The nappy also has a stay dry lining (although as we always use fleece liners I haven’t really tested that out).
I’ve been using the Tickle Tots nappy on both Toby and Gabe. Toby, at two and a half and 32lb wears the nappy on the largest rise but because he’s so skinny the velcro is still closed fairly tight. With the booster the nappy lasted about 3 hours on Toby which is about what I would expect. He did manage to leak out of it after a couple of hours on one occasion but then he does tend to do massive toddler wees these days and we can get leaks out of all his nappies sometimes!
Gabe, at six months and about 17lb wears the Tickle Tots nappy on the middle rise. Again, with the booster the nappy lasts about 3 hours which is what I would expect. I haven’t tried the nappy overnight with either boy as we tend to stick to two parters at night time but I think it would need quite a lot of extra boosting if it was going to last all night.
Overall I really like the Tickle Tots nappy. It is very slim fitting, even with the booster which is great. It fits well on both my boys, although I will say it’s not as long as some other nappies and so I’m not sure how much longer Toby would comfortably fit in it. It has lots of great features as I’ve already mentioned.
The only slight negatives for me are to do with the material of the absorbent core and booster. This bamboo terry seems quite dense, which I guess is how it can be so absorbent whilst still being slim fitting, but this means that when it is wet it gets quite rigid and stiff. It also makes adjusting the poppers on the front of the nappy a bit tricky. The nappy is also quite slow to dry – it took almost a day and a half on the airer in our kitchen. It can be tumble dried though and in the dryer takes about the same amount of time as our other bamboo nappies.
These are only minor niggles though and generally I think this is a great nappy, especially perhaps for those who are new to cloth nappies as it is so easy to use. The Tickle Tots nappy has an RRP of £16.99 which is fairly standard for an all in one nappy. They are available direct from Tickle Tots or from a variety of other nappy retailers.
**Disclosure: I was sent the featured product in return for this review. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.
What Toby & Gabe Wore // Slugs & Snails
Tights for boys were another thing I had never really considered until Toby was about six months old. It wasn’t that I had anything against the idea, I just hadn’t really thought about it. Then I heard about Slugs & Snailsand I was hooked! Tights are just so practical – they are comfy, they don’t restrict movement (great for crawling, exploring and running), and for me the best thing is that wearing tights means there are no socks to fall off!
Slugs & Snails is a family run company based in Ireland. Although they are perhaps best known for their ‘tights for boys’ in fact they just sell fabulous unisex tights in a whole host of funky designs. They come in sizes from 0-6 months to 4-5 years and they even sell a few designs in adult sizes (which I haven’t actually succumbed to buying…yet!) They are all made from at least Oeko-Tex® Standard 100 yarns, and in fact most are made from GOTS certified organic cotton and this is being phased in completely.
You can buy these fantastic tights direct from Slugs & Snails or from lots of other stockists.
Anyway, this week I mainly want to show you Toby and Gabe in their matching Slugs & Snails tights. This design is called Brolly and I love it! Toby is wearing age 3-4 and Gabe 0-6 months. Toby’s still got plenty of room left in his but I don’t think Gabe’s will fit for too much longer. They have got plenty of stretch though so they do last for a long time. Toby wore the 12-18 months size from about 8 months until he was probably just past 18 months, and we all know how tall he is because I go on about it often enough! He then moved straight into age 2-3 which still fit him now, apart from his amazing Elf tights (I can’t wait to put Gabe in these next Christmas) which were 18-24 months.
As well as the matching tights that the boys have I thought I’d show you all the other Slugs & Snails that Toby has had (and which will be making an appearance on Gabe’s legs soon no doubt).
He has had some other tights that haven’t been Slugs but they’re nowhere near as much fun as these!
I love this last picture of the boys together. I can just imagine them lying like this, watching TV together or playing some game, in years to come. But for now it’s just cute…and look how long Toby’s legs look!
Gabriel is six months old
Jeezy peeps! Six months old already. I’m sure with Toby it took a lot longer to get to this point but it seems like with Gabe that I blinked and suddenly my tiny newborn baby is sitting in a high chair sucking on a bagel!
This last month has been a bit of a tough one for Gabe; he’s really been suffering with teething (we do now have a tiny corner of tooth poking through so hopefully the rest will follow soon) and he’s had a horrible cold for the last few days including a nasty croupy cough at the weekend. He does seem to be on the mend now at least so fingers crossed he recovers fully soon.
With teething and his cold he has been off his milk a bit too which has probably made him even more grumpy. I had him weighed last week though and he’s still just under the 50th centile for weight at 16lb 15oz. He’s still very long too and has almost grown out of his 6-9 month sleepsuits already!
As well as the hint of a first tooth there have been a couple of other firsts this month too. Gabe has started sitting up by himself, although he’s still pretty wobbly. He’s managing to stay upright for longer and longer every day though and I’m sure he’ll be sitting properly by himself soon enough.
I think when he can sit up a bit better Toby will enjoy interacting with him more too. Gabe can roll both ways as well now but he doesn’t really seem that bothered about doing it very much at the moment!
The other first this month has just been happening in the last few days and that is Gabe’s first food. I remember being very eager to start weaning with Toby but this time I not that excited about the prospect if I’m honest! Gabe hasn’t really shown that much interest in food but we decided to just put him in the high chair, put a few things in front of him and see what happened. Actually, I gave him a bit of bread stick to try last week – he sucked on it and did swallow a bit but threw it back up a few minutes later so I wasn’t entirely sure how things were going to go.
Yesterday Toby was having a cinnamon raisin bagel for lunch so I gave Gabe a bit to try. Probably not top of the list of first weaning foods but it’s much easier to just give Gabe whatever Toby is having! I also gave him a little bit of melon too. He certainly got the idea of what he was supposed to do with it much quicker than Toby did. It was weeks before Toby would pick anything up and put it in his mouth by himself but within a few minutes Gabe was giving that bagel a good old suck! I’m not sure how much of it he ate (if any) but there seemed to be less by the end than what he started with. He had a good go on the melon too, and today tried some toast, a bit more melon and some cucumber.
I’m sure with Gabe we’ll end up following the same combination of baby led weaning and spoon feeding. Toby never had purée, he always just ate what we did but if it was something messy that needed a spoon then I would feed him. Perhaps Gabe will have other ideas about spoon feeding but that’s the general plan anyway.
Speaking of feeding, Gabe is still having Gaviscon in his milk and ranitidine for his reflux. I actually thought last month that he was getting a lot better but then teething and a cold seems to have brought his symptoms back with a vengeance. He isn’t sick as much now although we still have the odd day with lots of sick but he was definitely showing symptoms of more silent reflux in the last few weeks. He’s had his ranitidine dose increased now and that seems to be keeping things under control again for the moment.
As I mentioned earlier Gabe has had a cold for the last week or so too. I actually ended up taking him to the out of hours GP at the weekend because he was so congested and seemed to be struggling for breath. He had what sounded like croup but the doctor gave him a good check over and decided he didn’t need any treatment, and thankfully we only had one really sleepless night and he’s been getting slowly better since.
And talking of sleepless nights – on the whole Gabe sleeps really well at night. He usually goes to bed about 6:30 pm and sleeps until some time between 4 and 5 am. Sometimes he wakes a bit earlier but I can usually get him back to sleep again by putting his dummy back in and giving him a rub on the back – this is one reason I’m glad he still sleeps in his co-sleeper crib next to me in our room! I do wish he could just manage another hour in bed – getting up at 6 doesn’t seem anywhere near as bad as getting up at 5! It wouldn’t be too bad if he went back to sleep again. Sometimes he does and I manage to get back to bed for a bit but fairly regularly Gabe is just falling back to sleep when Toby is getting up. Naps are still a bit hit and miss – the really bad teething week did mess up his naps a lot but thankfully we seem to be back to a decent morning nap of an hour and a half to two hours which he has in bed unless we’re out in which case he’ll sleep in the car or the buggy. Afternoon naps are a bit more haphazard and tend to happen in the car more often than not. I’m hoping we might crack an afternoon nap at home at some point – Toby is at nursery four afternoons a week so if Gabe would have a decent nap at home I might actually manage to get some things done around the house!
Anyway I think that’s probably about it for this month – I can’t wait to see what the next month brings..
The first 1,000 days // The importance of the right nutrition from conception to two years old
Did you know that the first 1,000 days of your child’s life, from conception to two years old, are some of the most significant in terms of their growth and development? Making sure that your baby or toddler is getting the right nutrition is something we have all worried about. I know I have! SMA Nutrition has teamed up with medic and weekly health columnist Dr Ellie Cannon to help parents further understand how important the protein levels and nutrition for your baby is during this time.
If your pregnancy is planned then the chances are that from the moment you conceive you will start thinking about what you are eating (or more likely what you can’t eat – no more runny egg yolks!) and how that might be affecting your growing baby. I took pregnancy vitamins and folic acid, and tried to make sure I ate well during both my pregnancies – although there were probably rather more biscuits in my diet than is strictly healthy!
And then once your baby has arrived, feeding them becomes one of the most important (and sometimes stressful) things in your life. I think most of us probably know that breastmilk is the best thing for our babies. It contains just the right amount of protein along with all the micronutrients that your baby needs to avoid any deficiencies in early life. What is unique about breastmilk is that the protein level changes as your baby grows. It always provides the right quality and quantity of protein to ensure your baby grows at a steady and appropriate rate, which can actually help to stop them becoming overweight later in life. You can read more about the protein in milk and its importance on the SMA nutrition website.
Knowing all of that, I really wanted to breastfeed both my babies. As a lot of you mamas know though, breastfeeding isn’t always easy. I really struggled with Toby due to a combination of things, and you can read all about our breastfeeding experience here. I was proud that I at least managed to partly breastfeed for six weeks, but in the end, particularly with Toby’s reflux, it turned out that bottle feeding was the best option for us.
With Gabe, breastfeeding was more successful, and I breastfed him for 10 weeks. Unfortunately, due to a combination of circumstances, including reflux again, we have ended up bottle feeding Gabe too. Although I know that exclusively breastfeeding for the first six months would have provided both my boys with the best possible nutrition, like a lot of women it just didn’t happen for us and I’m happy that formula exists and can provide my boys with the nutrition that they need.
Of course, after the first six months you’ve then got weaning to think about! We’ve just started weaning with Gabe and he seems to be enjoying his first solid food. I can’t believe he’s six months already though, the time has absolutely flown by!
We’re planning on following the same route we did with Toby, which was a mixture of finger foods and spoon feeding. That was mostly because I couldn’t cope with the extreme mess of pure baby-led weaning! We never gave Toby any purées though, he just had a little bit of what we were having, which made sure he was getting all the different food groups.
From weaning until he was nearly two Toby was a fantastic eater and would eat anything we put in front of him. As a toddler he has become more fussy, but I think that is as much about asserting his independence as anything else! I think his fussiness definitely increased when he started talking and could tell us ‘Toby doesn’t like it,’ which we hear quite regularly! On the whole though he still has a fairly varied and balanced diet, it’s just very frustrating for me when something that he loves one day is completely rejected the next! I hope Gabe doesn’t pick up on his brother’s picky eating habits. Even though we are already past the first 1,000 days of Toby’s life I know how important it is to keep providing him with appropriate nutrition as it is so vital for his healthy growth and development.
There is an awful lot of information out there about baby and toddler nutrition but I know sometimes it’s hard to find out what you really want to know. Everyone seems to have different advice, and this is one area where speaking to friends and relatives doesn’t always get you appropriate information, as the guidelines and recommendations have changed quite a lot over the last few decades. When I was a baby I was started on solids at just 10 weeks old. That’s completely unimaginable now but was the norm at the time!
If you have a question, something you would like to know about protein and nutrition during pregnancy or in the first two years of your child’s life, then leave me a comment below. Some of these questions will be answered by Dr Ellie Cannon and I’ll be publishing the answers in another post in a few weeks time.
Update: You can read the Q & A with Dr Ellie Cannon here.
*This post is in association with SMA nutrition
What Gabe Wore // Lilly + Sid
This week Gabe is wearing an outfit from British brand Lilly + Sid. This set was a Christmas present from his Grandma and today was the first time he has worn it. It’s 6-12 months so there’s a bit of rolling up of legs and sleeves going on but at least that means it should fit him for a while!
This Baby Bear sweat set combines some of my favourite things – namely stars and bear ears! It is made from lovely soft cotton and seems really comfy for Gabe too.
Gabe has had a few things from Lilly + Sid and we’ve always had great customer service from them. It’s one of the reasons I much prefer buying from small, independent shops these days.
And look – Gabe even managed to sit up for long enough for me to take a picture today too!
What Toby Wore // The Princess and the Frock
Here we are for another instalment of What Toby Wore. You might have been slightly surprised by the title that Toby is wearing clothes from a company called The Princess and the Frock but this lovely company not only make fabulous dresses they also make some very funky leggings too.
I think Toby was about 10 months old when I realised that even though he was a boy I could still dress him in leggings. They are super comfy for him, and perfect for active babies and toddlers. There are so many awesome designs out there too. Having said that even I wasn’t sure if these pink flamingo leggings were a step too far but I loved them. And I reckon Toby totally rocks them! He’s wearing them with a t-shirt and long sleeve vest both from Marks & Spencer.
The boys also have some matching red star leggings from The Princess and the Frock, and I loved them so much I’ve just bought Gabe the next size up when he grew out of the 0-6 month ones. I’ll try and get a picture of them both together to share soon.