A little rant

I apologise but I need to have a rant!

Being a new parent to a newborn baby is quite a stressful, but amazing, time!!!  You are constantly worrying that you aren't doing things right and feel you are making things up as you go.  Mixed in with that is loving every little moment with your baby.  What doesn't help and adds to that stress is other people, especially other mums.

Do people forget how they felt when they were a new parent?!?

If they took a step back would they have appreciated the things that they happily say or do to you?!?

I am seriously getting fed up of people asking if he sleeps through the night!! NO HE ISN'T!!! HE IS 8 WEEKS OLD!!!!  I would be worried if he was!!  What is with people's obsession with how much sleep you are getting?  Is it to make themselves feel better that they went through the sleepless nights and now some other person is going through it??  I really don't get it, why do they think you want to be reminded that your 6-8 hours sleep is a memory??  Feel free to ask me this question in 4 months time but not at the moment

Another thing that is starting to annoy me is the way people want to compare their child to yours.  Is he doing this, has he done that?  Little Susie was doing this by that moment, little Bobby did that.  That's really nice for you and I am happy for you but every child is different.  Baby M will do things before some children and after others, as long as he is reaching his milestones around the time he should be I'm not bothered.  When I say to people he's got his application for MENSA in the post I get looks which clearly say they don't appreciate my sarcastic comment - do they learn and not ask me again, NO they don't and they questions come up again!  He isn't even at nursery yet, I'm sure when he goes there it'll happen again with nursery mums.

And Breathe!!!!!

I feel much better for getting that off my chest, thank you for reading my rant :)

Child bank accounts - getting the best deal for you

We decided late on the pregnancy that we wanted to open a bank account for Baby M.  We wanted a way that we could save money for things like shoes, etc but also a way that we can save money for his future.  Who's to say whether he will go to university or not but it would be nice to have some money saved up incase he does.  Or to support him in whatever he decides to do with his future.

We decided to have a look around to see what kind of deals are out there.  We used Martin Lewis website at first to see what offers he suggests for child accounts.  We soon discovered that the offers and interest on children accounts were not that great.  Many had interest rates of 0.5% - which is nothing!

Following more research we discovered the Halifax Young savers account.  Whilst the Kid's regular saver account offered the best interest rate fixed at 6.00% you aren't allowed to withdraw any money from the account until you close it - great if you are saving for the future, not so great when we wanted to be able to access the money if Baby M needs anything. 

The Junior ISA was a variable interest rate but currently offered at 6.00% but again you could not make any withdrawals from the account until the child is 18 - again good to consider if you are saving for the future.

The Young Saver account offers interest rate of 3.00% on the first £20,000 then 0.5% after this.  You can also withdraw money unlimited times from the account - brilliant this was exactly what we were looking for.  The account can only be managed in branch, which is fine by us.  Baby M will get his own bank card when he is 7 years old.

There are a lot of different accounts out there and it is best to do your research to find the account that is best for you and what you need it for.

Disclaimer:  This post is not sponsored by Halifax, the views are my own.

Attachment Parenting

There has been some information on Attachment Parenting in the media over the past few days.  Attachment parenting is about building a bond with your baby and responding to their needs in a timely and sensitive way.

It loosely follows the seven Bs:

• Birth bonding
• Breastfeeding
• Baby wearing
• Bed sharing
• Belief in the language of your baby’s cry
• Beware of baby trainers
• Balance

What I didn't realise until I researched this a little more was that you don't have to follow all of the B's and it isn't about being regimented.  It's about finding out what works for you and YOUR baby.  It is about knowing your child.  At the end of the day no-one will know your child better than you and your partner, yes people will try and help and make suggestions but you will know what your child's cry will mean and you need to trust your instincts.  Attachment parenting isn't about ignoring all that "helpful" advice from others either, its about seeking support for yourself when you need it.

We are planning on both having skin to skin contact with bump after the birth.  I am going to try and breast feed but we also want Mr M to have that skin to skin time, we will continue that at home too.  We have also been trying to bond with him prior to birth by speaking to him and rubbing my belly.

Mr M is very keen to babywear, its not that I'm not keen but I have issues with my back and am not sure whether I will be able to babywear.  I am going to give it a try though but I think Mr M will probably do this more than me.

Bed sharing scares me!! I won't lie.  The thought of the baby in bed and I roll onto him is all I can think about when I consider bed sharing.  Our midwife told us that there are ways to safely bed share but I honestly don't think I will be able to sleep if we did this for fear of hurting him.  I have seen bednests which open up at the side so baby is next to you but separate, these really appeal to me but are expensive.

We have already discussed how we are going to deal with bump crying.  Everyone has their own approach but we want to respond to his crying in a timely manner.  I know that people say you are spoiling them but a newborn baby has no idea what manipulation is, if he is crying there will be a reason and we want to respond to that.  As he gets older we will get to know him and his cries.

I am going to seek support whenever I need it, friends and my mum have already been a great help and I know that will continue once bump is born.  I will also be telling people when to back off as well, I am quite strong minded and I also fester on things, I need to be straight but pleasant with people otherwise I can see myself exploding at them if whatever it is continues.

Balance is very important I think.  We have discussed that we are going to try and do this as a team, obviously when Mr M goes back to work I will be on my own but he says he will help when he is back home.  I can't really ask for more than that.  I have also spoken with friends and plan to go to baby groups so I am meeting other people and not going mad within the 4 walls of the house.  I think that baby groups are great for bump too, anything to help stimulate him.

Attachment parenting isn't for everyone but I do like some of their ideas and principles