Sleeping Tips for Children

Now that the clocks have been set back, it is a great time to focus on your child’s sleeping habits.

We all know how important a good night’s sleep is especially to growing children; quality sleep can help children to better focus on learning new skills and maintaining a stable mood.

Sleep experts suggest that primary school aged children should get 10 to 11 hours of sleep each night. According to a new study, twenty-seven minutes is how much extra sleep children this age need per night to be brighter and more productive the following day.1 Experts also say that pre-school aged children should sleep about 11 to 13 hours a night.

With help from BootsWebMD.com, you can find out more about helping your kids wake up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed the next day. Try some of these methods which may help you to look forward to silent nights this winter:

·         A good sleeping environment - Ideally the bedroom should be dark, quiet, comfortable and tidy to encourage relaxation.
·         Get the temperature right - Did you know there is an ideal temperature to encourage sleep? This should be neither too hot nor too cold – between 18 and 24°C is about right.
·         No more naps - Napping during the day may create difficulty in night-time sleeping.
·         Start the bedtime routine earlier – Telling young kids that bedtime is earlier is a hard sell so start getting them ready around 30 minutes earlier. This includes brushing teeth and reading a book to or with your child.
·         Identify and address key stressors - For example, additional homework, problems with friends, or a move to a new house or school, can all cause night-time anxiety.
·         Keep a sleep diary – If you are worried about your child’s sleep, starting a sleep diary can help you keep track of any challenges and will also help your GP should you seek medical advice.

You can also find a children’s sleep disorder guide, sleep slide shows and useful facts and information on healthy sleeping and developing positive bedtime routines on BootsWebMD.com.

Mother Instinct - Elephant Giving Birth

The video below is amazing, it shows real mothering instinct. The elephant mummy has a baby but when the baby drops on the floor and the sack bursts he is not breathing yet.

It is truly amazing what the mother does.

Please watch this video first before showing it to young children as it does contain graphic images of an elephant giving birth.

It is massively educational and I did watch this with my 7 and 4 year old but it is for you as a parent to decide if your children are old enough to watch it!



On another note, I can't believe people actually murder these beautiful animals for their tusks, they are clearly very smart and certainly smarter than some humans!

M x

Got teenage kids? Show them this...

We all know how much kids obsess over their looks, some girls actually go on to have serious health problems such as anorexia and boys have unrealistic expectations and that can lead to bullying and other demeaning behaviour towards girls.

The majority of victims here are girls BUT more and more boys suffer too.

The media presents unattainable images of models and actors but refrains from mentioning that they have been airbrushed, elongated, tucked in and even plumped up!

So yes, do promote healthy eating and exercise to your kids and teenagers... but do show them this so they can see what REALLY happens behind those photos of 'perfect' models.

Like this they can see what is natural & healthy VS so called perfect & fake!

M x

The 'Beauty' of Photoshop...

DON'T LEAVE YOUR CHILD ALONE IN THE CAR

Recently I saw a campaign that RSPCA did about leaving dogs in the car in this heat, well, I was gob smacked when I saw this and the statistics behind it.

It's terrible, I don't know how anybody could do this with their right mind, let alone a mother...

Please share and raise awareness.



Monica x

Dear 16-year-old Me

FOR TOOLS & INFORMATION: http://dcmf.ca/tools

Melanoma destroys lives, make sure you know how to check yourself and take care.

M x

Top Baby Names for 2011

Babatude Baby Clothing - available at www.myfunnybunny.com

BABY GIRL NAMES 2011

1    OLIVIA
2    LILY
3    SOPHIE
4    AMELIA
5    EMILY
6    JESSICA
7    GRACE
8    AVA
9    RUBY
10    MIA
11    CHLOE
12    EVIE
13    ISABELLA
14    SOPHIA
15    POPPY
16    ISLA
17    ELLA
18    LUCY
19    FREYA
20    DAISY
21    MAISIE
22    LILLY
23    ISABELLE
24    CHARLOTTE
25    ELLIE
26    SUMMER
27    MEGAN
28    HOLLY
29    LAYLA
30    EVA
31    ERIN
32    MILLIE
33    LOLA
34    PHOEBE
35    LEXI
36    LACEY
37    IMOGEN
38    SCARLETT
39    SIENNA
40    EMMA
41    MOLLY
42    HANNAH
43    ALICE
44    AMY
45    BROOKE
46    KATIE
47    ABIGAIL
48    LEAH
49    JASMINE
50    GRACIE
51    AMBER
52    ROSIE
53    SOFIA
54    MATILDA
55    FLORENCE
56    ELIZABETH
57    FAITH
58    AMELIE
59    GEORGIA
60    ANNA
61    MAYA
62    MADISON
63    JULIA
64    REBECCA
65    BETHANY
66    PAIGE
67    MADDISON
68    NIAMH
69    KAYLA
70    ISABEL
71    BELLA
72    ESME
73    ISOBEL
74    LEXIE
75    LAUREN
76    CAITLIN
77    WILLOW
78    ZOE
79    SKYE
80    ROSE
81    ZARA
82    KEIRA
83    ELEANOR
84    ELIZA
85    EMILIA
86    MARTHA
87    HOLLIE
88    EVELYN
89    HEIDI
90    TILLY
91    DARCY
92    EVE
93    NICOLE
94    ELSIE
95    SARAH
96    LIBBY
97    HARRIET
98    ABBIE
99    MAISY
100    MYA


BABY BOY NAMES 2011

1    HARRY
2    JACK
3    OLIVER
4    CHARLIE
5    ALFIE
6    JACOB
7    THOMAS
8    JAMES
9    RILEY
10    ETHAN
11    JOSHUA
12    WILLIAM
13    GEORGE
14    MAX
15    DANIEL
16    NOAH
17    OSCAR
18    LOGAN
19    ARCHIE
20    DYLAN
21    LUCAS
22    JAKE
23    SAMUEL
24    JOSEPH
25    TYLER
26    JAYDEN
27    LEO
28    LEWIS
29    RYAN
30    MASON
31    FINLEY
32    HENRY
33    ALEXANDER
34    ADAM
35    HARRISON
36    FREDDIE
37    BENJAMIN
38    CALLUM
39    LIAM
40    LUKE
41    ISAAC
42    MATTHEW
43    JAMIE
44    CONNOR
45    ALEX
46    THEO
47    NATHAN
48    KAI
49    EDWARD
50    TOBY
51    HARVEY
52    HARLEY
53    AIDEN
54    BEN
55    FINLAY
56    MICHAEL
57    AARON
58    OLLIE
59    CAMERON
60    SAM
61    DAVID
62    ZACHARY
63    LEON
64    OWEN
65    SEBASTIAN
66    TOMMY
67    RHYS
68    BOBBY
69    JENSON
70    KYLE
71    LOUIS
72    KAYDEN
73    LUCA
74    EVAN
75    JACKSON
76    BLAKE
77    KIAN
78    CALEB
79    DEXTER
80    LOUIE
81    JUDE
82    ZAC
83    TAYLOR
84    REECE
85    RORY
86    ASHTON
87    HAYDEN
88    FRANKIE
89    ARTHUR
90    BAILEY
91    GABRIEL
92    STANLEY
93    CODY
94    ELLIOT
95    JAY
96    BILLY
97    JOHN
98    AIDAN
99    COREY
100    JOEL

Kindly provided by www.Bounty.com, home of the Bounty Parenting Club :)

Extra £22k needed for FSID & GOSH!

The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths, FSID funds research into sudden infant death syndrome and recently took part in The Big Give, a charitable event in which nominated charities were able to have all funds raised in a one week period, matched by The Big Give donors.

This year, FSID are requesting donations towards a ground-breaking research project to be carried out by a specialist team at Great Ormond Street Hospital, studying the causes of cot deaths.

During The Big Give week, a staggering £40,000 was generously donated and this has been doubled to £80,000. Despite this, another £44,000 is still needed to fund this piece of vital research.

To ensure the research can go ahead, The Gro Company has stepped forward and pledged to match up to £22,000 worth of donations made to FSID via their website, www.fsid.org.uk. If this extra £44,000 is raised, the vital research into investigating the causes of sudden infant death can go ahead.

Each year in the UK, 300 families are left without a reason for the sudden and unexpected death of their baby. Professor Sebire and his team at Great Ormond Street Hospital will use a new lab technique known as proteomics to see if infection may actually be a cause of some deaths. It has already been established that bacteria play a part in cot death but they are also found in babies who died of other causes.

The team will look at changes in the pattern of proteins found in tissue samples, which could identify those babies who did die as the result of infection. If they are successful, then it would be possible to develop a cheap and fast post-mortem test so that more families can have the answer to why their baby died. It would also suggest a genetic susceptibility in those babies that die as a result of infection.

To donate, please go to www.fsid.org.uk and help FSID fund research in to cot death.

Thank you for reading, hope you can help and have a fantastic Christmas!

M xx

Say 'Thank You' to your midwife

Some of us had midwives that were a pain in the bottom, some of us were hacked like we were a cow in the butchers and weren't so lucky (I personally know at least one lady, that was treated like that!) and don't really give a rat's ** about the midwife that took part in our birth and would slap her if we ever saw her again.

Hopefully majority of us had a nice midwife, I hope, that treated us with respect and care.

Image Courtesy of NHS

The midwife that assisted in my daughters birth, just over 2 years ago was one of those.
She respected my wishes and almost didn't touch me and my daughter on my hospital water birth, with very little intervention, many kind words and encouragement, I gave birth to my daughter myself with the midwife only assisting the baby after she was born and I had a chance to hold her for a few minutes... I took my daughter out of the water and held her close to my body and it was the best feeling in the world.

It was thanks to my midwife that day that the room was quiet with only ambient music, and my birth was a pleasant (it did hurt like hell but I prefer not to concentrate on that!) experience.

Nothing like my boys birth (my first) which was a right nightmare. I actually feel rubbish that I didn't do more for my midwife, other than say thank you on that day. I sadly can't even remember her name, to do something now.

But if you gave birth recently and remember your midwife's name or simply don't have a mushy brain like me... you could still do something nice for your midwife!!

Send her a nice gift or perhaps nominate her for an award? Or both?

The Royal College of Midwives are holding their Annual Midwifery Awards 2012 and you can nominate your midwife over at https://m.johnsonsbaby.co.uk/midwife-of-the-year.php, closing date is 26 September 2011.

Was your midwife lovely or a terror? Would you hug her or bash* her?

Monica xx

*Bashing not actually endorsed, please don't bash anyone as this generally lands people in prison!

First Time Mum... Again!!

When Taylor arrived I was convinced I knew what i was doing. After all, it had all been done before hadn’t it? Kieran is nearly five so we’d done all the firsts, weaning, toilet training, the lot. Second time should be a piece of cake right? 

Luckily for me it has been so far. Taylor is a very laid back and contented baby. This is fortunate, because while he is laid back, when it comes to his wellbeing, I am not! I’d forgotten, or subconsciously tucked away the apprehension that comes with introducing a new life into the world. Am I doing it right? It worked with Kieran, maybe it won’t with Taylor? Did Kieran do that? I’m sure he was rolling over by now..... Yes, guilty as charged, I’ve been being a comparer. It’s lethal, and there is absolutely no point to it either as no two children are ever the same.

So now I’ve stopped, I don’t compare progress between the two, I just worry about Taylor in his own right. I’m a fairly laid back parent in most ways, but I don’t think it matters whether you have one child or six, you are always going to worry, always be on the lookout for small signs that all is not well, and never more than you will when they are very little & unable to tell you if things are as they should be!

I’m more confident in all the stages I’ve encountered before, I do things automatically, it’s a practiced art, but to be honest – the only significant difference between myself now and myself as a mum to a new baby nearly five years ago..? I read less books about parenting now, I just get on with it!

Are we all the same? Or am I just getting soft? Have you found that you worry less with child 2+ or like me, are you still in constant watch mode?

Nicki

My 4 year old has to earn his treats

Kieran putting the eggs away

What a mean Mummy! Kieran has a star chart and he knows that he has certain things that are his responsibilities throughout the day and that if he achieves these, and is well behaved, he will get a sticker. It used to be that when he got all the stickers, he could get a treat ie a 90p car from Tesco but now he gets cash. He asked if he could have some pennies instead of a car or small toy so he could save his pennies and buy something BIG! I was overjoyed when he approached me with this, clearly we’ve done something right!

The sorts of jobs he does are simple mostly, he makes his own bed and opens his curtains, helps make his own packed lunch, puts his uniform in the washing machine after school, does some tidying etc and any little jobs that I want him to do. Nothing too strenuous, but he is taking on responsibility for looking after his own things / room and is encouraged to help others.

I’m all for letting kids be kids but I don’t see anything wrong in this. Kieran is growing into a helpful & well-mannered boy who is keen to save up for the things he would like and hasn’t got that “I want/I need / I MUST have” attitude that I see so often nowadays (in both children AND adults to be honest!). I really don’t think wanting to “work” for what you get is a bad thing at any age.

What do you think? Am I pushing him to grow / mature too quickly?

*Incidentally – he is currently playing with his Lego vehicles which he made with the big box of Lego wheels we ordered from Amazon after he gave me £8 that he had saved up to pay for them.

Nicki x

Weaning, what age and method?!

As a first time mum, you don’t ever know when the right time is to do things. Each baby is different and each parent believes things should be done at different times. So when it comes to weaning, when is the best time?

The government are now saying nothing until 6 months, yet all the packaging in the supermarkets sells food in from 4 months plus and if your baby needs bulking out, you can feed it baby rice earlier. Also, I had read up on baby led weaning, which is giving your baby solids, and basically what you eat from 6 months, without giving them pureed foods.

I had planned to do the baby led weaning route and had been told you can give them food slightly before 6 months (which my daughter is) and when she grabbed out for my food, I knew that she was ready, but it is scary to do, especially during the day when I’m ion my own as they do gag on the food sometimes and I’m worried she will choke and I won’t know what to do. So, being a bit of a cop out I went and got some pureed food and mushed up some rusks which she absolutely loved and gobbled a plate full straight away.

I’m going to introduce a bit more solid food, like pasta and rice and potato, all the things that can’t completely break off and choke her but she will be tasting more things and not having everything mushed up for her. So, tonight she will try a bit of fish pie and see how she gets on!

Has anyone else been frightened by the baby led weaning or not sure when to introduce things? I’d love to hear other people’s stories about what worked best for them and at what age.

Emily x
Image: federico stevanin / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Use it or Lose it!

Do you use your local library? When was the last time you visited? Do you realise it’s FREE!

Recently North Yorkshire County Council announced plans to chop library services across the county, to save money basically. I was horrified. We use the library regularly and a swift email to my local MP thankfully confirmed that our library wasn’t one up for the chop. Phew! It got me to thinking though. Our local services, which many of us take for granted, are not bullet-proof and could just as easy be taken away if we don’t utilie them!

I am an avid reader, as is Roy and I regularly borrow books to enjoy in those stolen moments of peace and quiet (if you are a parent, you know what I mean!). it is important to me that Kieran, who is 4yrs also has the opportunity to enjoy books. They open so many doors, to so many world, and help him with his reading, build his experience and knowledge and indulge his imagination. If the local library was taken away we would be bereft. Do you know what one book costs – I had a quick gander in WHSmith the other day £7.99 for an adult paperback, £8.99 for a hardback kids book (with 12 pages, 12!). Bereft and skint!

Libraries are not the quiet and solemn places they once were, there is no stern librarian glaring and hissing “shhhh!” at regular intervals. Ours has a large children’s area with low tables and chairs, beanbags, and a few toys. Children are actively encouraged to visit and they run regular storytelling sessions. We have book crawl where you collect stickers and stamps for continuing to visit and take out books. Kieran LOVES visiting! The staff are friendly, more than happy to answer his 30,000 questions and he would really miss not going. We can even rent DVDs from there (think poor weather and half-term bribery) for just £2 a week.

With the exception of DVDs you can access your library account online (yes seriously!) and renew your books up to three times so there is no excuse to run up fines or anything like that, It really is an invaluable service and one I will continue to use and support.

So if you haven’t visited recently, do pop in, make sure you use the library else you might find that when you do, it’s no longer there!

 Niki x

Formula vs Boob

I started off breast feeding my daughter and having thought it would be weird and I wouldn’t like it, I found it to be very natural and, to me, it was the best start in life I could give her.

After having enough milk to feed 10 babies at the start, my milk supply dwindled and I had to introduce formula to one feed a day, this then increased to two feeds and kept increasing until I was only breast feeding her on a morning. Then I became really ill with a tooth abscess which meant I was on really strong antibiotics and for a couple of weeks had family round to look after the baby as I kept getting severe migraines and couldn’t see, let alone look after a child. Thankfully, they went away, but after not being able to feed her on a morning my milk supply had completely gone.

By this point my daughter was over 3 months and had had all the goodness I could possibly give her, she was growing well and was in a great feeding routine and a fantastic sleep pattern so it didn’t seem to be bothering her one little bit.

I wish I had been able to feed her for longer, but I’m not ever going to beat myself up about it, because I know I have done the best for her and the best for me. I have got friends who have been miserable because they have a low milk supply and can’t feed their baby every feed and I have friends who have combated everything in a bid to breast feed for a full 6 months, whether they have to top them up with formula or not and I have friends who express and do bottle and boob. What I have learnt is that if you’re happy and the baby is happy, then do what your instincts tell you to do, never feel like you have let yourself or anyone else down and go with your gut feelings.

My daughter is the happiest little thing, she loves her bottle, she can even hold it herself now and her eyes light up when she sees it coming towards her, she is being weaned and her weight is fantastic, plus I am happier that she is actually getting food and not having a boob stuck in her face that can’t give her anything.

With my next child I will do exactly the same thing, I will breast feed for as long as I can and do what is best for that baby, not what was best for my daughter. Looking at the other girls in our NCT group, I have realised that each baby is so different, they do different things at different times and they all have their own personalities and above all, a happy mummy makes a happy baby.
Emily x
Image: Lavoview / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How did THAT happen?

In November last year I had this:

Now, four and a half months later, Ihave this:

A joke clearly? How can he have gonefrom  this small to ------- THIS BIG----------- in such a smallamount of time! And he has changed so much! His personality is reallybeginning to shine through now (he is a real giggle-pot and I have nodoubt will be a real monkey). What I realised the other day is that Ihave (fortunately) hundreds of photo of Taylor which document thischange. Unfortunately they are all digital. The only place I have him“up” is as part of a collage I did with Photobox recently.

Time to get my finger out I think andget some printed up. My printer has had it and the price of ink &photographic paper frightens the life out of me so I am going downthe “someone else can do it for me route”. I’m looking now atSnapfish, Photobox and the like to help me get my son’s firstmonths printed up and properly “documented”. Did you know thatwhen you sign up for many of these free photo developing sites youget 40-50 prints for free? They are only bog standard sizes but wellworth it!!

That is my mission for the next fewweeks – getting my photos organised, which I suspect will be amammoth task, as it’s not just the ones of Taylor but also ofKieran. I am constantly snapping him with something he has made or ina costume for school etc.

How do you all manage your pics andwhere do you store them? I’m tinkering with the idea of Flickr tohouse them unless anyone knows of anything better. Any ideas will beMUCH appreciated!! I should know how fast it goes, after all, I’vedone this before, but I don’t think any of us are prepared for howquickly our babies change and grow!

Niki x

Longing for a room she can call her own

Currently, me and my partner live in a 2 bed flat with our nearly 6 month old little girl and my 16 year old stepson. Those of you who are good at maths will have worked out that the people out number the amount of rooms available!
We put the house on the market in October, just before my daughter was born, in the hope we would have sold and be out in around 6 months. Everything was going according to plan, until our buyer decided to pull out at the last minute. She had got nervous as she was a first time buyer and wasn’t from this country originally, so everything was different and she felt too far from home. This left us in a very tricky situation as we had fallen in love with our dream house.
We may still be able to buy the house of our dreams – which incidentally, to everyone else is a bog standard house on a bog standard estate in reach of nice schools, but to us, it has potential and is somewhere we can see us staying for the rest of our days, but my main disappointment when we lost our buyer was that I couldn’t do a nursery for my little girl.

I realise this is more for me than her, as she doesn’t give a hoot where she sleeps at the moment and having her own room is not on her list of priorities, but it’s high on mine. I feel a bit cheated that I wasn’t able to do it before she was born, and now that I have got my hopes up of a new house and, in my mind, have decorated it, I want to give my daughter a space of her own, I want to put up her big cot instead of the travel cot she’s using now, I want to put up the bunting with her name on that my friend made for her, I want to put the wardrobe that was her great grandfathers but is now a shabby chic wardrobe fit for a princess and the toy box that sits and waits and my parents house that my great grandfather made. It’s all there it just needs a room to put it in and I am getting more impatient by the day to put it all together.

I know it might sound silly, but this is the one thing that in my dreams I wanted to do, I wanted to be the mum who had the nursery all ready, with a chair in the corner where I would feed her during the night but I guess I’ll just have to wait for my dream and it will be in a bit of a topsy turvy order but one day she will have a room to call her own.

Has anyone else had a dream for them or their child that hasn’t quite gone according to plan?

 Emily x
Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

My First "Real" Mothers Day Card

Today is Mothers Day, mothers everywhere are getting treated to a sleep in, a day off the house chores and work, etc.

I am a mother of two and today I am not getting a day off, its work for me, looking after the kids too as normal and if I am lucky I will get to see my mum later on.

But today is still an amazing day for me because I received my first ever 'real' Mothers Day card from my oldest son which turns 5 this month.

Sure I have gotten cards all the previous years but they were bought in a shop by my husband who wrote some nice stuff in it and got the kids to scribble on it, still nice but this one is super special.

My son actually made this one, he painted a butterfly with his fingers, glued it on a card and wrote "To Mum, Love S... xxx", it took a lot of effort and its beautiful.

I'm going to keep it forever and it's made my day and my heart warm.

Can't wait to get my first 'real' Mothers Day card from my BooBoo, but seeing as she is only going to turn two in a couple of months, I have quite a wait, you know learning to write and all!

Have you gotten your first 'real' Mother's Day card yet?

Monica xx

Do I HAVE to have another baby?

It seems as if every day someone looks at Taylor, pinches his cheek, coo’s and says “So, when are you having another one?”. They then address my four month old baby and say “I bet you’d love a sister wouldn’t you!”. Yes, it would appear that I have committed the cardinal parenting sin – I have had two boys, we don’t have a girl to even things up. Clearly I should throw away my contraceptives immediately and work on (for want of a better phrase!) conceiving a girl.

Now the problem with this is... I’m not sure I want any more babies! Don’t get me wrong, I love my boys and I know full well how blooming lucky I am to have them! I have fertility “issues” and struggle to get pregnant, it took three and a half years of “trying” to conceive both of them. We were told we might not ever manage to have kids naturally (I have PCOS and ovulate approximately once every six months or so – needle in a haystack trying to pin those lucky three days down), so to be honest I think we’ve done pretty well all things considered!

And I love boys! That isn’t to say I wouldn’t have been just as thrilled if either or both had been a girl, but boys are great! You get what is on the tin- mischief, mud, mess but also a lot of affection! I really don’t think I NEED a girl to complete me or my family, I wonder why other people think that?

Do people who have all girls get the same? Are they almost urged to go out and have a boy?

I think your family is complete when it’s complete. Right now we are perfectly content. We have two happy and healthy *touch wood*, little men, who absolutely adore each other, and I imagine will be the best of friends, when not killing each other over stolen toys / computers / girlfriends as they grow. I can’t see me having another child, and that doesn’t really bother me, although I’m sure I’ll get twinges when Taylor goes off to pre-school, but regardless – we would never try for another child on the chance it “may be a girl this time”.

I would love to say to someone, just once “Well we got pregnant again, after your insistence that we needed a girl, and we’ve just found out it’s another BOY! Gee thanks!”. Wicked aren’t I!?

Just a random mini-rant. I have to wonder if subconsciously some of us are still programmed into the “perfect picture” of Mum, Dad, Boy & Girl. That is not a “normal” family in my opinion, each to their own – I’m one of SIX siblings (three boys, three girls lol), but that is a post for another day.

Is it just something people say then, or is there more meaning to “you need to have a *insert sex* now”? Hmm, curious!

Nicki

Work Life Balance...

As my daughter (now 5 months) gets bigger and more interested in things and demands more attention I am feeling ever more guilty that I am not spending as much quality time with her as I would like to.

But as I sit doing my work and take time out to go see the other mums from my NCT group, I realise that when they go back to work shortly, I will still be with my baby and see her all day, everyday – so should I feel guilty?

I try and spend as much time as possible and entertain her and she is such a good little girl who plays and laughs (mainly at me) and doesn’t seem to be missing out on anything, but it is so hard to try and get the balance right throughout the day, spending enough time on work and enough time on the children.

So, what does everyone think is right? Should I take an hour out of each day to go for a walk? Should I take 2 hours out, and have activity time? What is the right thing to do? And, would I feel like this if I spent 6 months to a year with my baby, then went back to work? Probably not, I would put her in nursery and spend evenings and weekends with her, so am I being too harsh on myself?

Comments and advise please? Do any of you struggle to get the work, life balance right as self-employed mums?

Emily x

You know you are a mother when...

..."Your mascara is smeared over the sofa :-(" @EO_NYROrganic

..."You go in your handbag to get your purse and find a half eaten gingerbread man and a pack of baby wipes" @Dawnie_Brown

..."You have a handbag full of raisins" @zooarchaelogis

..."You find a crayon in your make up bag! (happened to me today!)" My Funny Bunny


..."You dig around in your handbag and get a handful of crumbs :0" N. Mcarthur


..."Your once tidy and clean house now resembles a quagmire!" E. Newman


..."You can't keep clothes clean for more than 5 minutes without a mucky hand or snotty nose ending up all over it but you still wear it all day!" C. Carlin


..."The last book you read was about purée." L. Benn


..."You have never seen a fifty pound note" Y Redbourn


..."You take your car for an MOT with a tractor sticker stuck to your left breast" L. Shonfeld


..."You take a 30 min biz call in a changing room whilst BF'ing a baby in the dark (lack of movement sensor kicked in)" @bwebsites


..."Your hairdresser finds bogies in your hair :(" @saralotay


Collaboration of some of our fab followers on twitter and fans on facebook! Thanks for your help :)

Parenting is a lot of hard work and a lot of fun too... you just have to look at the funny and bright side of things!


What is your favourite quote from above or have you got one of your own that you would like to share with the rest of us?


Monica x

Top 10 tips for a better nights sleep

Did you know that more than 10 million people in the UK suffer from insomnia*? That’s almost a fifth of the country’s population...and I bet all of those are parents!

Last week I didn't have such a great time sleeping so my husband kindly offered to give me a nice massage and who am I to say no to a no strings attached massage?? Nobody that is who!!

My dear husband has a broken toe so for his comfort he gave me a back massage while we were both laying on the bed which meant I had to switch sides to get both my shoulders massaged. This resulted in me falling asleep on his pillow and I had a lovely night's sleep!

In the morning I figured that our pillows had been switched since we had changed the bed, so my problem all along was that I had the wrong pillow, something as simple as that!

Monica x

If you are having trouble sleeping you can can try these top 10 tips to getting a better nights sleep:

1. Always get up at the same time - even at the weekend.
It might seem like you need a lie in to make up for the sleep you haven’t got, but to break a cycle of sleeping problems you need to train your body into a good sleeping pattern.

2. Avoid catnaps during the day. It’ll only make it harder to get into good sleeping habits.

3. Replace caffeine and alcohol with hot milky drinks. Alcohol won’t help you sleep properly. If you are having trouble cutting out caffeine, set yourself a time in the day past which you don’t have it.

4. Unwind with a hot bath and lavender bubbles. Both will aid sleep by helping you feel more relaxed.

5. Exercise during the day. Exercising at night will actually make you more awake and you’ll find it harder to get to sleep.

6. Get to bed at the same time every night. It’ll help your body prepare itself for sleep.

7. Make your bedroom a shrine to sleep. No TV, no reading.

8. Alleviate your worries. Try writing them down before you go to bed.

9. Invest in a decent bed. You spend a third of your life in it!

10. Don’t lie there frustrated. If you can’t sleep, get up and do something for a while.

If you are one of the many people who suffer from sporadic or regular sleeplessness, then new Kalms Night One-A-Night natural remedy could help restore your natural sleep patterns and offer relief from disturbed nights. It contains dry extract of the herb valerian, which is often used to help relieve stress, anxiety and sleeplessness due to its natural sedative qualities. As the product is herbal there are no drowsy side effects the next day, allowing you to wake feeling refreshed and ready to tackle work, chores or children!

Kalms Night One-A-Night is available in blister packs containing 21 tablets (RRP £4.99).
It is not recommended for children under the age of 18 or for use while pregnant or breastfeeding, for further information on natural remedies visit www.laneshealth.com.
*TGI Q3 data, covering April 2009 to March 2010
Image: graur codrin / FreeDigitalPhotos.net