I think if I were to start a niche blog about feeding babies and toddlers I’d call it “Spoonface” (can I trademark that?). A homage to that face—you know the one—that we all make when we spoon feed babies. Of course I’m not going to start a baby food blog, because—well let’s face it—I have enough trouble keeping up with the blogs I already have, but I do have things to say on the topic of kids starting out on solids.

Both of my girls had very different starts to their solids journey. Erin’s was incredibly difficult, resulting in tube feeding and a year’s worth therapy to teach her how to eat, and me how to feed her and be more patient—something I still struggle with. Abi, on the other, her solids journey was pretty straight forward though not necessarily traditional.

After our experiences with Erin we questioned whether the absence of a spoon would have benefited her. Perhaps if she had been more in control of her own feeding destiny from the start she wouldn’t associate eating with something unpleasant—well, as much as any baby with silent reflux can. So, when Abi came long we decided from the get go to follow the principles of “baby led weaning”—a principle that allows babies to feed themselves from a very early age.

As I was aware of recent research which suggested red meat should be introduced as a first food meant that Abi experienced the joy of Daddy made lamb stew. Of course in the beginning she didn’t actually consume very much, mostly she just gummed on the lamb and mashed the veggies up with her hands. I like to think that, because stewed lamb is so tender, she still managed to swallow some of goodness without actually having eaten much.

Red meats such as lamb and beef are higher in iron and zinc than white meat and other foods which makes it a great complimentary first food for babies.

Table taken from: Feeding Babies and Toddlers brochure.

If you think Baby led weaning is for you, meat is an easy option, even for the earliest eaters. It’s nutritious, great tasting and, if cooked properly, even the cheaper cuts will turn out nice and tender—Naughty Daddy recommends gravy beef for stews As your kids get older and better at eating, you can try any meat cut into fingers. My girls especially love being able to dip their meat into sauces and gravy.

For more information about feeding your baby or toddler red meat please visit The Main Meal, their Feeding Babies and Toddlers brochure contains a number of great recipes to help you on your way. Endeavour

So, in an effort to show them that there are people out there itching to get their hands on ye olde Sooty, the coco pops monkey (or so Wikipedia tells me) I thought I’d start this petition. If this is you, leave a comment on this post which I’ll forward to…um, I don’t know, someone in Kelloggs.

Dear Kellogg’s
We, the undersigned, respectfully request the return of old school packs, even in a limited run. We ask this on the whole because retro packaging rocks!

It brings back childhood memories which we would like to share with our children and give them a taste of what breakfast was like when we were kids–you know, in the olden days when dinosaurs roamed the earth and the world was in black and white.

As it was said in Field of Dreams “if you make it, we will buy” or something like that.

Sincerely,
The mums, dads, bloggers and general public of Australia.

People like Miranda Divine will always look for the most sensational angle when writing about any topic because that’s what she’s paid to do. This does not excuse the drivel that comes out of her word processor however.

Newspapers like the Telegraph will always employ people willing to scrape the depths of their own humanity because it gets papers sold and eyes on their site–aka they’re selling advertising based on the reaction and attention this kind of crap drives.

If you, like so many others, believe that this kind of “trash journalism” needs to be wiped out of newspapers world over the onus is on you. Don’t buy it, don’t read it and for gods sake don’t comment on it. When Ms Divine sits down to wrap out her newest lurid work of tripe she does so with the aim to cause outrage.

Miranda Divine may be soulless and an embarrassment to her profession, but she’s not stupid. She knows which side her bread is buttered on and what she needs to do to continue making her wage.

For my money I’ll continue NOT following her and will endeavour not to fall into the trap of reading her column. The buck stops here.

Image credit

Using your own photos on your blog

Using beautiful, interesting photos in your blog post can attract the eye of a reader, break up large expanses of text, help to tell a story or convey information and is an important tool when crafting fabulous posts. Using your own photos not only gives a unique and personal touch to your posts, you can also tailor the image to really match your content.

Not all of us have a talent for photography, and not all of us have a fancy, top of the range, DSLR camera, but you don’t need either of these things to make your own photos look great on your blog. I am far from a professional photographer but here are a few tips and tricks I use when putting my own photos on my blog, Picklebums.

When Abi was a newborn she was inconsolable. She cried all day and all night unless she was being held and/or breastfed. I think we tried just about every remedy, method and solution to get some peace and quiet, but nothing worked—or if it did there was a modicum of success which usually only lasted a short while.

Of course we soon found out why. Abi wasn’t colicky, she had reflux.

After finding a doctor who didn’t look at me like I was a hysterical mother and listened to my list of Abi’s symptoms she was given Zantac and things started to look up. We still had a lot of bad days were Abi was very unhappy and unsettled and even now at a year old she still vomits frequently, especially when she’s unwell, but she’s so much better now it’s unbelievable.

There are things that you can do to help soothe your reflux baby; here are three of my favourites.

1. Find a doctor (and any other therapist) who understands that reflux is more than just a bit of vomiting. Abi’s chiro once told me that he wouldn’t have put her on Zantac, he’d cope with the vomiting. Give me a “happy chucker” any day! What we had was a miserable baby who was in constant pain. So an understanding, sympathetic doctor is an absolute must.
2. Raising the head of the cot or bassinette, but not so much that you find your baby huddled at the foot of the bed in the morning.
3. Try to avoid laying your baby flat. If you’ve ever suffered reflux yourself you’ll know that when you’re fortunately to get a minute to lay down you’ll find your stomach contents repeating on you which is none too pleasant.

To that end, I was recently sent a Fisher Price Rock ‘n’ Play to try. I’m often sceptical of new products brought to the baby market. It seems that there are products for just about everything your new mummy heart can desire—even things you never realised you needed before you saw them online or in a catalogue—so I was unsure what I’d say about the Rock ‘n’ Play, would it be any different to the things I’d already tried between two babies?

From the time I unpacked and assembled it I was pleasantly surprised. It’s a very simple thing and light too, so it’d be great for post caesarean mums because you could easily move it around the house without straining anything.
What I like best is the inclined back. Though it’s soft enough for comfort, there’s a soft plastic insert which keeps baby’s back straight rather than hunched like in other seats I’ve seen. Over the top of this is a removable and washable layer which is wonderful for those of us with babies prone of vomiting. Speaking from experience, there’s nothing worse than having to take a seat or pram outside to hose and clean out because your baby’s had a massive vomit and lost her whole meal.

The only thing that disappoints me about the Rock ‘n’ Play is that we didn’t have it when Abi was a newborn. It would have saved me a lot of hassle and untidiness of having a massive looking pram out in the lounge room of our two story house because I couldn’t cart the bassinette downstairs.

Win a Fisher Price Rock ‘n’ Play!

To win all you need to do is leave a comment with your best tip for soothing your baby OR why a Fisher Price Rock ‘n’ Play would be great for your baby.
Remember, most creative wins!
Entries close on 12 August and the winner will be notified by email.

Terms and conditions apply

Fine print:
The winning entries will be selected by the promoter.
One entry per person (per email address).
Open to Australian residents only.

It didn’t happen.

It took the better part of a week but I begun to feel better. After a month I felt a lot better. Better and more motivated than I had in a very long time. It turned out that I was experiencing hypomania and that side effect didn’t last long, much to my own disappointment. After the hypomania passed I still felt good. There were no more tears for no reason–I’d even stopped crying at random moments through movies and during ads that showed cute duckies sleeping on a bed of tissues or similar content.

As the months passed things started to creep up on me. I noticed myself snapping at the girls for little or no reason and I noticed the return of the noise in my head. Luckily I realized what that meant and took myself off to the doctors for an increase, which I was given.

Not long after the increase I started to notice something new that I usually associated with being depressed, only I wasn’t or rather, I’m not. My moods are even, I’m not incredibly cranky and the noise in my head hasn’t returned. I’m just really, incredibly tired. All the time.

I’m so tired that I require at least one sleep during the day just to make it to nightfall. Writing this blog has become something hard to do because I’m so tired I can only rarely string a written sentence together. Something’s got to change and that change may be a frightening option.

Changing medication, especially one that I’ll have to ween off over several weeks with many scary withdrawal symptoms really does frighten me. The possibility of going back down that rabbit hole to a very dark place is almost too much to consider, but what else can I do?

Particularly in the past year or so I’ve found that more and more frequently I’m relying on online shopping to fill my day to day needs. Without a car dragging two kids grocery shopping is just a nightmare!

Something that’s gotten me—possibly—a little too excited is Target’s new online early bird layby facility! I mean, seriously, how easy would it be to sit at home one night and get all your Christmas shopping done while your kids are in bed? Much easier than battling the school holiday crowds while trying to drag kids who really need just about everything in store along with you.
I can’t be the only one who’s got a four year old who comes away from an hour of watching commercial television with a trolley load full of new toys that she simply must have—everything from Match Box cars to makeover sets to ride on toys and everything in between—taking her shopping is even worse.

She just needs to play with the Dora toys, the laptops, oh and what’s that? Despite having virtually the same thing at home she’d really like a new bubble wand and then there’s the tantrums because she’s not getting a toy today or when we need to leave. Both outbursts are followed by a wailing chorus of “but I am being good!” It’s enough to drive me crazy!

This year, instead of doing battle with the crowds, I think I might hang back a bit and visit Target online instead. Better yet, on the 29th of June you can have your kids favourite toys set aside with a Target early bird layby so you won’t miss out. After that you can relax and maybe even feel a bit smug knowing that you’ve got your list sorted and won’t have to wait in those massive last minute Christmas cues.

If you’d like to use Targets online layby facility here are the steps, it’s easy!
1. Go to target.com.au
2. Search the toys available.
3. Register and create your list.
4. Select your lay-by location (your nearest Target store).
5. Submit your list (You’ll then receive an email confirmation including
PDF files)
6. PRINT the email confirmation and take to your nominated store to activate your lay-by (10% deposit required) on or before Wednesday 3 August 2011.
*After submitting your lay-by list, please wait until the following day before activating in store.

Want to kick start your layby?
For a chance to win one of two $100 Target gift vouchers simply leave a comment on this post stating which toy you would be most likely to layby? The most creative wins!

Entries close 8 July 2011

Terms and conditions apply

Fine print:
The winning entries will be selected by the promoter.
One entry per person.
Open to Australian residents only.