{Keeping Toddler Entertained}

A few of my friends, well quite a number of them actually, are about to have baby #2. They've been saying that they'll come to me for advice seeing as I was the first to become a mummy of two, so I thought I would start some hopefully useful posts / discussions that will help them but also give me some new tips & suggestions.

My first post is on keeping the toddler entertained whilst feeding your newborn.

My son was 20 months when his baby sister arrived. He was at the stage where he was into everything, so safety was my first concern. When I was busy feeding the baby, I had to make sure that he was in a safe environment because he rarely listens or follows instructions at the moment! So I got a load of stair gates from Baby Security and I got some other safety accessories for kitchen drawers etc from Ikea. I either feed the baby in the living room or in our bedroom and my toddler is contained safely in both of those areas.

Next step was to keep him amused... a good friend suggested a special box or bag with toys that he's only allowed to play with during feeding times. A great idea, and I bought a couple of bits & pieces for him. However, I chose badly and the toys I picked needed my input. One was a book with buttons to press for different animal noises - but he was always desperate to sit on my knee to read with me which wasn't an option whilst feeding! For those of you at Gymboree classes, my son is obsessed with the 'magic bag' and whenever he finds an unopened box or bag he sings 'what's in the magic bag...'. I think if I'd chosen more wisely this would have been fantastic.

Another trick that I've used is to play a game. My son can recognise a few letters, shapes and he's very good with his colours. I bundle a pile of foam letters on the floor and ask him to pick out the letter 'm for mummy' or 'd for daddy' or 'g for grandpa' (he also knows a, b, c, d, e and k) or ask him to choose a blue coloured letter etc. This can keep him amused for some time and I can still interact with him whilst I feed the baby.

Rotating toys has also been a lifesaver. We have toys in the bedrooms (some laid out on the little play table and some in the wardrobe) and the living room (some tucked away in boxes and some in the playpen). I try and rotate these every so often and this prevents boredom. I was amazed that my son was occupied for a good hour or so the morning I rotated the toys and even just replacing batteries in toys that had stopped working gave him another hour or so of fun.

My son could play for ages with his cars. I tend to feed my daughter in my bedroom because my son loves to run his cars up and down the window sill.

Other tricks I use are CBeebies (his favourite show at the moment is Raa Raa the Noisy Lion) and snacks. My daughter's feeds do tend to coincide nicely with snack time for the little fella so he usually gets a bowl of breadsticks, raisins, fruit or crisps and a cup of water for him to enjoy whilst the baby is fed. I try to keep TV watching to a minimum but it has been very helpful for feeding situations.

I've only fed my daughter out in public once with my son in tow and it was a bit of a disaster. He's at the age where he's too difficult to keep occupied trapped in a highchair. The cake I bought for him only kept amused for 5 minutes and after he had inhaled it he was bored! Best option for me has been to visit friends with little ones a similar age, visit the in-laws or stay at home.

If any other mums have any other suggestions or advice, please do share!

{Lunch-time}

Miraculously, both my son and daughter have an afternoon snooze at the same time, 12 noon - 2pm. I'm so chuffed that I was able to get them into this routine as it means I have 2 hours to myself to get housework done, sort through the mounds and mounds of laundry (where does it all come from!??!), make a start on dinner or fanny about on the internet with a nice hot cup of tea (Pinterest, online shopping, blogging...) or even have a sleep myself if I'm feeling particularly lazy! Another favourite activity during these 2 hours is to catch up on my TV... the joys of Sky+. I've been recording ER on Sky Atlantic - I was never really into ER before and didn't really get the whole Dr Ross, Dr Carter & Dr Greene thing - but I'm loving it now! I'm also looking forward to catching Grey's Anatomy which is being shown from the beginning on Really from Monday. Again, another show that I missed first time round.

I'm not sure how I managed to get the kiddies into such a good routine... With my son I was quite strict about his sleep times and I rarely drove or walked anywhere when he was supposed to be awake as the movement sent him to snoozeville rapidly. He had three naps daily to start with - one around 9am, another longer sleep from 12-2pm and then another shorter nap at 4pm. So if I was going anywhere I tended to travel between 9-10am, 12-2pm or 4-5pm. He also settled really easily in his cot and I put him in his cot for daytime sleeps as soon as it arrived (he was 7 weeks early so we weren't organised at all for his arrival!). I also introduced a bedtime ritual (bath, baby massage, milk, story, bed) as soon as we got him home from the neonatal ward and he always settled well in the evening.  

Sometimes he was so exhausted he'd be asleep before I even got him into his cot!

I've heard numerous stories of parents who have to drive about in the middle of the night to get their children back to sleep, or have to pound the streets during the day to get their babies to take their daytime naps. One trick I did use with my son, that I've not had to do with my daughter, is use white noise. I used to have my iPod dock near to his cot and I had downloaded some womb music, wave noises, hairdryer sounds and the hum of an untuned radio. I played these on repeat (his favourite was the untuned radio!?) until he settled at which point I would turn it off. Eventually we didn't use it at all. Swaddling also helped and we have been using a swaddle pod with my daughter. 

Staying asleep was another matter and my son did wake frequently until he was about 14 months. For a while it was because he would roll onto his front and we'd have to go in and turn him over, then as he was older it was because he had lost his dummy (I was advised by health visitor to try a dummy strap and it was a great help). Now he only wakes up if he's ill or teething. 

My daughter has been an angel. She has slotted into her brother's routine so easily. She similarly has a morning snooze around 9am, then a longer lunchtime sleep at 12-2pm and another shorter nap in the afternoon about 4/4.30pm. I've not been out and about as much with my daughter and so her one downfall is that she doesn't seem to settle well in the car seat - she much prefers her cot. It's also a bit tricky on the days when my son is in nursery and I have to collect him, normally about 4pm, which coincides with her nap and so she tends to be a bit cranky on these days. She crys herself to sleep and we leave her for 5-10min until she settles. We've made the decision not to use a dummy and she sleeps through from 6.30/6.45pm until 7am without a peep (we do wake her at 10.30pm for a feed and she settles again in minutes. We did the same with our son and didn't drop this feed until he was established on 3 solid meals a day). A lot of people have commented that 2nd babies tend to be easier because you're more relaxed, but from a few mums I've spoken to that's not been the case with their 2nd babies so I think I'm very lucky.

{Gifts for New Babies}

My sister gave us the most gorgeous bespoke cake stand from Corn Kist Ceramics when my daughter was born. The cake stand had the text 'sugar and spice and all things nice, that's what little girls are made of' and 'snips and snails and puppy dog tails, that's what little boys are made of' round the edge and in the middle is a heart with my son's name and date of birth along with my daughter's details too. On the stand is has a personalised message with details of who the gift is from. I'll get photos asap (we used the stand at my son's birthday party and I'm waiting on my sister getting photos to me!).

Another gift we were given for my daughter was a gorgeous personalised fleece baby blanket from Bundles of Joy. The blanket is embroidered with her name and date of birth. It's washed well and is still lovely and soft.

Bundles of Joy Baby Blanket

My friend Becky and I also came across some fabulous socks for baby girls in a local gift shop Nuala Ashe. The socks are by Trumpette and have the most adorable little satin bows on them... Becky is going to buy a pair for my daughter's Christmas present :-)

Lucy socks at Trumpette

A gift that I have purchased for a few new babies is personalised wooden letter blocks from Hush Baby Sleeping at Not On The High Street.  They would look lovely on a nursery shelf, and they come in a variety of colours so can be personalised to suit colour schemes. Perfect!

Personalised Wooden Letter Blocks by Hush Baby Sleeping

My neighbour has just opened a card & gift shop in Glasgow called Velvet Moon. I was able to pop into town to have a browse the other week when she opened, although my visit was rushed as I had two screaming babies in tow! She has some lovely items in the shop and I purchased a few bits & pieces, including a very cute Jelly Cat cow that I haven't seen before. It will make an ideal new baby gift for one of my many pregnant friends!

Jelly Cat Bashful Calf

Something I came across fairly recently is The Food Stork.  It's such a great idea - they deliver freshly prepared food gifts for new parents. As a new parent, life is exhausting, so to have a few healthy meals delivered to your door would be lovely! (Are you still classed as a new parent when your baby is 4 months because I would still love to have some meals delivered to me!!!).