New photos!

As promised, some new pictures of Bear!! He’s so big now!

Bear absolutely loves ice cream! We are so thankful he grew out of his dairy allergy, here he is enjoying a mini milk in the garden and a Mr Whippy style ice cream from his nanny’s new business (check her out on facebook, twitter or instagram – @justvwdesserts she serves ice cream and sundaes from her amazing VW campervan!) Bear definitely is nanny’s no.1 customer…..he insists on sampling all new ideas!

Bear is also quite partial to a babychino when we are out and about – we have to keep our eye on him though, given half the chance he will be sipping our coffees too!!! He is most definitely lively enough on his own, without the coffee!!

We love to get out and about, whether it is digging for worms in the garden, the park or taking advantage of our national trust membership (thanks nanny & grandad for our Christmas gift!) So far this year we have visited 6 different national trust sites (some a number of times as they are so close by!), with lots of plans to visit lots more soon. We got Bear a little ‘passport’ so he can keep  track of all our adventures. We have had a lovely warm weekend, this weekend, Bear and daddy even got chance to wear their shorts. Outside activities this weekend included painting fence panels, playing with lots of new garden toys Bear got for his birthday and lunch outside! Bear was very, very happy to be able to be back outside for long periods of time (when it was icy and cold he could only manage 20 minutes of play at a time!)

Making changes…

There have been many changes for us…..

Bear has changed, he no longer has allergies…..he is now well over 2, so no longer my little baby, but instead my little toddler instead.

My life is changing too, as will soon have no job. As our income will drastically reduce, we have started to make some big changes to the way we live.

With this in mind, I have decided to change the nature of the blog from allergies (a journey that I can no longer share with you all) to frugal living…..something that I am learning to do and wish to document my new adventure.

So, a few of my favourite frugal tips….

1. don’t forget cashback sites. I prefer Quidco personally, but there are several out there. you can earn cashback on lots of online purchases, from generating insurance quotes, when you take out new online insurance policies, doing surveys and lots of other ways. Heres the link if you wanted to have a look, if you sign up through the link we both get a pound or so as a reward. http://www.quidco.com/user/4763630/2199207/
2. Receipt apps: there’s several that I use, firstly there is clicksnap…..it is linked to Quidco, it only rewards you with 1p every time you submit a receipt and will only accept certain supermarkets (although, if you buy certain products you get bonus money!) it soon builds up with all the other cashback you get. Secondly, is receipt hog….this one is ok, takes a while to get enough coins to cashout but its better than nothing, using the referral code frul6483 will give both of us free spins on their bonus machine. Thirdly, saving the best to last, is shopprize. Sadly is an android app only but is by far the best at paying out…..I get £5 amazon voucher every 3 weeks or so. Referral code is a0n4g (0 is a number is this not a letter!) you guys wont get anything if you use it, but if you do then add your referral codes to the comments as I can only use it 5 times so yours can be used by others!! Im saving all my amazon vouchers to use to buy bear some amazing Christmas presents.
3. My favourite ‘hobby’ if you will is a well timed trip to the supermarket. Hitting it just right means you get some great deals on reduced items…..coupled with a large freezer, you will be smiling for weeks. A few weeks ago I went to my local co-op at just gone 4 on a Saturday afternoon, managed to pick up 2 ‘salt&pepper pork joints’ for 99p each, will make 2 lovely dinners with enough meat for lunches the next day. Also got 3 packs of 4 breaded fish pieces, for £1.15 each, these have been separated into 4 portions for the 3 of us for dinner. Also got 2 different packs of sausages (one Richmond 8 pack in a ready to roast tin and one 6 pack of bbq pulled pork sausages, both for 69p each!) Thats 8 meals for less than £7 so I am very happy!!! Also remember that lots of reduced stuff can be frozen, not just meat….cakes, bread, etc. We have a little drawer freezer and a chest freezer which are getting nicely full of reduced sticker items now.
4. Another little tip is to freeze any veg that you are not likely to be able to use before they start to go off……I peel/chop/etc them and place in freezer bags so can quickly grab them to add to a stew mix or to boil up for a quick meal in the week. time saver and a money saver.
5. One trick I tried to see if my family noticed was to bulk out a chilli. I used one packet of mince and cooked it with a couple of onions, kidney beans, 2 peppers, 2 tins of tomatoes and lots of seasonings. Cooked enough for a decent portion for dinner that night, with some added rice, and the same meal again a week or so later from the freezer…..tinned tomatoes, kidney beans and onions are all really cheap but bulk out a basic meal to get 2 for the price of one.

 

So, here’s my little introduction to frugal living, will let you know how I get on over the next few weeks….future posts to include photos of my bargain buys too!!

 

Would love to hear some feedback from you guys about my new topic. thank you.

Parenting styles – don’t categorise me!

Most of my posts inspirations come from Facebook, I am in a variety of groups including ones for cloth nappy parents, babywearers and CMPA support groups. Over the last few weeks I have seen an increasing number of ‘what sort of parent are you?’ type posts based upon whether your child is cloth bummed, if you baby wear, breast feed/formula feed, co-sleep, let them cry it out or cuddle to sleep etc, etc. I have witnessed arguments break out over differences of opinions or certain aspects of their parenting do not suit their overall ‘style’. Mothers telling other mothers they are doing it wrong! These types of posts are beginning to get on my nerves, why should a parent feel the need to fit into a category? Does one or other make you a better/worse parent? As long the child is happy and healthy, can you really do it wrong?

So, how do I parent bear? and why do it that way?

Bear was breastfed for 7wks, but due to his allergies he has been formula fed since 4wks old too, had he not had his allergies, who knows how long I would have fed him for.

He is cloth bummed (due to his eczema, I would never of considered it if he didn’t get so sore. Although I love it now and will cloth bum any future children too!)

Bear has a dummy, he has had one since 4 days old. He took to it well, initially to stop him using the breast as a comfort (somewhat selfishly on my part) but he continued to feed well and still uses his dummy today. I am in no rush to take it away, he finds it a great comfort and doesn’t have it in every second of every day (if it is on the floor whilst he is playing, I quietly pick it up and give it back only when he needs it)

I babywear on occasion, often during a quick trip round a shopping centre, it is easier than manoeuvring a pushchair around and waiting for lifts as well as putting the pushchair in and out of cars. I also babywear at work a lot, it helps bear go to sleep and leaves my arms free for doing my work!

We do co-sleep sometimes, more out of necessity, should I let him cry all night long, getting himself in a state and no one would get any sleep? Or should I put him in bed with us, where he settles well and sleeps for longer so we can all get rest? This is only really the case when he is poorly, otherwise he would sleep in his own bed….and YES! His cot is still in our room, with no plans to move him out soon.

If bear wants to, I am happy to cuddle him to sleep. The only time he ever falls asleep without cuddles is in the car or pushchair (with the exception of once, last week when poorly from his reaction, where he fell asleep in the middle of the living room floor). I am happy with this, he is not going to be wanting mummy cuddles forever, so make the most of it!

We began weaning Bear at 4 months (against the ‘new recommendations’). He hated his milk, which we do not blame him for doing, it is vile, and has since thrived on proper food. We switched to baby led weaning as soon as it was safe to do so as bear wanted to, he got bored of being spoon fed and wanted to be a big boy!

I do not let him ‘cry it out’ with the exception of occasionally in the car, where we don’t really have any other option (he gets way less worked up whilst travelling now he is in his ‘big boy’ seat, which is forward facing *gasp* he isn’t in an extended rear facing seat??). If he is sad, I pick him up and cuddle him, smother him in kisses and play silly games to make him smile….this does not make him a mummy’s boy wimp, when he falls, he barely ever cries, he gets back up and starts again.

He is a very independent little boy, he loves to feed himself the same as everyone else, even trying to use a spoon or fork when he can. My choices as a parent were made with me and bear in mind. I will bet that some reading this will have very different opinions to me, which I value, everyone is different and get on better making different choices, ones that are better suited to them and their child. I wouldn’t devalue their parenting because they use disposable nappies, or have sleep trained their little one or moved them into their own room at 4 months or anything else they have decided to do for their child, it is their right as the parent to make these choices. I think a little less judging others parenting skills and a little more focussing on their own children would go a long way in life. All I ask is to not be categorised as anything else, other than a loving mother doing the best she can for her child.

Winter brings new troubles!!

So, this mornings frost was a very unwelcome sight!! It is so cold, we have already been out to buy a little heater to warm our tiny shop so that bear doesn’t catch a chill. But even before getting out of bed this morning we have been faced with yet another first…..Bears first ever cough and cold!! I hate it.

He stirred at around 4am and was a little distressed so I put him in bed with us for a few extra hours sleep, at 6.30 he woke with a coughing fit and the worst temperature ever…..he felt almost burning to the touch! We gave him some paracetamol and a drink and stripped him off a little and he managed to bring his own temperature down enough to go back to sleep. When we got out of bed at 7.30 his temperature was at 36.8, so was back to being ok (although slightly high for bear). Breakfast was a struggle, coughing fits throughout, followed by toast filled sneezes and subsequent tears. Getting him dressed was also a battle…..not ideal at the best of times but when he is poorly and when it is cold he needs so many more items put on! He is currently on nap number 2 of the day (its only just turned 11am) he normally only has 2 a day. His first nap was lying in my arms, this one is in the carrier….he is being super snugly today.

We also seem to be reacting to the oilatum bath stuff we were trying for bear…..it doesn’t cause any obvious soreness to see but he screams non-stop for the whole of bath time (and bear normally loves the bath) and grabs viciously and constantly at himself. Back to the drawing board on the bath wash now, think we are going to try Aveeno next (was recommended to us by some lovely CMPA mummies), fingers crossed as the box of ‘trial and error’ products is getting full and costing us a fortune!

On the plus side, after a very long trip round my local Morrisons yesterday, I have found yet more food stuff bear can eat. His lunch yesterday (and today) consisted of a slice of fruit loaf buttered, a rice cake with biscoff spread on (his personal favourite), strawberries, blackberries and a few Ritz crackers, followed by a banana milkshake. He also had one of the fruit ‘school bars’ which he enjoyed chewing on massively. Then yesterday nanny did us ham and parsley sauce for dinner (mummies favourite!!) and no one even noticed the parsley sauce was completely dairy free, made with block marge and oat milk (apart from bear of course, but he was over the moon) followed by a delicious tray bake mince pie type pud (mummy had a dried fruit mix instead of mince meat as she doesn’t like it) bear was very happy. I am not sure who is more spoilt by nanny though, bear or mummy! What would we do without her

Please do not forget that we are in the last week of moovember – CMPA awareness month….please keep helping to spread the word.

Calcium follow up…

Thank you to everyone who read my post about bears calcium intake, with special thanks to the lovely people on my twitter (@mummytalesCMPA)who have sent some very useful links. I thought I would share them with you all, in case they can be of any help to you:

http://www.godairyfree.org/health-info/calcium/dairy-free-calcium-chart (thanks to AllergyReporter)

and

http://wellnessmama.com/5888/how-to-make-bone-broth/ (thanks to kidsfoodallerg)

The second of these two put a smile on my face….bears daddy has been making his own stock for quite some time now as we thought it made our meals taste nicer so bear often has food which has been made with home made stock, aka bone broth. Reading the article has just spurred us on to make fresh batches for the freezer to make sure we always have some available and can use it more frequently. I had no idea that something we had been doing for a while anyway was so beneficial to bear.

The first article is very good too….it is designed for dairy free, so you don’t have to sit through lists of good calcium sources which are not applicable to bear. All the soya products are also grouped, so we can see beyond those too, as to not over load him with soya and make him poorly. Thank you to anyone else who suggested articles too, but these two I found to be the best of the bunch and most applicable to bear.

It is a response like I received following my last post that keeps me going when I doubt myself….I tried to speak to my health visitor who was quite dismissive and I still haven’t heard back from bears dietitian (who I left a message for on Monday!!) but having spoken to others who are experienced in CMPA I now feel confident that bear is getting enough calcium and don’t feel I have to feed him the same stuff every day!

Now for an update on our little bear….he still loves his new car seat, but night time trips are still proving difficult as his dislike for the dark seems to have intensified. If anyone has any tips regarding this, then please get in touch!! He is still very much teething, his little teeth feel like they are so close to the surface, just can’t seem to cut though, we think this is the reason he is sleeping so badly. He managed 3 & 3/4 hrs in his own bed last night before making a fuss. At the moment, the easiest way to settle him is to put him in bed with us for cuddles, so at least I can get some more sleep. I have been trying to put him back in his own bed afterwards, but he never stays there for more than an hr. Hopefully, when a few teeth have made it through he will be better.

During the day he is a little star….he has a way of charming all the customers in the shop (we now have a dozen that just pop in to say hello to him almost on a daily basis). We have been out for lunch and dinner this week, I made the decision to just order him his own meal off the children’s menu as they are reasonable price and I wasn’t sure how much of mine he would eat. Luckily I did, both times I ordered him a jacket potato with beans, and both times he almost finished the lot…along with a few chips or salad items or fruit off others too. We are so impressed with how well he eats now and he will try anything.

Calcium!!

As bear is getting better at eating solid food his milk intake has dropped dramatically. Some days he barely has 12oz of milk and this got me thinking about calcium intake. Calcium is important for everyone, especially developing little bones. For non-dairy allergy sufferers getting sufficient amounts of calcium is quite easy, just off the shelf in the supermarket there’s yoghurt, cheese, custard, rice pudding….making for very quick and easy, on the go snacks. One matchbox sized piece of cheese provides an infant with almost half their required calcium need. But for dairy allergy sufferers, getting the right amount of calcium can be difficult.

I spoke to bear’s health visitor about calcium intake and her reply….just give him cheese, yoghurt’s, etc…I am guessing she didn’t even look at his little red book or even remember our last 3 conversations (I will give her the benefit of the doubt as she probably sees hundreds of babies so can’t be expected to remember every one of them). Her answer after I reminded her of bears allergy to milk protein and soya was that she didn’t know, better to be honest than to give incorrect advice I guess. She told me to get hold of bears dietitian, which is damn near impossible, so I have been searching google instead whilst I wait for his dietitian to get back to me. As always I have found some conflicting advice, for example, some say spinach is a good source of calcium, others say that it can also restrict the amount of calcium your body can absorb, this goes on and on.

By my reckoning bear has had so far today (2pm) 1 slice of wholemeal bread, 30 mg, 140 ml milk (over 2 bottles), 180 mg, and a pot of ‘wot no dairy’, 87 mg (he has had other things to eat but these either don’t contain calcium, or just a small amount)….I will aim to give him some broccoli for dinner which will give him another 34 mg and he will probably have another 140 ml milk over several bottles before bed. His calcium intake for today would be 511 mg at a generous estimate. One resource I have been reading and getting my calcium figures from suggests an infants intake should be 525 mg, so today bear isn’t too far off. This is just today though, we have to limit his bread intake, unless we are somewhere we can buy soya free bread, as too much gives him really bad tummy ache and ‘wot no dairy’ pots become expensive and hard to come by if he was to have one every day (in comparison to 1 pot of fromage frais, which has almost the same amount of calcium but costs just £1 for 6 pots in most supermarkets). Bears daddy and I have decided to add more tinned fish to his diet as these are supposed to be rich in calcium too, although they do bring the choking risk due to the bones. daddy is in charge of preparing these dinners as I strongly dislike the smell of fish.

Making sure any weaning baby has a balanced healthy diet is very important, but when they have an allergy it sometimes makes you worry that they may be lacking certain vitamins or minerals. Having done some research of my own, it has helped to settle my mind slightly that bear isn’t too far off his recommended intake, but once again, just feel like we have been slightly let down by his ‘professionals’ with the lack of support and care they show. I look forward to a reply from his dietitian and wonder how much her advice would differ from that, that I have found myself.

Think I need shares in MAM

By complete coincidence a lot of bears things are made by MAM. When he was a baby and we chose to give him a dummy we tried a few different ones and he would happily take any but we preferred the size and style of the MAM ones (they weren’t so big that they covered a lot of his tiny face like some other brands) so we have stuck with them ever since. But now he is ever so mobile and discovered the ‘fun’ of throwing I can’t keep my eye on them all the time. Already this morning he has misplaced his on the way to work so have had to rush out and buy some more…..some days the house is littered with them, other days, I cannot find a single one! We are currently on box number 8….16 dummies!!! We do have dummy clips for them too but once he learnt to pull them off hard enough the strap was a fun way of flinging the dummies even further!!

He just loves his dummies!!

Bear also has a fascination with his MAM toothbrushes, unfortunately, so does the dog. We are currently on our 4th toothbrush (as he doesn’t actually have any teeth yet we let him ‘play’ with it, so he gets used to the feel of the brush in his mouth, hence why they are sometimes left where the dog could reach them). For anyone unsure of toothbrushes, we chose MAM as we were lucky enough to have been given a starter set for free and we were so impressed we stuck with them, you can get a set which has a handle for little ones and one for parent so you can teach them the brushing action. The little things make such a difference.

Now, just to be fair to other baby brands, it isn’t just MAM I use, we currently use Tommee Tippee spoons (when you can pick these up for 99p for 5 it is a bargain, we use 2 for every meal) and we have one of their sippy cups too. We use Avent bottles and steriliser as they are simple and very easy to clean and use, which is important with bears stinky formula.

And, finally, a tiny bit of advice for the modern day, phone obsessed parents, who care deeply for their sensitive smart phone…..there is no way you can avoid contact between your phone and your little one, they are drawn to the sounds and lights and just because it is so funny to mess with mummy’s phone! May I suggest investing in a sturdy case? I, unfortunately, found this out too late, last Saturday my little monkey swiped my phone off the side when I wasn’t looking and smashed the screen. The screen has since been replaced and I now have an ‘otter box’, described as ‘rugged, protective case for demanding conditions, heavy use and random accidents’, I am sure this meant baby-proof!! For the sake of £15 or so for a very heavy duty case and a bulky phone for a while it is worth it for the expense of a new screen and the heart-ache of being phone-less for a week!

Baby wearing and other things Bear

So, after a rather failed attempt of trying to push our push chair across a muddy field whilst walking the dog on Sunday we have decided to purchase a new baby carrier. After a lot of research to find something that would suit myself and Bear I have ordered a mei tai carrier (complete with camper van printed fabric, with a plain black reversible side for dad! Will post a picture when it has arrived). The carrier we had before was not very comfortable for me and I couldn’t wear it on my back. I also often wondered if it was comfortable for bear, although he never complains. We are very excited for it to arrive, hoping it will be here by the weekend so we can take the dog to the field again, instead of sticking to paths.

In other news, nanny discovered that the Aldi block margarine is dairy free! She made us all a delicious dairy free Shepard’s pie for dinner last night (The rest of us didn’t even miss the cheesy topping) Bear loved it, although did seem to get a little grumpy if it wasn’t shovelled quick enough. Nanny also made bear some strawberry jam muffins, which he loved. She is also planning on making some mince pies that he will be able to eat….she is so good at adapting her recipes for him and nobody ever notices either. Spoils him rotten with delicious food!!

Also, a quick update on the nappies….we are working hard to battle the nappy rash before it takes hold and we think we are keeping it at bay, it is hard with bear teething so badly and are hoping that once his first few teeth have broken through it will settle down. We are also worried his eczema is also coming back, we have decided to start reusing a small amount of steroid cream to hopefully fend it off before it gets itchy and upsetting for bear. So far so good as he is barely paying attention during nappy changes. Even with the new set of nappy issues, it still isn’t as bad as when he was in disposables and I love using the cloth nappies so we will be sticking with them permanently now!

First week done…..and, WOW!!

We have completed our first week in cloth nappies and WOW!! what a difference!! (I will confess at this point that bear has had 2 disposables on this week, the first as he needed changing earlier than usual last Sunday and we were enjoying a lie in and it was all we had up stairs, the other was on Thursday, after going out Wednesday night to celebrate my sister-in-laws birthday we just didn’t get them cleaned in time, that wont happen again now we have doubled our stash!)

We have had 3 days completely steroid cream free and the eczema hasn’t returned, and it normally returns after a day! It must be feeling better for him too, he has completely stopped grabbing at his nappy when we first put it on now and he went the entire bath time without grabbing himself, normally we have to cover it with a cloth and pull his hands away constantly. He does occasionally grab at himself during change times but what little boy doesn’t?? The general nappy rash seems easier to control now too, we are battling teething symptoms at the moment too so it is a bit of a battle, but we vary the cream we apply during changes (a combination of sudacrem, metanium, drapolene and bepanthen…this is due to finding that no one cream suits bear better than another and we have ended up buying them all to try, so we may as well use them up!)

I had a few people asking about my decision to switch, is it worth the hassle and whether it was worth the initial expenditure, the answer is simple…..YES! The difference it has made to our bear is amazing. Now we can all just focus on weaning, teething and bears newest trick, pulling himself up on everything (with the consequential falling over, bumping his head and a few tears).