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My bum is a depot for building my baby’s brain

Excellent news: curvier girls produce brainier children. I’m not joking. Scientists have this week said that the fat found in our bums helps to build our babies brains because fat cells in our derrieres are ‘routed’ directly towards them. Apparently these ‘fat banks’ are depots for building a baby’s brain via breast feeding, and women with larger stores of fat are likely to produce brainer children. And there was me turning my back on a rather lovely looking slice of blueberry frangipane in the coffee shop yesterday, which really did have my name on it. […]

If my blog were a concert at the Sydney Opera House it would have sold out 5 times

I don’t know where on earth the time has gone, but this week I have been blogging for two years. Two whole years! It all started in January 2013 as I prepared to stop breast feeding 17 month old BB, and now, two years on, I’m breast feeding again. According to the nice people at WordPress, in 2014 Confessions of a Crummy Mummy was viewed 14,000 times by people in 102 different countries. Apparently, if it were a concert at the Sydney Opera House, it would take five sold out performances for that many people to see it. Which I think is pretty amazing. […]

By |January 21st, 2015|Breast feeding, Family life, Newborn, News, Parenting|4 Comments

I’ve been giving our baby drops of something I don’t EXACTLY know what is from a bottle I bought on the internet…

After weeks of nightmare evenings and nights with Little B wreathing around in discomfort I’ve started to give him something to help with the griping pain. I had hoped the phase would pass without third party help, but I couldn’t stand it any longer. I visited Boots but came away empty handed when I read the ingredients in the likes of Infacol and Gripe Water – there are more E numbers than you can shake a stick at. Rather than giving him something to treat the symptoms (mega wind, gas, tummy as tight as a drum) I want to get to the root of the problem, so am starting with a probiotic to try and balance out whatever’s going on in his tummy. I opted for BioGaia drops after a reader kindly recommended them, although rather than paying the full £14.99 I bought them from eBay for under £10 instead. […]

By |January 16th, 2015|Baby, Breast feeding, Family life, Health, Money, Newborn, Parenting, Reviews|2 Comments

How to make eye drops out of breast milk

It’s been almost two years since I first blogged about breast milk eye drops, and I’m at it again. Last [...]

By |January 13th, 2015|Baby, Beauty, Breast feeding, Family life, Health, Newborn, Parenting|8 Comments

I should have been more assertive and insisted on breast feeding

Little B’s gorgeous, podgy legs are now sporting a pair of plasters thanks to the administration of his 8 week jabs (pictured). It was an ordeal, in more ways than one. As if getting us all up, breakfasted, dressed and out of the door by 9.15am wasn’t bad enough, it was raining cats and dogs and we had no option but to go on foot. In order to get to the surgery in the fastest possible time and avoid unnecessary drenching, there was nothing for it but to put BB in the pushchair with the rain cover (I was hoping her pushchair days were over) and Little B in the papoose, under the cover of my coat. We couldn’t have got any wetter. The rain was so torrential (and too windy to attempt balancing an umbrella on my head/shoulders while pushing) it soaked through my coat and onto Little B within minutes, and we arrived literally dripping. […]

By |January 9th, 2015|Breast feeding, Family life, Health, Parenting, Pregnancy|2 Comments

Bedside cribs: a ‘safe’ co-sleeping solution?

At just six weeks old Little B has outgrown the moses basket. Not that he slept in it much anyway, preferring to sleep in our bed spread-eagled between us. But while this would send him into a deep, peaceful sleep, it of course meant I slept terribly, worried one of us would roll onto him, accidently pull the duvet over him or that he would shimmy himself against one of the pillows in his sleep. The health visitor advised putting him on my side of the bed rather than between us because as his mum I naturally sleep more lightly, but that’s hardly a long-term solution for the next few months when he’s too small to go into a cot in his own bedroom. So, after a bit of research, I think I’ve come up with the answer: a bedside crib (pictured). There are lots on the market, some as much as a couple of hundred pounds, but we went for the cheapest, Chicco’s Next2Me (£149.99), given he will have outgrown it by six months old. Even Misery Guts, who was predictably sceptical about buying yet more paraphernalia, admits it’s a nifty bit of kit. (You can hire other brands through the NCT, but the waiting list was until the middle of January, so not much help). […]

Running after pregnancy: I’m pounding the pavements again

It’s the moment I’ve been waiting for: at long last I can pound the pavements again. After hanging up my trainers at 36 weeks pregnant I then had four weeks ‘off’ after Little B’s birth and went for my first run exactly four weeks later. Without a bump I felt like I was flying. My running bible throughout pregnancy has been Runner’s World Guide to Running & Pregnancy by Chris Lundgren, one of only a handful of books I’ve been able to find on the subject. She advises waiting until you’ve stopped bleeding and then adding another week before attempting your first post-partum run, and then if you have any fresh blood afterwards wait another week before going out again. I followed this advice with both BB and Little B, and it seems a sensible approach to me. I was careful to stick to my pregnancy pace – you’re actually more at risk of injury in the months immediately after giving birth than you are during pregnancy – and not to take too big strides owing to my recent date with the needle and thread, but wow. As it did after BB was born, it felt brilliant. […]

Stretch mark creams review: Bepanthen, Palmer’s & Bio Oil

They say there’s nothing you can really do about stretch marks: it’s in the genes and you'll either get them, [...]

Little B’s first smile: the most rewarding moment so far

At 5 weeks and 4 days old I’ve managed to capture Little B’s smile on camera for the first time. There have been fleeting mini smiles over the past week or so – and never with a camera to hand – but now he’s properly beaming and throwing in gurgles for good measure. After almost six weeks of not sleeping longer than a couple of hours at a time, the pain of bleeding nipples and stinging stiches, the indignity of big pants and industrial strength wadding, scraping poo from under my fingernails (not mine, obviously), soothing colic, cold tea, snatched baths and even colder dinner, to be rewarded with a smile is the most momentous, fulfilling moment so far. […]

By |December 10th, 2014|Breast feeding, Family life, Health, Parenting, Pregnancy|2 Comments

Mother’s ruin: Misery Guts is back at work and mum has gone home

The babymoon is over. Misery Guts is back at work, my mum has gone home and BB, Little B and I are on our own, forging new routines and getting to grips with being three. It’s definitely a case of the blind leading the blind, and means only one thing: by 7 o’clock I need a drink. Sadly I can’t indulge as often as I’d like owing to the small issue of breast feeding, so I’ve decided that when I have one it’s going to be a good one. Pictured is this week’s tipple: a mother’s ruin gin cocktail after the nice people at Greenall’s sent me a bottle of their new wild berry blackberry and raspberry infused gin. Misery Guts didn’t need much prompting to whip up one of the signature serves: gin, vanilla syrup and lemon juice with blackberries and raspberries. It was absolutely delicious, although I only dared to have a few sips for fear of going to bed and waking up to find Little B on the floor/under the duvet/etc etc. […]

By |November 26th, 2014|Breast feeding, Family life, Food, Health, Parenting, Recipes|0 Comments

Hopefully that’s our last medical-related appointment for now…

Not only was Little B diagnosed with tongue tie on the day he was born, the paediatrician also discovered a heart murmur. This was found at his paediatric check, which took place when he was just a few hours old because we were on a six hour discharge from the hospital. I wasn’t overly concerned: he has a good colour, has put on a whole 2lbs since he was born almost three weeks ago and doesn’t look like there might be something wrong with him. Apparently a heart murmur isn’t unusual in really newborn babies after their circulation switches from running on the inside to functioning on the outside, and we were told that had the paediatric check taken place the following day they may not have detected anything at all. […]

When the nurse brandished some shears I nearly passed out…

At 13 days old Little B’s tongue tie has finally been sorted out. I’m not normally squeamish, but when the nurse brandished a pair of shears scissors to make the snip at the base of his tongue I nearly passed out. And I’m not joking. Admittedly the room was hot – stiflingly hot as only ante natal units are – and I was already feeling a little light headed because it was way past lunchtime owing to the fact they were ‘running behind’. But even so, after reading somewhere that they take the baby away to cut the tongue tie, I didn’t expect to have to hold him down while they actually did it. […]

By |November 12th, 2014|Breast feeding, Family life, Food, Health, Parenting, Pregnancy, Weaning|2 Comments

I’m loving NOT being pregnant

Isn’t the human body amazing? It takes 40 weeks to grow a baby but just a matter of days for it to look like there was never anything there at all. This is how mine has changed in the 10 days since Little B was born, although suggesting it looks like there was never anything there at all is stretching it a bit. There’s no doubt I’m a mother: the tell-tale linea nigra across my stomach, the midwife’s needlework skills and the fact I’m in dire need of some serious heavy duty eye cream are all dead giveaways, but all things considered, when fully clothed, I reckon I’ve escaped relatively unscathed. […]

Breast feeding a baby with tongue tie: ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch

Little B was diagnosed with tongue tie by our midwife as soon as he was born, meaning a little lip [...]

By |November 7th, 2014|Breast feeding, Family life, Health, Parenting, Pregnancy, Weaning|0 Comments

I may have overplayed the ‘he won’t actually be able to do anything’ card

I think it’s fair to say BB has taken to being a big sister like a duck to water. After six weeks of broken nights and being generally unsettled in the run up to Little B’s arrival, almost a week in we couldn’t have asked for a better outcome. She goes down at night without a fuss about ‘the baby in mummy’s tummy’, sleeps through the night and no longer wakes up grizzling. She loves kissing him, looking at him and lying next to him (pictured), and I may have overplayed the ‘he won’t actually be able to do anything yet’ card as she’s delighted when he simply grips her finger. […]