Jazziepickles

UK Mummy and Lifestyle blogger

Newborn must haves (0-3 months)

Hey lovelies, I hope you’re all warm and well.
Throughout my pregnancy, hours and hours were spent looking watching videos and reading articles on baby essentials and newborn must haves. It can be so overwhelming figuring out exactly what you need for your new arrival. I found this type of content really useful when compiling my list of things to buy. So I thought I’d share with you some of the items we couldn’t live without during the first 3 months of Oliver’s life.

Feeding:

Tommee Tippee perfect prep machine – A product I didn’t intend to buy. My plan was to breastfeed Oliver for as long as I could. Both directly from me and in expressed bottles. He decided otherwise and we made the decision to formula feed him after two agonising days of attempted breast feeding. This machine makes a bottle to the perfect temperature in less than 2 minutes and honestly made life so much easier. Oliver wasn’t left screaming while his milk cooled down and the convenience was worth the £115 price tag.

MAM Anti-Colic Self Sterilising Bottles-  Another product I didn’t plan on purchasing. Prior to Oliver’s birth I bought a big set of Dr Brown Anti colic bottles because absolutely everyone said they’re the best ones. Oliver thought differently. He didn’t get on with the teat, at all. Milk dribbled out the side of his mouth, he couldn’t suck on them properly and it was all round a bit stressful. I had been given a 4oz MAM bottle at a private scan. We tried that one and he took it really well! We ended up buying a whole new set of these bottles and they’ve worked great. They’re so easy to sterilise too!

Lansinoh Therapearl 3-in-1 Breast Therapy pads-  Not so much in the  newborn essentials, but during that time, mumma’s you’re gonna need these. When your milk comes in properly it’ll feel like you have two giant bowling balls hanging on your chest. It’s quite uncomfortable and at times, painful. A friend recommended using these frozen to help with engorgement and swelling. They worked a treat for me!

Newborn must haves

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Top 5 Child development tips

Hey lovelies, I hope you’re all warm and well!
With maternity leave literally days away, I’ve been trying on overdrive trying to make sure everything is done before I leave. As an experienced childcare practitioner of 4 years, my knowledge has growth with me throughout my career.  I thought I’d share some tips with you all on child development (specifically in a nursery setting). The content here will also benefit first time parents too. A little something for everyone, I hope. So lets jump straight into my top child development tips.

Make learning fun.

Children between the ages of 0-3 years learn best though play. By providing a wide range of fun activities, child are able to explore and experiments with different approaches to things. Let’s give an example, junk modelling. Saving a few every day packaging items like boxes, pots and tubes can make for some great play. Allowing children to stick, paint and build with these items helps promote their imagination, language, concentration and most importantly, they get to have fun. You can also make this a group activity to promote team work, sharing, turn taking and social skills, all while having fun with it.

Child development tips

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Preparing for a newborn

Hey lovelies, I hope you’re all warm and well.
Preparing for a newborn can be quite daunting. There’s so much to think about. With so many baby products on the market, it can be tricky to figure out what you actually need, rather than all the adorable bits you just kinda want. As first time parents, we didn’t really have a clue where to start. I spent hours and hours researching baby essentials, reading other mummies check lists, watching videos and creating my own little wish lists. I thought I’d create a post on how we’re preparing for our newborn before he arrives. Not gonna lie, it’s been one of my favourite things about being pregnant.

Figuring out the essentials

Everyone will give you tips and advice (regardless of if you asked for it or not) on what items you actually need for baby. When you completely strip back the absolute essentials, there isn’t that much to it. We knew we wanted a travel system and spent ages researching which one suited our needs best. Similarly with sleeping arrangements, I knew I wanted a bedside crib for upstairs, and a traditional Moses basket for downstairs. In terms of feeding, combination feeding is the plan. With me breast feeding and expressing for bottles. Clothing wise you don’t need all those cute tiny outfits (although some are just too hard to resist). Basic vests and sleepsuits are just fine. Family and friends will no doubt inundate you with clothes so keep your buys minimal to avoid having waaayyy to much.

 

Preparing for a newborn - shopping

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Oliver Elliott 19/06/19 – Labour and delivery story

Oliver Elliott. Born a whopping 9lbs 2oz on the 19th June 2019 at 22.04pm.
After a one failed pessary, two 6 hour prostin’s and an intense hormone drip later, you entered the world and changed my life forever. You took your time (84 hours start to finish) but you were worth every second of the wait.
I was induced at 38 weeks. Turns out him having multi cystic dysplastic kidney and me having gestational diabetes caused him to be on the bigger side. I wanted to tell my labour and delivery story because when I was looking for them, couldn’t seem to find many. Especially on UK inductions. The ones I did find were all horror stories. But is it really as bad as people make it out to be?

My labour and delivery story

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My baby shower 04/05/19

Hey lovelies, I hope you’re all warm and well!
The month of May is almost over already and I can’t believe how quick it’s flown by! A lot has happened this month, so many appointments, a diagnosis of Gestational Diabetes but most exciting, my baby shower.  It was a lovely afternoon spent with close family at my home, with a few games, some nibbles and a good catch up. Little man got absolutely spoiled with love and gifts and we’re really grateful.

Preparing for my baby shower.

Annoyingly, I’m quite a last minute kinda girl so I wasn’t overly prepared. The morning was spent with a quick dash around the supermarket picking up some food and snacks. Once I got home, we had a quick tidy and clean of the house, then I started preparing some food. There wasn’t a lot of guests so I just popped some pizza and chicken in the oven, whacked some crisps in a bowl and put some some boxes of sweet treats. Between all of that, I managed to get myself ready and then everyone started arriving.

Games

As there was only a small group of us, I didn’t feel the need to buy loads of games to play. I ordered a few bits from amazon like ‘pin the dummy on the baby’ (which i ended up winning), some cute photo props and baby wish/prediction cards. That was enough to keep us busy for a while. I loved the little prediction cards. Everyone wrote a sweet wish to the baby and I’m going to put them in his scrapbook.

my baby shower gifts

Gifts

My family were so kind and generous with their gifts, I really didn’t expect half as much as he got. We’re extremely lucky and thankful. My aunt made a lovely little hamper with some really practical and cute bits. There were nappies, wipes, towels, bibs and so much more! A really cute idea. My mum has been buying stuff since she found out I was expecting but she got us the baby bath we wanted (the shnuggle bath) and some baby clothes in bigger sizes. Shane’s mum got our moses basket for downstairs. It’s a beautiful white wicker basket and stand, I love it (and so does my cat apparently). My Nan got a few cute books, some toys, a lovely pillow and loads of adorable baby clothes from Next (her favourite shop). My aunt who couldn’t make it due to distance spoiled him with gorgeous clothing that we actually didn’t have. Baby boy now has the softest cosy pram suits for winter, some cute sleep suits and and a swaddle wrap.
Honestly, everyone was so kind with their gifts and I know everything will be put to good use.

Overall.

Having a huge elaborate shower really wasn’t my idea of fun. Far to much to prepare and organise. So glad I decided to keep my baby shower a small and intimate family event. We had such a lovely afternoon together and it gave us all the chance to catch up. Family time is so special and I can’t wait for everyone to meet my little dude in a few weeks. He’s already loved so much. Again, we’re so grateful for all the kind presents we received. You guys went above and beyond.
Thank you <3
That rounds up this post on my baby shower. I hope you enjoyed it! Leave a comment down below with some cute baby shower idea’s that might inspire someone else.

Catch up on some related posts
Pregnancy Q&A || Burts bees mama cream review || Early gender scan experience

Kisses and Love
Jazziepickles
xoxo