The Importance Of Self-Care For New Parents

When you have a child your life changes in ways you never could have imagined. Suddenly your full attention is on another human being. Everything you do is ultimately for them. Taking care of yourself often becomes secondary. But it’s not wise to completely set aside your own needs. Parents who are tired, ill, and unfulfilled will not be able to offer the best care for their child. So it makes sense to factor your own health and happiness into the equation.

baby-with-mum new parents self-care

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Tools

New babies require lots of stuff. From the moment you found you were pregnant you probably started putting together a maternity checklist. But I bet it didn’t include items for parents. Consider setting up your own list of items to keep you fit, well, and happy during the early years. It needn’t cost a fortune; just a few items to make life a little easier.

  • A few paperbacks for when the baby is sleeping, and you’re not
  • Magazines to leaf through for the scarce 10-minute break
  • Bath products for R&R
  • Comfy lounge pants and slippers for 4:00 am feeds and the rest of day if needed
  • List of Netflix and Prime films and series
  • Healthy food and the odd treat
  • Music playlist for quick workouts and relaxing

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Where to Find Affordable Baby Equipment

Starting a family is an expensive business. In fact it cost’s an average of £3000 for your new arrival in their first year of life. But at the moment life in general is very expensive for everyone. So we are all out to find the best deals we can possible. I know when I found out we were going to have a baby, my first question was how can we afford one?

Baby’s need lots of equipment so we planned to find the best affordable baby equipment we could. I always hunt for bargains online and one of the websites we discovered sold name branded items at discounted prices. We could save £££’s off a stroller alone!

affordable-baby-equipment

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This is My Back to Work Routine

We are now three weeks into our new routine. Going back to work after 10 months off was hard. I’m currently working 3 days a week until December when I move back to the full 5 days a week. So not looking forward to that. I think 3 days is the perfect balance for us.

back-to-work

That first Monday was hard. It broke my heart to leave her. I knew she would be fine with my parents though. When I went to pick her up at 4pm her little arms and legs were going and she practically jumped into my arms. She cuddles into me laughing and smiling away. It was an emotional moment.

The second day was much better. Baby girl is loving being spoilt by my dad – her papa. He makes her laugh and giggle all the time. This second week is now easier. We are into a good routine now. Getting up at 5:15am is hard but we all go to bed early.

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Organising a Kid’s Birthday Party: Top Ideas You Need To See

Every mum starts to panic when it’s time to organise their kid’s birthday party. After all, you have to entertain a bunch of kids for a couple of hours. And it’s tricky to find activities that they will all love. And you need to keep within budget at the same time! You might be surprised to know the average birthday party can cost around £100! Therefore, you need to make sure it’s something that your kid will love for that price! Here are a few top ideas for your child’s birthday party that you need to see.

birthday-party

Pixabay

Take the kids swimming

If you have a swimming pool close by your home, you should think about organising the birthday party there. Swimming is a fun activity that the kids can all do at the same time. They will have so much fun splashing around in the pool for an hour or two. For larger parties, you might even want to hire the pool. You could even arrange for the centre to provide food and drinks for the kids after they have been in the pool. That way, it saves everyone coming back to your home after swimming! With swimming, it’s best to invite the parents along as you will struggle to keep an eye on all the children at once!

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How Can We Create a Bright Future for Our Children?

Since becoming a parent I have often thought about baby girl’s future. How can we create a Bright Future for our children? We have been set a challenge by Unilever called #brightFuture to discover little things as a family we can do to change the future for the better.

Unilever products - Helping create a bright Future for our children

At the heart of the Unilever brightFuture initiative is the goal to unite communities and encourage small changes in everyday life that have a positive impact on the world.

Here are some of our little things we have changed to help make our world a better place and to shape a bright future:

  • Turning the tap off when brushing teeth
  • Recycling
  • Re-using boxes and bottles/jars
  • Composting fruit and veg peelings
  • Turning the TV off and not leaving it on standby
  • Remembering to turn off lights when leaving a room
  • Meal Planning, so we don’t buy food to waste.
  • Only use reusable bags

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Potty Training Chart Review & Giveaway

Now I know baby girl is only 8 months old so way too early for potty training. Although Holly Willoughby did potty train her one year old son so she claimed earlier this year. As a new mum I honestly don’t have the foggiest idea when to start potty training. But I’m sure my mother’s instinct will kick in and I will know when she’s ready!

I know many of you are mum’s and some of you are around the potty training stage I expect, so when I was asked if I would like to review and host a giveaway for the Victoria Chart Company, I thought it would be a great idea. I’m sure you can also pass on some tips to me for when my time comes around…hint hint!

potty-training-chart

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