Wednesday, 15 June 2011

Week one of BSL (Baby Sign Language)

We have introduced the following signs:

- milk
- more
- all gone
- hungry / eat
- bye bye
- please

of course DD still looks at us as if we're playing but she seems to be very intrested what we do with our fingers and seems to realise its always related to the word we keep repeating over and over again.
I am very curious if this works and she eventually "talks" to us one day. Once this has happened, we will introduce more signs and until then I will give weekly updates.

Friday, 10 June 2011

Something new

As I am always open to new things and also have experienced that DD is getting frustrated if we don't understand what she wants, I decided to try Baby Sign Language.

First I have to do some research and find a good resource for learning it myself.

Then I'll have to drag along my husband, its probably very much faster for DD to learn if we both do it.
(And since her Nanny is already practicing some signs with her, it would be great to keep this up. Unfortunately she is only a temporary Nanny and from next months someone else is looking after DD, but she will have to learn this as well ;))

I assume, it'll take at least 4-6 weeks for DD to pick up the first signs, so note to myself: check again in 6 weeks (22nd July 2011) if this has started to work.

I will write about my progress and how this works out, so hopefully this will be a success.

Sunday, 29 May 2011

Does your baby get enough air in the carrier??

....was a quite common question!

And indeed, one could wonder if babies, that are snuggled in with Mum or Dad are still breathing properly.
Research (* see links below) shows, that Oxygen levels only "drop" by 1% and has no serious effects on baby's breathing. 
However my personal experience is that, with your baby in a sling, wrap or baby carrier, you always feel them breathing. Even a newborn is able to turn her head if the position is not ideal. Especially when in an upright position as in most baby carriers or wrap styles. 
In fact my daughter always dug even deeper into me (my boobs ;)) to find the right comfort to sleep. Sometimes I was worried, but she was so happy there and when I put her head slighty to the side she turned it a few seconds later back to the booby position. And she never breathed hard or irregular, no she would sleep and sleep and sleep and sleep (up to 3 hours). 
Maybe its a bit like some people like to sleep under their pillows and they don't suffocate either.

In the end I actually was quite relaxed with my daughter sleeping that way during the day, because with the still unknown cause of SIDS or SUDI, new mothers are scared and so was I. That way, my little one so close to me and feeling her breath reassured me that she can't suffer from SIDS while with me. (for the nights I did have a baby monitor with movement pads for her cot, as she slept in her bed from the beginning and I was so worried, I couldn't sleep)

Unless you use one of the bag type slings (link: bag style slings - are dangerous!) your baby is safe and probably the happiest baby on earth in a wrap or carrier.

links to studies:




Minutes of Babywearing today: DH 25, myself 10

Saturday, 19 February 2011

Our Story

Before DD was born, I knew about the different Baby Wearing options but wanted to wait until she entered the world and get to know her, before buying a wrap or pouch.
Funnily, today I think, why on earth does everyone - including me - assume, a new baby will lay happily in a pram and chose this option over being sooo close and snuggly to Mum or Dad? We learnt a lesson there, our daughter didn't accept the pram until she was 5 months old.

Like almost all parents, we discovered very soon that DD wanted to be held - all the time. It was just the best place on earth for her. For the first few weeks I learned how to do all my daily tasks with a baby in one arm and the other one free for use. I learned how to do the washing, fold the washing, eat, cook (microwave), do the dishes, get dressed, go to the toilet and even to open a tin of food with a tin opener.

But surely this isn't satisfying. It takes about 10 times longer than with two arms and is very tiring.
Sleeplessness is something you get really spoilt with anyway.And even I, who can function quite good on lack of sleep, didn't need anymore exhaustion.

The brilliant tip "sleep when the baby sleeps" didn't work for us, M-O-V-E-M-E-N-T was the key. If someone finds a way to sleep while walking - plsssssss tell me ;)

So I did some research on the Internet to find a good Baby Carrier, since at that time I didn't want to use a wrap.
Apparently there are just soooo many styles and brands available and I would often read things like
"Spread-squat position" and "facing-in" etc.
My research got a bit bigger and I learned that some of the carriers around can be harmful to Baby's spine.

Finally I chose a Hoppediz Bondolino over a few others, due to price and handling (no buckles, clips etc).


When it arrived I was quite excited and tried it with DD when she was 5 weeks old. She just loved it and fell asleep in it after a few minutes.

At that time we were packing and moving to a new house, so the timing couldn't have been better. I basically packed and unpacked our whole household with my daughter in her Bondolino.

And the icing on the cake was, my Husband loved to wear our princess as well. On weekends, he would carry her all the time, there is nothing sexier than your Man snuggling your child!

This was the beginning of our journey of Baby Wearing.....



 DD and Dad, at that time it was all you could see of her :)
 Totally content...
and so cute!

EDIT: Minutes of Babywearing today: DH 60, myself 45

Friday, 18 February 2011

Welcome

So I entered the blogging world.
Time: 9:15 p.m.
Date: 18th February 2011

Minutes of Babywearing today: 10