I have two children 1 girl (aged 4) and a boy (just turned 1). After the shock to the system after the first child and getting full nights sleep again we decided we were ready for number two. Our thinking was it simply be a repitition of what we'd experienced before. Boy were we wrong (excuse the pun)! When we were first made aware of 2nd little angel the doctors told us he might have down syndrome so right from the off the stress began. We just assumed, i suppose, like a lot parents that everything would just go to plan especially considering number one had been 100% healthy and a great sleeper. He turned out very healthy but having researched down syndrome to prepare ..  Read the complete review

Being a parent is doing what is right for you, your child and your family. Whatever you want to believe, or might believe, no parent is perfect, each and every one of us make mistakes infact we often get things wrong. Being a good parent I believe is about instinct not about doing what the books says, I have never read a parenting book but I know what they say and I know what they advise (ok I have read a few articles). I know what is right and yes the books tell you how to do things but in reality it is hard to stick to what the experts say. - Don't pick your baby up straight away when they are crying Leave them to cry for 5 minutes at ...  Read the complete review

when I fell pregnant with my first son I was ecstatic, I threw myself into reading all the books on pregnancy what to eat and not to eat, about the birth and what to expect after. I had the idea in my head that my baby was going to fall into this perfect routine, not have a dummy, be exclusively breastfed and sleep through the night by 6 months YEAH RIGHT he wasn't structured at all, he didn't breastfeed well and ended up very poorly with mastitis, to which went to bottle feeding, he was also a very suckley baby after the one day of endless crying my mum said "try this" it was a dummy I burst into tears and felt such a bad mum, all the books had told me that .  Read the complete review

Nowadays, routines, sleeping patterns, feeding times etc are all things that parents seem to set in stone. For me, i work around my daughter rather than work her around me. She is not in a routine and never has been, people say thats bad, but in reality, we are in a sort of routine.. she wakes every 3 1/2 hours for a feed, has breakfast some time before 11am, lunch between 12am and 3pm, and dinner between 5pm and 7.30pm. there is no set times with her as she often doesn't like to be set a routine. at night she'll fall asleep by herself and even if she lays there awake, she'll just get on with her own thing, like playing and attempting to crawl, she never cries ...  Read the complete review

It is so easy to get lost in day to day grind of work, housework, cook the dinner, feed the dog, go shopping and the list goes on...it is understandable to not be able to REALLY see our children and to focus on how wonderful they are in each given moment. I have a beautiful 4 year old, 2 year old and a newborn baby girl of 10 days and i make a conscious effort to remind myself every day to enjoy each and every moment, no matter how mundane or even ordinary, as one day they will all be grown up with lives of their own and you can look back at the memories that you have made with happiness/sadness/regret. Make it memories of happiness and start that ...  Read the complete review