Felix turns two months old today. It has been the fastest two months of my life. I don’t know why, but when Dexter was a newborn the hours of each day dragged by, however the time now passes so much more quickly.
Felix turns eight weeks old this week and he has changed so much from the tiny 8lbs newborn we brought home back in December. Our routine has been all over the place for the last eight weeks, but we are starting to see more of a pattern in Felix’s feeding and sleep times. He has generally been feeding every three hours during the day from 7am, taking his final feed at 10pm and sleeping through until the next morning. Although this is quite a late bedtime we are happy at the moment to follow Felix’s lead, knowing that Dex used to have a similar bedtime and after a few more weeks it will get earlier and earlier. To be honest, we are also simply grateful he is sleeping for a long stretch at night!
Now that we can see what Felix’s eating and sleeping pattern is, we have started introducing a bedtime routine as we believe babies and toddlers thrive on them. Dex still has his bedtime routine now at two and a half years old. It involves a round of toast, CBeebies bedtime hour, getting changed into PJs and sleep sack, a book, cuddles and bed. It’s one of my favourite times of the day.
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Felix’s routine is a lot simpler as he is so young. At around 9pm we give him a bath with the lights down low, cuddling him in his hooded bath wrap once he gets out to make sure he stays snuggly and warm. Once he’s dry, we moisturise his skin using baby massage and then pop on his nappy and a vest. We then feed him his bottle and sing songs to him softly before placing him in his Chicco Next to Me bedside crib where he dozes off to sleep holding one of our hands.
Like most babies, he does like to fight his sleep and you can see him trying as hard as he can to keep his eyes open or sometimes he thrashes around. It’s funny the things you forget about newborns, but as soon as I saw him doing it, I remembered Dexter was the same! A bit of ‘shushing‘ usually helps, along with a hand on his chest.
We were kindly gifted the SwaddleMe Bath to Bed Gift Set to review on the blog and it’s been a wonderful addition to our bedtime routine.
The gift set comes with a hooded bath wrap, four muslin terry clothes and an original SwaddleMe swaddle. It’s the perfect gift set for new Mums and Dads giving you everything you need to create a calming and cuddly bedtime routine.
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We have loved using the gift set as part of our bedtime routine. The muslin and terry cloths are lovely and soft on Felix’s sensitive newborn skin and the hooded wrap keeps him cuddly and cosy.
You can purchase the SwaddleMe Bath to Bed Gift Set from Mothercare.
Spring is on it’s way and we couldn’t be more excited. Although it’s been a pretty mild winter, there have been some really cold and rainy days which have meant we have been stuck in the house, especially because we’ve had a newborn to consider as well. I am really looking forward to getting outside lots more, especially out in our garden, a garden we’ve wanted for so long and now finally have, after moving into our dream home.
Having a baby is not cheap. They warn you about this as soon as that little blue line appears on the stick: you best get saving because having kids equals being poor.
It’s not just the expensive travel system, the thousands of nappies you’ll go through, the gorgeous clothes you end up spending a fortune on and the baby classes and swimming lessons; as a woman you also need to worry about replacing your wage. I’m one of the lucky ones who gets a pretty decent maternity package from my employer which involves six months full pay followed by thirteen weeks of SMP. Without those months of full pay, there’s no way I’d be able to afford to take twelve months off from work, so I really am very lucky. Even so, to fund the other six months, especially those three months where I am on zero pay, sacrifices must be made.
In November, we were invited by Visit Birmingham to spend the weekend in Birmingham and we packed in so many fun attractions including the National SEA LIFE Centre which is located next to Brindleyplace in the centre of Birmingham.
I have always been happier to stay indoors than to get out and about in the great outdoors, but of course all this had to change when we had children. When Dexter was born and up until the age of two, we lived in a flat in the city centre of Liverpool, so it was vital we got out into the world as much as possible with not having a garden. Thankfully, now Felix is here, we have moved out into a small rural village and have a decent garden for both boys to play in which is perfect for outdoor activities.
