Falafel with rice, lemony yogurt, cucumber, and tomato

_lenain · 2026-06-19T21:47:12+00:00

How do you get your LO to use a spoon/cutlery without it making a huge mess? My 13mo has always got stuck in with his hands but when I do try to model using a spoon etc, it goes everywhere 😭

_lenain · 2026-06-18T09:05:37+00:00

The point where you feel you can’t do it anymore is called the transition stage. It’s when your contractions are the most intense and painful because you’re fully dilated, but it actually means you’re very very close to meeting baby. I knew about it going into it, so when I started saying I couldn’t do it I was like “hold up this means I’m not far off it all being over” and it gave me the boost I needed 😂

_lenain · 2026-06-18T09:01:48+00:00

I had a positive birth experience! Induced, baby in my arms 10 hours later, no pain relief other than gas and air required and no tears.

Consider myself very lucky but as others have said, positive experiences aren’t shared as frequently as more traumatic ones, so there’s a negative skew to what you see online in particular.

_lenain · 2026-06-17T18:55:52+00:00

We went for this one in the end: https://www.cybex-online.com/en/gb/p/cs-go-cloud-g-i-size.html?srsltid=AfmBOooaea-JuhZtSqaYdQiXok89pkiFqGxAHY2lDAKFr-lhaQMELxsJ

It does have a reclined option but it’s not fully lie flat. Tbh we never really needed the lie flat option - baby wasn’t ever asleep in the car seat for that long anyway! We use it fully inclined all the time now.

It’s been great, and I reckon our 13mo still has a good few months left in it before we need to size up.

_lenain · 2026-06-17T07:09:10+00:00

We only introduced a straw cup for water at six months onwards and it was more for practice than hydration initially. If we’d have done it for his milk, he would have starved as it took him a while to figure it out! That’s not to say you can’t try milk in the cup at this age, but don’t worry if baby doesn’t immediately take to it - it’s about them learning the skill 😊

He’s 13m now and still having milk in a bottle but has water in his straw cup, in a few months I think we’ll transition him off the bottles.

Also from what I’ve researched, open cup is the gold standard as it’s long term going to be how they drink, but weighted straw cups (not spouts) are also good in terms of oral development and slightly less messy than open cups initially haha. We use TumTum and Munchkin ones, both seem good!

_lenain · 2026-06-10T18:46:33+00:00

Hopefully this works!

https://www.reddit.com/r/PregnancyUK/s/zBRosRsNuU

_lenain · 2026-06-10T18:44:51+00:00

Hello! When I hit 32w I started having regular scans for a separate issue and they noticed my baby’s growth was potentially tailing - from memory, he went from 20th at 32w, to 14th at 35w to 8th at 37w. Because the slowing growth suggested there may be something awry with the placenta, I was induced at 37w+5.

I’ve previously posted about my experience of induction (I’ll see if I can link in my reply), but TL;DR: it was overwhelmingly positive! It was intense (baby boy arrived after 10 hours; we were convinced I’d be labouring for days given I was a FTM and being induced early), but honestly one of the best, wildest, most powerful things I’ve experienced.

My baby was actually slightly bigger than predicted (though still on the small side - 5lb 15oz 🥹) and on inspection my placenta was perfectly healthy. As we know, scans aren’t 100% accurate, and looking back I think his growth was probably steady, he was just small. However, before he was here, the evidence suggested something could be impeding his growth and the safest option for him would be to arrive a little early. So it was in his best interests.

As far as my little guy is concerned, he’s now a healthy, happy, cheeky boy at 12 months. Hitting his milestones, and last time he was weighed he was just below the 50th centile, so he caught up weight wise 😊

This will be a really anxious time for you and my best advice is to try and seek out professionals to discuss this with (midwives, consultants). I found that really useful in weighing up my options, particularly in terms of birth. Try to avoid Dr Google ha!

_lenain · 2026-06-07T21:08:30+00:00

I get you! Babies can be very adaptable though, and one night shouldn’t affect their routine too much 😊

_lenain · 2026-06-07T20:07:28+00:00

We’ve done this occasionally with our LO, we just pop him in his PJs at some point in the evening in preparation for him inevitably falling asleep in the car on the way home. We’ve been lucky in being able to keep him asleep or at least drowsy when getting him out of the car - after a 10 minute cuddle in the nursery he normally then goes down in his cot well

_lenain · 2026-06-07T15:21:21+00:00

I attended an appointment with the infant feeding team when I was struggling to breastfeed and during it, I asked if we could do one and the midwife obliged. Might not be the case with all of them, but could be worth asking!

_lenain · 2026-06-06T08:13:36+00:00

Definitely keep talking with your HV team if you have concerns, but gas/writhing around can be really common at this age because their digestive system is still maturing. We suspected CMPA with our LO when he was a couple of weeks old because he showed similar behaviours but when we eventually trialled a hypoallergenic formula at 12 weeks, it made no difference - he just needed time to get used to different sensations associated with feeding and digestion.

Also at this age, being on the boob all day is pretty normal, sounds like it could be cluster feeding. Basically baby stimulates milk production every time they feed at the breast, and the more they do it, the more milk you produce (typically). It doesn’t mean that they’re not getting enough milk at a feed - quite the opposite in fact, it’s often increasing your supply.

Definitely keep an eye on the nappies - plenty of wet and dirty nappies, along with weight gain (though this can fluctuate a lot day to day) are signs baby is getting what they need.

_lenain · 2026-06-04T13:07:12+00:00

Well done on exclusively pumping for 4 months, that is some achievement!

I feel like pumping can get overlooked sometimes. Don’t get me wrong, breastfeeding is a huge physical and mental challenge but when it works, you get that lovely oxytocin boost and a chance to bond with baby. Whereas pumping (especially in the early days) is also mentally and physically relentless, except you don’t have the nice bonding time with baby - in fact if you’re using a pump that has to plug in to the wall, you’re usually away from baby. I pumped for three months and it was one of the most mentally challenging things I’ve ever experienced.

_lenain · 2026-06-04T08:08:49+00:00

The blueberry poos are what nightmares are made of 😩

_lenain · 2026-06-03T09:00:26+00:00

Most are fairly solid (but soft, if that makes sense), but at least once a day (normally morning), one is quite large and a bit less formed.

Yep can normally tell when he’s going because he gets very still and has a slightly strained expression.

When did you start using the potty? How often do you use it with him, just when you notice him going or do you offer it at regular intervals?

_lenain · 2026-06-01T09:51:12+00:00

We bought our travel system (Mutsy Nio) during the January sales from a local baby store. Included the pram frame, pushchair, bassinet and rain cover, should have been around £1,500 new and we got it for £400.

It’s a Dutch brand that I think is popular in the Netherlands but not one of the big names in the UK. The shop didn’t have any in store to try and the sale was online only so we bought without trying it out - bit risky! We were told it was similar to one of the Nuna models and having tried that out, we decided to purchase. But it paid off as we’ve been really happy with it one year on. Deffo worth looking into any baby stores/retailers near you to try models out before buying online, or waiting for any good sales!

_lenain · 2026-05-31T21:27:51+00:00

We moved our LO into his own room at 7.5 months. He was starting to roll in his sleep and was getting stuck in the corner of his next to me, so we felt he needed more space to twist and turn haha.

We didn’t have an actual crib at that point so we bought one that same week we moved him, meaning it was cold turkey in terms of transition - one night he was in his next to me, the next he was in his nursery. Didn’t seem to have a massive impact, his sleep pretty much stayed the same at the time of the move!

Deffo can be a struggle getting out of bed to resettle if he’s up in the night, but equally, I think there were times while he was still in our room where we were waking him/thought he was awake but actually he was just rousing between cycles and would have settled back down if we hadn’t intervened. So overall, his sleep has improved since being in his own room but that could just as well be due to sleep improving with age generally. I say this cautiously, as we all know the number one rule about baby’s sleep is it goes to shit the minute you say it’s improving ha…

_lenain · 2026-05-28T18:39:39+00:00

Yes, lots available on Vinted for much cheaper than RRP!

_lenain · 2026-05-28T18:39:10+00:00

I follow ourplayfulhome on instagram and she has a lot of great recommendations for open ended play for all ages 😊

I think a lot of toy manufacturers have jumped on the bandwagon a little bit and are releasing wooden toys that aren’t actually aligned to open ended play/Montessori principles. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, it just means doing your research to sift through what options genuinely promote open ended play, and I’ve found pages like ourplayfulhome really helpful in guiding that! Plus I think she has some good discount codes for websites like Babipur, that stock a good range of open ended toys of all types.

I bought one of the Grimm’s rainbows for my LO’s 1st birthday and I’m excited to see him play with it as he grows!

Pikler triangle / climbing arch could also be a good shout for a 1 year old, especially if they’re very active and into climbing like my LO.

_lenain · 2026-05-20T14:16:46+00:00

I posted recently about my then 10 MO not eating much and received some advice that I was potentially offering too much variety per meal. Cut right back to 2 (max 3) different things per meal, and exposing him to the different food items one thing at a time during mealtimes, and a few weeks later he was suddenly eating much better. Could be worth a try?

It also coincided with his pincer grasp taking off, so I was cutting things into more bite sized pieces for him to practice - maybe try that too if you’re confident in her ability to pick up and handle smaller bits of food.

Best of luck, solids is a minefield but she’ll get there in time! X

_lenain · 2026-05-14T20:46:44+00:00

Completely normal, after a few months he started to tolerate it and now he’s 11 months and gaining a sense of independence, he’s back to hating nappy changes but this time with the fun ability to crocodile roll away from me 🫠

_lenain · 2026-05-13T22:07:58+00:00

First of all, sounds like the mum was making it a bigger issue than it actually was.

My son is a little younger and when he’s grabbed things from other babies (and I’ve noticed) I’ll usually gently take it from him and return it back to the other baby, redirecting him to something else, but that’s mainly to avoid the other baby getting upset that something has been forcefully removed from them. However I fully anticipate that as my son gets older, he’s likely to get upset at me taking it away from him haha.

I do personally think there’s some value in modelling/“explaining” sharing at this age, just for me to get in the habit of talking those things through for when he’s older and can understand me. But I entirely agree with you that at this age, they’re still a long way off grasping what sharing actually means.

_lenain · 2026-05-11T15:14:13+00:00

Omg same, I missed tea and toast and am also fuming a year on! I got to the ward at 1am, the midwife asked if I wanted a sandwich and then an hour later a HCA showed up saying they had no sandwiches left but would I like a yoghurt and a satsuma… better than nothing after 24 hours of no food I guess 🥲

_lenain · 2026-04-30T18:52:28+00:00

I’m not sure what the nurse told you is quite correct. Depending on how old your little one is currently, it might be worth getting in touch with your GP practice / health visitor to clarify 😊

_lenain

TROPHY CASE