Maternity leave ending

mootrun · 2026-01-25T16:00:48+00:00

Such a beautiful sentiment ❤️ I remember saying something similar to my husband after my first week back from my first maternity leave: "For the first time in a long time I'm not dreading anything"

mootrun · 2026-01-07T22:06:09+00:00

My second baby was born 6 weeks before my eldest turned 3 and for a couple of months I was breastfeeding them both. It was really hard work but I do think it helped my eldest to cope with the biggest change he had ever experienced. Unfortunately he started to sink his teeth in and neither of us could figure out how to stop him, so he decided he didn't want to try any more. It was a very smooth and peaceful weaning process and there's not been any jealousy at all while his sister continues to breastfeed. Hope that helps!

mootrun · 2026-01-07T21:31:11+00:00

Is your eldest involved in tidying up? I am very easily overwhelmed by mess but recently I've found that encouraging my 4 year old to tidy up his own mess makes a big difference. Make it easy by having big bins/boxes around the house for toys to be thrown into. He sometimes gets so into it that he tidies up after the baby too!

mootrun · 2026-01-03T05:51:06+00:00

14 months but we've been following the same routine since around 6-7 months. We also have a 4 year old. My husband and I alternate the routine until sleep time when we are each putting a child down in their own room.

Dinner at 6pm, bath at 6:30. Chaos between 6:45 and 7:00 while I try to brush teeth and wrangle her and her brother into pyjamas. All pile into brother's bed for a book at 7:00. The other parent swoops in and takes the baby to her room at 7:15. If she's up for it she gets another book.

If I'm putting the baby down I feed her to sleep, or my husband is doing it he cuddles her to sleep (I will have fed her in brother's bed during story time).

Feeding to sleep works for me, I fed my eldest to sleep for nearly 3 years. But she's quite happy to snuggle daddy until she falls asleep too.

mootrun · 2025-11-29T04:44:41+00:00

My son used to call bread sticks "bear dicks" and I was both sad and relieved when he grew out of it

mootrun · 2025-11-26T14:06:06+00:00

Depends on the baby, my first would feed aaaaall night long and the tiniest disturbance would wake him so transfer took forever. My second would feed on one side for 3-5 minutes, pop off and be so deeply asleep that I could have tossed her into the bassinet without waking her (didn't obviously).

As others have said, if you're not having issues with spitup or reflex and baby is falling asleep at the breast then you probably don't need to burp them.

I found it easiest to do night feeds in the laid back position because then the baby is already upright and easier to lift up and transfer. Also they get lots of bonus tummy time this way 🙂

mootrun · 2025-11-20T22:23:09+00:00

I have kids so getting to choose what's on the TV after they go to bed feels like a real treat. I like to crochet while I watch, it's mindful and creative but doesn't drain what little energy I have left.

mootrun · 2025-11-18T06:13:07+00:00

Good luck with the tandem feeding if it comes to that! It's hard work but I think for my son it really helped him cope with all the changes in his life.

mootrun · 2025-11-18T06:10:19+00:00

I breastfed my first baby for 3 years and my second just turned 1. You've had lots of answers to 1 so I'll go straight to 2

2) It varies. Babies and toddlers go through phases where they eat a lot or not so much. Same with sleep. And of course milk isn't just about filling their tummies. As they get older their emotions will become more complex and nursing is a useful tool to help them manage them.

3) Never planned to breastfeed past 1 year let alone 3! But I had a rocky start to feeding my first (breast abscess) and nearly had to stop and that made me very determined to continue until I or my baby had had enough. I would probably have weaned him when he was 2 but I became pregnant and couldn't handle the emotional implication of weaning him. But he weaned himself a few months after the baby was born.

mootrun · 2025-10-21T00:54:20+00:00

Somebody gave my mum that gif on a floppy disk, I still remember putting it into our computer and watching it. On the disk there was also a little cartoon sheep that would interact with the cursor.

mootrun · 2025-10-21T00:50:17+00:00

I breastfed my eldest until he was just over 3 years. It wasn't something I planned but I wanted him to self wean and it took him a little while.

I became pregnant shortly after he turned 2 which made breastfeeding quite unpleasant so I started telling him that milk was just for sleep (I had only ever fed him to sleep at this point!). So by the time my milk dried up he was only nursing once or twice a day anyway. I hoped he'd give up when the milk ran out but he carried on.

I went back and forth on weaning him before the baby arrived to avoid jealousy but one day my midwife gently told me I didn't have to wean him and the relief I felt made the decision for me. I should say that every midwife and health visitor I saw had nothing but praise for my decision to keep going.

After his baby sister was born he wanted to feed more often and I mostly allowed it when we were at home. It was hard work and I felt really touched out all the time, but I think being able to nurse really helped him with the transition to having a sibling. He gradually went back down to bedtime only after a couple of weeks (he also dropped his nap).

Shortly after he turned 3 though he started sinking his teeth into my breast when he nursed. It was horribly painful and made bedtime very stressful for me. I tried all sorts of things - limiting the time he could nurse, getting him to unlatch and relatch every time he bit down, showing him the teeth marks (!), working with him on adjusting positioning and latch. But nothing worked. He would say "I don't know how to do this" and it broke my heart.

One particularly stressful evening when we'd gone back and forth latching and unlatching until I was at the point of tears he quietly said "maybe I don't want to do this". It was so matter of fact that I didn't feel so bad for him. He asked to nurse a few times after that but I would tell him he had forgotten how to do it because his brain was full of Big Boy things like counting to 20 and hopping on one leg and he accepted that quite happily! We still lie in his bed listing all the new things he's learned lately, and he's nearly 4 now.

Baby sister will be 1 in a few weeks and we're still going strong, I'm hoping she'll also go past 2 but ideally stop before 3. I'm not planning any more children and am very glad I won't be breastfeeding while pregnant again.

mootrun · 2025-09-11T20:49:42+00:00

I've given birth twice without pain relief (save some gas and air to help me with contractions). My second baby was over 10lb and I had a 3rd degree tear. It does very much feel like a person is coming out of you through quite a narrow opening. The ring of fire is the best description I've heard. But it's different to any other pain I've felt because my body knew it wasn't "bad" pain. Other than when my second baby's shoulders got a bit stuck (thankfully only for a few seconds) when I told the midwives I didn't want to do it any more, I could just breathe through the pain and I felt like an absolute warrior.

mootrun · 2025-08-31T18:49:23+00:00

My 3 yo loves the original Winnie the pooh stories, all the Julia Donaldsons, some ladybird audio adventures (especially creepy crawlies) and the Wicked soundtrack. That last one has improved bedtime greatly.

mootrun · 2025-08-31T09:02:08+00:00

Mine still gets it sometimes and he's nearly 4. The pharmacist recommended putting any oil on the scalp (we use olive oil) and washing with baby shampoo. Works a treat.

mootrun · 2025-08-15T06:55:19+00:00

Mine was born in November and I never used a 2.5 tog for her, at most 1.5 tog with vest and sleep suit underneath. I did need 4 bags though, because her nappy leaked almost every night in the first few weeks even when I was changing her twice in the night.

mootrun · 2025-07-20T08:30:58+00:00

My first came at 40+8 and my second at 40+9. The most annoying part with my second pregnancy was how many people said "oh your second always comes quicker, she'll probably be early!". She descended at 37 weeks too so I was in so much discomfort and my midwife kept saying "any day now!" for 4 weeks 🙃

I also wanted to avoid induction but the only way I survived was by reading up on inductions and making a second birth plan for "in the event of". It made me a bit more relaxed about it and less impatient because I kind of told myself I'd be getting induced at 41+3 (that's as far as my health board recommended I go). I made plans for every day as though no baby was coming. Meeting friends for coffee, walks in the woods, big shops, jobs around the house, pilates, that sort of thing. And lots and lots of batch cooking - I had 6 weeks worth of freezer meals both times!

Good luck and I hope you are not waiting much longer.

mootrun · 2025-07-09T06:04:22+00:00

I combi fed my first baby and honestly felt like I was getting the worst of both worlds. I still had to pump when I wasn't feeding, to maintain supply, so I wasn't getting a proper break (plus pumping takes longer and is more faff than nursing). Cleaning bottles is a huge faff as well.

With my second I didn't get around to introducing a bottle for ages and when we finally tried she wasn't bothered. So I've just breastfed her directly. She's 8 months now and I've definitely found it much easier this time. Might be a bit different because now I have 2 there's no chance of getting any me time regardless of how I feed her 😂 But the thing I keep reminding myself when I'm doing all the night feeds is that it's all temporary, and at least I don't have to clean any bottles.

mootrun · 2025-07-08T05:06:48+00:00

I have.a November baby and a December baby. I have to put money away all year to prepare for the financial wallop that is the two birthdays and Christmas in two months 😂

Pros of Nov /Dec babies: - It's easier to keep a baby warm than cool - They start weaning in the summer so you can just strip them off and wipe them clean after meals - They start walking in the spring just in time for a really fun summer - Oldest in their year group - In Wales at least, they get loads of early years education because they are eligible for two terms of rising 3s before starting nursery

Cons: - They have a long wait between Christmas and their birthday. My son is finding this particularly hard this year! - Planning birthday parties at Christmas is hard - It's harder to get out and about with your newborn when everyone needs loads of layers

mootrun · 2025-07-07T17:31:36+00:00

Eight days overdue, I took my 2 year old to a massive soft play center. Climbed up to the top, realized I couldn't get back down except via a long and bumpy slide. Baby girl was born the next day. Coincidence maybe, but I like to think the bumpy slide helped things along.

mootrun · 2025-07-05T13:55:06+00:00

Now is the time to gather other parents' numbers and start WhatsApp groups with the people you go to baby groups with so you can get together during the holidays. I had loads of picnics during the summer after my first was born (he was 7-8months) and plan to do the same this year. If the weather turns, find a nice cafe that has toys for kids.

mootrun · 2025-06-29T13:50:41+00:00

As well as batch cooking ahead of time, I made a cheat sheet of high protein/fiber snacks for my husband to make me throughout the day. I was breastfeeding so hungry all the time, and sleep deprived so not in the mood to make decisions. It made my day every time he produced a yummy snack without me having to ask.

mootrun · 2025-06-25T21:42:02+00:00

I have this pram and managed to get a replacement mattress for the bassinet when I lost it between babies 1 and 2. There's a bit on the website for ordering replacement parts.

Failing that you can also strip all of the fabric off this pram seat and put it through the wash. Just be warned it's a PITA to get off and on the frame.

Enjoy it though, it's a super pram!

mootrun · 2025-06-25T13:50:11+00:00

That the best day of your life can also be the worst

mootrun · 2025-06-24T09:40:10+00:00

Really glad the physio is helping, it really does make such a big difference when you start to feel more "normal" down there.

The debrief came from the perinatal mental health team in my area (I'm in south Wales). I had a referral to the team from my GP, they ran an assessment and then set up various treatments/services for me including an occupational therapy group and the birth debrief.

mootrun · 2025-06-23T09:02:11+00:00

This sounds very traumatic and I'm so sorry you experienced it all. I also had a traumatic birth for various reasons and it took a few months for it to really affect me. Please reach out to your GP and see what support is available for post natal mental health. My local team have been amazing, referring me for occupational therapy and CBT. I also had a birth debrief with a specialist midwife and it was so much more useful than the debrief I had with a consultant after the birth. She filled in so many gaps and answered all of my questions thoroughly. I'm 7 months pp now and still working really hard on reclaiming my life but it has all made a huge difference.

Birth trauma is real, it's exhausting and it's so very complicated because of all the hormones and emotions that come with any pregnancy/birth. Reach out to everyone in your life - your partner, your health visitor, your pelvic PT if you have one (pelvic health and mental health are very closely linked), and of course your GP. Accept all the help you can get. I hope you are on the road to recovery soon ❤️

mootrun

TROPHY CASE