Teething and the Snoodie

So. This week we've mostly been enjoying teething. OK - yes you're right, the opposite is true. Its been pretty horrendous to tell you the truth and we've gone through industrial quantities of nurofen and calpol despite my unfounded hatred of both. Turns out these molars are pesky blighters. Putting it mildly. Now we're watching our (OK, my) language round toddler - not wanting the oh-so-cute words of mummy, daddy, up, and eye corrupted completely by foul-mouthed-mummy. (Am sure it will happen. There's been at least two b-words today and almost an f- ! And it was only over hummous).



The results of the latest round of teething...

And we're dribbling again. Thought we'd left that delightful period long behind. But it turns out: no, its back. With avengence. This time cute Velcro dribble bibs won't cut it. And won't fit. Most dribble bibs being aimed at small babies as we've discovered. But any Velcro ones, well, they're off in a flash.

We were lucky enough to try out the lovely Snoodie, which has two popper settings to fit your little one. Anyone with an inquisitive (OK, willful)  toddler will know the impossibility of ensuring any garment not tied, buttoned or poppered on,  remains about their person. So the Snoodie's poppers are most welcome. In any event toddler seemed keen on his new neckerchief so no battle of wills, or poppers, ensued.

Our Snoodie was a funky green, good for us as we love bright colours, and adds a somewhat stylish accessory to one's overall outfit. Slightly French if you will. (Yes. I'm aware that is highly stereotypical. But hey.) Its all washable and soft smooth cotton as you'd expect, and caught all that dribble without soaking through.

So, in the fug of sleep deprivation and mayhem of the molar-cutting experience, I would recommend this stylish but practical accessory to make your little one feel a bit brighter...

We were sent a Snoodie for the purposes of this review. All views and opinions are my own and I was not paid for this post.

An app for everything?

Since bubba was about 2 months old I have religiously kept track of his every feed, every sleep, every nappy change. Well not quite all, but most. I didn't set out to try and keep a record of this for reasons of posterity - it was simply an unintended by-product.

As a sleep deprived and naturally scatty mummy I was struggling to remember when bubba last fed, last had a nappy change, or which side he fed (without copping a feel!). Being up every 2-3hrs the days and nights just merged into one big baby-filled blur. Not that that's a bad thing mind, I just didn't know whether I was coming or going. I felt like my life was out of my control.

day...? night...? hours spent staring at our little bundle of joy

Spending too much time on my phone while bubba was feeding or napping I figured someone cleverer than me must've come up with something to help me get organised. Or at least help me remember what I was doing. A search on Google Play later and I found the Feed Baby app. And it changed my life. And yes, before you ask, I am that sad.

At the click of a button I could record when he fed, for how long, which side, even expressing was covered. It kindly produced little graphs for me, showing how many hours a day he fed or slept, intervals and durations.

touch screen controls for feeding and sleeping

easy to read graphs

Somehow this made me feel in control of things, even though bubba was sleeping and feeding on demand. I could see little patterns, and trends, and I could see that there was some semblance of order to our chaotic life.

trapped under a sleeping baby...

Admittedly I don't use it so much now bubba is nearly one, as he generally feeds and naps less. But in those early days when I could hardly tell night from day, I gained more understanding and began to predict how our days and nights might pan out.

one of many post-feed naps...

What it doesn't tell you on the accompanying spiel is the advantage that can be gained from 'proving' that you've been up 5 times during the night, so it was definitely not your turn to get up again/change nappy/wash nappies/do anything other than collapse in a heap. You can also bore people to tears with the wealth of baby-related data that you have now amassed. And one further benefit - no more random 3am ebay purchases - and subsequent hiding of parcels each time the postman called...



Did you use anything to help organise yourself? Feeding bracelet? Pin on your clothes? Good old fashioned pen and paper? Or did you get by with chilling out and going with the flow?! Would love to know your tips for other mummies...