The Life of a Lavery Toddler

Are you even a new parent if you haven't received your fair share of "helpful" parenting advice? I challenge you to find a parent who hasn't received at least one piece of unsolicited advice. Over my short 3 year parenting journey, I've been blessed/cursed with a lot. Hell, I've  already crossed over, and started giving back out this unsolicited advice! But I like to think that the advice I give is only the best... The creme de la creme of parenting advice. Don't get me wrong, there is the rare occasion, where the advice you are given is actually useful. And anyone on the receiving end of my advice will know that well! Of course, helpful advice is great, you know the sort of advice that would change your life. Advice that you would happily pass on to another mum with no hesitation. For example, being told to use Metanium nappy cream for nappy rashes. That was mind blowing. Haven't tried it? Try it now. Cian had the worst nappy rash - his poor bu...

Picture from my pregnancy This post could be considered a little bit of a change in direction for me and my blog. That's because it's not really about Cian at all. It's just an update on one month into my healthier exercise regime (i.e. having one at all) and diet. Jack actually questioned me when I told him this idea. You know, I like to consult Jack on these things. Because, whether he likes it or not, he's my partner in both actual life, and blog life. He wondered if this was really about being a mother of a toddler, after all my blog is titled "The Life of a Lavery Toddler". But really, this is motherhood related, because it's all about priorities. And let's face it, when you have kids, they become your number one priority, and that other stuff gets knocked to the back of the list. Or in my case, off the list completely. So some history first. Basically, the minute I found out I was pregnant, I pretty much stopped exercising, and I relaxed...

Seeing as I pride myself in being pretty honest when it comes to parenting. I thought, what better than writing a post all about my  experiences of parenting. Because for me, being a mum has ended up being very different to what I had expected. Of course, I had expected to have an undeniable bond with my son. And I got that. I still just stare at him sometimes with so much love. Really, it could be seen to be bordering on obsession. But that's normal right? It's the part of parenting, that I did not anticipate, that I want to talk about. Just the parts that no one else tells you about. The on the job learning stuff. Of course, the good things do outweigh the bad.. most days. Unless you're going through the terrible twos.. You just need to stock pile the wine and chocolate in then. Sleep when the baby sleeps! So, the hardest part of parenting for me, has hands down been the lack of sleep. And if I am lucky enough to get sleep, I struggle with the number of interrup...

Me and my Bro Mum enjoyed bright colours Since as early as I can remember, I knew I wanted to be a mother. I would go well and truly gaga for babies from a young young age. I actually remember regularly pleading with my mum to have another baby. Is it weird that I was broody at the age of 7? I mean, I just googled it there, and it would seem that it is weird? Who knew!  Anyway, my ideal childhood scenario would have been my mother having another child when I was about 7 years-old. Really, it would have only been smart from my mum's perspective. I would have been an absolute asset to the care-giving process. Raising a child would have been a breeze. If her back was sore, I could have pushed the pram. If she was busy with housework, I could have entertained the baby. Really, if she had only seen it from my perspective, it would have been an absolute no-brainer. Instead, my dear naive mother had other ideas. She, like many, opted to have her kids close together. What a foo...

Nappy change at 3 days old I am not even going to waste my energy attempting to make this blog post high brow. This post is all about poos. You can package them up any way you want. I guess some people might find other words less offensive? Maybe saying poo-poo sounds cuter? I don't know. But in reality, you can't polish a turd, so why try. For the record my poos will not be discussed here, just my son's poos. He's only 2, so that's more acceptable right? One thing that never really bothered me about having a baby, was the poo. Actually, from birth you are encouraged to monitor your child's poos quite closely. I would always be pretty pleased when he produced one. It was far better than the alternative. Constipation is not funny. I think it helps that for as long as I can remember, talking about bowel movements has been encouraged in my family. I honestly believe that's the way to do it. Get it out in the open. The discussion, not the poo. I do know...

So for once, this is actually going to be a relatively serious post. Yeah, I'm going to give one of those serious posts a bash. I started my blogging journey because I wanted to share the daily pleasures and struggles of parenthood, and this post definitely falls into that latter category. I wanted to share this story because I feel pretty strongly about this one subject. I don't tend to have much I feel genuinely passionate about. I'm not opinionated on climate change, or recycling, or team sports. Does that make me a bad person? I don't know. But recently I have become extremely passionate about one thing. Febrile seizures.  Hospital after Seizure No. 1 January 2018 So, what is a febrile seizure? Very good question Mr/Ms Reader. I have taken the definition from the NHS website just for you!  A febrile seizure is a fit that can happen when a child has a fever... They most often occur between the ages of 6 months and 3 years. They are relatively c...

Cian at 3.5 months old - July 2016. Exclusively  breast fed. If you're a mother, you will have probably heard this. It doesn't matter if you chose to breast feed or bottle feed. At one point in time I'm positive these ridiculous words were said - "You can't overfeed a breastfed baby". Midwives say it, healthcare professionals say it, mothers say it, god even the internet says it. But it's BULLSH*T. And I have proof. Don't get me wrong, I think breastfeeding is great in so many ways. It's cheaper, it means less cleaning (bottles), you don't have to move much during the night for feeds, and the health benefits for the child are fantastic! What is not so great, is not being able to tell how much your little peanut has drank at each feed. Was it a snack or a three-course meal? In reality, it is impossible to know! Like so much of parenthood, it's a complete guessing game. I feel it important to note, I also think there are so man...