So its Christmas tomorrow....

Today is Christmas Eve, it feels like any other day, but as always at this time of year im in a pensive mood, a mood of melancholy. We don't celebrate Christmas for religious reasons, but as i was brought up the same as almost everyone else, loving Christmas and all the festivities, i do kind of miss it.

I used to LOVE decorating the Christmas tree, mum would always let me and my brother do it, and even though we used the same decorations, tinsel, shiny threads and tinsel star for the top of the tree every single year, i never failed to look forward to it. We used to put decorations up on the walls and ceilings too until my mum got too precious about plasterwork.

And then we would visit family or occasionally family would come to our house (mum stressed over food on those occasions). My mum never really socialised us very well, she spent a lot of time at home (she was unemployed for a lot of my childhood) and had few friends. This was exacerbated by the fact that we moved from the north of the UK to the Midlands so we all had to start afresh. So visiting family was exciting, but a little nerve wracking i think - i was a shy child.

Although we would often have to scrimp and save on food throughout most of the year, at Christmas my mum always tried so hard to have treats, crackers, juices, chocolates, and tube upon tube of assorted savory snacks (Pringles, Twigglets, Mini Chedders etc etc) stocked up in the kitchen cupboards. It was also the only time of the year that we had dips to spoon onto our plates and eat with cheeses, crisps, quiche, well, anything really, man i loved those dips.

Me and my brother used to alternate Christmases between spending the day at my mums or the day at my dads. As there was a lot of distance between the two places we couldn't split the actual day in half. We used to get so many presents, at mums house me and my brother would wake at about 5am and creep downstairs, open our pressies, play with them, and then get back into bed. My mum didn't used to get up with us. At my dads we would open the pressies all together. As we got older the presents would get fewer and we were given money instead. At the time that's what we wanted, but i think it detracts from the spirit of Christmas, don't you?

Without fail i just HAD TO watch the Snowman on Christmas day, it ruined my Christmas without it, and if i still hadn't watched it by the end of Christmas day then it would wait until the next year, it always felt (and still does feel) too late to watch it after the end of Christmas day itself. I now have it on DVD, so hopefully il get to watch it at some point today or tomorrow using the PC.

I love Christmas TV, the old films, the 'best bits' of the year, the programmes made up of celebrities musing on Christmas celebrations and Christmas past, all of it. But we no longer own a TV so that has put a wee bit of a dampener on that part of the festive season this year.

Yesterday i was in town getting some essential (non-Christmas related) bits and bobs and i took a break to listen to some Christian carol singers who were standing outside some of the shops. As i sat on the bench, eating a vegetable pasty, Dave silently sleeping in his pushchair, and an old man and his 3 legged dog to my side, i cried a silent tear. Im always overwhelmed when i hear carol singers, the passion which they put into singing about the Almighty, its absolutely awe inspiring. Honestly it just makes me all over come with emotion.

So tomorrow, Christmas day. We are spending it with some of my husbands family who do celebrate Christmas. So i look forward to getting my dose of festive food, decor and music. And Dave will have a few pressies (my mum has got 2 for him and she will be joining us tomorrow).

I hope you all enjoy the next few days, and manage to spend many a happy hour with your loved ones.

xxx

The pink sticky stuff.

You know that pink sticky stuff which always manages to drip somewhere it shouldn't? The gloop that trickles from the side of the babies mouth and makes their neck all sticky? Calpol. Every mums must have medicine so it seems.

"Don't worry, just give him some Calpol"

"There's nothing you can do except give him some Calpol"

"Mine has been on Calpol all week"

But is it really what we should be giving to our little ones? Does it actually work or is it all just a psychological quick fix?

I always knew that just like me and my husband, Dave would be given barely any western medicine if possible. Most minor illness can be cured with just a little bit of time, home comforts, chicken soup and plenty of water. Add to this a mixture of herbs, spices, plant extracts etc and we're normally bright and breezy within a few days. Ive taken just half a paracetamol within about 3 years, and that was when i was in labour! Lol, to think that i thought it may help!

So when our doctor gave Dave some Calpol when he was just 7 days old, i thought, right, that's the last he's having of that! And it was put away in our medicine draw (or rather, in our tea towel draw next to a packet of plasters, a bandage, and some homeopathic hayfever treatment).

I must admit that during a few moments of sleepless desperation i have pushed all principles aside and syringed the stuff into Dave's mouth glad that nobody can see me doing so. (And feeling incredibly guilty and like such a bad mother that ive squirted this stuff into him rather than just patiently holding, cuddling and breastfeeding him through the night).

Im not denying that Calpol does seem to alleviate symptoms of illness in some cases, but at what cost? Calpol contains the E112 colourant which is banned in 5 countries (including the US) as it is a suspected carcinogen (cancer causing substance). It also contains other E numbers which are known to cause headaches, thirst, nausea, stomach upsets, and disruption in the development of hormones. Using Calpol can also cause allergies to develop (generally at the age of arround 6 or 7 years old), unexpected bleeding, and hyperactivity. Seems to me that it causes more harm than good?

God created us with a natural cure for everything except death. I believe that there is also a natural prevention for everything except death. At least 95% of childhood illness will heal by themselves without medical intervention. This is the body's way of strengthening our immune system. It shouldn't be suppressed with man made drugs which interfere with our development. Fevers are there to fight infection, certain components of our immune systems work better at higher temperatures. Though in the short term, fever in a baby or child can be seen as a worrying, stressful, and painful experience, it is there for a reason, so maybe we should let it be?

For more information on the subject of Calpol please see here - there is also a list of the ingredients in Calpol and what their side effects are.

Times online has also written an article about the pitfalls of Calpol, please see here.

* I am not a health professional and i have done a limited (but in my opinion substantial) amount of research on this topic. Like i said, Calpol may seem to help in some cases. Also, i would never deny my son western medicine if it was essential.

Holidays and babies dont really mix do they?

We've just come back from a week away in Cornwall. Id been looking forward to spending some time there for quite some time - its been two years since we last went and we are 'supposed' to go every year really. I just love it there, we're not really ones for going abroad, and as i have family in Cornwall it makes sense to go there. Plus the scenery, the villages, the harbours, the beaches, its all just wonderful. I always come back feeling so inspired, and ready to get rid of my bad habits and incorporate more of the good.

But this time was different. No longer just me and my hubby, waltzing around gardens, flying the kite on the beach, spending whole days wondering the little cobbled streets, trying hard to stick together through crowds of tourists. Nope, this time there were three of us - Daves first holiday.


In my head i had visualised a wonderful treat, Cornwall at Christmas, glittering baubles and twinkling fairy lights with a beautiful seaside backdrop, Christmas trees in shop windows, hours huddled together on beaches whilst managing to keep out the cold, hot flask of tea in hand. You know, a romantic get away, love hearts surrounding our little family as Dave gets his first taste of ice cream and we're just so happy together.

I now realise how unrealistic i was!

Lets just say, we certainly wont be going on holiday with a baby again! The routine goes out the window (i kind of expected that anyway but i didn't think about how that may affect our holiday), the nights were sleepless (until the last 2 nights), we didn't manage to leave the bungalow until midday (pretty normal for me when we are at home but not something that you want when your on holiday and the daylight disappears at 4pm). Plus, this time of year in Cornwall is not as magical as i envisaged. Hardly a Christmas tree or decoration in sight! Hardly a single person in sight! The vast majority of shops and attractions were closed for the winter too, i guess the good thing to come of that is that we spent much less money than we anticipated. And it was nice to not have to battle through crowds of tourists and also i must say that it was a relief to not feel like the main attraction down there (we get a lot of stares in Cornwall, a Pakistani and a white Muslim aren't too common round them parts!)

But it certainly was good to see my family again. And they had a lovely Christmas tree up too (Dave loved that!). And i am still inspired by all the old stone houses, the simple way of life, the little fishing villages where you feel transported back to days of old. If you want olde worlde charm then Cornwall is the place to be. And i love all that, so despite a few let downs here and there, im still glad we went. At least we know now. Babies (and Winters) in Cornwall just don't mix!

From milk, to rice, to veg, to chicken and then fish!

It was with slight trepidation that i opened up Dave's nappy first thing this morning. You see yesterday, my mum made his lunch - fish, peas and potatoes, in parsley sauce. Now ive never given him fish before so i wasn't sure if he would eat the green fishy gloop that i held in front of him (potatoes whizzed in a blender make for one gloopy mess) - but he liked it, loved it in fact. But i knew that it may not be too much of a fragrant delight when it was to come out the other end.

Back to this morning; as i lay Dave down on his changing table i could detect the faint whiff of something not too pleasant lurking. So i took him out of his fleece sleep suit (definitely much needed in this cold weather were now witnessing), and undid the poppers on his pj's. The bulging nappy loomed ahead of me. The faint whiff turned into something much stronger. And as i pulled open the nappy one side at a time, then opened it out, its there - the offender! Not pretty, but Dave need not worry, for il love him smell or no smell!

So we now have most food groups covered. He's yet to witness eggs, and red meat, but i think he may have had a little taste of everything else. He's 7 months old now, so any of you newer mums out there may wonder why he's already eating such things when the recommended age to wean nowadays is starting at 6 months of age. Well, he was a little underweight and i was breast feeding every hour so my health visitor recommended i start him on baby rice / baby porridge at 4 and a half months old.

He enjoyed it straight away. I started off with just one meal a day of baby rice for breakfast, in a little pot, mixed with boiled water. For a few days he was a little unsure about this bright green plastic spoon thing being pushed into his mouth but we persevered and he got used to it. A couple of weeks later i tried him with a little banana mixed in baby rice and he enjoyed that too. (Even i thought it was delish!). Day by day i added new foods, and went to 2 meals a day at around 5 months old. By 5 and a half months he was on 3 meals a day of pureed fruit and baby rice for breakfast, and pureed veg and baby rice for lunch and dinner. I didn't start with chicken for ages, i felt very reluctant to give a such a small baby something so hard to digest. I also had this overwhelming thought that it was so unnatural to push meat into this perfectly pure little being, know what i mean? But we tried it, and he enjoys it. And now onto fish. We eat a lot of fish here so it may be easier to start eating the same meals all together as a family from now onwards. im looking forward to meals around the table together when Dave's a little older, i think its really important and conducive to good family relations.

Oh, and he can sit up all by himself now! Yey! Ive so been looking forward to this moment! I surround him with cushions to prevent any topples from turning into screams and wails, and he manages to sit upright for a few minutes before leaning too far to one side and making a slow motion dive to the ground. Either that or he leans too far forward and pukes his dinner up!

Oooh, these little milestones, so very exciting! (Smells and all!)

* the title of this post is a link to some information about when, how, and why to start weaning your baby.