The fourth trimester

Breastfeeding
We all know pregnancy has three trimesters, but what about after baby is born? Those first few weeks are so important, baby is so new and fresh; his confused and learning to cope in this brand new world. That's why with archer I have adapted the fourth trimester theory. 

Have you ever thought about why we are told to swaddle our babies? Why they seem to smooth to the shhing noise? Or by being upright on your chest? 
All these things remind them of being in the womb, our heart beat, the sound of the blood in the umbilical cord, being all snug and squished as they grow inside of us. 
I've spent these past eight weeks nurturing him, providing him all the comfort he cries for, feeding on demand and surrendering myself to his needs. I'm pouring in so much effort to one tiny human sometimes I'm forgetting to show affection to the other two males in my life.  
But there is never a right or wrong in parenting, my techniques with Archer are almost opposite to the techniques I used with Charlie. Maybe that's because I know I am not having anymore children, maybe I'm trying to keep him little forever. Maybe there are some deeper underlying issues of my own. Whatever the case, don't let anyone tell you your doing it wrong. Do it however you please. 
They are only little for so long, enjoy it, embrace it and be content with however you choose to raise your child. 



2 year old routine update

Parenting
You might have noticed I don't update Charlie's routine as much as I use to. I have found as he has gotten older things settle and stay more structured. His still having a nap each day, three meals and some snacks. It's really not very interesting; but still your intrigued? Why is the public so interested in getting a glimpse of the inside of my home, the boring day to day life of a toddler. But the readers are always right, right? So here you go! 

7am rise and shine - breakfast (weetbix or toast)

10am morning tea (yoghurt or fruit)

12.30pm lunch 

1.30pm sleep
Wake up at 3pm if not already awake

3.30pm afternoon tea (crackers, cheese, dried fruit)

6.00pm dinner

7.30pm bath or shower 

8.00pm story time then bed



Is your newborn a night owl ?

Newborn
Sleep deprivation is the worst form of torture and if your trying to limit your caffeine intake like me, it's even harder. Having a newborn who sleeps all day and is awake all night is common. Remember back to pregnancy where they would sleep all day with the motion of your movement, then begin to be active as you lay down to rest at night. 
Charlie was one of these newborns; but with what I learnt from him I was able to maintain a perfect day and night body clock for Archer. 

Use natural lighting, curtains open and use lighting to increase "daytime" if gloomy outside. 

Keep your newborn around the daily noise of your household; yes even when they are asleep! Bring the bassinet to the lounge is always a good tip. 

Each night before your newborns "last feed", for me this was around 10pm with Charlie and it's now 8pm with Archer; create a sequence of events which lead up to sleep. 
Charlie's example:
As a newborn I would do bath, tummy time, feed and bed. 
As a two year old we do dinner, bath, pack away toys, story and bed.
Archers example:
Archer has to fit into Charlie's routine so it's more touch and go. I'm actually not even going to give an example... I bath him when I bath Charlie and depending on whether Shane is home at night he may or may not come along to story time with Charlie and assist me in putting him to bed. Following that he feeds; which looks a little something like this. 

Let's face it, we will do whatever we need to do to make life that little bit easier, to get that extra five minutes of sleep. These steps might not work for you, but they did help me; not every night but if your anything like me if something even works once it's worth holding onto. 

How to structure your newborns routine

Newborn
Finding routine with a newborn baby is hard. Having a two year old is hard. 
Trying to form a routine with a newborn whilst working within your two year old toddlers routine is chaos. 
So if you would like to giggle at my chaotic and crazy mess of life whilst I try to find a way to form routine, please read on. 

A normal day with Charlie begins somewhere around 7am and ends with a story then bedtime at roughly 8.30pm. A nap after lunch from say 1-2/3 pm is also included in our day. 
But... Here is where the chaos comes into play throw in a newborn who wakes your tot up during the night, which makes him sleep in. This sleep in proceeds to make his nap time run late and the. come bedtime he isn't tired. By the time he is tired its cluster feeding time ; the newborn is attatched to my breast and I don't dare put him down. 
So where and how do I find routine amongst this mess?
God only knows and I'm sure he ain't going to spill the beans and help a girl out.

Tomorrow I am going to attempt to find the natural structure of my newborn. It sounds silly I know... He cluster feeds, he feeds on demand and most of the time only sleeps when his being held. But surely there will be some form of body clock in his own little world that will structure a feed and sleep routine. 
I'm going to jot down in my journal each time I feed and each time he has an awake period; since he sleeps more than his awake, documenting when his awake will be easier! After two or three days hopefully we will see some similarities between the days and be able to try merg the two routines into one. 

Wish me luck, I don't know if this is right or wrong but I need to try something. I'm going crazy and I hate the unknown. Any tips tricks or advice please comment offend me an email! tiarne.straatman@gmail.com 


18 months old! | UPDATE

Parenting
For those of you who hbe followed from the get go you would already know every couple of months I do a little routine age update. Charlie will be hitting the 18 month mark this month and we are definitely going through some changes! 
Our toddler bed transition went easy as pie and you can have a look at my tips and tricks on the previous blogs. 
Charlie now has 12 teeth and cutting 4 more as we speak. 
I'm contemplating beginning toilet training! So any tips would be amazing. Stay tuned for more on that topic in the coming weeks. 

Routine
6.45 Charlie runs into our room and wakes us up. It was cute at the start having him get out of bed on his own... I now miss sleeping in after 7 am and pretending I don't hear him grizzle in his cot so I can get 10 more minutes sleep. 
7.30 Breakfast time! We then get dressed and I'm making my third coffee by the time 8am rolls. 
12.00 Since attempting to drop to one sleep a day lunch time is tricky for us. Charlie is exhausted by 11 most mornings, so he either has an early lunch at 11.30 then nap time. Or I stretch him out untill 12.30 and then nap time after lunch. I allow him to sleep as long as he pleases. Majority of the time he sleeps an hour and a half. My only rule is no naps after 3pm! 
5/6pm Charlie is getting so sleepy again, I'm prepping dinner and we generally eat at about 6.30pm. 
7.00pm Bath or Shower time
7.30 Bottle
8.00 BED TIMEEE. 

Almost 10 months daily routine!

daily
So everyone seems pretty interested in the daily routines and structure of other peoples little ones! I did a daily routine a few months ago, but now Charlie is older I thought I would give you all an update.

Wake up: 7am 180mls Formula

Breakfast: 8am one weetbix w/full cream milk

Morning Tea: 10am cut up fruit

Nap Time: 10.30am 

Lunch: 12pm sandwich or whatever im having if appropriate

Bottle: 1pm 180mls Formula

Nap Time: 1.30/2ish

Afternoon Tea: 4pm this obviously doesn't happen EVERY day but I like to try and bake some sort of healthy baby led weaning friendly muffin or banana bread or something like that for afternoon tea! 

Dinner: 6.30pm dinner either consists of a jar of baby food or if I'm eating dinner at the same time as Charlie he will eat what we eat.

Bath: 7pm

Bottle: 7.15pm 240mls Formula and a story to calm down before bed.

Bed Time: 7.30pm

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