Recently I have been having an internal battle over this whole sleep training thing. You might be wondering what sleep training is so maybe I should explain that first... Sleep training in simplified terms is essentially training your baby to sleep for longer periods in their own bed. Theres a range of different strategies and ideas around how to do it but whatever way seems to involved some element of crying out or leaving you baby to cry until they 'get used to it'. I realise this is some what of a controversial topic which is why I have been thinking about it for a long time. As an early childhood teacher I personally would never promote sleep training techniques with my families because it didn't fit our centre philosophy of following children rhythms. However, I know there are some parents who really do benefit from it especially if they haven't had a decent nights sleep in years- ek! Now that I'm a mum (a very tired one I might add!) I feel so conflicted ...

Our sweet baby boy is coming up 6 months next week. Yep! that's almost an entire half of a year. I'm so proud of him and proud of us. It's been one crazy roller coaster ride so far and I'm sure it's not going to end anytime soon. As time ticks on I've come to realise that I haven't always been in such a good place mentally. I mean I have my ups and my downs at the moment but on the whole I'm really, really happy. I know this definitively because before our baby was born I was really not happy… My friend sent me an article yesterday about (PND) Post Natal Distress and it got me thinking about my own anxiety. I've had a lot of anxious moments in my life and some trauma but the weird thing about anxiety is that you often don't know just how bad you are really feeling when you are in that anxious place. Looking back on my final 6 weeks pregnancy I can now see just how scarily anxious I was.  I was lucky to have two of the most lovely and jus...

I recently had a some what of an awkward conversation with a fellow mum about why I'm not breastfeeding. She didn't know my birth story because we'd only just met but she seemed like a pretty kind and understanding lady. However! when I pulled out my bottle of formula to fed my little boy she gave me a 'look'. Then she paused and said "Why aren't you breastfeeding?" in a very matter of fact tone. Without even thinking I shot back "Because I almost died". Sadly, I've had a few of these conversations in the last 5 months but my response seems to always shut down those conversations. In fact it usually ends in some kind of an apology to me by the said judgey person. The truth of the matter is that I tried desperately for 8 weeks to breastfeed, I went to classes, We paid for lactation consultants, We even drove to Palmerston North to get my babies tongue tie snipped all to no avail. I expressed day and night during those first 2 months and ...

I recently read this beautiful article published in the local Porse Magazine about why me time is vital. It spoke about the importance of self love and really stuck a chord with me. I think until you've been through mental health issues you don't realise the seriousness of taking that time for just you and not feeling guilty about it. I used to often give a lot of myself in my job to the children, to the teachers and to the parents. Supporting them, lifting them up with kindness and positive words but then go home and feel deflated, tired and sad myself. Today is the first of October and that marks the start of Mental Health Awareness month here in New Zealand. I think it is the perfect time for me to tell you that from my own personal experience with mental health it's never too late to start taking care of your mind. Theres so much hype at the moment around taking care of your body and focusing on healthy food choices and I think that movement is awesome and totall...

I've decided to start a new series in my blog called Mum Rant. It's basically just me having a bit of a rant about something that has upset me recently and which I'd like to get off my chest. I also thought it might be amusing or entertaining at least for those of you are are currently going through challenges of being a new parent. So here goes Rant #1 in what I predict to be a lengthy series. Today I was doing my grocery shopping with baby boy aka my 'sweet little man'. Everything was going along swimmingly or seemingly until I reached the frozen goods isle. I had given my sweet little man a packet of chippies to play with (don't worry they were a closed packet). He loves the sounds and sensations of new textures at the moment and so this had kept him amused pretty much the entire half an hour trip around the supermarket- winning! That was until the frozen foods isle where I meet a very rude old lady. She looked around to the crinkly noises of my litt...

I'm the first person to pled scepticism when it comes to fitness. I'm not fit at the moment by any means and I honestly haven't really been properly fit since I was a competitive swimmer in my preteens. That's a bit sad to say the least because there once was a day when I loved sports especially swimming. That is not my current status but I'd like it to be. New hobby that's paying off: A couple of weeks ago I started doing some morning Yoga classes on YouTube. I had no idea how I would go or if I'd enjoy it but I'm pleased to say I really am! I've been making it part of our daily routine. I get up, eat breakfast, give baby boy his milk, have a shower and then yoga for 15-20 mins. Or basically as long as I can get through before Mr wriggles gets upset or needs a cuddle. I'm finding so much pleasure in the simple practice of breathing and movement. The bonus for me is I'm losing weight! I figure if I can go through what I've been through ...

With the Election looming I have been thinking a lot about what things I value and what is important to our new little family of 3. Housing.... As many of you know we've been looking to buy a house for over a year now. It's exhausting and time consuming and we've put in a lot of offers and keep missing out. We've saved up our deposit ourselves and we want nothing more than to have our own little piece of NZ to call home. The problem is...so does everyone else! We just can't seem to get in and it's pretty devastating. Sunshine, space and no mould please... We've been living in a really dark flat for the past 18 months. Not only is it dark but it's also damp. The outlook is beautiful (we can see Wellington harbour and lots of bush) but the lack of light, the damp smell and crying windows really gets you down! I found this especially depressing when I was working full-time. Coming home in daylight savings to a cold, dark house. It's not a 'f...