As such a personal thing, all women have different aims for breastfeeding. The great thing is we can all decide for ourselves what we hope for and want. The bad side is unfortunately our journey through breastfeeding doesn’t always line up with the one we had planned for. The Scottish Maternal and Infant Nutrition Survey in 2017 found that three quarters of those who stopped breastfeeding would have liked to have continued for longer. With these outcomes, a lot of us can feel disappointed with how breastfeeding turns out. We’ve heard from a lot of women about this and some common themes have been feeling like a failure and feeling guilty for stopping. “… the stress and worry I put...
This is a trying time and even with a strong dose of positivity it isn’t an ideal situation. So many changes, uncertainty, stress and lack of emotional support from our social networks are a strain mentally and the same goes for kids so they may be acting up. Here are a few tips for dealing with parenting in lockdown: Lower your expectations, a lot This may be the biggest thing you can do to keep your sanity. Many of us inadvertently raised our expectations when we readied ourselves for the challenge of dealing with lockdown. When yourself and your children are dealing with any major life changes or stress you wouldn’t normally expect to be on the top...
Mere days or even hours after hearing those initial cries of your firstborn and it inevitably begins. Someone’s baby is “easiest”, sleepiest, biggest, the best feeder. There’s nothing like hearing other new mums around you discuss their 6 week old sleeping through the night to make you feel like a failure. One mother feels she is accused of making a rod for her own back by co-sleeping while eyebrows are raised as another is viewed as heartless for pursuing a strict routine. The competitive parenting can begin from day one and is such a shock for new parents who until this moment have gone about their daily lives without constant judgment and evaluation. Social evaluation in this highly personal but...
