PJ's

So newborns pretty much wear vests, sleep suits and nice looking outfits that are practical (have poppers for ease of nappy access)

However we have now added an actual set of Pajamas to Charlottes wardobe. These look great and add an extra cute factor but loose the poppers / nappy access

Worth it....hell yeh

Talking back

Charlotte is just over 3 months and she now can hold a decent baby conversation. Of course this makes no sense and is simply sounds, however she seems to give you a turn to make your sounds and then replies with hers.

This is amazingly cute and makes you wonder if they actually mean anything or are simply sounds. I like the idea that babies have their own language that adults cant understand :)

Baby TV

I always thought that I would have controll over the TV remote until Charlotte was 3 or so and then nikolodeon would be on 24/7, however to my surprise that day has come already (Charlotte is just over 3 months) with a channel dedicated to babies called Baby TV

It does however make her happy and as the silly voices and songs play she seems generally entertained. I think Charlotte may become a couch potato :)

Smelly nappies

One of the most surprising things about a newborn, especially a breast fed one is that their poo's don't  smell. This was a pleasant surprise as I was expecting to need a gas mask or strengthen my gag reflex to change a nappy. 

Unfortunately this does not last. I thought I would have until she went onto solids however this is not true and now at just over 3 months her shit stinks.

To add to this she only goes once a day for a number 2 and it seems to take all her concentration to do so (she will literally stop what she is doing and stare hard directly in front of her) and then you hear the rumble in her bottom followed by her smiles of relief.

When you look to see what the damage is there is always a shit load of it and your lucky if the nappy held it all in and often we have to change her outfit, clean out her belly button or even give her a bath.

If it is this bad now, I don't want to know what they will be like when she is on solids!

The miracle of the cot bed

Ok the last few months have been a blur. Firstly I have been averaging 3 hours sleep a night with the baby needing something every few hours. This effects everything you do and makes the weekly activities such as housework, shopping or visiting very difficult.

We have had allot of family help, especially when it comes to cleaning, washing and ironing and my advise would be to take this if possible as you wont get it done.

Going back to work has also been hard as trying to focus with not much sleep is hard, but surprisingly you manage.

It almost seemed like there was no end in sight and we tried various different ideas to get her to sleep more with no sucess.... until we tried the cot bed. To our surprise the first night in her new bed she slept for 5 hours, but surely this is a one off? However its been 7 nights and each night she sleeps for at leadt 6 hours.

This has had a massive impact as we are now more productive, get up earlier and generally have a more positive outlook during the day.

All I can say is when your child is out of the moses basket (12 weeks for us) then try a cot bed. They may look ridiculous in it but for us it has been the best thing we have done in weeks

Its normal....

Ok so there are many things you will not be told about having a baby (I guess if you did you might reconsider lol) and I am amazed at how much 'it is normal' is used. 

So far here is a few things we were worried about and have been told its normal

1) baby only cries when hungry and only one cry

2) baby has fed every 30 mins for 12 hours (cluster feeding)

3) baby wont settle after feeding (needs burping or has trapped gas)

4) baby has not slept more than 20 minute stretches in 48 hours

5) baby brings back up an obscene amount of milk after every feed

6) baby suddenly appearing purple due to purple cross patterns all over their body as shown in the picture (mottling) which is due to the fact babies develop their circulatory system over time and until then mottling can occur

Note the above are incidents which we rang the ward or we went to our gp, these did not occur constantly and at the same time. My advice here is to ring the ward or visit your gp if your worried at all,  but don't be surprised if its all normal

Who needs sleep

I did not truly understand what no sleep was until I became a dad. I knew what little sleep was as I often get up at 3am to do my 10hr commute to work to do a 6 hr shift but even this did not prepare me for how little sleep I would get with a baby.

The amazing thing about it is you continue on, I may only get 2hrs kip then go to work but I think be difference is when you look at your a baby its all worth it, its for a purpose.

My advise is don't worry about the sleep, your body copes well with it and it wont last forever (or so I have been told)