Tuesday didn’t get off to a very good start this week. In fact it started to go downhill on Monday night. Hubs was out for dinner with hiw workmates and it was the kids and I. The kids were happily in bed and all seemed well, then around 9pm Monkey woke coughing. He hadn’t been poorly at all during the day, in fact he had been full of beans so it was a bit of a surprise. The coughing lasted a while and sometimes when he gets woken up this early he is so tired that he gets himself really worked up. And this is what he did, so worked up in fact that he made himself sick, all over me and a towel I thankfully had to hand.
I calmed him down and he went off to sleep but I was on edge the rest of the night worrying that he was actually sick (rather than just getting himself worked up) so I was awake at every sound. Hubs came home around midnight and Monkey woke coughing again at around 1.30am though he did manage to get himself back off to sleep. I was up for the day with LM at 4am as is pretty regular but after such a broken night I was exhausted.
LM can be pretty fractious at the mo due to her teething which isn’t fun and Monkey was not in good spirits after a broken night either, he was definitely coming down with a cold. Hubs was leaving at 8am to have breakfast with his business partner before heading off to Essex for a meeting and all I can say is that I really wasn’t in the best mood. It wasn’t terrible, Monkey and I had some fun doing his favourite thing, gluing and sticking, while LM was asleep but I was so tired and pretty grumpy. I just couldn’t snap out of my funk.
After lunch Monkey had some renewed energy and was haring about the place and somehow we came up with a new game. He would back up to the living room door, open his arms wide and shout “big cuddles!” I was sat on the sofa and would play around with my arms saying “small cuddle?” with my hands close together, or “BIG cuddle” with my arms as wide as possible. Monkey then ran towards me with a look of glee on his face and we had big giggly cuddles. We played this for a good 15 mins until LM woke up and it cheered me up no end. Big cuddles really can make you feel better!
This is the best photo that I could get as I got told off by Monkey and told to put the phone down haha. You get the idea though anyway I’m sure 🙂
Later in the day Monkey was playing hide and seek behind LM and I was grabbing him for more cuddles and he announced “good hugs Mummy!” which again just made me smile.
Just a lovely little ordinary moment of fun giving each other lovely cuddles that turned the day around and definitely improved my mood :).
It is half term next week and for the first time that really means something to us. Monkey’s first term at playgroup has gone really well, he loves it and talks about it all the time. But, I do feel he is quite tired. He only goes 2 afternoons a week but I still feel that it has tired him out, just as it is such a new addition to his routine I suppose, meaning regularly missed naps and a busy week overall as he still has other activities such as Rhyme Time and Tumble Tots. He has come down with a bit of a cold this week and I just feel having a bit of a rest from playgroup will do him good 🙂
We also had quite a restful weekend last week, we have been s busy every week since Christmas so it was nice to have a bit more of a chilled one. We saw some friends for a coffee on Saturday morning and also saw Hubs’s parents as his Dad is recovering from a shoulder op. Then on Sunday we kept to ourselves and stayed home – and cleaned the house from top to bottom. Not exactly restful to spend a chunk of the day cleaning but it did us good and we did get to rest once the cleaning was done!
Then the best reason that Rest is my word this week is because on Wednesday I managed to get a rest. A real proper full day of rest at a spa! Not a regular occurrence for me at all! It was part of my best friend’s hen do and 4 of us headed to Ragdale Hall for the day. All I can say is that it was blissful and I felt so so rested for the first time in a long time. It was hard leaving the kiddies, particularly LM as I certainly never left Monkey this early (she is only 3 1/2 mths old) because I was breastfeeding. Because LM is on formula I do have the freedom to be away from her on occasion but that doesn’t make it easy. It was a wonderful day but I really did miss her! Such a soppy Mumma. BIt also broke my heart a little to hear that Monkey had asked Daddy at bedtime “When’s Mummy coming back?” I know they were fine and does them no harm to be away from them, it just goes against your instincts a little I think.
It was amazing though as Ragdale has a fantastic Thermal Spa with tropical showers, a candlelit pool, thought room, outdoor spa pool with massage jets and waterfalls. It was blissful. We spent the day mooching around in our swimming costumes and robes, feeling so dozy! We did intend to take part in some exercise classes but there was so much to do we didn’t need to, and actually felt so rested we didn’t want to. It was an amazing day and lovely to be able to spend time with my friends and properly talk without kids running around us or taking our attention away. Very very peaceful and I felt well rested by the end of the day.
Unfortunately I came home to a Daddy who was very much in need of a rest after a stressful day with LM – I have been saying for a while she is teething and I think a tooth may be about to erupt, there is a sharp ridge on one bit of her gum and she is very unsettled at the moment poor thing. We have an amber anklet, teething gel, various teethers and teething granules but sometimes the only thing that will settle her is good old baby ibuprofen. Poor thing really needs a rest! Daddy is off to see his business partner’s new house today so hopefully he will get a bit of peace and quiet on the car journey, even if it isn’t that restful it is less stressful than a screaming baby!
There are two very different sides to this story, a happy smiley version, and the slightly less happy reality! We very rarely get snow where we live near the edge of the Fens and I didn’t think we would get any this year with the way things were going (we did though, hooray) . But Monkey has been a bit obsessed with snow and we watched “The Snowman” about a hundred times in the run up to Christmas, so I wanted to have some snow fun with him and thought the best way would be to make some of our own. After a troublesome time I also wanted to spend some time with Monkey. (This was a couple of weeks ago now and I debated whether to share it, but have decided I will!) We had to go and get the ingredients so we popped to the shops – my hope was also that a nice ride in the buggy and car would send LM into a lovely slumber meaning Monkey and I could have some time together. She slept well while we were out and we headed home for some fun.
Making the snow
We had actually tried this before but I never managed to get the consistency right, this time we were much more successful. we used a 1kg box of cornfour and 1 1/2 cans of value shaving foam, this seemed to be about right. Monkey loved the shaving foam spray and had great fun digging his hands in. He is less good at the actual mixing so needed Mummy to mix it around a bit. It certainly is a messy play! Then basically have fun. Monkey was loving playing around and I had to make a little snowman, just to see if the consistency was right ;). I added in a few bits and bobs from the crafty draw to add to the snowman but of course then everything gets covered in the snow. I have to admit the Tuff Spot is invaluable for play like this as you just have to expect that they will get mess everywhere, no matter how much you try and contain it!
Where it all went wrong…
Monkey did have a lot of fun but now here’s how it really went. We did have a lovely time at the shops that morning and LM slept as I hoped she would. But it was really very windy outside and while getting them into the car a big gust of wind woke her up. She may have slept again straight away but for some reason I couldn’t click the car seat in for love nor money. I don’t know why but it took about 5 goes of bashing the seat about which wasn’t exactly soothing for her. She did seem to doze off again though so we popped to the petrol station and I like pay at pump so I can do it as quickly as possible. Except for some reason the pump I chose would not accept any of my cards so I had to drive round again to try another. By the time I was actually filling up the car LM was very much awake and screaming. I hoped she would doze off on the way home, but, erm, no. Screamed her head off the whole way and was still screaming when we got in. Having promised Monkey we would be making snowmen he was totally chomping at the bit. I wasn’t sure what LM wanted but tried various things, changed her nappy, tried having her awake with us, tried putting her down to sleep but she wasn’t having any of it and screamed and screamed. But she did lull me into a false sense of security a few times which meant we did start the messy activity, and then she started screaming again so there is Monkey and I with cornflour and foam up to our elbows and a baby balling. The stress levels started rising. I tried to cheer her up while also giving Monkey as much attention as I could but basically I failed, I succumbed to the stress and screamed at LM. I just didn’t know what she wanted or needed and all I wanted in that moment was to focus a little bit of attention on Monkey, but I couldn’t. Then Monkey repeated what I said. Hearing your 2 1/2 year old tell his baby sister to shut up because he has just heard you say it is not exactly a proud moment. We never use that term with him and I was mortified to hear him say it. It snapped me out of my frustration a little bit and I calmed down enough to apologise to both of them and to tell Monkey I said a not very nice thing. I then tried feeding her,but she only drank 20ml and was still so tired so I tried to put her down again. She cried her eyes out but this time did actually manage to get herself to sleep. This all probably took maybe half an hour, if that, but I was totally frazzled. I wanted to try and salvage the situation and have some fun with Monkey… but by now he was having none of it and was more interested in putting the snow outside of the tuffspot and on the old sofa (its old and we don’t really care but still don’t want it completely destroyed). When I told him not to do that he decided he had had enough completely but trying to get him to stand up so I could take off his messy clothes was apparently an impossible task for him. So I got cross (yes, again) and he balled. Hubs happened to text at this point to see how my day was going, I think I replied with a one word expletive then when he tried to offer sympathy, I misinterpreted it and he received a tirade, poor hubs! Eventually I got Monkey back into clean clothes and plopped him in front of the TV. LM was finally asleep upstairs but I surveryed the scene and the clean up operation ahead of me and basically gave up. I sat in the kitchen and sobbed. It actually wasn’t too bad a mess and when I did get round to it, it didn’t take that long to clean up, but in that moment it felt like an insurmountable task and I just felt I had failed. The thing is I know it was my own fault. I expected too much of LM, Monkey and myself. The next day I popped LM to sleep in her cot, she slept really well and Monkey and I just played in the garden. Much less effort, hassle but still loads of fun. I sometimes feel like I am failing at being an SAHM if I am not putting in lots of effort to do awesome activities. Doing messy play, baking or some other crafty thing to teach him through play. In my heart I know that isn’t true. I know that as long as my kids are healthy and happy then I am doing well. I guess the fact that I want to try so hard is good as I want to be the best mummy I can be, but I have to go easy on myself. Things will get easier. LM is only a few months old and nowhere near a routine yet (no matter how much I wish she was, or how many online articles tell me she should be, she isn’t). She will be one day and things will get easier but for now I need to be less hard on myself and focus on what I can do, rather than pushing myself and getting angry and frustrated when I fail and things don’t work out the way that I want them to. So there we have it, on the one hand a great activity, if you have enough time to focus on it and don’t have a screaming baby in one arm! It really wasn’t my day as later on I had to take LM to the hospital to get her hips checked (she’s fine, just routine as she was breech). When I came out it was snowing and I paid for the parking ticket, walked through the snow to the car, got her in, put away the buggy then realised I had left the ticket in the machine so had to unpack the car and go back to the machine where thankfully someone had put the ticket on top of the machine, phew!
Welcome to #MaternityMondays week 6! Thanks so much to everyone linking up, we so love reading all of your posts.
It’s Emma’s turn to host this week over at Farmer’s Wife and Mummy. You can still add your link here too but she will be doing the rounds, commenting and sharing all of your posts this week.
We had so many fab posts last week, I loved reading them all! I particularly enjoyed reading about choosing names over at Loving Life with Little Ones as I find name choices tricky but fascinating!
I think most mums can relate to Mummy and Monkeys’ fab post about sleep deprivation! It does make us do daft things!
Finally Little Hearts Big Love brought tears to my eyes raising awareness for CHD and I was amazed to read how many don’t get picked up on scans!
This week I am sharing a post about my little Monkey and how well he has settled in to playgroup as we are so so proud of how well he is doing!
Now it is over to you! Please grab our badge and share the linky love by commenting on a few other blog posts, it would be lovely if we could grow a little community to share the highs and lows of motherhood and parenting.
The linky is open Mondays only from 6.30am to midnight.
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As regular readers will know, Monkey started playgroup in January. Other than a few blips he has settled in so well and we are hugely proud of him.This is a little boy who has always been quite clingy, he had very bad separation anxiety and alwyas wanted his Mummy there. At soft play or at the playpark I have long been the mum with a child clinging to her legs unless I am clambering up the slide with him. I have wondered in the past if it is my fault because I am a SAHM and wondered if a nursery setting would have been better for him, or worse!
My fears and worries have subsided over the past year as he has grown up a bit and become more and more independant. I was still very nervous of him starting playgroup and he was originally due to start in November when he turned 2 1/2. Becuase this coincided very much with LM being born we decided to defer it a couple of months and start after Christmas. As the date neared, although a little apprehensive, I was quietly confident as he seemed to grow up a lot in the few short months since his baby sister was born and get that little bit more independant, I guess he had to really!
For Christmas we got him a lovely book to help him get excited about starting playgroup and in the week or so before he started we read it over and over again. He loved it and was definitely excited to go. The book was great too as it explained about Mummy going away, and then coming back again.
The big day dawned and it went pretty well. He pulled a sad face as I left but didn’t scream or cling, Apparently he was very unhappy throughout the session and he did cry when we picked him up but that was to be expected and we were so proud of him. The second day was much like the first and although he wasn’t too bad when I left him, they did say he had again been quite upset throughout and he cried when I collected him. On the walk home he was quite positive and saying he loved playgroup so I was comforted by that and was just praying things would improve.
running to playgroup with daddy on his first day
Dropping him off for the 3rd session was the real low point. He cried a little before we left home but then cheered up and practically ran all the way there, very excited. He then cried when they opened the doors even though he had been saying he was excited to go in. He then cried for ages and clung to me, dragged me inside to where they read stories and didn’t want me to leave. I found that so hard but had to be strong and smile and promise I would pick him up. I smiled and left him in the care of the playgroup despite every instinct telling me it was wrong. I came home and struggled. I took to facebook for some reassurance, to hear from other Mummies that this was a low point and that it would get better. (Huge thanks to the lovely ladies who supported me through this.) I know that him going to playgroup is really good for him but I just worried that he wasn’t ready for it.
I was anxious the whole time he was there and concerned that it was getting worse rather than better. To my relief though, when I went to pick him up, one of the staff immediately said he had been better that day. He had been getting involved in activities and had not been upset. Phew! I nearly cried right then as it had felt worse at the drop off and I was concerned he would have been upset throughout again. To know he wasn’t was wonderful! He balled his head off when he came out and I really had to choke back the tears and not show him how upset I was, especially as my tears were more of relief than anything else!
On the way home that day he was telling me what he had done that day and he said “I cry a bit… don’t like cry” which nearly broke my heart and I told him it is ok to cry sometimes but that there was no need to cry at playgroup because playgroup is fun and Mummy will always come back and get him afterwards. He seemed pretty content with that.
On the 4th session he was again a little unhappy leaving home then excitedly running all the way there. He was so excited that unfortunately he tripped and cut his lip open halfway there! Not good timing! I had no tissues or wipes or anything ( as it is literally a 5 minute walk) so had to use my gloves and his scarf to mop up the blood pouring from his poor lip. I carried him the rest of the way and thankfully some other mummies had wipes to clean us up as we were both covered in blood at this point. I was really concerned about how upset he was but as soon as they opened the door he bounded right in. I explained to the staff about it but he seemed fine so I left him to it. The best thing was that that afternoon there was no tears at all when I picked him up, hooray!
And, well that was it. Since then he has not cried when I have dropped him off, or when I picked him up, and the news from the staff is that he is getting more and more confident. He goes outside to play and he loves joining in with the singing at the end. He is just loving it! He keeps saying “Is it playgroup tomorrow?” and “I do singing at playgroup” and he picks up toys and says “we have this at playgroup.” He is so proud of all the things he has made at playgroup and wants to show anyone and everyone all of his creations.
A few of Monkey’s creations at playgroup!
It is such a relief to know he enjoys it so much and he is growing up more and more as the weeks go by so it was definitely the right thing to do!
Monkey, like most toddlers I imagine, seems to have boundless energy. He is always haring about the place so we try to get out of the house as much as we can. Last year we started our “operation garden renovation” to turn our mess of a garden into somewhere he could play without us having to go anywhere. This was aimed at being ready for playing outside while I was pregnant, and it was amazing. It is still amazing now, as when LM sleeps upstairs, Monkey and I can get outside and burn off steam – even in the middle of winter!
We don’t very often get snow where we are but we have been enjoying running around on frosty mornings. He loves legging it round the garden, pushing his buggy around, and of course Mummy has to run too.
Mummy getting told off for not running!
And we finally got our first smattering of snow last week, which Monkey was HUGELY excited about! We thought this may be the extent of what we would get this year so we were out there making the most of it.
Then, much to our surprise, a few days later we got a proper covering! So Monkey and I went out while LM was asleep and had some more fun. I have to admit, I love snow. I am a big kid and love building snowmen and snow just makes everything so pretty and white (until it turns into slush anyway, yuk!) and I was determined to build a snowman. I tried to get Monkey involved but he was too busy stomping around making footprints and was more keen on knocking over my snowman mid-build. “Twease, twease, knock it down, twease” um no.
I managed to fend him off and here is the finished result, thankfully he loved it when it was finished and even gave him (apparently it is a Daddy snowman :)) cuddles!
We love playing outside, even in the winter, do you?
Yep I am feeling cheerful this week :). It’s amazing how much better you feel when you are getting enough sleep isn’t it? LM has now slept through from 7pm till 430/5am for the past 6 nights, meaning hubs and I are both getting a good long sleep at night. After a troublesome week last week we are so very, very pleased about this!
We are expecially grateful as we had a busy weekend. On Friday night my brother and his girlfriend came round for a takeaway which was really lovely and, well, the four of us can natter away til the cows come home so it was an uncharacteristically late night for us, meaning instead of our usual 9/930pm bedtime we went to bed after 11! Shocking I know! We were a little tired Saturday morning but had another busy day ahead of us as it was one of my best friend’s hen do. I had my hair cut in the afternoon and then in the evening I left hubs alone with both kiddies for bath and bedtime – the first time one of us has done this alone with both kiddies since LM became part of this routine!
Hard work for him but I had a lovely lovely time with my friends, having a good natter and a bit of hen do silliness :). I love my kiddies but I so need some time for me sometimes and this gave me the push I needed to get out of the house and enjoy just being me, rather than being Mummy.
Sunday was a yummy lunch at my Mum’s with my side of the family and we had a very lovely time, Monkey so loves playing with all of his aunts and uncles and LM was good as gold too.
I love that pic of my Mum and Stepdad with Monkey and LM, just gorgeous :).
Monday I have to admit I was shattered from a 430am start to the day and the busy weekend, but as the week has gone on I have been feeling positively restored. Getting a series of solid nights sleep, even with the early start to the day, really is making a huge difference to my energy levels. LM has been a lot better too, she is still dribbling a lot but she doesn’t seem to be in as much pain with the teething and has been sleeping really, really well. This means I have had more time for me but also more time for Monkey.
We have had some lovely playtimes out in the cold this week while LM has bee happily dozing. I have also been trying to be less negative towards him, to give more positive praise. I am a huge believer in positive reinforcement but it is so easy when you are tired and stressed to focus more on the negative behaviours. So instead we have been concentrating on the good and while we have had to threaten the naughty spot a few times, in general his behaviour has been much better this week and he is learning to say “please can I have” instead of “I want” which is actually going surprisingly well bless him! We are still having issues at dinnertime with him refusing to swallow food but there are a lot less tantrums and he is much more cheerful and so I am much more cheerful….or is that I am feeling more cheerful so he is feeling more cheerful hmm maybe a bit of both :).
I have been thinking recently about the changing faces of parenting. Have you ever stopped and thought about the ways in which we parent and how different they are to the ways our parents, and certainly grandparents, parented? I think technology plays a huge role in this, for better and for worse.
One example, the simple washing machine. When looking for children’s clothes I try and make sure that they are machine washable and preferably tumble dryable. Can you imagine how different things would have been in the days before washing machines? I often feel like laundry is taking over my life – but think how much more hard work it would have been always washing things by hand? I know this doesn’t always relate to parenting but think of it like this.
I have no problem if Monkey’s clothes get muddy when jumping in puddles or climbing something or rolling in the grass. I don’t fret when he gets his dinner all down his front or drips porridge onto his pyjamas. I am less happy about paint getting on his clothes but for the most part that is washable too. I am sure I would feel entirely different about him getting in such a mess if I had the prospect of scrubbing out all of those stains by hand! Surely then this little invention makes us more relaxed about a bit of mess and dirty clothes, potentially making us more fun? I say this because I got stopped in a park once by a lady around my parent’s age and she commented on how wonderful she thought it was that we were so relaxed about Monkey jumping in the mud as she said she never was but that she loves seeing it now.
While on the subject of washing, Nappies have come ever such a long way in a relatively short space of time. There are disposables nappies which, although I am well aware are not that good for the environment, make life so much easier than it ever was for our parents! Cloth nappies have come a heck of a long way too! I have read some reviews lately that have made me consider them in a way I never have before. I am still not sure I can be bothered, and hubs hates anything poo related so I am not sure he would be up for it either, but there is some temptation. Because they don’t look like anywhere ear the rigmarole they used to be! Good old technology :).
It’s not just in practical areas that things have come such a long way either. Think of entertainment. Think of a world with no cbeebies, no child friendly apps on our phones. No in car DVD players or tablets to keep them occupied. No Postman Pat or Peppa Pig or (insert favourite character here ;)). Yikes. I started out thinking I would limit the amount of TV our little Monkey watched (that’s a story for another post) but who was I kidding, it can be a god-send! I am sure there are many people who would say that this is detrimental to our children but for all the mums I know, thank you technology for helping me cope and cook the dinner without a child throwing a tantrum at my feet (at least not every day anyway ;)).
Onto slightly more serious subjects, the advance of medicine and medical research has also changed the way we parent. There are of course the major changes. The vaccinations that prevent our children succumbing to horrible diseases. The research into SIDS and the back to back campaign which helps us keep our babies safe while they sleep.
But there are also hundreds of other smaller developments that make a difference to the lives of us parents. I’ve blogged about the problems we have had with Little Miss’s reflux over the past few months and how a combination of infant Gaviscon and Lactose free formula have helped us to help her. She is no longer screaming in agony multiple times a day meaning we are less traumatised and exhausted and we are all much happier. Even in our parents day I am sure there was no such thing as infant Gaviscon or lactose free formula. Our parents probably wouldn’t even have considered a baby had reflux, many things would have been classed as Colic and you would have just got on with it. My brother in law was apparently a terrible sleeper and Hub’s parents spent night after night sat with him asleep on them upright as that was the only way they could get him to sleep. It could have been reflux but who would know? Now we do know about these things and can help our little ones through it.
This leads me on to the internet. Which is definitely a mixture of good and bad! In our parents day there was no internet. There was not this amazing amount of information at our fingertips. No Google available to check every tiny detail and see if it is normal. For our parents it was just about talking to family, friends and neighbours, seeing if they had experienced the same. But actually, it was just about getting on with it! What choice did you have? You just survived and got through it.
Is this wealth of information always a good thing? Well I am not sure because there is also so much contradictory information available which leads to a lot of people feeling like they are experts when really there is no way of validating the information you are reading online. It can of course be hugely helpful, to share experiences and find the possible causes of your child’s distress…. but it can also make us worry more, or convince ourselves that our child has the symptoms of something awful, when actually they just have a cold or something. Difficult that one.
The online community can be hugely beneficial though and I have found that no much more so than in the blogging community, reading each other’s experiences, sharing stories and supporting each other, a HUGE example of technology benefitting our parenting!! This past week has been a fantastic example of that as I have been trying to get some advice on teething remedies and had a lot of wonderful advice from brands, bloggers and other mummies on twitter. Through all of this advice I have been able to make some great and informed choices and benefit from the experience of others.
But again, the flip side of this is the pressure we sometimes feel from these online communities. The pressure we feel from others but also the pressure we put on ourselves by reading things that make us question our parenting instincts or techniques. The pressure we put on ourselves to be perfect parents. Maybe there has always been this much pressure, but I have a feeling it is intensified now. There is a lot that you see online where photos are perfectly staged and everyone is perfectly happy and while it is lovely to see and there is nothing wrong it, it can be misleading. I think most of understand that nobody has perfection in every moment of their life and that everyone has bad days, but when you are having a low day seeing these images can make you feel as if you are the only one struggling or the only one who isn’t perfect. And this can either make you try harder (not necessarily a bad thing unless you push yourself too far) or it can make you feel like you aren’t good enough, which is totally untrue and not helpful to anyone.
I think the internet and TV and the proliferation of news affects our parenting too. We now hear about awful things happening to children across the country or in different parts of the world that probably have always happened, but we didn’t hear about before. Now with 24 hour News channels and constantly updated news websites there are stories about everything, making us more aware of child safety. This is a good thing but it also makes us worry and this affects how we raise our children. We don’t let them play outside alone as much as we did as kids. Is the world actually more dangerous now or are we just more aware of the dangers than our parents were? Though of course there is the much darker side of the internet which gives nasty people access to our children through online communities, and I don’t even like to think about that yet!
Then of course technological advances pander to our fears. We buy baby monitors that have temperature sensors, motion sensors and video cameras so we can monitor everything our baby is doing. I read a story today about micro-chipping children (either in their clothes or under their skin) so that parents can find them at all times. On one hand this feels crazy, but on the other it feels genius as we all fear for our children’s safety and what better way to know that they are safe than to know where they are at all times?
I just find it all really interesting I guess, parenting changes along with technology and I know our parent’s generations don’t understand many of the accepted parenting techniques we use today. I wonder how much technology, and parenting will change by the time our children are parents. And how will we feel about it? Will these be “the good old days” to us?
Shortly after LM was born, we were asked if we would like to review the new and innovative car seat from German brand Kiddy. The Kiddy Evo-Lunafix car seat is a 0+ car seat meaning it is suitable from birth – 13kg (approx. 15 mths). It is innovative because it has patented Kiddy Lie Flat Technology and is the first car seat that can be moved into an ergonomic lie-flat position which is best for baby’s spine.
The general rule is that newborn babies should not be in a car seat for more than 30 minutes, and older babies no more than 2 hours, as it is not good for their little backs and because the position of their legs can press on their stomach and lungs, potentially leading to breathing difficulties. With the Evo-Lunafix there is no such time limit as baby can be laying flat, in the car or on the pushchair.
I was really intrigued and excited to take a look at this fantastic new car seat!
image courtesy of kiddy.de
The seat works in conjunction with the Kiddy Isofixbase2 which makes the seat easy to click and lift in and out of the car. We previously had the Maxi-Cosi Cabriofix and isofix base and we love being able to click the car seat in without faffing about with straps. (It is worth noting that the Evo-Lunafix cannot be used in a car without the isofix base. A list of cars compatible with the Isofix base can be found here. The Kiddy Evolution Pro 2 can be used without isofix, I haven’t reviewed it but I understand that while it won’t recline in the car, it can be reclined on the pushchair or flat, i.e once you get home.)
If anything, the Kiddy seat clicks in easier than our Maxi-Cosi seat and is a little lighter. It is fantastic to be able to just click the seat in and go. It is quite long however and in our car (an 08 Honda Civic) it is a bit snug and in order for it to fit in the lie-flat position the front seat has to be pulled quite far forward, which isn’t great for Hub’s long legs! I guess it depends on exact dimensions in the car and the angles of the seats, a smaller car than ours may have more room in the back. With the handle in the recline position the length from handle to the foot of the seat is 76cm, if that helps anyone!
The lie-flat function of the seat is linked with the handle, so by pushing the handle back, the position of the seat changes so that baby is lying flat. There is a great animation of this on the Kiddy website. This is a fantastic feature if you are going on a long journey with your little one as they can happily lie in the back of the car without you having to worry about the effect it has on their back or their breathing. It is also great if, like most babies, your little one tends to fall asleep in the car seat. Often when out for a walk or in the car LM has fallen asleep and when you get home there is the usual dilemma. Do I move her and risk waking her? Or leave her be? How long should I leave her in the car seat for? With the Kiddy Evo-Lunafix there is no dilemma. Because you can have baby in the lie flat position, there is no rush to move her.
LM comfily dozing in the lie-flat position after a trip out
The only downside to the movement being linked to the handle is potentially having to change baby’s position when moving the seat from the car to the buggy – I guess it depends how light a sleeper your baby is, although you can move the seat without using the handle, but it is certainly trickier!
The Kiddy Evo-Lunafix can be used as a travel system, as with many car seats these days. You can get connectors which fit on to a lot of pushchairs. Unfortunately it isn’t compatible with the Phil & Teds Pushchair we have so Kiddy kindly sent us their City’nMove pushchair for the purpose of the review ( separate review on that to follow). It attaches pretty easily and again means that if you are out and about, baby can lie flat in the car seat and be moved indoors still in the flat position. You can find a list of compatible pushchairs on the Kiddy website (if you scroll almost to the bottom, below the video you will see the full list). The buttons to detach the car seat from the travel system adaptor are in a slightly awkward position for lifting the seat off the pushchair, but it is easily do-able.
out and about
The car seat comes in some gorgeous colours and we opted for the lovely teal option, Hawaii. It has a fantastic sunshade which I love as it extends a long way, giving a lot of protection from the sun which can sometimes be very harsh on a little baby staring up at the sky! It also has a slatted design which prevents baby’s back from getting to sweaty. With Monkey being a summer baby I found that he very quickly became uncomfortable sitting in a hot car seat so this definitely appeals to me.
protected from the sun by the fab sunshade
Because the seat is in the 0+ group it adapts as your baby grows. There is a newborn insert, which honestly we never needed for LM, and you can also get an insert for tiny or premature babies too. The height adjust is actually one of my favourite things on this car seat (saddo I know) because it is so easy to do. I admit to dreading changing the height setting on some of our previous car seats as they are just a rigmarole, whereas adjusting the height on this one took seconds.
I do have a couple of slight niggles about the straps on this seat though. The button to lengthen the straps is under the fabric and is in the perfect position with the handle is up, but when the seat is in a lie-flat position it is tricky to locate in order to lengthen the straps if you want to strap baby in once they are in that position. Also, our Maxi-Cosi seat has a some handy places to tuck in the straps while you put the baby in the seat. Without these the straps do have the tendency to fall back and end up under baby. Not a huge issue and certainly not a deal breaker, but being used to having a seat with places to tuck the straps we noticed their absence.
In summary:
Pros
There is no doubt that the Lie-Flat function is fantastic and a huge plus point – giving you peace of mind when baby is in the car seat for extended periods of time.
The maxi sunshade is brilliant and gives a lot of protection from the sun
The slatted back prevents baby’s back from getting too hot and sweaty
It has the easiest height adjust I have seen on an infant car seat
Super easy to click in and out of the car on the Isofix2 base
Compatible with a wide variety of pushchairs
Lovely vibrant colours and designs
Cons
With the lie-flat function attached to the handle, it is tricky to move the seat when in the lie-flat position.
No tie backs for the straps and the button to lengthen the straps is tricky to locate in the lie-back position.
The buttons to detach from the travel system adaptor are in a slightly awkward place when lifting the seat
It is quite long when in the lie-flat position (76cm) so may be snug in smaller cars.
So yes, in order to provide a balanced review there are a couple of things that niggle me a little with the Kiddy Evo-Lunafixcar seat – but I don’t think any car seat is ever going to be perfect and I think the lie-flat function outweighs any cons I have found. None of them inhibit the use of the seat and I found you just got used to them and worked around them after a while.
This car seat really is the first of its’ kind with this ability to recline the seat and make it safer for our babies. It is a lovely style and so easy to use as it clicks so simply in and out of the Isofixbase2. LM is super comfy in it and it has lots of lovely features, such as the slatted back, and the longer than average sunshade, which make it even comfier for her. It really is a great car seat with a great solution to the problem of how long to keep a baby in a car seat.
We received the Kiddy Evo-Lunafix Car Seat or the purpose of this review however all thoughts, opinions and photographs are my own.
Well here we are, week five of #MaternityMondays! Our little community is really growing, thank you so much to everyone for linking up, we really appreciate it and we love reading your posts!
I have really enjoyed reading about plans for second ceasareans, and particularly hopes for gentle ceasareans from Kate at Family Fever, Belle du Brighton and Another Bun. Having had two c-sections I can really relate and I think it is lovely to read that C-sections don’t have to feel like the worst case scenario and that they can in fact be very positive experiences for mum and baby.
Speaking of which, I am hosting again this week as my lovely co-host Emma has had her little baby boy! They welcomed their little man George on Wednesday and you can read more about him and see some cutie pics of the gorgeous little lad here.
My week has been nowhere near as exciting but has been an interesting one. With a troublesome toddler and teething baby I am certainly being kept busy but I also managed to have some me-time this weekend on a hen do for one of my closest friends which was really very lovely.
This week I am sharing a post of our cutie toddler and some of the things he says at the moment as watching him grow really makes me so proud to be his Mummy :).
Now it is over to you! Please grab our badge and share the linky love by commenting on a few other blog posts, it would be lovely if we could grow a little community to share the highs and lows of motherhood and parenting. It is my turn to host this week and I am really looking forward to reading your posts!
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Don’t forget to tweet your link using #MaternityMondays, and if you tag us in we will retweet, we are @EmmaLander2 and @BecomingaSAHM
