Splish Splosh!

It's that time again and the new term of swimming for Grace has kicked off with a splash! We've changed swim schools and now attend Splish Splosh Swimming School. We arrived early as it was our first time at this pool and I get a bit nervous about going to new places for the first time. I needn't have worried, we were chatting with Helen, Mum to Lucas while we were getting changed and it turns out we both used to swim at the same place before Christmas... and we'd both swapped schools to save a few bucks but also to have the novelty of being able to swing a cat in the changing rooms! Grace kitted out in Huggie's Swim Nappies and a Happy Nappy over the top (a neoprene pant that's supposed to keep accidents from happening), we were dressed and ready to swim.

There were 5 of us on the class, which is a great ratio to work with, and the instructor Debbie was friendly and immediately welcoming. It was nice to see family able to watch the class on the pool side and I have to say the atmosphere felt really positive. I recognised Jacqui immediately as someone I used to work with, with her little girl Freya, now 28 weeks old. There was another Mum (I forget her name!) with Isla (I'm guessing her at around 10-12 months old) and a very brave Dad in a pool full of women with another little girl. Grace already a little tired from going to a Men Behaving Dadly play group at the local Children's Centre surprised me by not only getting through the lesson without a meltdown, she managed to splash her way through the half hour in high spirits and general amazement at the squeaky duck she was chasing in the water.

We started by singing a song to get the babies used to the water. It's about a months since Grace last donned her waterwings so it was a nice introduction to the session - she loves the Grand old Duke of York at the best of times so singing a familiar song with actions eased her in with confidence. After that we put our babies into swim position one. This is with Grace supported under the arms in a horizontal position in the water, facing away from me so as I walk she's swimming level with me. We had a few early episodes of drinking the water as I got used to walking at the right height - the water is quite shallow so all of us adults are left to modify our gait to suit.... being tall I was almost on my knees. Anyhow, when we got to the side, I asked Grace to 'hold on' to the bar (which at the moment she plops her fists on), then we 'turn around' and head back the other way. I encourage her, as instructed, to 'kick, kick, kick' although at just shy of 5 months old, her legs are trailing behind her with a cute little bobbing motion.

Debbie then had us sitting our babies on the side of the pool. Two more songs. Five Green Bottles (where each of us in turn jumps our babies into the pool with a big splash), and of course Humpty Dumpty. After a spot of swimming Grace on her back, it was time for the matter of submersion.

Grace has done this before and her response to it has generally been good, if a little bemused as she bats her eyelids in rapid succession to clear the water from her eyes. I read somewhere that it's at around 10 months onwards when babies start to lose their natural DIVE REFLEX. This bradycardic response causes babies to hold their breath and open their eyes the moment they are submerged. We get the same response by gently blowing in our babies faces, and this can be a good way of helping them catch their breath again if they do inadvertently take in a little water. The rationale of the submersion so early on in swimming lessons is that it allows baby to 'swim' before they can intentionally hold their breath. Anyway, we did 3 submersions, and all the babies in the class, included Grace did great and there was no fussing whatsoever. It can however be a little daunting for the first time parent, and if anything, the look on their faces is far more comic! Still, we all have to start somewhere.

A few more activities and songs, and the lesson was over. Time flies when you're having fun, and Grace was ready for a cuddle, some milk, and a well earned snooze. A success, we can't wait for our next lesson.

All dry, and ready to go home!

Research Bunnies

In the interests of doing our bit for society, I have signed Grace and myself up for a research study. A Masters student at Bastyr University in the States is looking for volunteers to take part into a study into parents who chose to go down the route of Baby Led Weaning (BLW) for their babies. More specifically, she is investigating the dietary pattern of the parents implementing BLW as the method of choice for introducing solid foods to their infants - the thesis for her Masters is "Baby Led Weaning and the effects in the family diet".

After passing the screening questionnaire, which wanted to know things like if Grace was our first child, whether or not we had read the BLW book by Gill Rapley, and how many days per week Grace would be in non-parental control (e.g. Grandma and Nursery), we were sent a consent form explaining the detail of the study and a consent form for us to sign. It's simple really and we don't need to dedicate a lot of time to it, but I'm pleased to be taking part. Not much is known about BLW as it's still a relatively new concept and doing my bit feels right.

I need to keep a food and drink diary for 3 days running before we start weaning. Then 3 months in, I need to do the same again, but this time also a 3 day diary for Grace too. It's as simple as that. If anyone is interested in participating, leave a comment and I can post details.

No babies or mothers will be harmed in the development of the study.

The Politics of Puree

Weaning.
To gradually introduce what will be adult food to the infant while simultaneously yet slowly reducing the intake of milk, be that breast or formula. It's well recognised that current NHS guidelines suggest delaying weaning until 6 months of age to ensure the digestive system is sufficiently developed and ready to digest 'real' foods. As a strict rule of thumb, the lack of teeth in the baby would suggest the inability to chew and therefore solids as such should be considered a no-no. Thus by process of elimination, one is left to conclude a hand blender or sieve and a steady stream of pureed mush is the food of choice.

We all know or know of this method. We cook carrots (without salt), mush them, and shovel them in with a soft plastic spoon. We might try banana, or sweet potato, perhaps broccoli or pureed pear and apple. Shovel shovel shovel, gobble gobble gobble. (And no, I am not doing an impression of the poultry farmer mucking out the turkey shed). My point is, weaning in general, is about breaking down the foods we offer into a pulp, then offering it to the baby (or forcing it on the baby if we don't pay attention) and we keep control, and everyone's happy. It's the norm. Time consuming maybe - think ice cube trays full of ready mushed green beans, and one gets the picture. Or of course, we could just stock up on convenience jars from the supermarket. Either way, it's just glupe isn't it? I remember my sister rounding off a spoon of pulverised baby food ready to fire into her daughter's open mouth, and I distinctly remember thinking a) yuck, and b) what a faff.

Now a relatively recent concept, Baby Led Weaning, is likely to put the willy's up the older folk, but is now recognised by the World Health Organisation as a suitable alternative method which sees the baby taking control of the transition to solids from milk from the very first stages of weaning.... by self-feeding from the offset.

What???

The WHO indicates the maturity of the digestive system and the baby's ability to cope with the transition to solids will likely be recognised by the external faculties that the baby is ready to wean. Meaning? Well, think about the ability to sit upright (supported perhaps, but nevertheless upright). Now think about the ability to reach out and grasp an object and to be able to direct that object up to the mouth. So that's digestive ability and the fine motor skills mastered - both necessary to self-feed.

So eating or just playing?
It's safe to say the early stages of baby led weaning are exploratory mainly with little food actually ingested - textures, tastes, colours and smell. Coupled with the benefit of copying those eating 'grown up' food at the table - baby's love to mimic and copy. So in a nutshell, instead of offering a spoon of pureed foodstuffs directly into the mouth at each sitting, the baby is offered a variety of finger foods which they can chose from themselves at their own pace. It makes sense. How many babies do you see refusing to eat from a spoon, or making a fuss over the process? And yet chances are the same baby would gladly pick up a baton of carrot and gnaw on it, or maybe just suck on it a while. The point is, the baby is in control and stress free. It's a game in a way. Mum and Dad can relax and eat their meal, while baby has a go on their own.

Weird? No, just different. Messy? Definitely. (Well, I say that, I have no experience of it yet, but I do have visions of spaghetti bolognese splatted over the dogs nose and half way up the wall).

My plan hence, is to offer soft foods to begin with - soft fruits and vegetables, or steamed vegetables softened so even a toothless gum can chew on them. Something the size of a chunky chip - big enough to provide a handle for Grace to grab hold of, leaving enough free for her to suck/chew on without it getting lost in her fist.

Choking? Yes, its a possibility. But it is with spoon feeding too, in fact more so. Think about it. Mum's spooning apple mush into baby's mouth, there's a few lumps in it, baby gags on it as she can't keep up with Mum's pace. It happens. Compare that to baby led weaning. Yes, its possible baby with pop too much in, but chances are she will be able to roll it back to the front of her mouth or cough it back to the front or out.... in principle - the ability to chew develops after the ability to grasp and place things in the mouth, and thus the baby's development keeps pace with the ability to process the food.

Fan or fearful, Matt the Husband and I have decided on baby led weaning as our route forward for Grace. She isn't 6 months yet, but she is showing signs of being ready. We can't go wrong really- we're taking it at Grace's pace. If she does nothing but pick the food up, that's fine, it's progress. If she picks it up, sucks on it a bit then drops it on the floor, that's also fine. When she is ready, she will start to chew and swallow. Until then, it's just fun and learning. A playtime in the kitchen where she wont go hungry as she will already be fuelled by her milk. And when she is ready, she'll cut back on her milk intake by herself.

Decision made, I'll let you know how we get on. We're excited, and Grace seems keen to be in her highchair now too...



Acknowledgements to the authors of "Baby Led Weaning", Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett for their inspiration. Thank you!

Octotunes

I just want to say THANK YOU to LAMAZE TOYS for making such fabulous toys. We bought the Lamaze Octotunes the Octopus for Grace some time ago and she is really beginning to show interest in the way each tentacle when squeezed produces a different note from the octave. Genius. Matt the Husband loves it, and is already plotting to learn everything he can to play to Grace to keep her entertained. It'll be wonderful once she can make the notes herself - right now her grip just isn't strong enough to produce a decent squeeze to eek out a note. Wont be long though, then she will be holding her own Octotunes concert for the family no doubt. Better still, if we buy a second one, she can duet with Matt and they can feature on Britain's Got Talent. Royal Variety Show line-up organisers, watch this space!

Welcome 2011

Happy New Year to you all! We are embracing the start of a new year with open arms and know there are fun and adventures ahead in the months to come. It wont be long now until Grace starts weaning and for us the fun (and mess) then really starts and we hope you will join us on our journey.

We celebrated the New Year in with Grandma Mary and both Great Grandmothers in Yorkshire which was a bit of a novelty having four generations together for once. We had a splendid day and Grace behaved wonderfully despite being a little out of sorts with her teething. Fortunately Grandma Mary had bought her some 'biccie-pegs' for Grace to gnaw on (Grace, not Grandma) and that seemed to do the trick. Thank you!

Anyway, here are the last few pics from the end of 2010.

Christina with Dimitris, also just shy of 5 months old.


Grace looking cool and set for the sun of Ibiza!

The Tooth Fairy

Almost a month of dribbling and hand-in-mouth have finally come to fruition. A delivery...

Last night under the cover of darkness, the Tooth Fairy popped into Grace's room through an open window (we have the heating on, it's o.k.), and fired two baby-teeth arrows in the direction of the crib where she was sleeping. Luckily for the Tooth Fairy, both hit target and Grace this morning has two white shiners poking through the gum on her lower gum. Typically the Tooth Fairy left a parting shot, a dose of sugar-free Calpol, and for this both Grace and Mummy today are very grateful.

Grace has today been grizzly and clingy - those pesky mountain peaks in her mouth are causing her strife and she's a little confused I think. It's said that babies get used to teething pains the more that come through, but at the moment Grace is definitely discomforted by the process, bless her.

Two down, another 18 to go.

Merry Christmas!

I thought I would tell you how Grace's first Christmas played out. We travelled down to my parents on Christmas eve and had a wonderful Christmas Day there together along with my Uncle Frank. On Boxing Day I drove my Mum and Grace to Harlow to spend the day with my sister Bunny and her family. Christmas Day was magical and special, particularly for Matt the Husband and I as parents for the first time. Of course Grace being only four months doesn't give a hoot about Christmas celebrations this year, but we both delighted in enjoying the festivities on her behalf.... the fun isn't just for the children you know! It was rotten luck that my Dad and Matt the Husband were struck down on Boxing Day with the winter gastric bug that is doing the rounds (I'd had it earlier in the week). I'm so grateful their illness didn't affect Christmas Day and thank heavens they were both feeling better again so quickly. Anyway, here's a few pictures of our Happy Holidays....

Very excited opening a present with Daddy.


Christmas morning with Mummy.


Having a look in Santa's stocking with Frank.


Playtime with Grandpa.


Having a snuggle with Bunny.