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parenting blog

#MySundayPhoto

Instagram followers will know that this weekend we spent the night in a rather smart hotel with the kids. We stayed at The Arch Hotel near Marble Arch in London, and this is the wallpaper in one of the bedrooms of our suite (yes - a [...]

10 top tips for taking your baby swimming

Who would have thought that taking a little person swimming could be so complicated? We’re half way through our latest term of Puddle Ducks baby swimming lessons and it turns out there are all sorts of things to consider, from what to wear and what to [...]

10 reasons first pregnancies are the best

They say every pregnancy is different, but what they don’t tell you is that it’s your first pregnancy that will be the best. That’s what I’m finding, anyway. I’m now well into the second trimester with baby number three and a friend recently asked me [...]

5 tricks to help your baby sleep through the night

I feel like I’ve been banging on about this for years. Little B will be two at the end of this month and he still doesn’t sleep through the night. This got me thinking about his bedtime routine and what will give us the best [...]

#MySundayPhoto

There have been some amazing sun rises this week. I took this image on one of my morning runs along Brighton and Hove seafront - if you look carefully you can see Brighton Pier and the old West Pier on the right, and the new [...]

10 reasons all parents should take a brat-cation

I’m referring, of course, to that rare and lesser known aspect of parenting, also known as a break away from the kids. This week, on their royal tour of Canada, as well as tucking into willy-shaped clams (you really couldn’t make it up) William and [...]

Top tips when selling your family car

Ever since we discovered we're expecting baby number three I’ve been joking that the ‘only’ thing we need to buy is a new car. Well, the joke’s on me. I (naively) thought we could simply upgrade our existing car to an estate version to fit three [...]

‘No sticking toes in bums!’ (and other things I never thought I’d say)

'No sticking toes in bums!' Those were the actual words that fell out of my mouth at bath time the other night when BB tried to stick her big toe in Little B’s bottom because ‘he did it to meeee’. Since becoming a mum I [...]

The 10 worst things about being pregnant

I know, I know. A baby is a blessing, a gift from God for which we should be grateful and thank our lucky stars. The trouble is it’s jolly hard to be grateful and thankful in those early days, when you’re in the throes of [...]

#MySundayPhoto

I've had a taster of life as a single mum this week. Misery Guts is away in America with work, so it's been just me, the kids, and bump of course. We've had lots of help from both sets of grandparents thank goodness, and come [...]

The REAL reason we’re so upset about #BrexPitt

I’m talking, of course, about the parting of ways of Hollywood A-listers Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie after it was revealed that their 12-year relationship is officially over. Unsurprisingly news of the demise of America’s golden couple took the internet by storm, with #Brangelina, #BrangelinaBreakup [...]

Win tickets to The Baby Show at London Olympia!

It’s that time of year again - The Baby Show is returning to London Olympia from Friday October 21 to Sunday October 23 and I’ve got two pairs of tickets to give away! If, like me, you’ve got a baby on the way or you’ve [...]

Things no-one warns you about school

With a school reception year and a few weeks of year one under my belt I've been reflecting on how much life has changed since BB started school. As well as all the things I realised I needed to learn now I had a child [...]

#MySundayPhoto

We've had some unseasonably warm weather in our neck of the woods this week - so much so that, on a day I was supposed to be working, we went to the beach instead. It was just too nice to be cooped up indoors, and [...]

10 reasons to try baby swimming lessons & 10% Puddle Ducks discount code!

They say babies are born to swim, and I know mine certainly was. In fact, the first time I clapped eyes on Little B he was underwater, as I pulled him to the surface of the birthing pool he was born in. He’s loved water ever since, [...]