Brazenmom

What to do? What to do? My daughter is due for her first vaccine imminently … this week actually. At two months old my baby is to be vaccinated against Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), polio and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) Pneumococcal infection. It is common knowledge that in order to make someone immune to a disease, doctors have to inject the actual disease into a person’s body so that antibodies to fight the illness can develop. My husband and I have a problem with injecting a healthy baby, who is only two months old and very little, with diseases – even if it is to build antibodies. Read the rest of this entry »

Are you a user? Dummies not drugs. Pose this question to a drug addict or a sleep deprived new mom and you are likely to receive an equally violent, opinionated and emotionally charged response. Before I was a mom, if someone had told me what a big deal the whole dummy debate is amongst parents (and even those who aren’t parents) I would have retorted with “um … ever heard of AIDS, world hunger, violent deaths, war and drug addiction?”. Ashamedly, after seven short weeks as a parent, I have succumbed to the great dummy debate and formed an opinion. My philosophy as a mom is to trust my instinct – translation: if your gut tells you that using a dummy is the best option for your baby, then do it and visa versa. My own fear is that if I give my baba a dummy, it will become a crutch: an easy way for me to keep her pacified when it suits me. Basically, a gag. So I guess my stance is based on self-doubt. Irrespective, my baba is learning to self-soothe without the use of a dummy and that has made my decision not to use a dummy pretty easy. Read the rest of this entry »

After three weeks of an almost ‘too good to be true’ baba, we sadly discovered that our little Amelia-bug is as stubborn as her mother. She, one day, just decided that sleeping alone was not the cool thing to do; snuggling up in someone’s arms is much more fun – day and night. Naughty baba! So whilst we tried to figure out whether Amelia-bug, at the age of 4 weeks, was manipulating us; or feeling separation anxiety after being attached to mommy for nine months; or frustrated because of her stuffy nose; or just plain needy; or all of the above, my baba happily consumed all of my attention – every second of every day. Making tea became a pain in my ass because as soon as Amelia-bug was put down the waa-ing would begin. So after spending an afternoon with my faithful friend Mr Google, who advised me on the many theories relating to babies and sleep, I was no clearer on what course of action I should take. I wanted to find a happy medium that would ensure that my Amelia-bug would feel okay to sleep alone but also indulge in some lovely mommy and daddy snuggles. So I sent out a message on facebook and got mixed responses that launched into a fabulous debate which I would like to share with other parents addressing the same sleep issue. Read the rest of this entry »