Dip in? Don’t bother…

I’m not usually one for a) writing scathing reviews as I believe it’s more important to spread positivity and acknowledge when businesses do a good job and b) attempt to try the latest beauty trends. But on this occasion, I attempted to do the latter, which has lead to me doing the former…

When lockdown began, I realised that I wouldn’t be able to get my nails done for quite some time, which is something I love doing as a little way to treat myself, so I thought I’d give dip powdered nails a go after spotting an ad for Dipsy Nails on Instagram (yes, I’ve since learned my lesson!).

Claiming to last longer than normal nail varnish, I ordered a kit on April 24th to treat myself for my birthday, and it finally arrived on June 20th. I didn’t realise that their materials are shipped from China, and with the current Covid-19 situation, there was inevitably delays with shipping. Shit happens, but the irony that I wanted to manicure set that would help ease my lockdown blues that didn’t arrive until 12 weeks into lockdown wasn’t lost on me.

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  The kit (pink brush not included, it suggested to dust off excess powder with a soft brush so that’s my own blusher brush).

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  Dipping in…

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  The finished result – bumpy, uneven and generally naff!

Anyway, I settled in to give the kit a try. After filing and shaping my nails, I applied the base layer as per the instructions and dipped my nail into the powder pot at a 45degree angle, which was really fiddly due to the tiny pot size. After doing the same with all my nails and then repeating these steps, the instructions said to use a nail buffer to buff your nails into a shiny finish.

Well as you can see from the final photo, the result after lots of buffing wasn’t great. The surface of my nail is really rough and the colour uneven, and not very shiny at all. I admit, I used an old buffer so maybe someone with a new buffer who has more experience in nails might have had a better result, but I wasn’t impressed at all. I’ve since had to apply a coat of glitter polish to cover the mess.

In fairness, Dipsy have since addressed the shipping issues in a statement on their website (https://shopdipsy.com/ and in the current climate, delays are to be expected, but was it worth it? Not really! In future I’ll stick with normal nail varnish and just wait patiently for nail salons to reopen. Serves me right for trying to be cool and ‘trendy’! Other more fashionable types are welcome to try it!

I’ll have another go to see if powdered nail application is just a skill I haven’t yet mastered. As for how long the powder lasts and how easy it is to get off – I’ll keep you posted!

Battle of the bottle

I haven’t done any review-type posts for a while, and since I’ve been wading my way through multiple bottles and teats, I thought it was time.

So many teats, so little time!

As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, we’ve been trying for weeks to get Rory to take a bottle with the view to, eventually, combi-feed him by breastfeeding during the day and bottle feeding at night. To avoid nipple confusion, I followed the midwife’s advice and didn’t introduce a bottle until breastfeeding was fully established, which was recommended to be when he was 4 weeks old. As getting Isla to take a bottle had been a bit of a battle, albeit only trying 2 varieties of bottles, I was expecting a similar experience. As expected, when I approached Rory with the only bottle Isla would ever take (a Minbie), he wouldn’t even entertain the idea. No biggie, I thought, it’s early days.

But as the weeks went on, he still wouldn’t take a bottle and would scream as soon as one went near his lips. And as I’ve described earlier, his sleep was getting worse and worse because he’d wake up multiple times in the night to feed. I was desperate to get him to take a bottle so I could give him some formula in the hope it would a) give me a break from constant boobing and b) maybe, just maybe, make him sleep better.

I tried 5 different brands of bottles, all claiming to be as close to being a nipple without actually being a nipple, yet they were all completely different. The Tommee Tippee might actually look like a nipple and boob with its larger, round base and teat, but the teat was so unyielding and stiff, it was no wonder Rory wouldn’t go near it. I know most people swear by TTs, but Rory wouldn’t even consider it.

It was a similar experience with the Dr Browns. The teat was huge, elongated, and very stiff (fnar fnar…😳), poor Rory nearly choked on it. The Minbie, which Isla had taken to instantly, was rebuffed as well.

I was starting to get desperate. I tried giving him both expressed milk and formula in different bottles, and he wouldn’t take any of them. Hubs tried giving him a bottle with me out of the room, still nothing. Two different friends then recommended Nuk bottles, and all the reviews seemed to suggest that this would be THE ONE. Nope. Still no dice.

By now, Rory was 14 weeks old and would actually start screaming at the mere sight of a bottle. After posting a desperate plea for advice on a mummy blogger page on Facebook, and seeing all the replies from mums whose babies had NEVER taken a bottle, I was ready to throw in the towel and just hope that he’d eventually start sleeping better.

Then another friend who’d been through similar boob/bottle struggles recommended MAM bottles. I thought, what the hell, what have I got to lose?

The bottle arrived the next day. And this happened 👇🏻 on the first go…

Yes! It’s empty!

I was so relieved. The teat was not only softer and more flexible, but actually seemed to suit him because the teat was contoured to fit a baby’s pursed lips. And now, at 16 weeks old, Rory seems to have really got the hang of it. Yes, there are times when he’ll refuse one if he’s in a bad mood, but we’ve found the best times to spring it on him seem to be when he’s just woken up, and hungry.

No, before you ask, I’m not being paid by MAM for this post, but I’m so relieved and grateful I was told about this brand I just had to write about them. These bottles have been a godsend. Hubs can now feed him which means I can have a bit of a break, and a rested mummy is a better mummy, amiright?!

So if you’re struggling to get baba to try a bottle, give MAM a go. And even better, you could try one for FREE! Go to this link and use the code TRYMEFREE at the checkout, you’re welcome. (At the time of writing, this code was still active, please let me know if it isn’t anymore!)

New favourite place!

We’ve recently discovered Holly Tree, a soft play centre just outside Washingborough in Lincoln and I just have to rave about it!

Isla and I have been to a few soft play centres in our area and while she enjoys them, we found that most of them don’t have much in the way of facilities for little ones Isla’s age. But this is where Holly Tree is so brilliant. It not only boasts a multi level play centre for the bigger kids, complete with the obstacle courses and slides, but a baby and toddler room as well with sensory toys and fun.

I went for the first time last week with a friend and her 8 month old and there was plenty to do for both our little ones. Isla especially enjoyed the mini bikes and soft play shapes as well as the 3D puzzles, there was so much to do she didn’t know where to start.

And the food! At every soft play centre we’ve been to we bring our own food because everywhere else mostly does pizza and chips. But Holly Tree has its own baby menu with yogurts, mashed potato, pureed carrot and toast fingers as well as really nice food for us mummies, my friend really enjoyed her jacket potato with roasted vegetables. 

It’s also very well priced. I didn’t take any photos at the time but definitely will next time, and there will most definitely be a next time, can’t rate it highly enough!

Our top 5 baby food recipes

Weaning was a bit of a minefield for us. Because Isla didn’t get her first teeth until she was 11 months old, her food had to be pureed quite smoothly as she struggled with big lumps since she couldn’t chew very well. Finger foods also had to be soft or easily dissolvable.

I did plenty of reading up on tasty recipes that could be blended to an easy consistency for Isla and found these to be her favourites. I’ve also marked them on how easy they were to make as some recipes I found took an age to prepare!

5. Baby ratatouille by babycentre.co.uk – I tried this one when Isla was about 10 months old and while it took her two tries before she got used to the strong flavours, she gobbled it up and Hubs and I thought it smelled damn good too! It takes a while to cook so not one to make in a hurry, but it’s worth it.

Yummy rating = ****

Easy cooking = ***

4. Cheesy vegetable medley by Heinz Baby – there are many things in life Isla loves, and cheese and vegetables are in the top of the list. So this recipe went down a treat. She’s moving on to more hearty meals but this was a great recipe for the early days of weaning.

Yummy rating: *****

Easy cooking: ****

3. Fish with peas by Cow & Gate – Aside from the slightly fishy smell left in the kitch after cooking, this one is a firm favourite with both us and Isla. Easy pea-sy (sorry) to make and a great place to start when introducing little ones to fish. Isla now eats all fish and loves them. Also as a side note, we found Cow & Gate’s 5 Step Weaning Plan was brilliant. I’d been a bit daunted by the idea of getting Isla to try solids and had no idea where to start, but this guide spelled it out in plain English and it was dead easy to do. I’d highly recommend it to other first time mums, thanks C&G!

Yummy rating: ***

Easy cooking: *****

2. Savoury chicken casserole by babycentre.co.uk – This one is really good if you want to eat the same meal and at the same time as your baby. The chicken casserole is so tasty and filling, super healthy and most importantly Isla loves it. Takes a while to cook so this is one to prepare early doors.

Yummy rating: *****

Easy cooking: ***

1. Tomato and butternut squash pasta by Annabel Karmel – Where do I start? I love love love this one! So simple to make, smells incredible (a welcome change as many baby foods look and smell revolting!) and oh so sophisticated. Have to admit, when I’m standing at the cooker sautéing the tomatoes I feel like a SuperMum, look at me cooking posh meals for my baby, eff you Mumzillas!! And most importantly, Isla gobbled it up at the first go and after three months, is very much the firm favourite. I now cook twice the amount and freeze about 6 portions at a time. I’m gradually working my way through Annabel Karmel’s website as there is such a variety of recipes.

Yummy rating: *****

Easy cooking: *****

Bottling it

So far in our baby journey, we’ve come across some minor struggles, such as getting Isla to sleep in her Moses basket when she was first born and Hubs definitely struggled with very explosive poonamis in the early days, but the biggest struggle we had was getting Isla to take a bottle.
We made the decision before she was born that I would breastfeed her, luckily something that we had no problems with and I’ve never regretted (even when she’s had a growth spurt and has fed every hour through the night!), and that we’d give her a bottle of expressed every now and then so Hubs can be more involved and to give me a break.

Easier said than done.

 As mentioned in a previous post, we followed advice in my baby books that said to avoid offering a breastfed baby a bottle until at least 3 weeks of age to avoid “nipple confusion” and up until she was 4 months old, we could count on one hand the amount of bottles Isla had accepted. Hubs managed to get about 2oz into her on one occasion, and both my stepmum and mother in law had a successful attempt each, but that’s it. Isla refused so many bottles I dread to think how many ounces of breast milk have had to be tipped away. We bought her all kinds of different brands and teats but to no avail. 

This was starting to get me down as I envisioned all sorts of problems when we come to wean her, plus up until that point I’d  only been able to leave Isla with Hubs twice so I can have a break and it was only for 3 hours max in between her feeds, and when I got home she was hungry and screaming from his attempts to bottle feed her.

That was until we discovered Minbie bottles.

I spotted this brand on Facebook and the reviews were excellent. The trick is the special teat which offers a variety of flows (we’ve got the 3 flow which is recommended for combining breast and bottle feeds) and is so similar to a nipple there’s no confusion. The photo in the post was taken the very first time I offered Isla this bottle, she guzzled 4oz straight away with no tears, no struggling, no moaning! I was so impressed. The Minbie bottles didn’t confuse her either so she switched from my breast to the bottle and back seemlessly.  

I stopped breastfeeding when Isla was 6 months old and I swear she didn’t even notice when she was given bottles daily instead of the breast, and I firmly believe that Minbie is the reason the transfer was so easy.

I can’t rate the Minbie bottles highly enough for breastfeeding mums who want to offer their babies a bottle.