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Baby sensory ideas

Since we have been attending classes like bumps and babies, rhythm time etc we have started to understand sensory play.

Things that engage your babies senses wether it be be sight, touch or feeling. One particular favourite of Daisy's was the emergency foil blankets (the type they put on you after a marathon!! Not that I've ever done one haha!) at rhythm time. 


I had a look on Amazon and found one for 73p including delivery, how much if a bargain is that?? And she loves it! It really engages all senses too, it's lovely and shiny and reflects light, it's nice and cool and crinkly to touch and it makes a noise she loves when she scrunches and plays with it! Definitely a winner! I've also lay her on it and she can almost see her own reflection in it. 





The other sensory toy that we have found they love is the tumble drier balls!! We had some on a wishlist of ours a few months back but they are quite price when they are marketed as baby sensory balls. I have seen them for cheap as chips in Home Bargains though. We are yet to pick some up but she loves them at her groups! 

Any other ideas you have tried??

Lots of love,
Hayley xxx
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Getting started with weaning and top buys (Guest post from Polly @ Polly's Little World)

Me and Daisy are currently off in Cornwall on our first little family holiday. If you follow us on here or on twitter you will know we are starting to look at weaning and are about to start a weaning series on the blog. in our absence the lovely Polly and Archie have written this post on how to get started for us.. Find the rest of Polly's blog here.

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 We began weaning Archie a little before the recommended six months and we started off with purée, when he turned six months we then used the baby-led-weaning strategy. Both worked well but he liked to self feed and so we favoured the baby-led approach. 

Along the way we have gathered all the tools for weaning and here is our essentials. 

Food processor- A must have when making puréed baby food and the true test of a good processor is pureeing a roast dinner!! I was lucky enough to be given one as a present but you can pick them up quite cheap nowadays. 

Steamer- Steaming the vegetables and fruit locks in more of the nutrients than boiling it. However I don't agree that you need an expensive steamer, we've got on fine with an average saucepan stacked one.

 Bowls & Spoons- There's nothing fancy about bowls and spoons but even when baby-led-weaning you still need a cheap set of bowls and spoons to transport from kitchen to highchair.

 Beaker- Archie is eleven months old now and only drinks two bottles of milk a day. A good beaker is a must have to keep him hydrated through the day, I also look out for a non drip one when he's chucking it around the place! 

Freezer Pots or Ice Cube Trays- Depending on which stage your at and how much your baby will eat a set of freezer pots are a great buy. Even now I freeze little pots of homemade tomato pasta sauce then simply de-frost and cook the pasta, a great time saver too. 

Wipeable bibs- When we first started I brought these cute fabric bibs and I was a little gutted when they were stained after one mealtime- I also had a huge mound of washing. The pound shop stock wipe clean plastic bibs with a food catcher and they are fantastic. 

A Highchair- First we used a Bumbo but unfortunately Archie hated being sat in it and was always trying to push backwards! We decided to just buy a highchair as it defiantly wouldn't go to waste. It was true, it didn't go to waste as he sits in it a lot. If I'm doing something in the kitchen and I don't want him crawling round my feet I pop it next to me and he watches on. We decided to go for the Cosatto Noodle as its foldable, light and the attached tray is perfect for finger foods.

 Wipeable Floor Mat- Even if your high chair will be on a tiled floor a wipeable mat is so easy. Once we've finished meal time I pick up the corners, shake off all the bits outside and wipe it down with a cloth. Trust me, it gets messy quickly!! 

The Occasional Pre- packed Food- Archie became quite fussy about eating shop brought baby food at one stage because he had only ever eaten homemade. Before we went on holiday (and didn't have the facilities to always cook him lunches/dinner) I weaned him with a few Ella's Kitchen pouches. These seemed the best on the market and soon he was enjoying them as much as the homemade purée. 

You do need to take weaning with a pinch of salt, there are days where I end up chucking all the homemade dinner in the bin as he won't eat it and trust me I've had some disasters. Don't let it effect you though, babies aren't programmed to "like" everything at once and their little tastebuds take time to get used to different tastes.

 If all fails beans, scrambled eggs on toast or an Ella's Kitchen pouch is always a good back up plan. 

 xx

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Daisy's 5 months update

We are still away at the moment and this post is scheduled for you, fingers crossed it works!!! 

 5 months... Seriously slow down time, this is going way too fast for my liking. 

This has been another big month for Daisy, she is changing so much. First up we had the nasty four month sleep regression and a major growth spurt, which caused a bit of fussiness. Luckily short lived and I got my dream baby girl back before I knew it. 


So some changes and developments:

- Daisy is now comfortably in 3-6 months clothes and the others are all packed away :( she was wearing a few bits of 0-3 up until last week, but I couldn't kid myself any more and they had to go! 

- Teething is in full swing and the dribble has gone up a notch, it's quite common for me to have to change her twice a day purely for the dribble purposes. I do pop on a dribble bib however I find she gets infuriated by them when they flap up into her face, or the monkey just yanks it off! Her cheeks are very rosey and I can just about see the white starting to come through, bizarrely at the top first! Nelsons Teetha granules are my saviour at the moment

- She almost has sitting up cracked and can often sit there for a few minutes when distracted by something, only to then fold herself in two or tumble a few minutes later! 

- A big change for Daisy this month is weaning. Yes she isn't six months yet (hides from health visitor!!) but I am off to work before we know it and I need her ready to be handed to her dad and nursery after that. When I say weaning I mean little spoonfuls of porridge, to get her used to the spoon to start with. I think I'll do a mixture of spoon and baby led weaning. 

- Refusing her bottle was a big frustration this month, I got a bit lazy with expressing for a couple of weeks and bang she then refuses a bottle, whilst screaming the house down! I'm trying to persevere with this. I am also trying out a sippy type cup to see if we can make it more fun for her. 

- I thought she giggled before but nothing like she does now!!! A real proper giggle, she's so funny! 

- As mentioned in previous posts we've started more classes including rhythm time and massage. all about stimulating Daisy and she is loving it!  

 - We had her naming/ welcome day this month, it was a lovely day and she was truly spoilt by everyone around us. She is a very lucky girl. If you missed that post find it here. 

 - She is on her first little holiday! We went up to Yorkshire to see friends last month but this is our first time away as a family. We ummed about going to Corfu or somewhere similar but in the end decided on Cornwall. I was a little apprehensive about the travelling with her although its not really what put us off. We thought we would save the pennies! Although how expensive is it to holiday in some places in this country? For example so many people recommended Centre Parcs to us, but my goodness we could have gone abroad twice for the price! 

 It doesn't seem much in writing but again she has really changed this past few weeks. People always tell you how fast the time goes, but it really does. 

lots of love, 
Hayley xxx


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Getting sociable with Daisy and her pals (Baby massage and rhythm time)

There are lots of classes, meets ups etc available for mums (and dads of course) and their babies. I went to a Sure Start group when I was heavily pregnant called bumps and babies and always felt a little awkward. Although it was called BUMPS and babies I was the only bump there. The only one without my little baby! I went along with my sister though who had a teeny baby back then, so it was good for baby to meet other babies and potentially some other mums for me and my sister. 

 It didn't quite work out like that, it wasn't really our cup of tea to put it bluntly. It put me off groups a little and I just thought I am happy meeting up with friends who have had babies and of course my sister and her children. 


Half way into my maternity it dawned on me a little that maybe i should be fulfilling my leave a little more and exposing Daisy to more social activities that will aid her development. One of my friends invited us to rhythm time for a free trial. i did a bit of googling and asking on twitter to my mummy friends and it looked a tad cringey - lots of singing and dancing obviously for the mummy's as babies cant exactly do it just yet can they! But its for Daisy... So off I went! 

 It was brilliant, yes cringey but great. And Daisy squealed all the way through with excitement, so I think that meant she loved it! So that was it, I had to sign up until Remembered for her. It wasn't too bad, just over £50 for the term. Its good for their sensory development with instruments to play, materials to touch, songs to listen to and music to dance to! And of course lots of other babies to look at and chatter to. As well as Daisy loving it I really enjoyed it too, meeting so many other mums was lovely. A lot of them knew each other from breastfeeding classes that they went to when pregnant (I didn't go! naughty!) so know each other already, they then go for coffee and cake afterwards in town. i was so touched when they asked me to join them! I couldn't make it the first week but the 2nd week i went along. it was lovely, really nice to sit and chat to others in the same position as I am. all the babies are similar kind of age, most are first time mums and a lot (probably due to the classes) are or have been breastfeeding. So actually not only is it good for Daisy to socialise with littleys and develop her senses in class but its good for me too to get out and meet with others similar to myself. 

 It just so happens that the week Rhythm time started a baby massage class started run by Sure start in our village. I went along to it too and well it was a different experience. I wasn't too sure to be honest. Firstly Daisy fed and slept for the whole hour so I didn't even put the oil on my hands. Secondly I found it all a little... odd. not only the class itself but also maybe the group was so  mixed with different families that I just couldn't see myself mixing with there. Except for 2 lovely ladies I already knew who I could see without going to this odd class. The atmosphere was just strange, really awkward. its really difficult to explain! 

 So this week i was fifty fifty on if I would go or not. Even when we got to the carpark I was unsure if i was going to go in or not. My friend wasn't able to go and I think I was just using that as an excuse not to go, I had a bit of a word with myself and thought one more try, for Daisy. This week there was just 3 of us, all girls I could actually talk to and have something in common with. We had a good class, Daisy actually participated for 3/4 of the class until her thumb went it and she went to sleep and then at the end we had a good chat about mummy things like weaning, routine etc. It was really nice, I actually enjoyed it! So will be going next week (If we aren't on holiday!)

 So all in all we are filling our time nicely at the moment and enjoying it! 

 What classes or groups do you go to?

 lots of love,
Hayley xxx
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