The pressures of hitting milestones

Every child learns at their own pace is a phrase I hear an awful lot, in fact I was taught it when I was studying childcare at college back in 2007/08. So why is it when you have a child of your own that there is so much pressure on us parents for our children to meet their developmental milestones?

Isn't it time to start ending our obsession of our children meeting their milestones and actually let them do things at their own pace? Since the age of one when we had a one year review with the health visitor we were told Blake was a bit behind in most areas. 

This has meant constant reviews and filling in questionnaires every 6 months or so and referrals to different professionals. I was quite relaxed about Blake's development until others started to question why he wasn't walking (he did eventually at 19 months) and the questionnaires that the health visitor gave me didn't help with my worry about why he wasn't doing certain things. 

He was referred for a medical assessment which he passed and he was then discharged from. Then the health visitor become concerned about his lack of speech and so he was referred to see a speech therapist who we are seeing at the moment every 8 weeks or so. 

He has also had a hearing test which he passed and I had to undertake a chatter tots course last year for a few weeks to learn ways on which to help with his speech. 

I don't disagree with the need of having a developmental timeline to catch severe developmental delays and I can see how it can help many families. I just feel that there really is too much pressure and competitiveness for children being able to do the same thing as their peers. 

Blake was 19 months when he learnt to walk properly, some of his friends learnt at one year ,others around the 15 month mark. I feel as long as Blake is still learning even if he is a little behind his friends than that's OK.

I think it's time for us while they are little to enjoy kids being kids as at the end of the day. Once they start going to school that's when they will have to start thinking more about achieving things ready to be successful in life. 

Blake 18 months

I can't believe that Blake is now 18 months old the last 6 months have just whizzed by and he is changing everyday and growing up way too fast.  This is going to be a rather long post so you may want to get your self a mug of coffee and a biscuit and get comfy. 

Blake is now in size 18-24 months clothing and has been for a few months now. He also still has his baby chunkiness. At the beginning of March we got him his first Clarke's shoes in a size 4G although he has gone up to a 4 1/2 now. 

He has about 12 teeth and more coming through so he has been very dribbly recently. 
Lucky it's not interfered that much with his sleep and he still sleeping very well at night and having approx 11 to 12 hours a sleep at night. 

Nap wise it really depends on him sometimes he will have a 2 hour nap and then be awake the rest of the day, other times he will have 2 naps at an hour each. So over all in a 24 hour period he's getting approx 14 hours of sleep. 

He has become a really fussy eater since Christmas and has gone from eating loads of different foods to hardly touching his food. He has stopped eating vegetables and has also gone off banana's which he used to love but now loves eating grapes instead but also doesn't mind apple, melon and sometimes raisins. Its so hard to know what to give him for dinner these days as he also wont eat meat unless its turkey dinosaurs or chicken nuggets. He still loves fish pie and will also eat fish fingers or fish cake. He loves yogurt but not keen on chocolate which i suppose is a good thing.  He also is still drinking milk from his bottle and water from a cup.

Blake still loves going to swimming lessons on a Saturday afternoon and loves splashing in the pool. We also started going back to baby beeps but after the summer holidays I'm thinking of taking him to the sessions for up 4 years. We've also started to go to a local church as they hold a little toddler group which is fun and only £1 a session. He also loves to go the park which we do quite a lot, we have a park with a sand pit and splash park which I am going to try out quite close to us. Blake also loves going to soft play and we have taken him to the farm local to us which he loves. We are planning to take him to the Zoo some point this summer and have got some other fab family day out ideas of things to get up to.

Blake loves reading, playing with his trains and has been trying to slot the play coins in his laugh and learn piggy bank. We have also been practicing building blocks and I've been trying to teach him new words. At the moment he isn't too keen on crafts but loves messy play activities. We recently got a scuttle bug for Blake to use when we take him to the park which he just loves. 

He currently still isn't walking fully. He is able to walk from one side of the room to the other but he is pretty lazy with it and much prefers to crawl. He loves playing ball games and is really good at throwing and catching. 

Talking wise he can say a few words and I'm trying to encourage him more.
He can say : Mum-Mum, DaDa, Nan-Na, Hiya, No, Yay, three.

Everything Your Kids Will Need to Nurture Their Hobbies

In a child's developmental years they are going to need to develop hobbies and interests. These are vital for shaping the people they’re going to become. Social interaction is important for children, It gives them contact with others, and helps them to enjoy interests with their peers. Everybody needs to have some kind of interest in order to nurture their skills, and get the most out of whatever it is they do. When kids are young, their interests will be changing rapidly.

However, they will start to develop some definite interests from a young age. A lot of the time this will be an interest in sports or activities. It’s vital that children nurture their hobbies so that these grow into serious interests. They might even have enough ability that these hobbies could develop into career paths somewhere down the line. This is a list of what your kids will need in order to nurture their hobbies.

Options

The best way for kids to nurture their hobbies and interests is for them to have lots of options. It’s so much easier to select or identify something you’re good at when you have a lot to choose from. When you’re left with just a few choices, it can be more difficult to develop skills at something you’re really interested in. So, you should see to it that the kids have a lot of options for hobbies and interests they might take up. That means you need to check out local clubs and societies in the area. It also means you should find out what their interests are and see to it that they can enjoy and experience these things.

Encouragement

Children thrive on encouragement, and everyone knows this. So you need to ensure that you encourage and motivate your kids. The happier they feel about something, the more likely they are to stick with it. You see, kids are going to experience defeat and upset when they take up hobbies. But they need to realise that this is okay, and it’s part of the gig. They need to be motivated into sticking with what they are doing. And this is where encouragement comes in. This is one of the most important roles you can play as a parent.

Reward

It’s a proven fact that children respond well to rewards and incentives. If they have something tangible to aim for they are likely to become more invested in what they’re doing. This is an excellent way of helping to nurture their hobbies. For instance, their club might provide end of season trophies from the trophy store. Or, you might decide you’d like to promise them a reward if they accomplish something. Use this system to get the kids more excited in their hobbies and interests, and make sure they stick at them.

It’s very important for children to have and develop hobbies from a young age. This is key for them to adapt to the world around them and to discover interests. As a parent, there is plenty you can do to help your children nurture their hobbies. A lot of it is down to the approach you take with them, and how much you encourage and inspire.

Blake 8 Months

On Sunday Blake turned 8 months old he has been suffering from a cold since last Thursday.

We have had a few disturbed nights due to this and he has also been very clingy. 

Clothing

Blake is now into his 9-12 months clothing which is pretty scary he is getting so big. 

I have found that the sleepsuits we have for him are getting tight already! 

I think we will stop buying sleepsuits now and purchase pjs instead. 

Teething

He has two little teeth that are trying to push there way through at the bottom of his month. 

He has had a few moments of needing teething gel, teething toys and the very occasional dose of calpol so far. 

Sleep

Blake is still sleeping well and getting approx 12 hours of sleep as usual. 

Although over the last few days he hasn't been due to the dreaded cold that he

has.

Feeding

We have been trying to cut his milk down so that he has three feeds a day. 

This isn't happening every day at the moment, but he is now eating three meals a day.

This is sometimes with one or two snacks as well. 

He is enjoying proper meals now such as chilli con carne, roast dinner and tuna pasta bake. 

Although we have noticed he doesn't seem to like pasta that much. 

Development/Milestones

- Blake is able to sit up with support but still not ready to sit up on his own atm. 

- He is able to stand up unsupported for a little while holding onto the sofa. 

- He is also getting more mobile as he can now crawl backwards. 

Other

- He is such a wiggle bum and changing his nappy and getting him dressed is now starting to become a challenge. 

- He loves to wave at Mummy and Daddy 

- He has outgrown the bouncer so now just plays in his walker or rolls around playing with his other toys. 

We are getting a Jumparoo soon which I'll be blogging about. 

- He started to try and clap although Stuart keeps missing it. 

- He will cry if you eat in front of him so we have to eat at the same time or when he is napping.

Blake 7 Months

 Blake has turned 7 months old today,I feel he is progressing in leaps and bounds this month with the little things he is doing.

Clothing

Blake's 6-9 months clothing is starting to get tight so we are starting to sort out his 9-12 months clothing. 

Where has my tiny little bubba gone? 

Teething

Over the past month teething hasn't been so bad.

He is still chewing and having his hands in his mouth a lot. However he 

has only been really upset about it on a few occasions. 

There have been a few rough days when he would cry non stop but anbesol seems to do the trick.

I have only had to give him calpol once. 

Sleep

His sleep is pretty much the same as it has been over the last  few months or so. 

We had one night when it took him til gone 11 to fall asleep.

I think it was because he ended up having a rather late nap that day so wasn't tired when

it came to his bedtime. 

Feeding

He is still on 240ml of milk but moved him onto the stage 2 milk now. 

He is having 4 feeds a day and the weaning is going fantastic. 

He is currently getting use to having two meals a day and my health visitor has told me that 

he should be having 3 meals a day by the time he is  9 months old. 

I am so glad that we made the decision to change from purees to baby led weaning.

Blake is excelling when it comes to trying out new foods. 

A few of his favorites so far are: 

 Wheatabix 

Porridge fingers

Banana

Watermelon

Green beans

Broccoli 

Carrots

and 

Baby corn 

Development/Milestones

- Blake is still trying to sit up I have been encouraging him but

I think its going to be a little longer yet. 

- When he roles over onto his front he starts trying to move his legs like

crawling but at the moment he is just getting frustrated as he can't do it. 

- His hand eye co ordination is improving since doing baby led weaning

and he is able to feed himself with a spoon and also able to hold a cup and drink from it.

Other

- He is now moved onto size 4 nappies in disposables (when we use them) 

-  He is ticklish and will giggle no end when we tickle him

- He loves going to the Ragdolly Anna's group we go to and loves the bubbles

and he is able to now tap the sticks together that they have for one of the songs they do. 

- He also loves being in his walker that his Granny and Grampa got him as an early christening present. 

- He has got a thing about phones he has his own toy mobile which he loves and is always grabbing my mobile

along with the tv remote.

Blake 6 Months

So Blake has turned 6 months old today!

Clothing

Blake is in 6-9 months clothing which are fitting fine on him and still has a good amount of 

room for him to grow into for now. 

Teething

He has some bad days which you can tell as his cheeks will be bright red, he dribbles

all day and spends a lot of time chewing on the teething necklace I wear.
He also loves chewing on his Sophie la Giraffe a lot at the moment. 

Sleep

He is now sleeping in cot for naps during the day as well as night. 

He has got into a routine now of going to sleep between 8pm and 8:30pm 

and then waking up between 8am and 8:30am. 
He does have the odd night here and there that he does wake up. 
I normally can get away with just popping his dummy in and putting his slumber buddy light on
and sneaking out. 

His naps during the day really depend what we are up to. 

If we are out and about he will sleep in the pushchair  to and from where we are going to. 

He tends to have an hours nap during the morning and then another hour in the afternoon.

Feeding

He is on 240ml of formula milk every four hours now. 
We have actually changed our weaning plans now and have decided to go with 
baby led weaning as Blake seems more happier weaning this way than with purees which
we had been doing. 

Development/Milestones

- Blake seems to recognize his name, when Stuart and I call him by his name he will look at us and smile. 

- He loves rolling onto his front and has now started to pull himself up and move around a little on his tummy. 

- He loves to amuse himself by playing with his hands and feet or grabbing for a toy. 

- He is still trying to pull himself into a sitting position but still not quiet there yet. 

- So far he is only able to sit up unaided for 30 seconds. 

Other

- He is still in size 3 disposables (when we use them) 

- He has started to get separation anxiety and hates it when I leave the room.

Also when his Dad is feeding him he keeps looking for me to make sure I am still there. 

- He has started playing peek a boo with his muslin cloth.

He loves putting it over his eyes and then bringing it down so that we go boo. 

- He also has a habit of dropping things so that we pick them up and then he will do
it again. This happens from time to time with his dummy before bedtime. 

Blake 5 Months

So on Saturday Blake was 5 months old a lot has been going on since his last update. 

Which of course is all exciting and I love seeing Blake trying to learn to do new things. 

Clothing

I am moving Blake into 6- 9 month clothing this week as his 3-6 months clothing is getting too tight. 
His vests and trousers in particular wont fit over his cloth nappies anymore and his feet are right at the 
end of his sleepsuits. 

Teething

He is still teething but not been as bad as last month. 

He is still dribbling loads (mainly in the evening) and he loves

to have things in his mouth all the time. 

I have a teething essentials post coming up soon so keep your eyes

peeled on here if you are interested in reading that. 

Sleep

He has moved into the cot in his own room last week which you can read about here.

He is still sleeping very well, and getting the same amount of sleep at night as he did when he 

was in our room in the moses basket. 

The only difference is that he is struggling to sleep in the cot during the day for nap time. 

He has a habbit at the moment of falling asleep in my arms and then I put him in the cot

and he wakes 20 mins later. 

He use to have two naps during the day an hour each time when he was sleeping in the moses basket.

so that really needs to change. 

Feeding

He is still having 210ml of milk every 3 hours and we have now started weaning him over the weekend which went really well. 
We have started him on baby rice which he seems to have taken to rather quickly which is a good thing.
We are happy about this as we were sure that he is more than ready.
You can read our plans for weaning Blake here. 

Development/Milestones

- Blake loves playing with his hands and feet 

- He loves blowing bubbles but his new favorite thing to do is blow raspberries

- When he is sat in his bumbo seat he likes to try and reach for his toys

- He smiles spontaneously and smiles back at us when we smile at him 

- He is also trying to sit up he keeps pulling his head and legs up but can't quiet manage

it yet. 

- On Sunday he chose to roll over for the first time 

Other

- He is still in size 3 nappies when using disposables

- He loves being sung nursery ryhmes and he loves humpty dumpty, grand ol duke of york and

row, row, row your boat. 

He has the biggest grin when I sing them to him. 

-  He gets frustrated when in his bouncer for too long as he wants to sit up by himself. 

 - He loves seeing his friends when we go to mum and baby groups. 
- He has moved into his pushchair which he loves the only thing is that it faces away from me 
which I'm not too keen on.

Blake 4 months

A year ago today both mine and Stuart's lives changed forever when I found out that I was pregnant. 

Today I have a cheeky, happy and healthy 4 month old! 

The time really is going incredibly fast and Blake is growing up way too quickly. 

Last week we booked the church for Blake's Christening for the end of July. 

So we now need to find a place for the after party that is available for the date we have booked. 

Once that is sorted we can have fun planning the rest of it, I have pinned some ideas up on

Pinterest already though. 

Clothing

Blake is still wearing 3-6 months clothing although I have found that the sleep suits are

getting too small already near his feet!

Luckily his vests, tops, trousers and socks all seem to be fine at the moment. 

Teething

Blake has already started teething I spoke to my health visitor about it, as I had noticed that he has started to dribble an awful lot but also has been biting his hands a lot too. 

His gums also feel harder and he has been irritable and is having other symptoms which made me think this was the case. 

I have started giving him calpol every now and then when I think he needs it. 

I also make sure that I have his Sophie la Giraffe nearby or his Nuby keys teether which I 

keep in the fridge. 

I have yet to try him with anything else but I do have some teething gel ready and considering using an 

amber necklace or bracelet. 

I'd love to know your thoughts on using amber for teething. 

Sleep

He is still sleeping well, we have started to put him to bed more earlier too meaning he wakes

up earlier. This  isn't too much of a problem as the earliest he has woken up has been 6:30am but on 

average its normally 7am.  

I am not keeping my hopes up with sleep to be honest as he is starting to get too big for his 

moses basket and will have to move into his cot in his own room soon. 

I have a feeling this is going to mean less sleep and also some getting use to for him (and me) 

with him being in his own room. 

Any tips on moving him would be muchly appreciated. 

Feeding

I had to start giving him 210ml of Milk earlier than four months as he was still hungry after feeds and

I was giving him more feeds than he would normally have. 

So he is now having 210 ml every 3 hours during the day of the cow and gate for hungrier babies formula.

I have also now started to look into weaning and have been trying to decide whether to go the traditional purees

route starting him at 5 months so that by the time he is 6 months he can go onto finger foods or go straight and do baby led weaning at 6 months. 

Development/Milestones

- He loves laughing out loud and squealing with delight.

- he is able to grasp his toys and has been doing so for awhile now. 

- He knows mummy and daddy's voices and turns in the direction of our voices. 

- He is also able to bear some weight on his legs and likes to stand up on our legs

when we are sat holding him. 

- He is able to lift his head and shoulders up using his arms for support when placed on his tummy. 

- He is also able to roll over one way

Other

- He has started to have favourite toys and prefers to play with some more than others.

- In disposable nappies he has now moved onto size 3.

- He is very chatty making cute cooing sounds

- We have started baby massage classes as of Monday and he loves it! 

- He has started to like baths now, we made the temperature a little warmer and

now he loves it! 

- He loves sitting up so in the last week we have tried him out in a bumbo seat, which

he loves to be in but only for a short time as he prefers to be in the bouncer. 

Blake 12 weeks old

Over the last two weeks Blake has still been sleeping well for approx 8/9 hours at night and
then for a few hours here and there throughout the day.
He is not taking as long to settle at night although he still does try and fight it from time to time. 

He is still drinking his milk well of 180ml every 3/4 hours and is gaining weight how he should be. 
I got him weighed last week and he now weighs 11lb 7oz which is ideal on the graph. 
We are still using disposable nappies til his legs start to get more chunky. 

We went to our first mum and baby group last week at the local community centre for story and rhymes which Blake loved and he got his first sticker for being a very good boy. 
I need to start going to more of these groups so that he will be around other babies and children. 

We also went to the library and got Blake registered there so he now has his own library card and we
have taken out a few books to read to him. 

He is getting much stronger and now can lift his head up more when having tummy time on his mat which he is starting to get use to. 

Today we tried out our baby carrier as I feel we need to start doing baby wearing as he is very clingy baby at the moment and wants to be held all the time when he is awake. 

Last of all he is now moving onto size 3-6 months for vests and sleep suits as 0-3 months no longer fit him anymore as his feet are right near the bottom. 
He is still able to wear his tops and trousers in 0-3 months for a little longer and he also has some of his socks 
being too small so need to start using some of the bigger ones we have for him. 

This week will be my first Mothers Day which I am looking forward to. 
I am going to start changing my updates on Blake to monthly updates so his next update will be on or around the 16th April when Blake will be 4 months old which is pretty scary since how time is already flying by.