Baby and me

I don't Iike to give advice to other mums too much if I can help myself, as I think that every family is so different and parents can have such different views about how to raise children. However one thing that I really wanted to recommend to parents who are having their second child is to try and find some time in the week to have alone time with your new baby.

Today I have been really valuing quality time with Livia whilst Chloe is at preschool. Often I have to spend these precious hours going food shopping or I sometimes meet a friend who doesn't have children/has a baby for a coffee (ie - activities that are much simpler without Chloe!). But I do try to leave this time free when I can because it is so nice to have Livia all to myself.

When I went through a rough patch when Livia was about 2/3 months old, I think it was partly caused by feeling like I wasn't meeting the needs of either of my children and lacking this quality time. Now, I get special time with Chloe when Livia has her two naps and time with Livia when Chloe is at preschool. I can't tell you how much better this has made me feel.

If it is impossible for you to have alone time with your second child then I don't want you to feel guilty. I can understand that if you had your children close together this might not be possible. I don't think your baby will notice! But I have just loved having special moments with Livia and needed to share how these have blessed me. As Livia is heading towards becoming a toddler, I want to stop and appreciate her baby-scrumminess as much as I can!

Ps - Just to add that we now have this time naturally through Chloe being preschool age. However before this, I did a baby massage class whilst my mother-in-law had Chloe and then I started Chloe in preschool a bit early (only 2 sessions a week).