On everything from breastfeeding, sleep and behaviour, mums share their most useful tips…
Posted: 7 November 2011
For soothing an upset and crying baby
“The Fisher-Price baby swing is amazing. Whenever our little boy gets upset, we just put him in his swing and let the gentle vibrations do all the work. Mix this with singing lullabies and any tears will stop within minutes.”
Emma Chippendale, 27, from Burnley, mum to Louie Joe, 7 months.
For calming down a crying baby
“People often suggest using a vacuum cleaner noise to soothe a wailing baby, but I find boiling the kettle works wonders. It’s such a great distraction and it always calms Grace when she’s frustrated. When I change her nappy I get her to play with the Sunshine Garden My First Ball from Mothercare, £6 (mothercare.com). She becomes so intrigued by the noise that she stops crying immediately.”
Adele Baxter, 25, from Leeds, mum to Grace, 5 weeks
For stopping night time scratching accidents
“To stop my little one scratching her face during the night, so I bought her a baby gro with mitts attached. It was really cute, stopped the problem and kept her hands warm. Now I sew on my own home-made mitts.”
Lettie Lawson, 29, from East Sussex, mum to Ava, 2, and Eliza, 5 weeks
For baby eczema
“Aliya has eczema and she tends to scratch it a lot and fidget and move around while I’m trying to change her nappy. I now keep a bundle of her favourite toys near where I change her to keep her busy while she’s lying down. The noisier toys work the best as she’s so excited by them and hardly scratches at all.”
Amina Choudhury, 26, from Brighton, mum to Aliya, 13 months.
Easing teething pains
“We tried so many teething solutions – rings that go in the fridge, squishy toys keys, special dummies – and none of them were helping my little one with the pain. We found that chunks of melon straight from the fridge helped to numb any pain she had. It really worked, and my daughter’s still eating it to deal with her bothersome back teeth."
Tricia Clark, 34, from Fareham, Hampshire, mum to Mina, 2.
Weaning onto that first bottle
“Nancy was finding the change from breast to bottle hard, but with the Nuby bottle’s nipple-shaped teat she was able to latch on straight away. The teat of this bottle was so soft that I knew it would be the right one for my little girl.”
Jade Collacott, 24, from Milton Keynes, mum to Nancy, 7 months.
Remembering feeding times
“When I started breastfeeding Molly I was confused and couldn’t get a routine going. I’ve started using an iPhone app called iBaby Feed Timer, which reminds me what times I need to feed her and logs how long the feeds are. It’s created a strong routine for me and my little one to stick to.”
Ali Gentry, 29, from Hitchin, mum to Molly, 4 months.
For sorting out sore boobs
“I’ve had mastitis with both my babies and found the simplest, most effective way to soothe it is to have a warm bath with flannels draped across my boobs to reduce the pressure. It was a tip from a friend and though I was sceptical that something so simple would help, it cleared up brilliantly.”
Tasmin Johnson, 41 , from Kent, mum to Bella, 5, and Anne, 7 months
Coping with restless nights
“ For the first four months I used a swaddling wrap to get my little ones off to sleep. It keeps them warm and safe as it has no poppers. It’s been a real sanity saver.”
Amy Jackson, 22, from Edinburgh, mum to Alexandra, 2 and Ellie, 3 months
“We’ve used babygros for our son since he was 6 weeks old and they’ve been a godsend. They keep him warm and cosy, are easily washable and have enabled us all to have a decent night’s sleep.”
Shelley Hackwood, 25, from Oxfordshire, mum to Elliot, 2.
For soothing little ones to sleep
“Our best buy has to be the Prince Lionheart Slumber Bear (£34.95, johnlewis.com). When Sonny stirred in the night, the bear would play soothing music to settle him. It even helped Sonny to go through the night without food. This was a life-saver as sleep is the most important thing when you have kids.”
Alexandra Boardman, 26, from Cheshire, mum to Alfie, 3 and Sonny, 1
For moving to the nursery
“When the time came to put Jack into his own bedroom, I was worried he’d be scared waking up in the night without his daddy and I being there. About a month before the big move, I put his cot into what would be his bedroom, so he had all his daytime naps in there. He took it really well and when we moved him in there permanently he didn’t seen fazed about sleeping there at night.”
Ashley Morris, 25, from London, mum to Jack, 7 months.
For helping sore gnashers
“When Mina was teething, I used to give her Calpol for the pain at bedtime, but she used to dribble it all down her front and make a sticky mess. I started giving it to her before bed while she was in the bath, and she loved the novelty of being fed in the water, plus any medicine that missed her mouth was just washed away.”
Tricia Clark, 33, from Fareham, mum to Mina, 18 months
