If you follow my Instagram you have seen that I enjoy making various educational and sensory motoric DIY material for Anabela.

When she was a bit less than 1-year old I made this quiet book for her.



I know it's not nearly perfect, I had to fix it a couple of times as Anabela plays with it sometimes a bit too aggressively. But she really, really enjoys it.



I put these pages together by sewing them together and filling with an additional cotton base, later I glued and sewed smaller elements on each page. If you don't know how to sew you can definitely make it just with using a glue gun and go for cardboard vs. fabric and felt pages and just glue the elements on regular cardboard pages.

Shop Tools & Materials:

I used materials such as felt paper, colorful buttons, pompons, pieces of colorful fabric, zippers and tools such as needle and thread, glue gun, sticky adhesive dots, binder rings, eyelet plyers and eyelets.



Since this one, I made a couple of more, more simple and easier to make quite books, this time I photographed the process and will share it with you in upcoming posts.

1. Carrying your baby in your arms or in a carrier ALL THE TIME.

I still do carry Anabela a lot but a lot less then during first 3 months cause now it hurts my back more because she is getting heavier. The result of my  'loving effort' are my super sore back, painful shoulders and a baby who refuses to be let out of my arms. Seriously, I even took her with me to the bathroom cause I felt bed to wake her up. 
Rest assured, your baby will not end up becoming a serial killer or psychotic animal torturer due to lack of love and skin to skin contact if you don't carry it in your arms 24/7. Plus, you will not walk  around with a hunchback like me after having a baby for only 4 months.

2. Spending to much time on mommy forums and Facebook groups.

In the first three months I spent most of my time in between nightly feedings googling random things my baby did to see if it's normal. During that time I google-diagnosed about 10 different conditions and illnesses instead of SLEEPING. 
After reading comments of (not always) Know It All Mom, Dr. Mom, Organic Everything Hippy Mom, Mrs.Perfect Mom, I'm Just Commenting to Brag About My Perfect Baby Mom ...... the only thing I became was a More and More Confused Mom. 
Most of the questions on the forums start with something like: "My baby is crying a lot and I am worried that something might be wrong" or "My baby has a fever/something on her skin"and then there are all of these comments bellow and I just wanna type "Call Your Damn Pediatrician Women!" I mean, the right answer could be anything from the baby pooped to a serious illness or physical condition.
I am all for supportive mommy communities and indeed there are many, but when it comes to your baby's health - DO NOT google it first. All least that's my opinion.

Never, ever do the lights go off with me thinking “I did it all, I have it all”… can I ever? I don’t think so…this is the struggle of a career mom.

Susan Hang via  Zanita

3. Taking your baby out of the crib into your arms when it wakes up at night.

After a first two months I learned (the hard way) to help Anabela get back to sleep when she wakes up during the night (she sleeps in her crib but in my bedroom) without taking her in my arms and out of the crib. 
Anabela sleeps on her belly in the sleeping bag with a pacifier. She usually wakes up if she looses her pacifier, if her hands move or if she is to hot. I learned that if I take her out of the crib I completely wake her up and then it takes much more time for her to get back to sleep, while if I leave her in, give her back her pacifier, give her my finger to hold so she can feel my skin and gently shake cradle or tap her butt she falls back to sleep quicker. 
Of course, if she doesn't go back to sleep, she might be hungry and then you need to feed her.  When I feed Anabela during the night I do it with very dimmed lights and without talking to her because I don't want to animate her. I feed her, burp her and put her back to the crib. I also do not change her during the night. 

4. Not trying the same thing to calm your baby more then once.

If you would like your baby to take a pacifier to calm down easier when fussy, be persistent. At first I tried different calming tools and techniques only once and said, she doesn't want it, she hates it and I just gave up on it. 
Later, I realized for Anabela no doesn't always mean no for good, it just means not now. I got several different pacifiers and realized she likes the soothing silicon one best when she is really fussy and crying a lot while she prefers normal pacifiers during night as it's easier for her to turn her head with them staying in her mouth.
Also, when I want Anabela to take a nap during the day, I tried to put her in the crib once and she started screaming so since then I always tried to cradle her to sleep in my arms and then place her in the crib when already asleep. This sometimes took hours. 
One day my boyfriend decided to try to take the crib into Anabela's room during the day. He closed the shades, turned on the white noise and put her into the crib on her stomach right after she yawned after burping and gave her his finger to hold until she falls asleep, it worked. Now she sleeps a bit longer during the day which she never did during first two months.

5. Thinking it will still somewhat be a business as usual.

I know, naively I thought and still mostly do think I could can do some work with a small baby at home since I am anyways working out of home office. The truth is, even if you have an equal partner in your fabulously helpful boyfriend like I do and if you get a babysitter here and there it's extremely hard to find time to work efficiently along with doing regular house chores and cooking. 
This kind of thinking results with what I call a double-face guilt. You feel guilty if you work and have someone stay with your baby for long hours and you feel guilty for not doing anything for your job (especially if you were a high tempo multitasker like me). 

 "Recent studies, conducted by Harvard Business School and the Wharton School, conclude that working women today are neither leaning in nor leaning out.  Instead, they’re choosing to lean sideways."

Patricia Garcia for  Vogue.com

I still don't have this completely figured out and can't honestly say I am fully in peace with balance I currently gave but I am trying hard to find a healthy balance in between the two with main focus being on and majority of time being dedicated to Anabela. 
The reality is, these days I am lucky if I have time to shower and wash my hair for longer then 5min or eat seated with my boyfriend.
The way I see it. There is time for everything in your life. You are indeed more peaceful if you yourself plan it. I had some time to build my carrier and focus on it 100% and now it's time to turn my complete focus on Anabela while maintaining what I build so far until she gets on her feet and starts going to kinder garden. 

What do you say? Anything to add to my ever growing list? Do share!

XoXo

Today Anabela is three months and 13 days. Although I had a really quick delivery first two months were quite hard for all three of us, as we were trying to figure each other out and see how to help Anabela get eat, sleep and poop well. :)
Anabela was breastfed with addition of formula milk for first two months and now she is fully formula fed (she takes Almiron Advance Digest) which probably increased the likelihood of cramps and colic which she had. Our pediatrician and our duola helped us tremendously with various methods, organic medication and treatments to sooth colic and help Anabela feel calmer and sleep better. In this post I am sharing all we learned. 

1. SWADDLING.

Swaddling imitates baby's position in the womb thus it calms baby down. Wrap keeps arms straight to the side (usually a baby wakes up when her hands move) but lets the hips to be loose. Make sure you use a large square blanket, but don’t overheat, don't cover your baby’s head or allow loose blankets which can end up in baby's mouth. 

2. SLEEPING ON A SIDE OR ON STOMACH.

Sleeping on the back is the only safe position for sleeping for a baby but it’s the worst position for calming fussiness. Instead of having your baby sleep on it's back try putting your baby on her side, on her stomach or over your shoulder until it falls asleep.  

3. SHUSHING.

In the womb the sound of the blood flow is a shush louder than a vacuum cleaner. The best way to imitate these magic sounds is with a white noise CD (because it's portable so you can use it in your car or on the round while traveling). 
We are using Fisher Price cod mobile with 3 different melodies and white noise, it also contains night light which projects stars to the ceiling. To calm baby's crying play the white noise as loud as your baby cries. To help baby fall a sleep -play it as loud as a shower.
When she is really upset I walk around carrying Anabela and I gently press her head sideways on my chest, I give her soothing pacifier and make shushing sound with my mouth while walking through the apartment with dim lights and I gently cradle her. 
We choose   a music to teach her when it's time to go to sleep. So each night we play this same music at the same time as we change her to pajamas and feed her last time before going to sleep.

4. SWINGING THE BABY.

Usually slow rocking is ok to keep baby calm, but to soothe crying baby your motion needs to be fast and tiny, kind of jiggly. Always support the head of the baby and keep your motions small but never, never, never shake your baby in anger or frustration. This is why it's important you have a helping hand during first 3 months of your baby's life. 
It's easy to get frustrated when sleep deprived for days and when the baby is attached to you 24/7. Whenever you feel tired, helpless, sleepy hand the baby to your partner or whoever is helping you and take time alone to calm down. Baby can definitely feel your frustration and this will not help to calm it and make it fall asleep. 

5. SUCKING.

Many fussy babies relax into a deep tranquility when they suck. If you are breastfeeding you can try to offer baby your breast when fussy or a pacifier. For Anabela Avent soothing silicon pacifiers do the trick, my friend with a baby three months older then Anabela also recommends Mam pacifiers. 
Shop products recommended in this post:

GASSY BABY

When feeding your baby make sure baby's head is in higher position then it's stomach. We also used Dr.Brown bottles which reduce colics. If you see your baby is struggling with gas and cramps (bringing her knees towards her stomach, stomach is hard and/or baby has issues pooping, clenching her fists etc.) make sure you burp her/him during feeding and after feeding. Either way, you should always burp your baby to prevent reflux, digestion problems and stomach pains.
Football Hold If your baby is gassy, try to hold him/her as a football (american football) by placing baby's stomach on your forearm and baby's head in the palm of your hand sideways or in your elbow (depending what feels more comfortable for you and your baby). 


Across the Lap Hold If this doesn't work try to place the baby across your lap belly down. This position is also good to help baby burp.
'I Love You' Belly Massage Belly massage has proved really good for us with Anabela. Our duola (post birth support) taught Ante and I how to massage Anabela's belly to help her poop and get the air our of her bowls, thus soften her stomach and reduce cramping. I will do the video on this topic soon but it;s super simple. We did this massage twice a day after changing the baby right there on changing table. Try to do it when your baby is relaxed and fed. 


Your baby should poop once or ideally twice a day. If your baby has issues with bowl movement and constipation you can also try rectal glycerin inserts in the morning and evening after feeding to stimulate and help your baby poop.
Gripe Water / Colimil Drops One of the things which worked best for colics (the same day we used it) was   Gripe Water which we ordered from Amazon, we use 5ml 5-6x per day, we just add it to the milk bottle. 
If you are breastfeeding you can use a syringe you get with the drops and give your baby drop her drop on the side from the inner side of the cheak and then just offer a pacifier right after so she swallows it and continue until your baby takes recommended dose.
 It's a herbal remedy for colics many doctor's recommend usually used in UK. If you don't shop online, you can try Colimil drops which you can find in most European pharmacies. They are also herbal. 
Osteopath  Since she was born Anabela is very observant, she keeps looking around with her big eyes and she catches each stimuli from the environment and reacts to it: light, sounds and scents. This makes it hard for her to fall a sleep during the day. We also noticed that she gets irritated very quickly and starts crying if we don't figure out right away what she wants (food, change her diaper, needs to fart etc.). 
Our pediatrician recommended a very successful osteopath, even though I was skeptical and scared she would crack her back or something, I was pleasantly surprised. We went to two treatments where she just gently touches and presses certain spots on Anabela's back, neck, stomach and hips with her fingers and holds. 
Few days after each treatment we noticed Anabela managed to sleep longer periods during the day and she sleeps all through night and only wakes up once for feeding and falls right back to sleep.

I hope this post helps at least one baby and one new mum sleep better! :) Do let me know if you have any more useful tips on this topic bellow in comment!
XoXo