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Feeding

It’s good to talk

We gathered some mums together for the NUK Nature Sense Coffee Morning where we chatted, ate cake and shared tips and views on all things parenting.

Motherhood (particularly in those early days) is wonderful, but most new mums will admit that it can be overwhelming and lonely at times. This is why support is key and keeping in touch with the outside world can help a new mum to feel human, even if it’s just for just a few minutes. Getting together for a cuppa, some cake and a good chat can be so uplifting. The easy parenting team recently hosted the NUK Nature Sense Coffee Morning, where nine fantastic mums (and their adorable babies!) gathered to chat to us about motherhood and life in general.

It's good to talk

Here is a snapshot of some of the topics we discussed at the coffee morning:

Getting out and about in the newborn days:

Mum groups ” I didn’t go to a group until my son Luke was about seven or eight weeks old, but the mums at my breastfeeding group set up a WhatsApp group and there were 30-40 mums in it. It was a great support because it meant you had constant contact with other people, and you could pop a message in the chat saying, ‘this isn’t working for me, any advice?” Just knowing that you’re not alone has been a massive support. I also did baby massage and yoga classes, which were great to give me a reason to get out of the house for a few hours during the day and see people too!” Siobhan Havel

Group workouts

“There’s a little exercise group near where I live called Buggy Buddies and from six weeks on you can go to it. They introduce you back to exercise slowly so even if you just want to get out and have some fresh air for a while, it’s a great way to get back to it at your own pace.” Helen Howard

The best part of being a mum:

It's good to talk

Bonding with baby

“For me the best thing about being a mum, to Isaac anyway because he’s been exclusively breastfed, is the bond that I have with him. I mean when you’re sitting there and you see those beautiful big blue eyes staring back up at you when you’re feeding him, you could be having the worst day in the world, but that love and that bond just brightens and lifts your mood. You see them staring up at you and you melt.” Lisa Keogh

Joy after trying for so long

“The thing I love the most about being a mother is the chance of actually getting to be a mother, because I tried for nine years before having Justin. I had been diagnosed with endometriosis three years before I had him and I had sort of given up because my other little fella was starting secondary school and I thought well, “I’ve had my shot at it, I’ve got to be thankful for the one that I have”. So I tried to stop thinking about it, my husband went overseas with the army and I started running for something to do to keep my mind off it. But I found when I took my eye off the ball, that’s when it happened. My husband came back from overseas in April last year, and by May I realised I was a few days late, I ended up taking a test and just seeing those two lines honestly meant the world to me after having tried for so long.” Leonie Bowes

It's good to talk

Feeding:

Support groups

I found that my breastfeeding group very rarely talked about breastfeeding. We had classes about weaning, and a talk with a speech therapist, so really it should have just been called a mummy group. It’s a place where the public health nurse is there and available to answer any questions you might have and I think all new mums really need that support, regardless of if they’re breastfeeding or not.” Siobhan Havel

Dad feeds

“I’ve introduced bottle-feeding for his night feeds to get my son used to daddy putting him to bed sometimes, so that if I’m ever not there he’ll still be okay with getting fed and going to bed as normal.” Lisa Keogh

What do mums think about the NUK Nature Sense Range?

It's good to talk

We sent the NUK Nature Sense Range out to a group of mums who were combination feeding their baby to test. Here is what they had to say about the range.

“My baby loved the bottle. And I am still able to breastfeed. Combination feeding works fantastically with the NUK bottles!”

“I like the shape of the bottles and they are easy to hold.”

“The shape and design of teat seems to suit combination feeding better than other products I’ve tried.”

“I just love how my baby has taken to combination feeding using these bottles. It’s made things a lot easier as I will be going to work soon. So I have the confidence we have found a bottle my baby loves.”

“Great product, I’m currently breastfeeding to move onto bottles slowly but she is getting use to bottle. I like the way the milk is expressed from several different ducts and this nipple design reproduces a mother’s breast effortlessly.”

“I would definitely recommend the NUK Nature Sense bottle to other mums, I really like the shape of the bottle and the teat. Isaac is exclusively breastfed and getting him to actually accept a bottle isn’t easy. I’ve tried a lot of bottles and this was the only one that he didn’t play around with in his mouth. It means a lot to me because I suffer from a chronic illness and on the days when I’m just not able it means that I can hand him and the bottle over to daddy and not be worried that he’s not going to take it. I honestly wish I’d found this bottle earlier.”

“My little guy really liked the shape of the bottles, not just the teat part that goes in the mouth but the rest of the rubber part too. It seemed to fit around his lips much better than any other bottle we’ve tried and it just suited him a lot more for sure.”

NUK Nature Sense range:

It's good to talk

The new NUK Nature Sense Baby Bottle lets babies enjoy an all-round natural feeling when drinking – it mimics a mother’s nipple during breastfeeding making it ideal for combination feeding.

✔ The several tiny openings in the teat are modelled on the milk ducts in a mother‘s breast and ensure a smooth and natural flow.

✔ The extra-soft tip of the teat is particularly flexible and adapts itself to the mouth in a way similar to a nipple. The wide, flexible lip rest gives a familiar feeling as if at a mother’s breast.

✔ The innovative NUK Anti-Colic Vent allows the liquid to flow constantly and helps prevent air being swallowed and causing discomfort.

✔ And as the baby grows, the bottle ‘grows’ too: there are teats in sizes for babies of 0–6 and 6–18 months, which are easy and simple to change. The bottles are made of high quality materials.

NUK Baby Bottle Cleanser

NUK developed the Baby Bottle Cleanser specifically for cleaning all types of baby bottles, soothers and accessories. It is based on natural ingredients and contains specific enzymes, which effectively remove milk protein, pulp and juice residues. Its mild formula makes it ‘baby safe’.

Feedback from our mum testers:

“The scent is clean and not too fragrant which I like for baby products. I’ve used it to freshen up some washable toys too!”

“You think your bottles are clean when you wash them with soap and put them in the steriliser. It was only when I washed them with the cleaning solution and held them up side by side that I realised that they weren’t really that clean at all!”

Ask Sarah

Q I’ve heard a lot about the Paleo diet and as I am very interested in reducing the amount of processed foods and grain based meals my family eats, we are considering following this diet. From what I read it seems to be a back-to-basics type of eating. Is a Paleo diet safe for children? My kids are aged seven and nine.

A The Paleo diet is one of the most fashionable diets around at the moment. It is also known as the ‘caveman diet’ and is based on cutting out processed foods, starchy foods like bread and potatoes and eating more meat, vegetables and fruit.
As fad diets go, it is not the worst but there are some good and bad sides to it. Reducing the amount of processed foods we eat is always a good idea and by doing that you will usually reduce the amount of fat, salt and sugar you eat, which is a good thing! The problem with the Paleo diet is that it also cuts out dairy (on the basis that cavemen didn’t drink milk) and this means that the diet is very low in calcium. For this reason it is really not suitable for children who do need a lot of calcium for growing bones. How did cavemen manage without dairy? They ate a lot more food than we do (up to 10,000 calories per day compared to the 2,000 most of us eat). By eating that amount of food they were able to pick up just enough calcium from green vegetables and seeds. To put it in perspective, you would need to eat 16 servings of broccoli a day to get all the calcium you need. This is easier to do if you eat 10,000 calories per day rather than 2,000.
The other problem with the paleo diet is that it is not entirely based in science. Many of the Paleo diets out there say you should not eat wheat, even though we know that cavemen did in fact eat wheat and other grains. These diets also don’t recommend that you eat blubber and the big lumps of fat that were also a large part of the caveman diet!
A final problem is that many Paleo diets encourage people to cut out beans and lentils and to get their protein from meat and fish instead. Many studies over the last few years are clear that eating too much animal protein is linked with more cancer and heart disease. Eating some vegetarian meals based on beans and lentils is a great way to get your protein without always going for meat.
Is this a diet we should follow? I think there is a lot we can learn from the Paleo diets. We could all do with eating less salt, sugar and processed foods and adding in more nuts and seeds as well as more vegetables. However, I think following a strict Paleo diet could lead to low levels of calcium and vitamin D and so it is not suitable for children or teens and adults would need to think about a calcium supplement.

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ASK JESSICA

Q. I’m would like to start an exercise programme that will benefit my emotional health as much as my physical health, but I don’t know which type of class would be best. Should I consider choosing from yoga, pilates, tai chi, or could you recommend a class, please?

A It’s great that you have decided to get into exercise. The benefits to you are going to be great. You’ll sleep better, have more energy, better skin, reduced stressed, not to mention all the amazing physical benefits of your clothes fitting better, and looking healthy, trim and toned! My advice to you would be to try them all. Even if some don’t offer pay-as-you-go sessions, if you get in touch directly with the instructor, they will almost always let you try it out first to see if it’s for you. All of the above things that you mentioned are great for mental health, so it really will be a personal preference as to which you go for. On top of the classes you mention, all forms of exercise will give you great mental rewards so consider the not so obvious interval training sessions, bootcamp, and circuits too, as you will also feel on top of the world after a class like that.