Cocooning my babe!

When asked to trial the 100% merino cocoono (sleeping bag) for Mokopuna Merino I must admit, I was skeptical. Merino- it seemed, was the latest craze in baby buzzwords, that connoted an air of supremacy when gift-giving and a supreme price tag to match. It could be overheard at coffee groups “Oh I love Claire’s little coat”, “mmm it’s adorable isn't it- and its meriiiiino”. To which accepting nods and ‘mmm’, ‘yes’, and ‘lovely’s’ would follow. I've never really been one to jump on a fashion bandwagon so I certainly had no intentions of pulling my daughter up onto one.

With that being said the inevitable icy northerly Wellington winds arrived so we started to think about investing in some options for keeping our wee tot warm; we nailed it down to:

-Coarse scratchy wooly cardigans with matching stiff booties and hats my great-great-great-great grandfather wore then I suspect stored in a wardrobe until passed onto the next “grateful” expectant mother.

-Layers. Layers are an excellent way at keeping the heat in. Although it’s a battle enough to get one layer on my crying, wriggling baby- let alone 3!

-Running the heater 24/7. Being a one-income household, and Scrooge McDuck in charge of the savings plan, the idea of running our fan heater all day did not seem compatible with our foreseeable earnings (or our carbon footprint).  

-Merino. Merino. Hey, what about this one. It’s 100% MERINO. Maybe we should give merino a chance.

The first thing about merino that I found interesting (and cost-saving) was that it is not just a cold weather clothing choice. It can be worn all year round as it is excellent at regulating body temperature, and most effective at this when worn close to the skin- so luckily it’s so darn soft, (ha ha darn, wool, gettit?).

Another useful property is that it draws the moisture away from the skin. Having had to make a few long car trips with a baby over the summer, I always stole away in the dead of the night to avoid the heat of the day as poor Sienna would be drowning in sweat in her capsule the moment we went anywhere after 11am. This sweat-drawing process, lets the wearer avoid that uncomfortable sticky wet feeling after sweating in their clothes, and unlike cotton (my ex-best friend) even after drawing the moisture away, is still able to keep the wearer at a constant body temperature.

Ok, so I've done a bit of research. Merino- now’s your time to shine. Melt my icy cynical heart with your warmth.  

BM (before merino): After giving Sienna her routine night time bath, we end up both in tears as a tired mama attempts to dress a tired writhing baby on the floor. We have a nappy, then a cotton short suit, then leggings, then socks, then a polar fleece onesie. By the time we are done, all relaxation from the bath and massage have gone out the window. The heater has been running in her room for the past 45 minutes in preparation for bed. A supper feed, a story and the mockingbird lullaby (not the original, the Eminem version- thanks Dad) then she is put in her cot. She puts herself to sleep after about 10 minutes and I wait another 10 before creeping in and pulling her kicked-off blankets on her. At 1am she wakes. Her little hands are freezing, and the blankets are pushed to the bottom of the bed. I turn the heater back on and rock her till she falls asleep. 4am she wakes. The room is like a sauna. I turn the heater off and feed her until she falls asleep; I then put her back in bed. 6am she wakes for the day, she then goes back to sleep about 8.30am for a couple of hours.

AM (after merino; a miracle; appreciative mother): She is dressed in less than 5 minutes with just a nappy and a long sleeved short suit to get on. Starting to get a bit grizzly I bring her up for a quick feed and zip up the cocoono while she drinks. The feed calms her right down and we have a quiet story. No soft rap melodies tonight as Dad is at indoor cricket. I have had the heater running again to warm up her room. She puts herself to sleep and we leave her for a good hour before going in to check on her, as I know she won’t be cold. I turn the heater off at this point. She wakes at 1am; I settle her and go back to bed. She takes about 20mins to go back to sleep, when she’s quiet I can fall back asleep too as no kicked off blankets to worry about. She wakes at 6am for breakfast. She is noticeably happier in the morning and lasts an extra hour more than usual before going down for her morning nap.

To wrap(!) up:

-Easy post bath change.

-Could leave to self soothe without worry about her getting cold or tangled in a blanket.

-If the room was to get too hot and she sweated she would not get wet and cool down.

-Comfort (who likes sleeping with layers and layers on?)

-Dries quickly if any spills on it during the night. Very handy with the winter, rainy weather around.

-Save money running a heater less.

-Slept through the night longer as obviously did not wake up cold (yes!!!)

Merino you little beauty, you are here to stay. I recommend if you are looking to invest in a few staple pieces for your baby the cocoono is a must. It pays for itself after the first night if you've been having trouble getting your child to sleep through. Being cold and being worried about too many blankets is one huge variable you can tick off your 1am worry list. With a built in slot for use in a car seat and buggy plus a size adjustment option and room to grow into for the legs, we will have this one until she’s around two years old. After that she’ll probably want it as a comfort blanket she’ll be so used to it. 10/10. 

Did You Know? The adventures of a Mokopuna Mummy!

This month's edition of Did you know ?..is brought to you by things my 2 year old thinks she 'knows' 

• Putting your head on the ground and falling over is how to do a roly-poly

• Ariel the mermaid's father is clearly Santa

• One day she will learn to go potty standing up

• That she is a 'lady' and her father is a 'boy'

• When requesting music and I ask her what kind, that 'blue music' and 'purple music' are genres that I should be aware of

• That any child in a buggy is a 'baby' even if older than her

• Every single bit of fluff everywhere is a spider

• Everything awesome is pink

• A kiss from mummy will make any bump or scratch go away, and the more the better

• That her mummy and daddy love her so much that they can't bring themselves to tell her that she won't ever learn how to go potty standing up

What cute 'facts' does your child believe about the world?

Allanah xox

Did You Know? The adventures of a Mokopuna Mummy!

Did you know...that on average, a 4-year-old child asks 437 questions a day.

Now that my little miss has just turned two, its starting to happen already. The moment that you hear about, but presume will be years away. What, you ask? Well there have recently been a dozen or so moments involving my toddler being more observant than me or remembering things I have forgotten. The master is becoming the student.

Remember the slightly superior feeling as a child when your parents confused your name with your sibling or couldn't find an item in the fridge when its 'right there'? Well it's started already. She can even find Wally before me most of the time.

The other day I offered her milk, returned with water and was met with a small voice asking "Milk?" "Of course, sweetie" I said embarrassed and procured the milk. 

During a block building session, she abscondered to do something else while I fished my block castle. Next thing a little hand on my shoulder and a voice saying "Well done, Mummy". "Thanks?" I answered.

She has her own moments of course. She loves singing, but if she ever mucks up the lyrics to one of the nursery rhymes in her repertoire she stops, looks mortified and runs to plant her face in a pillow. The babies on the bus do not apparently go 'swish, swish, swish'. 

Oh dear.

Allanah xox

Did You Know? The adventures of a Mokopuna Mummy!

Did you know...Where the Wild Things Are was originally intended to be Where the Wild Horses Are, however Maurice Sendak turned out to be much better at drawing 'things' than horses?

The variety of form and endless exuberance of the natural world is something that's always fascinated me. The same enthusiasm seems to have been passed to the little miss, as out of her current vocabulary at least half are animals. Additionally she will be obsessed with a particular animal for a time, so at the moment and for the last month its been polar bears. Who is bothered with learning colours and numbers when you can have a polar bear, really?

I can't help but imagine what would happen if she were to see a real polar bear (from a safe distance of course). Not the cuddly one from her book that plays on ice slides with seals, but a seething mass of muscle, fur, teeth and claws ready to eviscerate aforementioned seals. Right now she lives in a realm populated by the stark contrasts between some fixed concepts and the raw and chaotic power of the environment. She points out to the 'water, water' when she recognises its blue sheen, but up close is afraid of the waves and their unpredictably. Its really interesting to be part of reconciling these feelings in her young mind.

One morning after waking early I decided to take our dog for a morning walk and came across a clearing among the bushes 15 minutes from our house. As I approached, five horses trotted up to the fence with expectant eyes. I sat and watched in wonder as they pranced and played, and then paused and looked right through me. I made a decision to come back that morning with my little animal lover to show her the wondrous sight.

We came back after breakfast and only one horse was left (it was a beautiful day for riding.) She saw it immediately and pointed to the 'horsey', but as we got closer and it got bigger she wasn't so sure. She buried her head in my neck, peeking out at the horse.

Then it put its head through the fence and gently nuzzled her leg. She screamed in terror. The horse retreated to drink from the bath that held its water and we left with haste.

However once in the car, she immediately starts chatting excitedly 'nice horse', 'bath' 'horse water bath' and still talks about it weeks after, especially when in the bath herself. She is pictured above attempting to free the pet store puppies, of which she is fearless.  

Allanah xox

Did You Know? The adventures of a Mokopuna Mummy!

Did you know... that a UK survey of 8,000 people found 31% of parents with young children had been turned away from a restaurant or cafe.

Some children are fussy eaters, but not my girl. She will chow back anything she finds, even grownup foods like capers. Especially if it can be dipped in sauce.

Since she is such a little foodie I try to introduce her to as many types of cuisine as I can. There is always the inevitable question of finding child-appropriate places and ordering the least messy items of the menu, but so far she has taken her little taste-buds on a global sojurn. Brioche and falafel, udon noodles and pakora, edamame and summer rolls, she has shovelled them all in and then asked for more.

So the other day when my husband was working late, I thought it a nice idea to take her into town for dinner. Just us girls. For those who aren’t familiar with Wellington, NZ, there is a main street, Courtenay Place that houses the majority of bars and restaurants. As it was only early evening I wasn’t figuring on town being busy, but there were already people on the street seeking a drink after work. Given my independent madam won’t hold my hand, I managed to corral her down the footpath with the odd apology to passing strangers she was delaying, but otherwise minimum fuss.

After arriving at the local gourmet burger place and securing the glass table with a retro pacman game inside, she was instantly enamoured with the table’s buttons and lights. Being a child of the new decade, her attempts to use touch screen gestures on the glass table's game were futile, but entertaining nonetheless. Less entertaining was her use of her pumpkin fritters as essentially a spoon for garlic mayonnaise. She is obsessed with any sauce and dipping things into it, so my removal of the aioli was met with a mini freak out.

Once calmness and full tummies had ensued, we were off home again in time for bed, but now town was even busier. Even the local ‘gentlemens club’ already had its music blaring and a security man on the door, whom my daughter decided she liked the look of and proceeded to stop and furiously wave at, like a long lost friend. Not awkward at all. For the record he smiled and waved back.

My personal tips for eating out with toddlers are:

• It doesn’t have to be a place with a ball pit, in fact avoid those places if you can. Usually restaurants serving ethnic fare tend to be more accommodating of children and are louder venues. Even if there aren’t many other kids or none at that moment, but its a boisterous, casual environment, no one will bat an eye at an excited squeal or table bang. Our favorite Turkish place also has a ride-on wooden zebra that she loves.
• I like to give her a big fruit plate before we go somewhere, that way she can chomp back bagels and arancini (crumbed risotto and mozzarella balls, yummy!) with less worry about getting her daily fix of vitamins and phytochemicals.
• As with most parenting trips out- be prepared! I like to pack her little plastic spork for example, as she hasn’t quite got to metal cutlery stage yet.
• Booth seating is fantastic as highchairs can vary in usefulness and cleanliness depending on where you go. Now that she is coming closer to two years, she can sit happily on a chair but booths offer worry free wiggling. Also a novelty for them is that many Japanese restaurants have floor seating and they love sitting on a pillow like you.
• Try for lunch or an early dinner (seated by 5.30pm), normal adult dinner bookings are too early and they will act out when they are tired. You can also take advantage of specials and pre-show deals too at this earlier time.

I hope this helps you take your toddlers on a tour with your taste-buds!

Allanah xox

Trying to fit a square cloth to a round baby, there must be a better way?

We asked Lana,mokopuna enthusiast and mother of baby Blake her experience with swaddling...

Swaddling an infant can often seem like trying to make a burrito with a live eel inside. Trying to get a tight wrap around such a squirming bundle is a huge challenge when wide awake, let alone in the haze of "who's turn is it?" toe stubbing 2am wake ups.

Yet if baby takes to it, swaddling can be such a comfort for them and a beautiful way to extend that loving embrace from your arms into their bed. They have spent their existence thus far in a cozy, cocooned place to suddenly be thrust into a bustling, expansive, chilly world. Its all about creating a sense of calm security and a chance to acclimatise into an alien world.

iMama.tv loves mokopuna merino maternity

We are so happy that iMama.TV's Dee loves the mokopuna maternity wrap dress!  Not only does she love it throughout pregnancy, but after too!  Check out this short video from Dee!