Don't tell anyone, but...

I have a baby who sleeps.  For whatever reason, Bumble sleeps through.  He did his first 5hr stretch (this is the medical definition of sleeping through- crazy huh?) at 6 weeks, by 9 weeks he was doing 10pm ish to 6am ish and for the last couple he's been doing 8pm ish until 6am ish.  He is not a quiet sleeper and is still in our room (although that will change come the weekend as he's outgrown his Moses Basket) so I'm still woken every couple of hours but I don't have to get out of bed/feed him/change him so don't "properly" wake up.  Now, all this is fantastic (I continually thank whatever it is that brought about this miracle) but it does make me somewhat of a pariah in new mum circles.  In fact, I usually just stay very quiet during the inevitable "how's ... sleeping?" conversation! And, do you know what? I don't blame them.  If I was still getting up 2 and 3 times in the night at 16+ weeks, I wouldn't want to know about the baby who gives his parents 10+ hours consistently at 13 weeks! 

I'm also realistic, I know it won't last - at least in the sense that when Bumble starts teething/is poorly/just decides not to sleep - I will be right there with everyone else at 3am, wishing for a good night's sleep; but, for the time being, I'm just going to enjoy not feeling totally knackered all the time! 

Baby clothing breakdown

Baby clothes are driving me mad. Not because they are so small they easily get lost or because I am constantly washing them but because I have no idea what size to buy...EVER! 

As I've already mentioned, Bumble is a long baby - he's somewhere around the 91st (per)centile so, I expected him to be in "older" sizes early.  What I didn't expect is that baby clothing sizes are more variable than women's clothing sizes - a feat I would have deemed impossible a few months ago! This means that I am constantly holding clothes up to him to try and gauge whether I should be buying 0-3, 3-6 or even 6-9 month clothes.  

So, in the hope that this will be vaguely useful at some point these are my "findings" so far.

H&M baby clothes (not unlike their adult clothes) are very small! Bumble has almost outgrown 6-9 months at 12 weeks... One exception - their superb socks (no I'm not on commission!) which are roughly as advertised! 

M&S again follow their adult clothes and are on the large side.  Bumble is still comfortably in 0-3 and some of these are a little big!

Next are great for long, slim babies like Bumble and they are probably the most realistic age wise, we hit 3-6 months about 2 weeks ago!

Morrisons - similar to Next but a touch bigger!  Their newborn stuff was the only newborn clothing that fit Bumble.

Sainsburys - I love Tu baby clothes - really good selection for boys and the 0-1 month size was perfect for Bumble in his first weeks.  Now in 3-6 but with plenty of room.

Tesco - I've found these a bit small but not too bad and great for real basics.

Asda - these are very short (and wide)!  Again Bumble is almost out of 6-9 months lengthwise but these are very baggy width wise.

Mamas & Papas - like M&S these are generally on the big side - we're still in 0-3!

Jojo Maman Bebe - these are lovely clothes but just not designed for long, slim babies so just don't fit Bumble well.  I'm sure for babies whose weight and length line up better (Bumble is only 70th centile for weight) these would be fab.

One other one to mention for the longer, slimmer baby is the Dutch chain Hema who have just opened some London stores and have plans to spread out across the UK this year.  We were very kindly sent a load of things for Bumble by a Dutch friend and they are great for him (in fact the sleeves are even a bit long on him rather than the usual between wrist and elbow long sleeves!).  I'm looking forward to them opening anywhere "up North". 

Bumble in his Tu dino suit when he was less than 24hrs old! 

Top 5 baby bits

So, in the last 12 weeks I've found some stuff that we have for Bumble has been absolutely amazing (and some stuff that's a complete waste of time/money/effort).  

These are my 5 things I wouldn't be without:

1.  Tommee Tippee Perfect Prep machine - perfect bottles in 2 minutes flat.  If you are bottle feeding this is worth it's weight in gold, especially at 2 am with a screaming baby who has suddenly decided that they are on the verge of starvation...or at least that's how Bumble used to sound!

2.  H&M baby socks - come in packs of 2 pairs for £2.50 - they are thick, soft (no marks on Bumble's legs/ankles) and best of all, they don't come off!!!

3. Next bibs (or any that are thick, triangular and fasten with Velcro) - bibs that use poppers are a nightmare to take off/put on one handed.

4. Lansinoh nipple cream - all the others I tried were useless - this one is amazing stuff!

5. A lamb skin - yup an actual lamb skin! A good friend bought Bumble this as he was proving difficult to settle in his Moses basket - it works a treat! Now he's happy to go down without "lamby", he uses it for all his daytime naps (he outgrew his Carrycot about 3 weeks ago - Bumble is a very long baby!). 

Bumble enjoying "lamby" aged 7 weeks!

Anyway, another time I'll have a go at essentials and "what not to buy"!