The 20th, 21st and 22nd May this year saw the annual Pregnancy, Babies and Children’s expo out at Sydney Olympic Park, so me, hubby and bub got ourselves out of the house on time and down there for when the doors opened at 10.00am. It was definitely a sensible option to go early as it soon became absolutely crazy busy with tired mums, pregnant women, crying babies and husbands who were obviously delighted to be there! There were stalls gallore and no matter what you were after there was something for you – toys, baby food, baby formula, baby clothes, breastfeeding advice, swaddling advice, prams, cots, car seats, playmats, nappies, insurance, high chairs, advice on SIDS, baby shampoos, baby pain relief and the list goes on!
I had lots of good chats with mid wives and many specialists on the problems facing mums and surprise surprise the most common complain or help asked for is “how do I get my baby to sleep”. I know all about that one….. And the answer was a resounding ‘swaddle’. Hmmm – not sure if that worked for me but anyway! Met a GREAT lactation consultant who has just launched a DVD too to help mums with breastfeeding – her website is called www.happymumshappybubs.com.au and her DVD is brand new out this week so check it out if you need some help – I am hoping to do some work with her too and have her do some Q&A on video for all the Lose Baby Weight mums so please let me know any questions you would like addressed on breastfeeding.
I also spoke to a lot of mums about what struggles they are having with losing their baby weight and weight loss for women and the feedback I got ranged from finding it difficult to keep motivation to lacking in any support from their partner or family – and of course the tiredness and lack of energy was a big reason a lot of mums quoted too – which isn’t a surprise at all. To quote, Emma from Manly, “I find it so hard as my husband just doesn’t help around the house at all and I do the night shift, the cleaning, the cooking, and look after our 8 week old baby all day which exhausts me and I have no energy left to think about myself at all – plus all I seem to do is eat junk as I am too tired to care about anything else’.
What I said to Emma is what I said to a lot of mums who I talk to on a daily basis that are in the same position as this and that is although as a mum you have a huge amount of new priorities you must make sure that taking care of yourself is one of them too. It is really common and easy to fall into a routine of putting yourself at the bottom of the list and of course your baby is going to be at the top of the list but you need to look at your day and see what you can rearrange or reorganise to ensure that you can also take care of yourself and follow a healthy eating plan too – like the Lose Baby Weight Plans for example.
If you are not happy then this leads to all kinds of issues and has been linked to post natal depression so the house work can wait, instead make some time to do some light exercises when your baby is asleep and have a shower so you feel presentable. Make sure that you go for a walk every day with the pram and don’t eat junk food. Eating junk food will just make your body feel sluggish, make you feel bloated, rob you of energy and will be destroying your immune system and digestion. Instead focus on getting good nutrition so that you look and feel the best that you can – which is also important if breastfeeding – and make sure that you only have healthy foods in your fridge and cupboard and try and make your husband see that you need his support as it is hard work being a mum!
I loved speaking to so many mums and I loved chatting to so many stall holders – if you get a chance to go to a baby and pregnancy expo in your location you really should go but my top tips for making the best of the day are:
- Buy your tickets on line – you will save money with online discounts and save time in queues
- Check out the stalls online and work out where you want to go so you can plan what your ‘must sees’ are
- Go early so you avoid the crowds and pram jams
- Take your own healthy food with you as the food at the expo’s is generally very unhealthy
- Take cash if you want to buy things as many stalls don’t take credit cards
Have a fab day when you go!
