I don’t know jack-s**t about any of this parenting stuff and being a master doesn’t even come into it.
I am a bottle feeding, breast feeding, dummy using, sling wearing, baby led weaning, spoon feeding, helicoptering, cuddly, tough-loving, cry it out, working mum and my husband and I do what works for us, never mind all the labels, we have a go at everything.

This month we have been busy, we have been on holiday, been to a very special wedding, missed a wedding and had some successes and many failures!
We took baby girl on holiday and it actually wasn’t as stressful as I had envisaged. The day before we went I was so anxious I ended up just freaking out a bit and having to have a lie down!
I decided to pack as lightly as possible so I just took some ‘emergency’ food pouches, one box of formula powder in the suitcase and ordered two big ready made bottles from the airport Boots collection which was handy. (She doesn’t really eat these pouches normally as she likes grown ups food but I wanted to make sure she would have something a bit nutritious and not just eat rice cakes and snacks if there wasn’t anything suitable available or if we ate at funny times, as you do on holiday).
It helped that there was another family baby going to be there so we were able to share some toys etc. Actually I didn’t take very many so I was very glad of the shared toys!
It was a city holiday, so I didn’t have to worry about seeking shade and sun protection so much, but at times it meant she had long periods in pushchair or sling and keeping her entertained could be hard (although she spent most of the time waving at passers by)
I ended up not packing enough tights/trousers as I thought it was going to be warmer than it was. Other than that I think we did pretty well. We borrowed a light folding pushchair from the grandparents and we took the sling too. In the city we used the sling when she got bored in the pushchair and so I could go in the art galleries with lots of stairs but the pushchair was great, she just loved looking at everything and waving to everyone!
She loved the airport and people watching and it was lovely as she fell asleep on take off on the plane (she cried a fair bit on the way home but it was a short flight and we were right at the back so I didn’t worry myself about other people too much. What could we do?)
Bedtime routine was my biggest concern on the holiday as we are pretty set at home and bedtime is always 7pm and we don’t deviate from that very often. However on this holiday we had to deviate a bit in order to be able to socialise and join in. She also had to be in the same room as us which we are not used to and I am such a light sleeper her snoring wakes me up!
However, it was totally fine, she went to bed really late on a couple of nights and it didn’t really matter, we offered her plenty of opportunities to nap during the day and she took advantage of that which was good. She slept a bit later some mornings and ended up in our bed some nights (which almost never happens at home) but that was fine too. We came home and reinstated the routine and we all slipped back into it no problem. I must admit I was surprised and relieved.
The wedding (as well as being a beautiful and wonderful family occasion) was a success from a baby parenting point of view. I utilised keen relatives for cuddles and was able to spend most of the night dancing. She did not go to sleep the whole time we were there until about 1am and I was apprehensive to say the least about how the next day would progress but it was absolutely fine. We all got a little lie in and then found ice cream!
Overall I think that packing light but being prepared to follow her lead and go with the flow were the key things to making it work for us.
We have now moved up to 12–18 month clothes and that made me feel a bit wierd as I guess she isn’t really a baby anymore. However I love that every day we understand her more and more and know what she wants before she knows it herself. (Like when she heads for the open stair gate!)
We also missed a wedding this month due to baby girl having tonsillitis and a random swollen hand that made me stressed and amounted to nothing. I guess that is just another thing you have to accept and I am glad our friends understand. Thanks Laura and Michael. It looked like a beautiful day and we were so sad to miss it.
Next stop, first Birthday!!!
NB: With reference to the photo, those car naps where you are trapped. What is a parent to do?!
