The transition from being a family with no children to being the new parents of one precious baby boy was made a lot easier by following a routine set up by super nanny Gina Ford. I read “The new contented little baby book” a couple of months before having Maximilian, and I fell in love with the routine so we decided with Richard that we would try it out once Max was born.
I am so glad that we did this. Max took to the routine as soon as we got home from the hospital. He was sleeping on his own in his room and in the dark from the 5th day of his life. Due to the routine my husband and I have got to have quality bonding time with Max on our own and together, and we have also got a lot of quality time on our own without Max, as he is in his room sleeping all night long.
However, Big Brother is always watching Max. He is never truly alone. We have a sensory pad and camera made by “tommee tippee“ in Maximilian’s room that is on at all times. We call this Max TV.
During the 1st month we were glued to the monitor whenever he was in his room on his own, however now we have gotten used to it always being either in my hand or beside me and we only ever look at it when necessary. This has been our saving grace.
I am sure that if we didn’t have this we would be checking his room every 5 minutes, therefore I am so grateful for this genius invention and recommend every new mother get one, because basically since he was born, we have never worried about him as we can always see and hear him and know that he is breathing – the last part can be a major worry for new parents.
Before Maximilian came into our lives, I wasn’t sure how I would take to breastfeeding, but a week in and I loved it. I thought I would only breastfeed for a couple of months however I decided to do it until he was 6 months old as I wanted to go back to work then. It is so much better for Maximilian and so much easier than having to make up formula and sterilize bottles.
There is one feed a day that Maximilian would get out of a bottle after I had expressed (yes you do feel like a farm animal sometimes!), that is the 10:30 p.m. feed, which Richard had done every night since Maxi was 2 weeks old. This feed allowed them to bond and it allowed me to get the sleep that I needed to be in good spirits.
At first we weren’t sure how this would work. We were afraid that if he liked the bottle he wouldn’t want my breast again however thankfully that was not the case. Maximilian still preferred the breast over the bottle however he took the bottle if I was around and because of the way the teat is made, he rarely needed burping after a bottle feed. I feel that this is important for every new mother so that she can occasionally take some time out and leave the baby with a family member or a nanny.
This is also very important for the baby and her partner. Women need to allow their partners to feed their babies. Women need to allow their partners to be a father, to connect with their child as well. Women need to remember that they need help and should be getting it from their partner.
Their partner needs to be included from day one in everything. The baby will sense that there is a team that loves him and supports him. The baby will know that its not only mummy but also daddy knows what to do from the day he is born and that is important for our children to learn as this will help them to grow into amazing adults.
Maximilian and Richard are so adorable together and it is because of this nightly feed that they have bonded so well. We are so grateful for the routine teaching us this valuable lesson.The routine also got be out of my head. All the fears I had before having this precious little boy left as I was focused on making sure he, daddy and I got everything we needed every minute of the day. There was no time for panic or worry we had it under control as a family. This made us a family! We all had things to do and we did them together.
Thank you Gina Ford.
