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Conflicting diet advice

  • January 6, 2008 5:32 pm

Has anyone noticed that when it comes to eating when you’re pregnant the advice gets really confusing? Some say you can eat certain things and others say definately not.

Ok here’s what you should avoid:

  • High quantities of vitamin A
  • Soft/mouldy cheeses
  • Peanuts – this is to reduce the likelihood of allergies
  • Fish containing high levels of mercury

WEANING
The guidelines say weaning should be done around 6 months old; however this means that it has to be done very quickly.
I started weaning my daughter at 16 weeks which meant that I could go at a slower pace, however some children are not ready at 16 weeks so basically let your child tell you when they are ready. I started with fruit and veg but not citrus fruit, then added meat and fish, then a 6 months my daughter could have everything within reason, she can’t have the things I couldn’t eat when I was pregnant but she can when she is 1.

Finger food: these can be anything from pieces of fruit or vegetable to pieces of toast, usually introduced at around 6 months.
Here are some to try:

  • Cooked broccoli
  • Raisins
  • Sandwiches if you use spreads the child is more likely to eat the bread as well as the filling
  • Rice cakes

Drinking from a cup
It is a good idea to allow your child to play with a cup for a few weeks before putting a drink in it this gets the child used to the cup. Also it is now recommended that children have cups without the valves in (basically the non-spill ones) this is because research shows that the muscles used for sipping and swallowing are the same as those used for speech.

Buying bras when you need them

  • January 5, 2008 8:33 pm

We all know that during pregnancy our boobs get bigger, but why is it that most women find out they’re pregnant then go out and buy maternity and nursing bras in the 1st trimester when 3 months later they probably won’t fit?

Here’s some advice that will save you a lot of money; maternity and nursing bras are not the cheapest things to buy at £15-£25:

  • Buy bras as you need them, during pregnancy I would reccommend buying normal bras just in a bigger size
  • Buy your nursing bras in the third trimester, but buy them a cup size bigger than you are as you will get bigger when your milk “comes in”.

So what’s the difference between nursing and maternity bras?
Maternity bras are designed to be worn when you are pregnant
Nursing bras are designed for breast feeding they have the usuall fastening at the back and drop cups

Don’t listen to pregnancy horror stories!

  • January 5, 2008 7:58 pm

I don’t know why but for some reason when you’re pregnant people seem to think it’s helpful to tell you about all the horrible experiences, for example if they had complications, or in some cases just exaggeration. When will they learn that this is really not helpful all it does is turn the pregnant woman into a nervous wreck? Yes sometimes things do go wrong but these cases are very few and there are trained professionals around who are there to help if things do go wrong, so please no more scaremongering ’cause it’s not helpful!!!

My advice would be just ignore these people; I listened to the “horror stories” and given that this was the first time I was pregnant I had no idea what to expect so when I went into labour I panicked as I kept picturing all the things people had told me happening so with that combined with the whole deal of giving birth it wasn’t good, things got easier (well as easy as they can in labour) when I relaxed and let nature take its course.

Also another piece of advice I picked up when I was in hospital is don’t take the “manuals” which dictate what happens when literally, the woman in the bed next to mine had done this and got in a state because things were not going as it said in the “manual” she had read while pregnant