Before I had little Leander, I knew I wanted to try to breastfeed. I wasn’t sure I would manage it however. My mother filled me with tales of how she gave up when I weighed the same at four months as I did at three months so I thought I would find it equally as tough.

Medically there is no reason why you cannot breastfeed just for being petite but it follows that the larger the baby, the more (s)he eats.  And as my health visitor pointed out, a long thin baby eats lots to fill out. Which means that you will get tired and drained the more that you feed and therefore need to keep your energy levels up. (Cue double breakfasts and lots of snacks!).

The problem with eating what is recommended (See NHS) – a balanced healthy diet full of complex carbohydrates, lean protein, dairy, fruits and vegetables etc – is that after giving birth your intestines have been squashed to hell and take a while to recover. The result for me was IBS type symptoms and the inability to eat so healthily.  I read about and tried probiotics, but was never convinced that these made a blind bit of difference. I’m currently testing peppermint oil but it’s too early to tell if it’s helping – watch this space!

I also read up on what helps milk production and found some really useful lists online which detailed many galactagogues (See Mom Junction). This proved really useful for meal planning (when my mother cooked for me!) and helped me find out which galactagogues worked best for me – nuts like almonds and sesame seeds! I also made ‘lactaction cookies‘ too!

The other problem I encountered was that although the breastfeeding expert insisted that you could enjoy the odd glass of wine or two no problem, I always felt that I had to play catch up a few days afterwards building my milk supply back up. Maybe that is personal to me, or being so petite and inevitably having a baby that is going to be much taller than me and just needs to eat a lot!

Also, I struggled with ideal positions to breastfeed in. Initially, when the baby cannot hold their own heads up as well and they are so tiny, it’s handy to hold them in the crossover hold so that they can latch on. Due to not having a proper breastfeeding chair in the nursery, I found this rather uncomfortable and didn’t find the nursing cushion I had much help either. I quickly realised in my prolific googling and reading whilst feeding, that the cradle hold was by far the most convenient, aided by cushions to bolster the relevant arm.

As he grew heavier and heavier and I in turn also grew tireder and tireder, I started to try the lying down position. I found this great for ease but altogether too easy to fall asleep whilst feeding. Alas with a heavy cold, I felt I had no other option as I was devoid of energy from this and all the wakeful nights feeding and settling baba. Thus we ended up co-sleeping doing this at night feeds.

I’m not sure I’d recommend lying down to feed, as they too drift off and don’t get the full feed and wake more frequently as a result to feed. I also wonder if this was one of the reasons why my son suddenly developed reflux after a couple of months.

What I would recommend though, which I myself in turn was recommended by a mother-of-two-friend was not to treat nipple soreness and to ride out the pain til it subsided. This I did find really great advice. And I barely managed to do it, however it was well worth it as I think products that you can buy to temporarily alleviate the pain, can put little one off feeding if you smell different…

All in all, the key thing is to try to relax as much as possible, look after yourself as well as remembering that the more your baby eats, the more milk you will produce.

So I have been wanting to update my jumper drawers since all my jumpers seem to be bobbling like mad.  It’s since having my baby and holding him – with all his wriggling it’s such a bobblefest. At least with the warmer weather I can forgo the wools and cashmere which has kept me snuggly this winter but is a big culprit.

I went around the shops and had a look for more robust fibres and came up with a few gems in the sale.  What’s great about jumpers is that they are easier to get to fit and if they’re a little big – it doesn’t really matter. Although I often find that the sleeves are slightly too long and can therefore dirty easily but extra sleeve can also be a warming pleasure (in lieu of gloves) when it’s nippy outside.

First up is this sweatshirt number which harks back to the 80s somewhat, with the added volume, so it doesn’t matter that this isn’t a petite fit. I love the colour which is just perfect for spring-summer. And I figure that sweatshirts don’t bobble! It’s ideal with jeans – silver/grey, white, classic; any black trousers. Plus I like to throw this on on top of work-out leggings if I don’t have time to change to glam myself up a bit!

Topshop pale blue ruffle sweatshirt £10 (was £20)

Next up is this simple yet classic little navy option with the little twist of the pretty ruffle sleeves peeping out. Again I think it is perfect with white jeans for a chic preppy look but cute with plain jeans and leather too. I’m really hoping that this survives the bobbles!

Dorothy Perkins navy frill sleeve light tight knit £12 (was £22)

Lastly this stripy one is slightly less me but it’s nice to have something a little different and out of the ordinary. We’ll see how I get on with the flared sleeves and cuffs! I like to tie them in bows to keep them from trailing in food or the sink! Being mainly man-made fibres I’m holding out hope!

Warehouse Striped flared sleeve bow/trailing cuff jumper £10 (was £39)

Shop at: Debenhams.com, topshop.com, dorothyperkins.com and warehouse.co.uk

Choosing where and in what your baby sleeps is one of the first things that you think about. And one of the most important decisions to make.

For me, I love vintage things – in fact the shabby chic look is one of my favourites, so I was really keen to use the moses basket which has been in the family and that we used as babies.

When my brother and his wife used it for their children, they bought a stand for it. Having it on a stand, made it super easy to pick Leander up without having to stand all the way up holding your baby and saving your muscles. (Similar available from John Lewis  and Mamas & Papas)

Once he was a bit older, a little more alert and harder to get to sleep, we moved him into a crib which was my other sister-in-law’s that she kindly painted white for us along with buying a new mattress and bedding. This was originally from Mamas & Papas but there are plenty on the market from standard retailers, also including Mothercare & John Lewis.

The bonus of the crib is that it rocks so if you need a little extra help getting them to sleep, you unbolt it and push it from side to side.  I have to say that this feature for me was brilliant as you didn’t have to hold a baby doing this which can be tough when you’re tired and especially if you’re breastfeeding and your muscles are all relaxed.

Many people also co-sleep which although I said I would never do at the start, actually have ended up sometimes doing.  When I didn’t do this, those that did, said that they made it safe with a Sleepyhead. What I did find though, was that breastfeeding lying down saved holding him and so as a result we did semi co-sleep falling asleep after feeds.

I was recommended Sleepyheads before I gave birth but I decided to see how I went at first with the moses basket and then didn’t end up buying one.  However, when we hit a bad sleep regression with wake-ups every sleep cycle, I tried my friend’s out and it worked like magic. Or was it coincidence? So we ended up using the Sleepyhead inside the crib for while too which made it even easier to pick Leander up from as it was even higher.

We were forced to switch to a cot which is a little bit bigger when Leander became stronger and started almost pulling himself up.  So we painted my brother’s John Lewis cot white (120cm x 60cm)  which his youngest had just finished with.  On the lowest setting I can just reach into it and lift him up without it being too much of a stretch. I’m not sure this model still exists but many are listed in that smaller size on the John Lewis website www.johnlewis.com