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Nappy pants product test

ThesisBaby and I have been taking part in a Pampers nappy pants product testing trial to see how their pull-ups work for younger rolly but non-walking babies. So while this post isn't sponsored, Pampers did send us a pack of pull-ups for free to try as part of their Pampers Squad initiative. Normally I use a combination of reusable all-in one nappies and Pampers Premium Protection. Some days we use more re-usables and sometimes more disposables, it depends on the weather, teething, if we are going out and if it is a nursery day. Both the reusable and disposable nappies have side tapes, so they are traditionally nappy shaped. The product we are testing looks like a pair of undies you pull up and are traditionally seen on older, toddly babies doing potty training. The product: Pampers Nappy Pants size 4 Things I like about the nappy pants - soft and stretchy, they seems to fit TB well when she has a milk tummy. - the designs denoting the front are cute - pulling them up if
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First things

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This week I spent both nursery days in the lab; I'm not sure how much help I was because haven't been on the project for most of it, but it was good to be back. Because of this ThesisBaby had a extended time in nursery and something came up which I never considered before- I'm going to miss some of her 'firsts'. The weather has been unseasonable warm and nice, so the babies and tiny humans had outdoor water play (the nursery is split into 0-2's who mostly stay in and have outdoor play times, and the 2+'s who are allowed out whenever), which mean I missed TB's first time outside playing in the grass. It's the first 'first' I missed and I feel pretty.... I'm not really sure, but not good anyway. To make up for yesterday we went outside today and TB rolled around and tried to eat grass, while  I managed to re-read the same paragraph 3 or 4 times before giving up to go and rescue her from a dandylion. So we had our first, but it's n
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Top 10 Things Every Postgrad Parent needs

After falling down a YouTube rabbit hole of best and worse baby buys while bored on an early morning feed I have decided to write my own top 10 list of things every postgrad parent needs, I might do a worst list too. Of course this is just for fun, you don't need any of this stuff, it's just things I've found super helpful which you might also find helpful too. I'm not being sponsored for any of these, just my opinion about the stuff we use. No 10. A baby-wearing coat. I've put this at number 10 because it is a purely luxury item but I found having a baby-wearing coat gave me back my freedom. Suddenly we could pop out to the shops without expedition planning. Now I'm back to work TB comes inside the coat to nursery, then I take off the baby panel and wear it like a normal coat to work, which means less stuff to carry. We have a Mamalila All-weather, and while it's not warm enough for some winter weather, it's done really well overall considering
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Mummy Brain Vs Science Brain

The last 2 weeks have been a challenge in the ThesisBaby household- everyone has had flu ( the trapped in bed, sore skin awful type), ThesisBaby has got her first 2 teeth and the change to Summer Time had destroyed our bedtime routine. Overall not much sleep here! And then an even bigger disaster- on a trip into the office ThesisBaby was very tired and grumpy and as she flailed around in the sling she knocked my hard-drive onto the floor and now all the files are unreadable. All my Thesis files :( Overall not a great time, but I've decided to make the best of each thing- so here goes; I lost a lot of work- 100's of hours, but most of the really important files had been emailed, so in reality only 2-3 weeks of work was totally lost. I'm using the 'thinning out' of files to start a new organising structure going forward, and I have a new back up scheduled. I've found a MOOC (massively open online course) provided by the University of Wollongong on FutureLearn
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Week two: Pink or blue?

Week two and some things are going well and some thing need a little more work. ThesisBaby is getting used to going to nursery 2 days a week now, so tends to start the day with a smile and not a scream- yey!  I also find now I have predefined baby-free time (2-3 hours at night and 2 mornings a week, as well as a few hours at the weekend) I am managing to be more focused and actually getting work done, almost as much as before! On the downside ThesisBaby refusing to drink at nursery which leads to a very tired thirsty baby in the afternoon and I'm struggling with expressing enough milk for her when I'm at work. I suppose it's useful she doesn't want to drink much while I'm not around because an hour pumping usually only produces 100ml of milk. ho hum. TB has a tin of formula at nursery now to make up the shortfall, and we decided that post nursery-afternoon is a feeding cuddle zone- no work. I have given  myself permission to focus on just her. I tend to carry Th
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Guest writer: KiwiMum flies to the rescue when traveling with babies Part 1

So far my longest solo adventure with ThesisBaby has been a 1.5hour train trip to grandma's, during which I accidentally sent my winter coat, the week before it snowed, to the other end of the country. Whoops. However I do know a very seasoned travel baby, and his mum has agreed to share her wisdom here in a series of guest posts. The thought of flying with young children is enough to give most people nightmares- the screaming, cranky, inconsolable baby and frazzled parents stuck on an aluminium tube for hours while all the non-parents passing judgement and make disparaging or snarky comments..... But it doesn’t have to be like that, and as FlyingKiwi has just taken his 31st flight in 11 months I thought I would share some hints and tips to help flying with your wee one a bit easier and less stressful FlyingKiwi was only 3 weeks old when he took his first flight. Fresh from a traumatic emergency C-Section and trying to work out where the manual was to run this tiny human, our
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111 words: it's a marathon not a sprint.

111 words; this is how many words I need to write every day between now and next March to keep my thesis on track. I went back to work properly this week, and it was full of mini-challanges: leaving ThesisBaby at nursery without crying ( it was close but I managed), organising access to the breastfeeding room at work (sorted with the help of my supervisor) and working out how I'm going to fit everything in; baby care, housework, writing, sleeping, eating etc and making myself sit down to study every evening after a full day of the afore mentioned stuff. My brain feels like someone has replaced it with mash potato- previously easy to recall references have fluttered off in a haze of baby hormones and chronic sleep deprivation, and I have so much to do before our experiment next year I nearly crumpled in a heap and sobbed when my supervisor caught me up at our back to work meeting. I came home and mid melt-down my husband reminded me that a PhD is a marathon not a sprint. Sure,
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