Thursday 29 May 2014

Tried & Tested Thursday: MooGoo Scalp Cream

When I took a visit to my local health food store to pick up some regular products that we used in our household I never really noticed what other products they had.

I usually picked up some teething powder for V but being a mother the goal is always to get in and get out. However, something caught my eye. There was a sale on MooGoo products. To be honest I had never heard of MooGoo before.

I had a look to see what products our health food store stocked and it was interesting to see that they had a specialist cream for cradle cap in infants and seborrheic dermatitis in adults.  When I saw this I knew I just had to get it as V suffers/ed from cradle cap and I do get dermatitis on the scalp line.

The amount of appointments we would go to whether it be pediatrician, baby health clinic or GP they would all make the same comment to me - "oh do you know he has cradle cap?" in my mind I would think to myself are they serious? of course I know he has cradle cap - but the way it was said was like as if I was an idiot and it should not have occurred in the first place.

I took everyone's advice and tips on how to remove the cradle cap like putting a full moisturiser on V's head and then trying to comb out the cradle cap and wash it with shampoo afterwards, olive oil, massage oil, specialist shampoos, making a paste with bicarbonate soda, everything! nothing seemed to work - they would remove the cradle cap for one night but it would be back the next day. I felt so sorry for V, sometimes I would see him in his sleep scratching his head and I would literally scratch it for him I was so upset! This was an ongoing battle for about 4 months.

So I thought well let's give this product a shot it wouldn't hurt since I had tried everything under the sun.

MooGoo's Scalp Cream works. It actually works and does everything it says it will do. I honestly wish I had taken a photo of a before and after shot of V's cradle cap. After one week the cradle cap was gone and he was not scratching his head anymore at night :)

So how did I use this product? The first thing I did was wash V's hair then after washing his hair I put the MooGoo Scalp Cream in his head and massaged it and left it over night. It did not leave his hair feeling greasy or anything.  I applied it again morning and night for 2 more days washed his hair and it was gone!

To this day I still apply the cream around the scalp line but I cannot believe how well this product works.

What else do I love about this product besides the fact it cured my son of cradle cap?
  • It is actually made from ingredients I can pronounce there are no hidden nasties
  • It is Fragrence Free, Mineral Oil Free, pH Balanced.
  • The product can be used by both children and adults.
  • It's Australian made! 


I would honestly say with my hand on my heart this product is worth the money. Now I only wish I bought the other products that were on sale. I am kicking myself now! 

I have not tried it on myself but when I do I will make sure there are before and after photos! 

If your child suffers from cradle cap and you can't seem to get rid of it I would HIGHLY recommend this product it is fantastic.

The MooGoo Scalp Cream RRP is $17.95 a list of stockists can be found here

Have you heard of MooGoo before? Have you used any of their products? Let me know your success stories! Or does your child suffer/suffered from cradle cap what did you do to stop it?
 

Wednesday 28 May 2014

Walk It Wednesday: Bicentennial Park

Sydney has been giving us some lovely weather lately which is great considering that it is nearing winter and I am not sure what we are going to do if the weather just suddenly becomes cold, miserable and gloomy.

For today's walk we ventured out to Bicentennial Park.

Bicentennial Park is located in Sydney Olympic Park.  It's great as there is apparently over 35 kms of bike trails, walking paths and scenic boardwalks.

I love walking around the wetlands area - there is plenty of park space for the older kids to run around as well as play equipment and look out spots.  There is also the added bonus of no birds trying to steal your packed lunch.  As my little V has just started solids it was a nice change from sitting him in the high chair for us to have a mini picnic outside.

For those who have older kids and wish to make a day of it - there are free self guided activities

There are so many paths you can take for your walks so a visit more than once is a good idea.  If you have never been before or are interested in finding out the walking trails I suggest you take a look here.

Tuesday 27 May 2014

Tight and Toned Tuesday: Squat Challenge

I like to believe that there was once a time in my life where I was toned I used to go to the gym 6 times a week and watched what I ate. I was not skinny by any sort of the imagination on the BMI scale I was overweight by about 3 kilos, now I am considered obese. I want to get back to being healthy and in the healthy weight range.

When I was pregnant and now post pregnancy I have not had the opportunity to focus on my body because I have been looking after my darling V and spending every second I can with him. Now as he is nearing the six month mark and he is becoming more independent I would like to start to give myself some "me" time.  I want to get myself "tight and toned" again.  Now that we are only a sole income household I can't go to the gym anymore so home exercising is the way to go for now.

I thought the best approach would be to start off a little bit each day.

I found this squat challenge on Pinterest - the actual first source of it is unknown as it has been "pinned" a significant amount of times.

squat challenge

I will have to get M to take a photo of my "before" butt to see if it actually makes a difference. As to whether I post it on here is another story.

So who is in with me? - today is the first day!

I think when it gets to the bigger amounts I might just break it up and do it over the course of the day but at least it will get done!

Are you going to be in it to win it? Have you done the squat challenge before?

Monday 26 May 2014

Mummy Monday: On the hunt for practical mum fashion and workwear

Since becoming a mother one thing I have found difficult is the transition from my pre mummy clothes i.e. lace and delicate clothes that would only be hand washed or dry cleaned to clothes that are able to be just chucked into a washing machine and little or no ironing is required.

I have also found that now after pregnancy my body shape has changed so now I am dressing for a completely new body type.

So now I am on the hunt for new clothes especially for winter which is practical for the days when I am home.

Dotti have this great warm jumper on sale for $29.00 I bought the black and white one it's called the Camden Stripe Jumper.

As a matter of fact Dotti have a number of great knits on sale most under $30 and for the budget conscious like myself this is a great find :)

In terms of footwear I am going to say something controversial..I hate flats I find they are so uncomfortable and I do not have a comfy pair - I wear them because I have to but I have come to the decision that my size 11 feet are just not made for flats.

I am looking at buying these Adidas Taekwondo shoes. They are currently 2 pairs for $120 at Paul's Warehouse  even though they are men's shoes who can really tell. I need them for comfort and for getting around and I think these will do the job. I will get a pair and I will convince M to get a pair to take advantage of the deal.

I also just realised I only have 6 weeks left of my maternity leave before returning back to work on a full time basis *gulp* just the thought of it makes me a sad as my son would be just over six months and I am scared I will miss the best moments like the first time he walks or talks.  I will definitely see how I go when I return to work because I hope that I will be able to work from home some days but at this point I really need to go back to work full time so we can save for a house.

For work fashion I have no idea what I am going to wear - I have about 5 kilos to get back to my pregnancy weight but 20 kilos to get back to the weight I was on my wedding day. I will start with small steps first and go from there! But in the meantime I will need some pieces to get me by until I lose the weight and get back into my old work clothes so far everything I have found has been seasonally inappropriate or too expensive!

Any help would be great also I need a little help as to what is in fashion at the moment. Where can I look to for inspiration?

What are your essentials for work and/or practical mummy fashion clothes?


Thursday 22 May 2014

Tried & Tested Thursday: Playgro's Picture Pals Teething Book

Disclosure: I have been provided with the Playgro's Picture Pals Teething Book for the purposes of review. All views and opinions expressed are my own.

In one of my earlier posts this week I mentioned that I would be reviewing with V the Playgro's Picture Pals Teething Book.  When I first received this item I had never seen anything like it before or even come across anything similar to it in the shops so I was excited to review and test this out with V.

This book has come at the perfect time given that V is teething at the moment.

So for those of you playing at home - let's take a closer look :)

The Playgro Picture Pals Teething Book is designed for 0 months + which I agree that it has been appropriately classified.



I love the fact that this book is nice and soft as well as lightweight for little hands so it can be easily carried around.  As you can see V has utilised the handle and was biting on the corner of the book and it is lightweight enough. Another good thing about it being nice and soft is that if little ones accidentally hit their head with the book it won't hurt them :)



The edges are smooth and rounded so little ones cannot get their fingers cut.

The orange handle doubles as a teether it is nice and soft and moveable so that little ones can manipulate it in their mouths. There is also a green clip which allows the book to be attached to a pram for instance - V used it as a second teether though!




The edge of the first page also has another textured teether in the shape of a triangle which also helps your little one turn the pages.


The book features six pages the first - the cover page is an elephant and the page has that crinkly sound for added texture.

Behind this page is a unique idea which allows you to put a personalised photo which I love! I think this is great especially if you want to keep changing the pictures over and keep them guessing what picture is next. This is a great concept by Playgro as there is nothing worse than a kid getting sick of a toy.  This allows you to change the pictures over as well as acting as a mini photo album.



The page after this is a panda on this page does not have crinkle sounds but when you squeeze the panda's right ear it makes a noise which is cute :) Every time I squeeze it V smiles so he loves it. I love the idea of a different concept for each page so that was a winner as well.


The next page allowed for another photo and there was a picture of an aligator on the following page


The back of the book featured all the animals that were featured in the book.


It also has an educational aspect to you can see there are little birds with each animal on every page you can teach your children counting up to three by asking them to count the birds on the page or if they are a bit younger like V you can count for them so they start to get the hang of it for later :)

I also love the colours - the book is brightly coloured so you can teach your kids all about colours along the way and when they are a bit older it is great for them to identify the colours.

V loves the Playgro Picture Pals Teething Book! Also whilst we were testing this book out he sat up for the first time by himself and now holds onto the book during playtime :)



Have you ever seen the Playgro Picture Pals Teething Book around? Do you have one or something similar?

If you are looking to buy one of the Playgro's Picture Pals Teething Books they are on sale at the moment for $15.95 here.


Wednesday 21 May 2014

Walk it Wednesday: The Bay Run

Given the name of this blog I figured it wouldn't be much of a blog if I didn't talk about where I pushed my pram.

It is important that before setting out on any walk that you have a map if you are not familiar with the area and do a little research on the internet.

When I first went on parental leave I did not get out of our apartment at all. Then one day I was remembering all the walks I used to go on with friends or family around Sydney.

So I thought - what better way to get out not only for bub but for myself then to find pram friendly walks around that we can drive to locations then go for a nice walk for a change of scenery.  One of the first walks we did was the Bay Run.  Well for us - it was the Bay Walk.

The Bay Run is very pram friendly and you only really have to move out of the way for the serious runners and/or cyclists.  I like the fact there is a clear lane for people going in different directions as there are some people out there who do not stick to the left.

The Bay Run is located around Iron Cove, Henley Marine Drive, Drummoyne, Rodd Point and Five Dock in NSW. If you do the entire course it is about 7 km - we probably only did about a 1 hour walk because it started to rain.

For those who may have older kids coming along on the walk there are two playgrounds.  When I was super fit and I used to run this I don't remember there being many public toilets along the way - or maybe I was not on the look out for them.

For more information about the Bay Run it can be found here

A word of warning I found going during the day is best because in the morning and in late afternoons there are boot camps who run the Bay Run.

Do you have a favourite walk you go on?

Monday 19 May 2014

Follow my blog on Bloglovin and Facebook

I am slowly catching up with my to do list and I have now joined Bloglovin so if you are wanting to follow my blog you can on Bloglovin

https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/12289497

For those who have Facebook you can "like" this blog on Facebook too

www.facebook.com/theprofessionalprampusher

V's first job - Playgro Toy Tester

At the ripe age of 4 months old V was gained his first job as an official Playgro Toy Tester! Both V and I are are excited to work with such a great company as Playgro.

Whilst most people's jobs are not all fun and games for little V it is literally all about fun and games. My job - to use my mummy mind reading and observation skills to communicate his views on the products as well as take some photos along the way for our lovely readers to see our progress.

On Friday last week a lovely courier dropped off V's first box of toys - this was V's first ever package. When I saw who it was from I was excited. However as I did not want V to see it just yet I opened it in the cloak of darkness when he was asleep.  I wanted to make sure I got photos of all the goodies before he saw them.

L to R Activity Friend Roary Lion, Loopy Loops Ball, Safari Sounds Musical Tag Along Rattle and Picture Pals Teething Book















The toys provided are so lovely I did not know which one to choose so I decided to give V the box and for him to make the first choice for review...



So which did V pick from the box?

V chose the "Playgro Picture Pals Teething Book."  


On this blog I have introduced a new segment (I suppose I can call it that?) "Tried & Tested Thursday" where on Thursdays I will bring you V and/or I's reviews on different products so make sure you stop by for a visit.  This Thursday I will provide a review of V's first pick.

Now V is not the only lucky Playgro Toy Tester out there...the other Toy Testers and their mummies are on the same mission as us and have different categories. Our category is 0 - 6 months. 

I really recommend you check out the other bloggers as well as we all receive different things and as no two children are the same may have different views on the products. So without further adieu I introduce the other Playgro Toy Testers:




Monday 12 May 2014

First Foods

Exactly one week ago M and I started V on his first solids. We decided to use rice cereal as a first food. One thing we both agreed on was that V was to have minimal processed food as possible. I did look into making my own rice cereal but in the end decided to purchase organic rice cereal. Our choice was Bellamy's organic rice cereal this was based on the fact when compared to other brands, Bellamy's had more iron per serve and given that one of the reasons baby's starts solids is due to iron depletion, we thought to give V as much iron per serve as we could. Also organic in our opinion is always the best way to go - we picked this up on special for about $3 a packet which works out to be the same and even cheaper than the other brands.



I thought a good time to start his first solids would be around his midday feed that way if there were any allergies I was able to see them throughout the day.  I gave V his full feed and waited 30 minutes before attempting his first foods.  V took to it like a duck to water - whilst being just a little over 19 weeks I knew he was ready he loved it he had approximately one teaspoon of food.  It is important to remember though all babies are different.  We knew he was ready because:


  • he was no longer full after his milk feeds and he was having about 220 ml a feed;
  • he has good control of his head and neck; and
  • every time we ate with V on our lap he would try to grab our food or even open his own mouth - he was mimicking the way we ate as well.

We thought it would not hurt to give it a go and see how he went and even if it didn't work out we would stop and try when he was a bit older.

On Tuesday I was going to attempt again but V came down with some cold symptoms and I decided to hold off and restart on Wednesday. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday V had rice cereal. On Saturday he was vomiting a bit so I decided not to offer solids as he couldn't keep his milk down.

Sunday and Today we offered him carrot which he loved more than the rice cereal.  Tomorrow I will try pear with rice cereal and see how it goes.

To be honest, when I first put V on starting solids I was so nervous he was going to choke or something was going to go wrong. I had to face this fear and every time I give him a new food I always have that little worry that something may go wrong. I just have to get used to it I suppose.

I also offered V cool boiled water after the feeds to make sure all bits of food that may be in his mouth have been washed out.

For the carrot puree:

I chopped an organic carrot and put it in the steamer for 20 minutes to make it soft. I then added cool boiled water and half a carrot and used the stick blender to puree.

How old were you when you first starting putting your little one on solids? what food did they like/dislike? what did you try first?

Sunday 4 May 2014

Sleeping Patterns and Routines

V was born in the night and the first night we had together he slept 8 hours straight I bragged to everyone that I had the perfect baby and the first night he slept all the way through, little did I realise that he was actually probably tired from the whole labour process.  

The second night and following nights we had a lot of problems getting him to sleep/settling we made a lot of first time parent mistakes we didn't really know when he was hungry (I couldn't really tell if he was receiving food or not), when to change his nappy and how to change it properly, whether he was cold (due to the fact the hospital air conditioning was on full blast), wanted to be hugged, etc. it was driving us crazy and we honestly thought we were the worst parents on earth, we were both so sleep deprived.

After speaking with a lactation consultant we realised that he was in fact hungry and that I was not producing enough milk - I started expressing so we actually knew how much he was eating and topping up V's feeds with formula and was advised that he should be fed every 3.5 - 5 hours max.  During the day I would find V would sleep past 5 hours sometimes and I was not sure how to wake him and a lot of family and friends would tell me do not worry about them sleeping past feeds let them sleep and the baby will wake up when they were hungry. This was the worst piece of advice we could have listened to.  We became sleep deprived and were not able to properly function.

I thought to myself there has to be another way - I spoke to the lactation consultant and I did some research on the internet and found that you should wake a sleeping baby to get them into some loose routine - nothing strict at this stage as they are quite young. So we gave it a go and started waking V every 4 hours for a feed and then by about 2.5 months we commenced following the daily routines that have been posted on the Tresillian website - I believe this website is a fabulous resource and most questions are able to be answered straight from the website, however, they do have a helpline parents can call.

Now at 19 weeks old, V has a strict routine and sleeps from about 7.30 pm until about 2.00am which he wakes up for a nappy change and rollover feed he then wakes up again at 7.30am for a feed and we go into his routine.  On the odd occasion he will sleep through the whole night. I believe this is because of putting him in a routine which we made strict from about 3 months which primarily included waking him up for feeds and trying to schedule things in his awake times.

Whilst I know there are some parents out there who do not believe a routine is necessary for their children in our case we needed one. In the end what works for one baby does not necessarily work for another.

For those parents who are interested the Tressillian website is located here and the daily routines for 0 - 6 months and 6 - 14 months are also available as well as settling techniques for up to 12 month olds and toddler settling techniques

What have been your experiences with sleep and settling with your little one? 


Easter Long Weekend and ANZAC Day

Wow I cannot believe that a month has already nearly past since my last blog post - honestly where does the time go? I suppose between Easter and the ANZAC day long weekend time just got away from me.  It was lovely to have M home for a double long weekend as he was able to share the duties of looking after V with me.

Easter Long Weekend 

Easter long weekend was so busy visiting both M's family and my family - I honestly could not believe how much chocolate V received and he is not even on solids yet! M and I were stuck with all the chocolate I tried to find places where we could donate the chocolate to but there was no where I could find, most charities had already done their Easter runs prior to Easter Sunday or on Easter Sunday. If anyone knows of a place I could donate in the future please let me know :)

ANZAC Day 

ANZAC day holds a special place in my heart as my grandfather fought in World War II.  I always admire the strength and courage that our ANZACs had in fighting in the War to protect our country.  Unfortunately he died 2 years before I was born and I always wondered what he was like.  I have only seen photos of him in his army uniform and he looked fairly young in those pictures.  Mum always told me that after the war he had bad legs as a result of running in the trenches and that is what got him in the end - I hope one day I will get to meet him.

I am truly grateful for all those people who have protected and are  protecting our country and pray that they and their families are always kept safe.