Cubling is sitting in her electric swing, the dummy spat out in front of her, kicking her legs, unsure if to complain to draw my attention away from the laptop towards her or to enjoy the nursery rhyme music in the background. The magic of the swing, which stopped her inconsolable crying and send her into the land of nod within minutes a few weeks ago, is slowly but surely disappearing. She still sometimes falls asleep in it, but it takes much longer and usually about 20 minutes of crying before she gets there. And sometimes she doesn't.   more »

Bitte unbedingt bei der naechsten Rhabarberkleinschneideaktion dran denken, ein Brettchen oder Schneidebrett zu benutzen. Rhabarber ist in roher Form naemlich recht fest und Hackangriffe ueber der Spuele fuehren unter Umstaenden zum Anhacken von Fingerkuppen und damit verbundenem (pun intended) Langzeitaufenthalt in der Notaufnahme.

Der National Health Service Grossbritanniens ist naemlich ganz schoen clever: Die lassen einen Dank begrenzter Ressourcen so lange in der Notaufnahme warten, bis die Verletzung schon wieder fast verheilt ist. Auch eine Art des Sparens.

Jetzt muss ich nur noch lernen, ohne den linken Zeigefinger zu tippen. Nicht einfach sage ich euch.

Wie bereits erwaehnt entdeckt man als new mum mit new baby ein ganz anderes Glasgow. Seit einigen Wochen kenne ich meine Nachbarschaft bedeutend besser, bin mit den Ladenbesitzer per du und sehe nur noch Kinderwagen. Eine ganz lobenswerte Einrichtung und Nummer Eins in der Reihe "what shall we do with the waky baby" ist das Baby Screening. Es gibt hier einige Kinos, zumeist solche, die was auf sich halten, die einmal pro Woche bzw. einmal pro Monat eine Vorstellung nur fuer Mamas/Papa sund Babys anbieten. Was ein Alptraum jedes kinderlosen Kinoliebhabers ist, wird langsam aber sicher zu meinem allwoechentlichen Highlight.   more »

In einer knappen halben Stunde ist Cublings Dreimonatsgeburtstag. Und zur Feier des Tages hat sie gerade eben etwas getan, was mich aus dem Staunen nicht herauskommen laesst. Sie liegt im Moseskorb und ist einfach eingeschlafen. Einfach so. Gestern noch hat sie 5 Stunden geschrieen und wollte konstant gestillt werden, bis ich mit den Nerven voellig am Ende um 1 Uhr mit der Flasche nachhalf und erst eine halbe Stunde spaeter war endlich Ruhe. Heute scheine ich ein anderes Baby ins Bett gebracht zu haben - den ganzen Tag kein Geschrei, ein Nachmittagsschlaf von ueber 2 Stunden, ein glueckliches Baby am Abend, das gebannt auf den Fernseher schaut, waehrend ich neue Fotos hochlade und Videos konvertiere, telefoniere, zu Abend esse etc. So koennte es jeden Tag sein. Ich bin so baff, dass ich die Freiheit des schlafenden Cubling einfach zum Bloggen nutzen muss.   more »

Did I say predictable routine in my previous post? I think I might have. Stuff that, that was last week, this week is another story altogether. Still, the fact that I've got time to post this is like the light at the end of another wee tunnel.   more »

So many things are easier by now, that's week 11 after b-day. I can read cubling's cries most times, and there's something resembling a predictable routine emerging. I also know what she enjoys, often she doesn't need to go to the full cry to get what she wants, and she interacts.

All the more disconcerting are those evenings then when she cries for hours, only consoled by nursing her. The nursing fades into a slight suckle, half sleep, I take her off, the crying starts all over again. We had this in Fife, after a long coastal walk, and again last night, after a day in the sun and unusual summer heat. Both times I ventured outside my comfort zone during the day, and there may have been reasons for increase in hunger. All I know is that the crying was for food. I nursed for hours without success and finally, at midnight, distressed by my babies hunger, I succumbed to using formula. Both times it was with a heavy heart, because I fear she may develop allergies, which make my own life difficult at times, and I really don't want to pass them on to her. I was also worried to read that the formula milk contains fish.

What I don't understand though, in spite of having read every breastfeeding site I can get hold of (I do enjoy researching a topic that interests me to ridiculous depths), consulting midwives, books and internet forum, why occasionally I cannot meet cubling's hunger. While I'm confident that most days, and at most feeds I do, there are occasions where I'm just as sure that I don't. This is in stark contrast to all the expert advice which maintains that milk supply is very rarely an issue. Many of my friends supplemented as well, yet there are also statistics supporting the successful exclusiveness of breastfeeding.

It's a minefield. On the one hand, there is the WHO recommendation and lots of research which demonstrates the health benefits of exclusive breast feeding in the first 6 months. There is no research into the effect of occasional artificial supplements, yet most breast feeding women in the UK seem to supplement sooner or later before the 6 months are over. On the other hand, women in Scandinavian countries seem to manage fine - 98% is the incredible statistic for breast feeding, although I don't know for how long and if this is exclusive breast feeding. The message that the breast feeding police gives is that exclusivity is important and that supplementing may quickly lead to difficulties.

At the end of the day though, if my baby is hungry and I cannot fill her tummy, I'd rather risk it and give her artificial feeds than listen to a hungry cry for hours. With all my commitment to natural feeding, I will not let my baby starve. What I don't understand is why situations like the two evenings that I experienced are not acknowledged in the breast feeding support sites, and why there is no research into the benefits and dangers of mixed feeding which would allow an informed decision when presented with the dilemma of a hungry baby.

In the UK, it is possible to indefinitely detain children without trial.

You may find this shocking. You're right. These children are detained because they are seeking asylum. The UK Government maintains a reservation on international legislation which prohibits the detention of children for immigration purposes. Detention of people seeking asylum, including families with children, is possible at each point of the asylum application. It is used mostly if there is an assumption that a case is clearly unfounded, if a claim for asylum has been unsuccessful, if the identity of the person applying for asylum is unclear, if there is a fear of absconding, or if removal from the country is imminent. However, there are also many cases where non of this applies. Regardless of why asylum seekers are detained, Save the Children and many other NGOs believe that the detention of children for immigration purposes is always wrong.

Refugee children living in Glasgow have made a film about the detention of children in the UK and you can view it online here, and even get your own copy of it. On the same site, you can also view a detention tree and a collection of writing by pupils of St Brendan's Primary School who lost some of their classmates to detention and removal. It's the result of what I, as part of a team, have been working on with various groups of young people over many months. It coincides with the announcement that more families and children will be detained in Scotland in the months to come.

We've done it. Our first holiday with cubling. Boy was I nervous, not knowing what to take, what to forget and how on earth to keep cubling happy without her electrical swing. We did it nonetheless, and spent a long weekend in the ancient Kingdom of Fife, in a holiday house in Cellardyke to be precise, with another two couples with babies - the latter 4, 3 and 2 months old.

Cellardyke's recent claim to fame was the dead bird flu swan which was found in the harbour. Harbour is a grand word really. Sure, a harbour it is, it's the type of thing where boats can land, just that there are no boats and it looks a bit on the small side. Still, the harbour is the centrepiece of this former Fife fishing village, and it's even got a name: Skinfast. The village looks like an outpost of Anstruther, and we almost went right past it. All the more impressing is its history: apparently 200 fishermen found their daily bread, eh, fish here in the 19th century. And because fish prefer to be swimming even after being cooked, it also was home to 24 breweries and 70 coopers (that's the guys who make the barrels for the beer). Astounding I dare say.

We stayed in a lovely 5 bedroomed self catering house, with lots of attention to detail, a lovely garden including a real (non electrical) swing and barbecue. Not that the fresh sea breeze would be particularly inviting to take advantage of that, even in June, but it looked very pretty anyway.

Cellardyke is definitely in the shadow of its big and famous neighbour Anstruther, and yes, Anstruther is prettier, has more shops, and above all the world famous Anstruther Fish Bar. Where best to eat your fish supper than right at the source, where the fish comes straight from the sea into your plate. It really is a grand sight, the constant queue outside the chippy, plus those who've already beaten the queue and are munching their fish and chips at the harbourside. The fish is very tasty indeed, and the interior of the restaurant definitely helps pass the time between hunger and fish. Videos of fishing out in the rough North Sea, paper clippings, lots of little stories about the place and its history, and the nautical decor of the place make it easy to forget how long the wait may be. And they even cater for a yummy desert with their very own ice cream corner. What more can you ask for.

The next day saw my first proper walk with cubling in her babycarrier. Thankfully it was a flat coast walk, and the baby sling worked surprisingly well. Crail was our destination, and what a pretty little town it is, with an even prettier tea room/crafty bits place, and a pottery. The tea room looked oh so lovely, with lots of handmade items for sale, everything was so nice until the owner accused us on our way out of trying to evade payment of a bag of crisps. He made a real fuss, so he did, and blamed us for splitting bills (that's the non-feathery type) and himself for allowing us to have split the bills. I didn't quite see the connection, at the end of the day he wanted to charge us for something we didn't have, how does splitting bills have anything to do with it? Other than that we may not have noticed that we're paying for something we didn't have? Whatever, it spoiled my enjoyment big time. Such a shame, it's such a gem of a place really.

Oh, and I didn't forget to pack anything, or totally overdo the baby stuff. The only problem was her suddenly increased hunger. Nothing would console her, so at 10 weeks , with my boobs sucked dry, I had to resort to a formula feed. Heavy heartedly I dare say. It must have been the fresh sea air that made her ravenous. I did feel a bit rejected as cubling took the bottle without any niggles, gulping it down. Who says breast fed babies may reject a bottle of formula? Not mine, anything goes that fills her ever hungry tummy. With a big smile afterwards, all the previous crying forgotten. Ah well, whatever makes her happy.