New arrivals, new names!

According to recent reports, Jennifer Anniston could be expecting, although whether it is true remains to be seen, how many times has she been rumoured to be pregnant?!

It’s been a bumper year in the world of celebs with a huge crop expecting over the next few months...congratulations to Fearne Cotton, Adele, Gisele Bundchen, Imogen Thomas, Megan Fox, Robbie Williams and wife Ayda, Drew Barrymore, Guy Ritchie and wife Jacqui, Lilly Allen Cooper, Clare Danes, Sarah Michelle Geller, Anna Paquin, Melissa Joan Hart, Adriana Lima and Matthew McConaughey and wife Camilla.

If anyone has a baby due soon and is stuck for a name, there have also been lots of new arrivals too: Sienna Miller celebrated the birth of Marlowe, Jessica Simpson Maxwell, Torri Spelling Finn, Kourtney Kardashian Penelope, Jack Osbourne Pearl, Chantelle Houghton Dolly, Snooki a boy named Lorenzo, Stacey Sollomon Leighton, Anna Faris Jack, Beyonce Ivy Blue, and Mark Owen a girl named Fox.  Other celebs who welcomed a new baby this year include Sophie Ellis Bexter, Alyson Hannigan, Kristin Cavallari, Rosamund Pike and Downton Abbey’s Dan Stevens.

Film, television, music and sport all influence our choice of baby names and the popular names over a particular time will tell you something about sporting successes (Jenson a.k.a Button), popular shows (Kylie) and political figures (Boris a.k.a  Johnson). Some new names have made it on the UK’s top 100 baby names this year including Tommy, Blake, Frankie, Elijah and Jackson for the boys and Bella (think the Twilight films), Willow, Elsie, Kayla, Francesca and Lydia for the girls.  Harry, Oliver, Jack, Alfie and Charlie remain some of the most popular boy’s names and Amelia, Olivia, Lily, Jessica and Emily the girls names. 

To have a look at the trend for your name, or a name you’re thinking of choosing for your baby, log onto England and Wales Baby Names.

Tips for holidaying with tots!

If you’re a first time mum, the thought of taking a new born baby on holiday can be terrifying.  For a start there’s the amount of gear you need to transport, the fear of upsetting an established routine or the anticipation of a long journey.

However, travelling with a young baby, especially if you’re breastfeeding, can often be one of the most relaxing holidays you’ll have as a parent.  You don’t need to worry about bottles or boxes of formula, and their lunchtime nap means you’ll get a quiet couple of hours by the pool!

Over the last few years, the travel industry has woken up to the needs of parents travelling with young children.  There are now specialist travel firms who cater for families holidaying with pre-school children.  They provide properties all over the world with all the baby equipment you could ever need including cots, highchairs, sterilisers, toys, change mats and secure pools.

There are even concierge companies who will send nappies, formula, sun cream, Calpol and whatever you request to your holiday destination, saving hassle, leaking products and excess baggage charges.

Once you’ve booked your perfect holiday, there are a few things to think about.  If you’re formula feeding your baby, and you need a specific brand, do some research to see if you can get it where you’re going?  If your child is on medication, make sure it’s legal for you to bring it into the country you’re travelling to. 

Being stuck on an aeroplane can be testing for most children and whilst you can expect in flight entertainment on a long haul flight, you need to go prepared.  In our experience, revealing a new toy, packing paper and pens, colouring books, snap cards and a fun camera and all great for slightly older children.  With babies, keep a little bit of milk in a bottle for take-off and landing or a lolly pop for toddlers.

On arrival, split the team so one person goes ahead through passport control to get the hire car whilst the other gets the bags – it can save long queues in humid conditions.  If you’re arriving late, pack essentials at the top of your suitcase, and if self catering abroad see if you can pre order a few essentials such as bread and milk (and wine!).

Make sure you familiarise yourself with how to reach the local doctor, you wouldn’t be the first mum to find yourself in the middle of rural France with a sick baby at 3am not knowing how to get medical help.

Something to bear in mind is that in Europe, swimming pools are only really warm enough for children to swim in late June through to early September, unless they’re heated.  Buying a little boat in resort is a great idea and will keep children amused for hours on land or on the water.

So enjoy yourselves, go with the flow; travelling with children changes holidays, but you’ll find yourself enjoying a wide range of activities you’d never have experienced pre children.  And the best thing about holidaying with children, the smile on their faces as you enjoy quality time together as a family.

Win an Emma-Jane maternity swimsuit!

As we post this, Team GB is in third place in the medal's table, with 17 gold, 11 silver and 11 bronze medals.  Like most of the nation, we're swept up in Olympic fever and to celebrate are giving away two of our maternity swimsuits. Available in both black and purple, in sizes UK 10-20, it has a striking criss cross strap and is great for expectant mums looking to exercise in the pool.

To win one of our lovely swimsuits, just answer this question:

How many medals did swimmer Rebecca Adlington win during the 2012 London Olympics?

Please send your answer to michelle@peekaboocoms.co.uk

Olympics - Feeling Inspired?

With the Olympics about to start, talk in the media has turned to how it’s going to turn us into a nation of couch potatoes whilst we sit in front of the TV watching sport instead of taking part in any!

Although being pregnant can some days leave you feeling as though you’ve run a marathon, gentle exercise when pregnant is great for both your body and mind.  As well as helping your body cope with the strain of pregnancy on your joints and muscles, exercise also reduces constipation, backache, fatigue, bad circulation and varicose veins.  

There are some sports that should be avoided – contact sports where you could get hit in the stomach, horse riding, high impact aerobics, scuba diving, running on the road or anything that involves heights.

Walking, stretching and toning are all great when pregnant providing any classes you attend are led by a qualified instructor who is experienced in pregnancy yoga or Pilates. If you were already attending a class before you got pregnant, tell your teacher you’re pregnant so they can let you know of any parts of the lesson you should avoid.  Swimming is particularly good and is great for backache in late pregnancy as the water supports your whole body.  Check out the classes at your local leisure centre, most offer antenatal exercise classes.

At Emma-Jane we have a lovely maternity swimsuit and tankini, available in a choice of colours, as well as soft leggings, and our award winning maternity bras, which are supportive, stylish and above all comfortable.  All in all, the perfect garments for some gentle exercise.

Last but not least, don’t forget to do those important pelvic floor exercises!  Your pelvic floor is the muscle that supports your uterus, bowel and bladder.  Pregnancy and childbirth puts pressure on the pelvic floor and can leave some women with stress incontinence, this is where they lose a few drops of urine when they sneeze or cough.  You can tone your pelvic muscles so they maintain their strength – often called the ‘invisible exercise’ it’s when you pull in and tense your muscles as if trying to stop the flow of urine.  Hold for 5 seconds then relax.  Aim to about 10 sets of 5 exercises each day. 

Twins Top Tips

Linda Nelson is mum to 7 year old identical twin girls.  Admittedly she's well past the breastfeeding stage, but with a little distance between then and now, she gives us her top tips on how to make things a little bit easier when your family unit doubles...

Upon learning we were having twins after the first scan we went out and celebrated with a nice meal. My pregnancy went without a hitch until my waters broke early at 35 weeks and one week later we were blessed with two beautiful identical baby girls. However, the learning curve was steep and we got precious little sleep in the early days! Here are my top tips for survival: 

1) Routine, routine routine!  Get into a routine in terms of feeding, bath time and bedtime; 

2) try get out every day even if it is pouring with rain- get your waterproofs on and roll out the pram. It gives you a break from the four walls

3) get as much sleep as you can- a bit of cat napping when you can, will take the edge of your tiredness; 4) Team work with your other half is essential.  My husband did the evening shift and I did the night shift. I often went to bed at 8.00/9.00PM and then did the night shift from 12.30ish so we both managed to try bank some quality sleep. Unfortunately we had to do this as ours were very poor sleepers for many, many months no matter what we tried! 

5) We made up our bottles the night before and had them in the fridge ready to roll the next day- a quick warm up in the bottle warmer and they were ready to go!

The main thing and above all else- enjoy them. It is a unique experience having and bringing up twins and though the first couple of years  were tough, they are joy and it goes in a flash!

Good luck

The Business of Babies

My name is Isobel Thompson and if it wasn’t for the premature birth of my twins, I’d never have founded my business Morrck. 

 It was in the scorching hot summer of 2003 that I’d produced two tiny babies (twin girls by the way), born many weeks too early.  I was lucky, my girls grew strong and left hospital – and they’re like any other healthy 9 year olds now.

But that first year..my goodness..I thought the next time I’d actually manage to get out of the house was when I was drawing a pension!  Disappointed with the utter impracticality of so many baby products, I decided to do better, and so invented the Baby Hoodie. 

Baby Hoodie

The award winning Baby Hoodie is a unique, hooded travel wrap, shaped to fit into a car seat or pushchair.  It means an ends to fiddly coats, buttons and snowsuits.  No more rigid limbs being forced into snowsuits that are too big, too hot and time consuming!  Slits in the Baby Hoodie allow safety harnesses to feed through the soft fleece, allowing you to strap your baby in and wrap the hoodie around them.  Our Lightweight Hoodie is perfect for the warmer months, giving protection from the sun and warmth in chilly summer breezes. 

As a thank you for all the support I received when my babies were small, we donate £1 for every hoodie sold to TAMBA and to celebrate Twins, Triplets and More Week 2012, we’re doubling up to donate £2 from each sale.

We were delighted last year to be able to donate a Hoodie for the four Little Lambs born as sextuplets but sadly lost two of their siblings.  We hope our Hoodies made this super mum's life just a little bit easier!