The holidays are undoubtedly a stressful time. Of course, it’s great to spend time with loved ones, share presents and eat good food while watching nostalgic movies. But along with all of that, comes spending time with people you’d rather avoid, eating too much, and – perhaps –  family rows. So how do you go about surviving the holidays during pregnancy?

1. Be realistic – you need to know your limitations. If you usually travel across the country to spend Christmas with your folks, but your baby is due on New Years, you’ll probably prefer to stay closer to home this year. If you’re suffering with backache or general discomfort, you should try to avoid unnecessary, long-distance travel over the festive period. If you’re feeling tired, you may want to leave your social calendar a little emptier this year, and give yourself time to recover after big events.
2. Take it easy – whether you’re in the throes of the first trimester nausea, or exhaustedly lugging around a full term bump, you should try to take it easy this holiday season. Make sure you get enough rest, drink plenty of water, eat healthily and try to get some exercise each day.
3. Staying sober – if you usually enjoy Christmas over the limit, you may feel left out sitting soberly on the sidelines this year. Just because you can’t drink alcohol, doesn’t mean you just have to drink tap water, though. Why not whip up some exotic mocktails for the occasion, and indulge yourself in a variety of fruit juices, flavoured waters and soft drinks? If you’re worried about feeling left out while everyone indulges, ask your partner to join you on your temporary wagon, and enjoy your last holiday together before the new baby arrives.
4. Emotional turmoil – with the nostalgic Christmas films, emotion-fuelled television adverts, and countless family memories, Christmas has the potential to become a sob fest. Add to that the hormones, sleepless nights and anxiety of pregnancy, and you may just have a recipe for disaster. You may end up sobbing into your sprouts or even screaming across the spuds. Try to remember that the holidays are a time for heightened emotions, and so it’s easy for things to get out of hand. Stay calm, and try to enjoy your festive period.
5. Eat healthily – don’t worry, you can have the odd treat, but do try to stick to a healthy diet over Christmas. Gobble up the occasional mince pie, but be sure to also eat your fair share of fresh fruit, nuts and vegetables. Eating little and often can help to reduce dizziness during pregnancy, so try to keep healthy snacks in the house for this.

Are you dreading the holidays with a bump, or looking forward to them?

Written by Fiona (@Fiona_Peacock), mother, writer and lover of all things baby related.

This information is not intended to replace the advice of a trained medical doctor. Health & Parenting Ltd disclaims any liability for the decisions you make based on this information, which is provided to you on a general information basis only and not as a substitute for personalized medical advice. All contents copyright © Health & Parenting Ltd 2017. All rights reserved.

There is nothing worse than sleep deprivation. The complete and utter exhaustion of new parenthood is unlike anything else. You’re so tired your hair hurts, your teeth ache and you can’t remember the last time you had a decent conversation. Your most searched for term on Google is ‘when will my baby sleep through the night?’ You fantasize about getting to enjoy eight hours of uninterrupted blissful slumber. Put simply, you’re desperate for sleep. So desperate, in fact, you’d do anything. So, should you leave your baby to cry it out?

The cry it out method

The cry it out method does pretty much exactly what it says on the tin. Instead of going in to soothe your baby, you simply leave her to cry it out. When following the method, parents are advised to leave their baby to cry for slowly increasing periods of time before going into the room. It’s not for everybody, but some parents swear by it as a way of getting a decent night’s sleep. Cry it out is not advised for babies aged under six months.

There are different versions of the cry it out sleep method. While some may be quite harsh and advise parents not to comfort their crying infants, other take a gentler approach to sleep training. The idea behind the cry it out method is that it will teach your baby how to soothe himself to sleep, thus saving you a job in the middle of the night and, hopefully, allowing you to get a better night’s sleep.

Why wouldn’t I do it?

If it works, why would a parent choose not utilize cry it out to grab a few extra hours sleep each night? Well, your baby’s cries are her early attempt at communication. Some parents simply don’t feel comfortable ignoring their baby’s cries and prefer instead to respond quickly to their baby’s needs. The argument behind cry it out is that it teaches babies to self-soothe, but some experts feel that babies are too young to learn how to self-soothe. Some parents fear that, far from teaching your child to self-soothe, you are instead teaching her that nobody will come when she cries.

How you raise your child is a deeply personal decision and one that only you and your partner can make together.

Do you feel comfortable with the idea of the cry it out method and are you planning to try it when your baby is six months old?

Written by Fiona (@Fiona_Peacock), mother, writer and lover of all things baby related.

This information is not intended to replace the advice of a trained medical doctor. Health & Parenting Ltd disclaims any liability for the decisions you make based on this information, which is provided to you on a general information basis only and not as a substitute for personalized medical advice. All contents copyright © Health & Parenting Ltd 2016. All rights reserved.