Monday, February 05, 2007

Stuff

People keep asking if we’re ‘prepared’ for flicker to arrive. Hmmm, let me think... Emotionally? Hardly. Practically? That’s what they usually mean, and the answer’s still no. We have bought a travel system and car seat. That's it. We’ve bought nothing else.

Okay, so it’s fair to say that other people have given us a few lovely things (babygrows, soft toys, photo albums and other assorted bits of ‘stuff’), but we certainly don't feel ‘prepared’ in any practical sense. People even ask if we’ve decorated “The Nursery” yet. The what? Oh, you mean the guest room. Well, no. Why would we do that? When Flicker’s old enough to let us know what colour he/she wants it then we’ll think about it*. We have just been offered a cot, which we’ve gratefully accepted even though we’ve not entirely decided how much use it’s likely to get. (See earlier post for co-sleeping suggestion.) I guess we should get some nappies in at some point, too...

When I took the blog down after Christmas, I lost my list of blogs from the sidebar, so I’ve just re-instated it from various sources. Some of you are on there only because you’ve commented on my posts and I’m hoping to catch up with your blogs at some point. If you know you used to be on the list and I’ve missed you, do let me know. (Also if you’d rather not be listed.)

*Actually, that bit’s a lie: we are planning to decorate it in the summer. But when people do ask, that’s what I tell them.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am not fan of co-sleeping for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the link to SIDS, but people make their choices and you are entitled to yours. However, you may want to think about the cot for naptime and also for when the child is older.

Treggles said...

Interesting, Anonymous; it must depend what research you read. One of the most striking arguments for co-sleeping in Three in a bed is the evidence that SIDS is virtually unheard of in societies where co-sleeping is still the norm.

kate said...

Actually, it's really hard to get a handle on this, scientifically. I haven't looked at it in awhile but this is what i remember offhand. One thing is that if a baby does die while in bed with the parents, this will typically be diagnosed as 'smothering' rather than 'SIDS'-- SIDS being a diagnosis of exclusion. Another issue is that there seems to be some genetic component to SIDS risks and it may be that those societies have better genes. SIDS is a really complex problem because there is no known 'cause'.

My other concern with cosleeping is falling out of bed, especially with the high beds that are so common now in the States (dunno about the height of your bed, Treggles, but ours is *high*). I did hear a story of a baby falling out of bed and breaking his neck. Yes, a freak accident, but still...anyway, regardless of my concerns, i still did co-sleep (on occasion or more) with both my living children -- with breastfeeding and sleep deprivation sometimes it just seems like the only way...

re being prepared -- you never feel really 'prepared', but you will do fine when the time comes!