Category: How to…

How to… baby fashion

Choux N Co2 Comments

If you are obsessed with baby fashion you might like what I am about to share. I am often asked where I dress our daughter. I try to share the brands as much as I can on my instagram account @choux.nco but not everyone is on it and it is dispatched here and there.

If you want a little head’s up on French baby fashion, I was asked by another mama blogger to write a post about the basics:  

http://www.beiaandluna.com/single-post/2016/07/06/FRENCH-BABYS-FASHION

I don’t dress Elizabeth as a classic French baby though. I am more eclectic. My favorite brands are from all over the world. Read More »

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No cuddles from your baby | How to accept

Choux N Co1 Comment

She is everything we asked for. We wanted a beautiful independent silly baby. We got her: the most beautiful independent silly girl. Playful, easygoing, a delight when it comes to eat, never had to get up at night, smiling, social…

You get it…mama bear’s speaking of her baby girl!

 

During my pregnancy I was over informed about baby bonding, skin to skin contact and tons of other techniques that help connecting with baby, which is good.

Except that I was not prepared to face such an independent baby. All the bondings techniques may have alleviated our connection (that is beautiful and unique) but it has nothing to do with the cuddles like I thought it would. Read More »

Soft like a French baby’s bottom | make your own liniment lotion

Choux N Co19 Comments

I have been using regular baby wipes until my daughter had a bad diaper rash and yeast infection that no diaper rash cream would help ease. She was prescribed Lotrimin for it and she is on cortisone cream for her (light) eczema for 2 months now. Neither of them have been conclusive and I started feeling uncomfortable applying such creams on her daily.

As I follow french moms groups, I often hear about liniment lotion. It is a popular natural preparation a lot of French mothers use on their babies’ skin. Even Though it is sold as wipes and lotion in France, many like to make their own.

 

Uses for baby

  • Cleansing lotion for babies’ diaper area,
  • No need additional water or rinsing,
  • Helps fighting against acidic urine,
  • Cleans baby’s face. Use it like any other wipes,
  • Moisturizing lotion,
  • Massage lotion,
  • Helps reduce cradle cap (apply liniment on the desired area 10-15mn before shampoo your baby’s hair),
  • Helps reducing eczema,

Read More »

Those 5 steps will help you handle any crisis

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Isn’t this picture already making you feel better?

Now, breeze, relax, and read this.

We all go through episodes in life that require skills and experience to be properly handled. It can be a matter of hours, days or months depending on what we are dealing with. But it always challenges our nerves. Here is how I manage my episodes:

  1. Self-control

The most important, yet difficult, is to not do or say something you can regret. This is the first but hardest part of the process. It requires a good sense of self-control that can be gained overtime. If you do not possess it, you would need to work on it.

I am certainly not gifted with such a wisdom. I like to think of what the consequences would be if I followed my impulsions. 

Ignorance is bliss. Anything you say and do can and will be used against you. Life does overall a good job in getting what you ask for. Karma will do the rest for you.Read More »

How her father made me a better wife

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Dads don’t babysit. (it’s called “parenting”)

A british dad became viral wearing his shirt from the National At-Home Dad Network. Even if stay at-home dads are a minority, I am glad to see there is also support for them.

In moms communities we tend to forget speaking about them. Or if we do, it’s to complain…the typical “Sex in the City” gossip.

Think about your partner’s qualities, mark what you gain from him, and think more and more about it.

I would like to take the opportunity to say how important my husband is to me and help you realize  how important yours is to you. Read More »

How we prepare our daughter to be strong

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The day of our wedding, my dad gave a very powerful speech. The kind that, as a bride, daughter, wife and mom, I will never forget. Each and every one of his words went under my skin, spreading chills.

Part of it was about the woman I had become, from his point of view. “Yesterday the rebel kid, you have today developed into a determined woman, who carefully completes everything she undertakes. You impress me when I see the perfectionism you implement to meet your ambitions”

[goosebumps…tears…goosebumps].

I had the happiest childhood surrounded by my parents and two siblings. My father is a businessman and my mother quit her career to take care of us. Only when you become a mother yourself you understand what it takes and what it means. I feel kind of ashamed not to have realized before. Because she has done and does so much for us.

My sister, brother and myself have been raised with authority. Of course with tons of love and a touch of craziness. Add to that an intense and long ballet training amongst the best ballet schools in Paris. I can pretty much admit I am comfortable with strictness.

In a society where authority over children is far from being popular, weakness/fragility/easiness have become a trend.

Read More »

Sleep deprived? How to teach baby to sleep through the night

Choux N Co8 Comments

When will my baby sleep through the night? How many times have you asked yourself this question?

At 8 weeks old our daughter was sleeping from 11pm – 9 am straight and at 4 months old 8pm to 8pm. Yes she is an amazing sleeper but not only.

The most common comment I received after “you are so lucky” is probably “you have such an easy baby”.

TRUE and FALSE. She was such an easy going newborn in so many ways. Although, sleeping through the night is also a matter of process and method. It does not come by magic. 

WHERE DOES THE NEWBORN SLEEP?Read More »

Dad’s struggle is real. Easy ways to help him be a father.

Choux N Co2 Comments

Carrying and having a baby is quite an adventure. The challenge is physical, emotional and nervous. We know it.

But let’s pause and go back where you were before baby arrived. You had the idyll life as a couple, and it may be your motivation to go a step forward. Or it may not but, you had it going for you anyway.

Baby’s arrival disrupts the couple balance.

No matter how arduous this is, mothers have prepared (consciously and unconsciously) for it, pretty much all their life.  Nobody can deny women are (at least physically) intended to give birth. We’ve prepared for years and bonded 9 months to be ready to meet baby.

Dads do not possess the ability to build-up the same mental and emotional strength. This must be brutal for them. They are way behind us and need to catch-up very fast, what we’ve built for all this time.

Read More »

The unpractical survival guide to the first days following birth

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Do you feel the contractions? Here they are. Finally !

You try to follow your birth plan, if you have one. I, personally trained and prepared myself with and for hypnobirthing.

Long story short, I had quite a long labor with different phases: 30 hours and 1 hour pushing.

Yet, I was mentally and physically prepared.

Oddly, the one hour pushing felt like an easy game. Baby and I worked together, we were connected.

I gave birth.

And here she was, in my arms, on my chest. Like to pursue the connection we had built, to tell me “we did it mom”, she stared at me, with her eyes wide open. Balancing form my left to right eye. We were physically discovering each others. She was extending the bonding we created for 9 months. It was strong.

pied naissance Elizabeth (1)After minutes of intense fusion, they took her to the scale and did everything she was scheduled for, like every newborn.

I found this to be a tricky moment. Alone. Of course, daddy is with the baby. You still have work to end with the OB and the medical team. Read More »