Tag: terrible twos

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Eczema Prone Skin…? Aveeno Moisturiser For Mums & Tiny-Tots

Beauty woman with Aveeno body lotion skin care oats baby and mum

The Affordable Nourishing Skin Care For Baby & Mum

It’s often felt as though, I’m constantly on this never ending hunt… for reasonably priced moisturisers, that I can actually apply – all over my body. I’m not interested in hoarding a collection of lotions… for example – one for my hands and one for my feet – and then another one entirely for my body. I. just. want. one. One decent moisturiser, that I can literally slap all over myself – from head-to-toe… and. be. done. with. it.

Yep, I’ve tried all kinds of drugstore options, always in the hope of discovering, a less-expensive staple. I’ve picked lotions up in Boots and Superdrug; and every time thinking – oh yes, this will be the one; but nine-times-out-of-ten… I end up passionately… disliking them. I inevitably discover, that they’re either too greasy or sticky… or as they warm up – the scent turns me off. In all, I’ve identified two cheaper moisturisers, that I’ve been satisfied with. And. of. course… as it always goes – one was discontinued; and then the other was tampered with, by the Cosmo-Dermatologists – so the formula was no longer the same – boo.

I’m sure – similarly to many other ladies; this eventually bought me to the conclusion, that I should perhaps begin requesting the ‘good stuff’, each Birthday, Christmas, and Valentine’s Day! And so… whenever I was asked the question – ‘what would you like me to get for you’ – I would often ask for some outrageously priced bottle of potion, that claimed it would make me feel like a goddess… sent from somewhere out-of-Earth. And – – – erm… I’m still on Earth… well I think anyway !

Honestly, from Drugstore-galore… to the opposite end of the potion spectrum… i’ve certainly trundled through my fair share of cheap – and luxury skincare products. And while I’ll admit to you, that I do enjoy a couple of my branded lotions… I can now confidently advise you, that you can indeed – also find something perfectly decent – on a shelf in your local supermarket. And… we shall come to this part shortly ; )

So, it’s no secret – that I’ve always had problems identifying a lotion to suit my skin; but fast-forward to January 2018… and I was suddenly gifted a beautiful baby boy, who wait for it… had (and still has) problematic skin – Eczema. Oh. My. Lord…. so now, it was an ongoing cycle… of continuously being on the hunt; for a lotion to suit not only myself… but also my little tot! And honestly… everything I tried for my son… wasn’t working. It was beginning to actually feel quite stressful!

Enter Aveeno…

Aveeno baby and mummy mom body moisturiser lotion for eczema prone skin
Aveeno Daily Moisturiser For Baby & Mum

I had spotted this Aveeno stuff on offer while shopping, but due to so many lotions only exacerbating my babies condition – I had gradually become rather sceptical… and actually pretty darned cautious about purchasing creams. I had liked the look of the Aveeno packaging… and also the product description, so I decided to have a look online to see what Aveeno was all about.

Okay, so in a nut shell… Aveeno is a holistic beauty brand, created by American brothers – ‘Sydney and Albert Musher‘, who’d basically had a fascination with oats – in relation to health, so began researching it in 1945. The renowned ‘Mayo Clinic‘ dermatologists, recognised the brothers work… and not too long after – the Aveeno brand was born!

Aveeno has published seventy years of clinical evidence, supporting the benefits of oats… and other natural ingredients. In all, Aveeno specialise in the utilisation of ‘nature’s ingredients‘ – to create lotions designed to balance and regenerate the skin. Aveeno’s signature product (now used by me) – consists of ‘finely-milled colloidal oatmeal‘… intended to ‘heal dry and compromised skin‘… as they say.

So, after doing some homework on Aveeno, I was pretty much drawn in… by the sheer simplicity of the ingredients. I loved the look of the packaging; and I hadn’t actually tried anything made from oats before; and so – I decided to return to the shops that same day… and purchase the baby and adult version of this cream… along with the baby bath wash. I’m. glad. I. did.

I noticed that after bathing my tot in the Aveeno wash – and then plastering him in the moisturiser afterwards… that he somehow seemed to be a fair bit smoother. The part that struck me most about all of this, was that the next day… to my amazement – my tots skin was also reasonably soft, instead of being broken out in lots of red spots as it usually would be the next morning. His skin certainly wasn’t perfect, but it was indisputably... better. Result!

And what about the adult version of this cream you might wonder…? I was excited to try this stuff I have to say; and I firstly used it on my hands. RESULT. I didn’t find it to be horribly greasy, to that point as always… where I only end up washing it off. I then tried it on my body after showering – and again… I couldn’t actually find anything to complain about. The real tester came the moment I washed my face in the evening and applied it… yet again – absolutely fine. I found that it was really moisturising… without being sticky or terribly greasy.

In all, I would say – that if you’re looking for a moisturiser that isn’t overly expensive, for you and your little one… then Aveeno could certainly be worth a try. It comes in at around £6.00-£18.00, depending on the size of the bottle – so not as cheap as your other drugstore options, but for the results, I personally would buy it any day… over one of the £60.00 bottles I own… just sitting in a drawer – as I find it too greasy!

If you or you tot – have easily aggravated skin, then I would confidently recommend giving the au naturel Aveeno brand a go : ).

I really hope this will help with your moisturiser journey – and I’d love to hear your thoughts… feel free to leave a comment and subscribe for more from B&M :O)

With warm wishes as always,

Olivia… ‘FLY’ ; )

Xo

Since it’s Halloween Soon… Happy Halloween ; )
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Toddler Tantrums – The Low Down

A toddler having a tantrum in a phone box

Erm no, my baby is so sweet – I don’t think this one will suffer with the ‘terrible twos’… she says!

‘The terrible twos’ – as they sometimes put it… meaning toddler tantrums, is a beautifully-chaotic phase, that appears to pop-up out-of-nowhere – somewhere around the age of two. It’s when your lovely baby boy or girl (it applies to both), really begins to develop their sense-of-self and mind. Unlike the baby that they previously were – craving mainly attention… they have now realised, that they’re an entirely separate person to you; and they have developed stronger preferences… that they’ll as-sure-as-sugar – try to demonstrate to you. At this point, a little power struggle commences – between toddler and parent… but try not to panic – it’s. perfectly. normal !

I remember initially – whenever my little boy was in the middle of a tantrum – I mean rolling around on the floor and screaming-the-house-down kind of tantrum… I always used to think – why are you doing this to me? What have I done wrong? At the beginning of it all – I can recall sometimes getting upset… and honestly – almost taking it personally. I just couldn’t seem to get my head around, how we were laughing and enjoying each others company, a short second ago – yet now, he was treating me as arch-enemy.

I remember trying everything with him – I would initially stay incredibly calm and wait it out. If this didn’t work, I would try to cuddle him – plastering him in kisses and sweet-talk. If this also didn’t work, I would try to be funny – which would inevitably make him become more hysterical. And then when all-else-failed – and I felt I had exhausted my energy resources… I would then become flustered and frustrated with him – which again… only amplified his hysteria.

For me, the time when the penny dropped… on this unfamiliar tantrum-territory – was a very surreal moment for me indeed. I had been bathing my little tot – and we’d been having lots of fun together in the tub, you know… all the toys and the sing-songs – the whole shebang! Everything again – was going beautifully well…until it was time to get out of the bath that is. My little one went absolutely berserk – I mean… probably the worst hysteria I have ever experienced from him.

This time… in place of trying to negotiate with him – I instead analysed, his every-move… incredibly closely. I got down on the bedroom floor with him – and simply sat on the carpet propped up against the drawers. He was screaming, slapping me, putting his head in his hands – he was literally all over the place.

So, I simply sat. Nothing else. I sat propped up with my legs open – so he could come in for a cuddle if he needed to… and I just sat and waited. He was climbing all over me, then running around the room – then climbing all over me again trying to have a hug, then walking away and screaming again. But:- Instead of trying to talk, lots of sugary-sweet-talk to him… I simply held, a gentle look of empathy on my face – so it meant that my whole demeanour, was down to his level and friendly. I then said – in the calmest, most sincere tone that I possibly could – ‘it’s okay darling – I know it’s hard, when you have to stop doing something that you were enjoying doing – yes, it’s okay to be upset darling’. And then… I just waited.

Suddenly – my toddler now had his arms properly around me – he was still standing up on me, but every now and again, I just repeated – ‘I know darling, it’s hard isn’t it’. I said this ever so calmly and gently – yet somehow, still firmly enough… for him to know that bath time had definitely finished. Eventually – and yet so suddenly… my toddler had stopped the hysteria; and he was now in more of a – sniffy-snotty state. In this moment, I then asked – ‘would you like to have a cuddle baby?’ – (he answered yes)… ‘okay then darling – let’s have a cuddle’ – you get the gist! And then, to my absolute astonishment – my little tot was now fully embraced, in a cuddle with me.

He was significantly calmer... and rather than yelling hysterically – he was now sniffing back much smaller tears. He’d completely “surrendered” – and before I knew it, he was agreeable to most things that I suggested. i.e. ‘would you like to choose some pyjamas now’… yea. ‘Would you like to have some milk now darling?’ – yea please… and so on.

What suddenly hit me, was the realisation, that this little toddler – he. is. just. that… a toddler. I realised in that moment, that toddlers do not actually possess – a great deal of logic, or the means to be rational with us. Although their will and ideas are certainly strong… they don’t always know, exactly what it is – that they actually want; and they don’t always know – how to communicate what they are feeling to us. In my sons case, he was feeling frustrated – for the fact that I was going against what he wanted to do; and since he didn’t have the level of communication, or the ability to rationalise – it therefore built up into an explosive form of frustration for him – and he could only express it… in the form of a highly emotional tantrum.

I came to realise – by watching; and by really trying, to find it in myself to understand… that my toddlers behaviour was not – in any way done on purpose… or for the sheer sake of it. I soon realised, that it’s simply all part-and-parcel, of this vital stage in their development – an outlet for the emotions, that they can’t quite understand… and of course – just being a normal two-year-old.

When my son was attending nursery, I was talking to one of the lovely nursery-nurses – about his behaviour. At that point, I was at the stage, where I was still getting used to the tantrums. I’d been trying various gentle methods, to help my son work through his anger, but the one thing I hadn’t thoroughly tested… was the ‘naughty-step‘. So, I asked the nursery nurse, what she thought about the naughty-step technique; and her response was, that she felt it would be fine – but, she explained that it was essential – that I stayed near my son – during ‘naughty-step time’.

So, that very night – when my little one threw a big hissy fit – I set out a comfy little leather foot stool… and had him sit there for two minutes. I explained to him why we were doing this – and I told him, that if we are naughty and don’t listen to mummy – then we will be taking time-out… on the naught chair. Of course, my son began crying… and crying some more, but… to my absolute astonishment – he stayed on the chair! While he didn’t like the experience – he bizarrely seemed to understand, that he was there as a consequence, of his behaviour. I sat on a chair very near to him – and gently talked him through the process. As we approached the last few seconds, I went over to him (at his level) and asked if he was going to be a good boy?. He said yes – and so, I asked him if he would like a cuddle… and he again said yes. So, we had a cuddle – and then after that, he was happy and also behaved… result!

Something I always wonder as a parent, is what it would it be like – to be a fly on the wall… just to observe myself for a moment ? This is a thought, that I now live by – when it comes to dealing with my son; and I would like to share it with you – because it’s a really thought-provoking concept. During any given tantrum, I always try to think to myself, okay – so how would the fly-on-the-wall, be perceiving this? What would the fly have to say, about what the toddler is doing – versus how the parent (me)… is reacting to the toddler? The toddler being two-and-a-half – and me being thirty…? ?

With this in mind… I now always try to look at situations… from the outside in. Meaning, that instead of firstly paying attention to my own emotions – and acting based on what I am seeing with my own eyes… and to what I am feeling inside – Instead – I first look at how I’m behaving… in the ‘eye of the fly’. Because, the eye of the fly – can see everything – not just your child like you can… they can see you too. The fly on the wall – is your perspective. And perspective – is a really useful and beautiful thing.

Honestly, it’s really not easy being a parent; and I can thoroughly identify and empathise – with every single one of you, who are struggling with this challenging phase. None-of-us are perfect – and we’re all only human, so it’s tough… it really isn’t easy. My sincere hope is, that if you do take anything away from this post… I hope it can be a little strength; and also the courage to know – that you’ve got this. Because… it does. get. easier.

With warm wishes as always,

Fly on the wall

AKA – Olivia xo

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