The Maxi Cosi Iora Review

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One of the hardest parts of having a newborn is the sleep deprivation.  It doesn't matter whether it is your first or fifth baby, it is exhausting.  I spent a week living on adrenaline with Rex, able to wake up every hour of the night and still feel human in the morning. Around day 7, things started to change though and the reality was a lot more tiring! 

 

One thing that I find really helpful in combatting just a tiny amount of that tiredness, is having Rex close enough to reach without me having to move at all.  We chose an Iora co-sleeper crib from Maxi Cosi after seeing the options in person for several reasons.  It seemed a great size for a baby expected to be big, had a huge basket underneath and I loved how the design looked. 

I didn't end up actually putting it together until the day he was born but thankfully it was really easy to assemble.  The crib has five different heights so it can go alongside beds of varying heights and has long straps to attach it to different types of bed frame.  You have the option to use it as a free standing crib with solid sides, or to have one side down so baby is right next to you.  The box also includes a bag for if you want to travel with the crib but this is something we haven't tried.  It is easy to fold though and I am sure it will accompany us on an overnight trip in the future!

With a breastfed baby that wakes frequently in the night, the convenience of not having to stand up at night is fantastic. I can reach out and touch him to reassure him or help him put his dummy back in if he wants it without having to move.  When he needs a feed, I can sit up and reach over to pick him up without having to get out of bed and it is easy to put him back down.  I feel happy being close enough that I can hear his breathing and react to his cues and I hope he will fit in the crib until it isn't safe any longer (usually around 9 months) as it is a generous size.

The Iora has a large basket underneath which I use to store nappies and wipes for night time changes and a few small toys so that we can play in the morning without having to get out of bed.  I also have spare muslin cloths and blankets under there and there is plenty of space for more.  I love how the colour of the crib goes well with our bedroom.  It is also available in a lighter grey and a beautiful dark blue so you can plan to your interiors.  The mattress is described as ' the most comfortable mattress your baby could ever dream of' amd it does seems to be very comfortable as Rex is happy sleeping in there every night 

I am so pleased that we chose the Maxi Cosi Iora as Rex's crib as it fits all our needs and looks snuggly and comfy for his night time sleeping.   Whilst this one was sent to us so that I could share our opinion, it was our first choice and all the love for it is genuine in every way!

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Sleep Issues

I never really appreciated how well Dylan slept until I had Archie.  I thought Archie was a bad sleeper until I had Finn.  I thought I knew what tiredness was, and then I had Cora.  Somehow my babies have managed to get progressively worse at sleep and the idea of a full nights sleep is becoming less attainable.  Finn still wakes once or twice a night, he is normally settled with a dummy or a quick cuddle, but Cora wakes regularly, every two hours minimum for milk.

At 7 months, I am starting to struggle more with the sleep deprivation.  In those early days things are so blurry but the adrenaline and new baby hormones seemed to help me cope.  As Cora gets older, it is getting harder to function the next day and it seems the less sleep I get, the more time in the day I spend thinking about it.  I feel like we have got to the stage where I need to decide what is more important to me.

I love co-sleeping and in many ways it works so well for us.  I barely need to stir in the night to feed her and it feels so natural to be close to her.  Cora is happiest in the bed with us, she doesn't have to cry out in the night for me and risk waking a brother and there is something so precious about having a baby curled up sleeping next to you.

On the other hand, I do think sometimes that if she couldn't smell me, if she had her own space, that she may not wake as frequently, and maybe we could both get a little more sleep and spend our days looking a little less like a zombie (me, not her).  We have a snuzpod set up attached to our bed which she still comfortably fits in and when we are both ready we can rearrange the bedrooms and sort out her cot.

With a busy house, there is something so special about our night time cuddles.  Cora is always close to me in the day, but this is our time to be quiet and calm together,  our time without a brother trying to cuddle in at the same time, without distractions, just still.   As she is becoming more mobile, I need to start thinking about how to keep her safe too, whether we need to get bed rails for the other side of the bed, or invest in a video monitor so I can keep a better eye on her. 

 For now I am going to enjoy the quiet bedtime cuddles and just hope we come out the other side of this rather long sleep regression.  Any tips?

Cora's beautifully soft organic cotton blanket was sent to us by the people at Joolz and it looks so snuggly!

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Half a Year Baby Girl

Somewhere in the mayhem of Christmas and New Year, in between the mince pies and Prosecco, my baby girl turned six months old.  Her half-birthday was spent in a Christmas comedown, we were too busy finishing the boxes of chocolates and playing with new toys to really notice it, but like it or not, Cora is now six months old.

Six months old means the newborn days really are gone and we have replaced that tiny newborn with a baby that sits up and rolls around and shouts at us to get attention.  She chats away in her own little language, she chews everything in sight and her personality shows through more each day.  My little lady is a Mummy's girl and wants to be in my arms all day.  If I hand her to anyone else she needs to check constantly that I am still there, still within her sight and ready to take her when she lets us know she has had enough.  She still wants to sleep curled up next to me and I can't imagine her anywhere else.

On Christmas day we started weaning and I have a feeling it will be a slow process.  2 days off of the recommended six months and we offered Cora carrots on her tray.  She picked them up, she licked them, she pulled a face of utter disgust and she left them alone.  We are following the principles of baby led weaning so I am confident when she is ready she will eat a little more.  I am quietly hoping it will improve her sleep (without holding out too much hope) as she has recently taken to feeding every hour.  She can sometimes do a 2-4 hour stretch when I first put her down, but after that she likes to wake and feed very frequently, sometimes just being awake for a few hours in the middle of the night.  

Cora is pretty average sized and we are starting to pack away some of the smallest of her 3-6 month clothes and bring out some of the smaller fitting 6-9 month bits.  I will be washing her stretchy wrap this week ready to pass on as she is so curious and heavy that I find her more comfortable in a more structured carrier.  We swapped the carrycot for the seat unit reclined on her pushchair about a week before she turned 6 months (although she was back in the carrycot tonight) and she loves being able to see a bit more of the world.  

The boys still adore their baby sister, they know how to make her laugh, and they are incredibly gentle at times.  Finn is desperate for her to join in with his games still and he is a lot less gentle, Cora adores him and I can already foresee the mischief they are going to be causing together once she is on the move.

I can't fathom how these six months have passed so quickly and I am desperately hoping that the next six are a little slower.

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The Snuzpod Downstairs

It may be that Finn is my last, or that I am a bit of a clingy mum but we haven't started putting him upstairs to bed yet.  He is ready for bed with his brothers at half seven, a routine he put himself into, but whilst the bloke takes the big two upstairs for stories, clean teeth and bed time cuddles, Finn and I have milk and snuggle on the sofa.

I am an absolute co-sleeper convert, and I love the fact we can use our Snuzpod as a moses basket downstairs.  I bring it down in the evening, adding on the extra side, and it sits on our coffee table.  We have a huge coffee table so it sits comfortably on there but I always make sure one of us is in the room with Finn just in case. (Snuzpod do not recommend using it on a raised surface).  I love that I can watch him sleeping, as the side that zips on is a transparent mesh and Finn doesn't seem bothered at all by the noise of a typical evening in our house.  As a moses basket it can be rocked too, as the bottom is curved which makes it ideal for any close calls.

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Sleep and the Snuzpod

Sleep is one of the big topics of conversation for new parents, more specifically the lack of it.  It makes sense that babies don't sleep for long, they are born with tummies the size of a cherry but as adults who are more than capable of a good eight hour stretch, it is pretty tough.

Sleep was a big conversation for us before Finn even arrived though, as I had decided I wanted a co-sleeper cot.  After having both the other boys in bed with me for large parts of those early months I recognised that they often need that closeness, especially in the fourth trimester as they adapt to life in this big scary world, and with two other children to run around after during the day, I wanted to make night times as easy as possible.

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