Confidently taking Baby Out: Mission Accomplished!

Its been a while....
Hello readers or should I say strangers now? Again its been probably about 3 weeks since I last blogged (#mumlife) sorry about that but I promise I have been working on a lot of blog posts, I just want to make each one perfect! I will be uploading two blog posts this week and I have one I'm hoping will be up by next week so I hope this will make up for my tardiness.

Whats this weeks topic....
This past week I have been taking Ella-Grace out a lot, I've been into the busy town centre almost every day in fact and I finally feel I am confident taking my baby girl out! I don't know on average how long it takes to get this confidence as a mother but for me it took about 10 weeks for me to feel fully confident taking her out by myself without stressing every second!
So this weeks topic is just some handy tips that I found useful when taking Ella-Grace out and I hope they will give you new mums and dads out there some help and you will feel confident taking your little ones out too!

These might not work for everyone...
Before I start handing out my top tips I would just like to say what has worked for my bundle of joy might not work for yours. Every baby, every person is different and different strategies, tips and techniques will work for different parents so my tips are not necessarily going to work for you and your baby but there is no harm in trying or even just reading to compare tips! Also I am by no means a parenting expert and don't claim to be the perfect mum who's got it all together, frankly I don't think anyone can say they are perfect at parenting its a continuous journey of trial and error in my opinion. I might be confident in taking my baby out this week but next week she could be screaming in the middle of Primark and I would return home with my confidence wavered, you never know. But even if I do lose confidence again in taking her out these tips I'm about to share are what would gain my confidence back and help me get out with Ella-Grace again. So here we go, my top tips to getting out and about with your baby.

TOP TIPS!....

Tip 1: EXTRA EVERYTHING!
Babies are unpredictable. You think they wont need fed then they are hungry, you just change their nappy they poop everywhere, you've burped them a thousand times then they are sick all over their clothes. You never know what they will do! So my advice bring extra nappies, clothes, wipes, bibs, breast pads, formula... whatever your baby needs bring 10x more of that (10x more might be a bit over-exaggerating but you get the idea). Some people might think this is over cautious but in my experience less is most definitely not more. 

Tip 2: START SMALL
I touched on this tip in my Baby Blues blog post a few weeks ago (if you've not read it why not check it out after this one) don't make your first outing to the busiest shopping centre or to a big event, start small and work your way up. Go for a walk to your local shop, go to s close by baby group, just sit outside in the garden with your baby if that's all you find comfortable at the moment. Small steps to big achievements. By all means though if your the type of person who just wants to jump into the deep end with a busy first outing and thinks that will work for you GO FOR IT! But for my building up to the busy town trips especially alone was the way that worked best for me. 

Tip 3: SET GOALS
Similar to the previous tip with starting small, set yourself trip goals. When I was suffering with baby blues staying inside made me crazy but going out with my new baby seemed like the scariest thing in the world! So I decided to write down places I wanted to be able to take Ella-Grace, goals I wanted to meet and each time I would go somewhere with her I would tick it off. I am proud to say most of the places on the list are ticked off and seeing that makes me feel accomplished and more confident. Definitely worth a go to boost your baby outing confidence. 

Tip 4: HAVE COMPANY 
Going out alone for me was the most daunting part, Reece always was my calming influence when I was stressed so his support in the first few weeks was essential to me. So for the first few outings go with your partner, mum, dad, sibling, anyone who you feel supported by it will make things easier and take some weight off your shoulders. Then when you feel ready try going to these places yourself and if it doesn't work out try again with some support and then again yourself eventually you will feel more confident. 





Tip 5: FAMILY FRIENDLY 

A very good tip I found was to go to family friendly places. Baby groups, children's library sessions, messy play, family restaurants, family swimming slots (haven't been to this one yet but soon hopefully!). By going to family or baby friendly places you will often be with people in the same boat as you or at least at these places the people are a lot more understanding or accepting that your baby is crying or that your pram takes up loads of space. Nowadays most places are family friendly and I have been pleasantly surprised to see that most people respond kindly when your having trouble, even offering to help you in any way they can (faith in humanity restored) so it shouldn't be hard to find somewhere suitable for you and your little one. This again will boost your confidence and who knows you might make some new friends, bond over your babies/children which brings me to my next tip.


Tip 6: SAY HI TO ANOTHER PARENT
This is easiest at a baby group or setting where you are there to mingle with other babies and their parents. By speaking to another person in the same boat as you it will make you feel more comfortable and you can bond over the difficulties of parenting maybe even laugh about it. If you are lucky you will make a friend and you and your babies might be able to go out together, linking to tip 4 'HAVE COMPANY'. This I have found very helpful and recently I have been on a walk with a friend I met in baby group and into town shopping with another new mum I know and trust me don't worry about running out of things to talk about babies give you endless reasons for discussion. 

Tip 6: DON'T OVERTHINK
A difficult one especially if you suffer from anxiety like me but don't overthink or give into fear would be my TOP TIP! Before each new outing with Ella-Grace I would sit and think what if this happens or what if that happens.. it does NO good at all! As difficult as it sounds don't let that fear stop you from going as I guarantee you 9 times out of 10 the actual outing is not as scary or horrible as you have made it in your head. In fact in my experience whats in your head is totally wrong! People are nice and understanding, baby doesn't scream the place down and you don't have a breakdown. In fact most of the time I realized it was actually g=fun and so, so good to get out with my baby in fact now I prefer being out with her than staying at home she seems more content. 

Hope that was helpful....
Those were my top tips for gaining confidence when taking baby out, I hope one of you readers get s some use out of these tips! Please let me know in the comments if you do try any of these out or if you have any other tips that might be useful to me, I am always looking for more tips! Thank you so much for reading it is appreciated as always! It is now 4am I will be posting this later on today but for now i better join my fiance and baby in the bedroom and try and get some sleep before its feeding time for baby. See you again on here very soon readers, I promise it wont be 3 weeks.

Stay Happy Everyone :)!