Coping with a newborn baby and blogging (+ a toddler!)  

Blogging, Life with a newborn, Second baby, Two children
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I just read ‘Do I want to be a blogger with a newborn baby?‘ by Susie at This is me now and I thought, this is exactly what I’ve been going through coping with a newborn baby and blogging. It’s a hard mixture to get right, finding that balance in an ever changing world of newborn phases and toddler tantrums, coupled with growth spurts and the irregularities of breastfeeding.

It struck me that everything Susie talked about and debated in her post were things that I’ve just been through and am currently going through as Baby B is 3 months old. She wondered about stopping blogging and if living her life online was what she really wanted.

My comment on her post was this:

I’d have to say don’t make any decisions, your blog and social media will be there, and still there if you take a break. I’ve taken rather a few breaks and slowed down these last few months, and even leading up B’s birth. All have been for different reasons e.g just couldn’t find the time, couldn’t be bothered, couldn’t face it. Juggling it all right now is hard, night after night I turn my laptop on after H is in bed and then spend all evening feeding, so it just gets turned back off. However, I know when inspiration hits I write it on my phone and it goes live straight away, it would be very weird if I couldn’t do that. I love recording those moments and that I’ll be able to look back on them too. I also am stopping myself taking a silly number of behind the head photos and take their faces first and also deleting the behind ones I don’t use. It’s taking discipline but it’s helping keep all my photos more streamlined.

I have to add some more and expand on some of those points…

Blogging is all consuming at times, constantly  thinking I should get a photo of that, I need to write that, I need to publish a post it’s been X days.

Well, as I mentioned in my comment to Susie, I’ve been lax on all of this since Baby B was born, I just don’t have time. I’ve wanted to enjoy my time with my toddler as I do spend less time with her now, and, I want to cherish Baby B. I want to remember the moments and appreciate their developing relationship. I barely have time to clean, and we’ve had more takeaways than we’ve ever had before since Baby B was born. But it’s all about priorities. Like cooking, without even realising it I’ve had to ramp down my blogging.

Since Baby B’s birth, I’ve perhaps published 2 posts a week at most, but occasionally I’ve done none. I might have 80 drafts in my file, but they all need pictures, or, well, more than a few bullet points in them. They need finishing and, while that might sounds easy, it’s not. SEO is a pain. It takes time, every image needs to have alt tags to be found by Google, and titles for Pinterest, oh and then there is creating a long Pinterest style image for pinning. I’m a bad blogger and sometimes I only do half of it, it’s a case of bare-basics blogging. I’m sure that’s why my DA has always been lower than everything suggests.

Recently, I’m a spur of the moment blogger. Blogging on my phone following a conversation, or an event, or a day out. I have umpteen guest posts to write for other bloggers and brands and I’m sorry, I WILL get there, most of them are drafted, I just have to be happy with them. I am still doing reviews and working with brands so those posts are still appearing, just less regularly than before.

That brings me to linkies. I try, in my optimism I join and then each post takes so long to read I’m battling, I’m putting H in front of the TV, setting her up doing play-doh or colouring while I try to read. Of course I’m also breastfeeding Baby B. So it’s a huge juggle. So I’m sorry if I’ve not managed to comment yet, I WILL get there. Coping with a new baby and blogging is not easy and I’ve no idea how some ladies manage to blog 5 times a week with a newborn… especially if they have other kids too. I am just not one of them. I don’t have a baby sitter we can call on anytime, it’s mostly just hubby and I. We have amazing friends, who are an amazing support. Anyway, I want to appreciate these moments. I’m still working with brands and to be honest my stats haven’t really gone down, my Tots Ranking fell to 202 but that’s still a good rank!

Photos are a whole other ball game. I blog anonymously so all photos hide Toddler H and Baby B’s faces. That involves taking double the number of photos the usual ones to ‘catch the moment, capture them, their smiles, their laughs, capture them being them’ and then, a series of back of the head/funny angles to post on Instagram or for a blog post. It all clogs up my camera roll, it gets full and I miss a video opportunity. An opportunity I’ll never get back. That stinks. It stinks to know that I’ve missed it and it’s because I have 20 photos for Instagram that were never used sat there from yesterday. If I hadn’t taken those of have captured that moment. I’m now much more diligent, have nightly automatic back ups and my photos are all stores in the cloud. I know I can delete what is in my phone and it’s fine. I’m also deleting as I go, as I know with Toddler H I had 30 photos of her led on a mat each week, and that’s just silly. It’s too many. So by being more diligent this time round I choose those best few and they are the ones I keep. I kind of wish we still had to get our photos developed and only had a spool of 36 to take. 

Life with a newborn is all consuming and I don’t want to miss it. I’m still here, I’m still blogging and Instagraming and sharing. I’m still here and trying to join linkies. I just don’t have the time for everything and don’t want to miss a moment, after all that is why I became a stay at home mum.

My aim is to work on the #rockingmummylife Instagram group and do some round ups as I’m afraid I haven’t. I’d also love to set up a linky that just involves sharing posts. No need for comments, just a click and share on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. Something that helps us all have our posts read and to reach each others audiences and followers. For the moment that idea remains on the drawing board.

I love blogging, but right now, it’s hard. I need another 3 hours a day to be able to do it like I want to, but breastfeeding really is taking up most of my evenings and that is not something I’m prepared to compromise on for he sake of the blog. It’s hard coping with a new baby and blogging… and having a toddler to juggle too adds another interesting dimension.  The days are flying by and right now I need to be mummy. Mummy-ing comes first.

Please do keep following,  Lynne  xxx

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6 Comments

  • Reply
    The Mummy Bubble
    September 21, 2017 at 7:52 am

    What a great post, I could really identify with a lot of what you’re going through. I set up my blog when my second child was 6 months old. It has been very tough juggling it and I do much of my blogging when my toddler is at nursery. Not sure how people do it otherwise! In the same with pics as I don’t show my kids’ faces either, it’s hard work sometimes. I love your idea for a linky, I would definitely join in. X #coolmumclub
    The Mummy Bubble recently posted…Spooky Halloween costumes for childrenMy Profile

  • Reply
    Katy - Hot Pink Wellingtons
    September 21, 2017 at 4:39 pm

    I totally get this! I’ve probably still managed to post reasonably reguarlarly, but that’s been relying on lots of posts prepared earlier, and lots of easy review / days out posts. And I’m seriously struggling with the promotion of them – lots of the days out I’m just pressing publish and I’m done. But ultimately, I want to enjoy this time with my baby – that’s the most important thing and everything else can wait.

  • Reply
    MMT
    September 21, 2017 at 7:42 pm

    Hey hun – here is my comment I wrote on Susies amazing post…

    ‘I have often wondered how bloggers with babies do it – I started when my youngest was 6 months old and have always blogged only during naptimes (eldest at nursery then school), evenings or more recently, when the youngest is at pre-school. It’s not easy but it is still the same passion I started with. And you’ll have so much stuff to blog about!

    My advice is step back, be prepared to blog less or not at all for a while. Prioritise yourself and your family…you’ll know when the time’s right to come back, and we’ll all be right here waiting for you xx’

    And the same definitely goes to you – but it sounds like you already have a fab attitude towards it all. Mummy first, blogger second xxx

    Thanks for taking the time to link up to #coolmumclub honey
    MMT recently posted…#CoolMumClub Linky Week 77My Profile

  • Reply
    Helena
    September 25, 2017 at 7:29 pm

    I agree that it’s totally important to enjoy the baby and toddler days while they last. #coolmumclub

  • Reply
    Lucy At Home
    September 26, 2017 at 8:26 pm

    I love your honesty in this post. I started blogging when my youngest was 20mths so I’ve never blogged during the tiny baby stage – I honestly don’t know how you’re getting as much done as you are! But those early days pass quickly and your blog will still be here so keep doing what you’re doing and don’t let the blog dictate your life. (and I also am an anonymous blogger so your bit about a phone full of the back of their heads really resonated with me – I think I need to try your method of clearing out more regularly).

    Anyway, congratulations because someone loved this post so much, they added it to the #blogcrush linky! Feel free to collect your “I’ve been featured” blog badge 🙂 #blogcrush
    Lucy At Home recently posted…Over To The Dark Side w/ pBone Mini (plus giveaway)My Profile

  • Reply
    Cleaning the house while juggling two kids - New Mummy Blog
    July 24, 2018 at 4:26 pm

    […] Two kids are hard work, harder than I imagined, but to be fair to them, the giggles and the way they play together already really makes it worth it. They’re 13 months and 3.5 if you’ve not read any previous posts, so yes, they do now fight over toys. It’s amazing how many toys which B got for her birthday, that 3.5 year old H exclaims she “loves so much” and cries as to why she doesn’t have an x, y or z, on a daily basis. On the flip side, B is desperate to do everything that H does. Use H’s cups, choose a plate as H does, use a spoon and fork. Of course B has just turned 13 months and she can’t actually do all of this stuff without creating a bit of mess. Que cereal all over the floor on a daily basis. Que drinks being fought over and spattered. Que food crumbs here there and everywhere. Over the years I’ve googled countless natural cleaning tips, stain removal tips and of course time saving tips. I can’t profess to having an Instagram perfect home, the spare bedroom is attrocious, the washing pile far too high, and the I-need-to-sort-clean-washing-pile even bigger. Finding time to clean with one child was hard, and it’s so much harder to find time with two. […]

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