Sponsored by SMA® Nutrition.
Growing up I always knew I wanted to have children; I would picture myself with two little girls and I even had them named I was that convinced! But after we had our bigger two (and we had both agreed we were done), there seemed to be a little part of our family missing. I didn't feel done having babies at all... and so came Lilah, our third little baby and most definitely the final piece of our family puzzle!
When I was expecting Lilah, I had so many people tell us we were crazy to add a third child to the family though.
"You'll need a bigger car / house!"
"Ooh you're brave!"
"Third labours are the worst you know!”
Lilah has now been a part of our family for over a year now, and I have to say, having a third baby has been the easiest (and loveliest) transition of all! Of course everyone has different experiences, and this is just ours, but I would do Lilah's
pregnancy, labour and first year again in a heartbeat.
I was a young first time mum when Indiana was born, and I think I worried about every single moment of her first year. And apart from my mum and my sister, I had hardly any support from anyone either. I really wish I had been aware of
SMA Careline® when she was born, as it would have been exactly what I needed!
Parker was born just 20 months later, and although the age gap was close, I felt completely different heading into motherhood this time around. I had the most empowering drug-free
water birth, and had a more positive attitude towards breastfeeding this time. Of course two under two had its difficult moments, but I still believe it was (and still is!) such a lovely age gap.
So when Lilah was born, both Jack and I felt so much more confident. We had the knowledge of raising two babies behind us, as well as the support from family, friends and online support systems such as the SMA Careline®. Their live chat is available 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday, where you can chat to their experts (who have over 20 years of experience!), regarding anything pregnancy, baby or toddler related.
The most special part of Lilah growing up as a third baby though, has definitely been watching her with Indiana and Parker. There is undoubtedly nothing more special than sibling relationships - and she couldn't ask for a better brother and sister! They have always been so helpful, and loved that they could help feed her. We introduced SMA® PRO Follow-on Milk to complement her weaning diet when she turned 6 months, right up until her first birthday. Did you know that at 6 months babies develop so quickly that their need for iron increases? SMA® PRO Follow-on Milk is enriched with iron to help support normal cognitive development in a baby’s brain. It also contains Omega 3 & 6† and iodine to help support normal growth, so we felt happy that Lilah was in good hands, as we began to wean her onto a more varied diet.
As a third child, Lilah just slotted into our family perfectly, and it was so much easier to create a routine with her as she just settled into the one we already had with the other two! So although three children may not have been in my plans when I was younger, I honestly wouldn't change our family dynamics for the world now!
Do you have more than one child?
How did each experience differ for you?
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Breast milk is best for babies and breastfeeding should continue for as long as possible. SMA® PRO Follow-on Milk is for babies over 6 months, as part of a varied weaning diet. Not intended to replace breastfeeding.
† The beneficial effect of essential fatty acids is obtained with a daily intake of 10 g of Linoleic acid and 2 g of α-linolenic acid.
