Nursery and Baby Tips

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. But it can also be the most stressful time of the year, especially when you have little kids. Seeing your family enjoying Christmas brings new meaning to the season. But it can also add to the stress of Christmas. From the disrupted routines to the overstimulation, the neverending Christmas events and the endless expectations, managing Christmas stress is a job in itself. We share simple tips to navigate the festive season with ease, ensuring a stress-free Christmas for you and your little elves. 1. Maintain your routine Disruptions to your routine during the festive season are inevitable. There’s the late nights, Christmas celebrations and, for toddlers and up, the sheer excitement of the impending arrival of the big guy in the red suit. While there’s not a lot you can do about the disruptions, you can still try to maintain some semblance of a schedule. That may mean keeping mealtimes consistent. Or sticking to bedtimes on the nights when you’re home. Kids thrive on routine this will help to give some stability. 2. Start a family Christmas tradition Family traditions are far more beneficial for kids than something for them to look forward to each year. Those fun little rituals can actually help to encourage their sense of identity and belonging. At Christmas time, family traditions can become the anchors of a memorable Christmas. Your family traditions don’t need to be extravagant. Something as simple as baking and decorating cookies or wearing a silly hat for the photo with Santa. Your traditions can also evolve as your children get older. These are the moments that your kids will look back on with such fondness. Plus, having something exciting to look forward to can also help with your own stress at Christmas. 3. Imperfectly perfect Perfection is not the prerequisite for a wonderful family Christmas. Especially when you have little kids. There’s a good chance that they’ll break an ornament or cry when they see Santa. On Christmas Day they’ll be a catastrophic combination of overtired and overexcited. They’ll likely look at the incredible spread on the Christmas table and just want a bread roll with butter. No amount of stress can change any of this. It’s imperfectly perfect. And these are likely the moments that will make for your most cherished memories. Have realistic expectations and try to go with the flow. 4. Simplify the festivities If you’re really looking for a stress-free Christmas, keep it simple. Focus on what brings joy to you and your family and do more of that. This might mean fewer decorations or saying no to an invitation but it might be exactly what you need to reduce the frenzy of the season. Sometimes – for whatever reason – you can’t opt for a simple approach. In this case, it’s all about balance. Prioritise the activities and traditions that matter the most and adjust or let go of less important ones. This isn’t necessarily about doing less. It’s about doing what’s right for you and your family, focusing on connection, joy and balance. 5. Practise self-care Amidst the whirlwind of holiday activities, self-care often takes a backseat. But it’s actually at the heart of a stress-free Christmas. Yes, it’s challenging to find time for self-care when you have a baby or young children. But taking time for yourself isn’t a luxury. It’s a necessity. Take time out for your morning coffee. Go for a walk each day. Run a bath once the kids have gone to bed. Do some relaxing Christmas activities, like Christmas craft or baking (without the kids to minimise the stress!). Do whatever works for you to find some space to breathe and recharge. Even though it’s for the baby, the nursery can also often be your sanctuary. With the right nursery chair, you can lie back and read while the baby naps during the day. Or even recline and have a little nap yourself, away from possible interruptions. Merry stress-free Christmas from iL Tutto® At iL Tutto®, we’re on a mission to support parents. Usually that’s with quality, Australian-designed, award-winning. But we’re also here for the milestones and special events of life with kids. Merry Christmas from the iL Tutto® family to yours. We hope it’s stress-free and magical.

Storytelling is as old as humankind. We tell stories to share history, to connect and to entertain. There’s a reason why storytelling is as old as it is… it works.  For some mums, breastfeeding is a lonely experience. For others they’re overwhelmed by all the information available to them, even before they’ve started. That’s where breastfeeding stories can help to connect mums so they know they’re not alone and that support is available.  Lactation Consultant Pinky McKay agrees that mums sharing their breastfeeding stories is helpful because every breastfeeding experience is unique.  “If women can talk openly about breastfeeding, they’re going to normalise that breastfeeding is actually a skill to be learned,” she explains. “A lot of the time people expect that it will come naturally, but that’s not necessarily the case. There’s often a learning curve and challenges to overcome along the way, even if it’s not your first baby."  Pinky cautions that when sharing stories, we should also be careful not to add to the overwhelm or fear a new or pregnant mother might be feeling. But she says that mothers' groups are a great place to start sharing.  “You never know how someone else is feeling until you ask them or share your own story,” she adds. “The mum sitting next to you might be struggling too, even if she doesn’t look like it from the outside. It can be reassuring to share breastfeeding stories and know that others are in the same boat. Also remember that you don’t need to take on board every piece of advice from every story. If it doesn’t feel right to you, you can imagine the advice floating out through an open window.”  With this in mind, three wonderful mums agreed to share their breastfeeding stories with us to help support other mums in their breastfeeding journey.  Danielle’s story  Already mum to six-year-old twin girls, Danielle assumed her breastfeeding story the second time around would be straightforward. She soon realised that breastfeeding one baby can be just as challenging as breastfeeding twins.  “In the first two weeks I didn’t realise that my daughter wasn’t transferring the milk very well,” she recalls. “I wasn’t in any pain when she was feeding but she was quite unsettled. By day 11 she was pretty much refusing to feed as she didn’t have enough energy to do so.”  Danielle initially thought her baby was unsettled due to catching a bug from her older sisters. But at her three week check up the midwife discovered the cause of the issue.  “At the two week check up we found out why she was unsettled. We had a two day hospital stay to get support. Sometimes she latches perfectly, other times not so much. I have a portable breast pump so if she refuses the breast I can give her a bottle of expressed breastmilk.”  Despite the unexpected challenges, Danielle is positive about her experience saying that you can never be sure of the path that lays ahead.  Tarsha’s story  As a first time mum, Tarsha didn’t know what to expect from breastfeeding. She was overwhelmed with information and didn’t really know what to expect or where to start.  “When we had our daughter, we were in the hospital for four nights,” she recalls. “Each one of the midwives offered their own thoughts, experiences and opinions. Their approaches were sometimes quite different, which is confusing for a new mum.”  Tarsha decided to keep breastfeeding for the first couple of weeks and see how she went. Now three weeks into motherhood and breastfeeding, her advice to other new mums is to seek breastfeeding support early on.  “We did a birthing class with a midwife while I was still pregnant but they didn’t really cover anything about breastfeeding. I kept seeing different ads for breastfeeding classes but there were so many different options that I didn’t know which to choose!”  “I wish I’d known to find a lactation consultant while I was still pregnant. Then we could have built the relationship before the baby arrived so I had the support on hand when I needed it.”  Brittany’s story  Brittany had an amazing birth experience. But on day two, she learned that her son had tongue and lip ties. She had heard of these before but didn’t know anything about tongue and lip ties and breastfeeding.  “Initially we were told that the ties weren’t that bad and might not need to be released,” she recalls. “We were advised to see a lactation consultant and take it from there. A week later we saw the lactation consultant and she said that our son’s tongue and lip ties were some of the worst she had seen!”  While Brittany was anxious about her baby needing surgery, she also felt a level of relief because feeding was causing her a lot of pain. At three weeks of age, her son had the surgery. He started feeding immediately, much to Brittany’s joy.  “He’s now 15 weeks old and we’ve come out the other side. Those first three weeks were so incredibly challenging. He would cry while he was trying to feed and I would cry too. Each feed would take close to two hours and then he would sleep for 20 minutes before we had to start all over again. It’s honestly amazing how far we’ve come.”  Support for every breastfeeding journey  Danielle, Tarsha and Brittany all have completely unique breastfeeding experience stories. But the thing that they have in common is their iL Tutto® nursery chairs. All three mums agree that their breastfeeding chairs have been the best investment they’ve made in their nursery.  “I didn’t realise how much time I would spend in my nursery and in my nursing chair,” says Tarsha of her Henry Electric Recliner Glider Chair. “I liked the chair because of the electric recline functionality, which I thought would be really helpful straight after birth. But the rocking and gliding motion of the chair has also helped me with burping and settling my baby.”  Brittany recalls how much time she has spent in her Recliner Glider Nursery Chair, particularly through the very challenging early days of her breastfeeding journey.  “My chair was my saving grace,” she says. “I don’t know how many times I slept in it with my baby in the crib next to the chair. I sat in the chair for hours upon hours each day in the newborn phase. I would feed for two hours and then burp for 45 minutes. It was so comfortable, even straight after birth.”  When Danielle had her twins, she didn’t have a nursing chair. This time around, it was the first thing on her list. She chose the Chelsea Electric Glider Recliner Chair and says that it ticks all the boxes.   “The nursery is my sanctuary,” she explains. “I love the reclining option on the chair and also the rocking option. I can bring the baby into the nursery, away from the busyness of the house, and escape to feed. If she’s unsettled, I can recline back and rock to calm her down.”  Complete your story  With a chair to suit every style of decor, our award-winning range is designed in Australia. Choose from glider chairs, recliner chairs, nursery rocking chairs and electric recliner chairs.   Explore our complete range and complete your story with an iL Tutto® nursery chair. 

Many women in the UK who can breastfeed, plan to breastfeed their child with statistics telling us 81% begin with hopeful intentions. However, by 6 weeks only 55% of mothers in the UK are still breastfeeding in some capacity. It often comes as a huge surprise for women how difficult breastfeeding can be, with many women left feeling as though they have been given unrealistic expectations. Ultimately, women feel unprepared when they encountered pain, problems, and the sheer relentlessness of early infant feeding. iL Tutto® have teamed up with The Breast-feeding Mentor to give you some advice and support to help prepare you for the journey ahead Breast Feeding: it’s a FULL-TIME job! Feeding your baby is a full-time job. One mum in the USA did the maths and estimates that she spent approximately 1,800 hours feeding her baby over the course of a year. That equates to almost 35 hours a week sitting in your nursing chair! What this number doesn’t factor is all the time you spend rocking and patting your baby trying to get them to sleep. Or the nights you sleep in your nursing chair because it’s not worth the effort of waking the baby up to go back to your own bed.  Whether you bottle or breastfeed, your Nursing chair can becomes a place you spend a significant portion of your days… and nights. If it’s comfortable and designed to support you on your feeding journey, it will make an immeasurable difference to your life as a mum. You’ll quickly discover that it’s the best investment you’ve made in your nursery. The First Week It may take up to six days for your milk to ‘come in,’ especially if you have a c-section. Despite popular belief, your colostrum (the thick, liquid gold that your breasts produce from around month 4 of pregnancy) is almost certainly enough for your baby until it does. Your newborn’s stomach is the size of a marble on day one earth side and only as big as a walnut by day three. They do not need gallons of breast milk to fill them up, but because their stomach is so tiny, they do need to be fed frequently (at least every two hours, around the clock initially) Baby won’t stop feeding? Keep Calm and Keep Cluster Feeding Cluster feeding (when your baby nurses for hours at a time, day & night) is a completely natural & normal part of breastfeeding. Is it easy or convenient? Not by modern standards, but it does not mean that you should be worried about your supply. In fact, the only times you may need to be concerned about not producing enough milk are if your babe is not producing enough wet nappies in a day or if they are not gaining weight at the expected rate. Pain? Posture matters! Research has found that when mothers have poor breastfeeding posture, it may affect latch and result in shoulder, neck, back or hand pain. This is common across so many breastfeeding stories of mothers who don’t have the adequate support or the right feeding equipment. Breastfeeding in the correct position helps to minimise the risk of this pain.   There are a range of different positions you can adopt while breastfeeding your baby, depending on which is most comfortable for you. You may also use different positions at different stages of your baby’s growth.  Cradle or cross cradle hold are the most used. Other mothers opt for a straddle to keep their baby upright or the football hold to avoid the baby pressing on their stomach. If you’re experiencing nipple pain, a laid-back hold may help to reduce that pain and encourage a good latch. Understanding breastfeeding positions is one thing. Having the right feeding chair to support you to achieve this is another. The right chair makes it so much easier. It’s been designed with feeding and your comfort in mind. On a nursing chair recliner you can achieve the laid-back hold without having to move into another room. You can easily shift between positions because the chair has been designed to accommodate the full spectrum of feeding positions. The result is a supportive breastfeeding chair that can accommodate different feeding positions in supreme comfort and safety. Breast feeding is not easy, but it’s very worthwhile and does get easier with time and a whole lot of patience and stamina. You won’t feel like you have a lot of time for yourself, but here are 5 tips on carving out some me-time for nursing Mamas. Call on your village. Whether your circle of support is dozens strong or just two or three people, drawing on them is essential if you are going to get some much-needed downtime. It will take time for you and your babe to feel comfortable being separated from one another initially, so start small. Take a nap, give yourself a manicure, or meditate while your partner, mom or father-in-law or plays with your child/children in another room. Maximize on nap times. Even if your little one will only contact nap, buy yourself some me-time by preparing to do so in advance. If you are able to put your babe down to sleep, do not under any circumstances use this time to do household chores. They can either be done when your baby is awake, or by someone else. The washing up will still be there at the end of the day, but if you do not take care of yourself, your sanity & patience may not! If you are nap-trapped daily, before you settle down to get your little one to sleep, grab: your phone, a charger, the remote control, some headphones & some snacks.   Set up your feeding station in advance (day or night!) Have a water bottle, cup of tea, and decent pod cast at the ready! Let’s face it, you are likely going to be awake a few times throughout the night, and sat feeding a lot though out the day, anything you can do to prepare in advance will help make the feeds/ night feed that bit more comfortable. A pre-made flask of (de-café?) tea may make the difference and give you that much needed little boost though out the long nights - especially in winter, or for the warmer months something ice-cold will be super refreshing. Eat! One of the kindest things you can do for yourself when feeding your baby, is feed yourself. The amount of energy you burn when feeding a baby is astonishing, so prepare yourself snacks and meals. If you are too tired to prepare much, ready to eats carrot batons, breast feeding cookies, bread sticks, and fruit – ready to eat foods with little effort, yet loaded with energy and nutrients! Your body will thank you for the fuel!   Maximize on sleep. Oh sleep, that wonderful, distant memory…if like me your baby is more wakeful than you knew was humanly possible(!), doing everything that you can to maximize on your own sleep will give you a new lease of life. People commonly advise new parents to, “Sleep when baby sleeps,” but you may not be able to if you have older children or if you struggle to fall asleep in the middle of the day. Instead, try going to bed at night at the same time as your child(ren). This may mean that you don’t get to put the washing machine on, or cuddle with your partner on the sofa, but if it gives you an extra few hours of sleep, it may well be worthwhile. Breast feeding is incredibly worthwhile but it’s not easy for a variety of physical and emotional reasons. For better support and more information on Nursing chairs visit www.iltutto.co.uk

Feeding your baby is a full-time job. One mum in the USA did the maths and estimates that she spent approximately 1,800 hours feeding her baby over the course of a year. That equates to almost 35 hours a week sitting in your breastfeeding chair!  What this number doesn’t factor is all the time you spend rocking and patting your baby trying to get them to sleep. Or the nights you sleep in your breastfeeding chair because it’s not worth the effort of waking the baby up to go back to your own bed.   Whether you bottle or breastfeed, your nursery chair becomes a place you spend a significant portion of your days… and nights. If it’s comfortable and designed to support you on your feeding journey, it will make an immeasurable difference to your life as a mum. You’ll quickly discover that it’s the best investment you’ve made in your nursery.  Breastfeeding posture matters  Research has found that when mothers have poor breastfeeding posture, it may lead to shoulder, neck, back or hand pain. This is common across so many breastfeeding stories of mothers who don’t have the adequate support or the right feeding equipment. Breastfeeding in the correct position helps to minimise the risk of this pain.    There are a range of different positions you can adopt while breastfeeding your baby, depending on which is most comfortable for you. You may also use different positions at different stages of your baby’s growth.   Cradle or cross cradle hold are the most commonly used. Other mothers opt for a straddle to keep their baby upright or the football hold to avoid the baby pressing on their stomach. If you’re experiencing nipple pain, a laid-back hold may help to reduce that pain and encourage a good latch.  Understanding breastfeeding positions is one thing. Having the right breastfeeding chair to support you to achieve this is another. The right chair makes it so much easier. It’s been designed with feeding and your comfort in mind. On a nursing chair recliner you can achieve the laid-back hold without having to move into another room. You can easily shift between positions because the chair has been designed to accommodate the full spectrum of feeding positions.  More than feeding  Breastfeeding chair doesn’t quite capture all the ways you’ll use this versatile piece of furniture. It’s a rocking chair, a story chair, a nursery rhyme time chair and a watching your baby while they drift peacefully off to sleep chair… if you’re lucky!  Those 1,800 hours of breastfeeding are over in the blink of an eye. The toddler years whiz past at lightning speed. No sooner are you sending your baby off to big school than you’re preparing them for high school and attending their graduation. There has never been a truer saying than, ‘the days are long, but the years are short.’  Long after the cot and bassinet are packed away, your breastfeeding chair will remain. From breastfeeding time to story time, the chair can stay with you beyond the baby years. Each time you sit in it to tell a story to your toddler, or have a snuggle with your preschooler, or listen to your teens dramas, you’ll be reminded of those early days.  A quality nursing chair glider is just as at home in a nursery as it is in a bedroom, playroom or a living room. That nursery investment is a piece of furniture that you can enjoy well beyond the baby years.  It’s the little details that count  The best way to demonstrate the value of a breastfeeding chair is to dive into the features.  One of our most popular breastfeeding chairs is the Chelsea Glider Recliner Chair in Grey Frost. It’s also available in a range of other fabric colours, including Egg Shell, and Coastal Sand. And for those who prefer an electric option, there is the Electric Glider Recliner Chair in Egg Shell & Grey Frost No matter which Chelsea you choose, you get a breastfeeding chair that’s been designed specifically for your needs.   It starts with the ergonomic design, including a higher backrest suitable for all heights and armrests positioned to support correct breastfeeding posture. The electric version of Chelsea features a single push button recline. All other Chelsea varieties have a spring-loaded recline. Either way, you’re supported to sit up without using your abdominals, particularly important while you recover after giving birth.   The 360-degree swivel glider base (180 degrees for the electric version) has a gentle and smooth gliding motion, ideal for rocking your baby to sleep. Our exclusive, premium fabrics are STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® certified, meaning they contain harmful substances or toxic chemicals.   The result is a supportive breastfeeding chair that can accommodate different feeding positions in supreme comfort, safety and style.  Discover your new breastfeeding chair  Chelsea is just one of the many breastfeeding chair options available from iL Tutto®. Our award-winning range of Australian designed furniture includes glider chairs, recliner chairs, nursery rocking chairs and electric recliner chairs.   Explore our complete range and fall in love with your new breastfeeding chair. 

Here at iL Tutto®, we understand the importance of the perfect Nursery Furniture piece so it's for this reason that we don’t only offer a wide range of nursing chair styles, but also many premium fabrics, colours, and high-end material options. No matter your preference, you’ll find the perfect piece for your home. 

Is a nursing chair necessary? I believe that a nursing chair is an essential item for the nursery. When I had my babies I used it every single feed. As they grew bigger I would use it to sit in and read them stories and I often found them sitting in it reading a book as well.  Are nursing chairs worth it? They are worth every cent in my opinion. As mentioned above I used mine all the time. I actually had one in each of my boys rooms. They are so universal as your baby grows and a good quality one such as the iL Tutto® nursing chairs will last a lifetime.     "Excellent glider! Pre-birth the reclining option enabled naps on my back- so comfy! The glider fabric quality is excellent and passed the test of baby vomit! I first tried this glider out in baby bunting that stock it in grey and knew this would be the ideal glider, particularly noting its high back for head support, ergonomic design and built in reclining so no need to fit a separate footstool like other options when wanting to put your feet up. The design will certainly outlast nursing and be an ongoing piece of furniture in our home, so much so we want to buy another. Highly recommend and assembly was quick and simple" - Tamara T What is a nursing chair? Mainly used as a comfortable chair for you to feed or settle your baby. I suggest using your nursing chair as part of your wind down routine as well as settling your baby day and night.  Do you need a rocking chair for nursery? If you can afford it I would highly recommend this to be on your must have list. You will get at least 6 years out of it and can then pass it on or sell it.      "No matter how much I prepared for breastfeeding and post-partum. It was still the hardest thing I have ever experienced 😪 But 10 months in and still breastfeeding my little girl on demand 🙌❤️ my @iltutto chair has definitely made the experience comfortable. The amount of time I spend on that chair 😂" - @marya.ch_ What to look for when purchasing a nursing chair? Ensure they have big enough arm rests for comfort. The back should be deep enough for you to sink into but not so much that you get a sore back. I love the range of options that iL Tutto® have from the recliner to the glider or rocking chair. For extra support the ottoman is a great add on to rest your feet up or for a little stool when a sibling is helping out.  For more information on how to choose the right nursery chair for you, you can read our blog "How to choose the right Chair for your Nursery" here  

The one thing in parenthood that you can guarantee is that you’ll be cleaning messes you didn’t know even existed BC (before children). Even when they’re so little and as cute as can be, kids can create a big mess, not only on their changing table but also in places like their Nursery Chair, Bassinet, Cot or even their toddler bed, especially if they’re still a baby after a good, solid feed. When your baby becomes a toddler, there’s probably less reflux accidents, but more creative discoveries, when they aspire to be Pablo Picasso by adding their artistic flare to furniture with scribbles of markers or paint.     In moments of ‘how on earth am I going to clean that?!’ or ‘How do I remove this lingering smell?!’ Who would you call, for us, it’s Nana! AKA Nonna, Yaya, Zu Mu, Grandma, Granny, Nanna, Supernan!     She’s been there and done that and knows all the tricks in the book to remove without staining and remove the smell for good!     Below, Nana is going to demonstrate just how easy it is to clean unwanted stains from your iL Tutto® nursing chair. Including removing markers from the chair and newborn vomit – pay extra attention to the magic product, you’ll never believe how powerful it is to remove bad adours from baby furnitureFirst, the marker accident occurs! But fear not, Nana has it covered! What you’ll need is;     1. A spray bottle     2. Water - 200 ml      3. Fairy dishwashing liquid - just one teaspoon      4. Vinegar - 100 ml     Mix all into a spray bottle and voila!     1. Spray the stained area     2. Dab with a wet cloth (as shown in video below)     3.Repeat as needed     4. Wipe the area lightly     5. Let it dry and stain is removed For accidental baby reflux stains & most importantly, the smell (AKA baby vomit), we've made a homemade reflux mix to demonstrate how to clean and remove the smell from your rocking chair to your CoZee Bassinet;     1.Wipe away the mess     2.First spray the area with the homemade vinegar & fairy cleaning mix     3.Dab wet cloth to stained area     4.But that smell still lingers! Here's the magic part;     5.sprinkle bicarb soda and let it soak up the smell overnight     6.When dry, vacuum the remains away and voila, no stain, NO SMELL. These tips and tricks will be helpful to help maintain your iL Tutto® furniture. So we have said it once, and we will say it again, thanks Nana, you’re a life-saver (again).      Have any cleaning hacks? Let the iL Tutto® community know below.      

Since 2006, we have been supporting new parents through the challenging, rewarding, chaotic, stressful, sleepless, and the most beautiful time that is the 4th trimester. iL Tutto® is there to remove worry, stress and replace with comfort, and peace of mind with our range of nursery furniture which is designed with functionality and style.