Water baby and a small accident

Yesterday I decided to take Zoe swimming for the first time. I've been hanging out to go swimming myself and really missing it this summer because I've only had one chance so far. My mother and father-in-law came with me, which made it easier.

I had bought Zoe this gorgeous little pink and orange lycra all-in-one rashie for swimming. She looks just adorable in it. We were getting ready to leave and I was putting sunscreen on her face. It is special kids sunscreen that is basically just zinc. Unfortunately the rollerball had stuck and dried and I was struggling to get any out.

Anyway, I squeezed the bottle and all of a sudden with no warning, sunscreen oozed out all over her face. It got in her eyes and some in her mouth. It was just awful. We quickly wiped it away from her eyes and got most of it off. She didn't seem to mind though, so I was hopeful that it might not be too dangerous for her.

I called the Poisons information line to ask what to do about it. After putting me on hold (a bit worrying, what if it was more of an emergency?), they said it is just an irritant and not poisonous, nor would it damage her eyes. So I spent a good bit of time flushing it out of her eyes. The little angel didn't make a fuss at all, which was comforting. Her eye was red for an hour or so but then was fine, so we had a lucky escape.

But it just goes to show how an accident can happen in the blink of an eye. I saw later that the bottle said not to squeeze it and always to have the rollerball against the skin. I won't be doing that again!

Anyway, we had a lovely swim. Zoe was a bit unsure of the wee toddlers pool at first. I think it was a bit cold but she soon got used to it and didn't seem to mind sitting in the water. Then we went in the big pool. She was happy to be in up to her waist but when I tried floating her on her back, she wasn't too happy.

We went in the late afternoon and I think she was quite tired. Next time I will go in the morning when she is fresher. I feel confident I can manage it on my own now. I am aiming to get her booked into the 'New shrimps' swimming class at the big swimming centre near here. They don't take babies before 4 months, so she can start soon.

As for the sleeping, well some days are better than others. Last night she went down at 7pm, then woke at 12.30pm but went back to sleep. She didn't stir until 4am, when I fed her again. And the best thing was, she went straight back to sleep and had to be woken at 8am for her next feed!

Tonight I think I will try a feed at 12.30am and see if she can get all the way through to 6.30 or 7am. We are still fiddling about with the routine to find what is most comfortable for us all. Her day sleeps also seem to be improving. She has had 2 hour sleeps on a few days in the past week, so I think she is getting better at sleeping in general.