Screaming, clinging to you, pulling on your clothes, legs, arms, climbing on you, holding out their arms and getting pulled away while crying…. sound familiar?

This was a big topic in the Mama Village mothers groups when we explored four typical styles of parenting, and reflected on which style our parents used.

Postnatal depression and anxiety can be diagnosed up until your baby turns 12 months of age, so it’s important to be aware of the symptoms in case you develop it later (or even to be helpful to another mum who might be experiencing some of these symptoms).

Dealing with toddlers lying is really tricky because it is something that naturally occurs with all children, but it can really push our buttons. Honesty is often a core value most parents have for their families, and one we try hard to teach our children.

Two big things are happening for mums that make being a new mum just plain hard.

Is your return to work looming? Child care has been organised. Tick. But your first day of work feels like a day of doom coming. How do you deal with the thought that you won’t be there to comfort your baby when he’s crying, that they might let him cry for longer than you would at home, and that he’ll now have to rely on someone else other than you?

The transition into motherhood for most mums can be an isolating and lonely time. Even mums who have worked with babies and children in their careers before motherhood can find it a challenging time.

We all need to get stuff done, right? It might be the errands at a shopping centre, or it could be grocery shopping. Trying to do so with babies and toddlers in tow is definitely not easy.

When I read back through my notes from the early days of breastfeeding, a few big things stand out – my desire to breastfeeding because I believed it was the normal and natural way to feed a baby, my misconception that breastfeeding would be easy, the conflicting advice I received, and the pain and subsequent emotional upheaval I went through.

Are you a stay at home mum? Who stays at home? Who has all day to get stuff done, yet suddenly it is almost dinner time, your partner is about to walk through the door and the place is a tip? The guilt sets in.

Anyone who is a mum knows how incredibly exhausting it can be in the middle of all the joys it also comes with. Unless you have an amazeballs mother’s group who share the ins and outs of everything to do with parenting, you might have missed some of the little life hacks to help you get through the days and the weeks.

It’s really common for mums to look for sanity tips after they have a baby. One of the things many mums tell me is how overwhelming they find it when they first come home with their baby.

Children and Santa photos. You’ve made it to the shopping centre. The kids are in matching outfits. Waited in line for 45 minutes. It all starts. Crying. Screaming. Trying to run away. Everyone is staring. You try to hold it together. Just one photo. Yep. It’s Christmas.

Many mothers worry that holidaying with kids is not possible. But is it? Is having children really the end of holidays and travel?