Interview with Zoe from Mummy & Liss Blog

Hi, my name is Zoe. I’m 18 years old and have a 14 month old daughter called Alyssia. I started my blog at the beginning of 2017 as part of a new years resolution to stay positive and to find something that keeps me on track of things. After 3 months of blogging on just a normal WordPress account, I decided that I wanted to do this ‘officially’.. so I bought my domain, my own personal email and went self hosted.

I have always loved YouTube and blogging, And have always wanted to be “one of them” however I have never been confident speaking to people and am very camera shy (believe it or not). I actually started out as an ‘instablogger’ I updated my Instagram account with life updates but then decided that I wanted something more. That’s when I found my happy place, my very own corner of the internet.

Q. What is the best parenting advice you’ve ever received (is there such a thing?!)
I would say that the best parenting advice that I have ever received so far would be “don’t allow people to undermine you when it comes to your baby, just because they think they know better”. A few times I feel like I have been undermined when it has come to my daughter, one time being when I first brought my little girl home from the hospital.. we had family round and I had just fed her, she was being passed around the room (as all newborns are – everybody wants a cuddle) Alyssia kept ‘suckling like all babies do, she had been fed multiple times, she wasn’t hungry, she was just suckling.. yet i was being told “she’s hungry, she wants milk Zoe” and even after I had said no, a certain family member shoved a bottle of expressed milk in her mouth anyway… I was so angry. She is now 14 months old and I now have the confidence to say “no, she’s my daughter.. I make the decisions.”

I have made quite a few mummy friends since I have started blogging, here are 5 of them:

• Georgina Clarke – Georginaclarkeblog & we made a baby blog. You can check her out here  and here
• Nicola – mummytodex. You can have a read here
• Tamara – the epileptic blogger. Read all things Tamara here
• Amy – smallthingblog. Browse her blog right here
• Amy – mama mighalls. You can see more here

All of these lovely ladies have made me feel like I’m “part of the group”. They’ve all helped me in some way or another, whether that be with my own blog, giving me guest post opportunities or just generally being supportive.

Q. What advice would you give to new parents?
My advice to new parents would be to enjoy it.. becoming a new parent can be extremely stressful & overwhelming. Take as much help as you can get, even if that is just asking somebody to simply make their own cup of tea.. life with a newborn is exhausting, so don’t worry about the ‘never ending mountain of washing’.. enjoy your newborn baby, they grow up fast – trust me.

Q. What advice would you give to those thinking about starting a blog?
My advice to new bloggers would be to just go for it.. you have absolutely nothing to lose if you start off small. As I said, I started my blog in January, went self hosted in March & this year I am focusing on enjoying it and getting the readers rather than the financial side of things. You have potential.

Q. What are your favourite blogs (parenting or otherwise…)?
– Kerry conway – livedwithlove.com
– Georgina Clarke – wemadeababyblog.com
– Becky – thelifestylebloggeruk.com

Q. Do you have any tips for a successful blog?

• Routine – I would say upload at least once a week, I started doing this and then upped it to twice a week and now upload 3 times a week, Monday, Wednesday & Friday.
• Relevance – write about things that are relevant to you, don’t write about things that are completely off topic just because it’s a good opportunity because in the long run, it won’t benefit you much at all and you’ll probably lose some of your readers.
• Be yourself – be honest and show your readers the real you, after all.. we’re all in this together..

Q. Are there any interesting facts that you can share with us….

•  I am a young mum, I fell pregnant at just 16 years old after leaving school, I had my baby girl when I was 17 and am now 18 years old (19 in October) and have a 14 month old. You can read about the 10 things I wish I knew before having a baby, here.
• I have suffered with anxiety for 7 years now and I still don’t always know how to deal with it. However becoming a mum and taking the step and starting my blog at the beginning of the year has made me feel a little bit more confident in myself, I feel like I have potential. You can read more about my anxiety here and also here
• My labour with Alyssia was very quick.. I was in established labour for just 2hrs 10 mins. I was 10cm by the time I got to the hospital however my daughter was very nearly born in the car. You can read my labour and delivery story here –  You can also read about the 10 things I wish I knew about childbirth, here.

You can find me at the following;

BLOG, FACEBOOK , TWITTER & INSTAGRAM 

Thank you so much for reading,

Zoe x