This month Raise a Bundle had a chat to Christine Maria Crawford who chose to join Plunkets Raise a Bundle because she decided it would give her and her family the chance to give a little back to Plunket after their many years of helping her raise three boys.

Christine talks about the struggles she faces living with 3 different personalities in the household and managing her sons needs. She also discusses the value she finds in her local Plunket Nurse.

Read below for more.

Plunket Tell us about the first 500 days with Lincoln.

Christine The first 500 days went really well, there were no major events, challenges or worries which was great. Lincoln is our 3rd boy so when you have more than one child the normal day becomes chaos. The main bump for us was trying to get all 3 boys to live harmoniously and get in a good routine where everyone is happy. So it was balancing all the different needs of our 3 boys, all with very different personalities so its been a challenge.

Plunket What has been one of the most unexpected or surprising changes you noticed in the first 500 days of Lincolns life

Christine The most unexpected event with Lincoln was simply having another personality in the house. It was about understanding that you cant expect everyone to get along, and everyone is different. He doesnt like the same foods, we tuck him into bed differently, he likes different activities and is a whole different person with different needs. It was about getting to know him, knowing what suits him and not treating everyone the same.

Plunket How has Plunket supported you in the first 500 days of Lincolns life

Christine With Plunket the main reason we take Lincoln and all of our boys is that they keep track of things that we forget about after having 3 boys. Plunket has been there for us by managing how Lincoln is growing and developing in all ways, and then they write it all down for us. When we had our first child we did write everything down and kept track of his developments very closely but now onto our 3rd child we just dont have time. Our Plunket nurse is very reassuring and keeps us up to date with his developments when we cant keep up so we are very thankful for that.

Plunket Can you explain the biggest learning from your Plunket nurse

Christine Being different is normal and not every child is the same. It was hard for us to understand its okay to be outside of the normal spectrum of development or growing but our Plunket nurse reassured us that its okay and his time will come. For example if he isnt saying certain words at a certain age, or hasnt started crawling dont panic, and dont worry every child is different and that is okay.

Plunket What is the one tip parent to parent you would like to share to other parents reading this

Christine The best tip I can give, especially having 3 kids, is what Plunket taught me that every child is different. Enjoy your children individually and their development and dont worry too much about what they are achieving at a certain date because their time will come.

Thank you Christine for sharing your first 500 days with Lincoln with Plunket.

Raise a Bundle RAB runs a monthly story and interview with each of the Raise a Bundle RAB families we have associated with this Plunket National Campaign. Check out for more stories and updates.