We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
AS PART OF TheJournal.ie’s weekly Family Magazine, we wanted to create a space for parents to share their views. A place where mums and dads could share their experiences, lessons learned, and even mistakes along the way.
We’ve all done silly things when tired. When you’re pregnant, your body is working hard to keep yourself and the baby healthy, right? So everyday skills – like putting the ice cube tray in the freezer and not in the cupboard – can go out the window. That’s where the term ‘baby brain’ comes from… but ask any sleep deprived parent and they’ll tell you it extends far beyond pregnancy.
This week we’re asking our panel…
What’s been your biggest ‘baby brain’ moment?
Here’s what they had to say…
I forgot to put the brake on the buggy… on an open road: When my second child was a few weeks old, I got cabin fever and brought him and my 1.5 year old daughter out for a stroll. My daughter tripped during our walk, and as I tended to her the pram (and brand new baby) rolled onto the road. Thankfully it was a quiet road… with just one slow moving car and a bemused driver approaching us! It was a lesson well learned – the brake was constantly in use after that.
- Denise
My partner remembered everything except the breast milk: My partner called to a friend with our son when he was a couple of months old. She took the changing bag, nappies, wipes, change of clothes etc. She forgot to take a bottle of expressed milk (he was breastfed and I was the one doing the breastfeeding). So I got a phone call about an hour later asking me to come and provide his milk!
- Olly Keegan
I was convinced I’d left the keys at home: I can remember some really awful baby brain moments over the years. Sleep deprivation can make you look like a total nutter. I was getting the tyres changed on my car and looking for my keys to give to the mechanic. I couldn’t find them anywhere (they were in my hand), and got so flustered that I said to the mechanic, ‘I think I’ve left my keys at home.’ This made him laugh because obviously I had driven the car to the garage. He thought this was super funny and offered me a cup of coffee to wake me up a bit.
- Susannah O’Brien
I was so tired I reversed into a pole: My last ‘baby brain’ moment was only about a month ago. I was reversing into a parking spot and was wrecked after being up a lot of the night with Ellie Mae. I reversed into a pole… it cost me €300 to fix it.
- Denise Cumiskey
He took a dirty nappy to work with him: We have a family story of my wife’s uncle who was dealing with his daughter before heading off to work, changing her nappy, feeding her etc. The last thing he did before he left was grab the plastic bag with his lunch in it… or so he thought! At work later on, he realised he’d mixed up the bag and had actually brought his baby daughter’s used nappy to work.
- Ross Boxshall
I started crying after forgetting my wallet: When Clíodhna was about six weeks old, we ventured to our local town (about ten minutes’ drive away) to do a grocery shop. I packed everything for the journey: spare clothes, soothers (even though she didn’t like them), a teddy bear etc. I had just put Clíodhna in her buggy at the supermarket when I realized that I hadn’t packed my wallet. I had to put her, buggy, bag, teddy etc back into the car. She fell asleep on the drive home so after all that I ended up leaving the shopping for the next day. I was so tired I think I cried on the drive home!
- Ríona Flood
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
It’s all well and good until Stevie starts humping the microwave during the night
@DarkHorse: That’s a silly comment . This is very serious but the article doesn’t tell us how to access , so its a useless article.
@rory conway: I mean not really, as they haven’t been on sale yet. They’re flying to the States later this month, where a care home will be trialing the beta version.
Can he make a good cup of tae though? Or boil an egg? Or put a few sods of turf on the fire?
As long as it’s used to complement human interaction and not replace it, it’s a good idea. Having spent summers at college working as a home help, i am aware that i was the only person many elderly people spoke to during the day. My being there for a chat was at times more important than my ability to light the fire
@Anne Marie Devlin:
Very good point.
May I be the first to welcome our new robot overlords.
Seriously though, cool bit of tech.
Japan, the US and other places are vastly more developed in the technologies required to implement practical autonomous robotic supports.
It’s a good idea but only if Trinity College collaborates with the best abroad.
As matters now stand, one small country does not have the embedded knowledge base, the centre of expertise, the resources and the funding required to make a massive project of this nature anything more than a prototype.
@Fiona deFreyne: Do you just put everything down? Ireland has produced leading technologies in the past beating those with more resources and been at it longer. They could easily develop key components for the future of all robot via software or hardware.
@Kal Ipers: it is a matter of scale, accumulated expertise, level of previous investment in R &D, historically, accumulated IPR, the legacy knowledge and expertise not to have to reinvent any wheels and the large numbers of highly quality researchers required to develop cutting edge technologies in areas off deep machine learning. The scale of investment required for success is truly huge.
We have talent here but it is fair to say that we have had a brain flow to the US and to Cambridge in the UK in relevant disciplines. There are many reasons for this.
Trinity can’t play a valuable role as an adjunct to leading research elsewhere.
Honda has already achieved much techological success in Japan with robots dedicated to health care for the elderly. I don’t know if there can be technology sharing and cooperation arrangements.
Knowing the scale of the problem is a first step. I would not select Ireland a a base for developing new generation rockets for outer space exploration or other areas of resource intensive projects. Robotics and autonomous intelligence devices is one of the mist resource intensive areas that could be selected.
@Fiona deFreyne: None of that has anything to do with your constant putting down everything. Again I reject your view and that is mostly because it is always negative.
They should really get in touch with the Japanese on this subject. They have been pouring money on this subject for decades and a trip to them could shave years off the project.
Also, the arms are way too short and lack any function. Infact, the whole robot cannot do more than a smartphone. I feel like someone is laughing right now.
Ye it would be if the likes of rich politicians didn’t want to force the elderly out of their home
Sounds like a great idea. I thought they’d need to be a lot stronger though. And have a hoist, or arms, to help them in and out in the bathroom? But they’d never get bored listening to people, I suppose, there’s that.
All the wiley aul fellas will be figuring out how to bypass him so they can slip off to the pub and bookies
Can it make a good cup of tae though? Boil an egg or throw a few sods of turf on the fire?
I assume he meant Kryten from Red Dwarf not Croydon from Deep Space Nine lol
Fck that, sophia the robot destroys stevie
If you want to watch a creepy interview with a robot check this out.. http://uk.businessinsider.com/interview-with-sophia-ai-robot-hanson-said-it-would-destroy-humans-2017-11
@Patrick J. O’Rourke: True, it doesn’t have much to say for itself. It wouldn’t pass the Turing test; you can tell it’s a bot. But there’s always the ELIZA effect. Sure the robot carers are meant primarily for people with no one to listen to them all day. I think there’s a huge market for them considering that retired people are living so much longer.
@Patrick J. O’Rourke: scary stuff! I’d say cults will purchase loads of these and put them out there in homes and such like to brainwash everyone!!
Daughter got a Furbie one year for Christmas thing turned seriously nasty and using bad language and had to be re-set… A Furbie!!! Yup dangerous road ahead…
@Lydia McLoughlin: Maybe they’ll persuade a few people that bus fares aren’t tuppence any more. Mind you, the bad language can’t have been that bad if you understood it.
have your say