November 2012 - reaching the six-month mark

[StuntNun]

Previous thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/antenatal_clubs/1518656-November-2012-baby-shopping-time-has-really-taken-off

Stats list: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/antenatal_clubs/1485512-November-2012-Stats-List

DD had a dummy from about 3wks, contrary to the advice as she was breastfed but I was just so desperate to have just 5 or 10mins to eat my dinner, and she wanted to be sucking ALL the time. She settled with it straight away & if she spat it out more than once, I gave her the boob. She admittedly still has it now and has started asking for it/taking more & more, but I just say she can only have it if she's tired, & if she's too tired, we can't go swimming/to the park/the zoo, & she takes it out. I've always told her to take it out to talk to us & never let her run around with it, so her palate & speech are fine. I'll let her stop it when she's ready, whilst restricting its use to naps/bed. I had a dummy until I was 5 , gave up because I wanted to be a big girl at school, my teeth are perfectly straight - whereas my sister has never really stopped sucking her thumb & her teeth are crooked... My niece sucks her thumb a LOT despite nagging, & she's 10, so a dummy is a necessary evil in my house!!! :)

This thread moves so fast!

Good morning,

Seeing that birth plan was very interesting. I have no idea about third stage or vitimin K. That's my research job for today.

I really fancy a birthing tub. Noone has asked me yet so I will mention it at my 28 week appointment.

I am currently sitting on my bed in the sunshine listening to a wee boy in the street shouting "byyeeeeeeeeeeee daaaadddddy" over and over again. His dad is quite a serious chap so it is lovely to hear him shouting back. The other night we had a full blast rendition of little frogs. It's been in my head ever since!

My mum have my sister and I a coaching session in dressing a baby courtesy of a teddy bear. I think I get it now. Also, with the body suits, I don't think it really matters what the sleeve length is. With central heating and modern houses it is Unlikely to ever get too cold. I am actually much more concerned about overheating.

I didn't have a dummy for ds and he didn't suck his thumb, he was breastfed but I don't have any memories or having to do it for ages or anything. I don't like them but that's my own personal opinion. I feel that the baby cries because its trying to tell you something and putting a dummy in its mouth to make it quiet is not something that I wanted to do and DS was a normal average baby. But I also believe that you need to do whatever is right for your baby and your household and I would never tell another person not to use one if that's what they wanted.

I'm quite interested in the amount of thought that has been going in to these birth plans. I wrote one when I was expecting my first, but then when I was admitted in labour they found that I had elevated blood pressure. To this day I am convinced it was because the midwives were SO bloody awful to me, telling me I was having a tiny baby because I had smoked (they had missed off his head when palpating), talking over the top of me or else completely ignoring me. I was 18, and I think they had prejudged my situation. (Incorrectly, I might add).

Anyway, despite my birth plan saying that I wanted to remain as mobile as possible, they strapped me up to a blood pressure monitoring machine (saying that it would only be for 30 mins), made me lie on the bed, and then buggered off and left me for 2-3 hours at a time. My babies have a habit of lying back to back with me, making all my labour pain be in my back and I was in agony, extremely cross and not feeling like I could assert myself and my wishes to the midwives. On top of that, they then gave me pethedine against my express wishes. I challenge anyone not to have elevated blood pressure in those circumstances. In the event, he was 6lb 15oz and in rude health.

My second pregnancy was twins, and the combined effect of my previous experience and the knowledge that this labour was going have to be a fairly ad-hoc and fluid (no pun intended) affair, I didn't bother writing a birth plan. In the event though, I didn't really need one. I had moved 200 miles north between these pregnancies, and the midwifery staff couldn't have been any better. I was kept informed right the way through, and at the point where I had gone to my primeval place, they discussed everything at length with my partner. He knew what I did and did not want, and they respected everything that he said, sticking to it where they could and explaining why something else might need to be compromised, due to the circumstances. It was an entirely different experience.

My third was at the same hospital, and more or less the same positive experience. I didn't feel the need to write one for that labour, and now I'm going back with twins again, I haven't written one for this one either. I understand that this wouldn't work for everyone, but having met the midwifery staff several times now, and also understanding the ethos of the, admittedly small, maternity unit, I have confidence in them. I also have no trouble asserting myself over anyone any more

Lawks, apologies for the epic tome of a post

I also have another scan this afternoon to check growth of the squirming octopi. Going to have to take all 3 other DC

My DD didn't have a dummy either. She was breastfed and the HV's were regularly telling me (in their eyes it was probably advising but if felt like telling) me to use dummy's but I didn't want to. She used to be on the boob constantly for the first couple of weeks and like another poster said round the time when I wanted to put her down and have dinner. I did try and give her a dummy after a couple of months one night when she was crying loads and I couldn't settle her. She just kept spitting it out though so I was secretly pleased. I'm not against dummy's but my sister had one till she was 7 which is outrageous! Again only at night but I just didn't want the hassle of having to wean off a dummy. I'll go with the flow with this baby and see how it goes before I decide whether it needs a dummy or not.

Re birth plans, I think I sort of had one written with DD. I wanted a water birth, skin to skin, DH to tell me sex of baby etc but it all pretty much went out the window as labour was so quick and DH didn't even make it to the birth. I did get my skin to skin but it was encouraged by the midwifes and I thought that would be the case everywhere. Obviously not. I'll write down basic things that I'd like to happen but as its quite likely I'll labour quickly again I'll just go with the flow.

I think dummies are perceived to be awful but as Valium said, they do help to prevent cot death apparently. I figure if the child as speech problems due to the dummy, they've been allowed to use it too much, but you can't force a baby to have a dummy it doesn't want. Some babies suck their thumbs/fists for comfort, others dummies, some need a special cloth/blanket, others certain music. For example, I never ever swaddled DD but other mums swear by it. You do what works for your baby & each & every one is different - what works for one child won't work necessarily for another.

I think birth plans are good for getting your thoughts straight in your own mind & with your birthing partner, but you can't expect it to happen the way you plan...

Thinking of nappies...
I got an email from my county council, after I emailed my local council about reusable schemes. They have (summarizing briefly here) that they no longer have a schemes because people that use cloth, will use cloth regardless. I find that view short-sighted & naive, doesn't actually tackle the vast amount of waste from disposables etc. I want to email them saying what other councils are doing & explain why I wasn't after a cash incentive but some sort of support!!!

If you know your council does an incentive or recycling scheme, would you mind linking to the website on here for me, or email the information so I can go in armed with facts please? TIA :)

I've never heard about dummies helping prevent cot death before? goes off to visit Professor Google

Found this , which is very interesting, on the topic of dummies and cot death. With my history, I am now considering dummies, and I have been firmly in the anti-dummy camp forever

It's page 4 that deals with dummies. Found it linked from the FSID website

catbag my DS was lying back to back and I found the labour horrendous - nearly put me off having DD (sure it is completely different for a lot of people)! Beforehand, I had never even realised you could get the pain in your back instead of your stomach. If I think it will happen again, I am going straight to hospital and demanding as much pain relief as humanly possible.

That is pretty much the extent of my birth plan to date, tho I do like skin to skin and, even as a squeamish person, I think by that stage you really don't care about if the baby is covered in gunk or anything.

Never used dummies because my 2 seemed to sense I was trying stop them permenantly bfing and spit them out. I am glad now tho because I have seen so many friends struggle weaning their DCs off them.

I quite like Tesco's baby clothes. I think they are sized quite big. I have some from DS which were used by DD too and are coming out again for this baby, so they must last fairly well. Saying that, I think Asda's tend to be cutest.

All very interesting.

Had a very brief birth plan for DD, mainly saying I was happy to go with the flow but wanted DH there and would like to try a water birth. All went out of the window as ended up with EMCS under GA 40 mins after induction process started. Am keeping an open mind at present but due to be invited to a Birth Choices Clinic to try and decide whether to go for VBAC or ELCS, and there may be other factors that make the decision easier or more obvious. Am still a bit sad that DD didnt get held until a couple of hours after she was born as DH was worried I would be cross if I didnt have the first cuddle and they wouldnt let me hold her until I was a bit less woozy with all the drugs, so skin to skin with someone will definitely be on this birth plan, even if it cant be me.

DD had (and still has) a dummy. She was mixed fed after about three weeks, and as I said on one of the previous threads, we did a lot that went against BF advice, nipple shields, bottle too soon, bottle with formula, dummy etc. Didnt affect DD who took food any way it was offered with no complaint. But then she was, and still is, a very "sucky" child. Like chunkychicken, we restrict her use of it now, and she is very good at taking it out if requested or to speak, so think it can be a real comfort to sucky babies/children.

We do have a mild inclination to attempt to take it away now she is 18 months old - we told the nursery this is what we wanted to do and they only let her have it at nap time and apparently she is managing fine without it, but DH and I are wimps!

The NHS seems to contradict the 'dummy stopping sids' slightly

www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/getting-baby-to-sleep.aspx

"Feeding and dummies

Breastfeeding your baby reduces the risk of cot death. See Why breastfeed? for more information.

It's possible that using a dummy at the start of any sleep period reduces the risk of cot death. However, the evidence is not strong and not all experts agree that dummies should be promoted. Don't give your baby a dummy until breastfeeding is well established, usually when they're around one month old. Stop giving them the dummy when they're between 6 and 12 months old."

There's so much information out there, too much I think. You'd think the nhs and a sids charity would be on the same page.

Finally out of bed n off to look at adds site

That is interesting. This paper conversely contends that while breastfeeding IS helpful in preventing postnatal deaths generally, there is no evidence to state that it has any effect on SIDS deaths.

Agree about the info- a cursory 20 minute scout about on the web has left me feeling a little baffled. I have an appointment with my consultant on Monday, so might well raise it with her.

stnuntnun with the dog, mine was just over 10 before I moved out of home and I got my mum a puppy for Christmas and my boy hated it, he's really friendly with other dogs but the puppy was so lively, always pestering him and you could tell how pissed off annoyed he was with it

With dummy's I think we'll just see how we go, I'm sure there's 1 in a tommee tippee pack I've brought so we'll have one if we need it but just wait and see

Watch ''midwife" last night, I was so glad that first women stood her ground and refused to go home so was stuck waiting around in the hall way for 2 hours then they sent her up and she was 9cm [shocked]

Just a note to say the latest Tesco Club Card Exchange includes double value on nappies, and they have some washables. On Tesco Direct website.

I've always been in the no dummies camp but as i have no clue what to expect I am trying to remain open minded about most things as it will depend what baby is like and I don't want to be beating myself up if I end up doing something I thought I wouldn't!

I have written a outline of a birth plan now. Got me thinking about what I wanted but there are still some things I need to look at (Vit K for example, still not sure what it's for or what the benefits of giving it different ways are). Have found that reading others peoples have given me things to think about that I wouldn't have considered so thanks.

Fatima that is the ball I ordered last night! Can't wait for it to get here.

Also ordered a baby record book. Really want to keep it up as mum didn't put much in mine but I love reading what is in there.

We have chickens but drawing the line there. TBH can't put up with the mess and hassle of pets although think DH would like a dog.

Afternoon ladies, hope you're all keeping well.

Thanks for the birth plan fatima, makes for some food for thought!

So after about 3 weeks of me feeling quite strong kicks, DP finally felt his first ever one last night! I've been grabbing his hand and sticking it on my bump for the last week or so, but he hasn't felt anything. However the shout of YES!! last night confirmed he'd finally felt one, woo hoo!! It was a magical moment I'll never forget!

Off to a friend's caravan in Somerset in a couple of hours for one week, then onwards to my parents in Cornwall for another week. Hope to try to peek into the thread every now and then depending on mobile reception because I'm never going to be able to catch up with the whole thing when I get back!

Stay well everyone!

I had a birth plan with DD, but I didn't have a lot of options open to me about pain relief or monitoring as I have a congenital heart condition which means you have to have an epidural and continuous heart monitoring etc, also you're only allowed 20 mins to an hour to push and then they do an "intervention", I was really scared by the prospect of that but in the end I had an EMCS (about 60 hours after they first induced me) the midwifes were great tho and explained everything and listened to what I wanted. I'd of loved to have tried a water birth but that was never gonna happen for me! Fingers crossed this time they recommend an ELCS.

I'm not sure about using dummies myself, not that there is anything wrong with them but I didn't want to give DD one. Saying that tho she is a big thumb sucker now and I kind of wish I had given her a dummy just at night time as I could take that away, can't do that with thumbs!

Have any of you thought about having a test for Group B strep done? With DD I had one done through the doctors laboratory (you just request a testing kit, get your midwife to do the swabs for you and send it off for testing, recommended time for sampling is 35-37 weeks, so a way off yet) and have always recommended it to any other pregnant ladies I know. It only costs about £30-40 to have done which is money well spent in my eyes. I know someone whose baby was very ill with a group b strep infection, which is how I found out about it. More info can be found at www.gbss.org.uk as far as I know the NHS still don't routinely test for it. Hope you don't mind me mentioning it, expect some people will already be aware of it just incase any of you didn't know..

Oh my god, my 5 yr old has been a menace today. I decided to take them out to eat for lunch since we've been in a lot this week, DS ended up moaning, crying and eventually tipping a large glass of squash down himself, i spent the while time and we left before dessert.
Then I get a message from our babysitter, she's cancelled again for the 3rd week in a row, to top it off the boys bastard father sends me a very passive aggressive text of "please makes sure the boys make sensible choices this week when packing their bag and Please remember hats and sun cream" this is after me reminding him last weekend to buy hats and sun cream to keep at his, this was met with a of why haven't I provided any for him to keep? They came back burnt and unwell. He really is a massive shit.

Anyway, lots of clearing out and sorting planned for the weekend.

kissyfur I tested positive for group b strep. I'm on antibiotics now and will have to have more when I go into labour, not fun, but if it makes for a healthy baby! I went in to the maternal assessment unit because of tightenings and they found it.

thechick Good that you found out early on, its a pretty common thing to have apparently. I think it's shocking that the NHS don't routinely check everyone for it, considering the risks. My test came back negative but I still had to have an antibiotic drip cos of my heart. It wasn't too bad really