Wenn es im Winter stürmt und schneit, haben wir eine Flasche Glühwein allzeit bereit - life in Germany and Austria

[LinzerTorte]

As I couldn't find a suitable poem mentioning Glühwein, I composed my own. Please don't laugh.

All welcome - anyone living in Germany, Austria or anywhere else who would like to chat.

DH brought the Christmas decorations up from the cellar at the weekend & his mum made us a lovely advent wreath, both ofhich cheered me up no end!

That sounds exhausting, Later - and I thought DD1's one-hour feeds were long enough! You're right that it won't last for ever, but it sometimes feels like it at the time so I really sympathise. From what I can remember, babies get most of what they need from your milk in the first 10 minutes or so and anything after that is just comfort feeding - but of course you don't want to take them off if they're just going to be unsettled. I quite enjoyed the long feeds during the day as it gave me lots of time to read, but it does make it very difficult to get anything done. I'm sure it won't be too much longer before your DS cuts down on the lengths (and frequency) of his feeds, though; I only remember the ridiculously long feeds lasting for a couple of months. I'm sure that longer feeds can mean shorter naps, btw; I got the impression that DD1 was getting all the rest she needed when she was feeding as she seemed half-asleep at the time anyway, so she didn't need to sleep much the rest of the time.

Right, must go and dig out the stickers and sticker books (I'm hoping they're where I think they are!) for this afternoon's lesson with the KiGa group. The DC are also under strict instructions not to interrupt this week, otherwise DH may not be bringing anything back from Berlin for them!

I bet you're exhausted later. I also remember dd feeding for ages and me sitting in the arm chair half asleep and then realising that she'd fallen asleep attatched to me!

Dd is wanting a few Christmas decorations too so I must go and hunt for the box in the cellar. I always try to be minimalistic due to our frequent moves but somehow the cellar is full - we got new matresses so put the old ones in the cellar, dd's old high (half high) bed from Ikea is down there and 2 bikes that are getting too small for them really, all our suitcases seem to take up loads of space too and goodness knows what else is down there. Oh, I know I still have all my Umzugkartons for next time..

The dentist has decided that my dc should go to the Kieferorthopäde after all so I phoned today and the first appointment is in January! I think that's one job that ds and dd should consider, seems every 2nd child has to go nowadays, never run out of patients for sure. Now, neuroscience is a different matter. I am so fed up with dh's employers. They've asked him to go to another conference with his own money again and we're still waiting for 2 to be paid back (unlikely) and to top it all they 'forgot' to pay him 900? (for the 2nd time this year) from his pay so that's going to be a christmas on credit if at all.

Oh, Later, it's so hard when you're in the middle of it - sending sympathy. Is there anyone who could take him out for a walk in the pram/sling straight after a feed so you can have an hour to yourself? MIL used to push DD around the block a few times, singing all the way (with strict instructions to bring her back if she cried) and I went straight to bed and slept. Or someone who could prepare you some food that you can eat one-handed while MNetting feeding? Stuff that's tasty, but requires no preparation at the time of eating - cold pizza, quiche, sausage rolls, pasta salad, plus ready chopped veg sticks and fruit. It's also probably not that bad to eat homemade cakes if they contain good stuff. (I made a carrot cake yesterday for DH's birthday - 100% wholemeal flour, carrots, ground almonds, raisins, eggs, oil, only the sugar could be seen as "unhealthy" and the Smarties that DD insisted on decorating it with) A batch of muffins could even be frozen and there are plenty of savoury recipes out there.

I'd be happy to bake you a fruit cake and post it to you if it would help...

Strike-out fail. Aargh.

Good luck with your lesson today, Linzer.

Hope the dc behave this time Linzer and the lesson goes as planned!

Later, hope you manage to get some decent food today. Do you get time to cook at all or when dh is home?

He's distracted at the moment wriggling about in his cot watching his monkey mobile.
Unfortunately the only people I know here either work full time or have babies even tinier than DS! He will only go to someone else for about 10 mins anyway before he screams for me anyway
I thought I'd give the midwife a call today about the thrush as I'm sure it should have cleared up by now. It was getting much better but has started to get worse again. Last time I spoke to her she said the next step if the gel didn't work would be a prescription from the Dr for some tablets, but that I would have to bottle-feed whilst taking them & express to keep my milk supply up and throw away the milk afterwards - I think in that case I would just end up giving up bf as there's no way I could get bottles made for the amount he feeds plus express enough to keep my supply. I'll stick it out for a few more days & see if things improve. There is no pattern to his daytime feeding at all.

Linzer Good luck with the lesson - I hope the stickers work!

admylin What a nightmare! I hope they refund you in time for Xmas.

Silken What a sweet offer, thank you!! I'm trying to cut down on sweet things though as they can make the thrush worseapparently :(

He's asleep! All snuggly & lovely - in my arms of course but I'll wait until he is sleeping properly then try & put him down. He looks so peaceful that I instantly forget the wriggling & screaming!
(I'll pop a new pic on my profile - he's developed the chubbiest face I've ever seen! Otherwise the pic is on Facebook)

DH does all the cooking at the moment as evenings are DS' clingiest time - until he has his bedtime bottle then DH is his best friend!
I managed a couple of pieces of toast & a yoghurt this morning & have some left over bolognese next to the microwave for lunch so today is a much better food day :) (A good thing too, as I've run out of my usual staple of Studentenfutter!)
I need to start making myself a sandwich or something in the evening when DS has his bottle but I'm usually so exhausted I just do DS' hot water bottle & fall into bed myelf.
He was 10 weeks on Sunday so it can't be too long until it gets better - soon I will be able to leave the sofa & maybe even the flat

Sorry for the me me me rant! I do realise I'm not the only person ever to have had a baby, even if it doesn't come across sometimes.

On a more random note, did anyone ever hear anything from Bebe after she moved back to the UK? I think her last post was the crazy birth story. I hope she's doing ok - I bet she is happy to be back

Aww, so cute when they're asleep aren't they! Lovely photo later. When we had ds he cried and wouldn't sleep during the day until he turned 3 months old but when ever he did sleep we took photos as he looked so cute, in the end we mostly have photos of him asleep in different places!

I was just wondering about bebe too - dooesn't look as if she moved back to Germany after all. Ernest hasn't been around either for ages, maybe she stayed in her new flat in UK!

Gorgeous photo Later - they're just adorable when they're asleep, aren't they? Do you have more photos on Facebook? I'll PM you.

Talking of which, bebe is on my FB - she seems to have been quite sleep-deprived recently but otherwise is doing well and her girls are very sweet. I don't know whether they're planning on coming back to Germany, but they're still in Wales atm.

Later No, I'm sure it won't be too much longer now till things start getting a bit easier. I know things were far better, both eating and sleeping wise, with DD1 by the time she was three months (as my parents came out to visit us then). Hope you get the thrush sorted out soon.

admylin That's so mean of your DH's employers. Yes, orthodontists do quite a good business here as well; we've just got the money back from the Krankenkasse for DD1's treatment, but they only covered half of it so we had to fork out ?150 ourselves. Thank goodness she didn't need a full brace, which would have been about four times as expensive.

Disaster - I can't find the stickers and the DC don't know where they are either. Will try some of your other tips in the meantime silken and hope that the sticker books turn up before too long.

Oops, didn't think about that, Later. I'm glad I never got thrush while bfing DD, since I needed a whole bar of filled Lindt chocolate every day to keep me going . Who said breastfeeding was the cheap option?!?

I think I've seen the odd post now and then from bebe on other threads. Can't remember any details of what she's posted, though, or indeed what section.

I do wonder if the many packs of biscuits consumed whilst feeding triggered the thrush in the first place, Silken!

admylin It really helps to hear that other babies are/were the same :)

Linzer Good luck with the lesson - I hope you find something that works!

Later have you tried a dummy? Maybe he won't take one or you don't like them? I had a prejudice against them with the first 2, then I realised it was passed on from my mum, who is a snob about such things, so decided not to object when the hospital gave him one and he still uses them - they do help to put in when you know he has actually finished feeding and is now comfort sucking - also sometimes when you put baby down and he is already 2/3 asleep but startles awake the dummy gives the comfort of sucking and he goes off again... Anyway they do help with Henry I find - and he has had them from day one and won't even take a bottle and is still fully BF at just turned 7 months, so I don't believe any longer that they are incompatible with BF at all! I do intend to throw them away when he starts walking though, as I have retained the prejudiced dislike of toddlers with dummies

I eat vast quantities of junk when Bfing, I wish it did stop me eating.... dh never cooks either, never has (maybe 3 times in the last 11 years), glad yours does :)

The thrush sounds nasty, you have done so well to keep BFing so long with all the problems you've had, some of us don't know we're born when BF is the easy option.

Henry is very high maintenance at the moment in a totally different way - well he is still waking 5 - 7 times a night... sigh ... he does have a bad cough though ... but also he has learnt to pull up but only using me, not furniture, and he wants to pull up and stand ALL the time, and raahs angrily at me if I dare do anything other than kneel on the rug with him so he can do it... DD is amusing him now but I am a bit on edge as she keeps lifting him up...

admylin your DH's employers sound a nightmare, sometimes sounds as if being highly educated isn't the answer employment wise and it would be easier and more financially rewarding to be a plumber...

Linzer nightmare about the stickers, my house is infested with the things, wish I could send some virtually in an instant! Good luck with the class.

Need to take dd and her friend to football in a minute but ds2 is feeding, ds1 is glued to sooty on cbbc and coughing away, and dd is wandering about in a daze since I told her to go and change out of her dress into trousers, and is insisting she can wear tights as she can't be bothered to go upstairs and get some socks...

5more The dummy is a saviour sometimes! Like you I was against them at first but realised it was just my parents' dislike that I had taken on. I try not to give it to him at home as I'm a bit scared that he will just take it when he really is hungry, or that I won't be able to put him to bed without it if he gets used to it. I give it to him when we're out & about as it seems to calm him if he gets het up & stops him screaming the Dr's surgery/Karstadt/DN's birthday party down. He can be quite screamy in the evenings, makes all his usual hunger signs but then screams the instant I try to latch him on & strangely enough sucking on the dummy for 5 mins calms him enough to latch him on & feed him.
Whatever works, I say!

I think it's a combination of really enjoying the cuddliness and pure laziness that has kept me going with bf! Making up bottles just seems like too much hassle and takes too long when DS is screaming for a feed - just lifting up my top and popping him on is sooo much easier.

Is Henry's cough not getting any better? Poor love. 5-7 wakings a night would finish me off!

Good luck getting to football :)

I also picked up anti-dummy snobbery from my parents and was determined my children would never have one. It only took a few weeks for me to be desperate to try one with DD1 - but she, and the other two, wouldn't take one. DD2 still sucks her thumb, though, which is supposed to be worse as it's harder to get them to stop. You just don't get the anti-dummy attitude here and it's rare to see a baby without one; I just wonder how everyone manages to get their baby to take one, seeing as all my three refused.

5more Sympathies re the night waking; you must be exhausted too. Just bumped into my neighbour, whose wife had a baby 6 days ago, and he looked done in - I felt really sorry for him (but also very relieved that we have that stage out of the way now, I must admit).

The English lesson went much better today; having them all sitting at the table for most of the time definitely helped. I was also quite a bit stricter with them than I had been; raising my voice and speaking quite sharply when they were misbehaving definitely has more effect than just telling them in my normal voice!

Our Kinderarzt put DS' hand in his (DS') mouth to calm him & stop him screaming at his U3 and since then his fist flies into his mouth & he suckles it furiously as soon as he is hungry - I hear that in the night before he starts to scream for a feed! He had his tiny thumb in there this morning so I'm wondeing whether I should let him have the dummy more to distract him from his thumb. He only really goes for his hand when he's hungry & occasionally when he needs entertaining so I might just keep an eye for now. I do have a scan pic of him sucking his thumb in the womb so maybe it's just something I'll eventually have to accept.

I'm glad the lesson went well, Linzer - it sounds like you've hit on what works so fingers crossed it continues that way!

Hello, just marking my place. Have read everyone's posts but only have a couple of hours free in the mornings and need to entertain the baby! I hope sleep gets better soon; admylin's dh actually gets paid what he's owed ; glad lesson went well Linzer. Apols if I have missed anyone else. Still no full night's sleep here and no dummies either... Have a great evening!

Jenny, did you se ethe madness in the shops after Thanksgiving? A friend in Philadelphia said he'd seen people camping out over night with dc and dogs to get the best bargains!

I had ds with a dummy and dd refused one. It took along time to get ds to stop using his but it was kept in his bed atleast as he got abit older. One night he was so exhausted from a great day out that he forgot about it and that was the end of it but I do know that it can be difficult if a dc is really attatched to it.

It's December tomorrow. I'm not organised - thought I would be and was planning to be (for Christmas) but dh's part only pay stopped me in my tracks with shopping. Have you all got the Nickolaus thing sorted? My 2 have a big red nikolaus sock and I get them a chocolate snowman, the usual satsumas and a bag of nuts to crack. They both enjoy those over the next days even though they wouldn't normally bother with walnuts or nuts at all.

I know alot of the dc's friends get presents on the 6th too but my 2 aren't bothered this year. I've asked for a Christmas list and they've both only came up with a couple of books and dd wanted a soldering iron set but has now changed her mind and might like a hot glue gun instead!

I'll write a bigger post later but need a moan! I went to pick up dd's german passport this morning and they wouldnt give me it unless I had dh's written permission!!! FFS what is this - the dark ages! Its not her first passport altho it is her first german one but I had wondered if it was something to do with people taking their dc out the country secretly?? I'm to find a better reason than them being ridiculously sexist!

Then I went to the post office and 10 of the christmas cards I'd written were square ones so "the wrong shape" and would have cost over 3€ each to post! So now I have to write them again on appropriately shaped/sized cards!
Normally I love Germany but today its driving me mad!!!!!!

No presents here on the 6th thankfully - all the sweets and chocolates are enough. Although I have the feeling they may have had a book each last year too, which I don't mind.

DH's nephew had a dummy until he was 4. I remember going out for a walk with him and my MIL and she kept having to take his dummy out of his mouth because she couldn't understand what he was saying! She would put it back in as soon as he'd said what he had to say. He's had quite a few problems with his teeth too, although that has more to do with my MIL's inability to let a child "suffer" without sweets for more than a few minutes. She was then banned from giving him any, but carried on trying to give sweets to our DC in secret (I think he's allowed sweets again now, so it's all out in the open again). Yes, ruin one grandchild's teeth and then move on to the next.

Later If he's distractable with the dummy, it's worth a try I suppose. I don't think there's much I could have done to stop DD2 sucking her thumb, although it's usually only in the evenings/when she's tired now and never for very long. Her teeth look OK and the dentist has never said anything, so I'm hoping they haven't really been affected.

Feel like I've had a very unproductive morning, although I have planned the rest of this week's English lessons and done a bit round the house. DDs due home any time now so I'd better go and see about lunch.

Canella, my 2 dc have German passports and I'm sure I didn't need dh's signature to apply for or collect them. They did have old ones and a Kinderausweis before though so maybe as it's a first?

I have tried to open a simple no frills bank account for the dc and each time I'm given an appointment a week later and told that dh has to be there too. So he has to come and sit and watch a bank worker photo copying passports and hundreds of bits of paper during his work time...anyway, I've cancelled the appointments 3 times now because he couldn't make it and once the bank sent me home because the woman was ill (could have phoned me as she did take my number). Where do your dc have accounts by the way? Deutsche Bank is good I think because you keep your account if you move cities, Sparkasse you have to delete account and open new one with new number etc in new city, Volksbank is the same. Any one have a better customer friendly bank?

Wow, you're organised with cards, I haven't even started thinking that far although I have brought the hammer up so I can hang some stuff up later, maybe.

Our dc's accounts are still in the UK!. They are savings accounts related to my dh's account there so we just left them. We use the Deutsche Kreditbank here - I've got some kind of prepaid Visa card where you can withdraw money from any cash machine and youre not charged for it.

No presents on the 6th here either. The men of the village organise a Nikolaus party in the forest and they give the dc a lot of chocolate so that always seems enough to me. But its only for dc up to age 7 so i'll have to pick up some chocolate for dd.

x posts earlier Canella - how annoying about the passport. My DC only have British passports so I don't know about the procedure here, although maybe it's standard procedure for a first passport that they have to have both parents' signatures? The DC would need their own Austrian passports from next year (they're in DH's passport atm) but I don't think we'll bother getting them as they have the British ones anyway - although it would make more financial sense. And would probably be less hassle too.

My DC also have accounts in both countries and are with the Sparkasse here. I've just closed their British children's accounts, though, as the interest was so low and put it all into one two-year account in my name. Does anyone know whether children are actually allowed to have UK accounts if they're not residents? My dad tried to open a building society savings account for them but was told he couldn't as they don't live in the UK.