March 2004 Babies

[Chuffed]

Hi, like all of you I'm sure I have been having trouble finding the time to get on Mumsnet. Hope everything is going well for you all. I love being a mum!
I thought we needed to have a post to discuss stuff as Feb, April and May have them but not us.
DD was born 29 March and is a real character showing lots of personality. Hopefully I won't be alone for long.

ds is a delight this week- all smiles and giggles. we took him to a party on friday night (asleep in pram) but he woke up on the way there and then again on the way home at about 2am and seemed so delighted that it was time to play with his mum and dad again - cute cute cute
last night he slept really weel - woke up once in night which I ignored (just restless) and when I got him up later on for a feed I found he'd turned both over and around in the cot so was facing completely different direction - no wonder he was making so many rustling noises
having a lovely time with him now - quite fancy another! dh would kill me though.
on a personal note, how are you and your partners getting on (hope you don't mind me asking) - I found the first 3 months to be very rocky but this last week we're getting back on track I think - I've been so grouchy and stroppy but this week a little sunbeam!

morocco we've both been clucky since dd was about 3 weeks old. We have been a bit snappy with each other but I think it is a combination of things not really dd. He isn't enjoying his work and me being at home all day doesn't help as he is jealous and wants to be at home too.
Just got back from swimming, dd enjoys it so much. Problem is she tries to crawl like she swims which doesn't work all that well of course.
Agree with the mostly bundle of delight.

DD is a complete charmer when out and about but often demanding and whiny at home. The last two nights she has slept much better, so perhaps there is light at the end of the tunnel.

DH and I are mostly doing well, although both of us have depressed fits, and life would be better if I were more interested in sex. Neither of us is particularly clucky. He is finding having a small baby hard work, and although I always wanted a baby, I never really was clucky -- I had pretty much resigned myself to never having one. (I turned 39 just before she was due, and on my 38th birthday, I had a new, casual relationship with somebody who lived on another continent! That would be DH...)

It's funny as I was never really clucky but it is different when it is yours.
dh and I are pretty much back to ourselves in the sex dept I suppose that was one of the easy things about a c-section in the end as nothing really changed for me to that extent...didn't even last till the 6 week check.
DD is probably a bit more demanding at home than when out and about although this could be because it is more interesting for her when we are out.

We're off on our first airplane trip this evening, just a little over an hour to LA. This is by way of a test run for 18+ hours to Brisbane in a few weeks.

I keep getting plugged ducts, very annoying. I think this latest one is now going away, but all morning I've been nearly in tears any time I tried to raise my right arm to high, and nursing on that side partly because it keeps her from kicking it, ow ow ow ow. They resolve in a matter of hours usually, once I wake up and take more lecithin and nurse like mad, but it's a terrible nuisance.

DD still has two teeth -- soon it will no longer be surprising! She has learned that she can chew on her feet.

Last night we took infant and child CPR, and my father watched her, which did not go at all well. She appeared to miss me and mostly rejected the bottle. He took it quite well all told, although he was distressed by the way beads of sweat break out on her face when she gets really angry.

california girl let us know how it goes, we are off for a couple of very long flights next week, but am not too worried about it. London - Manchester then to Singapore then to Hongkong.
No teeth yet, but have started on some babyrice in the evenings in the hope that it will get her through the night without being absolutely starving...we live in hope.
Loving the weather finally and dd looks soooo cute in her babybanz sunnies when she is in the front pack being carried around.

We had a great time in LA, but the flights were a misery. She's not fond of going up and she hates going down. And SF-LA is basically all going up and going down! People were very nice to us (it helps that when she's not miserable she's a big flirt), but it was exhausting and terrible, and people kept asking if she was all right, she screamed so much on the way down. She wouldn't take her sippy cup, although if water accidentally came out of it while she was thrashing, it would quiet her for a few seconds. I'm hoping longer flights will be better.

oh dear that'll probably be our flight from London to Manchester then.
No better on the sleep front, she work up twice last night but then woke at 6am wide awake but not hungry, I was just up at 6am anyway as just getting ready for the gym but it is driving me mad...I thought things were supposed to get easier as they got older.

snap on waking up in nights - another heatwave strikes and ds needs a light snack every few hours to keep him going - thank god we fly to cooler england soon - wednesday in fact. I'm more worried about the car journey to the airport as 5 hours of screaming doesn't appeal too much if I can't even walk him round to calm him down.
today I was back at work for a day (last day of contract needed to be worked) and spent all yesterday expressing milk that ds totally refused to drink - so he can go til lunch without a feed if he wants to - funny that when I'm around he likes to feed every 2 or 3 hours then. feeling slightly manipulated by tiny baby!
I had an hour of breastfeeding time at work (this is law here - what a great idea) so he didn't starve and I got to show him off to everyone again.
looking forward to the holidays and showing ds off to all friends and family

Today I am weepy because DD is becoming very much Mummy's girl, and DH is miserable. He tried to feed her, and she behaved like he was poisoning her, but as soon as I took her, she not only settled down, she drank from the very same bottle like it was going out of style. I told him she still loved her and he said "She doesn't know me from a blowfish" and when I pointed out she was different with him than with strangers he said "She smiles at strangers". He really wants to be good with her, and he tries, but he has a very hard time dealing with her crying, and anybody's heart would have been broken by the way she was treating him last night! I felt so terrible for them. Plus now I feel trapped.

I'm thinking maybe I'll see if I can get him to spend an evening a week with the baby and my father, in the hopes that practice will help and he and my father can keep each other sane while the baby howls. Being alone when the baby is inconsolable seems like just too much -- I can hardly bear it, and I'm much less affected by the baby's misery.

californiagirl - this is just a stage babies go through honestly. They are not capable of deciding they do not like their daddy. In a few months time she will outgrow it and be a daddies girl. Feeding is not always the best things for dads to do. Just cuddling a baby can be enough - make sure he gets a cuddle when she isn't needing fed. there are lots of other things dads can do other than feeding. Bathing, playing games, walking in the pram. Leave the feeds for a bit and concentrate on other areas would be my advice. My DH only fed any of our 4 babies if I wasn't around. Please reassure your DH not to take it personally.

The problem is that now she won't take a bottle from anybody else when I'm not there, either. He was only feeding her so that she'd be OK with the bottle. I suppose that now that we've blown it, net misery may be minimized by only trying when we actually need to (which isn't all that often, really, as I won't be working away from her until she's over 6 months). It's a little hard on my poor father, who's usually stuck babysitting her, but maybe it's better to torture him occasionally than to torture DH on a regular basis.

californiagirl my dd doesn't take the bottle very easily either but dh does the bath if he is home in time from work and about once a month has daddy daughter day when I got out with my girlfriends.
She is turning into a bit of a daddy's girl already so in a way you are lucky. Big hugs though - isn't it awful, you are soooo happy then so angry and upset all in a row with them but then you look at them and they are so small and it is just so easy to forgive them.

Hi
May I join in??
My ds was born on 6th March and is just a delightful little boy - well if he is well fed and well rested he is!
Sleeping was fantastic - 11 hours a night - until he got a cold about 6 weeks ago - then went downhill and was waking twice a night. Now it's a bit hit or miss - one night he'll wake at 1 and 5am, the next he'll wake at 4am and the next at 7 am - no logic to it at all.
Am now starting to wean him - baby rice and some pureed fruit mixed through. Just to get him used to sitting at the table and using a spoon more than anything else - but he loves it.
Still breastfeeding most of the time - topping up with formula when running low.
He had a fairly low weight gain until 4 weeks ago when he started to catch up - maybe the formula top ups helped.

Welcome! DD is also hit and miss these days, but she did sleep entirely through one night recently (sheer exhaustion I think).

She is now clearly working up to crawling. She doesn't get much of anywhere, but she moves randomly a fair distance. At Moms and Babies yoga, all the other babies were quietly on their mats, even the one her exact age, who rolled from front to back and back again on his mat. It took her 30 seconds to roll, swivel and thrash off the mat and onto the carpet where she could wrap her blanket around her head and try to chew the yoga mat. She was like a really tiny juvenile delinquent! Everybody was in stitches.

Well currently in HongKong. Had a terrific flight although very long and dd travelled like a real trooper. The only crying we had was when we were trying to delay a feed so she could feed on take off and we couldn't hold on any longer. She had no problems at all.
I think the solids are doing wonders for the sleep, she did 8 hours in a row last night after a good portion of sweet potato and some milk.
It is soooo hot here, as soon as we get out of the air conditioning she just goes to sleep.
The holiday is going well so far, off to the markets tonight mission is shoes and handbags.

Forgot to add Singapore Airlines were wonderful!!! After 16 hours on their planes.

Great to hear, chuffed! I hope our luck is as good on the way to Oz.

hiya girls and welcome to traceyk
how's hong kong, chuffed? we're enjoying our hols in not so hot and sunny England but it's great to catch up with family and friends and show the kids off
ds is coming along a treat and getting more attention than normal which is nice for him - he loves having his tummy tickled and playing peekaboo
he should get together with your dd californiagirl as they sound similar ragamuffins - he's almost off and away really, can move 360 degress in a funny shuffle and looks like he is about to start crawling backwards, as his brother did but about 2 months later. I'm excited he'll be on the move soon but I quite like knowing where to find him right now too. sounds like maybe your little one will be an early walker traceyk if he's more focused on standing up.
I've started giving him the odd titbit at dinner times as he does a pathetic mmmmmmmmmmm noise right through mealtimes otherwise. opens his mouth in excitiement whenever the spoon gets anywhere near so I guess I should start weaning properly really
enjoy your summer hols everyone
oh, forgot to mention that ds has had his first 'accident' when mil left him too close to edge of bed and he wriggled off - seriously under impressed by this! particularly as he cut his head on the edge of the bed and was returned to me screaming his head off and with blood running down his face (from what turned out to be tiny scratch). In fact it is not even his first accident as dh also let ds grab his cup of coffee and spill it over his little hand but luckily it didn't burn although he also screamed the place down when I held it under the tap for 10 minutes - poor little thing - I started worrying i might be giving him frostbite
hope your little ones are luckier

Now in NZ and leave for London in 2 days. Can't believe it has been over 3 weeks since we left. DD has just taken everything in her stride and has loved all the attention from all the family in NZ.
We had so much fun surprising all the family and making everybody cry.
I'm going to have a hard time amusing her when we get back to UK now I just know it...she is so used to being the centre of attention the whole time.
All good though after a freezing week it is crisp and beautifully sunny and we are looking out the window at the sea and it is wonderful.

We're well under way with the weaning malarky - Baby Organix and some home made stuff. Banana porridge is the favourite and ds just woofs the stuff!
Sleeping is still a bit inconsistent - 2 nights 8-6.30 then last night up again at 2am for a feed. I'm just so glad I don't have to get up and do a full days work at the office.
Swimming once a week, nursery 2 afternoons and a singing and signing class on a Saturday - he's a busy little boy!
Am looking forward to next summer when ds skin is a lot strongre and can get out and about in the sunshine.

We're back from Australia. Qantas was an absolute nightmare, except when they were lovely. Once they were lovely but frighteningly incompetent (after 6! Qantas employees weighed in to get us checked in, we discovered they'd seated us illegally in the row behind the exit row, and then they brightly told us that in the event the oxygen masks descended we should put the baby's on first and then our own). Mostly they behaved like buying a ticket for the baby and then wanting to put the carseat in it was unheard of and inconsiderate of us. They wanted us to face it forwards so as not to inconvenience the passenger in front, but wouldn't give us a bulkhead because there were unpaid babies in them! Not to mention that 6 hours into a 12 hour flight where we were seated in 52 D, E, and F, with the baby in E, we discovered that all the time they were telling us we had to turn the baby for the comfort of 51 E, there was nobody at all in 51 F!!!! They spent 5 minutes arguing with us instead of 30 seconds looking at the row ahead of us.

DD is now consistently moving backwards, sort of a reverse commando crawl. If you drape a muslin over her head and say "Where's the baby?" she pulls it off and is very proud of herself. If she's in a really good mood she will pull it off if I drape it over my own head, but if not she just loses interest. She was the center of attention everywhere we went and loved it, and had no perceptible jetlag when we got to Australia (coming back has not been so smooth although DH and I handled it better, on the way in we both crashed at about the same time, but the baby didn't, and it was a nightmare; coming home I let him go to bed at 3 pm so that he could take the baby in the night while I wanted to sleep.)

I have tried Sudocreme and like Desitin better. (We don't get Sudocreme here.)

Oh what a nightmare...must admit we were one of the non-paying people in the bulkhead. We were able to take our carseat on for the trip from London to Manchester but dd was unable to sit in it due to not being 6 months old.
DD didn't take long to get over the jet lag but seems to be forever hungry still waking twice in the night for milk and won't settle down without it...aghhh.
The weaning is going well and we now have a highchair which makes life a bit easier. She is crawling backwards and in circles but appears so close to going forwards and can manage about one or two pushes.
Have bought a macpac back carrier for her for our holiday to Egypt in 2 weeks. Can't imagine trying to get around with the pushchair. She seems to like it a lot and the people in the store said they had never had such a content baby in there as she was taken out of one and into another and back into another for about an hour or so.
Isn't it just so amazing how quickly they grow up.

I don't object to bassinet babies. I do object to being told that my ticketed baby can't have a seat she can use because it's reserved for an unticketed one!

In the US, if you buy a seat you must be allowed to use it with a car seat, even a rear-facing one. I was shocked to find out that isn't true everywhere. We successfully bullied Qantas into it, 4 times, but it was miserable and they were hateful.

I'm planning on buying a highchair today. It would be easier i she and I didn't both have a cold, which with the jetlag means she's not sleeping well, so we're both tired, sick, and cranky.