FEB 2010 Teeth, nosh and smelly bums - it's all go, six months on!!

[InmaculadaConcepcion]

Where did the last half a year go??!

Went and bought a whole host of something similar to these bibs the other day and they've been very good at keeping the food off clothes.

BC I sing to her, while DH makes funny faces if he's feeding. And sometimes if she's fed up with one type of food we give her a "palate refresher" usually a piece of peeled grape or fruit, then go back to the main lunch and alternate.

Hey, what did we conclude with the meeting up? I think I may have missed it a few posts back. Was there a winning venue?

We double bib at lunch, one of the long sleeved ones with a rubber reservoir bib on over. Breakfast is in Sleepsuit and after tea, which is usually a self feeding or spoon swapping meal, it's baby in bath, clothes in sink. Keeps the washing & stains to a minimum but I don't think there's an easy answer.

As for the home-made meals it sounds more 'Nigella' than it is if you're cooking anyway. I did stewed apples to go with the pork chops tonight, did loads and plonked the extra in the freezer in tubs. Same with other meals, often I'll take out some before a sauce (chinese, curry etc) goes in. If money was no object Ellas kitchen would be my preferred option though, alas, stat mat pay is not stretching very far...

BG I'm soooo jealous - I haven't had a night in 7.5 months of not getting up 3 or 4 times in the night!!! DS2 is often called Ratbag here - especially when he poos just after I've changed a nappy - doesn't he know we are economising?!!

I use IKEA bibs for feeding in - kind of soft pvc. My mum turned up with them one day and had two for a pound apparently. DS2 is so damn hungry that he is very tidy and doesn't seem to miss a mouthful! He keeps slamming his fists down on the highchair when we aren't feeding him fast enough!! Am I supposed to be doing snacks in between meals now? Can't remember from last time!

Mamaloco with you on the lack of shoes - have resorted to two pairs of socks for the time being (and it's not that cold here yet!)

GF Most annoying habits? Turning over with a bottom covered in poo on the change mat and then getting his feet in it (and getting it all over me etc..); grabbing things with the little grabby hands as you go past stuff!; puking on himself/me/the floor just as we are leaving the house so we are constantly late... If I leave time for thhis to happen he does it twice and we're still late!!

Amusing moments of the last couple of days:

1. DS1 has started taking himself tot the toilet for a wee. This was going swimmingly until I walked in yesterday to find him wiping his pooey bottom on my hand towel - apparently the toilet roll wasn't up to the job!!
2. DH wore a woolly jumper tonight for the first time this season to which DS1 replied, "You look like a granny!"
3. Me trying to teach DS2 to say 'mama'. I say it and he smiles and replies, 'dadadadadada...'!
4. DS1 realised he has a granny and a great granny. He now referes to my mum as his 'normal granny' - this is the least true statement ever!!

Night!

morning! 4.50 today? little monkey?

hoping to be back later for more crack

x

Morning 6am today, but DS is still asleep.

bethy at your DS1 comments and actions!

Thanks for all the bib/eating cleanliness thoughts. As I suspected, no miracle product, so I guess my current policy of using old stained clothes for eating as a conservation method is no worse than what the rest of you are doing! Those bibs look good, though rainbow... but it's the legs that tend to get banana rubbed into them...

DH makes DD's purees here - but that's because (as I've complained about before...) all the babyfood here has added salt, sugar or is meat or fish (we're veggies). No Ella's here, sadly or we'd definitely have a bunch of them handy. I've seen other mums feeding straight from the pouch, bc - why not?! Seems like a reasonable method!!

Finger food is what we use to try and keep DD interested in her meals. Having said that, it's a bit hit or miss at the moment as to whether she's grabbed by what we offer her. Previous slam-dunks like roast courgette are now being shunned and she's nothing if not contrary in her tastes. Interestingly, DD hasn't yet worked out that she can spit out the mush if she doesn't like it. Instead, she turns her head away and starts to wail as if to say "don't force me to swallow any more of that, please...."

Foot-in-the-poo, oh yes - that is annoying, bethylou!

04.50, ugh stoof! Two wake-ups before 06.30 here, so a pretty good night. No smugness, though - I know it can all go t**s up without warning...

Had wakings at 2 and at 6 then stayed in bed with us until 7.30.

I wish I knew what to do to get it down to one waking. I know what we have now is a massive improvement on previously but you always want something better don't you?

I can't remember if I said before but he is really keen to make friends with the cat. We mew and point to her and he's started copying us. It is the sweetest and funniest thing to hear him.

IC That is annoying about the baby food in Spain. What do you do when you're going out for the day? Do you have a mini thermos?

Bethylou Agree about the turning over when trying to clean/change. And the puking.

8am waking here today (sorry). Thnakfully my mum is staying for a few days so I could leave DD2 with her while I did the school run (had to wake DD1 at 7:30am - why does this never happen at the weekend?) as DH is still away. To those still with night wakings, have you tried an extra top-up milk feed after dinner but before bedtime feed?

And DD2 is a very tidy eater so I don't have a staining problem (though Vanish Oxi-Action is super if I need some help!). In fact yesterday she even had lunch with no bib on at all! I could never have done this with DD1, who I used the big Ikea bibs with.

I'm really hoping DD1 gets a place at our local school (0.15 mile) but it's CoE so it depends on how many church and sibling applications there are. This is the only school we can walk to, so we're keeping everything crossed.

Annoying habits here are rolling onto front during nappy changes (grr), a tendency to push finger foods too far and then puke entire meal (fortunately she does this tidily onto her high chair tray so I can just empty it into the sink) and a refusal to eat babyfood if there is real food around (the other day she ended up eating homemade potato wedges, bits of fish and peas - tiny bits on the end of a fork - if only I felt she got enough food this way I'd get rid of baby foods altogether, but I don't think she does).

Ooh, far too long a post. Sorry.

Just thinking aloud here... the best advice I was given for dd1 was to make sure I do not carry on too long giving pureed food because of the risk of my LO getting very fussy and spitting out bits later on... With dd2 I use a potato masher to very roughly mash things with quite large bits left in. She also very happily takes bites out of sandwiches now.

Went to a another mummy's house after baby group today and she made lovely fish pie for the babies. Seriously impressed me. My DD loved it - I may be guilted into trying harder with home made food. On a more slummy mummy bent we went down the pub afterwards - which was also lovely.

We had a bad night (according to our criteria) with a fussy period of 1 hour at 3am. DS as in a light sleep pattern and therefore was crying every time he was going on his belly, which was a lot as he tends to sleep on his belly now (which is fine in deep sleep).

BG thank for the advice, I'm now using a masher and give DS quite lumpy food so hopefully no fussy eating. On the other hand, he loves his food so much that I don't think he'll be fussy.

stan I like going to the pub too with DS, we actually go every Sunday afternoon!

The world is going wrong we have 8 C here and it is close to 20 C in London .
We have 7 teeth and the 8 th is hiding somewhere causing trouble (red cheek, grumpiness, slight fever). Actually it is teeth number 5 which is very late. So still 3 at the bottom and 4 on top. I can just make it out now, so there is hope it will improve soon!
DD1 was off purees by 1 yo anyway (not practical when out and about), but BG advice is a good one. DD2 is having bites as well her favorites are toast, brie (well! she is half french ), fruits, french beans (ditto, she hated them mashed though ).
I am still very concious of people telling me she is overfed hence I stop feeding her when she is distracted.
She has started to ask for a extra solid snack between lunch and diner, when before she only had a bottle. (but then she is eating less at meal time too )

Ds has just woken up for the 5th time this evening. It's going to be a long, long night isn't it......

Make that 6.

One thing that seems to work for us when DD wants to turn over during nappy changes...

We tell her that "nappy change must lie still", with a firm hand on her chest and praise her when she does.

In the beginning she still tried to turn over but recently she's been looking rather pleased when we praise her and she's been lying still!!

oh chinook hope it didn't turn out too badly? teeth? cold? calpol?? my mum seems marginally improved, though we're not seeing quite as much of her, so dunno if its linked!!!!

DS made it to 6 this morning (though was up 3-4) ? monkey

asked DD what she'd like for her birthday next month "a camel please, oh and two dolphins"

still have my job ap to complete? must finish it this weekend. my recent experience suggests have to go all out on the application, but i'm struggling to really sell myself without sounding like a tosser!!

have just heard 36 posts at my old job have been made redundant, so it's likely that my old post (currently vacant) will be saved for internal applicants? fair enough i guess, but i really WAS hoping i'd get a chance to apply!

almost the weekend - yippee!!

morning all. I was up at 6 and DS at 6.20am but I only got up once at 12am. But I'm still tired and fancy a lie-in soo much!

chinook hope the night wasn't too bad

have a good day

Chinook hope your night improved...

rainbowweaver that sounds a very impressive way of getting your LO to lie still during nappy changes. I just give my DD the pack of wipes to play with and that normally does the trick!

My DD has started rejecting purees, much as her sister did at the same age. I just wish she ate a bit more normal food (in quantity terms) or that she was a bit closer to feeding herself. Sigh.

Aw, chinook...hope it improved later on...

Two wake-ups before 06.30 here, but after a breakfast BF she went back to sleep for another hour and was happier and more enthusiastic about her solid breakfast as a result. I was chuffed about grabbing an extra half hour of sleep, too...

Re: the puree advice, BG, do I need to worry about it given that DD has finger food at every meal and therefore is very used to food in lumps...?

Nappy changing discipline, rainbow! Impressive... I've been trying "hands out" and removing them firmly, but I'm not sure how much of an impression it's made.

When we're out and about, bc, we take a cube of pre-made puree in a small tub and serve it at room temp...

Tooth number two is now clearly visible - it'll be through in a few days, I reckon...

If I carry on like this I won't need a mask for Halloween!!

Nappy changing can be a bit of a trial with us too. There is one technique which often works. I change on the floor (terror of DD falling off and dislike of yet more baby furniture means we don't have a changing table) with DD in the "v: between my legs. If I have glittery nail varnish on I find that wiggling my toes by her face will distract her for long enough to change her.

I think I have a stye in my eye - never had one before - are they horrible for babies to catch?

I am really struggling today. My head is so full of cold that I think I have developed a squint... dd1 is in a bad way, dd2 is worse... her cough is now so bad she struggles to breathe and gets very upset. It almost sounds like croup and I ran both girls a steamy bath earlier to help dd2 breathe. Because she has coughing fits we've had three or four night wakings with her panicking, and she was then up for the day at 6. Should have taken her to the GP today really but she seemed a little brighter this morning.
She's also going through a very clingy phase and will burst into tears when I am out of sight. She's gone from very smiley with people to very anxious and easily alarmed (you can guess her reaction to me having an eye test! 'what's that strange man doing to my mummy??!!).
I know it is a developmental phase of her realising who belongs to her and who is a stranger, but it makes any housework very difficult.
As for nappy changes, I have her changing mat (curved at the sides which helps) on a single bed and have put her old baby gym above it. To change her I kneel on the floor and she is usually amused enough by her old toy to let me change her. If that fails she likes to empty the wipes. Rainbow that's incredible!

IC I'm sure your LO is okay when she has finger food as well as puree Does she eat yoghurt with bits in?

Rainbow I think the force is with you!
It doesn't work here, I do distraction with wipes/bum cream/ big sister jumping on the bed....

IC if she has finger food already then she is OK. I think. Try couscous in purees, then rice, then small lentils, alphabet pastas..... (all a bit overcooked).

I have some tofu for the week-end, I was wondering if it is OK for babies? Any of you veggies know? (too salty?) . I am sure DD1 had some, because we used to eat it regularly, but can't remember at what age.

Oh, did I mention the rash? DD2 has an itchy rash behind her ears and along the hairline on her neck. I haven't changed anything (shampoo, washing powder) so I am not sure where it comes from. She keeps scratching and has managed to draw blood... I'm trying oilatum cream on it because one of you (watercress??) said E45 can cause a reaction in itself.