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

[InmaculadaConcepcion]

Where did the last half a year go??!

Tried to check dd2's temperature but I think my ear thermometer is broken. I comes back with a reading of 35.5 every time which sounds wrong unless we have unusually cold ears??
dd2's rash is much better due to my accidental use of sudocrem. It must have been viral after all.
watercress dd2 has gone down to 4 or 5 oz three times a day, that is if she does not completely refuse her bottle...

watercress If he is all day at home DS will have 2 bottles of 18oml (the 1st one in his cereals) and the 2nd one at bed time. If at nursery, he's having 3x150ml (apparently) and at home a 180ml at bedtime.
I guess it all depends on how much solids they eat during the day; and I think he doesn't eat as much at nursery than at home.
HV on Friday said that at 8 months he should be on 2 bottles for a total 20oz a day. I nodded and smiled!

IC at your camcorder clips of your gorgeous dd. I think you have a future photographer/movie director on your hands there. She seems very keen to get hold of that camcorder!!

IC those vids are great

I love all your descriptions of how you LOs eat... like a little bird leaning forward... banging the table if the food does not appear fast enough... not knowing you can spit out food, too... sneaking in spoonfuls while LO thinks they are self-feeding...and my LO, taking very precise bites out of bits of bread/toast . Sound to me like we have mastered the art of weaning

Where has my happy smiley DD gone? She cries with both fists in her mouth, drooling and has a terrible bloody nappy rash. Eek! Poor little thing... I know there has been a lot of rash talk (GF) and I will also go and buy different ointments to try. Sudocrem is not really working at the mo.

Oh help!

Sleeping at night was getting slightly better, although I do confess to sticking her in bed with me as I have no-one to take over and feel more or less like a single mum with two dogs! DP has been away for a week, only four more to go... yesterday DD had a 12 minute nap so by the evening I felt rather desperate but she went to bed at 6.45 without even a whimper, she was exhausted!

Next thing, my sister called my mobile at 2am (she lives in San Diego) and unfortunately I'd left it on so she woke me out of probably the deepest sleep I've had in 7 months! We have a deal that she can call me anytime, and if I'm sleeping, I'll turn my mobile off so she can leave a message.... but I left the damn thing on! Stupid me! Anyway, was quite shocked to find DD on my boob... don't even remember getting up to get her but she certainly didn't get out of her cot and walk across the corridor on her own now, did she?

And the worse part is... I suffer from terrible insomnia (like you IC) and couldn't get back to sleep!

Sorry, very me, me, me post!

Wishing all of you a good week with lots of deep sleep and happy smiley babies!

What a night we had. DS went to bed at 7pm without any fuss but he woke up at 2am screaming and he did this for 2 hours. We tried rocking, ignoring, teething gel, calpol and nothing was settling him. I finally managed to get him to sleep in his cot by rocking him. I think he fell asleep of exhaustion.

Nappy rash seems a bit better this morning so will see at bath time how it is (nappies were done at nursery today, so I haven't looked at his bum yet).

Abs sending you sleepy vibs

DS has lost his voice, but I'm not sure if he's getting a cold or if it's linked to last night screams. It is actually funny as he sounds quite 'mute'

Abs GF so sorry you've had a hard time. For bad nappy rash the only thing that has always worked wonders is metanium - horrible yellow staining stuff but really worth it!
Hope you all have a better night (myself included - dh deserted me last night because I was coughing so much he couldn't sleep)

Morning all,
Alarm o'clock got up at 5am but slept fine so no complain.
BG thanks for the metanium advice, I'll go to the chemist to see if I can get some. I hope your cough is better.

Glad you enjoyed DD in action!

Ah, Abs, poor you - I had a night of insomnia last night, I was thinking of you! Hope you had a better one... Does she have teeth coming through?

DD was okay last night - woke twice before 06.00 (after a peachy, no-fuss bedtime, put down awake and fell asleep within 5 mins or so) and resettled quickly after short feeds. SO WHY COULDN'T I BLOODY SLEEP???!! So frustrating.

Glad you had a better night, GF. Wonder what was upsetting your DS the night before? Tummy ache, maybe? Babies are such mysterious beings.

BG hope the cough gets better soon.

CC - meant to say in earlier posts:
I'm glad the wedding anniversary went well and you and your DH are feeling more like you're on the same page again.

Also re Kari-Me - we've just started using ours again now the weather's got colder and DD sometimes gets her arms out - but it doesn't seem to affect the stability (front tummy-to-tummy carry). One thought: are you tying it tight enough? Another trick is to reinforce the back flap by rolling a folded muslin into the top of it - gives a nice neck/head rest to the LO too. Other thing is to consider a different carrier now she's older.
The stretchy wraps aren't as good once the baby gets bigger (although your DD, like mine, is still quite small, so probably okay in it for a while yet!) Also, they're damn hot in the summer weather. We switched to a Calin Bleu and now have a Solarweave Connecta, which is based on a Mei Tei, only with buckles instead of ties. Both are cooler.

Surely fizi is now married...? Can't remember the exact time-frame!

Thanks for the advice BG! We had quite a good night last night, she went down at 7pm and didn't wake up til 3 am (I managed to sleep from 10pm to 3 am which is the longest stretch of sleep I've had since she was born. I fed her and she slept til 6.30.... Hooray!

Just a quick question.... during the last three days my DD's poos look exactly like what she's eating, i.e. a puree of carrot, apple, celery, I can see all the bits, is this normal??? Before this her poos were more uniform and sausage like and brown! Sorry, hope no-one is eating!

Cross posted IC.... have you cut out coffee? Especially that lovely strong Spanish coffee? When I lived in Barna I used to have terrible insomnia because I was hooked on cafe con leche and cortado in the afternoons.... I had to cut down to one cup in the morning. I know it sounds obvious but that stuff is strong!

CC Also meant to say that glad your second anniversary went well... relationships are hard work and having a baby really throws a spanner in the works. When DD and I came home from hospital, DP and I argued about everything and I became paranoid about the dogs (in a "Dingo's got my baby" fit of anxiety)... it was a combination of shock and the start of a sleep deprivation I never knew existed!

Oh and GF your sleep vibes worked! Thank you and more please

Abs re poo with bits in, it's quite normal because babies are not as efficient at digesting things. I often find sweetcorn... rice... lentils...bits of carrot...

Re: Baby carriers. I'm using a borrowed ErgoBaby at the moment and it's good but I wouldn't reccomend buying one at the age our babies are at, something similar, clippy like IC's but slightly bigger like a Toddler Patapum or a Babyhawk OhSnap would last longer. It's all very personal though and what works for one won't for someone else. Try thebabywearer.com for lots of preloved carriers in the US and lots of advice CC :) Its comfier having DS on my back now as he's about 18-19lb.

Adorable videos IC, bless! I still can't get a vid of DS crawling as he takes one look at the little red light and just stares and laughs, very cute.

Plenty bits in the poo here Abs, but it's always been like that.

We are spoilt with sleep now after the first 6 months being really quite awful. We've had a few regressions but generally one feed between 7-7 which is very welcome. Fingers crossed for better sleep for everyone who's not getting enough.

Milk feeds... we're on probably 4-5 a day, First thing, Before Late morning nap, Between lunch and afternoon nap and before bed, then one in the night. I don't know how much he takes but I'm guessing about 6oz as when I pump due to a lie in or expedition that's about what I get.

Now, off to look for recipes to make Brocolli a meal as that's what's on the menu for lunch...

Oh, meant to say my LO now totally refuses baby jars. I don't think she's forgiven me our holiday yet when she had mainly jars . Just means I have to think ahead a bit more and cook a few batches to put into the freezer. Did a strange concoction yesterday of whatever I found in the fridge (parsnip, sweet potato, potato, carrots) and freezer (sweetcorn, soya beans) and added garlic, herbs, a bay leaf plus brown lentils and brown basmati rice. Sounds weird but she absolutely loves it!

Thanks for the link sunny will go and have a look. It's less getting the arms out, and more going rigid leaning back and looking around everywhere.

Sleep has gone a bit weird, multiple waking food and non food related. Been eating more as well. Don't know if it's a growth spurt or a developmental one. I can't see it being a physical milestone. Oh well, lets hope it only lasts a few more days.

I think my job search is jinxed... First the interview date right in the middle of our only family holiday this year (and I decided it was not worth a round trip of 600 miles). Now I have another interview lined up on Friday and promptly dh only remaining uncle dies, with the funeral arranged for... you guessed it, Friday, almost at the same time as my interview.
I do want dh to go and can probably get dd1 another day in nursery, but that still leaves the baby. Two of my friends living close are both away, with another too far away to just nip down and cover for what is probably only half an hour overlap. I could ask a neighbour but dd2 has gone very tearful around people she does not know, so it seems cruel to make a neighbour babysit a screaming child. Sometimes having no family around really makes life difficult.
Maybe I should take the baby to the interview with me??

Teething is going strong with it seems the 2 canines coming through as tooth 3 and 4! Ouch.
The nappy rash is also going strong with a very sore and bleedy bum, I've bough metanium and used it after bath plus another tube for nursery. Fingers crossed it works.
Let's wait and see how the night goes.
Good night all, sleep well

Oh BG that's rubbish, hope you sort something out. Just a thought but at one of the women's centre's near me they have a drop in creche, could you find something like that maybe?

First tooth is on it's way out here and DS has taken to biting my nipple towards the end of the feed, ouch. Any top tips?

Hi all. Marking my place really. Both boys have terrible coughs (and DH is on the way upstairs to help DS2 as we speak) but DS1 is now on a lactose-free (much reduced, at least) diet and is sooo much better. Suddenly I have a rampaging toddler and wonder whether his anaemia was sent to ease me into having two lively children a bit gently. Now life is manic!! He has no idea how to cope with this new-found (fantastic) energy and neither do I!!

CC Glad you and DH are getting on better. If you recall from a previous post of mine some time ago, I did confess to asking DH to give me a year's grace before leaving me once DS2 arrived 9and I was only half-joking! In actual fact, things are going much better, despite the circumstances being much harder! Odd really..)

Hope the rashes are improving. I'm another one who relies on metanium when the nappy rash is bad.

Abs special hugs to you and your semi-single mum marathon. I think of you often and am wishing you many sleepy vibes.

Today I have managed to mend the tumble drier and then to have my flu jab without either DS noticing - I think this counts as a good day's work!! My absence in the last few days has been due to ongoing work on sorting out our finances as I'm now not going back to work until after Christmas. We've got to save a serious amount of money each month and it's been hard going, but I think we are getting somewhere and will be back on here more next week. Hi to all in the meantime.

Good luck with the saving, bethylou - and the newly energised toddler, eek!

Oh, GF, that rash sounds hellish. I think someone else mentioned that he may have thrush too - are you treating him for that?

BG, that is so infuriating! I hope you manage to sort things out - for your DH's loss, too.

Sleep vibes aplenty in your direction, Abs - how was last night? Huge admiration for your single mum-ness. Don't know how I'd cope without DH. Well, I would obviously, but it would be damn tough.
Re: coffee. Hardly ever drink it now and when I do it's usually de-caff (and if it is the proper stuff, only in the morning). I also don't drink normal tea and leave off the chocolate after lunchtime. Sadly, it's the relentlessness of my mind that keeps me from sleeping, totally non-drug-induced...

Anyway, I had more sleep last night, although DD woke once more than usual. Ironic that when she has a slightly worse night, I have a slightly better one....

Hi everyone! It's fiziwizzle, I've namechanged in honour of getting married! It was going to be a pun on my married name but that was taken (somehow. Who is using all these original names I have thought of?!) so it's one of my favourite things, instead!

I have been reading on and off for three days and have only just caught up. And now I don't really have time to post, as I can hear DD is still awake and will start squawking any time soon...

She is down for an exxtra nap as I read on a sleep thread that frequent nighttime waking can be due to too little daytime sleep. She only ever naps for 30-45 minutes and had dropped the morning nap so was down to 2 a day. I've decided that she'll have three, whether she likes it or not! So up she goes whether she seems tired or not. It worked yesterday. Hasn't today.

Night times aren't great, she is fine from 7.30 to 1ish but then wakes every hour, or more, until 4ish when DH (!!!!!!!) gives her a bottle (new regime). She's in her own room now too. I'm sure she's not hungry as she settles as soon as her dummy's back in. I just want some sleeeeeeeeeeeep. My new bedtime is 10pm but I haven't managed to keep to it yet.

Wedding was FABULOUS So was the mini-mini-moon

Too much else to comment on in all your posts, all I can say is that we are way behind in the weaning stakes, I'll have to really focus on it now I'm married (!!!). DD is not that interested and I find it very hard work, and quite dull! Much easier just to BF still I'm afraid. Bad lazy mummy.

Big hugs to everyone!

Congratulations scones!

You sound very excited and loved up, it's lovely. Good luck with the weaning and the sleep.

Laid up today with nasty stomach bug. Have sent the DDs to my MIL, but I'm selfishly wishing someone was here to look after me for a change.