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

[InmaculadaConcepcion]

Where did the last half a year go??!

GF thanks for the baby whisperer thread interresting! I seem to be doing everything right already. I have to wait till she stop developping for her to sleep, one more teeth seems to be on its way, she is trying to stand on her own, and she can crawl and sit and go down on her own. She even tried to walked pushing her highchair .

It also explain why DD1 never had separation anxiety (sp?)

oups nap over and babbling starting to sound like crying and she will probably bump her head on the bars of the cot in a minute
have a nice sunday

Just in case anyone thought I was starving DS he has lots of milk feeds as well as the two of solids daily. It's week one of weaning so I didn't want to start with a full 3 meals a day. Should I be doing so?

Amazingly he woke once (once!!) last night. He went to bed a bit late because I'd been at a friends housewarming and was having fun so didn't leave until 7 (dirty stop out). I walked him home and then had to get his dinner so we didn't get to bed until about half past nine but he woke at 4.15 and was really lively for about half an hour but went back to sleep in the end until 7.30. Strangely though I don't feel any better rested

He's now bouncing in his jumperoo, alternating squealing and blowing rasberries. He never lets me cuddle him now unless he's hungry for boob or sleepy. He's so active and wriggly. I can't believe he's the same little baby who used to sleep all day.

It's a thing of constantly adjusting milk/solids, isn't it. dd2 has cut down dramatically in the mornings and refuses to drink more than 5 oz (8 before) but then won't eat much breakfast either. I may give her less in the evening (8oz at the moment) because she genuinely does not seem hungry in the morning.She's developed a great sense of humour! This morning she did her fake cough to attract my attention but when I went to see her she grinned and looked away, pretending not to see me. Only when I tickled her she could not keep it up and beamed at me . Very cute.
dd1 had her first fashion crisis of the day at 7 this morning because I had dared to put her yellow top in the wash basket and she could not find it. How dare I!! She's going to be fun as a teenager....

bear I don't think anybody thought your were starving your DS. You should built up to 3 meals a day. Obviously if he is 6 months you can go more quickly, let him decide if he wants more or not. If he eats well for 2 meals and gets fidgety in the morning then add the 3rd one.

bethy about the pantley's method for the dummy. I have to get up during the night to give DS the dummy, so do you pull it out once he's calm but how do you know at which stage. She says not asleep yet but DS is never really awake. So when is the good time?
I know he can sleep without one as first thing at night he falls asleep without it.

GF I put it in only if he won't settle without it (sounds like a silly thing to say, but it's amazing the things I have done at times in my sleep-deprived state!) and then pull it out slowly and with my other hand on his shoulder to reassure him. I tend to take it out as he starts to slow his sucking - his eyes are closed but he's still not totally asleep. Quite often he awakens again and I have to do it three or four times. The bit I saw said wait between 10-60 secs before trying again. I tend to see how he is on a night to night basis. To be honest, when we are really shagged, I leave it in till he is asleep so that I know I can get back to bed in 5 mins. Last night it took me 20 mins to get him back off. At 4a.m onwards, he struggles not to reawaken, no matter how many times I try. It's quite hard going but he is starting to spit it out at times without me intervening and I can often remove it when he's only just closed his eyes. We've been going at it for a week if that's any guide. Think I read that it took IC two months - not sure I've got that much perseverence.

DS1 still under the weather but really, apart from a more sleep deprived night than usual (due to cold compresses/drinks for DS1 whose temp was over 39 degrees), we seem to have all got away lightly.

That leads me to a random brain dump for those of you who haven't experienced a baby with a high temp yet. When you do, the best thing to do is to alternate calpol and nurofen approx every 3 hours (but not overdoing the dosage on the box). We set an alarm three hourly through the night as it is better to keep it low than to try and lower it once it has got high again. This advice came from my friend when her DS was in hospital due to high temp and it works very well. You can use both beacuse one contains paracetamol and the other contains ibuprofen, thus giving you coverage over 24 hours. Hope one day this will have helped someone. Sorry to those for whom it is old news.

Off to see the paediatrician tomorrow re the reflux and sleep apnoea. Think of me. I've not got high hopes and may have to be quite direct I think.

Sorry for the long post - think two hours of ironing has led me to it!!

Morning everyone, I hope you all had your 'relaxing' weekends (nope, no such thing with even one baby I'm afraid - so goodness knows what it's like with two...).

I'm trying not to feel anxious that DD doesn't seem to be taking to solids at all. Since she choked/gagged on the plum I've avoided finger foods, and I thought she was getting the hang of purees, but this morning and yesterday she didn't swallow any. I don't know if I'm doing something wrong, or if she's just not ready. She is exactly six months old (WOW, that went quickly).

She is drinking every three hours round the clock though (I am so tiiiiiiired) so she must be hungry.

I'm certainly not attempting to give up the dummy yet [guilty emoticon]. She does only have it to sleep, but it has definitely become her main sleep aid and quite frankly I value my own sleep too much to try to remove it. I tell myself that as long as it is kept stictly only for sleep, it's not harming her development and is ok. (And this from the pregnant first-timer whose child would never have a dummy ).

bethylou get well soon all of you. Thanks for the temperature tip.

CC hope you're having fun in SF. I adored SF and would love to go back.

chinook glad that your mum is ok.

My LO keeps saying 'papapapa' and dh is convinced she means him and says 'Papa'... yeah, right, at 6 months old... She also says 'mamamam'... hah!

fizi I am no expert but I don't think your LO needs to feed every three hours like a newborn... If she drinks that much it is no surprise she is not hungry for solids. Difficult situation as of course you don't want her to be hungry either... [trails off mumbling to herself...]

We all sound sleepy and weepy and tired (brownie points to anyone getting the literary reference).

Good tip from whoever suggested alternating paracetamol and ibuprofen for a fever. As a pharmacist, I have always recommended this. As a parent, I have discovered that my DDs won't take paracetamol in any way,shape or form. Grr.

Cream crackered today just with the usual stuff getting on top of me. I don't know how those of you still doing night feeds do it.

Hugs to all. We're all doing a brilliant job with our little ones, we really are.

Fizi my LO only has 3 or 4 milk feeds in 24 hours now so second what BG says about your LO maybe not being hungry (I think they should have 18-21oz, but I realise that's hard to measure if you are breastfeeding!). The HV definitely told me to give solid food before milk each time (though I don't in the morning or I can't get enough milk in throughout day). My understanding is that until the babies are 1, most of their nutrition can come from milk, but that their iron store runs out at about 6 months, hence the need to get them eating foods that contain it .

Here, we have a weaning session run by a nursery nurse attached to the HV team. Maybe you could contact them in your area for advice?

I also have been scared by the gagging/choking and personally didn't start finger food till DS2 was happy with puree. I would definitely add that staying calm and letting your LO experience food (playing with it, getting messy etc..) is really important in the long run. When it looks like DS2 is about to gag on anything, I say, "Mmmm.. yummy.. good boy etc.." and this dissuades him from continuing with the gagging. Sure it's not scientific though!! Hope this helps.

Today I took DS2 to see the paediatrician and we have agreed that they will do an overnight study of his oxygen SATs, although I'm sure I now have a 'fussy mother' label in his notes. The chances are, it won't show anything as the monitor only goes off intermittently, but it's a start. Had to wait in the crammed waiting area for a whole hour with DS2 in 'terror tot' mode - jumping, gumming my chin, refusing to sit, headbutting me etc..

Off to see which DS has currently got the highest temperature.

bethylou at your LOs being so poorly. Hope they recover quickly. I did the alternating meds thing last December when dd1 had a temperature just over 40 almost continuously for four days (on iboprofen and paracetamol!) and the GP was 99% convinced she had swine flu. I honestly have never seen a child so poorly (well, my child I mean).

I've just read on another thread that alternating these meds is no longer recommended so scrap my post above about that. (Will however continue here until someone can explain why I shouldn't!)

Thank BG for ongoing support. Sounds horrific. Temperatures can be so frightening.

BG that sounds like it must have been awful and bethylou well I don't know what to say. I don't know how you get through your weeks. Just wish I could come and make it better

Well I'm back and was suitably tired for work on a Monday morning, but it was worth. Weather was a bit cloudy on Sat morning, but cleared up just as we got to the bridge, so got some (hopefully) good shots. Can't remember all the posters so here are some random facts from the magical world of DrCC.

Weaning: LO has decided she now wants food. Gave her a peach to hold to distract her in the car, after 10mins she got frustrated that she couldn't eat, but cried if I took it away. Ended up roughly chewing it my mouth, then giving it to her. She loved it and cried and when I tried to stop. I'd say that she had about a 1/8th, which was on top of the strawberry she had already eaten. The next day, having breakfast in a cafe, she got upset with us for eating, but when I gave her a bit of toast, she sucked/licked it for at least 10mins. I was always dubious when people say that they're LOs were ready for food, but she def. behaves differently with food than just other objects.

I really want to BLW but when I go to give her finger food, I wimp out. At the moment, I hold the food, but she reaches out for my hand and moves it into her mouth, so kinda baby led.

Sleeping arrangements: We've gone backwards. She went into her own room at 5 weeks, but we've moved into a 1 bed apartment now we're here in the US. I've been a lot stricter on co-sleeping now, and she is back in her cot nearly all the time. I tend to put her into bed, if I feel she hasn't fed properly as I know she won't go long (but really it's just laziness). We had a 4 hour stretch of sleep the other night, was a one-off, but much appreciated nonetheless.

Dummy: Still torn, want to wean her off it, but don't want her to suck her thumb. I take it out when I don't think she needs it. When she's just gone to sleep during the day, or if she wakes up a bit and quietens down.

Well that's more than enough from me

Hello everyone, I've missed you!

I've just caught up with all the news and am hugely impressed with how all the LOs are coming on in leaps and bounds...food, mobility, vocality (is that a word?!!) etc...fab!

We're heading home tomorrow (currently at my Mum's in France) and while part of me will miss my family and friends (especially all the baby entertaining assistance!!) another part of me is looking forward to getting back to a solid home base and re-introducing a semblance of routine into our lives.

We've been giving DD puree and finger food every day, but usually only one meal. Once home, we'll get a high chair and start doing the weaning thing in earnest, breakfast lunch and dinner.

I've also resolved to start doing some gentle sleep training now DD is 7 months old - apparently the window shuts again at 9 months with another good old sleep regression (yes, there is a development spurt at 26 weeks, those of you wondering about a 6-month sleep regression). I'm going to try to encourage a bit of self-settling without me always feeding DD to sleep and behaving like a human dummy overnight (yep, we got rid of the dummy, but it's a bit out-of-the-frying-pan-into-the-fire!!).

DD's been great at coping with all the travelling and different sleeping arrangements - it's also made me more chilled out about things like naps and bed-times. DD is full of smiles for everyone and has become very sociable, happy to be held by anyone and loves to be played with. She still doesn't roll completely, but is expert at flipping herself from front to back. Everyone comments on how full of curiosity she is and how little she cries, which is highly gratifying for her mum and dad.

DD is getting more into food, loves to gum on crusty bits of bread and seizes her spoonfuls of puree with great enthusiasm. I'm never sure quite how much is actually going down, but judging by the stench of her poo, I'd say a reasonable amount! I picked up one of those food net thingies from the supermarket for a fiver, which is useful for letting her chew on stuff without such a high level of choke paranoia. Still no teeth, despite me thinking she was starting to teethe after a sudden bout of nappy rash and various other symptoms. If they're coming through, they're taking their time.

She's grown a lot in the last couple of months, but not having weighed her in ages, it's hard to tell, but I reckon she must be a solid 15lbs of baby by now. She's fast growing out of her 3-6 month clothes (bearing in mind she's always been on the petite side) and her feet are almost off the end of her car seat.

Sleep... well, she wakes up anything between three and seven times per night still. To be honest (and having read comments by other mums) I think whether or not your baby is a good sleeper is very much the luck of the draw and there's only a limited amount you can do about it until they get a bit bigger anyway. There seems to be a lot of mums who thought they had cracked the sleep thing then had a third child who woke up loads despite them not doing anything different - and vice versa.

Having said that, I had severe insomnia last night, mostly my own fault, so feel a bit wretched today. Usually, though I manage fine with the co-sleeping and early to bed regime which gets me through.

Too much has happened for me to reply individually, but I wish all of you with poorly babes (and selves) swift recoveries. Loving all the tips being swapped on weaning etc.

Wish us luck for the schlep to Madrid! We're breaking it up with a stopover in San Sebastian (for the sake of DH's sanity) although DD did pretty well on the 12-hour drive down to mum's. I'll be posting more regularly once we're home.

Hasta luego, amigas!

IC good to hear from you again. Had a quick look at your blog last week just to check all was well and read that you were in France.. Hope the weather was a bit better! My sister and family came to visit us for ten days and I kept apologising for the very Welsh rain .
Good luck with the journey home!

Welcome back IC

DS has mastered the seating up by himself. Now he's trying to crawl, he's not there yet but with his determination I have no doubt that he'll succeed soon.

How do your LO take their bath? What I mean is are they seated, lying down... DS is on a half lying position held by one of those plastic thing, but it's starting not to be comfortable enough. He enjoys been lying in the water but I'm worried that too much water gets into his ears

At the moment his favourite chewing toy is ... the Sky remote control Only problem is that he keeps changing the channels.

bethylou I hope your LO are going to get well soon.

Welcome back IC, glad things are going so well with your travels, and good luck with your trip going home. Lucky you going to San Sebastian! The food is DELICIOUS! Have a "montadito" on me! My favourite one is cabrales (a very strong blue cheese) with a toasted walnut on top. YUM!

GF My DD sits up in her baby bath unaided and plays with all her toys in the bath. She holds on to one side with her little hand, and plays with the other, which is quite clever! [proud mum emoticon] I stand over hovering as she has slipped a couple of times but I've caught her just in time before diving head first and bottom up into the water. She absolutely loves her bath now... washing her hair has become quite difficult as she hasn't quite got the concept of putting her head back for rinsing so I just tip the water over her head and quickly wash her face. She splutters a bit but keeps sucking on her toys!

Well last night was really terrible. I tried to get an early night so crept into bed at 9.15pm. DD woke at 9.45 and fed til 10.30. I then put her back in her cot, and she woke at 1, 2.15, 3.30, 4.30, 5.45 and 7!!! I felt her gums this morning and she has a sharp tooth coming in at the top and bottom. She then cried and drooled all day. Poor love, she finally crashed on DP's arm while he was on the computer and slept for forty minutes with her mouth hanging open. It was so sweet.

DD has been off dairy now since she was about 8 weeks old, which means I've had a completely vegan diet with fish (what is that called? Fishatarian?). The last couple of weeks I have been having little bits of goats cheese and waiting to see if it has any effect, and I am very happy to report that she seems fine! Hooray! I've really missed CHEESE!

Sorry, not only is this a ME post, but it also has a cheese theme

Sorry Bethylou meant to say that we went and bought Nurofen today after your post, it sounds like a good idea to me, even if you've just found out it's not necessary to alternate! I hope your LO are okay and really impressed that you manage to iron as well. I have ironing piling up and just never seem to get round to doing it!!!

I just tried to put the kettle in the microwave... (thankfully it wouldn't fit so I noticed my mistake . The correct sequence was to put the bottle steriliser in the microwave and put the kettle on). It's only Tuesday but feels like a long week already......

Welcome nearly home IC - sounds like you've had a good time. I'm sure the experiences will have done your DD the world of good.

AbsB - apparently it is reckoned that it is good for children to have temperature when they are ill, rather than to suppress it. Personally, as I said above, I shall stick to what seems right to me, but don't want to be responsible for misinforming anyone else.

Both boys still warm but not at the heady heights they reached the other night. One day they'll both be healthy and I will look back and wonder why I made such a fuss!

CC day to day, I just forget about it all, as I can't function at a high level of worry all day every day. Every now and then, as my posts show, it all get s abit much, but you only have to read a few posts on mumsnet to realise how fortunate we actually are. I continue to mutter, "This too shall pass" under my breath from time to time!

BG that sounds very familiar! I am trying to resist berating myself for my constant stupidity, as it doesn't do much for my self-esteem, but I have really done some very silly things in the last few weeks (like lose the car keys - in the ignition! )

DS2 is now loving a musical baby walker my mum bought for DS1. I totally know that they are evil/dangerous etc.. but it gives me two minutes to put my make up on, 1 minute to have a poo and about five mins to unpack and repack the dishwasher!! He thinks he's very clever as he scoots along our wooden floors and so far DS1 has resisted the urge to push him in it!

bethylou very true about reading some the MN posts to make you realise things.

We've now got a baby bath, so LO is back to daily baths, especially now weaning is starting. We stopped initially to help keep her skin hydrated. She managed to eat a whole slice of orange today (which was from our backyard). Really need to start on veggies, but fruit is always so handy. I'm going to start keeping a bit of dinner aside for her to have the next day.

She's been trying so hard to crawl, she just can't work out that it's her arms she needs to move. atm she gets in the crawling position, moves her legs correctly but pivots backwards and forwards. Then gets impatient and so gets onto her feet and just launches herself forward.

IC good to have you back

stoof any update on the job(s) front?

Right, lets see how it takes to put her down tonight. When I've been reading her story, I've been changing the sex of all the characters. e.g. goldilocks is a boy, and I reverse mother and father bear. I know she's too young to understand but it keeps me amused and makes you think actually.

OK, at what point do you stop being angry with your DH for simply not being as good as you (without meaning to sound conceited.) I know I need to accept we have different skills, but I hate having to take responsibility for everything and all the mental thinking required about EVERYTHING.

rant over

Great to hear from you IC. Glad you've had a good trip. Hope your mum enjoyed your visit. What part of France is she in? I'm in total agreement that you either have a sleeper or you don't.

Bethylou I really feel for you. I'm glad they are doing some more investigations but as you say it is the 'luck' of the draw as to whether there will be any episodes on that particular night.

BLW feeding takes so long - I am struggling to find an extra two hours a day to do the food preparation and sit there while he gums things/chucks them on the floor and clean up afterwards. 2 baths (quick ones) a day too.

I made baby hummus (no salt or sesame) from scratch yesterday. I think he ate a bit of it but there was a lot of splatting.

He cut his first tooth on Monday. Front right bottom.

I gave away the plastic baby bath to someone on freecycle and cried like an idiot after I'd washed it out and left it by the door.

Touch wood night wakings are less frequent. Two or three last night and only one on Monday night. But he has been going to bed later because I'm finding it hard to juggle the time now that he has food as well.

Last night there was wholemeal pitta fingers and hummus, steamed baby sweetcorn, a tiny bit of chicken liver (rejected) and then rice cereal/expressed milk. The one thing he likes that shocked me is watercress (the salad leaf not our watercress!) - sweet potato is a no and I assumed that would be a staple. He loves carbs though - rice cakes, bread, baby cereal. And fruit - mango and nectarine especially. Leaving the skin on mango fingers keeps it together while he gums the juice out.

He had his first go in a playground on swings, slide and roundabout (with me holding him of course) on Saturday. Loved it.

BG I do things like that all the time !

bethylou hope everything goes well, and that you are all on the mend.

IC wellcome back

Bear I was just going to post about BLW slowness and mess! DD1 want finger food now, and I can't believe how slow and messy it is, plus the amount of washing floor, table, chairs, baby, sometimes me and her sister... the BLW's mums who think it is far easier than making purees are deluded I think.
It takes about 10 mins to feed her purees with no mess to clean and about 1/2h if I let her having finger food (just a little not a whole meal, she would be at the table for the whole day otherwise), plus at least 10 minutes cleaning.
I had a few episodes of more time wasting. Silly me bent down to wipe the floor before whashing dd2 hands she lovingly proceed to caress my hair with bananas and bread crumbs.
DD2 is particularly messy though, I don't remember DD1 being like that at all. DD2 also like putting her nose in the food which is particularly annoying and messy!

CC DH is not up to my standard! when I leave the girls with him for a rest I can be sure that I have a huge amount of mess to clear and some serious cleaning when I am back which defeats the "rest". I think we have to accept that we do things differently, or move in with a woman . (Personnally, I am keeping DH)

DH is upset that DD2 top front teeth look like my mum's, with a huge gap in the middle. I think she just looks cute . But then I have got used to her birth mark (people keep asking and pointing all the time though ), her funny pixie ear (yes just one, the other is normal), at least her feet are now normal, she has eye lashes and she doesn't have a skewed nose with a dent any more! Perfect then!

chinook the radio for naps would drive me insane! I know some people who use it all night long too, I would have committed murder by now But thanks to constant road works and DD1, DD2 is well used to sleep with some kind of noise

Good morning everyone, my you are all prolific posters, I struggle to find the time. Or rather, I find the time, but always feel I should be doing something else. Right now I should be in the shower, as DD is napping (no I'm not dressed yet ). I will just have to make it a quick shower.

Welcome back IC! Good luck for the final leg of your journey. What sleep training are you going to start? I've been wondering about sleep training myself. For some reason I had six months in my head as a magic age at which she would start to sleep throuh . Erm, no.

GF when we bathe DD she lays in the water on her back, so her ears are in the water. I figure it's for less time than a swimming lesson, and her ears are under water for plenty of that. Well she seems ok anyway and she just loves lying there and splashing!

at Abs cheese post!

bethylou my sister has just got us a baby walker for DD. I've heard that they are not great for development, but I'm sure she will just love it as she so wants to be mobile, and we'll use it sparingly.

Very at CC eating oranges from the garden! We actually had some SUN here yesterday but it wasn't really summer weather, sooo windy. Perfect for drying nappies though!

As for DP not doing things properly... Well, they never will, will they. I would find it very, very hard to relinquish control because I like things done my way (the best way ) so I know that if I was working, I would still try to control how the house is run, DD is looked after etc. I'm sure your DH is doing his best... but sometimes their best isn't very good... maybe because they can only do one thing at a time, so if he's looking after your LO he won't think to do the housework, get the dinner etc. The trouble is when you're being the husband, you need a wife at home not a husband! No words of wisdom to offer I'm afraid. Big hugs instead.

After your posts on BLW and how long/messy it is, I'm even less inclined to go down that road, aside from being scard of choking. As if I don't spend enough time clearing up after her! Not that DD is eating her purees, either . She just doesn't seem interested in food. I wonder if she's not ready for it yet? She is only just six months. If she was ready for it she'd eat it, wouldn't she?