May 2010 - Drooling, smiling, cooing and nearly sleeping through (and that's just the mummies!)

[rachelfruitloop]

Hi Ladies,

I hope you don't mind, I started a new thread as our first one was quite full! I can't believe we're a quarter-way through the first year already!

pigley willow is doing that too!! bitty eating! might be sore gums putting her off?

pigley - Chloe's doing that too, been a nightmare to feed, sometimes only getting 19oz her in 24hours. She's been diagnosed with reflux. Gaviscon infant now gets fixed in each bottle - miracle powder!

Wee update on the one bedtime hungry baby formula feed.

Still seems to be going well. So far he wakes once a night, usually about 4.30 for a wee feed then sleeps again till 8.30. Much, much better than what it was. It was hard decision to make asbeen ebf since birth, but waking 3 times a night was the norm for a month and couldn't hack it. Massive respect for those of you who have been doing that since birth.

We can't get him to take more than 4 oz, but then will want a wee top up from me.

cupcake glad J enjoyed the swimming. Sam loves it too, but HATES the getting dressed again bit. Not a happy chappy.

hobnob Know what you mean about "the rules". I seem to be following them till they don't make sense for me anymore. Diff decision to formula fee. I'm trying to get as close to 6 months too before weaning, but once he can sit up we'll see.

angel Hope the harness comes off soon. My friends wee girl had the harness too, but all fixed and she's a lovely wee girl of 5 just started school and loving it. Really glad your DH's job is ok. Hope things moving forward for you. Not sure what the fists are as Sam does it too, but thing he just loves to chew at them as did it from birth!

babylann Sam been showing teething signs for good few weeks, but so far has come to nothing.

molly Hope that is the sleeping back to norm for you. My sis's children had a lot of allergies and eczema so they were fully breastfed. Good luck with the expressing for going back to work. It is really hard work. Some days I don't get alot at all, then out of nowhereI expressed 300mls in one sitting (mainly from one boob). Think could have kept going, but wanted to leave some for Sam. Crazy. Have not ever got anywhere near that amount before!

Pamelat Hope that the night was worth the hangover. I met up with friends at the weekend and had first cocktail in over a year and some Crabbies alcoholic ginger beer. Lovely!

Heffa at DD with the cameraman.

Carikube Hope DD2 feeling better soon. I know what you mean about them getting worked up. Sam has 5 gears of crying. 1 being a slightly raised oooh noise with 5 being full hulk mode. He actually had an audible pause as he ratches up the gears. We generally only get hulk if he is in his pram and I can't pick him up as at a till buying something. Get loads of disgusted stares from other people and security guards follow you around the shops if there is even a sniffle. Now take the babybjorn as back up.

Millington Hope the estate agent visit went well. at the cupboards. Sam actually seeming to be doing more poos than usual, but only having 4 oz of the hungry baby forumla. Using Aptimal.

pigely Can't help much I'm afrain on the feeding. No idea how much he is eating. The only guide I have is the 4 oz he takes at night, but always has bit more from me. Hope your swimming class isn't cancelled again. Do the teething powders work? Maybe Sam's extra poos are result of his teething?

first Glad the baby gaviscon is helping.

My other news is that I went to early Learning Centre for the first time since Sam's birth. Wow, they must have seen me coming. Left with a HUGE bag of stuff. Sam was in the Babybjorn carrier and was kicking his feet and making excited noises as we were looking at all the toys . The shop assistan said, "oh he'll enjoy xmas day". Emmmmm. Christmas? .

To be fair we have hardly bought anything for him yet (lots of hand me downs) and got money from people for him. He's getting bored with his newborn playstuff.

Sassles - interesting about you introducing a ff at bedtime, if it were a magic bullet I would be sorely tempted. I am struggling right now as those on FB will know. Even went to bed at 9 last night to try and get some sleep.

Last night I gave him a bottle with 3ozs EBM/3ozs formula, he took about 5ozs from it then 20 mins on boob. Went out like a light at 8.20pm, still woke at just before 12, talking, blowing raspberries (his new trick), farting and pooing! He woke about 3 times after that finally getting up at 6am.. How tired do I feel?

I think that and just the general struggle of life with 4 is getting to me right now, as if I am drowning and can hardly keep up. DP and I hardly get a minute, it's constantly going from one job to another and feeling like you are neglecting the kids inbetween. Anyway rant over.

pigley - great news on the photos. Shame about the swimming though would have liked to do something like that with the others but theres too many of them lol

millingtonsmummy - good luck with selling your house, v stressful, we have one on the market right now as well. This house we are in just now is having an extension built beginning of next year, I know utterly crazy with 4 young children but we so need more space.

pamela - wheyhey you with a hangover!

angelwithin - sorry to hear you are feeling rough and down about things. Hope things can pick up for you soon

sorry if I missed anyone hope everyone else is doing ok

first can you tell me some more about Chloe's reflux? Harry has always been sooooooo sicky but because he's gaining weight well & never bothered by regurgitating his milk I've always presumed it's not reflux. I am getting bored of constantly smelling of baby sick & having stains on my clothes 5 mins after getting dressed in the morning! Getting a doc appt is such a pain here but might get to the pharmacy tomorrow to ask their advice.

Corss post SK. You are doing such a fab job with your lovely children. The photos on FBare fab and they all seem so happy and beautiful. I really hope things get better for you soon. I was not quite as bad as your schedule, but bad enough for a month and it really kills. And I don't have 3 other lovely girls to look after too. I too was going to bed at 9 and then crying as he woke up at 9.30 then 11.30. Very, very draining. It really is torture.

Not sure yet that the formula is a magic bullet. Decided to use hungry baby stuff as though normal formula would be same as me BFing and felt he needed something more. Still BFing at night feeds and throughout day. I'll reserve my judgement on the formula for a while yet as may be a number of reasons his sleeping is better, but just really glad of a bit more sleep for the time being.

S xx

first can you tell me some more about Chloe's reflux? Harry has always been sooooooo sicky but because he's gaining weight well & never bothered by regurgitating his milk I've always presumed it's not reflux. I am getting bored of constantly smelling of baby sick & having stains on my clothes 5 mins after getting dressed in the morning! Getting a doc appt is such a pain here but might get to the pharmacy tomorrow to ask their advice.

Evening

Another pointless exercise in trying to get molls into her cot. Not happening. She settles to sleep happily with me about half nine but wide awake the second she hits the cot. I only want her to go down for a few hours so I can have some time with dh to get stuff done, maybe watch a bit of tv, go to bed for a cuddle without her between us. I'm just going to give up. I'm exhausted tonight so an early night for me it is. And we'll have to be a bit creative with dtd although I'm not terribly bothered.

I like the attitude millingtonsmummy that it's good our dcs have never slept well because we're not missing anything now they've all started into sleep regression! :( re difficulty getting GP appointment about reflux.

pigley molls is very distracted with some of her feeds these days. Too much to look at I think. I keep thinking she can't possibly be getting enough but plenty of wet and pooey nappies and general contentment suggests she is.

sk sorry you feel you're drowning. Lack of sleep is part of it but we've done 4 months so we must be getting there. If only I knew where "there" is. How's the school run routine? Is there any way to simplify things?go into bare minimum in order to survive mode. Hope you get some respite soon. Don't think we're friends on FB - want to see your pics.

sassles glad the bottle/sleep change is working out for you.

first1 hope chloe continues to respond to the gaviscon

I'm stressed about my pathetic yield from expressing so have bought some galactogogue herbs and tea to try and boost things as well as more fenugreek. No doubt my stress is making it worse though. Have to nip downstairs to freeze today's paltry 3oz but will wait until dh comes to bed so hopefully young molly won't waken up and want feeding for the next 2 hours.

So tired tonight. Sleep well everyone

Hi everyone, haven't been on in a few days and haven't even had time to read all the posts but will try to do that as I write this.

It's been quite an emotional few days. Grace was seen by the consultant who was happy with her progress, the only concern is she does tend to have regular bouts of vomiting green bile/phlegm. The consultant seemed to think that this was because her bowel had been stretched during the surgery and may make it easier for her to vomit but if it happens again she wants to do an ultrasound to check nothings twisted. However, despite that I'm feeling quite calm and relaxed about her for once and feel like I'm treating her like a 'normal' baby for once. Saying that, I have just cancelled her third set of immunisations till next week as she has a stuffy nose. :)

We also celebrated my nephew's 2nd birthday yesterday at the beach. We wrote special messages in a bottle and threw it out to sea, who knows where it might end up. We were going to set of lanterns too, the kind that float off into the sky, but it was way too windy for that so we just ate cupcakes and sang happy birthday. A lovely local photographer who we've had contact with through various fundraising events also offered to come and take photographs for free :o I'm sure he's smiling where ever he is. It's still a very tough day though and more so with having Grace so little and after her tough start.

Oh, and Grace is a whopping 11lb 2oz and 1 foot 11 inches. :)

We also enjoyed our first night out since Grace was born. It was a friend's 31st birthday and we had a lovely Japanese meal and then some drinks in the karaoke bar downstairs. Didn't get too drunk but didn't get much sleep as we were out till 2:30am. The girls stayed at my sil's, she had to feed Grace at 3am which is not unusual but it's normally when I bf her. As a result she would not feed from me the next morning when I was bursting with milk. It took a whole day of trying in various positions and rooms when I gave in and gave her a bottle before bed, I was absolutely sobbing and devastated as I wasn't ready to give up. So, I resigned myself to bf being over and then she woke up that night and fed without any issue . She's fed again this morning so relieved that it's not over just yet. :)

Babylan - welcome to the thread :)

First1/Pamelat/Dancing - hope you enjoyed your first night out.

Pamelat/Rachel - wow, you have big healthy boys. I'm sure the continued broken sleep will not be helping your moods.

Sassles - no need to feel guilty about introducing formula. You've done really well to get this far and it's no good for him to have a tired and unwell mummy. Having said that, I had tears over it for a few days even though Grace loves her bottles. :)

Angel -sorry your having a tough time, hopefully a fresh start will help. :)Fabulous news about dh's job.

SK - I don't think anyone would feel completely on top of it with 4 kids, I struggle to spread myself between 2 and dh so don't be too hard on yourself.

Sorry that was very me, but gotta go, little princess is screaming ;0

Hi millington, the HV first suspected Chloe had reflux about 2 weeks ago after she started being really fussy at the bottle (having previously drank it with ease) and not gaining as much weight each week as she did before. She would throw her head back, her legs and arms all went rigid and she'd cry endlessly. But as soon as she was lifted up she was absolutely fine. She was never sick with it, which some babies are, so it means the acid just sits in her tummy/oesphagus, hence she likes being upright for gravity to push it back down. Really hope Harry is okay, not sure pharmacist can sell it without being previously prescribed but infant gaviscon seems to be doing the trick atm. Might move on to liquid ranitidine evenually though.

Sorry for no more personals. Off to music group!

Afternoon all :)

Angel - hope you're ok, new start sounds like a good idea though - good luck Hope harness isn't on for too much longer.

Pamelat - at hangover!! Its always good at the time.

Millington - good luck with selling the house

Pigley - fussy eating here too - think its his gums - sorry no advice!

Molly - good luck with keeping going with BFing :) Rian wide awake when hits the cot too - very frustrating!!

SK - hope you are all ok and all the others struggling with lack of sleep.

Rian has started waking earlier too - around 4am which he hasn't done for a while, he's pretty much FF now with 2 BF if i'm lucky.

Not sure if he's teething - loads of drooling, eating hands and unsettled. Can feel his gum hard at the front. Have bought some teething gel but he tries to lick it off my finger!!!

Hollyoaks - Glad Grace is thriving!! Your day at the beach sounds lovely but emotional. Glad to hear you got out for a bit too :)

Rian absolutely loved swimming yesterday - pool was like a warm bath - we were in for nearly an hour!! He was shouting and giggling. Also liked sitting in his float, looking forward to the next time :)

Sorry if i've missed anyone!

SK sorry to hear that you're finding it hard work. I'm exhausted with just the 2 of them and it sounds as though I have better nights so I really admire you for coping as you are.

Holly that's great news that you are now able to 'enjoy' Grace rather than just worry about her. It sounds like she's doing really well.

I'm really cross with myself today as I went to see the HV to get get DD2 weighed (after all my going on about not bothering to see the HV ). DD2 has slipped slightly off her curve - not by much, and I'm really not concerned by it - so the HV started going on about how I should take her back in a month and maybe give FF topups 'as she's obviously not getting enough milk'. FFS I thought that they were supposed to encourage bf and is it any wonder mothers give up? She's 14lb 3oz at 16 weeks so hardly wasting away and is a very contented baby for the most part so I will obviously be ignoring this advice...

carikube dd3 is 15weeks 4 days and weighs 14lb 6oz today. Ignore the HV!!

My HV is pretty pro bf but at moll's 1st and 2nd vaccs she was on leave and the other HV was clueless. I was lucky that today I had the proper HV who managed to say nothing stupid. She was a bit about blw but was fairly nonplussed re our ongoing bf. It's just not an issue. Molls has dropped from above her line to just below it but it's not an issue so just ignore it carikube. Happy, contented baby. Plenty of wet and dirty nappies. Not crossing 2 centiles (although even that can be fine). Then all is well. I don't know why some hcps want to interfere with natural processes.

Evening all

carikube at your HV. It's ridiculous situations like that which means DS hasn't seen his HV since 8 weeks. I have no plans to go back either until he's called for his 8 month check. If they can be bothered that is. Still waiting to be told about DD's 2 yr check and she's 2.7

molly hope the pumping is going better today. I have so much respect for your efforts, you have a very lucky DD!

hollyoaks your nephew's bd celebrations sound beautiful. I can understand why you're feeling a little emotional.

sk keep your head up! I have no idea how you cope with 4, 2 DC keep me more than busy!

sassles glad the hungry baby milk is making a difference!

first thanks for the reflux info, hope Chloe continues to repond well to the gaviscon

Popped to the pharmacy today to enquire about Infant gaviscon. You can buy it over the counter but the pharmacist suggested SMA staydown. As DS is already on SMA gold I thought I'd give it a whirl as the flavour is likely to be similar (??) Anyway he's had 3 bottles of it and it hasn't made any difference to his sickyness ... boo! It is much thicker though, keeps blocking the bottle teats. He's also having a bottle of hungry baby milk before bed ... all change for little Harry! I was up 3 times last night, twice with DD to find her teddy who'd disappeared out of reach and once to feed Harry. When he woke for a 2nd time at 5 DH offered to go to him. Thank goodness as I'd have been on my knees today otherwise.

Right off to bed(fordshire) for me. Wishing all a peaceful night.

hi all, no chance of catching up with all the posts, i usually read and or post on my phone whilst feeding but for some reason my phone is no longer letting me have mumsnet, i kept on trying but have now given in and am on netbook instead so not long to post, sorry, i have literally just skimmed through this page now, seems feeding is the issue with most of us, we have that same short, easily distracted feed here too, and i am still not going to get virginia weighed, was wavering a bit and thinking about going tomorrow but carikube has reminded of exactly why i shouldnt, i can SEE her growing so i will leave it.

to those on facebook, i am still in those early stages of fbing so still on it FAR too much, plus as i have access to my pics and photo software for 1st time in about a year i am in seventh heaven, sorting through and sharing with everyone, so, sorry if i am boring you with them all .

molly, i am still taking fenugreek, i missed a day and baby was upset so i guess it works, also this week she has gone back to feeding 2 hourly 24 hours a day, im pooped! but i can feel let down again, for first time in weeks.

got a surprise at the weekend, my first period since birth, she is 3 months and 6 days now, i was not expecting it as totally bf, not even expressed milk , and it was soo heavy, i use mooncup (so for so much disgusting info) and lost about 150ml on day one , is this normal???? not had a proper period since jan 05 as went straight from patch to pregnant and so no idea what is normal any more....

anyhow, i am very tired and will check on here daily now as i just cant catch up oterwise, so very very sorry for so few personals, saw fb pics of a special boys special day, so sad, i am so sorry, i have no idea how you cope with that loss, bless you xxx

Hi everyone

I totally lost track of this thread, you all know how it is with busy lives but I wanted to try and get back on the thread.

Will read back and catch up tomorrow when I have more time but just to say we are all well, DD1 has started school and currently loves it (I expect that will change!), DS is still quite a handful but a loving one and shows signs of improvement and DD2 is adorable, she is a cute raspberry-blower who smiles at everyone and I am so blessed with her.

Hope to catch up soon

Had a quick read whilst waiting for DH to find a "save point" (oh how that will make perfect sense to some of you and will be jobble gook to others!).

WOW to all of you in routines and with good sleepers. My DD2 doesn't get much chance of a routine because she is constantly carted around to DD1 and DS's school/nursery/playgroup/playdate etc. I have recently started the Community Mums breastfeeding supporter course which is 8 weeks long and I take DD2 along because it is a 30min drive to the 2 hour session and then the return 30min drive back so that would be 3 hours away from DD who can be very unpredictable with her feeds so takes a lot of stress away but taking her with me but again means that on that night she doesnt go to bed until 10pm. She wakes once or twice a night but as she is mostly in beside me I just feed her lying down and we both nod off. My older two have me up with nightterrors though which is a bit upsetting for them.

Those talking about their babies weight, my DD2 was 14lbs 1oz at 18weeks, think that is keeping her on the 50th percentile.

Piglez My DD2 is also being a pickle to feed as well. Sometimes she feeds then comes off and looks around or if I have a striking top on she comes off then focusses on my top then goes back for more then off etc, I have to be quite careful not to be exposing myself with her constantly latching on/off!

Awww Rachel just read the bit that you are thinking of me, thanks sweety. We are fine just very busy but hopefully things will calm down now that DD1 is in full days at school instead of half days.

Katey glad your mum is ok, is she home now? Can I also ask if you sold your breastpump?

Right, I am off to bed

Homebirthmummy - I love seeing all your photos on FB. Your wedding photos are amazing! My first period after DD was really heavy and unexpected. Haven't had one yet this time round though.

BRB - nice to hear from you :)

Carikube - grr at HV. Some of them are soooo clueless. Your DD sounds bigger than my DS at 18 weeks. It must undermine so many BFing women.

Hollyoaks - your nephew's birthday at the beach sounds lovely :)

SK - sorry to hear you're struggling. Having 4 must be a struggle but you look like you're doing a fabulous job, your children are all gorgeous.

Hello all

Quick "me" post, sorry. In a bit of a rush (she says on mumsnet and facebook again), off to take Alex swimming but only driving at nap times now else he goes to sleep.

Had first "good" night EVER!!! Went down 630pm (half hour later than normal really) dream feed 10pm, woke 4am for feed and nappy change (poo) and then back to sleep until 730am!!!!!!!!!! I am so happy but fear it was a one off, he had his jabs quite late in the day and I think they may have made him sleepy???

Anyway, as long as he doesnt revert to 2 hours playing between 3 and 5 am I dont care

I started baby rice on the dot at 17 weeks but stopped as found he got a bit sicky the following day, only slightly but wanted to wait few more weeks.

He is 19lbs now at 17.5 weeks.

Feeds now seem to go 7am, 10am, 2pm, 5pm, 6pm (half) 10pm and whatever at night. Am happy with that though ...

Morning all

Thanks for the messages, it's been an emotional few weeks but we're through the other side with some gorgeous photos to mark the occasion.

Carikube - ignore the hv, Grace is 11lb 2oz at 16 weeks and just above the lowest curve (I think) and the hv is not at all concerned. Even when she fell of the chart the hv and consultant were very much in favour of ebf, it was me who took the decision to top up with formula. Your dd sounds perfectly healthy, no need to worry.

Millington - hope you had a better nights sleep, we have those nights with dd1 when her dummy falls out or gets lost.

BRB - nice to hear from you :)

Homebirthmummy - I haven't had my first period yet but have a feeling it's coming (dreading it), feeling quite crampy and sore. Will let you know how it goes :o. Off to check out your fb pics.

Pamelat - fingers crossed that your good night wasn't a fluke, just realised Alex is 2lb heavier than my 11 month old niece .

Hope everyone has a good day.

Just a quickie as we're about to head out to swimming....told DH what the HV said yesterday about ff topups and he agrees that it's b%^&$. DD2 hasn't even crossed any of the centile lines, she's just a bit closer to the 50th than to the 75th now. I only wanted to go to the HV as I'm just a bit concerned about the shape of her head and wanted to know at what point I should actually start to worry. I don't think we'll be going back now until the 8 month check. I haven't taken DD1 for ages - I just get her to stand on the bathroom scales now .

Better go as DD1 is about to put a bumbo on DD2's head and I don't think she'll appreciate that too much....

Hi all. Gosh its so windy out! Going to have to nail the nappies to the line in a bit!!! We will know friday if we have got the house. DD3 ultrasound on hips tomorrow so fingers crossed! Just had my second lot of christmas presents delivered I am determined to be more organised this year! I bought a bumbo off ebay the other night for £7.77 then £6 postage which I thought wasn't too bad. I went into town to get the tray that goes with it and boots had got them for £9.99 so i took it to pay for it and when I got to the til it was only £5!! Even better!! Hope she likes her bargain bumbo when it comes!!

RE periods, I went on the depo injection at my 6 week check so haven't had a period yet. I do however seem to bleed a bit for a few hours after I have done anything strenuous or lots of walking (don't mention sex cos thats not even happening!) I need to go to the doctors I think as my hair is really awful and thin and falling out really badly and I am getting really awful night sweats. I wake up in the night soaking and have to change and then I am soaking again by morning

Actually carikube my HV is a buck eejit too. She has recorded Moll's weight as 75th when she is just a fraction below the 91st line (which she has been on since week 3). WTF - how difficult is it to fill in a chart??? I'm trying to resist the temptation to get paranoid about feeding as I get so little out when I pump and I could feel waves of inadequacy engulfing me yesterday. Don't they think what they're saying. Mutter mutter... Is there a nice GP you can see and ask about babe's head? Then you can avoid HV even better.

millingtonsmummy thanks for the vote of confidence. I'm feeling a bit fragile at the thought of going back to work so it means a lot. Hope the night went well and a solution is found soon for Harry's sickyness.

hi brb great to hear from you. Kudos re bf course. I would love to do something like that. We have no routine here to speak of either. Molls does sleep for about 5 hours at night (she did 7 twice but hasn't made a habit of it). We cosleep and it suits us. No routine means we don't have to be a slave to it and whatever is happening with the older ones just happens and Molls fits in. It's chaos but it works for us.

hollyoaks the description of your nephew's celebration brought tears to my eyes. It's lovely that you can all grieve and celebrate together.

hope the swimming goes well today carikube and pamelat You sounded like you had a fab time den26 We haven't taken Molls yet. It's really something dh usually does with my babies but he could start soon and it'll help them bond more before I go back to work. And give me to get to the gym.

Anyone else on a weight loss/exercise programme? I'm doing pretty well with the diet but my superglue baby means not so good re the exercise. I went this am though and Molls and dh were fine except when I got home she started to cry. Must have realised she missed me.

Hope it's the start of good nights for you pamelat We had our jabs yesterday too and they had the opposite effect on Miss Molly. Wow to 18lb. I thought we were doing well at 15lb 10.

Bleurgh to first periods. Had mine already (so much for ebf) but it was quite light. I'm on depo now anyway so who knows what will happen with my bleeding. I don't think that bleeding sounds excessive hbmummy but if it continued you could get anaemic. Fingers crossed though that's the worst of it. I've run out of fenugreek but am getting more tomorrow. I've also ordered alfafa, blessed thistle and a galactogogue tea in an attempt to boost my pumping. I'll report back on the results.

Hope your mum has fully recovered kateyjane

Love to all I've missed too