The Final Fruition of the Frolicking Forays for the First Time Frolickers

[Spirael]

We came, we saw, we frolicked.

Now our PFB has arrived and we can begin the stressful befuddled guiltridden exhausting wonderful journey of parenthood!

(Or at the very least we can stop bothering the antenatal bunch until they join us!)

Oh bunny thats rubbish! Could this be the oft-mentioned 4 month sleep regression? I'm sure you've discovered this already, but there are lots of threads about this on the Sleep topic.

Just a quick one, as Lochie is performing his favourite trick of rolling onto his tummy and then whinging for me to come and roll him over onto his back - despite the fact he can do it himself when he wants to! Yesterday he managed to roll/wiggle/slide himself off the playmat and over to the DVD player... I think we might have trouble ahead!

hope all is well, will come and have a proper catch up soon.

bunny Sorry to hear about the 90 mins. Hopefully it doesn't carry on for much longer and is just a phase.
We go baby swimming too and I too feel a bit of a fool singing the nursery rhymes but was impressed I knew the words to 'wheels on the bus' :o

worrisome how cute :)

Not much my end, I think the sleeping may also start going down hill soon as he woke up after 6 hours last night (usually goes 8) and then 3 so a growth spurt is probably on the cards :(

Hello everyone! We're almost two months in now and time is just flying by. It's really amazing how fast the days go by, especially since they're mostly just spent feeding, sleeping and diaper changing.

Kai is doing great and we're starting to figure things out. We have our good days and our bad. We've found some mommy friends and that helps loads. We went to our first party Thursday. Kai was the littlest one there, but charmed everyone. I was so proud of my boy!

Our biggest issue has been the dreaded baby gas. Poor little guy strained so much the other day that he popped a vessel in his eye. He wakes himself (and me) up multiple times at night trying to "get it out." If it weren't for this gas, he would probably be sleeping like a pro. We've tried everything and nothing has really worked. Now, we're brewing our own fennel tea and it actually seems to be helping some. He's markedly improved in the last two days and has let loose with some awesome man farts. It makes me feel better to know that it seems everyone has gone/ is still going through the sleep issues.

I still have a little pelvic pain (like SPD) from the birth and am going to get some physical therapy next week. I really want to get it sorted because I found a stroller exercise class that I want to start.

Worrisome It sounds like Lochie probably had a film he wanted to watch! I can't believe he's already able to get around so much. It's amazing how early they figure out how to work us. Kai already likes to cry just to get me to come keep him company. He makes the saddest, most miserable cry, but as soon as I come running, he just smiles and coos.

Bunny You have my sympathy, every 90 min is even worse than what I'm getting. Mumnerves, possible growth spurt aside, it sound like you have a great sleeper there. Hopefully everyone will get back to nice longish restful sleeps soon.

BTW, I'm just wondering what everyone's thought are as to dummies. Kai won't take one and likes to munch on my nipple (like Will). I can tell he will eventually figure out how to suck his thumb, and that will probably cut back on the comfort nursing, but I wonder if it might be a good thing to try a little harder to get him to take his dummy. Any thoughts or experience?

Oh no, sounds like the nap is over... I'll check in again soon. Big wave to everyone I didn't specifically mention!

worrisome I looked at one of the threads about the 4 month sleep regression - people mentioned it lasting until 8 months so I swiftly departed and tried to forget I ever read it.

Sounds like you need to get babyproofing

mumnerves glad I'm not the only one that feels a fool singing in the pool Hope the sleep's back on track

aly Kai's gas sounds terrible for him. Will never suffered that badly, although he struggled for a little while around the 6-8weeks mark. I gave him Infacol before every feed, and that seemed to help him bring most of it up in a huge burp. I also did the knees to tummy manouevre, which was exceedingly effective. One of the ladies on my other thread had a baby that was particularly bad with gas and she had alot of success giving a little cool boiled water.

I'm an orthodontist so could write you a whole essay on the dummies/thumbs/general sucking debate I give Will a dummy, although he has a love hate relationship with it. Sometimes a couple of sucks will soothe him beautifully, other times he won't take it at all, others he wants to suck it for an entire nap He seems less interested in it now he can suck his fingers, but if he gets really worked up he flaps his arms so much he can't get them and he'll take his dummy. If you're not happy with the comfort nursing (or your nipples feel like they're about to drop off ) then it might be worth persisting with the dummy - Will likes the "closer to nature" ones that are shaped a bit more like a nipple.

We're still waking every 90 mins, but it's down to an inability to resettle himself. Mainly that's due to my love of rocking him to sleep We've now been given a plan to teach him to settle himself so hopefully in a couple of weeks we'll be getting much better sleep at night. I've started today, and it only took him 20 mins to settle off for his nap......he just woke after only 30mins though, but at least I know he can put himself to sleep if I give him the opportunity.

Hello postgrads,

Well, I'm here a little sooner than planned - Alastair arrived on 12th March after I had to be induced for pre-eclampsia. He spent a few days in SCBU and then was with me on the ward, and we were finally let out of hospital on Tuesday (at 10 days old) once he had learnt to breastfeed exclusively without his tube.

Since we've got home, we seem to be getting on ok - he pretty much eats and sleeps, and only seems to cry (at the moment at least) when he wants to do one of those and can't quite manage it! He's just starting to be interested in a few minutes of eyes-open time on his playmat, which is lovely. The midwives seem happy with the both of us, as my blood pressure is normal now with only 3 tablets a day, and we've had some lovely walks out in the sun since getting home.

The most ridiculous thing is that we're currently going to our NCT classes - we have the all-day one tomorrow which will be interesting, not least as it starts with two hours learning about breastfeeding! They're being very sweet about us being a little ahead of everyone else and hopefully I'll still be able to make some nice RL mummy friends. He slept through the whole 2 hour session yesterday in his car seat!

Anyway, my little lad is starting to stir so I'd better sign off, but wanted to mark my place and say hi to everyone! Top tips for the early days would be MUCH appreciated...

Oh congrats kurly and welcome to the other side! Glad all is ok and you're both doing well. Lol at you taking the baby to the NCT classes!

Hmm top tips for the first weeks... sleep as much as possible, have DH/mum/random family members on hand for cake/tissues/drinks etc. Also, sounds like you're already doing this, but I found getting out each day really helped - even if it's just a walk round the block trying out the new pram in the rain! And remember that in just a few months your LO will be rolling and cooing and trying to spend all nappy changes on his stomach (like Lochie!) and you will miss the tiny bundle of gorgeousness so make the most of the cuddles now. Don't listen to people who tell you to put the baby into his basket, just enjoy the cuddles!! And for the tough times remember 'this too shall pass'!

Looking forward to seeing some piccies!!

Hi everyone else, will cone back and post properly soon - but as an update, Lochie has now figured out how to get back onto his back, cue me coming into the living room to an empty playmat and a baby almost under the couch... uh oh!

kurly Am so glad you are home.

Waves to all the other post grads. Can't wait to join you, currently 40+5 so hopefully not too much longer to go.

kurly glad to hear that you're both home and doing well. Hope you enjoy your NCT classes.

Top tips for the early days- pretty much what worrisome said. Definitely try and get out somewhere each day, I found a dose of fresh air made me feel much better, even if it was just a 10 min stroll somewhere. Enjoy the snuggles while you can - Will's now too big to curl up on my chest and sleep I found once DH went back to work, I felt better if I had a plan for each day with things I was going to do, and put them in order of priority. (eg have breakfast, have shower, go for walk to shops,) so each time Will was sleeping I'd do one or two of those things. Otherwise I would sit and watch him sleeping, then he'd wake, I'd spend an hour feeding/changing him, then realise it was lunchtime and I hadn't eaten anything yet!

worrisome lol at Lochie rolling under the couch Will hasn't rolled at all for about 2 weeks, I'm beginning to think he's forgotten how . He likes to lie on his back and push himself along with his feet instead

halo you'll be here in a couple of days

We're doing much better with sleep - Will is now settling himself back to sleep for most of his night wakings, and DH is going in to him for the rest. He's down to feeding only once a night unfortunately my boobs are used to me feeding him back to sleep 3-4 times so I'm now waking up with giant rock hard boobs

Aly sorry to hear about the gas. Sean had the same problem and it's slowly getting better as he gets older he's much better now at getting the gas out himself, so hopefully it will get better for you as well.

We gave in to dummys as he loves sucking on his hand and has now found his thumb, I figured at least I can remove a dummy but not his hand. It was also the whole orthodontic thing too that made me not want him to suck his thumb. He still loves sucking on his thumb and the other day was trying to find a way to suck on it and my boob at the same time He has also figured how to pull off gloves and wriggle his thumb out of integral gloves so they're no good either!

kurly sounds like you've settled into motherhood so well! Only tip I can give you like worrisome is persevere through the tiredness, it gets better but when it does you will miss that time you had with a curled up newborn! When it's time for a feed, make sure you prioritise having drink and food to hand before you feed even if he's crying or you will never feed yourself. Don't forget feeding yourself=feeding him too!

worrisome I'm dreading when rolling starts and the possible 'accidents'

bunny hurrah for better nights sleeps, but hope the boobs settle soon!

haloflo I keep poping my head around the other thread for news of your birth! :)

My neighbour came by last week with some really sad news. Her daughter who was 8 months pregnant lost her baby. She just suddenly bled really hard and by the time they got to hospital it was too late. The funeral is on monday and it just made me so sad to think of the poor mum but at the same time oh so grateful for my happy healthy baby and can't even begin to understand what they are going through. All that time spent being pregnant and no baby at the end of it :(

Other news, am counting down the days when we go on holiday (sat) ! yipee!!

mumnerves Will pulls out his dummy to suck his thumb, then cries to have his dummy put back in Last night I caught him with both thumbs and his dummy in his mouth at the same time....clearly he couldn't decide which on to suck so was trying them all out

That's so sad about your neighbour's daughter - I can't even begin to imagine how heartbreaking it must be to lose your baby so close to the end of pg (or at any stage really)

Well, William slept from 8-12 and then 12:15-7 last night Unfortunately I'm so used to surviving on 4-5 hours sleep that I was wide awake from 4:30 until about 6am I was so shocked that he was still sleeping I had to keep getting up to check he was still breathing

Will and DH keep passing their germs back and forth to each other - first DH had a cold, then Will got it, then DH got it again, now poor Will has another cold and a cough that makes him sound like a 60 a day smoker. He's still his happy little self though, just a snottier version

Hello fellow frolickers, this is Hermya321 as was. I felt like a bit of a name change.

We're all well here, DS is growing at a rate of knotts. Seriously he's bigger than both of my friends seven months old both in terms of weight and size. I suppose what with mine and DH's tallness what was I expecting really .

Our RL issues seem to have calmed down, I've been sorting out my return to work and it got very very stressful for a while. But it seems to have all worked out in the end.

I've been and bought a highchair this week and have started stocking up on little pots and spoons for when weaning starts. I'm aiming to try and leave it until six months, but we'll see how it goes. What is everyone else going to do?

Oh congrats to Halo on the birth of Hannah!!!!

Hi tribble (good name change btw) glad to hear you've got rl sorted out - there's nothing worse than when it gets in the way of MNing time

I started weaning Will at 17 weeks as he seemed ready. 3 weeks in and he's happy eating stuff mashed with a fork rather than pureed and he's managing the odd bit of finger food, so I think we made the right choice. If you're not using nappy liners with your cloth nappies it might be worth starting as once you start solids the poos become much more human. It's much nicer being able to just flush the liner and the poo than having to scrape the nappy.

Happy Mother's day everyone. Hope your LOs are being adquately helped to spoil you all

happy mothers day to you all x

Happy Mothers Day everyone! Lovely to 'see' you fudge hope all is ok.

We've had a lovely day today - Lochie's Mothers Day presents to me were a box of Toffifee chocs, a bunch of lilies and roses and a tooth! Very exciting, we're now calling him Fang..

We also had our first go at some porridge fingers today. He wasn't too impressed although some made it into his mouth! Will try with steamed carrots next time I think...

Mumnerves Hope you're having a lovely holiday!

Bunny will keep my fingers crossed that Will's long sleeps are not a one-off!

Tribble (Like the name BTW!) We're doing BLW, and I wasn't going to start until the end of April when Lochie is 6 months, but he almost grabbed my sandwich off me the other day so we're going to start slowly. I've been sitting him in the highchair for a month or so to get him used to it - a very handy place to pop him when pottering in the kitchen too!

Kurly and Halo hope your first weeks as new mums are going well! And congrats halo Love the name Hannah!

Happy Mothers Day to all the mummies :)

fudge lovely to see you. You were in my thoughts yesterday, hope you're ok.

worrisome sadly Will's long sleep was very much a one off -we're back to multiple wake ups at night. He'll happily self settle in the day, but just won't do it in the night for some reason Not sure what to do, as I'm not happy leaving him to cry at night in case he's hungry rather than just unable to get back to sleep

Hope Lochie enjoys his carrot. I gave Will some broccoli the other day - poor thing cried his little eyes out so I think it'll be off the menu for a while

bunny not good - poor you! Here's hoping it's just a (short!) phase!
We had a rough night last night because of the tooth - Lochie was full-on screaming and not just crying type, but murdering type if you know what I mean! Thank god for Calpol. He's a little brighter this morning and we've just had fun with veges - he LOVED the raw capsicum, but was not at all keen on the carrot and pulled the most hilarious faces with the courgette! I don't think he actually ingested any of it, just sat and gummed it for a bit, but slowly does it! Hope you are all having a nice Monday.

Poor Lochie - hope he feels better soon. BLW sounds like fun - I wish I'd had the patience to try it

Good news on William's sleeping - yesterday I threw away his dummy and went all out on the sleep training after I decided that a bit of crying on his part wasn't going to do him as much harm as the constant sleep deprivation was doing to my mental health. He slept 7pm - 3am and then from 3:30 - 7am And I managed to get his naps to be longer than 40 mins as well Hopefully we've turned a corner now and things will continue to get better

Oh well done! I bet you feel good today! Did you manage to sleep as well, or did you lie awake wondering when he was going to get up?

How did you lengthen the naps? I have that problem with Lochie, although he does tend to go 7pm to 5am at night, so at least thats something! He's just started to turn onto his stomach to sleep which I think may help with the nap length, but we'll see.

Funny you should say the patience needed with BLW - I chose it because I'm too lazy to puree!!

I woke up at 1am and proceeded to lie awake convinced he would wake up any minute. Finally dropped back off just before he actually woke up, then lay awake for another hour because I was so excited that he'd slept so long

I think the longer naps have just come about with the self-settling - he woke after 40mins as usual but rather than me running in to get him I just left him as he wasn't crying and 5 mins later he went back to sleep.

I've done soooo much googling/book reading on this whole sleep thing I think I could call myself an expert, write my own book and make millions. According to my extensive research, short naps are usually due to baby being under tired (so they feel refreshed after only one sleep cycle), baby being over tired (so they're too tired to settle), or not self-settling to sleep. Some babies only need catnaps, so if he wakes up happy and easily lasts 2-3 hours till his next nap then he's one of those.

So to extend the naps you either need to put him down earlier or later or make sure he's settling himself. If it's a settling issue you can try "cycle blending" where you make sure whatever was happening when he went to sleep is happening when he needs to transition between sleep cycles. So if you patted him off to sleep, you creep back into the room about 30 mins into the nap and start patting again and keep going until he's into the next sleep cycle. TBH I tried that and all that happened was he startled awake when I started patting so he got even less sleep than if I'd just stayed well away

Morning all! :) I've been lurking for a bit, but I'm still watching this thread and keeping track of the happenings.

Many congratulations to halo!!!

Mindy is virtually 9 months old now. She's been outside me for as long as she was inside me! It doesn't feel that long at all. My maternity leave is almost over, too... Mindy's started at nursery now and is doing increasingly long days during this week, ready for me going back to work full time next Tuesday, boo hiss!

Anyway, what I was intending to post... Mindy sleeps 7:30pm-7:30am at night and tends to catnap during the day, has done for a while now. She tends to only sleep for 30-45 minutes in the morning and the same in the afternoon, though sometimes the afternoon nap is longer.

She seems fine with that though, happy and not overtired. So, since Lochie is sleeping well overnight Worrisome, I'd just take your cues from him. :) If he's happy and not bleary or rubbing his eyes then he just might not need more than a couple of catnaps!

Worrisome Oh poor you, we're trying to get DS to go through at the moment. I spoke to my friend and she suggested giving water instead of milk when he was waking up at 3 and 4am, so I did and so far it's not been too bad. I do feed him before I go to bed and if he wakes after 5am then I'm not too fussed as in my head 5am isn't 4am and I'm winning. Before then he just gets some water and a cuddle.

Also DS is a cat napper, we get twenty minutes two to three times a day and he seems ok. Sometimes we get a day where he sleeps for an hour and I keep checking him to see if he's breathing.

Spireal Wow nine months old!!! I remember you telling us she'd been born, how mad is that.

DS seems to have caught a cough, he's seems ok but then again he has just had some calpol as he was crying up a storm earlier.

Hmm sounds like I should just let Lochie be with his catnaps - he generally wakes happy and has gone as long as 4 hours between naps without too much grizzling. Darn it! I have to admit, I have been loathe to mess around with it too much as his nights are so good - I'm obviously wanting to have my cake and eat it too! tribble I think you confused me with bunny - my nights are good (WH touches wood, finds a rabbits foot and a four leaf clover and prays to the sleep gods not to take that away!)

Well we had more fun with food today - Lochie happily gummed cucumber and mushed up some banana with his hands but I don't think he ingested any! Lots of fun though, we're going to try plum tomorrow and maybe some toast too!

Spireal Can I ask some advice - when Mindy's first tooth started showing on the gum line, how long did it take to fully come through? Just wondering when Lochie's will be a proper tooth rather than a little white pokey bit!

Her first tooth is still not entirely through! It's maybe about 1/3rd of the way there? But then it only showed up just over a fortnight ago...and we've yet to find any more. (Slowpoke!)

tribble it's me with the bad nights, although so far this week we seem to have got right back on track (although I'm sure I'll have jinxed myself now by actually writing it down ) He wakes for a feed between 3 and 4, which I'm happy to do as I'll get another 3 hours sleep afterwards. If he wakes at 5 I find I never get a decent sleep after I've put him back down so at the moment I'd prefer him to wake earlier

worrisome it sounds like Lochie is a happy catnapper. Will usually has one long nap in a day and then two shorter ones. If he misses his long nap then he is very grizzly and overtired so I'm stuck having to enforce it.

Despite noticing the very first signs of tooth movement in Will about 6 weeks ago they're still not through yet. I think the corner of one of them is not far off breaking through the gum as I can feel something sharp sometimes when I'm BFing him. Think I should probably stop the daily checks and just wait for it to happen though