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!)

It's nearly home time so this is going to need to be a quick post!

For MMR, I'm off to France in August too so had to speak to people about this for Mindy. As it happens, because she's 1 next week they just said to get her the vaccination ASAP after her first birthday to give her chance to recover any side-effects before we go.

If she'd been younger, the recommendation would have been to give her an MMR jab at least a couple of weeks before the holiday. However she'd then have still needed the two further MMR jabs at 1 year and pre-school for full immunity.

1 jab gives about 95% immunity, it takes 2 jabs to get to 99% immunity. But each jab has to be a minimum of a month apart. For people on holiday unlikely to be mingling too closely with the local population (in school, nursery, etc) just having 1 jab is an acceptable level of immunity, apparently.

Hope that helps! :) If you trawl through the NHS site, I think there's a page somewhere with info.

For strollers, I have a Cosatto Swift Lite Supa Globetrotter, which has been fine for all our needs so far. :) Folds down easily, has a convenient carry handle, etc.

It lies flat and comes with a rain cover (afixes to the removable sun/shower shield), strap pads, a head hugger and a foot muff. It also has ankle support for little ones. The basket is small and the sun shield is nothing impressive, but they work ok.

Now, home time!

mrsw put it this way - Will was sleeping 7pm-5am then going back down until 7:30am at 3 months. By 4 months he was waking every 90mins all night every night for about 3 weeks!!!!!! I think we were just very very very unlucky though, and he's just very sensitive to the mildest upset as far as sleep's concerned, and it takes him a while to get back on track when it all goes tits up.

I'm sure Robyn will just sail through and you won't notice any problems at all

Haven't got as far as getting a lightweight stroller yet, so I'm not much use to you there.

spirael are you all ready for Mindy's birthday. Can't believe it's nearly a year since you had her

Last night was a much better night - I accidentally woke him up when I went in to check on him before I went to bed, but he resettled very quickly and then slept another 5 hrs before wanting a feed. We even had a lie in this morning

Well last night Robyn went down at 10.30 only having had a 2 oz feed!! Expected to be woken at 3am or a similarly ridiculous time but no - she's slept til 7am!! However since that feed she is now refusing to go back down for another 2 hours like she normally does - eeeeep. I need to get showered and dressed as have a pedicure appt at 9.30!!

Thanks for the mmr advice Spirael HV did mention something about having it early but still needing to have both jabs again at 1 year and pre-school too. Will wait and see what she comes back with. The place we are staying is very remote so I do think it's highly unlikely that Robyn would catch anything but a little worried about taking that risk, even if she didn't get something on our actual holiday she would be quite at risk at the airport and on the plane I would imagine?

mrsw am very of Robyn's sleep habits

William's new routine is working a treat so far. My decision to stop BFing him except for breakfast and before bed meant that I had my first night out since before I got pg where I didn't have to watch how much I was drinking. Much and merriment later I woke up this morning wondering what that throbbing feeling in my head was......then remembered that this is what a hangover feels like. And it's much much worse when your baby doesn't understand that mummy's head hurts and she needs to lie down for most of the day

He was very good last night though, and slept from 7pm to 4:30am, so pretty much back to where we were before our recent issues. Just need to keep my fingers and toes crossed that he doesn't get sick again for a few weeks, although he has 4 teeth hovering just below the gum so I think that will be our next challenge!

Hi folks

Sorry for the silence - have been MNing on my phone mostly and this dropped off my active convos, so thought everyone was away! Have lots to catch up on obviously!

All is well here, we had a very exciting morning as Lochie managed about a dozen steps only holding onto one of DH's hands! Such a little monkey, I'm getting more and more convinced that he's going to be walking before he's into double digit months! He's still waking really early but at least I should be grateful that he's sleeping through, sounds like you've been having a rough time bunny! Poor wee mite with conjunctivitis too, did you have to give him drops or anything? Good that the sleep seems to be getting back on track. Lochie's top two teeth are hovering around too - very frustrating, they seem to be going up and down, I wish they'd just come through!

kurly great that A's sleep is getting better, at least it gives you a chance to rest too!

MrsW great news that Robyn's scan went well!

Anyhoo, will try and stay in better contact! Hope everyone has had a nice weekend.

worrisome wow, sounds like you'll have the first walking Frolicker baby I've managed to hold back Will's progress from horizontal to vertical with a highly polished wooden floor and slippy socks combo - he tries to pull up but his little legs just keep sliding out from under him while he clings on for dear life with his arms

We are still putting drops in his eyes 3 times a day - it's an absolute nightmare as now he knows what's going to happen and starts screaming as soon as he sees the bottle. GP suggested doing it while he's asleep, but there's no way on earth I'm going to risk traumatising him while he's sleeping when we've only just persuaded him to stay asleep in his cot for more than 30secs.

Hmm you might be right bunny, we had the first instance of independant standing today - he looked like a drunk surfer!

Went to his nursery for the first time today too, which was very upsetting - but for me, not him! He'll start the settling in process properly next week, so he will be well sorted by the time I go back to work in Sep. I think he'll love nursery and the people and place all seem great, but I can't help thinking 'this is MY baby, how the hell can anyone else take care of him??' Irrational much?! It might be because we had a hellish night too - he didn't go to sleep until about 7.30pm (he's normally a 6pm boy), then was up and crying between 1.30 and 3.30am. He then woke up for the day at 5am! Not a good time for any of us! I'm hoping it was just a one-off but as I can hear him crying while DH is trying to get him to sleep, I have my doubts... I wonder if we've hit the 8 month sleep regression.. oh yay!

Hope everyone else is well

Happy 1st Birthday to mindy Hope she has a lovely day

worrisome I felt the same about leaving William at nursery for the first time....then I realised that they actually have qualifications in looking after babies, unlike me who generally has no idea what I'm doing most of the time. So I figured he's probably actually safer there than at home And they do all the messy stuff like painting so I don't have to

Hope Lochie's sleep's getting back on track. It might be related to him being about to walk - so far all of William's sleep regressions have happened a couple of weeks before he makes a massive developmental leap. So we've been through a rough month or so with sleep, but now he's crawling, waving, clapping and has figured out object permanence too!

Now for my big news..........after implementing my latest sleep plan last week, last night for the first time ever William went to bed at 7pm and slept right through to 6:30am He even went down for another hour after he had his bottle. I am just praying that this is the start of him sleeping well and not just some sort of random one off event

Yay for William!! That's brilliant bunny can you devise a sleep plan for Robyn next haha!!
And wow re: Lochie nearly walking worrisome DP's nephew walked at 9 months! It was pretty bizarre to see. He's very developed for his age and always has been he isn't 2 til October but can walk, say a few words together, eats like a horse and is taller and bigger built than DSS who is 3 and a half!!! Admittedly he is small for his age but even so! We call him the bionic baby!!

Well had baby clinic yesterday and Robyn is now a sturdy 11lbs 4! Which I'm happy with. Was worrying that she wasn't eating as much as she should be (according to the side of the formula tin!) but HV says as long as she's gaining wait and eating til she's full there's no problem.
Unfortunately, the minute she asked how I was doing I burst in to tears! More mutterings of PND were made and I just felt crappy. There's nothing that I'm particularly upset/bothered about but yet I still feel overly emotional and get angry easily. The worst bit is that I know what's wrong with me but I don't want to have it :( She asked me if I'd bonded with Robyn, which I thought I had but when I didn't answer immediately, she said "if I took her away out of the room, would you be chasing after me?" and I actually thought "no, I wouldn't really mind!!!!!" WTF is that all about??!! So now I feel even worse like I don't love her like I should and that I haven't bonded with her properly! Sorry this probably all sounds terrible. I haven't even really spoken to DP about it, I think he would think I was mad if I told him that. I just told him that HV had mentioned PND again and he asked what was I doing about it. The answer to that is, waiting and seeing for a bit longer. I really do not want to go on anti-depressants if I don't have to.
Sorry I'm sure this has brightened up your mornings no end!!

Oh and happy birthday to Mindy too :)

bunny that's brilliant!! You must feel sooooo rested. Hope he repeats it tonight! After you've done Robyn's sleep plan, can you come and have words with Lochie? Actually, he wasn't too bad - took a while to go down but then went through to 5.30am. Oh god, I NEVER thought I'd be excited about a 5.30am sleep in!! He went down a lot easier tonight so crossed fingers we're getting somewhere. I think one of the main issues is that he's extending his time between sleep so we've been trying to put him down too early. Tonight we let him play for a little while longer which seemed to help. Ooh and exciting about William clapping too - when did that start? Lochie's not clapping or waving yet - I think he's working on the big movements before concentrating on the smaller ones.. he thinks I'm a loony when I clap at him.. he's probably right!

MrsW Great news on the weight gain! I say ignore the formula tin - apparently Lochie should be having only 3 bottles but if I tried that he'd take my arm off. Just remember it's only a guide and chances are Robyn's not read the guidelines..
Not so good about how you're feeling. Has anyone mentioned any counselling? If you want to avoid the anti-ds then that could be a good way to go. However, the most important thing is for you to get well so that you and Robyn can enjoy each other - would it possible to go on a lower dose anti-d's than before? Mine are a very low dose, just enough to keep my serotonin levels on an even keel.

Sorry this is a short one, DH is agitating to watch the recording of The Apprentice!

Oh and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Mindy!!

We have a new victim member - highheels had her little girl on Weds

mrsw and worrisome I'll happily send you my sleep guru tips in 5000 daily emails at $10 an email I think there have been 2 things which tipped the balance towards him sleeping through. Switching to FF in the night means that when he woke it took me slightly longer to go in to him as I had to go and fetch the bottle, warm it and put the powder in, rather than just stumbling into his room still half asleep and latching him on. On more than one occasion, in the time it took me to get a bottle ready he'd gone back to sleep, so I think I'd just never left him long enough to resettle.

The other thing I noticed was that on days when he's at home with me he would wake twice, and drink well over 200mls over the course of the night. On nursery days he was waking once, and only ever having 60-80mls. I asked them how much he was eating there, and he was having at least double the amount of solids he has at home - so it turns out I've been underfeeding him

worrisome I wish I felt well rested - I woke at 4am wondering why I hadn't heard from Will. I ended up lying there worrying/waiting for him to wake, then eventually I decided to go and check on him. By which time it was 5am and the bin men came, then half an hour later, the recycling collection came, then DH started snoring, then it was time to get up. So while Will slept till 6:30, I was awake from 4!

Will only started clapping and waving a couple of weeks ago - he started showing an interest in watching us clap a couple of weeks before that. TBH he's picked up those new skills since starting nursery where they spend lots of time each day singing songs with actions.

mrsw hope you start to feel better soon

Forgot to mention in my post before, there's an app you can get for iphone called the wonder weeks, which basically tells you about all the leaps in brain development your baby will make in the first 18mths.

Each leap is associated with a sleep regression, and general crankiness, and there's a little calendar that tells you when to expect it based on your due date. It also tells you what new skills they'll be able to master after they've made the leap.

According to the app we have 4 days till Will's next leap.......

our little girl arrived a week early on Wednesday morning taking us by surprise! She is adorable and fabulous although we're struggling with feeding just now. Need to go and stare at her some more but I'm sure I will be in here asking lots of advice in no time :)

Welcome and congrats highheels
Hope the feeding issues resolve themselves - lots of knowledgeable folk around here, I'm sure you'll find the answers!

Sorry for short post but lochie has been awake for 4.5 hours and has gone a little manic!!

Hi all - sorry i've not been on for a while. I get behind and then the task of catching up seems daunting.

Congrats again HH - have replied to you on the AN thread.

mrsw Just because you are happy for Robyn to go into another room doesn't neccasarily mean you haven't bonded does it? Bonding is a process which takes time and means different things to different people surely? Its so complicated. I do hope you feel better soon.

spireal Happy belated birthday Mindy.

bunny Clapping and waving sounds brillant. Well done Will!

worrisolme Well done lochie on the walking! I can't believe my baby might walk in a 7 months or so.

Hannah still wakes every 2-3 hours in the night. Add in an early start today and i'm shattered. Someone said that she isn't developmentally ready to sleep longer and it will come. I like that thought, better than the thoughts that i'm doing something wrong are.

So glad its Friday - lie in booked tomorrow provided DP doesn't stay in the pub too late (home by 7 aparently!)

Best go - she only naps for 45 mins at a time...

HH congrats again. Have posted on the other thread re: feeding. Hope you get it sorted soon. And enjoy gazing at your LO, I still sometimes find myself stood by the side of Will's cot watching him sleep.

mrsw I'd agree with halo over the HV's comments about taking Robyn into another room. I'm more than happy to hand Will over to anyone stupid enough to volunteer to hold him for a bit - doesn't make me love him any less.

halo you sound like you've got a great attitude towards the sleep. It's only taken me nearly 8 months to realise that good sleeping will happen when they're ready and not a moment earlier......although it would be great if you could get some decent blocks of sleep once in a while

I've actually ended up hiding one of my best friends on facebook recently, as her hourly daily status updates revolved solely around her 6wk old sleeping for 9-10hr stretches every night......was making me want to hurl my laptop out of the window thinking that my 8mth old was still waking twice a night.

Just wanted to say congrats HH and hi everyone, am just so shattered at the moment waking up every 1-2hours for the last few weeks am still reading all your posts just that my brain doesn't seem to be able to join sentences together easily anymore. I guess it's the6 month growth spurt combined with teething! Am very very jealous of mrsw and bunny at the moment! Take care everyone x

mumnerves sorry you're not getting much sleep - I've been there on multiple occasions so I know just how bad the sleep deprivation can be.

If it's any consolation, most of my friends with babies the same age as Will have been through a tough time on the sleep front recently, with frequent night wakings and nap refusal. BUT over the last 2-3 weeks they've all pretty much sorted themselves out. Sean's not that much younger, so the chances are he'll go back to being a good sleeper soon. Oh, and Will sleeping through was clearly a one off never to be repeated exercise, as we're back to waking 2-3times a night.

Am feeling a bit today as I've decided that tonight's the night that William will have his last ever BF. I've been working towards weaning him, and we've been down to one feed a day for the past 4 days, but I had hoped to keep that up for another couple of months. However, it seems he has other ideas, and for the last 3 evenings he's been really fussy and has started biting me. I'm glad that we managed 8mths, but it feels a bit like once I stop feeding he won't be a little baby any more, he'll be a little boy [sob]

hugs bunny thanks for the encouragement and I'm dreading end of bf day too x

Thanks mumnerves I consoled myself yesterday by going window shopping for pretty underwired bras and completely BFing unfriendly clothes. Just need to wait for my boobs to return to normal size and then I think I'll treat myself to some nice new clothes to celebrate my feeding achievement

halo I agree with bunny, that's definitely the right attitude towards Hannah's sleep! You may find that the naps lengthen as she gets older too. Lochie was a 30 min catnapper for ages and now all of a sudden he's having naps that are at least an hour long. I've actually had to wake him from a few recently, which just feels weird! Hope you had a good lie-in!

bunny Yes, the WW app is great isn't it? Such an interesting read.

You should pat yourself on the back for continuing with the bfing for such a long time. You've done really well, and I think it's such an achievement. Good idea re the new non-bf wardrobe!

mumnerves Sorry you're having a tough time at the moment. Are the nights getting any easier? Hope the teeth show soon and then hopefully it will calm down.

Well, all is good here. The first of Lochie's upper front teeth has arrived and the second is not far behind, I think it's almost through the gum. Lets hope we get a bit of a break now!
He's been a bit odd with his naps for the last wee while, I think he's in the process of trying to drop the half hour around 3ish and just have the pre and post lunch ones. All fine, except today he was awake for a 5 hour stint and is now spark out having had only 2/3 of his evening feed... so he'll be up again no doubt! He slept in until 6.30am on Sunday which was astonishing! Lets hope that becomes the status quo..

Oh and he's also started saying 'dada' which obviously DH loves. I think most of the time it's just babbling but we were in the supermarket on the weekend and DH had gone off to get something. When he came back, as he walked over to the trolley, Lochie said (very excitedly) 'DADA!'. Still could be accidental but seemed a lot more 'targeted' than the others! Most amusing, everytime I try to get him to say 'mama' he replies 'dadad'....

Hope you're all enjoying the sunshine!

Well I am delighted to be able to report that our baby girl now has a name Rose Mairi. Unfortunately we had to go back into hospital on Saturday as she had lost too much weight and was refusing to feed. She had to have a tube feed to get some emergency calories into her and we had to watch lots of blood tests and her having a thing put in her hand and everything. Thankfully she has come round and is now feeding well and we came home this morning. It is so lovely to have her at home, although I am panicking every time it is more than 4 hours between feeds. Fingers crossed she'll keep going with her feeding and we won't have any more panics.

Sorry I'm not catching up on anybody else's news just now, I need to get back to staring at my adorable daughter.

PS: Apologies if you're reading this twice, copied and pasted from grads thread.

Congratulations highheels glad to hear that baby Rose is feeding a bit better now and is home again!

Well think my little wibble last week could have been attributed to PMT!! AF appeared the day after HV appt so little wonder I got emotional whilst there!! And of course you are all right I have bonded with Robyn, think I'm still just a bit over sensitive at the moment. Feeling a lot more positive again this week though. Well I was until Robyn woke up full of cold this morning, so I was up 3 times last night with her snuffling, coughing and crying! Poor baby.

Sleep did appear to be regressing slightly prior to this anyway, with a wake u at 4am for feed when previously she'd been doing 10-6 straight through oh well once we're over the cold it'll be back to the drawing board I think!! Sorry not to name check, just dashing through as need to go and do a big shop!!

hh that's a really lovely choice of name Sorry to hear you ended up back in hospital. Hope she gets the idea about needing to eat regularly soon.

worrisome I have given myself a massive pat on the back for managing to BF for so long, especially as the problems we had at the start made me doubt we'd ever be able to do it at all. Am enjoying the opportunity to force allow DH the fun experience of dealing with William demanding his morning feed at 5am

That's so cute that Lochie is saying dada, I bet your DH was over the moon. William only says mama when he's about to have some sort of meltdown, and babbles dad dad dad when he's happy

William seems to have decided that 2am is the ideal time to go crawling aroung his cot. We keep getting woken up by strange thuds in the middle of the night as he bashes the walls and throws his teddy out of the cot. He will quite often just fall back to sleep mid crawling session so I'm getting used to going in to find him at the wrong end of the cot with his face pressed up against the bars

hh have just had a peek at your profile - Rose is such a cutie pie. Hope she's put on plenty of weight at your next weigh in

mrsw pmt is something I've not missed Hope Robyn's feeling better soon, and you get back to your long sleeps.

We managed a whole week of no illness and good sleep.......now Will has got another cold and an ear infection so we're back to being up all night long At least I know he can sleep all night when he's well, so hopefully once he's over this latest illness we'll get back on track