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The Final Fruition of the Frolicking Forays for the First Time Frolickers
739 replies
Spirael · 30/09/2010 16:18
OP posts:
NovemberAli ·
02/01/2011 15:00
Happy New Year one and all! Hope everyone had a fab Christmas
. We had a lovely time and think Tilda was appropriately spoiled!
Unfortunately since then we've all succumbed to the flu and have been back to waking in the night - having to check her temperature and dose with Calpol etc, so horrible seeing her suffer.
Will try to have a proper catch up as seem to have fallen behind a bit. x
bunnygirl80 ·
03/01/2011 00:42
mumnerves glad I managed to make you feel a bit better. I can still remember how hard those first few days were. The baby blues do make things seem so much harder - I had a few days of random crying, including one incident in hospital where the toast accompanying my full English breakfast was slightly undercooked for my liking and I sobbed about it for 45 mins 
Then I cried because I felt guilty because if we were still in the UK I wouldn't have got a full English everyday, so I should just eat the toast and be thankful for what I've got. I can laugh about it now though, although DH is still careful to ensure he cooks my toast properly
Will has undergone a remarkable change since he turned 6 weeks. He literally went overnight from needing to be rocked to sleep in our arms, and held close until he was deeply asleep, to wanting to put himself to sleep in his pram/basket 
He now likes to be held until his little eyes are starting to close and then be put down to wirggle until he's comfy and drift off to sleep. He's also so much more alert now he really needs to be persuaded to go down for his daytime naps - we now have 3 or 4 minutes of angry crying once he's swaddled before he gives in and goes to sleep.
The PILs are still here, and TBH I'll be glad when they go. Was on the verge of strangling MIL yesterday. It was a very hot day so Will was wanting to feed more frequently than normal because he's thirsty. MIL suggested for about the 5 millionth time that if he's thirsty i should be giving him water. So I said to her (yet again) that because he is fully BF he doesn't need water, my milk will quench his thirst, and that his is what his doctor has told me. We had the same conversation every 2 hours when he woke for a feed. And every time he cried for food she announced that he couldn't possibly be hungry and that she would settle him, removed my crying child from DH's arms and took him into the house. After 5 mins of Will crying harder and harder she brought him back out to me saying "He's crying because he's hungry as he's just latched onto my arm" 
I've been quite relaxed about her being here so far, but if she refuses to let me feed my starving baby one more time I'll be forced to put my foot down.
If you here about any 60 year old women mysteriously disappearing in the Outback it wasn't me..........
mumnerves ·
03/01/2011 12:49
bunny Sorry to hear such a hard time you had, but it's made me feel like less of a freak! ...then again about time DH learnt to make your toast properly 
Poor you with the ILs (but well done Will for latching on to MIL's arm :o ) I've got my mum over next week for 2 weeks and then the ILs will descend on me. Can't wait to see what corkers my MIL comes out with!
DS is good in the sense that like Will, if he wakes in his moses basket he dozes off himself. I hope he'll be eventually putting himself to sleep too as that's what takes the longest time during night feeds!
DH goes back to work on friday :( Despite all the upheaval I've loved it being just all about the 3 of us in our home and feel quite sad we'll never really get the same sort of time again
NovemberAli ·
08/01/2011 15:56
Phew all recovered from the flu! It was pretty bad, hoping she doesn't pick up anything else this year! Another problem now is she is refusing bottles, she would take one fine before christmas but now pointblank refusal 
- a bit worried as will be back in work in 8 weeks time and she will have to have a bottle then.
How's the dairy avoidance going Hermya? Any more projectile vomits?
Good luck for next week Mumnerves, it's horrible when pat leave ends isn't it? It's nice you have your mum coming over though.
I sympathise Bunny, it's frustrating when people think they know best about your baby - I now completely understand why they say Mummy knows best, you just have an instinct when it comes to your own child.
bunnygirl80 ·
10/01/2011 02:34
hermya glad the dairy elimination is doing the trick. Will managed to fill my belly button with sick the other day
november glad you're all better. Hope you manage to persuade Tilda to take the bottle again
mumnerves hope you're coping ok without your DH. I found the long days at home on my own much easier if I made sure I went out for at least one long walk no matter what the weather
Good news from the bunny household - the in laws have gone travelling for 5 weeks 
Not before they caused absolute chaos on their last night here. I let them babysit, with strict instructions that Will was to have a bath at 6pm, then play a bit and go down for a nap and be fed as soon as he woke. Cue our arrival home at 8pm to a screaming baby being lowered into a bath. They couldn't figure out why he was crying, despite not having fed him at all the whole time we were gone. They made a swift departure 10 mins after we got home, leaving us to sort out an overtired hungry baby 
Oh well, we've got a clear run of 3 weeks before my parents get here.
pixiestix ·
10/01/2011 02:56
Hello all, I can't sleep - Tegan is sucking her thumb at super volume and DH is snoring so between the two of them they have driven me out of the bedroom! Thought I would come on here and get some advice from my wise Frolickers.
Firstly, I wanted to ask Spirael, or anyone else who has moved their baby from a moses basket to a cot how you went about it? Tegs is just about to grow out of her basket (at 15 weeks so we got some decent use out of it) but she always sleeps pressed right up against the wall of it, with her other arm kind of braced against the other wall. I'm worried that she won't be able to sleep without the security of the walls all around her 
Also, she hates bedtime and will only sleep after quite a lot of rocking in the basket - obviously we won't have a rocking stand for the cot so that too is going to mess her up. Has anyone got any tips or advice? Maybe I'm worrying about it too much and it will be a total breeze
Secondly, I've told you guys before that Tegan is quite little - she has always been around the 20th centile, give or take a couple. When we went to get her weighed the other day she has dropped down to the 9th centile The group leader told me it was nothing to worry about, but you know what its like, I can't help worrying about my little lady She is just over 11 lbs at 15 weeks and everyone elses baby seems to be enormous in comparison. I know some of us have to be big and some have to be small etc but I'm stressing myself out that she isn't getting enough to eat. Don't know what anyone can do about that but I just wanted to vent!
Lastly, a TMI query Are all of you lot... ahem.... back in the saddle when it comes to ... ahem.... marital relations?? I just don't feel like it in the slightest and I've never felt like this before. I just can't summon up any inclination at all. I think its mostly to do with my disgusting post-caesarian, post-preg belly making me self-conscious, but mentally I just don't feel it either. What to do? What to do? I feel really sorry for DH, he must feel quite lost as its so out of character but I'm not sure how to tackle the situation. I don't suppose anyone else is in the same boat but could you pretend so I don't feel like such a freak!!
So thats my self-obsessed middle of the night ranting and querying. Any advice gratefully received!
Glad that the projectile vomiting has calmed down Hermya. I don't think I could give up dairy for anything. I am an addict!
How strange that Tilda has started refusing the bottle November - I wonder what goes on in their little heads. No advice I'm afraid, but could you ask your health visitor/ breastfeeding advisor for help on how to lure her back on to it? How are you feeling about going back to work? 8 weeks doesn't seem very far away at all. Are you going back full time?
How are you getting on with DH back at work Mumnerves?
Bunny I am very jealous of Will putting himself to sleep. Tegan sleeps like a dream once she has actually nodded off but getting her into that state is a real trial. We have an absolute minimum of ten minutes hard screaming each night before she will even consider it.
I liked your crying over toast story. I had a similar hormone fuelled incident in hospital when a photographer came round to take pictures of all the newborns (do they do that in Oz?). Its a way of squeezing money out of all the exhausted, emotional mums in the UK! DH arrived halfway through and got confused and thought the baby on the poster was Tegan (Men are so so dumb at times) I started crying because "you think that baby is prettier than our baby.... you think our baby is ugly... waaaaaaaahhh!!" Totally embarrasing and totally unjustified!! DH will be taking the piss out of me about it for years to come!
Oh Lord, I must try to go to sleep, Tegs will be wanting a feed in a couple of hours and I will be a wreck. Do excuse me waffling on. Hope all the Frolicker babes are fighting fit, and growing lovely and fat
xxx
pixiestix ·
10/01/2011 03:04
Cross posts Bunny! Grrrrrrr! Did you manage to hold your tongue? I'm not sure that I would! Do people really just think that mothers issue instructions for the fun of it or for something to say during a quiet moment?? Enjoy your 3 weeks of freedom, you deserve it!
mumnerves ·
10/01/2011 11:59
Hermya poor you with the projectile vomit, glad it's getting better. I'm with pixie, I'd miss my cheese too much, lucky boy with such a dedicated mummy!
november has she maybe got oral thrush? Maybe the bottle you've got just hits the wrong part of her mouth where it's sore? Hope you manage to sort it before going back to work, I bet you're dreading going back to work :(
pixie it's awful when they lose weight isn't it? Are you solely bf? Maybe express some and give it to her in a cup/syringe to top up? That was what a mf suggested to me and it was what kicked started him to put weight on again.
I was just going to ask about getting back into the saddle and how everyone else was getting on too. I'm still sore down below so I've got an excuse at the moment but the last thing I feel is sexy and am not sure how we're going to kick start our sex life again. Plus we're in separate beds so he can do the day shift doesn't help!
bunny that sounds a bit like something my in-laws would do! yay for in-laws leaving!! BTW just trying to figure out how Will was facing down towards your belly button
Sorry not been on much. DH is still off :o we calculated his days off wrongly, he sorted it out with work and is now off till tomorrow and my mum is over from tomorrow for 2 weeks so am really looking forward to it!
We've splashed out and bought DS an Amby hammock, expensive thing that it was but fantastic! He'll rock himself to sleep now and has given me up to 4 hours sleep at night, at 3 and a half weeks old I think that's pretty impressive so am curently not too bad with the sleep deprivation. Can't believe he's 4 weeks old on thursday, not sure where the time has gone!
Have a nice week everyone!
Spirael ·
10/01/2011 12:01
Hi all! :) I've been lurking for a bit. Things have been manic here over Christmas and New Year, and now I'm in the process of rearranging the house and beginning the baby proofing preparations. Mindy can move about either caterpillar style or by rolling, it won't be too long before she starts prodding things inquisitively, I'm sure!
She's just passed the 6 month mark, it's hard to believe that much time has passed already! (And depressing to think I'm back at work in 3 months...) We measured her the other day at 66cm tall and 7.5kg in weight. She's started babbling at us now, it's heart warming to hear the occasional 'Dada' and 'Mama' (though they're not meaningful yet). I swear she said 'Hello' the other day though!
For moving her into a cot pixie, I started by setting her in the moses basket in her cot for daytime naps, then I started putting her in the cot without the moses basket for daytime naps. Then I just bit the bullet and put her in the cot for overnight! She was absolutely fine with it, and actually slept better. Presumably as it was a bit quieter in the nursery and also the cot mattress looks a lot more comfy than the thin moses basket one. :)
However as a disclaimer, Mindy always did like having lots of room... She hated being swaddled and her first reaction to being put into the cot was to stretch out with a relaxed kind of "Aaaahhhh...". Even now, she sleeps like a starfish... Her hands stick out the bars on either side!
Settling her in the cot at night has definitely been a learning curve. When she was younger the trick we used was that I'd feed her to sleep, then my DH gently lifted her out of my arms with just his hands beneath her. He'd then rock her like that if she stirred a bit, and gently-gently set her down into the cot. Because she was just in his hands rather than cradled in his arms, he found setting her down relatively easy to do.
She's too big for that now, so currently I feed her in the nursery before transferring her. My current trick is to knot the end of a muslin and stuff it in my top while I'm feeding so it's warm and smells of me. Then if Mindy is still awake when I set her down I can pass her the muslin... She happily chews on it and (most of the time) settles herself off to sleep with that as her security blanket once the light is off. I have loads of muslins, so it's easy to switch it for a clean one each night.
Another trick we use is that Mindy seems to relax at the sound of humming, so I hum songs to her! It also gives me something to do when I'm sat in dark silence feeding...as otherwise I a) get bored and b) start dozing off. An added advantage is that if there's a clatter of the cats or DH knocking something nearby, the sound of the humming masks that so it doesn't seem to startle her as much.
Eek with your family, bunnygirl! We're lucky that any family have only spent a few days around and generally followed instructions well...or been supervised at all times.
at the vomit in your bellybutton though. I was lifting Mindy above my head and got my face vomited on a few weeks ago, which was particularly delightful!!
The projectile vomiting does sound impressive, Hermya! Though I think all babies use cleavage as a target...
Anyway, Her Babyship is squeaking for lunch, better go get that sorted. :) Hope everything is going well for everyone!
OP posts:
bunnygirl80 ·
10/01/2011 21:13
pixie Teg's weight must be a bit of a worry to you. Do you measure her length as well? When I got Will weighed at his 6 week check the GP put his weight and length into this and it has a tool that compares the weight to their length rather than to their age. If Tegan's just generally small then she'll come out on a much higher percentile if her weight is proportional to her length (not sure if I'm making any sense at all here) I'm sure she's just small and perfectly formed but if you're really concerned that she's stopped gaining weight then I'd go see your GP
As for getting back in the saddle in the marital sense, we did not long after my 6 week check. I don't feel particularly sexy, but once I bit the bullet and got on with it it was actually quite enjoyable I do insist on keeping my top on to avoid any milk related sprayage, and to hide my mummy tummy
mumnerves Will's sick kind of trickled down and pooled in my belly button! I've got a really forceful letdown and when he was a bit smaller he'd choke a bit, take on a big air bubble and then do a sicky burp. He just loves eating so much he would delatch to do it, he'd just be sick with my boob still in his mouth One time I wondered where the sick had gone, looked down and saw a little puddle in my belly button
Will can now stay awake for ages and I'm running out of ways to keep him entertained. I feel like I should be constantly interacting with him, which is pretty hard for the 2 hour stretches between naps. How do those of you with older babies keep them entertained?
pixiestix ·
12/01/2011 23:52
Thanks for the advice ladies!
Spirael- your trick with the muslin sounds like a brilliant one, I am definitely going to try that. The problem I think we will have is that I can't really nurse Tegan to sleep - she gets really vomity if she isn't burped and held vertical for a good while after each feed. If I just put her straight down I hear a cough and a splutter within a few minutes and go back to find she has thrown up, straight up into the air and all over her face. Niiiice! So she goes to sleep now with a good rocking in the Moses basket. Ahhh well, this motherhood lark is all about finding new skills so I guess we will crack it one way or another.
Did Mindy get her Mouse wheelybug for Xmas? Tegan looks hilarious propped on her ladybird. She is going to be utterly adorable when she is old enough to use it properly.
Mumsnerves - you are allowed to be off sex at only four weeks in! I am nearly four months in and am really starting to feel a bit like a nun.
Bunny - I think I will have to bite the bullet as well and just get on with getting back in the saddle. But then I feel really guilty for thinking about it like that! Poor DH would die if he knew I thought of it as a trial
They don't measure babies' length in my area, just weight and I think you are right, that might be a lot of the problem. Tegs has definitely got much longer over the last month. I might get a tape measure and do it myself.
As for keeping babes entertained, a usual day for Tegan includes a fair bit of entertaining herself. Favourites are sitting in her bouncy chair - I have hung a Lamaze owl from it and she loves to beat it around the head and generally wrestle with it! She also likes chatting to her cot mobile, which is a Fisher Price Rainforest one and has quite decent music compared to others I have heard. We have a big playmat and we usually hang out on that together for tummy time and general chatter time, and then she has various toys which she likes to lick handle. The rest of the time she spends sitting on me or being carried around, while DH and I do our usual stuff. We just talk a lot - she is a bit of a gobshite and managed to say "Uh-uh-uhhhhh-uh-uh-uhhhhhhh-u--u-uhh-uh" for FIVE SOLID MINUTES today! Bless her, she is a bit mad I think. So I don't constantly entertain her, and I can usually tell pretty quickly if she is bored. How does Will react if you leave him to his own devices or just carry him about while you potter about?
Laugh a minute, my mum, who always said she wasn't interested in having ANY grandchildren because they would make her feel too old, told me today that she would love it if I had four children in all! Where she got that from I don't know! I'm not sure that my poor battered body could cope with another three pregnacies, although three more little Tegan's would be amazing!
NovemberAli ·
13/01/2011 20:14
Woo hoo have had some success at getting Tilda back on the bottle. Went to mothercare and bought up their range of different bottles and she seems to have taken some liking to the NUK ones. So now I'm going to try and give her a bit of EBM every few days or so to try and get her in the habit. Can feel that clock ticking back to starting work...., will be going back 3 days a week but still panicking about leaving her with strangers!
Pixie - I was really worried that the transfer from moses basket to cot would disrupt her sleep but she took to it really well. I think in the basket she quite often woke herself up by hitting the sides. She has always taken a while to settle though, I go for the musical mobile plus shush-and-pat routine, sometimes this does take quite a few minutes but then once she's down she's away.
Am jealous of the Amby hammock mumnerves, looks like a v good idea.
You must be so relieved to get a break from your ILs Bunny, it sounds like your MIL can't except that anyone could know better than her. Hope she manages to listen to you in the future.
bunnygirl80 ·
14/01/2011 08:56
pixie my DH would have been mortified if he knew I'd seen it as biting the bullet, but I think I'd just developed so many hang ups about whether things would be the same after having a baby exit me that I was never going to suddenly just be in the mood.
We all get issued with a tape measure with our baby's health record so it's pretty easy for me to measure Will....not that I'm very accurate as last time I did it he seemed to have shrunk by 2cm
Will reacts to being left to his own devices by crying He's quite happy under his gym as long as I'm sat next to him gazing lovingly at him at all times He's getting better at sitting in his swing while I potter about for a few minutes so I think he'll be able to entertain himself a bit better soon. He hates tummy time so much he's already able to roll from his tummy to his back
November well done for persuading Tilda to take the bottle again. Someone suggested to me that the only way to guarantee they'll take a bottle is to give one every day. I can't be bothered with all that expressing though so I think I'll take my chances with just giving one once or twice a week.
DH is having a go at settling Will for his nighttime sleep. I can hear crying though so am desperately trying not to rush in and intervene. I tend to feed Will until he's really drowsy and then put him down so DH rarely gets a look in - don't want Will to start relying on me to settle him though as I'll want the odd night out eventually
WorrisomeHeart ·
14/01/2011 18:25
bunny I am in exactly the same predicament - DH always settles Lochie for the night, but it's really his toughest time (Lochie's, not DH!) and I hate hearing him cry. I know it's not actually the fact that it's DH instead of me holding him thats making him cry but sometimes all I want to do is go and grab him and soothe him!
pixie I agree with November re the whacking of the sides may be disturbing Tegan - you might even find that when you move her she settles better in the larger space! Good luck! Lochie is still in his moses basket, but I think we'll need to change soon. I already put him in the cot sometimes to watch the mobile so hopefully it won't be too traumatic. Or he'll just think it's playtime again!
spireal so exciting about Mindy rolling and wiggling! I can't believe she's 6 months - I remember your post when you had her!
hermya Hope the dairy-avoidance is still working - the projectile vomming must have been freaky. We've only had it once with Lochie but it scared the bejeezus out of me!
mumnerves am also very 
of the Amby hammock. Does it take up a lot of room? We have a small flat and that was one of the reasons I decided against it (also DH was sceptical, grr!) but have always looked longingly at them.
November I had coffee with a friend yesterday who's had a similar problem getting her LO to take the bottle and she was saying that the NUK bottles were working well for them too. Hope it continues!
Well, Lochie is now 11.5 weeks and a lovely little one. I'm doing so much better and we're having a really good time. He's got a great smile and giggle and seems to be a very happy chappy. He's also sleeping fairly well - we get a min of about 5 hour stretches, he's basically going from 7pm to 7am (ish) with just one feed, but the feed time ranges from about 1am to 4am. The great thing is that he goes back down really well after the food. It's so nice having long stretches of sleep, really helps with feeling human (ish!) I've put another pic up on my profile if you want to see a cheeky smile!
Oh BTW I 'saw' Ozzygirly the other day on a thread and said she should come back here, so hopefully we'll 'see' her soon!
mumnerves ·
16/01/2011 13:12
Hi ladies!
I typed a long post 2 days ago and lost it so got a bit disheartened at posting, will try and remember everything I tried to say then.
Sean is starting to get more of a personality now. He loves lights and will sit and stare at one for ages. Took him to Asda and he spent half the trip looking at the big lights whilst I did my shopping unfortunately he spent the other half wanting to be picked up so it was a good thing I had my mum with me!
spirael 6months already!!! That's really flown by!
bunny I'm the same with the crying, if DH has him and I'm trying to catch an extra hours kip I can't sleep if he's crying downstairs, hopefully this'll pass.
pixie where did your mother get the figure 4 from? lol that's a lot of grandchildren for someone who didn't want one!
november great that she's finally taking the bottle. Saw on another thread that tkmaxx are selling breastfeeding type bottles for £2 was going to check them out but may be of use to you?
worrisome am at your five hour stretches!
The amby is quite tall, about 5 feet and about as wide as 2 moses baskets. However I've placed it in front of my bedside table and because it's just a frame I can still get to it. Also I can place things under it.
DH tried to get some the other night and I had to tell him I was still sore down there :( Felt a bit sorry for him as he was being all romantic and trying really hard. I think it's ironic that we started off trying to get them to SWI as much as possible and now we're talking about not wanting to! :o
Have a nice weekend everyone!
bunnygirl80 ·
17/01/2011 01:34
worrisome Lochie is looking so cute.
We Frolickers must be a good looking bunch of people to have all produced such adorable offspring
mumnerves I told my DH no action until after my 6 week check Although TBH I was ready to try by that stage - it's actually kind of nice to know he still thinks I'm attractive even with the huge leaky boobs and slightly wobbly tum
I've finally got Will a toy he likes It's this which he is technically not meant to be in as he doesn't have quite enough head control, but he loves looking at the toys dangling above him. I'm letting him in it for short periods at the moment, and holding onto him so he can only bounce gently. I think he just hates lying down, which is why he cries if I put him under his gym.
He's already rolling, and I'm getting worried his hatred of being horizontal is going to lead to early standing/walking. His cousin was the same and was walking by 9 months
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bunnygirl80 ·
22/01/2011 09:27
worrisome glad Lochie was ok in his cot. We're getting Will's delivered in 10 days or so. hopefully he'll like it in there.
We've had a bit of a hard week this week - Will had another growth spurt so went back to waking every 2 hours in the night and refusing sleep in the day We're back on track now though, and he's been reaching lots of little milestones over the last couple of days.
He's actually making intentional grabs for his toys, and he's alot happier playing by himself. I'm pretty sure he said "moo" this afternoon as well
After much drooling and hand chewing over the last 3 days I decided to prise his little mouth open and have a look. There are 2 little indents on his gum where his teeth are going starting to come through, so looks like I'll get to give him and early introduction to Mr Toothbrush
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