November 2010: Welcome to life on the other side

[bunnygirl80]

Pull up a chair and help yourself to a LARGE glass of wine

Welcome to the dark side the wonderful world of motherhood

fen I don't credit MN when I spout my latest piece of baby related knowledge - just act like I innately know all this stuff

umf Will did the same with rolling - spent 3 days doing it constantly and hasn't tried again since I assume this means he's working on some other new skill

hmm hope Lottie's skin's better soon

4mad yay for giggles. Will loves it if I talk to him in my rather rubbish attempt at an Aussie accent

Have bought lots of veg ready to steam and puree so we can give solids a go this weekend. Will's showing all the signs of readiness, and the advice here is still whenever you feel your baby's ready after 17weeks so technically I'm doing as I'm told Not going to force the issue though if he's not interested, but I have a feeling he's going to gobble up whatever I offer him

Now all I need is for those of you who already have children to reassure me that it will look like the pictures in the Annabel Karmel book, with a happy smiling mummy (who has had time to wash her hair and apply make up), a happy smiling clean baby, and no mess whatsoever

I think it's Evian that they recommend out here for making up formula. I make it up the English way though so haven't really checked in detail.

umf my friend's pediatrician has told her that and had her topping up after every feed for months, totally stressing her out about the quality and quantity of her milk. Do they ever say this sort of thing to the mothers of babies born at the 90th percentile? Makes my brain melt

lainey hope you're settling in well.

Wallace and 4mad how lovely.

Well, the bottle strike seems to be over at last. As my friend pointed out today, he's a true little Frenchman, on strike already

Those percentile are only a rough guide and (as with any averages) you have to have babies weighing in either high or low for the middle to have any relevance anyway. When Jessica had a cold she dropped down, went straight back up again after and not one HV batted an eyelid!

Jealous of the giggles - Jessica does a sort of "ah ah ah" noise which is on the brink of turning in to a giggle but God knows what I'll do when it happens - today I came back in to the room to find she'd reached for and started playing with a toy of her own accord and I was practically crying with joy. Lovely hormones!

Swimming was a great success - thanks for the tips - she didn't cry at all but was so worn out by it all that she almost fell asleep in the pool at the end, then slept from 7.45pm - 6.30am with no feeds! We'll be going again this week, for sure!

Hope everyone's enjoying the sunshine - am actually considering using the pram parasol... in March! The decadence!

Hello all, please forgive me but I so need to rant and people to agree and be with me

I went to the GP for a 3rd time last week about Isaac's ezcema as all I have been given has not worked so finally the GP gave in and put a request for him to been seen up the hospital by a specialist, the request was faxed that day (2nd March) but I called the hospital today to see whats going on, only to find they have not got anything asking to see Isaac so I called the GP's and have been told by them that they did send it and it had been comfirmed as sent so now they are having to resend the request and mark is as urgent, most upset as not only is it weeping but also bleeding now, poor baby, I feel so bad not being able to do anything about it :(

Oh Rinny that's so frustrating :( Do you know how long the waiting list is for the consultant? Fingers crossed they'll be able to get you a quick appointment.

Quick question to those of you with bumbos - for how long are they actually used? Just a couple of months until they're sitting alone or even after?

The box says 4 to 15 months, they have a tray so you can use them as a kind of highchair once the baby's sitting up.
I guess you could use them for as long as the baby will actually fit in them :)

hullo hullo ltns!

rinny hope u manage to get an appt and get Isaac (poor bub!) sorted out soon!

SGJ, K started out just 'AH AH AH' and one day something tipped her over into full fledged giggle attack. it is soooo cute when it does happen.
K goes for swim class and im amazed that 30min can knock her out so much! on the lookout for a baby swimwrap/wetsuit so i can take her to the not-so-heated pools.

lainey, hope you're settling ok in ur new place. pity the lon meetup never happened,

am rather annoyed cos my local SureStart is STILL reorganising and can't tell us if there will be any programmes come april. the baby club and soft gym have been great both for my sanity and also for K to play with new toys. don't really fancy paying £50/mth to gymboree for 1 class/week.

re rolling, K does back to side ok, has done a couple of tummy to back a week or so ago but nothing since.

realised there's a nov 2011 babies thread already. and that it was around this time last year i POOS!! where has time gone?!?

rinny how annoying! hope you get appt asap.

lainey hope it's going well.

I gave R a little try of baby porridge today, mostly out of curiosity to see if his apparent signs of readiness really translated into ability and willingness to eat. And yes, he guzzled it down.

The porridge (smug quinoa and amaranth stuff) was a success, but what he really liked was the little scrape of banana he got with it. Big grins for that.

He declared himself tired and overwhelmed after about 4/5 spoonfuls though, which was fine as I didn't intend him to have more than a taste.

He didn't eat quite as well as DS1 did the first time, but then he was 2 months older, since the advice at the time was so stridently to wait to 6 months. He did a pretty good job of mumbling it in, though, and none came out, and he seemed very pleased with the whole thing.

So I'm feeling a bit guilty because he isn't quite 4 months, but every instinct says he wants to be eating. I think I'll carry on giving him tiny tastes at big bro's teatime for a few weeks and see how it goes.

Aw Rinny, how frustrating - not the same thing but my sister had to wait a year before she finally got seen by a consultant for a pain in her arm, which turned out to be a very large tumour... in the end a 10 hour wait in A&E and a lot of crying did the job - I'd definitely recommend the crying as a way to speed things up. Really hope the situation improves soon x

Vix7, they had baby wetsuits in my local sainsburys at the moment pretty cheap.

rinny hope you get Isaac's appointment sorted soon

fen I have friends who've used the bumbo as a high chair for until their baby's were a good 9 months or so. I doubt I'll get that much use out of mine as Will's thighs are already so fat I have to wedge him in there

Am meant to be taking Will to the pool today to sign him up for his lessons and give him a little dunk in the pool while we're there. I've been sat here all packed up and ready to go for half an hour, but he's decided to take a very extended morning nap

Hi Vix nice to hear from you :) Fingers crossed for your centre.

Thanks bunny and mibby for the info on the bumbo. Norry's a skinny little thing so sounds as if it might be a good buy for us. He really likes sitting up (supported - no wunderkind here) but keeps keeling over sideways.

Think we'll be trying out swimming in the next few weeks after all your positive reports. Mum's sending us some swimming trunks as I can't find any out here yet (not in season dontchano) and I'm very intrigued by the sleeping pill effect Quick question though (you can tell I'm a newbie!) - do you need to put an additional nappy underneath the trunks? Mum said they're towelling (from M&S if anyone else knows what I'm talking about) so I suppose N needs something more?

Second try with the CM today. Please send all your good bottle drinking vibes this way!

Fen, the swim class I bring K to insist on a double nappy system - huggies little swimmers followed by a neoprene type nappy on top. This is supposed to be the best way of preventing any leaka or accidents. Dunno how effective the towelling type is. But I'd say the lil swimmers is a must. Good luck!

fen Will was bought some M and S trunks with a built in swim nappy, but the pool we use insists that they wear a proper aqua nappy as well. TBH the built in nappy part is pretty baggy around his legs (and he has thunder thighs ) so there's no way the trunks alone would contain anything.

We took Astrid swimming on Sunday and she loved it, we were in for about 45 mins. Wasn't bothered by the splashes from her lovely big sisters and she ended up falling asleep in the pool. Which was surprising as it was a "discovery day" which meant we had to fill in a tiny questionnaire and then got in for free (fab!).

Vix7 - Matalan had some wetsuit things for girls which were about £8. So would imagine they will probably have some boys ones too (unless you wouldn't mind K in bright pink Minnie Mouse one ?).

Fen We have always just used the Little Swimmers type swim nappies - which were fine for dd1. Dd2, however, had some bowel issues for a while and ended up with chronic consitpation and was on various meds and exercises to "clear the blockage". Consultant recommended swimming as an excellent way to get things moving. One rainy day, whilst on holiday in France, we took both girls to a local pool. Unfortunately, dd2 got things moving far to well and a fountain of poo squirted from either side of the nappy whilst we were in the kids pool. Cue many disgusted parents and children shrieking and jumping from the pool, followed by me waddling over to try and get the lifeguards' attention to explain in my best French (I took German at school and am Scottish...). Me the girls and dp hid in the disabled changing room (bad I know, but the other parents looked murderous), before changing and rushing to the car as quickly as possible. But not before passing the big group of mother and toddlers at reception who it was obvious were being advised why the kiddie pool was unavailable .

Not sure what the moral of that story is, but you might do well to double up....

I haven't tried A on any food yet, she's not got a huge appetite atm. Still only 13lb 6oz, but wearing 6-9 sleepsuits as she's so long. I think I'll give her a few weeks yet as she's still doing 9-10 hours straight through at night. I'm in no rush as I remember the mess (and time it takes to feed solids) from the other too.

Has anyone else got any signs of teething yet? A is desperately trying to eat of her own hands and keeps going for my nose (like a deranged terrier) every time I give her a kiss. She's got the teething cough and I think I can see a tiny bit of tooth coming through.

boris, I've had nightmares about that happening! As for teething I think I remember harmony and bookworm mentioning their babies already had teeth through. Lottie has 2 hard white spots on her bottom gum and is dribbling and chewing on her hand lots, so think they'll be appearing soon.

Tried Lottie on her first bit off food yesterday, a banana, first I just let her hold and suck on a whole one which she seemed to enjoy, then tried giving her some mashed. She smiled the whole time but obviously had not a clue what to do with it. Don't think she actually swallowed any! Figure I'll just take it super slowly for the next 3 weeks until she's 6 months then try a bit harder [lazy].

oh rinny hope the app comes through asap, did the antibiotics not work? you were having to put stuff in his milk and that seemed to be helping a bit? sorry to hear its got worse again :(

boris its good to hear you have a long, slim baby as well, merryn is in 6-9 for lenght but is 14lb 3oz, and still not taking much milk, we had a few days were for some feeds she would take 5oz and then yesterday and today we are back to 3-4oz a feed, but she still feeds at 6pm then goes to sleep and i wake and feed her at 11:30 and then she went through till 5:30 when tbh she didnt seem that hungry and then back to sleep till 7am but she didnt want fed again till 9:45 and she took about 4oz, tho she has been sicky again today so no idea how much she actually kept down.

she seems happy tho and has gone off to sleep again at the moment, so

re teething i think merryn is teething VERY dribbly and trying to chew on her hands, toys etc and like Astrid she is a nose nibbler as well

we have had a few more giggles and laughs, apparently me sneezing is THE funniest thing in the world, as are raspberries blown on her belly :)

with swim nappies i would always put a disposable swim nappy underneath!! esp for breastfed babies! i have a packet of the huggies ones, but am yet to take her swimming, tbh the thought of us taking all 5 of them swimming......... doesnt bare thinking about, its not the swimming as such, thats fine its the getting everyone changed and organised etc!

oh and not trying MErryn on food yet, she is one of the younger ones i think as she didnt arrive til december, so only 13wks and with my history of allergies i shall be waiting as long as possible, sounds like lots of the babies are ready for food tho! have to say i dont envy you, and like hmmsleep, am too lazy to want to do weaning

Boris I think the moral of that story is for me to practice shouting "merde ahoy" in my best French accent. Anyway, you've all definitely persuaded me, double nappies it is. Although if you find yourself in a similar situation with A you should really just shrug your shoulders and say "Bof." The state of the public baths around here is such that I would be surprised if anyone noticed the difference, although I hope our local children's pool is a bit nicer.

4mad at the thought of having to take five children anywhere

What's that about a teething cough? Norry's been coughing for the last few days but I thought he might have a cold. Mega dribbles too although he's always been a hand gnaw-er (but not started on noses yet :) ) so I'm not sure if that's teething? He's been very unsettled at night though these last few days so if it is a tooth I hope it comes through quick. And if it isn't I hope the CM wears him out sufficiently for us to get a good night's sleep tonight!

Latest news on that front is that he refused the morning bottle and nap but more than made up for both at lunchtime. CM seems happy enough

oh whoever it was that asked about periods and their return, i just got mine so that is about 5wks after i stopped bfeeding? anyhow i had forgotten how annoying they are, ho humm, its def a sign that we need to sort out contraception!! 5andnomore should be my name!

Fen Ha ha, I reckon I could do a pretty good "Bof!"

Re: teething cough, my older two always seemed to get a bit of a phlegmy cough when they were teething and A has developed one of the last few days. Don't know if this is common for teething babies, or if my other two were are weird .

4mad I agree with Fen, it's bad enough taking 3 out never mind 5! Merryn sounds a lot like A, size and eating wise. Nice to hear there's another nibbly giggler out there.

Hmm not sure I could trust A with a banana, she's more likely to poke herself in the eye with it than manage to get any in her mouth (yet another reason why I am in no rush to wean).

Rinny hope you get I's appointment sorted out asap.

Also, found these on Amazon, can't believe anyone would pay £48 for them though!

I used these swim nappies for my dcs. They're very snug around the thighs and waist so although I thankfully never had to see if they worked, I think they'd be very good at containing any leaks. I put them under one of these.

Abbie had her last lot of jabs for the time being on Monday. She was beaming at the nurses and then her little face crumpled when they jabbed her. She was very brave though and didn't cry for long. I also got her weighed and she's currently 14lbs10. It's funny as I always thought she's seemed more chunky than my Ds but looking at his book he weighed the same at 12wks! Abbie is 19wks tomorrow.

Sleep varies. Some nights she sleeps through, some nights she wakes up once usually followed by a very loud exploding bum! She feeds and goes back to sleep easily so I don't mind too much. Ds has been very restless at night just recently so tbh, he's woken me up more than her. He has his next heart review next month and I always get a bit paranoid 'symptom watching' in the weeks before.

I haven't taken Abbie swimming yet. We keep meaning to go then never get round to it. I'm going to get a swim nappy like hmm uses. I think they sell them in Mothercare now but not sure if that's only on line.

Boris when I was nannying I had to take the two children swimming when we were staying at a very posh hotel. The 2yr old poo'd in her swim nappy. I was mortified but luckily it was contained and nobody knew. However I was asked to take her swimming again the following day and she did it again! I dragged her out and she kept yanking at her nappy and had poo trailing down her leg. I was trying to rush her into the changing rooms discreetly and the 4yr old kept saying loudly, "Has she poo'd again?" Not my finest nannying hour! I refused to take her again.

Babybean lucky you going on holiday. I would have thought just boiling the water would be fine to kill any bugs/bacteria. I've travelled a lot with babies in Europe and never had any problem. I'm not sure what the current guidelines on taking made up bottles through Customs. Maybe take a carton for the plane although I have heard of people being made to test the cartons to check they don't have anything dodgy in. Sucking will help her ears on take off and landing.

I had my first post baby period at 5wks but then didn't have another. I had the mirena coil fitted on the 7th Feb and have bled constantly since. Hopefully it'll ease and settle soon although I'm too tired to even consider any sex! Any spare moment that the children are a sleep I am too!

boris Will's had signs of teething for a few weeks now. I got all excited but now I'm bored of waiting for them to come through

4mad are you sure you don't want to go for number 6? I'm sure you'd hardly notice an extra one running around

I spent this afternoon steaming and pureeing sweet potato in readiness for offering Will solids, as DH is convinced that sweet potato will make the boy grow up big and strong and good at rugby A slight blender related incident meant I ended up with about as much of it up the walls as neatly formed into little ice cubes

Am taking Will for his 4 month jabs tomorrow. Hopefully it won't be too traumatic.....