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

4mad I always put the bumbo on raised surfaces - never leave him unsupervised there though. Nice to see your DS1 has merryn's safety in mind though Will seems to be doing the opposite of Merryn - he often needs a nap after only 90mins in the morning, but then goes 2 and 1/2 - 3 hours the rest of the day. I think he often gets woken up a bit earlier than he'd like by a herd of elephants DH walking past his room on his way out to work.

lainey was going to suggest that Finn might be teething, but I see hmm got in there first. Hope he cheers up soon.

Re highchairs: we've got the Ikea Antilop which is great - super-cheap and easy to clean

hmm hope Lottie's eczema gets better soon

Hi Lainey, sorry to hear Finn's being grumpy. I have absolutely no advice but I hope he snaps out of it soon.

Bunny Norry's the same as Will for naps. Gets up around 7-8am and is ready for a nap by 9.30 already but will go for 3 hours or so over lunch and then a mega nap in the afternoon. Are we the only ones with only two naps in the day?

Hope all the antibiotics and the rest do their job Hmm, it all sounds rather unpleasant.

Right, got to go and brush my teeth, get Norry into his coat and off the CM and me to work. Have a nice day eveyone! :)

Hello again, has been ages since i managed to post, but i pop in regularly to read what everyone else is up to!

Fenouille, no you aren't the only ones...my DS is an angel at nightime sleeping but not great at daytime sleeping...e.g. last night he was asleep by 8 (usually it's 7.15-7.30ish but he was grumpy last night so took longer) and he woke up this morning at 6.30, we changed his nappy, he fed from both sides, was winded and then put back down in cotbed, and he went back to sleep within 10 minutes. He always does this second sleep, but it will only last a shortish while - the longest he has done is 2 hours, but more often it will be an hour. He has then been known to be awake until 7.30ish at night, although i think over the last couple of weeks we are finally starting to get somewhere as he now recognises when he is tired and now rubs his eyes and seems to fight sleep less. Yesterday he had 30 min nap at lunchtime in his cotbed, and then about an hour and a half in the afternoon, but only because i cuddled him to sleep and let him sleep on me! We are really struggling with getting him to sleep in his cotbed in the day - he will happily self settle at night, and after his first feed of the day when he goes down for his second sleep, but the only way i can get him to sleep in his cotbed during the day is to wait until he is asleep and then transfer him to the cotbed and hope he doesn't wake up when being transferred! If he wakes, he will scream the house down because i am a terrible mommy trying to abandon her baby lol! Anyone else got this problem? Any suggestions? He has the Winnie the Pooh projector thing, he has a teddy on a rag, he loves both at night, but in the day, even they aren't enough to make his cotbed a place he wants to be.

Re various postings on development stages, DS can sit up fairly well, but he will suddenly forget what he is doing and could then collapse in any direction so i only let him sit when we are with him (if he is lay down completely flat he can't sit up...yet!). He has done one roll from back to front. Not sure if he realised how he did it as he hasn't repeated it. He has no teeth, and as me and DH both got our first tooth around 12 months, i guess DS will be the same? although he has shown signs of teething since 2 months, dribble city and he will shove anything into his mouth!

Started weaning early, had notions of giving him home cooked food, however as he rarely sleeps in the day unless on me, and as he likes to be entertained a lot (and as i refuse to dump him in front of the tv) i don't have enough time to cook for myself never mind cook stuff for DS! So until DH is able to help, DS is being fed on Ella's kitchen stuff. Fridge currently contains sweet potatoes and butternut squash but i don't like either of these and so have no idea how to cook them, and so DH (who does like them) will be batch cooking them soon-ish i hope so that we can give him home cooked as well as the Ella's stuff. But i have no guilt, as they are just as good as home-cooked, fully organic, and no rubbish added to them, and were on offer at 65p each, which makes it a cheap way to give him lots of new flavours during the early weeks of weaning. DS is currently having dinner and tea daily, EBF the rest of the time, and he will be 6 months on Thursday (26 weeks on Friday) so intend to give him breakfasts from then on, as he can then have dairy and cereals and bread - thinking of rotating between the 1)ella's kitchen breakfast ones (cereal/yoghurt/fruit mixes) and 2)toast and 3) well cooked scrambled egg. Anyone know if it's ok to put marg on the toast? any other breakfast ideas?

Also, how much food are your babies eating? During my limited free time i have tried reading up on weaning online, but as yet i can't find any guide as to what amount a baby should be eating, just lots of stuff on the types of food they should have. Ella's kitchen pouches are 120g, but no idea how many meals that should make for DS at his current age? He is a big lad, when awake he usually only goes an hour between feeds, was weighed at 24 weeks less a day, and was 19lb7oz, and 69cm long, so definitely in proportion, not a fat baby, just big! No rolls of fat, only chubby bit of him is his thighs, has one crease per leg, so i know that he is eating because he is hungry (and because he is so active), rather than over eating for comfort etc, and so not sure how much solids he needs as worried if he eats too much solids, which are at the moment low calorie fruit and veg purees, it will mean he hasn't got much room left for the calorie packed milk. Any ideas?

Re highchairs, we opted for the Chicco Polly as it's got 2 trays, is height adjustable so can be used to eat at our table when DS is a bit older, had rubberish feet so wouldn't scratch the wooden floor unlike the plastic ones, and was reclineable so we could use it before 6 months as a safe place to plonk DS with a toy whilst we ate as the angle was no different to a car seat (although instructions said don't use until 6 months lol...probably linking in to the rules that they don't have food until 6 months)

Re grisly babies, the best thing we have bought by far is a jumperoo, and i would thoroughly recommend it to anyone based on the amount of fun it has given DS. The novelty of it has never worn off, he goes bonkers in it every time and has spent up to an hour in it at a time - he has a lot of energy and i find it helps to tire him out before we start our bedtime routine and it gives me chance to water our veggies knowing he can't come to any harm! (and much more entertaining for him than a door bouncer or being stationary in something like a bumbo - he sat in a friends and his face said it all - he was v bored!).

Better get on and do something more productive - it's the only time of day i really get chance!!

looopy we have a jumperoo and it is definitely the best thing we got for Will.

Re: amount of solids - I was told they should be having half a cup (which is 125g, so basically the same as one of the pouches) 3 times a day by the time they're 7 months. I found it hard to find any info on amounts of food, but we had a talk given by our local childhood health nurses and that's what they said. I just keep offering until Will doesn't seem interested any more - some meals he has more than 125g, others he'll barely a tablespoon worth, so I think he knows when he's full.

No idea how to get him to nap in the cot - if anything I've got the reverse problem - Will self settles for naps and at the start of the night, but if he wakes at night he wants feeding back to sleep.

Speaking of feeding to sleep, I think I might be confusing poor William. Have spent the last few nights working to break his feed-to-sleep association by delatching him as soon as he switches from gulping to milk to comfort sucking and trying to get him into his cot at least semi-awake so he finishes settling there.

The night before last he woke, I fed him, then he took himself off when he was done - I then panicked as he hadn't fed to sleep and kept trying to put him back on and each time he refused. Eventually I popped him in his cot where he settled himself off to sleep. I'm sure he must spend alot of his time wondering why he bothers learning anything as when he does it I try and force him to do things the old way

Another vote for the ikea antilop! I had a fancy chair for DD1 initially but then switched and shes still using it at 2.5. Off to ikea for another one tomorrow.

Evie is 5 months now, and only generally has one nap (of about 50mins) between 8am and 8pm! I wish she would sleep more!

PrivetDancer here btw.

hello ladies, all this talk of weaning and sitting up! merryn still just has milk and i posted on the last page how she was being good and guzzling down six ounes, well now she is back to being a fusspot and its takes half an hour to get 4oz in her, but she has a cough and is very phlegmy so thats probably why?!! clutching at straws and hoping as soon as the cough is gone she will be ok with feeding again. tbh i am looking forward to weaning just for something else to do with hera nd if she is eating i wont have to worry quite so much about how much milk shse does/doesnt drink!

i got her weighed today and she is almost 17lb, well 16lb 13oz! so growing just fine on her miminimal intake.

lainey hope ds cheers up soon, could be teething and maybe getting hungry ready for solids? and yes still up for a meet up!!

hmmsleep, really hope lotties skin improves soon, it must be awful for her, i have eczema myself so know how uncomfy it can be, and fora baby it cant be nice :(

have to day re naps, merryn is pretty good, but then her nights arent great,well she sleeps but if she loses the dummy i have to pop it in again, but they arent as bad as they could be so i cant complain :)

re high chairs, my boys have tripp trapp but we dont have space for another, so am looking for something that will fold, either the chicco polly, or the east coast wooden one they do. the ikea once looks good but doesnt fold.

right need to go and sort lunch for myself and ds4 before dd wakes and needs fed etc. xx

Thanks all for highchair advice. Of course i have ignored it and bought the one from mothercare anyway as can't get to Ikea for a while.

Gave Finn first taste of food last night - well baby rice. He LOVED it. Grabbed spoon off me and sucking the spoon for all it was worth. Even opening his mouth for more. Bless, feel bad that have deprived him for so long so we'll keep with that for a few more days then next week will try some veg. It's really exciting and special ( good i sound so pfb about it all) but soooo messy. We used his bumbo and bits of it ended up everywhere.

Quick question, particularly for those with boys. Do you still dress them in sleepsuits in the day. I mostly do with finn, as i think they are comfy, easy for nappy changes and look lovely. If it's hot i habe rompers for him. Occassionally will put him in joggers or dungarees. The problem i find is that there is such a limited selection for boys, and he just doesn't look comfy or 'right' in jeans.
I only thought of this as an issue when went shopping yesterday pm and all theother baby boys were in shirts and jeans
So AIBU to still put him in sleepsuits most days or should I be dressing him in proper outfits? I have just ordered him lots a few cute new rompers for the summer. ( internet shopping is dangerous, it doesn't feel like you are spending real money)

Oh and re sleep. He normally has 3 naps. The first within 2 hrs of waking up for around an hour, the second early afternoon for an hour or and again around 5 or 6 for another 45-1hr. This does vary and some days he will do 2x 1hr and 1x2 hr. Of course today, up at 08:15 and thus far a 10 minute power nap
i have put him in his play pen ( donated by dps mum - very fetching in pink ha ha) in the hope he might drop off, but am hust getting shoted at so must get him out now

lainey i kept my boys in babygrows for ages for precisely the reasons you just gave.

if you want to have nice cheerful funky clothes try tobytiger, just google if they do rompers without feet etc and leggins and tops, allfunky bright stripes. also hennes or h&m can be good for boys clothes, but like you i dont like jeans on little babies, dungarees, as long as they are soft are much better. but all the poppers can be a pita at nappy change unless you just undo the shoulder straps and pull them right down.

Any tips on getting revolting tasting medicine into a baby? The Antibiotics taste hideous and although I'm syringing them as far back into her mouth as I can she still manages to spit them out!

Lainey, Lottie still wears baby grows most days and she's well over 6 months now, they just seem the most comfy and practical to me. She has the odd little dress but rarely wears them.

As for napping Lottie has no routine whatsoever . She tends to fall asleep in the car or pushchair when doing school run etc., or when breastfeeding, otherwise there's no napping during the day at all.

Also planning on putting Lottie into her own room tonight. Have been putting it off as she still wakes to feed 2-3 times a night and don't particularly fancy having to get out of bed to do it. Unfortunately she's just about outgrown the co-sleeper and isn't supposed to be in it once able to sit and the cot won't fit in our room so I guess I've not got much choice!

Lainey i too like using babygrows for as long as possible with DS - i find them a lot easier to pop open and peep into the side of his nappy as he doesn't poo very often but when he does, we have to be very quick to change him!! So babygrows help with our poo paranoia!! Can't peek with jeans, and i find them a PITA to put on and take off... dungarees aren't too bad as long as they have poppers in the crotch/legs, but DS prefers those as he can get at his feet - whereas in a babygrow his toes are out of bounds :)

hmmsleep DS is now in his own room, we moved him a few weeks back as i wanted to do it whilst he could still fit in the glider in our room, so that if he didn't go in there ok, we had time to work on it, but he slept soundly from the first night in there and we haven't looked back since. The glider is still in our room as i find it handy to plonk him in it when i want to get dressed etc as he doesn't like being in his cot and i daren't leave him on our bed as worried he will wriggle off it now that he is so active!

Lainey, we've got that high chair - my grandparents chose & bought it for us so didn't get to choose it ourselves but it was actually a pretty good choice so can't complain!

As for naps and sleep, Jessica is usually fed & asleep by 7.30pm and will feed again once before waking up about 8am ish, sometimes she sleeps right through. She'll then go 3 hours between feeds throughout the day & has 3 half hour naps about 2 hours after each feed. That's the rough pattern although sometimes she goes right off it, for example last night when her stinking cold meant that she slept 9-11pm and then not again until 3am!! Deep joy as I also felt bunged up with face ache & was not pleased. Should really go to bed now in case we have a repeat tonight!

Quick question though - was slightly organised today & did some apple and sone parsnip purees to freeze but overcooked the apple a bit & it went a bit burnt/brown... I pureed & froze it anyway as we're not weaning quite yet but will it be ok to give to her when we are?

I hope Evie stays an angel bunny and It doesn't follow the same pattern as your MIl :)

Was going to suggest the same lainey about possible teething. Hope things get a bit easier soon. Have you tried some bongela to see if that helps? Sometimes if Evie seems unhappy for no reason I try that and she goes back to her happy self shortly after which would suggest her teeth are playing up.

SGJ I would defrost a cube and taste it. If it tastes fine then I would give it to her as can't do any harm, but if you don't like the taste then I'd bin them. Pain after all the peeling, chopping, mashing etc tho isn't it?!

Hope Lottie gets on ok in her own room hmm. Evie went in hers at 10 weeks as she got too big for her Moses basket and didn't want to her to get used to being in the cot in our room, and It seemed to be the start of her sleeping right through as I think she wasn't disturbed by any noise we made and DH's snoring!!
Are you BF Lottie exclusively? (sorry if you've already said!) if not you could try putting the medicine into the last ounce of so of milk so she gets it that way?

Haven't bothered with a highchair for Evie so no use with advice! At the mo she sits in her chair that went with her swing seat thing (bumbo doesn't work for us as she reaches over the side and can almost get out!!) and have a chair thing with a tray that goes onto our chairs at the dining table, but can also be used on the floor.
Can't post the link as on phone, but the exact name is "fisher-price, healthy care booster seat!' My friend had it for her twins and said it was the best thing she's ever bought....so hopefully I'll find the same!

Were supposed to be leaving Evie overnight at our house with my mum and step dad next tuesday!!! Eeeeeek!! Am I mad??! Feel really nervous and guilty but is quite an important event for business so would be good to go!.......goes off pondering whether I'm an evil selfish mother!!....

lainey I feel the same as you about little baby boys in jeans - William has one pair which were a gift but I'm struggling to find anything to put on his bottom half that's not denim. I was given lots of little outfits as gifts, so he wore all of them once but he mostly lived in a t shirt and a nappy all summer long (I'm too lazy to even undo poppers for a nappy change). Now he looks more like a little boy than a newborn I've started putting him in joggers and tshirts/jumpers. I'd have kept going with babygros a bit longer, but he's too long even for the 6-12month ones with feet, and they don't seem to make them bigger than that.

hmm good luck putting Lottie in her own room. Will moved at about 19 weeks, and his nightwaking dramatically improved. I think the fact that I have to get out of bed and walk somewhere to feed him means I give him much longer to resettle himself than when he was right next to me

Could you mix the medicine with a spoonful of her food?

Quick question for those of you with older children - when exactly do you stop feeling soppy and hormonal over all things baby? I went shopping today for a present for a friend's soon to be born (as in she's having contractions right now!) baby and I had to fight back the tears looking at all the newborn baby clothes thinking that Will is never going to be that small again. Even if I have another DC it won't be the same teeny tiny baby that William was [sob]

Well the night went well, Lottie woke at 11.30 then 4.30 to feed but otherwise slept much better and didn't wake until 7.30!

Still exclusively breastfeeding at the moment so can't get medicine into milk, but her skin seems to be improving with the various creams so I'm going to give up on the medicine for now and see what happens.

bunny, I'm even more soppy this time as I know Lottie will be my last, so every time I see tiny newborn stuff not only is it that Lottie will never be that small again but that I'll never have a baby that small again, which is both sad and a relief! I got pregnant with ds when Dd1 was only 10 months because of these feelings, so watch out, your hormones are out to get you .

hmm yay that's great news.
Those of you with babies that go to bed before 8pm, any tips for me? Finn goes down around 9.30 but would like it a little earlier. How do i get rid of his late nap which is often around 6.30pm?

Lainey, Lottie is shattered by 6pm and would nap if I let her. I try and entertain her until 6.20, then get her in the bath which perks her up a bit. After bath it's get ready for bed, into gro-bag, feed and normally put down to bed at 7.30. I stuck rigidly to this routine for a couple of weeks until she got used to the 7.30 bedtime, now I can get away without the bath if need be and she still settles well.

Just noticed this thread is nearing it's end, we need new thread title ideas?

Lainey - you could try wearing him out with a really busy day - swimming, zoo, walk in the park feeding ducks and a bath before bed etc. I find days like that disrupt a normal routine & it's much easier to make any changes to their routine or bedtime! Having said that, Jessica just found her own bedtime eventually but it was about 9.30 for a while - maybe Finn will just grow in to an earlier bedtime as he gets older?

Thanks for tips, he does seem to go down earlier if we are busy between 5-7, or actively entertaining him rather than letting him fall asleep. Must make more of an effort. But i suppose I can't complain as he does sleep through til 7.30 ish. Perhaps once he is more active he'll tire for the nifht earlier.

Anyone else notice their baby has a dominant arm? It's like Finn sometimes totally forgets he has a right arm and can move it, which is why he never seems to be able to roll.

Thread titles? Am rubbish can't think. Sorry that was of no actual use to you.

lainey William seems to have naturally developed a bedtime of 6:30pm but it's come forwards gradually from 9ish. When he got to about 8 weeks old I decided that 7pm was bedtime, so the hour before that always goes feed (was a BF now it's his solids), active play for 10-15mins, bath, story x 2 in a quiet room (if he's really overtired the story get cuts short), BF in a darkened room, cuddle and a lullaby, bed.

For a while he would just take a nap when I put him down and wake for another hour or so between 8 and 9, but when that happened we kept him in the dark room and did very little interaction with him - essentially he got another feed if he seemed hungry and cuddled/rocked/sung a lullaby but no lights on and no playtime. It meant a couple of weeks where DH and I never saw each other in the evenings as one or other of us was sat in his bedroom with him, but he gradually started settling for the night earlier and earlier.

William favour his left arm - he can do a pincer grip with his left hand but not the right and he'll preferentially grab for stuff with his left hand. I put all his toys on his right side to encourage him to roll as he'd rather roll up and grab them with his left than get them with his right

hmm yay for Lottie sleeping well. Sadly (or some might say luckily) I can't spontaneously let my hormones take over and get pg again as DH is on some nasty medication which means we can't TTC until he's stopped it for at least 3 months. I reckon that time would be long enough for William to act up enough for me to snap out of any hormone induced wish to have DCs close in age

I came up with the thoroughly unimaginative title for this thread so i think I'm off the hook for the next one

How about 'November 2010 - our babies are way more awesome than yours' ?!?!? Ha ha, if you can't be honest on Mumsnet, where can you?! Although hang on, Jessica was born in December... Whoops!

yes merryn was december as well.

how about nov 2010 dribbling, rolling, sitting, eating and soon to be moving....

sums up where we are at heading to...

re bedtimes merryn goes down 7:30 ish she naps between 4:30-6 somtimes for an hour or more, sometimes less, depends on what we are doing school/club run wise etc.

and i dont let her sleep more than an hour and a half so she is ready for bed at 7:30ish, this can mean lots of holidng, cuddling and entertaining to keep her happy until bedtime but its worth it as we then get her down and get an evening!

she just gradually started settling down earlier and earlier, much better than her brothers ever did, they are all 9pm or later till much older, so i think it does depend on the baby but merryn def needs her sleep much more than her brothers ever did.

and merryn sat up for a good min or two this morning, i just sat her on the bed and normallly she either leans forward or topples within about ten-twenty secs and today she just sat there! i was and grabbed my phone to take a pic but the sodding flash didnt work.

another one feeling a bit sad over little baby clothes, esp as merryn is so long and big, but tbh after 5 i am over the baby stage, i do LOVE snuggling a newborn baby etc but handing them back is good! and merryn is still my snuggly thing and even tho she is almost 17lb compared to her brothers she is much smaller than they were at this age, by 4lb!! and obviously compared to the boys now she is dinky so i am enjoying squishing her but also looking forward to her getting bigger, as lovely as babies are, they are more interesting and fun the older they get!!

and bunny do they really not do babygrows bigger than 12mthts? here you can get them for up to 2-3yrs from mothercare, john lewis etc, i use them for bedtime for ages!! and i wonder if our sizes are diff to yours?

because length wise 72 cm is a babygrow for a 9mth old ish? i think looking at the ones i have for merryn. anyhow you may be able to pick some up whilst you are over here?

re dominant sides, i dont think merryn has one yet, but ds4 has ALWAYS right from being 7 wks old, sucked the thumb on his left hand!! out of the four boys we have one who is left handed and given that dp and i are both left handed! i would have thought we may have had more left handed children? but not sure that its genetic but they def can develop a preference pretty early on and you tend to notice it when they start grabbing for toys or feeding themselves, but it can change int he first few years, amny dont choose a hand untilt hey are 4-5 yrs old.

Sorry 4mad, but I prefer SGJ's title

No jeans here, I've got Norry in cords and chinos. I kept him in babygros until about three weeks ago, when I felt he was looking a bit scruffy compared to the other children at the CM :) We do have dress down weekends though.

Interesting what you're all saying about handed-ness. No real preference here, but I am quite ambidextrous so maybe that's not surprising but probably just wishful thinking

Anyway, the theme of the day is plague chickenpox. One of the other blardy mothers sent her daughter to the CM with open pustules and when the CM noticed during a nappy change and called her she said, "Oh, yeah, we noticed that." Grrr. I don't particularly want Norry getting chickenpox so young and worst of all, we're supposed to be flying to Montreal for the week in a fortnight. What's the betting he breaks out the day we arrive and I spend a week in a hotel room with a miserable baby? (DH's working) Now I don't know whether to cancel (although I need to check the travel insurance first) or wait and see. If we do wait and see and finally cancel at the last minute DH won't be able to change his flights and will then be away for 4 extra days (although we've got friends there so he won't be sitting alone in the hotel room the lucky sod ). Argh, what do I dooooooo apart from killing the other mother?

We're also supposed to be spending the weekend with friends, one couple of which has just adopted a little girl. Do you think it's OK to see them? They don't mind but I don't want to inflict that on them. Aaaargh. I'm really cheesed off. CM stopped her giving kisses to N once she realised but she'd been giving them to him on Monday and Tuesday.