August 2010 - new thread ladies!

[Chulita]

New thread cos we've nearly filled the last one!

Marzi re poo in the mouth - never fear, it will happen sometime . Unpleasant as it is, I remember reading something somewhere that said that babies (and adults, for that matter) are not harmed by eating their own poo/wee, because it only contains bacteria that have been in their own bodies anyway. Obviously still not very nice, though.

I have a different problem with nappy changes. S only 'goes' every other day or so (which is totally normal, I know), but almost every dirty nappy requires a full change of clothes. I honestly don't know how he does it. The other day when I changed him (at the ILs, natch), he had somehow achieved the ultimate dream of getting poo both down his socks and on the back of his head. I mean, how?

Re pushchairs, I'm another fan of forward-facing. I always took the view that DS1 got plenty of opportunities to gaze at my ugly mug during the day, so it would be much more interesting for him to look at the world around him when we were out. And as Chillita says, it doesn't stop you wittering on inanely as you walk (though it does make passers-by think you're slightly mad, IME). Oh, and in any case, DS1 never once fell asleep in his puschair past about four weeks old, so that side of things wasn't really an issue.

As for spending money on yourself, you should definitely do it. I certainly would be if I had any - I was looking forward to picking up some bargains in the sales and replacing all my old underwear and stuff, but unfortunately the combination of loft conversion, Christmas and last year's car problems means that I have no money whatsoever at the moment. But definitely don't spend it on fancy togs for the baby - they don't care what they wear, they'll throw up all over it, and they'll outgrow it before you can blink. Ebay all the way. After all, you'll be spending the next 25 years of your life shelling out for your offspring, so you might as well make the most of the last time for a couple of decades when they won't notice whether you're buying them things or not.

We only have forward facing prams as have a double maclaren and a single stroller.
Both recline fully so she can still see us albeit upside down!

Wrt childrens clothes-the supermarkets all have great ranges of clothes which are cute, good quality and reasonably priced.

I was especially impressed the other day when I found baby pyjamas at asda which have integral scratch mitts and come in sizes 6-9 m and 9-12 months.
T doesn't scratch too much during the day but has a good claw at her head when she's tired and mothercare seem to think babies stop scratching at 6 months

We had to buy dd2 specialist babygros from an excema website and sew mittens onto her other clothes.

Anyway writing this as I sit in a and e listening to some poor person chucking their guts up.. I am here with our lodger who isn't very well
Been here since 1am and though it is great for people watching I'd quite like some sleep now!

Oh and pample I think it was? I also find it hard Yo spend money on myself, I think it's due to Dh being the one who goes out to earn the money and I feel a bit weird spending it on non essentials.

All me though- he does say he couldn't do his job unless I was home to look after the girls and to buy what I want but I never do !

Also has anyone been watching eastenders?? Really irritating me with the current ridiculous storyline

Oooh pample spoil yourself and don't give it as a second thought. As others have said, shiny new things will give you more pleasure then baby.

Speaking of new things, I am pretty that DH "didn't have time" to get me a bday pressie even though A
a) he managed to play golf on his days off b) he's glued to his iPhone so there's the Internet and c) this is my first bday as his wife and mother of his child! I love him dearly but he's being crap - for Xmas he bought me lots if novels which pre-baby would have been awesome as I was a total bookworm but now there is no time to read so they'll gather dust for the foreseeable. Meanwhile my bday treat is dinner & a movie which is ace, really looking forward but as the film starts at 9.20, no doubt I'll have nodded offafter the trailers.

Ha ha what a moody ungrateful cow I'm being but the 4 month growth spurt has me on my knees. We are usually up 3-6am with many awakenings in-between. Each time I feed as no attempt at soothing works and feeding is the eaiest way back to sleep for all of us but I'm finding this really really hard and the tiredness us making me very down.

Sorry posted too soon on phone but yeah just a whinge really. Plus S has a nasty cough cold which is making her cranky and keeping her awake. But she has started to roll which is exciting.

Ho hum back to this endless night and more crying. Love to all x

Hello ladies

Hope everyone had a better night.

We had a busy day yestrday seeing family and F was super cute. Saw my sister's new baby, is just over 8lb at 2m but feels so light and has such tiny features - especially compared to chubber F!

Gave F a little mashed banana with his babyrice last night, he really liked it. We got the baby bath seat out of the loft and tried him in that yesterday and it was so much easier than trying to hold him in the bath. He slept from 7.15pm til 5.20am this morning lovely, lets hope it lasts!

Hey ladies

Happy birthday LCRLCR - hope that you enjoy the film and don't fall asleep!

GYA Matalan are really good for clothes with attached scratch mitts - have been getting loads of bits from there, finally the "I must buy everything from mothercare to be a good mum spectacles have fallen off!

Well Izzy is 100% teething and no one warned me! I have lost my happy contented child and been replaced with a grumpy moo bag - well, that was until I found the joy of calpol - to point out the obvious, it's amazing. Although our planned birthday trip to Lakeside is now on hold as she is very clingy at the mo!

Am reading with interest the weaning debate, I am really not sure what to do and how to go about starting etc so am putting my head in the sand until she's about two?!

Happy birthday lcr
Glad you played word with me on your birthday!
Ended up going to bed at 5 after the trip to a and e then up with kids at 630 so veeeery tired today.

Just had my second trip to a and e of the day though as T fell off the sofa onto her nose which was then bleeding.
She screamed non stop for 40 minutes.
This fall was on Dhs watch I hasten to add.
(although I do take the credit for dd1 falling off a bed at same age..)

All checked out ok.
Small chance it could be broken nose but even if it was they wouldn't do anything.

Oh well not best day ever..

Oh gya you poor thing! Hope your LO is ok now.
at F's sleeping, Alice, I think Elodie was asleep between about midnight and 4am as I don't remember any feeds then... for the rest of the night it was pretty much on the hour...
LCR I hate the 4 month growth spurt. It is turning me into a drained husk of a zombie mum. That said, Elodie can grab her feet now which is v cute.
Elusive at your LO's pooing skills!

On the plus side, at Belly towers I tried the pram napping thing again this morning and E self-settled again. This is v good. It will probably never, ever happen again.

lcr hope you had a lovely birthday!
gya that was a horrible night! Hope you don't have any more a&e trips for a loooong time.
belly S hasn't even noticed his feet yet, I was waving them in his face this morning but he wasn't bothered.
elusive impressing pooing, I told DH about it when I was changing S and his bedding (again) and he was well impressed. S seems to do a huge poo around 5 every morning that inevitably leaks and that's us up for the day. I should try cloth at night cos I never had any leaks with DD in cloth.
alice could I trouble you for that eczema cream you recommended? I can't find where I wrote it down and I'm not sure if it's on this thread or the previous one.

Morning

GYA poor you and T hope she is ok

Chulita it was Unguentum M. I have got a bit of eczema come up on my thumb (i only get it when very run down, usually on my hands) that i have to put antibiotic/steroid cream on and cover with a plaster. Sure the amount of handwashing is really not helping!

Well, after F's epic 10hr stretch tuesday night, last night we were up every hour from 1am. I kept just giving him the boob and he would settle, but come 6am (when i finally gave up and put the light on) i realised he had bright red cheeks, so think it was teething related. Calpol o'clock! He is just napping in his swing now, i have got loads to do and DD starts preschool this afternoon

Calpol is the business!

For babies feeding lots in the night, have you tried feeding more on a schedule in the daytime? I am an LLL BFing peer supporter and of course LLL doesn't really advocate schedules but I think at 4-5mo when your milk supply has been established babies can really improve night-time sleep when there is more of a feeding schedule in the day. Nothing too technical, just feed every 3hrs, offer both sides. If the baby seems truly hungry in between feeds then obviously you must feed but sometimes it can be tiredness or boredom rather than hunger. Every baby is different and not every one will be happy on a schedule but I think it is worth a try if you are up a lot in the night. It also helps to have regular daytime naps so the baby doesn't get overtired but not too much daytime sleep so they are up in the night! So not too complex then

I read about a study that said that giving Calpol in infancy increases the risk of asthma at age 6-7. I'm a calpol giver but since hearing about that I'm a bit wary, not sure how much truth there is in it but you never know!

Yes I read something about calpol being linked with eczema and asthma. I have given it to J though. Apparently you can buy liquid paracetamol stuff for babies that doesn't have the additives and E numbers in (bet it doesn't taste as nice though!). not sure if it's the additives or the paracetamol itself though which can be a problem.

J just had his 4 month jabs today. First injection he didn't cry at all but second one he screamed :( Might be getting the calpol out later...

neenz that does sound sensible re routine (and I have definitely found that regular naps improve nights as well as days) but at about 3 months I started feeding him 3 hourly during the day and he started feeding 3 hourly at night too (previously he had been going longer). Now though 3 hourly at night sounds glorious!

T had his 3rd lot of jabs today, ouch how he cried, don't like it when he cries like that .

I've ony given him calpol twice so far, once after his first jabs and once on New Years eve when he suddenly went very red in the face, temperature went sky high and he wailed for over 2 hours. No idea what was wrong with him, as he hadn't cried like that since the colic, but he cried himself to sleep, with me cradling him in my arms. But I was banking on using lots of it when he starts teething, now I'm like Winterchilita not sure if to give it him or not. Might have to do some research. Thanks for the headsup.

Just found this

A large study conducted in 31 countries found that children given paracetamol products more than once a month were three times more likely to have asthma at age six and seven.

just googled calpol studies and it came up with various items. Not sure if it is helpful but the full article is here

There's no way I could give Calpol less than once a month so might as well carry on regardless

Sorry, didn't mean to throw that in and wander off neenz I give calpol quite often too, sometimes it's the only thing that settles them. Thing is I've got asthma and I'd hate to feel I'd passed it on...too late now for either child though!
this is what I'd read but it's the same thing. Trouble is there are so many times in a baby/toddler's life where only painkillers will work. Yesterday Sam cried all.day.long til I finally caved at 5pm and gave him some, he was out like a light! So if you're not going to calpol them, what do you do?

I have decided to take all these 'studies' with a pinch of salt. When reading up on various things (conception/VBAC/swaddling/weaning etc) there was always a study saying it was bad because of x,y,z, but then another a study saying that it was good because of a,b,c.

Tbh, if calpol was really that dangerous then we would be unable to buy it for under 6yrs like medised.

I have come to the conclusion, that i am not a bad mother, and everything i do is in my child's best interests. I was neglected as a child and removed from my mother by SS, but i am generally fit, healthy and have suffered no ill effects from that. My children will never starve, be neglected or be put in danger by me, so i refuse to feel guilty for giving them medication when they are poorly, solid food when they need it etc.

Apologies for coming across ranty, but, have come across so many people lately who think they are right and know better than you

well said alice!

i don't like giving calpol but do quite often as i figure i wouldn't like to be in pain so why should J?

right, he's been asleep 2.5 hours now, longer than he went all of last night! off to bed myself now.

There ll be a study saying taking painkillers as an adult is bad too but we all still take them for hangovers headaches, post birth pain etc

With three small beings here we are sponsored by calpol some weeks and then can go months without.

The hospital could see Ts excema when I took her to a and e the other night but didn't even hesitate to give calpol.

She slept really well last night 7-515 and has fallen asleep on my lap with no crying or feeding so I think I probably woke her walking about sorting out the other two.

I went to a step class last night having put all 3 to bed and leaving Dh on the sofa with beer and cricket and returned to a mountain of sicked on bedding and a poorly sick dd2 who was in her 4 th pair of pjs!

Oh dear..

It's a miracle he found the clean pj s since he claims to have no idea where anything is kept..

Step class GYA you are madder than a mad thing! I think if i was trying to get a break i would go to the cinema or somewhere quiet i could sleep

Crappy night here, F was technically not waking, but was wimpering and snuffling in his sleep. His teeth are really bothering him, poor boy

gya I'm impressed, the most I do is a brisk walk and a 20 min dvd. I'd love to go swimming of an evening but S still feeds about 3 times an evening so there's no chance of me doing anything at the mo.
alice rant away
woodlands hope you got a decent sleep!

Totally alice. Anyway, who could withold painkillers from a baby screaming in pain? I suppose it has just made me think twice before giving it to him when he's grumpy and i'm not sure why.

Got doctors appt soon to see if they can do anything for J's nose (not hopeful though). Last night was awful :(

So the bag has arrived and I?m more than excited about it! Currently ?not in use? due to the risk of baby sick, but it is beautiful!!! And thank you everyone for making me realise how lucky I am to be in a position to have such dilemmas.

The front/back facing buggy discussion was really handy too. S loves watching what?s going on, and you?re right ? we can chat anyway ? so think I?ll go for her buggy with the front facing but lying back option.

I think I?m going to check out the supermarkets for baby clothes. S is very spoilt by the rellies anyway, so she gets special bits that way (and literally all the vouchers I was given over Christmas ended up being spent on things for her!). I am however hoping that 9-12month clothes fit her for longer than the usual 5 weeks she?s managed with each of the other sizes!

Weather is completely miserable here, and as I don?t drive I need to get out at some point to finish off my supermarket shop. Keep your fingers crossed it improves for me ? was intending on going to a baby group in 45 minutes but don?t think I can face getting completely soaked through!

LCR happy belated birthday. Sorry about the presents though ? it?s funny, I just think that (most) men completely fail to get it. I gave very directed hints about my Christmas present this year and got what I wanted (which wasn?t hugely extravagant, just something reasonably priced that I?d really enjoy!)?

Alice hope you didn?t have another bad night? I?ll second what Alice said about us doing the best for our little ones. From the age of about 7 my (single) Mum used to threaten suicide to me on a fairly frequent basis (because the washing machine wasn?t working, because she?d misplaced a CD that I got the blame for, etc..) while my Dad buggered off and had a new family so wasn?t interested. It puts any minor failings of ours into perspective I think! Also second the point on studies?. As a (wannabe) academic, albeit in a completely different discipline, I find that these are often presented as fact(especially by the red tops) when in fact they are just one perspective, and methodological errors are often rife!

Girls sorry about the crap day. S has rolled out of bed (but fortunately did herself no damage as our bed is v low and soft carpeted floor). Really makes your heart stop doesn?t it, but these things happen and glad all is well with T.

Neenz to someone who?s rubbish with routines your advice was really helpful. We?ve found that instigating proper daytime naps (even if it means going out with the pram in the rain) has helped, as has a proper bedtime routine. However, it?s much easier to do this with her being my only one!

Chulita I?ve got a twenty minute DVD. Not that I?ve done it?? do do lots of walking though.

Has anyone any healthy advice on how I can begin to slow down weight loss? On an average day I?ll have porridge w/ banana, honey and berries, soup with a roll or cheese and biscuits or a large salad with protein (fish, cheese, tofu) and then a large dinner (risotto, curry, pasta, fish, with veggies/ salad) and then fruit and yogurt. Snacks of fruit and hot milky drinks.