December 2010 - Merry Christmas new babies!

[Chooster]

Hi, I couldn't see a post-natal thread but as we grow in numbers we'll need a place to chat!

All good here... Jude is now 5 days old and such a wonderful good baby. Mind you he must think he's been born in the Arctic as it was -16 outside this morning in Edinburgh. Brrrrrrr - Its not always this cold Jude .

How's everyone else getting on?

Hiya baking and sparkly love to hear more about how you are getting on with your LO's. baking how is the elimination communication going? I'm afraid my only experience of such communication is when one of my other kids was small and would yell the dreaded "I need a poo" whilst I was driving. BUt I have found out a little about it and it seems to be a great way to tune into your child's needs (and save nappies?).

Lavita great to hear from you and hope you come back with an update on life with the twins.

MrsS back to work already! You must operate well on little sleep I love your weeble-baby description-he is bound to be a hungry boy at that size!

DF happy belated birthday and hope you have a great time with Bob at Glasto. Have you got his wardrobe sorted? Boys don't get such a wide variety of clothes as girls admittedly but that can be limiting in its own way -I have got sick of baby pink now and got Nancy some boys blue dungarees and some plain t-shirts to wear with a sun hat for the warmer weather. If he gets hot either in the car or out and about I'd be inclined to do away with the vests and put layers on top of his outfit that can be removed easily.

Sorry for those of you with family that don't understand. My in laws are taking my kids (not the baby) for a few days over the Easter break and therefore are Gods in my eyes. I tend to be a bit passive -aggressive though if anyone is bugging me re. the baby- just grab with a "come to mum" and "there, that's better now isn't it" whilst giving them my best Look.

I am loving the PFB thread. I must confess with my first I tried to make my own organic baby wipes and teething rasks, and would sleep next to his cot so he could keep holding my hair . Probably a ton of other stuff, too. But then I think so long as you don't go to extremes there's nothing wrong with a bit of baby-spoiling and mummy-pride moments. In that vein, I am going to say my baby can talk. She says Meh- meh when she wants me. Yes, of course it is really talking .

Well week 2 of work nearly over! Found my boss has done sweet F**k all of my workload whilst I've been off so have spent the time so far catching up the backlog !
Managing to work 8-1630 and come home for an hour at lunch as I live so close.
Have started weaning already as ds is such a hungry boy. He has small bowl of purée veg and 1/3 banana at lunch and 2 rusks at dinner as well as 30 oz milk over 5 feeds
He is sitting pretty well and has just been given a play ring which he prefers to the mat. He loves his play on the bed before his bath and has progressed from Irish dancing a la river dance to impersonating Bruce lee whilst trying to catch his toes - with sound effects to go with the karate kicks
sleep is ok he only wakes once a night now about 3 for a feed so I am not missing too much sleep.

Hey all! TGI[nearly]F.

What a long week it's been rather hectic with lots of visitors and things to do. Next week is even busier with Bea's 4 month Jabs and family birthday parties. April is a busy month.

MrsSL cackling at your little weeble. He certainly sounds like his doing really well. I really am petrified of returning to work, especially as I have a numpty covering my post who is beyond useless and know I'm going to spend many months rectifying it. I am dealing with this by planting my head firmly in the sand and ignoring it for as long as possible.

franken Bea regularly tells me 'love you' comes out more Ooo Ooo but it sure does sound similar. :)

DF you'd have an uncomfortable night at my parents it's all patio. :) With the sunny weather, I've been stripping Bea down to her vest for playtime. In the car I have lots of layers that can be taken off, and sun shades on all the rear windows including the back one [may be a little PFB] I sometimes admire boy's clothes as they are so much more bright than the girly stuff, but must also say that there are more brights about now the summer stuff is coming out.

I am a big fan of eBay and have been picking up some real bargains lately. We have a small secondhand baby stuff shop nearby, but it can vary price wise and condition wise, some things they have for sale really are tatty and in poor condition.

Bea started rolling earlier this week, she's really got the knack of it now and proudly shows off everytime I put her on the floor. She also sits, tripod style, but often ends up in a yoga pose :) She's also finding her voice and she babbles at everyone, and the range of noises. She was setting off next door's rather quiet dog the other day with her high pitched squeals. She's loving bath time and splashes like a loony, it's so funny, her face scrunched up with concentration. She's so determined to do things, it's fascinating watching her learn something new. She pokes her tongue out and grunts, just like her daddy.

Getting annoyed with the Children's Nurse who alternates at our PN group. She's full of spaff about policies and guidelines, but doesn't know why. She was saying that if our children fail to have 4-6 hours of daytime naptime then we are putting them at risk... of what she couldn't say. She was also really rude to a mum of a 5 month old who's started weaning as she goes back to work soon and wanted to have the experience, said 5 month old is enthusastic about eating. But she was spouting off that there are high risks, but couldn't really back it up with anything further. People like that annoy me, they expect you to listen without a logical understanding, we were all a little huffy with her after that. Bea was weighed though, 9lb 14oz still gaining slowly.

Hey all....
lots to catch up with.

MrsSnaplegs, I really don't envy you being back at work, particularly with this lovely weather we've been having. I talk about going back to the women in my NCT group and we are all dreading it. One is going back in May but mostly we're going back between 10 - 12 months.

Talking of weaning, I am planning on doing baby-led at 6 months; we had a mum come to talk to us about it at my breastfeeding group, though I know a bit about it as my SIL did it with her baby and my friend gave me a book about it for my bithday. Not sure what te Health Visotor will think as she said to me last time that she would talk to me about weaning when Bob is 4 months. I might do it in the 5th month if he seems able; he's on the verge of rolling, though no sign of him doing front to back - just back to front at the moment.

People in my NCT group are starting weaning already and so I just know that yet again I am going to be the odd one out doing a different thing. I do really feel like an outsider still and the latest ting they have planned is a cocktails night! Not my thing and so far Bob still hasn't been tried with a bottle so I may not even be able to go. I bought a Didy cup yesterday so may give that a go, perhaps I can bypass bottles all together.

max happy belated birthday to you :)

frenchfries I was going to get back to you about the nappies but never did. I was using the Huggies natural fit but we had a box of Pampers called something like 'stay dry' or 'super dry' so I have been using them - they are AWFUL. Bob has managed to Pee throgh almost every one.

kellestar, Bob has nowhere near 4 hours sleep in the day. I think maybe he gets 3 lots of about half an hours nap on a good day.

I have been ebaying like mad too, lots of stuff for every Glastonbury eventuality including set of baby waterproofs. I also got some of these which are very cheap and super cute. I wanted an alternative to jeans or trousers and these do the job :)

frankenonsense I had to smile at you sleeping close so the baby could hold your hair, I confess that I hold Bob's hand while he sleeps though in general I think I am managing not to be to PFB, well - at least I am compared to some of the things I have read on that thread!

Welcome Sparklyboots

I am still being woken by Bob at least twice a night but coping ok, I just hope he goes back to longer sleeps! I got given a mothercare voucher for attending the breastfeeding group 8 times so bought one of those Giraffes. At teh moment the squeak is bearable but thank you fore the tip about the washing machine.

right - stuff to do, hope everyone is well...

Df don't forget sun hat and sunglasses for bob for glasto
Tesco have some cool boys ones with a Velcro strap only £2

Ok have uploaded a couple of photos to my profile of my beautiful children so you can see how big hugh is!

I am waiting for my friend to email me the one from the weekend with him in his "shades" and then I will put that up as well!!

arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh teething.
my poor wee one has the reddest cheeks, a torrent of drool and is not a happy bunny unless she is biting down on something. only 15 weeks old, surely too early? does this mean we are in for months of it? also the last couple of days she has had pretty runny poos.
am usingg teething granules and they seem to help, altho the 1st time i gave them to her, she looked at me as if i was poisoning her! calpol when it gets we really bad. and oodles of cuddles. if only we could tell how long it would last?!!!
on the plus side, have got into a much better routine in the evenings - actually sitting down to a meal with husband!!

happy weekend all
xx

ps going to glasto to this year. v excited about the gruffalo and zingzillas!!

oooh, me too (glastonbury and the teething) I bought granules today and was wondering what Bob will do when I put them in his mouth!

MrsSnaplegs, he does look sturdy.

Not a good day today - raging pms coupled with being woken up 4 times between 5.30am and 8am by DD rather than Matty. I'm not great when I don't get enough sleep and this ridiculous pattern of behaviour has gone on for at least a year now. She's also exhausted (partly a result of this waking up so early and partly due to first term of school) and is being cantankerous in her behaviour. Ended up with me raging at DD at least twice during the course of the day, which made me feel crap and reduced me to tears this afternoon.

On the plus side, Matty has finally mastered sucking his thumb which is soooo cute to watch. We've upped his feeds again as it was clear earlier this week that he was getting hungry between bottles. He's also giggling and is generally the cutest baby in the world (apart from everyone else's on here of course )

Meant to say the other day that SIL is pregnant. She had twins by IVF almost 2 years ago and reading between the lines, it seems that they never bothered with contraception afterwards, assuming it just wouldn't happen! I told her I'll remind her of this if/when I hear her lecturing her boys on the use of contraception when they're older She knows it's a singleton pg this time, due in Nov.

Love the pictures, mrsS - is Hugh wearing a flat cap? Love it! If DH ever stops hiding the camera I'll upload a photo of my 2.

Ah yes Hugh and his flat cap - bought as a bit of a joke for a friends party but he looks so damn cool in it he now wears it all the time! he gets checked out by the baby girls all the time - all older women that must be 6-12 months

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend in the sun?

frankenonsence I'm taking a very light approach with the elimination communication & just giving dd a chance to get used to sitting on the loo when I change her nappy. I got her a trainer seat...so far she's done 1 pee in it! A friend is really going for it with her new born...it does make other folk less eager to hold the baby, which could be a good thing sometimes!!

Sorry to be dim but what does PFB stand for?

X

baking it's precious firstborn

Hello Baking and Sparkly :)

Frenchfries Based on a MN recommendation, I'm using the Toujours nappies from Lidl. They're £5.10 for 56 and quite soft with a high back for runny poos.

Whatwillsantabring So happy you met with a kind and decent doctor and that your LO is doing well :)

DF I'd like to go straight to cup and skip bottle too. I bought a NUK learner cup with a spout but it's soft like a teat. Let her play with it, then after her BF lunch , Popped some Ready made Aptimel in and she tried to put in her mouth - so some instinct there - I tipped it up and she sucked a little. Tried a couple of times until she got a bit too excited. So happy she didn't refuse it or get upset. Let me know how you're getting on.

I haven't yet made it to singing class with DD. First time we went, they'd changed the timetable, then they were shut for a week, and last Monday it was cancelled :( Might have to try a different centre. I always see mums out in twos and it'd be nice to meet other mums.

We've had two weeks of late cluster feeding and very early waking at 5am. I've brought back the dream feed but this morning was the first time she slept through to 7.20. I'm so, so tired and drained with the constant bfeeding and looking forward to weaning. Been reading loads on babyledweaning.com. But still not sure if I'm up to it. We're off to Ireland on Monday, so will make a decision for what to do in May. My left breast doesn't produce as much milk as the right - is there anything I can do?

DD so nosy now and prefers sitting on my lap with her back to me, staring at everyone :)
We've finished with the osteopathy and I'm happy with her neck movement although an AIBU thread about flat head and 'don't the parents care' was upsetting. Wish I'd never read it.

Hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine! I'm loving it

loving the sunshine! our bedroom is really warm so I've put Matty in one less layer tonight as I don't want him overheating. he mastered sucking his thumb a couple of days ago so that's his favourite pastime right now. he looks ever so sweet

hi all :)

It's so hot, my egg thermometer thing says it's 25 dgs in the bedroom! I have Bob in a vest and babygrow so hope he's not too hot! I've been trying a new bath, bed, sleep routine and getting him into bed by 8 if I can the going to bed myself at 9.30 pm. He still wakes me at around 1 but I feel a lot better for going to sleep earlier; I was going to sleep at about midnight!

I've had to do it because I have been getting quite miserable through lack of sleep and at one point worried if it might be some kind of PND. I've also been feeling quite unsociable and have missed going to my NCT meet up a couple of times. I feel so much like an outsider (my fault not the rest of them) and I often wonder why on earth I did the course. These groups are so hard to opt out of once you're in them. Of course, the more meets I miss the harder it becomes but it doesn't help that the rest of them seem to meet up at other things and also have made friends with lots of other mums. Sometimes I wish I wasn't so socially challenged.

On a brighter note I went to visit the Creche today, it's an Acorns one but is on my work site and gives priority to those who work there. I am on their waiting list and will hopefully get Bob a place - better had or I am stuffed! They showed me round and explained how it all works and I feel so much better about going back to work. They say I can come over and breastfeed if I want. I really do hope he gets in; there's been a bit of a baby boom in work and several sets of twins so it's not a given that he will but I will keep on pestering them for an answer.

Mil lands tonight, big family BBQ on Saturday. I am hoping I won't get too stressed out by it. Bob is finding the hot weather quite hard going and I worry he's over dressed and then under dressed as it gets colder.

stenogirl I'll let you know how we get on with the cup. I think I will start expressing next week. It will be wird going back to the pump after all the pumping I did in the first couple of weeks. Does anyone know when is the best time for me to pump? I want to start saving what I can in the freezer to give me a bit more freedom; it'll be nice to be able to leave Bob with DH and go out on my own sometimes.

Hello all, hope you are enjoying the lovely sunny holiday spell. I am paranoid about sunburn so am enjoying it but wish there was more shade. Some people are never happy eh?

Had a lovely day at the beach yesterday though. DS wasn't too impressed with paddling though! Much too cold!

Lovely photos mrsl my DS has a big sister called Charlotte too.

Hope the MIL visit goes well df

Not really getting much sleep here. DS is generally up twice before 4am and at least hourly after that at the moment. He has a cold which means he isn't feeding as well which is mostly the problem I think.

Enjoy the chocolate!

Ah yes, I've just remembered the challenges of keeping a baby at the right temperature when it's hot. We all went to the zoo yesterday and the thermometer on the pram said it was 35 degrees at lunchtime - it was bloody hot that's all I know! I've got to find Matty some summer clothes pdq - that's the problem when the weather changes so suddenly. Yesterday we had him in just a pair of dungarees - DH said he looked like a redneck

Matty is desperately trying to sit up by himself now, although he's still top heavy so he tips over. He's also decided to drop an entire bottle so from eating more than the suggested amount pretty much ever since he was born, he's suddenly decided he doesn't want it all. I'm working on the principle that he'll let me know if he wants it back.

DF glad you were reassured by the nursery and fingers crossed Bob gets a place. I remember with DD feeling so much better after I'd been to see the nursery she ended up going to. FWIW DD absolutely loved nursery and I'm hoping Matty will be the same (although that reminds me that I need to chase them up about a place for him).

DH has been off work for the last 3 weeks which has been really nice, especially with having DD at home as well due to school hols, but he goes back to work tonight. We have 2 family birthdays, a school friend's birthday party and Easter of course this weekend - wish me luck

Hello Everyone
What lovely weather! We went to the beach yesterday but was so worried about Isadora I completely covered her in muslins while I was feeding her! Its so hard to know what to put her in I end up with carrying a whole bag of clothes for every possibility!
stenogirl thanks for the nappy recommendation I don't have a Lidl close by but the high back sounds great - would certainly help save all the body suits I have to throw out as the stains won't budge.
Baby rice is going down a storm currently mixing pureed fruit with it, onto veg next week. I have the Lorraine Kelly book which is very easy to follow.
DF glad the creche visit went well fingers crossed Bob gets a place. Am terrified of the whole work issue my brain doesn't seem to work in the same way - will it ever I wonder! I do not have a job to go back to so currently stressing about what would be best to do and then there are interviews to think about - nightmare!
Maxpower good luck with your mega busy weekend!
Hope you all have a lovely Easter and eat lots of chocolate on behalf of the babies of course - it would be rude not to!

frenchfries I don't know if it really works because I haven't done it but I have been told if you hang stained babygrows out in the sun the stains bleach out!

Evening all sounds like everyone is doing well and enjoying the weather. Hugh had his first trip to the cinema today as dd wanted to see rio - he slept most of the way through it so glad I didn't buy him any 3d glasses film was great and the trailers for new cars and smurfs films looked fab!!

Hugh has cracked the food thing he's like a little bird with his mouth open waiting for next spoon, often grabbing my hand to help me put it in! He's tried most veg on the lists of first foods as well as some fruits. Tried him with a frozen innocent smoothie tube thingy as well to cool him down - very messy but he loved it! He's still on 30+ oz of milk but I am trying to swap night feeds for water as he is feeding to settle if he disturbs at night. He only ever takes an ounce at a time but it can be every couple of hours so I don't think he's actually hungry just fussing.

I'm running out of suitable trousers for him so if weather stays like this he will be just in vests and tshirts for ease of keeping him cool. He's in 9-12 month clothes - wish I could judge how big he will be in winter as snow&rock are selling snow suits at 50% off at present!

He still can't roll and gets really frustrated on his tummy probably because he's such a chubster he rolls on his belly like a seesaw going up and down . He can pretty much sit up in the tripod position and upright but is still throwing himself back so is safer in the playring!

Hope everyone has a nice weekend

Sun bleaches things, but it works best on whites. Brights fade faster if left in the sun for long periods.

Bea has mastered sitting up today. Though she forgets that her hands are supporting her, she was excited as DH is home and squealed and lifted her arms up and went flat on her face, no tears though. first day with DH home in a long time, I was up really early, left them both in bed and did so much stuff I wouldn't normally do because DD is home with me. Having a clearout of pointless things, like a huge ugly vase someone bought back from their hols for us. [anyone interested, it's on the local freecycle :)]

I am loving the sunshine, I've had really dry flaky face since I had Bea, and the last few days out in the sun has pretty much cleared it up.

DF I was worried about PND too, seem to have hit the 4 month wall, the sleep thing is driving me crazy, she sleeps well, but I don't. She still wakes for her 2am feed and I have always struggled to settle back down to sleep. DH found me crying in the kitchen wednesday night and gave me lots of hugs, it's just exhausting surviving on 10pm-2am sleep. Often not getting back to sleep before her next feed at 6am. We are going to try and see if she will go through the night over the next week, while he's home to support me. I am sure it's now a comfort thing as we were doing it as she was still on the bottom percentile. She's now taking more during the day and only has a little nibble really at 2am. I've also sent a letter to the council about the security lighting on the sheltered housing opposite, as it keeps waking me, it's so sensitive that car's driving past or cat's skulking about set it off.

I also carry a dozen outfits around with me. I layer Bea up at the moment, then de-layer her as the day warms up and then re-apply the layers as it cools down. I've got quite a lot of light leggings and t-shirts. I'd recommend H&M for boys wear, they seem to have some funky summer stuff that isn't denim and it's not too bad pricewise. Have you got car boot sales near you. I can often pick up some quite nice things for not much. She's still in 0-3, 3-6 looks like it's going to be a long way off :)

DH has the week off, we are having a stay-cation and mainly getting the house square, getting some gardening done, MOT the chickens and possibly a day-trip or two.

Well the sunshine seems to have cheered everyone up! was just wondering if all Nancy's virtual compadres were out and about being shown off in their summer gear. I got a nice bag of hand-me-down summer dresses from a neighbour so I have enjoyed seeing them all out on the line in the sunshine.

I have no PF(fourth)B incidents to report, I'm afraid she is not rolling over, sitting, weaning or anything much except drooling and smiling all the time. We have invented a game called "babydump". Whenever she needs held but I am busy there is a competition to see who ends up unable to swerve out the way before a baby is deposited in their arms. They then have to look after her until they can manage to dump her on someone else, poor wee thing. However, thus I get to go on mumsnet my dinner cooked, and it makes babyminding a bit fairer and something to have laugh about, not get all resentful.

MrsS loving the pic of Hugh in his cap. 9-12m clothes though! Why not get some sale items anyway then sell on ebay if wrong size come winter?

DF it might be worth chatting to your HV or taking the PND test if you are finding it hard to get through the day or drag yourself out the house, but it more than likely this 4m wall of sleep deprivation , maybe you need some supplements in case you are drained by breastfeeding? I know myself I get mild depression if I do not take iron supplements. I hope the sleep routine works well and a few nights good kip has you back in order. I wouldn't worry about having to keep up with your NCT group- who you meet there is so random they may or may not suit you and there are plenty other places to meet mum friends - sounds like your work is one of those places right now! HAve you posted on the BF forum about when to express? My gut tells me whenever you are most relaxed to do so but you should ask the experts!

I talked to my HV this week about just the same thing as more than one of you seem to be going through- and we came to the conclusion it is mainly the lack of sleep and frustration at a) the things stopping me sleep- baby, snoring DP, etc and b) all the things I want to get done but can't. This too shall pass.

We have building work going on, however, so roll on another few weeks stress. On the plus side me and DP got a good chat going while the kids were at their GPs and have sorted most of the issues that had built up.

kellestar our chooks just all got slaughtered by the local fox :( I hope you have a nice secure run for yours. Bea seems to be coming on wonderfully- she is a right wee character and obviously the light of your life. Pics please!

how old are everyone's little ones now? i sort of lost track with when everyone was born, just interested to know with the whole introducing solids thing really. Evelyn is 17 weeks on tuesday. i think she is maybe ready to at least try some baby rice, but a bit hesitant!!

she is absolutely loving the sunshine. she has been outsid 'helping' us in the garden today!

happy easter all xxx

Enjoyed catching up on everyone's news. Thanks for PFB explanation df...& I wouldn't have thought you were socially challenged at all...sometimes I find myself happier opting out of groups too if I don't feel comfortable.

Sorry to hear about chook losses...we had to give away Cluck Rogers the cockerel this week as he threw himself at dh & not a risk we want to take when dd's on her feet. I miss hearing him crow, even at 4am!

Dd is 20 weeks now (I think!)...she's diddy still but perfectly formed! Not quite interested in our food yet, she likes talking to us while we're eating though. Hoping to go with baby led weaning...looks messy but at least it will be summer so hopefully outside!

I'm finding nature nappies good & high backed, had planned on washables but didn't get on very well so next best thing.

Happy Easter everyone x