March 2011 - we made it!

[Muser]

The waiting is over, the babies are arriving. March 2011 mums, come on in your time is up.

I agree cherub - 22 months between DS and DD and so far I'm really pleased with the gap - it's tough but not as bad as I thought it would be, esp compared to being heavily pregnant (and sick) with toddler! Also birth much easier second time around. (try not to have it in the lift like I nearly did though!!)

one of my NCT buddies had her second yesterday and the pic of her baby made me realise DD not a newborn any more!! :( We won't have another for 3 years now due to lack of rooms here and hideousness of my pregnancies - would need them both at school/preschool in order to cope with that sickness again.

Can't believe we're all talking about next babies - hilarious!! Wonder who will be first???

this made me laugh.....we've just started talking about baby number 2 as well, (after I swore I would never have another when angus was 4 weeks old!) We just got engaged at the weekend and are planning a wedding next May then start trying for baby number2 just after that! There is only 13 months between me and my brother god knows how my mum coped, but we have always been best friends and were always there for each other growing up, so don't want too big an age gap.....
Katie, I wouldn't blame you if you said something to the woman in the lift, @m also starting to get really annoyed with people coming up to A in the sling, when he's usually fast asleep, one person even had the cheek to try and pull the fabric back so she could see his hair, she and her husband wanted to touch his hair for good luck, wtf?? I was trying to do the shopping in tescos at the time and I' far too polite or my own good, wish I'd told them where to go now (also stinking of cigarettes etc)

Periods, ugh, hope mine don't come back for a while, that has to be one of the best things about being pregnant!!
And ckny, lots of mums in my baby group are doing the baby led weaning thing, apparently there's a book on it that I' going to look into, but its all about following their lead apparently and they only ever seem to eat very healthy foods! And you shouldn't fel guilty about not bf, it doesn't make you a good or bad mum you're just doing the best for both of you, my doctor said she worries that the 'breastfeeding police' guilt some mums into continuing bf when they're not happy / not enjoying it and that can't be good for anyone!

Edeluna and Jupiter, thanks for the recommendations, will check them out at the library. Never knew about Planet Organic, where have I been? They have lots of fun stuff for babies (for when he's older.)

Highland, congratulations on your engagement!!! Have fun with the wedding planning! Thanks also for the encouragement...

Too funny to think that this thread may focus one day on our next LO's! Yes, who WILL be first?! While I loved being preggers, and think it's amazing to have sibling best friends (am an only child) would prefer to adopt the next one after we settle more, but who knows! Like having Franz being the first spoiled grandchild for both grandparents (though my sister just had a baby last week so my daddy has a 2nd, and now I'm finally an auntie!)

SO CREEPY and annoying to have total strangers think it's okay to stroke your child, especially when they are smokers! Happened to us only once and I was too shocked to say anything.

Yesterday while getting my pedicure for the first time in 3 months, the very friendly receptionist who has a 21mo thought that it was fine to pick up Franz and change his slightly damp nappy! I said that it was ok, he could go w/o until the pedi was done, but she really seemed to want to do it! Didn't know how to react...will leave him @ home w/ Daddy from now on. Sometimes it doesn't matter how good your LO is, it's the adults around that you have to worry about!?!

Happy Sunday everyone! :)

Really quick question - "tummy time" - are you guys giving your LOs some? With DS it wasn't an issue really as he slept on his tummy, but with Lara I guess I occasionally need to put her on her tummy on her playmat or whatever - for how long? How often? Or is it not an issue yet?

lozario I've been thinking the same thing. She gets some in baby massage but that's once a week (& she hates it).

highland Huge congrats on your engagement!

The organic food book looks brillant, I know nothing about introducing food & I would like to start reading up soon.

You're meant to do tummy time every day, the only advice I could find was American and it said 30 mins a day. But that's not in one go, you can do a few minutes at a time. It is important as it helps them develop the skills they need to crawl and walk. I definitely don't manage 30 mins a day every day, must try harder!

highland huge congrats.

Yep we do tummy time. It helps prevent them having a flat head and strengthens the muscles that help them learn to roll/crawl. I think your supposed to do it 1hr a day. We don't manage it that much but do 10min twice a day!

Wedding went well but have a very tired baby now!

A few mins most days, but probably not as much as that.

Oh no we're so behind the times with tummy time!

highlandbird CONGRATS!!!!!! :)

because I'm only feeding once overnight most nights, my milk supply is going right down in the evenings. Might start expressing a bit before bed to get it up again. Am pretty much down to pre-preg weight too so maybe I need to eat more, it's so hard with two kids though, can't keep up! Bought a load of maltesers and Ben and Jerrys today so that will fuel me!! :)

What makes you think your supply is going down Lozario? I was only feeding once over night for ages and my supply is fine. I don't get engorged anymore, but that's apparently normal at this point. Something about milk being made on demand. I forget the details.

Well she was tugging away on my nipple and getting arsey, so I squeezed a bit and not much came out. Was just a drip here and there, whereas normally it's like a shower head! I don't think I'm drinking enough water during the day too. It's hard to keep on top of it all though.

Hannah does that sometimes. Most noticably during her last growth spurt. I actually rung one of the support lines as I felt i'd run out of milk. I was advised to keep swapping boobs to encourage the letdowns. I also gave her to DP to bounce and cuddle to calm her down too.

I will do tummy time everyday now - hopefully it doesn't matter too much that its been limited so far.

Congrats on the engagement highland :)

Does tummy time count if it is on you? I often have Anya lay on her tummy on my tummy while I watch TV lay on the sofa. She does her best to climb up to my face and push herself up to look at me. Then she gets bored and we get up. She doesn't like to be on the floor with tummy time and I worry as sometimes she pushes her head up then just lets go. On me that won't hurt her too much but if she does that on the floor it might.

better go, she's woke up and is crying

We've got a padded playmat so I'll try L on her tummy on that today. We've also got our NCT 2nd birthday party today for DS so a busy day! Waiting for DS to wake up at the moment - he is a great sleeper now but was awful as a baby. Lara slept through for the first time last night, I think she was so exhausted after refusing to nap all day again!!!

Have good bank hols all xxx

Thanks for the congrats!! We're just going to have a very relaxed big party so will try not to turn into bridezilla!!!

Tummy time - I try to remember to put him on his tummy every couple of days but have to catch him in the right mood otherwise he doesn't enjoy it at all. My playmat isn't padded so I put a soft thick blanket underneath it.

Anyone else thats bf still leaking lots??? I thought by 10 weeks it would be under control but still soaking my clothes through on a regular basis, grrr!

Yes I am HB. I am putting it down to EA starting to go longer at night and my supply not yet adjusting

Congrats on the engagement HighlandBird! I leaked at night for ages, I think it's only since 12 weeks that it's got better. I've never leaked during the day, but she feeds so often that's probably not surprising!

I leak lots still but H is only 9 weeks tomorrow. I get nipple twinges which I know means I'm about to leak. I leak on the other side when feeding too. Its rather annoying. Currently using thesebreast pads which i've found pretty good.

Already done some tummy time today. Am I ok to use a little cushion thing under her arms as support?

catherine H does that on us now. Hopefully that counts as tummy time. I miss the days when I could pick her up and she would curl up on my chest. I have to work so much harder to make her sleep now!

I am just seeing if H will go down for a nap in her cot. Seems unlikely but you never know! Btw whoever said babies can only be awake an half and a half is brillant. Now after an hour and a half I cuddle her, take her out in the pram bouce her and most of the time can get her to sleep for 20 mins at least.

Oh no, an awake baby.. gtg.

I have never paid much attention to actually making myself do tummy time, and they have all crawled etc perfectly. Dont get me wrong I have done it but more when I remember and if I think it might be fun. Use a cushion underneath for a while they will still do it and as they get better you can move it.

Highland - my congrats as well.

haloflo we're trying (unsuccessfully) to get some naps in the Moses basket too. It's my Everest!!

I have long given up on trying to get naps at home, it just leads to us both crying. I go out, she naps. All the walking and my rejoining Slimming World will hopefully see this excess fat disappear. And I'm getting to explore the local area much more.

Congratulations, highland! A big relaxed party sounds like the perfect way to celebrate.

DD is ten weeks now and I still leak. Little Lamb washable breast pads have worked well for me. Baby is on a bit of a nursing strike at the moment (talk about stressful! But I think we're making progress -- I just got her to go down for her pm nap without a bottle. Yippee!), plus my pump broke at midnight the other night, so I knew that by morning I'd be leaking like crazy, so I doubled up on the pads, and that worked great. But what a relief to get my hands on a functioning pump later that morning!

It is funny to already be thinking about baby number 2. It took me and DH so long to get off the fence and decide to have the first one. I wasn't sure I'd be a good parent or know what to do ... but I'm loving it and adoring the LO and would definitely like her to have a sibling. I've been advised to wait 6?9 months before TTC because of my c-section and the long healing process I endured when the wound re-opened, but I think that's reasonable. Still very much want to enjoy DD while she's so little and give her the attention she needs, rather than get distracted by another pg too soon.

Regarding tummy time: we try to do a few minutes each day. S eats so often, though, that it's still a challenge to catch her without a full tummy. I know lots of books/resources say baby should be lasting 3?4 hours between feeds by this point, but she still eats every two hours or so (but sleeps long stretches at night).

Hope everyone's enjoying the Bank Hol. Gorgeous day here, so I'm going to try to get out of the house later this afternoon ...

Congratulations Highland, that is lovely news

With my first DD I leaked for the whole 16weeks that I managed to BF, although it wasn't as bad after the first 12 weeks. (I used to stuff heavy duty industrial strength sanitary towels down my bra- 1 in each cup!!)
This time round the leaking is so much less, I now only leak while feeding. DD is 11 weeks today. My HV said it is often the case second time round as the milk buds have 'matured'.
This combined with no pain and I think I m going to be able to BF for much longer than dd!.
Halo those pads look like they'd give you pointy Madonna boobs!!!

Beth going 3-4 hours during day, but suddenly we are going backwards at night and she is waking every two hours! Arrgh, don't have a clue how to remedy this. Been like this for a week now. DD1 slept through from 8 weeks so this is new to me.

WRT tummy time, I do think it is mostly to do with preventing flat head syndrome. In days gone by the advice was to put baby to bed on tummy, so they actually spent very little time laying on their backs. Nowadays and with the current advice the cases of flat head are massively high, so it is encouraged to get baby to spend time off their back. This can include being carried in a sling, sleeping on mum, any time when they are not on their backs.
Beth has been a tummy sleeper since birth, I just cannot get her to sleep on her back anyway, so I have not needed to bother with proper 'tummy time'.

evening ladies,
Hope you are getting a bit more sleep this evening Hippo. Maybe Beth is having another little growth spurt? You'll be back to your old sleeping routine in no time... hopefully.

Muser I hope you aren't getting too stressed trying to get LO to sleep during the day! Today Anya was being a pain to get to sleep too, I ended up taking her for a walk in the pouring down rain for over half an hour to get her to sleep. She slept soundly all the time we were out while I got utterly soaked. It was well worth it though - I'd rather be cold and wet than listen to that cry she does when she's tired, I find myself pleading with her to go to sleep which as my mother pointed out, doesn't really help.

My parents went home yesterday after their surprise visit. After they left I had a little cry when I realized how lonely I felt. Anyone else feeling like this or is it just me? I'm really missing adult conversation and even more I'm missing me. I have become Anya's mum but lost Catherine. I love being mum but I was rather keen on me too. Does this make sense or am I losing the plot?

catherine - yep I know exactly how you feel. I miss me and I miss my independence. Entirely natural I reckon. DH worksvery long hours and I cod look after Isobel for up to 12 days straight without help, day or night. It's really hard bloody work. I've planned a night out on weds night with my girlfriends and I can't wait.