April 2011; springtime arrivals - blackbird, song thrush, mistle thrush, nipple thrush, nappy thrush...

[ILikeToMoveItMoveIt]

Here we are, our new thread and this time we all have our babies !

I thought we were getting thrush again, but then realised I had let ds's latch get sloppy. He was constantly clicking and tutting at the breast but I was too distracted to notice.

Ds and I made butterfly cakes together this morning, ds got to choose the colour of the buttercream icing ..... It is a very lurid shade of pink and they are covered in sugar strands. You can never have enough sugar!

My paed said no suncream until 6 months. We have a solarveil hat and a length of fabric as a screen, keep him in long loose clothing, well hydrated and dampen muslins if necessary. We also drape a large muslin over the pram to shade him.

God impressed with all you using reusable nappies. I do feel guilty about the waste I'm adding to the environment but just don't have time to do extra washing.

J seems to have serious sleep regression.... After sleeping thru the night for 3 nights last week (IMO sttn = 10-6) she has been waking at 3 for a BIG feed. And last night she didn't go back to sleep after it. To say I'm knackered is an understatement.

We have first jabs today at 1. Am dreading it

Sun cream!! If you have the sun can you bloody well tell it that it is needed here! bloody June .... my arse!

B has slept 9 til 5 every night since Friday!! DH is putting it down to his amazing singing technique I think it may have something to do with me having a few drinks :o!! How long is you milk effected if you have a couple glasses of wine of an evening? Feel a bit guilty, but it is ok isn't it??

i hope so lis 'cheers'

oh that might sound wrong! i meant cos i do. I usually make sure its after a feed so it has longer to go thru....

Lis it is fine. Lots of paeds recommend that BFing mothers drink a glass or two of an evening as it can help with colic. I have always taken that advice very seriously

There isn't a cream you can use kitty. My Dad is a dermatologist and very pro suncream, but even he says no suncream under 6 months. Once you are past 6 months then whatever cream you are using on yourself is fine for the baby. Personally I stick to either Ambre Solaire or Solton or Liz Earle as they are not heavily perfumed and I've never had an allergic reaction.
I second frakk's recommendation of the giant muslin over the pram :)

daisy good luck with the jabs, it will be fine. I remember being really upset with DS1 - this time I have a harder heart

oh ali thats interesting re colic. S doesnt suffer with it but doesnt wind well so i guess it could still help?! :) And thanks for the advice re suncream to you and frak. Shall be v careful. I love Liz Earle stuff.

Oh yes daisy good luck

We're also using a muslin as a sunshade on the pram. I've kept the curtains shut today to try and keep the room a bit cooler and wet M's hair. She's decided that a wet top might also help so is busy spitting milk onto it :o

Glad that lots of other people have having a while breastfeeding. Interesting about the colic - I'm trying to think now if she's been less shouty in the evenings when I've had a glass... maybe i'll try to keep track.

We've got second jabs tomorrow, I'm not looking forward to it but at least it shouldn't be quite as hot then.

hello!

F is having a day of screaming today. No idea why. But I imagine it will be brilliant when combined with a 4 hour car journey and 2 nights camping. Oh yes.

He spent yesterday in just a nappy (disposable, cooler than the little lambs, we reckoned!). And seemed pretty happy.

It's overcast & muggy here. About 24C I think. We've already had lots of rain.

Re sleep regression: F's woken up at least 3 times a night for at least the last week. But we've only had a handful of one-wakeup nights. I don't imagine there's a lot we can do though.

He's still feeding almost hourly too. That stupid book reckoned we should be onto 4 hourly feeds by now.

I assume things will settle down soon. I've got a "routine" sheet to fill in for the childminder by the time I go back to work in September. Routine??!!

He's finally asleep again. With his eyes open.

I think we're both going mental.

hugs petal growth spurt??

We're in disposables too as I'm thinking they might be cooler.

Petal can I ask about baby sleeping when camping? Will you co-sleep? Or a travel cot? Or can you get inflatable cribs? I'd love to try camping with baby - I just can't work out where she'd sleep!

HUgs from me too - looked at boys books for 2 months entries & DS1 was on 2 hourly feeds at this point, i was knackered.

DD is doing much better than that thankfully, went 8-8 last night with just a 10min feed at 5 .

Mind you after 10wks of pretty much non-stop feeding DS1 did start STTN, DS2 didn't untl he was 10months! wonder what DD will do.

There was talk of bedtimes/routines etc earlier. It's easier for non-first-timers as we already have a routine/rhythm to the day. So from 7pm this house normally quietens down so it must permeate through to DD. She goes to bed as soon after 7 as poss - once i've got the boys settled. Last night was later as we were out at a party in the afternoon, by the time we came home had tea, did bath, etc we were behind schedule - and it was such a lovely evening it felt kind of mean to send the boys to bed!

Trying to watch tennis & Get Jobs Done with DD today, hmm.

Thanks Kitty,

that's what I thought last week. But he's still going. Maybe it's the heat? (the house is normally super warm very efficient)

Maybe we've just got a grumpy baby! Or maybe it's me - I'm really not cut out for being a SAHM! I'm quite glad a professional will be taking over, at least I've had training for the teenagers! Man, I love him but I'm not very good at this!

chilli we're taking a travel cot. I'm not sure about co-sleeping, there's not a lot of room in our sleeping bags (we've got mummy style down bags that zip together). But if it's cold I'll try it.

I've already warned DH I probably won't sleep through worrying about him. It's only 2 nights.

I'll report back on Thursday!

JKS night times are ok routine-wise. Always the same bedtime routine & timings. I don't know why he can sleep for 6 hours one night and 2 hours the next.

Daytimes I seem to spend the entire time trying to get him to sleep. (as he gets so grumpy and overtired).

Although this morning he did roll.over for the first time!

J is alternating between being super-smiley and super-grumpy today. She's just in a disposable nappy too because of the heat (Lis - it's 32 degrees down in London!).

Since she's (mostly) bottle fed at the moment, am giving her sips of cooled boiled water straight from the fridge ever hour or so, although not really sure if that's the right thing to do. I just know that I need to drink more often than every three hours in this heat, so I figure she does too. Mind you, I'm putting the same bottle back in and out of the fridge otherwise I'd be doing nothing but sterilising bottles today. That's OK, right? I know you're not supposed to do that with milk feeds, but I figure there's very little in water to harbour bacteria, right?

I'm not sure I'm wholly convinced by obsessive sterilising anyway. I mean, I'm doing it, but it does make me a bit . I get that it's important for making sure stray milk curds which can harbour bacteria are off - so as an extension of cleaning. But thereafter this whole thing about only handling them with sterilised tongs, and them being non-sterile once they've been exposed to the air for more than a few minutes... sounds like bollocks to me.

J is going to have a tummy upset now just to prove me wrong, isn't she?!

Sorry to rub it in Lis, but god it is bloody hot here and it's going to be hot and humid tonight. A hot me and a sweaty baby are not a combination made in heaven.

Ecuse - I have no idea about the water and sterilising. All of the info you can read on it makes my mind boggle.

Congratulations on the rolling baby Pet, it's lovely when they start doing things like that isn't it? I put I down on his back the other day then next thing I knew he was on his side, he also puts all the weight through his legs if you hold him up. Neither of mine have done that before.

ecuse the only thing you shouldn't use repeatedly is the teat, so if you give her the water on a spoon, or with a clean teat each time then you'll be fine.
Tbh you'll be fine even if you are re-using the teat (probably). It is not the same as the bacteria that are in formula.

Poor T is so hot, he just wants to feed. Which gets both of us hot and bothered. Bleugh. Really hoping this weather breaks before bedtime else it is going to be a long, sticky night!

I have just put socks and the heating on [grumpy face]

Re sterilising, I dont bother with the tongs, make up the bottles (bottle teet lid) as soon as they are cool enough to handle and then store them ina big sealed box that i sterilise every few days with Milton fluid. Because I am expressing I am storing milk in the fridge, is it ok to store it with a teet and a lid in feed sized portions, then just grab a bottle, heat and serve?

i often wonder because the dishwasher washes things at high tempertures now is there a need for a seperate steriliser?

Can't believe you've got the heating on Lis!

We had a difficult night yesterday, it took hours to settle P. Our house was boiling and I think it really troubled her. We've been home today though, so have got all the windows open. There's a bit of a breeze too, so hopefully that will help make tonight a little more comfortable.

Petal - we have similar frustrations as you re sleeping habits. There seems to be little rhyme or reason to how long she can go down for. Some nights she wakes after 3 hours, sometimes after 4 and on a few glorious occasions she's done a seven hour 11 - 6 stretch. I wouldn't mind a few more of them!

Thunder and lightening just now too! rained all day, not walk or anything! Poop, thats what it is!!

Lis - if you are just giving BM then there is no need to sterilise at all, because BM is a naturally sterile substance. Dishwasher just to make sure everything is really clean is all that is necessary.

Have read threads on here about sterilising vs dishwashers. I've never really had to deal with it properly but sterilising is such a faff, any argument to do less of it would win me over

If i get organised about milk donation though i will have to be strict about it for their rules.

Talking of feeding i just gave S 5oz of expressed milk, he took the lot and is now on my boob. that is alot isn it? he is actually taking milk too. piggy. i do wonder if there is an element of familiarity in it tho.

Is it hot where you are too, kitty? He might just need the fluids?

it has been scorching actually. ood point. thanks