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!

BLW here too. It appeals to my lazy side and it worked brilliantly with DS. Being lazy too I'm not in any hurry to start. I like that at the moment I don't have to worry about what S eats and can scoff biscuits for lunch if it's just her and I

Sounds like victory was had Lis. Hope you set aside a few scones for you for this afternoon's [tea].

chilli no full on laughing here yet either. Maybe she hasn't found anything funny enough yet! She had her BCG this morning and certainly didn't feel that warranted her laughter.

Jen and ILTMIMI we have a terrible toddler on our hands too at the moment. He seems to be getting more and more difficult each week. We have shouting, screeching, stomping, NO'ing, and a lot of 'don't talk to me like that' when I ask him to do anything. It is absolutely exhausting and I have to say I'm not really enjoying his company much at the minute, which is sad. I know that probably spending more time just the two of us would help as well but it's the last thing I feel like doing on the weekends when DH is around.

JoEW at C's sleep last night! After doing a few weeks of a 6/7hr first stretch S has firmly regressed to 3-4hr stretches. I was discussing this in detail with DH last night and you could tell he wasn't listening when after 5 mins he shrugged his shoulders and said 'eventually she'll sleep longer'. Gee, thanks! I'm tempted to try a bottle of formula or ebm before bed as her last feed is always rubbish as she's so sleepy. Anyone doing this and breastfeeding the rest of the time? I say formula as I'm not sure I can get enough ebm for a feed a day. Or maybe I should just ride it out and stop obsessing over detail!

Definitely BLW here, did the whole Annabel Karmel with DS1, BLW with DS2, sooo much lazier easier

was the only volunteer at my bf group today and after weeks of no new mums, 3 came today!!

We'll be waiting until 6 months too and doing BLW, with a few mashed up spoonfuls thrown in.
ILike I am the same as you about BFing - I love it and will carry on for as long as possible, but it lovely once you aren't solely responsible any longer!

I've not expressed at all for T, but it is only for 6 months that he is so dependent on me and then it all changes again.

Lis well done with the cake!

Ok, I'm just going toast, what is BLW? I'm guessing baby-led weaning but what does that actually mean?

Aaaaargh, to ask, not toast!

i think toast is involved petal!! I think i want to go down this route too! Do I need a book? if so any recommendations?

I just found this page by googling. Sounds sensible enough to me. I have a feeling it's what a friend of mine did.

Basically you just chuck some food on your baby's highchair tray and let them get on with it.

Toast fingers , fruit and veg cut into batons so they can get hold of it, pasta - anything which your baby can grip.

I suppose we did a kind of halfway house between following BLW and using purees. I used to blitz up our meals for him for about 4-6 weeks and then just mashed them with a fork. But we started him right away on things like toast, cheese sandwiches, fruit and veg batons.
I never did any special purees or worried about introducing things a week apart or any of the other bollocks that AK, GF and co. recommend. I think if you are weaning before 6 months for medical reasons (sometimes recommended with prem babies I think) then introducing one food at a time and making the texture smoother to start with is a good idea, but if you are starting at around 6 months it isn't necessary.

Lis the definitive book is by a woman called Gill Rapley, and you can get it for a few quid on Amazon. I never bothered, we just stuck our own food in front of DS1

I've been chatting to friends who have babies that are a bit older than P and think that we'll be doing a bit of a mix of purees and BLW. BLW sounds really, really messy - not sure I'd cope! I also think I'd be a bit stressed out trying to work out how much she's actually eating. A mix of both sounds like a good compromise to me.

I'll still be off work when we get round to weaning, so in theory should have the time to mess about making purees and the like. Mind you, she's still only 9 weeks, so there's plenty of time for me to change my mind yet!

Ah I see! Hmmmm, I quite like the sound of it over the traditional just feeding them mush. Hmmmmmm

Caramel in response to your question I'm giving a formula feed as the last feed before bedtime and bfing the rest of the time. Seems to work quite well.

We had a weening session after our last massage class. I'm thinking of a combination of BLW and purees as by then it'll be getting towards autumn which usually means I'll be making soups. So extra thick soup with no stock (or chillis!) for M and slightly less thick soup for DH and me. But I like a mess so some BLW with mush everywhere too :) We were also given some heat sensitive spoons, an ice cube tray for freezing batches of purees and other weening stuff at the session.

Can I just say something quickly about a downside of the Sensational Baby Sleep Plan and this really isnt boasting [hblush], I miss my baby! she sleeps from 6.30pm until 7.30am, then has about 4 hours worth of naps during the day. I miss her sooo much, I'm currently watching her on the video monitor longing for a cuddle [hsad].

So those of you who are struggling for a good night time routine, don't rush it! [henvy] x

Oh, Natzer! And I was feeling so pleased with myself about getting F to finally have a longer midday nap*. I even managed to clean the bathroom(s, stupid new build) properly for the first time in ages!

Fortunately, he hasn't yet slept through
(7-7), so I will get a sleepy snuggle at 3am (and only then, I hope). Oh, and he doesn't self settle either, so more snuggles there. Perhaps it is a bonus we're a bit rubbish at it!

[*he usually only sleeps for 35 mins. At night, I feed him again as soon as he wakes and he usually sleeps for about 5 hours. Today, when he woke from his nap after 35 mins, I thought I'd try feeding him back to sleep again. Lo and behold, he slept until I woke him 90 mins later!

Can't believe it's taken me so long to work that one out! Dur!]

Oh, weaning, I've been thinking, and I'm going to try to keep him on just BM till 6 months (then BM as only milk for as long as poss thereafter). DH has read an old AK book and is all about puree-ing. But I'll see if I can find a BLW book, and we'll probably do a mixture. Does that sound feasible? I suppose we'll just muddle through!

Mentioned the continuing BFing to DH the other day and he's now convinced I'll be popping into school to BF our 7yr old!

I had the HV weaning talk at P's 13 week check, and she advised definately not doing it before 4 months but not to leave it until 6 months as it could miss the window of opportunity (her words not mine). Have to confess her "chat" went in one ear and out the other although I did have to suppress a giggle when she kept telling me to give P whatever DS was having as when DS was a baby she'd say all the time "just give the baby whatever you're having" and it became a bit of a joke between DH and myself.

Last feed of the night for P is a BF, it was a FF but she likes to have a BF afterwards to settle her down so now I give her the FF between 7.30-9pm and then when she starts becoming a bit unsettled I BF her until she's pretty much asleep and put her to bed usually between 9,30-10.30 and she'll go until 7 or 8.

Lis Well done on the cake sale, we have a copy of this baby-led weaning book in my library and it's pretty popular.

Hi all

Had S injections mon. He wasn't amused by the doctor pulling him about but he definitely wasn't a fan if the needles. He was ok after until he woke for a feed which he wouldn't take, just cried and screamed. One leg was red so I gave him some calpol and he eventually calmed down long and fed, and that night slept brilliantly as usual. Last night however, he just wouldnt settle. As usual I got him to sleep, kept him on me til he was out, put him to bed, as soon as I turned the lamp out he woke crying, started again, but he wasn't having it and he was only 25 mons short of a feed do fed him. He was on for 50 mins but I font think getting anything in the end and tugging at me til I was sore so I took him off and settled him and put him down. Again eyes wide open, figured I would leave him and just rock the crib. Sucked away at his hand. Turned the lamp off, he was still sucking away. I thought oh well at least he's not moaning but eventually he started so I got up settled him again and he only stayed down two hours til his next feed. This time he went down easily but woke again 2 hours later. This is not like him at all. He usually sleeps for anything between 5 and 7 hours at night. Pls tell me it's the injections? Should I have given him calpol? Typically we I am taking him into mine and dh offices this morning and I'm so tired. Added to which I'm still not entirely over my bug.

Hope ur all ok. Sorry to moan when I know for some of you this is regular

Oh and another thought is he isn't getting enough milk. My supply has dwindled since the spa sat. I didn't express til I got home and the next morning. Since then my boobs have felt smaller and emptier and I'm certainly struggling to get even 2oz when I express. Not helpful when I need at least 10oz for fri as dh and I are at a wedding. Without s.

Kitty - it's normal for lo's to be unsettled after their injections and there is no problem with giving them a dose of calpol.

Your supply may have dwindled, but also it is quite normal for boobs to stop feeling engorged as your supply settles. Also soft boobs do not mean no milk, there is always milk there. But if you are unsure I suggest that for the next few days feed every two hours in the day to boost your supply. The only downside of this is you'll have full melon boobs at the wedding.

Is that 'window of opportunity' shite still being peddled by HV's?!

I too felt guilty when I gave H Calpol after his first set of jabs because the nurse said 'Only if he really needs it'. But he did really need it. He settled down a couple of days after the jabs if that's any comfort.

I owe DP a big cuddle today. I hit the wall yesterday afternoon and was so tired I could barely function. DP was on a local job so suggested I walk with H and meet him and we'd walk together. On my arrival he announced we were getting fish and chips (mmmmmmmmmm), then when we'd eaten he told me to run myself a bath where I read some of my book for the first time in a fortnight, I then had H in the bath for a bit and DP dried and dressed him.

To top it all when H went from 11-5 ten wouldn't settle DP took over at 6, settled him and H and I slept until 9!

I feel a bit better today but I think the cumulative effects of no full nights of sleep have finally hit.

Kitty That all sounds pretty normal post-jabs! My Dr also told me to expect a similar reaction about a week after them too, something to do with it being a tri-phasic jab and needing time to work through the baby's system, so don't worry if you have a similar episode in a weeks time. R definitely did.

Cycle Your sleep deprivation threshhold must be far higher than mine cus I hit the wall weeks ago!! Not helped by the fact that R has now decided that sleeping 10-6 is no fun and has started waking at 4 for a feed again Today the poor thing has woken up full of cold so I was up at midnight, 2 and 5 last night!! :( I know like Kitty said that this is the norm for some of you still but bloody hell, it definitely takes it's toll when you're not used to it!!

Weird how the topic of convo yesterday was weaning. I had been flicking through a weaning book just before I logged on!! Spooky! Not sure what we're plannng to do yet, probably a little bit of both I suspect!

kitty that does all sound v.normal after jabs, and I agree 100% with everything ILike said about supply etc.

T went 11.30-6 and then back to sleep until 8. Not too bad.
I am really trying not to think about how badly DS1's sleep regressed when he hit 4 months. He didn't sleep through the night again for another YEAR! It was horrendous, but of course I could nap during the day which I won't be able to if T does it.....

Just watched a lady on this morning who didn't sleep for 2 years after her son was born. Helen Walsh she has written a book I think.

Ali no more of this negative talk! You never know T will probably completely different. It will be fine. PMA!

B woke at 3.30 this morning. Not quite sure why. But he drained his bottle like we'd starved him for a month. Maybe a larger feed before bed if it continues.

I did keep a coupe of scones. They are no more though

mmmmm scones

Lis I know, but I was a woman obsessed by sleep (or rather lack of it), and I got horrible PND. Not a fun time in my life!

I'm petrified about the four month sleep regression. I've been scanning through the threads in 'Sleep' and am really not sure I'll cope. Six weeks to go - eek...

I'm just hoping B takes after me when it come to sleeping, any place, any time. I've even fallen asleep standing up at a festival! My mum said all I did as a baby was sleep. If he does sleep regress then I'm going to be like you!

DH and I had "the chat" last night about DC2. So, we are just going to take it as it comes so to speak! Because of my PCOS it may take a while again or it may not. I bought some more folic acid today, just incase. We will actually have to DTD first though!! Anyone else?

We had a little shopping trip today, but we had to cut it short because my hip crunched. Is anyone else still suffering with SPD side effects?