Sept 08- The threenagers have arrived - Advanced negotiating and crowd control skills required

[DebiTheScot]

Sorry Meglet if you wanted to start the thread with your title but I thought I'd best do it while there was still one space to post the link to this one on the last one.

Oh my God! Six and a half hours would be luxury beyond words! And inés is 9 months. :-(

Carrie Lucy is still in her 0stage car seat and she is 15m now and about 21lbs so way off 13kg. Hopefully she will be in it for a while as she sleeps alot and it is easier to carry that and pop it on trolleys then when she is in a fixed seat.

oh pacita I didn't mean to make you (or anyone else) feel bad. I'm just a control freak, who TBH could do with chilling out a bit. Both my DC's are hideous bossy boots who think they can boss everyone, including me, around. Wonder where they got that from?

I remember talking to my mum when DS was a few weeks old and GF had started working, my exact words were "Mum, he's programmable!!!!". .

ROFL at programmable I love establishing routine, 5 mins off a nap here, 10mins later for a feed there and bingo, predicta-baby emerges! That said I'm not very good at parenting 3 year olds it turns out...got a situation very wrong with DS1 today and upset him further when it turns out what he needed was reassurance. Felt awful when he finally calmed down and told me what had happened from his POV, I'd just waded in too quickly. Then the promised trip to the farm was cancelled and I think I upset my friends by not joining them on their wet weather plan, but it wasn't a place I'd find easy to feed a baby and supervise a toddler and the whole thing seemed a bit much so I gave it a miss. It was one of my friends birthdays so I feel doubly awful about it, although I know I made the right decision for my DCs.
debs glad I'm not the only one who had a DC in a stage 0 past their first birthday! I know they're safer for as long as the child still fits them.

Bookmarking. Hope everyone is having a good weekend whether it's lazy / busy / boring / or shopping.

I put Star Wars (episode 4, the original) on for DS earlier. It's a U certificate but he freaked at Darth Vader and the Stormtroopers when they invaded the rebel craft in the first few mins so he made me turn it off . I have sheltered him rather a lot, I don't even let them watch adverts on kids tv . We're going to try Monsters Inc later, I don't hold out much hope.

My neice has arrived!!!

Savannah was born just before 9pm and is a 1st child for my brother and his wife and a 5th grandchild (and only grandaughter) for my mum and dad

Congrats Auntie Becarooooooo

One of my good friends (and ds2's godmother) is 12 days overdue and going crazy!

Meglet my ds1 hasn't watched anything like that before either. He does like Monsters Inc though. I put the Star Wars cartoon on for him once as he'd been talking about playing with the toys at school (I did think it slightly odd that they had Star Wars characters in a reception class though) but he wasn't really fussed for it and hasn't ever asked for it again.

We went to Peppa Pig World today, it was brilliant!

Oh and ds2 has totally cracked peeing on the toilet, going when he needs to by himself, going when he's told to if it's just before a long car journey and holding on if he needs to. Only thing he's not keen on is pooing in the toilet, he'll do it if it's during the day but refuses to just before bed then does it in his nappy.

Congrats auntie bec!!
Good work to your DS debi
Tonight is my first time of putting 3 kids to bed by myself...I have the wine ready and waiting
Went to see Bill Bailey last night, how is it that a 10 week old baby knows you're going out so screams and screams and screams at the time he normally drifts peacefully off to sleep?!
meglet you and i are so similar Mine haven't seen many adverts (just those that are on before Roary the Racing Car or Peppa Pig coz they're recorded off channel 5) and they've only seen 2 films, neither of which had 'baddies' in. DD was terrified when we went to the panto last year so I'm not gonna bother this year. At some point they'll have to be desensitised to scary stuff but at age 4 and 3 I'm happy to wait! I'm quite surprised at my friends kids who can watch cruella de ville without flinching, I find her quite terrifying

carrie how on earth do you go out for the night with a 10wk old who is bf?? Will he take a bottle of expressed then? Am seriously impressed - please tell me how you do it!

I am 39+4 and have cankles. I am determined to bf so your social life is a huge boost to me who thinks of being trapped indoors for 6months! I need your tips!

Congratulations Aunty Bec

I remember watching Star Wars and finding Darth Vadar scary. DS is dinosaur crazy at the moment and loves watching Planet Dinosaur. The gore doesn't seem to bother him, 'why has Predator X eaten the Plesiasauras (sp?!) head mummy?' Mind you, I have never been bothered by gore, but give me a menacing character and music (much like Darth Vadar) and I'm hiding behind the sofa!

We are off to look at a day nursery tomorrow. The pre school that ds goes to have advised that they have no free sessions in January, which sods law is when we get the early years funding, and apart from the fact that the care becomes free, I think ds needs a bit more stimulation outside of the home. So, I am thinking of sending him from 8-1 one day a week, with a view to sending him for a whole day when/if he finally drops his daytime sleep.

There is hope hope MrsA - with all of the boys I have been able to go out for the evening from when they were about 8 weeks old. Not clubbing mind, but I have been able to go to yoga, book group, committee meetings etc.

The biggest tip I can give you is get dp involved with settling the baby, and to get a nightime/bed routine going quite quickly.

I hope the cankles go down when you put your feet up! My friend is about the same gestation as you and is suffering with swollen feet, ankles, claves and thighs

Thanks ILTMIMI - gives me hope!

And I too 'love' (if that's the right word) gore films that are, i guess, impossible (think Alien, Saw and the like) but films that could actually happen and/or are scary in the head - i can't cope with.

Sorry about your DS pre-school. Here, it's equally frustrating in that we do get the funding from Jan till July but then when C becomes entitled to a pre-school place in Sept, if she doesn't take it up (which she won't as we simply can't get her from pre-school to nursery and I'll be working at least 4 days) then the funding stops and we don't get it to cover private nursery costs. Speaking to people in England, it's a welsh thing. Suppose they have to cover the cost of free prescriptions and hospital parking somehow... Really helpful for working parents...NOT

Robyn loved Despicable Me and Toy Story is still a big hit. She adores Dinosaurs but I daren't let her watch Planet Dinosaur, I thought it was abit too graphic. She did watch the Whale thing which Steven Fry narrated last month. She managed to sit down just for the part where the Killer whales attack and eat a baby gray whale she wasn't fazed at that but everytime the diver went in she thought the whales were going to eat him

She is currently trying to drop her nighttime 'booby', at last. she is finding it hard and we are currently having story, songtime, she knows her ABC now and then booby, then a cuddle then booby again. It is exhausting but tonight she fell asleep having a cuddle so I'm hoping we have turned a corner and she might just need cuddles soon.

Hoping to get her in 3 mornings a week in January. I just have to see if the nursery can fit her in for then. They told me they could last Jan when she started but it would help to ask. We're going to get Lucy a place as well, just for 2 hours once a week so me and DP can have 2 hours to shag ourselves. It will get her used to it for September as she will be going twice a week then whilst I'm at college.

Congrats to your sis Bec and MRSA hope that baby comes soon

mrsa you know the answer to your question
But ILTMIMI hit the nail on the head with bedtime routine, I think its easier with your second since you're doing a bedtime routine with your first anyway. From about a week old DS2 has been put in the bath with the big kids, then we get him out after a couple of minutes and we put his babygrow on and I feed him while DH washes the other two and gets them in their pjs, then if DS2 is still awake he joins us all for storytime, everyone says good night and DS2 gets put in his cot. It took a while of 'sshh pat' and some pick-up-put-down before he started settling easily, but because he had his daytime naps in the cot too he quickly got used to the idea that that is where sleep happens and he happily drifts off. He's also found his thumb which is a big help! From about 4 weeks we've fully had our evenings back, its been the one consistent bit of the day because bedtime routine is the one bit that always looked the same. We wake him for a dreamfeed when he has a bottle of expressed milk, so yes, when we went to Bill Bailey on Saturday the babysitter was left with a bottle of milk. We didn't expect her to wake him at 10, in fact we woke him after 11, but the milk was there if needed.
Can't wait for some baby news mrsa, any twinges????

Was going to ask if anyone had tips on programming a 3yo, but I think we just have to persist with refusing to give in to big strops. A spent a whole train journey yesterday screaming "Want to sit on a seat" and managed to stand up in his straps in his pushchair which was a first (and hit his head on a bicycle in the crowd which didn't cheer him up any). Have been channelling friends with an 8yo and replying "Well that's a big old shame, isn't it?"...
He has however finally managed to look adorable in nursery portraits so will get a set for the first time (as opposed to howling or clearly just stopped howling)

I'm still really impressed that A is totally night trained - except for needing to come and tell me about using the potty in the night even though he can now tuck himself back into bed just fine! He's still exhausted after nursery preschool though (even though he loves it) and we've had to go back to using the pushchair to get him there and back, after another time when he's had to be dragged the entire way home (took MrNC an hour). However my friend gave me a tutorial on sling wrap use yesterday so I think I might be able to manage that.

A is also hugely into dinosaurs (Fantasia, The Dinosaur Song on YouTube, Meg's Eggs...) and surprisingly scary stuff like Mickey and Minnie Mouse as Hansel and Gretel, with Danse Macabre as the soundtrack and they get put in a cage and pulled into the oven etc! "More scary witch! Want Mickey and the scary witch!!"

Back at work today for first time in 3 months (at home, at least). Tedious but I can bear another 4 weeks of it!

I need tips on 3yo programming too!

Took DD (4 1/2) back to the consultant today regarding her weeing issues. There's been no improvement in the last three months despite the strategies we put in place. The ultrasound we had showed that she doesn't empty her bladder, which was proved today when the dr sent her for a wee, then immediately sent her again and collected more the second time than the first!! So now instead of sending her every three hours, we have to send her twice every three hours . Stickers, sweets and other bribes don't work with DD, I honestly think she's only going to start taking herself to the toilet when she decides she wants to be dry. I'm hoping against hope that potty training DS will motivate her to be like him, but that first involves potty training DS
How about you hand me all your newborns and I'll give them back perfectly routined, then you can take my pre-schoolers and potty train them. Deal...? Anyone?!

carrie I can only do newborns. Potty training is a mystery to me. I've got 2 weeks off at Xmas to crack it. I hate bloody potty training and I hate then having to use grimy public toilets and little children that touch icky germy things.

I've just realised I'll have to get used to holding DD so she can squat and wee in hedgerows aren't I. My shoes will get wee-d on. Maybe I should avoid flip-flops for the next couple of summers.

I'm relieved DS isn't the only child to be scared of Star Wars . I guess it is quite different to Octonauts.

....come to think of it. It's probably better to get wee on flip-flops than plimsoles. One does not want soggy Converse.

Carrie if you will take Lucy(15m) then it's a deal.
DD1's problem was she was missing the signals to wee so left it too late. Even now at 15 she doesn't always go before bed or whens he has got up and I still remind her before we go in the car. She is fully dry though and has been for about 3 years. The quicker you get her in a routine of knowing when her bladder needs emptying and knowing when it is fully emptied the better

Due date today ladies. Still pg but not worried. Post c-section babies are often late apparently. Up and down all night on the loo but woke to DP saying he had dodgy tummy so not the clearing our I hoped for.

DP taken C to nursery so I'm off back to bed whilst I can.

Oh and Carrie once the baby is here and settled, I'll do you a swap - I'd like a GF trained baby without the hassle of actually doing it!

debs if you have any tips on how to teach a 4yo to know when her bladder needs emptying then please send them this way...she just has no idea.
meglet we can be potty training buddies at Christmas! The trick with girls and au naturelle wees is to stand behind them, your legs far apart, make sure their pants are right down to their ankles and support them in a sitting position by holding behind their knees and let their body rest against yours, then the wee lands in the gap between your feet. Worst accident we've had is DD weeing on her insufficiently pulled down trousers.
Happy due date mrsa! Surely you want to hold on for 20.11.2011

Ooh carrie I hadn't thought of that date! In fact, due to a marathon drinking session messing up my waking temperature when we were swi, I think due date is today but it also could be sunday so perhaps fate...? Nhs think my due date is next wed (23rd). This is good as it will reduce the pressure to induce but is not right as it would be immaculate conception!!

Happy due date MrsArch! Though babies can grow at different rates in the first 12 weeks or so, so a week out from what you thought doesn't mean MrArch wasn't still responsible...

I'm now having a potty problem I never expected - ds waking in the night, coming telling me he weed in the bed, and he hasn't at all. After zillions of rounds of waking at 4am and wanting to get up and being put back to bed with "POTTY or BED" and not getting yet more hot milk - he would like to eat loads of toast and pb and milk all night and sod all at nursery... Hopefully he will give up on the screaming for milk soon, at least before he manages to open his door handle himself!

MrsA I only thought of it as a friend from church is due this weekend and is hoping for that date! My baby won't be the new kid on the block any more!

NC my DD likes a midnight snack too. Now at dinner time when she finishes we tell her there'll be no food in the night; if she wants more to eat she should have it now. Then in the night we remind her that she assured us she'd had enough at tea time. We always let her have a drink of water by her bed though.

We've been housebound with a sicky DS1 for the last two days, but he ate lunch after nearly 24hrs with nothing and it hasn't bounced back yet...he's asleep now so we'll see what this afternoon holds.

Better go and empty the dishwasher and tidy up the lunch things in anticipation of whatever the afternoon might hold.

mrsa sending labour vibes your way!

Am trying to potty train again with toby over xmas....dreading it tbh.

Got a cold/cough lurgy virus type thing and my throat is covered in slime and I am v unhappy about it