April 2011 - Food Glorious Food, Sleep Glorious Sleep <subtle key change> They're our babies, we'll obsess if we want to!

[fraktious]

Thread 4 - that's one a month!

Gosh, all this talk of weaning. I still can't believe it's that time already! We're still a bit behind everybody else, and haven't started with any solids yet. Although she can sit up unsupported for a long time, I'm not convinced that P's tongue thrust reflex has gone yet. She's only just coming up to 22 weeks anyway, so no desperate hurry.

Those of you that are weaning and still BF, are you giving your LOs vitamin drops too? I hadn't realised that I'd need too but was told that I would by the health visitor. Interestingly, our HVs are really, really, really pro baby led weaning and hold sessions to promote BLW over the traditional purée approach. Maybe they're Mumsnetters!

I'll join the sleep deprived club today please. We had a shocker last night, definitely the worst one in a long while. She was up three times and needed resettling another twice on top of that. I appreciate that mightn't sound too horrific but one of the wake ups lasted for two hours again. Urgh...

We're having these really extended wake ups quite regularly now (about once or twice a week). They usually seem to happen between 4 - 6am and are so frustrating. I've no idea what the problem could be. Any suggestions? When they happen, she wakes and fusses in the cot and I get up and feed her as normal. However instead of then going back to sleep, her eyes ping open and no amount of rocking or cuddling will encourage her to close them. We try and keep the wake ups as boring as possible (dim light, no talking etc) but it doesn't make much difference. I'm trying the approach of just putting her back in her cot regardless of how awake she is and then going back to my bed. She never self settles when I do this and I always go back in if she cries but I just don't know what else to do. I don't want her to start to think that the middle of the night is the time for cuddles and games.

Other than the extended wake up nights, P's sleep hasn't been too bad of late, so I suppose it could be worse!

Right, epic rant over - there's housework to do!

Star - there is no need to give vitamin drops, 'tis all bollocks.

frak - that is what we realised last night, that we need to go back to basics. So we've been reminding him loads, offered a bribe for success and things are going much better today. Fingers crossed for preschool this afternoon!

kitty - I wouldn't worry about rushing to wean him before you go back to work. It is a really slow process. T has been having some solids for about 3 weeks (he's 27 weeks now) and he is interested sometimes and not others. You could ask nursery to just give him a few sticks of fruit and veg if you want to, or tell them not to. I would recommend starting with one meal of the day - so teatime if that is the most convenient one for you, and then gradually adding the others. You can still be the person to introduce all new foods etc.
The raspberry blowing could mean 'yuck!', or it could be his tongue thrust reflex in which case he isn't ready.

He's going to his grandparents and im not sure I can manage them aswell as I could a nursery. If dmil feels he is ready for stuff I think she would do it.

Oh blimey - yes I do see your problem. Have you spoken to her about it?

S and I have just spent an hour at his new nursery. He seemed to quite enjoy it. I could barely contain the tears on the walk home! What am I going to be like tomorrow, I have to leave for half an hour or so. I'm now eating Frazzles while in a depressed funk.

Anyway, sorry I've been AWOL we had the IL's down for the weekend and S has also joined the Bad Nights Club. S will not settle in his cot at the moment, the only time he'll sleep at night is in our bed with us, and he's on the boob every hour/hour and a half. We're pretty certain it's a combination of the heat, having a stuffy nose still >bows to the god that is Karvol!< and over stimulation from having the ILs here (they're lovely but MIL is quite loud), "family induced comas" all round (thanks for that one Fizz!)

We had great success at the NCT sale, was an utter bunfight but I quite enjoyed it, and MIL is the master at such things so we came away with some lovely clothes. I'm going to volunteer to help set up next time as then you get first dibs and from what I saw it's worth giving up a Saturday morning for!

Archie I hope you get something sorted with the heating. There is no way you and the LO's could get through a winter without it, especially not if we have a repeat of last year.

Fizz the work stuff sounds really good. It's so nerve wracking when they invite you for a meeting and then it's all good. Mine was all official in the emails then when I got there my line manager had just wanted an excuse for coffee and a gossip!

Star no vit drops here either. I only heard about them a couple of weeks ago and well, couldn't be arsed! I figured if I'm ok then S will be ok as he gets the majority of his calories from me anyway.

Cycle which yogurt have you tried with H? I love yogurt but the ones I have aren't baby friendly (ie. they're the posh ones that I WILL NOT share ) so wasn't sure what to try with S.

I'm sorry I've missed people, S is currently having a nap so I want to get a cup of tea before he wakes up!

Kitty sounds like it could be difficult could you tell you DMIL that you want to be the one to introduce new foods at a weekend so that you can watch for any allergic reactions. A bit PFB sounding I know but it might work!

No. I find it hard. She was a midwife in her former life and often gives advice. Tells me s should be sleeping thru the night now. I need to get s in a routine now cos of work. She looks after my nephew who is nearly three and is great with him but does sometimes do things her own way I think. When s was born she bought round three small cartons of aptimil in case I had prob's feeding but didn't ask if that was what I wanted. I binned them this week as I opted for hipp organic. I had to tell dh I was fed up with the constant advice and he said when she asks how s slept just say fine cos there's no fuel then and it worked. I'm sure it will be fine it's just the next thing for me to be paranoid and worry about.

Tell her very po-facedly that you're weaning under the guidance of a paed (NB not 'your', a random unspecified one). She can't knock HCPs having been one herself.

Talkig of paeds..., Our new one is even worse than the last. He think LLL are the devil, you have to stop BFing completely at 1 or you'll have a clingy, nonsleeping child (good thing he didn't see the sling then ) and you have to give vit D and iron, no exceptions, even if you're going to give iron rich foods. Plus his face when I said we were bypassing spoons was a picture.... I would be if it wasn't such self-evidently puffed up bollocks.

Well M was a star during the team meeting at work; she smiled at everyone and was well behaved, she also had a few suggestions to make with happy squeals. I did got to the back of the room and feed her a couple of times and she'd just dropped off to sleep when the fire alarm went off! Still no crying as we all evacuated outside.
I'm glad I went in - I got my payslip and found this is the month my pay drops :( might try to give up the cake at the breastfeeding cafe now.

Star my friends were given conflicting advice re the vitamin drops by HVs. As far as I know, as long as you've got a decent diet they're unnecessary. I'm not planning on giving any.

Dairy I got a big pot of full fat natural yogurt and take out a few spoonfuls at a time, then mix with a fruit puree, either bought or home made.

We're going to try M on fish tonight. I bought some hake but not sure how to cook it - grill? poach? I'm not the biggest fan of fish myself, I only eat it because I know it's good for me!

Has anyone got any good ideas for baby breakfasts, either spoon or finger foods? I ended up giving her baby rice, yogurt and sweet potato mix the other day which I felt was a bit strange but didn't have any fruit purees in the house (need to make some more, maybe a bit lumpier now).

chilli I'm glad work went well :)
Re. breakfast, I've given T Weetabix a couple of times which he seems to like. Once they are 6 months then it is fine to use a little cow's milk for 'cooking', so a couple of tablespoons on cereal, or in a cheese sauce or whatever is absolutely fine. Easier than either expressing or making up tiny quantities of formula!
I've also got the stage 2 Plum porridge, or I give him some fruit to chomp.

I do hake, or any white fish really, with mozzarella and tomatoes and olive oil on top in the oven - it is based on a Jamie Oliver. As long as you don't add any salt then you could flake a bit of the fish off for M?

We've been giving T a few of the Ella's Kitchen and Plum pouches, the stage 2 ones which are a bit lumpier. I'm pleased that he likes them, because we're on holiday in 10 days and that is what he'll be eating. We'll be eating out the whole time, and he will still be too little to eat restaurant food because of the salt content.

Must add warning re porridge - it's concrete-like properties once left on the side after breakfast are a wonder to behold

I often wonder if they should investigate it further, maybe use instead of mortar to build bunkers walls...

M still just having the odd thing to gum/play with at mealtimes - when she's awake & not feeding that is. Haven't done breakfast at all yet as she's normally still asleep when the boys have theirs. It's more about joining us at the table for now. Though interestingly DS2 is watching her so hopefully she'll encourage him to try more foods as she does - he has 'issues' with anything he doesn't already know.

Thanks Ali. I think I need to hit the big Tesco soon and get a few more things in for M. I think she's ready for stage 2 foods too, she was very happy sharing a 11 month olds Heinz pots last week

Try porridge fingers - essentially solidified porridge!

Do babies still have growth spurts? S was grumpy and clingy yesterday, today cling and has slept loads. I hope he still sleeps tonight

Ooh,

Talking of porridge (always lurking, if not posting!), is there any reason why F can't have normal porridge? He really doesn't like the organix banana porridge. And to make porridge fingers, do you just leave it to dry/set?

I've just cooked tea for F for the first time! (DH is the cook in our house, but I'll need to do F's tea while he's at work). We tried sweet potato sticks, white potato in sticks & thick mash (mummy's fave!), broccoli and pasta. A random collection, but I didn't know where to start, and the tesco delivery isn't coming till later!

Buck how exciting!

Yes, fine to use normal porridge.

kitty yes they do. And S might still have some 'catch up' growth from when he had his bug.

Well the fish went down well. Of course when I say went down I mean onto the floor :o but some of it visited the mouth first. There was a big mush of fish, brocolli, sweet potato and asparagus on the tray of the high chair after tea and it all got tasted. She then finished off the spinach, brocolli and parsnip puree from yesterday.

Are porridge fingers just flapjacks without all the tasty bits of butter, sugar and syrup?

Porridge oats are ok to use, but not stuff like ready brek which has added salt and sugar I think.

There is something like a baked porridge thingy called wakey wakey cakey (google it for the recipe, I haven't tried it though). but Frakk, tell me more about the porridge fingers.

Kitty - yep, they still have growth spurts. It carries on until they are about 18! When they get older frequent feeding can also be a sign of a lurgy on it's way.

Funnily enough, I was thinking about growth spurts earlier. I punched the air with relief when I remembered that the next growth spurt we come up against can be helped along with solid food rather than boob,boob, boob. Hurrah for food!

I have been putting I in his highchair during our mealtimes and today we had a glimpse of what future mealtimes will be like. Ds2 was making some stupid noise and/or face and I chuckled away at his shenanigans. Of course ds2 realised he had an audience and arsed around even more, which then made I laugh even more. Oh gawd, I am going to be run ragged aren't I?

ILike - isn't it lovely :) DS1 and 2 sit next to each other at the dining table, and when T gets upset and frustrated trying to get something into his mouth, DS1 will reach over and pat his arm. So cute!
We had a gem this evening, T had had enough dinner and was tired and needed a feed - he was yelling while DH was wiping him up and getting him out of the highchair. DS1 turned to me 'Mummy, T needs some Mummy milk, hurry up and finish your dinner!'

Potty has been ok at home today, although I've had to prompt a LOT, and a couple of times I've had to grab him and stick him on the potty otherwise we would have had accidents. But he wet himself twice at preschool - argh. They are being very good about it, which is good. He doesn't seem unhappy there, he is always keen to go and goes rushing in when we arrive and is developing friendships with several of the other children.
The temptation to send him in pull ups is high

Ali that made me melt. Sounds like yr DS is to busy having fun to wee? My nephew was just toilet trained and that was when he had his accidents, when he didn't want to stop playing to go. But you prob know that so I'll go back to cursing s for waking every hour. I thought I'd have prob's as he slept loads during the day. Won't be letting that happen again.

Porridge fingers:

3tbsp oats
3tbsp milk

Plus optional cinnamon, grated apple, coconut, apricot, whatever you think might be tasty!

Mix to make quite a thick paste, press into a microwaveable dish, cook for 1min30, pop out and cut into fingers and wait for them to cool and stiffen. You can also do them in the oven flapjack style or use pan made porridge which has been set on the fridge

Thanks Frak!

Omg. T went to bed at 8, slept until 12 and was then awake until 3am! Then he slept until 7. DS1 came and got into bed with me at about 5am.

Once I've taken DS1 to preschool I am coming back to bed with T!

Kitty

U win hands down Ali. this was my night;

900-1145
1205-110
117-122
130-218
234-420
458-504
519-730

We have a tooth! It's the bottom front left!

Plus H is six months exactly today! I made him porridge with gold top milk for breakfast and I may try him on a bit of mashed up pasta tonight.

We went to mum and baby group yesterday and H had so much fun he went four hours without a nap. We went in the sling and was charming throughout.

Will namecheck when less excited!