Nov 05 Babies - They're ALL here!

[Rodeo]

Here we go, was going to write something lovely and meaningful, but I'm not very good at it so I'll leave that to someone else.....

Diege - feel for you. I am expecting to cut into babies fingers everytime I clip nails. Have stared to nibble them instead, not very well as they are still scratching faces.

Anyone else have a baby that screams in your arms for 10 mins before dropping off to sleep? I must be getting immune/insensitive to it - have screaming baby perched on knee with G&T (for me, not baby) in one hand and the other hand typing this............

Golden - mine screams like blue murder for up to ten minutes before falling asleep, but this is in a cot though, not my arms . It's a distinctive cry though, which actually gets worse if I pick her up. Do the twins set each other off, or take it in turns (am feeling tired again thinking of it!).
Have tried nibbling the nails, but just seem to bite them into points which makes them sharper!
Final thought (before bed);had been feeling really fatigued last few weeks - more than just new baby tiredness, so today started drinking lots of water (I'm usually a three cups of tea and one coffee person - that's my fluid for the day )and feel a totally different person - like I've 'woken up' - a lot more energy.Part of a new health kick I think, along with good old slimming world!

Evening all and Happy New Year!

Diege - I did that with Tessa's finger when she was tiny and think I cried more than she did. I wouldn't cut her nails for about a year afterwards and always made Dh do it We were told by someone that rubbing Vaseline into the nails makes them softer and they sort of flake off. Seemed to work with Tessa but I never seem to remember this time round!

We had our 8 week check today (they do Mum and baby together now rather than 6 weeks for Mum and 8 for baby) and the dreaded jabs. Everything was fine, I was even quite brave about the jabs. Had to go on my own as DH stayed with Tessa and all the people I know locally have toddlers and/or new babies. Ash is now fast asleep and hopefully showing no signs of a reaction yet - talk about jinxing things!!
Can't believe how big he is now though - 13lb 8oz (from 8lb 4oz at birth) Where did my little baby go?

Golden - maybe G&T numbs the ears!! Might numb the voice if given to baby

Resolutions, hmmmmm.
The weight loss one obviously though I'm still hoping that the bf works as well as last time.
The other one is to become a bit more organised which covers most areas of life at the moment The hope is that I then have more time to spend enjoying my children. Then again the disorganisation could be because I already have the priorities right and we are still sitting in bed in our jamas reading Cat in the Hat at 11am

Right, need to try that 'sleep when your baby sleeps' advice.
Night night

aargh
for two nights now i've lost half of my post!
here's as far as i got.

hellooo

Funny all this talk about finger nails. finn has a bit of a scar by his eyebrow from last nears arm waving. just used my nail buffer while the little prince had his evening feed. wouldn't mind someone feeding me while buffing my nails!

Tessas mum 13lb he is big! Finn was 8lb 5oz at birth and now at 8 weeks is 11lb 2oz. hope he's getting enough from me. btw my boobs have started feeling very tingly and heavy at certain times of the day - it's most strange to have such an INTENSE feeling. i didn't have it before

golden can't make monday i'm afraid - would love to sit around drinking coffee and eating cake instead of what i have to do - i've got an appt to see the bum specialist at the hosp. hope it's not too investigative. there's nothing wrong downstairs that i can see (apart from a small spiky bit, a little bit of discomfort sometimes and slackness when it comes to holding wind in - or is that my slack attitude and politeness in the company of my partner...hehehe). golden will cat you my number

londoner well done for doing hte list that's what i did last night before i lost my post - we're quite spread out aren't we. i'm up for a bit of travel for a meet that would suit most

enthusia thanks for updating us on chacha - it was the second or third thing that crossed my mind htis morning on waking.

right beddy byes for me

tomorrow will regale rest of my post - re finns non-routine - think i'm cultivating a little snacker and snoozer; last couple of days has been a bit of a pain, i can't put him down during the day otherwise he will 'freak out' and have one of those temper tantrums like one of those REALLY BAD toddlers on SUPERNANNY. thankfully he can't grip anything yet to throw at me. but he goes bright red and screams until he is doing a silent scream. he has very low tolerance. i was writing an address on an envelope (4 lines. FOUR LINES) and he started whimpering as i was writing the second line, by the third he was shrieking, and by the time i got to the post code on the fourth line he had turned purple and did a silent scream. i dread to think what would happen if i tried controlled crying! all i can imagine is me trying not to cry! am i setting myself up for a spoilt brat?
hpefully it's a very short lived phase.
what do we all think about having scorpio babies do we believe we have a particular type of character?

Morning all, hooray Thomas slept through the night last night that's 3 nights in a row how fab is that - should point out that he doesn't go to sleep until 1:30am though

Jenjam this is what Babycentre says about our LO's star sign - I think it's quite apt:

SCORPIO (Oct 24--Nov 22)
This child's emotions run deep and hidden. Her emotional memory is total ? what interests her at an emotional level will be learned and stay with her for life. She is secretive and a deep thinker. She's an all-or-nothing child ? no half measures ? a valuable asset in the classroom. She may be suspicious of those she does not know but sees commitment as long term and expects the same from others.

Personality key: Resourceful, manipulative, intimate, secretive, loyal, emotional, mysterious, passionate and analytical.

Parent power: Never try to fob Baby Scorpio off with half-truths ? she will always know the difference.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 23--Dec 21)
This child is a boisterous scatterer of energy. He goes straight to the point but doesn't always stick around to reap the benefits. He's cheerful and optimistic, perhaps expecting too much from the world. Generous with friends, he will share without counting the cost. He is courageous and loves to explore in every sense of the word. A tendency to over-eat can be counter-balanced by a love of sport.

Personality key: Optimistic, full of expectation, friendly, generous, indulgent, fair, free, philosophical, playful and energetic.

Parent power: Committed parents can teach Baby Sagittarius focus and application.

Sounds like Finn is certainly an all or nothing child when it comes to yelling Thomas is the same!

Has anyone got any suggestions on how I can make farting easier for Thomas, as it really appears to hurt him at the moment & and every one makes him writhe around and scream both before and afterwards.
I've tried gripe water, boiled water & infacol plus i massage his tummy in a clockwise direction as told by the hv.
He burps well but winding takes up to 2 hours to get him completely settled and then an hour or so later he's hungry again so i feel like we're on a constant merry go round.

Having a lazy day here today, not up to much, might pop to ELC to spend Thomas's £35's worth of vouchers, willprobably buy something older so that Ben can play with it & then pass it on to Thomas - wicked mummy but you've got to get the most out of these things haven't you!

Best go any suggestions gratefully received though Beks

beksmum..is it just me or does scorpio sound a bit negative?
MANIPULATIVE>!! that's the last thing i need!!!
i;d like cheerful, honest, easy going please

or friendly and generous would do me

am now looking at a yelping finn with new eyes. i know he is manipulating me with those big eyes and cute whimpers..............

Morning!

There must be something in the air because Jess slept from 10.30 til 7 this morning! I put her in her sleeping bag for the first time so I'll try that again tonight. Think it was a one off though, can't remember the others going through this early.

Diege, we'll arrange a 'going South' trip when we're in Sheffield so bring you're diary

Beks, could you paste the horoscopes for me and Nova please? We have little Librans

Right best go, Jess is having a bath with daddy and they need towels. Getting Jess weighed too later but that's all for today. Oh and a trip to the bank is needed, gulp!

rodeo and nova - you lucky lucky things. libra people are lovely!!! very sociable and charming

he he i'm one ! {false modesty emoticon} and i would agree wholeheartedly with the description/traits described below from babycentre. i was secretly hoping finn would be born a little bit early

LIBRA (Sept 24--Oct 23)
This child loves beauty and comfort. He will often act as peacemaker and go-between, unable to bear discord and inequality. At times, he tries too hard to please everyone so seems indecisive. He is fair, honest and never gives avoidable offence, but can be strong-minded. He loves security and the company of others; a loyal friend and champion.

Personality key: Aesthetic, decorative, loving, co-operative, harmonious, fair, sociable and likes equality.

Parent power: It is a mistake to think that the unassuming Baby Libra can be pushed around.

OK we had our first instance of colic last night - what fun that was!! Didn't get to sleep until 3:30 am and had to be up for oven repairman at 9:00 am. Of course now DS is adorably sleeping in my arms and was very smilely when the repairman was round. Typical!

So can you give a 4 week old anything for colic - or is he still too young?

lilj
your bub has same pattern as mine.

slept like a babe for first 2-3 weeks then had about 5 days of crying until blue in face and not sleeping until early hours

good news is that after about a week of that finn went back to going to sleep at 9.30, waking up ocasionally at 3am and 6am then sleeping through until 9-9.30 a.m.

don't think there is anything you can give a colicky baby other than infacol before feeds (although dubious re: efficacy of infacol - didn't work for us)

hang in there. i bet it's short lived

p.s. i'm knackered too. stayed up tidying up until 4 a.m.!!!only time i can get stuff done finn now v. clingy think i've cultivated a snacker/snoozer, still no routine so spend all day feeding and carrying him and letting him fall asleep on me. doh

must get it together!

ah Rodeo, I was going to ask about Librans! I'd say the description of a scorpio sums me up pretty well - thats why i'm very happy to have libran, hate to think how DD and I would have clashed otherwise.

I'll be interested to know what Jess weighs now Rodeo, as Nat seems to be huge. We're getting her weighed tomorrow, and I'm also going to talk to the HV about putting her on a formula for hungrier babies.

Is it just me or are baby clothes really small? Nat is growing out of some of the 3-6 month clothes I got just before xmas, and she's only 11.5wks! Anyone else finding this?

Jenjam, Nat also used to scream if she was put down in her chair, she can go from sleep to scream in 0.6 seconds. However, she's now grown out of that and will quite happily sit watching me. She still won't sleep on her own in the day though, but here are some positive thoughts on that
1: As she likes to sleep on me, it makes me rest 3 times a day
2: If I need to stop her napping before bedtime, I just put her down and she is instantly awake
3: I love our cuddle time, IMO you can't 'spoil' a baby
4: She's very happy in her sling

Afternoon everyone! Just back from my driving lesson, so now needing to 'de-stress' a little!
Jenjam: you sound like you've pretty much got things together to me . While I am very much a routine person when it comes to babies, there are times when you do just have to stand back from it all and go with the flow - it will all be different in a few weeks again anyway! Can't believe you were up till 4 tidying - get some rest woman!!! Libby is so out of her 'routone' today it's unbelievable!Needing to be picked up constantly (even requiring hoover/hairdryer noise - anyone else do that?)and back to half feedsn; still, gald it's happening today and not tommorrow when she ngets her jabs IYSWIM.
NOVA: agree about clothes - the arm length seems tp be the first sign , then you've had it! We're hovering inbetween 0-3/3-6, but the latter are too roomy. BTW that SMA white stuff is good stuff by all accounts .
Rodeo - yes, I'll bring my diary so we can gatecrash the south! Would you like to arrange a (provisional) date for Sheffield for a few weeks time, and then modify when Twinkle and others post?
I would also concur with the Scorpio traits, as they fit my dd2 (15/11/01) to a tee. Ceratinly knows her own mind, to put it mildly! Vastly different to dd1 who is a Cancerian. As my consultant said though (who has toddlers himself), the 'spirited' children are the one's who grow up into the interesting adults .

Hiya all

Getting worried with all this talk of big babies as I know Sam was 12.5lbs at 6 weeks and I think he is now 14lbs. Mind you I have just measured his length and I make it 61cms, and that is measuring according to how the book tells you, so that means that his height and his weight are on the same level percentile wise. He doesn't look fat, just large all round. Am a little worried though as health visitor said that if he continues to put weight on like this that I should start withdrawing some of his food, can you imagine!!!!!! He doesn't seem to be eating that much either. My friends baby has 240ml, nearly 6 times a day whereas Sam only has 140ml (5fl oz) 6 times a day plus between 5 and 10 minutes of me each time. I really don't want hv to say I have to restric his food, that would be hell, I don't think the screaming would stop between feeds. I just hope that when they find out his length they will say it's ok.

Is anyone else worried about instilling bad habits in little one. I have just realised that Sam will not sleep unless bounced - just did a little experiment!!! He would not settle. Is this bad, am I setting myself up for a bad time later. I just bounce until he's asleep (in bouncy chair or on arm) and then leave him, then bounce if he wakes up, but now he won't nap without the bounce first.

He has just woken up, so will be back later.

Hi Enthusia! I'm no expert, but I wouldn't worry too much about instilling bad habits at this age. I'm a bit paranoid myself about this too, and for this reason make sure Libby is awake when she goes down for naps and big sleep, but apparently it's not until 6 months or so that patterns can become habitual and harder to get out of. If you're happy doing what you're doing, I'd say stick with it for now, perhaps watering it down in a few months time?
Meant to say TESSAMUM, thanks for nail advice - will try the vaseline tip!

Rodeo & Nova sorry I forgot that you guys escaped the Scorpio trap. Librans are lovely my dh is one and he matches his sign very well.

Well done Jenjam for doing that for me! I quite agree they do sound a bit negative, it made me laugh about the half truths, so there goes Santa & the tooth fairy then

Diege I'm a cancerian and we are definitely nice people [modest icon] I love the consultants opinion i'll remember that next time my two are having tantrums!

Right best go as have been summoned to put a train track together, we're obviously bored of being pirates now even though I have had Ben bouncing on the beds, climbing the rigging, hoisting the sales and walking the plank plus looking for treasure (bag of gold coins) - it's been nice to have some proper time with Ben today. He has also taken to putting his dolls in Thomas's cot with the mobile on and feeding and winding them - it's all very cute and I'm feeling a very lucky mummy at the moment.

Speakt to you all later Beks

Thanks for that Diege, we were making sure he was awake when he went down, but then that suddenly stopped as he wouldn't settle, now we bounce, will try not bouncing when he wakes and see if he learns to settle himself.

Was it beks asking about wind, I can't remember, whoever it was, have you tried cycling your little ones legs, like on a bike. It is meant to help air through the digestion process as it moves the intestines, it works for Sam, unfotunately you are down the business, stinky end when it happens though!!!

My dh is back in manchester around the 20 something, am wondering whether to go, what do you think? My main concerns are sterilising bottles, moving hotels each night, the drive up and whether being out all day would do him and me any good!

Right the screaming for food is getting too much

one handed typing so v brief

anyone changing their mind about going back to work in 3 months....?

cartoons just too good to give up

was intending to be a sahm for a couple of years jen, then think about retraining. i really want another baby at the mo, obv. one just isn't hard enough work - lol. A friend of ours has just told us she'ss expecting, and i find myself strangly jealous...

Hi girls, It's good to back

Sorry if I appear selfish but haven't time to catch up on all posts, so I'm really, really sorry if I've missed anything important. Just hope that you and your little ones are all well and will try to catch up yet again. Is everyone okay?

Zayn wasn't well, to me he appeared okayish but showing signs of the cold and a little diarrhoea. DH came home, freaked out, pointed out that he was wheezing, struggling to breathe and totally not himself (bad mummy was stood faffing with phone trying to get NHS direct number and insisting that it was 'just a cold') so off he whisked us to A & E which i thought a tad OTT but it was lucky that we did! Poor little love was soooo unwell, he refused to be fed so he was fed my milk through a drip, given some other kind of drip (had wire through his nose and another one in his hand - that freaked me out but felt better on seeing all the other babies in the ward looking similar) So many babies there with bronchiolitis - can imagine how you felt when your little one had this Layla's mum!
Anyway, he was fed my milk for a couple of days, through syringe, then bottle and eventually back to breast. Pleased to say that fantastic electric pumps in hospital allowed me to produce 130ml of milk in half the time it takes me to produce a piddly 30ml with hand pump! Managed to then leave DH overnight with bottles and got home for some rest - we were all exhausted esp as we all have horrid colds.
Nurses were fab! We were given our own room - absolute blessing as ward was undescribable. No way anyone could sleep through that.

He seems to be feeding well again, am a bit worried about his weight though, so HV out tomorrow. He had a few colicky hours last night - my cure for this is to simply hold him straight (as vertical as possible) to let the wind pass, squeeze him a little, rubbing his back and then he puts his head on my chest under chin and sleeps...we slept like this all night - but boy is it a back killer!!

Right, sorry to have gone on girls, but it's good to talk about it all. Thanks for listening if you're still there.

Well, off to play Florence Nightingale again xx

ChaCha - good to hear from you. Glad little Zayn is a bit better.

Diege - I want to do slimming world. Do you alternate between red and green days, and can you eat as much as you like of the specified foods on those days?

The twins used to be oblivious of each other. One could scream his head off and the other would carry on sleeping. Things have changed a bit, and they can start each other off. I sometimes have to put them down for naps in different rooms - just as well I have four cots in three different rooms!

JenJam - I'm going back to work when the twins are 7 months - and looking forward to it! I like my job and need adult company, and it is a lot easier than looking after two babies!

Who is coming over on Monday - is it just you and me LilJ?

Anyone else watching the new series of ER tonight on E4?

Took Ezra to peadriatric cranial osteopath today. Will let you know if I see an improvment in the reflux.

Just a quick hello...husband is working from home yesyerday/today/tomorrow...thought it would be fun but just means he's designing stuff on the computer all day, and I can't get near it! Just sneaked on here, have sent him out for some milk....speak soon....hooray Zayn is okay!