August 2005 babies enter a new year!

[Miaou]

A new thread for the new year!

Here is a link to the old one.

Hiya, welcome champagneandnappies! Like the name

Queenrollo, Ds's fave toys are:

A mirror surrounded by little beads that cascade round it - on a weighted base that has a bell in it. He sits up and looks down into it. Can't remember what make it is which is a shame as I would recommend it - he loves it!

Still getting a lot of milage out of his baby gym - plays with it both lying down and sitting up

Elc musical turtle - press its eyes (that makes me wince ) and it plays different tunes and its back lights up. He is fascinated by this though he can't make the music play himself yet.

Vtech walker thing - mine is an old one that belonged to my nephew and he is five now. Ds loves bashing away at the keys to make the noises/tunes. Doesn't use the walking part of it yet.

Brightly coloured fabric flower from Tesco's - with squeaker, bell etc. Nice and light to pick up and chew.

And ... a set of brightly coloured plastic links that cost 79p in Morrisons! Great for chewing on and it clips to highchair/car seat etc.

Miaou......we have the Tesco flower thing, it's looking very dog eared as ds has just about chewed it to death.
and you've reminded me that we have the V tech walker too. we were given it by friends when we announced we were expecting.......had totally forgotten about it (it's packed away) so will hunt it out and see how ds likes it.

ds has the vtech ball with the blue dog that pops up and says 'peek a boo, i see you' and plays tunes......god i am sick of hearing it. it has a yellow flashing light on the top which ds sticks his nose to and watches the light for ages.
he's getting bored now so i'd better go and amuse him!!

Miaou - Thank you for the compliment! My two favourite things in life!! Particularly as I have 3 kids in nappies - OK so one is jsut at night.

Queenrollo - my dd is as follows:

7am - 7oz milk and 4 ice cubes fruit
10.30am - 6-8ozs milk
11.30am - 5 ice cubes vegetables now mixing with chicken
3pm - 6-8ozs milk
5.15pm - 5 ice cubes fruit
6.30pm - 6-8ozs milk

We too have the blue dog which dd absolutely adores but unfortunately so do my 2.5 and 3.5 and that's all we hear!! Another goody is the Fisher Price Sort and Store with the blocks.

Hi champagneandnappies cool name!

Your routine sounds really good to me. Ds today has had some baby rice for breakfast, rice cake for lunch (haven't started lunch properly yet) and some veggie mush on a ricecake which he sucked at a bit - not v impressive .

I took him to his nursery yesterday and had to try and describe his routine I think I have requested far too many bottles for him - 4 and 2 meals and thats not inluding his morning bf evening bottle and 2 nightfeeds

Josey - death threats I have had one person threaten to send the boys round!!!

Interested in the toy question QR have been wanting to ask that myself DS still on baby gym and soft toys but desp wants to grab and eat remote controls, phones, books etc .

Pooky - quite impressed with it myself actually! .

My older 2 who are now 2.5 and 3.7 did the same - a mixture of Gina Ford and Annabel Karmel and a pinch of fingers crossed!

pookey i know the joys of work!!!

my dd doesnt seem to eat anywhere near as much as that when she is having solids usually 2 icecubes mixed with something else usually rice they are quite big icecubes though, mind you she will then have a yoghurt after

she has quite alot of toys that were bought for her, her fav is a green frog she just loves frogs for some reason she has a bib with one on and goes mad trying to see it, she also has one of those sit in musical activity centres and loves that we got it at half the price at xmas or she wouldnt have got it

I have started a diet this week, trying on my wedding dress has really focussed my mind, so we had pancakes on Tuesday and on Wednesday I started my diet. Hopefully it shouldn't be too bad as DH has given up chocolate for Lent and he's usually my downfall. I have also shut down my bakehouse for lent, so no yummy home baked things in my house at the moment. It's a shame as baking is one of my favourite things, not as much as eating what I bake though So at the moment I'm knitting to take my mind off cooking and more importanly eating.

Ds2 has a sit in activity centre as well that was a christmas present and apart from that anything that he can get in his mouth, phone, curtains, books, hair, etc... He does like his Fisher Price Peek-a-boo blocks as they are the right size fro his hands and he can pick them up.

Sorrry that all those that are going to work are having a difficult time of it, I remember how hard it was getting my hours sorted after I had DS1. However, now that my employer is actually DH I don;t see a problem I'm going to do his company accounts for him, not that I actually know how to do it yet, but I'm sure after some traning I'll mange it. Sometimes after a hard day with the children I have to remind myself that I have a degree and that there is a brain in there somewhere.

Welcome Champagneandnappies, love the name. I love one and am not so keen on the other, it isn't hard to work out which is which

It's the little things that make your day, isn't it? Today ds worked out how to hold his cup and get water out of it himself (and also that if he wasn't getting any out then he needed to tip it up higher!). He also worked out how to shake a particular toy so that it makes a noise (it has to be shaken a certain way). This from the boy who has been very reluctant to pick things up, so I am very proud of him. (had a proud moment with dd1 today too so I'm feeling extra happy!)

I'm now doing a couple of three-hour sessions per week at the library. It is great to get out of the house, fun learning a new skill, and dh and ds have a ball together. Dh is really enjoying spending quality time with ds.

Our baby and toddler group is coming together well - we are doing a sponsored toddle in a couple of weeks to raise funds for equipment, and we have got £700 in grants which we need to spend on furniture and storage. I have also started going to aerobics once a week which is great fun.

Hi all! Took Ds to nursery for an hour and I think he really liked it! Solids isn't going so well, this week he has had an itchy rash after eating swede and he has developed mild eczema it seems, poor little man.

Miaou how is your new feeding routine going, I am in a bit of a mess so been looking at Gina Ford, can't believe she recommends only 3 milk feeds for this age! by the way, your ds was holding out on you so he could do things in style - he must have been figuring things out in his head before he started practising for real!

Good luck with the diet kate - Just say No! Shame I can't say no to minstrels (and to an unmentionable number of other treaty things!)

Feeding seems to have worked out pretty well pookey - ds has a big feed when he wakes, then breakfast, then somtimes a small feed before he goes down for a nap (though he can take it or leave it and doesn't seem to miss it when I am at work), then lunch, then another big feed at about 1.00 - 2.00. Another feed at 4.30pm-ish which he will sometimes miss if he's had a big lunch, then tea, then a big feed at 7-7.30, then that's him till the morning.

I've been reading Gina Ford too - I thought that since she is so talked about I ought to at least look at what she is saying! Agree about the three feeds a day thing - doesn't seem like enough to me (though it is good to know that it is feasible to get enough milk from three feeds).

Ds needed a lot of prodding but seems to have got himself pretty well in a routine now, which is great as we have got something to work to!

Thanks Miaou that sounds a bit more achievable! Does your ds only have one nap? I think I have got ds in the habit of being in the pram for his naps so we are going to have to stay in a bit more while he is settling in at nursery. Today he slept for about an hour at 9 then refused another nap until I gave in and took him out in the pram around 3;30 even then it took a good while before he fell asleep. Think maybe he should just have 1 lunchtime nap but will take some working out!

My diet is going OK, I have 4lbs since Wednesday, feeling very pleased with myself, only another 16lbs to go, oh dear that does sound like a lot doesn't it. I have also taken to running at the gym to try and get the weight off as apparently it's the most efficient way the burn calories and more impertantly fat I'm not very good, but yesterday I managed to run a mile without stopping so I'm feeling quite pleased with myself.

DS2 has his 7 and a half month check on Tuesday, I can't believe it's come round so fast. He is so big I can hardly carry him anymore and it's ages until he starts to walk and my arms get a rest, stil maybe I'll get nicely toned arms as a side effect, I can wish can't I?

Ds1 has now started pre-school an afernoon a week and it's lovely to have some quality time with DS2, but it as reminded me how fast they grow up and that they really aren't babies for long. It made me fel a bit sad as I know I'm not having anymore.

ooops sorry pookey, missed out all the napping - it varies tbh - sometimes he will have two hours in the morning, then an hour around lunchtime and another hour around four o'clock; other times he will have three half-hour or hour-long sleeps. Generally he has about three per day, for between three and five hours altogether.

Well, after a couple of nights of reasonable sleep (well, reasonable compared to beforehand) we're back to numerous wakings. Last night 10.15pm (settled back without moving from cot), 11.55pm (bottle), 2.45am (small amount of diluted milk, settling at 3.30am), 4.30am (kept in cot), 5am (kept in cot) and 6.15am (up for day - bottle at 6.45am but didn't take loads). Yawn.

Am also feeling rather sad because my cleavage has completely gone since giving my last breastfeed almost 2 weeks ago. I enjoyed having breasts and am now back to what feels like an A cup. Am puzzled where all the extra flesh has gone, though. I wish the same would happen to my tummy.

hi all
went out on saturday night and left ds with babysitters for the first time.......my mum and dad came over and sat with him. the first half hour in the pub was the worst, and then i stopped fiddling with my mobile phone and realised that my mum managed to bring up my sister and i, so she was more than capable of looking after a sleeping baby!
feeling up and down at the moment for various reasons, so trying to keep my mind occupied so as not to dwell on them.
have found a driving school close to me that do intensive courses so am looking into fitting that around dp's work schedule at some point.
and i went on netmums and found a girl who lives in my village! after exchanging a couple of mails it turns out she lives a five minute walk around the corner from me and even more bizarrely three of her relatives owned my house in it's previous incarnation as a cinema. she's in a wheelchair and doesn't get out much so i've said when we get to know each other better i'll pop round for coffee.
hope everyone is keeping well and that all our little ones are behaving! mine has decided he'll eat slices of banana when my friend gives them to him, but no such luck when i try!

Anyone any bright ideas on how to get my DS to take more than a 45 min nap? He takes 3/4 naps a day but is always grizzly like he needs more sleep. He goes to sleep easiest in the pram or car but will sleep in his bed too. I've tried sitting in the room beside him, coaxing him from one sleep cycle to the next but this doesn't work... I'm getting very little done in a day and also find it hard always fighting his grizzling.

Hi all

Miaou thanks, sounds like 1 nap in the middle of the day might not be enough. Sorry Suzi I am part of the under an hour nap club too, he usually manages one or two short naps at home but his long naps are always when strolling in the pram - I can never get him to resettle once he wakes from a nap at home, he just cries at the top of his lungs as if to say don't mess with me I want outta this cot. It is hard having moved house not to have stretches of the day for sorting things (we bought our house in aug and moved in the beg of oct). By the way how are you going with the weaning? I've pretty much given up on BLW and am currently giving him baby rice

Azure sorry to hear about your boobies , it will be a sad day in our house when my boobs deflate leaving several spare tyres as my main source of 'curves'

Sorry to hear about the short nappers! When they go down in their cots are they in darkness (ie do you have blackout blinds?) - if not, maybe the light is waking them once they get into a lighter sleep. Just a thought.

Lots of sympathy on the boob front Kate - I love bf not least because it's the one time in my life I have cleavage!! Am dreading going back to an A cup (not for a while hopefully!)

Ds has actually upped the number of naps he has during the day just now - he is sitting up unaided but is still very wobbly, so uses up a huge amount of energy self-correcting - so after two hours of being awake he is exhausted and needs another sleep! I reckon he's having 4+ hours during the day (and still sleeping the same length of time at night!!). Up until this week he could go quite happily 3+ hours between naps. I guess once he is more "solid" sitting then he will go back to that. What a difference in him though - his hand-eye co-ordination is coming on leaps and bounds now he is upright

Think you are right about the blind Miaou - on a sunny day it is much harder to get him to nap - thing is I am paranoid that I might make it hard for him to sleep when he is older if the conditions have to be perfect - complete darkness, silence etc. one of my old acquaintances was an insomniac and he had his room in complete darkness with blankets over the windows all the time - not fun. Guess if things don't improve we will have to consider it though esp with the earlier mornings.

He is napping now by the way as just back from GP and i am feeling guilty as planning a cuppa when he should be feeding {{wry smile}}

Just to witter on some more, they are getting funny now - really serious when playing and chortelling for no apparent reason when breastfeeding Sweet news about your DS Miaou, my current worry is he doesn't interact with other babies - whats wrong with me he is only 7 months!

Ah, there's always something to worry about, pookey!!

IIRC, with my older two, we had to put blackout blinds up in their rooms when they got to about this age, and they stayed up until they were about 4 or 5. After which time they now both sleep with their bedroom curtains wide open! So I shouldn't worry too much about introducing a habit that is hard to break. If we were out and about and the dds needed to sleep, they would keep going until they were exhausted then just drop off, so the light didn't really make any odds to them. And don't forget, they will be cutting back on daytime naps fairly substantially during the next few months (apart from the odd blip like when they start crawling/walking and just exhaust themselves!), so they will not curtail your freedom quite so much. I think your insomniac friend is more likely to be a one-off IMHO.

Oooh he certainly was a one off! Thanks, gonna have a word with dp about getting some blinds or curtains will probably have to wait until I get my first wage packet

hi everyone

suzi/pookey not sure what to suggest re the sleeping we have black out curtain linings as the sun shines most of the day in the front bedrooms,thoug it doesnt always make a difference, dd changes her mind about having 2 hour naps or 45min naps but she does still sleep around 12 hours during the night though, if she is awake when i cot i tend to try and do some tidying in her bedroom so im there but ignoring her and that tends to put her off if i pay attention to her she laughs at me!!

she is now in her own room at night (from monday) i cried saying goodnight what a sop, it took her longer than normal to drop off and she has been up about 6.30 instead of her usual 7.30-8 but if you cuddle her she drops off again think it could be a lonely thing hoping she will get used to it soon though.

she has become a daredevil and if you bounce her high or swing her she laughs so hard her tummy goes really hard, i bought her a door bouncer today and she went nuts in it so good investment i think.

i have been given my back to work start date today of last week in april have a training course that week then back to it, however work also let me know of an internal job that is in my local town not far from where i live, it is 21 hours instead of 17.5 currently i will be working monday tuesday and wed mroning this job is monday 9-2 tues-fri 10-2 which is great on the child care front and i dont have a 30mile round trip which would also be good, so have asked for an application though i keep getting cold feet my head is spinning with the thought of work and i dont want to think about it just enjoy my time at home.

Azure sorry to hear about the boobs mine were awful when i first stopped feeding they went from 40dd to 36a they were like empty sacks and like you i wondered what had happend to the flesh im delighted to say they have found themselves again and im back to a 34c even if they are a bit lower on the body than they used to be

Kate well done with the diet, i have manged to shift 9lb since end jan i keep putting a couple lbs on when dh is home cause he loves choc biccies and crisps and i cant let him eat them alone that would be mean

i am back to what i was even though that was about half a stone or so over what i would like to be

pookey you might be able to get blackout material off ebay and sew it into the existing curtains or onto the blind if you are handy like that - much cheaper.

That's a good idea Miaou, I am an ebay virgin but will have to pop that cherry soon!

Josey def apply for that job even though it might seem like a pita it will be well worth the anxiety and a couple of hours or so preparing for the interview if you get the job and have a short journey and better hours for school run.