August 2005 babies enter a new year!

[Miaou]

A new thread for the new year!

Here is a link to the old one.

Josey, what a nightmare!! I think I can beat you today though. All 3 little DS's had lunch today when we got back from picking up DS2 from nursery and everything was going swimmingly. I put DS4 on his playmat after his feed so I could sort out DS3 and they both go up for a sleep. I got DS3 out of his highchair and went to clean his tray before taking them both to bed. On the way back from the kitchen with the clean tray, I managed to catch DS2 with it(who was sitting on the floor playing the PS2 and minding his own business). I got him right in the corner of the eye, blood poured everywhere, it was going blacker and purpler and he couldn't open his eye. In a total panic I wacked a cold compress on it and rang DH (don't know why as he works 15 minutes away) and he said he would come home.

By the time he got back the bleeding had stopped and I felt dreadful!! To make matters worse DS2 said it was ok coz it was an accident, I should have looked where I was going and he Loved me SOOOO much (what a guilt trip). The cut kept re-opening during the afternoon so I had to drag all 4 of them to the Doctors after picking DS1 up from school so they could clean it up and put a steri-strip on it.

By the time he went to bed it was still stinging, still re-opening and bleeding and he kept looking at me all pathetically and telling me he loved me.

I am officially the WORST mummy in the world!!!

Aw d&c, sounds like you had an awful day!! It's bad enough when our lo's have an accident, but when it's our fault, boy the guilt is hard to handle, isn't it? How sweet that he was so good about it though - you've obviously taught him well how to behave when these things happen.

I took ds for his third set of jags today - he was soooo good, just squawked a bit but was smiling by the time we left the surgery! However he is very unsettled this evening and I think I am coming down with a virus so I suspect we may have a rough night.

Maybe you won't, Miaou. Both DS and DD are sick, DS has croup, so I thought it would be a baaaad night last night. Caitlin woke herself up sneezing or coughing 4 times, and managed to settle herself right back to sleep 3 of them, and Colin didn't wake up with problems until 6 this morning.

Sorry you had your accident d+cmum and you didn't have a good day, Josey.

I've decided that I'm not happy with my body the way it got after my 2nd pregnancy. I lost all the weight, it just redistributed differently. So this is my pig-out week where I eat whatever and however much of what I want, and then next week is do something about it time. DH doesn't understand the logic in that, but I don't really care.

Miaou hope you and lo are ok tonight, and the virusey feeling doesn't come to much.

D&CMommy you are not the worst mummy in the world that's me or thats what i keep telling dp! Accidents are bound to happen when you have 4 little boys running around. Is he the angel he seems or is he clever and storing up brownie points

Josey sorry you have had a bad day, don't blame you for loosing it, did he really kick lumps out of the ceiling - you def deserve some guilt free chocs.

Azure really feel for you it must be really hard having 2 lo who aren't sleeping through. On the lotto front we won £8.90 on euro millions, we are going to reinvest in some more tickets not sure I would want to win £70 million (DP pisses his pants when I say that kind of thing) but I like how random the amounts you can win are!

Finally, Beachyhead I don't think you could have a better start for your nanny, your db sounds like a dream but even so its just as hard going back to work just in a different way. Are you going back out of necessity or because you want to?

Sorry just wanted to say hi to everyone as ds has managed to stay asleep since 7:30 and I am so happy. The doc said to try colief and so far so good. So long as I get to eat my dinner in peace with dp I can cope with the night wakings

Pookey - If you asked me a few months ago I would have said he is being very clever and storing up brownie points but he is really good now so is just being an angel. He is milking it a bit this morning though, complaining it hurts and then playing snakes and ladders and PS2 with DS1 without so much as a whimper!!!!

My DS1 was the unhappiest baby EVER and the ONLY thing that made him resemble a normal baby was Colief!! It came in a tiny bottle and cost £10 a time but it was so worth it because it really does work. I tried ALL the others like dentinox etc and none of them worked but the difference the Colief made was amazing, he was almost bareable. Is it still so expensive or can you get it on prescription now??

I hope everyone got a good night sleep, I gave DS4 a bottle at 6pm and decided to skip the last one at 9pm because I am fed up of waking him for it. I went to bed and crossed my fingers that he wouldn't wake at 4am and he didn't!! He slept right through until 6.30am and even then he wasn't screaming for his bottle, just whimpering. I decided to get him up and feed him though so that I now have time to deal with all the other little treasures I have (oh and do a quick post on here)

Kate100 - I don't know how you have the energy to go to the gym at that time of night!! I am done in by then. I put DS3 to bed at 5pm, DS2&4 to bed at 6pm and DS1 at 7pm and then I collapse and eat some dinner while getting my daily soaps fix!! I just find that after a day with 4 of them (3 are still at home - DS2 only has Nursery for 2 1/2 hours a day) I am shattered!! DH would look after them so I can go to the gym because he did it when I used to go to Aqua-natal Aerobics when I was pregnant with DS3. My Mum and Dad are really good at looking after the boys but now that my babysitter (next door) has moved to Liverpool I am having to ask them to do my night time babysitting for social events so I don't like to ask them on a Sat morning as they usually go shopping or the gym!!! Well done to you though for going out in the cold and dark and rain, that is dedication!! I am going to get a DVD by the end of the week and the plan is to do it after lunch while DS3&4 are having their sleep. We will see if it actually happens though, I have all the best intensions

D&Cmum wow what a horrible day,your ds sounds very sweet though, he will enjoy showing off his war wound im sure, im impressed at the 5,6 and 7pm bed times, i think if i was you though id be following them by 8 im terrible for needing sleep and not able to get up in the morning.

feeling a bit better today, did a work out (that core stability is a killer but apparently essential for perfect abs, semi normal would do me!!)had a bath then a cuppa and a bar of chocolate haha

Pookey not so much lumps as crack the artex, how he didnt hurt his feet is beyond me. now if you do happen to win 70million and feel guilty about it sure the aug05 thread wouldnt mind dontations i do know what you mean and have said it a few times myself, but in this day and age 1million really isnt that much is it, so id at least want 5 i think.

Fingers crossed today will be better he has been warned if any unfinished work comes home today that his ps2 and tv are a no go for a week.

C&Cmommy i like your idea i did that last week, unfortunately didnt get through all the goodies in the cupboard

Hope your virus doesnt come to much Maiou, hope you arent getting the weather too bad its starting to get very wild here. my mum was under hurrican wind warning last night, thankfully dh due home today so he wont get too bashed about.

bleurgh....feel lousy today! I hardly ever get ill - in fact bar morning sickness the last time I felt this lousy was about 18 months ago. I'm not that bad really, just the nausea is getting to me. Dh asked if it was morning sickness, but it's not that kind of nausea!

Ds wasn't too bad in the end, though it took him until about 11.30 to go to sleep - he missed his afternoon nap, slept for about 40 minutes around teatime, then that was it until 11.30!!! He slept until 4ish, then woke every hour after that. Harumph. I was trying to bugbust the dd's hair (dd2 has nits again) when he woke from his nap - I had to leave him yelling his head off whilst I finished, poor man!

Hi all and Happy New Year to you and your babies. Just wondered how many of you had started solids. Not started yet - ds turned 5 month on Dec 29th so going to wait till 6 months. Need to dig out the pump and blow off the dust... never used it... as I'll probably mix in some milk with the food.... I did manage to find all the bits for the blender last night so am nearly organised.

Twiga - I hope you got your email and we can meet up soon.

Sorry you're feeling so bad, Miaou.

On the night Caitlin chooses to sleep from 8:30-7:15, Colin has been up pretty much since 3:30 am. He's all sick and croupy, and keeps wanting DH, then me, then DH, etc. Poor baby.

Just out of curiosity, can I ask for a quick survey? How long before bedtime does your baby take its last nap? What time does it go to bed? And how much does it eat before it goes to bed?

Just asking as I fed Caitlin 6 ounces last night(she usually refuses to take more than 5 a feed unless she has napped past her regular feed), she wanted more, so I gave her 2 more, and she woke up about 20 min. after I put her to bed with her hungry cry and wouldn't go back to sleep, so DH gave her 3 more. I don't think she was starving, because she usually gets between 30-34 ounces a day.

my routine for ds is (roughly!) as follows

5am 8oz feed
he then sleeps till 8am (it may take him half an hour to go back to sleep)
8am cereal and 2oz milk
10.30am nap
11am 8oz feed
1.30pm nap
2pm 8oz feed
4.30pm nap
5pm 8oz feed
7pm 8oz feed and bed

he sometimes only takes 5oz from his bottles, but usually drains the 5am one. this morning he slept through till 6am but i give him breakfast at 8 regardless to try and keep that part of the routine rigid, and i try to always do bedtime at 7pm. if he wants his bottle at 6.30 he goes to bed then but if he wants it at 6 then we give him another one at 8 and that will be bedtime.

his daytime naps are usually 20 mins long but he doesn't always have them and if not then he is a nightmare come late afternoon/bedtime.

i'm not normally a routine person, i like to be spontaneous but i tried fairly early on to get a feeding routine established (kind of followed the Baby Whisperer EASY routine)as i found it enabled me to deal with my days better knowing when ds was due a bottle. mostly it works but occasionally i have days where his afternoon feeds are only two hours apart because he demands food!
next week am hoping to introduce a lunchtime meal, just trying to figure out where to slot it in.........

wow! that was a long post!

had ds weighed today, first time since 7th dec........he is 18lb!! no wonder i'm worn out from carrying him round all day long!

Thanks for that, moschops. Colin was never a routine baby, and I am not a routine person at all. I think the extent of our routine was that we always went to Kindermusic on Thursdays. But Caitlin really seems to be needing a routine, I think that has been the biggest thing other than the switch to Soy that has helped with her sleep. I just really don't know how to do one, because I've never needed to and never liked routines.

well i kept a diary of times/amounts that ds was feeding and he naturally drifted to a three hour cycle, which initially meant feeding every three hours day and night.......then he gradually dropped the night feeds. occasionally he will wake at 2am and if he won't settle then i do feed him, because his body must need it if he's waking for it. to be honest the first couple of weeks of sticking to a three hour routine weren't always easy but when he settled into it he seemed to be a much happier baby.

i can hear him grizzling on the monitor so i have to go!!!!!

3 hrs. must be a popular thing, then, because that's what Caitlin's on. Your routine looks a lot like mine, except for she takes a morning nap earlier. When she wakes at night it is usually around 2 also, and same as you, I try not to feed her, but if she's hungry she gets fed.

Hi Eulalia i am trying to hold off until 6 months, I was begining to crack because DS waking suddenly became much worse but colief seems to be helping (touch wood) last night he was in bed at 7 and only woke at 12 then 6 which was the best in months, poss ever!

Josey if I win 70 million we can have an august meet up somewhere luxurious with night nannies on tap!

C&C Mommy I don't have a real daytime routine he usually has a short nap every 2 1/2 hours after he wakes if in the house or for longer if out in his pram. Feeds are pretty much on demand . I usually aim for him to have a nap between 4 and 5 otherwise he falls asleep without feeding well. The main routine is that he has a bath at 6, then a feed for as long as he seems to want one, this is sometimes followed by a story then bed by 7:00/7:30. App the optimum time for a baby to go to sleep for the night is between 6 and 7. Because of weight issues I always feed him at night unless it is less than 2 hours since he went to sleep (I sometimes feed him even if it is less than 2 hours if he didn't feed well at 6:30). This is probably not the best routine!! My aunt doesn't have a routine her 4 month old DD she goes to bed when they do and has slept through the night since days old - they have to wake her up!

Eulalia, got your email, thanks! Am heading south for a few days but will email back with some dates and stuff once I'm back Monday.

c&c mommy last nap usually between somewhere between 4&5 at 5 have some dinner bath between 6.30 and 7 and into last feed of 7oz usually in bed no later than 8, sleep anywhere until 7.30 and 9, im lucky that at weekends and things when we dont have to get up she feeds and snuggles down and goes off to sleep for a bit, infact today fed at 7.30 and is back asleep in bed snuggled up with dh bang goes the routine ive had the last week!!!! I hate routine as well and tend to let them slip, the one thing i do try and keep the same is dinner and bath.

oooo pookey can we have that written in blood hahaha not that any of us would actually know if you won hahaha i do the euro as well but have never won anything so not holding out hopes what is it the add says "think lucky"

hope your feeling better maiou

Hope you feel better soon, Miaou, it was really hard going when I felt ill last week, so you have my sympathy.

C&Cmommy, I don't have much of a routine, I try and follow what ds2 wants but things happen at roughly the same time. The only thing I'm really strict about is bedtime. So this is roughly our day

Wakes - between 7:30 and 8, usually has a good long sing in his cot before he cries to get up Feed when he wakes
11:00 - 11:30 ish another feed
12:30 - 1:00 lunch when ds1 and I are having ours
3:30 - feed
5:00 - dinner
7:00 - feed and bed
Now I've typed that it seems like I do have a bit of a routine, it's naps that are haphazard. If I'm in the house I put him down for a nap after breakfast and after lunch, otherwise it's a sleep in the car or the pram wherever we happen to be. This can be a pain as he's quite a light sleeper and usually has a good wail before dropping off if we're out and about.

Azure, haven't found a nanny yet - just started the search. Am using nannyjob.co.uk and an agency I know called Childhood Nannies......am going back when I find a nanny - not feeling particularly keen at the moment, I must admit...

Beachyhead thanks for that. I was thinking of placing an ad in Simply Childcare as a start - I'll look at the website you suggest. When DS1 had an after-school nanny for a few months we got someone from www.gumtree.co.uk but she wasn't qualified and we're looking for a much higher calibre of person this time - also one for whom we can use childcare vouchers and save £2000 a year.

Routine - how I wish. Nights are still completely rubbish but I'm trying to instigate regular daytime naps. Anyway, this is about what we're on at the moment:

Wake up - anytime from 5am. Breastfeed, but not always a big one depending on when / how much he fed in the night (so he doesn't need the second night feed he currently has).
8.30-9am nap for 20 mins. Just enough time to clear up after breakfast and load the washing machine.
9.30am fruit, maybe a feed depending on when he last ate
11-11.30am bottle feed. He's only taking a max of 4oz (1oz yesterday) as he's still resisting me giving the bottle
12 - 2/2.30pm nap. This is what I'm really trying to ensure happens.
2-2.30pm breastfeed
5pm vegetables or rice, maybe a small breastfeed
6.15pm start of bedtime routine. Breastfeed normally until he's asleep. The routine varies a little depending on DS1.
7.15 - 7.30pm asleep
Nighttime wakings start from 10pm. Second awakening 3 hours after first. If early, he wakes again around 4am and is difficult to settle.

I'm still feeling lousy today, and so is ds. He's not as smiley as usual, just wants to be cuddled (very unusual for him) and is having lots of little naps - he's on his third one today! He is snotty and from the way he cries has a sore throat too, and he is teething as well, poor wee man. I was going to attempt to summarise our "routine" but it's so vague and has gone t*ts up these last few days anyway, so I'll do it later in the week!

lol at routine...........my ds has been awful today, being sick and generally grumpy. i've had to give him some medised and so now he's asleep and i've totally given up on the routine today......must have cursed myself by writing it down.

think it must be teething related as he is so dribbly he leaves big puddles everywhere.......he's putting everything in his mouth and getting very frustrated as nothing seems to 'scratch his itch' so to speak!!

Thanks for the posts, guys. I've set up a routine for Caitlin, and it seems to be pretty normal. She takes naps at 9:30 (lasts about 2 hrs) and 1:30-2ish (lasts 1-1 &1/2 hrs) and 5:30 (about 15 min) and goes to bed around 8 wakes up between 1-2 but usually puts herself back to sleep and then is up about 6 am. And she eats 4-6 ounces every 3 hours during the day.

The only thing I've noticed is she seems to sleep a lot more during the day than most of your babies. Not going to worry about it, she's doing pretty well at night, so I'll just be thankful that she went from one of the worst sleepers to a pretty good one.

Sorry to hear you're feeling so bad, Miaou. Hope you and DS get better.

Sorry to have cursed your routine, moschops. You can be mad at me if you want.

well ds obviously had belly ache......we had a horrendous pooey nappy yesterday and he was sick most of the evening.....dp put him to bed at 7 as usual with his bottle and a dose of medised and he slept better than he has for some time (no whimpering in his sleep).....he woke at 5.30 for his am bottle which dp gave him as i slept through him waking for it i am so shattered today i could sleep right now....i feel like i've been woken from a really deep sleep and just want to roll over and go back there!! dp has started work this week and has been waking me with a cup of tea at 7.20 every morning......i think losing the extra 20 mins i would normally have has really taken its toll this week.

on a plus note we have secured the extra money we were expecting off our mortgage company so now we can get the kitchen built!!!

at medised. We don't have it over here.

Hi all. Sorry I don't get much of a chance to get on here and reply to messages. I always mean to... promise...! Problem is that DS (now 23wks) wants constant entertainment. He's actually getting a bit wild! He loves lying in the middle of the bed while I hide below the bed. I then wait about a minute and jump up and almost on top of him. And he giggles soooo much! My dad says he's an adrenaline junky

Miaou - thantks for the advice about teeth. We can actually feel something sharp coming through the top gum. Only thing is, if it is a tooth, it's a premolar! How weird would that be?

DS has gone from pooing once a week to doing it every day. It's really runny - sorry TMI! - it used to be more mud like. I 'think' it's how breastfed baby poo is meant to be... How do you know if a breastfed baby has diarreah??? Might be to do with the teething as his skin has broken out loads too. We're wet wrapping every night just to let him get some sleep. His sleep isn't too bad as he's in his own room now and is managing to settle himslef when he wakes. I think DH and I were waking him before.

He's still not rolled, although I'm sure he probably could if he really wanted. He's strong and loves standing and can sit for a minute or two unaided before toppling.

Routine wise, basically the only thng that is set is that we try to bath him and put him to bed between 7 and 8pm. When he wakes in the night is anyones guess. Sometimes once, other times loads. Sometimes none . During the day he feeds little and often and cat naps little and often. Which seems to suit him better than big feeds and big sleeps. Doesn't bother me much as I'm at home all day anyway. Though must get some things done round the house as we move in 4 wks!