April 2011 - silence might be golden but the April ladies are diamond so chat on

[GlaikitFizzog]

Ta Dah!

Next chat. Brain has shut down.

I'm sure you're doing nothing wrong Fizz. I find DD goes through phases with everything- sleep, appetite, temperament. Perhaps B is just having a 'not particularly bothered about food' spell.

Alternatively, could his teeth be bothering him or could he be coming down with a bug? I always find DD eats less when teething or feeling under the weather.

DD is happiest when surrounded by food :)

She hates us feeding her with a spoon - the only thing we do that with is yoghurt and she is getting there herself now anyway. Well sort of.

She is BLW though so has always been happier feeding herself bits and bobs. Maybe just try leaving a range of finger foods in reach and walk away for a bit, see what happens?

See we were BLW too, with only weetabix/readybrek or yogurt from a spoon and some how we've ended up spoon feeding more and more . I think because my CM was wary about BLW so I started making him meals that needed spooning and somehow got off the track. I think I'll just offer a selection of bits every meal see how it goes. I think now he's a bit bigger CM is better with giving him finger foods.

It's the lack of veg I'm worried about mostly. Soups were my fail safe way of getting them into him. I suppose as long as he's eating something I shouldn't stress too much? He is loving yellow plums just now, when I can get them, bananas, toast with anything, rice cakes, any potato based food not chips from our plates, cheese, yoghurts. He has very little meat/fish as he just spits it out. He just throws steemed veg on the floor. From that range of food is he getting enough of everything? What can I introduce to get more into him?

Raw veg?
cucumber/other salad-y stuff?

More fruit, berries, etc?

But mostly I would say don't stress, they all go through phases of eating X, then rejecting X entirely as if you are nuts to offer it, then just when you've thought they really don't like X, they'll eat it at Grandmas somewhere else

I'll get thinking!

Good luck for today chilli

Baby I still not walking unaided, although over the weekend he has realised that cruising along the furniture is easier and quicker, and he has been using his walker a lot more. Another tooth is through and the other is on its way.

We had a lovely day in Norwich (a-haaa) yesterday. Ds loved the castle and particularly liked the stuffed animals, which I always find horribly sinister. There was a beautiful Titian there which I actually managed to look at properly before the boys became restless.

I find that baby I will be spoon fed to a degree, but mostly he likes to feed himself. Maybe return to the blw basics and go from there? Also, try and be all nonchalant about it, they soon pick up on your stress about it - clever litle so and so's. If none of that works, just keep plugging away, things will change eventually, they always do.

When you mean your new home, do you mean in France Frak? Are you looking forward to moving away from the sub tropics, or will you miss the heat?

I'm pretty sure you aren't doing anything wrong Fizz we are having similar issues at the moment too, think it's just an age thing?! We never did exclusive BLW more traditional with some BLW thrown in for good measure but R now pretty much point blank refuses to take anything from a spoon, including yogurt and weetabix!! Breakfast time has gotten quite messy in our house but the only way she'll eat is to feed herself. In saying that, today she wouldn't touch the weetabix and would only have banana

Speaking of cruising R has just tried to pull herself up on her elephant ball popper and fallen flat on her face cus it wouldn't take her weight!!
Do those of you with jumperoos still use them at this age? R hasn't really been in hers very often recently and I'm thinking of putting it away as it takes up so much room. Seems a waste when we only got it for Christmas but she's just not interested in it now.

Chilli I'm sure M will settle in to nursery over time and will soon start eating when she gets hungry. It's really difficult leaving them for the first time isn't it. It does get easier though, well I thought so anyway.

Signing in at work so will have to be quick!

Thansk for the food advice. B is with DH today so he is under instruction to offer him anything and everything to see what he'll take!

Calling GSY I'm coming to your island!! Work trip, don't know when yet! I'm a bit excited!!

Hey all,

I'm not one for parenting guides, but I picked up Toddler Taming from the library today (forewarned hopefully being forearmed!), and have just spotted this in regard to the eating conversation:

"Many toddlers go off their food around their first birthday, a proper eating pattern not returning for anything up to a year. Some will tolerate a narrow, unimaginative diet; others will eat anything in sight. Some eat main meals; others were born to be snackers."

Which I thought was reassuring at least! They seem to be saying it's entirely normal and not to worry, just do what you can, and if it's cheese on toast for breakfast, lunch and dinner, then so be it!

I'll get back to you if it offers any more practical advice.

UBW thanks for that little nugget! I shall print it off and stick it on the fridge!

It went ok today. DH dropped her off and she wasn't screaming when I picked her up :) She declined weetabix for breakfast but I'd sent her with shreddies just in case and she ate them. Ate some of the lunch but helped me out with mine back at home. What shocked me was that she had a nap about 10.45 for an hour! I can't remember the last time she napped in the morning other than after swimming. Sadly that meant no afternoon nap so no mumsnet for me until now.
Work was ok, eventually managed to log in and go through 600 emails. Might look at some proper work tomorrow.

600, is that all. I had over 10,000!! I just hit the big red delete button though!!

Ladies have you seen this thread, 25%+25% at Dorothy perkins.

Well that's my last day of mat leave done and dusted. Back to work tomorrow. Been feeling y all day. Sure it's one of those things that will be worse in theory than practice. I so wish we could afford for me to be a SAHM though. Since I earn 3x what DP does he's the one going down to PT whilst I go back FT. which is daft really as I am longing to stay home whilst he doesn't really want to. Never mind. It is what it is. At least I've got a day a week off for 6 months, using up leave accrued whilst off. Doesn't help that Jo has missed her setting in days because she's been ill so it's a bit in at the deep end with the CM. still. Sure everything will be fine look of grim determination

ecuse good luck tomorrow. I feel for you going back full time. I'm really grateful we can afford for me to drop to half time.

Fizz it doesn't sound that many emails does it? People must have taken notice of my out of office! Removing myself from the lis-link mailing lists helped too (must re-start those tomorrow).

I did forget to take tea-bags in today but my line manager did buy me a while having a catch up meeting.

UBW thanks for the link about food. I'll try and stop worrying about the amount of toast releated things that M eats. I think she'd live on Warburtons fruit toast if she could (but then so would I).

Deary me. I am having a little cry in the bathroom. Really must pull myself together. Plenty of people work and have kids. Most people in fact. And I'm incredibly lucky to have been able to have a year off as mat leave. First world problems, eh?

Ps - Jo would live on beans on toast quite happily

Oh ecuse :( - don't cry. I promise it won't be as bad as you think. I was exactly the same before I went back and have been amazed to find that I'm actually enjoying work at the moment
This time next week, I bet you'll worry what all the fuss has been about!

Ecuse, it's ok to feel upset.

I do think going back when F was 5 months old had it's benefits. (uh-oh, this is going to sound terrible.) He was still grumpy and refluxy, he didn't do much, barely exhibited any signs of recognition. It would be so much harder to leave him for the first time now.

But he's well able to cope with a day of play with the cm now, and hugs on tight when I pick him up! He does cry when I make him leave the cm though!

And I'm one of those awful mothers who finds work as good as a rest ... kindof! Work means I still feel like me, if that makes sense. Although I do feel guilty for not feeling guilty.

I hope you find you can enjoy your time at work, but it's ok to feel the way you do!

iltmi yep back to Europe. Gsy and I will be neighbours I'll miss some things but there's too much heat and sun here. Am slightly scared
It'll be cold, damp and windy though. Still it'll be nice ro not have to wear factor vampire 24/7.

ecuse it's ok to cry/feel sad/worry. Hope all is well with you. If you really hate it you can do something even if it doesn't look as logical on paper. I agree with UBW. Earlier was easier in a sense although 4m was a bit too soon and maintaining EBF was a killer.

Yep UBW the ready steady toddler book I got from HV says much the same about them becoming fussier with food at this age. Quite glad I read it last week actually as R has started playing up something chronic with food recently.

Good luck today Ecuse I hope you find it a bit easier than you thought you would. I'm in the same boat as UBW I like going to work for a rest!!

Thanks for the link Fizz I bought 3 maxi dresses for the summer at about 40% discount, then I read the rest of the thread and realised I could have probably gotten a bit more off but hey ho!!

Feeling wiped today, R got up at 6am :( and has been a grumpy little madam since. She was up about 3-4 times between 11.30 & 01.30 too :(:( Hoping it's teeth but am a little worried that she has hurt her foot too. She has to stand to get dressed now - won't tolerate lying down so last night as I was popping up her vest she kind of lost her balance and plopped down on to her bum, I didn't think anything of it but then she started crying so I looked and saw that her foot was bent quite unnaturally under her bum She only cried for about 5 minutes and went to bed shortly after and I couldn't see any bruising or swelling on her foot. This morning again it's much the same although there's maybe a faint hint of a bruise but she's been crawling, standing & cruising all morning so pretty sure there can't be anything serious wrong with it, can there??

Hugs ecuse. You cry if you want to. I was a moody mare the day before i came back, and as others have said it turned out ok. Hope your day is going ok. xx

Glaikit G is a temperamental feeder too. And sometimes refuses point blank to eat his dinner. So I'm interested to hear any suggestions on this.

I think he must be hungry because if he doesn't eat a proper dinner then he wakes up all through the night wanting food Drives me mad.

frak how many feeds does M have overnight roughly? I've been beginning to feel like I have the only nearly one year old in The Whole World who still has milk at night. Saying that he slept through last night - but he did have 11ozs of milk at bedtime! Gave him usual 7ozs to start with and he wouldn't settle, he'd cry everytime we lay him down and stand up holding onto the bars crying. After an hour of this I made him another 4ozs up and he guzzled the lot and conked out within 5 minutes .

ecuse I too cried on my first day back at work. At least you had the dignity to do it in the loos not at your desk. If it helps, it honestly does get easier. The first week or so I cried every morning driving away from the childminders then after that it was just once a week or so and now it feels fine! There are times when I wish things were different, but it's the new normal now and I really really enjoy the time we have together.

At least the dreaded first day back will be over soon.

S still has 3 bottles a day. one when he gets up, one at 3 ish and one at bedtime. Should i be weaning him off these now? He is 11 months today. Got his yearly check up tomorrow.