October 2011: our growing, rolling, sleeping (we hope) and growing more gorgeous by the day babies

[LittlePebble]

Our third thread!

We had a better night here. He was really windy and grizzly in the evening. He had 2 lots of gripe water and DH took him to try to wind him, he was just fighting to get at my boobs! (Seth, not DH :o ) After half an hour they both came downstairs and Seth had poo dripping out of his nappy, which DH was trying to catch! He looked much happier and very pleased with himself!

We got him cleaned up, I gave him a big feed and he slept until 5am, then straight back down until 8:45. A vast improvement on last night.

Scheh Good luck, hope the meds kick in soon and you both have a better day today. I totally agree with what golemmings said, kids (not just babies) change so much. Before Christmas Seth had started sleeping through, then he had a week of waking once a night, the a few days of waking twice, then slept through for another week, then a horrendous night, and now it looks like we're back to once a night.

I'm going to kick DH out of bed soon, give Seth a bath (clean of any lingering poo from last night, plus he's on my lap now and I can feel he's pooing again.) Then we're off to Glossop to open Seth a bank account. I've persuaded DH to come with us with the lure of new headphones, lunch out, and the fact we aren't going to our nearest town (where everyone looks depressed and miserable. :o )

Edward that's why I hate toddler groups. I remember taking DD to a Time for a Rhyme session and the mother next to me complaining that nursery had sent her DD home as she'd had 2 runny nappies. I always took DD her own maracas rather than have her chewing the ones all the other kids chewed, but DD had kindly swapped with this little girl.
I'd never had D&V before, but we all had it that week.

Erk, just realised the back of Seth's babygrow has turned yellow, time for that bath I think, and a change of clothes for me too... just in case.

Haha sassy I'm the exact same can never stick to a routine, I've never been in a controlling relationship but my mum was/is and I've always said I'll never be controlled so I think ur right and that could be where it comes from

lol sassy! Isn't that what iplayer is for?

I assume you've seen the baby whisperer stuff, about doing things in an order rather than at a certain time? Basically she advocates eat, activity then sleep (and mummy-time). dd liked to eat before sleeping so we did it the other way round (I tried easy which resulted in eat, activity, eat, activity, over tired baby) but it gave us some structure. I keep meaning to read her toddler book having bought it 3 months ago...
I looked at Gina Ford too... OMG. Not for me. I tried her routine to increase milk supply with dd; its too military for my liking . You will wake up at 06:58, eat toast by 07:03; feed 10 mins off each breast by 07:23 (clearly teleporting on the way) and then express 2 gallons of milk by 07:30 etc. Quite frankly my boobs don't express at the correct speed nor my toaster cook toast with the precision to meet her times and my pump bits didn't sterilize themselves so I reached 7:30am feeling like I'd failed for the day.

Are you doing the fly stuff? I keep thinking about starting but lack the incentive to deep clean my kitchen sink

Right. bumps and babes starts in -2 minutes so I'd better shift the sleeping baby snuggled in my shoulder, clean my teeth and wander up the road.

i HATE gina ford. she is a mum hater as far as im concerned.
who else would set such unachieavable unrealistic goals and have everyone think they're a failure- stupid woman.

baby whisperer, fly what???? i go no where, watch no telly and my baby brain can only just about manage chick lit! not got a blimming clue. and ive studiously ignored all the talk about launch pads
not sure i'd want a deep clean sink.......i like the rustic look

mama I'm glad your DS2 is getting a little happier with his little sister!

sassy I was trying to explain this to DH the other day. At the end of a good day I still don't really feel like I've achieved anything which is something I do like about being back at work. At least I have something to show for my time. I'd forgotten how much time babies take up! But soon they're at school and you're wishing them home again! I am mostly enjoying everything with L and being quite philosophical about the bad bits because this is my last time

Congrats on the bottle scones

I think there's a bit of a conspiracy surrounding babies. In real life people don't admit to finding it hard. It's like you're supposed to be so grateful that you have a healthy baby that you daren't complain. And the daft thing is that you are grateful, but that doesn't mean it's not hard still. I got the impression from friends that they found it effortless - it's only later on I've heard about the times they were in tears when the baby wouldn't sleep etc

Got DD1 into a routine around 6mo and it worked well - DS went into a routine from 3wks to get him napping at the same time as her but it did take a bit of work.

L has sort of found her own routine but probably only 5 days a week - she has a long sleep in the morning most days and catnaps in the afternoon but if she doesn't sleep for long in the morning we just do whatever it takes to minimise crankiness!

Advance warning that this is going to be a looooong post (but only because you?ve all been so chatty!).

bilbio what?s gripe water? at cooked breakfast. The Dutch don?t get the whole idea of English breakfast ? they eat cheese sandwiches for brekkie! Sod it, I?m on ML (and have some English sausages stashed away in the freezer) and DH is home tomorrow. Fry up it is!
at DH catching dripping poo.

Ed have a great Burns night .

scheh I had to practice sling several times without M ?using a teddy bear instead if a baby--and took a few tries to get it right. He hated the lying down position, but loved the upright. I?ve been out for one walk with him in it and he fell asleep within 2 minutes.

golemmings great that you handed over to your DH and gave yourself some space. I think the one reason I?m doing better at sticking to my running this time round is that it gives me a bit of me time away from M and some space in my head. And ther?s nothing wrong with a plate of roast potatoes for dinner

featherbags and Penelope ask mama! She explained it a while ago, I think on the last thread. Flylady stuff (I sound like I know what I?m talking about ). I?m only using some of the things from the website to start decluttering my house ? we have DH has so much shit!

welcome back to the thread supergirl!

penguin I have huge respect to anyone dealing with a toddler as well as a baby! M on play mat with baby gym so I?m --being a lazy cow?catching up on MN.

sassy at full night?s sleep and graduate in advanced rolling. Good luck with jabs.

oodlesofdoodles are you joining us for the October 2011 babies? Welcome! I don?t know anything about that type of sling. You could post in products>slings and backpacks. You?d probably get some good info there.

scheh I?m sorry to hear that you?re having such a shit time. DH faced the same decision just before M was born about not wanting to go on meds because they made him feel so emotionally numb. However, now he?s reconsidering, because the alternative (stressed/anxious/impatient/really short tempered) is not good. I know that you don?t want to stop bf, but you have to think of your own health as well. Ff doesn?t mean you?ve failed (and I know you went through a lot to get bf established in the first place). It?s more important for C that he has a happy mummy than where his food comes from. I second what BB3 said ? you haven?t done anything wrong. All babies are different, what works for one won?t always work for another. Hang in there, it WILL get better.

Yesterday M was screaming blue murder for no reason ? didn?t want to lie down, didn?t want to be held, didn?t want to sit in bouncy chair. I popped him in an electric swing thing that some gave us and put him in the kitchen to watch me while I was cooking and he shut up straight away. Last time I tried that he howled the house down! (and seriously, following on from one of my earlier suggestions, have you tried singing C a selection of West End musicals?)

Our routine is mostly dictated by M. He wakes me up at around 7/7.30 which gets us both up. He feeds every 2 and half-3 hours during the day, generally has a little nap in the box or on playmat during morning. I put him upstairs in his cot after his lunchtime feed ? sometimes he sleeps for 30 mins, sometimes 2 hours ? and then he comes back downstairs til bath/bed time between 6pm and 7pm. Am back to feeding him before we go to bed as he?s started waking up, and then he?ll be up once in the night for a feed.

sassy also not always sure what I do all day. Today I haven?t done a bit of housework or had the TV on. Have spent the whole morning catching up on emails (I thought technology was supposed to make life easier!).

pebble how did it go with hv? A colleague of mine had a blocked duct but the doctor just kept sending her away without treatment, telling her to massage during feeds. She ended up having an abcess the size of an orange removed from her breast. Not trying to freak you out, but if it?s still painful then persevere and don?t let them fob you off. (just re-read your post and realized you?re seeing hv today ?I actually couldn?t remember what day it was?! Proof that baby brain is well and truly alive).

bb3 well done at zumba. If it hurts, it means it?s working have achey legs too from run yesterday. Have signed up for a 5k in March to get me in shape for my 10k in May. Am even wistfully looking at the Amsterdam half-marathon in September

Cheshire enjoy your swim.

Going to take M to walk-in clinic at consultatie bureau tomorrow. He?s got super dry skin on his legs and chest. It looks like eczema or something. No history of anything like that in my family, ut DH is allergic to EVERYTHING and also a chance for me to get out of the house and speak to another adult

We have a vague early morning routine.
DD wakes at early o'clock, plays in her room, one of us falls out of bed at 8ish, tells her it's time to put her uniform on, she's often dressed in something totally different, even though we get her uniform out get showered, make breakfast & butties, do hair, Seth wakes up just before we need to leave, change his bum, then run across to school with a miserable Seth who wants food.
Come home, make coffee, feed him, play on computer, at 10 decide we should go out get him dressed, he then decides he wants feeding again and we're late for whatever group we wanted to get to.
It could be improved. :o

I keep saying we're I'm going to do the flylady thing again. It got me out of a borderline depressive period last maternity leave. I started before Christmas, I don't shine my sink, but the kitchen was always clean before bedtime. I like the 5 minute room rescues too, they make a huge difference.
It's disheartening though that I could get in a great routine and get it all lovely but when I go back to work DH won't keep it up, so I think, why bother :(

lemmings & sassy your posts actually had me LOL I also love the baby whisperer hate GF!

engels gripe water is stuff for easing wind, (or griping pains) when we were kids I think it was all that was available, and it had alcohol in it! Now it's non-alcoholic. It's made from dill seeds, which are great at easing indigestion in adults too. I used to love it as a kid (and still do actually) Seth seems too as well, he happily laps at the syringe anyway.
And it really works... as the dripping poo shows! :o We used infacol with DD but her colic was constant and infacol is a long term treatment. Gripe water is good when they're only windy occasionally.

I think it was Cheshire who said her Mum or MIL kept going on about it, she didn't know what it was but the name made her feel it. :)

Hope you enjoy your fry-up and M gets his dry skin sorted.

engels lol at your sausage stash! Isn't it funny how British sausages are so particular? You can't get the right flavour here and I miss them. One of my pet peeves.

sche is it pnd that you have Meds for? So sorry you are having such a hard time. I saw dr yesterday for pnd bit want to try therapy before Meds. I was on seroxat about 15 years ago and they worked but took a while to get off them. I am having same issues with naps and that has made everything worse. Last week I worked on napping and it was so tough i gave up. My biggest trigger is the crying. I am temporarily ditching the routine and L is napping in buggy or whatever for an easy life. I hope your Meds work for you very soon.

I too am a baby whisperer rather than GF mum. I tried GF with DS1 and it made me panicked. I felt tied to the house and anxious if I missed a deadline. BW is more about structure and making sure things happen in a certain way. For now though I am. It attempting any effort to force a routine as it appears to trigger anxiety and a lot of tears (mine more than L's!).

Am signing up for fly lady emails, I just googled and found the website.

biblio that's my kind of routine

Oh, I had L weighed yesterday and he's only 13lb at 3 months after being born at 9.6. It was pretty upsetting and he's put on less than 1lb in over 3 weeks. DH says he looks great but I feel like my milk is basically shit. This happened with other ds's too. I think I make skimmed!

Should I see someone about the weight? No appointments booked. They only see you for shots here really. Maybe I should take him to see the nurse?

j I don't think you should worry to much about weight. S was only 6lbs2 at birth and at last weigh in at 13 wks she was 11lbs11. She is averaging 1/2lbs a week. If HV isn't concerned, don't worry

jnice nothing like a proper sausage . There's a reason the Dutch word for sausage is worst IMO.

Jnice,
If he has classic reflux with lots of vomiting and isn't putting on much weight then it's worth getting a second opinion I'd think. I'm lucky with Alex in that he has silent reflux so he keeps most of his feeds down. It must be really upsetting to see that much coming back up.

You could also take the opportunity to discuss your diet to ensure that there's nothing you're missing out on in terms of fat or nutrients etc. I would imagine that if you cut dairy from your diet and don't replace the fat with something then it could impact on your milk supply. I know that when I start losing weight I stuff my face with cashew nuts. It seems to help...

oh god! i really am revealing myself today. i havent had eva weighed since the house visits by midwife and hv. ( was going to put a blush face but meh.)

she eats, moves up in clothes- im sure she's fine.
sometimes i think all these books, groups, competitive mum types and professionals (raises an eyebrow) etc, have made having children more stressful than it needs be.

they're not really made to be in routines, and the constant monitoring milestoning, and weighing is just anxiety causing for mums.
what happened to just enjoying your child?

i know it helps in some ways to pick up potential problems etc but it definately is a double edged sword.

I'm not getting DS weighed. DD put on 1-3oz a week and found it all a bit stressful. When DS was weighed at 8 weeks and was on the same centile I was still upset. Weight is a issue if there are other factors e.g. reflux or baby doesn't seem alert etc. You don't have to worry about your diet but placebo effect really does work. I think your in CA Jnice? but you can still call the UK breastfeeding helplines if you don't know any over there or find your local LLL.

DS went down at 11 but only had one feed at 4 and got up at 7. Once he was in the bed he was happy having distance between us which was great.

i was a vegetarian engle for 18years and i was bringing chloe up as one too. until i went on hol to greece with my dp who i had met 11 months previously. chloe was a couple of weeks off being 3 and crying her eyes out for a sausage. (she ate linda mccartneys and quorn ones)
obviously i couldnt explain to her the difference, and dp was like just let her have one. so i did. and it was one of them horrible frankfurter type ones-yuk. definately know what you mean about sausages abroad.
she still ate it though.

sch there is a high needs baby support thread in the breast/bottle feeding section, might be worth a look?

pebble are there any bf cafes your way? Like engel said you could really do with getting on top of it and HV aren't always best for this.

eat toast in 5 mins takes me 30 mins to make and eat toast plus drink tea with DD (she just has the toast)

Haven't had L weighed either - lots of wet and dirty nappies and growing out of clothes/into new ones so I assume all is well. Hope so!

Am I right in thinking you have to leave 4wks between jabs? L had 8 and 12 week ones late so guessing these should be late too?

Fleecy, yes you're right. They can have them late but has to be 4weeks in between, that's what we've done with C.

Thanks for support everyone, just a difficult age I think.

Cup of tea and a choccy biccie, whilst watching C get annoyed he can't get his feet into his mouth! Have put him on the floor with toys round him to encourage him to reach and stretch as he's getting good at it :)

I get him weighed every 2 weeks(ish) because as I am bf I get to feel all smug and self.satisfied with his weight gain. He's 17 weeks and.was 15lbs exact yesterday.

think we're slowly making progress. Last nap time he only cried for ten minutes before falling asleep. This time he cried for 5!

Sorry for mega posts, writing on phone means I can't do long posts as it starts spazzing out to not work if the post I'm writing is too long.

Jnice - you're doing a fab job, weight gain is weight gain. I know absolutely nothing about it all, but f you had the same trouble with your previous DCs, then surely that should reassure you that it's ok - they turned out fine and grew up healthy, didn't they?

I've not been diagnosed with PND, they just go on about me needing "support" and I can't take anti-depressants as they make me sky high! The mother/baby unit is really really good, and it's great I have access to it. It's only 6 beds, with 2-3 staff on at a time, they always have a nursery nurse on, and you can see the docs whenever you want for anything as it's in the main hospital. It would be really helpful, but I;d feel awful taking DPs son away from him, he has to get home to walk the dog so he wouldn't be able to visit after work, so it'd be weekends on he could see him :(

Have heard lots of good things about the Baby Whisperer. Like others say, it's not about routine/times as it is about doing things in a certain order so baby knows whats coming.