December 2011 - This too shall pass (with the help of imaginary woolly mammoths)

[Mmmmcheese]

Have gone with LMFs title suggestion :)

Air Hope Air has a good birthday :) Can't wait 'til DS is old enough to enjoy birthday parties!

Are the eco nappies really as good as pampers plu for dryness? If so, I might give them a go; it would ease my guilt somewhat. Have to admit I hadn't realised how often he pees as pampers always feel dry Think I may be too lazy busy for cloth nappies; I was changing him constantly yesterday!

aethel I have some of the motherease (some regular, some organic & 1 stay dry) & some tots bots cotton terry, bamboo & fluffles with wraps but after seeing how many nappies he went through DP (who incidentally also pees loads ) said he didn't think our dodgy old septic tank could deal with all the extra washing & thinks we should use disposables so I might do that but try EC to get him out of nappies as soon as possible.

hawthers I had a blocked duct caused by a milk blister...hot baths followed by nursing on that side cleared it up in no time. Good luck

Darcie Rocco is 8 weeks & 3 days & I've only just got around to doing a footprint >_< No idea about periods, but does anyone know how to get them to return if you're bfing on demand? I want to start trying for DC2!!!

Oi I think you mentioned a while back that Ali was getting too big for his car seat head hugger...Rocco's not looking very comfortable in his but I'm worried about removing it until he's bigger & able to hold his own head. What have you done? I found this which doesn't have the top bit so might work for longer. Has anyone else got any suggestions?

I have insomnia at the moment, it's making me quite stressed & tearful but I'm getting more done...I'm like a manic duracell bunny Still I can't continue like this & I'm not sure what to do :( This too shall pass

Happy birthday air. Hope you all have a lovely day - you deserve it.

Thanks for all the comments about the blocked duct. Hopefully I've had a lucky escape from mastitis as after intense implementation of all advice it finally cleared this morning. F was def the best at sorting the issue and after he finished nursing on that side I still managed to express another 50ml out of the blocked section alone - frightening.

Sleep pretty elusive in hawthers towers. F feeding for up to an hour each time he is up and then takes a good 20 mins to settle. All well and good but I'm supposed to make sure f feeds every 3 to 4 hours overnight. So that sometimes means I have to wake him only 90 mind after I've put him down. Seems bonkers to me.

hlc nightmare re insomnia are you worried about anything on particular? Have you tried listening to your hypnotic birthing cd if you have one. Odd I know but it always made me feel really relaxed.

Good idea hawthers thanks I'll give the cd a go tonight! Can't believe I didn't think of that...it always put me to sleep :)

Happy 3rd birthday to air, hope it's been lovely.

When DS has a bottle mopsy he has the no. 2 teat now, so I'd definitely give it a go.

Glad you're feeling a bit more human Kate- it definitely helps when you've got a good night under your belt. What are your sleeping arrangements (and not in an 'ooo-er missus' way!)- is your DS in a cot? Co-sleeping has kept me sane, even with regular feeds every night.

And good news that you've swerved the mastitis hawthers, that's a relief. You must have done some serious pummelling of that boob!

DS being non-sleeping baby as per- after waking at 7, he got a 45 minute sleep this morning, and had a 20 minute nap this afternoon. He's had a couple of occasions where he's drifted off for 5 minutes, and he sort of dozed on me (nipple in mouth, natch) for the second half of OBEM. He's now actually gone down again and has been asleep for a whole ten minutes! And yet he's pale purple round the eyes...

This morning he was fine- I plonked him in front of the washing machine on his change mat and a blanket and it kept him occupied for nearly half an hour, got a great photo- but this afternoon he's been yelling away again. Tried calpol last night and today to try and rule out whether anything was causing him pain, and it appears to have done sod-all.

And now he's awake and being an unhappy camper again...

Hi all, after my (for me) productive morning, went for a long walk through the local parks (at least 5 miles round trip) and stopped in the cafe and fed me and minimopsy. First time I fed her in public, was putting it off as afraid of judgy stares for giving her a bottle but noone even looked at me. The girls I was with were bf and said they were afraid of judgy stares for bf so I realised obese being entirely ridiculous and anyway, since when have I cared what random strangers think of me!!!!! V tired now but pleased w my busy day. Just giving minimopsy a little time on the breast and still have milk after 5 days of no expressing/only two shortish feeds a day so fingers crossed it keeps on like this!

A lovely day so far after a very difficult week which is nice! Hope you are all equally chipper! hawthers, great about duct and aethel great about improved feeding since Tongue tie!

Nope, he settled himself and is asleep and definitely not dead as I've done the neurosis check !

So am sitting here in semi darkness with Poirot on pause just to make sure he gets some sleep; on all other occasions when it's nap time we keep 'normal' noise going on, but he's had so little sleep today I think needs must.

Oooh, so glad it's Friday, OH will be home in about half an hour, and we can spend the weekend as a threesome. We were rather spoilt by having those four weeks at first, but one of things I'm loving is the sense of having my own little family here. It sounds so soppy and traditional (and I'm neither) but DS really has made us into a family and it's lovely.

darcies Eva is 10 weeks, I've had spotting but still no period.

lmf how is Edward?

Eva has bronchiolitis too. She coughed so much this morning she threw up all of her feed again so we went to A&E. Her oxygen levels were ok so they were just happy enough for her to come home. We've been given open ward access for 48hours so if she gets any worse she can be admitted without us having to go to casualty again.

Will catch up later

Oooh, sounds lovely mopsy, but don't you just wish it were summer, or at least not sodding sub zero out there? I love going for walks- as a non-driver, I have to!- but taking DS out in the pram feels like a punishment at the moment.

hlc I did EC with DD2, she was out of nappies day and night by 11mths. I started at 2 weeks with Miri, we catch every poo at the moment, but not that many pees.

hawthers hurray!

Had a lovely time at soft play with our friends. Well, until a little girl decided to start attacking DDs, dragging them both backwards off the slide and hitting them they weren't even faffing about, they had just stopped to hold hands before going down. They were somewhere I couldn't climb to with Miri in the sling so had to get a staff member to rescue them!

Having ice cream and a film now!

Really sunny today so in spite of sub zero temp, it felt warm once I got going. What I hate is the rain, it's horrible. And it seems to rain so often at the moment. It does not make walking enjoyable.

Hope Eva stays okay seven and you don't have to go back in.

Hope octoboy is doing ok LMF

Right, off to bath minimopsy and then give her a bottle and hopefully she'll settle for a while. And not grizzle all evening like usual!

Sorry, not enough time to do a massive reply (damn my ambitousness!), but just wnated to reply to your question about the nappies, HLC. I think the nature babycare ones (from Boots and possibly elsewhere) do get "full" faster than Pampers, so you will need to keep touching them to make sure they're not too fat (and to a lesser extent the Sainsbury's "little ones eco nappies), but they work in the same sort of way: a layer of something inside the nappy which reacts to wtness and traps it. In the Pampers, I know it is little granules which form a gel when wet; that is: no longer liquid. I imagine it's similar or the other nappies, just they don't use chlorine bleach and the granules/gel is made of something different. They are put on like "normal" disposable nappies, too.

Hope that helps?

honey, you do what's right for you, but you are awre that you don't need to change cloth nappies every single time they pee, right? I change DS every 2-3 hours or straight away if he poos. If I've not changed him for a while I might check the nappy isnt sopping, but that's about it. We get through about 6 nappies in a 12 hour day plus 2 disposables at night (DS still poos once some nights and wees enough to justify a 2 am change of disposable). I iuse a dab of sudacrem and we've had no bot rash at all.

When I did use eco disposables with The DDs we found bature babycare were great and the sainsburys eco leaked. Moltex were good and Bambo nature leaked (but both were only available online so a PITA to order). But that was almost 3 years ago so am out of date!

Ps EC -wow, that's dedicated! Are you planning to be a stay at home mum? I thought that eC was only practicable with an at-home parenting strategy. Go for it if you have the energy, I know i wouldn't...

Ok, have now googled EC and it doesn't sound quite so extreme as I was thinking. (saw an American programme in EC once where an isolated midwestern lady was running around the house after her barebottomed 1 year old with a potty!): what's in Wikepedia is not so different than when I change DS and wait for his willy to lift up so I know he's about to pee and I catch it in the old nappy before putting on the new one!

Happy birthday, Air! Hope you had a good day and you enjoy the day out tomorrow!

What naughty/greedy/grizzly babies! Sympathies all round. DD was a bit of a milking machine last nihght, so we're on that train, too. I forgot to mention we went to the GP yesterday to hve her lumgslistened to, but it turned out that it was just her nose I could hear, not her lungs. Sorr that Eva has got bronchiolitis, luckysevens, but hopefully she will continue avoiding hospital. Our poor winter babies!

baby curd - you've got it, mopsytop! I was thinking of the thick stuff as yoghurt, but it really is curds! DS wasn't nearly as curdy, so this thick stuff is a bit of a shock!
How are you feeling?

Well done for beating the mastitis, hawthers - you deserve it, after all that hard work!

aethelfleda, I've not got much of a waist back yet, but my Lands' End jeans are generous enough for me to be back in them, but are fairly slim in the thigh (not skinny, but slim, and in stretch demim) then flare into a bootcut so I don't look all saggy-legged. They are either these or these. Both are in stretch denim.
How's the feeding going? Is he liposuctioning your milk out?!

at the baby fountains, NorthernChinchilla! You need to go to that "what's the most disgusting thing you've done for your child" thread; it's full of that sort of thing!
With regard to the Poirot, you needn't pause it if you use earphones? The ITV player, when streaming, also allows you to enable subtitles; it's the "S" in the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen (the one which disappears if you move the cursor off it). I am assuming you are watching online, or do you have a library?!

Have a Big Swinging Fish on a Pole for that girl attacking your DDs, msbuggywinkle!

How are you getting on in hospital, LittleMissFlustered?

seven hope Eva is much better soon

Northern we're a bit naughty with the sleeping arrangements. DS was in Moses basket next to my bed, but he outgrew it and is really noisy in his sleep, so last weekend I moved him into his cot bed in his room. I still hear all the noises over the monitor, but don't pick him up straight away now. Most of the time it's just noise rather than him actually waking up for a feed and he settles off again. I think we're getting a bit more sleep most nights now as a result.

Yes seven good luck with Eva. Brownie points to the hospital for giving you a get-back-in-quick ticket, one less thing to stress about if she gets worse.

Hope Octoboy's doing OK, lmf.

And whoever it was that heard of a baby doing multiple six hour stretches: I bet that mother was LYING!

We're good thanks. albert's feeds are now half the length they were, and he finds them so much easier it's a huge relief for me. I didn't realise how much effort it was for me to feed him until things improved if that makes sense. He's a bit bunged up but seems happy, and had his first ever proper daytime nap (for 1.5 hours!) followed by his first little smile today. Aaaah

Fantastic news about Baby Albert and his feeding and smiling!

aethel that's great news about Albert's feeding and smiling. It was me who said about the baby doing 2 lots of 6 hours. I can believe it - the same baby is on the dummy already too and she seems to be permanently sucking on that!

Impressive msb that gives me hope I could definitely catch his morning poo which he's always really grunty about but he often surprises me by pooing mid-feed I think I'll start trying next week though; he gets a funny expression on his face sometimes which might be him weeing...OMG, just read that back; what has my life come to!

aethel I didn't think I'd have to change him every time but I guess he's a heavy wetter because they were all soaking even with a booster & they made him cry. :( I am planning on being a sahm so I figure it's worth giving it a go; I won't stress over it or chase him with a potty though Btw I'm glad Albert's feeds are going so well for you!

seven sorry to hear about Eva

plu thanks for the nappy info

"morning poo" - what an organised baby!

On a dummy dipped in gin, I bet! ( no, not at all ! He he he!)
honey it wasn't me talking about car seats. Ali has outgrown the insert, but it wasn't a head support. Am not happy with the car seat really. We took put the newborn insert, but Alistair still seems squashed in, and when we take him out he's always really hot - his back feels damp with heat. I'm sure this is why he cries so much if hd wakes up in it in stopped traffic.
Hope Eva is ok seven.
how is octoboy, lmf?
hawthers congrats on unblocking your ducts.
northern I'm with you on loving being a family. It's really lovely. And it amazes me how so many other people are so genuinely gooey for us too!
I also went for a gorgeous country walk today mopsy. i only did a couple of miles, so hats off to your 5. the sun was glorious. I then did another mile thru the aisles at tesco. And martini is back on offer , so bring on the snow, I have stocked up!

Well, he stayed asleep for about half an hour, so that's a grand total of nearly two hours sleep out of 15 during the day ...

I'm so sorry Eva's come down with the dreaded bronchy seven, our LOs really do seem to be going through the mill.

Yeah, the arc of pee from the table (changing mat is up there owing to section) over the chairs and carpet was a sight to behold plu, especially the second time I actually have a library of Poirots, although I've had to stop recording them as I have so many it's deleting other, older things from the box, much to DP's displeasure.

I'll have to stop with the co-sleeping when DS is four months kate, as OH will be taking over the rest of the maternity leave (I have to get back to work), and he can't do it as he's a smoker, so he'll go in his cot then. And, tbh, if DS is sleeping through reasonably well, then DP may come back up to our room and just go down for the one night feed, with the monitor in place like you have. I think like with everything to do with babies, you do what works!

Soooo glad your having better feeding sessions aethel, that's marvellous.

Hope everyone has a decent night, and see you in the morning!

3rd time I've sat down to write something since this morning. RIGHT.

Happy Birthday to the real Air!! Hope you all have a fantastic day!!

Honey, my DH hates reuseables and won't go near them, so I can only use them when he's at work/not changing him (think it's unfair to make people who want disposples use reusables, so am happy for anyone looking after DS to use d's). I use Smartipants reusables, and even with a liner (or 2) they are not as good as D's (we use Tesco & Sainsburys own brand), so I have to change him more often/have him in D's at night.

My mum used 'EC' (before there was a name for it, I guess?) and we were all (4 of us) toilet trained by 16months.
Thinking about it, DS has about 4 hours of nappy free/naked time a day & I 'know' when he's about to pee!

msbuggy sorry your DD had a rough time today!

Can I get a 'bad mother of the week' award? I was eating Chinese over DS yesterday & managed to spill plum sauce & beef over him He slept through it!

Thanks for the well wishes, Eva seems ok at the moment but only took 30ml of her last feed :(. They said if she's taking less than half what she normally does she'll have to be admitted and tube fed. Fingers crossed for a better next feed!

Sorry to hear about your DD's being hit msbuggy, we're they ok?

air hope he has had a lovely birthday.

On a positive note DS's Christmas present for next year arrived today. I ordered him a hornby train set from Amazon, £50 reduced from £130! DH is having fun playing with it making sure it works.