October 2005 Babies - it just keeps getting better and better!

[Elf1981]

Thought I'd steal the honours of setting up a new thread

[JustBonnie]

Is it just me or is anyone else going through a tough time at the moment? Ruby's sleeping is getting worse instead of better She's loves her food and eats well during the day (baby cereal for brekkie and some steamed veggies at tea time). Last night she woke up every hour and a half. The first two times she drank 8oz of milk but then she was just awake. I've had to get her up this morning at 4.30am and I feel like I've had no sleep at all. My 2 year old will be up in a couple of hours full of beans and I just feel shattered.

Ruby is either going through a growth spurt,or teething or something. The only time I'm guaranteed she will sleep is between 7pm when she goes to bed and about 11pm so tonight I'm going to bed at 7pm with her so at least I'll get a few hours in.

I heard somewhere that babies get unsettled at 4 mths that was why I was wondering if anyone else is going through a difficult patch.

Oh well, apart from no sleep everythings great!!!

[Elf1981]

Sorry you're having a bad time at the mo JBonnie.
Could Ruby be teething? I was under the impression that if babies were sleeping through and then suddenly stop (providing there hasn't been any changes in routines / life changes like starting to attend nursery etc), it's mostly put down to teething or needing weaning? Have you spoken to your HV at all? They may be able to offer some advice.
I'm pretty sure Evie is teething. During the day she's hardly sleeping at all anymore, bites anything within a mile radius and has awfully swelled gums. She also wants to feed every five minutes but then throws most of it back up, because I think she's doing it to use my nipple as a chew toy! I keep expecting to be woken lots in the night, but she's like my DH, once their heads hits the pillow, that's it til morning. I'm sure I'll be joining you in a few weeks when the real symptoms come out!!

[ButtonMoon]

Bad few nights here too but I have hardly had any good nights either!! LOL (even lead singer from westlife's babe is up in the night, he's on GMTV at mo!!) DS has had a bad cold so nights have been very broken. Last night DS went down at 10, then DD was up at 2-3, then DS woke at 430...fed.....threw it all back up, all over my bed....cried for an hour.....finally went to sleep at 6....DD up at 730...oh the joys of motherhood good job he's so bloomin' cute in the day!! I'm shattered now and hoping he will go back to sleep in a bit so that I can catch up while DD is at preschool. Seems like everyone is going through the same....gives you a bit of comfort. And I just keep telling myself that it's only a stage and it won't last......................

[trice]

Hannah has a horrible snotty cold too. It is just that time of year. Her cousin has just got chicken pox so we are looking forward to that too.

I am not even considering weaning until after six months - which will be at the end of April. I can't stand all that messy carrot puree.

[trice]

Has anyone else managed to get their little ones passport photos done? How on earth do you manage to get them to look straight ahead? And how do you keep your hands out of the photo?

[Jockey]

Elf - glad the christening went ok. It sounds lovely.

Trice - I'm with you on the weaning - I'm delaying it as long as possible. Two down with chicken pox here, and now baby has it - but thankfully only mildly. It's the third day and she has only 20 spots whereas poor ds was covered. Huge amounts of kids off at school as there's some fluey thing going round - we haven't had that yet!

Hope everyone gets better soon.

[Elf1981]

I've set a thread up in weaning. Tried Evie with a little baby rice today and not sure if she's ready or not.

[ButtonMoon]

Weaning??? Cannot be bothered yet, did DD at 15 weeks and am deffo not doing the same this time round...why take carrot puree when you go out when I can just take me and my boobie?!! Just talking about passport photos with my DH...we are going to our local chemist who take them with a handheld camera so they are right for the passport.

[Elf1981]

RE weaning : I tried Evie with a bit of baby rice today (one teaspoon mixed with two tablespoons of breastmilk) and she had maybe a teaspoon full before pursing her mouth shut. I didn't push anymore on her. Now I'm wondering if she's not ready or whether I should persevere as thats what babies do at the first time (never done it before so I dont have a clue!!).
Part of the reason I want to get Evie on a bit of food is because she is going to nursery and still refuses to drink a full feed via a bottle, so my hope was that by March she'd be okay with a bit of food at lunch with as much milk as she'll tolerate via bottle, and I'll stock her up on milk before she goes and when she gets home. It's mostly so she doesn't starve!

[mawbroon]

Trice - after many attempts, we managed to get Johnny's passport picture done. Do you have a digital camera? We did it ourselves and got the passport size prints done at Asda. We put a white towel over a pillow and lay him on it and took the picture from above. The pillow is essential because if you just lie the baby on the floor/table/whatever then their chin will be down. The head sinks into the pillow so they can look straight up at the camera. The passport office website gives you details of the dimensions which are acceptable. Our picture was accepted no probs, but as I say, it took us a while to get a good picture. Some of DHs family live in Holland, so it was essential that we got Johnny's passport as soon as possible after he was born in case we had to travel at short notice. I am glad I did as we were able to drop everything last week to go to see DHs grandfather who was ill.

I went for a smear this morning and took Johnny with me. The woman had a look and then said "you had a caeserean didn't you". I'm not at all surprised that she could tell, but was very surprised when she quizzed me about when my last period was. When I said 19th Jan 2005, she looked very puzzled and surprised that I hadn't had a period since Johnny was born. I had to point out to her that I was breastfeeding. I guess she just hadn't thought of that seeing the breastfeeding rate in our area is particulary low but she's supposed to be a health professional FFS.

Elf - glad the Christening went well for you even if Evie did sleep all the way through her party!!

I'm not even considering weaning yet as Johnny isn't showing any signs of needing it yet. He has slept 7pm to 7am for the last three nights!!

MB

[nervousmum]

Are the Bumboo seats any good? I need to get something for Joey to sit in, but they are quite expensive. He had a posh bouncy chair thing that he absolutely hated, so i want to avoid another expensive mistake. Any advice appreciated. Ta, NM x

[trice]

Elf - the amount of calories in a bit of baby rice is so miniscule that it won't make any difference at all to how hungry your little one feels for months. I would recommend sticking with the WHO guidelines unless you have a compelling reason not to. They can't digest the food until they are six months anyway - it just goes straight through.

[trice]

Thanks Mawbroon. Now I have to find something white to prop Hannah on while I take her photo.

[trice]

Nm - I have a bumbo but Hannah can't sit in it yet, she is too floppy - but she is only three months. They are a bit expensive and you can only use them for about two months so I don't think I would buy one new. Ours is on its sixth baby as it has been passed around the family.

[mawbroon]

Trice - just don't use a muslin! I tried that first and it was too full of lines. Also the sick marks showed up really well under the flash. Maybe I should have tried a clean one

MB

[ButtonMoon]

We have a bumbo and they are fab!! DS sits in his for abou 15 mins until his neck ha had enough. Great for using while weaning. Cheapest I've seen them is MCare at £27.99 or there ae new style ones called bebe pod at £24.99 which are more or less the same thing...I justified buying one by the fact that I can sell it on ebay for at least £20 afterwards!!

[mawbroon]

Oh poor Johnny. What an evening he's had. Firstly his mother nips his skin with the nail clippers and draws blood - not once, but twice and then, his father accidently dunks his head under the bathwater. He swallowed some bathwater the poor wee lamb. There goes my exclusive breastfeeding......

Please tell me I'm not the only one to have done these awful things.

[Elf1981]

Evie laps up the bath water. She cries if we dont put her rubber duck on her tummy so she can lick the water off the beak!!!
As for the nail clippers, effing dangerous things. I daren't use them, always bite Evie's nails. But DH cut them the other day and took a bit chunk of skin off. Grrr!

[Redtartanlass]

Hi All

Not had a chance to read all the thread,hope your all ok!!

Got a question, how long after stopping breasfeeding did it take for your periods to start!! I'm still waiting for mine, hey might be on the due in Oct 06 thread!!!

Does anyoone else have no idea how many weeks their baby is. I went to a Mums and tots last week, and all the mums looked mega shocked when I said "Oh she's em 13 weeks or maybe 15,mmm sorry hve no idea, she was born 21 Oct if that's any use!!"

[JustBonnie]

RTL, I haven't a clue how many weeks ruby is unless I give it loads of thought. I think once you're on your third (or more) those sort of things just aren't as easy to remember any more! I always forget dd1s date of birth unless I have 5 mins to think about it

Anyway, my day yesterday just went from bad to worse. After having NO sleep with ruby last night and getting her up at 4.30, dd1 is being potty trained at the mo and she's doing really well. Little known to me she'd got that tummy bug thing and late morning got the worse runs I've ever seen. She made it to the potty the first time and I was upstairs cleaning that when I heard a cry of 'Oh No...POOO!!!' coming from downstairs. I rushed down and it was everywhere. Poor little thing was covered. Her shouting meanwhile had woken Ruby so she started screaming. I was trying to clean poo with one hand whilst holding ruby with the other. These things are definately sent to try us!

Went to bed with the children at 7.30pm last night and ruby had a much better night. Woke at 2am then went back to sleep and up at 7am this morning. I feel refreshed and ready for another hectic day. (might leave dd1 in pull ups for a while until I know her tummy bug's gone though )

[mummygow]

Oh no justbonnie what a nightmare but glad to hear that you survived to to tell the tale - lol!!

I need to get a new chair for Cameron to sit on as the one he has at the moment kind of slouches and I think he would like a solid one to sit in -any ideas.

Cameron woke at 5.25am this morning and spoke to himself until 6am then dh went and got him and he didt get hungary until 6.55am - he was quite happy just to play with his dad for an hour. So if he wasnt hungry, in pain and didnt have too much sleep yesterday, what did he wake up for???
Answeres on a postcard please

[jessicaandrebeccasmummy]

mummygow - get a bumbo! £27.99 in mothercare at the moment. im getting one for becky, she is a bit tiny for it yet i think, 15 weeks today and 13lbs 8oz!

[mummygow]

my goodness jrb Camerons a heafer he's prob about 15lbs at 15 weeks, youv'e got a little dainty angel, and even worse when I think about it he stayed the same weight for 2 weeks at xmas when he was unwell - imagine if he had continued to gain weight for that fortnight what he would weigh today - prob another 16 - 20oz. Will have a look at the bumbo chair - thanks!!

[jessicaandrebeccasmummy]

she is quite tiny bless her. her sister was 1lb lighter at birth but was 1lb heavier at this age!!!

[Elf1981]

Evie was 13lbs 9oz at 16 weeks (two weeks ago on Thursday). She's long and lean looking, obviously takes after her dad about the lean looking bit! It's a bit of a pain because 3-6 trousers fit her in the legs, but they're too big around the waist. Her 0-3 trousers fit around the waist but look like long shorts!