October 2011: Gaining teeth but still losing sleep.

[sassy34264]

hope this works! the pressure is on at 3.30am!!!!

How is DD now Penguin? Any better?

Sounds about right once you get home Pebble

Mama Glad DS didn't miss his swimming, brave boy. I have a mixture of chores on my list, then stuff like brushing the dog once a week, business IT stuff on the computer. Last night though I went to put the chickens to bed and when I got back DH had got cookies and ran us a bath :)

He has also taken on the ironing for the next 3 weeks and dog brushing and says he is going to clean the windows and frames whilst he is off work this week (as that was on my list too). I am helping at the charity duck race in our village tomorrow so am hoping once that is out of the way I can focus a bit more, fx.

Did you de-skin the grapes Mama?

MrsH I think that is part of it, things fester for ages because I am trying to get everything done then eventually have a tantrum. Who are these Supermums??!! Or are they just loaded and afford lots of help??!! We have the bigger house now so I can hide stuff in the junk room, but now it takes ages to clean the house (you see never happy).

MrsH You iron babygrows? I only did that when I was getting everything ready for P turning up. Now I iron the long sleeves of vests and just her "normal" clothes.

Congrats onthe car Mama, you ironed underwear??

I iron the duvets but once I get them out to use them they are always really creased and look a right state. I always wonder how B&B?s or hotels managed to have lovely looking sheets.

Ed congratulations on the potty training, just M to sort now

Easter cupcakes sounds fit Jnice, although I have eaten loads today.

Keep writing responses that never get sent as my laptop battery dies - grrrr!

Any of those babies not being weaned yet had chocolate today? A couple of my friends have made me feel really mean for not giving M a taste of chocolate. :( She has been exclusively bf up until now and I'm not planning on even starting weaning for a couple of weeks. I'm just trying to do what's best for my baby and am feeling a bit sensitive about the critisism.

Cheshire - your DH sounds great - cookies and bath, what a treat!

pink my bubba's begun weaning but no taste of chocolate as he's on fruit, and veg, and recently a little bit of meat, so I don't feel chocolate's right for him yet as it's just the beginning of his adventures in food.

cheshire like that your DH is taking things off your list - I'm too much of a control freak and have to learn to delegate more.

pink we are weaning and still NO so ignore your crazy friends.

chesire glad you are sounding more relaxed.

DD had a mild temp and a rash has started. Guessing it might be roseola, but it could be any viral infection. However rashes normally indicate the end (well does for her anyway). DS hasn't been too bad, DH has spent way more than half with him asleep on his lap. He has been awake from 30-60 mins as a rule, so who knows what tonight will bring. His fever has stayed low 38's so haven't dosed him.

pink my twins are 20 months on friday and they still havent tasted chocolate. tell them to sod off!

penguin hope ds improves some more by tomorrow.

cheshire i have a blooming great list of things that i feel would improve my life, as well as a blooming great list of stuff that needs doing. i cant even be bothered to think about it all, as it will just overwhelm me and i'll be bawling into a glass of brandy and 10 tonnes of chocolate. i dont think it ever gets easier, something else just turns up. 'put it on't list' as my mum used to say!

Cheshire - I'm sorry I missed your earlier post - you sound a lot like me. I can't seem to let things go and often get shouty or cry.

I don't have much advice other than to say I know how you feel! Don't feel badly about 'not appreciating your lot' - yes we have lots to be thankful for but we also work really hard under a lot of stress with not enough sleep. No wonder we lose it from time to time.

I am a list addict too. I think my new way of coping is having the large 'everything' list that I look at occasionally, then the day to day lists. The day to day one is loaded up with only what I can handle so I feel less overwhelmed.

pink - no chocolate here. It is not a weaning food. Ignore silly friends!

Leo has only had a little taste of avocado. Giving chocolate now just opens up a world to him that neither he or I am ready for!

So glad I'm not alone in not giving chocolate - thanks everyone!!

M was really really upset at her last feed last night, even whimpering whilst feeding - we ended up giving her teething powder and a small dose of calpol, and she's just woken up after 8 hours - I was dreading another bad night so that was a nice surprise as the previous 2 nights had been absolutely awful. My 3yr old must have been up 15 times though - my poor DH! We are away at my m&d's and he goes home today for the week and will come and pick me up next weekend, am hoping my parents are able to help out lots otherwise it'll be a very tough week looking after 2 DCs without his help.

I've found myself getting very upset about stuff recently too - there's so much I should be grateful for but by the end of the day I find myself crying whilst feeding as I'm just so exhausted, I spend around 6 hours a day feeding and M hardly sleeps at all, my DH works 12 hour days and I have no family around to help. I have done virtually nothing for myself without M for almost 6 months now, she comes everywhere with me so I've done no exercise clases, had no time alone with DH, and no time to do any painting or other craft stuff. I'm hoping that once weaning starts she'll be a lot less reliant on me and I can start to get my life back. I'm not really moaing too much as I've been here before and know it gets better, I'm just letting others know that they're not alone in feeling a bit overwhelmed with it all.

pink it does help knowing it really does get better doesn't it?

I'm currently on the first night feed (11.50 pm). Hoping for a 2 feed night and wake up for the day after 6am - please! Not likely given recent history.

I am suffering with a headache after having too much of a cry myself this evening. Must be something in the air today!

Hope you all had good nights, not much activity here so hoping that's a good sign.

Hello all - been away for a few days for easter, but back now [busmile] I went to a party on Sat night and out for a dance, it has been sooo long and I really felt it the next day. Surely I am too young to feel this old after a night out?

Just catching up, but ..

Thanks so much for the advice re going back to work.

Em so sorry about your mum, hope she is well xx

cheshire it is a pet peeve of mine when people seem to think that the distance between their house and yours is further than between yours and theirs when you are travelling. Some people are just more mobile as well - I used to hate it when I lived in London and would always visit friends in zone 1 who considered my house (zone 3) too far. Annoying. After a while, I just stopped going.

Also I am the same when I think things would be easy if this or that, for me though it's usually about being to busy - if I plan too much I get stressed, although what I consider too much tends to depend on how tired I am.

We are good, A is so close to crawling but not quite - he can go backwards, but not forwards.

Hi ladies,

Cheshire I totally agree...I tell myself that if I worked less hours/more hours/saw my family more/less/lived closer to the UK/further away/had more free time/more of a social life...things would be better/easier/more wonderful/perfect. I think part of life's struggle is learning to be happy and deal with what you have, rather than always be thinking "what if?", which I don't think is easy in the modern world. (and I think a little shout at DH never does any harm...last time I got a bunch of flowers because he realised he'd made one comment too many, though I think cookies sound infinitely more appealing ).

Spent yesterday at ILs for FIL birthday, protecting DH from his family. Elderly aunt made a few more classic comment, including (about Max) "hij is geen nederlandse kind" meaning "he's not a Dutch child/doesn't look like a Dutch child". We all had a laugh about it when she'd gone home....she's discovered my secret - DH is not the father! Lots of aunts started going mad when DH tried to give M a tiny tiny bit of cucumber and a crumb of cheese, and DH got the usual comments of "you should go on a diet/you've put on weight"...not the ideal thing to say to someone suffering from depression...or anyone for that matter! You've got to love the Dutch...

M was on top form, really enjoying being passed around all DH's cousins/aunts/uncles/FIL/MIL/SIL/DB/nephews. DN2 wanted to hold him all the time and feed him. Super sweet (especially since he's a little horror a lot of the time).

Raining here, super grey.

Whoever was talking about ironing...I haven;'t had our iron out for about 3 months. I fold everything straight out of the tumble drier and tell DH that he knows where he iron is if he is "dissatisfied" with any of his clothes (well, he managed well enough before i came along and he doesn't wear shirts to work). If I get any complaints I say that it's a health and safety hazard and cite the time when i first moved here and went to work, leaving the iron on all day (and luckily didn't burn the house down).

Amazed myself by putting up the buggy yesterday all by myself (with rubbish Dutch instructiosn as well). Am not the most practical minded of people and usually just shove things to DH to do, but the way he is at the moment, I'd be waiting forever for it to be done.

Hope you're getting some sleep tonight jnce.

pink sorry to hear you're so exhausted and stressed out. Hopefully being at your M&D's will give you a bit of a break. (oh, and no chocolate here!)

PA hope your little ones are feeling better soon.

Had an awesome run yesterday...8.5k in the Easter sunshine. makes me feel like I can take on the world

engels that run sounds lovely! I'm still struggling with 5k! I am going out with my oldest DS for a small run today, want to encourage more exercise related bonding with my boys. DH has football and I would love to get them into my hobbies too. Well done for surviving the inlaws!

Last night was pretty good, Leo sstn, by that I mean 12-5am. Then fed every 45 mins until wake up time at 7. DH took over and I got another hour :)

I was browsing the kellymom site and wanted to share this for all of you with bf, nightowls:
kellymom.com/parenting/nighttime/weaning-night/

go leo!

That link was really interesting Jnice, thanks! It's made me feel a bit more chilled out about L not sttn.

I would love to get more sleep, but I think I should only fight one battle at a time and, at the moment, it's still the battle to have her take milk from something anything! other than me.

She still screams at the bottle but I bought a doidy cup and she doesn't get so upset at that...but nothing goes in! Argh!

Hope everyone had a chilled out Easter weekend with lots of chocolate!

Just checking in while I have a spare 20 mins

engel the dutch sound a crazy bunch of people!! Glad you are able to take it all on the chin! Out of curiosity, how long have you lived there and what took you to holland in the first place? Sorry, I'm just nosey . Your run sounds fab! My mums offered to take S for a few hours tomorrow so I'm hitting the gym for a bit. It's been so long and I really want to get back into running, plus I'm not renewing my gym membership after the summer so want to get a bit of use out of it!

jnice yay for sleep!!

Not much going on here.. Moved S through to her own room on Saturday night. Spent the day clearing out all the junk that had made its way into it and done all the finishing touches. It's looking good if I do say so myself . Had to make a last minute dash to tesco tho to buy a new monitor as the one id been given suddenly decided not to work! Was dithering over keeping door open or closed with the cats but decided to shut 'just incase'. Went in today while she was having her nap in cot to find one cat quite happily snuggled up beside her !! Was kinda cute in a way as she was holding his tail . Chased him out though and he sat under her cot instead. I don't think he means any harm, and it's funny as they never bothered with her cot when she was in my room!! They are just so affectionate. They sit beside us at night in her room while she has her milk. She is taking such an interest in then now aswell. Loves to watch them go about their business and reaches out to touch if they walk past. When we got back from London, one of them rubbed his scent all over her feet. She was just smiling and giggling away

Re chocolate, I never gave her any yesterday but I did let her lick a tiny bit of icing from a cupcake off my finger. She was like a piraña fish trying to bite my finger off !! Guessing she liked it! Was then crazy hyper for next 2 hours before crashing out in the car on way home at 6.30pm . I've been struggling with trying to think of meals so decided to make 2 different soups (a carrot and parsnip one and a mixed veg) and for lunch she can alternate each day with a piece of bread to dip in and dinners have been usually what I'm having, although tonight I was making fajitas so I made her macaroni cheese instead. Went down very well!! I'm so impressed and happy with her that she has ate everything iv offered so far. I was such a fussy eater as a child and I really don't want her to be. How's everyone else getting on with weaning? Thanks to those who have posted recipes on the fb page. I'm always on the look out for something new to try

Fuzzy - the cat tail and pirana descriptions made me really smile! :)
Please can I join your fb group?

pink . Of course, I'm not sure how to add someone to the fb group tho . There are a few people here who do tho so I'm sure someone will shortly

I know this is of no use to anyone else but I am glad others seem to have the same thoughts about piles of stuff and how to get everything done. Makes me feel a bit less ridiculous.

Pink definitely no chocolate for P here, plus it's unlikely it would survive long enough for her to eat! I popped out in the car the other day and DH was at home with P, it was very odd to have the car to myself for a bit (and be able to turn the music up). Hope you had a better night. I have sent you are pm about fb.

I think I too am a control/delegation freak Elgolden, ever weekend I want to change what DH puts P in, I mean realistically who cares what she is wearing anyway!

Jnice I like your idea of a separate list, will give that a go, need to find some way forward. That was a good sleep from L, fx it keeps going.

Engels my German SIL told DH the other week that he had got "thick round the middle" tbf she is right(and he knows it)

MrsH I have just found that P goes mad for the cup, which might be the way forward for us as she won't take a bottle.

FD there are quite a few recipes on the blw website, P has had banana loaf cake off there this weekend.

Those who are BFing and weaning do you know when we should introduce a cup of water?

I don't know when's best to introduce water as had no choice - my aunt gave A his first while babysitting when he was 4 1/2 months! I didn't mind though - she is a fabulous babysitter with the family kids and we even call her supernanny. I've given him water ever since then.

I am inspired to try a run now ... (although prop won't get any further than thinking about it)

engels your post reminded me of when I lived in Italy and how blunt the Italians were as well. One guy once said to me "you are fat" and didn't understand when i got upset and kept saying "but you are!" in a confused way.

Re water and bf, I think you are fine to give a sippy cup with solids, but not so much that it affects the milk intake.

I think she has already dropped some of her milk anyway, she's now on three (v small) solid meals per day and within a week AF was back.
She's still not great at sitting up straight in her high chair though.

ed I know S is slightly older but she has dropped the amount of milk she is now taking. She is eating well though and I'm trying to include dairy in her food for the calcium. I think as well that having a cup of water out with each meals is good in long term, even if she doesn't take any. S will now take a few sips after every few mouthfuls of food and I've been offering her a cup since start of weaning (7 wks ago)

Morning ladies -

The girls have a cup of water but only take a few sips every now and then. They don't take anywhere near as much milk now and rarely finish their bottles / are latched on for any length of time. They've started to eat really well though and at 7 months next week (how) I think they're just moving onto the next stage.

It's been such a lovely long weekend I'm actually gutted to be heading back to work this week. The girls are just great, Ayse is crawling around and you can see Edith-May looking at her thinking 'how are you doing that? I want to do it!'.

We are off to Turkey to visit dh's family in 4.5 weeks and i scared myself senseless last night at the sheer volume of stuff I'm going to have to take with me for two babies and a three year old. We normally stay in villas out in the countryside but decided this time to try an all inclusive hotel to see if that reduces the cost a bit and the travel with all the kids but the downside is no access to washing machines etc we will do it at his brothers a couple of times but i'm still going to have to pack enough for two or three changes a day (when you account for beach clothes and evening clothes) for 14 days for three children plus dh and I - that's over 100 things, not including nappies, wipes and food etc - dh keeps saying buy it there but it's double the price and I'm tight!

Pa how are the kids now?

Go Leo sleeping through, all my children seem to have had massive sleep regression issues this week as last night I had 2 hours of broken sleep as ds (3) was up from 12-5!!

I'm very sorry for this mammoth me post but I'm also looking for some help re ds. I remember when we were all pregnant and I was complaining about ds' speech and how his nursery were dealing with him, anyway he's at a new nursery that he loves and are great with him. He has been diagnosed with severe hearing problems as a result of glue ear and we are seeing ent on 25th. We have tried signing but he moves your hands out the way so he can see your face (I guess lip reading). Anyway, my point is the poor boy is beyond ready to be out of nappies, he hates them, he constantly tries to get them off (as soon as they're on) and puts his hands down there to 'remove' any offending items (numbers one and two) which as you can imagine is a joy! He is clearly uncomfortable. But how do I potty train him? We've tried pants, he just does the same as nappies. He keeps them on comfortable enough (unlike nappies) but will do his deed then remove them. We've tried being naked but that resulted in wee all over the sofa and poo on the carpet as with the girls around and dh at work I'm not normally fast enough to get a potty underneath him at the right point. Admittedly I've only done each of these things for a day or two and not been strict (which I know I have to stick at it) but I know some of you had really good advice back then and I wondered if you had any ideas on how I go about this?

bb3 re ds I used to take ds2 to loo with me when he'd poo'd to flush the poo down loo and say repeatedly "look poo goes in the loo", also when I went for a pee he'd come too, to see where wee went. I could tell when he needed a poo and so would say "where does poo go? In the loo". He got it and was clean before dry. He had lots of pants but I said only for wen he can put wees and poos in the loo. On cmas eve, 3 days before his birthday he wanted panta and from then on (bar a few in early days) he's been dry and clean. For first few weeks when he went on potty or loo I would draw smiley faces on chalk board. When he missed I drew a sad face. Glad they diagnosed problem, bless him. The other nursery should ha e picked it up. Ds now scared of planes in sky as hurt his ears so prob back for another hearing ch k. Waiting for paediatrician appt as he has markers for autistic spectrum.

Quick question re poo (again) j is struggling they are more solid now with her weaning but before weaning shed only go 1 or 2 times a weeks. Now even a small poo is a huge deal with lots of tears. Anyone else?