Dec 08 Mums - Breech babies, bedtimes, boozing and Bikram

[KiwiPanda]

Um sorry about rubbish title

Kayz I wouldnt worry you are an old hand at this now. It will all come rushing back after 5 minutes and remember this time you have 2 helpful brig bros.

Farking nightmare our new sofa and armchair turned up yesterday and we seriously underestimated the size of them even though we had measured them out they are enormous in Scottish terminology they are muckle!

Kiwi well done on the running thats a fab distance.

SPot lovely to see you.

Beans am sure you are bronzing yourself by now but if you are reading Ola enjoy yours hols.

Right boys bed, me curry and The voice.

Indith not sure a pedometer would give very accurate distance, you might be better off either using an online tool to work that out after (eg mapmyrun or similar) or trying to pick up a secondhand gps watch on eBay or something (good ones like Garmin being fairly pricey new)
Also do get new trainers, you can injure yourself in old ones as the cushioning goes pretty quickly. My shins were starting to play up a bit till I replaced mine recently - you are supposed to get new ones every 300-400 miles..

Kiwi, I love the app on my phone for checking distance, lap times etc. I'm really loving the running again & the knee us fine hoorah!

Vag I'm like kiwi, I have zero upper body strength.

Kayz you'll be fine. I for one hated putting DD in tights it was such a faff every time I changed her nappy.

Had a bit of a ropey day yesterday hence not being back. Ambulance came at 9pm as B had temp of 40+, was fitting, vomiting, screaming incessantly, etc. 10pm we were in A&E. 2am, we were back home, after being told he was fine. "Just a virus". Aargh!
He's been hot and bothered all day today, but I think on the mend-ish. Glad I had the wine the previous night, or wouldn't have been able to follow the ambulance in the car.

Kayz, I'm sure it'll all come flooding back, though I understand your worries. I'd be the same. What was Lady's advice in the book?!

Kiwi, have a lovely week in Cornwall. As ever in awe of your running. My current excuse other than no pelvic floor to speak of is that I'd run out of village after about 5 mins, so not much fun.

Jam, if they managed to fit through your front door, what's the worry? They sound ace, the bigger the better, no?

Had some friends over from London today who we rarely see, the little girl was T's first friend, born a day apart but haven't seen each other since they were babies (ok, I use the term 'friend' advisedly, but they used to lick each other and stuff). Anyway, they played so nicely together today, made me all nostalgic...

Fingers crossed for a not too hideous night from the sproglets. Triumph of hope over experience.

P.S Vag, I was obviously slinking in both sexily and shamefully. In a morning after-style. Ah...more nostalgia...

Oh Spot that sounds really scary. Hope he's better today? X

Aah spot the walk of shame slink in.

So scary for you glad it was all ok these children are sent to scare the be jaysus out of us.

Goodness spot, hope all better today.

Right so trainers first, I might get into Durham tomorrow while dd at nursery as there is a good shop there plus I need to go see the jeweller who made my engagement ring as I have a loose diamond :(. What are apps and stuff for fancy phones like? Seem to be able to get second hand ipod touches for around £60, you can use apps on those can't you? then I'd get music of my own rather than nabbing dh's MP3 player (though running to Born in the USA is great) plus apps plus would a touch get GPS for geocaching? I know iphones do plus angry birds as a child bribe .

Indith if you can, go to a proper running shop where they analyse your running style on a treadmill in various shoes, and see how much stability/ cushioning you need. This can really change over the years specially after kids, mine has changed quite a lot even in the last 6 years.... Re ipods etc - you don't want an ipod Touch because while you would have the music, they only work on wifi so you can't use apps that track your movement via GPS when are out in the Big Wide World. For that you'd need an iPhone or a smartphone that works on 3G networks. But given that for £100 you can get a brand new Garmin so I'd have a look on Ebay for second hand ones, you might get a bargain. If you want something for music while you run, get a ipod Shuffle, they are only £40 new (and presumably even cheaper second hand / on ebay) and you can fit more than enough music for exercise on them, plus clip them on to running shorts etc.

Spot hope all is ok with you now. Poor B.

One month til D Day!! The pram came today and it's fab!!

Humph.

Grumpy.

Car went to garage today as making odd noises and we are driving to Bordeaux in 2 weeks. Odd noises are known to be typical of make/model so instead os taking it to the place we can see from our front room we took it to a dealer place for the make of car. Dh sorted out hire car for the day (cheaper than taxis). Bloody car isn't ready . Hire car gone back, now stuck with no bloody car and will end up having to pay another £15 for taxi to go pick it up. I've already paid for dd to have lunch in nursery tomorrow so I have the time to go do various bits of shopping and other stuff so that is another £4 wasted and I'm supposed to be at the maternity services meeting tomorrow which can't be done on bus and be home in time for school .

Poor you Spot, that's a bit scary, glad it settled down. It's always a good idea to go to the hospital if they have a seizure. you ok?

Indith sorry about the car, but also v.jealous of your trip to Bordeaux.

DH back tomorrow, yeehah, I'm shattered. Had a nice weekend with the boys, but with no car and lots of running around to do with stuff for the boys, I'm Sooooooo tired. Yay for nice weather finally.

It is too hot!! 24 degrees here according to temp display that a shop has. I like the sunshine but would love it to be a little cooler. At least until I give birth.

Indith, I hope your car is ok. Your holiday sounds lovely, we were thinking of a week or so in France but have decided to go to Cornwall. Though France might be closer!!

I have given up trying to get this baby to turn. I tried inversions last night and just felt dizzy. I am hoping the walking is working but I don't think so.

What glorious weather!

Kayz sorry you are suffering with the warm stuff.

Vag hooray for DH being back. I always find a weekend on my own is so much harder than during the wk.

Indith did you get the car back?

Car is back, yay! over £100 spent and they ahve not found anything wrong with it and just kept going "oh one more thing to check" until dh got annoyed and just went and got it back. Supposed to have it cleaned and hoovered as part of the service and they've not done that . Strangely we won't be taking it to the dealership again, we'll stick to the local place! Dh is just going to make sure we have roadside cover abroad before we go!

Got a shopping list and stuff to do list as long as my arm so need to stick seats back in the car and try to manage some of it this afternoon with dd in tow.

We've been baking too, Kayz I do not envy you being pg in this weather! Dd was knackered by it and wouldn't walk to school yesterday afternoon (well she had walked around 3 miles already and played in the park so I can't blame her) but she fell asleep in the pushchair rather than going on the buggy board so I worked up somethng of a sweat with ds2 in the sling and pushing her.

Can't believe how soon we are off to France, really need to start sorting out the packing. Argh!

Hello everyone,

Just on my.phone so will be brief.

Spot How frightening. So glad it wasn't anything too awful.

What pram have you got kayz? It has gone cool here now but was very hot earlier.

Indith Very annoying about the car. I hate dealing with garages as a woman. They belittle me and talk to DH even though neither of us knows anything about cars.

Had a lovely day today. Girls were so filthy from playing out I gave them a pre-tea bath and they were both fast asleep before 7. Hurrah!

Hi everyone! Thanks so much for your help with the Save the Children petition. There's an update thread that today David Cameron announced he would hold a Summit with world leaders during the Olympics to begin to address world hunger, which is one of the things the petition was calling for so thank you!

Loving the sunshine and hoping it sticks around for the weekend.

My DH is away for TWO weeks = hell!! I have horrendous insomnia, partly from anxiety of knowing there's nowhere to hide when DS2 wakes at 5 for the day even if I've barely slept overnight. Last 2 nights averaged 3 or 4 hours. Awful. Really hoping for better tonight! Solidarity with those of you with newborns?

Deids meant to say ages ago that it sounds like your nursery isn't dealing with biting that well. My DS has been on the receiving end of biting both at childminder (numerous) and pre-school (just once) and both places dealt with it really well. In the case of pre-school they didn't even tell me who was biting, just that it had happened, very careful to label the behaviour rather than child, etc. At the childminder it was a recurring problem and they very successfully started a star chart scheme both at home and at childminder so that she was getting consistent messages and incentives for good behaviour. It hugely improved and by the end she and my DS were good mates! BTW, the fact that Ds1 was the bitten rather than biter is no reflection on my parenting skills as I can tell you right now that Ds2 will be the one biting. He is one punchy little dude! Very different personalities my two DSs.

Ds1 has had a major 180 in behaviour this week though. Very testing and naughty all of a sudden. I think partly acting out because DH is away but also think he is chronically overtired. He regularly gets only 10.5-11 hours sleeps and completely refuses to nap. I don't know how to get him to sleep more! His sleep has consumed me for 3.5 years and I am so bored of it now.

Better get to bed and hope for a better sleep tonight!

Love to you all.

Evening All,

I hope everyone is enjoying our brief brush with summer (even you Kayz, although I do remember what it is like to be heavily pregnant in summer, not fun, most people look back on 2006 as a brilliant summer but to be it was hell).

Sorry to hear about your scary rush to hospital with B Spot. He has given you more than your fair share of scares and exposures with teh health service. How are you feeling about your house at the mo? Still considering a return to Brighton or even London?

I'm glad you car is OK Indith, how long are you going to France for? I am not jealous at all...

Speaking of holidays I hope Beans and the Beanlets are having fun. Have you decided where to have your next weekend away Lady?

Thanks for all the white light you sent in my cousin's direction. She is out of danger but her insides are rather messed up and I think she might need even more surgery in future. Poor woman.

I have come here to ask your advice. We are having a difficult period with DD2 at the moment. She started nursery for 3 days each morning in January and has never properly settled. At first she cried at every drop off and followed the teachers all day long, then just as she seemed to gain confidence she was badly bitten by a little boy and that really knocked her back, then we had a whole week of the teacher saying she was finally settling down until she got a virus and was off for a few days. That was three weeks ago and she has complained of feeling unwell at nursery every day since. They keep sending her home and then she is fine (maybe a little lethargic and depressed looking but not obviously ill). In addition to the nursery problems she has become very clingy at home, whining a lot and wanting holding like a baby. She cries when I leave her with the nanny which has never happened before. She is only properly relaxed and happy when I am home.

I feel awful as she actually seems depressed and she is only three. Sometimes I worry it is physical but although she complains of lots of physical symptoms we have noticed she only does this at nursery or when she is being asked to do something she is not keen on. So the physical is either fake or very much triggered by stress. I asked her today how I could make her happy and she said I could stay at home every day and not send her to nursery. When I said that I had to go to work so we could eat and have a nice house she said that she would stay with the nanny but not go to nursery, ballet or swimming and she wanted to stop all play dates :-(

I am so worried about her. I wonder if I should take her out of nursery altogether and give her a few months at home with the nanny and me (when I am around). Would that be totally overreacting? And would it teach her that she can get out of school if she makes enough fuss? Its probably not the answer anyway as nursery is not the only thing stressing her.

X-posted MoM. Two weeks is a loooong time to solo parent. I hope you are OK. How annoying to have insomnia even when the boys are asleep.

Re DS1 sleeping I don't think 11 hours is that bad at 3 years old. DD2 usually falls asleep around 8pm and wakes at 7am and never naps. Although, as my last post states, she is hardly happy or full of energy so maybe she is a bad example! But DD1 has never had more than 11 hours, not since she dropped her nap at about 15 months! Since then she has regularly only slept 10.5 hours a night and now that is more like 10 hours (she is five).

Sorry, third strike and I am out, but I thought I better point out that you do all know who I am (I have gone for the phonetic spelling of my old name, except its not really even phonetic, but you know what I mean).

Ob, I don't think it would teach her to make a fuss, it would just show that you listened to her. Why don't you have a proper chat to the head of the nursery about it, let them know your concerns, see what they think. Maybe there is something bothering her at nursery. Alternatively, could you schedual in an hour in the week just for two of you, for a trip to the park or a coffeeshop?

More biting talk, my ds2 this time. I picked him up from nursery yesterday and he seemed a bit grumpy, the ladies there said he was OK for the morning but an hour after we got home his best friend at nursery's mum rang to tell me that her DS had a bite mark on his wrist and he said vagboy did it. Vagboy was good and didn't deny it, but it was a bit late after the fact to do something about it, seemingly they hadn't seen it happen at school. I gave a little telling off and he was way less grumpy after we had a little chat about it ( apparently his friend had taken away the things he needed to build a robot). He gets so worked up and frustrated, and i feel like I don't help him because I just tell him off all the time, how do I help him deal with his anger.

Probably should have said café, not coffeeshop, huh.

Ob Aww that's upsetting. I'd have a meeting with nursery maybe with the nanny there too. Your nanny knows how she usually is without you there so her viewpoint might be helpful.

Re the physical symptoms. I had a dreadful time at the start of secondary school and had awful stomach pains which must have been psychosymatic. I had no idea it was due to stress. So your dd may really feel ill even if it isn't anything physical.

Aubs, I may be going against the grain here, but I really wouldn't take her out. If you do, you may be storing up all the trouble for when she goes to school, and hten you can't take her out, and this could make things so much worse. Friends whose children have been similar and have stuck with it say it does get better, little by little, whereas those who have acceded to the children have had a real fight on their hands when it comes to school etc later on. Can you talk to the staff and let them know how unhappy she is, ask them to keep an eye, talk to her, etc. Perhaps also get the nanny to pick her up early, as she won't know how long she is there, but just keep the rhythm.

I appreciate that this is easier said than done and I know I am very lucky as mine have always been OK about nursery. Huge hugs to you all.

Obe That does sound tough with DD2. I tend to agree with sybs that taking her out might make her get mixed messages about what she can and can't do re: school. Can you compromise perhaps and drop a morning until September? I would also speak with nursery and tell them my concerns and see if they could perhaps observe her a little more and see how she is at nursery ie withdrawn/happy/quiet etc rather than just thinking she is poorly & send her home.

Vag I know how you feel! I really, really do. DS has always bitten out of frustration, and he is incredibly headstrong so if he wants a toy then in his mind he's having it no matter what! I also hear what your saying about telling them off all the time. I bloody hate it. Actually I think Indith recommended a book about talking to children? Well,I didn't read it but I have really thought about the way I talk/shout at DS. So I have tried to talk to him (rather than shout and that is really frustrating too -I feel like biting something!!) about his behaviour when everything is calm and see if he can tell me what he feels/how the other children feel etc. Don't get me wrong a lot is in one ear and out the other but he must be thinking about it. Tuesday he waltzed into pre school and rather loudly declared "I not biting today, I'm being a good Deidboy". He also gives me his half eaten food and declares "'I'm sharing mummy"

Mom You are quite right about his pre school not dealing with his biting etc properly. Anyway, I made the pre school manager talk to me constructively the other day. I think we are both on the same page now, and she seemed more positive about him yesterday (rather than just picking up on his naughty behaviour). I also think that she is aware I felt they were labeling him, and that wasn't what she wanted to come across.

Oh crikey these children are really testing us at the moment aren't they? Much love to all.

On a happier note I am off camping tomorrow after school, hooray time to make the most of the sunshine while it lasts!

Apologies for for overusing 'etc' in that last post...