October 2011: Crawling, teething and (we hope) sleeping through

[Penelope1980]

Sorry guys - posted the 1000th message without realising , so hopefully you can all find this thread!

sp we've tried. Ds1 really loved his dummy until he replaced it with his cuddly rabbit's tail so we were ready prepared with the dummies for number 2. He's not having any of it though. And we've tried. A lot. Atm I just stumble in there, feed him and hope he stays asleep once i put him back in the cot. it's taking its toll on me now though.

Fuzzzy thanks for the pointers. Have both carrots and sp in preparation for purees so will give them a go tomorrow. He did pincer grip a bit of toast off the tray this evening which I was very impressed with! He has always had his own sppon during feeding but he just clamps down when the spoon with actual puree on goes anywhere near his face . He knows what he wants I guess.

ips Hi over here and from over on the other thread . Our lo's are exactly the same re food AND sleep then!! So glad I found you. We can now console each other on where we're going wrong haha!

Thanks everyone for such a warm and quick welcome.

DS literally has what we have for dinner althouh i oten chuck a few green veggies into the water during cooking rice, potatoes, pasta etc. and scoop out when done. Then give a few fruits for dessert. the other day he picked up a few peas, although they came out the other still whole.

A big BLW hit for us has been asparagus, steamed pretty soft. I leave in the pan a little longer than ours. He loved it last night and lots of evidence in nappy today (apol. For tmi!). also loves green beans and cantaloupe melon.

Avocado and banana have not been as popular, he doesn't like food that clogs up his mouth.

PenguinArmy you made me snort about the whole peas in the nappy . Do you give him rice? And pasta??? Does he not choke on them? I am terrified of something going down whole and making him choke. Peas, I could probably handle, but imagine a fusili getting stuck - I'd have no idea what to do!

So tonigh we had pasta with tiny bits of pepper, ham, peas and corn with pesto. What would I have given him from that? The peppers were about the size of peas.

Jnice asparagus eh? A discerning baby indeed! I've read somewhere that cantaloupe is the most nutritious of all the melons. Does it not just slip out his hands? What shape/size do you cut it?

Sorry for all the questions, am completely clueless.

DS tonight had penne pasta, spinach then extra (wrt us) green beans, a piece of aspagus and broccolli. he just nibbles/sucks on the pasta, breaks a few bits off but doesn't try and swallow it whole. Also gave him a satsuma which I was worried about but he chomped and ate a considerable amount. i didn't give the pine nuts we had though. With DD we gave leaving skin on melons/oranges worked well but DS has a go at eating that as well as the flesh.

for breakfast he has porridge, we make it thick so we can pick it up (very messy this meal). DD doesn't eat her crusts so DS gets those, this works well for us as sandwiches are too soft and his hands go straight through.

oh and lightly fried (or other cooked method) so it goes a bit soft is a good one

courgette

lookout remember gagging/coughing are all very normal and a way to learn that they must chew first. I know it's not easy to see but is all part of the learning experience. As long as you keep a close eye then just let him get on with it . Banana is good too as its very soft.

The cantaloupe is cut into slices, then chunks and Leo grabs them in his fist and kinds of sucks and chomps until there is a soggy mess left. He's had fusili but not that impressed. Also roasted red pepper and courgette in sticks.

Bizarrely my last post appeared hours after I had written it so it looks like I am not shocked at Eds 90 people at M?s Christening, when actually I am , good luck for tomorrow. My hairdresser had a Christening for her DS last year and it cost £3,000. I nearly choked on my Starbucks when she told me!

I "think" she is hungry Fuzzzy when she wakes in the night (don?t know why because I know she has done 7 hours in the past) . I tried last night to give her water and her little hands were all spread out panicking so gave her bf and the hands went all scrunched up again. This still does make me think it could be habit though anyway, I wonder if she wakes and then just goes on auto-pilot thinking she is hungry? Babies are confusing things.

Ha ha poor cats .

Happy belated Birthday Scheh, hope you had a nice day :)

Jnice do you not have to pay for daycare if he doesn?t go? The reason I ask is would the fact the you have spent money help with your decision to send him? Also I had a full changing bag the other day but no nappies left, not knowing this I went to meet friends, P pooped ALL over my jeans (good job they were very dark), all over her own clothes and I had to chance taking her from the restaurant to Boots (after cleaning her up) and buy swim nappies ? because I didn?t want to waste money on normal nappies knowing we had hundreds at home. I blame DH for not re-stocking bag :)

P wriggled too much with the swaddling, she constantly kicked the blankets off, so we use gro-bags now and I stopped turning the ends of her sleep suits over her hands because she needed her hands once she started turning over in her sleep. I second what Fuzzzy says though, if it?s what L likes then no need to change, might just need a bigger blanket :)

Pebble that makes sense about the bottle/cup, I wonder if there are children who start school with bottles? :)

Fuzzzy are you nannying or nursery-ing?

Lookout Eliot was on my shortlist of names but then P turned out to be a DD anyway. Have sent you a pm about fb.

P is not a great sleeper and will not take a dummy either, felt totally knackered this week as DH has been working until 9pm and for some very annoying reason even when P is asleep and I am super tired I have not been able to get to sleep :(

With the BLW as Jnice says as long as the veggies/pasta are a bit softer than you would normally have them so it?s easier for them to crunch bits off, P didn?t use to like apples but I discovered yesterday she likes them now the skin has gone a bit wrinkly because it is easier to bite bits off the apple then. Most fruits I leave the skins on as it?s easier to hold too. If you have a look up the thread (maybe it was about Wednesday) there is a list of breakfast ideas I posted, I think a lot of fruit and breakfast foods is a good way to start as toast, scrambled egg etc are easy to hold. And as Fuzzzy says do not panic about the choking, P does cough but I give her a few coughs to see if she can sort it herself and she pretty much always does, there are only a couple of times I have patted her back, mostly she has just spit out whatever it was and then carried on eating anyway!

Watermelon is a great hit as it?s nice and cold on their teething gums too, P holds a ?thick chip? size and it?s about half the length of watermelon (cos they are massive) with the skin on. Don?t worry if he puts the skin side in his mouth ? he will sort it out for himself. For now it?s all about exploring and figuring out, hence why I think it doesn?t really matter that the veggies are cooked a bit too soft (and less nutritional value). It?s my understanding from reading the blw book that up to 9 months can still be considering okay for exploring the food, E is one of the older ones (as is P) so he may well get in to it straight away. I have had the tops of baby corn, aubergine and green beans in P?s nappy (among other things) so she is def scoffing stuff).

You could try putting yoghurt on a spoon too and handing him the spoon, don?t worry if it ends up in his hair/eye though! Little Fusilli pasta is good too as it wraps easily round their gripped hand and they can nibble the top off. Mama does blw too and I think Pink does a bit of both and Jnice so there are a few people to ask and there is a blw website think from memory it's babyledweaning.com.

Off swimming this morning, starting our new course so had to de-fur myself , very hairy legs!

Last night went way better than I hoped for. After a horrendous time trying to settle him for a nap yesterday, we decided to try cc last night. Got him bathed, fed, story then bed. I settled him in his cot then left the room. He started crying immediately, I left it 2 mins then went in, picked him up and told him "shh time for sleep". Put him back then left him 4 mins (crying :( ). Repeated pick up and put down. Planned to leave him for 8 min but he fell asleep!! This was about half 7. He woke at 11.00, and I gave him a feed. Woke again about 3 ish but I waited 10min and he fell asleep and finally woke at 6.
So glad it went ok and he's having a decent nap right now, ate all his breakfast with no fuss and had monster bf. let's hope this continues!! And we're so glad we took the plunge last night.
strawberry we've tried a dummy many times but he absolutely refuses to have one with much gagging and screaming :(

Hey lookout, we give N things like green beans, carrot sticks, pasta, chunks of fruit, etc. I tend to give him things he can comfortably hold in his fist, but trying peas today to see if his pincer grip is getting better. He loves bread sticks too so if he's refusing spoon fed purée, I dip the bread stick in it and he'll suck that happily.
You can get a feeder from mothercare, looks like a big dummy with a net that you put the food in so baby sucks it through net. I sometimes use it to feed banana as it just seems to slip right out his fingers, but good for nervous blw'ers ( like DP) as there's no choking risk

cheshire gro bags are fab aren't they. N was forever kicking blankets off, and he tends to wriggle up the cot, so ended up cold. Shame a lot of them are blimmin expensive

Yay for the sleep ip!! Long may that continue!!

ips yay for sleep :) re gro bags, we use similar for W as he's a big fidget and turns himself round in circles in the night. Sainsburys do some lovely baby sleeping bags (same as gro bags I think but cheaper!) not quite sure about their sizing though we have a 6-12 month one at the moment that W is almost too long for (although he is a long baby)

cheshire :o at de-furring my legs could do with that too, never get long enough in the shower before W starts crying

My cat was v pleased with herself thismorning she caught a mouse for the first time in ages and brought it in, cue DH and me trying to get it off her before she lost it in the house somewhere. Poor thing was so hurt by the time we got it DH took it outside and dispatched it quickly (cat rarely kills the things she plays with just gets bored so couldn't trust her to 'finnish the job') :( poor mouse
Have to look out for her coming in with more now, this house obviously has more wildlife than our previous one as she's a bit incompetent at being a cat!

Thanks so much for all the BLW advice. We tried at lunch with sp and carrot sticks and some chunks of pear. Not interested in the pear but smashed the other two between his fists and in his mouth. He chewed and spat most of it out. Is that ok? We're having stir fry chicken tonight so have reserved a little chicken fillet and a slice of courgette for him to try tonight.

CheshireDing We're having a similar dilemma with night feeds. Part of me thinks he must be hungry because he feeds properly for a good 15 minutes. But then part of me says he can't be because plenty of times he's gone longer than 3 hours without a feed, so he's waking for whatever reason and associates falling asleep at night with the boob, so can't get back to sleep by himself. We had a dreadful night last night and I am so apprehensive about tonight. I don't really know what to do about it all though. I also have trouble getting back to sleep after night feeds and have some emds to help. They just make me drowsy enough to fall asleep but not knock me out completely. Does'n't make any difference though when E is awake for hours on end at night

We can't do any eggs or dairy or soya as there are possible allergies and I am still at the elminiation stage, so we are avoiding them all for now. Hope swimming went well! (I also had to de-fur this morning but more becase I was itchy than anything else )

ipswich so so so pleased last night went well for you. Hope tonight is as good! I like the breadstick in puree idea, at least then all those purees I lovingly made last week won't go to waste

Another vite for the grobag from us. We had ones from mothercare for ds1, cheaper and the same thing as the original. This time round, cos of the eczema, we've gone with the grobag, twas the only one with organic 100 % cotton, better for his skin.

sp yuk. That is all

we are a soy, dairy and egg free house as well

FWIW I firmly do not agree with the notion that once babies are on three meals a day, there is no need f or night feeds. some babies do need milk in the night, plus honestly ask yourself if you go 12 hours without food or drink. What i do do though, is if he wakes before a certain length of time e.g. 3 hours in early evening, 2 hrs in the night then we don't do food first but try and resettle without. Over time some people then extend this going say 5 hours or no food between 12 and 5am.

PA I get what you're saying, and I am mostly of your view. Even if he wasn't particularly hungry but needed a comfort feed that would fine. But it's the fact that he won't go back to sleep after the feed that is bugging me. If I could just get up, feed, put down and go back to bed, that would be fine by me. It doesn't often work out that way atm though And I am knackered.

Do the allergies in your house hold make weaning more challenging? We are not confirmed yet, and I am going to the GP to push for a referral on Monday. I miss cheese mostly

Hi all, just a quick check-in. haven't had a chance to read everything.

welcome lookout

Waiting for my mum and dad to get here. haven't seen them since mid-Feb other than on Skype. I know my mum is looking forward to lots of cuddles with M this week (and maybe pampering her DD as well ).

well it's not allergies, just intolerances but we are also vegan so not too much of a bother for us. i have the same intolerances so it was good for me to finally have a reason to ditch soy. my stomach is forever grateful.

sounds like the BLW went well. i do think if babies allow it, being able to spoon feed in a baby led way and finger foods is very handy. DS won't let us get a spoon near him but i didn't start a spoon with DD until she was 9/10 months (that was I introduced breakfast/porridge to her). She however didn't like touching messy food whereas ds is quite successful at eating porridge with his hands.

the no cry sleep solution book comes highly recommended on MN. I've just got one from the library for a general read. we still swaddle but we're going to try and switch to sleeping bags on jubilee weekend.

I think i have just cooked enough lentils to feed this entire thread

at least we have a good sized freezer

cheshire I'm going back to nannying, have been out of nurseries for 4 years now. I am looking forward to it, miss my other kids . Going to be 2 and a 1/2 days through summer till they are back to school then I'll need to find something else. It's gonna suit me till then as my mum will be off as well (works in a school) to take S. family are happy for me to bring her but I'll see how it goes. Will need eyes on back of my head to have S, a 7, an 8 year old and a dog!! Did you get a nursery sorted for when your back?

Currently sitting in Starbucks having a coffee while S has a nap. Needed to get out the house so out for a walk. This weather is really getting me down. I just wish it could hurry up and warm up a bit! S has hardly any long sleeve tops left that fit as I was convinced she would be in tshirts/short sleeves by now

Hope everyone is having a good weekend so far

Hmm, I've just bought a jar off cooking sauce that has 2% of honey in it. I can't give it to S can I? Damn! Thought an easy dinner for us both!!

ha, we may be getting there in terms of sleeping problems, but not solved the weaning issues yet!! oh well suppose we cant have everything. he's refused everything today apart from his porridge, which is the only food we can reliably get him to eat. i'd cooked up a lovely batch of lentils too penguin but he wont entertain them. guess i could eat them instead......

hope you have a nice time with your mum and dad engels, my parents visited last weekend, and mum spent so much time rolling about in the floor with N, her knees seized and we had a job getting her up again! she loved it though, especially bathtime :)

fd I wouldn't risk it, just in case. Not really sure but think honey can have a type of bacteria harmful for babies

ips the sleep last night sounds amazing! You must be so pleased. We did a version of it for J and it worked so well. Only a couple of night of crying, then once he got the hang of it. he now (mostly) just goes to sleep. However he has now worked out how to sit from lying and loves to show off this trick. For the past day or so every time I put him down to sleep after a few mins he is sitting up, then starts crying as he wants to sleep and can't work out why he can't!

I have the opposite prob to you with food, he lives food from a spoon , can't get enough of it. But if I put food in his hand then he has no idea what to do. I tried putting it in his mouth, but he still had no idea. He either chews for a while the spits it out (not putting his hand there) or just cries... Think he is not ready

Out tonight for dinner with some pals, bit nervous how J will be. We are planning on bringing him into the restaurant in the car seat, but he is getting a bit big for it, so I don't know how he will sleep... I guess we will just have to deal with it

Hi lookout. Nice to have you join us

PA I'm kind of hoping that I'll be wrong on the allergy front. Can't imagine him having to be free of all those things for the forseeable future. And myself too for that matter, as long as I'm bf.

Not sure if the BLW went well - he didn't eat anything but did have a good go at smashing it up. Is that considered good? This evening he had a couple pieces of courgette and a small piece of chicken. he'd had a go at the courgette and was starting on the chicken when he suddenly started shouting at his food and then ended up crying! Had to throw it all away again. I'm so impatient I want these thing to work immediately, but obv it's gonna take a bit of time.

ips at least he had the porridge though, right? E only really had milk today . I'm worried he's gonna get ill cos he's not eating enough proper food.

emmazed Hi! I ws wondering if you (and ips) for that matter are bf? Does he sleep well after you put him down or is he still up in the night? I've no-one else to compare to so don't really know if what E is doing is normal or not? I'm having trouble coping with it all really. Hope dinner goes well. We've been out a couple times over the past few weeks but had babysitters with varying success. Try and enjoy yourself and don't worry too much. And eat something yummy and have a glass of wine!