May Baby Mayhem!

[Bodeccia]

Hello fellow May mums. Let's follow on from our lovely ante-natal threads, here's the first of the post-natal ones. Join us as we work out how to handle nappies, feeding, colic, crying and all things newborn, or just to celebrate the joys of a new baby!

Hi all, gosh they're growing up quick aren't they? In the last couple of weeks DS has started sitting by himself, started solids, gone into the 'big bed' in his own room and learnt some new tricks, namely bubble blowing, spitting, screeching and how to lift his bum off the bath support then splash it back down so water goes everywhere! No rolling over yet though, he just gets stuck on his side.

Those of you doing BLW, when you offer chunks of food such as cucumber, melon, bread, chicken how big do you have the pieces? I've started DS with purees which are going ok, but he's not really been interested in the finger food I've offered so far. I've tried small pieces of pasta, cucumber and banana and French fry sized sticks of banana but it's like he doesn't really know what to do with them. Is he maybe not ready yet? Or would larger pieces be better? I know they have a good gag reflex etc but am still a bit nervous about choking! Any tips?

Sleep still not great! We've got down to 2 night wakings now, but I still have to feed him each time he wakes. At the moment I do think he is still hungry, but we'll see what happens when he's taking more solids! He's also been harder to get to sleep since moving him into his own room :( He would normally either feed to sleep or, more usually feed to sleepy then settle himself to sleep quite quickly. I was quite chuffed with this as I want him to be able to self settle but it doesn't seem to have helped his sleep in general! Tonight I bathed him at 7pm, fed at 7.20pm and put him in his cot - wide awake - at 7.45pm. It's now 8pm, he's still awake sucking his fingers and I'm sat on the floor typing this and 'Shhhhhing' intermittently! The poor thing does have a really stuffy nose though which isn't hel

Gah blooming phone!
I meant ...which isn't helping. He got 2 teeth early on, about 14 weeks but despite much dribbling and fist chewing ( actually anything chewing! ) there's no sign if any more. I tried the Ashton and Parson powders but as well as being expensive found the stupid paper wrappers made them really hard to give! Are the boots ones in proper sachets?

Well, I think he might have drifted off, and my tummy's rumbling. Hope everyone's ok, I will try and remember to check back soon!

Hello everybody :)

Haven't been here for a while-not much time,managed to log into MN a couple of times,tried to post and the site went offline.Very frustrating,grrr.

Sleepwise wasn't too fantastic here,waking up a few times everytime,took DS to our bed to feed hiim to sleep.It worked but little monkey decided he prefers our bed to his cot so was shouting in the morning to be lifted and settled in our bed.No way Jose...

Feeding-haven't tried anything except mashed carrots a few weeks back-no clues from DS that he wants anything yet but...he got his first tooth today!

Off to hv this week,they will tell me hopefully what his weight is.

wrigglebum apparently ashton&parkers had a problem with production for the last couple of years.I'm shocked that it still persists because they're loosing the custom.DS is having Boots teething powder and it seems to soothe him for a while.

Cydonia i got River Cottage toddler and baby weaning book,worth checking in the local library if they have it-I thought that it was yet another book with recipies for yummy mashed carrots but was nicely surprised and decided to buy the book,the recipes are not just for babies but for adults and it tells you how to adapt it for a baby..Have a look in charity shops for older books.

As for different "meals"-have a look what's in the supermarket and try to copy that at home.At one of the baby groups we had a presentation of supermarket vs home cooked food.Day to night.Loved broccoli,pear and pea mash.

Have to go,DS not settled and crying

cupcakes where are you

hope everybody is doing well,take care x

Marking my place as I lost you again. Wrote a post the other day & iPhone ate it. Grrrrrr.
Waking lots still at night for feeds.
Blw going well.
Chubby cheeks now - so lovely to see after the skinny weeks.
Currently looking at when to go back to work and child care options.

Will post more when I have time.

Commando crawling and cutting first tooth here. Eek - no wonder we are getting no sleep!

Lurking but no writing as everybody's busy elsewhere.

NotZiggy congrats on 1st tooth:)

DS has enormous cheeks and a double chin-amazing when I think about this skinny baby having feeding issues at the beginning and hardly any weight gain.
Eating lots,doesn't matter how much he'll get-he eats it all,mashed veg and porridge.
Tried some blw today with steamed carrot,broccoli and pear,he gagged a few times(never swallowed anything) which I find scary like hell.If you have any tips please share them(keep trying?wait a couple of weeks?)
Will keep lurking,please keep posting :)

Lost the thread for a while!

Sleep still a bit of a problem here, wakes quite a lot in the night and has been awake and crying for a while in the night last few nights. He has a bit of a cold and is so snotty so he won't settle in the cot and wants to be held. Seems to be quite uncomfortable in his tummy too, so I've ordered some probiotics for him to see if it helps as he gets so windy.

Eating going well here still, he rarely gags now (just keep offering the finger foods LimeFlower, he will get the hang of it) and we've given a few lumpy spoon fed meals (fish risotto and shepherds pie, just the same as we had with no further chopping) and he ate them no problems. Adam normally has finger food, with a bit of spoon feeding thrown in, so he pretty much has what I have. Tonight for example he had a couple of chunks of lamb and some apricot from our tagine to chew on then cous cous and sauce from the spoon. He seems to like pretty much everything except pasta, which is pretty much all ds1 eats!

Glad feeding is going well Ziggy after all the problems you had.

No teeth here but we have proper crawling, started a couple of weeks ago so was 6 1/2 months! Is now able to pull up to standing and is starting to cruise a bit- eek. Ds1 crawled at 9 months and cruised just before 10 months so I'm pretty shocked at how early Adam is.

How's Adam wrigglebum ?Did he manage to get rid of his cold?What about sleeping?Good luck with the crawling :)

DS sometimes sleeps nearly all night,sometimes wakes up every 2 hours.He's a manipulative little monkey-if he starts crying in the night he know that i'll pick him up and give him a boob in my bed-it's sooo comfy and warm unlike his cot.

Tried to give him something to feed himself-cut ripe banana into sticks,he managed to eat a bit and smeared the rest everywhere.The same fate met broccoli,not interested in sweet potato at all.

I can't give him our food as it's salty(plenty of stuff cooked in the freezer) so all I've given him so far are mashed veg and some baby rice.No meat/fish yet.

Still not sitting up by himself,has 2 huge bottom fangs and the upper ones on the way as biting all toys like mad(and my boobs sometimes).

Catch up with you later-that's if anybody still lurks here:)

Well he got over one and now has another cold! He's still pretty chirpy though. We had an awful night with him screaming inconsolably and awake every 30 mins- and turns out we have a tooth! I wasn't expecting one yet as ds1 was 9 1/2 months- yet another reminder that they're all different .

Could you try giving DS finger foods for lunch LimeFlower? Cream cheese on toast, peanut butter on oatcakes, that sort of thing? Halved cherry tomatoes or cucumber sticks are quick and easy too. They won't eat much to start but it's all good practice.

Oh,dear.Not good about cold,hope he'll get over it soon.My sympathy re sleepless night but congrats on the tooth :)

I saw one lady in the village-her son is month older than mine,her son has no tooth yet,mine has 2 and the other ones on the way as he's constantly biting things and sticks his fingers into mouth.Boots teething powder seems to help him.

I tried to give him a bit of avocado,banana and bread with (unsalted) butter.He ignored fruit and went for a bread-managed to eat a stick,gagged once but swallowed it :)

I've got some creamy cheese (philadelphia type) but it contains salt?Tomorrow I'm going to make him omelette and cut it into strips.Posted on weaning board and got some good advice but thanks for suggestions :)

Evening!
One tooth through. The tooth next to it is coming too but is taking forever. Poor baby pretty much cried all weekend. Baby calpol did not help either :(
I saw the comment re lunchtime finger foods - we do toast or salt free rice cakes with houmus or tuna or Brie.... Seems to love it! Soft apple or pear or nectarine or kiwi as well. Or a pre steamed carrot. He does love carbs though!!!! Those are the sort of things we have in the fridge now because I will eat them. But I have had to change my shopping habits
He likes chunks of meat too - chunky bits of ham or from a roast. Fish from a fish pie is popular, as is the mashed potato!!
My MiL made a chicken casserole which he had bits out of too.
Depends what foods you have in your freezer of course. We seem to have meat and fish, stews and bolagnase sauces!!
He likes rice too - with daal or as risotto. I made a Stilton and kale risotto the other night and he could not get enough of it. If only he would eat the fruits I offered as eagerly!
Yoghurt or from age frais with fruit purée is. Very popular. As is porridge with Purée.

He loves slightly cheesey omelette and pancakes too. However making pancakes for breakfast is a little more than I can manage more than once a week.

We have had a bug too. Am only just recovered. None of my antenatal classes prepared me for a vomiting baby in Victoria Station during morning rush hour..... Luckily we had already been into the passport office and ordered his fast tracked passport so our task for the day had been completed.
Picture me hopping from foot to foot thinking f£&! What do I do now?!!!! I managed though - don't have much choice do you?
Being ill whilst looking after a sick child is awful.
Goodness knows where we picked up the bug but DH was very sick too. Typical that after 5 months of no work he should get a new contract to start 24 hours after the onset of a vomiting bug!!
Of course it means we could not join Mil in France for the week before Christmas. Went down like a cup of cold sick which irritates me. Why could she not just be happy he has a job at long last?!! Grrrrrr. There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth I can tell you. I did my best to levitate above it. I've even brought PFB to see her down south for 2 nights. DH owes me!!

What is anyone else doing for Christmas? We are off to my parents. DH not over joyed at the prospect. My dad does the house up like Santas grotto for my mum.... You cannot move without walking into decorations. They are v excited to have their first GC for his first Christmas.

Congrats on the tooth NotZiggy how to abbreviate your nickname

My deepest sympathy on being ill and caring for a baby-this is a nightmare in my head as DS is snotty at the moment with occasional cough,DH was feeling flueish last night and I'm a bit choked up.Hats off to you.

Sod your MIL,some people are impossible to please.

How do you feed your baby risotto? another nightmare thinking about DS feeding himself and when did you start feeding meat?

FIL was texted and mailed by both of us and never bothered to answer.So much for "loving Grandpa".Sod him.I'd have thought that he would treat our DS equally to his other DGC but obviously DS being his only biological GC is less equal than the others.Yes,I'm bitter.I'm tempted to post the parcel with their prezzie to them-instead I'll have to go and see them sitting with a plastic smile on my face.

We'll spend Christmas at home-first Christmas with 3 of us and after years of feeling miserable at this time of the year I'm looking forward to it!:)

Any suggestions for a prezzie?Looking for a sensible toy(something to get him interested) and not too expensive as we have to fork out for a new car seat soon

Take care everybody,keep posting:)

Just seen your message!
Risotto was such fun. Went everywhere!!! We started with meat early on - just gums it into submission :)

I am thinking of getting PFB a crawl ball. Saw it on my supermarket on line ordering page... Made by vtech I think. Saw one at a lll meeting & looked fun for baby learning to crawl. It has lights & buttons & come back to you after you roll it away. It's a sort of rolling activity centre which won't take up too much space (unlike so much of the other expensive crap).

Oh & it is only £11.99

But ikea also have stacking cups for a couple of quid - bargain (Shame I spent a small fortune on other crap!!)

Good luck. Xmas is plastic smile central I find....

Hello NotZiggy :)

I'm afraid that my sense of "fun" is a bit different than yours,especially that it would be me cleaning it up-DH is a messmaker and requires constant nagging reminding to keep the things tidy.I've got enough on my plate already.

When did you serve meat to your one and what did you give him?DS tried to grab DH's sausage roll today and went absolutely bananas when DH refused to give it to him(salt in sausages).I had a look at weaning board,somebody placed a link to YT video of a baby chewing on a chicken leg.Will try to find a link.

I saw this crawling ball at my friends-it didn't come back after rolling.I'm after something that doesn't flash,play tunes or requires batteries otherwise i'll go bonkers.

I bought DS stacking giraffe from ELC and he loves it-different textures,thickness and colours,here's the link www.elc.co.uk/Sensory-Stacking-Rings/130560,default,pd.html This toy is fantastic.

I was looking for something similar-something that he'd be able to grasp,have a look and slobber it.An absolute hit in the house are boxes-empty tea box,cereal box and so on.Post is also dealt with immediately-he managed to chew on a couple of official letters from the council,tearing off bits of kitchen towel and so on.Just have to watch and take it away from him when it starts falling apart.

I was stuck in the house with him this week due to his cold-gosh,how I miss going out!Went to the shop today with him,roads and pavements were like skate ring.

Please keep posting:)

Stacking giraffe link

www.elc.co.uk/Sensory-Stacking-Rings/130560,default,pd.html

Bloody computer just kicked me out of internet,grrr

BLW chicken video,enjoy

We started on the meat fairly early, just after 6 months. Adam just chews and spits out whatever he can't handle. Had 3 king prawns yesterday and I found the mangled remains of just over half of one so the rest must have gone in! He has had small amounts of sausage (chorizo in a casserole) and went crazy for it. Homemade meatloaf, meatballs or burgers are quite good and easy to chew, or make your own chicken dippers? We had homemade fish cakes today- yum! In terms of how to feed, he gets big chunks of his food on his tray; anything spoonable (eg curry sauce and rice, shepherds pie, risotto, yoghurt etc), I load the spoon and put it near his mouth and he guides it in.

Presents- Stacking cups and rings are always great (we have all that kind of stuff already), bead frames are popular too. Adam just likes anything he can chew or climb up on! Going to get the walker out after Xmas as he's looking like he might be ready for it soon! For Xmas we're giving books, a traditional jack in a box (more display right now), a star projector type thing for his room and something cuddly.

Wrigglebum how do you manage to find a compromise between home meals and no salt for the baby?I can't,that's why I find it so difficult as what to offer to DS.

Had a fish pie the other day but contained smoked haddock(salty),tatties at the top were salty,meatballs are salty and so on and so on...
Tomorrow he'll get some pasta shapes(cooked without salt tonight so our dinner was a bit bland) and hard boiled egg.

Gave him some broccoli,celeriac and carrot sticks and a bit of a chicken,he didn't seem to be too interested-all food gets bitten and spat out.The only bit that went through was broccoli-saw the evidence in the nappy.

Present-just a small token one-no point in going bonkers this year when he hardly remembers anything and we aren't loaded financially.Thanks for the suggestion on the bead frame,never thought about that :)

Went for a walk today,first time in over a week as DS a bit snotty/coughing.That was bliss-I started going bananas in the house-nobody to talk to,friends busy with organising Christmas/work so no reply to text.Just missing some adult conversation.

DH came from work,took DS over for a while so i could prepare the dinner.DS never settled in bed until 9 pm so ate the dinner late again

Waiting for a washing machine to finish now and then off to bed.

It feels so lonely sometimes with nobody to speak to for days!

Anyway hope you lot have a nice Christmas with lots of nice things

I just add salt at the table instead. I've never been one to add much salt anyway. I do use a very small amount- eg in a chilli or curry maybe 1/2 tsp in a pot that he'll eat less than a 20th of won't worry me too much. I use a lot of herbs, spices and garlic instead. Had beef casserole tonight- beef, tomatoes, carrots, red wine and loads of herbs and garlic. Really tasty and no need for salt or stock. Homemade meatballs or meatloaf can manage without salt, again just tons of herbs for flavour. For fish pie just don't salt potatoes or sauce and limit the amount of smoked fish in there, you can add extra herbs then add salt at the table.

Hello! I've just discovered you all on MN! Is it too late to join you all? My DS2, Theodore, was born on 7th May 2012. I hope all your May babies enjoy their first Christmas!

Certainly not too late to join Lotty but we're not the most active thread I'm afraid . Belated congratulations. Love the name.

Happy Christmas all, especially to the babies for their first Christmas.

Hello lotty and welcome:) your DS is bang on month older than mine-ended up with a June baby.

wrigglebum thank you for all your suggestions ,MIL gave us a slow cooker for Christmas so trying tatties&gravy and whatever meat is on the go.DS tried to grab a roll of DH so gave him a bit of mine and...he ate it!

wishing all of you Happy New Year :)

Sorry I've been absent for the last few months. Just wanted to wish you all a very Happy New Year!

Lime - we also got a slow cooker for Christmas! I'm hoping it will help when I go back to work.

We've only recently started weaning as DD was only 6mo on 9th Dec. Going with BLW like I did with DS and she's having a little once a day but will look to increase that in the next few weeks.

Happy new year!
Sorry been absent but Xmas rush, family to contend with & DH suddenly getting a new contract (hurrah!) meant I have been snowed under. You know how it is!

Welcome L. My DS is also a Theodore! Amazing how I had never met one & now I hear the name all the time.

Meat - T loves food, incl meat. We let him try sausage. We decided that out of one or 2 bites he wasn't going to ingest too much salt. However that is not based on any evidence at all, let alone scientific!!! Just gut feeling....

This blw certainly has improved my diet. Im eating more fruit, more veg & more plain unprocessed meat.
I also received a slow cooker for Xmas so looking out for baby friendly recipes - please do share any tasty ones!

T did well with gifts & received some lovely non noisy toys and clothes. I got him a couple of things from ikea - a soft ball & some stacking cups for less than a fiver. Bargain!! My mum was horrified I had not got him anything big & didn't understand when I said I didn't see the point for a 7 month old!!!

Hope the year has started well. Any NY resolutions?