Caution! December 2011 babies can be hazardous to health, bank balances and carrot sticks!

[LittleMissFlustered]

[NorthernChinchilla]

Well, in honour of the thread, I actually went past Banbury today ! Couldn't believe it when we went past the sign, but didn't explain to colleagues as it would have probably come out weird...

at HLC, glad someone else's baby is being picky. Mine goes for plain oaty/wheaty things, so not the luxury tastes of your LO!

I hope you're sitting in a state of happy exhaustion Oi, surrounded by boxes, DH, boxes, BOi, and more boxes. Hope it wasn't too knackering, moving house is normally hell on wheels, so hope it's been bearable.

It appears that the babies on the thread are playing some sort of tag- they're either clusterboobing and honking down food, or ignoring it all and refusing bottles, and randomly sleeping or waking to talk...but all on different days with different people . I could feel your joy mopsy in your post, you sounded estatic and exclamatory! And a little (huglet) for aethel with minor boob-related sniffles, it must feel odd even if you do want to do it.

How did the cooking go cherry?

I know exactly what you mean MissRee, DP has done that a few times, and it's so irritating as you're stuck in the house; and I know doing the dusting isn't quite the same as a nice coffee at Bluewater, but at least it's a job well done!

So glad to be back, but off to bed very shortly. Night night all!

[MissRee]

I think I might have melted if I'd ventured out with the buggy today anyhoo so it was more the car I missed (and the coffee) but I did get lots done - beds stripped and changed, kitchen cleaned and tidied, bedroom tidied, washing up to date and then saved cleaning the bathroom til last so I could stand in the bath with cold water on my feet I even found time to paint my toenails!

My friends little boy is quite severely disabled (he has Lissencephaly [sp?]) and had his first seizure today She copes so well as a single Mum to him and his (able) big brother but was in pieces as I think the reality of his disability has really kicked in now

[OiMissus]

Hugs for your friend missree, that must be so tough.
The move has gone well. We are in. BOi refused to sleep, it's been hard work, but my sis came to help, so all is well. We've got so much sorting to do - how much stuff have we got? (unpacking the boxes we packed in December and rediscovering all sorts!)
Anyway, the house is fab and it feels like home already ! Fantastic! Very exciting! X

[MissRee]

[Figgygal]

Morning all

DS is snot central today it's quite disgusting don't feel I can take him to the library this morning so he's now inhaling his Ella's kitchen mango baby Brekkie pouch (as I just can't get the consistency right in his porridge this morning so admitting defeat).

1st Friday off work shall consist of the weekly shop, visiting a friend with a broken toe and some cleaning.....very exciting stuff!!

Great news on the house oi

[seven77]

Congratulations on the house move oi. It's odd isn't it how some places just have that homely feeling. Before we moved in here when we were doing loads of decorating and the house had fleas it still somehow felt like home.

cherry I really recommend The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook. It has loads of gorgeous naughty recipes, I've made several and theyve all turned out perfectly.

Another terrible night here downstairs with Eva. She sounded congested last night, I was up with her last night and DH took over at 4.30. She's full of snot this morning but seems herself though. Only trouble is she absolutely hates having her face wiped, she cries everytime I have to de-snot her face.

[KateM77]

oi congrats on the move

aethel I'm feeling strangely emotional about the last few feeds too, which is odd when I'd have stopped weeks ago if it had gone to plan! I think it's the abrupt ending to it all, I had month of gradually switching over with DD

The joys of living in the country. I saw a mouse in the lounge this morning . Think it must be living in the pile of logs in the fireplace. We've had them in the utility room before. Will have to dig out the humane traps.

[HoneyLovesCake]

Congrats on the move Oi did they leave the table? Can't wait to see pics of Ali's nursery; I remember you had some lovely furniture for him I bet you're having fun unpacking :)

[KateM77]

Ooh, yes! We need news on the table

I'd forgotten about the joys of poo inspection when first weaning. Black banana strings and seeds from the multi-seed loaf would indicate that DS actually swallowed something yesterday . Sorry if TMI. And at lunchtime too.

[hawthers]

Hee hee my first thought when I read oi's post was what about the table

[Xiaoxiong]

Last Friday of mat leave

It still hasn't hit me that I won't be with him all day and might not see him awake at all in the week.

Opinons: if money was no object, would you go back to work?

[Figgygal]

tyel speaking as someone who has gone back this week it is not as bad as you think. I was utterly in denial up until monday and the was distraught all day. Within an hour it felt like id never been away from the office tbh.

I wouldnt not work i dont have the imagination to be a sahm and my cm is great with ds, they have lots of activities planned and he has other kids to play with socialisation is very important in my eyes and i dont think he would get the same exposure to the world and people if i was a sahm. Also for me i enjoy my job, im very lucky in that respect, i like the social element of work however have to confess i do now appreciate that what i do day in day out doesnt actually mean anything in the grand scheme of things itll be the time i spend at home with ds and dh that is important.

You will be fine even with what i guess are going to be long days if you think you will struggle to see him in the week. This week ive been lucky to be home 5.30 every night (making the most of them giving me settling in days before it all kicks off next week) and even then getting dinner, playtime and baths in before bed as been a struggle.

[BJR]

It's a tricky one Tyel have been thinking about it lots over the last couple of weeks. I think even if money was no object i'd want to continue with at least a bit of work. I love being with DS but part of me is also looking forward to going back. But i've not gone back yet so i'm not sure how i'll feel when i'm actually there.

For those doing BLW how are you getting on with meat? DS is doing great with most food but i've given him chicken twice and both times hes gagged on it within a couple of seconds and ended up with sick absolutely everywhere. He's not done that with anything else but I guess the consistancy is different.

Should I hold off with it for a little while until he's better at chewing or do I keep offering and eventually he'll just get better with it?

[KateM77]

tyel as someone fortunate enough to be in the position whereby DH can support us all, I'm not going back to work this time. I went back 3 days a week after mat leave with DD, and that was a good balance. Because I have to work in London and because of the distance we live from there, we had a flat in London and DD went to nursery there. I drove down mon night and back thurs night. It was manageable with one, but the logistics of that with two are just too much. When I finished work last year I was thrilled not to going back, but the reality of that is now hitting me and I think I will miss the social side and being me rather than just somebody's mum. The upshot of that long ramble is in an ideal world I would work a few days a week if I could also see the DC's in the morning and evening. Because that's not possible I think my best option is to be a sahm

[seven77]

kate MIL gets mice in her loft every autumn. We live one row of houses further away from the field but thankfully manage to avoid them. We get loads of huge terrifying harvest spiders though.

oi tell us about the table! It must be a pretty special table as we're still all talking about it, I think we need a pic. Did they leave loads of old crap rubbish for you to sort out like you were afraid they would?

tyel I had no intention of going back to work after I had DS. However I was 22 and still at the bottom of the ladder and I didn't enjoy my job which I guess makes the difference. I knew that if I later decided to work again I wouldn't have taken a pay cut. I suppose we could be better off if I worked but we scrape by on DH's salary and my carers allowance. My mum worked long hours when I was little, I spent most of my pre-school years and school holidays being brought up by my friends mum, I have no memories at all of my parents playing with me. It's affected me in that I don't want that for my DC's, and as I'm likely to outlive DS I want to enjoy every minute I have with him.

[KateM77]

Tyel sorry, posted and ran before due to grumpy DS and needing to do bathtime. I should of course have said, as figgy did, that the prospect of going back to work was a lot worse than the reality.

Seven we've only had them come in for warmth and to eat their way through a box of mince pies before. Not sure why they're inside now. It's silly because they're so tiny, but it makes me jump at every little thing! I think as we're the only house around without a cat and/or dog we're a mouse haven! We also get a lot of spiders

I'm now doing my last big snuggly tank up before bedtime feed with DS and feeling a bit emotional

[seven77]

Does anyone else have trouble getting their LO down at bedtime? She always falls asleep having her bottle so when she does I put her to bed. If she wakes up she just won't settle. She nearly always falls asleep with me holding her but it's really not a habit I want to be in. I don't really want to do controlled crying yet but we can't go on like this :(

[NorthernChinchilla]

I think I would always work tyel; I'm lucky at the moment in that I do a full day, but get to bf DS in the morning and then have half an hour and get him ready for bed, then bf in the evening. My work is pretty good about working from home, being flexible, etc; if I didn't have that however I'd probably look to work a little less, say four days, or a 9 day fortnight.
But we have no choice at the moment, if I didn't work, or reduced my hours we couldn't survive. I also do enjoy my job, and I'm lucky in that it's one where I feel I'm making a difference.

I'm also really keen for DS to go to nursery to mix with other kids and have a good time! I'm sure I'll be wibbly when he first goes, and a part of me will feel like somehow I'm not doing my best by him, but overall I'm really positive about it.

We're having more success with food via spoon and bowl- porridge and 'nana were enjoyed today, along with oat biccy with butter, and a yoghurt.

One of my friends is coming round tomorrow and we're going off for lunch- can't wait for her to see DS as she hasn't seen him since he was about 3-4 months old. DP is then off to buy nice things for our dinner, as we're celebrating our anniversary (9 years) with a meal at home then a trip out to a Stately Home (not in the Relationships Board way) on Sunday- can't wait !

[NorthernChinchilla]

Best of luck to you too Kate; I think actually it's similar to the going back to work issue. Both are big changes, and there's potentially a bit of guilt and a bit of sadness at stopping providing for your LO in some way (or being there for them 24/7).

Does your DD settle OK for naps seven? If so, I wouldn't worry too much, and I think most of us are still feed-fall-asleep-baby-in-cot. Do you use a dummy? When I put DS down he generally stirs but I just pop a dummy in and he goes off.

[aethelfleda]

seven, I sympathise, I'm currently tanking up DS with the knowledge that this is going to be one of the last tankups ever for me unless
I cave on the breast to bottle switch not gonna, honest.
Both my DDs fed to sleep til about 4 months, but after about 6 months its better if they learn to settlethemselves. There are lots of ways you can do this without the textbook controlled crying stuff. I'd hate to let them wail for 2/4/6/8/10 mins and be timing it, just not my thing. We used the there-there approach which is that you hear them cry, go in and mutter soothingly there-there while doing a calming motion of some type (stroke forehead, stroke hand, hand on tummy). Then as their cries settle and they calm you say "good girl/boy, night night" and go. Their wails will get louder! Give it two minutes, then go back in and repeat. The difference here is yoi are not making them wait longer, just telling them
You are still here, still caring, still around. But DON't pick em up!!!!!

We found this worked well in just a few nights and each night they settled quicker. Worth a go?

[aethelfleda]

Ps Can we call the new thread December 2011: Of Mice, Men and Tables"?

[seven77]

Thanks aethel. How long before they get quieter, I'm not convinced she would as she seems to enjoy screaming.

northern she's not much better at naps without the car/buggy. She had two naps today in the playpen but only because I left her crying for a few minutes as I was busy. She wouldn't take a dummy when she was younger, I haven't tried lately but I don't want her to get hooked on one now then struggle in a few months time to wean her off again. Ps 9 years wow, congrats!

I finally received an explanation about the non-prescribed formula. They noted that we were requesting it every fortnight so were reviewing the amount so we could have one prescription a month. The system had apparently already changed to double the amount without us being told so of course when I wanted a repeat it flagged up. Rather than speak to us themselves the pharmacist apparently asked DH how much we use per month. DH said he didn't know so was told to get me to write it on the repeat prescription next time I ordered it. Only DH is insisting this conversation never happened, and of course I believe him because surely if he was asked and didnt know he would have just phoned me. It still doesn't really explain why they cancelled it without checking with me first though and why when I hadn't written the amount on they asked the HV rather than phoning me to ask .

Anyway, who can be bothered to start the new thread? Ironing beckons ...

[NorthernChinchilla]

Giving it a go...

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/postnatal_clubs/1506688-December-2011-Of-Mice-Men-and-Tables