April 2012 - Feeding, Facebook and finally summer!!

[Flisspaps]

Apologies for the rubbish thread title - thought I'd cobble something together though!

Vintage I'm a long way off that anniversary - found out a little later than most!

Glad I'm not the only one who thinks "babies are best" - phew! At least I am somewhat normal ... or at least not far off :)

We went and yes, as R was hungry he took the bottle and was just fine. The babysitter - aka friend's mum - kept me posted and I could actually relax and enjoy. I am glad we did it!!

I'm sooo tired. I stopped giving formula and we are back to breast only. I think he got used to being very full on the stuff and won't sleep longer than 3hrs at night, with the day starting any time between 5.00 and 6.00am. Not complaining though, I fought so hard for it and feel emotionally a lot better for it. Or is that crazy? The doctor "allowed" me to do it as I feel better and we will see how it goes.

Met with my Nct group today. We just have absolutely nothing in common and I have just nothing to say to those people. Maybe they really have these perfect babies they are raving about. In the mean time, I also met some normal people with "normal" not so perfect babies, so I don't mind (as much) as I did in the beginning when I thought that I and DS are freaks.

Yes i remember finding out some time in end of july :)

My brother in laws partner is pregnant, she is 12 weeks due in feb. I really miss being pregnant and im so pleased for her, i keep handing her down things like my pregnancy books and our heartbeat monitor. We had a little listen to the heartbeat, so cute and be great for L to have a little cousin next year! Hopefully they will be close? And for us to cuddle a newborn again.

I'm keeping hold of most of the our stuff, ready for when we have another one. I said i wait 3-4 yrs, but that seem like to far away! Getting broody or what????? :)

We are putting L in her big cot tonight, she is doing so well in her own room. been in there nearly a week. She still fit the small crib, but she cant stretch out her arms.

She been bf great, down to normally 7 feeds per day! I sometimes do an extra dream bf at 10pm. But she is being a fussy mare and not taken the bottle of formular very well. We only do one a day!
Funny she has changed- use to love her bottle and find bf hard. She wiggles and moans when dh gives it her at 730-8pm. In the night she only wakes up just at 2am and 5am and then goes through till 9am for her next feed. This has been the pattern for a couple days.
I think she must gone throught the sleep regression now???? I feel for anyone having problems.

Teething much better too, i did use calpol on a couple of bad days too.

Thalia Some people do like to rant and rave how great there babies are! I have a couple of friends say "she done 11-12hrs straight sleeping, i bet you wish you didnt bf? I say "Well i like to bf and im glad i do" Even if if Lyra only sleeps for 4-5hrs. lol

Thalia Hope u get on well with the breast feeding, dont worry about what those people say!

I know what you mean about perfect parents & babies,Thaleia: I find it so hard to get on with some groups of mums too...they seem so much more confident than me. I do need to get him out more, though. Social butterflies we are not, and so we only really see friends & family. Should get him into swimming, mums & babies, etc etc but I find it so hard. I'm such a recluse homebody.

Bath eventually went ok. After I got out to go check on him! He settled then till 6am, so it was worth it. We have finished wallpaper stripping etc now so he's had more playtime & undivided attention which he thrives on, so he's been less fussy today. Long may it last!

Oh....little boy won't go to sleep tonight. Lots of tears. Have we made things difficult for ourselves by nursing him to sleep most nights?

No, no, no. You've done what he needed. Don't start worrying about having done the wrong thing, or anything to do with rods and backs.

This age (around 4 months) is notorious for crap sleep. DS has seemingly hit the 4 month sleep regression so we're like zombies here (DD has been ill and potty training this week too) as I spend all night feeding him, flipping one side to the other whilst he refuses to sleep. Nap times now involve wrestling until he suddenly zonks. On the plus side, we're seeing new developments every day!

That's what it's like, Fliss. It used to be he'd nap on his playmat, entirely of his own accord. Now he'll nap after a feed (or 3 minutes in...) but that's it! His chatting & communication is just wonderful, though, & he's becoming aware of the cats too - his eyes follow then round the room & he giggles.

Currently back on boob. It's a bit of a shock as he was always so tuned in to bedtime: it was him who set the 'final feed 8.30; bed at 9' routine - not us! As if we'd be that structured!!

It feels right to feed him to sleep: very maternal, calm & natural. Now I just need to let DH know it won't ruin him for life!

It absolutely won't ruin him for life Google the 4 month sleep regression, with DD I didn't know what hit us, this time I've been waiting for it! They happen about every 6 weeks or so from now but they don't last long

This quote on Pinky McKay's website re nursing to sleep made me smile:

Falling asleep on the breast is one of the easiest ways for most babies to settle. This is due to hormones released while your baby feeds but if you are concerned about it becoming a habit, alternate feeding with other sleep cues and take heart: he may still like to snuggle up to a breast when he's twenty one - but it won't be yours!

Love it, Vintage! he eventually settled just before midnight. I followed straight after! I have an app that records my feeds and yesterday I fed for an hour longer than I usually do. So tired this morning! Hoping it'll be good for my weight loss, though!

Thanks for the support, ladies.

We have used a dummy on and off so DS is taking one ... but now I have to use it in the pram! Don't know if I did something wrong but as soon as he gets tired, he's screaming his head of and just won't stop till he either cried himself to sleep or we are home, which can take up to one hour. I'm just not sure if I should let him cry or give him the dummy. He's all happy and smilies when I take him out but once back in: DRAMA.

Just don't know what to do tbh :S

I feel for you Henrietta that was me 1-2 weeks ago, yes I manage to loose another couple of pounds. Down to my post preg weight now.

L was feeding every 2hrs in the day and 3hrs and night, i was so knackered. She was sleeping great either.

Now she is a different baby this week. Seems to love her new cot. Now 17wks old. She slept from 8pm-2am then throught till 6am, woke for half an hour then back down 830am! The best night we have had for a long time. I really don't mind the 2am feed if she goes till 6am.
She refuses formula milk again, alot of crying this morning when I worked for an hour. Dh looked quite stressed! So I've suggested doing an expressed bottle once a day. Just a pain because ill have to pump once a day. But i like her to sick to doing that one bottle!

I hope everyones babies are good tonight. Fingers crossed :)

Hello, all. It seems an eternity since I posted here. I don't have free internet on my phone and I so rarely have my hands free of an evening to type. I lurk and read all the time though. Frankie is 17 weeks now and proving to be really quite chilled out compared to DS1.

Hen I can totally relate, I am also a recluse homebody. I didn't 'do' baby groups with DS1 and on the odd occasion I tried one, I left feeling rather after talking to the kind of people that go to thaleia's nct group. I really don't think babies need social interaction outside of families and friends until well into their second year. I get the impression that people who go to lots of groups do it because they need the company and structure to their weeks. Personally, I am more of the spontaneous sort (for that read disorganised and scatty and unable/unmotivated to get out of the house at the requisite time every tuesday morning to pay someone else to get me to sing humpty sodding dumpty whilse my baby sleeps or screams through it).

Hmm, on re-read that comes over as a bit ranty. Sorry, if you like baby groups then I'm sure they're great. And I definitely think that getting out of house is vital. I just think that it's also ok to get out and go to an art gallery, or to read the paper in a cafe, or walk by yourself by the river, or even a pub beer garden to see friends. I guess what I'm trying to say is that children are never again so portable as they are at this age. There's loads of time for activities and so if baby groups don't appeal, don't do them.

Thaleia I'm sorry you're having such a tough time. I also found the baby stage very difficult with DS1 and I'm pretty sure I had PND. I liked it much better as he got older. He was quite a needy baby who slept very little and also cried every time he went in his pram. In the end I just carried him round in a sling as it was easier than carrying him and pushing an empty pram. If the dummy works for you, use it. He needs sleep and you need a bit of peace every now and then. As for you doing something wrong, I'm sure it's just the opposite; he obviously likes being close to his fabulous mama and prefers it to the pram and is letting you know! In all seriousness, he's probably just more aware of his surroundings now he's a bit older. He might be bored or finding it difficult to self-settle in the pram now. Babies change all the time, just when you think you've got something sussed, they start doing something new and your old tricks don't work anymore. It's one of the most amazing and frustrating things about them.

Bear I'm also finding it really difficult to juggle DS1 and 2. DS1 is being a total pain as he isn't getting much attention. Then because he's being a total pain, I'm irritable with him and he becomes more of a pain. I alternate between feeling very sorry for him and totally exasperated with him . He's also very lively and unlikely to colour in a corner quietly. No real advice, but lots of sympathy. Oh but I have got one of these for the buggy, which might help. It seems to be more glamorous and grown up than my hand

Goodness, I write a lot. It's probably a good job I don't post much; I'd clog up the thread .

Quick final question to those of you who had sections: how are you healing? My scar looks good, but is still painful from time to time. And I've no stomach muscles or core strength at all.

uni I didnt have a section but after 2 ds my core was non existant. I did the mama mio tummy exercises which is a 30 day programme to strengthen it and pull my stomach muscles back together and I'm now doing normal exercise but the worst thing you can do is normal abdominals if your muscles are parted. If you would like u can take photos of the instructions and if you pm me your email address I'll send them to you as its an expensive programme (my wonderful sil gave me the cards when she had finished with them).

I'm really struggling to lose weight. I've cut calories and am exercising but lost diddly squat. It's so annoying as I'm not bf so it can't be that my body is clinging into the weight for that reason. Any tips ladies?

Hello, Uni! I have to say art galleries, cafes, walks and beer gardens much more me than 'humpty sodding dumpty'!

Btw - good to have you back!

uni the main reason I went to baby classes was or meti get outbid the house! the swimming classes are great but the buggy fit and baby massage were for me to meet other mums. I've been v lucky, the mums that I've met have been lovely

We've been swimming today. It was my turn to dunk DD. Pleased to say that she loved it preen

Everybody is different - I love my NCT group. We meet every week, but also have baby-free nights out and the 'Dads' are all good friends too - in fact they're out tonight.

But I would've hated it with DD1 - in the darkest depths of PND it would've felt like everyone could do it but me.

Hi Uni - I know what you mean about baby groups, some I like and some I don't. I'm quite glad that I have my network of local mum friends that I made with DS and quite a lot of them have had/are having second children now too. I don't like meeting people for the first time, I'm not confident that people will like me and I feel awkward so I come over as awkward. I am fine once I know someone but my default position is not 'I am a likable person, people will want to chat to me'. My NCT lot were a bit crap, there was a clique of 3 blondes that didn't care about anyone else on the course - we stayed in touch with one couple but they both work full time now so I haven't seen them for a while.

DS was fine on his weekend away with dad. He went on a big wheel and a big helter skelter and got far too tanned for my liking and ate loads of ice cream and waved glow sticks and saw the Gruffalo on stage and Chic perform.

I missed them like hell and couldn't wait for them to get home even though I'd been looking forward to having a rest for so long. DD seemed to miss them too - she wasn't herself.

She is doing well. I have had to put away most of the 0-3 clothes now (especially the all-in-ones, some separates are still ok). She rolls both ways and has a little bottom tooth just poking though the gum. She can grab things like little rattles and shake them and she seems much happier if she can see what is going on. She wants to face outwards if she's on a lap or whatever, and doesn't really like laying flat in her pram even though she has to. I do use a sling as well but I had to go to the supermarket today so she was in the pram.

I am starting potty training DS tomorrow as he starts three afternoons at preschool in Sept and I'd like it to be done by then. We'll see. I bought about 15 pairs of pants.

hugandroll - don't be too hard on yourself re the weight loss. You'll get there! I'm very impressed with your motivation!

We were burgled on Saturday. The loss of so many valuable things was bad enough but we've also lost many of our pictures of DS, moments we'll never get back. Im absolutely gutted and terrified they'll come back. Scumbags!! :(

On a positive note, I managed to find a bottle DS will take!! I ordered a playtex bottle and nipple as a last try and he took it without a problem meaning I could go to the Olympics. Yay!

laughing that's awful, really awful. I can't imagine how scared and angry you must feel. Any chance of them being caught? Are the police doing anything?

That is horrendous. Insurance will replace the items but the photos, I'm just really really sorry to hear that. Have family members taken pictures that you could have copies of? What utter twunts not just the fact they took what wasn't theirs it's an invasion of privacy. If there is anything we can do please post.

On a rather more trivial note I did day one of insanity today which I'm proud of myself for doing.

Hope everyone else is doing well.