Post Grad Brookers - we're in here....

[Biscuitsandtea]

New thread - t'other one got full up....

Yay for your DS Scarlet! What a champ.

I'm half convinced (if you can be such a thing ) that DS1 wouldn't hve made such a fuss if he hadn't seen ds2 get his a week or two before (and cry).

Hope your dd takes her cue from DS tomorrow and sails through it all.

Went for the mocha melody Napier but got an email when I ordered it saying its actually out of stock and due in the end of next week so will be waiting......

And Too - the make up was to cover up tired eyes! Not for me obviously because I obviously look like a spring chicken and am obviously not tired at all. Obviously....

Fishcake - we do the rapid return thing if DS gets up in the night. Just take him back to bed. Mostly he'll stay put because I think he just gets up when he wakes up because he format know if it's morning or not. But if he keeps getting up it sort of turns from 'let's get back into bed then sweetie' to 'get back into bed NOW - it is the MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT!'

Good luck with it

DD is currently trying out screaming. Mostly at mealtimes. Like a steam whistle, upsets the babies. Honestly, I'm getting very, very good at counting to 10 and had to ask a friend to remind me why I don't smack . Of course, its tiredness not my terrible parenting skills...

Hooray for Scarlet's brave DS!!

No Brooking hard for Scarlet's DD, Fishcake's DD2 and Too's DD2 and their jabs tomorrow!

Biscuits I love your careful use of "obviously"! Made me

After my coffee today I had to push DD up a massive hill, and my muscles already ached from the Shred this morning! [long-suffering emoticon] I was feeling soooo positive this morning but now I feel a little deflated, like I'm not losing any weight at all (trying to stay off the scales for at least the first ten days). I've eaten so much fat while on this paleo diet that I can't believe it has any chance of working! Also going through serious chocolate withdrawal. Somebody please slap me with a wet fish!

Also gagging for a holiday! I love the idea of renting a villa in France somewhere south, close to the beach and also a few nearby vineyards would be nice! Does anyone know anywhere like that?

x-posts with Dream.

Hello! I am shredding, day two and first day of diet today, just doing healthy eating but realy cutting white carbs and being generally strict to begin with so I lose some decent weight and it boosts me to go...

I am being careful with the abdo bit as I have the split muscles and I am waiting for my physio appointment. It is the skipping on the spot that does me, I have had actually spasming both days in my calfs/calves(?) on this one!
I have booked in with fat clinic weight management at my Drs, I have 2st to lose and the nurse is really lovely! :)

Dream it such I trial, I would naughty spot straight away, do the 123 for the first time in a meal, then naughty step and then if she squeals again straight on the spot, no 123!
We all have moments like that, we don't smack but sometimes I have questioned the wisdom of it! Especially as I was smacked You will later be pleased you had the restraint not to :)

Both kids had jabs on Fri, DD had fallen asleep in the pushchair, so she was half asleep with her jab and can't remember it! Just the buttons afterwards, which is a rare treat indeed! Hers was 2nd MMR and H was his 2nd round of imms.
I have decided jabs are never as bad as we think..

Sorry if I have missed anyone!

F has just slept through! God his sleep is totally random...

Re smacking, i was smacked occaisionally and I'm fine but I hadn't made up my mind what to do with my boys. Please don't think less of me but in a very sleep deprived state with DS1 really pulling out all the stops i have smacked his bottom once (def not hard).

I wasn't in control and felt horrible after particularly as when trying to talk to DS1 I was explaining the reason I smacked him was because he mustn't hit his brother at that point I knew it was totally the wrong thing to do and smacking is not for me. But as with all parenting you do what you have to do and I don't judge anyone who does it.

A screaming in the middle of the night feeds and totally refusing the left boob even when starving. It wasn't the boob it was the side of her face as I got her to feed on it the other way round iyswim. Feeding from it now though. What is wrong with her? back to docs today. She's also constipated and straining now from the gaviscon - argh!!

Mattress on incline may help but she kinda rolls off it!

Smacking - I still remember my mum doing it in public because I was crying and making a fuss and me screaming at her that it was obviously going to make me cry more. It seems illogical so I'm planning not to.. We have started the naughty corner a bit this month though.

Eating still pants. Have ordered dairy free chic and rice milk on next online delivery though. musical - what's the difference between dairy and lactose free?

Yay for good jabs Purple

Yay for sleeping Hawthers

Does anyone else find that their DC doesn't want to sleep at night if you've been out in the day? DD went to sleep at 10 last night and woke up at 2 for a feed. She then decided that she didn't need any sleep after that and it was 9 before she dropped off.

I'm off to meet up with Bartlet this afternoon :)

Hawthers definitely not going to think less of you! I think it is one of those things :)

Pomme I haven't followed your journey... Could it be teeth? Feel free to PM me if you want to :)

Jen I think they can get a bit wired if been out but not sure about the waking, I guess if it happens a few times u know it is a pattern with DD.
How exciting meeting Bartlett she seems lovely and exciting meeting a mner!

The not sleeping at night has happened every time she's been out in the car so far :(

I met up with a friend in town yesterday, my first proper trip out on my own. She was amazed that I'm bf, that is 2 of my friends that have recently had babies that haven't wanted to bf. I seem to be the odd one out by not wanting to use bottles!

DD seems to need to suck something constantly at the moment. It's either the boob or my finger. It is the only thing that settles her but it's a bit of a pain. She's only 4 weeks and I've been told not to introduce a dummy until 6 weeks to avoid problems with bf.

Scream, stick with the paleo diet - I have lost 7lbs in 12 days! Am totally but . I failed to Shred yesterday - M eventually went down at 4.45, which was coincidentally precisely when we were supposed to leave to go to my sister's. I hadn't even showered, so had to have quick shower and change and we ran out the door. Got home at about quarter to 10, hoped M would fall asleep quickly so I could Shred. Nope! Wide awake grinning baby going 'I'm not sleepy, Mummy!' Then I injudiciously held her over DH's face so he could kiss her immediately after a feed and she barfed on his chin. Then she just wasn't sleepy for ages and ages - think she finally fell asleep at about 11.30. Hence no Shredding.

Oh poor A, Pomme! But if she's taking it now then maybe it was just trapped wind or something.

I was smacked too. With a wooden spoon. Dad just thought that was how you disciplined children. He used to do the whole this-hurts-me-more-than-it-hurts-you speech with it. Bless his little cotton socks. I remember Mum losing the rag completely once and smacking me in the garden (she told us not to take our duvets out to the treehouse and we waited until she'd gone and chucked them out of the bedroom window. Unfortunately for us she wasn't in the living room as we thought, she was in the garden and saw it all). That was much scarier because she was so angry. I'm going to try not to smack my children but I can't guarantee that I won't in the heat of the moment.

Hooray for Purple's shredding! Lovely to have you with us! Also, yay for good jabs! No brooking for all the mini No Brookers with jabs today!

Pomme that sounds so frustrating!! I do hope the doctors are more helpful today. Poor little A. Remember, this too shall pass!

Too I think you must be doing the paleo diet much better than me! I've stayed away from borderline foods like potatoes (no two websites can agree on whether they're allowed) I'm worried I've been having too much fruit though. I also favour sweeter veg like sweet peppers and tomatoes ignoring the fact that tomatoes are technically a fruit so maybe that's why I don't feel like I'm losing any diet? I'm trying to hang on to Day 10 before weighing myself, I'm worried if I get on the scales now and it's bad news it will totally derail my shred AND my diet! Sigh.

Don't stress about one day off shredding though! Like Fishcake said, sometimes your body can do with a break. Plus I know how hard it is to squeeze in 20 minutes with restless DC and DHs around! I think so long as we stick to our diets, and exercise as often as poss, we'll still be slimmer at the end of our 30 days!

Hoping to go to Wimbledon this afternoon on last minute tickets. Wish us luck!

Oh, and I was smacked too. I don't really agree with my parents' smacking criteria and won't be following myself. I do think smacking has a place though. Personally my rules are that a) only parents smack (i.e. if my parents or DH's older relatives try to smack my DC there will be problems. b) Smacking should be rare. It's a shock tactic, not a regular occurrence. c) You only ever smack with your hand, if you strike a child with an object like a wooden spoon you have no idea how much force you're using. d) Smacking should only be used as a deterrent from something dangerous. So if the child is doing something that could potentially cause significant pain (like trying to touch the oven or running into the road) then I think smacking is appropriate/helpful to create a pain-association with that action. I don't think smacking should be used for general naughtiness like "talking back" or making a mess.

However this is all just a theory! Little A is my first, so I may find parenting in practice doesn't fit neatly into my criteria! I know I need to be flexible and I hope to use these criteria in a general way, the most important thing in my opinion is never to smack a child out of blind anger. I'm intending to use things like the naughty step etc for the vast majority of discipline issues.

It's really interesting to hear everyone else's views on this! Especially because most of you have far more experience than I do! I very much hope we're still No Brooking in a year's time, I'm sure I'll need all the help I can get!

Hi all.

Glad jabs went smoothly, Scarlet and Purple . Can I add my DS to the list of those having jabs today? It's his 12 week ones this afternoon. I think he (and I!) will be ok with the actual injections but he had a miserable afternoon and a temperature after the last ones and the HV said it could be worse this time, so calpol at the ready! Hope everyone else is ok with theirs.

Also am slightly concerned that DS is slipping down the centiles for weight and length. Shortly after birth he was just under the 50th centile for weight and is now between 2nd and 9th. For length he's gone from near 75th to 9th, I think. HV is coming back in 4 weeks to monitor. I'm not too concerned as he's calm and happy most of the time, and sleeps and feeds well, but obviously there's a bit of a niggling worry now.

Scream that thing about being able to eat ice cream because your lowered immune system during pregnancy decreased your lactose intolerance has suddenly made me realise why I didn't get hay fever when pregnant: obviously it's an over-the-top immune response to pollen so having less immunity would explain it!

Hawthers that's great sleeping from F. Is his own room working well then?

Pomme hope the doctor is helpful.

Am still focusing on eating healthily. Next run will be on Saturday - I'll try to go a bit further... Keep at it, you shredders and dieters! We can do it!!

Good luck with the Wimbledon tickets, Scream!

Back from jabs - M was v good and stopped crying almost immediately (distracted by student nurse with rattle). Then she cooed and grinned at the nurse and student and was generally happy and charming. Much less traumatic than the first set, for all concerned. She now weighs 14 lb 1, so my scales are out by a whole pound (yay!), and she's sticking to just above the 50th centile. Hope everyone else's jabs go as well!

How nice to meet Bartlet, Jen! Hope she's doing well.

Re smacking, I was smacked occasionally. I think it has its place with a child too young to understand reasoned arguments, but I'd prefer to use other methods if I can. If the worst happens and I smack out of anger, at least DS will learn that even mummy has limited patience and grown-ups get cross too! No judging anyone else's parenting, though - different methods work for different people as long as you're not walloping your LO all the time .

X post, Pet - sorry to hear that DS is dropping down the centiles. Will he be weighed/measured today? Hope he has a little growth spurt soon!

X-post with Too - glad the jabs and weight were good!

Scream I used to queue for returned Wimbledon tickets after school sometimes. Am of you now! Hope you don't have to wait too long. We then used to queue inside for returned show court tickets but they won't let 'babes in arms' onto those courts so no doing that for us brookers this year!

Too he was only measured on Monday! Yes, am hoping for lots of little growth spurts...

Jabs went ok for DD. She screamed for a minute but was quite easily calmed with a cuddle. I'm a bit about the amount of tape that's been stuck over the cotton wool on her legs though, not looking forward to ripping that off.

Glad M's jabs went ok too Too

Hope you get to see some good tennis Scream, I'm very

Pet sorry to hear about the new worry with DS. Just a thought, is there any chance it could be since the dummy was introduced? It can mask hunger if it's used to calm him down from crying? BTW I'm not anti-dummy in the slightest, DS had one for sleeping until he was almost 3 and I've tried to introduce one to DD already but she doesn't seem to like it.

Smacking. It's a tough one. I was smacked and so was DH. We both have brilliant relationships with our parents so it's certainly done us no harm. But, I can remember 2 specific incidents where my Dad lost it and did end up smacking me way too hard. I've not forgotten them and I'd hate for either of my DC to have a memory of me going over the top like that. But, DS has pushed me to my wits end several times and I have had to stop myself and walk away for a minute before going back and dealing with him feeling a bit calmer. I'd like to think I can discipline my DC without smacking, but depending on the context of the situation I don't think a smacked bum would damage a child.

I think words can be terribly damaging. I took DS to Mcdonalds one day last week and there was a family sitting next to us where the little boy (who was younger than my DS) was being a bit annoying and the man was calling him an effing little shit, told he was an effing pain the arse etc DS was staring at them, I was trying my best to distract him. I couldn't help wondering what happens at home if that's how he gets spoken to in public.

Oh Scarlet that's exactly my fear about the dummy - that it might mask hunger crying! I try not to use it except in his basket, or in the car (because he often cries and it comforts him when we're driving). If we're out I use it when I think he's tired to help him sleep. Sometimes DH pops it in DS's mouth to comfort him when we're eating in the evenings, but I usually feed DS every 2 hours (or more often) in the evening anyway. So maybe we're over-using it at night? But DS is feeding at 4 or 5am and then every few hours for the rest of the day so should be getting plenty? And not long ago I misread his hunger cues for tiredness and tried to put him to bed and he absolutely wouldn't settle and kept spitting out the dummy, so surely he would feed if he was hungry??? Any advice, anyone? Esp re dummy use?

Glad your jabs were ok. DS cried a bit more than last time but calmed down after a bit of walking and cuddling. He's just dropping off on my lap now so think I'll pop him in his basket.

BTW, I've never forgotten hearing a mum on the bus call her son (aged about 5) an effing little prick. :( And then teachers have to deal with similar language at school from the children who presumably think it's normal. And no wonder those children don't respond to mild school discipline and sanctions when you think about what punishments are probably used at home. :(

Eeek I'm having a slight self inflicted for earwigging panic.

Just overheard a lady at the clinic telling the HV that her 10.5 week old can roll over??? Should ds2 be doing this?

Eeeeeek!

That'll learn me for eavesdropping .

No! Surely your DS1 didn't either? I think DS was around 5-6 months before he rolled over, but I was the other day when it looked like DD was going to attempt it.

DD is far more advanced than DS was at her age. So much more alert, laughing already and almost has full head control. I've worried about DS's delays even more since I've had her. Biscuits you know they're all different

No rolling here, Biscuits . :)