December 2011: Of Mice, Men and Tables

[NorthernChinchilla]

Here we go...I hope!

lmf she speak wisely .
check baby's temp again and if the ibuprofen and calpol doesn't bring it down below 38 within an hour or you are at all worried then ring the out of hours doc for advice (ring your normal GP and their answerphone will either divert you or give you the correct number). If you have a fan you can use, that can help too (with light vest or just a nappy).

Allergy wise strawberries are lots more likely to be allergenic than oven chips or oil. It tends to be an itchy red (hives like) urticaria rash rather than a life threatening thing like nut allergy can be. Be careful with banana and kiwi as sometimes they can react to them too. Keep a food diary and avoid things they react to, if it seems severe or lots of things set them off go and chat with your GP about whether it's worth asking for a paediatric referral (they can do blood tests or skin prick testing for some but not all things).

hawthers, the time to stop BFing is ENTIRELY when you want to/feel ready. You could mix feed, I have been feeding morning/night/overnight for the last week, it doesn't particularly suit my boobs (sore prior to feeds) but I know some mums do that for months. Or just keep going if you like it, such a personal decision that you just have to see what works best for you. I'm planning to drop my last few feeds as best I can fairly soon (by making them shorter and then stopping --and praying my bosoms don't ex
Now home and have huge pile of washing/tidying to do. Sooo tempted to ignore it all and sit down with tea and knitting...

missree that's the last thing you need back at work tomorrow! Hope F's temp comes down and it's just a random virus. I'm sure you'll manage fine tomorrow.

bee perhaps your DH needs some perspective. In my care whilst DH was at work (then) 3yo DS managed to break his arm, accidents happen. I like to think that I don't come across on here as the worlds worst mother!

oi martini on the balcony sounds fab, how's the unpacking going?

I had an extremely productive day. Hoovering and ironing done, bath cleaned, guinea pigs mucked out and I made cranberry and raisin scones, plus a boat out of a Philadelphia tub with DS. Now time for knitting, aethel I hope you didn't go for the housework option!

Knit group tomorrow for me, though in taking crochet:)

Hope peace reigns tonight, and tomorrow too:)

lmf you rebel :o

Banbury

We are back to 10 minute wakings again. Had 2 hrs sleep so far. I just can't go on like this but don't know what else to try :(

gee time for some sleep training?

I had a great seminar from a sleep specialist who I know does one to one with 98% success. It's not exactly cheap at nearly £200 but then again a full nights sleep would be worth it to me!

We've had a good bit of regression on the sleep front while we.are away on hols so going to have to do something drastic when I get back... Dreading it

And she uses lord if diff techniques not just crying it out

Awful night. Up once an hour.

Our babies must be in league, awful night here too. MissRee, hope Freya's temp is down. Figgy, hope you're feeling a bit better...

We had two prolonged wake up spells last night, so we're a bit bleary eyed, but it sounds like you've had it worse gee and lmf. I'll put the kettle on.

I'm working from home today as the washer and dryer are being delivered this afternoon. Hurrah! The wash mountain is gaining everest-like proportions.
seven cranberry scones sound fabulous! I need to remind my DH that he used to bake before BOi came along. Our oven at the rented place was awful, so he had good reason to stop. But now in our new abode, the ovens are just fine. And the de-boxing is going very well. Thank you for asking.
Before yesterday I was getting increasingly stressed as I couldn't see when we were going to get straight. But DH took charge of BOi yesterday to let me get on with it. I started with a bubble bath. (I know that isn't exactly helpful in the arena of the unpacking, but the hair on my legs was horrendous, and we'd been in here over 2 weeks and I hadn't tried out the bath. It was necessary.) Anyway, then I got into it, the utility room is now sorted and everything is stored in it's allotted, labelled drawer. It is storage heaven.
And then I got busy in the bedrooms.
There is light at the end of the tunnel now.

hawthers I am definitely interested. What do you mean by seminar? Could you give me contact details?

ha ha ! Got busy in the bedrooms, sounds more fun that it was.
I still need to sort out the bedrooms. I need to tidy and put everything away in the 2 spare rooms (now our dressing rooms), i need to dress BOi's nursery. I can't put him in there without some features/mobiles etc. And then I need to decide what we're doing with our bedroom.
DH made good progress in the garden. The balcony is now jetwashed and free of moss - you can sit on the astroturf now, so I'm happy to let BOi crawl on it.
But we still have to jetwash the swingy/slidey play area and the patio, and mow the lawn. Then we're OK to have a party.

gee the sleep lady dies various different options from one on one stuff (expensive) to a seminar where you can get 6 mums together and she'll give you a talk for about 2 hrs covering the science behind sleep and also diff techniques for training. Answers lots of questions as well, is a mum if two herself and also answered questions about older kids sleeping as well.

Cost of the seminar is £25 per person (min of 5 people) but if you get 6 people and host then you get your session free (that is what I did). Google child sleep solutions. Nicola is your lady. She does london and south east ish (sorry can't remember where you are). But i reckon if she doesn't do your area she might be able to recommend someone. Worth a go I thought.

Morning all (don't come too close just in case)

I've not eaten since about 4 on Saturday other than 3 jacobs crackers, threw up about 7 times sat night yesterday couldn't move until around 2 and now have a stinking headache though that may be lack of food. I'm going to try eat breakfast the idea of it not turning my stomach any more so that's an improvement. Thankfully DS has slept through the last 2 nights so that's been a big help.

Have had to call in sick I don't want anyone else catching it but likewise need to work from home tomorrow morning which I can't do without my laptop which is sat in my desk drawer. Basically if I feel better at lunch going to have to go in for few hours or will really mess up plans for tomorrow.

Missree hope lo is better today?

Gee all my sympathies for your current sleep issues it's not always been that bad has it? Can u identify any routine changes which may be causing it?

Hi everyone,

I'm feeling quite tired this morning as DS was awake at around 5am and just grumbling! I've put him down for an early nap this morning.

Hoping to go to a baby group this afternoon. I need to kick myself up the back side as I've been a bit lazy about going to them and I usually feel better after having gone. It's mainly to chat to adults :)

DH is desperate to visit Tokyo, so I think we have more or less agreed to stay a week in Hong Kong, then fly from Hong Kong to Tokyo and stay there for 4 nights...only things I'm worried about is my fear of flying (not that I've ever let it stop me) and what to do about a car seat for the taxi from Hong Kong airport to the relatives!

Impossible to know how DS will take to it as he's changed so much in the last month, so who knows what he'll be like when we go. Generally speaking he's quite a chilled out boy and me and DH outnumber him so I think we will manage!

Hope you're feeling better soon Figgy nothing worse than not being able to just sleep when you're feeling so sick!

Unpacking is the worst, but at least you'll feel brilliant once it's all done Oi It's a good incentive to have the party once you've finished! I still have 3 boxes from a year ago to be unpacked [sigh] just stuff I don't want to get rid of, but there's nowhere to put it!

Gee huge sympathies, that's worse than newborn sleep deprivation. No ideas really, but I hope things improve ASAP for you!

Cherry, I gues you're not taking he car seat as a pram with adaptors? In that case, can you hire a car seat from one of the car rental places in the airport? They may not agree without you hiring a car, but it's worth a try.
figgy hope you're on the mend. good luck with breakfast.

So we gave her the calpol, gave it half an hour and her temp was seemingly still going up - it reached 40.1 at it's peak. We called A&E (OOH doc not answering) and they said with a temp that high, to come straight to the hospital.

By the time we got there, it had started coming down and when we got to see the triage nurse, she was down to 39 again and getting back to her normal self. They gave her some ibuprofen which brought it down even more and by the time we saw the doc, she was down to 38 and laughing/giggling and generally being her normal cheeky self. They couldn't find anything wrong so packed us off with instructions to come back if it goes that high again.

We got home at 3am!

I'm nit at work today, I called them and explained - it's unfortunate that it was the day before my first day back but ho hum, such is life.

oi the scones were amazing! I use this basic scone recipe, they rise perfectly every time. I just added a couple of handfuls of raisins and dried cranberries before the milk. Glad the house is getting there, I wondered if you had those drawers!

figgy that sounds horrendous, hope you're better soon.

gee hope you find a sleep solution soon. I know it wouldn't solve it but do you think a blackout blind would be any use? I got ours from eBay, £12.99 for DDs and £16.99 for DS plus postage, so not too much if it doesn't help. What is she like when you get up to settle her, is it whinging, crying or screaming?

missree it can't be helped. It's a nuisance you had a wasted trip to A&E, though much better that she is ok. I take it she's fine today?

Other than a bit ratty, she's fine today - temp back down to 35.2!

Thanks hawthers will Google!

No she hasn't always been like this, she's never been a good sleeper but I used to get 5ish hour stretches which is manageable.

No change of routine and she's so happy and content in the day I don't think it can all be put down to teething. Calpol etc makes no difference.

seven she starts off just grizzling but unless I pick her up it turns into full blown scream the house down. She stops crying as soon as I pick her up. Stroking, shushing etc just make her really angry!

Sorry for all the ill babies/mums.

gee have you tried/considered co-sleeping? Its obviously not a practical long-term solution but what if you tried it for a couple of nights just so you get get some sleep? You must be bloody exhausted! The only things I can think to suggest are a trip to the GP and failing that hawthers sleep training idea as a last resort.

Cherry do you need a car seat? The train from the airport to the centre of town is excellent and from there you can get the MTR or a taxi or bus pretty much anywhere, unless your in-laws live out in the middle of nowhere in the NT. I doubt most HK taxis would even fit a carseat as many of them have a partition fitted so there's not enough room IYSIWIM. I wish I was going, v jealous!

figgy I hope you're feeling better today. Don't know what you do for work but the last time I was unable to get into work with my SPD, my PA couriered my laptop and papers to me at home...

missree glad she's ok and hope you can catch up on your sleep today.

Well Saturday night we had date night - the nanny came in for the evening and reorganised my closet, did ironing and then asked for suggestions for cookbooks as I am going to teach her to cook so she can have a meal ready for us when we get home from work. Then she said though we don't need her to come in during the day on Monday she will come in the morning to change the bedclothes. She is a TREASURE I tell you. I know she thinks we are slatterns and she was shocked that we only have a Ford Ka that we have never washed (well, what else is rain for??) I sent her home with homework: a copy of the Mumsnet Guide to Babies, to listen to Radio 4, and to read Watching the English.

DH has really stepped up this week at home - he has really gotten into the cooking, once he overcame his natural aversion to following instructions and realised that recipes produce results. I showed him how to meal plan on Sunday, and we went to Polarn o Pyret and got DS some lovely things in the sale. I bought his first pair of shoes with rubber soles as he has soaked through so many pairs of socks recently! They're still pretty heavy for him though.

DH and I go round in circles talking about what to do re: work. Fundamentally I love my job, I love earning money for our family, I love what I do, I just want a bit more flexibility about where I do it and maybe in the future to do a bit less of it. There is a possibility in the long term of job sharing with my colleague if she has a child as well but we would have to build a business case for that to convince the powers that be...and realistically it would be quite a ways off and I might not survive the commute that long.

Morning! Gave up on the housework (it's looking at me now!) have decided denial is better at least in short term)

DS is having a small nap so am taking advantage and sanding down hall radiator. Operation reclaim Boob hit a small bump as after giving him a boob feed at 4 and DH gave botle at 6.30, he then bottle refused for the first time in days. Arg. Think am going to have to stop altogether to simplify things.