Postgraduate brookers - Brooking No Argument for happy, healthy and sleeping DCs..

[musicalmrs]

New thread time!

Happy belated birthday Musical. Hopefully the teething hurries up for you so you aren't left in limbo and I isn't suffering for any longer than necessary. DD is dribbling and sucking on her hands a lot lately but isn't irritable so not sure what is going on there.

All these roly poly babies. DD shows absolutely no signs whatsoever, she's happy just kicking her legs around and scooting about all over the carpet instead :o

Dream as ever I am in awe of you. I know you don't feel like you are supermum but you sure seem like it from where we are all sitting. I really hope that these babies start making life easier for you ASAP and that soon you will be able to look back and think "Wow, I did it, I survived!"

DD has been very good with nights lately. Last week she was doing between 7 and 9 hours most nights but last night made up for that and I didn't get any sleep at all.

M fell out of her baby swing. DH set her down in it after our walk and she snoozed for another 10 mins or so. I did look at her and think 'she's not strapped in', but she was asleep so I didn't bother. Then she woke up, by which time I had forgotten all about the straps, and I could hear her cooing to herself quite happily, then starting to get crosser and more 'pay attention!', and then she was definitely crying and I looked up and she was lying in front of the swing looking confused! Luckily she'd slid out feet first rather than head first; not so luckily I bumped her head on the leg of it lifting her up. [two bad parents emoticon]

Am considering the move to a room of her own next week (gulp). She's really getting a bit big for her basket - this morning she had edged up it and was rubbing her head against the top. She's 5 months, so not far off the SIDS guidelines age of 6 months. Does mean I will have to get out of bed for night-time feeds...must sort out comfy chair for the nursery! I'm not moving her until after the weekend, though - naming party on Saturday and DH's niece and nephew will be sleeping in M's room. Considering purchasing a travel cot for when we have guests and want to free up an extra spare room. How much is the BB one?

Wants, yay for D's weight! Hope you meet some nice new people at your groups. We're starting swimming lessons tomorrow, which should be fun. must do bikini line tonight Not sure what goes on in a baby swimming lesson but I'm sure M'll enjoy it and we'll meet some new people.

Yay for A rolling, Pomme!

hey brookers

been a little quiet over here as having rubbish sleep again (but nothing compared to dream my god woman you are a saint) but have been surprised with three good nights of sleeping from 8 to 6 ish but then last night we had a wake up at 4.40 and was up for half an hour and then he went back down until 7.30 so not too bad at all. we've done absolutely nothing different so no idea what has produced the good sleep but f is def teething and there is one close to the surface so perhaps it is getting closer to being over

have to share the worst social faux pas of the century committed by mr h yesterday. we had one of his uni friends over for dinner last night who is going through a rather difficult break up and mr h started going on about how hard it is to lose weight, referring to my baby weight and asking the friend for any tips how to do it as he is very fit etc. i don't mind at all discussing it with his pals except mr h forgot that the reason for the messy break up is becuase the friend's gf has a severe eating disorder that has totally destroyed their relationship....

couldn't believe it when he started the conversation and then couldn't stop him without making it even worse than it was. mr h didn't realise until we talked about it after the friend left

How , Hawthers! But how rude of MrH to comment on your baby weight at all!

Oops Hawthers that was a bit unfortunate from Mr H!

Happy belated birthday Musical!

DS just had his first nap in his cotbed. He was struggling to fall asleep so I rested my hand on his chest, which usually does the trick. He started to relax, then suddenly he rolled onto his front and was asleep. He definitely seems to prefer front sleeping. Anyway, now I know he's ok in the cotbed, tonight might be his first in his own room! I will ask DH (who is on holiday) to do any resettling as DS often wakes a couple of times but just needs the dummy popping back in. Then, if DH objects, maybe he'll work out a way to fit DS in our room. :)

Other good news: the HV weighed DS again today and he's put on a pound in 3 weeks, which is a good gain and puts him just above the second centile. So the formula top-up in the evening is doing the trick. And it's making him sleep till at least 6am before needing a morning feed! :)

Dream maybe your mum will be more helpful on the day? Totally agree it's her grandmotherly duty! Or can you find another relative (aunt, cousin, old friend even?) to assist?

Too at least M wasn't really hurt by slipping out of the swing. I accidentally bumped DS's head on a nail the other day in the garden. :(. He still had a mark on his forehead the next day.

Jen hope you catch up on sleep tonight.

Wants sounds like D's coming on in leaps and bounds!

its ok too i've been whinging about how hard it is to lose weight and its really getting me down that i'm not looking how i used to. he is very supportive and knows that i'm not happy at my current weight and he just wants me to be happier! but i do wish the bugger didn't have the ability to drop weight just by deciding he'd like to

Too your poor DD! I hope she's forgotten all about it now. Pet I hope your little man is fine as well! All these bumps and bruises are just prep for nursery - those places look hardcore!

Too the BB travel cot is RRP £199, but you can find it for approx £140 on various websites. I think I've finally talked DH into it We're not planning to take it to California though, mainly because we've already got too much lugguage to try to squeeze into the car along with the pushchair!

Wants yay for D doing so well with his grabbing! It's kind of scary when they start getting pretty accurate with their grabs, A managed to get hold of a cutlery knife (only the end of the handle) at the wedding breakfast on Saturday! [bad mummy]

Lovely to see you Hawthers! Ouch for your DH though! Men! My DH would have done exactly the same thing! I'm sure his friend knows him well enough to realise that he just wasn't thinking through what he was saying. Yay for F's sleep improving!

Hawthers, I am a low-carb convert - tis easy after the first 3 days and I have lost 15lbs in 9 weeks despite lots of cheating. (It was 16 lbs but then I ate 2 scones and jam and put a lb back on). I think I lost about 5lb in the first week alone. Worth a try if you're feeling down.

I have been really organised this afternoon. Went through my clothes and ruthlessly chucked anything old and tatty. It's easier to cull work and maternity clothes when you're not currently wearing them. I then did the same for DH and we chucked away an Ikea bag each. And then (this is the superstar bit) I actually drove to Tesco and put them in the clothing bank! Usually when I have these organising fits I give up halfway through and we wind up with a bag of clothes sitting in the garage or hall for months. I was inspired by DH having given me permission to chuck some of his stuff - usually he hangs onto it like it's gold-plated, even ancient, holey, stained T-shirts.

Pet, yay for DS putting on weight!

I literally can't comprehend the giving up of pasta Too If I had my way I would eat it for every meal

This may partly explain why I'm not losing weight....

Mmm, pasta...The thing is, I sort of use pasta as a base on which to eat oodles of cheese, pesto, peppers, bolognese etc. Especially cheese. So now I just eat the cheese on its own - fried courgettes, peppers and mushrooms mixed in pesto with lots of cheese and black pepper doesn't feel like it's missing pasta. And I've always liked the sauce rather than the pasta, so again, just eating bolognese without the spaghetti is fine for me. Anyway, it works for me, and I totally get why it's not everyone's cup of tea. I'm just a bit evangelical atm because I'm in the middle of it.

sorry for disappearing yesterday, my mobile internet stopped working and didn't come back till about 10 miles from home. i was sitting in the car frantically refreshing. would have been v difficult to arrange a meet up even if DH had seemed keen.

DS1 did love his day out though and DS2 had nice sleeps and smiles in new carries.

then i got home and did a big post and my phone lost it grrr!

DS2 slept better tonight but DS1 was up shouting at 3am. he did calm down eventually but kept shouting for DH to come back for a while even after us explaining it was night time. then at 5 am he was shouting through again and DS2 finally woke up again and did a poo. yay. i did just want to go and snuggle my wee pfb though cos I'm a big softy.

that's 4 or 5 times he's been up in the last few weeks, it's not like him. the other times he just wanted a light on then went straight to sleep though. argh he's shouting again and DS2 has filled another nappy!

Gosh, Jaggy, your DS2 produces plenty of nappies to keep you on your toes, doesn't he?! Hope DS1 starts sleeping better again.

Biscuits I am totally with you on the pasta. It is my favourite food and I could definitely eat it every day (and did, as a student in the dim and distant past!). So no carb-free diet here. But I think I'm still losing the odd pound every so often, despite not having been for a run for ages. Maybe bfing is gradually doing the trick?

Too well done with the clothing clear-out!

I literally could not live without pasta or bread. Plus with a toddler I don't want to do anything too extreme as trying to get him to eat better. Plus this all needs to be sustainable. Anyway I am very slowly losing weight. I've git two suns with hurdle rewards already earmarked! Only 6 lb to go to get to first hurdle

DS2 had been doing a few less pet but we seem to be getting a few more as he's feeding like mad. seems to be a bit of a growth spurt. he keeps suddenly bursting into tearsa as if he's not been fed for weeks rather than about 45 minutes!

Gaaah. Why has M suddenly decided she needs to be fed every 2 hours all night? 7.30, 8, 9.45, 12.25, 2, 4 and 7. She doesn't feed for longer than 10 mins and the one blessing is that she does go straight back to sleep and I don't have to settle her, but I just want a nice long stretch of sleep myself!

Glad you had a lovely day yesterday, Jaggy! Hope DS1's sleep sorts itself out PDQ.

Sounds like one heck of a growth spurt for Jaggy's DS2 and Too's M! It's been a while since DS had a growth spurt. I sort of wish he'd have one to catch up on the weight a bit more and to increase my supply. I just think maybe he's not that interested in food which might be why he didn't grow enough with just bfing?

BTW, does anyone find that after they express in the morning, their LO is unhappy at the next feed? I'm sure I don't have enough milk left (on the side I last fed from but didn't express from) to satisfy him. :(

you won't have not enough left pet, but the flow might be a bit slower or he might have to work a bit harder.

remember they are never actually empty, but dc can act a bit frustrated. i find it helps to swap boobs when DS2 gets wriggly. sometimes he'll have quite a few swaps if he's v hungry.

i do like how he looks so excited to be fed now and stops to give big grins and tell me wee stories. i remember being chuffed when DS1 did it, it's v cute. :)

I've actually got the pump and bottles out and washed so we'll see what DS2 makes of ebm later. if there's a wee break between feeds...

Mmmm pasta (dribbles like homer Simpson). Well done on the weight loss hawthers. I might ask the Dr to weigh me tomorrow as we don't own any scales. I can get pre-pregnancy jeans on and up but am about 1 to 2 inches from being able to do them up. I shall start my yogalates dvd from tomorrow I think. It's nice and easy to build up the workouts and tones your core really well.
Think I might take the sproglets on a picnic by the river today if the rain holds off. Possibly even a boat trip if i'm organised. Dd currently looking v cute fast asleep on her playmat.

I just picked up my bamboozles from Tesco. I thought I would put one on D to get the sizing right (adjustable poppers) and he promptly pooed in it! I'll take that as a sign that he thinks they are good:) he needs changing anyway as he is wearing most of his last feed:(

Sounds lovely ninja, hope it went well.

too, that's Sebs normal waking pattern so I sympathize, its grim!! I bang the dts on things all the time. Just wait for group 1 carseat- I've bumped dds head millions of times on the car getting her in and out

I feel a bit better today- DT1 was still up at 9:30, 11:40, 1, 3, 5:30 for the day but asleep in between, albeit in my bed from 3 but miles better than the previous night.

I can't help but compare my boys strength wise. DT1 can wriggle round 180 degrees, on his tummy he can lift his head really high and lift his legs up, I'm sure he probably has the strength to roll but he isn't yet. DT2 can only very, very briefly lift his head from his tummy and can't move at all like DT1... Neither gets half enough tummy time though, I confess...

The boys are loving grub. Today I made them baby porridge with ebm not water to add calories. Two hugely heaped dessert spoons of porridge with 1.5oz of ebm, on their fourth ever offering of food, and they wolfed the lot and DT2, who I didn't think looked ready for weaning, cried so much for more I made another bowl up for him . So its fair to say they're enjoying it. And ?? coincidence or not, but the last two nights when I've been braver and just fed them however much they've wanted (ie loads) DT1 has settled in the evening miles better. He actually settled at 9:30 last night without a feed- that's a first. still had all the bloody others though . And he's up feeding now. Hmm.

Forgotten the rest, will remember soon as I've posted no doubt

Belated Happy Birthday to Musical

Had a few days away from MN as RL has been hectic. DH is on holiday from work, we have lots of ideas for days out but looking at the weather forecast for the next 5 days we're not going to be able to do many of them .
I have a new hairdo. My long straggly thinning hair has been cut into a shorter new style, had some fresh highlights and I'm really pleased with the results. I've not had a go at styling it myself yet though so I may change my mind then!

DD is rolling from front to back but not yet the other way. When she's on her front she can lift her head right up and watch tv and hold it for ages. When she's relaxing propped up against something she tries to lift her body forward as if to sit up straight . She's so strong! I don't recall DS doing anything like any of this at not yet 4 months so this is all new to me. He didn't walk on his own until he was 19 months old so it would be nice if she managed it before then as I'm pretty sure I have permanent back damage from lugging him around.

Dream that wedding sounds seriously hard work. Will your nanny lady be able to attend with you in your DH's place?

Loving all the baby eating food stories

dream - are you still going to the wedding? If so, are you sure? I like scarlet's idea though. A has had proper minimal tummy time so has never rolled front to back but this week went straight to back to front rolling! Sure it doesn't matter that much bloody tummy time.

scarlet - both mine have done the stomach crunch thing from an early age. It's a nosy girl thing maybe? dd1 very strong from early on, crawling by 6 months, crusiing by 7 and walking by 10! Although A is less strong and physical she is doing really good sitting at 24 weeks which is still pretty impressive I think.

Unfortunately she is still less impressive at nights! Last night was especially bad but I'd tried another fromage frais on hv's suggestion bloody hv's and she had bad, bad bottom wind and was inconsolable 2-3.30.

So back to soya for her! Also, i'm going to try reducing the omeprazole to see if that helps. I think I'd take some fussing/attacks during the day for some sleep currently but hopefully both will be fine :)

Jaggy your posts are always so reassuring - thank you. And DS2 sounds so cute!

Ninja how old is DD now? That sounds like a great day out - how did it go? I think you're doing amazingly to be doing so much already!

Dream I'm loving the food updates! What have the DTs tried so far - banana and baby porridge? Just got the highchair out so might try DS on some solids this week...

Scarlet your hair sounds gorgeous!

Pomme hope the soya helps and you get more sleep.

Interesting about the babies' development. I think DS is quite strong, and certainly more physically able than my nephew was at the same age, but I keep reminding myself that they all get there in the end! Otherwise I have a tendency to be competitive which isn't a nice trait. :)

Loving the food stories too! And all the rolling, clever little things
Pomme hope the sleep gets better for you both soon
scarlet your new hair sounds v nice, good luck with the styling of it yourself, I always go with something I can blast with a hairdryer and leave. I'm currently growing my hair from v short elfin type cut to long. Its currently a neck length mega fluffy mess but have a hair appointment booked for saturday so hopefully it will look gorgeous and less fluffy/ massive after that.
The picnic was lovely, didn't make it onto a boat but did take ds to the playground afterwards. Pet dd is 6 weeks today and I have to say since giving up the breastfeeding she is a much more settled chilled little milky pudding and my ds (who'll be 5 in Oct ) is a much happier chap too. It got to the point where he was at nursery and one dinner time he made a sad face out of cheese and took it to one of the staff and told them that was how he felt since she had arrived and I was spending most of my time in tears and in pain! Now we are out and about all the time and everyone is happier so for us it was the right choice. Still a bit sad the bf didn't work out but I'd rather have a happy little family than cause them to be sad.
Must sort out ds's school uniform this week. I'm not sure if I'm happy or sad about it? In one way its really exciting to see him go there but in another it signifies that he's really not so little anymore. Mind you he still likes to climb onto my lap for cuddles and he tells me he loves me all the time and his imagination seems to get more creative as he gets bigger so we have some ace conversations these days.
What is everyone up to today? I've got my 6 week gp check and need to post dd's child benefit forms but chilling out otherwise I think.

M decided that she was going to get up at 12.25, 2, 3.30, 4.30, 6.30 and 7.30, gaah. But then I persuaded DH to get up with her instead and got to sleep until quarter to 11, hurray! DH took her and dog for a long walk and she slept for some of it, so v happy mummy here.

Ninja, your poor DS! Sad face made of cheese, awwww! So pleased he's happier now.

Scarlet, sounds like your new hair is lovely! I love new hair cuts, but I am hopeless at styling them myself. I am currently rocking the ombre look, which seems to be code for faded dye and roots. According to this month's Glamour it's a proper colour choice. Yes, I made a conscious decision to have hair this colour, honest...

Pomme, hope the soya does the trick. Brooking that reducing the omeprazole helps with A's sleep as well.

Pet, I also have a highly competitive edge. Must work on being a nicer person...

Dream, the DTs eating sound so cute! Yay for B wanting more grub.

The Bamboozles sound good, Wants - got the DS3 seal of approval, anyway!

My SIL has sent M a Jumperoo for a christening/naming party gift and so far, M hates it! We have 3 days to persuade her she loves it before SIL and BIL arrive to stay. I thought she would love being able to bounce upright. Atm she is standing on a pile of books because she's too short, but she'll grow.