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

[musicalmrs]

New thread time!

Too if she's one of your closest friends I'm sure (I hope!) that she has many redeeming features. On that basis I would probably ignore it the next time I saw her (not condoning what she did at all but I'm allergic to confrontation ). It would still be noted on her permanent record though .

Scream No independent sitting as yet from ds2 and he is x weeks old. Is it bad that I've lost track of the number of weeks again? 23? 24? 20 something definitely . I am also obsessed with weaning but in a non-participating way so instead of actually weaning DS I just keep buying stuff 'in readiness'. In fact I went to the supermarket this morning and managed to spend about £60 on weaning 'stuff' and fudge. Well ok there were a few other things in there but a lot of it was me being totally sucked in to weaning specific products. 'Oooh, a bowl with a bit at the side for cool and mashing? I absolutely must have one of those..... ', 'Ooooh, these pots come in two colours? Well I'd better have one of each.... '.

Oh nice, DS has just thrown up his feed all over the change mat and it's now all over his face and ear. Smashing. Took me ages to make that milk!

M was 6 months ish when he sat up, although he could balance a bit in a foldy up sort of position before that. we have a cute photo of him on the kitchen worktop. :) he was a bit wobbly and still fell over lots for the first month or so.

R is 18 weeks and likes us holding him to sit up, but he has no balance whatsoever and isn't strong enough. he gets easily tired too. he also seems to love being held up to stand and grins like mad.

struggling to get DH to take the potty training seriously i think. the short 'sessions' approach has been great for getting DS1 used to it, but he's doing so well we really need to focus on it a bit more before he gets bored of it i think. if i didn't have DS2 to worry about I'd just give up and do it all myself, but I'd like the support to get it done before i go back to work!

oops missed lots of posts there. feeding tired baby to sleep here.

can't load pics on my phone, boo! can't believe your friend too

just had chat with DH about potty training after i posted that and he says he'll help. i think we're both finding it a difficult transition from nappy wearing toddler to wee boy!

jaggy we found potty training to be the most stressful part of parenting for ages. It will get better! DS1 hasn't had any accidents since we came back from hols 4 weeks ago and we only did the training in May.

Ditto Hawthers for the most stressful bit! My stand out memories of parenting so far are (in no particular order) getting going on bf, weaning, and potty training. So generally input and output

Sounds like ds1 has the hang of it now though . Good job.

The pain of potty training does fade, honest.......

I have suddenly gone really broody. I feel like I ought to be pregnant and I find it weird that I'm not. Can someone slap me with a wet fish, please?

Jaggy, good luck with the potty training - sounds like it's going well so far, anyway. I am scared of potty training! Glad it'll be a while until I have to do it.

Biscuits, I have lost track of weeks again too. I know it's 5 months and a couple of weeks...No independent sitting here either, or not for longer than a few seconds. And still no bloody rolling from back to front. I love the sound of the weaning products - I want some!

Hawthers, what is your weaning dilemma?

Musical and Wants, hope your house repairs go well - is your Sky fixed, Wants?

Scream, that's what I could do with the bananas that I can't eat on my diet - feed them to M! Oooh, I really want to now. It's only 2.5 weeks until she's 6 months. I did swear I was going to wait until she was 6 months, especially after PIL made it clear they thought I should be weaning her already because she was sleeping badly, and then bloody Dad chimed in when he was pissed. And even bloodier stepmother told him to shut up, M was my baby and the guidelines are the guidelines - and then ruined it by saying that when DBro was little, she didn't dare deviate from the rules either and I had to make my own mistakes. (Ie, that the current medical research is wrong and they are right, but I have to be left to work that out for myself ) That sort of chat makes me want to ebf M until she's 1! And it turned out that M just wanted more space to sleep in because the Moses basket was too small - she's slept much better for the last 3 nights since we moved her into her cot - so it had bugger all to do with weaning. Maybe I could feed M some banana but just not tell anyone.

too link to my weaning moan current stress topic

biscuits totally agree with your stand out moments

too also feeling rather broody and up until 3 weeks ago I was dead set on another but practically and emotionally it makes so much more sense to stick with our two. I say emotionally as the pg was really draining on DH and I and we found the adjustment to two very difficult and it has put a strain on our marriage and we are just back on even keel now.

hawthers, I know f-all about anything child related I have decided but i posted on your thread anyway. Wouldn't take any advice from me though, I've a DD who eats about 5 different meals in total, thank goodness she eats fruit, and a baby who will not sleep and its killing me. I'm just so fed up.

too- I'm really sorry, I thought that was from this thread. I must have read the whole of mumsnet last night between two and four am and guess I got to your other thread from looking at your pic. Sorry again and I promise I'm not stalking you although dh's Ex on Facebook is boring now so I need a new candidate in theory.

A up most of the evening screaming. I think just from over tiredness. She went down at nine thirty so I really should go to sleep now.

Potty training and weaning not major issues so far here. Toddler food/tantrums, early walking from dd1 and dd2's sleep my main issues.

The toddler food one I discovered was due to hating sitting down so dd1 now eats her meals running around too. Picking my battles there :)

Fingers crossed for sleep all round.

DD had her 16 week (3rd lot) of jabs today. Awww her little face all screwed up and she whimpered a bit but still didn't cry . My kids are hardcore, I've actually wondered before if DS has that weird illness where you feel no pain, but he does actually cry a little bit when he hurts himself so I guess he just must have a good pain threshold. I wish I did I'm a big drama queen

Hawthers I've just read your thread and I'm sorry I have no idea. FWIW I pureed or mashed everything for DS until he was a good couple of months past one year old. My stupid fear of vomitting and choking means there's no way I could ever do BLW. But, DS is now 3.8 and eats absolutely the same as us with chunks, lumps and cutlery. If you can see your DS is eating the finger foods then that's ok isn't it? As long as he's eating. If you really don't want to BLW though (like me) then I guess the only thing would be to stop the finger foods for a bit and make more of a variety of pureed meals? I didn't offer finger foods at all until DS was about 16 months which I know isn't advised because it could lead to speech problems but it's worked ok for us. DS eats anything, no food issues whatsoever (apart from not liking rice pudding).

Dream I'm so sorry things are still so tough with S. It sounds like you've already thought of more than I could come up with. I really hope things sort out quickly for you. If your DH had a patient come to him with a baby with the same problems as you're having with S would there be anything he could do? I'm just wondering if your GP could refer you anywhere?

Very cute photo of M with her Daddy Too. So annoyed with your friend. I'm also a confrontation avoider except with DH but I think I would have to say something about that

Jaggy what everyone else said. Potty training sucks. It's by far the hardest thing I've had to do as a parent. Like you we got stuck in a rut of not doing it all the time. I guess you just need to bite the bullet and go for it for a 3-4 of days and then review. DS might surprise you. In all honesty though in your shoes I'd probably leave it for DH to do when I went back to work. God I hated it!

I hope you get your house straight tomorrow wants. Very frustrating when you end up with cowboys.

What a brave DD Scarlet - a proper trooper! My children both seem to be proper drama queens .

I was going to ask the exact same thing about Dream's DH and what he would suggest if someone came in with the same issues. Is there anything a GP could offer?

I've been reading my AK book this afternoon to start thinking about weaning and speaking to the HV. Interestingly I asked her about the formula thing and she said that these new fandangled '3' milks (ie the ones from 6mths) aren't necessary and if we go on to formula to just stick to the stage 1 ones. But then she also said that they now recommend that babies have a multi vitamin supplement from 6 months (I think she said this was the case if they're not on formula?). Has anyone else heard this? Again I think they've invented this rule after I had ds1 as I don't recall that at all - I've never given him a supplement . Ninja, Scarlet had you heard that before? So if anyone else has heard of the multi vitamin thing what age am I supposed to give a supplement up until?

On the weaning thing the HV said if I hold out until 6 mths I can just give him what everyone else has as long as its not salty etc. but that just makes me nervous so I think I'm going to do broadly what I did with ds1. Start with purées then mash everything and very gradually mash it a bit less and then offer some finger foods from, I don't know, 7? 8? Months - something like that? anyway I have all my lovely new super bowls to use

Oh and I'm too scared I think to do BLW after a friend of a friend ended up calling 999 when her baby was choking on something . Fortunately she managed to sort it out but she had got to the stage of ringing 999. I'm too frightened after that .

And also I would be super tempted to leave potty training for your DH Jaggy like DH did to me - I also hated it and might not bother at all ever with ds2

glad it's not just me that thinks this sucks!

he did well again today. the willy fiddling seems to be a fairly reliable sign that he needs to go (boys are classy ), he's still not really asking without being reminded yet though.

was it you that did 'potty training boys' as well scarlet? it does seem easy to get stuck for ages if that's the case. i like the laid back approach but maybe we need to get on a bit... more later when I'm up better get sleeping while DS2 is.

Yes Jaggy we have the potty training boys book and I loved the fact that it advised to not go cold turkey. But I stuck on that bit for waaaayy too long and really should have tried harder before. But I was pg and on my own with DS for 12 hours a day and just couldn't face it. In the end I still did it on my own when DD was about a month old, but I think DS had grasped by that point that nappies are for babies and he was no longer a baby and that was what really gave him the boost. Your DS1 is still very little so I wouldn't panic too much yet. Try the cold turkey thing over a couple of days and if it becomes too stressful leave it for a few weeks and try again. But it sounds as though he's doing really well so you might just need a couple of days and then he'll be ok. Fingers crossed for you.

Biscuits I was advised to give DS vitamin supplements from 12 months. I think I kept it up for about 6 months but then stopped after I kept forgetting. He eats plenty of fruit and veg has a well balanced diet and plays outside loads so I'm not worried about him being defficient. I remember the HV banging on about it at bit at DD's 6 week check but I can't remember what the advice was . Surely if you eat healthy and get exercise and sunshine you shouldn't need supplements? I guess it depends on the child and how healthy they are?

Bloody S. Tired.

Supplement advice is a multivitamin drop from 6 months to 5 years. For vit D especially as only sufficient sun strength here April- Sept or something. still haven't got round to getting DD some but I will . Also, if ebf you should be taking vit D. I am doing that one as I've two to feed too. Sometimes I remember the multi vit one for me too :)

Thank you Dream

Isn't it rubbish that no one has ever told me ds1 should be having the multivits? He's nearly 4! And no one has ever told me to take vit d either, yet the HV asks me every time if I am still exclusively bf .

How long should I take vit d for? Until they're weaned or until I stop bf?

I stopped taking my multi vit because it said not to take if pg and I stopped the pregnacare type ones because I'm not made of money so I guess I should be taking a multi vit myself too?

These mythical baby multi vits - is there a brand or a product name? Can I get them in the supermarket? And is vit d just one of the normal supplements?

Dream sorry if you've had another bad night . Did you think about looking up a cranial osteopath or similar? I've heard such miraculous things about them helping when nothing else does with such vast improvements. And if anyone needs a sleep miracle it's surely you and little S?

Oh, and if I had a multi vitamin would I need the vit d too (for myself?) or do I even need a multi vit?

Flipping heck - I can't believe I've been doing something else wrong!

dream - is he really unsetlled day and night? Do you think cmpi is possible?

dietician told me to give a multi hits. like dream keep forgetting. I am taking calcium and vit d pills though but only because i went dairy free.

dd1 doesnt have anything.

A on my hip now having a poo - oo the joys!

We give both ours abidec as recommended by the paeds consultant. Rough night here, DS1 kept waking and waking DS2 grr. The sleeping through seems to have disappeared. Plus DS1 has finally stopped napping

It says in my Annabel Karmel book that bf babies need a vit D supplement, so I asked the HV when she came out to do the weaning chat. She said that bf babies need it after 6 months because this country isn't sunny enough (it's in formula),and that she sees a lot of Polish mothers who say that in Poland, babies and children are given a vit D supplement as a matter of course. If you think about it, they've just started advising pg women to take vit D as well as folic acid, so they must have realised that it's important. Luckily I was taking the big Tesco preg multivits during pregnancy so I was taking vit D by accident rather than by design, iyswim. The HV said that they worry about recommending vitamins for babies to bf mothers in case it puts them off bf in favour of formula . They have to tell you the facts and let you work out your own approach! She said that if you're on benefits, you can get a prescription for free baby vitamins, but otherwise go to a chemist and ask for them. I haven't yet - must remember!

Biscuits, not sure if you need a multi-vit or not! I took some of the pg multi-vits (DH bought them in bulk, so I have heaps left) at one stage because they said they were also suitable for bf mothers, but I gradually forgot about it and haven't taken any for ages. Oh wait, have just re-read Dream's post - so that's a yes to the multi-vits for us, then. Must start taking it again might manage to take my pill at the same time, if sff is ever to happen again

Pomme, it's ok, I didn't think you were stalking me! Wouldn't be very interesting, anyway.

I used to give DS Abidec Biscuits. It's a liquid that I'd mix in yoghurt for him. Vitamin D is in it. It smells vile. You can get it from Boots.

Biscuits, one of my baby group friends said she visited her HV recently, and that HV said that the new recommendation is that BF babies have a vitamin supplement from birth!

This seems a tad mad to me? I'm taking vitamin D, but mainly because I was found to be deficient a few years ago.

I'll be doing BLW, mainly out of laziness. Plus I think Iz will be happier that way. Yesterday she was really struggling with teething, so I cut a huge chunk of cold carrot for her to gum while I ate carrot sticks. She loved it! However, she now thinks she can gum anything I can - she kept trying to grab my banana yesterday. She's only 14 weeks. Will have to keep an eye on her..!

Oh, and M was up every 2 hours again last night, so the magic of the cot has worn off. Boo! I think she was cold - I shut the window in our room because her hands were cold but didn't realise until this morning that the boiler service mannie had turned the heating off yesterday.

Hawthers, I hope you get some answers to your weaning questions - I know nothing about it, so no advice here, but I hope someone knowledgeable comes along soon.

Jaggy, little girls fiddle with their crotches too - it's a universal sign of needing a pee in small children!

M is in her baby walker getting cross and frustrated because she can't move forwards. Her feet are only just touching the floor and she can only go backwards or sideways so far. Grow, little legs!

By the way, weaning thoughts - you are advised to sit down at the table with your child, right? Those of you who have done this before/started now, have you moved your meal times to eat with your child? M starts to fall asleep any time after 6pm, so to ensure we had dinner before she was too sleepy/grumpy, she would have to eat by 5.30. This is just about possible as DH gets home at about 4.45, but it means we'd be eating really really early. I'm not keen on cooking a baby meal and an adult meal, though. What have you all done? Up until now I've been eating after she's in bed for the night, so about 7.30ish.

Too obviously I have no experience, but my intention is simply to eat something with little A at the table, not a full dinner. I can't imagine being able to supervise A's eating and enjoy my dinner at the same time. When she's older obviously we'll start to have proper family meals, but until then I'll just be having a simple snack on a plate (like pitta bread and houmous) while she's eating. DH and I will continue to have our proper dinner later in the eve.

Thanks for all the multi vits advice everyone! No one has mentioned it to me at all! Good to know. I'm assuming that since I'll be ff from 6 months I don't need to give DD a supplement until we switch to cow's milk at 12 months?