Post-grad Brookers, over here! We will Brook No Argument that all Mini-Brookers sleep 12 hours a night and behave angelically during the day

[TooImmatureTurtleDoves]

Over here!

Ds1 has tonsillitis so has 5 days of disgusting antibiotics . Still he seems remarkably perky today (is currently singing the octonauts theme tune at the TOP of his voice). Even the very lovely doctor commented on how perky he seemed vs how red / spotty / bleeding his tonsils were

Have given ds2 spinach and Philadelphia ricotta lasagne for tea and its gone ok. No worse than anything else I've given him. I've spoon fed it to him though and he's done on with the lumps. He's good once it's in his mouth but struggles to get it actually off the spoon iyswim. But he's like that with all food.

Aww poor DS1 Biscuits. On the positive side of things at least you know the cause of the high temp so can stop worrying about what it might be. Good luck with the pennicillin! That's the one medicine DS refuses point blank. He said he'd got a sore throat the other day bless him.

Oh that's nasty Jaggy, you poor DH. I know someone who's suffered with that for years, I also have a very good friend who has Crohns and I know how hard life can be with both of those conditions.

DD is grumbling for a poo now actually. She's not been since Monday

I'm going out ladies. Out of the house. At night. Without either child.

Yay well done Biscuits! Have a great evening.

Yay, have fun, Biscuits! Poor DS1 with his tonsils. Still, if he can sing loudly, then they can't be that bad. M dined on a small bit of banana, some Greek yoghurt and chewed some roast beef, but didn't swallow any. I did feed her the banana and the yoghurt because she was a bit tired and crotchety as was I and I just couldn't be bothered.

Scarlet, I wish M only pooed every few days. She tends to do a massive poo explosion once a day. Today she did a huge one that got everywhere and took ages to clean off her back and bum. And they go right through her clothes.

Jaggy, Brooking for your DH to recover quickly. A friend's husband has colitis and has wound up in hospital a couple of times. And Dad has Crohn's, but not very badly.

Biscuits, I have been trying to get M to eat food with either good fats (like eggs, meat, dairy etc) or protein. However, at lunchtime she ate more lettuce than anything else. She seems to like lettuce. It's not like it fills her up, though. Teeny tiny crumbs of cheese might have gone in, ditto ham. She will eat yoghurt and yell for more, though. And porridge.

M is awake and DH is trying to settle her back down. This is a new experiment where she learns to sleep not on the boob. FX!

good luck too i hope she settles soon.
enjoy your night out biscuits
i have beer, chocolate and a warm snoozy baby on my lap. life is good

Fail. DH lasted 5 minutes before saying 'I think she wants something to eat' and handing her off to me. She didn't cry, just sat in his arms looking so so wide awake. Tbf, I did get her to sleep in 10 mins. Is it wrong to feel slightly smug? Actually, it is because it means I will always have to do the bedtimes! Must try harder. We need a strategy. Anyone got any tips?

Ninja, life sounds v good!

F F F*

I know I said no more talk of DS and illness but FFS!!! I should never have posted that he's had no fever this time as I've obviously jinxed it. He's raging hot and shivering with a temp of 39. We've dosed him up with Calpol and are monitoring him and will give Nurofen if we have to.

Now the quandry is the anti-biotics. I've just rushed out to get them as the GP said to get them if he gets worse and gets a high temperature. The pharmacist said they might give him diarrhoea and won't work if viral anyway. As our holiday is all going to be about swimming the last thing we need is DS having diarrhoea so there really would be no point in us going. Do I give him the anti-b's or do I wait and see what happens with his temperature. Oh but the anti-b's expire after 7 days and it's a 7 day course. They are now in my fridge.

wine, chocolate, DVD and almost snoozing baby here. it seems he likes to be asleep (or at least feeding on the way to sleep) by about 9, or much crying will ensue. think I've timed it ok today.

yeah, it's a bit rubbish for DH. he's not been ill like this for years. he seems a wee bit better today, hope he feels better soon.

poor DS1 biscuits, glad he's in good form despite the illness!

am quite enjoying the lack of high chair in the kitchen, suppose we'll need to get it out and chuck some food DS2's way in a few weeks. i wish I'd tried to evict DS1 from his beloved chair earlier, i ended up with a cheap mothercare booster instead of a fancy chair and he's quite happy!

x-post scarlet. poor DS :(

it's hard with antibiotics. they are such horrible things to take sometimes.

if his temp is high i might be tempted, but i know what you mean about the diahorrea. :(

hope his temp comes down soon.

i would wait till tomorrow re the anti-bs as temps are almost always higher at night. I do hope he's better soon. fwiw my anti-bs for mastitis were also stating diarrea as a side effect but i didn't get it even though i took 3 7 day courses in the space of a month. He may well be ok on them.

I think we're going to hold off until the morning and reassess then. It's hard because I just panic and become almost hysterical. I was all for racing to A&E a couple of hours ago, but DH is a bit more level headed thank goodness.

DS is asleep, but only very lightly. His temp is the same but not increasing as yet.

He was only taking Erythromycin 4 weeks or so ago for those scabs in his head and didn't get the squits on those. But he's been prescribed Amoxycillin this time, not sure if that's worse or not. I had Augmentin when my C Section scar was infected after DD and both me and her had the squits after only 2 doses.

Oh no Scarlet! How is DS now, Sounds like a wise plan with the ABs. After DS1's crazy temps the night before last, it was completely fine all day yesterday without any calpol so hoping that it is something similar

Night out was lovely. Very nice ladies who were v friendly and even met one lady that literally lives 3 houses down from me.

However I got home to find that ds2 was just making a right racket and not really sleeping! He'd been up since 11 and really making a fuss. DH had tried formula (but forgotten to warm it - d'oh) which he didn't want so tried him with a pouch of banana which he wolfed down. All v dramatic. Once I got home it took us still another 30-60 mins to sort him out, including getting him to drink most of the formula once DH warmed it and giving him a huge cuddle for ages. I couldn't bf him because I'd been drinking . Still he did at least settle a bit with the formula and a cuddle so that was a useful exercise. Poor thing must have been starving though - I did try and try to get food and milk into him any way possible during the day. I don't know what more to do?

Sorry for not posting much - been a bit busy doing unexciting things.

Biscuits could you try adding another bf during the day or is that not feasible? Just until DS2 gets more proficient with solids, beaker etc? Really hope he starts to gain weight again and sleep a bit better for you. Glad your night out went well, at least.

Scarlet hope DS is better and you don't need the ABs - or, if you do, he doesn't get any side effects.

Jaggy glad your DH is starting to feel a bit better.

Too did you get M to sleep by bfing or just cos it was you doing the cuddling?

Here, DS has a nasty snotty cold and kept waking himself up last night because he just couldn't breathe. In the end I lay back in bed on some pillows and had him (and, at one point, the cat) sleeping on my lap. Poor baby.

On a positive note, he is 6 months old today, and yesterday he impressed my NCT friends by sitting in a highchair while we were out having lunch, eating most of a banana (with assistance) and drinking from his beaker, all without too much mess! :)

think DS2 is getting a cold too pet. his wee nose was streaming this morning and he is a bit grumpy. he had a bit of a gunky, watery eye yesterday, but squirting a load of bm in seems to have helped.

DS1 is not really settling for a nap much this week, think our couple of hours quiet after lunch might be on their way out. Noooo!

I'm after more tips and info from Brookers with toddlers. I've been trying to get DS1 to concentrate more on drinking from an open cup without pouring it everywhere, or dipping his hand in Are your lot any good at it and if so when do they get the hang of it

hope DS feels better today scarlet.

Oh poor babies with colds, our mini brookers are suffering at the moment aren't they. DD has been snotty for a week now.

So I've just got back from seeing OOH's GP with DS. Tonsillitis. A relief to finally have a diagnosis but a bit worried about our holiday now. He's starting anti biotics now so hopefully he'll soon be on the mend by Monday. Fingers crossed for no poo in the pool. Eeeek.

Poor Scarlet's DS

No squits here from the ABs so far, but ds1 doesn't have penicillin as he's allergic so he has to have something else (the name of which escapes me)

Hope he's on the mend now that its diagnosed xx

Currently in the process of packing up ready to check out of our penultimate hotel. I'm pretty tired now, especially of the constantly changing hotels and the long hours of driving. It's been an amazing holiday so far, but I really think we were right to limit it to two weeks.

We've spent the last couple of days driving along California's Pacific Coastal Highway (past Big Sur), visiting an amazing Castle (Hearst), whale watching (they came right up to the side of the boat!), and we took DD to a great aquarium in Monterey. We have more coast and vineyards planned today after we've had a look at the shops in Carmel, and hopefully seeing some huge Redwoods on our last day.

DD has been delightful all holiday, charming everyone she sees with big gummy grins, and putting up with hours in the car and constant hot sunny days (it's a hard life out here! ) The sleeping has been slightly more painful, but she hasn't really cried at all (touchwood this lasts through the last couple of nights and the flight home!) She's just been up over and over again when we'd really like to be sleeping! At least her fussing isn't loud enough to be heard by other guests in the hotels.

No brooking super hard for all the poorly babies and Jaggy's DH. It sounds like a difficult time in NoBrookerLand. I hope all the various ABs kick in asap with no side effects!

Pet well done to your DS! I take it you started blw before 6 months then? When exactly did you start giving your DS finger foods? I would love to start blw with DD when we get back. She'll only be a little over 5 months though, and the blw books say not to start until 6 months. I'm sure the 6 month mark is just a guideline though, and I'm happy to start whenever other No Brookers have started? DD's been sitting increasingly well since 4 months, and she could confidently sit up in her high chair before we left on hol, so I'm not worried about the practical issues.

Any tips on when to start? Or should I stick to purees until 6 months?

Woweee

Ds2 has just eaten:

• bits of a couple of homemade chicken dippers (obviously lots went on the floor but definitely ate and swallowed a few mouthfuls of the chicken - I would guess he ate the best part of 1 dipper);
• LOADS of sweet potato (i had done some for him and ds1 and just dumped everything that was left after I'd taken DS1's into a bowl so there was at least twice what I would have normally given him);
• 2/3 of the remainder of an EK pouch from lunch; AND
• a yogurt.

We just kept switching what we were giving him when he got tired of one thing and it just kept going in.

He also drank probably 4-5oz of formula from the beaker after swimming which is a personal best.

He's now having the first of 2 bedtime bfs. If that child wakes up hungry tonight I think DH will sell him

Pet I thought about the bf thing but I really want to get out of the daytime bfs. So it's a tough decision between getting those calories in or getting him to eat more food iyswim. I'd really rather him get the calories from solids and the formula and I think he will get there it just takes a bit if practice. It probably sounds mean to not want to bf him but I really want to get to just doing first and last thing bf and him accepting the other numerous offerings of formula and solids during the day.

Scream the holiday sounds awesome. DD must be doing so well to be sitting up . DS couldn't have sat in a highchair at that age (it was a stretch for him at 6 mths and he's still a bit slouchy in the Tripp Trapp - we're using the ikea one mostly at the moment). And that is one of the key things for BLW I think? Don't know about the 6 mth thing though. How is she at putting hand to mouth etc? Hope the journey home goes well

Jaggy can't think of any tips on the open cup thing other than practice and supporting it for them. We used to give ds1 his milk in a beaker and those tommee tippee ones you can't get the last bit out with a lid on so we used to take the lid off and help him to sip the last bit, but that was from quite a young age (

Woohoo for Biscuits' DS2! That sounds like some good eatin'! Too much time spent stateside has resulted in DH and I putting on some truly cringeworthy American accents for amusement!

As for DD, getting her to STOP putting things in her mouth is the difficult part! She sucks both her thumbs every time she gets sleepy, so she's very adept at the hand-to-mouth journey. So far she's put headphones, leaves, wipes, strangers' fingers, and other truly disgusting things in her mouth, food will be a definite step up!

Arse biscuits

The washing machine is broken

Any recommendations?

just a quick posting, sorry to not name check more people...but jaggy my DS is coming up to 23 months and he drinks fine from a doidy cup, which is open topped but slanted so they don't need to tip it quite as far as a normal cup. He's been drinking fine from it for about a month now?

Biscuits we've had a few appliances break recently and the independant repair man i used said that the best brand to buy is bosch, they hardly ever get called out to bosch appliances, they are built to last and he said the rest are rubbish. He also said not to touch samsung as hard if not impossible to get spare parts as they only have spares available for a couple of years after selling a model, then stop the spares - i took that to mean that they don't expect things to last more than a couple of years?!!!

just wondering, how the hell did the rest of you with a newborn and a toddler cope? DS1 is having lots of tantrums, and DS2 wants feeding lots, DS2 seems to always want milk just as DS1 due for his milk/nap, or his meals. Probably not helped by the fact i can't lift DS1 for another 3 weeks. The positive of this is that i'm not on my own so have either family or DP on hand to deal with DS1 whilst i feed DS2 but very worried about how i will cope when i'm stuck on my own with the two of them!! any tips???

Disaster re washing machine, Biscuits. My criteria for all appliances is based solely on price. Whatever's on offer usually looks good to me.

Don't know, Loopy, but Brooking for things to get a bit easier!

Loving the American accent, Scream! Re BLW, how about trying little A on something like banana and see how she gets on putting it in her mouth? Or if you can think of anything less slippery it'll give her a bigger chance of success. Yy to the challenge being stopping them putting things in their mouths - this evening I pulled M to her feet next to the dog and she promptly leaned forward and started trying to suck his back.

Biscuits, wow to the food! Go E! M didn't get any dinner tonight. We all had a big lunch in town (M ate a huge amount of cauliflower cheese in the restaurant - spoon fed by my mum and sister, but still dropped heaps under the table), and then I went shopping while DH took M swimming. When I got off the bus DH and M were waiting in the car and M was just finishing off 2 oz bm. Then once we were home she had another feed almost immediately, and it was 6 o'clock and I just didn't think there was any point in trying to give her dinner on top of all that milk, so we went straight for bath instead.

Btw, I went out in a proper underwired bra, that fit when I left the house at 12. By 6 it was doing the double-boob effect and digging in on either side really painfully! Shan't be doing that again in a hurry. Note to self: Day 1 back at work - wear a nursing bra and take extra supply of breast pads! Not that I'm going back to work for another 3 months or so.

Poor Mini No Brookers with tonsillitis and colds.

Pet, I bf M to sleep. I have precisely one tool in my arsenal and that's it.

Right, I'd better go and try to scrape dried-on porridge from this morning off the highchair. The glamour!

loopy cbeebies and lots of it. It gets better although it was freaking hideous for ages. If it's any consolation at 6 months it was all great and now at 9 months they are really cute together and DS1 says I love my brother quite a lot. At the beginning DS1 was hitting us lots, nothing aimed at DS2 but having been really sweet and well behaved before it was quite scary for a while.

There is a toddler and newborn thread somewhere to share your woes and pick up tips. Hmm not sure where, pomme was on it too I think she may know when she comes along. Hang in there and drink as much wine as you can while bf.

And we're here for ranting, it will he fine in the end.