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!

Pomme Autumn was smiling at the sight of DH, my Mum, Dad and sister all dancing crazily around just out of shot! It took a while to actually catch a smile on the camera! Any passing horse riders / dog walkers must have thought it was a bizarre pagan sacrifice taking place!!!

I shouldn't complain about having a large family (fortunately its pretty 50:50 between DH's family and mine). They're all wonderful and very much a day-to-day part of our lives. I just wish it was possible to have a small low-key low-stress event, without it turning into a huge farce!

Oh Dream

I think if my DH said something like that in those circumstances I would have hit him with the frying pan .

You know the co being about labour / delivery. Couldn't that apply to a CS too as their head bows ny get squeezed through the birth canal. So much as the birth canal could misalign something, surely not going through the birth canal might mean it could do with a bit of realigning?

Forgotten everything else.

Bows ny = doesn't

(obviously)

Cross posts

Scream what a gorgeous gorgeous picture! Absolutely fabulous!

Do you remember before we were talking about formula and whether at 6 months we should use the no 1 or no 3 milk? What did we conclude? I'm asking in relation to (a) mixing it up in food and (b) as a main drink.

We are planning over the next few weeks to do what Pomme said and drop the daytime feeds just keeping am and pm and having some beakers of formula in the day.

Pomme are you doing BLW or purées etc?

Scream I meant to say a huge yay for A taking the formula so well - that's great! Are there still no signs of any intolerance?

I'm a bit anxious about getting E to take a beaker but of course I don't know if it will be an issue until I try it.....

heehee on the baby entertainment strategy scream!

biscuits - A is okay with the beaker and finds it quite fun but cannot use it well enough to take a milk feed from it yet - fine for some sips of water with her lunch but it would take her all day to drink one full of milk! Not sure what to do about this currently... let me know how you get on and if you have any tips! I've tried about 6 beaker types so far - my cupboard looks like a niche baby beaker/bottle shop at the moment...

We're doing purees mainly as we started before 6 months. With dd1 I added in lots of finger food bits as snacks/extra about now (biscotti, banana, cheese, melon, carrot etc) but dd2 is a bit rubbish at it. She starts off loving it then forgets about it and drops it for something else or starts banging it on the nearest surface until it disintegrates! Had some more luck with the Organix baby biscuit things today though - seems to be a good shape for her hands.

sorry for hiding brookers.

the drudgery of potty training is obviously wearing me out. he's doing really well but it's sooo tedious. any tips for persuading from potty to toilet? i think half the problem is the rubbish toilet seat tbh.

getting a bit more rest doing my nervous co-sleeper bit at night now that the big cot is alongside the bed.

have discovered that almost all the hair on top of DS2's head is attached by his mega cradle cap. the flakes are slowly falling off and each one has a tiny clump of baby hairs in it! how attractive. was wondering why he wasn't bald yet.

Sorry ladies, I can't work out how to do a link on the ipad but if you put his name into Amazon you should get it! He is basically a Hevea rubber mushroom shape( hence the name) with a cute face! He is made by the same people as Sophie the giraffe.

mornin all. everyone else is still in bed here. i got up early to try and get breakfast and shower in peace!

sounds like DS2 is waking up though...

hope you're all having a nice weekend, it's v quiet here!

'Tis quiet isn't it! Hectic weekend here. I've optimistically just out ds2 down in his cot after his first feed so am hoping I can shower in peace. DH working downstairs, and has been for a few hours. Ds1 still asleep and am hoping he stays that way as he was TIRED yesterday - fingers crossed he can have a bit of a lie in today to catch up. Not much planned for the day today. Just want a quiet day really as the last week or so has been super busy with visitors, long journeys etc.

How's everyone else?

Dream I knew there was something else I was going to say on the co thing. You know you said about it maybe not applying so much because of the CS thing? I was going to say that hopefully if they're half decent they will tell you if they think they can help or not? If they come recommended hopefully they'd be straight with you. Did you make an appt in the end? When is it?

Musical I am looking at music groups for DD and thought of you. Would running one of these things be something that would interest you? Just wondering if that would help you to juggle your various jobs, if you could do that instead of one of the schools as you could set your own hours? Forgive me if I'm barking up the wrong tree and it doesn't interest you/isn't enough money/just too darn awkward.* Just thought that I could come with you to this so childcare isn't needed

*Delete as appropriate

We love our musical group. We've been going since dd1 was 6 months and now dd2 is starting to 'get' it too. Bizarrely it will be one of the things I will really miss when we are in Italy.

Some dummy success today. Not sure if its bad introducing a 6 month old to a dummy??? We'll see tonight. I need more than the three hours I've averaged the last 4 nights or my loose grip on sanity is going to slide!

Exciting- painting is starting in the extension!,not so exciting-DH hates decorating so he is going to be a right grump for the next few weeks:(
pomme do what you need to do to get your sleep, the dummy fairies can deal with it at a later date!:) if you are using it at night maybe get the glow in the dark ones for easy retrieval.

Just tried ds2 with a bit of baby rice and he loved it! I made it with formula and tipped the rest (like 1 fl oz) into a beaker so am going to see how he gets on with that in a mo - will report back.....

Fingers crossed Biscuits

Well, he kind of let me pour a teeny bit in - not as good as the BR but then maybe he was a bit full. Certainly wasn't a total refusal so will try again another day...

Oooh, excitement, Biscuits!

This weekend M has eaten

Banana slices
A strawberry
Carrot chunks
Courgette piece

and gummed lots of DH's salad garnish and a piece of mange tout yesterday but spat it all out, so it doesn't count. We bought her a sippy cup thing in Asda today but haven't tested it on her yet.

Oh bugger, just poured half a glass of water over the arm of the sofa and the dog's bed. Oops.

Anyway, so yes, the BLW seems to be starting off as well as can be expected, really. She doesn't eat much (think 1 or 2 chunks of banana while the rest gets dropped, spat out, squashed in her hands, smeared on her chin, hands and chest or thrown), but she's having great fun playing with the food and her manual dexterity is bound to improve as a result of all this trying to hold slimy slippery banana without it sliding out of her hands.

Managed to spend an amazing £80 in Asda on baby clothes etc, though. Oh, howling!

Wow that sounds great Too (the eating, not pouring water on the dog's bed )

I was trying to explain BLW to DH but he's not convinced. I think we're both terrified of choking . I think we'll be starting with purées but I might be a bit more adventurous with finger foods than I was with ds1. I did give ds2 a raw carrot stick at a buffet on Friday (and watched him like a hawk!) which he gnawed at and could clearly hold / get to mouth etc. But obvs didn't eat any with it being raw!

To clarify, the howling was, indeed, M and not DH.

Biscuits, I think anything in the line of BLW at this stage needs to be pretty soft. Without teeth, M's not going to manage anything hard/fibrous. I think we're going to do a mixture of BLW (ie, finger food) and giving her things like apple puree/shepherd's pie that need to be eaten with a spoon. Can they have yoghurt at 6 months or is it something that needs to wait for a year, like cow's milk?

Is anyone else scared that when weaning really gets going and the DC start dropping breast feeds they will balloon to the size of a house (us, that is, not the DC)?

Glow in the dark dummies, Wants? What will they think of next?

Oh I know it should be soft stuff Too - I was more trying to pass the time so it was more like a teether than trying to feed him iyswim?

And yes, am worried that I am only just maintaining my (overweight) weight and that's with fully bf

too, they can have yoghurt and cows milk at 6 months. Cows milk just isn't suitable ad a main drink til 12 months, so if you were bottle feeding M you'd carry on with formula and give cows milk bottles at 12m iykwim. But cereal, mashed potato etc etc can all be made with cows milk.

Too bloody knackered to post more. Ringing CO in the morning. S now up 2 hourly before midnight and hourly or more after. Adoption seems the only answer right now.

Bed.... Quick.

Sorry, didn't mean to teach you how to suck eggs, Biscuits! On rereading that I did sound v patronising - you've done this before and I haven't! Ignore me.

Maybe my appetite will diminish when the bf does? [hopeful emoticon]

Oh dream - hope the co can help. A did ok till 3 last night and then that was it - up. I was so horrible to everyone this am. I miss my relationship with dd1 so much at the moment.

A did manage to eat some broccoli and carrot as finger food today on top of her three meals. She had scrambled eggs for tea for the first time and loved it.

Hoping for some sleep tonight!

Arrgh! When can I expect this reflux sickiness to stop! D really scared me and himself,yesterday evening.he was laying on his play mat about an hour after feeding. When I looked back at him after breifly looking at the tv he had clear fluid coming out of his mouth and nose and was clearly gasping for breath. I whipped him up straight away to try and clear it. It seemed like ages before he started to cry:( he was clearly shaken up( as was I!)
His sleep went a bit haywire last night too. He was up at 3.30 and ended up staying in with me until the morning!

Oh how frightening Wants and well done you for staying calm. I'm completely terrified of anything like that happening and me just panicking . Hence being scared of BLW

That sounds petrifying, Wants! So glad D was ok.

How is it that yesterday at my mum's M didn't eat anything except a small chunk of banana and a strawberry between 8 am and 11.30, whereas today she's already fed twice since 7.30? I think she sees me and goes mmm, food. Mum was letting me have a lie-in yesterday, bless her. The instant I came downstairs M started to howl.

Better sleep last night - she did 8.30pm to 1 am, her longest stretch for weeks. Then we were up at 3 and 6, which is a great improvement. She went back to sleep until 7, but DH was getting ready for work and sniffing really loudly, so I didn't get much more sleep - dozed a bit in the intervals between sniffs.