September 2012 babies - warmest welcome!

[Macaroons]

Here's the new thread for September babies fresh from the oven!

I'm a first time mum and I'm struggling with breast feeding at the moment, my 6-day old DS always seems to be hungry (a feed every 2-3 hours, each lasting roughly an hour), and when he's hungry he's very aggressive towards my nipple it really hurts! Any tips out there? And how often do you feed your baby and for how long? how do you teach your baby to be gentle on the nipples?

Good luck to those still waiting for their babies to come out! Will be watching out for more baby news!

Happy to report that DS has finally pooed!! And he picked the time when we were out to do this massive poo, typical! Luckily there's nappy changing facility in the restaurant we went to and I managed to contain the matter without making a real mess!

Relieved now!!

Hurrah Macaroons. Don't you just love their timing though?

Maggie its strange how health visitors advice vary from one person to another by so much. I asked about baby rice but my HV said very firmly that no that stuff till at least 6 months.

Thanks leelteloo I read your message the next day and it made me cry a little bit. I spoke to the hv at B's 14 week check this week and she noticed from the tick sheet thing my mood has dropped. So she's marked it down (in the nicest possible way and knows I've been through a load of stuff atm) and I def have to keep my appt on Monday with the gp.

Have had a hard week with chest stuff. I'm dying and Baby B is coughing a good load. It's a struggle and fight to feed her - has dropped from 75th to 50th weight wise in a couple of weeks - and then when I do get a bottle down her she burps, it catches her and she throws it up :( Can't blame her really as this chest thing makes me sick too sometimes.

Re food wise my hv told me after 18 weeks you can start weaning with baby rice and the like. Just avoid some foods like wheat until 6 months. I'll be waiting until 6 months though as I find weaning a pita but then I don't have a baby who takes a huge amount of food atm. It probably would be different if I did.

dh has really upset me right now iv tried to post about it but it looks too confusing basically its about the children's clothes and ironing after me repeatedly saying that I need help

he heavily criticises and patronises me at 7am
thank god Ava's smiling at me (had her weighed yesterday she's 13lb 8oz) x

Cjbk that sounds horrid. Bloody men!!! I had to leave the house with both kids last weekend cause my dh was such an arse. He started huffing and puffing about the house not being clean, which culminated in him calling it a stinking pit and dragging the Hoover around aggressively mumbling that he shouldn't have to work all week and then clean at the weekends!!! I was devastated because I think I do a good job at managing all the domestic chores and I don't ask him to lift a finger really. The house is always tidy, washing, shopping, ironing done. He just likes it all to be 'clean'; well I don't think hoovering or mopping is more important than looking after the baby. Grrrrrr . Anyway he apologised but things are getting rocky in the leelteloo household and he better up his game because I'm not a bloody door mat; I look after my family because I love them but will only look after him if I feel he appreciates me.
Sorry for the rant!

That's awful cjbk and leelteloo . You know sometimes I feel jealous that other people have their partners - and sometimes I'm glad I have no-one to answer to. Ds's dad would have been like that. Believed I just sat on my laurels all day while he was at work. Kudos that yous even do ironing! I have given up on mine at the minute and just iron as needed except for ds's uniform which gets done on a Sunday.

Not to say I haven't have men problems. Had a huge argument with dd's dad during the week regarding his reliability. He was two hours late in dropping dd home and dropped her back just at the time I start getting her ready for bed. As she'd just slept in the car, she was having none of it.

Next day he was meant to take her to get her injections (had been arranged for a week). At the time he was meant to show up he rang to say he was only up. Hence I had to quickly get ready and take her myself. He took her out and I had told him to be back for a certain time I knew she started to get a bit screamy last time after her injections. Kicked in an hour and a half early this time and he didn't know what to do. Rang in a blind panic (in the car no less) freaking out that he was going to take her to hospital . Was told just to bring her home and he obviously sped over the limit as arrived in no time, in a complete state - visibly shaking, not making any sense, had no clue whether he'd brought her bag or not. All she needed was calm and cuddles fgs. This is the man that wants to take her overnight?? I honestly wouldn't be able to trust him to stay calm if something would happen to her. Even my mum lost it a little bit with him as it was ridiculous the state he was in over her crying.

Sorry that was a little bit of a rant there

thanks ladies thing is I try to do everything myself (silly I know) and when something slips through the net I really don't want to hear about it! I'm
sure your the same?anyway we're going to get baby's hand and footprint taken at John Lewis later so that'll be nice...x

cjbk1 and leelteloo hope things are better for you both.

Herbie got his last injections today, cried a bit but was very good. I'm just so glad that there over for a while :)

So I got a tattoo today. It bloody well hurt. I thought the big bit was bad but oh no I was very wrong. It looks amazing but I'm glad it's done. Took about 2 hours. Is it mad im already planning my next one :) hopefully your foot is not as sore :)

How's everyone else doing this week?

Cbjk and leetleloo hope you feel better now. A hand and foot model - sounds great!

And a tattoo, Rachel. Does that hurt as much as labour?

Just wondering do your baby fall asleep on his own, or do you do something like rocking to help them fall asleep? Starting to do some sleep training following advice from various friends - I.e. putting baby mac in bed while he is sleepy but awake, and he cries and screams...

Macaroons I have 6 tattoos now, this one hurt way more than labour, got it on my side/ribs. Was complete agony but is worth it as it is gorgeous. When it's all healed up ill get a picture up so you can all have a look.

Re: sleep. Sometimes Herbie is fast asleep when I put him down. Other nights he's sleepy but awake and he will cry sometimes for quite a while. I just settle him when he does give him his dummy, sometimes if its bad a cuddle but generally he makes a few noises now and falls asleep pretty quick. I think they get used to what you do.

Herbie has been in an awful mood today, his injections must of really knocked him. Has had a temperature and is so clingy today. Goes mental when I leave the room even though he's with his nanny or dad. Doesn't want to be left with anyone. It's so hard when he's like this.

I find that the 4 month jabs hit the babies the worst- probably as they get 3 jabs, rather than 2. Ollie slept for a few hours afterwards, then he became hot and clingy. It seemed to knock him for a few days afterwards as well, but I guess it's just their body fighting it. I'm still up 2 or 3 times in the night, feeding him. It's just the way it is now. I'm hoping that by the time I'm back at work, he's at least dropped one of the feeds. Mind you, he'll be on solids as well, so that might help [hopeful face].

Anyone suffering from a sore shoulder? I've never had the best upper body strength, but it really strains when manoeuvering the pram up and down pavements. Might have to put him in a sling...

I let him self settle now and he's getting pretty good at putting himself to sleep. I tend to put him in his cot whilst he's still awake. I remember something sbout it taking 20 minutes for them to get into a deep sleep. With DS1 I would wait with him for those 20 minutes and then move him into the cot. His eyes would then spring open and he'd cry, so I'd pick him up again. And so it went on, and most of my evening would go. It was exhausting. Obviously if Ollie starts crying and cries for over 5 minutes, I will go into him, but generally, he now settles himself. At least me and DP get a few hours together once the boys are both in bed (generally 8pm-10pm).

Have a nice rest of the week everyone. Hope your tattoo is healing nicely rachel penguin. I haven't got any, but had various piercings in my heyday!

Ooh, a tattoo Penguin, can't wait for pics. I currently have two tattoos but was thinking about getting one for DD, possibly a star added to one of my current ones if that's not too naff. But then I found a beautiful heart tattoo with her initial and a J... my imaginary boy baby would have a J name, so perhaps I should wait just in case I have a boy.. I'm pretty sure this makes me a mental!

We put DD to bed asleep mostly, at nighttime; for naps she goes down awake but I don't have the energy at night to keep going back and forth so I wait. I figure there's time enough to change when she's a bit bigger (head in the sand a bit).

I've wanted a tattoo for years. Know exactly where I want it, just can never decide on the design. Last time I thought about it, I went and got my nipple pierced instead

Oh please don't tell me the 4 months jab are worse. Baby B has been a screaming nightmare all day after the last two. Not looking forward to it.

I let B settle herself Macaroons . I made ds self settle and he's always been a brilliant sleeper so I'm doing the same for dd. Sometimes I can hear her fuss about for a while or talk to herself but I close the door so it's dark, bar the small nightlight on the monitor, and she seems to realise it's sleep time.

No shoulder problems but my neck is giving me twinges shoeprincess . Think it's the weight of dd now.

Was at the doctors about my mood and he's given me a low dose of diazepam as he seems to think my low mood is linked to lack of sleep. He did give off to me about my weight as I've dropped four stone since having dd and am borderline underweight BMI. That's pretty much the norm for me but really trying to make a conscious effort to eat more.

Have been a bit happier this week. Not that I'm sleeping more but the household is returning to health after the month long sicknesses and B and ds back to full appetites. Also baby B is the cutest thing right now. Can hold her head up rightly off the floor and not far away from rolling back to front (gets to her side, just needs to build up a bit more momentum). Wriggles herself around a room in her own way :)

Oh Leelteloo and cjbk1 I hope things are OK. It's hard when you're all sleep deprived and tetchy.
Unless you've actually been a stay at home parent you can't possibly compare it to a week at work.
Even a tough 60 hour week doesn't compare to 24/7 care of children and home.
I hope you have some support elsewhere, or a friendly ear to hear your troubles.

Penguin was your tattoo a tribute to Herbs? I contemplated it with DS but chickened out and got a rook piercing instead when he was 9 months old. Although that's not for the feint hearted. It smarted a bit, especially as they no longer numb ear cartilage.
And it took well up to a year to heal, the bugger kept getting a lump. Ouch.
I might get another piercing once I've stopped bfing. Maybe a conch, but it'll have to go on the other side as I already have a tregus on the side with the rook.
Then I'll only be able to sleep on my back for a good while!

DD doesn't really self settle yet. If she stirs at night I just give her my boob. She is STILL refusing a dummy and I can't let her wake DS. I'm so lucky he sleeps well, I don't want to mess that up.
Plenty of time for dealing with that later..

I'm so glad you're feeling better Ballroom life is much smoother when the cloud lifts a bit.

Yes Shoeprincess my left shoulder gets really painful in the joint. It's the same side that hurt when DS was a baby too. It must be buggered.
But then my lower back is quite painful lately, and my neck cracks, and my pelvis still twinges every now and then. Send me to the knackers yard.
I don't think I could physically cope with another pregnancy. It's ruined me!

I'm going to have to go back to p/t work soon...on top of everything else...I'm not ready at all..never thought is be expected to work b4 Bubs sleeping thru

Dd is 15 weeks and still won't take a dummy either wherearemyshoes . Sucks for a couple of sucks then spits it out, and she's bottle fed. Has no interest and I would love it if she would as she's getting into the habit of sucking her thumb and fingers. The way I look at it, you can take a dummy away from them eventually but you can't take away her thumb if it becomes a habit. My cousin still sucks her thumb at 30-odd when she's stressed or sleeping!

Aww that's hard ckbk . Is it money or is working looking you back? Hope Ava starts to sleep through for you soon.

Dd woke up for the first time from ages ago at 1am last night and took an 8oz bottle. The odd time she would be up at 3 or 5 but not 1 when she was taking full bottles all day yesterday. Hoping it's just a growth spurt. Give it a week and if she's still being a greedy guts, it may be time for hungry baby formula which the hv gave the go ahead for if needed to.

Hi all, my dd 16 weeks now and been teething for 3-4 weeks ! Poor sweetie really upsetting her. Anyone else's dd an ds teething? Got 16week injections next week whilst dh is away for the week, i have read a lot of them get reactions to this jab! Hope all had peaceful nights dd still sleeping 12hours so can face the grumpy teething day times!

Yes my tattoo was for Herbs. It's a bird cage that's fallen over with 3 birds flying out. I did plan on getting birds added to it for more children but there's no way in hell that will happen. I shall just have to get something different. :)

Herbie got weighed on Monday and is 15lb 3oz. It explains the sore arms sometimes. He is so big. I found pictures of him in the hospital and I just couldn't believe that was Herbie only 17 weeks ago. Can't believe how big he has got.

cjbk1 hopefully things will fall into place before you have to go back. I have no job to return to was made redundant just before 25 weeks. So I'm not sure when I'll go look for a job.

libbybelle Herbie has been teething for ages, prob 5-6 weeks. Can't really remember when it started. His gums have got A LOT worse this week, his gums are white, can feel his tooth. It's hateful. I bought like a teething dummy but Herbie doesn't really know what to do with it.

ballroom I hope things get better with you soon and get some food into you. :) glad to hear all the illnesses are out of your house. I hope they stay away from your ds and baby B :)

rachel/penguin and ballroom it's both reasons really...it's complicated

Euan is 17lbs now: so heavy!!! And he's been teething for ages too. I went out last night for the first time since I got pregnant: had an awesome time but I'm so tired now!!! I just have no stamina anymore.

OMG 17lbs. He's getting so big. It's hard to believe.

Where has everyone gone from this thread? Must be too busy with the babies :)

Herbie has got very hard to settle at night. Refusing to go to sleep, I've run out of ideas on how to settle him :(

I dread to think how heavy my DS2 is now. He was weighed 2nd Jan when hv came round and was 18lb 2oz then, and that was 3 weeks ago! We got the 9-12 month clothes out yesterday as I am not exaggerating when I say that I can barely do up the poppers on his vests this past week!! But he is absolutely gorgeous with it, we though our ds1 was stunning but ds2 is even cuter, god knows how we managed it!

Re teething, ds1 didn't cut his first tooth till 8 months and his never looked white and I could never feel them until they had cut through, but when they were about to cut through they always had a dark purplish red line where it was going to cut through. Ds2 is teething already though, fingers constantly in his mouth, usually both hands at the same time, dribbling everywhere and has started to bite down when feeding from me which isn't pleasant! Hoping he takes a while before he gets his first tooth though as don't fancy him biting me when he has a tooth! Re teething, highly recommend Ashton and Parsons teething powders, ds1 would calm instantly whenever I gave him a sachet on his tongue.

Re going to sleep, ds2 gets frantic just as he is ready for bed, feeds like mad and very tearful with it, when he gets to the tearful stage I break his latch and wind him on my shoulder whilst stood up and then put him straight into his crib and it takes a couple of minutes rocking to get him to sleep. He used to got to bed calmly and self settle when he was going to bed later at night, but since he brought his bedtime forward (now circa 7.35) he is too upset to self settle. If he doesn't get woken up by a coughing fit, he will sleep till around 5.30-6am, then feed and self settle, and then often he will wake a bit later, feed and self settle again. From then on he will only sleep if I rock him in his crib, just like at bedtime...although he has fallen asleep in his jumperoo today so I had to pick him up and he didn't wake so I put him into the cot that he will soon be moving into and he managed about 30 minutes :) had a weird one last night though, he woke about 3 am coughing, was definitely awake as he started doing his talky noises, but he self settled without us needing to get up/feed him/rock him, v odd but v nice! Hoping this bodes well for us moving him into the cot bed, which is in the room next to ds1, as am petrified that ds2 will wake ds1. We only moved ds1 into his big boy bed in a new room at the weeKend and not sure how long to leave it before moving ds2, although the sooner the better really as he's too big for his crib now! Hope you are all enjoying the snow, ds1 made a snowman with Dp at the weekend but I have mainly stayed indoors as ds2 has been ill again, pretty sure it's another flare up of bronchiolitis, sooner he shakes it off for good the better :(

18 pounds 3 weeks ago! That's a big baby loop! Baby mac was 16 pounds few weeks ago and my arm aches holding him!

How's everyone and babas doing? Baby mac learnt the trick of turning over and likes doing it every now and then!

Hope everyone is well. I'm down with a cold. Not happy