April 2012 - little people who actually DO stuff now!!

[BeyondTheLimitsOfAcceptability]

Ta da

Sounds sensible, Nordic. We have no allergies on either side - other than tomatoes, bizarrely, and no hay fever/eczema either so introducing foods to rule allergies out makes it easier for us.

It's DS's grandad who was allergic to tomatoes but I ate them through pregnancy. Still, it's something to be aware if when we try him out with them.

I do need to be careful then because asthma and eczema are prevalent in our family, poor ds1 has both! He still hasn't had peanuts but I doubt he's allergic as I'm sure he's come across them.

DD is loving her food :) she's had all kinda of Ella's kitchen pouches while I'm testing her for allergies etc. She's had carrot, sweet pot, sweetcorn, prunes, apples, pears and loads more in purée form. This week I'll make own and will freeze them. Our kitchen is being done up this week so she's being fed in her Bumbo in the living room! Once the kitchen is done she'll be in her high chair in the kitchen and then she'll eat what we eat or lump it :)

Whereas we have no allergies or eczema so I don't worry much. If we did have a history I'm sure I'd be more careful. Lets be honest, however we wean these lovely babies, it's another thing that won't matter in a year or two...by then we'll all have something else to be worrying about - crawling, walking, talking, potty training

Anyone else started thinking about Christmas?

Started DD on meat yesterday - made spicy lamb patties from the BLW cookbook. - she grolfed them down along with fine beans and pitta fingers. The rest of us had them in pitta bread with lemon and greek yog. Will post recipe if anyone wants?

As I said on fb, sleep utterly abysmal. Only good thing is that at least she's cheerful despite minimal day/night sleep.

At the mo she is calmly feeding whilst trying to pull all my hair out.

Who watched Felix thingy jump out the spaceship? I felt like throwing up.

bear I forgot it was on missed it. What channel was it so I can try and find it on catch up tv?

fliss you're totally right about the weaning etc. I also haven't just thought about Christmas I've made lists and started shopping. You will notice shops reduce prices around now then whack them up November/December.

First KIT day tomorrow. I feel sick. :-(
DD with daddy & I'll hopefully be able to feed her at lunchtime as he'll bring her to me. She's so erratic ATM with her feeds that it's difficult to predict what to expect at all. I'm hoping to be able to express when necessary at work though if it's anything like it was before I left, that might be optimistic..(though I know legally I'm supposed to be allowed breaks when I need them). I'll report back Tom pm, plse keep your fingers crossed I don't end up a teary quivering mess!!!!

Henrietta; hope that finger is healing nicely & the pain is easing.

Bear; would love that recipe plse! Am fed up cooing the same old stuff week in week out...sounds yum! Emily's v keen to eat exactly what I'm eating; she's grabbing at whatever it is & cries if not offered/allowed any! She is getting purée, but lots of finger food too. At M&S cafe yesterday she had bits of her older sisters' pizza...really sympathise with your awful sleep. Emily's turned around 6wks ago from all night sleeps to 4 hourly night feeds. Couldn't cope with any more frequent than that, I'm not sure how you're doing it. I'm hoping in a month when Em's solid intake increases/some teeth are through that it'll all improve. Maybe now Marianne has cut a tooth, more will follow & sleep will come.

Fliss: YY to C'mas. Have started shopping for older DDs. Love love love C'mas & so happy to be off work this year! It'll be done on a shoestring mind....even moreso than usual. But am actually strangely enjoying the challenge! There's a thread on here which is great for bargain hunters! Start my Childcare Course on Wednesday!!

Notso; what's the 5:2 diet? Have finally gotten back into (my biggest!!) PP jeans, but have the familiar old post preg rolls of muffin top back fat that I hate....

Fliss yy to Christmas, and DD is our first. I'm from a huge family and Christmas is a big deal so everyone is already going completely gaga at the thought of an 8 month old baby being around too! I have to admit that I've bought her a stocking and bauble from Mamas and Papas because they both said 'Babies First Christmas 2012'. They were ridiculously overpriced but I practically skipped to the till. And, erm, I'm taking her to Harrods to meet Santa . She of course won't have a bloody clue what's going on but I'll prob be a big weeping mess :)

My Mum always puts our tree up on the first weekend on December and watch The Box of Delights while we do, so that tradition will carry on in our household this year.

Yikes. I'm massively over excited, aren't I? Bloody love Christmas!!

Jelly great news about course, good luck!

Bear yy. When he started spinning DH had to leave room. When Felix landed and got up v calmly and started to walk about I couldn't believe it. V brave stupid man

Hi ladies, question is actually relating to ds1 sorry. He feels really warm to me and he's woken twice in the night, took his temperature and it was 36.5 then 36.8 - all fine. I took mine for a laugh at 4.30am and it's 35.4. Just worried my thermometer is naffed and he's got a feaver (or what's up with my temperature?)

I've been up half the night with DS1 too, his temp was up yesterday and the day before, but is back down now, yet now he seems ill-er?!
Were they all oral temps (cause underarm can be up to a degree different anyway)? And have you tried again this morning?

Oh yeah, proper thermometer or feverscan? If its a feverscan, yep it sounds like its dying, in which case he could have a temp. They only last something like a year, and they're not entirely accurate during that time!

It's an in ear or forehead digital thermometer. He seems fine this morning and has been bouncing on my bed. I on the other hand am exhausted.

Is your ds1 any better this morning?

Yep he's fine now. Watching peppa and very impressed that todays little boxers are bright pink
For the small amounts of time he was asleep last night, he was thrashing his arms around and shouting at Noah in his sleep! I think I've had less sleep than DH, and hes just come in from work

jelly - I hope the KIT day goes ok today.

hug - glad to hear DS1 is feeling better.

N's ezcema appears to have turned into hives since we started moisturising/redbush tea baths and applying breast milk. He is still scratching like mad though. Im convinced it is a reaction to washing powder so Ive changed from persil to eco balls which were recommended. We have a follow up appoinment at the Dr's on thursday to discuss possible algergy testing. On top of this he has a tummy virus! I'm still EBF and im kind of glad because id be convinced he was horribly illergic to everything I was feeding to him!

Oh god laughing I hope he's better soon and you get to the bottom of his skin issues

Ok - here's the recipe, it's really good because you can form them into little finger shapes before you fry them and they are nice and soft but hold their shape. You don't need to add all the spices - I don't have a pestle and mortar so I wrapped up the cardomom pods and cloves in paper and bashed them with a hammer!

They really don't take long to make.

Spicy Lamb Patties

These delicious patties melt in the mouth - perfect for babies who are just starting out. If you don't have time to prepare the cardamom pods and cloves you can add 2 tsp ready ground cardamom and 1 tsp ready ground cloves instead.

Serves 2 adults and 1 baby [I found that there was more than that]

12-15 cardamom pods
8 cloves
500g lean minced lamb
4-5 cm fresh ginger peeled and grated
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp mild chili powder (optional) [I just put a pinch in as ds doesn't like hot food]
30 - 50 g fresh breadcrumbs (1 slice of bread)
1 egg beaten
2 tblsp thick greek style natural yoghurt
oil for frying

Use a knife to split open the cardamom pods and put the seeds in a pestle and mortar with the cloves - grind to a powder.

Put powder in a large bowl and add all ingredients except egg, yog and oil. mix well then add egg and yog and mix thoroughly.

Shape mixture into small patties (wet or floured hands help it to stop sticking). Make sure they are all the same thickness. If you have time cover and refrigerate for 1 hour to firm them up [I didn't].

Heat a frying pan and add a little oil if needed - fry the patties for 5 - 10 mins on each side until cooked through and browned.

Yummy!!

Ooh! Thanks bear!

So, down at my DM & DF's for next 3 nights before DH joins us. Considering co-sleeping with DS in case he wakes in night & I can't lift him out of cot. Any tips? (it's all new to me!)

...think the idea makes my parents nervous... They never did anything remotely like it but can see the practicalities.

Greetings From Spain,

LaughingGnomette have U looked into your diet? I know someone who was bfeeding cut diary out of diet which helped their babies ezcema! Or any improvement with the washing powder? Poor thing! :(

jelly
How did U get on with your work? I have a day booked in Jan, For training all day.

Dd bf has cut really down, today we did 12hr+ from 430am to 5pm tonight between feeds. Not too worried because doing 3 solid meals a day now. Just struggling with other fluid, offer water in tippy cup at meal times and only take small sips! MIL thinks she might not be having enough? It wasn't a problem when doing more day bfeeds.
What do U think?

Food eating is back to normal doing well, had fun at the supermarket picking out baby food and porridge all in spainish! Hehe, even tried some formula in her breakfast! But penty of fresh fruit and veg, had a banana and melon today. :)

I'd not worry about the liquid intake too much, remember L will be getting fluid through her food as well as little sips of water and BM.

You can use cows milk in food instead of formula if you want (considerably cheaper!)

henrietta Here's a link on good bed sharing practices.

safebedsharing.org/safetyguidelines.html

newmummy re bf, Kellysmom indicates that at 12 months solids should still be only 25% of a babies diet. Probably depends on how often your baby feeds over the rest of the day/night. Just bear in mind that fruit & veg may fill a baby's tummy but not have enough protein/fat etc. Maybe try bf first before meals. Does your baby feed overnight? NHS says babies should still have at least 500-600ml of bf/f a day at least up to 12 months. Impossible to measure obviously when bf I know.

Anyway, those ate my thoughts on it

Ds2 has his 2nd tooth through subsequently is only sleeping for about 20-30 mins at a time. I have a blocked milk duct from all this on off feeding. Ouch, hoping to clear it before the dreaded mastitis kicks in again.

I am loving how excited ds2 gets when he sees I am going to pick him up. All arms & legs waggling & beamy smiles. I especially love babies from 6 months when they start doing stuff that is interesting

newmummyvicky I've just re-read your post -12 hours without a feed does seem like a long time. I don't think my brain processed the sentence fully before! Are you still offering feeds in the day?

bear those sound delicious!

Don't think ds2 is taking much in at the moment. Still won't be spoon fed, none of this waiting with an open mouth business. Will grab the spoon off me and wipe most of the food off and then gum on it. The most success I've had has been with yoghurt and very occasionally some weetabix. Loves sucking on bits of fruit and veg but hasn't got the hang of chewing so unless the food can be sucked (cucumber and courgettes are popular) most of it gets spat out. Fruit seems to irritate his skin but he does like it if it's perfectly ripe. Too ripe and it's too soft for him he ends up spitting out the big chunks that end up in his mouth.

I was so willing to spoon feed this time - but ds2 is just like ds1 and not really that interested in solids. So looks like we're stuck with the 2-3 hourly nightfeeds for a while . DS1 seemed to click at about 8-10 months, finally chewing and actually eating the food on purpose as opposed to accidentally swallowing. Ah well, I guess this is where I start losing the last few pounds of pregnancy weight through breastfeeding. Ds2 is in 9-12m clothes, some 12-18month trousers so I must be providing the calories.