Brooking no argument for babies who sleep, eat, smile and behave perfectly at all times. Yeah right!

[scarletfingernail]

New thread, here we go...

Hope dh gets on ok dream and your three feel better soon so they start sleeping again.

Pomme I'm not much of a cook either so can't help i'm afraid it sounds good tho

Peculiar one, not sure if it was blocked ducts yesterday, did the shower water on it massage and rugby ball feed and after the feed it already felt better and by bedtime could barely tell so am wondering if it is linked to fact some of DDs feeds have been further apart and body hadn't caught up .

Yay for better boobs cakes . Could be the boobs catching up or could be that you cleared the blockage - it can happen in one feed and you'll feel better almost immediately . Whatever it was, glad it's better! If I felt the signs of a blockage starting I could sometimes stop it with a massage and hot water bottle at bedtime.

Good luck to MrDream today

No idea on the gammon Pomme but It sounds yum - you'll have to let us know how it turns out. I've tried a sausage casserole in my slow cooker today but my slow cooker is a bit shite and has hot spots so you have to stir it really regularly to stop it sticking. Which rather rules out the idea of sticking it on before you go out and coming back to something gorgeous and warming for tea!

On that topic I'd like a new SC - any recommendations? And what size do I need to feed 4?

Oh and Dream hope your three are better soon and the sleeping improves . Don't worry too much about taking backward steps with it - you just have to do what you can while they're poorly and sort it out when they're better really don't you. Easier said than done - I always worried I was letting our good habits slide when Ds1 was poorly.

How bad is it that in having to cuddle ds2 to sleep for naps (unless we're in the car or pushchair)? What should I be doing instead? I'm trying to bring in a comforter but it is taking a long time. Mostly I have to cuddle him until he's calm and then hold his hand once he's laid in the cot until he's properly dropped off. How bad is that? (Be gentle.....)

God, ds1 is like a bloody elephant today just jumping around the house making a frigging racket while I'm trying to get ds2 to nap - gah!

Mine is from john Lewis biscuits - my mum got me it for Xmas a few years ago. It's massive. I fill it half way up and that would be 5 ish adult size portions.

Its a good one, think it would be even better in the hands of someone more competent! The problem I have is that dd1 is not very keen on the normal meat and veg stews I do in it.

I dont think cuddling to sleep is that bad if you have no plans like work that mean you won't be around in the day. He'll stop napping at some point :)

Cuddling/ handholding to sleep in a cot sounds bloody marvellous to me biscuits . I just dunk B in with white noise on and that's it, but S has to be put into outdoor clothing, then into buggy, can sometimes be rocked to sleep in hall but will always need fairly constant buggy rocking/jiggling to stay asleep. So basically its easier to go out and walk both and exercise DD so B gets minimal sleeping in cot practice!!

Dh has survived the exam but says they were asking about health surveillance stats, and specific ones, like what % of people return to work within a year of being signed off with back pain... He said his poor tired brain struggled, especially as its face to face, going round the stations meeting different examiners plus he got less than optimal revision done so he's a bit about how it went...

Ill children are no fun. Fact.

pomme sounds yummy, I'm never sure if its meant to be covered/ pretty well covered in the liquid, so let us know! I'm a rubbish cook too, and I think I'm actually getting worse

Ill children are no fun. Fact.

I hear you Dream. FFS DS is still not well. He's barely eaten since Saturday, still saying he's got tummy ache, is as white as a sheet and is absolutely knackered with horrible dark shadows under his eyes. My panic system has gone into overdrive and I'm just exhausted with worrying about him. I've had enough of it! The GP is now referring him for a Celiac blood test. I'd hate for him to be Celiac, but at least if he was it would explain why he's so tired, pasty and off it all the time and we could then manage it.

Fingers crossed for good results for your DH Dream. I hope your 3 give you a better night tonight.

Let us know about the gammon pomme. It sounds so weird as a recipe but I know people rave about it on here.

How are your boys today Jaggy?

I went to have a look at a school for DS this morning. T'was horrible, I hated it! It's the second nearest one to us so I just have to hope the nearer one is nicer. We're having a look there next week. I felt like crying when I saw 60 reception kids in one classroom tearing round, it was chaos! I can't send my PFB into that madness.

Poor DS scarlet . Really hope they find what it is ASAP and fix it. Also sorry the school was dreadful . Brooking no argument that the one next week scores an A+.

I broke the microwave door this morning, which means it no longer works. What I did not really want to hear at this point was ds1 saying 'well I think we know the lesson there Mummy. When closing microwave doors you should Be. More. Careful' .

I realise now how obnoxious and annoying I must seem to him .

I am feeling quite virtuous after an afternoon where I taught ds1 to zip his coat up, spent a bit of time looking at how to tell the time with him, and played a game of balloon tennis (throughout which ds1 was making the kind of noises that the professional tennis makers play when they hit the ball ).

Argh, just bathed the boys and then I always read ds1 a story and put him to bed before I give DS2 his last feed. So ds2 decided this was completely unacceptable tonight and just cried all the way through trying to read ds1's story and could not be settled (because he wanted feeding). So not exactly ds2's fault as he was only hungry but not poor old ds1's fault either. Once again he got the short end of the stick . Poor wee fella

Popping in while putting Iz to bed..

Pomme, I haven't tried the Mumsnet recipe, but I've been cooking gammon in coke on the hob for years. I got it from my mother, who I think may have gotten it from a Nigella recipe? For any that are interested, I think the recipe was simply to put gammon in a large saucepan (after soaking if you so wish), cover with full fat coke (cheap will do, it's the sugar you're after), and add an onion chopped in half. Cook for as long as you would normally boil it for - think it says on the packet. You can then take it out and do fancy things like add glaze and breadcrumbs- I'm usually too lazy..

Dream, when will your DH find out the results? Sounds very tough, even without sleep deprivation.

Biscuits, hurrah for virtuous-ness - sounds like a highly successful day. I wouldn't worry about the cuddling personally.. as long as you get the naps in, have a happy DS2 and a happy you then that's what matters!

Marshmallows were very successful. Next attempt will be a fancy flavour- though not sure what..

I have a crawling DD! It takes her a while to get anywhere at the moment because it's as if she has to think really hard to remember what she did last time - but I'm sure she'll speed up soon. Think it's time to baby proof and clear the alcoves in the coffee table then...

biscuits, where do you feed ds2? can you all sit on your bed so you can feed and read and ds1 have a kiss and get into his own bed? He sounds like he had lots of quality mummy time this afternoon though, but arf at the microwave door :)

scarlet if it helps, when my boys had that severe diarrhoea my paediatrician friend said viruses in children can last much longer than in adults, so if you'd expect to be better in 2-3 days with diarrhoea as an adult, a child can be 2 weeks. I hope its not coeliacs but at least he's being tested.

Can't settle my poor coughing S. DD hot again. Ffs.

Remembered why i stopped much tummy time again as I've done some more- they just vomit everywhere. When does everyone else do it?! I always tell parents little and often, but with weaning and milk feeds they've always just eaten and then are reliably sick if put on their tummies, so I feel bad for feeding them then making them sick!! If I avoid tummies, and they've not got colds like now (S vomiting after every feed/;meal, profusely) they're hardly sick. Hmm.

Yay for your crawling DD musical!

& now back to S's 4th wake up of the evening...

Well done Iz, Musical! Gosh, how old is she now?

Scarlet, Brooking that it's not coeliac, whatever that is. Is that being intolerant to gluten?

M gets a fair bit of rolling-around-on-the-floor time, Dream - since she started rolling properly she moves around a lot and usually ends up lying on her tummy struggling to move forward and howling.

M has learned to clap today! It's not as impressive as crawling, but it looks very cute.

Oh, and M still voms a lot. Weirdly, she voms most after a milk feed now, even when she's upright.

DS1 actually ate some dinner and asked for some more babybel scarlet. he slept all night last night after the 2 restless ones as well. just hoping DS2 doesn't get it too.

fx that they work out what's up with your poor DS. DS1 is also pale with the dark circles, i hate when he gets like that. :(

your poor wee bairns as well dream.

brooking for fast recovery all round!

Clever clapping M too! Sounds really cute- determined til her patience runs out then wails :) . What does the dog make of her mobility?!

The boys get some floor time but high risk of getting trounced by DD so not enough imo. Plus we are out every morning for my sanity so they're in the buggy :) They both posset a bit after feeds, but not always, but if i put them down sitting up after meals they're often fine, lie them on their tummies = guaranteed vom. Gah. I think they'll just have to vom some more! I also think in view of DD and dhs family, they're just not going to be early. They're not late at anything yet, both can roll side to side and tummy to back happily, sit very well, reach out for toys, manipulate them well. They're just not mobile. I should be very grateful for this, and I'm trying to be! I'll keep my babies as little babies longer :) . DD was the same and still walked at 10.5 months- if you put her on her feet. Her lack of crawling meant she was stuck otherwise though!

X post jaggy awful when they're ill, I'm glad he ate some tea. And that you got some sleep, I've no.idea how you managed at work after your terrible night...

How was your slow cooker masterpiece pomme? Formula sleeping cure still working? When b is better going to re-challenge him with dairy. to move forward with formula-to-sleep plan as I hear the cmp free ones taste grim n hard to introduce over 6m

quite badly! i was a bit late on Monday and v late yesterday! i also drank coffee in the afternoon and my friend was and said "you must be tired" because i never really drink tea and coffee.

right. DS2 in bed, must do the expressing dishes. if anyone is interested, expressing going well and DS2 has figured out drinking from bottles, yay! i think the variable flow teats must be closer to my fast milk flow as he seems to like them.

Argh ds2 has been up for an hour and a half now . Tried calpol about 30 mins ago but he's still crying. I felt irrationally cross with DH for (a) not knowing where the calpol was (it is always in the same place) and then (b) when I asked him to put the cot blocks in (DS sounds snotty) he just put them in and went back to bed without even asking if we were ok (we weren't because DS was crying!). So then when I finally went in with DS still crying and said 'I just don't know what's wrong with him' he said 'oh I imagine its just teething'. Right. Fine. I'll just stand with him crying all night then as long as that's all it is . And then to add insult to injury he finally did get up after I flounced out following the 'only teething' comment and took DS off me who then stopped crying! Obviously this is good really but talk about making me feel rubbish!

Pah! What a useless lump I am

Oh dear I'm a terrible waste of space! Now DH has got him calmed down but is sat with DS dozing on him in the chair so I can't even take over for him as DS is finally calm. So now I'm going back to bed while DH sits up and it's a work night and everything This is all wrong! I'm not doing a very good job of this parenting malarky

you're not rubbish or useless.

it's just One of Those Nights ®. I'm sure DH will be ok. i am rendered useless after about 1 minute of crying. normally at this point DH asks if I've tried feeding DS2 and i threaten violence.

hope you all get a rest. just up feeding DS2 for the first time since before 10. DH is starting to snore and i can't reach him as I'm being good and sitting in my chair instead of bed.

off to attempt transfer...

^ exactly what jaggy says biscuits, I was in tears when b was inconsolable and dh was up about 4 times before an exam the night before last. One Of Those Nights. Babies know if we're worried. Your dh was clearly feeling calmer, so therefore e stopped crying. End of.

Dh has has DD in bed with him as i had DT1 in bed with me all night last night. He is grumpy now, describes it as like sharing a bed with a ferret on acid.

How does he know Dream

at the ferret on acid.

Biscuits may I remind you that it was not that long ago that you said DS2 would not settle for your DH at all, ever?! Therefore you have had a successful night. DS2 doesn't know it's a work night and sometimes these things just happen like that. I was so tired last night I ignored DD's monitor alarm thing when she'd rolled off her mat. I heard DH starting to get up so I just pretended to still be asleep. Just because you don't have work it doesn't mean you need less sleep. Anyway, it won't hurt DH if it's only now and again.

Wow and yay for DD crawling Musical that's very advanced! Yes, it's time to baby proof, she'll have fun with your Christmas tree this year.

DS still not well. He refused his breakfast for the 4th day running, is cold, tired and tearful. A day in for us today

Thank you for being so kind. Dream I think you might have hit the nail on head with me not being relaxed maybe DS picked up on me wailing 'pleeeeease just go to sleep' . I think it would be fair to say I was feeling tired and emotional last night .

I've forgotten what else I read... Hold on....

Scarlet sorry ds1 is still poorly. Poor thing! Have the doctors got any more advice / ideas?

A couple of times our monitor sensor may has gone off and I've been totally bewildered because it sounds a lot like my alarm but both times DH has leapt out of bed and been in there before I've figured out where I am . Odd though that it seems to wake him up so thoroughly when normally he's pretty much unconscious .