April 2006 Babies - Spring has finally Sprung!

[Ponka]

Anyone want to join me here? Mrs. Q, Pachinofan, Spots, Anyone else?

My name is Ponka and I had a little boy (Luke Elliott) on the 7th April. We are doing well. I also have another DS age 22 months.

Please excuse me if I don't get back here very regularly for the moment, it's very busy here, as I'm sure it is with you, too! I thought there should be a thread though.

Sorry, wrote "first", meant "second".

i wanted another one almost immediatly! what can i say!

Hehe... NattyandThomas... I have a 15 month age gap between DS and DD... It is brilliant! Nothing like one tiny person acting all grown up for an even tinier person! love it, and love them both!

Had my little chubber weighed on weds... 14lb 5oz! she has more than doubled since birth, I was so shocked! DS is only 10lb heavier than her. I am quite happy about this as I can get away with buying one big pack of size 4 nappies which is cheaper than 2 different sized small packs!

NattyandThomas, I've been feeling broody ever since DS2 arrived, just after he was born I thought "I could do this again!"
DH not at all convinced, and we would wait a bit longer anyway, he's concerned about cars and money (blah blah!) but I think if you think about these things too much you'd regret it later on.
Having said that I did read a quote by Tanya Byron last week, she said that after she had her second child, intellectually she knew she wouldn't have any more, but emotionally it took her a lot longer to come to terms with the decision. I just wonder which camp I fall into.
tonton, nice to "see" you again, hope you're ok.

I gave in within a few days of ds being born and used a dummy too, this is despite me swearing blind I would not use one as I really didn't like them! He likes it and it really helps him settle to sleep quickly. Every time I try to get him to fall asleep without it I give up and give him it back with instant results. (Unless he's in the car or buggy then he doesn't need or want it)

That does sound very brave wanting more babies already. I know I want more but not just yet thanks. In fact I haven't even got enough energy to even think about trying to make any yet! I don't usually feel too tired during the day or in the evenings but then as soon as I get into bed I want to sleep. Must make an effort though as I do feel sorry for dh not having had any for so long! He doesn't complain though which helps when I'm not feeling too energetic.

Anyone starting weaning yet? DS will be 4 months next week and I'm thinking about trying some food with him then. Nothing too much, just baby rice to start with. He's starting to moan before feeds are due and I don't think I'm producing enough milk for him (he gets a top up bottle in evening and one at bedtime) so I thought I'd try him on a little bit of rice to see if it makes any differnece. If it doens't I'd be happy to just give him milk for a bit longer but if it does seem to help I'd be happy with starting to introduce some fruit and veg too. I looked on mn for advice about when to start weaning but then wished I hadn't as it's such a mindfield of conflicting advice. Will just see what ds wants to do I think.

i started weaning thomas a couple of weeks ago, its great fun.
dont worry about all of the advice out there.. go with your gut instinct, i knew when my thomas needed more than milk, and it was at 17 weeks on the dot before i allowed it because thats the earliest you can start.
thomas has had cronic diareeh since he was born, and solids have fixed the problem already only a couple of weeks in.

go for it girl!

Debithe scot I thinkyou know when they're ready tbh, DS1 was exactly 17 weeks as well when I started him, as he was on 45 oz of "hungry baby" milk a day and had no more capacity but was still hungry! DS2 is 19 weeks-ish and barely reaches 30oz a day and is just not bothered so I'm happy to leave him a bit longer (and it's a faff once you've started - very exciting for the first 3 days then reality hits!!). So I'd just do what feels right. Good luck!

pepperrabbit; what you said about ds1 being 'full but still hungry' made me think. When we give ds a 6oz bottle (of hungry baby milk) after what should be about half a breastfeed he guzzles it down, acts like he wants more but then spends the next hour spitting it back out (not all of it but sometimes quite a bit). Do you think that could be because his stomach is full but he is still hungry and so could be an indication that he needs more bulky food?

I'm glad you and nattyandthomas both gave positive responses. When I went on the early weaning thread I felt like I was being crucified for even suggesting it!

Yes sounds familiar, DS1 would get frustrated cos he was hungry but had no more room inside as I recall - and they just overflow!
As long as he's reached 17 weeks, I would try him with just a few mouthfuls of baby rice at lunchtime - halfway through a feed is recommended, so they're not starving but still interested in eating, and see what happens.
I fhe doesn't like it give another week or so and try again.
I think as his mum you know your baby best.
And i keep a very low profile on the weaning threads as I combined the two "evils" of formula and early weaning!

well i am quite unconventional when it comes to following what is "right"
my thomas could roll over from 6 weeks, and damned if i was going to spend the whole night forcing him to sleep on his back! so im glad the positive responce pleases you.. but take that into consideration hun xxxx

hey this thread has picked up a bit...

Latest developments here are that DD3 'forgot' how to roll whilst on holiday as she wasn't given the opportunity. has done it once or twice in the last couple of days though so she hasn't forgotten permanently. Her latest obsession is her feet (or should I say left foot). i don't know why but she just won't leave it alone. She also loves pulling her dress up to 'snuggle' with her thumb. I hate to say it but she is craving for some kind of 'blankie', but I am worried she is too young wrt suffocation. She seems to have taken to having her right thumb in her mouth, held in by her left hand to sleep. She has to have something made of fabric in her left hand at the time though.

She will be 4 months in a couple of days but is showing no signs at all of being ready for solids so I don't have to consider battling the early weaning police just yet. Its a shame cos I would quite like to have dedicated some proper time to me weaning her before I go back to work instead of nursery having all of the 'fun'.

As for the wanting more babies issue - I have got so broody since I stopped BF. I so want to be preg again & give birth (even though I didn't have the smoothest pregnancies). BUT I know that I do not want another child (which kind of defeats the object of being preg!!!). Not only that but up until the last few days I have been asleep way before my head hits the pillow - now all I do is re-live my labour and delivery (all of them).

Anyway I go back to work 3 days a week at the end of Sept. Looking forward to having some proper time with DD3 when DTDs go back to school, before I go back to work.

dd3 chews her hands a lot
plasy under her play gym for hours
chats for ages with me
sings to herself
pushes herself backwards off her mat the whole time
crawls/wiggles forwards on her tummy

she is lovely

picked up a little but not much!
morning all!

i had to return to work last month because work messed up my maternity leave so much that i had to return early. b*sterds!

thomas is weaning already, started at 17 weeks, however i have dropped right back on it because he was wanting only 3 instead of 5 bottles and was screaming for 3 meals a day. he needs the nutriants in the milk so have dropped all solids apart from evening meal (AFTER his 5th bottle) its been a battle but mummy has won, and he went back to sleeping through again last night. (he was waking up for a bottle which he hasnt done for months)

dd2 has just started waking up at 3-4 am after going to 6am for a while. V depressing. Don't she's ready for solids - she often doesn't finish her bottles. She has about 5x 6oz bottles a day in theory.

this has got to be the slowest baby club of them all.. i think i might stick thomas back in and have him in a more talkative month !!!

Natty - I slightly ewnvy you going back to work alrady. I heard today that I have no job to go to .
Going to have to start job hunting. However there may be sopme freelance work....
At least I get to spend more time with dd1&2

Oh dear, Tonton. I didn't think people could do that to you if you're on maternity leave?

Debithescot, We aren't weaning here but DS just doesn't seem ready at the moment. I'd like to wait until 6 months but if he is ready before, we will go for it. I weaned DS1 at 5 months when I took him to see my pediatrician for other reasons (he had a traumatic birth) and he asked if we had started yet. We said no and he said that a lot of pediatricians in the field still tend to think it's harmless to wean at 4 months if they seem ready. I was quite surprised.

I'm off back to work part -time at the beginning of October so there's still some time to enjoy being off (although I am looking forward to going back, too).

Hello all
I've just started weaning Ds3 who will be 20 weeks on Sun. He is loving his baby rice it looks particularly good smeared in his ears, hair and up his nose!
He is a big boy 18lbs, any one else got a whopper? People keep commenting on his size but come to think of it his older brothers were big too.
Oh dear Tonton, how crappy, but as you say more time with your girls.
Homsa I'm in Leeds. Sorry its taken so long to reply. Holidays have been hectic DS1 +2 have social life that puts mine to shame. I've been taxi driver for weeks. Have now sent them to stay with grandparents for a few days.
Ds3 woken up from nap. Bye for now.

So are your babies sleeping through the night more or less? we have started waking at 3-4am this week after going until 6 for a while. I still feed her at 11pm ish to try and help her go through the night but it isn't working at the mo.

DD3 sleeps 10-12hrs at night (woohoo). SHe usually goes to bed 7-9ish and wakes at 7ish. She went to bed at 10:30 last night though and still got up at 7am, so I'm off to buy some blackout blinds as I think it is the light that is waking her more than her tummy. She is not overly fussed if we feed her half the time anyway - she is really patient. Sometimes we hear her at 4-5am but she goes back off on her own when it is dark (thats the theory anyway).

No no delete that last post - I've just realised what I have said - thats sure to jinx the nice pattern...

DD goes to bed at 8pm with her brother and they both sleep til 8.30am. I was up early this morning and it was amazing, they sat chatting to each other for about 15mins before I even heard the first "Muummmyyyy" lol bless em!

Not even thinking about weaning yet. DD has 4x 7oz bottles a day and is growing perfectly.

Re: 'blankie' thing. I made Elli a taggie (small square of fleece with ribbon 'tags' on it) They are about £15 for a small one so much cheaper to make. she holds it and sucks the ribbon to fall asleep. What about a Muslin square? surely not haevy enough to suffocate?

Yeah I was thinking of cutting down a moses sheet to the size of large flannels or a bit bigger & hemming them (or rather getting my mum to). The big advantage of home made being the availability of spares for washday. DD3 is trying to remove DPs T shirt as we speak...

not got a big baby mines the opposite. thomas has got a doctors appointment tommorrow because he isnt gaining as much weight as he should be.
i keep telling them its because he has constant diareah nothing is staying in his system long enough to convert to body mass lol. not being listened to though. thomas has had this problem since about 2 months. any ideas?

Is Thomas on boob or bottle. Have you tried hungry baby milk? It can give babie constipation so might level things out? Other than that I have no idea!

Elli is normal for her birthweight. I think she is a little porker (14.5lb) but apparently she is neither under nor overwieght.