December 2012 - the Christmas buns are coming out of the oven

[PurplePidjChickIsNotTheMessiah]

New fred...

great news alison! :)

and you too pidj! :)

delicate botty here too so cotton wool n water but you can get wipes made with just water - bit pricey though, but I got a pack just for going out.

this little boy is wide awake and grunting so much dh has escaped to the sofa...

We've been using wipes from day one- is that bad? He seems okay so far..

Had Oz in bed with us, following safe sleeping guidelines from 2-4 and He Slept and so did I! Amazing. Could be helped by him.feeding almost non-stop for two hours earlier in the evening; which made me wonder how you know if one boob is totally empty?

Time for another top and tail bath I think, not doing them very often yet as told newborns don't need it? have registry appointment so must venture into town this afternoon which may also involve public bfing - argh!

Also had another 5-minute weepy episode. Keep worrying that dh is judging me every time Oz cries for being a bad mother, despite him continually telling me he's really proud of how well I'm doing. I'm quite self critical anyway, and these episodes are only short and sporadic but I'm.sure he's now worried it's pnd which I'm 100% convinced it's not..

Sorry for a bit of a mememe post!

We started using wipes a few days ago, soon after little Z was a month old. I was a bit nervous as he's still like a newborn as he hasn't gained weight but his skin seems to be fine.

Honey the swing is open which is why I didn't get one. I wouldn't want to sell it on and I couldn't afford a new one. The spectra is open but you can 'clips' for it (its actually a tube that goes on the end which closes it).

Good luck Emily hope things have progressed!

Alison so, so happy for you. Two weeks in SCBU seemed like a lifetime so I can only imagine what a whole month felt like.

Pidj you must feel like a new woman today sleep and cuddles

We've been using wipes since ds was two weeks old and he's been fine.

Re expressing I've been doing two feeds in a row off of one side then an hour or two later I express from the other side. I switch which side I do it from each day.

Good news on all the sleep. Ds fed 10-11, 2-2:30(dp did bottle) and 6-now

We used wipes from day 1. I think it just depends on their skin. No sensitivity issues here, well Ethan sent in his Moses basket shortly after 4 (fed from 3-4) Nd he's just woken up to eat again. Can't complain!

R did a further 2 hours to 5:30, and went happily back in at 6:15. Dp and i are back to the soppy just-met stage he's gone back to sleep and I'm eating cornflakes and drinking coffee with both hands free hurrah!!!

Keep faith, ladies, you too will get there. With everything I've got going on, you know this is all fluke not parenting so quit stressing yourselves! I'm sure these "techniques" people write books about are just what they happened to be doing when baby decided to do it anyway. Perhaps i should write my own No Nonsense baby book? Full of "this too shall pass" and "sometimes mummy needs to do important stuff like eat. Babies don't like it, but tough - if mummy doesn't eat, she won't make milk" and "eat lots of chocolate when bfing, you need the calories" :o

And recipes that can be made by a novice dh then eaten one handed

How do I tell dd she can't be fed like ds without her feeling left out? She's asked twice now and I've just said 'no, you don't want this you get yummy food like..etc'

Little C spent 2 hours asleep in herr basket, yelling so loudly earplugs did nothing. So confused. So tired.

spotty my breastfeeding book says to let them try but I'm not sure I would personally. Have you tried the line 'but this is for babies, you're not a baby are you? You're a big girl who goes to nursery, eats chocolate, etc etc etc' ?

Yeah that's the sort of thing I say! Yeah I wouldn't want her to try it would be way too weird as she's never been breastfed! Plus she had a mouth full of teeth

Mama, if it were me id just cuddle her

She'll prob stop asking soon, I wouldn't worry. It's the teeth and age thing that would make me especially as a new experience rather than a continuation of feeding from baby iykwim.

Pidj please write that book, I would buy it just to remind myself to stop being a twat, he is just a baby who looks pleased when he vomits!

Yay Alison, hope your first night went well

Good luck Emily, hope we see you here very soon

DH tried to take charge of Felix last night and practically had a break down! I think I'll keep to managing the nights, I may be half asleep, but I clearly have the controlling factor... Boobs!

Pidj, I did eventually bring her into my bed. What's weird is that she is sleeping, but also grunting, straining, arching her back and very short bursts of crying. I don't think she has reflux or anything, but she has had this before. We have tried Colief drops the last 2 nights, only to have this same pattern of yelling from 6-8am. Have now realised we've been using them wrong -oops. Will try once or twice more using them properly, then might stop them to see if that helps. We still use infacol, which seems to help? Hard to know! Either way, she's not missing out on sleep (unlike me!)

Spotty I asked the breastfeeding expert from our local NCT, because I only stopped feeding DD at about 12 weeks pregnant, and she said to let DD try and that she probably wouldn't manage to get any milk anyway. So it might be really effective since your DD never breastfed anyway- or very painful given the teeth!

But so far Dd's happy that she has grown up cow milk and the mummy milk is for Anthony.

Glad the homecomings went so well.

Wish me luck- first day at home with both DC alone, and we're starting day 1 of potty training DD. I'm mad.

spotty dd1 wanted a go on the boob when I was feeding dd2 - she was 3 at the time. I let her try, she got nothing as it's a completely different sucking action and she never asked again. It was weird but totally innocent curiosity. I thought dd2 would ask this time but not so far.

barbeasty you are indeed insane but good luck for today!

I've got to venture out with all 3 dcs alone, need some shopping. If I can ever get Ethan off the boob that is! (all 3 are dressed, it's just me that's not ready but it's hard with a baby attatched )

Hey ladies, I've been lurking but no time to post anything.

We've been using baby wipes since day one and DD's skin seems fine. We tried using cotton wool a few times but found that it just stuck to the skin so gave it up.

How often do you give your LO's a bath? Do you use any shampoo/baby wash? What about baby lotion? We've bathed DD only 3 times so far (she's 3wks) and wondering if there's any point starting to do it daily just yet as she probably won't stick to a routine anyway...

I've had another morning of feeling totally helpless as DD has been very cranky the last few days. When she wakes up she cries a lot so I check the nappy and offer the boob. She then feeds for a little while (sometimes only for a few minutes and then loses interest) but as soon as I take her off the boob she starts crying again. She then only stops if someone carries her around on their shoulder - luckily DP is still at home so he's been doing it this morning but I do wonder how I'm going to cope when he goes back to work next week? I won't be able to carry DD around all day... I also find it very hard to relax even when she's settled as I keep thinking that she's going to start crying again any minute now. Is this ever going to get easier?

I've tried to introduce a dummy but DD doesn't seem to like it and spits it out. We've got the Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature Pure Soother 0-3m - could anyone recommend some other ones that their LO's have liked?

Hi peony have you tried a sling? I wouldn't bath more than you're doing yet it can dry their skin. We use shampoo and an oil type wash as ds has really dry skin still

Baby weigh in today! She's a month tomorrow and we hasn't seen anyone since day 10. Baby is a bruiser, gone from 25th to 75th percentile (7lb2oz to 10lb1oz) since birth. This is apparently all ok. She is maybe going to be like her dad, who was off the charts when he was a baby. Anyway, nice to get some reassurance that I'm doing ok and she's doing ok!

Off to register her at GP this afternoon - thought I'd have a precious day to myself but mother in law decided to 'come over and potter.' I was going to read a book! So much for that.

Peony, it's so hard when they cry and cry, isn't it? I totally understand the inability to relax even when they're asleep or quiet. You're not alone! I also recommend trying a sling - I just tried a wrap sling (similar to Moby, which I made) and my baby lives it. Quite comfy to wear too.

Er, my baby loves the sling, I should say.

So - is it ok to eat chocolate for lunch? Please say yes, everyone.

Thanks spotty

We've got a manduca carrier and DP managed to get DD to fall asleep on it. He then put her in the moses basket and after 5 mins she woke up screaming again. I then put her in the carrier and tried to settle her but she just kept crying so she's on the boob again. We'll see what she'll be like after her feed...

Am I doing the right thing just offering the breast every time she won't stop crying? I don't want to get her too attached to the breast...I'm also completely confused about bf'ing as she keeps feeding so often and always different lengths of time. I don't switch the breast during feeding either, just offer the other breast the next time (if i can remember which one I gave her the last time), so I don't know if she's "emptied" one breast after feeding and if she feels completely full. It makes it hard to know if she's crying for hunger or for boredom or some other reason. I really wish DD had come with a manual!

MaMaPo that's an amazing weight gain! Ds was automatically registered with my GP?

peony we bath every 2-3 days just with water, then massage with moisturising lotion. As for when your DH goes back to work, I know it's hard but you will cope, honest. My ds1 was the amazing non sleeping baby. He had colic and reflux and slept about 4hrs a day and screamed the rest. He's now 6 god knows how he survived and he's a really lovely boy. It will get better I promise!

peony we bathe every few days - Z only poos every other day, generally, so a bit of topping and tailing does for us most days.