Still brooking no argument whatsoever that these babies are happy, healthy and awesome for 2013 too.

[jaggythistle]

eh. attempt at new thread. yo.

Sorry to hear about all the sleepless babies Little, Smegs and Stacks! Sleep deprivation truly is torture! Remember the mantra ladies "This too shall pass.. This too shall pass..." (although that phrase always makes me want to scream "But when?!?!" ) Now is a good time for someone with an older DC to chip in with "Well my DC1 was a terrible sleeper for the first few months, but then one day it magically sorted itself out and now I can barely remember the bad old days..."

Eeek pox Scarlet! So stressful! I'm glad it was mild and you've got it out of the way now though. Three weeks trapped at home is no mean feat - I should think housework was the last thing on your mind! Well done for getting through it!

Dream's back at work? How is it going my lovely? I hope you're enjoying it and finding it less challenging than expected to juggle your gorgeous brood and work. Wishing Ninja oodles of luck for your return to work (tomorrow?). Sounds like a fantastic place to work so fingers crossed there will be no stress, just a bit of a break from the DC!

So lovely to hear from Olives and Musical as well! I hope you're both well? How are your gorgeous LOs? Olives I'm afraid I'm a useless FB brooker, I can never remember anyone's RL names. So I'm not certain what's been happening with you, but it sounds like you've been having a stressful time. I'm sending lots of general No Brooking your way, in the hope that life gets smoother for you and T asap!

All is well at this end. My application to port my mortgage has apparently been approved (yippee! - although nothing is certain until they actually send you the money!) Little A is still well, apart from the most disgusting cough - I won't tell you any details in case anyone happens to be eating while reading this, but suffice to say ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!! We're moving back to my parents' house (again) on Thursday, to make it easier for me to pack up the house before going back to work at the end of this month. I'm planning to have the flat re-decorated before we move in so we won't be in the flat until a while after completion (if everything goes well!)

Hope to see Dream, Too, Pomme, Jaggy, Pet, Loopy, Bartlet and everyone else I've missed (sorry, it's late!) in here soon. It's lovely to hear how everyone's doing! :)

Scream! Welcome back!

Oh too why isn't she getting herself up and dressed in the morning and making herself breakfast? Can't believe your FIL said that!

I have a fussy DS today. Wondering if its teething stepping up. He's randomly crying and wanting to nurse, but pulling off or biting. He's taken a dummy for the first time today though. Maybe just for the chew?

Sigh, the point of that post was to say I'm going to try short frequent posts. I keep starting posts then realising hours or days have passed and I've not pressed 'post'.

Hope everyone is well and getting sleep.

I wish she would get herself up and dressed and make herself breakfast! When do you think she'll be old enough to do that? and make me a cup of tea at the same time She does try to dress herself - she puts clothes on her head!

Ouch at the biting/pulling off. Maybe it is teeth. You could try Calpol and see if that soothes him - chewing on the dummy sounds like his gums could be a bit sore.

I might try the short frequent posts too! DH is getting a new laptop today, though, so I might be able to use mine more in the evenings. I just cannot be bothered trying to type anything long on my phone, and besides, I can't remember anything anyone said unless I can see it!

Short messages are all I can really manage too - due to lack of brain power more than anything. Although I've been getting about 4 hours sleep between the dream feed and 3am, so it's not all bad. It's just cumulative, IYKWIM? I reckon I need a good 6-7 hour stretch just once and then I'll be able to manage ok on waking 4-5 hours a night till 7am. But at least it's 7 am, not 5 like E1's early morning last week. I couldn't even put CBeebies on, I had to dig out a DVD and all I could find was Spirited Away! She was not amused

Well that was a ramble. Stacks, have you bought T a Sophie giraffe yet? E2 loves hers, and is particularly happy when she makes it squeak by accident. It does look like a dogs chew toy, but I don't mind as it keeps her happy.

4-5 times a night.

Too, E1 is 3 and every morning, unless we're up already, we're treated to a shouted chorus of 'I want to get up'. I live for the day she gets up and entertains herself, let alone getting dressed and making me a cup of tea!

PS 1-2-3 Magic. Thank to whoever mentioned that. It may niot have been in this thread, but it has saved my life. E1 has been tantruming recently, and it seems to be working better as an approach than my previous response, which was to laugh as it was very cute

Sneaking in while Iz naps. She's fallen asleep on me, which she rarely does anymore! Think it's because of a busy few days -wedding on Sat (where she chose not to nap all day!), a late night, then a day with few naps yesterday, and a disturbed night - up for 1.5hrs in the middle, no idea why! Anyway, she's conked out on me....

I hope Little, Smegs, Stacks and anyone else with sleepless babies get more sleep soon! This too shall pass :) Iz's sleep has always been up and down, so I can fully sympathise! Whenever it seems to be getting better something happens - four month regression, illness etc..!

Scream hurrah for the mortgage! It sounds like you've got everything wonderfully planned flat wise too - how exciting :) Iz is wonderful thank you - her latest thing is to shower me with kisses which is very cute, and to constantly ask people for cuddles!

Too, is M not out earning money yet!? Tsk, shame on you . I think parents seem to forget how long these things take... re using the phone to post, I have the same problem! I need to constantly refer back to the previous posts to know what's going on - I forget instantly otherwise!

Busy week here. DH is off to the other side of the world for two weeks on Friday. I'm desperately trying to book things up to keep me and Iz busy while he's away, so neither of us can miss him too much..!

Hi Brookers! I was away visiting my parents last week, so I'm very behind.

Scream welcome back! It's great to hear from you again, and I'm glad things are looking positive now. What a shame about poor A's illnesses, though. Is she sleeping ok at the mo?

Too I have to say, I'm surprised that M hasn't passed her driving test yet! Now that would be really handy! Honestly, what an idiotic thing for your FIL to say! Oh, yy to clothes on the head - DS likes throwing clothes out of the dirty laundry hamper, and the other day I looked up to see him wearing a pair of DH's pants on his head!

Scarlet it's great that the anti-Ds are starting to have an effect. Hope you feel that you made the right decision to give them a go. But I'm sorry DD has suffered with the chicken pox after DS only got it mildly. Hopefully the marks will fade very soon.

Musical DS is also asleep on me right now. I took him out for a drive (that, buggy or boob is the only way he will nap) but he woke when we'd only been home for 15 mins so I fed him and he's gone back to sleep. I daren't put him down, though, cos I'm sure he'd wake again. I love it that Iz gives you loads of kisses - how cute!

Little could you pop out in the car with both children for a short drive once a day, maybe with fun singalong music for you and DD to enjoy, and return home as soon as J falls asleep, then carry him in in his car seat? Would that work? At least now the weather is improving so you might be able to go out and play with DD while J has a buggy nap? Either way, it sounds like a nightmare at the mo so I hope J miraculously starts napping at home for you!

Damn, bloody dog just barked and woke DS.

Btw Dream and Ninja how has work been?

Smegs what is 1-2-3 magic? Sounds brilliant! DS is just 1 and starting to have mini tantrums so right now all I have to do is copy him and he starts laughing. I'm dreading the real ones, but hopefully we've got a while to go before they kick in! Hope you get more sleep soon, too.

DS's sleep fell apart at my parents' house when DH wasn't there - I hadn't realised how much the night weaning had depended on DH doing bedtime and taking his turn resettling DS in the night! By our last night away, DS was back to waking every hour or two and I ended up doing night feeds because nothing else was working. Then last night, DH did bedtime and a quick resettle at 9pm and DS slept till 6am! I will never take DS away again without DH for longer than 2 days. :)

Hope your DH likes his new laptop Too and you get a bit more MN time :)
Smegs I hear you on the cumulative front. We've had about 4 weeks of bad sleeping. I occasionally get 4 hours, and to be fair DS is in bed 12 hours overnight. I just can't get that deep restful sleep being woken so often. I'm only up 15 minutes at a time (thankfully) but it all adds up.
Musical I don't know what I'd do if DH went away. I spend all day looking forward to those 2-3hrs of joint childcare. I hope you can think of things to do. DS is good at baby groups, he watches all the other babies so I at least get to sit still for a while.
Pet does your DH feel proud of himself? It must be nice to have proof he's so instrumental to bedtimes. I hope you had a good time away, even with the bad sleeping.
Scream exciting about the new flat. Do you have any idea when you might have the keys? I've been thinking of moving house recently, we won't need to for a couple of years though really. I want a bigger garden for DS and my dream chickens and another bedroom for a DC2, plus a good school catchment area (which actually stresses me a just a little). I've never researched an area really, just looked at a house and its immediate area. Hope A kicks all the illnesses soon, poor little mite.
Scarlet have all signs of the pox left now? I remember having chicken pox as a child, one of the few illnesses I remember.

Waves to everyone else. T had me up loads last night, every 2 hours, then every 15 mins between 5 and 7am. I wonder if co sleeping is actually disturbing him now. Same with his naps on me, he wakes and relatches every half hour or so, but if I put him in his pram after a wake up he settles for a while and seems to sleep better.

Pet, for you - 1-2-3 Magic This and Playful Parenting are great, hopefully will be better than the 'smack first, ask questions later' approach that was prevalent when I was a child!

Stacks You must be shattered! I hope T's sleep gets better soon. I think E2 is waking more in bed with me too. Last night she slept from 10:30 feed to nearly 5am (get in! 6.5 HOURS!) but then we co-slept and she was very restless. I suppose I will have to resettle her properly now. Bother. I can never get back to sleep again! Still ridiculously tired, thinking of taking Floradix or B vitamins again to get me through it.

Oh, and don't know if you saw it - Sophie La Giraffe E2 loves hers. Chews on the head like crazy, poor toy will have no face left soon

Scarlet yay for AD's! Wish I'd had the sense to take them with E1, we muddled through but I feel sad to think that things could have been better.

Scream hope A feels better soon, and then you can get some rest. When do you move in, have you arranged that?

Off to buy E1 some clothes that actually fit. First sign of warm weather and I swear she's grown 2 inches!

PS BREAD! I am a bread-making machine. We haven't eaten shop bought bread in a month now, and I'm moving into 'speciality' breads. I've already made two sourdoughs, we're going to have one made with beer next.

Anyone else been inspired by Paul Hollywood? He may look like a big sleek badger, but boy, the man can knead dough

Nom bread. I love bread, and I love making it. Unfortunately it never turns out quite right. I blame our oven. It looks cooked, but isn't in the middle. Or one corner will be doughy, but the rest cooked etc.

I'm planning on watching all the Paul Hollywood series. I like baking shows and I think he's got the right attitude to cooking. However, I'd never considered him as a big sleek badger... Still, whatever floats your boat ;)

Smegs, we're also planning on going down the no store bought bread route. My last sourdough turned out ok, but the starter went a bit weird so I chucked it.. need to start again!

However, both DH and I are useless at slicing it - we always end up with doorstops! Does anyone use a slicing guide thingy, and have one they'd like to recommend?

. After months of stressing we finally had confirmation this morning that DS has been offered a place at our first choice of primary school. Can't believe my PFB starts school in a little over 4 months time and . He's definitely ready for it though and so excited. It's a shame he'll be going to a different school to all his friends at pre-school but I've no reason to think he won't make new ones.

The pox have gone. Well, DD is still covered in scabs and I've received some very disapproving and judgemental looks when I took her out for the first time yesterday. I guess I'd have been a bit twitchy about it if I saw a scabby poxy baby and mine hadn't had it, but every spot on her is either crusted or fallen off already so my conscience is clear.

I'm well impressed with the bread efforts Smegs. Paul Hollywood doesn't do it for me my mum thinks he's sex on legs which makes him at instant turn off for me

Did you have a nice break away at your parents Pet? Apart from DS's sleep of course. Has your DS had his birthday yet? I feel a little sad when I think how fast this last year has gone. My PLB will be 1 in less than a fortnight

Congrats on the mortgage being approved Scream. It's great that you're able to stay with your parents temporarily. I'm of course brooking no argument that everything will now go well.

T has been asleep since 7.. That's 2.5 hrs! He napped a couple of times before that too, including for almost all of dinner. We're in the living room though, and he's in his pram. We discovered by accident that he'll settle in his pram after he's woken up from a nap on me (when I'd usually either feed him to sleep again or wake him up). I was complaining to DH whi said to put him down. I did so, thinking "hah, I shall prove this doesn't work" however he went back to sleep and slept for nearly 2 hours after (with a couple of rocks now and then). This is the first time we've tried it in the evening though.

I think it's something about the pram that works. Perhaps because he's almost grown out of it so when he startles its still really close in so he doesn't really wake? It's also on wheels so I can rock him back to sleep. This is not true of his crib or cot. He's big for his crib too, but it's got hard wooden bars so when he startles he hits them and maybe hurts his hands - at the very least the noise wakes me. He also manages to spin round a bit and get his head against the sides too.

I'm slightly scared of this sleep though. Firstly, I'm not asleep too. Also, does this mean he's going to wake up hours earlier tomorrow morning? Will he wake up from this 'nap' and think it's time to play? He's not in his pjs though, and needs a nappy change.

Maybe I should go to bed now, DH is playing computer games with people, but should be able to keep an ear out. Im just rambling on, I really want to 'fix' DSs sleep somehow. I'm wondering about taking the pram upstairs and using it overnight..

smegs, I've been thinking about making more bread as well. It's not very impressive but I made chapattis to go with curry for dinner on Saturday night. DS had a great time rolling them out for me! I was totally inspired by Paul Hollywood. (He had lovely hands.)

scarlet, glad you are pleased with your school choices. I can't believe that this time next year I'll know where DS is going. He is going to be one of the youngest in his year and he just feels so little to me!

stacks, how was your night last night in the end? Did he get up early this morning?

DD is sleeping next to me on the bed. I've got a bad cold still (had it for weeks now) so I am sitting in bed in my PJs. I've had a really busy few days, but she is doing well and is only up twice after we have gone to bed.

First imms tomorrow. They didn't affect DS much so I am hoping that DD will be the same.

It is a huge appointment though. My GP doesn't do the baby 6 wk checks until 8 weeks and then sends the baby straight through for imms if they are fine, so I've delayed my 6 week check until tomorrow. Unfortunately I think the massive-headed baby has done a bit of damage downstairs so I am going to ask to be referred to physio, but I've been doing pelvic floor exercises like there is no tomorrow!

Hello everyone. Not been posting much recently as Im struggling a bit with my hormones, very tearful and tired Its really upsetting when T doesn't feed well because of the reflux although the meds are definitely helping. Have his paeds gastro appt next Friday so hoping that will help. Also going to breastfeeding cafe on Friday to see if they can give me some tips to help T be in less pain during feeds. Fingers crossed everything will settle down soon and I'll get some brooking spirit back!

little On the daytime nap front can you try rocking J to sleep in the car seat? That sometimes works with T although I do have to keep up the rocking occasionally! It works best if a drape a muslin over too so he can't see out!

I just bought a pack of 48 creme eggs from amazon. Seeing as I didn't get an Easter egg or Mother's Day chocolates I think it's ok :)

T slept kind of ok last night, I think he woke me every 2 hours but I was too tired to keep track. He didn't get up till his usual 7am, though I had to keep resettling him by stroking his tummy from maybe 5 or 6? Still, pretty good. I'll try the same tonight and see how it goes.

Olives I really hope the hormones settle down soon and the breastfeeding group or doc have some advice for the reflux.

Dino hope your cold gets better soon. T was ok after jabs each time, maybe just a bit more sleepy which wasn't a bad thing. He did seen maybe a little but grumpy, but was easy to get to sleep with it. I hated doing the jabs though. I stayed in the waiting room yesterday while DH did them, and still ended up in tears. Ended up with fingers in ears so I couldn't hear him cry, then fed him to day sorry.

For clarification - it's just Paul Hollywood's kneading technique wot makes me come over all peculiar. I AM NOT SEXUALLY ATTRACTED TO BADGERS. Thangyew.

Olives sorry to hear that things are a bit rough for you. I think you're justified in having a bit of a cry now and again - I have, and DD2 isn't even refluxy. Fx that the gastro appointment helps.
Ooh - I meant to tell you, my neighbours with a reflux baby bought a sort of hammock-thing for him to sleep in, it improved his sleep loads. I think it was the Amby one, but I'll ask when I see them again.

Yay for first choice school, Scarlet! What a relief

Get well soon, Dino, and good luck for the jabs tomorrow. E1 slept loads after her first ones, E2 barely noticed and carried on being just as lively as normal, grr!
Bread-making is very therapeutic, isn't it? I've never made chapattis, I'm dead impressed. Do you need special flour?

Stacks I think E2 is enjoying exactly the same sleep pattern as T. Damn the 4 month sleep regression.

Btw today I made a green olive and mixed herb sourdough (in homage obis, Olives!), and a ruby grapefruit drizzle cake. Just as well I did, as it looks like E1 is ill. Shame as I was hoping to have a picnic with friends in the park tomorrow or friday, weather permitting. Kids and their lurgies, ugh

Aw Stacks you mustn't feel like that about jabs. It's only a moment's pain for a great gain! He'll have forgotten all about it within 5 mins. Disclaimer: I don't mind injections provided I don't look at the needle so possibly have a slightly callous attitude to it!

x-post Smegs - sorry. Am too tired to post more now (DS crying last night post MMR) but hope everyone gets more sleep tonight...

I will try to post properly tomorrow, but just wanted to send love and brooking to those having tough times, esp Olives. Brooking for a good night's sleep for all.