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

[jaggythistle]

eh. attempt at new thread. yo.

Yes, DS has spots in his mouth, on his tongue and even on his eyelids. Must be so uncomfortable.

Obviously he's been unhappy at night so I ended up feeding him back to sleep a few times, and now he's insisting on night feeds again. Aaaargh! And what's worse, he just cries and cries if DH tries to resettle him. So it looks like I'm going to have to night wean him again, all by myself. I just can't face it. :(

I go on holiday and lose all the brooking threads! Will catch up over the next couple of days

Good to have you back olives, how were your hols?

No no no I am definitely the worst brooker! I do look but I am usually under a Velcro baby and unable to type.

DS is almost 9 months now. Still feeding all the blimmin time and only seems to sleep on me.

DD is 30 months now and just loves her little brother.

Hope everybody else is doing well.

Hi ladies. Sorry to hear that the dreaded pox has struck other brookers households too, I hope the little ones are all on the mend now. DS1 had just about all scabbed over in time for our holiday and the sun/sea water has definitely helped the healinh process although there are still a few which look like they will scar DS2 also came down with it whilst we were away but fortunately it was a very mild dose - he only had around 10 spots and didn't seem to bothered by them but the downside of that is I'm certain he will probably get them again in the future!
We had a very nice holiday thanks little despite poor M's accident which really was awful - the wound was
full thickness down to his skull and I saw him do it. Both feet slipped backwards and his head literally bounced off the patio, no hands to break his fall as he was wrapped in his towel Very scary stuff as we had no idea who to call etc so I just thank god that it was a skin wound only as had it been more serious the delay could have been really dangerous. Made me appreciate the NHS even more than I already did, I really wanted to be at my local hospital instead of a Turkish clinic!! Max is still having nightmares about us holding him down will it was stitched but that was the only option! To give the doc his dues he did a good job - stitches came out today and wound is looking good. Not sure the doc will recover from the police arriving to find out who he was "attacking" though My big boy was very vocal about his displeasure with the whole situation A great tale for DS to tell in years to come as well
little I know you wanted advice about travelling with a baby - well T was an absolute star on the plane, no tears at all on either journey. He had a dummy for take off and landing (which he now loves by the way!) but I don't think his ears were troubling him. M was far more difficult on the plane - being contained for almost 4 hours is very difficult for an active nearly 5 year old! I have to say though that Max's accident made me feel very vulnerable so my top tip would be to make sure you know exactly who/where to contact in case of accident/emergency. I think it's probably less of an issue if you're in a hotel/apartment as the staff there could help but we were in a villa with no one around to help.
Right I appear to have waffled on for ages now, hope mn doesn't eat my post! TTFN

Eek Olives that sounds scary We once had to hold 20 month old DS1 down to have a wound glued and it still makes me shudder to think about it. It was that or get him sedated for stitches. He's 4 this year (how did that happen! ) and can't remember it.

Hope M is ok. DS2 had a lot less spots, maybe 30 - 40 total. Think they are both scabbed so DS1 can go back to nursery next week. He's missing it and his wee pals!

Munx DS2 is 13 months and still a wee milk monster. More than DS1 I reckon. Up 2 ish times between 7 and 6 when he can sometimes be persuaded to go back to sleep for a bit if DS1 isn't crashing about too.

Green, I was all for hiring a villa for our holiday, but dp wanted a resort with holiday reps incase the kids got ill/ hurt. I'm glad after hearing your story of poor M
Good to hear T coped well though. How was he with the heat? I'm worried J will not be content for long on beach or by pool, which is where dd will want to be

Oh little that sounds really scary. I'm very much not looking forward to T getting independent enough to be able to hurt himself. I'm glad you managed to get some help and get it stitched up. Poor little M with the nightmares though :(

I hope everyone is getting over their chicken pox now? I had it young enough I don't remember the torment of the itching, I do remember my brothers having it though. Not nice.

Well, we had one 3 hour sleep last night for the first time in weeks so focussing on the positive. I feel better for it so far today :)

I was wondering about afternoon naps - T has his around 2pm, and if I let him will sleep on me for hours. Sometimes not waking till 6, his bedtime is usually around 8. Does this seem ok? I'm wondering if it could be part of the reason for his bad sleeping. Though if I wake him, or if he wakes himself before he's had at least 2 hours, he wakes up very unhappy and tired, and shows signs of being overtired within the hour.

He's just waking from his morning nap now (on me again). Usually 45m to 1hr. He's kind of missing out on his 3rd nap, I've no idea where to try slotting one in to his day?

In my overtired state have I got all confused with who went on holiday? Should have been Olives.

stacks I would try and get T to have his second nap earlier, say around midday. He may only sleep for a couple of hours then and it leaves the afternoon free for you to get out and about. He should then be able to get through until bedtime with a 45 min nap around teatime, that's the pattern that DS1 fell into and I'm hoping that DS2 will do the same. My guess is that if T goes from early morning until 2 before napping he is probably exhausted and that's why he sleeps for so long. At his age I'm fairly certain that 3 hours is about the maximum that they can cope with before being tired.
little You have a very sensible other half! Although we would do a villa holiday again but we'd just make sure we had all emergency numbers in advance next time! T coped well with the heat. I bought a sheepskin liner for the buggy which was fab at stopping him from getting sweaty and I borrowed an Outlook Shade-a-babe for the buggy which was brilliant for keeping the sun off when walking round. We also had a sun tent for the beach but didn't use it much as there was free sunbeds and umbrellas everywhere. The advantage of having a villa was that if T was getting grumpy/hot someone could go inside with him for a bit to cool off under the aircon while M stayed playing in the pool but it wasn't too often that we needed to do that.

Sheepskin liner sounds like a good tip Green. We've got the buggy shade and sun tent already And I made sure the apartment definitely had air-con! I'm hoping the heat might make him sleepy in the day, he's still hard work to get to nap in the day. I've got a feeling he needs his ranitidine dose upped though, as he's been pretty upset all wknd.

Stacks, if you struggle to fit in a third nap, maybe you could just let him have two hours in the afternoon, til 4pm, then being his bedtime forward to 7pm? Four hours does sound a lot to be sleeping in the afternoon. We start Jude's bedtime milk etc about 6.15 so he's asleep by 7. He couldn't cope with being up any later!

green-scary! Glad m is fine now. Dh and I spent the day in a and e over here last week and I was so worried they'd make him stay n (kidney infection) because he would have been on his on and his Italian is still beginners really. It's so much better when you have language on your side. I love the NHS but the Italian a and e won the contest for me I'm afraid (not a doctor but unfortunately fairly extensive patient experience!)

dream - you went out! Yay! You looked v foxy too.

I loved A's sheepskin! Might dig it out when we get back. Was the only thing shed nap on for ages.

stacks - I think last nap to bedtime should be longest awake time. Worked on dd1, dd2 a mystery so not totally proved advice :)

Yep. I have been out. In the evening. With no children. . First time in 3.5 years!! Thanks pomme. Got back to a screamer in buggy in hall. And can confirm booze does not make him sleep (via bf I mean of course).

Sorry everyone, I'm crap too, phone not loading mn well so when i eventually get here i never end up with time to post.

Just showing my face and doing some random brooking for you all

Yay for night out dream!

little I got my sheepskin from ebay, only 12 quid and good as new once it'd been through the wash!

pomme hope DH is all better now, kidney infections are horrible

Olives, how did transferring T on to the bottle go? Am thinking about doing the same, but probably not until after our holiday at the end if the month

He has had one bottle a day for the last 4 weeks or so, initially with breast milk, then a mix of breast and formula and has had formula on its own for last 2 weeks. When we got back from holiday we replaced another breast feed with formula then on Monday we added another one. So currently he is having 3 formula feeds and around 4 breast feeds in every 24 hours. He seems to have taken to it quite well, he is definitely more comfortable feeding in an upright position from the bottle from a reflux pov. However he has been really distressed at bedtime the last 2 nights and has only settled with a breast feed so now I'm wobbling and wondering whether I'm doing the right thing in weaning It's so hard - my head says it's time to stop (for my sanity!) but my heart says different! He has a strange horrible smell coming from his left ear tonight so it may be that he has an infection and that's why he's been unsettled (but in my guilty/emotional state I'm worried it's because he's missing his breast feeds!) So all in all the weaning started well but it's getting harder - I think mainly because I'm beating myself up about it all!

Hello all, the chaos continues here. Ds is still feeding a lot, and despite attempts at settling him in his crib we are still co sleeping.

I put dd to bed at 7, then end up sitting with a sleeping ds on me until I go to bed.

Sigh.

Hope everyone is ok.

munxx its still chaos here... Just battled mine to bed, though wildly overtired dd protesting still. Dt1 will be co sleeping by about midnight, as usual...

Can't keep up guys, my phone being v erratic loading mn too...

Starving hungry but may pop back later, will see how bad s is this evening!

Nice to see people, however briefly. T and I are ok, though I'm finding giving all the medication T is on a little stressful - I have to give 3 different things 6 times a day in total, all planned around meals, naps and hand washing. I think T's reflux is a bit better, though we missed a dose of ranitidine yesterday and he spat most of it out this morning which has led to a sicky day today. He also seems really uncomfortable with eczema round his waist and legs, his hands reach down to scratch as soon as you loosen his clothes :( so I think I'm going to pop to the doctor for some cream, as olive oil just isn't helping enough. It looks better some days and terrible others, but is never gone. We're still on poor sleep too - fed every 90 mins last night.

I really should comment on the news of others, but phone posts are so time consuming. Sorry to hear of bad sleep and chaos, and happy to hear of bottle success and weaning. Hope illnesses have passed.

Olives I'm sure that once T is just on bottles you will both be fine. I'm sure it's just the weaning off time that's tricky. J has had a bottle of formula as his last feed before bed since 6 weeks, but in sure he doesn't like it as much as his breast feeds!
Did you get his ear checked?

Stacks it's horrible having to dose them up with meds isn't it, even if it helps. Have you started T on some food yet, I wonder if that might help with his sleep?

I know you're right little, it's just classic mummy guilt! Took T to doctors and he does have a mild ear infection. Dr gave me abx drops but info in pack says only suitable for over 2 years old! I rang doc and he assured me it's safe to give to a baby but I've decided to wait for the results of the ear swab he took as I don't want to give the drops unless it's really necessary. He's feeding well and doesn't have a temp so it may well clear up on its own. In other news T has moved into his own room from tonight!! Fingers crossed he likes it! All good so far, he's been sleeping peacefully since 7ish in his cot I was sick of not being able to sleep because of his snuffling and grunting which seems to be getting louder! I'd be awake for ages just waiting for him to wake up to feed! Still I won't feel too guilty, he's 15 weeks now - poor DS1 was banished to his own room at 5 weeks as he was a REALLY noisy sleeper!
I know what you mean about the meds stacks, it's hard work remembering to give yhem all but so worth it if it's helping them. I really hope T starts giving you a bit more sleep at night very soon. x

So far tonight I have fed DS to sleep at 7:40, 8:40, 9:20 and 9:40. He's not hungry, why does he keep waking? Why won't he settle himself? Her can do it, he just refuses to 98% of the time. I end up getting really angry with him on nights like this :(

I hope the war infection gets better quickly olives, I think there's loads of medicines routinely given to babies which are only licenced for older children. It's so expensive to get the trials done for babies they just don't bother and so avoid liability. GPs have to prescribe them though, as there's no alternatives, generally you can be sure thousands of other babies have had it before you and had no adverse effects.

Sorry for typos. Stupid phone it's actually pretty intelligent, what I actually type would be totally unintelligible.

olives R has had a stinky ear about 3 times since he was a couple of months old. He's been looked at by several GPs who just went

Its back again just now, might mention it to HV who is coming to inspect him next week. (apparently get a check between a year and 14 months)

His ear goes kinda runny/weepy then a load of crusty stinky wax comes out. Docs have said it want red and they couldn't really smell anything.

Dr Google says maybe an external ear infection but I didn't say that to them for fear of looking mental.