November 2012 - sleeping through yet?

[StuntNun]

Previous thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/postnatal_clubs/1647736-November-2012-losing-sleep-and-losing-weight

Stats list: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/antenatal_clubs/1485512-November-2012-Stats-List

I did BLW mainly as I couldn't be arsed to do puréed. It worked really well for us but i can see why it wouldn't work for everyone. At the start its very messy and can sometimes look like they aren't eating anything, although the nappies will prove otherwise. DD1 who is 3 on Tuesday is a fabulous eater and eats most foods and has a hearty appetite. But she also could have been that way if I'd gone down the purée route. I think it's different horses for different courses. It will work for some babies and parents but not others. I'd like to think I could wean DD2 the same way but if it doesn't work for her i will do purées. These no reason why you can't do a mixture of both although I know that goes against the BLW ethos. I was never that strict about it.

I think my aversion to "mush" weaning is when people seem to use it to almost force feed a really young baby. They just seem to shovel the food into the mouth of a reclined baby. I think BLW is encouraged more as a means to persuade people to wait until 6mths, as baby has to sit up.

FWIW I used Annabel Karmel recipes for stock & the like, before I found baby stock cubes, to use in our cooking so we had as little salt as possible. Now I use normal stock occassionally, or reduced salt oxo, in cooking & DD eats exactly what we have.

Agree toomany. My Dsis & I weaned pretty much the same (me early as I didn't sleep, it didn't work...) but she's dead fussy, & I love food. She once ate weetabix for breakfast, lunch & dinner for a week as a child, as she refused to eat anything else!!

Same here Eliza.

I used to look at babies eating purees & feel a bit sad and think they were missing out on the fun stuff. Now however, when I feel myself hoicking up my judgey pants, I think about my friend who's tried BLW with her DD2 but as she's had all sorts of issues since stopping bfing, and her DD now failing to thrive, she had to try purees to just get some calories into her whilst giving prescription formula.

One size doesn't fit all and sn

Grrr.

And sometimes things aren't the way they seem.

I agree chunky forcing food down a baby won't help anyone. I didn't know people did that! I would imagine though that would be encouraged by using ready made puree as I would guess parents would assume the baby has to finish it as being a 'correct' amount. Which is wrong. Like with milk I think a baby just knows when they have had enough. I used to think of DD as being like a baby bird. If she was opening her mouth and loiking expectant she wanted more. If not we stopped. At the beginning they don't need more than a couple of mouthfuls as they still have milk.

I'm hoping DD2 will be equally unfussy and will love food too. But judging how her milk has to be served at such a precise temperature I'm not sure...

Thanks candy and chunky, I've tried everything, hot compress, massage, wide tooth comb, pumping, feeding dangling over the baby so her tongue is over where the lump is (not my best look!) nothing is working. I had them before with DD1 but managed to clear them within 24 hours. This one is firmly stuck! Off to holland and Barrett for some lectithin and selenium now as I read that can help

Regarding weaning I did puréed food from 6 months. Was way too scared of baby choking to do BLW

Wow didn't know starting the weaning conv would bring on so many views. I have no idea what blw involves. Or what trad involves. Will research today. But now I have to sort out party favours!

Oh and I used that annabel karmel book too, didn't realise she was disliked on here!? I wonder why?

Morning all.
It's taken me ages to catch up with only 12 hours of posts, pages and pages!
All this talk of weaning is a little bit scary - does anyone know whether you're supposed to start weaning them later if LO was prem? I get so confused trying to work out what needs correcting for age and what doesn't

Candy - you sound like me 2 days ago, my poor boob took a right hammering in my attempts to clear a blocked duct. Didn't work so am now on antibiotics. At least they've fixed little pigs constipation every cloud eh

Am feeling quite proud as LO managed 3 hours IN HER OWN BED last night. I realise for some this is nothing, but that's the first time she's slept anywhere other than our bed for weeks

Hope you're all having lovely weekends so far even if it's pissing down like here

Oops I meant kissy not candy re boobies! Too many posts have addled my tiny brain

bigPig I would love it if DD (nearly 2) would go in her own bed. Not for months here, and no end in sight. She sleeps with DH in the spare room, and I have DS in with me.

Is it odd to have different parenting styles for each child? When DD was a baby of DS's age, I was a massive fan of SWMNBN and it was all routine, structure, I made her wait for feeds until the alloted time (happily mind, I didnt refuse to feed her if she was really hungry) own room by 5 weeks, etc. Now with DS, he sleeps with me, and there's no attempt at a routine just yet, its totally different. However, it isnt a philosophy change, am lazy and slack now. DD also still has a dummy pretty much all day and I refuse to get worked up. Am enjoying DS being a baby so much. Makes me sad I didnt chill out when DD was tiny.

Weaning was fun with DD. We did a combination of purees and finger foods. DD happily took food in whatever form it came in. I loved making fruit puree, smelt delicious!

kissy I'm not sure why Annabel Karmel is so disliked on here. If I was feeling brave I'd start an aibu to like Annabel Karmel but I'd get flamed and called a troll. I've rarely seen her mentioned in a positive light but have never been interested enough to really read what is so bad about her. I think her setting up a ready meal line of business went down badly, and the fact she isn't a qualified nutritionist but tbh I can't really remember. I know that she is divisive re food like Gina Ford is divisive re sleep.

I just did a quick search and apparently some of her advice is outdated and contrary to official guidelines. I didn't read the advice parts of the book so can't comment. The recipes were good though. Interesting ideas as I said even for our main meals.

We talk to much and i cant keep up. I know last night i posted alot and added to the reading work load.
Do u think we should ration ourselves to two posts a day to slow the thread down? We can then sell each other our rations. Or exchange them for baby related goods.

LO has just woken up from his nap. And he is still tiered so im waiting for him to settle back to sleep himself he can do it but only if there is no distraction. He has that half eye smiley dopy look about him. Luckily I'm home alone , am waiting to switch tv on. Come on baby, fall asleep already I wana watch tv n eat my breakfast

So cute: my dog's trying to get Tilly to play with his tennis ball with him!

Kissy - Thanks for the description, I'll watch out dot it, Alex is a starfish and spends most of the day on me. Either in sling or huge, I get very hot and squashed.

For not dot

Hugs not huge always typing badly with one finger

No gt. Please NO!!! sometimes you guys are the only adults I speak to all day!! That is v sad I know, but true.

Well, I like AK and GF, I just like recipe books it's gives me new ideas so I try different stuff all the time. I was quite Samuel with the DDs but for DS I would rarely do a batch of stuff twice unless he super loved it, like AKs courgette and tomato pasta sauce, helped by the fact that I was growing toms and courgettes at the time and we were over run with them!

Very happy weekend here. A small amount of snow is falling!

I was able to feed Alex in bed this morning in the lying down position without altering my boob or baby - droopy boobs situ only been at this for 8 weeks oh well.

LOL GT Like the bartering for posts idea. I'm way over my allocation today.

Kissy I don't think DD ever got close to choking. She gagged a few times maybe, but I was always there next to her, so if she looked at all uncomfortable, I was ready with back-slapping & dragging from seat on to my lap if nec. They noisily gag, but if they go silent, then they're choking...

Madam I think its only natural that you do it differently 2nd time - you have 2 to care about. I'm still baby-led re; routine etc with DS but I have to be a bit more prepared to let him cry it out a bit - if I'm trying to get DD to toddler group or whatever, sometimes he has to be grumpy/ignored for a couple of minutes. I'm going the other way a bit with DD now - I'm thinking a routine would be useful, having a fixed time for bed etc. Just trying to get DH organised & on board with it, and hopefully we'll start getting our evenings back!!!

I lurve my close carrier today. DS has been a bit more tricky to work out what he wants, so when he got grumpy & I had to make lunch for DD & I, I just chucked him on me, and went on with lunch making. He fell asleep sucking my t-shirt. :)

I like puréed food for baby. I love making it and freezing it and introducing a new food every three days and choosing different combinations of foods. I love it! I combine finger foods as well. I especially like sweet potato purée! Nom Nom! Both my girls started on baby rice at 5 1/2 months as they were big and ready. I invisage the same with boy.

Crap night again. DH did not want to give a bottle as he was about to have his supper. Twat. How many meals have I missed, or eaten cold or one handed because of feeding? He is having the sodding bottle tonight though. I need to know if it helps his sleep and I have a bit to use up. I have pretty much decided to stop expressing, and if he needs a bottle if I am out or whatever, it can be formula.

So, what is the cheapest formula? I know the tins work out cheaper, but what brand should I go for? I have some HIPP organic in a little carton. Is it ok to gove this but then give a different brand or should I just stick to one brand?

Not an expert VQ but they're legally all the same nutritionally, so I've seen it recommended that you get whichever one is easiest to buy locally to you (I.e. the corner shop or 24hr supermarket iyswim). I'm also led to believe that you shouldn't keep chopping & changing. Give 1 formula for at least 2wks to make sure it isn't the switching itself unsettling baby's tum. I found, however, that buying a big tub for DD's formula at 9mths meant I couldn't actually use it all within the "use by" 6wk period. If you buy a tub, and only give 1 bottle a day, then you'll potentially have a lot hanging around for longer than it should iyswim. As for not expressing, I did that with DD. I made the occassional bottle up using the leakage I collected in the shells & if she needed more, I had a stand-by carton. I figure she was still ebf even if she had an 'emergency' non-Mummy milk bottle. I'm going back to expressing & shell use next week & intend to get ds to take a bottle, come hell or high water! :)