October 2012: onwards, upwards and rolling over?

[YompingJo]

Is this part 5 already? Where did that time go?

[Elpis]

This is a weird cold. It produces mountains of infected catarrh - I could fill a spittoon each day with the stuff that comes up from my throat and into my nose. Other symptoms: sinus pain, huge bowel movement every other day accompanied by vague nausea, lethargy, total loss of sense of smell - a bugger when DS poos inaudibly or outside hearing range, as you can imagine. DH has had it too, though fortunately neither child has caught it.

I have now finished boring you all with a description of a variation on the common cold.

[Olivess]

elpis yuk colds are horrible, make you feel so shit, must be hard with DH away too.

My DH is back from his trip to US. It was great to see him and he brought presents back with him . Both DD and the cat were much more content with him back yesterday evening. The cat has not stopped miaowing at me all week, especially when I'm feeding then scratches the sofa or the carpet.

Good news yesterday as well. My headteacher agreed to me going back part time so I'll be doing 3 days a week. Now I can sort out a nursery. Feel like a huge wait has been lifted. I'm not good at uncertainty and like to plan ahead.

I'm also a radio 4 geek - woman's hour is my favourite and the archers .

Babies are so strange - DD has spent the past few weeks really fussing at the boob - bobbing her head on and off and crying. Then today she has fed so well and contentedly every time. It's so nice!

cherry laughing at image of your DH feeding with chopsticks.

squid i share your frustration. DD was happily asleep at 6 am and I could not get back to sleep. And that was after multiple wake ups in the night too so I am desperate any sleep I can get.

I'm slightly confused about the whole sterilising business. We have to be so careful with bottles, pump etc but then DD is currently putting everything within reach in her mouth - strap on the sling, coat, soft toys, anyone's finger she can grab - you can't sterilise everything.

[Olivess]

Weight obviously not wait....

[Angelico]

Bean's first 'long day' in creche from 12-5. Did some writing on site, lunch with DH on site, nipped over to feed her, then left her with expressed bottle. Leisurely grocery shop. Cleared ancient food from fridge. Sterilised stuff. Did washing. Expressed bottle for tomorrow. And still have 20 mins left free! Oh pootling time, I have missed you!

Sympathy to all with shitty colds / sleepless babies / wide awake insomniac brains - and any other maddening things

Thanks for all tips about sterilising bottles (makes sense, bean shoves her germy hands into her mouth at every opportunity) and nappies. Had forgotten we have a pack of Lidl size 3's upstairs that DH bought ages ago when she was too tiny! And our dishwasher has a 70 degree wash for bottles etc so may use it or just wash them normally and then sterilise in mw, only takes 4 mins.

London wish I could easily sum it up but do recommend reading it - it was in the 2 for seven quid books in Tesco when I bought it. From memory writer talks about the 'cadre' (sp?) or framework that families use - very strict about a few key things (saying hello to people, behaving when eating, sleeping) and then really liberal about the small stuff. Apparently in France they tend to wean on veg and fruit instead of cereals. And she described the lunches the kids get in French creches and they are very grown up and incredibly well planned months in advance by nutritionists. The kids sit at a table when tiny toddlers and the nursery teacher sits and eats with them and they discuss the food as they eat it and describe it (creamy / crunchy / sweet etc). The book was really interesting and a very easy read even for a tired brain. I recommend you read it because the writer found there is a whole sort of philosophy underpinning the way French kids are brought up from tiny babies - that they are rational beings and understand more than we think. The funny thing is I have started using this whole thing a bit more with the bean, especially around sleep - telling the bean when she is fussy / tired that it's time for sleep and she'll feel better when she has slept - and oddly it does seem to help if she's fussing in cot (unless she is hungry / needs changed obviously). One thing about the book: it focuses on a fairly small sub-section of Parisian parents who seem to have good educations and enough money to live comfortably so doesn't necessarily reflect the whole of France.

[Londonmrss]

whoever starts the next thread, please will you put the words "PELVIC FLOORS" into the title to give me a daily reminder...

Autocorrect just tried to go for 'give me a daily reindeer'. That would be cool.

[londonlivvy]

londonmrss cos reindeer way more likely than reminder? gotta love auto correct

[smile4me]

Gah just as I thought the bad nights were over... bean was up 5 times between 9.30 and 1.40. How is that even possible? And of course it would be the one night when I really needed a good sleep! DH is terrible without a full 8 hrs (or more ) and has been a real grumpy nobber all day. Thank god DD actually sleeps OK most of the time!

First We seem to be having a 19 week growth spurt too... is there one now or just randomly wanting to drink a lot? I'm talking starting to drain both boobs every 2 hrs rather than just one, or have my boobs just suddenly become uber-efficient? And also seem to be less hungry in the morning than before! Am in no hurry to wean though, milk is so much easier, and the nappies much nicer!

In NZ we are told not to bother sterilising bottles after 3 months... we breed em tough . I also asked HV about what to do about things you can't sterilise olivess and she said just give them a wipe weekly!
Mickey no smear till you're over 25! Not that I would exactly rate them but that's terrible and must be something new (I can remember having one at 18 as the mother of one of my best friends at school was the practice nurse

Another emotional wreck with anything concerning babies/children/stray animals here, I cry at the sad animal shelter commercials, any stories about babies being hurt and especially the dad's on OBEM! Are we wrecked forever?

You do parkour orenishii ? That's so cool OK I had to google to find out what it was but AWESOME you have now morphed into Lara Croft in my mind
How are you getting on yomping ?
How's the transition to FF going huffle ?

Hugs and for you sleep deprived folk. Know what you mean crazy about how do they manage 4.30 on the dot every morning!

[hufflepuffle]

Quick response on French Children don't throw food. Was an article about author in Times at weekend. She has released another book called French parents just say No or something like that.

I totally plan to read......

My v short experience of French kids as au pair was enlightening. Chocolate milk with breakfast Mmmmmnn and cakes or biscuits for 4pm snack. But no other crap. At all. Ever. Lunch was usually vegetables. Dinner came in courses like everyone else. Some salad or veg. Then meat or pasta with cheese. Then dessert!

Everyone ate well. No bloody sweet shops. And very relaxed attitude to eating full stop.

And I ate horse........ Ha ha ha ha

I went away a super skinny fussy food hating 17yr old and came home a healthy knowing how to cook and enjoy food 18 yr old.

French people respect food!!!

Broad generalisation there.,...........! Scientific study, n = 1.......

[Woolybob]

This morning's conversation:
dh (looking all refreshed): how was last night then?
me: well she woke up at 11, then again at nearly 3, then she wouldn't go back to sleep till 5 and she's just woken up now when your alarm went off (now being 6.30)
dh: (cheerily) oh. so she only woke up twice then? good, good.
me

Oh and had my smear yesterday, gp had told be it needed to be 3 months after birth. Nurse unphased by the absense of periods.

[squidkid]

Lovely boyfriend slept with Jess in the spare room again last night. I'm beginning to feel a bit guilty about this. He looks a bit sleepy but said he mostly slept fine.

I got an uninterrupted 7 hours to myself and slept ok for most of it and feel amazing. If guilty!! She lasted till 5.30am this morning too!! (It's been more like 3.30-4.30 recently). Then we snoozed&fed together till I wake up thirsty starving and with soft empty boobs and my baby has the biggest buddha belly ever. I quite like the 5-7am feeding station though (if I've had some sleep before it)

Still undecided about bloody contraception. Have a coil-fitting appt at 6pm...

[hufflepuffle]

Wooly I'd poke him too. Bloody nobber.

Smile4me thanks for asking. Bottle refuser!!!! And he had been taking them occasionally until it matters!!!!! Grrrrrrrrer. And I was more worried about boobs!!! Some progress last night. 1oz from DH while in bath- his happy place! Tis a start!

Cherry loving Japanese rituals!!

Sorry, loads to do today, only vague catch up!!

Oh yes. Londonmrss had so kindly donated me her expressing bra boob tube thingummy. I will not be using as I cannot decking express. Even if I can't FF this boy, single expressing will have to do.

Would anyone like it? Will post it to you. PM me if you do. If get chance later will post the link to it, cannot remember what called.....

And I have 2 unused next breastfeeding vests. Either I'm stupid (quite possible) or they are crap. Size 12, one black one white. Have an internal sort of shelf, clip fine straps and move over fabric over boob.

Have a good day!! Sorry for all the exhausted peeps, I'm managing on blocks of 3.5, 2, 2. It'll have to do me!

[smileyhappymummy]

huffle can't get pm to work at the moment but would love expressing bra thing as I am going to be doing a loooot of expressing at work very soon!

[hufflepuffle]

Yay Smiley! I shall reserve it for you!! X

[YompingJo]

Wow, nearly on part 6!

Quick catchup for as long as sleeping baby allows...

DH "has flu" (ie a bit of a cold) and is in bed. Me and baby off to visit a mate as soon as baby wakes up.

No progress AT ALL with bottle, have tried every permutation of bottle, teat, type of milk, time of day, state of hunger, person feeding, that we can think of. No joy. Bloody stubborn baby! She will have the teat in her mouth but won't suck. No joy with syringe feeding either... if she is in the mood she will take a few droppers full of ebm + colief before a feed. If she is not in the mood (ie 90% of the time) she will turn her head from side to side with her mouth closed, making it very hard to get the dropper into her mouth without hurting her. If we manage this and squirt some into her mouth she either spits it straight out, looks puzzled then spits it out, or screams. If she screams, it either gets gargled then swallowed, or she inhales it then chokes and spends the next hour breathing with a horrible wet gurgling sound and crying a lot. Not so much fun. We have tried a normal syringe, the Calpol syringe, the Infacol dropper (best so far but tiny amount per dropper full) and some huge 5ml droppers I got online.

Daytime sleeps good at the moment, we have got tough on this and it is paying off. Night time... best we don't talk about night time! Earlier bedtime not going well, we try to get her down by 8 but she doesn't seem able to go for long than 3 hours without waking and can't then be settled without feeding. I am feeding her lots during the day to make sure she has enough calories to sleep for longer at night... maybe yet another growth spurt?

She is also draining both boobs most feeds and I am panicking that my milk is running out, I have finally stopped block feeding because she just seemed so hungry that the second feed off the same side never satisfied her. And she has started pausing in the middle of feeds to look up at me and grin in a "look at me, I'm feeding... from your boob... aren't I cool!" sort of way that's sweet but very infuriating as she does it several times a feed and the feeds now take much longer! I have tried chucking a muslin over her head so she can't see out but she still keeps stopping! Any creative solutions to this or do I have to start feeding in a darkened room?

Still asleep, nearing the 2 hour mark. Does everyone wake their beans after 2 hours of daytime sleep or do you let them sleep on? I read that it can affect night time sleep if they over sleep during the day.

Um, what else? I can report that going dairy free is marvellous for the figure... I seem to have lost my appetite now my normal comfort or snack foods are off the menu.

Sympathy to those putting up with shit nights, nobber DHs etc. Congrats olivess on the part time work.

smiley, could it be reflux? Sorry if you already know that's what it is.

[Orenishii]

smiley I did it...but I wasn't any good at it. I could just about vault over walls and cat walk up an inclined wall but balancing on rails was beyond my capabilities. It wasn't even the physical aspect...mentally it was fucking...mental!

Things I don't understand no.1 - DS goes down for his mid morning nap brilliantly. I can even hoover. Put him down of an evening, and it's thrashing, crying, scratching at ears and I have to creep about. I know the scratching of ears is teething but why does he sleep so well in the morning??

[Londonmrss]

by any chance does the 4 month sleep regression apply to daytime naps as well? because our are becoming more difficult by the day.

[hufflepuffle]

Shit London. Cannot believe dd is mucking with her daytime naps. She is our hero!! When we were in midst of worst sleeps daytime was fucked up too. Hopefully that's all. Bear with it!

Oren, great that he sleeps so well in morning! In this house rubbing and pulling equal tiredness. But as he always needs help to sleep I have to act on this 4 times a day at least! Currenkt asleep but took 30 feckin minutes of short pushes up and down hall over mat........ Demented mare.

Yomping we too are getting the turn head and smile mid feed! Sometimes he even giggles..........
Crap crap crap on feckin bottles!!! We got 1 oz in last night but that's it. Grrrrr they are too bloody smart! Great news you winning on day naps? We are v strict too! Strict in that I make sure he gets them but bloody hard work for me! Does she settle herself or are you rocking/pushing/driving??! Mood so much better when he sleeps.

No comment on night sleeps. Don't want to tempt fate. It's not great but it's manageable!

Really really must stay off phone, too busy!!!

Oh Oren, good for you on deciding to get sorted!!! Good luck with business planning!! X

X

[Beccus]

so much to catch up on! sympathise with those feeling they spend the whole time trying to settle bubs to sleep. after much screaming when trying to self settle, i'm only putting babybeccus down when i am absolutely sure she is tired. it's going well. i dont think she gets overtired; she sleeps with much less screaming if she really needs a nap. unless of course, she wakes between 7pm and 7am. then it's feed, minimal interaction, chuck into bed and hope for the best. and the pram is great, too! no battles to get her to sleep in that.
yomping, huffle & any one else with bottle refusers, the dentist was at babygruop this am & was encouraging feeding from cups without valves from 3 months. she was giving out cups which are slanted at the top - called draddle cups or something.
i left babybeccus with daddy for 3 hrs on sun, & am planning to leave her again for a couple of hrs on thurs & sun again. struggling to find the time to express enough milk just for those outings. she gobbled up 7oz on sunday! massive respect to those of u carrying on b/f & returning to work...such a struggle to find the time to get enough for them.

[Angelico]

I really can't keep up with this whole expressing malarkey - takes ages and bean is a starvo. She has started thrashing about and popping off boob. I think she wants to wean. She just likes drinking sitting up, she gets distracted by EVERYTHING when she's feeding now. Even ON feed last night she kept popping off to stare at the nightlight and the CD player Nearly gave her a bottle of formula last night but just made her keep slurping in the end. She was 20 weeks yesterday and if I can get to 22 weeks without giving her food I'll be

[Angelico]

And beccus interesting about the naps - bean won't sleep if she's not tired enough but is then hard to settle if she's overtired. And there only seems to be a 2 min window between these 2 states...! Gah!

[Orenishii]

Spoke too soon about the naps :(

Never have I known sleep to cause such anxiety!

Sorry not responding to everyone, but I think we're going through much the same as everyone else - head turning while feeding, teething, thrashing about, sleep getting messed up - much sympathy for those adding expressing into the mix!

yomping quick tip about syringing - if she's sucking her fingers, or lets you suck your finger, wait for her to start sucking your her fingers, then slide the syringe in aside of the fingers. We had to do this with ds when he was days old and clamping his mouth shut.

[hufflepuffle]

www.dooyoo.co.uk/kids-equipment/bickiepegs-doidy-cup/1622078/

This might be it Beccus??

An open cup seems to messy for me, would involve a lot of attention for feeds! That sounds wrong I know, but hope it doesn't go that far. Again, have to remember DH will be at home most of time, not me! I've got two 4m cups to try if all fails!!

Thank you tho!! Xx

[hufflepuffle]

www.dooyoo.co.uk/kids-equipment/bickiepegs-doidy-cup/1622078/

This might be it Beccus??

An open cup seems to messy for me, would involve a lot of attention for feeds! That sounds wrong I know, but hope it doesn't go that far. Again, have to remember DH will be at home most of time, not me! I've got two 4m cups to try if all fails!!

Thank you tho!! Xx

[Londonmrss]

new thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/postnatal_clubs/1683655-October-2012-PELVIC-FLOORS