May 2004 babies - new thread

[helsy]

Well, d'you think anyone will bother?
I feel like I'm having a party and waiting for people to turn up. Dorito, anyone?

Lots happening here I see. Congratulations Egypt! Great news. And hope Singapore goes smoothly. And kbaby try and get some rest. Get DH to look after DD. Does seem strange that she has had a recurrence of the same thing. And poor Ponka with the pox arriving. Hope DS2 doesn't get it too badly - DD had it as a baby and was dreadful but my friend's DD sailed through it.

DD didn't have a nap on Friday for the first time ever. She was fairly grumpy by 7.30. Then Saturday and Sunday she slept in the car for less than an hour each time. But yesterday it was catching up with her (because also late nights) and she had 2 hours in the afternoon. She couldn't go to bed any earlier on Friday because I had taken her cot away but DH had not put up the bed! So yes she is now in a bed and that has gone really smoothly.

DD's dropped her pm nap also. She does like quite time on the settee for 1hr watching a DVD or cbeebies. She's tired by bedtime though but putting her to bed earlier just means she wakes during the night so we cant do that and have to put up with the stroppy behaviour for 1 hr. She goes to bed at 8pm which I think is quite late.

She had a friend over yesterday and they were playing in the pool nappyless. She kept asking 'whats that' and pointing at his willy. This morning my MIL came to collect DD for a day out and when I said tell nanny who came over yesterday she said 'x and hes got a willy on his bum'
A day of peace today so im off shopping and then sitting out the garden. Buggar any housework.

You see I am mightily relieved that DD has naps because she would not sit and watch TV for an hour. She would follow me around and if I sat and watched with her, would just fiddle with me etc. DS was past 3 when he stopped napping so am hoping for similar with DD!

kbaby - relax! Might not get chance again for a while...

I wish DD still had a nap. I think the reason she sits quiet and watches tv is my MIL pandering to her every need because as soon as we get home from anywhere she wants a lay down on the settee with the tv on, a blanket over her and a cup of tea!!

Weve been getting lots more tantrums now. If we say no to anything she has a strop and hits out. Even if you walk away she follows you and hits you. How are you all dealing with tantrums? Currently were doing the naughty step but I dont think its working. Ive just bought a star chart for teeth brushing as thats another nightmare area. MIL says she doesnt have any tantrums with them, So I dont know if the problem is just with me or if they give her what she wants.

prob gives her what she wants. dd has never had a tantrum with mum because she gets pandered to. has little ones with mil as she is a bit harsh. too harsh imo with things that don't matter, but thats another topic grrrr.

dd sometimes sleeps in the afternoon but only if i take her out in the car. but that does mean she doesnt go to bed until about 9pm! she is quite good at watching tv quietly after lunch though - ahem, currently watching babinogs with a packet of pombears

i am feeling absolutely fine thankyou. in fact i keep forgetting about it. havent told anyone at all, except you lot! my mum will prob have kittens for the fact that we'll be in singapore. not going for 6 months mind.keep waking up about 5am with panicky thought. worrying now about how we are going to manage with the fact that our stuff will take 30 days to ship out - including all dd's toys and cot! sheeeeeet.

Egypt I think you are doing really well with so much going on for you atm. Because you were quite unsure about Singapore at first weren't you? Kbaby agree with Egypt that your MIl probably gives DD what she wants. My kids are always "good as gold" when they go to the ILs but evil devil children on return. I know that the latter is partly because they always come back tired and also partly a sort of punishment for leaving them although they enjoy going.

We use step/bed (depending on whether we are upstairs or downstairs) for DD. It works OK. Tantrums are generally when she is tired, she will also lash out in these circumstances.

Off to Blackpool tomorrow.

DD is quite bossy and stropy, thinking about it quite like me and so she lashes out all the time. She will throw a toy or find something to throw but the hitting is getting worse. Last night I was in tears because shed been put on the step twice and then she was putting hair clips in my hair nicely and brushing it and then I said we had to go downstairs and do dinner and with that she just slapped me in the face. Im just so tired of her behaviour it seems to have deteriorated in the last 2 weeks.

I think we're all going through it at the moment. We use a naughty step (for hitting only). I've been recently wondering about extending this to spitting and throwing but I'm not sure if that's too strict.

DS is like one of the worst cases you'd see on supernanny at the moment. When he's ill he seems to turn into a mad screaming tornado that just whirls through the house chucking everything into the air, hitting and spitting, pretty much non - stop. He won't let me comfort him or cuddle him and refuses to do anything I suggest. I'm trying to be extra sympathetic but it's sooooo hard. We've had hardly any sleep because he's been up in the night screaming with Chicken Pox. He is so hot and itchy it's driving him crazy. We gave him a bicarbonate of soda bath at midnight last night and I've been sleeping in his room. Routine has gone out of the window and he's not eaten properly for days. He's refused to go for a little sleep this afternoon even though he was exhausted and he's just finally crashed out asleep in the doorway between the dining room and the lounge on the floor

Gosh Ponka its sounds terrible. I guess at least I just have the tantrums and not chicken pox to put up with.

DD goes on the step for hitting and throwing. Mainly because she does both constantly and the trowing is deliberate. Last night she threw a elephant at me from out of the bath because I said I was going to wash her hair. I put the elephant back in and said dont throw it again please, with that she threw another toy and then started splashing the bathwater all over the floor.
Oh and the answer to everything is 'NO' or she asks you something you tell her the answer and then she says 'no it isnt' ggrrrhhh...

Ooh ponka sounds like he (and you!) is suffering badly with the chicken pox. He should hopefully be getting better now though and you can gradually get back to some sort of normal routine. kbaby sounds like DD is really testing you as well. TBH if DD had thrown the elephant at me I would not have let her have it back - I would have put it in the basin or something.

DD has been punishing me this afternoon because she stayed away overnight at her grandparents. She enjoys going but then is a nightmare when she comes back. Sooo frustrating.

Sh used to like the bath but has recently become a nightmare to bath. She hates having her hair washed and deliberatly stands up and sticks her head over the end of the bath so you cant put water on her head properly. I think the reason shes started splashing is because she knows she gets taken out of the bath for the naughty step and so therefore is getting what she wants. Next time she does it and has to go on the step im going to put her back in the bath after.

I guess shes got a lot happening at the moment. A new bedroom, new baby and me being home from work so a new routine.

Although on a good note the sticker chart is going well for teeth brushing and shes let me brush her teeth twice now in exchange for a sticker. Maybe I should get one for everything else. ie bath, eating etc

I have had the hiar washing problem with DD for months now. She panics, grabs hold the bath and starts trying to climb out and you just don't have enough hands so she ends up with soap in her eyes and so it continues. Other than that she is generally fine in the bath and we only hairwash twice a week. Do see your point about the step etc though. And yes all the new things going on.

Hello everybody

Haven't read all the postings but you all sound very busy, especially those with new babies.
Hope you're all having a lovely summer.
I have the same problem with washing hair - she stands up then falls over because she can't see, soooooooooo - I let DH wash her hair, because she sits down for him!

My DM makes a point of telling me that my children are always VERY good when they are at her house and only start playing up when we arrive . According to my HV that makes them normal, not me a bad mother!

Dd2 goes "in the corner" which isn't really a corner, just a part of the wall in the front room, for hitting or hurting of any kind. Sometimes she hits dd1 then walks over htere without being told!

She has taken to saying "oh God" followed by "bad word mummy! Oh God Oh God Oh God" regularly, often in public . Good job she hasn't picked up some of my more colourful turns of phrase (yet).

We're off to France on Wednesday.

France
Our holiday this year is going to consist of a few day trips in the lovely county of Nottinghamshire!

I forget where I heard it but someone once said that the reason little ones play up most with their Mums/Dads is because they love you the most and feel most secure with you. Therefore, you are the ones they choose to be 'experimental' with reegarding their behaviour. I like that idea. I try to remember that when DS has been good as gold with Mum and then starts throwing a wobbly with me!

Ooh helsy probably too late to wish you bon voyage. Where did/are you going? We have two weeks in France at the end of the month and I can't wait. Slight issue around a lack of spending money so we may see the credit card being flexed...

Just to let you know I had a DS on wednesday. He weighed 8lb 11 and were all doing well although tired.

DD at the moment is also doing really well and is being very loving towards him.

Congratulations! That's great and I'm glad your DD is coping well. x

huge congrats kbaby. thats fantastic news. cant wait to hear all about it x

What's his name?

Contratulations kbaby. Posted on your announcement thread already. Glad DD is pleased. I think my DD would be overjoyed if I had a baby - not happening, mind you....

Weve called him James.

Will catch up with you all later when we have more time.

James is a lovely name Kbaby. Hope you are dooing ok during what is a pretty mad time.

I reckon we're over the newborn stage well and truly now. DD2 laughs properly and has fuzzy hair like a dandelion clock; her increasing presence in the household has provoked a wave of by-mistake-on-purpose violence from DD1. I've had a busy week with both of them, lots of visitors and excursions and it's been lovely. I am enjoying a sort of doting feeling but it's really marred by DD1's anger.

Bery bugs biting us in the garden. I had afunny conversation with DD1 testerday:

'A fly did visit me. I got bites in my nappy'

'Yes, the fly bit you didn't it?'

'It had a snack.'

Pause... 'Why did it not sit at a chair at Toddlers and have a snack?'

But talking of nappies, we have been experimenting with Pants! with mixed success. I hadn't intended to do it but DD1 was really doing rather well of her own accord and Mum kept saying 'do it in the summer' so I tried. Not boot camp by any means. But it's going ok. And I find myself really liking not having so many nappies to wash, and the fact that suddenly she fits into so many bought clothes.

Hiya! Spots, I saw your thread about pinching so I'll offer my thoughts here rather than there (don't often venture onto big wide board at large. Unless, bizarrely, to share with everybody that my mum fancies Roger Black). DD (4.5) still loves a swipe at little DS - it will usually happen if they are both quite close to me and we are doing something all together. He will chip in with a comment and she will just reach out and clobber him. Now that I can sort of see the warning signs, I reach out and sit her on my knee, or stroke her hair or something so that she is physically getting a little bit more of me. I think it also serves to let her know that I am Aware Of Her Intentions! Just typing it, though, makes my shoulders sag as I think of my ever-growing list of Ways To Keep Harmony In Our Household.
When they play together, they do so very well and really enjoy themselves. DD and I also indulge in a little conspiratorial eye rolling at DS and she will sigh "Tiddler toddlers. We never know what they are going to do next!"
Bozza - where did you go in Blackpool? Did you go to the Pleasure Beach? I grew up in Bpool, and would love to take the children, but DH is very snobby about the whole affair and the "Great Unwashed" who he cannot bear to be near.

Judd what a lovely way of dealing with it. I think DD might respond well to that if I was calm enough to offer it!

Isn't it funny, I know what you mean about the big wide boards. I find myself posting less and less 'out there'.

I dare you to post 3 things tonight!

at you too. I post junk here and there all the time. And actually found someone who's DH works with my BIL and admitted it so now am getting all paranoid about what I have posted about my ILs. Judd my DH is like that about Blackpool too. So I don't take him! I went with my sister and nephew and other sister. Firstly we went to the beach between Blackpool and St Annes where there is a free car park right by the beach. And the beach is huge and open with a fair amount of horse exercising going on. Then we moved into Blackpool itself and had lunch in a cafe. Then went on the Central Pier and let the kids go on a couple of rides on there but £2 each so that was £12 for the 3 of them . Then went for a walk up the prom and got an ice-cream at an outdoor cafe. Then decided unexpectedly to go back on the beach. There were load of pools left by the tide so the children stripped themselves (well DN sat down in one leaving my sister with little choice) which would be much to mumsnet disapproval and went paddling naked in front of 1000s of people. DS went on a donkey. Then we went in the 2p slots for a while and then back to the car. And to a 2 for 1 meal pub near the airport and then put the kids in their pjs and home. I have promised to take DS to the illuminations. Not sure about DD.

I am thinking of being brave and taking both kids swimming on my own this pm. DS is driving us mad with his inability to learn to swim so we have decided to go for intensive time at the pool. DD loves going swimming though so feel mean not taking her along at least some of the time. Need to go blow up another set of arm bands. DH very reluctant to go to the pool because he can't swim. It is a real all round bugbear for me.

DS doesn't physcially lash out at DD but he is older (5.5) and has other techniques to wind her up. Such as come sit on my knee, make sure DD is in earshot and then say very loudly "cuddle". Or start the old "my mummy" routine going. Grr. DD poked DS in the eye on Thursday morning after I went to work and made him cry. DH said he was still crying at the CM, then my friend picked him up from holiday club because he was going for a sleepover and his eyes were really swollen and sore so she had to take him to the chemist and get eye drops. at DD.