December 2012: This too shall pass, this too shall pass

[HoneyMumandSon]

keep repeating the mantra...

Weeing ok, I mean.

spotty poor lo. Fx the Dr can suggest something..

willyou what thread is that?

We've been given permission to up her medicine and she had an ice lolly.

Utopian is your boob feeling any better?

I'm going go go on a chocolate and calpol run in a bit

I haven't seen that thread either. I sometimes can't believe what arses people's partners can be.

I agree. My husband has been amazing - during my pregnancy, the labour, while he was on paternity leave. He's off making me a cup of tea right now as C sleeps in my arms. I can't conceive of how hard all this would be without another supportive parent.

Spotty, hope your daughter feels better soon.

It's here ladies, prepare to boil with rage on her behalf though!

Sorry to hear about all the poorly people :( mamapo I was told by a dr to look out for the soft spot on a baby's head looking sunken, that can be a sign of dehydration. I hope everyone is feeling better soon.

We tried giving E expressed breast milk last night, I expressed 3 oz and he drank half an oz. He would only take the bottle if I fed him and then quickly slipped the nipple out of his mouth and the bottle into his mouth, he wouldn't feed at all with dp. Any tips to tempt a baby to take a bottle?

Honeytea advice is to try when they're not hungry and also I know some babies won't take a bottle when they know mum is around. Ds will only take it once he realises there's milk in it and that's it's not just a random bit of plastic!

What an arse WillYou. Dp is currently sorting through the second load if washing he's done today. He's looked after dd all day too and slept with her last night and ds is almost four months. He did everything at 6 days pp. Poor OP.

Honey tea we got Yunior to take a bottle by having Dh do it. It seems less confusing for him.
Sorry to hear of sicknesses, I had a stomach bug last week, Yunior had a fever from his first jabs, Dh then got stomach bug all while ils visiting! And to top it off, when Dh was feeling poorly the toilet decided to back up and I had to replace the wax seal a well as unclog the damn thing! It was no fun telling my 83 year old fil that he had to go out side. Luckily it wasn't to cold!

Yunior has been doing well going to work every day. He's getting exposed to lots of language! He's very good at meetings to, just watching and listening.

I know! My DP came home from 12 hour shifts and made the tea for us both.

DS is taking the mickey today, he keeps latching onto my nipple through 2 jumpers and a bra. When I was trying to bloody feed him he wouldn't latch for love nor money!

Feel a bit bad for C - she's had a v boring day, mostly on bed. No walk, no playmat, nothing. How's that for maternal guilt?! She's 14 weeks old, she's fine!

Monster, wow, terrible week!

So who's in charge of the FB group? Does it show up on your feed? I'm keen to join.

Ds woke at 7:30 slept 11-12 and that's it. He's quite happy but surely he must be tired?!

Poor you monster that doesn't sound fun!

Honey is mama

Ugh sounds like a fun week had by all Monster

Snap Spotty unfortunately J was a right nark. He's just fallen asleep now, bet he lasts ~10 seconds

You just PM Honey a link to your FB profile Mama

I'm looking at ways to save money. This month we've had car insurance and tax, £250 vet bill (so far), and the curtains in our bedroom just fell down.
So, money saving ideas? So far I have meal planning/proper meal budget that I stick too plus an extra cake budget and eating lunch in before meeting up with mums for coffee.
DH made me sad this morning, so we had a little chat. He has a tendency in the morning of checking the clock after T wakes up, seeing its early, pulling cover up to his ears and turning his back on us to get more sleep. Meanwhile I've been up 6 times in the night and tried really hard to keep T quiet and settled so DH gets a full night of sleep. We've agreed Saturday is my lay-in day, so I didn't get up till 10, and slept all on my own in the bed. Bliss. Gave me weird dreams though, I dreamt I was buying a BBQ, very detailed dream too - I was looking at all the ones available for sale, seeing how they distribute heat, how easy to clean, and how much they cost .

Sorry to hear about poorly mums and babies. I hope everyone gets better soon and some holidays get planned for the summer. I really want a holiday this year, but not sure what we'll manage. I'd love to go somewhere warm.

Stacks can you not get your food budget down? (I've just had to put ours up ). Do you pay your insurance all in one go? Do you have a bank account that you pay for? Ummm have you looked to see if you can get your insurance down? Cheaper broadband? Curtains are cheap on eBay or in Argos sorry if you've done all these things! Our monthly essential bills are nearly £2000

Both dc in bed asleep

Thanks for the suggestions about keeping N in our room a bit longer. Will give the travel cot a try, but DS1 took against it. If N isn't keen either then looks like an IKEA trip - not broken it to DH yet .

Our holiday is going to be a caravan in Anglesey. Should be fine for this year if we get good weather - DS1 will love the beach and exploring the castle, and N should be easily pleased! Hopefully we'll make it a bit further afield next year.

Spotty - hope your DD is ok. Also hope everyone's recovered Monster - sounds like a hell of a week.

Right - off to bed. I really hope C decides to sleep like a champion as I was too sick to express so have to do all the feeds tonight. :(

Sweet dreams all.

Oh dear it does sound rather like everyone is having a hard time at the mo. fx for peaceful nights that see everyone fit and well in the morning!

stacks if you come up with anything let me know! I did log onto a savings account today though which we never look at but drip feed every month - turns out its got £700 more than I thought in it! Total bonus as I was logging on to raid it as next couple if months are going to be 'interesting'.

spotty you mentioned not going back to your old job and looking for a new one - maybe we can hold hands! I will be going back and then looking for something else. I am actually sending off an application tom as I just happened to see something. It would mean an hours commute which I'm not sure how I'd manage to get everyone ready in the morning and to bed etc but its all such a long shot there's no point worrying.

Omg that thread - the poor lady. My husband has been amazing - not just supporting me but caring for little Z too. I simply couldn't have got through it by myself.

stacks re money saving have you reviewed any direct debits you have? Are there any subscriptions etc that you don't use and that can be cancelled? We did that recently and it's funny how the odd monthly 9.99 here and there add up. For curtains, a roman blind from Argos can be got for around £20 or so which can be better than trying to find curtains that will fit. Also, which supermarket do you shop at? I don't know about you but I find that even a quick run round sainsburys takes me into 3 figures; we've saved heaps by getting a lot of our shopping at Aldi.

Agree on savaging your bills/old direct debits. Check all comparison websites for insurance and utilities savings. Ditch subscriptions if you can go without (i.e. Freeview not sky etc)

Write a spreadsheet of all outgoings for a month and see where the small things add up. Swap a bought treat i.e. Clothes/food for a free treat i.e. Long bath (if dh will help)

Audit your things and have an ebay selling bonanza. Not really a saving but raises funds.

We have a travel cot for O as he's outgrown the hammock and until we buy a cot; this is his first night in it not our bed and every time i put him down since 11.30 he's been awake shouting within 20 minutes. I know he's only a baby not a 6-year old buy I'm.getting really REALLY . What can I do to stop this without caving in to him coming back to our bed?

itopian have you tried swaddling or putting a rolled blanket or towel either side of him? I guess it all feels a bit exposed after feeling the sides of the hammock. Good luck! I'm just wrangling T after an earlier than normal feed. Please go back down little one!