JAN 06 - so what's THAT you're eating mummy?

[loomer]

Here we go then... I've also updated my album of photos on the \link{http://health.ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/mumsnetpix/photos\Yahoo site}, it'd be great to see recent pics of all our angels on there!

Eshay - I meant a real milk float! They do hum so... but actually you do have a point and I think (sadly) that I need to cut down to from 4ish to 2 bfs now - morning and night for my own comfort when I have to be away for 12 hrs at a time. None of my other 3 woke for feeds during the night at this age but this one has a very vocal and strong personality! My plan is to get dp to give him a small bottle of formula and gradually water it down eg 3, 2, 1oz in 4 oz of water. I don't see why he can't do this at the weekend and it might be worth his while for some extra sleep the two nights I'm away next week when he'll have to cope on his own...

Sorry... bloody foreigners always getting things wrong... ha ha ha. Good luck with the watering down strategy. If that doesn't work (I'm sure it doesn't taste very nice) then you can always try cutting down full strength milk. We did this with Alex for his 10pm feed and once he was happy with only 2oz we stopped altogether. he didn't notice a thing!

{{{hugs}}} to eveyone whose big ones are off at school It's an odd time to see them growing up so much, while our little Jan babes are still trying so many things for the first time.

My ds1 started school this term... SO excited about it. There is an after school club where they get to do more or less what they like - he plays for hours with lego & geomag, and never wants to come home when I pick him up! He's also cycling to school... accompanied, but still makes him feel very grown up

I am in the sick half of the family this week chez Tickle. Clemmie has been rotten all week with fever and snot, Theo coughing & snotty, and now I have come down with a raw sore throat, temperature and to add insult to injury - raging thrush!!

I think Clemmie may be sleeping her way out of it today... I gave her water and calpol at 6.30am - she slept thru all the others getting up and off to school, and it's now past eleven and she is still asleep I did pop my head in to check she was breathing...

ok, back to the sofa with honey and lemon for me Hope you're all doing well xx

ps WTWTA - at still having REAL milk floats, even if they do wake you up

Hi all

Well done to all those with los going to school!! Must be a wrench.

Great to see newbies, especially from my original neck of the woods (Newcastle area). Find I'm missing the north east a lot at the moment.

Anyway on a selfish note I'm feeling TONS happier than I have for ages, yippee All started with trip to docs to tell him I'm a borderline alcoholic.. things started to look up after admitting it! Have started diet to lose the weight, been to some great baby groups, met some fab new mumfriends and even went to a dance class - all this week!! And hardly drank a thing all week. Things had got about as bad as they could get, so time for some happiness I reckon !

Dominic doing great, a bit snotty and feverish this week but usual cheerful self. Have had lots of lovely cuddles

Our routine:
7am wake up; baby cereal, 5oz formula
9-10 nap
11.30 5oz formula
12 lunch, usually some sort of veg/lentil puree plus fruit.
Sometime in the afternoon he has a long nap (1.5-2 h)
5.30 5oz formula
6pm dinner: puree plus fruit.
7pm bath
7.30 Daddy reads us a book then bed

NG Can't believe Gus is standing!!!
Eshay lol at milk float!
Must go he is whingeing!

hugsxx

Hey all long time no chat. Things have been so busy here in NZ. The weather has been gorgeous all week but today Sat is has been pouring all day.
ds pretty crook with really high temps hit 39.8 the other day and generally cranky etc so more time had to spend bf. dd not well either neither dh or me but us adults just keep trouping along.
Very excited we are coming back over on hols for 3wks in Oct, going to Spain for 10days and have 3days in London. Hopefully the weather will comply.
ds hasn't really got a fixed schedule as he just gets dragged around dd's stuff and picks up sleep here and there. He almost always has a late afternoon nap and normally goes down for about 2hrs around lunch time. Sometimes he fits in a quick 30mins at 11am but not that often.

He is totally crawling and getting around, can clap his hands in front of him now and has just started pulling up into standing too. He has just got his first 2 teeth. He is a longish lanky lad of almost 17pounds and 71cm tall.

Supportive hugs to all those with littleones off to school. Good start barrelrider, and hope you all feel better too Tickle.

Take care all.

Am still up in Glasgow and we're off to the hospital for visiting in a few minutes.
Lola's routine is approx as follows:

Up at 8ish, 5oz milk from cup (only has a bottle at bedtime now) half a weetabix one day/oatabix the next, with 50ml cows milk.

20 min or so nap sometime between breakfast and lunch - not structured, she just falls asleep on the floor/bouncy chair/beanbag when she's ready to.

Lunch about 12 - protein based - usually my homemade minestrone with lots of beans in or a combination of chicken and various veggies. Small cup of apple juice with this.

5oz formula from cuparound 2.30pm then some mashed fresh fruit around 3pm.

Nap sometime in the afternoon anything from 30 minutes to 2 hours.

Dinner about 5.30-6 usually something like pasta with veggies & cheese, a mashed boiled egg with some brown bread or something. Small drink of juice with this too.

5oz bottle at 7pm bath at 7.30 followed by another 5oz bottle which she goes to sleep on. She was waking about an hour after going down and having more milk, hence splitting 10oz into pre and post bath, that way she stays down for the night

Argghh gotta dash! Catch up soon

Hey Lisa - missed something there... who are you visiting in hospital? Is it your family or dh's in Glasgow??? Anyway, hope it's not serious, whatever it is Catch up soon

Hi Chuffed, thanks for the kind thoughts... still grotty, but dh is off work this weekend, so has hauled most of the kids off to the beach Nice to hear news of NZ. My sis sent me a text for Melbourne the other day, letting me know she had flip flops on again for the first time. Actually she said her 'thongs' and dh thought that was TMI, til I mentioned that that is Oz for flip flops

and in NZ we call them jandals

Right! Am determined to catch up. For once! (have been typing this post in 5 min stages for about 3 days. Agh!! ok, its a bit of an essay, but here goes

Loomer ? hey, are you calling my boy short??

Lyra ? glad to hear the pnd is under control. But if it?s the meds killing your libido, whats my excuse?? Probably a lack of meds?

Actually, on the sex topic; Ive only done it once since Gus was born and was rewarded with a bartholins cyst! Maybe I had so much sex between 15 and 26 my body?s decided it doesn?t need any more. Ever. Hmmmm?

ANYWAY (sorry, TMI)

Schedules. Right.

Can I just preface this by saying that on days like today, I thank my (and my kids?) lucky stars that I have a nanny, even if she is only 18 and without experience or a driving licence, or much initiative to speak of. At least it gives me a break. I couldn?t handle the three of them non-stop all day everyday. Id have been committed by now!

So, Angus is: Usually up about 6or 7 for a bf, then up for some hand held food and for the day. He has a nap of about an hour or more mid morning ish, lunch consists of a ridiculously large portion of finger foods and spoon food which hovers before him so he can grab it into his mouth when he feels like it. Am amazed how much he eats. Then he plays for a bit, naps again in the afternoon, and does the same as lunch for dinner at about 5. all this is now pretty much in line with the other boys (apart from; they don?t have naps now)
Then theyre all in the bath at 7ish, and off to their various beds from there. (sandy puts Archie and Max to bed in their room, while I do Gus in our room at the mo. Would much rather his cot was elsewhere now, but nowhere else to put him till the building work is finished) he then has another bf about midnight most nights, sometimes about 4, and sometimes neither of those times (through to about 6)

Course we went up to London to my dads today (Grandpa?s house!) so its all out of kilter tonight. Oh well

Georgie ? school! Nooooooo. I want them all to stay babies forever? well done and congrats

Tickle ? get well soon wishes to all of you

Eshay ? milk floats?.ahhh, weirdly nostalgic at the mention of those.

Barrelrider ? good for you girl, taking control of your situation like that. takes strength that, and am so glad you almost instantly felt so much better. Now maybe I should take a leaf out of your book.

Lisa ? hope the hospital thing isn?t too serious, whoever it is. And Lolas routine sounds nice and smooth. (dwon for th night [jealous])

NG I'm not even going to google a bartho whatsit cyst.... but it sounds painful! Bedroom activity certainly infrequent here still. Poor dh, but I am just eternally knackered.

Am very loathe to stop bfing, as this is definitely our last one, but starting to feel that it would be nice to 'own' my own body again - then maybe Theo would sleep thru, I might have more energy ??? Here's hoping

DH and I were talking about how strange it will be to have no children in the house in the daytime (ds2 is down to start at the CM in January). End of an era!

Health better at Tickle Towers - will prob send dd2 to CM tomorrow (she was at home all last wk) .

Oooh Theo calls - off to bed,
night night

yeah, trust me tickle, you dont want to know.

am feeling exactly the same way about bf'ing as you.

glad health is better

Hi there, dd standing up in cot and refusing to sleep in cot during the day, when she goes into pram she falls asleep- is this so bad?? anyone else in same position?

Lilymolly, I have the opposite here. Alex will sleep in his cot but today I decided he needed to catch up on some sleep, say 30 mins or so, so i took him for a walk at 3.30 and he still wasn't asleep when I came home just before 5. I'm not sure he will make it through till 7 but he will have to now.
If this "falling asleep in the pram only" works for you then it's not a bad thing at all. Why not, if everyone is happy? But do think about the colder and wetter weather that's not far off. Will your dd be alright if you can't go out for walks all the time? If that seems like it might be a problem then you could try going for walks at the same time each day so she gets used to having a nap at a set time. That way you may be able to condition her a bit so going to sleep in her cot at that time might become a possibility.

good advice there I think from Eshay - one more thought.. once she is asleep - is she a heavy sleeper? could you move her into the cot?

If you really need to stay in, then a bit of picking up when she cries, a cuddle and then straight back down again (rpt as necessary!), might convince her that she is tired enough to sleep?

I know with my first dd, there was lots of advice around about NOT putting them into their night bed during the day, to avoid confusing them. But I don't think that really adds up - bed is for sleeping, whether napping or night-time methinks.

dh out tonight, so better go and toss the 4 of them into the bath wish me luck!
T
xxx

Thanks for advice girls, dd has to sleep in pram outside in winter as she comes to stables with me whilst I muck out my horses, plus have dog that needs walking in the winter too, so we just get wrapped up and we are toasty warm, or can put pram inside if really bad (live up in hills in north) so can be Very cold!!
Tried the controlled crying, but am frightened, that she will fall and bang head on cot bed. will keep persevering!

Another little thing to ask- she has no teeth yet, but last week had very sloppy poos, runny nose and then terrible nappy rash- the poos have stopped, as had nappy rash but runny nose is still there, do you think this is teething?

Hi. Having a bit of a howler with Libby. She projectile vomited every one of her meals and milk feeds yesterday. No temp. Not grumpy. Just vommed down me, her dad, on carpet etc etc. Today she's not really eating and won't go near her milk. All v strange. She's happy in herself so don't think its anything serious.

Mollie had first full day of school and dear god she became the anti christ at about 5pm. Had slaved over home cooked fish pie for them both for tea. Libby, who usually eats anything, (inc the oil cloth on the table ) turned nose up and gagged at it and Moo threw major tantrum and told me it was, and I quote, 'disgusting' . Can't bloody win some days!

Libby's schedule goes something like this....

7/7.30ish - wake up and have 4oz milk
8ish - breakfast; weetabix, yog, toast, bannana (some of above or none of above depending on her mood)
9.30ish - nap for 45 mins
10.30ish - snack time; rice cakes,baby biscuit, muffin from starbucks (ahem ). Water
12ish - lunchtime; either something I've made or Hipp jar savoury and dessert. Water.
1pm - nap time for 1 1/2 hours
3.30ish - milk; about 4oz
5ish - tea time. Same as above. But if she's had protien for lunch she'll have veggie tea. Water.
6ish - bath with big sis
6.30 - daddy put her to bed with milk; anything from 4oz to 6oz. Flat out and pushing out the zzz's by 6.33pm!

She's not a great fruit eater and she's certainly not a great milk drinker.

hi lilymolly - at horses maybe next year... what do you have??

We're in Denmark, and here babies snooze out in prams all year round, whatever the weather, and every baby has a duvet specially for this, and a harness for when they can sit up etc.

I don't have a very big pram, so dd2, who was born here, has always slept in a cot. But when she went to a childminder, there was suddenly a bit of an issue. The CM's are set up to have a row of prams outside - but heaven forbid have a child inside! So we compromised on our travel cot, that lives at their place, under eaves of their barn. In winter dd2 goes out in her thermal flying suit, gloves (actually only one as she is a thumb sucker!) and duvet

On the teething... my mother swears every symptom* under the sun is a sign of teething, and dh, a vet, rolls his eyes every time

*(usually nappies that smell like over ripe xmas pud)

It could be her teeth.. but it may just be a quick virus or gastric bug.

Georgie - sorry to hear Libby has been doing her exorcist impression Nice that she's perky with it though, as you load the washing machine one more time...

NG on the nanny front (does anyone else have help - can't remember??) - we are seriously thinking of an au pair for next year. Just that old chestnut of having someone living in the house, but we just don't have enough hands. Does your nanny live in? How's it going?

Steadily cleaning up the house - I have been lurking on the FLYbabies thread, but that sounds a bit full on, and scary. I would never have the guts to post photos of this house! The kids' bedroom gives me the shivers just thinking about it.

Maybe I could give this au pair danger money...??

lots of love to all
T
xx

Hi Tickle- I have welsh cob 14.1hh and ancient shetland as companion pony!! great fun,but hard work with little one! would be great for you to have horse next year, good luck with that. Yeah dd wil be fine outside in pram, she was a week old and outside in sub degree temperatures as the horses had to be looked after and dp was at work. wish my dp was vet, would save some money

Hi lilymolly ? pram sleeping: don?t know if its ?bad? or not, but I never managed to get any of them to sleep in their cot during the day either, so youre not alone. I guess it doesn?t matter where they nap, as long as they do when tyhey need to.
And as for standing at night? my ds1 never really minded his cot, but ds2 HATED it and was soooo happy when I finally moved him to a proper bed at 15m (I moved ds1 into a bed at 12m, but like I say, he was always a ?good? sleeper)
About the teething question ; could be teething, could be a not v serious bug. Neither is all that bad in the end, both will pass quickly enough, and only time will tell. Ive been saying Gus is teething since about 6 weeks after he was born and theres still no sign of any teeth! And with 3 under 4, you?d think id know all about it by now! Doh.

Hi george ? don?t you just love the projectile vomit? Have you had any go into your open mouth yet? Has to be my single most disgusting experience ever, and believe me I have not led a sheltered life!

Am jealous at Tickle and Lily who lead these healthy outdoor lifestyles with horses and rosy-cheeked bundles sleeping happily in the snow? (er, don?t worry about me, im a bit mad sometimes, just ignore it when it happens. Lol)

Tickle ? aupair/nanny advice: It can work out really nicely as long as you all get along? it?s a bit of a lottery with an aupair, or a nanny really, coz you don?t get to know them till they live with you. Mostly works out well, but can go the other way. As a rule of thumb, I would say to get people for about 6 months and no longer. After that, the honeymoon period is over and they don?t try as hard to please, you are less tolerant of ?faults?? If you keep it to 6 months, you can part as friends. It is quite intense, living in someones home and looking after their kids. About as intimate as any relationship can be, I think, and all with a stranger really. Anyhoo, im waffling a bit. Please feel free to CAT me and I can waffle about it as much as you like, inc answer any specific questions. LOL at danger money!

Hi all - what is it with losing posts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just wrote loads then it vanished!!!!!
to precis....
DH putting Dom to bed for the first time (and doing the night with him armed with gallons of EBM)as am so knackered I can hardly function (he is screaming hysterically as I type - and has been for the past hour - am fighting tears constantly these days it seems) I've done the whole pupd/blackouts/rigid routine and nothing seems to work but can't bring myself to just leave him so we've decided that me not being there is the only option (it's giving me a lump in my throat just typing that )DD has been working a lot lately to raise money to buy a car & hasn't been getting in until 11 so I've not been able to go to sleep until she's home which has sort of exacerbated things

Rach - hope Finn's slep has improved (must be nightmareish now you're back at work) thanks for the fab BLW link btw. Dom's on mush & lots of finger foods so not really BLW but great tips & recipes (his fave food atm is red pepper hummous on toast) Bamboo nappies are a mega hit too (am even selling my tots bots ...anyone interested?)

lilymolly - hi there DS sleeps in his pram/car seat/cot during the day. I love the idea of having him outside sleeping but it doesn't always happen (then again, neither does sleep.....)

Doms' day...
5ish - bf
7ish - breakfast - rice crispies/porridge (with formula)/fruit/toast
1030ish bf then sleep for 30-45 mins
12ish - lunch - veggies/veggie mush/soya yoghurt
2.30ish bf then sleep for an hour(ish)
5ish - dinner with everyone (usually a lentil/soya something & veg sticks of whatever we're having then fruit
6ish bf
6.30ish bath
7ish bf book then bed (bf to sleep over about an hour)
11ish bf
and during the past week...
12ish awake but not hungry...scream/doze/scream...
3am ish maybe go to sleep

he's now got 4 teeth (top 2 are huge and with a massive gap (DD reckons he looks like a cartoon!!) & can hold himself up standing but not crawl yet

not quite a precis then - aversion therapy to crying obviously!!

Hi to all I've not mentioned - been trying to catch up & hugs to you all irisxx

hi iris - lovely to hear from you! Sounds like you need a bit of a break - can you get somewhere out of earshot while DH puts him to bed? I know how stressful it is listening to them cry

But it's important you get some rest... so sending lots of snuggly sleep vibes to you. At least take a nice hot bath to relax a bit when Dom is not your responsibility, and while away the hours til dd comes home! Sounds like she is working really hard

lots of love
T
xx

RESULT!!!!!! Dh finally got him to settle after 1 1/2 hrs then he woke at 10 & screamed until 11.15 then slept until 6.45!!!!!! I feel soo much better (was starting to think you could actually die from sleep depravation!!) Dom's got his development check today & Dh is going to put him down again tonight & tomorrow to try to set a pattern of not bf to sleep. happy happy day have a lovely one all!x

ps - thanks for the comments Tickle - am going to take your advice tonight & have a hot soak whilst he's being put to bed....bliss (mind you it's bliss being properly awake today - such a novelty!!)