April 2013 - We've all had our babies now. Let the (hard work) fun commence!

[HadALittleFaithBaby]

Thought I'd take the liberty of starting a new thread since the last one filled. So mark your places, get comfy and prepare for a few sleepless nights!

In particular we think of Empress and little Sam - hoping and praying he's coming home! :)

Might be obvious enjay but to give anything to a syringe the trick is to put it slowly into the inside of baby's cheek rather than onto tongue or to squirt into the centre of their mouth. Is harder for them to spit out from the side and also doesn't set off gagging.

Enjay we are going to Spain for 10 nights! We are going with our friends (another couple with a baby boy 5 weeks older than H)

Can't wait! xx we need it after everything this year! Wedding, Mr's scbu stay and house buying!

Also think Gro bags are fine in Moses baskets, if they are too long just drape over end of basket.

We have had our 6 week check at almost 8 weeks. C is now 8 lb 8, her sisters birthweight. GP was concerned about her weight gain & we are having a re weigh in 2 weeks and for Paeds referral them if she crosses another centile. We discussed treating now for possible reflux but I am not that keen without seeing Paeds & would rather go straight for ranitidine or omeprazole than use Gaviscon. I got the mini pill- fine with breastfeeding & started it tonight.

candy I think that is wise advice from the GP. Reflux is very, very common and essentially normal in young babies. They almost always grow out of it slowly when they start solids, moving about. Obviously in some babies it is a problem and can cause poor weight gain, intractable crying etc and these babies need treatment otherwise probably best to just keep an eye. Some of the treatments can cause side effects and be a right PITA to give especially to a breastfed baby.

faith glad you had such a good day.

I looked at the only grow bag I have and it's enormous! Sure my sister said she had a couple I could borrow so I'll ask her this weekend.

Sorry to hear about C too. I hope the referral comes through quickly if/when she needs it.

Faithlet takes gripe water ok from a syringe but I start her off with tiny bits.

Well my wonderful baby just slept from 10-4.30! my boobs were enormous! :) don't expect it to happen often but it was great to sleep for so long!

Congrats on the sleep faith! I am defo a bit green with envy : )

I was wondering if any if you that are London based or those of you that have visited London with babies in tow might be able to give me some tips? We r headed there for a couple of nights in July with some friends that are visiting from the states. I love London and go quite often with DH but have never done it with a baby in tow before!

Firstly I could do with finding a decent hotel that won't break the bank. Truth be told is that usually I have a serious case of 5 star fever and just blow the budget on 2 nights somewhere posh but as friends are with us and are on a long and expensive trip I need to rein it in. I don't want to stay anywhere basic so would be looking for somewhere comfortable and central but not stretching to a 5 star.

I am also wondering about getting about. We usually walk everywhere and jump in the odd taxi/in the tube if getting tired. I have a sling and pram - any tips on what you do/would do? Worried about busy tubes with little H getting squished in a sling and also don't want to have to wheel him about in his car seat just in case we jump in the odd cab. Any tips would be much appreciated! : )

Congrats on the sleep faith! I am defo a bit green with envy : )

I was wondering if any if you that are London based or those of you that have visited London with babies in tow might be able to give me some tips? We r headed there for a couple of nights in July with some friends that are visiting from the states. I love London and go quite often with DH but have never done it with a baby in tow before!

Firstly I could do with finding a decent hotel that won't break the bank. Truth be told is that usually I have a serious case of 5 star fever and just blow the budget on 2 nights somewhere posh but as friends are with us and are on a long and expensive trip I need to rein it in. I don't want to stay anywhere basic so would be looking for somewhere comfortable and central but not stretching to a 5 star.

I am also wondering about getting about. We usually walk everywhere and jump in the odd taxi/in the tube if getting tired. I have a sling and pram - any tips on what you do/would do? Worried about busy tubes with little H getting squished in a sling and also don't want to have to wheel him about in his car seat just in case we jump in the odd cab. Any tips would be much appreciated! : )

Morning everyone!

I'm up before H! He went down well after his midnight feed (he was sleepy during it and took 60ml less), and he's still asleep now so not sure if this means he going to start sleeping longer! I'm just expressing and having breakfast before feeding him, don't want to wake him!

We are going to meet up with some of work friends and their babies! There will be about 4-5 of us and one of our other friends is in labour now too!

Hubby is dropping us to train station (lovely 55min journey to Brum from Stratford) at 7.45 so need to do lots before then!

Have a great day everyone xx

Good morning all just marking place, I've been so busy I've not managed to look at this thread, hope everyone is well and I'll try to catch up soon, but right now I need some sleep

Morning all, checking in after a feed but really hoping boo will let me put her back down for an hour (or three). For those struggling with reflux, there is light at the end of the tunnel. I'm sure you've seen my desperate postings a few weeks ago, on here and on fb. To be fair boo is now fab,most refluxy signs gone and shed only on 5mg of omeprazol a day. :) hang in there it does get easier.

Was wondering about Lucy! So glad she's doing well! x

Ruddy - I'd try Premier Travel Inn, as they have one just near the Globe, and I've always thought that if I had to stay at a hotel in London it looked good. The problem with living in London is that you never need to use hotels here, so don't have a list of recommendations!

As a general rule, Premier Travel Inn is great if you have babies, as their cots are always perfectly made up, and there is always a child friendly restaurant attached. We use them a lot on the journey to Scotland to break the journey. Their rooms are always a good standard, and clean.

For getting around, I'd recommend the sling, as a lot of the tube system is inaccessible on wheels, and this will make buses easier too. Do you have Oyster cards? They make traveling a lot cheaper in London, and your guests can hand theirs back when they leave to get back cash and deposit - you might as well keep yours for your next trip.

Anyway, back to me! Ugh, I do want some form of a routine, just so I know what to expect! The night before, E didn't wake till 5 am, this night, the third waking was just after 5! She's now asleep in my arms, as I want DH to get half an hour of uninterrupted sleep before the alarm goes off, as E has been shuffling most of the night!

And we also love vests here! DS is always got a vest style body suit on even at 2, as he likes to be carried, and his day vest stops everything from sliding up. I'll be sad to see them go when potty training commences, but don't think that will be for a while yet!

On the reflux babies, my mum thinks I had it, but as I was piling on the pounds, it didn't cause problems, but she really wishes she'd been able to get infant gaviscin all those years ago, just to make raising me less stressful - she remembers me as a difficult baby!

Oh and Ruddy just avoid rush hour on the tube, and H won't get squashed - most Londoners will respect the sling, and they'll be grateful you've not squeezed a buggy in with them!

It's now generally not taken t,hat just because a babies gaining weight they don't need to be treated for reflux, boos fine with weight gain,it was the unsettledness, fighting bottles, whining and squirming during and after every feed etc. she wasn't sick that often either, hers in silent reflux. :)

Trish - we have a happy, smiling baby, who is content after feeds and in a pretty good routine, bath at eight, bottle twenty past, takes around twenty mins to feed as she's on 9oz and doesn't guzzle, asleep by nine,held upright anything between 9:30 and ten depending whats on tv, and sleeps until around 1:30 - 3am, :) up and back down within an hour and then wakes anytime between 5am and 6am. She's also self settled a few times. :) were getting there.

Boos stillin vests and baby grows, she's wore a couple of dresses, ut generally, vest and baby grow is far easier :)

ruddy Not sure about hotels, but travel-wise in London most people don't put a carseat into taxis, they wheel the whole pushchair in and face it backwards. Not sure how comfy your sling is but could get tiring all day long. Rush-hour tube to be avoided where possible! But we have done it with a pushchair and you just have to be, well, pushy! It is vastly easier with a lightweight e.g. Maclaren, tbh I would leave a heavy travel system behind, just too big and so heavy as there are rarely any lifts! If using a pushchair, no one folds for the escalators despite the signs, you just have to be careful and if there are two of you then one of you can stand on front. I know not recommended but just impractical to fiddle around folding when people are everywhere! And remember not to put things loose in the basket, always in a bag as if you need to fold on a bus, you may need to do it quickly. Most of the time you can get two unfolded pushchairs on each bus, but when these are full it is tricky.

Stand in front on escalator, not on front obviously!

Major settling fail here, going to give 5 mins then take out of basket and try again. It's because the swaddle is a bit small now, she escaped it before sleeping rather than on waking like normal. That being said though, she is quite chirpy in her refusal to go back to sleep!

enjay it goes in her cheek very very slowly, I got a bit trigger happy yesterday and thought she was going to choke at one point so slowly is the key for us!

Thanks so much amber and Ellie's!

Will check out the premier inn and have a good think about transport options! Good to know we could hop in a cab with the buggy and less worried about baby squashing on the tube as we can easily avoid rush hour. Will perhaps do some journeys in the sling and some in the buggy.

I haven't used an Oyster card on previous trips so will look into that.

Good news things are going well and the reflux is under control ragbag and have fun on your day out Trish!

Ruddy I will try! Going out on my own with H is like prepping for an expedition! Xx

Tried to put it in her cheek but she still spat it out. Will persevere and try again today though, thanks all.

Spain sounds fab trish I know ppl worry about takin babies abroad but I think the younger they are, the more easy it is! Took both my eldest when they were toddlers and it's hard work!

Well, wow for a good night with F! Feed at 9pm, down by 10.30, dream feed at 11.30, woke at 4 and back in moses basket by half past and jst fed again at 7! Woohoo! Hope it lasts but suspect more of a 1 off!

enjay baby user spat it out then puked any remaining first time but seems to like it now!

Finally settled at 7.15 from a 6am wake up, it's one of those noisy sleeps though, glad I'm not attempting to sleep too!

ruddy definitely get an oyster card, even for just a couple of days it will save you money. I would use the sling if I was you, I'm always getting told by bus drivers I can't get on with my pram as it takes up too much space (the same amount as a regular buggy but with the carrycot on looks bigger ) you can always take it in turns to wear the sling if it's getting too much, but it means you don't have a pram to put changing bag on so maybe a backpack would be a good idea so you don't have too much to carry. Haven't braved the tube yet so can't help with that . Let us know if you go anywhere that's easy with babies, now that DH has finished his exams we want to go on day trips before we organise our move to manchester...

*meant same size not amount I'm a bit tired today!

Spain sounds great Trish and will be lovely after all you have had to deal with this year. Holidays are different with children but Spain is very child friendly so a good place to start. We took DD1 to Madrid when she was a couple of months old and it was almost like previous holidays but we just took her along. We still ate out in the same restaurants and the staff were always lovely. Holidays when they get older are much harder and getting to eat in nice places a real treat!

I also was thinking of Premier Inn for London Ruddy They are very different from your usual 5* places but if you are going to London then you will not be in the hotel very much, surely. That said, last time we went to London (October last year) we did a house swap and it was the easiest (and cheapest) 10 days in London we have ever had

Thank you to whoever posted the sleep cues a few days ago. Even though Evan is DC3, he is very different from the DDs. However, at the moment he is sleeping very happily beside me on my bed (we have been up and dressed for hours but we were in here when I noticed the droopy eyes) and the DDs are playing schools (in the bathroom ) so I actually have a few minutes to check in. He is resting on my V cushion to avoid being upright and seems pretty content

and ratbag wow at your DD taking only 20 minutes for her 9oz. Evan is 11 weeks old now and still struggles to finish his 5oz - and will take at least 30 minutes to drink whatever he is going to drink.

However, today seems like a good day - he is awake a lot more than usual and drank 4oz and is now sleeping (fairly) peacefully. And he was very smiley earlier and when he filled his nappy with a huge amount of watery poo it did not leak...

Trish does Hunter have a lovely photo in his passport? Both our DDs were taken abroad within first 4 months and their pictures were challenging!

And using the passports for next 5 years means they could almost be anyone as they look very little like their tiny baby selves!

Just took baht Essex to a baby bumpkin class, dragged him when he wanted to sleep and the woman running it didn't turn up, very annoying!! Anyone else had any experience of them?