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March 2013 - gurgles, giggles and going on holiday (for some of us at least!)

995 replies

pudtat · 04/06/2013 21:57

Will this do? Never started a thread before so hope this works...

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plonko · 10/06/2013 08:04

Morning all! Just had a mega catch up. We've been down at a wedding in Hertfordshire so no mnetting since Friday night! Mum had DS for the weekend, which she loved but made me very sad. Was glad to hear that they didn't manage to leave the house at all and her one achievement for the day was making a cheesecake - makes me feel much better! Going to a wedding has finally made dp want to get married, even though he proposed almost two years ago. Though I suspect it has more to do with getting so pissed he fell asleep with his head on the bed but body on the floor.

Eco glad you had a lovely holiday. There's nowhere quite like the peaks eh? Sorry to hear about missing your DM, I can't imagine how hard it must be (you too Leni). Memories are powerful things. Hardwick Hall has a very special place in my heart, being a regular haunt of my dearly departed grandparents its where they celebrated every birthday and anniversary I can remember. Fond memories of grandad making a crack at a very young waitress there many years ago!

KF I'd be fuming. I've been blessed with a lovely mil who always brings lunch, washes up and offers to have DS so I can rest. If she wasn't automatically doing that I'd be dropping some pretty heavy hints! No one should expect you to play host right now, though as Leni said I'm amazed at the number of gormless twats guests we've had who've stayed for hours, eaten our food and left a mountain of mess for me to cry about. Nip this in the bud!

Something sounds exciting! I'd go for a few days with man and baby in tow. Fringe is such a great atmosphere, and too good to miss a production if your very own play. Do it! You can only regret the things you didn't do.

SoYo hope LO improves soon, but glad to hear the holiday is going nicely.

Stormy sorry to hear about your loss. Totally right to be broody, I don't know if we'll manage the three year gap we'd envisaged! Totally going to get DS a door bouncer though, he's so kicky when awake. I take it bring vertical suits your rather refluxy wean?

DS asleep. Do I get breakfasted and showered in peace, or try to get back to sleep?

plonko · 10/06/2013 08:12

Oh Worse yA Vedic sage emphasized that the basis of happy and fulfilling married life is the sense of unity, intimacy and love between husband and wife both physically, mentally and spiritually. Hence wife is considered to be the Ardhangani of husband as per Hindu tradition. Thus, marriage is not for self-indulgence, but rather should be considered a lifelong social and spiritual responsibility. Married life is considered an opportunity for two people to grow from life partners into soul mates.[1][2][3]ou're a fantastic mummy. I really mean that! You bfed for what, three months? That's outstanding. She's had such a good start. How long were you hoping to bf for? I only ask because in my book it's the beginning part that's the important bit. After that its just another choice, neither good nor bad. And the beauty of bottle feeding is that you can see exactly how much she's getting. It doesn't have to be a hassle, (premake a days worth, keep in the fridge and microwave when she's hungry for genuine bad mother points) , and other people can help you more.

It's not a bad way to feed her, it's a different way.

Sod it I'm having breakfast in peace. Naps are for sissies.

plonko · 10/06/2013 08:13

Ooh dear how did I copy and paste something about Hindu weddings into my post? I hate smartphones.

worsestershiresauce · 10/06/2013 08:30

Plonko that made me laugh. I'm skilled at doing stuff like that too Grin. I still cringe at the memory of emailing a note to my sister inviting her round for the weekend to the entire fx trading desk. I hadn't even put her name on it so it looked really dodgy. I. Nearly. Died.

Thanks for the kind comments everyone. You've cheered me up Smile

KFFOREVER · 10/06/2013 08:38

Plonko that made me laugh too. I know im sleep deprived but i thought it started playing havoc with my vision too.

StormyBrid · 10/06/2013 08:43

Thanks all for the condolences. My grandma was very old though, and she'd lost the plot, and she'd been saying for years she was ready to die, so it's for the best really. Just a shame DD never met her.

As for mothers, mine's still around, but she's got a brain condition that means she's slowly losing it too. She loves DD, but she can't be a lot of practical help.

something would it be possible for your bloke and baby to stay somewhere outside Edinburgh (so less expensive) but not too far away? They could have a fun holiday and lots of adventures, and you could meet up with them regularly so you're not missing out.

I don't have any outgrown baby clothes. Got rid of them already! Quite useful having my brother, his girlfriend, and their halfway-to-a-baby-already bump just across the terrace.

eco sleep cycle length increases? No one's told DD that... I'll just have to keep trying to knacker her out. She keeps surprising us anyway, at least once every two days she manages a decent length one.

KFF they sleep eventually. Even if the worst happens and it takes a few years! Just think back to two months ago though, things have improved since then, surely, even if they're not perfect yet? It's been nearly four weeks since DD slept through, and I'm still hopeful she'll do it again sometime soon.

pud our general rule for night feeds is to leave three hours between them. When we're trying to get more milk down her, we go with 10 and 1 for dream feeds (if she's had plenty during the day we just go for about 11.30 and then see when she wakes). The main thing to remember is they have limited capacity - if you feed him and he goes to sleep and you try a dream feed fifteen minutes later, he's not going to have room in there and it'll all come back up again. Does he eat better when he's asleep? DD always does, can pretty well guarantee four ounces if she's asleep.

worse I can see why you feel bad, but remember The Guilt doesn't help anyone. You've done brilliantly with the boobs for three months, and got her off to an excellent start. Big pat on the back is in order, I think.

Half past four this morning, DD started shouting, so I took her some milk. Very suspicious aroma as soon as I opened the door. Went to pick her up and ended up with a wet hand. I don't know what monster was lurking up her bum but suffice to say it's died a violently explosive death. The bits on her legs and feet were actually dried on, so god knows how long she'd been peacefully sleeping while liberally coated in crap.

Today I'm planning a mission round the charity shops for baby books. She's finally getting over the screaming after the bath thing, so bedtime stories can happen. Exciting times.

WingDefence · 10/06/2013 08:53

Argh so much to catch up on!

Firstly, sorry for your loss stormy :( Both DH's parents passed away before I got together with him so I don't have a MIL but apparently I'd have got on with her.

But as for the MIL problem above - you need to put this in AIBU and I bet you'll get somegoodways of dealing with her!

leni, the schools are better on Beckenham and I used to live in Gainsborough Close (my first house), just round the corner from your proposed place off Brackley road. It's a great area for children and the high street etc is fab. Good transport links too.

Got to catch up with everyone else's news and will post later Brew

WingDefence · 10/06/2013 08:59

she'd been peacefully sleeping while liberally coated in crap

stormy, surely you mean while literally covered in crap? Grin

plonko that made me laugh too!

somethingbeginningwith · 10/06/2013 09:43

vj it's okay for you to miss your pre-baby self, having a little one is a huge shock to the system both physically and emotionally. I only finished uni a couple of years ago and a lot of my friends have only just graduated so I was very much used to the student lifestyle of socialising and nights out and that's all changed now. Like you, I wouldn't trade it for the world but I often find myself missing it.

stormy I must have missed your post earlier, ever so sorry for your loss Thanks

worse what an amazing achievement to breast feed as long as you have. I admire that, I only lasted a week, then 3 days expressing before I chose to stop. DS was permanently latched on and I clearly wasn't producing enough. I certainly felt The Guilt when I decided to stop, had a little cry and a little wine and realised it was what was best for us. Fastforward to now and I have a happy, healthy ff-fed baby. You gave your LO a wonderful start in life and that's brilliant!

SIL is expecting in August, but she's having a DD. Hope she likes blue because that's where all our outgrown baby clothes are going!

I've got to go to Edinburgh really haven't I? You're all, of course, right Smile

Any other c-section mummies found a magical way to get rid of the bulge yet? I'm back in pre-pregnancy skinny jeans, they might be ridiculously tight but they're on and staying on!

Ooh baby books sound fun, let us know if you find any good ones! I can't wait to read to DS!

pudtat · 10/06/2013 09:47

Plonko, I kept waiting for the big reveal on relevance... Was it to do with bonding being about more than feeding etc... Only really got suspicious at 12 3! I trust your techie skills more than you it seems! Grin

OP posts:
Eigmum · 10/06/2013 10:14

worse it's funny I was going to ask how you were going as struggling with it all myself here. Everyone, including dh now ( although he is more subtle- "did you see that baby a month or do older than Dd downing that agent bottle after her baptism, reminds me how easy it was with ds, I feel I can't help, nanny - how are you going to manage the wedding in July and Robbie Williams concert ( I know shot me now!) if you are STILL, breastfeeding. Not fair on dd to leave it longer, that's before we start on my parents.

So what is stopping me. Well my first go with mixed feeding went the reverse of yours worse, took more from the boob and minimum from bottle so lost weight ( not helped by getting sick). Gets awful stomach cramps which I think must be from mixing as have exclusively feed her for three days and nights and no cramps... And easier poos.

Ideally I'd like to feed her for 2 more months til around 5/6 months then switch in time for me to be over the switch and back at work but worried dd will find it harder to switch later and don't have a lot of support for keeping going.... I know as I am ridiculously bloo*y minded that I can do what I want, my child etc but as I tend to over think things and like to have a plan I need to make some choices even if it's just, I will keep feeding her for a week. I have tried expressing and dh feeding but same issue as she only takes 2 ounces. I know she is getting more from me as I can express 3 ounces from each boob easily and she usually takes both.

Eigmum · 10/06/2013 10:34

Oh, everyone else who posted during my long winded post hi! Hi wingd and to everyone who doesn't have a dm to share things with big hug. My is at odds with me over the feeding but it's still lovely to have parents around and I know my dh misses his df most at this time...

Eigmum · 10/06/2013 10:54

something my little one loves the "that's not my train, dinasour etc " series ... And the sleepy baby book, always used to read those and now at 3 DS has started to pretend to read it himself ( as he knows it off by heart) so years of use! We thought he was reading til he spelt of the letters on his dressing up police costume radio, he read P O L I C E, and I said wat does that spell, and he said Radio!

StormyBrid · 10/06/2013 16:47

Quiet day on here today...

We've acquired eight books, for a grand total of £4.05. All fairly short, some of them rhyme, two of them are about going to bed. Hopefully she'll like them.

pud I meant to say earlier, your son may not be great shakes at the head support thing yet, but I bet you he's mastered something that the next baby hasn't a clue about. They all get the same skills in the end, they just vary in what order they acquire them. Mine, she's all about the standing up and she's got good strong legs, but she's arse when it comes to trying to grab things. I'm not sure she's even realised she can grab things yet...

leniwhite · 10/06/2013 19:30

Wing our plan is to buy a proper house in Beckenham before DS goes to school Grin

Worse I'm in exactly the same boat - but basically doing double feeds - one boob then a bottle or both boobs at night (4am). Not sure whether to keep going like that or finally stop the BF... We can't go out anywhere on just boobs, he's got too lazy.

Had a mad day, have reserved the Greenwich flat Smile so now having to find all the documents they need to assess us, not easy when most of it is not obvious (like proof of where our savings came from?!) or was lost in the fire...

DS has been chief grump all day so wrestling him and the scanner at the same time wasn't particularly relaxing. Seems to be loving dummy today though after the initial gagging Confused

SoYo · 10/06/2013 21:16

Stormy you're so right about them all acquiring different skills at different times. Mine's very strong, wants to stand all the time, great head control but bugger all hand/eye coordination. Will sometimes grab things when placed in her hands but is then usually so shocked she drops them!

Despite my best suncare efforts DD is looking a tiny tad bronzed so I'm actually glad of the slightly cooler Cornish weather! Our wonderful friends are here with their 16mth old now too & it's so lovely watching here & thinking that'll be DD having daily adventures this time next year!

Hope everyone has a good night!

KFFOREVER · 10/06/2013 21:47

stormy and soyo im with you on this. Ds wants to sit up and will try to pull himself up when i lay him down but can he grab anything... Noooo.

Its nightime again. I dread these unpredictable nights especially when ds has been a grumpy so and so today. (leni it must be a full moon).Hes tired but has been fighting naps which is unusual and not feeding properly. Usually he settles for naps himself. Hes also been sticking his arm in his mouth a fist no longer satisfys him and has been trying to bite me. So im thinking it may be teething or a wonder week but at 13wks instead of 12.

WingDefence · 10/06/2013 22:16

Evening all.

leni you will make the best decision for you and your family I know! And Shock that it was your friend on BGT.

KF I hope you have a good night. DD seems to have gone slightly backward in that her first stretch is now 3-4 hours (which I know is still great for some people) whereas she was doing 5 or 6 a few times a week until last week. She is napping better in her Moses basket in the daytime now though and has been up there in her basket from 8:30 tonight so I'll wake her soon (poor thing) for a feed at 10:30ish.

Her legs are really strong too! And we out her forward-facing in the baby bjorn for a short while today as we took her and DS to a local farm visitor place thing today and she was happy looking at everything that was going on. I know it's a bit early but her head control is good and we wont make it a permanent change for a while yet.
When we stopped in the cafe, DH passed her over to me to cuddle as she was tired and she fell asleep instantly on my shoulder! Bless :)

Eig, re your post much further up about where you work... I'm an alumnus (alumna?) of K--- but work for an accg institute now. And that's all I'm saying Grin

Re: feeding, I'm still BFing here and I am trying to stretch out the daytime feeds but sometimes it is just easier to pop DD on when she's grumpy or over-tired even if it's only been 1-2hrs since the last feed or sometimes shorter The gaps between feeds get shorter the longer the day goes on. She takes the one bottle a day pretty easily now and we have started to put formula in it , simply because I was finding expressing just approx two oz a day a pain. But I'm still happy to bf for the time being even though strictly it's not 'exclusive' any more although it is as near as dammit.
My DM has been especially happy though as she really wants to babysit for us, even just for an afternoon, which I think is great, but it means she gets this face Grin when she asks how dd is getting on with the bottles and I tell her she's doing well and is drinking formula too. Hmm

Right, I must get ready to wake the little one. I'm also going to try to upload a recent pic of DD to my profile and will let you know if I succeed!

WingDefence · 10/06/2013 22:25

Photo of DD from this morning has been uploaded :)

leniwhite · 10/06/2013 22:50

Skills acquisition check in: we have grasping (followed by hyperventilation and THAT bottom lip...). We have some head control (and some headbutting) and manic kicking. We have no tummy time whatsoever or head lifting, rolling or standing.

Above all, our greatest skill appears to be expanding lung capacity - this kid has pipes!

ecofreckle · 10/06/2013 23:29

wing a photo! How exciting. Can we look at each other's profiles then? I'm a mn dunce. Do tell me how I can see and I'll try and do same with my dd too. A visual is a good hook for my brain.
Dh, dd and I are going to my place of work tomorrow so I can do a day of work. Eek. Have set alarm clock and everything so better away to sleep. Sweet dreams everyone and thanks for comments re my mum.

Eigmum · 11/06/2013 00:07

wingd you are an alumni of a great firm! We probably now each other in real life or certainly know of each other!

Yes, dd was taking a bottle a day ok and now isn't so keen.... ( aka not keen at all), had a good chat with dh about it and an older friend whose kids are 13 and 15. She fed both of them for 5 months , no expressing, then cold turkeyed to bottles while expressing the milk and it took a week, then se went back to work. Realized I don't have any friends who bf this long so nice to find someone to talk too...

Dd is rubbish at tummy time, no interest in standing, just stares very intently at things and smiles a lot! ( except when a bottle is nearby!)

WingDefence · 11/06/2013 04:01

Ah but eig, tis a big place, I left a looooong time ago and I think we're in completely different sectors so don't worry, I think our secret identities are safe Grin

eco, my name should be clickable and then it'll go to my public profile. You'll be able to click a link to photos there. If you want to do the same (go on!), you've got to go to your profile and set it to public but you control what (if any) details are made public.

DD stirred/woke at 2:15 looking for her thumb but I shhed her when she found it and she went back to sleep till 3:40. I tried the same thing but she was getting too restless even with her thumb so I've just fed her and she's zonked out.

Anyone else hate the dawn chorus now?! Hmm

vjhist85 · 11/06/2013 05:05

Unusually bad night here- perhaps she's getting vibes? I'm doing my first KIT day today, she's now gone back to sleep but I'm wide awake so getting up and getting my head around everything (and the coffee on). She takes a bottle fine from me now, but because DH is a lazy so and so she's not really ever had much from anyone else. I've got loads of ebm waiting for my dm so fingers crossed.

Worse dont forget that if you want to (of course you might not!) you could work on your supply and go back to ebf. Also- have you had LO weighed to confirm your suspicions? There could be lots of reasons why she is waking in the night, not always hunger. Sorry if I'm speaking out of place, just thought if you don't want to switch completely to ff there may be ways round it.

KFFOREVER · 11/06/2013 06:51

Agghhhh the farts woke ds up again. When will he grow out of this?

vj good luck with your kit.

Im thinking to arrange a kit day so i can see if i really missed work or the adult company of no baby talk.