March 2013 - still too sleep deprived to think of a funky title

[StormyBrid]

Old thread here.

We seemed to be running out of space (again) so I made us a new thread.

Hello everyone, and hi Peanut.

Been out of action with a trip to the inlaws and subsequent recovery, and its taken me ages to catch up with you all!

Plonky, hope you have lovely Hols - not at all

Worse glad that probs are fixable if unpleasant for now. Hope you're feeling better soon with things being forced onto a more even keel.

Eco - I trust Eco baby is behaving herself and not pulling any more worrying temp lows. Hope you can find another gp you have more confidence in,

Vj - medals due for mil I reckon!

Christi, glad all going so well! How do you get mini farmer to sleep like that?!

Eig, glad to hear things are going well, hope everyone else is ok (something, any, kf, stormy) and sorry if I've missed name checking anyone.

All ok here. Minipud now rolling back to front though sadly not back again. Sleep up the pictures, though not screamy so happy to be left on his own to wind himself up in knots, twist through 180 degrees and squish into the corner of his cot self settle. Currently in the middle of what I suspect is a failed effort to buy a cot from eBay (why offer to send it if you don't want to?!) which I had hoped would have us trying the boy in his own room by now. Not quite sure how to sort it out but sure I'll get there somehow.

Thinking of trying another gentle offering of solids this weekend (he'll be 24 weeks tomorrow).

KFF I wake just enforce madam too! I assume she must make a tiny noise as a 5min warning.

Hi Pud, sorry about the sleep regression. Hopefully just a blip!

In the last 2hrs madam has gone from smiley baby to snot filled mess who sounds like Darth Vadar. She's woken up every 20mins and is struggling to breathe through her nose. She's now had a liberal coating of Karvol capsules with no effect so I think she'll be sleeping with me tonight in the hope of the most restful night possible.

We're at yet another wedding tomorrow. When I had her I was sure we'd be going to this one without her but I never even entertained the idea f a bottle refuser so I've had to pull in a favour from the bride. It was easy at weddings when she was tiny but now that she requires more entertaining yet is more clingy its a bit trickier. There's only so much poor Sophie the giraffe can do!

Meant to say glad you're settling in Leni - shame about the locals, but hope it was a one off.

So ds decides to wake at 11 and cry. I assume he is hungry but nope he wouldnt take bottle. So the cough i thought was fake was real and him feeling groggy was not his teeth. He has developed a cough and cold. He finally went to sleep with us at 2am. He had a feed at 6am then vomited all over my clean bedding. Worst bit was I had put a dose of calpol in his bottle as he hates the stuff. I used to offer him a dummy and quickly squeeze the syringe but he no longers falls for this trick.

I hope everyone else had a better night than us.

Ooh soyo and kf sorry your LOs are snotty and poorly, I suspect it's the time of year for it. Lots of cuddles I think, that seems to be the best solution for most things!

pud DS gets himself into fantastic positions in the cot too. Last night was upside down on his knees with bum high in air.

Well, we're all moved in as long as no one looks in the dining room and sees the overflow if boxes yet to be unpacked and this happened:
"I'm afraid you won't be able to move in on Thursday as the sellers have arranged for a cleaning service for you so you'll move in on Friday instead". Brilliant news, we thought, as our reason for wanting to get the keys on Thursday was to clean the whole house so this meant we had an extra day. So, we got the keys yesterday, and all excited we walked through the door of our new clean, new home...only...it wasn't clean, it was FILTHY! There was even a greased foil covered pan in the oven. So, we had to spend most of the day cleaning from top to bottom, thank god for family!

eig, hope your dad's operation goes okay today

And :( to ill babies.

smething that would annoy me so much!

rainbow with pure BLW, do you start with 'first tastes' eg blander food or just single flavours, or do you go straight in with the family meal eg if you were having spag bol, would you start with that? I was going to try to get a book on it from the library this morning but didn't get a chance to go.

Pudtat .....i put Mini Farmer to bed one night at 7pm as i figured myself and Daddy Farmer needed time to ourselves , he settled well and then found this sleep pattern himself ..... i did nothing .... He just seems to love his sleep. .... as much as i do !

My friend said to me ..... jeezo how do you do it .... put it in a book and sell it .. you'd make millions

wing just popping in re: blw. It says that you can launch straight into family food but ensure no salt, whole nuts, processed food and make sure you have pick up able size pieces for your baby. As Eco baby only 23 weeks we have started with very simple stuff and only if she happens to be awake for any of our own meal times. She sits in high chair and has things like melon, cucumber, banana, crust, apple. She self fed a small spoon of bramble puree we offered yesterday.
How did things go eig ?
Hello everyone else. On silly phone so will catch up properly another time.
still have an unusual for us Eco baby this end with more low temperature stuff but she's doing ok. Managed to get two punctures on the buggy today on an adventurous walk in the broads today and Dh had to run on ahead and get car. Also three for two on nappies and other baby stuff in boots today with mega points too for anyone who is economisING.
We are also on multiple rolls here now so nowhere is safe. She moved about two metres in time it took me to have mega quick wee today. Someone asked about play pens. We got a thirty pounds travel cot from Asda and intend to use that. Mind you We have the rolls royce baby dan one in the yurt so may borrow that for the winter.
Best away to sleep. OR not!

Morning all.

KFF the waking a couple of minutes before the baby does - having had ample opportunity to listen to her waking up process (stupid insomnia!) I have realised what wakes me is the initial cry, and there's often a few minutes before she makes another sound. But that first cry, when I hear it, I actually feel a tug in my stomach. That, I think, is what wakes me. Which is annoying, because it means you wake up in the night, it's all quiet, you want to go back to sleep, but you know the baby's about to start shouting.

something that sucks. Cheeky bastard sellers! Reckon they just wanted an extra day to move and so gave you any old excuse?

peanut your friends at baby group with awesomely sleeping babies? I bet you anything some of them are lying because if they tell the truth it'll all spill out and they'll crack up. Good sleep's relative with babies anyway. All you can do is plod through it, and remember it'll end eventually. As for settling without a feed, I dunno, this one's caused us some trouble at times too. But we tend to view it as if she's having a decent amount of milk then she must've needed it. Dummies help too, we could often hold off on feeding her for an hour or two with that, with the vague idea that she'd then learn to go longer.

Eig how's your dad doing? Re weaning mess, you probably know this already but we gave up on bibs and tie a muslin round DD's neck instead. Works a treat, except for when I forget to roll her sleeves up and they end up orange. It does mean all our muslins are horrifically stained now, but I figure that's less of an issue than all of her clothes being horrifically stained.

All goes well here, and we have survived another visit from the Shirebrook Posse. Why MIL feels the need to bring us groceries (and tea towels, wtf?) I have no idea, but I'm not complaining. We had a discussion about pink and sparkly clothes, and it appears she doesn't agree with me, but respects my decision. Does this mean I win the MIL contest? Have yet to have any AIBU-worthy issues with her.

We went for a meal in the usual restaurant, and there were quite a few babies in. One looked only a couple of months older than ours, sitting in a high chair, with a bit of everything from its parents' plates in front of it. Looked like it was having a whale of a time! DD made do with a bit of bread, some bacon, a tomato, and half the tiny biscuit you get with your coffee.

Most fun weaning moment so far: every night while we eat tea, DD is in the doorway bouncer, vulturising. I usually save her a little of what I'm having, and break it up into very small pieces for her (not exactly blw but she likes it so meh). The other day we had pork steak. One taste, and I've never seen such an enormous grin on her face. She was so happy she bounced around a full 360 degrees, grinning like a loon throughout.

stormy maybe i dont even realise im hearing the first noise and wake up. Well done on surviving the mil but nice of her to buy groceries.

eig how is your dad?

eco i hope you find answers to the low body temps soon.

For two nights we have been co sleeping because DS has been ill. I realised i miss co sleeping. That quick shove of the dummy without having to get out of bed is heaven but ds is a terrible sleeper and dh and i are at the edge of the bed.

We did a bit of blw today shhh dont tell dm. I gave him a bit of bread dipped in lentil soup i made. He just gummed the bread. I doubt anything went down him.

DH is painting at work (our newly bought cafe) DS is napping. Im watching tv munching on junk and mnetting. I love it. Lets see how long peace and quiet lasts.

Ahh it didnt last long ds is awake.

wing we started same way as eco describes - mainly fruit and veg, bread and potatoes cut into fingers. We always gave her exactly what we were having as we pretty much always have some form of fruit and veg with every single meal. Best things to start with seemed to be cucumber and toast. Often put stuff on the toast like homemade hummous, cream cheese or apple spread. We are moving on now to DD have a mini version of whatever meal we are having but usually ensure that they are a couple of finger sized pieces of something. Not had anything quite as adventurous as spa bol yet but DD is getting really good at picking up a wider variety of thing now and also using both hands to readjust pieces. We also offer preloaded spoons when having things like yoghurt - started off with passing them to her but now she has figured out spoons we just put them down on her tray. I think the key thing is not to expect things to get eaten straightaway and encourage play with food so little one gets to experience the new textures and tastes. I didn't put a limit on any tastes (except for avoiding this things eco mentioned). I love blw but only because it has worked so well for us - took 2-3 weeks for DD to really get into it though and my attitude was that I would give it till she was 6 months and then decide. Luckily DD loves it!

KFF word to the wise: never ever express, out loud, any sentiments about how lovely and peaceful it is. Wherever the baby is, it will hear you and immediately wake up. Even thinking such things can be dangerous!

Ok oh wise weaners (that sounds weirder than it was meant to!), today I gave DS a taste of squash and the look of pure disgust on his face was something to behold. Later on the same with baby rice, which surprised me as it should taste the same as his normal dinner.

Does this mean he's not ready?

It might not actually be disgust, leni. Could just be him reacting to the texture or the flavour. If you offer more what does he do?

Leni the worselet was exactly the same. I figured out that it was her I'm trying to swallow but don't know how to face. She's only just stopped doing it, because she has only just worked out how to swallow.

I've been reading up on weaning as the sheer speed at which the other babies on here are downing proper meals had me a tad paranoid. I'm reassured now. You guys are just advanced class weaners! My only contribution to the great debate is be very very wary of egg. My friend's 9 month old came up in massive hives and had an emergency a&e dash the 2nd time he had some well cooked scrambled egg (no allergies in the family). Apparently reaction on the 2nd exposure in common, and the medical profession suggest leaving egg until after 12 months.

Ah, I had planned a long post. DD however has planned an unscheduled bit of shouty time . Off I go...

Thanks again all. Is very useful having DD born at the end of a month as I can ask you lot for advice
I like the idea of preloaded spoons so that she still gets the whole spooning idea as she's going to have to learn that skill too, isn't she.

leni it must be a shock for your DS bless him! Also I think it takes a while for babies to learn to push food to the back of their mouths so they'll just use their tongues to push it out at first. Not sure if that does mean he's not ready though.

One tip I do remember from weaning DS was to keep a little weaning diary (this works betters with purees I think) to write down what food DS has tried and whether he likes it, loves it or hates it.

Don't forget that it takes on average 11 times to try a new taste before they get used to it or like it I think.

Re playpen, we used our travel cot with DS when he started crawling so that we could get ready for work in the mornings. DD is already a much more clingy baby and on average she'll stay in a bouncer or her bumbo for only 5-10 mins (if that) but did watch a bit of CBeebies the other day with DS for a whole 20 mins which was amazing!

DD has been a pain today, unusually. Barely napped all day and has been in a right grump. Might have been my fault as I only gave her half a feed (ie one side boob only) before heading out to church this morning and then she only slept for half hour, I didn't give her the second side till an hour later and by then I think the feeds were a bit up the creek.

Still, she downed her 7oz for the first time tonight and zonked out immediately after I left her smiling away in bed. Bless :)

worse that's a bit random about 2nd time egg exposure

Ok that's reassuring, at the moment he's fine holding the spoon, but holds it away from his face and eyes it suspiciously, rather than shoving it in his mouth like he does with anything else!

I'll be patient

Wing's right - you're obviously all first class weaners!

I'm so so tired today, I hope it is a deficiency they can treat, because going back to work after such interrupted sleep plus feeling how I do will be hell. I still have no childcare organised .

Ladies - sorry for the radio silence. Been filling my days with feeding. DD is finally napping again during the day and I have found the magic potion - porridge! It went down a storm considering I had only been giving fruit and veg at lunchtime but she had been waking up far too early and I figured she'd got hungrier. So made up what I thought was a conservative amount of porridge and she woofef it down, literally grabbing it out of the bowl like i'd been starving her until now. She went down for a two hour nap after and has been her happy, sunny self again. Result! soyo have you tried it yet? Maybe it'll help your DD to fill her up with some stodge??

*woofed. Stupid phone....

leni i think that is just a look to say "oh its different and this is edible, right?".

We are not advanced in weaning. I even stopped giving any solids for a bit because ds was constipated poor thing. I started again by giving him just fruit and veg instead of baby cereals but seems like his bunged up again.

My friends baby had a reaction to tomato (she is 8months) and i havent read any guidance about their being issies with giving tomato before 12months. So maybe it is the individual child who may have reactions to certain food. I dont know but i suppose we have to be watchful at all meal times.

Is anyone missing those newborn cuddles? Its just not the same now is it. When ds is in my arms he just wriggles out and launches onto anything he finds around me. He does not stop for 2 seconds.

Also anyone know anything about Southampton? dh's uncle will be moving over to do his masters at the uni there this month. We havent a clue on what its like and need to find rented accommodation. They will be staying with us (family of 4) until they sort themselves out. Great, more staying visitors.

Don't worry, worse, we're not advanced weaners here. DD's preferred method of transporting food to her mouth is on my finger. She's also refusing to drink much milk again. I'm pretty sure she just doesn't actually agree with the idea of nourishment. Am trying not to stress too much about it, with limited success. Including night feeds, she had seven bottles yesterday, but only drank 33 flozzes. This is rubbish!

Stormy oh good, someone to share the early learners bench with . Sound like mini-storm and the worselet have much in common. 33 flozzes is a fairly normal amount here too, and she's a little fatty so doing ok on it.

As for weaning, I'm thinking dd is just an old fashioned kind of girl, as the old school guidelines I've been reading suggest 1 spoonful of baby rice once a day for starters, moving on to a second meal later of a few spoons of fruit/veg. She's up for that, but not much more, so that's what we are doing. A tray full of bits of my lunch would go down v badly. V badly indeed. Plus having been gifted the very worst digestion on the planet myself I'm quite keen to delay introduction of a wide range of food types until post 6 months just in case.

KFF similar tummy trouble here, although I'm finding water before every feed is working its magic and not reducing the amount of milk she's taking. I guess solids need a bit of washing down. As for food allergies, there's no knowing is there. I think part of the reasoning behind introducing new foods one at a time is that if there is a reaction you know exactly what has caused it.

I've yet to miss the cuddles as a cuddle is currently the only way to get the worselet off to sleep. This is both a pleasure and a total pain, but on the every cloud has a silver lining front nothing beats a sleeping baby on your chest.

Leni thinking of you - I hope the tingling is sorted out soon. A big hug to anyone with a snotty unhappy baby, and Eig I hope your dad is doing well.

Just to prove we can never be happy, I think mini-v is taking to weaning a little too well. Her milk intake has dropped dramatically (I haven't kept a track of it for a while but I would guess we're at about 23 flozzes at the mo, but she's not really taking in much water, which is resulting in some fairly solid poos. It's also throwing out any routine. I have chosen to blame all this on the fact that she LOVES purees (no one told this baby she's meant to only have a few spoonfuls) and am therefore reverting to finger food. She enjoys it, but certainly doesn't ingest as much! I 'm just not comfortable with such a big reduction in milk at only just 6 months. She's basically dropping about a bottle and a half's worth every day at the moment.

God this is complicated!