December 2012: the little monsters continue to surprise us.

[MaMaPo]

I for one have a very surprising baby.

If we're doing long distance I use the Connecta. Love it!

Hi everyone, hoping to join in, mum to Charlie who was born in December 12. Can I throw a question out to all the mummy's.... I now have Charlie in a routine for bedtime which seems to be working quite nicely, tea, playtime, bath then a roll around in his room til milk and bedtime at 7pm. I am usually quite a sociable person and especially before having Charlie my partner and I would go round to friends houses for takeaways and a few drinks etc, nothing too wild. After having Charlie most of the socialising we have done has either been at our house or in the day time, so as to keep Charlie in his routine. Am I being selfish as I seem to be turning down invitations to friends' houses because of Charlie's routines, yet still expect friends with babies to come round to our house on Friday/Saturday evenings etc. Is it going to do any harm to keep Charlie up for a couple I hours longer every now and again, or is this going to get him in bad habits??

Thanks ladies, interesting. Agree about the longer legs although T is ridiculously tall already! I don't tend to use it for long distances, more for when I'm doing things with big 2 like at the playground or baking cookies and jam tarts - spotty I suggest you and dd whip up a batch and then tell him he's got his own biscuits! I do sometimes carry her for longer if we're out for the day and she's complaining about being in the pushchair. I think she'd like to face forward now but I like being able to see her.

Hello mum. I was like you with dd1, a bit less with dd2 and now dd3 just has to fit in! I guess I'd say if friends are happy to come to you then it's fine but it will also be fine to keep him up a bit sometimes if you're out - IMO it won't adversely affect his routine as he 'll still have his normal cues at home. Give it a try and if you find it too stressful then wait a bit before trying again. Could you alternate nights out with dp or get a sitter? It is hard to balance a social life with dc!

Hi WL, thanks for the advice. Def going to try keeping him up slightly longer if I go round to friends houses, other children are there too so would like to take him rather than get a sitter etc. thanks x

Welcome Mum, i'm like you 1st DD and use to see my friends alot but not so much anymore. I have one friend who always makes an effort to see me so i'll go out of my way for her but have found alot of friends have stopped calling and don't visit despite me always visiting them pre DD. interestingly the ones who have stopped are the ones who have children themselves With them i have stopped making an effort. I think that your DS won't be affected if you take him out with you. Could you take his pram or something like that so he could sleep in that if he gets tired.

Spotty hide his biscuits and sweets and tell him he must of eaten them then eat them while hes out.

Hello mum!

We just haul ds along with us wherever but take a sling and if I know it'll be loud the headphones. That way when it gets to bedtime (which for him is about 8pm normally) I can feed him, 'phone him, and he stays happily asleep on me..

Pidj nice work on the oscha - which one? how do the dips work? Am still practicing back carries but slow going as front is easy and he seems happy. He can go on my back in the connecta but it's not as pretty as the wraps

Ds went down really nicely at 7 and woke at 3.15! I think that's the longest ever! And I managed to get the big dcs to bed and then me to bed, without waking him. I'm very pleased I came to bed at 9.15! 6hrs non stop sleep :)

Mum how does he transfer once he's asleep? Could you take a travel cot (or pushchair) and put him to bed in his pyjamas in that and then transfer him to the car seat when you decide it's time to go home? Or like you say just keep him up if he's happy.

Wow IsThat that's brilliant! Long may it continue!

DS has had a gastric virus that stopped him sleeping/eating/drinking, gave him a temp around 39 degrees and ended up with a hospital admission for IV fluids and analgesics after lots of vomiting. He's still not really eating (apple puree only) or sleeping well at night and won't take a bottle. But he's definitely improving, I just need some sleep! The one good thing to come out of it is he has completely weaned himself off the dummy. He just spits it out now. He actually settles much better for naps, he just cuddles his comforter and drifts off.

Morning all & welcome mum

Don't wish to jinx things but for the last 2 nights, baby lazza has slept from 7 to 2am . She has fed & then gone back down till 5ish. Still an early start but better. It might be the couple of nights we had not feeding her that's helped & also explained her increased appetite in the day. God, I hope it lasts!

seymore that sounds horrible, hope ds is on the mend now. It's scary when they're so poorly.

Oh no Seymore poor ds

Mum both my dc turn into werewolves at 6:30. We've tried staying out with them but it's not worth the hassle they get so upset because they want to go to bed.

5am wake up here but he didn't start really moaning until 5:50. I've got a sore throat and blocked nose interview at 4 eek!

Oh no Seymore i hope DS is ok and also that your ok. It must of been horrible to see him so sick

Isthat and Lazza fantastic sleeps

Good Luck for your interview Spotty

that's a great sleep lazza!

Good luck spotty, I'm sure you'll be brilliant!

Poor DS Seymore, hope he's on the mend now.

Good luck for your interview Spotty

How are you getting on at your mum and dad's IsThat?

Mum I used to take DS everywhere with us in the evening, but he just doesn't settle anymore so I tend to get a sitter. Luckily we have parents falling over themselves to babysit.

Fantastic night here, down at 7, up at 10 for a bottle, little moan at 3am (but asleep again before I managed to rolls self out of bed) and up at 6:30. I even went to bed at a sensible hour so got plenty of sleep.

seymour how awful, that must have been so scary.

spotty fx for 4pm!

Jealous of all the great sleep - I went to bed late (again) and was up for an hour (again) settling with minimal boob at 2, big feed at 5 then up at 6. Early night tonight and no boob I think. She's not crying for it in the night she just ends up wide awake. Operation self settle during the night is on!

Oh Seymour, poor ds and you - hope things are on the mend now?

Crossing everything for you spotty!

Good luck for interview spotty. hope ds sleeps well for you today so you get chance to feel prepared.

WL self settling is our next mission. I think I was lucky last night that she went straight back to sleep after feed. She's often up for an hour in the mddle of the night...and still gets up at 5am!

I realised yesterday that DS was waking in the middle of the night because he was cold. It had gradually gone colder over the week and I hadn't noticed. Popped him in his sleeping bag and he had a much better night.

Thanks Lazza he just slept for nearly two hours but I spent in tidying and watching room on the broom

Wow, lots of great sleep!

Thanks everyone, he is much better now. I just couldn't get him to keep calpol or nurofen down, so he was getting hotter and more dehydrated. There was a bit in the hospital where he was so hot that his face, arms and hands were dark red and he was so miserable, I struggled not to panic. But they were brilliant and got his temperature down really quickly with a big dose of paracetamol and a fluid bolus to get him hydrated. Thankfully DH had been keeping a log of all the meds DS had had over the last few days (we'd been alternating calpol and nurofen and were fuzzy from sleep deprivation) so the doctor could work out the max dose he could safely have. DH's OCD finally pays off

Seymore that sounds awful for you and poor DS,i hope he's back to 100% soon. Dummy weaning is the silver lining though?! I'm dreading taking it off my DS he just won't nap without it (unless in the car) but strangely doesn't need it at night?!

Good luck Spotty, let us know how you go?
Vicks first defence spray for your sore throat and nose- when I have it colds only seem to last a day or so :)

J has learned how to pull himself up this morning. So far he has fallen face first and bit his tongue til it bled and fallen sideways and glanced his chin off the music table entertainer. I am watching him I promise. I need to speed up my reaction time!

Good luck spotty this could be the one!

A slept from about 7 until 10, then wriggled and fussed until I got up at 4.45am.

There was sleep in there, but no great patches.

There really had better be more than 1 tooth from all this!