June 2013 (2) - attempting to get into a routine!

[MrsBri]

New thread for us ladies. :-)

Aren't nearly all vests designed to pull down ? I know all ours do. I like the sound of wrap around though, we have one sleep suit like that but as osk is slim he looks a bit 80's in it as it hangs off one shoulder and flashes one nipple

We had a four month hv visit today to help prepare for weaning. she suggested baby rice for a week then pureed root veg. No mention of blw just puree's. Do they not approve of blw ? I am planning on that as puree's seem a faff.

Everything I've read suggests they recommend blw now but just don't call it that. I guess it depends on your HV. I'll find out what ours recommends soon as she's holding a class to offer advice. I think we'll go down the blw route but with some purées added in too. We're waiting till 6 months to start weaning though, as recommended. It's supposed to decrease risk of allergies and asthma and as DD is happy with just being bf we might as well just continue with that for now. She is fascinated when I eat food though, she finds it really funny!

I've never done so much washing in my life; I like the idea of reusable nappies but couldn't cope with any more washing!

All of our vests pull down too, I've never seen wrap around ones.

I've never done so much washing in my life; I like the idea of reusable nappies but couldn't cope with any more washing!

It's ironic, if I didn't use reusables I'd probably only do 2 loads a week! Since becoming a mum though I get a strange satisfaction out of doing laundry. I used to hate it. I still hate doing darks though.. DH's millions of socks and pants

Totally random but I'm trying to get some nice clothes on eBay but my stupid eBay app is borked since iOS7 and I keep missing out on really good deals!! A Ralph Lauren jumper I wanted went for £13

Thank you Hedgehogy

We use reuseables too and yy to all the washing. The nappies create one wash per day.

Hope you have better ebay luck soon rreow!

I'm feeling quite chuffed. DH is at a work thing tonight so I've around 15hrs of solo parenting today. Thus far we are both fed and reasonably clean. My challenge now is not to cough all over ds and wake him up mid feed.

Hair pulling and glasses stealing going on here......how do they grip so hard?!

17 weeks yesterday, where has just over four months gone... We've hit the sleep regression with every two hours waking, so much fun. Had just got it down to twice. Oh well!

With the ebay app try uninstalling and reinstalling and make sure push notifications are on - no idea if it will make a difference but worth a try. Failing that yell at it

Nothing here from hv on weaning, although because the rain was so bad yesterday I chickened out stayed in rather than get dd weighed it was bouncing back up and then down again.

Our HV is coming next Weds to talk about weaning. I'll see what she thinks about doing it at 4 months, but won't necessarily do what she says if she disagrees! There must be a reason they do it at 4 months, so I doubt they're fully against it!

3 feeds in with the new formula now. The last was a touch traumatic, but they've all been 5oz which makes a change.

I agree with pink re the eBay app. Mines still working post-update. Maybe I'm lucky.

I think I am in for another unsettled night, just got back from the mothership's for tea and should of been just in time for his bath but he was screaming so I fed him. He is now in his cot fast asleep fully dressed having not had his infacol. Thankfully I took it with me so he had two lots this evening.

Evening all, hope people are good. We are just wrapping up a week in the Lake District. The poor girl has been carted up three minor mountains and on extensive hikes in the area. This seems to have addressed her sleep issues; being carried makes her sleep and daytime naps help with her nighttime sleeping. So I will return home feeling reasonably well rested.

On the weaning thing it's beyond me why you would start early if you don't need to for medical reasons/ baby not gaining weight etc. the faff and hassle of it horrifies me! Just the idea of having to plan and carry stuff around. As and when we get there it will be purée plus finger food. I obviously plan to home cook everything. I don't anticipate that lasting more than a week:-)

We are 17 weeks now. That's nearly four months. I say nearly four months or 3.5 months etc. I think if I say weeks now people start working that in months in their heads!

As we FF we have to carry stuff around anyway, so carrying more won't make much difference!

And it's meant to be good for babies with reflux, so if it helps poor Amy with her problems then it'll be well worth it.

She's also bloody keen to get going. It's very funny to watch her watch us, copying us chewing! :-)

We will also mix purées with finger food.

Ah yes I suppose you are used to it because of the bottle aspect. Polly is fascinated by food. We went to a tea shop earlier and she sat there smacking her lips:-)

i'm aiming a bit of BLW and purees, but then as I have toddler DS, I'm having to toddler friendly foods, so DD can have some of that too. I would say, it's relatively easy to feed them out and about, I spent a lot of time asking for a side plate and giving DS some of mine, so planning on the same for DD. (and missing salt!)

Oh, has anyone else had a baby roll off anything yet?!?! Do I win??? DD rolled off an airbed full of toys at baby sensory class on Tuesday, landed with a right thump. Still, at least I've realised she can roll off things when it was relatively low distance to fall, better than launching herself off the changing mat or bed.

oh and 50% off Vertbaudet sale at the moment, and 20% off baby dresses at Boden. (And 20% adult dresses at Boden...)

I plan to start puréed at 5 months with Theiah (weaning that is) as my hv said that babies need food because their iron levels drop and she reckoned by 6 months they are already low I've known people do it at 4 but apparently they don't have the capacity to swallow properly so that makes them messy eaters and that is my absolute pet hate so true or not we're sticking with 5 months only 5 weeks to go!

Glad the new formula is working mrsbri

We'll be BLWing again from 6ish months - although M has definite ideas about that! DH was holding him the other day while eating a sandwich, M and DS1 tag teamed him - DS1 distracted DH, while M grabbed his hand and lunged for the sandwich :o got very close to managing it too :o:o

Weaning can help with reflux, but doesn't help with weight gain - the food babies get is basically fruit and veg, at least to start with, and that isn't as calorie dense as BM or formula. Also research shows babies have enough iron in their own stores and what they digest from BM to last at least until they're 1. Is formula fortified with iron? I think it might be, in which case FF babies don't need food for iron either.

pink you might need to brace yourself for weaning, I've never known it be tidy yet :o

We're planning to combine purees and blw too.

It would be wonderful if it helped with his reflux woes. We'll need to be careful with the likely CMPI/A though, particulalrly when out and about. Luckily one of the HVs is remarkably clued up on such things and has a direct link with paeds dieticians if we need it when the time comes.

In my mind weaning is ages away - but it isn't really...2 months will go quickly. Better get a highchair at some point!

Morning all. I think I'd said previously that one of J's Paed Consults said babies are good to begin experimenting with purées from 4 months. Basically if they're watching you eat, or prep their bottle, can put their hands to their mouths, they're ready.

For the first period of time it's really just about learning tastes and textures. J has about 5 teaspoons of stuff twice a day. It doesn't replace any if his feeds. As time goes on he can eat more and by 5-6 months we will then be serious about proper food, obv whilst maintaining milk as his main source of nutrition.

He took to eating v well, it's not that messy at all (yet), and because we've been travelling I have been sourcing organic purées (mostly veg, trying to keep away from the sweeter flavours just yet). They are fine and help me learn what he does and doesn't prefer ( eg not a great lover of mango). He also nums on tiny mushy pieces if fresh banana.

It's really one of those things that's worse to think about than actually do. I only carry around little pouch of food, 2 tiny spoons and a couple of bibs.

My husband used to do half of the washing but I do it all now I'm at home so I've seen a massive increase!

Pinkbear, hair pulling and glasses stealing going on here too! And feeding takes longer because she's interested in everything around her. She'll often come away, look at me and give me a massive smile, it's adorable.

Apparently there are three things babies should be able to do before you start weaning: 1) stay in a sitting position by themselves and be able to hold their heads steady, 2) co ordinate to be able to look at food, grab it and put it in their mouths by themselves and 3) swallow their food. DD can do all of this apart from the sitting up unaided (and obviously she puts all other objects in her mouth, not food, so I've no idea if she can swallow!). Apparently all three together is rare before 6 months, and also they don't have the digestive enzymes required before 6 months, which can lead to upset tummies.

These pages are informative, I especially found the signs that can be mistaken for a baby being ready interesting:

www.nhs.uk/Conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/Pages/solid-foods-weaning.aspx#close

www.nhs.uk/start4life/pages/babies-introducing-solid-food.aspx

www.bounty.com/weaning/when-to-wean

Advice seems to change all the time though and I know people who weaned earlier with no problems. That's probably why the hold classes earlier - they know some people are going to start earlier with or without advice.

Mrs81, you've reminded me we need to get a highchair.

Morning all. Back from our week in Greece with the little one. It was surprisingly easy. I've done all the things I like to do on holiday - laid on a sun lounger, read my book, went swimming, gorged myself on Greek food. I've just done all these things on a slightly shorter rotation than normal. The plane was what I was really worried about but we did the African thing. Every time she crumbled I stuck a boob in her. At least it stopped the other passengers wanting to throttle us.

Best advice - forgoe the pram bag (the bugaboo one was £100) and buy a roll of bubble wrap. Pram came out in perfect working order and was very well treated by the baggage handlers.

Only issue we have now is dealing with the time difference. Lily thought 6am this morning was time to paaaartay!

Re highchairs, I totally recommend the Ikea Antilop highchair - doesn't recline, is nothing fancy, but an excellent BLW/self feeding chair for less than £20 all in (tray and cushion come seperately). Easily scrubbable too :o

Thanks for the recommendation, I have heard lots of good feedback on the Ikea one so we're definitely getting it.

Glad you had a good holiday, Sunny. Haha re sticking a boob in her - always works for me too! We're not going away till next year but I'd be too scared to take the icandy (have heard too many stories about damaged items) so I'm going to look into buying a really cheap pushchair to take.

Hi all. Glad to hear the travelling is going well. We have been on our first break but is only a few hours drive away from where we live in Perth. I still stressed at how much I had to take!!
Here in australia they advocate weaning by six months and starting on iron rich foods. I don't know about that. They also suggest weaning early for poor weight gain which i disagree with due to the reasons someone said above about milk being more calories.
I've still got ds ikea highchair and it is fab - so easy to wipe clean and not too bulky. Can even take it away easily as the legs come out...

Just to warn you all, banana stains! It doesn't look it at the time, but mashed banana on white/pale clothes goes browny black if left, so get it in the wash ASAP once they've had a banana and mashed it over themselves, or just only give them banana when wearing dark coloured clothing or clothes you don't mind putting in the bin...

on and butternut squash puree is a bugger to get out of curtains...

Curtains?! I'll try to remember that!

And I found out about bananas on one of my maternity t shirts. :-/

Banana also looks like little worms when it comes out the other end (just to warn you!) :o