March 2013 - 6 months down, 210 to go!

[StormyBrid]

Old thread.

Keep on rambling, ladies, we have a whole new thread to fill!

[BettyOff]

Wors he must be bonkers. I'm driving a small bus these days (with 2 extra folded up seats hidden in the massive boot) and even that is full with just one dog and one baby!

[pudtat]

Hey guys. Just popping in while I have breakfast quietly on my own downstairs in an effort not to wake the boys.

Had my mum over for dinner last night and a practice run at bedtime and running our stupid house ahead of Thursday - our first night off together since he was born. Feel a little guilty that we're throwing her in at the deep end as we are out overnight, but hope it will all go smoothly. as it'd be nice to think she might do it again someday!

[intherainbow]

pud good luck with the overnight away! We have a wedding in December to attend but I'm not comfortable leaving DD even for an evening with anyone yet - I'm terrified of disrupting her bedtime routine which still works perfectly. Plus DD has never spent any time away from me and DH and just would worried she would not understand if suddenly we went away. However we have planned some lovely daytime alone time on our week off like going out for lunch and going to the cinema and I am so looking forward to that - we won't be leaving DD for more than 3 hours. She has only gone once without seeing one of us for that long though!

eco do you know what the advantage of using backpack carriers over soft structured slings on your back? Are they more comfortable on long walks?

Meetup sounds like so much fun - I am in north yorkshire if we ever do a northern one! worse bleaching cups?! How does one do that? Although tbh I would probably elect for a cup of tea on the sofa to add to the stains rather than doing anything about it if I had the spare moment!

[StormyBrid]

pud how did the practice run go? Your mum will manage fine - remember, she's done the baby thing before!

Bleaching cups involves putting bleach in cups to get them sparkly clean, I believe. It's not something we do in this house. Tea tastes better when the mug's all black and crusty. I do get the soda crystals out every couple of years though.

[Plonkysaurus]

Worse Only three days? That's a mighty speedy clean up there.

I'm still driving my vw polo and dp is trying to convince me to get rid of it and get 'something more sensible'. In my defence I can fit a weeks food shop, DS and the buggy in with room to spare, so I think we should just get a dog (Betty we were admiring your dog last night, I want her!) anyway, his motives are more than a little suspect - he wants me to have his sensible car and trade mine in so he can get a 2 dearer death trap.

Eco buying Christmas involved a few handmade tree decorations, lunch out and wrapping paper from oxfam. Not the best effort but I did feel festive afterwards.

We're slowly progressing back to normal sleep and last night was perfect really, just had to pop in twoce to say shh. But these bloody teeth! He's got three on top all fighting for liebensraum.

Betty enjoy your loverly break, try not to think about the mountain of crap, it'll start getting smaller soon!

[worsestershiresauce]

Ok, it's official I can't do this food thing. I'm really stressed. Just seen the HV who has told me 1. cut the milk out. 2. cut the bread out. 3. give her pieces of fish, meat, fruit and veg.

So I've done all that, she has eaten nothing, and is now screaming with hunger. So I'm making her banana on toast against everything I have been told because I can't take the crying.

I know HV aren't all that, but she has a point, because at 9 months milk really does need to be reduced, and the bread based food is probably what is causing dd's eczema.

Argggghhhhhhh

And the next person who tells me they have just served up a full roast dinner which has been consumed with gusto, will be punched. Ok!!!

Mug bleaching - it's what you do when you have white mugs, a DH who drinks black tea and leaves the dregs to dry on, and some visitors coming. There comes a point when stains start to look like they might actually be growing.... that's the point the bleach comes out!

[intherainbow]

worse I'm not so convinced on the cutting down of milk if your little one is not into food yet. I subscribe to the food being for fun until one. Lots of parents I have talked too have said their little ones didn't get into food properly until well past 12 months. In any case I would go with your instinct on the milk thing. We still ebf on demand and it wouldn't occur to me to not feed milk as and when DD wanted it - I know breastmilk substitutes are different in that you are controlling quantity but presumably your little one still drinks their fill of how much they want so don't imagine it's different in that respect.

Also, if your little one likes bread based things I would really recommend making muffins packed with stuff like grated carrot and courgette or apple or spinach (any combo really - I have also used parsnips and aubergine too and sometimes add grated cheese). You can use gluten free flour and then you also know they contain no salt or sugar. I have used various flours like wholewheat, spelt and coconut flour. They take hardly any time to make and I make mini ones and they freeze beautifully.

[worsestershiresauce]

You could be right Rainbow but I do need to do something to fill dd up, as she's gone from 50th to 75th centile really very quickly, so is obviously getting too much milk and not enough fruit and veg! Nothing wrong with healthy growth, but she can't continue on that trajectory.

I did actually make some muffins at the weekend! They weren't a success with anyone other than the dogs though . Next time no banana. Banana and I don't get on on so many levels.

[Gerrythetootallgiraffeswife]

Worse- how did you reduce milk today? Did you try to cut a whole bottle and replace with food? Do you think the worselet has got the hang of the idea that food sates hunger? How many bottles/how much milk a day at the moment. With HVs, I tend to think that they are heading in the right direction, but they don't always know the best way to get there. If I were you (and this may be completely wrong!) I wouldn't cut any milk feeds, but I'd perhaps cut the volume of each bottle by a flozz a week? So she's just that tiny bit hungrier, keep offering food (and I have to say I'd go with whatever she'll eat within reason, just while she gets the hang of hunger=food instead of hunger=milk) You might barely notice her eating any more, but she might just get the hang of it really slowly. Alternatively I might be talking utter bollocks. Equally likely.

The other thing- and I'm aware that this is exactly the kind of advice that is likely to make you want to kill me, so perhaps I should wait til after tomorrow... Try not to stress, because rainbow is right that it should be fun. Do you remember me telling you about my cousin who was head-hunted by some big bank, after a first in maths from Warwick, and is on some ridiculous starting salary? He also eats absolutely everything, and runs marathons. And survived on milk and peanut butter sandwiches until he snapped out of it age 3. God knows what the HV was saying to my aunt, but I doubt it was "he's going to be hugely clever, successful and healthy when he's 23".

[worsestershiresauce]

Gerry thanks for making me laugh. Milk and peanut butter is pretty much my staple diet too and I'm a genius. Oh ok, maybe not, but hey... it's the internet... who's to know

I've not gone completely cold turkey - no milk at lunch, but half a feed at dinner, so she was down to 3 and a half milk feeds. Food wise lunch wasn't great, and dinner started as a hysterical scream-a-thon, so I cleaned her up, put her in the jumperoo and started again a bit later, this time with baby wotsists. She ate most of her shepherds pie from a wotsist rather than a spoon, and seemed happy, so that's a start. Last thing I want is her upset and stressed around food.

I'm grateful for all advice to be honest, as having sailed through most things so far, food is proving a challenge I have very little idea how to solve. I kind of had this naive view that you just had to give babies food and they would try it. How wrong I was

[worsestershiresauce]

... and the result of reducing her milk...

Up three times last night, and a whole bottle drunk.

Knackered

Back to the drawing board

[StormyBrid]

Oh, worse, I feel your pain. Sending ethereal hugs your way. Gerry's right that stress doesn't help, but I can't say it ever made things worse here either, DD just wasn't interested regardless of whether I was smiling or crying. I too thought it would just be a case of putting food in front of baby and letting her get on with it. I guess that works with some babies, but certainly not all of them.

I suspect this will probably be one of those things you just have to wait out. Sooner or later she'll get the idea that food is for eating, and that it's good, but until then you can't force her. Can we have a look at a typical day's schedule for the worselet? Perhaps we could make some suggestions for rejigging things. We certainly didn't have much joy here with food until we figured out how to space things out for optimum hunger at mealtimes.

[BettyOff]

Crap I just deleted a whole post. Wors, my madam was an amazing eater and now only eats bread or things in disguise. She also still has 5 feeds a day. She has also gone from just above 50th to just below 91st centile. Don't worry about her getting fat, she's a baby and you're not feeding her McDonalds so she'll be fine. I'd go with the general consensus and let her eat what she will (within reason obviously although I did just give madam some ice cream ) and carry on with your milk feeds. Maybe change one of your milk feeds to a cup feed with a snack (baby wotsits and breadsticks) and give a bit less?

Obviously feel free to completely ignore me as my school of parenting is lax to say the least! I go with whatever stops me hiding in the downstairs loo (my pantry equivalent)!

[worsestershiresauce]

Stormy the worselet's day goes pretty much as follows.

Breakfast: usually something like banana on toast or an attempt at porridge, followed by up to a full bottle of milk. If I'm heading out I just give her milk as the alternative takes an age

Lunch: Some form of mush, with bread/rice cakes/wotsits. Whatever she'll eat really. Some days she'll eat more than others, but she does have a tendency to fill up on water. Milk wise anything from none to a full bottle. I only offer it if she really hasn't eaten much.

Mid afternoon: milk

Dinner: As lunch, but I am pushing a variety of finger foods now. Half a bottle of milk.

Bed: Full bottle.

I always offer food before milk, unless she is screaming with hunger. In the latter case anything other than milk results in me wearing it.

Betty good idea about the snack. I could do that with the afternoon feed even if we are out and about.

Thanks for all the reassurance. The thing about HVs they don't half know how to make you feel inadequate.... and don't get me started on the other mums. 'Oh Molly* loves her porridge and she's only 6 months. Yours is 9 months... and won't eat porridge???? .

• name changed for privacy purposes
  
  I'm working on the basis that the worselet is of such extreme intelligence that food is just so not worth even bothering about. I mean why would you waste time chewing when you have the mathematical complexities of black holes to solve? You just wouldn't would you ?
  
  I'm kidding by the way...

[Plonkysaurus]

Worse I'd try not to worry about it, but I'm of the same school of parenting as Betty. DS is an adventurous eater but we've never forced anything on him - including dropping feeds.

However I do think its possible she's refusing food because she knows milk is always there. DS just has two bottles a day now but when we were on 3 or 4 the main thing I did differently to you was offering milk in between feeds. So no milk top up available. If he was pecking between meals he got a snack - fruit, biscotti, lumps of cheese etc. breakfast here tends to be 1 weetabix and a nibble of whatever's to hand but its an hour after his bottle.

It goes without saying that every baby's different, and I think this is probably just a case of trying everything - throw enough shit (ok, food) at the wall and see what sticks.

[worsestershiresauce]

Evening all - hope you are relaxing with or and all babies are peacefully sleeping in bed. I certainly am, although the sleeping baby bit is a bit of a lie. According to the intercom the baby is very much awake, but the DH is on shift, so that's ok then.

Plonk you're probably right, there is a bit of expectation management going on there with the food. She expects milk after her food, I give it to her. Something to work on I guess, although today after all my complaining she would appear to have gone on milk as well as food strike. I sense a nappy brewing. I also sense a midnight feed in the offing. Joy!

Had a ball today at the Kent meet up with the Gerry and Eco duos, so thank you to them that made the trek and allowed me to stay at home and not bother. Was lovely to see you, and the adorable minis. The worselet was agog at the wonder that is a tambourine. It was so cool she decided to steal it from eco-baby. Manners are obviously still on the list of things to learn, after eating. May take a while then.

Speaking of eating, either the mini's are very tidy eaters or the minis' mums are very stealthy tidy up-ers, as when I finally got round to opening the door on the chaos I found remarkably little of it!

Night all. Wishing you uneventful ones.

[Plonkysaurus]

Ooh meeting sounds lovely. Did you wear makeup? Did the babies discuss the latest education figures? Was there ?
Worse may I suggest marmite rice cakes? DS went bananas for them.

[ecofreckle]

hello hello. been awol because am in midst of a) Kent/Sussex Road trip and b) wonder week. I am feeding more overnight than newborn days. Gah! So, for that reason there was make up today! Concealer on the bags. eco baby has bags too which isn't a great baby look. The babies chatted about the indignity of being made to wear socks/having nappies changed/eat from a spoon. There wasn't cake becaus worse is more of a pork pie gal, although there was beautiful food. I took healthy sweet treats for Gerry (who doesn't look like she should be avoiding cake in the flesh) and spelt goodness for worselet and to my shame I absentmindedly packed them and took them Home again sorry ladies! I can report that mummies and babies are all gorgeous as you would expect from this thread! mini Gerry is great at yoga and worselet/ecobaby are going to form a tambourine/maraca based band.
My new phone is driving me insane so I'll be back in touch from laptop when I can get hands on one. Off to mil's tomorrow as we continue our girlie road trip.
meanwhile I'll remain of you lot who are on the fun side of the 37 week wonder. I'll be there with you at that midnight feed worse!

[worsestershiresauce]

Oh yes the healthy treats, I should have mentioned those. If the northern meet up happens you have got to ask Eco to bring her healthy honey flapjacky tray bake with her, and spelt pancakes for the little ones. Somewhere along the line Eco forgot to mention she is a seriously good cook! Unlike me who cooked nothing, although I did arrange things on a plate to look pretty-ish

As predicted we were up for a midnight snack or to be more accurate full bottle. Today she's having as much milk as she wants as I need an unbroken night. Sympathy Eco on the wonder week wakings. Not fun, but they do pass.

Right, all of you with ridiculously mobile babies (Something I'm looking at you). How do you manage nappy changes? The worselet has suddenly 'got crawling', and after a shaky start at the start of the week has today started zooming off at relatively high speed towards the most dangerous object in the room the second I set her down. I'd just about mastered pining her down with one hand to prevent rolling, but adding running off into the mix.... argghh. I'm too old for this!

[StormyBrid]

Ooo, we need a new thread! I've made us one here and will reply there.