September 2006 babies

[Lysettes]

Start of our september 2006 post natal thread!

Just got in from Houston today & have caught up with posts ... more on Houston later.

Mabel re Lost: Glad to e-mail you later - don't want to post spoilers for everyone else! How much do you want to know? Sorry to hear about MIL ... that would drive me up a wall. (Do y'all get Gray's Anatomy? Or, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip? Those are the three shows I watch.)

Liquid - So glad you have something that works for reflux. And that DS2 is such a good baby!

Pol - Agree with Compo; sounds like there's a major disconnect between you & DH - is counseling an option? (Cori - LOL; Pol - that's pretty accurate.)

Claire & Tassis - Yay for going out - glad y'all did it!

Liquid & Mabel - Same here ... But just glad I have that bond at least once, this time around; I don't think DS1 really knew or cared - they're a little out of it until a few months old ... he seems perfectly happy ...

Welcome back Petrified and glad to hear all's well.

Mandaz - So good to hear from you!! Sorry about DH. Hopefully he doesn't want joint custody.

Welcome to Salma!

Pol - I just saw your photos. They're both adorable.

Morning....is it?!

Ai..Jack was up every two hours last night so am feeling a little tired! This after DH had given him a bottle of ebm at 10.30. Must be a growth spurt or is it that he just needs feeding so much? I'm not sure anymore as over the whole weekend I just seemed to feed & feed. The funny thing he is going down "for the night" when we put DD down at 6.30-7...it's almost as if he knew - sounds a bit silly I know but that part of the day just seems to be working Am off to the HV to get him weighed & discuss feeding later!

Pol...just how do you put up with so much crap???

Compo, we (or rather I!) put DS to nap in his moises basket downstairs then the last feed always in his room & there he stays. However once he outgrows his basket - which isn't far off tbh - he'll nap in his cot & /or the car seat of we're out & about. We're going to see in-laws this week for a few days & I'm dreading having him in our room to sleep as he's just too noisy!! Spoke to MIL yday who asked me if DH was still doing the night feed?!! I politely replied that I didn't consider giving him a bottle at 10.30-11pm was nighttime.....honestly!!

Pizza Express...yum!! The fiorientina every time..

Morning all
Pol - hope you're feeling better today xxx
Thanks for all the replies re. naps - maybe we should start putting dd upstairs if we're in as it must be hard trying to sleep with ds bouncing around her
Marls - I love Gray's Anatomy. Its on at 10pm here so I Sky+ it and watch it Fri morning when ds is at nursery and dd is feeding
Coriander - dd has been doing that: feeding loads and then going down when ds goes to bed, long may it last. Last night was 7pm, 12am (but unsettled until 2am!) and then 5am

dd did 7pm till 1am (longest yet), then 4.30am and then cried at 7am (possibly woken by ds??). Dh brought her into bed and in the 2 mins it took for me to sit up enough to feed her she zonked again and slept until 9am!!

Had to leave at 9.15am for ds' gym class so took her in her jammies...mental note to put her in her prettiest babygro on Sunday nights so no-one'll know!!

Anyone else got their baby in cloth nappies?

Welcome back Marls, we missed you. Tell us all about Houston.

congrats petrified!

pol you poor thing {{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}}

have now spoken to three doctors, two health visitors and two pharmacists who have all advised to wean him! totally agree that it is very early, and the only dissenting view was that to maybe go from somewhere in between his adjusted age, so start to think about it from maybe 5 months or so instead of 4!

Parents in law leave on wednesday after 7 weeks here - I will miss all the help but frankly my FIL is doing my head in! basically I am not as respectful to him as an indian DIL would be (he is indian) as I don't sit and listen to all the c**p he spouts, or just agree that my MIL would be basically much better at raising Jacob than I could ever be - we were calming jacob down the other night and MIL took him straight away and FIL said "take note of what MIL is doing for when we're not here!!!!" as if I don't ahve a hope in hell of coping!

Also what are everyones views on thumb sucking / pacifiers? we have resisted pacifiers so far and PIL are intent on thumb sucking being the way to go, but just wondering what all your views are???

Marls - welcome back! hope Jameson's still doing really well and DS1's still happy with his new little brother!

Cori - poor you - no fun doing 2 hourly feeds at all, hope tonight is better and you manage to get a bit of rest today. And no, 10.30-11pm is NOT 'night' time!

Tassis - we're using cloth nappies at home. We got 'cotton bottoms' for DS1 and they were fine for him but DS2 must be a different shape or something because this time we're having loads of leaks - yuk! (btw, DS2 just lives in romper suits day and night - none of the dressing up to go out stuff I did with DS1!)

Here DS2 slept until 3.30 then 6.15 which threw me a bit as I wasn't sure whether to give him a full or half feed. Ended up doing a full one which he promptly threw up and we didn't get back to bed at all because we had to clean and change him and the bed and by that time it was time for DH to get ready for work! Anyway - both boys are safely tucked up in their cots now so I feel a lunch time nap coming on...

Lysettes - Great that you've had lots of opinions to be on the safe side - hope it goes well when you do start. Your PIL sound more maddening than mine and I could barely manage a week of them (my FIL is an ignorant chauvanist and at times racist s*d and I have to try very hard to bite my tongue sometimes to keep the peace) - I'm sure you're very capable of calming Jake down on your own and parenting him very well!

Re dummies or thumbs - we tried going down the dummy route with DS1 but as soon as he could get his thumb to stay in his mouth he wouldn't take the dummy any more and he learned to cry with it in! DS2 seems to be going the same way. We've used dummies both time just to help tide us over until it's a convenient time to feed (ie, when I'm not driving, in the shower, eating etc) or when he's full but still wants to suck - not for getting to sleep. There is a proven link though between using a dummy and a reduced risk of SIDS so perhaps you could use that argument if you decide to use one?

Christ Lysettes...bet you cannot wait to see the back of him??! How can they possibly think you, his Mother, wouldn't know how to calm him down?? Grr

Re dummies etc, I hate them & I'm trying to resist giving one to Jack (think he may comfort suck a little). It's such a personal thing really but if it gives you peace of mind etc then you have to what makes you all sane & happy!! FWIW I sucked my thumb till I was 8 !!!!! & no, there is no lasting damage to my palate / teeth / gums etc!!! Good luck with the weaning

Liquid, how's the head?

Welcome back Marls...

Typical, Jack has spent the morning asleep...grrrrrrrr I've posted the latest pic on yahoo

Lysettes- sorry to here about your in laws!!! Sometimes I think they don't quiet know when to stop telling you what to do- ie. what is helpful advice and what is just plain bossiness! We have a dummy for B and he isn't like DD at all, DD sucked all the time and would not be without it. He takes it or leaves it but it got him out of the habit of being fed all the time or him thinking he ought to be being fed all the time... I know thought he will have given it up before 6 months where as DD still has hers at bedtime, not that I like it really but she IS going to give it to santa this year- not that she is wise to that yet though!

Thank you for all your support ladies... I have given up with DP helping me at all and just managing on my own really. Now my sister is off her hols, feel I have a goreat sounding board to moan to her about him. I figure after asking him countless times to help and even being in tears and he still doesn't nothing is going to change him at all. I guess i'll manage with them and it is getting alittle easier (touch wood!).

I have changed B's milk... well he has had bad wind probs since birth and know it isn't a lactose intolerance as sis's eldest DD had this and know the signs really but he is finding it hard and it's not that he isn't bringing up wind, as he is bringing alot up after each feed but as he is sleeping and digesting milk seems to be producing lots then. DD went onto sma white as she was hungry all the time and had a dummy to try and get her from the habit of eating all the time, and so with B instead of giving the dummy first to see if it was hunger or just suckiness I changed to sma white... he then had the dummy about a week or to later. Thinking the constant feeding wasn't helping his wind and if I didn't feed he would cry and then make the wind bad anyhow (a little vicious circle!). But sma white hasn't really been agreeing with his digestive system and a friend who is a mw suggested it actually isn't a heavier milk it just stays longer in their tummy and takes longer to digest causing more gases etc lingering around. She suggested cow and gate omneo (now comfort) and so I put him on that last night as the evenings before he has been going down ok at 10/11pm until 3:30am but then waking to be resettled every half to an hour and he has had really bad farts that have been making him scream. Touch lots of wood since having it last night he has been more settled!!! Yeah, although it could be because he is so knackered from being up nearly every night?! He still has been farting lots but not in agony with it and still asleep while letting rip (typical boy!)... So i'm hoping it will all come together now during the night as I cannot look after DD properly in the day when I have had no quality of sleep in the night- and i'm sure you are all the same! I find my self nodding off while DD and me watch Me too...

Marls- good to hear from you and thanks for saying they are pretty children! Not all the time!!!

Off to look at new pics now

Added a couple more pics too of B while I thought of it. They were taken last week.

Best go and wake up DD as she has been up there in her cot for two hours now...

Pacifier ... DS1 still keeps his for naps and at night, mostly holding them instead of putting them in his mouth. Won't be hard at all to take them from him; dentist says if they're gone by age 4, no problems. I view the "paci" as a harmless and helpful parental shortcut. We would LOVE for DS2 to take one, but so far he?s not interested.

Houston ...

Mom & I did get into an argument - thankfully just one. She has opinions on everything. Lysettes, she just about said she'd be better at taking care of my boys than I ("after all, I've already raised three children") ... in the end we just agreed to disagree. In the heat of it told her "this must be why I didn't have any girls" (in retrospect, ouch ). She was a tremendous help with DS2 but tended to play the martyr, which was annoying. DH reminded me that one of the reasons we didn't want to live in H. long-term is my Mom. True. (The other is the weather.)

Because I can still wear nothing in my closet, found out that I could walk into the fanciest boutiques in town (just looking, mind you) in ratty tank tops and shorts and still be greeted with a courteous smile and ?how can I help you?? That says a lot about Houston. Pleasantly surprised by how friendly everyone was everywhere (until they got into their cars and started driving ).

DH and I went to dinner at our favorite restaurant. Houstonians eat so well ... you name it, they've got it. I visited the gourmet grocery, packed a box with dry foodstuffs and sent it home - arrives Friday! Aside from friends I miss food variety the most.

When I arrived for a brunch with some high school friends the table was decorated and everyone had gifts! Impromptu baby shower for DS2, really great surprise.

Pol ? DH of my friend having similar problems has come around, at least somewhat. We had dinner at their house & he seemed pretty capable with their DD. She?s an excellent cook (I am not ); her DH should be thankful!

Showing went well ... sold 2 pieces before it even opened. Invited to do another show in April! I have an Arkansas gallery show in March, so will do the Houston gallery again next fall. Saw many friends ... the Will to my Grace arrived with his "entourage" ... miss that aspect of life here! If anyone is gay here they're in the closet. Houston has a huge and very visible gay community, and they're wonderful.

It?s still summer there ? hot and humid, probably until late November. Felt good to step off the plane Sunday into crisp air. Overall had a great time.

Sorry so long

Marls- it's so good to hear some of your life in US, I would love to live there- mainly for the beautiful craft supplies but because the customer service is sooooo much better than here in the UK. Well done for selling some pieces too but sorry to hear you and your mum had a few teething probs, sometimes i'm sure they think they are helping- when actually they aren't! Deep down though you know they would be v.upset if they knew they really hurt you.

Well, just put our dinner in the oven and can't wait for it to be cooked- I am roasting a butternut squash with red onion -yummmmm and little roasted charlotte pots with a duck breast... ummm i'm starving and the smell is killing me... roll on it being cooked.

Marls, glad to hear Houston was a success (apart from your argument!) and your show went well.

Lysettes, phew at the departure of your PILs. 7 weeks is a LONG time!!!

Pol, hope you have another better night tonight... and the change in milk works. My mum swears that until she found the right milk for my brother (32 years ago!!), he wouldn't settle at all, and once she'd found which one suited him he was a dream. Cori, fingers crossed for you tonight as well.

Re. cloth nappies, we're not in them yet, but I have a loan pack of all different kinds coming in a couple of weeks, then I will decide which I like best to buy. It's quite an outlay, so I want to get it right. I do also have an IMSE organic cotton one and a BabinoMio one that I'm trying and quite like. I don't think I'll use them at night though - do you Tassis?

Liquid, I hate that 6.15 wake up too... Difficult, as a half feed usually doesn't make F settle back down and a full one, as you say, means the day effectively starts at 6.15. We've got in the habit (good or bad) of, if F wakes after 6, DH goes and brings him in our bed, and he always goes straight off back to sleep until at least 7, if not 7.30. I don't think it's a bad habit, as he doesn't do it every night, and hopefully the second 6 ish feed won't last long... Didn't do it last night - he woke at 3.30 and then on the dot of 7!

Dummies - neither of mine have had one (so far!!). L found his thumb early on, and then grew out of that, and hopefully F won't need one as I don't really like them either. He does comfort suck a bit to go to sleep sometimes, but secretly I rather like it!!! esp if we're lying down feeding on the bed and it's dark, I can almost drop off myself for a quiet 10 mins...

Thanks for asking about DS1 Tassis. He had a good morning today, no sleep at lunch time (refused), fell asleep for 20 mins in the car this afternoon and was then really grotty again and had more calpol. Fingers in mouth again and loads of dribble. Is it normal for the second set of molars to take this long?? It feels like it's been forever...!! And I am mourning the end of the lunchtime nap... He didn't have it today or yesterday, so I have fingers crossed that tomorrow he'll need it!!

posts crossed Pol, mine was so long! Wow, your dinner sounds good... You know, I'm not convinced your DP deserves you...!!!

claire- DD's teeth took about a month to come through, although doesn't seem so hard going as your time!
Tea was delish thankyou!!!

Claire - how I wish we could do that with Alex! Unfortunately a) DH and the very thought of co-sleeping even for an hour wouldn't wash and b) my meds would make it unsafe to fall asleep in the bed with him, I have to be so careful at the night feeds and I've given up BF lying down just to be on the safe side. We'll see how tonight goes - I've had my first 'grizzly' afternoon with him (not bad considering he's 3 wks tomorrow) and he was definitely in real pain not 'just' grizzling. think it was acid too, not just wind, as the smell was really strong on his breath and he kept spitting up small watery amount with cottage cheese-like bits, just hope it's a one-off as we've been doing so well with the infacol and I was convinced his sickness was wind. Have to wait and see I suppose.

Pol - actual cooking? Well done you - I'm defrosting a curry I made while still pg!

Marls - don't worry about a long post, good to hear about your time away and great that you sold 2 pieces!

hi there, just a very quick one - Liquid, I sent you an email with a quick question about the thing we can't mention on here... hope you don't mind...

Have a good day all. I'm off to have my stitches checked this morning, what a treat.

Finally got 5 minutes to get on here to catch up!
I have had a quick skim through.
Claire - DS's molars are coming through as well, and they seem to be taking ages, I can just see the white under his gums now. He's been really up and down with it.
Re: cloth nappies: I have got both DS's in disposables at the moment. I am struggling to keep on top of my washing as it is, so can't see myself using my cloth nappies at any time soon - how do you manage it ladies? I am using my tumble dryer loads just to get my washing dry with it being so damp and still outside at the moment, and don't want to have to use it for nappies as well.
We abandoned the moses basket last week as Freddie didn't seem to be able to settle in it. As we don't have room in our bedrrom for his cot he's been sleeping in his little chair which he seems to like as it's at more of an angle - I don't know though if it's such a good idea, whether he'll struggle to settle in his big cot if he's not used to lying flat?
Can I just have a moan about my MIL - she is doing my head in - I feel like she is in competition with me, when she has DS she talks to me about the things they've done , as if I do nothing with him, she is so patronising. It's also the same with food, she makes out he eats like a horse there, as if I don't feed him at home - sorry just had to get that off my chest - she's just rubbing me up the wrong way right now.

Mabel - I think he'll be fine in his chair for the time being. My SIL had to do the same thing as her dd hated the moses basket and she sleeps in her cot brilliantly now. It's just a phase they go through I guess and as ong as you're all getting some sleep that's the main thing
Pol26 - wow, your dinner sounded delicious, hope you enjoyed it!!
Clairemow - sorry to hear about your ds feeling unwell. Both ds and poor dd have got colds - I think ds caught it at nursery. Of course dh has it and is climing it's man flu - grrrr!! Hope I don't get it as getting up through the night will be ten times worse with a cold...
Dh has the day off today so I'm going to feed dd lots and then take ds on his own to Mother and Toddlers just to get some QT with him. Dh can always give dd her top up bottle if necessary but hopefully all the feeding will send her to sleep while I'm out for an hour and a half (fingers crossed!)

have a good time at the toddler group compo. I'm conscious that I really need to spend some time with DS1 on his own too. It seems to be impossible. He's still grotty. Now I think it is a combination of a) teeth b) arrival of new brother who clearly isn't going away again (today he said to me "I don't want to see Fraser"... and c) trying to drop daytime nap and actually being pretty knackered. Thankfully today he is now asleep in bed, as is Fraser. Thank God, as at about 12.30 I was doing my nut - DS1 was crying because I wouldn't let him have his robot, as he wouldn't eat any pasta (his favourite..), and DS2 was crying and chewing on his hands. I was crying in the loo! The depths I have fallen to... Feel fine now they're asleep, it just gets on top of you every so often doesn't it?

Compo, hope you don't get the cold... DH was complaining yesterday of a sore throat, I thought uh-oh, man-cold here we come!!!

Hi All,
I havent been on here for ages just havent had the chance. Im sure no one remembers me
Cant believe Kiyane will be 4wks on sunday the time is going quck.
Have been finding it hard at times when she wont settle and Im knackered. At times I just dont know why she's crying she'll be fed and changed and clean and I just dont know whats wrong with her.
Its amazing some days are great and other days are so hard. But no matter how hard it gets I remind myself she is a blessing.

Kiyane has had really bad wind I have been giving her the Infacol but Im sure she is still suffering she clenches her fists and draws her knees up and mw said thats a sign. I wind her before, halfway and after her feeds. Has anyone got any tips to make this better?
Sorry if this has been mentioned previously I just havent had a chance to read through.

Hope everyone is doing well

Mabel- I empathise with your MIL, yes I think they do see it as a competition some times and it gets to me too!!!

Diner was lovely thanks!!! [yummy emoticon] and have been out and brought another butternut squash to roast for tes another night because I enjoyed it so much- and it's easy just chop it up, a little o.oil and garlic and leave it in oven until you have time to dish up... which is ideal when you have a bubba and you feel alittle more human and healthier than take away...

Just had B weighed and he is 12lbs 12.5ozs! He is a chubby baby now! Glad to see he is doing ok though, even if you know it's nice to have someone else say he is too.

Redz- Ben had bad wind problems and from time to time still does even though we got wind up after and during feeds. We had the avent bottles and were using infacol too. We changed to the dr browns bottles as it stops air being taken in during a feed. It seemed to ease his problems although they are quiet pricey. He still had problems but mainly about an hour after his feed with digesting his milk (we were on sma gold but because he was extra hungry went on to sma white) We are now on the cow and gate comfort milk and touch wood he seems to be much better than he was. He is settleing at night and is now going 5-6 hours during the night before he wants a feed. (He will be 6 weeks on Thursday).
I also read in a book which cannot be mentioned here that if you formula feed before three hours has passed they aren't digesting the last feed fully and so feeding again makes the wind worse... how true it is i'm not sure but since Ben's feeds aren't all over the place we are going great!
Good luck!!! I know how stressful it can be.

Thanks Pol, Think I'll give those Dr Browns bottles a try. I read about them a while ago. I have been using the Avent bottles so far.
I will have to think about changing her milk soon too, as sometimes she wants a feed after two hours and isnt always able to wait for three, she has a big appetite(like her dad)