June 2013; Toddling into our second year!

[BeanCalledPickle]

New thread ladies:-) I think we filled about ten threads when pregnant and this is only our fourth post natally!

I am very happy to just have had two ELCS as well. I know two people who were induced on Wednesday and still no baby. Sounds horrendous!

I don't want more full stop. I would be happy with one, the second is purely for Polly's sake. I think it will be nice for her to have a sibling and regard these 18 months of growing and feeding the new one as for her! Three would mean a new car and way more expensive everything. One in nursery three days a week is9.5k. I don't want to move house again for twenty years. I like holidays. So many reasons! Though I get that I am programmed to want more and at some points I will want to again. I'm going to ignore that:-)

I know people who have had periods earlier but not normally while still EBF. I guess that's no one after six months or so. Mine weren't normal until I'd totally stopped though.

Yep, I got periods back after 7 weeks, even though ebf!
I am stopping at one child, exclusively due to my age (now 42). I know people have healthy babies at this age but it's not a risk I want to take. I think if I (and DP) were younger then I'd want Keir to have a sibling. He has 5 cousins though and will (I hope) have many friends.
I feel lucky to have one child, tbh, and haven't yet had any further broody feelings. Maybe that'll change but then I'd be really ancient!

That's the only reason I want a second, bean. I'd be perfectly happy with just DD. I have never felt broody; I always knew I wanted a child (not baby!), then a sibling for DD but I've never actually felt broody.

Mine were back to clockwork at 8 months even though DD barely ate anything else at that point. Another thing I love about pregnancy!

Oh and I would have been ok with DD being an only child but we have no family around and so all cousins are hundreds of miles away.

To be honest, one of the reasons I sit on the fence about having another is the only child vs sibling debate. I'm an only (not entirely by choice, I was v ill as a baby and my parents found that so difficult that they couldn't face the possibility of that happening again) and it was fine until I was an adult. Then my parents divorced and I felt v alone. All family were either mum's or dad's - I was the only one in the middle. Friends helped of course, but it's not the same. Equally, I can see the potential difficulty of being an only as my parents get older and need more support. But that's not a reason for having more sprogs in itself!

DH is one of 3, so has a v different experience.

But then, like everyone I suppose, I know of some brilliant sibling relationships and some that very much are not.

I think our decision would need to be based on what feels right for us as a little family.

You lot have got me thinking again!

I almost got a VB with DD and didn't find labour that painful (it was bloody quick and I went into myself quite a bit so can't remember the hour between 6-10cm anyway), so I feel just a touch cheated.

Like I say, it probably won't happen. But it's not a no yet. It's also not a yes.

I imagine that as the years go by it'll become 'hell, no!'

It would depend on so many factors aligning that I can't see it being right anyway.

I also worry about DS being a middle child to be honest. And what if I got bloody twins?!?! So, yeah, loads to consider!

Oh gosh, twins! Yes, that's a pretty big consideration. DH worried about it being twins both times, and it's more likely the older you get.

I did a course for second timers recently and one of them is having twins. I just cannot imagine!

There are a couple of sets at the tots groups we go to - cute to see but I couldn't cope with them myself!

We've got twins 2 doors down from us. I live in awe of their mother.

So DH and i discussed taking the bars off her cot last night and agreed we were going to give it a try next week when we're both off and can manage the situation.

Then I went to check on her before i went to bed and discovered she was starkers except for her nappy. I'd put new pj's on her and she'd clearly decided to take a closer look.

Might wait a bit longer before taking the bars off to avoid her trying on all her clothes before bed!

That's made me giggle Sunny Is she in proper jammies now?

DS is still in a popper longsleeved vest and sleepsuit at night. desperately hopes he can't undo all that

Oh dear sunny! I'm DD would have real fun in her wardrobe if the bars were off. At the moment she falls to sleep really quickly but I'm sure the novelty of being free would change that.

We're keeping DD in sleepsuits for as long as possible, I've bought a few for 2-3. How else will she get past number 14 (DH has always counted the poppers as he does them up morning and night)?

Oh of course...they grow out of sleepsuits don't they?! DS is only just going into 12-18m sleepsuits now so I reckon we can be in them for a good while yet

We gave up on sleep suits a while ago. It was just an arse to deal with the pop studs when she was a wriggly little thing. The problem last night was they were new clothes. She is determined to learn how clothes work so whenever she gets something new it involves her taking it off and trying to put it back on again. So far this hasn't happened in public but give it time

But Jim jams are so much easier than sleep suits!! Why would you want to keep poppers in your life any longer than necessary! I'm a bit annoyed vests don't seem to exist beyond 18-24 though, the regular vests are not the same!

I too will miss vests but I reckon small girl will be potty training by the time she outgrows these ones.

Found you again!

Funny to see you all talking about other kiddies, the last few weeks I have been very broody. Always planned for dd to have a sibling - I'm and only child and felt it would be nice for her to have someone else to be close too. And although she has her half sisters, sadly now she isn't as close to them either. But obviously I now have to do the whole new relationship thing and see. Plus I had the coil fitted last month, so it's not something on the cards for a while yet, if at all. That's been a hard thing to accept and to make decisions on some of dd's things on the keep or not debate!

Dd is in a mix of sleep suits (zipped) and proper pjs. Was only thinking last night I guess during the summer she'll move into grown up vets then.

Her speech is coming on leaps and bounds the last few days, and she is really trying to repeat words back. Amazing isn't it. Mini humans. She even picked her own outfit yesterday.... She is so going to be a stroppy teenager before I know it!

Sleepsuits are handy for us. DS is still quite a lollipop in stature. Anything that has to go over his head is 12-18/18-24m. But the rest of him is 9-12 or 12-18 with sleeves rolled up/trousers turned up his feet are still size 3, quite how he doesn't topple over is a mystery

I guess we could get traditional button-down pjs but sleep suits still work for now!

Another fan of jim jams here. Still got the occasional sleepsuit but the poppers are a pain and DS looks so cute in his jammies. Think he prefers free feet too.

DD also has a massive head so sleepsuits are a better option for us at night-time. I haven't seen pyjamas with poppers on the shoulders (and button down would be harder as they'd be proper buttons!).

I'm getting DD's 2-3 wardrobe sorted now before baby arrives. I've had to buy vests without poppers - she's growing up!

And I bought matching knickers too as she's already showing an interest in the toilet and she tells us when she's doing something. Will try to wait until as near to 2 as possible but as baby is due a week beforehand we might bring it a week or two forward!

Nice to see you again pinkbear. I hope it all works out for you. Good news re the speech - there'll be no stopping her now!

From what I gather from friends who've got there before us Cuphat is that they massively regress when there is a new baby. So bugger all point potty training before as even if she got it she would go backwards at that point. Same with everything apparently. We were going to try to get her in a bed but haven't bithered on the basis that it won't last even if we do crack it. Apparently you shouldn't make any major changes to their little lives a couple of months either side of a new baby as otherwise they just associate it with the baby. This all sounds entirely sensible to me. As does leaving any attempts at potty training into the summer when there are fewer clothes involved and the garden can take the hit!

That does make sense but it's a tough one as apparently there's a window of opportunity too and if you go past it then it can take ages! I have a friend who had a baby just under a month after her child's second birthday. The child was toilet trained as soon as she turned two, it took less than a week and she's been fine ever since. However, I won't have a month gap and I don't want to attempt it too early. Leaving it till the summer sounds a good idea!

DD has been in jim jams for ages. The idea of trying to get her in a sleepsuit is hilarious. It just wouldn't happen!

I'm debating taking the bars off the cot too as she's making efforts to climb out on occasion. But she'd likely just rampage round the bedroom! But she's going to have to sleep in a normal bed when we go away for the week of her birthday, so it makes sense to have her used to it.

She's been telling us that she's pooing for quite a while, but we will wait til summer for potty training. That's way too much effort right now. DS needs too much attention still! We need to get rid of bottles too, but she's not keen on milk from anything else. Hmmm. And we've had to go lactose free again, so we are limited in sources of calcium as she won't eat lactose free cheese (it's not great!).

She regressed when DS was born so didn't make any changes around when he was born.

Oh that's tough re lactose Hungry. Is there lactose free yoghurt? Or soya yoghurts/mil that are okay?

DS bypassed the whole milk in a bottle thing altogether, insisting on being bf direct from source. Now that I've stopped bf-ing, he has v milky weetabix (100-150ml) each day, quite a bit of yoghurt and he's slowly getting the hang of milk from a sippy cup. He doesn't have milk at bedtime and he adjusted to the new bedtime routine surprisingly easily....