May 06 - Part 2 - The Return of The Thread

[hockeymum]

So here it is - a brand spanking new thread!

brummiemum - the amount Dylan is getting sounds fine, particularly if he's liking fromage frais.

Theo gets up at about 6 or 7 has a 6oz bottle then.
breakfast of baby cereal (he detests weetabix the monkey) is at 8ish
then he has meat and veggies for lunch at 11.30ish, with a miniscule amount of baby juice.
a 7oz bottle of milk at 1ish.
tea at 4.30-5ish with juice
bath, 6oz bottle of milk and bed at 6ish
then a dream feed at dh's bedtime (10.30 to 11ish of 6oz)

so he's only having about the same amount of milk as Dylan and he wont eat fromage frais either. he's putting on weight ok and doing fine.

He does go to bed very early really, but he cant have a proper long sleep mid afternoon as I'm always waking him to collect DD from school so he really needs to go to bed by then. DD's an early riser too so I just put up with him waking at 6-7am and get on with my day. If he was my first baby I'd just put him to bed a bit later at 8pm in order to have that extra couple of hours in the morning!!

Hope that helps a bit - you sound like you and he are doing fine!

Weaning......OMG it's a nightmare!! Am struggling with dd who is 6 months next week. Tried her on veg and weetabix (not together i hasten to add), I've never seen such a look of disgust on her face, as if to say "what the hell is this you're giving me?"!!!
Got very stressed, which I KNOW doesn't help matters. Phoned my guru baby friend who suggested I leave it a few days then start again. I think I'm expecting too much too soon. Rightly or wrongly i'm quite determined to not give her sweet stuff too soon, would rather she gets her savoury tastes first. This'll make you laugh, a friend at work (in her 50's) suggested I give her marmite on toastdipped in boiled egg....SHE WON'T EVEN EAT A QUARTER OF A TEASPOON OF MASH POTATO!!!!!!!! Bless, she was only trying to help!

oh, and on the routine front... solids aside, cos that just ain't happenin at the moment, dd's routine is....

7am wake and 8oz feed
8am back to sleep for 2 hours (YES!!!)
11am 8oz feed
2:30pm 8 oz feed
5:45pm bath
6pm 8oz feed and bed by 6:30pm.

yes I know it's early, but she sleeps thru and i like my evenings with dh once she is in bed!!!

My DS loves feeding himself. If I have a spoon of mush he grabs the spoon, so I now always have two. Perhaps Luckymummy2sophie you could let DD play with a spoon (distraction) while you feed her. Also, my DS LOVES finger food: par-boiled batons of carrot, swede or parsnip, toast fingers, rusk quarters, banana or pineapple fingers. Does that help at all?

Thank you sooooo much ladies, some really useful ideas and encouragement i'll let you know how it goes!

Dylan had another first yesterday - a HAIRCUT!!!!! he looks like a proper little boy now. Dh did it with the clippers, only a bit off the sides, which we've kept!

SAHMof1 - thanks, had tried giving her another spoon, MIL had suggested it, she just smeared food ALL over her face!! Will maybe try some finger food as you suggested. Ta.

Bit of advice please girls...
How do I deal with this situation... I have 2 very good friends who I used to work with, one has 1 yr old dd and the other a 2 yr old dd. We all meet up once every 3-4 mths (live all over the place)with dh's and dd's. My 2 friends ALWAYS bring presents for the girls. We can't afford to keep doing this,I've never bought their girls presents in the hope they'd get the hint, and I even spoke to one of them and specifically asked her nicely not to do it, as we can't keep up. Both their dh's earn significantly more than me and dh put together, so they have no money worries.
I'm embarassed that I never get there dd's pressies, but I'm trying not to get it started. I won't be able to buy them 4 times a year, then xmas and b'day, that's 6 presents a year!!
They came to us yesterday, and all the presents came out when they arrived, I'm so embarassed. I just don't know what to do, as even having spoken to one of them about it, she still does it. It's gonna be worse as the girls get older and are more aware. Help!! Any pearls of wisdom out there??

luckymummy, big hugs
I think the only thing you can do is tell them again not to buy pressies and just keep it to birthdays and xmas. i know it's awful and but it sounds like being subtle hasn't worked!!
i'm sure if they are good friends like you say then they should understand esp with money situation. so sorry i'm not much help, but good luck

Lucky mom I have this problem to with DD I left weanig and did it very hap hazardly untill 2 weeks ago at 22 weeks she hardly eats anything and she is still very much feeding as much as when she was 2 months old she will no longer sleep by herself either and wakes again in the night and she is so clingy just for me I am not sure what to do about it to be honest can you give 24 week old babys finger foods if so what both the boys had finger foods by now but they were weaned at 16 weeks so were weaning themselves of the breast by now any advice would be most apprieciated

Hi Sniff - I feel for anyone having any weaning issues at the moment, although I have been told by friends with older babies that it is possibly the hardest time, so if we can get through this....?!!
How old is your dd? I've been advised at a weaning talk that at 6 mths (26 weeks) they can pretty much eat anything other than salt, sugary stuff, nuts, honey and shellfish. I don't see any reason why your dd couldn't have some finger food, i.e. par boiled carrot stick??
I was also advised by a guru friend that apparently they get all the nutrients they need from milk and follow on milk until they are about a yr old, so any 'food' they have is kind of a bonus, and really just getting them used to tastes and textures. That really helped me cos I was really fretting over whether she was actually eating enough. Now I am much more relaxed about weaning cos I'm not seeing it as 'food' as such, but more of her just practicing eating. That way, when she spits it out and doesn't actually eat much at all, I don't fret.
I hope this helps. Maybe some of the MNers with older babies might be able to help more with finger food question.
Good Luck and keep up the good work....we all know how tough it is being a mummy....big hugs...

thanks for the weaning wisdom luckymummy - although dd is doing ok i found myself worrying about the amount she was eating - bhut if it's not "real" food problem solved! hope the pressie situation resolves itself

Hi ladies... feels like forever since I've been on here. Really finding I have no time to do anything with working full time. The joys of motherhood!

DS is doing fab - he's officially 6months now so he's started getting solids. He seems to like most things - well, if he doesn't like it the first time, he takes it the next time. Funny how he can forget that it was the most awful tasting thing in the world a few hours before!

He's still taking a lot of feeds during the night though. He has 3 6oz bottles of EBM while I'm at work plus whatever solids then he's still up every 2-3hrs all through the night... I don't mind it too much though - I know that he will eventually grow out of it. He's just a bit of a snacker.

He's obviously getting plenty to eat though - he's over 9kg so able to be in a forward facing carseat! I've hated his baby seat since we got it so I'm glad we can get rid of it - he was so squished looking in it. Went down to Mothercare to get him weighed and was so pleased that he was heavy enough - even if it did mean spending yet more money!

Brummiemom - I laughed when I read about your DS's haircut - my ds still looks bald till you're really close up to him. Think it might be quite some time before he gets it cut!

Ok, final thought, can I just say thanks to whoever suggested to bake a butternut squash (sorry, can't remember who said it and can't be bothered scrolling through...) I've never done that before but it's so easy! Can't believe I've never thought of that... Do you think it could be done in the micro like a baked potato though? Scared to try it incase of explosions...

sorry for long post, didn't look so long when I was typing

Hi All, haven't been on for what seems like AGES! due to new job. Am working full time at the mo during training so things are pretty hectic, although things are going generally well. I've managed to land a job where a) Niamh has a place in their private nursery (onsite!) and b) I can work a full 36 hour week but Niamh will only be in nursery 1 full day and 3 half days per week. So am feeling pretty chuffed with myself!! It's tough going through the training as it is full time and Niamh is in nursery full time, but it's only for 6 weeks and we're 2 weeks in already so am counting down the days.....

DD is having LOTS of interesting foods at nursery (all cooked onsite and without salt etc...) and eating quite a lot. Was quite surprised to learn that she is quite fond of oriental pork, and melon !

Has been home for a few days though due to teething induced diahorrea (spelling?). Nursery policy is that she cannot go back until 48 hours of normal poos (which makes sense). And the exciting thing is that her 1st tooth is poking through!! Strangely though it's one of her top right molars . I've been telling people for ages she's getting her back teeth first and everyone tells me I must be wrong coz babies ALWAYS get their 4 front teeth first, well, I shall take great delight in getting them to FEEL her first tooth!!! Poor little cherub has been suffering with it though and it's been hard going on all of us (she's crying out in her sleep quite a lot from pain, so we're not sleeping too well, as we jump up to check her every time!)

Anyway..... glad to hear everyone is getting on well and having fun with weaning. We're loving the Annabel Karmel food cube trays for freezing, and the rice pasta stars. Am still to try our fab new food mill, but it looks like lots of fun!!!

yes you can do butternut squash in the microwave too, just do it on a low heat for a long time and covered in case of explosions - give it a few sticks with a knife first too.

Then only trouble with fingerfood is that if the baby really likes it and refuses to eat purees in any form then it is really difficult to get things like meat, chicken and stuff they cant chew into them. DD was like this, and although some babies you can give fingerfood to and poke a spoon of puree in yourself at the same time, some hate that and refuse to eat "bbay food" ever again. We did have troubles with dd until she was 2 with iron deficiency because she was a fruit and veg or fingerfood only baby!!

my little one loves butternut squash like you suggested HM
and she loves rusk I think she maybe a finger food baby

lucky mommy I was under the impression that there wasnt enough iron in breast milk after 6 months and that was why they had to eat so I am glad that is wrong I can now relax about her not eating so muc

DS refused the breast last night .

Also, he hates being spoon fed. Oh no ? what have I done. My boy is a finger-food only baby. Stubborn little chap. Takes after his father!

so sorry for you SAHM - must be a horrible feeling to have your lo refuse the breast. Maybe he's teething / wasn't hungry? Probably not a problem - how has he been today??

Sniff - I don't want to give you any wrong info, my friend advised me that there is extra iron in follow on (formula) milk, I'm not sure about BF babies. You might want to check with your Health Visitor.

DS doesn't want to bf at all at night! Now down to first thing in the morning only .

Oh well - he's not a newborn any more!

quick question....

How long do we have to sterilise for? DD puts everything in her mouth, so I wonder why I am fretting over sterilising her bottles.
Also, I have heard that from 6 months old they can drink normal water rather than having to boil and cool it. Does anyone know if this is true?
Thanks girls XX

Hi luckymummy,

just on for a minute and might not be right answers but figured I'd give you some kind of reply...

Sterilising: did it about twice since DS was born... got bored and figured so long as bottles were washed, there wasn't much point - don't sterilise my boobs (ouch at thought!) so figured when he gets bottles of EBM he'll be fine! Just my opinion though...

Water: I just use tap water, I'm pretty sure that it's from 6months that it doesn't need to be boiled first. To be honest, it depends what end of kitchen I'm at with his cup - if I'm near tap, I'll use that, if I'm near kettle I'll use that...

I am such a caring mother, amn't I?! LOL

Hi Asur, LOL at your response It's very refreshing iyswim!

Hi Luckymummy, i've heard that just bottles and teats need to be sterilised up to one year and everything else well washed and rinsed. Not sure about water though! hth

Hello everyone I'm back! I haven't been on MN since I went on maternity leave back in April so it's been like missing a friend. I haven't had a chance to read all your birth stories (have just posted mine in the Announcements)and to catch up on your little ones' progress but until I do I shall congratulate you all and hope that you are all doing well. It's good to be back.

DS is having really sicky day, had nappy demo at my local mother and baby group that was rubbish ? people want to try real nappies first (everyone wants something for nothing!), house is a mess, I got my period and DS has refused all breast feeds this week! He is now officially not bf any more! (sob ) I?m feeling pants and need chocolate!