September 2014 - Into the new year!

[RedToothBrush]

Shiny New Thread for a Shiny New Year.

*do a bit

Few of inches of snow here, had expected worse. A bad night here too, fed every hour from 11. Not so bad when co sleeping though, barely wake up. He kept waking up crying too but would go straight back to sleep if I rubbed his back. Don't know what's going on, still something that makes him uncomfortable enough to wake up constantly. I don't think I'm ever going to get him out of my bed!

My local pool charges £4.50 a session where there's an instructor present to help if you want it but it's not a structured class (I think, haven't been yet). He'll definitely get proper lessons when he's older.

No snow here thankfully. It looks pretty, but I have things to do today

Our sure start has a pool session, it is only £1 per child (donation) and there is toys and books in the pool. The first time I took A swimming was to that. We are also going to go over the weekend so that my husband can see him in the pool, and I think that is £3.50 per adult and free for kids. I did look at the waterbabies etc, but just couldn't afford it. I plan on him having proper swimming lessions when he is a bit older though.

Hi all,

Marginally better night here - up 3 times last night, which is an improvement on 5 the previous night. Top - absolutely rant away about sleep deprivation. It's bloody hard I know. Honestly that and Jessica's colic in the first 2-3 months nearly gave me PND.

Am going to look into swimming classes / lessons at some point. I'd love to do baby sensory as well but can't really afford both and I think swimming is more important really. I've done a couple of taster sessions of baby sensory and whilst I think Jessica enjoyed it I think you could probably do a lot of similar sensory things at home.

Am attending a post-natal course at the mo run by the HVs at the local surestart centre. Yesterday's session was largely about weaning. Interestingly I was expecting them to say wait until 6 months, but actually she said between 17 weeks and 6 months providing they show the 3 signs of being ready (able to hold own head up, putting objects to their mouth and loss of the tongue-thrust reflex). Jessica's clearly not quite there yet (as she still has the tongue-thrust reflex) but was surprising to me that they weren't so strict on the 6 month thing, as I thought they would be (my own HV has been very clear in saying wait until 6 months) so in a way I find it a tad confusing. They were clear though that there are some foods you shouldn't give before 6 months. Also they said from 4 months you can start to offer (cooled boiled) water from a free flow cup (it can just be tap water after 6 months) to get them used to how they work (they don't need water yet apparently, it's just to allow them to start to work out how one works) so am going to try that today in the sure and certain knowledge she and the carpet will be soaked within 5 minutes.

Sorry long post! xxx

When they say free flow cup do they mean an open plastic cup? Do people not use beakers anymore? I've only read a little about it so far and hear that the thinking now on beakers is that using them may take it longer to wean on to normal cups and contribute to tooth decay, but I can't say I have known of anyone in real life actually bypassing a beaker.

This bringing up baby malarkey is a minefield!

My sympathies to the sleep deprived mumma's!!

Sorry Lilone I should have been clearer. They mean a lidded beaker that doesn't have a valve that you need to suck on to get water out from (so e.g, if you tipped it upside down water would pour out of it anyway without a baby having to suck on it). Apparently the ones they have to suck on to get water out of cause problems for teeth etc. xx

Those of you who cosleep, how do you make it safe? I'm desperate now so might try that tonight if I can relax enough to actually sleep.

This article may help Top: www.nct.org.uk/parenting/co-sleeping-safely-your-baby

Thanks for that kit Kat, seems a bit more do-able!

Babies love to sprinkle from free flow cups

topmammy - Is the cot in your room? You could butt it up to your side of the bed and that makes a barrier so the baby isn't next to a drop.

Better still, take one side off your cot. Then you sort of get an add-on extra bit to your bed for baby. Highest level for the cot mattress us usually the same height as a bed mattress. This is called a 'side car' or 'bedside' cot. Great for leaning into the cot to settle baby.

If you are breastfeeding, you might be able to feed baby lying down and then scoot back into the cot without lifting, with a sidecar cot.

Also - have you tried a dummy for nighttime settling?

Morning all! Snow here and after getting caught in a blizzard yesterday without the raincover it looks like we're staying in today...

FATE I disagree that babies can't get anything out of groups at this age. Yeah they do a lot for mums in terms of socialising and providing ideas about what babies enjoy at this age but dd also LOVES her groups, and is happier and sleeps better when we go. Saying that, it's like everything, groups probably aren't right for all babies and if mum's not happy going, then unlikely a baby will get much out of it!

KitKat Glad you had a better night. I wouldn't worry about sensory if you're going to be doing swimming. We've paid for a course now but having done a few sessions tbh it seems you could do a lot of it at home with stuff from around the house. I wish I'd spent the money on swimming but you live and learn.

Top co-sleeping doesn't give the best quality sleep but it's a lifesaver when you're getting none at all. I always said I'd never do it, but did it when dd was tiny and have just started again in the early hours as dd is struggling to settle then atm. It's so hard when you can't get a moment

For the refluxy babes on this thread - we've now been told to wean from 22 weeks for dd's reflux, but reflux-specific advice beyond that is still thin on the ground. Saw the specialist yesterday and they said the usual about avoiding acidy foods and that a food diary is good idea to keep track of what agrees with them and what doesn't. Specialist, GP and HV have all said they think weaning will help now, so I really hope it does. Dd is 20 weeks atm (and 14lbs 10oz - 50th centile - for whoever was asking about weight) so think I'll start at about 23 weeks with a few tastes of puree, etc. Going to a BLW workshop next week but have a sneaky suspicion dd will be one of those chokey babies who doesn't take that well to it. We'll see!

It just started bucketing it down with snow here, in the last ten minutes.

Thanks for the article Kitkat, I'll have a read.

Fate - she's in a crib in my bedroom. No room for a cot unfortunately. She's nearly 6 months now though so she'll be going into her own room soon. I've fed lying down before but only in the day really. She's always refused dummies . I've decided I might try giving her a bottle of EBM at last feed at night to see if that fills her up more.

I'm off out now for lunch with a couple of mummy friends but all I actually want to do is lie down on the sofa and close my eyes! I hope the cold air wakes me up.

If you are breastfeeding, mastering safe co-sleeping and lying down feeding really was 'the key' with my elder two who didn't sleep well. I remember reaching the point where I honestly couldn't remember when or how often DS fed during the night, because I just used to doze through it all.

Especially now you have a nearly 6 month old, she should be able to find your nipple and latch on more-or-less herself as long as you don't wear a top in bed and point a boob in her general direction.

Slight changes I your position throughout the night will mean she can have top boob for a bit then swap to bottom boob.

There is someone on the October post-natal thread who bought a cheap IKEA crib and hacksawed one side off the crib (cheap, so didn't matter so much) to make it a cosleeper.

aaaargh b has woken up numerous times the last couple of nights. he is fine - lies there chattering away and giggling and when I go in to replace dummy am greeted with a big smile!! I'm a mean mummy, put the dummy in, stroke forehead and stumble baxk to bed. is this the infamous sleep regression??

Aggggahhh. So today have decided will be really firm on trying to get Jessica to nap in her cot. 3 times today she has fallen asleep on me after feeds and 3 times I've put her down in her cot... and 3 times she has woken up. I'm trying to see if she will 'self-settle' but she's hysterically screaming up there now in an over-tired frenzy. Can't decide whether to give up for the day and let her sleep on me - she's going to be the grumpiest over-tired baby in the world at this rate. Another part of me thinks I need to be consistent and that eventually she will 'get it'. Agaahhh, don't know what to do!

Kitkat if it makes you feel any better, b slept in pram this am, half an hour in cot after lunch then he was hungry and has just slept...on me very well. I must persevere....another day.

Today we tried mango :)

Good idea re the ikea cot. I'll try a bit of Co sleeping first I think. Eek! You're right... she can find my boob when she wants to.

Jessica isn't a brilliant napper either. In fact I often call her Jessica no-napper for a nickname hah. Not tried getting her to nap in her cot before but she always goes to sleep in the car and on me for any nap times she does have.

It started snowing loads as I was driving home today and I skidded 3 times Didn't really want to drive in snow on 3 or 4 hours broken sleep! Staying in now till it melts lol.

oh god top stay safe. I hate driving in snow.

b is growth spurting I think. ..more regular feeds and just under or just over a litre a day which is more than usual!!

cookie how did mango go?

we start a week on sat. hv has suggested baby rice to start with. I wondered about mixing it with carrot?

holls he did swallow some but a lot was spat out, he gets to try it tomorrow too may mix it with baby rice to lessen the strength!

New thread as this one is about to max out. :)

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/postnatal_clubs/2295297-September-14-babies-bring-on-the-weaning