August 2014 Babies,half way to one and staring at you while you eat.

[GingerCuddleMonster]

I've been told via Whatsapp by a MN'er this morning who used to be a member of the ante-natal group that there's a Facebook group, but that they won't accept anyone or her back (a bit weird if you ask me, but each to their own, and have really left a PND suffering mum feeling like shit, but I doubt they care in their "clique")

So are there any August Mums left on here willing to chat, without connecting to Faceache?

red if it's any consolation I was an early crawler and walker and am the most risk averse person there is! I also have a very high iq but that's probably just a coincidence.

Dd is not crawling but pivots and rolls to get where she wants to be and I am half looking forward to when she crawls but also half dreading it as she is a terror during nappy changes right now, rolling all the time, not fun with a poopy bottom. I feel like a cattle wrangler at times so it must be even harder for you!

Hello lovely ladies, I am after some ideas for spread for bread ; ds has developed a dislike to cereal for breakfast. He prefers to stay hungry but not to have cereal. But he LOVES cheese spread on bread. My worry is the salt in cheese, I am giving him cream cheese and have checked and know the salt in 30gr cheese is well below daily limits, but I prefer to have other options. Unfortunately his main nutrition is now from solids as he rarely takes milk now :( so I prefer anything that has calcium...

Mrsmilk I really feel for you , it is so difficult being on your own. Is there anything that your dd really likes? I find that ds is in love with hooplakidz channel, so when nothing works and I need time for me I play it either on nowtv or on youtube...

About buying a house here, what is stopping you? Even if you leave, say in a year, it is likely that it will be to your advantage to buy and sell, or even to buy, rent it out and move to US- it is a long term investment...

I am also having the issue of having to think about schools in our next move which is likely to be next year -if we can save enough...- I already checked and it seems houses around good schools are more expensive and massively on demand

Nazly have you tried thick yoghurt? plain whole milk or greek yoghurt seem to be a winner with most babies from my antenatal class. one mum has even put veg in with it and her DD apparently loved it, sounds a bit weird to me though!

would unsalted butter work on toast? nice thick layer?

Just dropped in to see how eveyone was doing, and confess to an Ella's kitchen addiction, and that we appear to be having a period of sleep regression. Oh and cold turkey on the dummy.

Toast - are we allowed nut butters? Iirc peanut butter is sometimes allowed, then the advice changes and it's forbidden once more.

Hope mothers and babies are doin well.

Nazly I must admit I've resorted to hoopla kidz in the past too when I've had to go to the bathroom!! DD does love that.

There are a few other things that make it not ideal for us to buy right now - firstly I don't know whether I want to go back to work or not, or become a SAHM, so until I've decided that, we don't even know where the best place to live would be, as DH works at a different university and it would make sense to move nearer his work and cut his journey time. Secondly, if we do move back to the US, I wouldn't want property in the UK, as I'd want the capital available to buy out there as soon as we could - if we do move then it's likely to be a permanent thing. And also right now some of our funds are still in the US so we'd lose out on exchange rates if we bought and then sold and reconverted!

For ideas for bread spread, I sometimes give DD either avocado or hummus for a change, with pitta bread. You could do something like mashed bananas or a sugar free jam perhaps too.

Beans I think if you've got no allergies in your family then it's ok to introduce peanut butter now. Personally I am more wary as I am allergy-prone (not to nuts but to other random things!) so I will probably wait/read more research first. I'm with you on the sleep regression too....it sucks.

evening all,
nazly no idea on the spread front personally but a friend of mine spread double cream on her babies bread, sounds vile to me though haha .

mrsmilk how are you coping? had a shower yet?

Beans were in sleep regression I'm getting about 4hours a night max and working a 40hour week full time it's killing me I survive on caffeine.

how is everyone else, sorry if I've missed anyone.

we're ok, sticking to hipp organic jars if I'm honest, DS loves them they are healthy so with the convienience and my working hours it just works for us. I'm starting to think about weaning DS off his dummy I have no idea where to start ?!

It feels good to admit to not purée all the time though I did stockpile some in the freezer.

Weaning off he dummy, well DS started waking up for it, more and more often, until we were all awake all night putting it back in, so cold turkey day 4.

first nap was horrendous, he cried for an hour, slept for 5 mins, cried for ten, then slept a whole hour. Cried for forty minutes that night, woke up about 5 times crying but self settled. I Will post back tomorrow after we see how tonight goes!
Someone else on MN suggested weaning it off jn the day for a few days, first.

I tried home pure but I admitted defeat, my main mission is just to get to Friday when DP arrives home if I'm honest, it's more like survival than any sort of well thought out plan. I'll be honest we have very little in the way of routine, he never goes to any baby clubs, I sometimes forget to bath him daily and he ends up being topped and tailed in the evening. I'm purely in survival mode, I'm in my own it a that or nothing haha .

I'm such a baby book guidlines failure

ginger for the first six months baby beans slept in our living room and went to bed from 11pm till 8 or 9 excluding feeds when he was tiny. and I bathed him once a week to keep his skin soft.

DS has been a horror bag for two days. Just grumbling over food and sleep. He woke constantly last night; everytime I picked him up for a hug he'd fall asleep immediately and every time I put him down he started screaming for no apparent reason. So he ended up sleeping on me. I'm saw its teething and I'm sure its for comfort. He had a dreadful few nights when his first tooth came through, and I think his second is on its way. Ginger, the thought of working as well as the lack of sleep is more than enough for me.

In other news, he's played 'chase the broccoli' across his mat this evening. It was the most amazing bit of broccoli in the world and kept him occupied for a good 5 minutes (this is a long time by his standards). It was smaller by the time he finished .

He's also had a good go at fruity pouches the last two days, so I think he's starting to get it. But slowly.

Oh and he likes the taste of Daddy's work pass... and cries when you try and take it away from him.

DS still goes to bed when we do. His cot is set up as a co-sleeper but he tends to end up in with us more often than not. He gets a bath once a week. He is being fed shop bought food. He goes to baby swimming on a Saturday with me and DH and that's it. Routine generally extends to when DH's alarm goes off and when DH gets home from work and even that goes to pot at weekends. Our parenting style is very much if it works and DS is happy then fuck it, he'll grow out of bad habits. We hope!

I'm loving the fact tonight's turned in to a confessional session and I am super happy I'm not the only one!!

like I said to my HV who is really normal were all still alive and happy, so I must be doing something right, she just laughed and nodded in agreement then gave me more free stuff

I don't know how some people manage the routines and the home made everything from scratch thing, I'm lucky if we're all dressed by 1pm on a day off .

Ginger, honestly, I would Never Ever manage the routine and home cooked meal if I was working full time and dh was away. I would definitely be on survival mode ALL the time. You are doing amazingly well just by running your life and then being here and starting the forum, etc. On top.

Thanks for spread ideas. By the way, I read somewhere that babies in first year of like are most acceptant of varied food, so would like to introduce as varied of a diet as possible; so I keep telling myself I should give him things that I don't like too; like peanut butter or mango! Then I keep forgetting

Mrs that makes sense about buying a house... It seems you are more inclined to move back, aren't you?

Hoopla is good; I don't even feel bad about letting him watch it for half an hour once a dAy... And that normally happens when I am not around and my mum is looking after him but he starts being unsettled without me

Morning everyone. Hope you all had better nights than me. Dd went to bed about 8 and it took much less time than usual to go to sleep. I was thinking maybe she's finally learning to settle herself. Then she woke up at 9, 11, 1, 4, 5 and to top it off woke again at 6 and did 2 massive poos which required a bath and a complete change of clothes. Gaaah!!!!

Lol at the "not reading the parenting book" I purposefully haven't bought any books. I figure the internet will answer pretty much any question I have and I'd rather not know what DD "should" be doing. cos she won't be doing it anyway!

I have to say I couldn't manage doing separate meals for DS - giving him our food is so much easier, and I love the fact I have time for a relaxed cup of tea while he "eats". No idea how people do routines, his naps are so variable it's impossible to predict, so I just go with the flow and use the sling a lot. I'm sure he would have more predictable naps if I stayed in all day but I'd go stir crazy!

Nazly, we love cashew butter as a spread. You can make dead easy cream cheese by draining yoghurt in the fridge overnight - a coffee filter will do the trick.

We don't have a routine at all. Dd goes to bed late and gets up late too! She also fights naps like crazy and will only sleep on me in the day. At weekends she will nap in the car but I don't drive so that's not an option in the week. I do give her home cooked foods mostly but the advantage is that while she takes so long to eat I get chance to eat too. Last night though I was exhausted and gave her a pouch while I got takeaway. Of course, she gobbled that down, which is quite disheartening.

We had a nightmare of a night last night. Dd used to be a good sleeper but from about six months onwards that went to pot. I don't know what the matter is but last night although she went to sleep fine she was up so many times in the night I lost count and managed maybe two hours of sleep. ginger I just don't know how you manage working. I have had a cold and sore throat on off since before Christmas and I am sure it's related to lack of sleep. Dh has been the same so it's not just me!

Oh and I managed a shower while she was occupied with her baby piano!

E at the moment is doing really well with sleep apart from the fact he has a cold and the last two nights has woken himself with a coughing fit! He will be in his own room next week so hopefully his cold will go and he will sleep through

Doing OK with food, a bit better with ff but still prefers puree, almost always eat his dinner where as breakfast and lunch are hit or miss and he eats shop bought food, I am crap at homemade!

Despite working in childcare we are completely winging it when it comes to a routine, he has a sort of a routine for bed but that's it, left dh in charge of him last night and he completely made a mess of dinner and bedtime, I can see the funny side of it now but last night I was not happy!

Morning all,

sorry to hear you had a bad night felkov has the sleep improved last night? we're on 3hour waking at the moment due to a growth spurt I think.

Mrs yay for having a shower!!

I have a day off today but not going to get a relaxing day, DS will be looked after by his great grandmother and I'm going to blitz my home, I have a mountain the size of Everest of washing to do but a nice thorough clean before DP comes home on 4 weeks leave!!! . I can't wait!! His senior officers fought to save him his leave too, another officer wanted him to go on a course but the others turned round and said no, he needed family time and I was probably at my witts end. I really can't complain about the welfare he receives his regiment are good at realising the importance of family.

naz I only get variety because we use jars

cookie Jess and red hope you guys are well too

So there is a discussion in Sept thread about schools
How do people here feel about their LO being youngest in their classes?

Ginger: yeyyyyyy to your dh annual leave. That's so good... I hope you enjoy it and get to rest a bit too...

I can bloody wait for some sleep .

I'm not too concerned about school, many of my friends are August Birthdays and they are fine. I'm aware some extra support may be needed at home in the early years but I'm fully prepared and able to do that, plus my mother is a physics teacher so I'm sure she will help if need be too.

I'm alive. Ish.

DS isn't doing to well on the sleep front to say the least. Tooth number 2 has appeared. DS will NOT sleep unless he is touching me or DH. And has been waking EVERY 45mins.

Comforter (s - we figured a spare) has been purchased. He WILL be taught to be attached to it, rather than us.

Weaning. One step forward. Three back. Sole destroying.

DH has some holiday over the next few weeks though. First real 'break' he's had since DS was born as we've been constantly been running all over the show seeing friends and family.

We need the rest.

Ginger that's fab about your DH coming home. Make the most of every second!

ginger so pleased your dp is getting leave. That will be great for you all and give you a much needed break!

About schools, well, I am living in Scotland at the moment and if my understanding of the Scottish school system is correct, an August birthday means dd will be in the middle of her year. I think the year runs something like March to end of Feb although they start in September. At least, this is how a friend explained it to me the other day.

I went to school in England though and was a July baby, and being one of the youngest never held me back.

Red that's great your dh is getting time off too! I'm also with you on the comforter, am trying to get dd attached to something at night too.

What I don't understand is how she slept so well from 6 weeks to 6 months and then when she hit six months it all went completely pear shaped.