February '15 babies - appearing thick and fast!

[GeekyHybrid]

Our first thread on the 'other side'. And may all our soon to be mummies join us in this adventure through the early days of parenthood as we continue to share exciting times.

Oh purple, I feel exactly the same - totally inadequate. I know it's easy to say from an outsiders point of view, but I think it's amazing you even went! Try and focus on what you did do rather than didn't. You went to your toddlers class, came home to sort out your DS then after that you still wanted to go back with baby in tow?!

Oh and I also get really flustered/stressed having both kids. I had to ask my 2.11 yr old to leave me alone yesterday and to watch the tele for 5 mins. I could feel myself getting more and more stressed and just needed time out. Felt so guilty though!

Bang feed your baby when she's hungry! It is the official advice anyway but also I think it is what most mums would do instinctively, as you are doing, which is usually the right thing!

Dinner around 6 to 6.30 for all those who eat solids. Bath 7.30, stories at 8, sleep by 8.30 although 2yo usually fights that a bit longer. Up around 7 for the daily grind.

Baby usually is feeding or screaming through this evening ritual. Very occasionally she sleeps a bit. It's a shock having had two easy babies previously. Picked up some infacol today but this evening was a little bit more peaceful than usual so haven't started it yet.

Had 6 week revision yesterday. Baby growing very well. And the pain in my fingers, which I assumed was unrelated to babies and felt a bit silly bringing it up, is down to breastfeeding! Pressure on the nerve which runs through the elbow while holding and feeding lo...

Going on minipill though frankly conception at this point would be immaculate. This was about when we got back to it for last two babies, but we are more stressed and with fewer opportunities now.

Bang my lo is nearly 7 weeks and today I put him up to 6oz hoping he'd go longer than 2 and a half hrs between feeds. He did 4 hrs but then spent the evening screaming and trying to catch up on the food he'd missed.
We don't tend to have a routine with feeding yet it's as and when. Bath is at 7.30 then bottle at 8 depending on when last feed was though this could be an oz or 2. Asleep between 8.30 and 9. Wakes once in the night and then between 5.30 and 7.
I just need to work on going back to sleep when he wakes in the night. He went back down last night at 3 and I was still awake at 4.30

Geeky what you said about that mum with 2 is very true thats how I feel this time, im trying to enjoy it, even the really horrid moments. even my doctor said I seem so calm and blissed out eventhough 2 kids, one still isn't 100% health wise and dh is away, he knows my history and my normal personality so he seems shocked by the change in me.

Bang feed when they are hungry, my hv said the older generation are the ones who say ladt then out when with them being this small if anything you should add feeds to help them grow.

My rough routine is 7-7.30 ds1 goes up to bed, I take LO with a bottle and we all sit on the bed and read a book, ds1 turns pages as I read and feed LO to keep him quiet. He then will probably doze for a bit so I sort bottles for night then I give him a bath about 9, it totally relaxes him then we do another feed and up to bed about 10, he usually wakes at 1.30 and 4 ish from the last feed he doesnt really sleep again so we snuggle in bed
This is his routine if he wakes more it changes, the other night he was really fussy so he went into the bath at 6 to chill him out

Tiredvom - let me know if you ever fancy a coffee!

We don't really have a routine yet, but he's usually ready to go down for 'the night' between 10-11pm, and up to that point he is often napping for half an hour at a time. Every other day we'll do a bath around 9pm.. The couple of times we've tried bringing everything forward, he just wakes for his night feed earlier and then starts his day even earlier.. Hopeful that as he gets older, finding structure will be easier. He's only five weeks so I assume it's fine to just follow his lead!

Lancs does your work not understand the concept of leave?! They could in fact be breaking all sorts of regs if it's not an official 'keeping in touch day'. But I do understand about going for the promotion, especially if someone else getting it would make life harder when you get back. And we're all here for each other as we all have gripes at times.
bang feed when it suits you and LO, stuff 'em! It's whatevers right for you. Isaac is still every 2-3 hours on average with cluster feeds every so often e.g. today, all day
loopsy cider is an excellent choice of refreshment and one of your five a day (apple juice) Having a drink or two is fine, you only need to avoid bf if plastered - they reckon 12 hours after. As for people being judgmental in the pub, there's a well known phrase, starts with f, finishes ff!

Thanks Bang, it's good to know other people feel the same way. We should all try and cut ourselves a bit of slack! I'm just telling myself 'tomorrow is a new day'...

We have a vague routine - where dh comes back at about 6.45 and we both bathe the boys (1 each); then one of us will put toddler to bed and baby will (sometimes) settle in his basket from about 8ish after a feed, then we take him up with us about 10.30 and give him a last feed. I want to start putting him to bed upstairs at 8, but feel a bit uneasy about leaving him up there by himself at this stage - even with a monitor. Do others put babies in the bedroom by themselves yet? I'm probably being irrational.

Is anyone else using sleeping bags? If so, what are you doing re hands? I.e mitts or let them get cold?
All this talk of routine, we really should vaguely start one. Had put it off with being away but feel I should at least try a bedtime

We're using grobags geeky. Have got two 2.5 yog and one 1.5 yog and he's fine in all of them. Ideally he's in a sleep suit with sleeves that rollover but otherwise his hands just get cold.

Bang four hours rounds a lot!

Our routine is bedtime around 8 with a lot of feeding whilst the other kids are going to bed. Them it's my routine to consider the relative pros and cons of wine and chocolate with a lot sampling required!

Have been giving fennel tea ago as DS was grunting a lot and hard to wind. Seems to help a little.

We're moving into a neighbours' house at the weekend whilst there's work going on in our house (are we mad?) so hoping the travel cot doesn't throw a spanner in the works.

That's tog not yog and sounds not rounds!

Thanks everyone re booze.

Cripes, we're nowhere near a routine though of course dd1 has one - it's pure chance whether dd2 is napping after a feed or not when there's only me with both of them. Normally though dp does bath and bed with dd1. I've had absolutely no success with trying to feed unless she's hungry - she screws up her face and refuses, so I'm just going to have to be led by her! Not too bad re regularity though so can't complain.

Purple I've contemplated using the monitor but given that my dd2 sleeps well downstairs with the tv on, I figured I may as well let her carry on like that, but I don't think any problem with using the monitor at this stage.

We are also using sleeping bags and her hands do get cold but it doesn't bother her at all.

Thanks re hands. Doesn't bother him and he's warmed them up by end of feed. 2 hours exactly since end of last feed and he woke for this one! OH is already back to sleep and snoring away

DD also has cold hands but doesn't bother her. Infact DD1 also always has cold hands and feet!

Not a bad night here last night, fed DD at 8:15pm and put her down in her bed after then she woke at 2am for a feed and then just now at 6am so I feel nicely rested as went straight to sleep myself after each feed

We're using sleeping bags here too and he either has baby grows with golfing hands or his hands get cold.
In other news the mood I'm in this morning I think my period is just around the corner. Can't say I've missed them.

Good skills bang
Come have a word with my DS!!

Should if said, with what you all said, I won't worry about his cold hands! I was tired at 5am and I haven't managed to sleep since LO was mostly asleep but squirming, coughing, grunting and sounding strained. At 7 OH got moody about the noise so we came downstairs. Sat LO up in crook of my arm and he slept like the proverbial baby until 10 mins ago, now feeding. May be my turn to get moody with OH later!

Doh. Should of said. ... F'ing phone and lack of sleep.

So with the sleeping bag...they have a vest, baby gro and sleeping bag? We just got one which might be small enough for LO but I'm confused with the layers as she has all the above layers plus folded light blanket so it seems much warmer with the sleeping bag.

Bang official advice is feed on demand, some lo's will never ever do 4hrs, some lo's are happy to from early on, other will once they are a couple of months old. Evening routine here is: DD will start cluster feeding sometime between 3-5pm and finish cluster feeding sometime between 9:30&10:30pm, when she'll go down in her basket for the night. Meanwhile to deal with everyone else; I have to dish up DS's dinner (cooked night before) just before 5 so he's finished or finishing when daddy gets in somewhere around 6. Daddy dishes out his and my dinner, starts eating his and then takes DD to wind when she next finishes a side, so that I can shovel mine in fast, before i put her on the otherside and I continue feeding until she she finishes her cluster feeding. Whilst im doing that - DH then takes DS to bed between 6:30&6:45 and does his routine. Then DH has to rush around doing the housework I still can't manage in the day because of PGP/back. At 8pm DH then cooks dinner ready for next day and manages to multitask and do all the washing up and make his sandwiches for work next day at the same time, so that at 9pm we can cuddle up and watch TV together upstairs (we pause TV to settle DD in her basket when she finishes cluster feeding, then watch until end of program we were watching and then go to sleep).

Loopsy I don't generally drink but thought it was OK for bf. In fact I'm sure I heard that the only real dangers of drinking was if you got that drunk you dropped baby or fell asleep with them, which obviously you wouldn't, rather than it being a problem for your bm.

Frenetic DS started off only settling between 11pm&12, we waited until he'd fully settled into that, then gradually moved it earlier by 15mins a day to get it to a better time. Any other way just made the whole night go to pot.

purple I think its fine to take them up to bed and leave them with a monitor as soon as they start going down earlier than you. So start when you feel ready and relax.

geeky hands are left cold here. I was always told a babies hands would be cold if their body was the right temp and not to worry.

Am just having a read of everyone's organised evenings & feeling impressed! Daytime has gone ok this week with the two but evenings are a bit of a nightmare. DH has only been home in time to help one evening out of the 4. DD has dinner at 6 then bath at 7 followed by stories & bed. At the moment I have been giving DS a wash or bath at the same time then trying to feed him while DD has stories & goes to sleep. The problem is she won't go off to sleep by herself so I have to sit in her room holding/feeding DS who keeps on being really fussy at this time so he distracts her & she keeps getting out of bed. Have ended up getting cross with her every night- not good! Not quite sure how to improve this?
She also got up at 5:45 this morning and started screaming for weetabix. DS then started crying & needed feeding & then I shouted at everyone to go back to sleep....not a good start to the day!

I'm still cheesed off about HV's comments on Weds. She made a big deal about DS not having trousers on - he's potty training and the house is warm! And she said how messy the lounge was - DS had just scattered his toy shopping (little plastic tins, fruit and cardboard packets) over the floor but that was it, nothing else was out of place at all - DH had made sure everything was completely clean and tidy the night before and I'd been really proud of how well DS had done putting each toy away after he'd played with it. I wouldnt have cared if the room wasnt clean and tidy but with a nearly 3yr old and a baby everything being clean and just having some toy shopping on the floor, nothing else out of place at 3pm is bloody good going in my opinion. I'd say she definitely doesn't have kids of her own.

On the plus side DD has gained weight ok since she finally made it back to birth weight. She's following bang on the 75th centile line.

sand a 2.5tog sleeping bag is equivalent to 2blanket layers (a folded blanket counts as 2 blanket layers). A quick google brought up
www.thelittlegreensheep.co.uk/baby-sleep-advice.aspx
Which has a table on what to wear by temperature of room, with 2blankets or a 2.5tog bag and an 18°C room being classed as the ideal.

WhyO I am stunned that the hv said that, I would have told her to leave

Well posting out rough routine last night meant my night went to shit, midnight, 2, 3.30 and hasn't been to sleep again apart from on the walk to school, ds1 came in at 4.30 with tummy ache. Its going to be a ong day, waiting in for buiders merchants to drop stuff for garden and dh is home tonight. Its been a long week but I have survived so I take that as a win