September 2014 - Rocking and Rolling

[FATEdestiny]

Our babies are rocking and rolling, crawling and climbing into the second half of their first year.

Let the fun continue...

We use a Tula. I am still front carrying, have been looking at youtube at back carries and although I can get him around I get a bit tangled.

Apples, the shop is called Lesters, they have an online shop but if you go in store it's even cheaper and you buy a few things they will do a deal and if you bought a big item like your pushchair from them they give you an even bigger discount. I bought the silver cross pop buggy for £92.00 and the cybex car seat for £300. I'm a 45 min drive but it's worth going in.

Kitkat, your not a bad mum your just knackered. I find leaving ds to cry for say 10 mins helps tire him out (I don't let him go to mega upset level though) is it food or comfort, what do you have going on now...? Routine naps porridge, milk etc could you get dh to help and give you a break, you sound like you need some 'me time' xx

Lily ill give the banana bread a go, thank you I've a handful of bananas begging to be used. I assume it will freeze if I make two?

Ds fell asleep eating a rice cracker in the car today, very funny fat bugger he was still holding it to his mouth lol.

We hit ikea today, it lethal that place..I've had to instruct dh to go back after work and collect the big things. ... oh and we went to coronation st yesterday eldest loved that. I'll be taking baby swimming tomorrow, am I the only one not to have done that yet??

white I love IKEA we need go back and get a dinning room table and cabinet! We have taken E swimming, we did a term of water babies which did wonders for my confidence with him the water but wow my bank balance took a hit!

We give E alot of calpol and nurofen, for teething and currently he has a high temperature :(

We have a baby Bjorn which E loves but he is a heavy one :)

That banana bread looks good!

lilly that's good to know you got on with the boba, I think I just need to adjust it properly. That banana bread sounds good, I'll try it with egg replacer and see it works.

I've used calpol with this recent high temperature, and for a couple of nights when his top front teeth were coming through, other than that I've not felt a need. I can't imagine it does much harm if it's actually needed.

I think the egg is just used to bind it so hopefully it will still work for you acorn. white I've been wrapping in foil and putting it in the bread bin and it seems to last. The recipe doesn't say about freezing but I don't see any reason why you couldn't.

With adjusting the boba acorn...I'm not sure how much you know about carriers? I learnt a lot by attending a sling library and I was surprised at how tight it needs to be to be comfortable. Baby should be very close to your body, and the top back strap should be sitting between your shoulder blades (for front carry). I hope that helps and I'm not telling you things you already know .

Calpol, I've only used it three times. But DS has no teeth so I'm yet to face that! It's been only used for temperatures during a cold so far.

Thanks for the tips ladies... I'll start looking at carriers again , I like one which we can use for back and front and I thing Ergo is the only one doing that? i'll end up buying another one for dh otherwise we have to keep changing the setting which doesn't work... Our current one is Manduca which was perfect mostly, but is not very useful anymore...

Kitkat I forgot, you've done the best, you have to take a few minutes off when it is too much... Plus you are doing so well, I have given up on all that and cosleep,after a while you will have a perfectly sleeping through baby and I'll have to deal with no sleep for another year!!!!

Lilly that recipe is so good; I am now looking to buy the book

Team so glad everything is going well. Perfect. I am also half days in theory, but my work is project based and I have to deliver even in I have to work out of hours,,,

Calpol: I avoid giving him calpol unless absolutely necessary like temperature ; however, i checked with two different doctor and a nurse in different occasions and none of them were concerned, they just said give him some if he is in pain, so I imagine it is quite safe?

Hi all. Thank you for your messages. I'm ashamed to say I did snap in the end and shouted at Jessica to shut up. I feel so ashamed of myself. DH had to get up and take over in the end because I had gone past the end of my tether. I'm just so frustrated that I've done everything I can to get her to sleep and have followed all the advice we've been given from HV etc and I'm still up half the night. I'm so tired and frustrated.

As for calpol, we have given it whenever she seems in pain or seems very distressed with no other obvious cause, which we tend to assume means she's in pain. I doubt very much it's harmful as long as not used excessively.

Kitkat what's your daily routine? Chin up it can only get better, right? xxxxx p's Jessica won't remember the shouting, ds actually laughs/falls asleep to it!! I'm sorry I don't know what you have tried so far but I would suggest,

Fill her up all day long on solids, keep feeding throughout , porridge before bed then 1.5 hr later bottle and bed. Teething gel before bed. Room temp, clothing checked. I've found ds likes to be warmer not as books hv suggests. Ds likes his arms to be warm too. He sleeps with a fleece square next to his face he likes to nuzzle it. Dummy. Ds also sleeps in a sleepyhead. We will soon be up sizing to the grande sleepyhead. Also tire her out in day, but ds needs one long nap or two short ones. Being overtired works against us, could that be something? Ds also hates to be in all day, he needs to absorb the world lol.

I'm sorry if this is stuff you already know/have tried. I found the two weeks prior to teeth appearing the worst. We still have bad nights too, your not alone. Hth some.

I'm also sorry if I sound like a know it all, I really don't, we still have bad nights and I'm very grumpy at times! Just trying to give you ideas that might help x

Kitkat - sorry night times are still so rough for you. White has some good suggestions, I'm sorry I don't have any advice to give! Does she nap during the day so you can sleep or just on you? Sounds like you definitely need some chill out time, it's so relentless when you don't even get to sleep! Can DH do nights at weekends if you're doing most during the week?

Calpol - I've only given a handful of times when she's been unwell, luckily she has not been too bad with her teeth so far. I think it probably is required quite frequently for lots of babies during the first year as they go through teething, vaccinations, bugs etc.

lilly I only realised very recently that the back strap even moves on the boba! But I find if I lower it then when I try to do it up myself it just moves back up cos I'm having to pull it to buckle it. I do need to try and get to a sling library or expert, I really have no clue. I had it tight when he was dinky, but as he's got older I think I have it looser as I was worrying he couldn't breathe properly against my fat belly

nazly the Manduca can be worn on the back, unless they have more than 1 model. Most of the structured carriers can

How did it go last night kitkat? I suspect a change of scene - your upcoming holiday will knock her out ? xx I've been awake since 5 am urghhhhh. I'm very grumpy today! Ella hope your heads feeling better x

DS only fed once last night. Once!! . That is amazing! Of course he was up for an hour and then woke up properly at 5.30 but hey, you can't have everything. Main difference is he fed from both boobs at bedtime and night feed. I really hope my supply isn't dwindling. Now if only I'd been in bed earlier and been able to get to sleep I would have had more than 5 hours in total.

nazly, a lot of the buckled carriers can be used on big front and back - Tula, Boba, Ergo, Connecta. Can't think of any more right now but there are lots!

acorn if you keep the straps that pull LO close into you loose at first you should be able to pull the carrier high enough to clip the back strap up so it stays in the right place. Then tighten LO to you and hopefully it will all stay where is should. I hope that makes sense... I've heard of some people doing that clip up and then putting it over their head but I've never worked out how you would do that! A sling library would be the best place for advice, they are helpful!

kitkat I wish I had some helpful advice for you :(

NCT shop online have the sleepyhead grand on offer, I've just bought one ? might be of use to anyone?

The sun is shining today. ?

DS is lucky if his socks match each other nevermind the rest of his outfit! I already seem to have so many odd socks.

lilly I think I'm probably just putting the sling on wrong, I don't loosen the straps at all to get it on and off, just unclip it. So of course it's not been adjusted as he's gotten bigger

Ella I was a bit like that at first with socks but given that they NEVER stay on, I don't buy them anymore, bare foot all the way. Ds always has a blanket/footmuff on so I gave up.

Swimming was a success it's a shame they don't think about what we are supposed to do with baby when WE are getting changed. The showers only had one temperature which Was bloody hot so couldn't rinse him off either. I wasn't allowed to take a photo (ds has new waterproof camera and wanted to take pics of first paddle) the life guard said this was for child protection issues. There was only us and one other woman/baby there!

Does anyone attend a gym where the leave baby in creche? I'd like to do this but ds has started crying when I walk away and leave him, and that's with people he knows and when I have just nipped to the loo/make drink! I've had a almighty falling out with my parents so that's not been an option for a while.

White - I don't go to a gym, but my mum used to go to one and my sister went to their crèche. I think it was book in advance by the hour and pay hourly.

Socks used to drive me nuts, but sock ons really are a revalation! I tend to stick to white as they go with everything.

DD is settling into nursery quite well, but it has thrown her daytime routine into absolute chaos! I'm going to need to rethink it and try to work out something new. She's shattered!

Work is going well. I feel a bit guilty how much I'm enjoying it

Don't feel guilty about enjoying work Team!

Socks drive me nuts. We either use bottoms with feet inbuilt or bare feet. Now that DD is up on her feet more, I will start using shoes (as a means to keep socks on). But with summer coming bare feet will continue for a while.

Swimming with children - more specifically getting changed with children - is just something you learn the knack of. I find the use of snacks as bribes to stay still while I get changed works. In a "you sit here wrapped in a towel and eat this biscuit and have a drink while I get changed" kind of way. Not terribly effective when they are tiny but works once a little bigger.

We're a swimming family and are heavily involved in competitive swimming club, so changing rooms are second nature - DD has been entertaining herself in there since birth. That said, I don't take baby swimming yet. Our pool is too cold and its no fun at all for a baby. It's not like she's not going to be a swimmer, given how involved we are. So no rush.

I think cameras have been banned in swimming pools (and changing rooms) for several years now. Our pool has regular photography sessions though. Specific sessions set aside with an official underwater photographer and you can buy the professional photographs. You can't usually take your own camera without specific permission and that is only usually given for reasons like club publicity shots rather than personal photos.

We were once told off for taking photos at the pool in our holiday complex. It seems unfair to not be able to take basic family holiday snaps like that. But I suppose they have to adhere to the same rules.

Team is your DD still on neocate? or am I getting confused . Does she have it at nursery, and if so do you leave a tin there and they make it up? I can't decide whether to bother introducing it to DS or not. I thought I'd get away with not needing it at nursery as he'll be 12 months but I don't think he'll last a day without a feed and I doubt I can express enough. I've got a tin but still haven't tried it, I think he'll hate it!

Socks ons.... mmmm why don't they make baby socks with sock on technology in them?? Rather than having to fight to get two items on each foot?

I. Just. Can't. Be. Arsed. ?? it's summer anyway...lol

Acorn, yes she's still on neocate. They have a tub of it there and make it up for her. I've heard some babies find it difficult to get used to it, but DD was fine with it after a couple of bottles. Maybe try introducing it by mixing it with your milk? Given that your LO is now on solids and used to lots of different tastes they might find the change ok. To be honest, it smells rank, but the taste isn't too bad.

Is your DS on ranitidine still, or has my memory failed me? DD is on a tiny dose now, but each time we try to stop she pukes big time rather than the irritatingly frequent but small vomits we deal with everyday! How is he with apples and tomato? I think that one or both of those might be the cause of the rash on her chin.

White, I've wondered exactly the same thing! Why not just combine them?! DD just sees the sock ons as a challenge and really concentrates on trying to remove them. It's quite funny