September 2014 - Babies turn 1!

[lilone1234]

First birthdays are starting to arrive and our babies are becoming toddlers! What will the next year have in store?

Aww Team I know what you mean. DD rarely sleeps on one of us but sometimes she does and it is lovely. Mostly DH I have to say. But definitely something to miss when it doesn't happen anymore.

Next week DH is having surgery on one hand. He will then be home for 4-6 weeks, which will be great. However, I've just realised that with only one hand he will be totally useless. Won't be able to pick DD up from nursery, dress her, change nappies, do bath, etc. Let alone doing stuff for himself. Stupidly, I was getting excited about having him home more and having a bit more help. No such luck

Sorry, nothing to do with DD really, just needed to vent a little.

On the plus side, I'm planning to bunk off work so we can go out for a couple of lunch dates, just the two of us

Ahh Team I understand. DH had his back surgery about this time last year and whilst it was nice having him home and having some company in the daytime, it was harder than I thought. He was very incapacitated for a while and I had to help him wash, dress, etc; which I found quite draining with a 3-month old as well. Plus as he was in a lot of pain he wasn't really great company for the first couple of weeks. I'm not trying to frighten you (and your DH may recover quicker than mine obviously being a different sort of surgery) but I'd say do whatever it takes to make your life easier over the next few weeks. Maybe do some batch cooking or something this week, and give the house a good clean this week so you don't have to worry about it too much for a few weeks. Oh, and stock up on and !

Our routine...
7/8am wake up (8am over the whole of the Christmas holidays hurrah!)
Breakfast immediately
10.30 snack
12.00 lunch - eats everything and anything, there really is no stopping him
12.30 - 2.00/3.00 Nap
3.00 snack
5.00 dinner
6.30 bath
7.00 bed

He sleeps through 99% of the time, if he wakes it's because the toilet has flushed or he has run out of dummies (falling out of the cot).

8 teeth, all at the front, no molars. Hasn't cut any for ages.

Not walking, not even close. Have I got the only non walker on the thread? I'm not concerned yet he was a late crawler and is quite lazy. He is suddenly cruising a lot and finally standing independently on a more consistent basis so maybe it will be soon.

Talking - Mama, Daddeeee. That's about it for consistency. We occasionally get 'Nana'. He just started pointing in the last two weeks and everything is 'Duh'. I keep repeating 'cat' every time he points and says 'duh' at the cat, but he doesn't seem to get it.

Although he's not talking he is signing a bit and I'm surprised how much he understands (Where are the bubbles? Looks at the bubble lamp. Look there's the cat! Frantically looks around to find the cat) and is trying to communicate with me by bringing things or pointing or screaming. He really knows his routine as well, moving on to the next thing that we do before I have got there. I guess I am quite methodical and so he knows what is coming.

I miss DS sleeping on me, he rarely falls asleep with me in the same room, he likes to be left alone. I always knew parents liked to look at their sleeping children but I never really got it, but omg is it not the most beautiful thing you have ever seen?

run out of dummies

lol, how many does he have?!

I absolutely love a sleeping baby too. I also like that quiet, calm time just before going up for a nap - wind-down time when DD is clearly tired and she'll just sit with me and snuggle right in, like nothing else in the whole world matters but Mummy. I could burst at those times.

Team - Even if he cant help, hopefully it will be nice just to have company and moral support all day every day. I'd still be excited about having my DH home, so don't feel you have to curb that just 'cos he cant help as much as anticipated.

DH got an XboxOne yesterday - early birthday present from his Mum. I fear I have lost him to it in the evenings for the foreseeable. Ha! I'll have to find myself a good book until he starts getting bored of it.

Oh woow, so good to check here and find quite a few posts- very interesting subject too :) i am really hoping to check this forum in 3 years time and talk about schools with you ladies so please don't disappear so early

Am I the only one who is being less and less restrict on routine? He has a routine in the nursery but when he is with us, say in holiday season or over the weekend, we are always out and about, whether it is visiting friends or going to a park or getting things done ; we try to plan our time so that he can get a nap in the morning and one late afternoon in the car. He then goes to bed when he is tired. We had next to no routine during Xmas and New Year; for the first time since he was born we went to my friend's with him and he fell asleep around 9-10pm after having much fun around my friend's house (with her kids) we left at 2am and he didn't wake when I picked him and put him in car sear and didn't wake when We arrived home and I put him in bed; he slept well until morning; so I felt less of a bad mum !!! ;) It was also a liberating experience to be honest and all of us enjoyed it, I think ds particularly !! I don't have a family member around and have never used baby sitters till now (not aiming to use them any time soon either)

Now our semi routine is this
5-6 wake up (this is getting 7-8 recently, but only if I bring him in bed with us after he wakes)
7:30-8 Breakfast
Play, a tiny little snack and nap in different random order
12:30-1:30 lunch - he eats what we are having ; if eating out we normally order from kids menu for him and have been doing so for the past 6 months or so
Play, snack and nap in random different order
6 ish : dinner - again he eats what we are having, but if we are not eating at the time then he gets an omlete normally or sometimes a pasta, something really quick
7-8 ish: bed time

Fate ds is exactly the same with my tablet. I filmed him using it and it looks so funny , I think he will be an expert in a couple of months really ! :)

He doesn't say much apart from a couple of words and the first and most important is water; he has his own language which I don't quite understand; but when he wants to communicate he does with all sort of signing and pointing and voices, etc. he understands quite well too. Knows the name of most objects and toys around him and knows the name of most of his books, just say a name and he brings it to you in no time. It is quite funny though that he randomly knows words in two different languages.

Btw Fate, ds never went through refusing breast milk so long as I remember (!), but He went through refusing a bottle ; I am amazed you remember this anyhow... he never recovered from that either; never took bottle again, despite my best effort... He never took formula either :( I wouldn't listen to BF advisers if i was doing it again...

Sorry girls, that post is massive. Just realised I've talked too much after posting

Anybody has a solution for night time coughing ? He coughs but mainly during the night and rarely during the day ; he coughs so much that it wakes him up and he can hardly go back to sleep from coughing. I am using an evaporator, a simple baby cough solution and steamy bath, none of these made a big difference....

I love reading everyones comments. Theres nothing better than clicking on 'Im watching' and there being new posts!

DS slept through until 5am for two nights in a row on Sat and Sun, I thought Id gone to heaven but last night he woke crying at 1.30am and was still awake at 3.30am. I dont know what time he went off but Im knackered at work today (lunch break!) and am seriously considering a king sized bed for us all. Im getting squished into the bedrail in our double when he doesnt stay in his cot.

I also like that this thread stays alive. The October 2015 PN thread died a while ago, great that this one keeps going.

Our routine with DD is also really loose in holidays and weekends Nazly. Although she does still usually have two naps and 3 meals, I tweak the timings to suit what's happening that day.

Having said that I am going for a one-nap day today, given that DD didn't wake until 8.15am. She went to bed at 11.30 and is still asleep...

Polka - I can highly recommend investing in a superkindsized bed. Ours s massive when there is just me and DH in it. Gets filled up with small children in the morning though

Re: Coughing - DD recently had a cold and we put a pillow in her cot to help raise her snotty head. If the cough is chesty and caused by mucus then raising his head might help. Pillows can be safely used from 12 months old. Whether the baby will actually sleep on it is a different matter though!

Hi all...back after a long mumsnet break ! I've been so busy with everything that I've hardly been on here so lovely to see others are still keeping up the thread.

J is now 15 months old and has been walking for 2 months.

He's a really sociable little boy and goes to nursery two mornings a week (been there since September) and settled really well.
Infact he literally runs in there ! I was a bit apprehensive as he had never met any other baby and toddlers - but it hasn't phased him at all.

He is car mad - and spends hours spinning wheels on his cars and pushing them along the floor.

He says a few odd words - "look", "oh no !", "mum", "dad", "bicbic" etc - but seems to understand so much.

I'm not sure how much he weighs, but he is in 12-18 month clothes and a size 4 shoe.
He eats anything - and thankfully loves healthy foods so mealtimes are easy.
Sleeping is still a bit of a nightmare though. He has slept through twice in his whole life . However, I'm not too worried about it - he will get there one day (I hope).

Potty training - not even thinking about it for a while !

Have attached a pic - he has definitely lost his baby look now !

Nazly we are also fairly lax in routine when not at nursery. Tend to stick to the 7.30 bed time unless we are out and about though. A tends to fall asleep in his pram when ready and we transfer him to cot without waking.

Jay - he certainly looks like a little boy rather than a baby now, such a cutie though!

I too would like this thread to continue :)

jay your little boy is a cutie :) welcome back.

We just got our 12 tooth :)

I really don't know how you are all coping with your lo's not sleeping through. I would cry!

What a gorgeous little boy jay. DS has lost his baby chubbiness now and looks like a little boy. Its making me a bit sad which is silly considering how I didnt cope well with the newborn months!

Routine is similar to most people:
Up between 6 and 7
8am breakfast
Play or go out
11.30 lunch
Nap somewhere around 12 or 1 for 1.5 to 3 hours
Snack after nap
Tea around 6
Bath then bed for 7-7.30ish

Eating is hit and miss, he's not a fan of vegetables and now sandwiches.

10 teeth and 2 molars half way in

Sleep still rubbish, at least 2 wake ups a night but we cosleep so not too big an issue.

He loves nursery thankfully!

DD has turned into an eating machine! She just keeps asking for food. She has always been quite petite, and she's always been around the 25th percentile. She was weighed Monday and is now up to the 50th! She's still only just into 12-18 month clothes though.

Just made her cheesy pancakes for the first time. She demolished it and I had to make her a second one! Will try adding some veg to it next time...

how many dummies does he have? erm....about 6! Ha it's because he drops them out the side (unintentionally) and I really value my sleep so I just want to be sure he finds another and goes back off to sleep without waking me.

Cheesy pancakes sound interesting team could you share how to make them please?

DS also eats and eats and eats. No stopping him. Haven't had him weighed since he was 11 months. Am I meant to? Do others still regularly go to clinic? I just felt it was a waste of precious time once I returned to work at 12 months. He was 75th percentile last I checked, I reckon probably still the same. I held him on our bathroom scales and it said about 25lb.

I also love that this thread has survived, I always check 'I'm on' first!

They are really simple, but yummy! Just make the pancake like usual, nice and thin. After the first flip I sprinkle grated cheese over the whole pancake and when the other side is done fold it over in half and press down to "stick" it together, leave it in the pan for a touch longer.

Take it out and leave it to cool before cutting it into slices, pizza style.

You can add pretty much anything in with the cheese - ham, chicken, tuna, spinach, sweet corn. Key thing is that the filling needs to be quite thin so the two halves of the pancake stuck together as the melted cheese cools.

I think DD has been weighed a grand total of about 4 times since birth. You certainly don't have to get them weighed Lilly! I've got absolutely no idea on DD's weight but she is growing out of 12-18 clothes. She's wearing 18-24m but they are big on her.

Was thinking the other day that her feet touch the end of her 6-18m sleeping bags so I am going to have to go into the loft in search of out 18-36m sleeping bags very soon. She's one of the youngest on the thread too - not long turned 15 months, so she must be tall.

he's not a fan of vegetables and now sandwiches.

Acorn, my DD isn't much of a fan of bread-based products and I noticed this first with sandwiches. Now I don't bother with the bread in a sandwich, just triple the amount of 'filling' that I would have put in the sandwich and she will wolf that down.

She will eat bread-based products though. It's mainly to do with how hungry she is an what else is on offer. But if breakfast is toast and toast is all she has, she'll eat the toast. But she would prefer cereal, for example.

I get DD weighed quite often, but that is only because of her dairy allergy. We worked out she has it partly due to her not gaining weight even though her milk intake was high. The milk was going straight through her without being digested properly. We are still trying to introduce dairy, so while we are doing that I'm still getting her weighed about every six weeks, just to keep an eye on things really. Otherwise I wouldn't bother. I can tell she's fine from her chunky thighs, which she inherited from me! Sorry DD

Oh, and can I also add how much I love that this thread is still active. My shortcut to MN on my phone is actually to I'm On so I can check easily. As stupid as it sounds, it really feels like we are a group of friends! Next week it is two years since I found out I was pregnant and first started reading our first ever thread. We've been through lots together in the past two years, and I know the support and advice I've received on here has been invaluable, so thank you everyone

Ok, enough of the sentimental crap, gotta get DD into bed!

Sentimental doesnt begin to cover how Im feeling this week. This boy is growing too fast! Every day he does something new and its just dawned on me that one day he will grow up and leave home! He is just so cool and time is flying too quickly.

I too love the fact that this thread is still going. It's nice as we are going through all these different stages together. I've also had loads of support here which I really appreciate.

I was also thinking the other day I should go get DD weighed again. She was last weighed at her one year check and is nearly 16 months now. I'm not worried though. She eats well now and looks fine.

That's a lovely pic JayKay. xx

I loved getting E weighed when he was small, I think his prematurity made me worry he wasn't gaining. And of course I compared with my friends
i use to go regularly when I was on mat leave not so much now. I went when he was 13 months and have only managed to get back now and he is just shy of 17 months.

He is 24 lb 12 oz putting him just between the 50th and 75th. And he is 78.5 cm putting him just over the 25th. She was slightly worried he was a bit little, I thought he might be as all his 12-18 month clothes need to be rolled up both sleeves and trousers

I haven't had DS weighed since his birthday. I used to go every month up until then. He was maintaining 91st centile for height & weight then & just had a big growth spurt so I think he's still there. Did the HV say if she needed to refer E Cookie or just to monitor him? Do they measure him against his actual age or adjust it for him being prem?

I've just bought an 18-36 month gro bag Fate. It looks huge but then the 6-18 month ones did when I bought them. One has already been put in the loft & the others will be soon following. I did think about going to a duvet instead but DS is such a restless sleeper I think he'll keep waking up cold.

Found out tonight that DB & DSil are expecting a baby. They already have DS 12 & DD who will be 11 when baby is born. It will be a bit of a shock dealing with a newborn again! DSil on the other side is also pregnant so lots of lovely newborn cuddles to look forward to this year.

It is really lovely that the thread is still going, can't believe it's been two years!

Cheesy pancakes sounds yummy! One to try I think! DD is on the other side of the bread spectrum, she's obsessed. Whenever we feed the ducks she gets annoyed I'm not feeding her! I will start feeding them veg then see what she thinks!