August 2015 - Jaffa cake wars and many Mugabe greetings to you!

[mzzzf]

New thread ladies - praying for a decent sleep tonight!!

rrra definitely no nap routine, I have 4yo dd home for half term and every time baby falls asleep she gets woken by 4yo who crashes into her bouncer or shouts randomly by the afternoon baby tends to get a bit fractious so we end up going for a walk with the pram.

Catching up on page 23 first before moving to the next 2. U guys have been extra chatty.

Tindel my Mil laughed out loud when we told her the name we were considerin . Like actually bellowed. This was while I was still in hospital post delivery feeling knackered etc. Then she told my friend as they were leaving that she couldn't believe she had another grandchild with a stupid name to get used to. I've still not quite forgiven her. It's only piper, it's not that strange. Dps brothers child is called Paris.

Frolic well done on not having pudding. I couldn't resist it yesterday and ended up having an ice cream sundae. Shared it with dp though so half the calories heehee.

Welcome new people. I think all parents are pretty much winging it :)

Fatty your boy is scrumptious. I love a chunky baby.

Clstow 30 minute breastfeed is good! Piper is still at least an hour but usually longer. And she'll guzzle a bottle much quicker. Also reckon it would be easier to bottle feed but I'm not ready to give up. Shes growing and I have the time to spend with her so may as well continue for now.

Dozy, Clstow Fergus usually feeds for about 30 minutes, but did 1.5h in the mothercare feeding and changing room yesterday! I think sometimes he feeds for ages when he needs a poo, like he's trying to push it through!

Morning all , I was on some of the August antenatal threads , been meaning to join this one but it moves so quickly. I have a feeding question and hoping somebody will have some ideas , I'm mix feeding due to various issues one is his constant feeding , when he has his bottle I make 7oz but he'll only take 4/5 oz but then is hungry 30 mins or an hour later and will take another 2/3oz is this normal with a bottle? I have no idea about formula! Oh ds is 9 weeks if this makes any difference.

Mzzzf - I think we are on the same page that different approaches suit different families and babies. I didn't think you were saying there is 'one right way' :) Most of my friends and family have weaned with purées; we were unusual. In my scanning of the weaning discussion prior to my post I couldn't see BLW mentioned so I wanted to share our positive experience as it might be helpful for others.

There is an absolute youngest age (I believe 17 weeks) below which they mustn't have food and I would personally only feel comfortable waiting a good few weeks after that as I wouldn't want to risk damaging their gut for the sake of a few weeks. No purées suited us because I am essentially lazy and I also didn't want to have lovingly prepared and puréed food only to have it spat out. No purées means waiting until they can get food into their own mouths for which they are likely to be around 6 months. I am quite an anxious person so anything that helped me stay more relaxed (the understanding that he didn't need to eat so there was no pressure) was a good thing. The BLW approach and the lack of expectation that he would eat anything helped to take the pressure off. He enjoyed food from early on (greedy gorb like his mum) so he was keen to make the effort to get it into his mouth.

As it happens DS1 loves food. I know my dad believes that is due to the way we weaned. I am more cautious and think it's most likely just who he is. My sister has one child who is fussy and one who isn't. She weaned them both in the same way (with purées). I am fast coming to the belief that DS2 is quite a different child to DS1 and so I am trying to let go of expectations!

Giraffes - I hear you on baby being woken by older one! DS2 has just woken after DS1 shouted in excitement at something on the telly!

People can be so rude about names. We didn't tell anyone the names we liked until after our babies were born on the basis that people would just have to be polite. It doesn't sound like that worked for some of you based on posts above! My grandma commented on DS1's name: "I suppose I'll get used to it". She only got away with that because she's in her 90s :)

Iwish hello and welcome. I think that is normal for some babies tbh. Like they need a little break before going back to it. U can still give milk from the same bottle an hour later so can just use up the milk you've already made.

Weaning, I'll go off dd cues. Wean her when she appears ready. Terrified aboutstarting it though in that breaatfeeding is easy because the milk is there and waiting. Weaning means having to go to shop and buy food and prepare it. I'm useless at that just for me and dp hence why we eat out a lot. I don't want to fall into a trap of buying jars for convenience though so I will make all the effort to do it properly.

Boob is always the answer with my dd too. Well 99% of the time. The 1% of the time is tiredness. As soon as she cries dp just says she wants boobie and passes her to me. It would be nice if it wasn'tboobie she wanted sometimes. Other ppl who have her when she starts crying think they know best and will try to soothe her rather than handing her back to me but I know exactly what she wants. If I was holding a baby tat I couldn't settle though id hand it back so it surprises me how many people keep on trying and I have to virtually prize her off them to feed her.

P s. Fanby you sure did sound delightful as a child heehee

And fatty..... walking dead!!!! Just...... why!!! So upset with the writers right now lol.

Molly's feeds are about half an hour now, though she can go for an hour too, like Siani says, she takes longer when she's grunting and straining to poo at the same time!

Slowwife-I'd totally love some scandi heritage!! Love that style!

Dozy - I really was

Had the worst insomnia last night, barely slept after the 1:40am feed typical as molly had a really good night.
Quiet morning for us, just fed the beast so she'd nap-if in doubt boob. Watching something called 'scream queens' which I taped last night, it's so dreadful but beautiful clothes!! Meeting my NCT group for our usual Tuesday lunch which is nice! X

In the van on the way down south for a long overdue catch up with friends. Good opportunity to catch up with the thread.

Grumpy 2 has been a super quick feeder since birth (we are bf'ing, no bottles apart from the odd one of ebm if I need to go out, then she takes about 5oz). She tends to only take one boob a feed and is all over in about 10 mins, unless she decides to comfort suck or work on building up supply in which case she does the 'fluttery' thing with her tongue for anything up to another 30 mins. I was concerned at first (grumpy 1 was a marathon feeder) but she has consistently put on between 5 and 10oz a week and is now tracking the 75th centile so I guess she is just efficient. It could also be that I feed her more than her sister (see earlier post about starving the first born ) Tbh, I really miss the lazy time in front of the telly feeding. I was looking forward to that part of feeding.

fanby both girls are very lucky with their Scandi heritage. For the price of putting up with weird first names they get a lot of cool stuff sent over, mainly Marimekko (Mum is Finnish). It's great because I find UK kids clothes quite dull unless you pay top whack. H&M are the exception though, the girls wear a lot from there (Swedish, so figures )

I'm fortunate that my names have never been sniffed at by family (apart from my step-grandma, who said I can't call my baby Nathan as its a naughty boys name and it would turn him bad) we laughed at that one

But my mum can't complain. Alex (DS1) was on her list for my DB, Bernadette (DD) is my mums name, and Nathan is part of my DBs name (Jonathan) and I don't speak to my DPs family. Neither do my DCs.

slow that's how we do meals too!! Try, leave if don't like, nothing else on offer!! No way am I making different meals for my 5 DCs - would be like a restaurant - all really good eaters and like you say, a child is unlikely to starve themselves - if mine have hated their meal at night they usually have a big breakfast the next day.

DD is obviously turning day into night - up most of night and slept all morning. Anyway, got loads done - went to Sainsbos - half price toy sale and 25% off Tu - spent way to much on Xmas gifts but worth it. Came home and made macaroni cheese ready for tea and chocolate orange fudge for DCs coming in from school (if I haven't scoffed it all by then)

Oh slow, SO SO jealous!! Don't suppose you watched The Legacy? It's been my tv highlight of the year? Fairly sure it's Swedish?

Love and smiles - send some that fudge my way please! Actually I'll have the Mac and cheese too! Yum yum

Trying to get out of the house this morning has given me visions of what it's going to be like when she's a toddler needless to say she's on the boob and we're going to be late for lunch x

corblimey two can be very tiresome! I'm having one of those days...dd1 woke me at 5.30am which was fun after feeding baby at 1am and 4.30am. Then all dd1 wants to do is watch CBeebies and I think baby is getting into it too I set her up with some crafts though, turned my back to feed baby and a few minutes later discovered she'd glued everything together using most of a bottle of glue, arrgh now I have to unglue the table

I can't wait for nursery to resume next week, at least I get quiet mornings with just the baby then. Next term may book some extra nursery hours

Amen to nursery Giraffe! I'm a mean mummy and kept my daughter in holiday club this week on her usual days! I find it hard with them both, and she is going through a phase of pushing boundaries, especially with me! She used to fob me off with a 'yes mummy' and not do what I asked, but now she just outright says no! She is only three!

Think I'm going to experiment next week with putting DS down in his basket once he is asleep in the sling. Thankfully no problems with going down at night at the moment.

I've survived! Hurrah, now in the car home and the in laws safely behind me. Managed to smile and nod my way through the passive aggressive questions and stay firm when they tried to boil poor DS (the room is about 25 degrees, he is wearing plenty of clothes and is on me, he does not need more layers thanks).

I have the same problems with naps rra... DS sleeps in sling but I never succeed in putting him down. Mind you I haven't tried for a while. Been working on bedtime which has been going ok so I suppose it's time to tackle project nap again. Let me know how you get on.

Welcome Iwish, I can't help with bottles but wish I could. We're starting mix feeding in December and I'm very confused as to how to know how much formula to give DS. At the moment we just use the ready made Aptamil for the occasional bottle so has as much of the 200ml as he wants but we won't be able to afford that when we give more bottles.

Mac and cheese here please Love, hands down one of my favourite foods. Your DCs are so lucky coming home to fudge as well. I'm still confused as to how people get so much done with a baby around.

Many Mugabes to everyone, hope it's been a cake and nap filled day so far

Mugabe. I'm so tired! Why isn't it bedtime yet?

I've been shopping for goodies for DS1s birthday tomorrow. this time 7 years ago I'd been in labour for nearly 12 hours. I was in hospital on gas and air already. (Contractions every 3 minutes from when my waters broke) he didn't make an appearance until 5 past 6 at night on the 28th though. 38 hours of hell.
It's a good job I like him.
It's actually a miracle I went on to have anymore!

DS2 is sleeping on me and has drooled all over my boob. Must be teething starting.

I had a woman stop me in sainsbos to tell me I had the wrong size nappies today. I didn't. I had size 4 for DS2 and size 5 for DD. She just presumed I'd picked up one the wrong size
Then I had an old lady asking if they were twins no, there's a whole 19 months between them. DD is quite obviously older. I did expect this but not until DS2 was a bit older!

clstow glad you survived!
I'm so glad I don't have to put up with DPs family
How's project nap going for everyone? As you can see from my last post, not so good for me today!

Sorry for the radio silence! Had a feel very sorry for myself day yesterday and didn't even want to post! Mainly due to having no plans, being knackered and no money till Friday! I did start my book finally though 'gone girl'- I like it already!

Anyway have snapped myself out of it as busy today- went to my fitness baby and mums class this morning which went well although I'm achy already! Then dashed home and dived in the shower- DS woke up half way through and was screaming so it ended abruptly (of course he wasn't going to do one of his 4 hour naps when I needed him to!) fed him in my towel as he decided he was starving (seems to be eating well again). Quick bit of lunch then walked to baby clinic- lovely crisp day here I was even warm in my thin coat! He is tracking the 9th centime line perfectly and is exactly 12 lbs today . Bumped into one of the other mums from baby massage there so we had a natter. Now home and brew (and Bueno!) I'm sodding knackered! Feel so much better for not being holed up in the house though! If I ever say I've no plans again please make me make some! I even turned my sil down to meet up yesterday as I was in such a sulk!

Love you sound like a domestic goddess! Send us some virtual fudge please it sounds amazing! And Mac and cheese is one of my faves but DH doesn't like it so I never have it- so perfect for this time of year though! Haven't had it since Florida last April and it had lobster in it yummmm!!

Iwish- I think I remember you from ante natal boards welcome! I wouldn't worry about your LO having a break mid bottle- my DS changes his feeding habits every few days at the minute usually just when I think he's settled into a consistent routine! They like to keep us on our toes!

Clstow- well done on escaping the in laws in one piece! We stopped discussing baby names with mine after about 14 weeks pregnant when the long list of ideas we had got scrutinised and opinions given on every single name with some even gaining the response 'oh god no anything but that'! Those of you on the ante natal board will remember how much I used to whinge and vent about them! Thankfully they are much better now he's actually here- largely due to SIL being pregnant and taking the glare off us. Haha! Don't worry about how much formula to give- I would start initially by loosely going off he box recommendation and then if he drinks it all adding another ounce the next time or if he leaves lots reducing it. Be prepared to throw loads away though if he's a monkey like mine! He randomly decides he only wants a few ounces sometimes so the rest ends up getting binned much to my annoyance!

Ohh I've heard about the Scandinavian naps outside thing it sounds very healthy and fresh- I've considered trying it with DS on the days he fights sleep all day but haven't due to the building work- he'd probably come back inside orange from all the dust!

Slow and loves- I think that's how we will do meals when DS is bigger. At the mo I'm favouring a BLW approach to weaning as like someone else mentioned it is less work and I'm lazy too! I definately won't be doing what my nana and sometimes parents did to me which was to tell me if I didn't clear my plate it would be served again at the next meal- and it was! Gave me a horrendous eating habit of having to clear my plate every time even when I was stuffed! In fact I've only stopped doing it so much since being pregnant when I got to the stage that 3 mouthfuls would fill me up because everything was squashed!

Mugabe!

Xposts fatty. I agree why is it not bedtime!!? Although I have to say I pretty much dread going to bed now as I know I'm going to be woken up! Whew I don't know how you went on to have more kids either- I take for granted how easy and quick my labour was until I'm reminded of others!

Project nap is still doing pretty well here I have to say with the whole dummy, blanket, white noise thing. Although I can pretty much not bother with the white noise a lot of the time now. He hasn't really slept today until now as we've been out and about so much so I'm hoping he's not going to sleep through his next feed and mess up his feeds for the rest of the evening when he's only just started eating properly again!

One last thing- how ewwwww is it that it's going dark already'

Mugabe!

Ds' hip scan was fine so one less thing to worry about. We also managed a good feed at the hospital, which I'm pleased about because I've been having problems positioning ds when out and about as he's so used to lying back on the breastfeeding pillow.

You lot sure know how to chat! I've only been out the house for a few hours and the thread has moved on so far!

Yes, yes to Mac and cheese. I can't remember who was making it, but feel free to send some my way. Dh went to iceland the other day to get some sweet potato chips (highly recommended) and came home with Mac 'n cheese burgers that he found in the veggie section. Yummy, scrummy unhealthy quick freezer food.

Daytime naps are very hit and miss here - sometimes in the pram or sling or my lap. Ds has also completely forgot about the little pattern he'd got himself into and we're now back to unpredictable chaos when it comes to sleep.

I hope everyone is having a good day. Shitty weather here, so it's sofa cuddles for us. Dn (8) is arriving to stay the night later on so I'm hoping for a nap before she gets here because she won't stop talking!

Ah I love that the nights are drawing in!! Blankets, wellies, stews, red wine etc etc. I'm deffo a winter kinda girl. I'll take a Woolley scarf over sarongs every time!

Glad you're back on form Lily!

Poor little mini mzzzf has become a snot monster. At 3am we decamped down to the sofa so she could sleep upright on me rather than drowning in her own phlegm in the cot Poor snotty girl. I've been sucking out of her - yum! She's been whinging today and clearly not 100% so the calpol has been deployed along with the snuggly blanket and the clangers (she LOVES the theme tune!).

Once she's back on form, hopefully next week I am focused on doing project 'nap off me' whereby at least one (maybe two!) nap must be off me during the day inspired by Lily. Anyone what to join in?!

Well done for surviving ILs. My MIL has been on holiday for the last 3 weeks, she's back soon though She came out with the corker of a phrase of "I hope you don't have a girl as I'm used to boys" - might explain the poor choice of clothes she buys DD though

When when when will I get some form of normal ish life back?! DD is 12 weeks now and I'm hoping we soon get to the stage of solo napping and her going up to bed before us of an evening. Did someone say that the lullaby trust are ok with solo napping is ok at 3mths?! Can't remember who said that...

P.S. I want fudge!
P.P.S. MUGABE!