February 2016 #2

[haquoi123]

We're into thread 2! Can't believe our babies have been here this long!

Fingers crossed that works for you clumsy!

End of another week! DS will be 21 weeks on Sunday. Can't believe how quickly time is going - I've been off work 26 weeks today, exactly 6 months.

I put him in a highchair for the first time yesterday and he loved it. My baby is growing up! He's also just got a bumbo seat so he's enjoying that (for short periods of time) as it looks like he's got his own armchair to watch tv in like daddy. So cute.

Still pumping. Down to six per day now so we can get out a bit more. I'm giving it a last big push on the supply front - currently taking fenugreek, brewer's yeast and mother's tea and I'm sneaking in a few extra pumps at the moment when I can to try and up it. DS is down to 6 bottles a day finally, but 6/7 ozs a time, so I'm trying to get from 3 bottles of EBM to 4. We'll see. I'm aiming for 6 months of pumping at the moment, but if my supply goes up I might carry on.

How are all the babies? How is everyone? We seem to have disbanded somewhat!

Sorry I am rubbish at posting! Still here though.
Dd is 20 weeks now, can't believe it! Still no sleep but some nights better than others and she's not feeding constantly so I have hope she'll get there soon. Generally I try dummy and pat first which usually settles her, if not I cuddle, if she still doesn't settle then I feed. I'm hoping this will eventually reduce the hourly wake ups!

Clumsy I would second (third?) the others in that we get no poo leaks with cloth but it goes everywhere in a disposable (I'm only part timing the cloth this time). If cloth not an option I don't really know what to suggest other than holding put for the solid weaned poo!

Dd is definitely more interested in food now, keeps trying to grab it off us. Only 6 weekd to go! (Ish)

Clumsy, just thought of something - do you need to go up a size? We've had a few wee leaks recently then realised he is ready for size 4! fatty....

handbag hats off to you! Do you still pump in the middle of the night? How often do you sterilise your pump btw?

Ds is 21 weeks now - he seems pretty ready for food but we've not got round to it yet/feel a little unsure about it all. My baby's growing too fast! He's been having some shaking episodes so DH took him to the GP today who basically said he'd not seen that type of shaking and so had written to a paediatrician for advice - basically we've been told not to worry, just being thorough, but if course I panicked! Bubs is fine otherwise though, so fingers crossed it's nothing. I'm slowly heading back to work with some kit days, which is nice, but involves driving 2hrs to Newcastle! I missed bubs so much today!

troika that's hard work! Does your dd sleep immediately after feeding, or is she up for a bit?

How're things with you clara?

All the exclamation marks...

clara I hope he doesn't need size 4s I've just bought another box of size 3s. It's only in the car that it's a problem.

haq Ds had shaking episodes but we put it down to being on a nerve as it stopped when we moved his position, hv didn't seem too fussed by it.

troika sending lots of sleepy thoughts your way!

handbag go you awesome pumper! I am really in awe of your determination with it all

We are on day 3 of baby rice on wink wink nudge nudge advice from the hv, he is only eating a few spoonfuls but seems to enjoy practicing his chew face with the spoon in his mouth, he also has to hold a 2nd spoon otherwise he gets cross.

Haquoi - thank you! Yes, still pumping overnight. I have an alarm for 3.30 and watch random shit on E4. I've seen a lot of Rude Tube and Rules of Engagement over the past few months! I forgot to set my alarm the other night and woke up at 5.15 - the longest sleep I've had since I had the baby.

I think of the breast,I'll rule of 6 days in the fridge and as I mostly keep my pumping bottles and flanges in there, I sterilise every 2/3 days. I'm pretty relaxed about it as everything I read about breastmilk talks about not being obsessed about cleaning. DH is a bit more anxious so cleans them whenever he can get his hands on them.

Thanks also to Clumsy - I'm part stubborn, part not really sure how to stop! I spend a lot of time reading a board on baby center for exClusive pumpers. I don't count as one but it's really useful. It is however full of people trying to wean and getting clots / lumps. I'm dreaming about I the day I put a bra on in the morning and take it off in the evening, but for now I'm keeping on keeping on.

We are all fine here thanks Haq.

Ds rolled over on his own for the first time this morning - now he won't stop doing it!
We are now in 6-9 month clothes now too (ds is 21 weeks on Monday). He is quite long for his age though (no surprise, I'm v tall).

Not sure how others feel but a lot of stuff is happening all at once and I want it to slow the f@#k down!! We are not planning on having any more children (dh not keen on more and I'm on the fence), so conscious of trying to soak up as much as I can while I can.

We have a rolling baby! He did two rolls from front to back at Baby Sensory yesterday then this morning on our bed he did a back to front. Yay! Although this means we can't leave him unattended in places now - we'd got used to popping to the kitchen for a bottle while he was on the changing table in the utility room.

Everything happening at once - he's also got tiny white teeth coming through this week and he's been successfully siting in his highchair.

Where did my baby go? Almost enough to make me want number two... But then I think about being pregnant again, and the saga that was getting him out of me.... Eugh...

Off for lunch today with work colleagues so looking forward to a good catch up.

Hurray for handbags Ds! They grow so quickly it's scary.

How are all the babies coping in the heat? Ds is very grumpy and it doesn't help that I can't get the temperature below 29 anywhere in the house in hoping the storm forecast cools it down today.

Still here!!! Not much to report so haven't been posting much. Sorry! Currently 'watching' ds1 at tots tennis while trying to get babycud to nap!

Hurrah for rolling babies!!! At nearly 24 weeks babycud hasn't done back to front or even come close!!! But whe has just mastered blowing raspberries and he's good at sitting in the highchair and it's dawning in me that we are going to have to do some weaning soon... eek!

I am so impressed with your pumping handbag good work!!!

We don't seem to be suffering too much in the heat although we're not in the hottest part of the country and it helps that the bedrooms are north facing so don't get any direct sun.

Hope you are all doing well and getting a little bit of sleep!!!

Forgot what I was going to ask!!! Some of my nappies are looking like they are on their last legs. Any recommendations? We don't have a tumble drier and need something simple enough for nursery to manage in due course. The wizard duo ones look good but a bit pricey!!! We have tots bots easy fits at the moment but they're a bit prone to wee leaks so I put a wrap over the top... kind of defeats the point of an aio!

Argh, the heat!! Ds has a bad cough as well, but he's good-natured with it. I can't work out if I've got a cold or hayfever, it's so hot!

Thanks for the advice handbag - I'm starting to head out on kit days and have been panicking about doing it all properly. The worst is that he very often doesn't drink much when I'm out, so the milk DH has taken out with him gets thrown away :(

Woo for the rolling!! clara & handbag Ds is finally showing signs of wanting to roll (usually at nap time, telling us he wants to be in his front), 22 weeks almost. I agree with you clara, my baby's growing too fast. We do want another one and I've got horribly broody again, like the past year has been completely erased from my memory. Eejit.

cud my star nappy of the moment are Wonderoos real easy, sized nappy. They're microfibre and hemp and fit ds really well - last weigh he was 22lbs, is chubby and is over 100th centile for length so we're in the large and he has space to grow (unlike most of the other nappies!). Don't bother paying full price for them, you can shop around and get some deals - I just bought two perfectly good ones from wonderoos clearance. I don't rate the wonderoos v3 btp though, and it no longer fits grrrrrr. Bumgenius Elementals and freetimes are also fab, but very expensive and I've been stung pre loved with those. He might also grow out of them soon :(

Cud me too. People keep suggesting I try her on food to improve the sleep and it's tempting but then I remember how much I hate weaning and how much of a pita it is so I'm holding out for now!

Haquoi have you seen that study where they injected e coli into bottles of breastmilk? It made me very relaxed about sterilising my pump and bm bottles!

No I haven't seen that troika, what's it say? I started pumping to donate milk so had to be on it for hygiene in order to do that, but was wondering how relaxed I can be for ds!

Are you still donating haq? Does anyone know how to stop bruised nipples from pumping?

Dd has returned from camping with 24 huge bites and has been given antibiotics from doc, got toget up at 2 to give her the next dose, hopefully Ds will sleep through tonight don't fancy being up at 4 with him as well.

Hope everyone has had a lovely weekend

Clumsy - number one on bruised nips is getting the right size flanges. I had to buy smaller ones for my Medela Freestyle. Number two is to put something in the flanges - lanolin or coconut oil are both recommended and you don't need to worry about them being on your nips and transferring to the milk.

Thanks handbag how do I know what size flanges I have already?

Haquoi I can't find it now (and it may have been something other than ecoli...) but basically the levels of bacteria decreased for the first 72 hours and then levelled off for a bit longer. Something like 80% of bacteria was killed off by the milk. Amazing stuff.

In other news I finally got my pram yesterday . You may remember my buggy woes before she was born but I've been making do, because I had it, and it was technically fine. But anyway, 5 months+ of whinging, sending dp links every now and then, his realisation of how much walking I actually do and the failings of the buggy led him to agreeing to buy me one off gumtree yesterday. Yay! 15 months old, great condition and only £100. I know she won't get a huge amount of use from the carrycot part now but I reckon we'll be able to use it over the summer at least and he does want another baby...

Still here as well! Sleep all over the place, sometimes really good nights with just 2 wake ups and other times up every hour (like last night) - doesn't seem to relate to naps - yesterday she had 2 X 40 mins and 2.5 hours in the middle of the day!! Thinking about night weaning but not sure how to start/deal with that on no sleep!! When I feed her she just goes straight back to sleep!?!

Apart from that all is well: hope everyone else is well

Clumsy - here's a picture that explains it. What pump do you have? Medela comes with 24mm as standard, but they're all different. I bought the next size down and it was much more comfortable. To be honest I could probably go smaller again but they don't sell anything smaller than I have.

Troika - Congratulations on the new pram. We've just moved out of the pram attachment as he outgrew it but I can't imagine how we'd have coped without it the past 5 months!

Liberty - Not sure on night weaning, we've always just followed the baby on feeding. He dropped the night feed himself about a month ago (thank goodness!). He settles back to sleep with his dummy.

Very tentatively pleased - we started putting baby upstairs in our room 2 nights ago a couple of hours before we go up. Last night he slept straight through from 8.30-7.30. Amazing. I still don't like him being up there without me though! I obsessively watch him through the monitor, which has an app on my phone.

I'm so in love with the pram! Dd slept for 2.5 hours in it this morning which is unheard of and adds to my love. It's a joy to push and makes me realise just how rattley the buggy is. Haven't lifted it in and out of my boot yet (and am praying that the threads online were correct and it will fit...) so can't comment on that but for all my walking it is fab.

I'm so excited about my pram that I totally forgot to tell you that dd can sit up now! She's still wobbly and topples every so often but can sit and play with toys for quite a while now

If I plonk her on her bum that is, she's not genius enough to get herself to sitting position just yet!