February 2007 Post Natal Club

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Hello

I know it's not even February yet, but here is the new thread. Even though Jacob was born in January, I feel he is an honorary Febster!!!

Looking forward to more new bubs coming this way!!!

oops should be the lovely Kirsty who maks the BEST slings!

Knew I would mess up somewhere

let me know what you're selling snugglebum - I have an addiction even though dd all of a sudden won't tollerate being carried in one!

Hi everyone, I've had quite a good BHol considering dh was working fri to sun. Spent a lot of time in the garden so ds was tired out. Then yesterday, after I had a mini strop and left dh in the house 'on his own'!!! with both children !!! (his amazement not mine)( for 5 mins) as a last resort to get him to help out, we went to Stratford along with the world and his wife! I can't believe he still hasn't changed one of dds nappies! We're locked in a 'who is more tired?' battle at the moment. Anyway, we went to the butterfly farm which ds loved and had a picnic which was great. The phil and teds has been great for two children and now I've got the car seat adaptors it's even better. I know they advise against using the car seat with the double seat but we have been out a few times like this now and even with some controlled 'tip up testing' it seems fine. DS had a strop once as well and it even survived him leaning out of the seat underneath so really pleased we forked out the money for it.
Forgot to post last week that MIL visited and we had a really nice visit, so that's a big relief.
Haven't tried the bottle or the dummy yet, have some odd feeling that it might not be the right thing to do (completely irrational). What have other bfs done so far at what age of baby?
How is everyone else?
Any news re the house Peachy?

Suzi2, will let you know as soon as I sort them out!

Forgotten, still not bought a proper double pram, not used one yet as had DS2 in sling and DD in mountain buggy, have had a few looks at a phil and ted with doubles kit and asked someone in a shop about the car seat adaptors but she had no idea what car seat you can use them with, we have a maxi cosi cabrio, do you know if it will work with the adaptors? LOL at you leaving DH on his own for 5 mins, men can be really crap can't they!!

As for dummy/bottle not introduced either, DS2 is neary 5 weeks old, really not to keen on using a dummy, DS1 and DD didn't have one and I really don't want to face the battle of trying to get a child to give one up when I think they should no longer use one, so for the sake of an easy life (I would much rather DS2 fed for comfort) I am going to stay well clear. As for a bottle, will prob introduce one at some point, but again can't be faffed expressing milk at the moment, I already feel like a dairy cow bfing both DD and DS2 I am such a lazy so and so really!

Just got back from a trip to the post office posting some parcels, am considering putting a small business add on the message board here but someone already has a nappy one and I feel a bit cheeky......is that silly of me? , anyone any other fab idea on promoting my buisness? feel it needs a bit of a push at the moment or I will end up slacking and use the excuse of three kids as to why I haven't really been doing much, DH will not be impressed.

fft - I have tried and tried DD with a dummy (for weeks) and she isn't taking to it. I have tried every type. I'm eager for her to take one to give me a break and to try and ease her colic. I had never intended to uise dummies, but with DS it was our saviour! He's now 20 months and still has it for naps/bedtime/when he's not well. we'll probably take it off him in another few months but for now it's a huge comfort to him so it would be a shame. Maybe when he's stopped teething... or perhaps santa will swap it as a last resort! DD has had 2 expressed bottles. One at about 4 weeks, one at 6 wks. I had itended to giver her one every few days to keep the bottle familiar but I have no time, or inclination, for expressing! I'm thinking of buying a new breastpump (ameda lacteline, anyone got one?) so maybe that will get me going a bit.

snugglebum, business is business so don't worry about competing! Perhaps you could have a slightly different slant on yours as you also sell bras etc? One thing that might help with local business is to hold nappy parties. Sort of like ann summers but get people there antenatally with some nibbles etc and show off your products. I know a lot of people who have been keen to try out real nappies but have never really seen them in the flesh so are a bit scared. And nappy consultants who do one to one sessions can feel a bit pushy.

Happy Easter everyone. The Easter Bunny came to visit us and brought me a very yummy Chocolate Orange egg. We were down in London visiting my SIL and her 3 children - all boys and aged between 20 months and 5!! It was a lovely w-e and the boys were really sweet with Dominic. The only problem is that he now wants entertaining as he got used to lots going on. His baby gym now doesn't keep him occupied for long!! He's also feeding every 2 hours at mo but I think that's because it was very hot in London so he's got used to it. On a better note, I think his cousins wore him out because he slept one night from 7-6 with a dream feed at 10.15. Last night we put him in his own room and he slept from 8.45 til 5 and was fed at 7.45 and didn't have a dream feed. We have given him a couple of bottles of expressed milk but not for a while so need to do that again. Snugglebum, LOL at dairy cow comment. 3 year old nephew said to his Mum when Dominic was crying, that he thought Dominic wanted my udders to get a drink!!! I also think not at all cheeky to put an ad on MN. Just because someone already there, doesn't mean they have the monopoly.
We also use a dummy when he is wanting to comfort suck or is just being a pain. It was very useful on our car journey down to London when we were crawling through traffic and DS was screaming!
FFT, glad you had a good day out yesterday. Sounds like you need to arrange to go out one evening and leave DH babysitting. Good luck!
Bubblebell, I hope the tea party went well. Why on earth are you bleaching radiators? and what does it entail? It sounds far too domesticated a thing to be doing when you have a little baby as an excuse!

Hello!

Ben had being doing an awful 1-2hrly feeding frenzy during the night for the last week, although last night went down at 9pm and then fed at 3.30 and then 6.30...HOORAH! Although probably once off and we'll be back to hourly guzzling tonight!
To make matters worse DS1 has chickenpox and is miserable and up all night really hope dd and ds2 dont come down with it but seems likely. (any suggestions on itch prevention welcome currently using calamine and piriton)

Alocin - birth sounds awful but glad you and Patrick fine and you're loving motherhood.

Snugglebum - when I had DS1 my NCT class had a "nappy party" as several of us were interested in using cloth. May be good way to promote business.

FFT- my first two NEVER took a dummy despite being offered, just spat it out. Ben takes it for a wee while. Sometimes it's a real blessing when he's unsettled and I want to grab a few minutes to make dinner/do bathtime/bedtime for the rest of the family.

Thanks for replies about dummies bottles people. I have just expressed whilst catching up with the thread, so may take the plunge with a bottle tonight when dh is back. It would certainly reduce the number of reasons I can't leave dh with dd! I knwo what you mean about feeling like a cow snugglebum. What's the age gap between your two? have you encountered any probs with tandem feeding? Suzi2 I have an ameda lactaline pump. i think its great - certainly get more milk than with the avent hand pump I also have. i bought it primarily becasue I seemed to always be on the verge of mastitis with ds and expressing would help me nip it in the bud. When I went back to work, I still wanted ds to have breastmilk, and it was worth its weight in gold becausue it was so quick in the double expressing mode. I made myself a handsfree bra by cutting holes in an old one and I could eat my lunch at the same time! Now that's what you call a dairy cow! Its loads quieter than the medela mini ones. I used a medela one in the hospital with ds too that was good and very quiet but not very compact although I have never seen the medela one that comes in a backpack. The ameda seem to hold their value quite well on ebay as well if thats a consideration ( I bought mine new since I was only going to save a few quid in the end).
Snugglebum I would definitely post an ad. There's plenty of room for competition - its not like the two of you are the only nappy webs around anyway! You have reminded me that I need to get some small wraps to use with my bimbles and muslins, so you'll soon be busy with one order at least! Although I think 3 kids is a perfectly good excuse to take it easy for a while!

Hi everyone - this is my first post on the post natal thread (formerly Leahsmum), have been lurking on mn lately, mostly on the breastfeeding threads but not much time to post. Hope no-one minds me posting after such a long time - feel kinda guilty not posting before now on post natal thread.
Glad to see that everyone is doing well and enjoying motherhood. DD2 will be 8 weeks on Thursday and is doing really well. We had a few problems feeding intially (sore nips and dd vomiting loads), is now infant gaviscon for reflux which is helping a lot and the vomiting has stopeed (so far so good!).
On the bottle/dummy front - we have been giving dd the occasional bottle since she was 2weeks old and she also has a dummy and we have had no problems in that regard. I have even managed a night off - my mum took both girls a week past on Friday to give me a rest as I was knacked! Mind you I didnt sleep much when they were away cos I was so worried I hadn't given her enough EBM.
Fortunately dd2 has been feeding 3/4 hourly mostly, though tends to feed more often in the morning and in the evening - during the day and through the night feeds 3/4 hourly. Though on Sunday night she slept from 10pm til 5.30am - woo hoo! Though was back to normal again last night.

fft - we have different dummies and she takes any of them, though initially she would only take NUK ones - with orthodontic teat, also have MAM ones.

i use a dummy. and am now just f feeding..
altho when i was breast feeding i was usingthe dummy and expressing and ds2 had no probs adapting.

smudge i bleach the rads so they look extra white.. had my ex mil over and she isvery very judgemental. t party went well weather was lovely and ds1 loved it

ilike those hug a bub slings.. anyone know where i can get 1?

Snugglebum, just looked at the box for carseat adaptors for Phil and Ted and they provide instructons for using with Britax, evenflow and graco style seats. I am using it with a M+P Primo Viaggio and it seems pretty secure to me (despite one strap being missing from the carton)! I did see on an american site that it is very adaptable to many different seats. You rest theback of the car seat on the bumper bar and the kit provodes a further bar for the front of the seat that goes across the buggy by the sun hood. There are then two sets of straps - one set goes over the top of the car seat to secure it down and another goes near the bumper bar to prevent forward movement. If you decide P+T is for you and really wanted to be sure it would fit, then I could photocopy and send to you. Let me know in the future.

My DS had to be given bottled EBM and top up formula in his first couple of weeks due to the problems we had in establishing breastfeeding. Poor wee soul was starving, dehydrated and losing weight so there was nothing else or it at the time. However, since then we've managed to get bf working pretty well (although still got v v sore nips and deep breast pain on one side (been treated for thrush but no improvement))... but he still gets bottled EBM (or occasionally formula)from his Dad or others if I'm needing to be elsewhere or DP is letting me have a bit more sleep. He now takes any milk from any source and just laps it up !

Snugglebum - v impressed at your feeding two at once.

Dummies, however, have been more of an issue. I just really hate the idea of them. I do let DS suck on my pinkie if he just needs to settle a bit, but I can't bring myself to give him a dummy. But after a particularly horrible car journey where he screamed for the whole half hour trip I have reluctantly got one for the car only, just becuase in that situation there is nothing else at all I can do to comfort him. That said, I've still to actually try it and see if he will take it at all.

FFT, thanks for the info on the P&T will have another look at one and try and make a decision! Still got pregnancy brain and can't decide what to make for tea, never mind if I need another pram There is just under two years between my younget two, DD doesn't bf that much now, though her feed have increased since DS2 has come along, sometimes the tandem feeding is great, other times I have them both wanting to feed at once and the logistics of trying to feed a two year old and a little one can be a nightmare, DD always want's to lie on top of DS2 and she fidgits a lot whilst feeding so ends up pulling at his ears, poking him in the eyes etc and I get a bit cross with her! The only other draw back (apart from the dairy cow feeling!) is that I don't really feel like I have had that special time with DS2 feeding him as whenever he needs a feed DD is always by my side demanding "my turn now"! I haven't met anyone else who has tandem fed so am a bit wary sometimes about telling people as I am sure they will think there is something a bit strange about it

Thankks to everyone for the ideas re promoting the buisness, had been feeling a bit down about it all as the two baby fairs I did recently were quite slow but things are ticking over and I guess that's for the best at the moment. Moosma was it your DP who had started the furniture making business? How are things going?

snugglebum - I've never really understood the breastfeeding two at once thing...i thought the milk produced by your breasts was different for newborns and older babies/toddlers? So how does it work, do your breasts produce a happy medium or seperate types of milk depending on which baby/child is sucking?

After boasting of my better night, last night Ben went down at 7pm (hooray maybe the end of colicky/unsettled evenings...life might begin again!). He woke at midnight, hoorah a whole 5hrs, unfortunately we then went back to 2hrly wakings...tried settling without feeding but he wasnt having it! He is a big boy 95th centile but I would have thought that would mean he was able to go longer between feeds...

DS1 is still miserable with chickenpox, and staying in is doing my head in! Here's hoping he turns the corner today.

snugglebum crossed posts, i dont think tandem feeding is weird its just the mechanics (is that the right word!) behind it that intrigues me.

Yes it is my DH with the furniture business, we're a bit like you at the moment, ticking over and a bit disappointed with the Bristol show. People seem to love what we do but think it's too expensive. The computer side is doing better and we're getting by.

DD is still doing good nights - feeding at 7.30 or 8pm and only waking once in the night before getting up at 9 or 10am She is a piggy though, she's taking 5.5-6.5ozs at a time, totally 28-30ozs a day!! I'm seeing the HV on Thursday next week so will see how she's doing weight-wise. I can see she's growing, her tummy's almost as big as DD1's!

Not so good is how DH and I are getting on. We've been quite nasty to each other recently, so we're now making an effort to get back to feeling togethery again. Seeing my brother and his girlfriend looking happy at Easter made us realise how unhappy we are, so we went out last night and have come up with a set of rules to follow for a while to try to improve things. It will be nice when we get a bit of a sex life back too .

snugglebum, your feeding experience isn't that different to mine. DS hangs off my arms or climbs onto my back and pulls my hair when I am feeding dd. The funniest moment has been when he grabbed his soft doll and sat down, pulled up his t-shirt, said 'milk' and put the doll to his breast! I was stunned! I would have tandem fed but stopped feeding ds (at 16 mths) when the Dr suggested that I would be more likely to fall pg if I had stopped bf. We'd taken a long time to conceive ds and were concerned not to take as long with dc2. He was feeding first and last thing then but I must admit weaning had been mummy led not baby led! Having said that I was concerned at dropping the bedtime feed since he often fell asleep on the breast and I thought it would be really difficult to get him to go to sleep. What worked was for one week I did a bedtime story at the same time as feeding. It didn't matter that he could hardly see the book. And then the following week we just did the story - and it worked. He went into the cot sleepy and fell asleep without a murmur!
On another note, I tried a bottle with dd yesterday, well, dh did, and she was fine with it so that's great. i'm now thinking about where I can make the time to express so we have a supply for 'time off'. My mum looks after ds twice a week at the moment which is great so I might ask her to 'swap' time with ds for time with dd so I get to spend some nice time with him.
Sorry to hear you and dh have had a hard time moosma. To be honest dh and I just 'get through' most days at the moment rather than enjoying them. Although I'm still on full pay at the moment I think the fact that I'm at home all the time makes him think I'm not getting any money and thus he must wok twice as hard to compensate. Then he's shattered and jealous of the fact I'm in the house when he's at work. Things were just the same after ds was born but did get better over time as we adapted especially when I'd gone back to work! At least you and your hd are talking about it, that is a major plus.

Oh great - just been to the hospital today for a follow up glucose tolerance test (to check that the diabetes has gone after delivery) and guess what - my fasting levels were too high to do the test . They took blood to check my fasting level properly and to see what my levels have been over the past month or so (well fancy test that is from a blood sample). So I now have to go back to see the consultant at the ante-natal clinic tomorrow afternoon - not sure what will be the outcome, but I suspect my days of choc eating are numbered!

On a completely different note - is there anyone on this thread that had a girl? I have lost track! If so, I have a lovely white and lilac and gingham check sunhat from M&S that needs a good home - for free - thought I would offer it here before listing it on the 'for sale' thread. If interested, email me at [email protected] with your address and I will post it out to you - or send a piccie if you want to see it first! Too hard to explain how it looks, but it is very cute but not in a frilly way!

I have a girl and was thinking I ought to get her a hat, I'll email you...

I had a girl andyrobo - much to our suprise, and would love a lilac sunhat if no one else has answered you first!

Ha Ha - you beat me to it moosma!

Has anyone bought any breastfeeding tops? I have received one from blooming marvellous today but am very disappointed with it. The slits show straight through the thin upper layer material. I'm thinking I will return it. Any recommendations? I do have a nice one from JoJo from their winter range but fancied something short sleeved. May post in bf threads as well.

Moosma - have emailed a piccie to you!

I'll second the enquiry about bfing tops. I'm going to the full day of a wedding in a few weeks and I want to be able to feed discreetly so that I don't either miss half the day or flash my breasts at a whole room of people. Currently I am just wearing really big wide tops that I can lift a corner of without too much of the rest of me showing, but they really aren't wedding wear. Any ideas ?