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!!!

Ladies

I've been (trying) to use tots bots bamboozles on my little man, but am utterly horrified about how soaking wet they get - am I doing something wrong, or am I just naive?!

we have elastic nipple here too!!

Well this new formula is great apart from the green poo! Must be the change in milk! It was a bit whiffy as well. He has been a little windy today but wasnt bothered about it - smiling ang gurgling at all the ladies in work! The new office is lvely but def not tempted to go back any earlier than planned!

Thought I had sorted out childcare, but the potential childminder has judt rung to say one of her present mums needs more days than she has now, so no space for us. She was a lovely lady as well. I am seeing another lady tomorrow, hope she is ok!

Alocin - I had that too after trying a totsbots. The suggestions I got seemed to have helped: make sure you've washed it a couple of times as it gets more absorbant after a few washes, you prob need to change more often than a disposable (I'm now trying every 2.5 hours and is much better), and use a liner of some kind. It was the first time I used it that DS was soaking but he seems to have been much better since. I don't know if he just had a big weeing time or if it has got more absorbant. Andyrobo, sounds great about the new formula. I'm loving our DS smiling and chatting at the moment. Right, time to polish off a blackcurrant cheescake now I think. It's taking up too much space in the fridge

Glad its not just me suffering elastic nipples and sofa/chair launch pad with nip in mouth! Thank god the teeth aren't through yet! I tend to agree with the tiredness thing but I'm torn with trying to tank him up before he goes down for the evening/night. Maybe I shd just give in and see what happens.

Still not sure abt the bumbo. Thanks for people's thoughts. Agree it wd be silly to pay full price, and I'd rather not use it before LO can sit reasonably anyway. I expect I'll just stick with the bouncy chair (which adjusts towards a reasonable sitting position) unless I find one going really cheap.

Alocin, I'm using bamboozles and fluffles and the bamboos do feel much wetter after the same length of time on, I guess it's because they don't absorb as much so you feel more. As long as he doesn't get upset about feeling wet or get nappy rash I don't see there's any harm in it.

We're getting into a very nice routine here, she's waking up at 6, feeding and going straight back to sleep, then I wake her up at 10, she feeds, stays awake for half to one hour, cries for 10 minutes and goes back to sleep. Does the same at 1 and 4.30, then she has a bath at 7.30 or 8 (every 2-3 days) feeds, goes to bed. She's having 6 ozs during the day and 7 in the evening, is growing rapidly (she's 9 weeks but is wearing 3-6 month clothes!) and is generally very happy, as am I!

DH and I are getting on better now too, mostly because we've got our evenings back and because we've been making an effort to be nice to each other! We even managed sex once a few days ago

We use bamboozles too, and fluffles and original rainbow tots bots. The bamboozles do seem to get pretty wet, but DS doesn'tm IYSWIM. He's never been unhappily wet in one and hasn't had the slightest sign of nappy rash. Plus I like them because they are lovely and soft even when dried on a radiator and they are nice and slim fitting.

I do like a fluffle for overnight though, but the ones I have are the bigger size that you fold down for smaller babies and they are so bulky that I'm not so keen on them for day time.

FFT, glad things are going well with the nappies, how are you finding the Wambamboo, loads of people prefer them to the Bamboozles.

Alocin you have recieved some really good advice about the Bamboozles, when I started to use them I was also shocked at how wet they were at a change compered to an Original Tots, however as they are slimmer but more absorbent then I guess this makes sense as there is less fabric to soak up the wetness than in an Original Tots. However all bamboo nappies take around 15 washes to reach their peak absobency, also are you folding the booster to over where your LO needs it the most? My other thought is it may be detergent build up if you have washed them a few times or more. Detergent build up can reduce absobency and cause skin irritation, I only use about half the normal ammount of detergent in my nappy washes, there should be no bubbles in the water when you do the final rinse of the nappies, if there are you will need to put your nappies on for a couple of washes (when they are clean!) without any detergent and this will "strip" them of any residue, just continue to wash them untill you stop seeing bubbles in your machine.

Babydriver, we used a Bumbo with DD and it was one of our savings, she was a very unsettled baby, would not lie down flat or even propped up in a boucy chair or swing, I spent all my time carrying her around, which is fine when you are on the go, but when you just want to sit down and have diner at the table with the rest of the family it can get a bit of a nightmare. As she always wanted to be sat upright we bought a Bumbo mail order and it arrived the day before we went on holiday (she was just under three months) and when we sat her in it she was sooooo happy, just sat there looking around, that we took everything out of our already packed suitcases to jam the Bumbo in to take away with us (good job it was light so we didn't have to pay extra baggage charge!). We got loads of use from it, if we were sat at the table we would put the Bumbo on the table (any HV or A&E nurse would have had a fit, but it felt safe as she was obviously never left on her own up there!) and she would just sit there watching us and smiling and joning in with the family as she had never done before. I think you always think "is this going to be a waste of money" when you buy baby things, for us the Bumbo was the best thing we bought and the swing etc were a waste of money, for others it will be the other way round. They are often up for sale on the MN sals board so it may be worth keeping and eye out for a local one so postage won't be involved or put up a wanted ad on the wanted board

Hello Ladies, enjoyed catching up on your news.

Bit of advice please, bottle feeders!

We've been doing a routine this week - haven't read Tracy Hogg's book but friend wrote down the EASY plan for me (Eat, Activity, Sleep, Your time). It's been working a treat and I haven't been het up about it, just trying to formalise things a bit. Jacob's feeding every 3 hours, starting between 6 and 7am. I'm working towards getting enough milk into him to go to bed at 7pm ish followed by a dream feed at 11pm ish.

So, advice wise - he's on Nutri-Prem milk still and has 150 mls each feed, sometimes managing 180mls in the afternoon. We've worked out that 800mls for the day lets him sleep through the night. How do I get him to take more milk so that he reaches say 700mls by 7pm? I've tried everything but he starts being silly, chewing on the teat, pinging it out of his mouth etc. Weight wise, I know he's having enough according to the guidelines on the tin and he certainly lets me know if he's hungry. It's so hard deciding whether to treat him as nearly 4 months or 2 months according to his EDD!

OK I think I've finally cracked it - feed the boy, strap him in the sling, run to local library to claim my hour on the internet, keep a dummy to hand in case of emergencies (little ones don't tend to heed the 'shhhhh' rule) and rejoin the rest of the world online, hurrah!
I've missed so many postings since my last visit but I noticed there's been lots of discussions about the bamboozle nappies. My mum bought me a starter pack - from you Snugglebumnappies (Granny P has been nosying at our thread since our littlesnugglebums were littlesnuggleembryos) but after getting hooked on the free Pampers at the hospital (turns out they have a monopoly - oooh!) I'd not got round to trying them out but last week I did - the wee boy looked like a little Easter lamb with his cute fluffy bum but then the wee boy weed and resembled less of a snugglebum and more of a drowned rat's arse. And they'd been washed about 4 times beforehand. Still, we don't want to wreck the world with our, sorry, his landfill-filling WMD so we'll have another go, any further hints?
In other news we've been quite intrepid, going to Baby Yoga (the most bonkers thing you'll ever see), Baby Massage (where they encourage you to dangle your baby by the feet to strengthen the neck and spine - don't panic - the little ones love it and it's a good one for shocking various family members) and today - Mother and Baby Cinema where you go in with your pram and the lights are on low so you can see your own nipple (cos when they latch on to the wrong bit - yeeeeouch). It was great, though a bit tricky following a subtitled film when you're on your hands and knees in the aisle changing a nappy.
Oh, and to whoever suggested a London meet up - we are definitely up for it, I'll teach you all how to baby dangle - preferably in the most public place we can find, and if we can raise more than 10 eyebrows we get to treat ourselves to hot chocolates. Mummies - are you with me?

Oh how I would LOVE Birmingham to have a baby cinema! I am going spare not going out! Not that we went out that much anyway, but when I know I can't I want to all the more!
On the nappy front I am pleased with the wambamboo. DD is a heavy wetter compared to ds and its coped well. I haven't washed nearly as many times as recommended for full absorbency yet either. Still like my Bimbles though, they're very cute.
Glad you like the Ameda pump Suzi - I must admit i think its great, but you never know if you're being quite rational when you start to rave about a breast pump, do you?
Glad to hear your getting on with dh better Moosma. Its great when you get your evenings back isn't it. I am trying to get a regular babysitter so that we can go out and do something together most weeks. I'm not talking going out with friends here, I think dh and I need some time doing something together - might even take up golf! Trouble is all the responsible teenagers we know go out too often themselves!
I'm still missing being pregnant strangely enough (since I don't remember enjoying it all that much at the time).
Marmite I was thinking about your sling and how you might wear baby. Will you have to consider the change in posture a sling would give you as LO gets heavier? For instance i would have thought you might be better with a front carrier instead of a hip one becasue of the uneven distribution of weight? The bumbo might be a good idea too cos you could have the baby at the right height by sitting it on a table etc. I guess that lifting a baby from the floor is difficult?
We made a lot of use of the babygym for ds when he was this age to about 9mths but I don't trust him not to tread on or otherwise interfere with dd yet so she going unentertained in the bouncy chair a lot of the time. I'm trying to put her flat as soon as he takes his naps and when he's in childcare. Life's full of compromises like this isn't it? I'd also be horrified if CBeebies wasn't on whenever I need it (feeding times). I just try to make up for it at other times by talking to ds lots!
Sorry for long post. Trying to stay awake until 11pm, cos then dd seems to sleep until 4am which isn't so bad. Hope you all are having a good night too!

DCMY, wow the baby cinema sounds fab, it's one of those things that I miss about city living, used to have everything on my doorstep, then met DH and became a suburban housewife (and life i nowhere near as exciting as that on Wisteria Lane )

As for the Bamboozles, you will have to change them more frequently than a disposable and they do often feel soaked when I change DS2's but they should survive one wee! Try folding the booster up so it is triple thickness and placing it right over his "bits" when you change the nappy. Let me know how you get on.

Maazaa - have you tried changing the teats to a faster flow? We went from a number 1 to a number 2 fairly early on, and then to a number 3 a few days ago (as his milk is thicker with this formula). How long does he take to drink it - we get 120ml or 4oz in old money down in 10 mins - no break as he doesnt want it. He may then have another few sips, but messes with it. If he is not drinking too much, I chane his nappy half way through and this wakes him a little, and he then drinks a bit more. I have been keeping a record of quantity of milk as T drinks so little at each sitting (every 2 hours still!) and he has between 650 and 720ml over a 24 hour period - friends reckon the babies need to weigh over 12 or 13 lbs to sleep through the night - tested this out in baby massage yesterday, and the three that do are 10 weeks old, 12 and 13 weeks old and are all over 12 lbs! T now weighs 11 lb 8oz so I am expecting him to do it in the next few weeks! Just out of interest, what bottles are you using?

We are off to town today - only 15 min drive away, but I havent been since October! Liverpool is really busy and has had lots of changes since i went last, so we are off to get me at least one top and T at least 1 summer outfit! Guess who will not get one and who will get loads.....

We exchanged contracts today!!!!!!

Well done Peachy, glad you finally got there!

We've started looking at moving too, there's a house down the road which is perfect for us but we don't think we can afford it

shopping trip went well - I got 2 tops and 2 new bras and T got 2 tshirts, 3 shorts and 1 pair trousers all from John Lewis Baby - very reasonable and lovely quality! havent shown his dad though!!!!!! I treated myself to a coffee and cake at John Lewis (well T needed his bottle and it is baby friendly there!) and was back in time for the schol pickup!

Off to grandmas for lunch today after DD has been dancing.

andyrobo I've been looking at JL baby stuff when ever I get to one their stuff looks good

I was at the Baby show in Glasgow today. Very good fun. Lots of freebies and a fair few bargains. I was even tempted into getting a Bumbo for just £20 ! I think it will be jsut the thing for Sandy as he is so interested in everything around him. However, I'm not clear on how big he has to be to use it. Does he just have to be holding his head up, or does he need to be sitting up by himself to use it ?

Also.. I hate to say this because it won't last, but for those basing sleeping on weight, I can put something to that. DS is 13lbs 11oz at last count (at only 10wks old)and is sleeping 7-8 hours straight through at night from about 10:30pm to 6:30am. So there maybe something in the weight/sleep theory.

suis from what I remember with the bumbo they just need to be holding their head, DD used it from about 11 weeks old

We're doing well.
Feeding well, not sleeping any longer than 4 hours, if I'm lucky, but not too bothered as the little guy is so happy it's a small down side.
He's trying hard to roll over, found he can suck his thumb/fingers, giggles at a little vibrating elephant toy and talks non-stop to anyone who'll listen to the gurgles shouts and coo's.
Just awaiting my new swaddlbee's and wambamboos coming, so excited about nappies (how sad is that?)
Hope everyone's doing well. Maybe a new thread is needed as this one takes a while to load.
We've just been talking about when to try for another (and final) baby. Anyone else considering this? We're thinking as he approaches 1 yo, we'll go one last time

I wish the sleeping through were so simple! DS was 12lbs at 8 weeks but still wakes at around 4am for a feed (after I've woken him for a feed at 10.30). This morning he also wanted a feed at 5.30am. Grr, especially as we'd just hung up blackout linings for the first time and I was keeping my fingers crossed...

Agree about the JL stuff, was looking at it yesterday. Annoyingly though they didn't have any of the things I liked in the right size.

congrats on the house peachy!

Does anyone else have a baby that hardly sleeps during the day? I thought DD was being kept awake by DS but he's not here today and she's worse! She got up at 9am and we finally got her to nod off at 2pm for an hour. Then 30 mins at 6pm. And she's just gone down now. She'll wake at least once during the night for a feed and likely be up an hour.

She gets overtired easily and can't switch off and screams. We have to feed/rock/walk her to sleep every time at the moment. She was self settling for a few days a few weeks ago and I'm not sure where we have gone wrong!

meant to say that DS was just like this, but we could get him to sleep in an instant by taking him for a walk or in the car. Doesn't seem to work for DD... and then if she is asleep she wakes the minute we stop moving or DS wakes her. for her

Maya can be like this too suzi. If we go out for the day she will sleep in the car seat/ pram/sling but at home can be awake all day long, then we have screaming in the evenings. We had a good load tonight even though we had been out all day.
I've visitied three national trust places this week. Maya was admired muchly at two of them!

I get no daytime naps either. Maybe one day a week he'll take a 2 hour nap in the afternoon, but usually no more than 10-15 mins and that's in the sling or lying on me. He wakes in moments if I put him down. I find if kind of odd that at night he goes down very easily, even settles himself if we put him to bed, but during the day he can't be persuaded at all even when he's clearly really tired. It means I get nothing done during the day at all and have to do it all after 10:30pm when he's gone to bed. That said, I wouldn't give up my good nights for all the daytime naps in the world.