March 2016 - quick, a new thread!

[Swearwolf]

Sorry for the terrible title, I saw the old thread was up to 996 posts and panicked!

Ooh don't I feel important

Having two in nursery from January will cost more than my mortgage and living in a London borough my mortgage is already ridiculously expensive. I just jeep reminding myself how amazing it will be when they are both in school and suddenly we have lots more money as we will be used to being thrifty by then! Also things that I insisted on having new for ds we have had a lot of second hand for dd, she's often in blue grow bags and sleep suits unless we have had any as gifts or I have bought them from a Facebook selling group! Also as we are sticking at 2 I am selling all the baby stuff as soon as I am finished with it.

Hope all the little ones with colds start to feel better soon.

DD loves her water and has massively cut down on milk but the result seems to be earlier wake ups so I'm trying to reinstate the 4th bf of the day!

Evening all,

Thanks for the well-wishes. His temperature's been down today but he's been quite fragile and grumpy, and off his milk which isn't like him at all. I gave some more calpol at 5pm and he perked right up! (And solved my mega-boob issue).

This evening I noticed a pretty standard viral rash on his legs. I've been wondering if it was hand, foot & mouth that went round the others at the childminders before half term, but its not on his hands, feet or mouth!

I'll be going to bed armed with baby ibuprofen! Hopefully he'll be happier tomorrow. Poor little sad baby.

FTM we always wing clock changes. It's never been a drama here. But we're not really fixed routine types.

Good luck going back to work. It's really quite liberating!

DS has been off his milk today too, maybe there's something in the air?! He normally has 4 X 7oz bottles but today he hardly drank any of them, think he had 16oz in total. He ate loads of food and drank loads of water with his meals though so not too concerned.

Dom good that DS's temp is down but sorry to hear he's still poorly, fingers crossed he's on the mend tomorrow.

FTM I'm with Dom on the clock change, just roll with it! There seems to be an awful lot of angst on MN about clock changes and I just don't get it, yes DS will no doubt wake up an hour early tomorrow (don't we all?) but he'll have had the same amount of sleep! Then it's just a matter of being awake for an extra hour the next day, well he can nap a bit longer maybe or go to bed a bit earlier if he's tired, but I really am not expecting it to be a big deal. I saw on another thread someone recommending that you move the baby's routine back by 10 minutes each day over the course of 5 days to allow them to slowly adjust, well sorry but that just seems to be ridiculously overthinking it to me!

Dom when ds2 had hf&m it started on his legs and nappy area. He only got 2 blisters on his fingers after about a week and none on his feet. I think it's more common on babies to be on their legs and bums! I have some photos on my phone I took of the rash when I was trying to figure out whether it was getting better or worse, I'd be happy to post one if you wanted to compare.

Every bloody time the clocks go back or forwards DH has a panic about ds's sleep. Drives me up the wall. I put them both to bed half an hour later tonight and they can go to bed half an hour later tomorrow night too. I've never noticed it's made much difference to their sleep. The moving their bedtime by 5 mins thing sounds far too complicated for my liking!

I'm at these childcare costs!

french after posting this morning about nap training not going so well, DD was a star today, 1h10 and 1h30 in her cot, minimal crying. She seems to be the type of baby who needs a brief howl as part of winding down. We're definitely on a two nap schedule now, which is nice, that lasted several months with DS and we all liked the routine.

The time change is annoying with babies in the fall when you're struggling with early wake ups - 5 am seems grudgingly like morning but 4 am really isn't! Conversely the spring one can be an instant shift to a sane wake up time. We do 20 minutes a night over three nights, so it's all done on the weekend, but DS is really hard to shift schedule.

Childcare is expensive here too (major city in Scotland). Five full days for DD will be about £1100, DS about half that taking into account childcare vouchers and his free hours. But it's looking increasingly like DH would like stay home a few extra months till DS starts school in August. I really like the idea, he's a great parent and DS is going to need a lot of support to be ready in time. The time just flies. Seems such a short time ago he was a squishy baby like DD and we were convinced we were one and done!

Thanks Trin. Was your DS unwell with it? If so, how long did that last? I'm hoping not the whole week.

I'm hoping it'll clear up tomorrow, or at least be nondescript enough and DS happy enough to send him to the cm. I've got controlled assessments planned for next week!

Here's the clearest photo I have - very difficult to photograph a wriggly 6 month old! It didn't look like blisters at all, just a red spotty rash. He had it for around 10 days and was really miserable with it but I think he was just unlucky. Ds1 had it and was just a bit tired for one day, so it can come and go very quickly; hopefully it will be the same for your ds.

Hello all!

Dom I'm sorry your DS has not been himself today, fingers crossed for a better day tomorrow. I have always been wary of giving ibuprofen, goodness knows why, but did last week when DS was struggling with his teeth and the difference it made was amazing. Thank you for the well wishes, I don't think my DS has another cold after all. It's that chesty cough and snot that they get first thing in the morning and then after a good cough all is well!

I'll be honest I haven't even looked into childcare costs yet! I'll be going back to work part time but doing super long days, so I'll be there just two days a week one of which being a weekend. DH and I plan to juggle it between us, but I do want DS to go to nursery at some point for the social interaction. Reading this thread the cost of childcare is eye watering! It's bonkers how much they can charge and get away with!

Mship my DS is a baby who needs to make lots of noise before he goes to sleep. It makes for some interesting irritating conversations when out with the pram. I'm usually told that he's hungry and when I tell people the real reason they look at me as if I am the most awful person on earth! Actually he has got a lot better now.

Sitting up is going really well here, yay for the bumbo!! DS sat completely unaided through a whole round of wheels on the bus today, wipers swishing and mummy's chattering and everything!

I didn't realise the clocks changed tonight until I came on here. Doh! No time for forward planning and changing routines here. Let's see what happens in the morning! We were up for the day at 6.45 this morning so could do with the extra hour!

Thanks Trin that's really helpful.

DS2's spots aren't that... definite yet. They were only tiny little pink pinpricks earlier. He's sleeping much better this evening, not hot at all. DS1 hasn't had it.

The thing with childcare costs is that although it costs us a huge amount, it doesn't translate to very much for the staff on an hourly basis. There don't seem to be any winners in it.

DS1 was one of these moany-tired babies. Had to have a right grump before he'd sleep. And if you tried to console him it would only make him worse. It took us ages to realise this. He grew out of it, you'll be pleased to know!

I agree Dom nursery staff wages (unless the govt subsidises) just make nurseries expensive, full stop give the 3-1 ratio. My c. £700 pcm for full time is through a charity and I imagine the bulding is owned (military base) so doubt it could be done any more cheaply.

Hope the spots fizzle out, DD has brought a stinker and the runs back from nursery but no hfm yet, hope it stays that way. She wriggled and bumped and wailed all night so I am hoping for some epic naps today.

Well our day started at 6.10! Not bad at all considering the clocks changed. I made DS some scrambled eggs and toast this morning and he pulled the funniest face! I think it was the lumpy texture of the egg. We shall persevere!

french I'll keep my fingers crossed for some good naps for you. We are going to a christening today so I'm hoping for some good naps too. DS just gone down for his first one so I'm going to speed get ready! Praying he sleeps longer than half an hour!

I do get why nursery fees are so high, and they should be really, our children are the most precious things we have! But lots of other countries subsidise childcare much more. I know we get free hours here but only from 3 and many nurseries I suspect will not offer the 30 hours when it goes up because they can't afford to do so. If the government wants more women in work then they need to do something about it because whilst we are lucky that we can afford £1000 pcm, millions can't!

Dotty that sounds like a good start! DS was up at 6.30 which I was very happy with. He did wake up in the night though and had to be changed because he did a poo. Poor little mite has a very sore bottom, I'm going to go and buy some nappy rash creams today. He is pooing 7-8 times a day at the moment which just seems crazy, they're all solid and most are quite small, does anyone with older ones remember this? Is it just a phase? He's been weaned for over 2 months now so I was expecting it to have calmed down. The excessive number of poos is really not helping the nappy rash!

Good luck at the christening Dotty. DS loves scrambled egg. Hope the spotty and poorly babies are on the mend french and Dom!

Has anyone else got a Halloween outfit for their baby? DS has a skeleton onesie to wear tomorrow

Ah, the skeleton onesies are so cute Me! I nearly bought one in ASDA the other day but resisted. DS2 had a "mummy's little pumpkin" t shirt somewhere. I bought it a week or so ago and he's already grown out of it. Little chunk.

Think I'll get a skeleton onesie next year when he's toddling around!

Have you tried metanium cream for nappy rash? It's supposed to be amazing.

DS1 was a constant pooer, but he's never been one to suffer with constipation. He's usually on the soft side! DS2 doesn't actually eat enough solids still. I didn't offer any yesterday and today he's still mainly smooshing it around rather than eating it!

He's still got very pale spots on his legs. Nothing dramatic. He feels a bit warm but has been happily playing on his mat this morning. I'm hoping the childminder will still have him tomorrow.

Hmm... the spots seem to be getting worse... but he seems better in himself than yesterday. So far.

Hello everyone, been lurking again due to general busy-ness! been keeping one eye on the thread but not had much to say!

dom have you tried ringing 111? i did this morning for a rash on my face and was given an appointment with out of hours clinic. I also second getting a digital thermometer that you can use under the arm pit - it's a bit of a faff with babies but it's much more accurate than crappy ear thermometers.

so I went to the out of hours clinic this morning at my local hospital and turns out I've got shingles :-( I'm massively freaking out that I'll have infected dd1 and dd2 with chickenpox but only time will tell... I'm feeling pretty sorry for myself and in lots of pain. I have known to be a bit of a hypochondriac in the past so DH was a bit dismissive this week when I was complaining about pain on my face and when my rash first started a couple of days ago and we thought it was just a large spot. Was only when it blistered yesterday that I thought it might be something more serious. He is supposed to be going away Tuesday-Friday for a work trip which is going to make this week a nightmare but I have friends and family who have all offered to help out if needed.

we've had awful nights sleep here for the last week or so, DD2 has a cold. I'd forgotten how awful winter is for colds etc and DD2 starts nursery in January so will get even worse.

We're also going to be looking at two sets of nursery fees in January - DD1 gets her 15 free hours then as she's just about to turn 3, but we still need to pay for wrap around care for the three days she attends. We currently pay between 700-850 pounds a month depending on how many days she attends (which varies from month to month as she only does three days). this month was a 14 day month so was £850 which is a real kicker. We're looking at having to pay £1000-1100 ish during the funded term time and ~£1500 over the summer (and possibly easter/xmas) . I was freaking out about how we would pay for it outside of term time but DH pointed out that even on a really expensive month, an additional cost of £850 a month is less than the difference between my pay and statutory maternity pay so we will still be better off than we are right now. My MIL will look after the girls on mondays and I/we will use leave to take Fridays off. Like you, me, there's little difference between 4 days and 5 days at our nursery as you get a discount for full time, but we didn't want to put DD1 (and now DD2) in nursery full time. I actually wouldn't mind that much but DH feels very strongly against it.

Thanks marmite. I don't think this warrants OOH. He's a bit spotty but it's clearly just a viral rash of some kind. He's a bit warm & grumpy at times but is alert and reasonably happy (as long as we don't put him down!).

He can see the doc tomorrow if need be.

Huge sympathy for the shingles. That's not at all pleasant from what I've heard. Try to look after yourself

Oh no marmite hope you get over the shingles quickly.

We are in the phase of wake ups because the little madam can sit herself up but not lie herself back down so just chats away to herself until I give in and get her by which point she tends to be fully awake so needs feeding to knock her out again. After months of relatively unbroken sleep its killing me. Tonight she has been awake since midnight and feeding since 12.30 so there is actually time for a second wake up before we reach a reasonable hour ☹

Actually scrap that, she can go from sitting to crawling so there is no reason she can't lie down she is just being a pita!

Dom I have bought some metanium and it already seems to be helping, thanks for the tip!

marmite I've had shingles and it's awful, you poor thing. Take care of yourself and accept plenty of help from your DH and anyone else who offers it. It's only anecdotal I know but fwiw I was working with children when I had it and none of them caught chicken pox from me. Your childcare costs are even higher than mine - I think if we have a second we are going to need to think very carefully about the age gap!

MrsElls I have a similar problem with DS sometimes. He is incredibly agile and can sit from crawling, crawl from sitting and pull himself up with no trouble during the day. But at night he has a habit of pushing himself right up into the top corner of his cot and then if he wakes wailing until I come and move him back into the middle. He is perfectly capable of getting back there himself. I think he just doesn't remember how to at night!

Urgh, wakes at 1, 3 and 5 here. DD is so congested she can't feed properly and has 2 upper teeth coming through so is a grouch and keeps bouncing off the cot bars and wailing. For the nth night in a row she came into our bed at 3 so we could get some sleep but she wiggles widthways and we get no space so not keen on building a habit. Really wish I could go back to bed rather than head off to work.

Hope your shingles case is mild marmite,

Hope spots didn't stop sleep at yours dom

Oh no marmite poor you! Hope it's not too painful and that your dc don't get chickenpox.

How exhausting MrsElls. If you leave her for long enough would she eventually go back to sleep? I've never had a baby who wakes up and just chats to themselves though (mine just scream) so I've no idea if that works!

How's ds2 today Dom?

How's everyone getting on with baby proofing their houses? Ds2 is crawling so fast now and into everything! I need childlocks on some of the cupboard doors really but I remember it didn't take long for ds1 to figure out how to break through them when he was at this stage so maybe it's not worth the bother.

Trinpy we've got stair gates at the top and bottom and we've reorganised some kitchen cupboards and drawers to move potentially dangerous things away from the bottom. We aren't planning to put cupboard locks on everything but will put one on the cupboard where we keep the bleach and other cleaning stuff.

We've also ordered a play pen. I know they're not very fashionable anymore but I don't intend to put DS in and it leave him there for hours on end while I chill on my phone. I just really need a place I can put him that's safe while I go to the loo, or make his bottle etc. Our downstairs is mostly hard tiled floor and he's already had a few really hard knocks to his head on it when he's just toppled over or lost his balance when crawling. Even in the lounge which is carpeted, there's wooden corners which he could get a nasty bruise or cut from if I wasn't there to stop him. I have been putting him in his jumperoo if I need to wander off but he hates it now - knows he's about to be caged in! - and screams. So a small play pen which I can put him in with toys and cushions seems to be the best solution to me.

Reading these posts makes me glad that DS is showing no interest in crawling yet! Actually having said that he is trying in his own funny little way, he puts his bottom in the air and shuffles along with his shoulders.

marmite I hope you are better soon and are not feeling too poorly.

Dom how is your DS today?

Mrsells DS was chatting away to himself at 4.30 this morning! He was back to sleep by 5.15 but of course I was wide awake. He doesn't usually wake so I'm not sure what was going on there!

frenchfoodie fingers crossed for some decent sleep soon. Teeth are a nightmare aren't they

Trinpy I need to get something foamy to go on the corners of our coffee table as DS loves to stand and stands holding onto it, and it's only a matter of time before he will be pulling himself up. Also our floor downstairs is wooden so goodness knows what we will do when he is crawling and walking. Eyes in the back of the head anyone!

Me my DS is proudly wearing his pumpkin onesie today. He looks so cute!

I've been trapped in the car but DS has just woken up so I can escape! We have got a new car seat, the Britax dualfix. It's really nice but I haven't got the hang of swivelling it while he is asleep yet. It's stiff because it's new so needs lots of swivelling to ease it in! My little pumpkin and I are off now to try and get a slow cooker!

I think she would eventually go back to sleep trinpy but when I've been awake for half an hour and i just want to go back to sleep myself I know feeding her will do the trick. I also get irrationally annoyed at dh who can sleep through it easily!

I have to say our house is not childproofed at all. Ds never showed any interest in opening cupboards and I guess I'm just hoping dd will be the same!