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

time, dom and trinpy I know! It's so infuriating. Don't get me wrong my DH is fantastic with DS but I just don't think he gets how full on it is, and I think DS is a fairly easy baby. I have got some KIT days booked in at work in January, only half days but our shifts start at 7am so DH will have to do everything. Maybe that will be The Cure!

trinpy the redeployment sounds good. The 1 minute commute sounds perfect! I had a good sleep, thank you. DS decided to wake up at 6.15 though!

DS is 8 months old today. Where has my tiny squishy newborn gone! He is such a giggly, happy little chap at the moment, he's lovely. I took him swimming this morning and then met some friends and their babies afterwards. I thought DS would sleep as he is usually knackered after swimming but he was awake the whole time, chatting away to himself in his pram! He almost fell asleep in his lunch and is sparko now, bless him. It's funny, I want him to nap so I can have a few minutes to myself but then I miss him when he does!

I've got an afternoon and evening off tomorrow for a hobby I do and I'm quite looking forward to Dh having to look after DS all day! Well, from about noon to bedtime. He has asked for a list of rough timings re naps, milk and meals which is fair enough although if he paid a bit more attention at weekends he'd know already ...

Hope dd's tooth cuts through soon MrsElls. DS still hasn't got any teeth and I'm dreading him getting loads in quick succession tbh, his sleep is hit and miss as it is without adding teething into the mix!

Re DHs: we've all just got in. DH and I are coming down with DS2s cold. DS1 starts playing a game, DS2 goes into meltdown - he hasn't had an afternoon nap and is tired & hungry. I bring DS2 up to the bedroom (he's still in with us) and DH is already in bed in the dark! I offered him the choice of changing and feeding the screaming baby or making tea for DS1 and the rest of us. How could he think he could just sneak off to bed when there's stuff to do. If he was at death's door maybe, but he's got a bit of a cold. As have I! How rude!

He eventually managed to scrape himself out of bed and downstairs the delicate little lamb!

Enjoy your afternoon off Me!

Trinpy that redeployment sounds ace!

Ahh, Dotty, sounds so lovely!

Whoo, it's the weekend again!

MrsElls 2am wake ups sound horrible! Hope ir doesnt go on too much longer for you. I'm dreading the start of teething.

Me I think it must be quite nerve-wracking for dads looking after their babies when they haven't had the months of mat leave we've had to get used to doing it all your themselves. Every time I go out for a few hours and tell Dh he'll need to sort the dcs lunch/dinner he gets this panicked look as though I've just asked him to do something incredibly complicated. Enjoy your time off. Its so nice having a break to do your own non-baby related thing sometimes.

Dom glad of hear your Dh managed to drag himself up from his death bed to pitch in . Be sick on your own time is what I always say to my own dh. Have a lovely restful weekend, hope you all feel better soon.

Yes the redeployment job is great, it's only the pay that's a bit rubbish but I'm sure we can manage on the in the short term. I heard back from that interview at last - I didn't get the job because since the interview they have decided to reconfigure the team so the position no longer exists . Sooooo glad I spent 2 weeks stressing over that interview for no reason. Nevermind.

In other news, I have had a blocked duct since Wednesday and nothing will clear it. Ds2 has had a good go at sorting it out but not managed it, I've tried expressing, warm baths and using those heat up gel pads. Any tips? I remember some of you having this problem before.

Enjoy your time off me! I'm back at work in two weeks for two weeks before xmas and DH is taking a fortnights leave to look after dd2. Will be interesting to see how he copes. To be fair to him he is pretty good at picking up her tiredness/hunger cues so i think the main issue will be whether she's happy with expressed milk or not. Also whether he'll be able to get his act together to cook dinner everyday...

We're up north visiting my BIL and family, not sure if i mentioned before but they are a bit weird about food (well my SIL in particular who is funny about her weight) and she and baby are gluten and dairy free (ish, apparently they have some). Anyway last night we arrived and they cooked dinner and sil says its 'lasagne' though when she served up it had no pasta (used sliced courgette instead) and no white sauce. It was nice but that's in no way a lasagne 😂 no carb in the meal at all apart from a little bit of quiona (they made it veggie for me) and no fat apart from a little bit of goats cheese on the top. And the tiniest portion ever! Me and dh are staying elsewhere and we did a dash to the shops last night to get bread for toast before bed as we need our starchy carbs! All we had on the side was veg. And they gave that to the kids too even though babies are supposed to have high fat/carb diet. Their 14 month old is also funny about food (not surprising) and dd2 at 8 months ate far more than their dd. Was a bit awkward

Sorry to hear about your blocked duct trinpy, have you tried massaging in a warm shower? I know you said you'd taken a warm bath but maybe shower with water going onto your chest might be better...

Both dds have an awful cold (and dh) and dd2 has basically refused to sleep in her cot for three nights now so we've ended up co sleeping. Luckily dh is not the man flu type so he's still pulling his weight, he tends to soldier on when ill which is good for me!

Trinpy I seem to remember somebody here got their DH to clear a blocked duct after trying all the things you have.

I love my food so visiting fussy eaters would be a real trial for me marmite, good job you are staying elsewhere.

Good try from your DH Dom, we are all passing the same cold bewteen the 3 of us but are all, DD included, soldiering on. DD has had about 4 weeks of green snot and congestion, Killing sleep (up 2/3 x a night) but otherwise fine.

marmite that sounds awful! I'd be stopping at McDonald's on the way back to the hotel I think! I'm all about the large portion sizes if you have people over, I'd hate guests to be leaving me still hungry. Also their baby's diet sounds really quite concerning, I'm sure babies aren't supposed to be gluten free!

Hope all the colds clear soon.

I've had a lovely afternoon and evening off. DH and DS got on just fine, DH couldn't get him to sleep in the cot this afternoon so took him for a walk instead but I don't care about that. DS is a nightmare for needing to be rocked to sleep for naps but he's just getting so heavy that I'm struggling to do it now. I did manage to cuddle him to sleep while sitting in a chair yesterday so I think I'll try that from now on and then gradually move towards getting him to self settle. Why he can do it at bedtime but not for naps I do not know.

I was going to suggest getting your dh to have a go army your blocked duct trinpy I think it was ffaux who had success with that before. I know my dh wouldn't be impressed if I asked him though!

After 4 nights of wake ups dd went back to sleeping 7-6.15 at last! She had barely any milk before bed so I've woken up with a very sore and leaky left boob but she's sorting that out for me nicely .

I can't remember who mentioned it but we bought the calpol plug in yesterday (DS2 is in with us and we both now have stinking colds) and I love it! I mean, I'm sure it can't be really helping our cold symptoms very much but the smell is just lovely!

Do you think glade would make a longer lasting one...?

dom we too love the plug in! Gone through a lot of three refills since ds has had pretty much one cold a month since birth.

Last full week off work hoping to male every day a useful one this week. Starting with finally putting up stair gates tomorrow now we have a speedy crawler who can stand himself up.

Does the plug in actually work then? I've never bought it because I'm too tight with money sceptical. I must spend £££ on snuffle babe and baby olbas oil every winter though so maybe its worth it.

Q is your Ds trying to climb stairs now or are the gates just to stop him falling down? We still have the stair gates up from when ds1 was a baby but we keep forgetting to close them behind us .

marmite that all sounds crazy! And yes I think I'd also be stopping off at McDonald's on the way home after that meal...

Thanks for the tips re the blocked duct. Finally cleared it by doing the shower trick. I don't think I could've beared having dh fiddling around with it - it really hurt!

Dh is out at his work Xmas party tonight so I'm having a lovely Chinese dinner and without him .

Glad the duct has resolved trinpy one thing I don't miss about bf!

He pulls himself up to standing on the bottom stair but hasn't yet tried to climb up it - guess it won't be long though. Our landing at the top is quite open so want to get that one up to make sure he doesn't fall down them.

Plug in has worked here - we had it in the front room as thought the vapours were far too strong for his bedroom

I don't know if the plug in actually does anything useful. But it smells nice and feels proactive!

Glad the boob is better, Trin.

And "woah!" to standing-nearly-climbing baby! DS2 is maybe starting to think about crawling. He does an imperceptibly slow bum shuffle - you notice after a while that he's moved forward from where you left him. But that's it.

He seems to be reverse-cycling again. He refuses the boob during the day but seems to be reducing formula in favour of BFing loads overnight. Can't decide if it's bonus extra snuggles (so glad he can still just about wedge in the cosleeper cot) or a bit annoying after a few sleep-throughs.

The calpol plug in worked for us. The only trouble was that DS's bedroom is small and the vapour that the plug in gives off is very potent, I had the smell stuck up my nose all day! The light is bright too especially in a small room but it didn't seem to bother DS.

mmmmm trinpy I'm envious of your Chinese! I hope it was tasty.

Q I'm not back at work until March (but doing some kit days in January) but I'm already feeling as if I should make the rest of my time off a bit more productive! All I seem to do is stay at home at the moment.

Dom my DS does the most hilarious attempt at thinking about crawling, he gets up on his legs but the arms are down and then he pushes himself forwards with his head! I'm sure it's not good for his neck but I can't stop him! For all my stressing out about his sitting up a few weeks ago he will now sit unaided as if he has been doing it forever.

DS woke up at 5.45 this morning and was full of beans! I know a lot of you have babies who wake in the night still so this is nothing and I'm very lucky, but combining it with being kept awake half the night by the hurricane wind and I'm shattered! DS is ok, he went back to bed and has been asleep for an hour. I'm sitting downstairs watching good morning Britain with my eyes propped open with matchsticks wondering how I am going to get through the day. I think a lot of chocolate may be in order!

Dotty 5.45am would be a good day for us! If it's anything approaching 6 or even beyond I'm pretty happy. This morning DS woke at 4, did a big poo and had leaked through his nappy, so had a full outfit change, but did thankfully then go back to sleep until half 6. I am getting better at ignoring him too, when he's making noises but not crying. I went back to sleep before he did this morning!

On the standing/climbing front, DS has aspirations to be a mountaineer I think. He can climb the stairs - the whole way up - and if I'm sitting on the floor he can use me as a step up to climb onto the sofa. I went to one of my NCT friend's houses yesterday and her baby sits but isn't moving at all - the house was of course totally un-baby proofed as she hasn't needed to yet with low tables full of ornaments and candles etc everywhere. Half an hour of DS charging around pulling everything down made her reassess!

Oh wow me !
C only sits unaided and rolls back to front !
His so advanced . He'll be walking soon I bet

Wow me climbing the stairs already! That's pretty terrifying impressive! Ds1 was a climber too and still is. In a couple of years time I bet you too will be standing at the bottom of the huuuuge climbing frame in park with your heart in your mouth as your ds happily scales it . Ds2 is perfectly happy just standing up all day, which is just as well as I don't think my nerves could take another climber!

I guess the calpol plug in thing probably works better if you have a smaller room. Although I can see how the vapour in a small room could get a bit much!

Dotty I think it's worse in a way if you've normally got a good sleeper and then they suddenly don't sleep because you're not used to it. When you've got a consistently crap sleeper you find coping strategies and your body adjusts a bit to our baby's pattern (or maybe that's just me). I hope you get a chance to catch up on your sleep.

Do you think your ds has a preference for bf over ff Dom? Or do you think he's bfing at night because he wants to have the closeness/comfort? I've been trying to introduce formula for one of ds2's feeds and so far he's not that interested in it. Don't know if it's the taste he's not sure for or if he's missing the extra cuddles.

I've just spoken to one of the managers who interviewed me for that job the other week. They are planning on opening up a new vacancy which she thinks I would suit. I would have to apply in around 2 weeks time. I was going to go back to work in Jan but if I got this other job I would be starting there in Jan. So now I'm thinking maybe I should plan to end my mat leave in Feb or March...I'm so confused! And I need to let my manager know my plans asap because she will need to get a temp in to cover for me if I take longer off.

Time from my limited experience it seems to me like babies of this age seem to focus on one thing or another. So DS is more advanced than some of the others with his movement, but some of my friends' babies who are still just sitting babble a lot more (DS says the odd mama and gaga but mostly just makes noise) or can clap and wave, which DS can't yet.

trinpy I think that's it, DS is a good sleeper and usually wakes up anywhere between 6.30 and 7.30 so I think I've been a bit spoilt and I've got used to it. When I'm at work I'm up at 5.30 so I'm used to the early starts, it's just the broken sleep during the night that comes with it. My problem, nothing to do with DS, I wake up at the slightest noise so a cough on the baby monitor or a howling gale and I'm stuffed! Thankyou! I'll be tucked up in bed nice and early tonight.
Re the job, do you think you will be able to hang on for the two weeks to make a decision about when to finish mat leave, or do they need to know that quickly? It's so hard to know what to do isn't it.

me blimey your DS is doing so well with his moving! I think your right in what you say, my DS is getting more interested in trying to get around now, but for the past couple of weeks has not been interested really at all, but his babbling has been amazing! Whereas, other babies his age are moving lots more but don't babble at all! No clapping or waving yet here either, he holds his arms out when I get him in and out of the car but I think it's the position the straps push him into more than anything else!

After DS's long lay in/nap this morning he has refused to nap ever since. He was quite cheerful with it though! He's now tucked up asleep in his cot and I'm about to try and have my lunch in peace. This baby has a food radar though, any time I try to eat he wakes up, so we shall see!

Ahh that makes sense me.
C doesn't babble or clap or wave yet .
Just sits.
She'll get their

Ha! Dotty that does sound funny!

With regards to feeling like you should do something with maternity leave - I say just do what you want. This might be the last time you get to! If you want to stay in, make the most of it! (Getting the kids out the door in the pouring rain at 7:30am is enough 'going out' for anyone!) Stay in, watch tv, nap!

Me, sympathy for the early-morning code brown. We haven't had one for a whole, fortunately.
DS2 is only really sitting here. He did that suddenly and with conviction, no wobbling for weeks like DS1 did. Maybe crawling will be the same? He doesn't clap or wave either, but we do get a lot of chatter and "mumm mummm mummm" (not actually directed at me though!) But yes, stair climbing is terrifying!

Trinpy, I think sometimes he does need the calories (when he's not been fussed about formula) and other times I think it's the comfort. Either way, I want him to keep having some BM for as long as possible (well, beyond 12m would be good). DS2 is too excited about the world to concentrate on BFing outside a darkened bedroom these days.

One trick the CM used in the beginning was mixing expressed BM and formula. It seemed to help him transition.

C is great at moving around and will climb onto the bottom stair but then I go and grab her! No clapping or waving and her babbling is mostly dada interspersed with really cute little squeals when she gets excited about something.

Her milk feeds have really dropped now she has a top tooth poking through and can bite much more easily. In the day she only wants one boob at each feed and only for about 5 mins. Gives me much more time in the day but leaky boobs are back .

Agree that babies tend to focus on one set of skills - dd1 was like your ds me, crawling up stairs and into everything at this age, but not much babbling. Dd2 is almost crawling but not quite, so much farther behind dd1 at same age, but her babbling is more advanced. Lots of mamama's, which im chuffed about as dd1 said da da da first! I also think dd2s fine motor skills are better than dd1s.

Me and dh came down with a stomach bug the night before last. Bloody nightmare as we had to get dd1 ready for nursery whilst feeling like death warmed up. Had to get my mil to come and take her to nursery. Then just laid in bed all day feeling sorry for ourselves and taking it in turns to entertain dd2. Think it might have been rotovirus as neither of the dd's got it and they've both been vaccinated. My bil and sil who we visited last weekend had warned us they had all been sick the previous weekend but we thought we'd be ok 5 days after... Apparently not still feeling pretty rough now and cant really go anywhere as don't want to spread it so getting a bit of cabin fever from being stuck in the house this week!

Hello! Sorry I've been lurking and keeping up and thought I'd check in - another crawling climber here and therefore there doesn't seem to be time to look at my phone in the day and I mostly collapse on the sofa and fall asleep looking at Amazon Black Friday deals of an evening... She never stops, ever. Can I tie her down for a bit or is that frowned upon?

Hope all of you that are back at work are doing ok, I'm back in January so am getting out and about seeing people this month..

marmite hope you are feeling better soon!

I can't remember who recommended baby sensory all that time back in our early threads but we've been going since the summer and R really enjoys it - also think all the waving in class has helped that skill along so thank you!

We're still struggling with eating - she just doesn't seem interested so will eat a bit and then want to be off again, I just keep offering and hopefully eventually we will get there... she can't still want a bottle for her 18th birthday right? Well not of boob milk..!

Hi all, sorry another lurker here
Vroc we have matching babies it seems ! Ds is non stop in the go .. literally ! On the plus side he keeps himself occupied so long as everything is child proof.. although he's just discovered the Bunkbed ladder in dds bedroom ! He also really made us laugh the other day .. he had been saying 'namnam' for a few days until we realised he was saying it every time he ate or if we were eating he comes for titbits like a little puppy with his mouth open saying 'namnam'. Ny heart then melted when 'mamamam' directed at me followed ! He really is nothing like my two dds who didn't produce any meaningful sounds till well over age 1 !
On the downside ... he catches every cold and stomach bug going and seems to be ill every three weeks!!!! Is this normal? I'm going insane with the lack of sleep and because he has been feeding unethusiastically due to a blocked nose I have an awful bout of mastitis so feel like crap !