July 2016 #3

[primarynoodle]

Hello all! Can't believe we're on thread 3! Let's kickstart with a then and now photo :)

Here's Annie at 4 months 4 days

Just quickly (will catch up properly) julf we got a really cheap shower curtain off amazon (the clear plastic type) for under the high chair (also used it under the bath as splashing got more vigorous. Always bath in the living room so keeps the carpet dry)

Thanks Becks, great tip! At the moment I've just given J a few veg and he's chewed on them without making a mess, but I'm going to start properly now that he's approaching 6m, so will get a shower curtain.

Sunday - yes the rash is a bit like that, although a bit milder. Just sitting in the doctors' waiting room now... Typically, the rash doesn't look as bad as when I booked the appointment!

Has anyone else been using a bath seat in the big bath? I have and it's been great. But J is now getting so wriggly and strong that he doesn't really seem secure in it any more. I was wondering whether anyone (especially those who have older children) can advise how long they used a seat? Is there an alternative as they get bigger, or is it just straight into the big bath once they're more stable?

By the way, is anyone else on Mush (app)? Great way of finding local mummies to have coffees/walks with. Anyway, I found these recipes on it and thought I'd share. 4 photos so I'll attach in two batches xx

Quick catch up -

blue - travelling in London - Mumderground app, tells you all info about each station. It's amazing! You'd struggle with a travel cot though I reckon...I guess you could do Ru in sling/carrier, cot on pram and a rucksack or bag in bottom of pram....? Or mates could borrow one...? Any news on blood? been thinking about you, hope all ok xx

Great tip becks
julf - so pleased things are better with DH. Wow - you've been patient but so worth it now he's getting on board. Here's to lovely family time ahead in 2017 x

Will catch up properly tomorrow! Hopefully! X

Cheery - Mumderground - wow!

As below, here's the fourth and final picture from Mush.

It's great right julf?! Looking at those recipes I think I may need to get a slow cooker......

Ha ha yep Cheery that is definitely a pre-requisite!

julfin/bluebell I'm a bit horrified that J needs his own gym membership. Is it just a London thing? I'm sure they'd have said something if you needed to pay for R. If we go swimming then M is free in the council pools. I asked when we start paying for her and it's still a few years off.

bluebell oh no! I'm sorry to hear about the blood again. No advice I'm afraid. I just wish your boobs would give you a break. On the travelling front, trains aren't too bad I found, especially if you travel outside of rush hour. Could your friends beg/borrow/steal a travel cot to save you carrying it everywhere. I found out a while ago that there are websites you can hire them from too but that would obviously cost a bit more.

mrsrolly poor R with his weaning trials so far. How is the apple going down? Van travels sound mucho exciting!

julfin have you got to the bottom of the pain and rash? Poor little J. Hope you get some answers. I'm planning to use a cheap ikea shower curtain as a mat under the high chair. When it gets ruined then I don't mind getting rid of it.

All this nap talk is making me feel a bit better. M can't put herself to sleep so is rocked and sung to sleep and not transferred until she is completely gone. She'll go into her cot at night but sleeps on me/in the car/pram/sling in the day because she always wakes if I try to put her down. I feel like I need to work on all of that. It's not going to happen when she's in nursery (still five months off) but she won't go to sleep otherwise at the moment.

Right I have four abandoned messages so determined to finish this one!

Van adventures are three weeks heading from Calais down to Venice then up to Vienna (via bled), Prague, Berlin and Amsterdam with overnight stops along the way to break up the driving. It will hopefully be amazing. We are air bnbing it in Berlin and Amsterdam.. We will either have the best time ever or have killed each other living so close together :) I cannot wait and have been doing some planning over the last few evenings. It is the last hoorah before back to work in May!

Julf how is the rash now?

Re sleep training and general routine, real life feels so much closer now we are in January and I know I need to get on it because as much as I love having raffy hanging out all evening and getting trapped under him napping (current situation) I also know he needs to learn to self settle before he gets unleashed on a childminder and once I am back at work with all that brings I will more than likely want my bed back to myself! I am going to collect my old rocking chair from my friend at the weekend so I will have somewhere cosy to sit and feed raffy when I do eventually move him. I do love him being in with us but the past two nights with his snotty teethingness he just can't get comfy and he is desperate to sleep on me but he is just too big these days.

Apple has stayed down and been enjoyed phew so we are carrying on with that and will introduce carrot this weekend. Poo is already starting to be gross though! I am going to do another week or so of fed food before upping the food intake if all carries on being ok and one fed and one baby led meal.

Shower curtain here too and some of the bibs with arms straight away as otherwise lots of ruined clothes!

We had our first proper faceplant this week - forgot to put his arms out when he fell forwards poor kid managed to whack all the snot out of his nose! First of many..

I need to plan my KIT days in. Is anyone else planning them for Feb/March time? Seems so close now :( also my childminders may or may not have a house (they have been given notice and are struggling to find somewhere else) so frantically looking around for other options just in case! Feel almost like I am cheating on them as they have had my DD since she was 3 but don't want to suddenly be left with no childcare!!

Hello,

Sorry totally dropped off this week. Finding life with two little ones pretty hard work! Also started my freelance gig so trying to fit that in and trying to do workouts ahead of my holiday in three months. Must. Stop. Eating!

Re London travel... I would drive. It's really not that bad, you can't go fast enough to get scared! I think it used to be as other cities were quieter, now every town is busy on the roads, it's no different. There are more prats on the motorway in my opinion! You won't be able to take a travel cot with you if you get the train so you may need to ask for help. I've found travel on the train fine but bottled it with the tube and got a cab which was lovely! Is that maybe an option?

Re sleep. Same here with day naps. Needs to be feed or rocked to sleep really, but I try put down straight away. She tends to stir but drops off. She's finally ok to sleep on her own now, thank goodness! Although she's still in bed with me at night as feeding loads!!!

Re partners. Having a baby is a huge adjustment period. Give yourselves a year to get your heads round it as it does settle down. My DH was so much better as DD1 grew older. They're now thick as thieves! My DH is crap with babies by his own admission and it's hard for him when I'm breastfeeding to be fair. Hang on in there and know it's normal for a baby to change the dynamics a bit.

We are well into weaning. G can't get enough of it! We are on lunch and dinner and will start breakfast in a couple of weeks. And it's helped settle her too. I've stopped her reflux meds and noticed little difference. Whoop!

Sorry this has been a v quick update during a night feed. I hope everyone is well! Any New Year's resolutions? I'm boring... meal planning to avoid throwing food away!

Hiya. Still lurking around in the background and trying to keep track of everyone. I need weaning advice. D nearly 6 months old so need to crack on. So far exclusively breast fed so don't own a steriliser/ bottles etc. Do you all sterilize bowls and spoons? Should I just buy a cheap microwave one? How did you start? I've done it all before but it was so long ago. Bit scared of him choking too. Xx

Birchy, I definitely don't sterilise bowls and spoons. Ben is crawling now, I found him trying to eat cat food earlier!! I bet he gets more germs off the floor than his dishes.

Ha ha becks same here. G puts everything in her mouth!!! I don't bother sterilising and after six months it's not recommended for bottles so I wouldn't bother birch. X

Birchy - nice to see that you're still skulking around 😀

Rolly - trip sounds amazing! Keep us posted when you go, so we can keep an eye on whether anyone's killed anyone 💃🏽🔪🤦🏻‍♂️⚰️
I haven't fed J anything other than milk, whilst monitoring his rash. I hadn't thought about bibs with arms - where did you get those?
I can totally understand re your childminder. Don't feel guilty - you have to put your children first.
I haven't actively planned any KIT days yet but I will. I plan to use them to network in different departments, to scout out new jobs (which is totally allowed in my organisation). So my KIT days will basically involve having coffees with friends-and-former-colleagues 😀 I'm looking forward to a new challenge tbh.

Rolly/Lana - Jasper's rash has gotten worse - thank you for asking. I'm taking him back to the Dr tomorrow. It's all over his body - even his 'sensitive' bits. He's seemed happy and unhappy on and off. Mostly seems to be teething pain and tummy ache, judging by his movements/behaviour, but I'll get the rash re-checked again just in case.
I'll go and get myself a shower curtain - good idea - thanks.

Lana - it's a private gym that my mum's a member of - a David Lloyd. I think a quid a month is reasonable enough. Yes I assume council pools etc would be free for a few years - I'll be checking that out in the next couple of weeks.

Anna - how's the freelance gig going?
Glad to hear that Grace is settled with no meds 😊
Thanks for your encouraging words re partners, O Wise Anna. Did your DH find it easier to bond with DD1 once you stopped BF? I think my DH feels a bit like a spare wheel at times.
Btw, can we stop sterilising everything including expressing equipment after 6 months, do you know?

New Year's Resolutions:
Train for a triathlon in July (not started yet).
Do research/networking for next work role (for July) and for future career options (not started yet).
Read/watch more national/international politics (done some).

I'm thinking of starting J on formula (alongside solids). I'll probably carry on doing a bit of BF too - not exactly sure how much of each yet. Can anyone who's been using formula advise me on the basics? i.e. do you use powder rather than pre-made liquid? Do I need to use boiled water (or is that no longer the case after 6 months)? Does it matter what sort of bottle I use? etc. Any particular recommendations/advice? Thank you!

I went out today for three hours, leaving DH and J at home together. Longest time ever! Went well. DH is an absolute trooper when it comes to helping J go to sleep. And also kept him amused in the bouncy chair for a while, while he did odd jobs at home. It was fab - I had some time to myself 😊

rolly van adventures sound amazing. Can I come? 😉 Crikey - seems fair enough to be looking at other childcare options just in case.

anna hooray Grace on the weaning effort. Fab news that she's meds free too.

birchy hi again! No need to sterilise bowls and spoons after six months but I thought bottles should be sterilised if you use them. Not sure about it if they only have water in but yes for milk. anna had different advice though so maybe it's one of those things that nobody can decide on.

julf sorry to hear about J's rash. Hope the gp can shed some light on it. I forgot you said that it was only £1 per month for J. That's not too bad then - I was imagining more! Formula wise I usually use powder but have used cartons when we've been away as it was slightly less faff. If you use powder then you still need boiled water - it's to kill off nasties in the powder as it isn't sterile. I don't know anyone who follows the instructions on the tin (although admittedly most of my mum friends irl bf). I put in a shot of boiling water to dissolve the powder then top up with tap water (used to use cooled boiled water but stopped that a while ago). If J prefers warm milk then you'd just need to adjust the proportions of boiling and cold water. I find 1/3 boiling about right but M will drink her milk any temperature. So glad you enjoyed your you time today and your dh coped well.

Thanks Lana, that's really helpful info re boiling off the nasties in the powder. I've been giving J cooled boiled water in his sippy cup but will switch to ordinary tap water now that he's nearly 6m (How did that happen?!) - will do the same with the formula - good tip, thanks! I plan to give him formula at room temperature, ish.

Thanks for the advice ladies. Poorly boy here. High temp and a nasty cough. Calpol on board but will only settle on me. Night in the lounge with the tv on for me. We've been so lucky with D sleeping so well that I've only had a couple of nights like this. Go away nasty bugs!! Xx

Nah I don't sterilise weaning stuff either birchy but it's recommended for bottles still because of bacteria that can grow on old milk. We're giving mashed veg at lunch and porridge on a morning which is nice to start with because it has a familiar milky taste for babies. The one I've got has milk powder in already so you just add water, might be good for you as you don't need to express anything to mix with it therefore no need to buy a steriliser or breast pump especially.

Anna I'm a bit disappointed that we've been unable to get E off his reflux meds yet. Was Grace on ranitidine? We did a trial cutting down on the HVs suggestion but even removing one of his 3 daily doses bought his symptoms back and had me up most of the night with him. I'd expected weaning to solve the reflux problem so I don't know where we go from here.

Julf Hows the rash? With formula, I tend to use boiling water and powder and cool the bottle in cold water, you can keep a bottle of formula at room temp for 2 hours before you need to discard it so if you can predict when J need it you can have a feed ready to go. I also make a few up in advance and refrigerate which is against most current guidelines but works for us. I've got the mush app and I'm sure it's great if you live in a town but its a bit rubbish if you live in the arse end of nowhere like me. I've only got 6 local mums on it- 1 of them has much older kids, 2 sound like they're not my sort of people and the only person I liked the sound of ignored my message!

I'm also very reassured that I'm not the only one who is rocking to sleep for day time naps. It's not been successful so far with trying to settle him in the cot during the day, but I will start next week afresh and hope he gets it eventually.

Hi everyone! Grrrr mumsnet has locked me out of my old account so I've fallen so far off the thread I could cry! Hope you all had wonderful Christmases :) I hope you can all recognise me with my oh so clever new name ;)

I'm gonna do a big post from me then read and catch up with everyone... I'd love to see where you and your lovely babies are compared to us:

• still ebf, usually 4/5 feeds in the day but bloody constantly feeding at night ahhhhh!
• started weaning, mainly blw but she doesn't actually eat anything? Just sort of chomps and sucks then spits and throws. Is this normal?
• sleep, start off in the cot but always ends up cosleeping with me. She always always wakes up 45 mins to the second after bedtime. Why?!?!?! Have actually just put her cot in her own room tonight to see how she gets on. Will report back tomorrow! She's waking up every 1-2 hours in the night currently (sob)
• getting to sleep, she pretty much will not feed to sleep in the day anymore but reliably falls asleep in the pram or in the sling then can be transferred onto a blanket once asleep. No joy with sleepy but awake grrr
• sitting up totally fine and for a long time now, rolling occasionally, holds arms out when she wants picking up (so cute), almost leaps out of people's arms to get to me when other people are holding her too! (Which I bloody love )

Right off to read through all of your news and will reply accordingly!

anna your poor mil! Is she ok now? Hosting for 16!!!!! You're flipping wonderwoman. Hope your Christmas and new year went well, first milestones after a loss are always the hardest but sounds like you were kept super busy! I hope big sister was suitably excitable about santa and baby grace made it extra special :)

julf I've got an android and only just realise they've developed the new app for it! Will get on it asap so I'm not such a flake. In the early days this thread was pretty much me monologing haha!
How is the shush pat going now? I've tried with Annie but she SCREAMS, I never know whether to persevere or not at that point so I always cave :(
The mush app sounds good, I will get on that too

bluebell your bf journey has been incredible. You are so dedicated, what a lucky baby you have to have such a lovely dedicated mummy! (Totally sucking up to you coz I want first dibs on reading your novel ) seriously though you've done amazingly. Do you think you will do extended bf?

blue and rolly my dp is the same, although he's really starting to come into his own with fatherhood now that he's spent a good amount of time with A over Christmas which is great. TBH I hadn't realised how stressful it was doing everything on my own without a break until he started properly mucking in!

rolly I'm doing my kit days from Fridays up til April starting end of Jan. Is anybody else on maternity allowance? I have a question for you if so

birchy I dont sterilise anything now, if she was bottle fed I might do teets though til 1 year

sunday we do daytime naps anywhere but if not in the pram I have a lamb skin that I put on the floor wherever we are and she naps on that, I'd rather she did that than only sleep in the cot as e.g. Over christmas we didn't need to take a travel cot, just the lambie, and she slept all over the place at various houses really well!

Sounds like you guys are much further on at weaning than us whoops, Annie is one of the oldest! Do purée weaned babies eat more at first then? Because Annie is literally consuming almost nothing.....

Hi primary were doing puréed mainly. Ben will have a good size bowl of porridge with fruit purée in the morning. Then at lunch he'll have a whole pouch, usually some more fruit purée and a biscotti. I shouldn't laugh but he breaks his little heart when his biscuit is all gone.

must have missed a big section - hows r's rash julf :( hope he is a bit perkier soon!

wow becks thats loads! bless him and his biscuit ❤

Ha primary I have four siblings so big numbers don't phase me in the slightest! Yes thank you she is better. We now have a don't ask don't tell set up re SIL. I'm just fed up of her not helping herself and I think she's starting to really take the piss!
I think babies eat more on purée. I admire those who do blw. I find it so slow and as I'm bf I want to get her into solids to take the reliance of me a bit!

sunday don't worry too much. DD1 was on it till about 9 months. I would keep it up but maybe cut down to twice a day initially then work down rather than go cold turkey?

juf I have started freelance work! Trying to fit it in is tricky but going to try get G minded a few hours a week whilst DD1 is in nursery so I can crack through it.
Re bonding I think it was more when she started to do stuff and her personality developed that he got interested. By around 9-12 months it was getting really strong and now they are best buds (she's just 2).
I'm also thinking of doing formula! Was going to start doing a bottle a day at 6 months then start to wean her off the breast. Main reason being is that expresses keeps giving my mastitis in my left boob and i have a few events where I'll need to leave her. I'd have liked to carried on bf at night but hopefully she'll stop that when she's eating more too.
I was told you don't need to sterilise after six months, but maybe ask HV. I think it depends do on your child. G puts everything in her mouth!!!!

With making feeds up you can take a flask of boiling water or do pre made. Not being a bottle feeder I'm a bit clueless on it!!! I tried loads of bottles with DD1. She liked Mam the best but G took a tommee tippee with expressed yesterday. They're all so different!!!

My friend had g yesterday whilst DD1 was at nursery. I did a food shop, did work and blitzed my house top to bottom. I just loved having a day to myself. Was a treat!!!

Hope everyone is well. I'm off to try massage my boob in the shower. Bloody mastitis!!!!

Hello all!

birchy lovely to hear from you

primary - we're similar weaning wise. We've tried Mo with bits of food but he's msinly EBF.

Anna I keep getting lumpy boobs here too Argh!!! Did you say you thought expressing was causing it?! I'm thinking I had a nasty bout and now I'm more prone to get it. Also Mo keeps getting growth spurts so supply goes up then he wants less again... Bloody mastitis!!

cherry yeah I do. I had loads of issues with my left boob when g was little but it's been fine for months. When I was expressing yesterday it really hurt and now I'm in agony with it. Once she hits 6 months I'm going to slowly phase in formula in the day so I can have break. Are you expressing much? Xx