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

Primary it's so funny. I thinks it's lovely that for a baby the worst thing in the world is his biscuit being gone. The innocence and lovely ignorance of the horrible things that go on in the world around him.

Big day today. DD is 4!!!! She was so excited yesterday telling everyone who would listen that she was going to be 4. She dropped it on me this morning on the way to preschool that everyone brings in a cake on their birthday!!!! Luckily our local tesco had a chocolate traybake!!! We're off out to an American restaurant tonight with her aunt, uncle and three cousins and my parents are having Ben so we can focus on her. We're all looking forward to it. We're also doing a party on Sunday. Hired the local church hall, a bouncy castle, we're doing a buffet. Loads to organise and my delightful DH decided to bugger off to Barcelona leaving all the organising/running round to me!! He's back today for her birthday.

anna I'm hardly expressing at all - just when trying to clear blinking mastitis and when boobs feel really full. Bit fed up of constant build ups tbh. Not sure what's going on!

MrsR It was really interesting and helpful to me to read about your DH's feelings about parenting, so thank you for taking the time to share them. I like the idea of providing summaries of what we have achieved since the baby was born! My DH is also a bit of an in-the-moment person and is prone to sweeping statements! I think taking a leaf out of your book in terms of responding to RIDICULOUS statements with humour is definitely in order for me. (Twenty minutes of freedom... I ask you!) We used to do date nights on Wednesdays back when I was teaching full-time - it was really helpful, even if all we did was end up watching The Bridge together! I am researching fun things we can do together with Ru in our area - I think a trip on the steam railway is going to be my first mission! I love the sound of your van Euro trip. That is basically my DH's dream.

sunday I'd not heard of pop-up cots - that's a super tip, thank you, and I shall look into them. We were having issues with a 9.30pm feed after him going down at 7pm. However, on the health visitor's advice I have been trying to just cuddle / shush him back to sleep at that time rather than feed him, and for the last four nights it has worked - and he's gone on till 1 or 2am before his next feed - the night before last he went until 5.15am!

julf how is Jasper? Ruben has started squealing / screeching LOADS in the last fortnight, and is now enjoying a bit of a shout to express himself when he's frustrated (usually when he's chucked all his cucumber sticks over the edge of the highchair tray). Hopefully J has just found his voice rather than actually being distressed?
Yeah that's exactly it - the you-wanted-to-be-a-mum thing is bloody annoying because it makes you feel as though you're not allowed to express any negative feelings whatsoever - somewhat unfair when the DHs feel they are allowed to be negative themselves! I have now told him that I find that really frustrating, and he hasn't said it since.
Regarding Europe, we're very up for Germany, Denmark and Norway. Can't afford it all but it will be fun planning and seeing what we end up doing. For trips closer to home, I have a couple of potential babysitters. I haven't wanted to leave Ru with anyone other than Jake for an extended period until now, but I'm feeling a bit more confident about it these days. So yes, I think maybe we need to start planning some little just-the-two-of-us things in.
Oh my GOD, your London advice is just incredible. You should write a leaflet! Or a Mumsnet Guide To Dragging A Baby Around London! I am actually going to screenshot it and store it on my phone forever (in case of baby number 2!). I hadn't even THOUGHT about buying nappies when I get there - how clever! Also, I love your gung-ho approach to escalators. And yes, when I do make it to London I'll let you know - a meet up would be fun!
Yes to neck-down photos for the blog - that's the approach I'm going to go for. Also pictures of Ruben from behind only.
Swimming underwater - it's probably for a maximum of three or four seconds at the moment. We've built up to it at lessons, and we now do a swim where I say 'Ruben, Ready, Go!', take him under the water, bring my arms back and touch the side of the pool, and then bring my arms forward again and scoop him up. The touching the side of the pool is supposed to force you to not whip him out INSTANTLY. We also do a really cool one in the lessons, where the instructor swims him towards me and then we both go underwater at the same time, he gets released and floats towards me, I catch him and bring him up to the surface. It's very sweet watching his little face bubbling towards me through the water!
Will check out Super Simple Songs. Thank you muchly for the hot tip.

Becks I love the shower curtain idea! Ta! Also lol-ed at the cat food.

Cheery Ooo I will download Mumderground - thank you! I think I'm going to have to dump the travel cot plan - either I will get a pop-up or I will just have to co-sleep for a couple of nights. My friend lives right next to the DLR anyway so I'll be constantly waking up regardless :)

lana I didn't know you could hire cots! How clever! Another bit of knowledge up my sleeve, thank you.

MrsR bad news about your childminders. Fingers crossed for you (and them!) that they find somewhere pronto. I am so not looking forward to the proper poo!

Anna my level of driving cowardice is legendary; I really don't think I could cope in London with a baby on board! (I once had to take a diesel BMW as a courtesy car when my little petrol VW Lupo was in for servicing - I stalled it about six billion times on the way to school, then couldn't park it because I was too scared of hitting something, dumped it in the drop off zone - hangable offence - and burst into the staffroom in floods of tears, throwing the keys at the deputy head and demanding that she park it for me.)
DH is definitely enjoying R more as he gets older. He said tonight that he thinks he's finally got his head round the fact that we've got a baby - six months in!!!
Well done on the house blitz. I could do with one of those. My house is permanently teetering on the edge of cess pit. However, I have got a lot better at whizzing round in my spare moments now that I'm less exhausted, so we don't actually tumble into cess pit so often these days!
Hope the mastitis improves :( I send you booby sympathies.

julf a triathlon?! You legend. Love it. My NYR are many and varied but here are my top few: 1. Finish the book. 2. Finish the various sewing projects I have kicking around. 3. Draw. 4. Be more organised. Note that organisation comes further down the list than the fun stuff. Therein lies my problem.

primary haha, I'm always getting locked out of stuff due to my increasingly complicated passwords! Haha thanks for the sucking up - you can read the novel, no probs ;) My plan with bf was ideally to get to 12 months. If we can go beyond that I would be extra-thrilled.

Regarding weaning, Ruben is consuming next to nothing too. I started him on two meals a day on Christmas Eve when he was two weeks shy of six months. Up until today he has pretty much just sucked or destroyed the vegetables I've given him, with the exception of celery which he did manage to gnaw at a bit (DH said it looked like a slug had had a go at it when he'd finished - the skin was just sort of a bit broken and mushed). I made my own hummus the other day (as there is salt in shop-bought stuff) and dipped cucumber sticks in it for him - he liked sucking it off the sticks. Then today I gave him a banana in sticks and freaked out because he was breaking it into very chokeable sized chunks... So I took it off him and mashed it, and dumped the mash on his tray. He stuck his fingers in it and licked them a bit, but not an awful lot went down. THEN this evening I baked potato wedges - just chunks of potato, no oil - and cut one in half to give to him. He freaking loved it. He used the baked skin as a tool to hold onto while he sucked off the soft potatoey insides. He ate at least half a wedge, and then also stuffed a big bit of skin in his mouth and swallowed it - that made him retch but it did go down. So, in conclusion, I think they just need lots of practice time and then they will start to get the hang of it.

becks awwh I hope DD has a lovely party!

Cheery effing boobs, eh? Mine have stopped bleeding for now. Ru is currently only feeding once overnight, so I'm making sure that I feed him on my good side and express on my bad side at that time, because I'm certain it's his crappy sleepy latch that's buggering me up. I am scrutinising my left nipple for signs of damage after every feed and so far it looks good. I will look like a madwoman checking for damage next time I feed in public but I am beyond caring!

I've been back on the freelance editing work this week and last. Really, really enjoying it, although it's annoying that it takes away my writing time. But the pennies earned are so helpful. My laptop keeps crashing though which is a bit distressing. It's a MacBook from 2009 - ancient in terms of computers, really. There's no way I can justify the expense of a MacBook now, so I think I'm going to have to plunge back into the world of Windows laptops. Sigh. But I really fancy having a go at some design work on Adobe Illustrator so I figure if I save money on a laptop maybe I can treat myself to a year's subscription of Adobe Creative Cloud... Hmmmmmmmmmmm.... What else am I working for, right?! (Oh yeah, supporting my husband and child...!!!!!!)

Ha ha yes Primary I think a lot of us have been very eager, weaning before 6m! Yes, it's very normal that if you feed solids rather than purées they mostly just lick/suck/chew at first, and very little actually goes in! They continue to get the vast majority of their nutrients from their milk. But it's good for developing their coordination.
Glad to hear that your DP is mucking in more now. Mine too, and I feel so much more relaxed as a result!
I like the sound of Annie's lambie - wish I had one 😀
Re sleeping, we want to move J out of our room some time soon, but I don't see much point in trying until he's sleeping a bit more independently - otherwise he'll just be miserable/crying every time he wakes up alone, and I'll just be leaping up and down every time he wakes and cries. Our sleep training is making reasonable progress (actually the last couple of nights haven't been great, but we'll keep persevering), and he seems to be getting used to sleeping in his own bed more often - although he definitely prefers ours! We'll keep at it, so hopefully we'll be able to move him into the next room in the next few weeks. We've got quite a bit of clearing out and sorting/rearranging of furniture/stuff to do before then though, so it's a bit like racing snails!
🐌 🐌
Damn you, sucking up to Bluebell - I totally wanted first dibs on reading her book! Bluebs you're looking very beautiful today 😀
Out of interest, what do you consider to be extended BF? Over a year? (Incidentally, did anyone see that programme a few years ago about a mum who was still BFing her tennish-year-old son through the playground railings during his school lunch-breaks? 😁)

Aww Becks that's so sweet about the biscotti!
And happy birthday to DD! I love bouncy castles - can I come? 😀

Anna that's really lovely re your DH and DD1.
So sorry to hear about your mastitis. Hope it gets better soon.
Re stopping BF and switching to formula, over how long a period will you gradually reduce? I don't want to do it so quickly and end up with sore boobies! Should we reduce by (say) one daily feed per week? I have no idea!
My goodness, I'm amazed at how productive you were while G was at your friend's! You did all that?! My mum came on Monday and took J out for a few hours so I could tidy my cupboards - but I promptly fell asleep! (It was nice though...)

Bluebs - Ha ha, great idea re the London leaflet! Actually, your asking the question prompted me to copy&send my advice to a few other new-mummy friends - so thank you for asking!
YES I KNOW, the nappy idea wasn't mine, but when my mum suggested it I was totally blown away by a) what a genius that lady was and b) what an idiot I was since it hadn't occurred to me even though it seems so damn obvious in retrospect! 😂
Gosh, 3-4 seconds underwater - how brave! (both of you.) We're going swimming again tomorrow so I'll try for longer than one second - maybe even two! Seeing Ru bubbling towards you underwater sounds adorable!
Let me know Ru's reaction to Super Simple Songs. I'd be interested to know if it's only Jasper (and my DH 😀) who's totally obsessed!
Ha ha, totally LOLed at your BMW story. That's exactly the kind of thing that I would do! Sympathies!
Oh god, I can't even remember what one of my 3 new year's resolutions was now. Clearly not going so well...
Ooh, potato wedges - great idea! Are you mostly giving him solids rather than purées?
Jasper's rash is worse. When I took him to the doc the second time (as instructed by first doc, because it had got worse), he likewise said it was viral. Apparently common viruses often trigger a rash in babies. So I wasn't too worried. But last night and today it's got worse again - J has been frantically scratching the back of his head/neck, and the skin on his cheek is slightly broken. Poor little mite. On the whole though, he seems cheerful, and it doesn't seem to have affected his feeding/sleeping. So I'll just keep monitoring...

Ruby - how're you doing?

Our flat is being partially repainted, and (unrelatedly) the lift has broken and isn't being fixed until Friday. Living in fumes and with 6 flights of stairs to carry the pushchair up/down every time I go out isn't much fun, so I've escaped to my folks'. Nice to put my feet up for a couple of days 😊

My late-night hunger pangs have really ramped up again recently. Might need to go a-foraging - not sure I'll make it through to morning...

Wow Julf I think I would have run away as well! 6 flights of stairs with a buggy is quite an ask! I also think it is sensible to get people in to paint. It always causes stress in this house as DIY is done by DH in our house I helpfully supply beer and decide on how it should look then try to keep out the way. Our walls are crap so we have to paper and straight lines are not my forte. After I helped last time and I thought we were lining it up in a while different direction it has been decided my contributions to the house are not in decorating it. Poor J and his rash, the phrase its viral can be so infuriating but hopefully it will begin to clear up asap. Good he isn't too poorly with it. Is J teething?

My plan is too start routing next week (even though quite a big part of me can't be bothered yet) but I think R will absolutely sleep better if he wasn't sat up/snoozing on us in the evenings! But it has given him and DH amazing bonding time which they wouldn't have had and I actually think I am really going to miss him he is hilarious in the evenings happy,chatty and generally lovely to be around.

Becks hope your DD had a lovely party on Sunday and enjoyed her meal. I bet she was so excited to go out with you and felt very grown up! Ha I am with you with the last minute. I wish I could tell you it gets better but now the forgotten seems to be oh I may possibly be supposed to be wearing (insert item spotty sock/lime green tshirt) for various charity event as we walk out the door late

Anna, Cheery and Blue I hope your boob problems clear up asap, horrible horrible horrible!

Primary I have the same all the time with passwords so annoying!!

All is seemingly well in parenting R this week as struggling a bit with DD and school she is 10 and in year 5 and not as grown up or interested in being grown up as most of the girls in her class it is starting to cause a few issues (such as dd not being bothered when she is getting changed from pe and probably daydreaming standing around half dressed and other girls commenting on it being disgusting that she is taking so long to get changed) she totally doesn't get why they think its weird though as she told me we all have bodies we have chatted about hormones and body changes she is just totally in no rush to grow up and I can see gulfs opening up between her and some of her buddies which is a shame. it is so tricky I wouldn't go through being a pre teen/teenage again for all the money in the world.

It is so rainy and miserable here today we are hiding out inside but have swimming later :) which I can't wait for it is a new pool and class though so excited to try it out!

Have been trying to have a good read. Glad there were some nice first Xmas memories made

primary how are your burns?? I keep thinking of you but just haven't made it on to ask how you are. What happened with the hot water bottle? I'm so paranoid with them (even before my burn!) so I probably shouldn't ask 🙈
how were the first nights in her own room??

Happy birthday becks DD! Have a lovely party at the weekend - you're brave!! Ben sounds like he's loving his food and my goodness he looks gorge! Such a happy chappy

Sorry to hear about the mastitis cheery it's so horrid. Can't believe you keep getting it too. Such sympathies!

anna I've been weaning off the boobies. Slowing adding one bottle at a time as the weeks have gone past. I would have liked to carry on but I selfishly want some more of my life back. It's been working really well with a mixture but I think my supply is finally slowing down now . Sorry to hear you also have mastitis- hope the warm shower does the trick.

birchy I only sterilise bottles for formula. And water I offer is no longer cooled-boiled (we do have a posh filter tap so I don't feel so bad?!)

julf how is the rash?
Re bibs we have some of DD2s bibs i kept with long sleeves - they are wipable too. Saved so many of her pretty outfits over the years. Ours were from JoJo but sure you can get cheaper ones.
Re bottles I've always got on well with Mam and found they work well alongside BF. I add the scoops to boiling water then top up with water from my filter tap (figured this was the same process as the Tommee Tippie prep machine) the pre made stuff is super convenient but more pricey. I keep water in a flask for travels as I'm cheap i do keep an emergency individual pre-made one in our changing bag for emergencies .
You've had such a journey with DH and J - and I'm sure you aren't alone. My DH tells me even now how much he doesn't like babies but once they reach 18 months he comes into his own and makes up for being an arse.

Can't remember who mentioned gym memberships but I am a member of my council gym (they even offer cheaper memberships if you are on a lower income/tax credits or similar - if anyone else is in a similar situation) and all children under 3 are free for swimming. The crèche is an hourly cost but isn't very much.

bluebs I have been thinking of your bleeding boobies lots- you're such a queen / trooper. I can't believe you've kept with it despite all your challenges- what a woman! I liked the idea of feeding for a year but now I've reached 6 months I felt like I'd done my bit. Still offer the odd feed here and there.

I feel so out the loop but just adding our situation with sleeping. Finally got George back in his own bed, and he's only waking once between 6.30pm and 7am. This is life changing as even over Christmas he was waking 4 times. I think weaning was the game changer (we do home made purées and BLW) and we also focused on comforting him in his own bed (e.g. Rubbing his tummy and shushing etc) and now he seems to have mastered self soothing pretty well.
He even had some of the other children's lasagne at dinner tonight- where's my baby gone?!?

Aww my baby is so uncomfortable, writhing around scratching his rash. I feel so powerless to help and it breaks my heart 😔

Thanks for the tips, Cookies 🍪

Rolly, year 5 seems a bit early for them to be acting like that. I'm sure in year 5 we were still just children, and didn't get into the pre-teen mindset (including the bitchiness) until a couple of years later. I can't say I enjoyed being a young teen. Your poor daughter.
How was the swimming and the new pool? We did our second swim trip today. Bluebs I did your trick of clapping the wall behind me while J was underwater. We all survived. J seemed pretty chilled out the whole time - 45 minutes.

Well we've survived the school run in the snow. Really don't like snow, it's far too stressful when need to go out.
Still got a poorly boy here. Dr thinks it's viral but ended up with paramedics and an a&e visit few nights ago as I was so worried about him. Only phoned 111 for advise as could get temp down and they sent the ambulance so not a completely neurotic mother. D perked up when got to hospital obviously. Dr and nurses said don't worry bout a high temp if still alert/ok in themselves. He wasn't at home - whimpering, cold hands, mottled skin. Such a worry.
Need more advice - now we have 2 lovely front teeth they are being used to cause me pain while feeding!!!!. He very quickly gets prized off and hoped this would put him off but no luck so far. Any suggestions? It's so painful and feeding has always been great. Mite be formula and a cup if continues!! Don't know how you ladies ( bluebell esp) have persevered with painful feeding. Xx

Oh yeah thanks for weaning advise. Been put on hold this week due to illness but need to kick in properly as 6 months on Monday and Hubble feels I'm holding him back. Eeck where has 6 months gone too. Xx

Thanks for the weaning advice guys! I think I'm going to do mainly blw then if in a week or so there's still no progress I might do a bit of spoon mashed food for one of the meals. When is everyone planning on moving to 3 meals a day? I'm still just doing one after the morning nap.

anna I so hear you on the trying to get a bit of independence back. I love breastfeeding but the bottle refusing causes me so much stress when thinking about going back to work :(

becks awww I love how proud kids are of being the next age! It lasts until about 21 haha, I actually forgot how old I was the other day, I used to know down to the fraction of the year when I was a kid

bluebell ooo I might start doing that at swimming now, Annie loves swimming and giggles when she goes underwater but it is for only a split second dunk!
I think I will breastfeed til at least next September when I'm back at work full time, I'll have to see how weaning goes and how she copes with me part time, I'm like you though happy to continue without a set plan for now. You've gone through so much to get this far you may as well carry on if you're happy!!
I am off to the shop for potatoes later to try the wedges

julf surely not!! 10!! He must have been properly bullied!! Poor kid.
I'm not sure what I'd consider extended because none of my friends breastfed and barely any of my friends have kids anyway. I have found the smiles and approval from strangers and family is starting to wain now Annie is 6 months, almost as if it's starting to be frowned upon now and she's too old. Gives me the rage
Omg 6 flights of stairs and no lift!!! I literally couldn't manage that, I'd sit at the bottom crying til dp came home probably haha

rolly I teach year 5, there is such a big spread of maturity it does seem to be the age that problems present. Your poor dd :( have you spoke to the teacher? The girls need reminding that they are 10 and still children! I had one kid last year who asked me if I'd seen the latest episode of game of thrones and pretty little liars I was and subsequently had words with parents..

cookies my burn has nearly gone, just a dark patch of skin on my back now which thankfully is fading. Honestly it just split down the side at the seam, no pressure on it or anything. I have a microwaveable thing now instead that dp bought me for xmas. How are your burns?
Bedtimes are up and down, she's made it til 1.30am in her own cot one night but others she's been in bed with me at 10pm :/ I'm just trying to go with it at the moment! I'm so jealous of George!
How much food are you giving?

birchy no advice here as we have no teeth yet but good lord it's my recurring nightmare! There's some advice on Kellymom about teething/biting and breastfeeding if I remember from my nightly scouring of the website in the early newborn days. Might help?

Well I seem to have mastered naps without feeding to sleep although they're either in the pushchair or in the sling then trains ferried to cot, I tried julfs method but she wakes up 10 minutes later seriously pissed off - gahhh!

School run in the snow Birchy I am in no way envious you poor things, where I live even the tiniest amount of snow brings the world to a standstill and everything would have been closed ;)
There is no rush for weaning and I would think much more sensible to wait until he is better and likely to be more receptive! Hope he gets better soon, bless you with the ambo its scary isn't it but for the best with really high temps I think! We had a similar situation when DD was 7 or 8 months rang for advice and ended up rushed in. There are so many horrible horrible viral bugs around this year. We have had two teeth for a while and touch wood no problems. But I think we are on the verge of the top two arriving and possibly the two either side of the bottom two and I am a bit terrified! R has been teething steadily for a few weeks now and I still can't figure out which ones will be next ha

Cookies amazing on the sleeping and weaning! Gives me hope we are still up minimum feeding 2 usually 3 times during the night and thats with him coming to bed and his last feed being at around 10.30/11
I have a stash of homemade purees as well but his favourite is the lidl pouch of apple I brought when I forgot to take bits with me. Always the way :)

julf/Primary thanks re DD she is a trooper and she will be fine. I am leaving the teacher input until later, going to catch up with some of DD friends mums later and gather some opinions. There teacher seems great but he is just (literally) NQT passed and there are some veryyyy strong willed girls in that class and I am wondering if the girl drama is getting out of hand this year without the monitoring I know it had last year with some of the girls. All good fun, just horrible feeling helpless and knowing she has to figure out some of it for herself.

Sorry about J rash still being bad Julf can you give him antihistamines or will they not have any effect? swimming was ok but I didn't like it as much as my old class but I want to keep going with R and this pool is 30 minutes closer than the other one so now i am on non enhanced maternity a much more sensible option! My van is not petrol efficient!
Long armed bibs I got some in Boots Nuby ones around a fiver but also came with a dribble bib. I then saw some in asda (which hadn't been there when I looked before) which were only a few pounds. I am going to pick up a few more as from memory once eating is more developed then three bibs a day is not an unthinkable thing! I am trying to find an effective drying place.

Primary, ignore the looks I am going to try and feed until R is a year. I only did 6 months with DD but I think going back to work a bit later means (fingers crossed he should be alot more dependant on his food than if I had to go back to work now which was the case with DD) We are doing two meals most days now and I am planning from Feb time to start upping it a bit more if R is coping ok. I think there is no harm in getting the concept of three meals even if he isn't getting three meals worth of food if that makes sense!

Oh my goodness you have to look up a song on YouTube called apples and bananas by Super Simple Songs. I love it. The video is brilliant 😀

Hope everyone had a nice weekend!

Rolly - thanks, yes we used prescribed antihistamine over the weekend, but now any time I come near J with the medicine he clamps his jaws together and turns his head away with a little pout, it's hilarious! I'm struggling to force it in his mouth. Luckily the rash is nearly gone, although he's still very itchy.
Thanks for tip re nuby bibs.

Birchy - how's the poorly boy now? That all sounds very stressful and upsetting for you.
Re teeth, at 6 months I'm currently working out how to switch to formula anyway. I like bf but I think there are pros and cons of both bf and formula. A couple of bitey teeth would certainly swing the balance for me.

Primary - glad your burn is so much better.
And great that you've mastered sleep without feeding. My sleep training method can take anywhere between 2 minutes and half an hour, depending on J's mood, and often involves repeat attempts if he wakes. One evening I had to do two half-hour efforts back-to-back, because he got woken up by a noise. It's quite exhausting but hopefully worthwhile - I'm hoping that once he's got the hang of going to sleep lying down, it'll make it easier for him to sleep through the night without frequent boobage - and then we'll be able to move him out of our room. Unfortunately we had to give up the sleep training while J was covered in his itchy rash, and it feels like we're totally starting from scratch (forgive the pun!) today 😬
That's sad that you feel as if people around you no longer approve of your bf in public. I would ignore it and do whatever you want, although I know it's harder if you feel you're getting Looks. For me, part of my desire to switch to formula is because I'm bored of Jasper flashing me in public when he gets distracted by people/things around us. Also I'm SO bored of my very limited wardrobe!
I'm going to resume solids now that J's rash is dying down. Not sure why I stopped really, rather than just sticking with the foods that he's already tried successfully. Just too much to think about I guess!

rolly i hope it gets sorted soon, girla in particular can get very out of hand with friendship group dilemmas :(

julf/birchy hope babies are on the mend now? my friends little boy who is 6 months too has chronic constipation since weaning has commenced - as in he is actually doing solid poos, poor little mite

julf hows the formula transition going? are you still intending to feed at nights? i hear you on the publix exposure! annie did it to me in costa the other day and bloody squirted the table, i was mortified

so she seems to have picked up on weaning a bit more now im doing a mix of spoon and finger foods.. tip (although im sure youve all probs thought of this already) any puree or porridge ive made ive frozen in ice cube trays then transferred to a freezer bag so i can take out a cube at a time / pop a cube in a little pot for going out for the day. Means food doesnt get wasted and its as convenient as pouches

Julf glad J's rash is much better and hopefully he'll pick up the sleep training quickly. Ben's poorly again (I blame DD and the germs from pre-school!!) it goes to his chest and he's so snotty. This has resulted in poor sleep over the last few nights and its in turn woken DD.

Primary that's a real shame about you getting 'looks' when feeding. I really don't get people. It's just a baby being fed (the way nature intended!!) I hope you continue on until you want to stop. Buggar anyone else.

Ben's crawling has now advanced pulling up standing and walking along furniture (falling over a lot!!) he can also crawl along get into a sitting position to play with something then crawl off again. I spend a lot of time retrieving him from the back door in the kitchen where he looks into the garden wistfully!!

Weaning is going well 2 good meals a day, occasionally 3meals and then 4 bottles. Will introduce 3rd meal properly soon and then drop to 3 bottles. Starting to introduce texture too. Not really done finger foods yet must do that too.

Will read&reply later but just wanted to share this pic of Jasper asleep.
Foreground: his bed.
Behind: our bed...

ha ha ha Julf! It happens here too apparently our bed is fine for sleeping on his however! Although last night he slept from 11 until 4.30 (in his own bed) I am thinking it of a half a year present! Best night sleep we have had to date by a long way.

Becks, poor Ben they do love to share the germs. My dd is excellent at sharing and avoiding them herself. Standing and cruising Ben is a machine :) our house is totally not ready for a moving Raffy so I hoping its a way off!

We are doing two meals a day most days here now, still drinking the same amount of milk I think although obviously bf so not 100% on quantities. Although I think R is still adjusting to solids as his pooing is more strained than normal!

Primary your KIT days are coming up aren't they? Who is having Annie?

Hello everyone, I've really fallen off the thread. I've been so busy and have had two friends have had bad news about their mind health so been trying to help with those!

So I didn't have mastitis ... I left it and pain got so awful I was almost throwing up. Turned out to be thrush and was all in graces mouth too! We are both on meds for it and slowly getting better.

julf how's formula going? I have some to g with some baby rice today. An hour later she projectile vomited for an hour I'm not sure if it was formula or a bug but I praying it was the latter. I really want to get her on to a bottle.

We are doing two meals a day. G loves it and is even grabbing the spoon and shoving in her mouth at times! Piglet!!! She loves finger foods too especially cucumber. I'm also having great success with water in a soppy cup!

Clever Ben becks! Crawling is a pain for us but good for them! G is starting to rock Back and forward on all fours so not far away here!

I'm really on one re weight loss. Got a holiday in just over ten weeks and really want to lose weight. I've been doing the 16:8 where you can only eat in an 8 hour window. I'm sticking to around 1700 cals in that time and so far after ten days I've lost five pounds!!! I'd love to lose another 20 but think that's ambitious! So aiming for a stone off. I really like it as I keep myself really busy in the morning then eat at 12 have a small snack around 4 then dinner at 7. Just thought I'd share with you!!!

Can't believe my little lady will be 6 months in less than two weeks. It's flown by!!! X

Mum's not mind health

Hi all. E's having a nap (still napping on me however) so I'm taking the opportunity to catch up. He's sleeping on my texting arm though so apologies for any typos! We are giving 3 meals a day here now, mainly mashed up veg with meat and pasta or rice added and I've braved a few finger foods. Still having ALL his milk feeds as well though! Otherwise all is well :)

Hope everyone with boob issues is feeling better, Anna bluebell cheery ? Ooh just seen your update about the thrush Anna I hope it clears up quickly with the meds, poor Grace too.

Julf I'm pleased to hear you've had some success with the sleep training, it gives me hope. Persistence is the key I guess! I think where I'm going wrong with it is that I'm giving in too soon and going back to letting him nap on me. Truth be told, I love cuddling him to sleep and I'm not ready to give that up yet! However I need to make it easier for when I return to work so I'm trying to let go even if it's just for the morning nap to begin with.

Becks that's amazing progress from Ben, can't believe he's cruising! E shows no sign of rolling but loves standing himself up when he's sat on my lap and can stand holding onto furniture. No going back now! I really need to start making my house more baby safe.

Anna I'm still with you on the weight loss front. Despite my earlier success at losing most of my baby weight I now have my Xmas weight to lose and currently have a stone to get off. I'm aiming to lose it by April. I hope the 8 hour window works for you, I think I'd struggle without breakfast tho! My plan is to walk more, have a healthier lunch (less cheese and bread!) and cut down on alcohol as my consumption has crept up.

Apologies for not including everyone in my post but it's taken me a few days to finish drafting a reply! Also had some difficulty logging on to mumsnet. Off to stock up on supplies at the aldi baby event today, mainly nappies and wipes. Need some more fruit and yogurt too seeing as E keeps eating it all!

Rolly I don't think my house is ready for his moving!!! He keeps falling over and bumping his head. He needs a helmet.

Ooh Anna it won't be long before G is on the move. Ben loves shoving the spoon in his mouth. Sometimes I just give him a spoon to chomp on.

Sunday Anna on the weight front I've joined a proper slimming world group. One of my friends has become a consultant after losing 5 stone!! My target is to lose 4.5 stone. I'm Hoping for at least 2 stone by the time I go back to work at the end of May (so my uniform still fits!!!) only on day 2 here!! I lost 7lb before Xmas then put 3 back on. This time DH is going to support me more and eat the same evening meals as me so I'm not having to cook 2 different meals every night.

Primary - J still has his rash, plus also a cough and yucky nose. Had the rash for nearly 4 weeks now, and it's really hard to get the antihistamine in him because he clamps his jaw and pouts every time he sees the syringe, so I'm going back to the doc tomorrow.
Ha ha, I haven't squirted milk in public since the early days!

Primary & Anna - Haven't started the formula yet - just haven't quite got round to it but am planning to buy some today.

Anna - sorry to hear about your friends' mums' health. You are everyone's rock, aren't you!
And so sorry about the thrush. Actually one of my RL friends (who I think I've mentioned here before - rocky relationship with her partner - anyway her little girl is about 3 weeks now) has just developed thrush too. She was saying (and I think someone might have said it on here once, too) that she doesn't understand how the human race has survived this long, given how hard it all is. I hope your thrush clears up soon.

Anna & Sunday & Becks - Good luck with your weight loss - cheering you both on.

Sunday - Cheese and bread - mmm...!
Are you still persevering with the sleep training? Yes it's tough - sometimes takes half an hour, but on the other hand this morning I had a 4-minute delight. I know what you mean about enjoying the cuddling to sleep though 😊
Our flat is so un-baby-safe too - nails sticking out of the wooden floors etc 😬

Becks - sorry Ben's poorly too. There's so much going round. Is he any better now?
Super impressed with his agility! Ha, I love the idea of a toddling helmet!

All well here. No particular news, but here's a general update:

Jasper seems to be doing really well on the whole, aside from his current cough/cold/rash. I had him weighed last week, and he's around the 25th percentile, which is lower than previously (he was last weighed in August!) but the HV didn't seem too concerned, given that he's had a couple of bugs lately.

He loves being out and about, meeting new people, and travelling on trains. He absolutely loves music - I get a gorgeous big smile every morning when I start singing in the shower (he sits in the bouncy chair). And most tears can be stopped with a loud rendition of Five Little Monkeys or suchlike. We've recently started doing Sing & Sign classes (Makaton / British Sign Language) which we're both really enjoying. The only other class we're doing at the mo is a buggy work-out in the park, which is obvs for me rather than him (and conveniently timed with his morning nap). I've taken him swimming a few times, which he loves. And other than that, we do lots of walking, coffees/lunches with other mummies & babies, and the occasional trip to baby cinema or baby concerts (again, more for me!)

Those impossibly tough first few weeks seem like a distant memory, and I'm really enjoying parenthood and maternity leave.

Jasper smiles and half-smiles quite a lot, but is fairly sparing with his giggles. His daddy gets more giggles than anyone, which I'm very happy about (and only slightly jealous of!), given the difficult start. They've been (on the whole) bonding amazingly in the last few weeks and having lots of fun together.

I'm simultaneously really looking forward to, and dreading, Jasper crawling and walking. He's exhausting enough when he's stationary! At the moment he loves walking whilst gripping onto someone's fingers, but has shown absolutely no ability to crawl - he actually ends up going backwards! 😂 And gets really frustrated...

He's getting better at sleeping in his crib rather than our bed - I'm trying to do at least one of his three daytime naps in his crib rather than the push chair. The supervised crying method (staying right next to him and shush-patting him until he's asleep - cf the Sleep Whisperer) seems to be working well, and I'm comfortable with doing it. At night-time he always ends up spending at least part of the night in our bed (for milky snuggles) and we're keen to teach him to sleep independently so that we can move him to the next room. We're getting a bit frustrated with our set-up (one-bed flat - makes evenings a bit tricky as we can't go into the bedroom or bathroom without risking waking J up) but we're keen to stay for as long as we can, because we love our local area and can't really justify upsizing (unless we move away) until we absolutely have to.

The plus-side of J having learnt to sleep indoors (without needing to be fed to sleep) is that I'm no longer having to spend most of my day out and about with the pushchair! I'm actually getting some reading done, which is nice, and will hopefully also be able to find time to apply for jobs in the Spring. I'm actually starting to look forward to working again, dependent on finding a role that interests me - I won't be returning to the role I had before mat leave. I will miss him terribly though - weekends are very different to our time just us together. Hoping to do a four-day week, at least to start off with.