Jan '07: Finally, we can reach to cut our toenails, see to groom our ladygardens, and have norks the size of norway. Shame we're too tired to give a damn!

[2Happy]

Hmmm, hope it's not too long a title!

wilkie you need to resize the pic do you have software if not google picasa its free photo editing software you can load. Glad J more settled fingers crossed it continues.

UD I'm sure that dream will mean something

actually ifran view is the program I use to resize

Have already resized it - it's only 94kb. Very annoying!!

mmmnn maybe a tech fault with the site??????

EAH that swing looks excellent. i'm sure freddie would love one of those, he loves any kind of swinging,rocking,bouncing. We only live in quite a small flat though (thats lonodon for you!) and the place is already getting cluttered wth freddie's stuff... don't know where we'd put another chair!

Had a pretty good night although F is still waking up quite often, even when he doesn't want feeding, which is really annoying. He went to sleep at 10:30 woke at 4 for a feed and then slept 4;30 til 7:30, which sounds fine, but he also woke up at 12 and 3 and 6:30! He does settle back down really quickly after having his dummy and a cuddle for just a couple of minutes, but obviously i'd prefer it if he wasn't waking up at these extra times at all! Any ideas to stop him doing this???

Got the most gorgeous sleepsuit in the post this morning that I ordered from bobandblossom.com - have you guys seen there clothes? They're a little pricey but FAB. I got a navy blue suit with 'Little Man' printed on the front. SOOOO cute

stupid question alert!

What do you do with your LO when you have to go the supermarke on your own with them?

I got to the supermarket yesterday and ended up putting him in his car seat in the trolley. I was only going for a few bits as I normally shop online, which was just as well as couldn't really fit much else in the trolley.

Th other option was to put the car seat on the pram base and carry a basket.

Or is there a better way?

Trixy we shop at morrisons and they have certain trolleys where you can put your car seat in a special carrier, there usually arent very many so we have to hunt for them but it is far easier than putting car seat in he trolley.

Had to take ds to our local hospital today as he has had this sickness and diorreah for 5 days now, they were crap just said he has a viral infection and to stop his food for 24 hrs to try and clear up the diorreah, not exactly like he was eating loads anyway.

Lauren went to bed at 9 oclock and woke up at 2.30 for a feed then went back till 6 so not to bad however ds dident wake up till 8 with him being ill so a lay in would have been nice.

Hi all - tried to read back on what's been happening this week but it blew my mind!

On the supermarket thing - there should be tolleys where you can put the car seat on a special rack on the trolley, so you don't have to take the baby out. They have a fairly rubbish strap you can use to help secure the car seat.

Got back from Granny & Grandpa's house yesterday - been bliss to have all the meals cooked, not have to worry about cleaning or washing and have Dad bring me a cup of tea every morning. I have had to endure endless baby advice from my Mum - I did have to keep reminding her that I have done this before - saying that it's a small price to pay and it has to be said that she's very good at settling a screaming baby!!

Burst into tears when I got home though - dh has hurt his ankle and has not been able to do any jobs in the house so I came home to a full washing basket, baby clothes still in soak from Mon morning, and a pile of dirty dishes - I think it was the same clean stuff from the dishwasher load I ran before I left on Mon am. Was fairly depressed but ran round like a lunatic and had to keep reminding myself that dh is very good domestically - glad I did - ankle much worse than I was expecting and have dropped him off at A&E to get it checked out.

Still failing to get dd to take a bottle - Granny tried and had no joy. Then cheered me up by saying that I would not take a bottle and went on to a cup at 6 months. Thanks Mum - I WANT HER TO TAKE A BOTTLE - it would be nice to be able to have an evening out to help keep me sane!!

sounds like you had a good week galmum hope your dh ankle better soon

Hattie loves her swing we even got some big smiles so must be good (still yet to catch one on camera!)

Picked dh up from his mums at lunchtime today and ellie been following him round like a lost puppy so shes been in the shed fixing things with him at least its given me a chance to sit down for a bit. Last night was fine with both of them on my own but kept waking up as really bad weather here, but ellie didnt get up till just gone 6 and hattie was about 10 minutes later but had 2 good chunks of sleep from 10 till 3 and 3.15 till 6ish so not complaining to much.

Just going to start baths etc and get them to bed so we can have a chinese in peace and tomorrow we have one of my closest friends little girls christening to go to.

Trixy I'd use a sling. I hate keeping baby in the carseat and ours stays in the car anyway. It really is a thing of mine though as I won't even take newborns on long car journeys because of possible spinal damage and oxgyen desaturation (happens after about 30-40 mins) until they can sit unaided, done this with all our kids too. Ethan has been in his sling in the supermarket and loved it, far easier too as you have free hands for dealing with other children too.

Aren't car seats better designed nowadays though Jodie??

Ds4's has an insert so that he's pretty much lying flat and so that he's sort of cocooned in it at the sides. The manufacturers handbook says to leave it in as long as possible or until they can sit unaided.

when we took Zac home from the hospital i was so so scared he was going to suffocate - it was totally dark so i couldn't see if he was breathing, plus he was so tiny we had to sort of wedge him in with his snowsuit! i kept thinking how would i know if he went blue or started to suffocate? since then i've been a lot more chilled - i take him for walks in the park a lot and tend to just park him in the hall if he's asleep when we get back as that way i can get on and do houseworky bits while he's still asleep!

we went to london today to visit dh's godfather - was much easier than i expected. i had him in the front sling - dh insisted on taking the papoose sling in a bag as well, in case i got tired (the front sling won't fit round dh's belly - he's yet to lose his pregnancy weight!) but we didn't use it. the only nasty bit was when we went up to Camden from Euston as the Tube was packed because the Charing Cross branch was shut due to engineering works. Zac had slept from 11-2 in the sling and must have been starving bless him! it was really hot and i couldn't undo his snow suit or anything, and then when we got to Camden i really struggled to find somewhere clean to feed him (even the McDonalds was a no-go!) in the end we went into the Wetherspoons by the Lock and i fed him in there. he then slept from 6-8 and he's just had a bath and been put back in his bed, where he's lying looking at me and playing with his nose (he does this a lot). so i think we may be in for a busy night!!

Aaaagggghhhhh - DH and I have just rowed about sterilising cos neither of us knows what we are doing. Plan was to try some expressed milk on Ellen tonight but then we couldn;t get the teats in the bottle without touching them which i though defeated the idea of sterilising so I wouldn;t let us use them, then we left milk out of the fridge so we can't use it anyway. To top it off I've got another crack on the nipple that was cracked the other week so am currently sitting with boob out slathered in lasinoh letting the air get to it so every time I waslk about milk drips out - nice and messy but pads are sticking to it which hurt to get off. And although I got away with no stitches at birth the graze I had hasn't healed and it stings, got to go back to gp if not healed in 2 weeks. Feeling crappy about things at the mo.

Lizz - how do you know if you've got mastitis apart from it hurting ?My cracked boob stings and aches after feeding, if I rub it softly it eases it a bit. I have resorted to my cooking choc tonight and secretly in the kitchen too so DH wouldn't see and want any!

sorry to go on

UD - feeding in wetherspoons - I am v impressed!

seems like there's lots of people having lots of crappy times - that's the best thing about mn, you're never alone!
vino - boob and fanjo probs, poor you
trixy - with ds1 i solemnly trekked all the way to supermarket, couldn't figure out how to fit shopping in trolley when it was full of car seat, trekked home and sobbed about being a hopeless mum. then i phoned a friend who has 2 kids, who kindly explained that (usually by the doors of the shop) there should at all supermarkets be specific car seat carrying trolleys - they have a kind of shelf with a strap. unfortubately unless you're 6ft tall you then can't see past the car seat to steer, and baby is at perfect height for bored grannies to peer in and gave a nose/dispense unasked for advice!
wilkie - how are things going today? re the picture - i emailedthe pic to myself to resize it then posted it and that seemed to work
ud - sounds like you had a good day out, hope it tired zac out and he slept better for you
lizzz - so sorry you have boob trouble again, is it the same side?
dh - know how you feel, ds1 has coped well with the arrival of ds2, but he's obviously stressed, his eczema is worse, and he is throwing tantrums all over the place and keeps hitting/kicking me and won't give me cuddles/kisses aby more

vinrouge do you have little tongs with your steriliser thats how i pull the teat around the ring, what bottles are you using as some of a bit of a knack.

2happy ellie started too develop eczema when hattie was born got very bad, infected etc been todrs 4 times in weeks and its finally starting to clear so sympathise with you.

ud/wilkie how are the lo's?

Hattie hates her car seat so unless we are going in the car shes never in it, although i alwys use to take ellie out of it even if she was sleeping as she never looked that comfortable

have a bit of a knack

morning all!!
2Happy - i so know what you mean about the bored grannies...yesterday in the Wetherspoons a lady came over to our table as we were leaving (obviously wanting to take the table, which was fair enough) and really cooed over Zac while i was putting him in the sling. i don't really mind it - he is exceptionally cute and i like showing him off! - but DH gets very protective and i have to admit this lady was a tad OTT saying, "Oh, just leave him here, I'll steal him!" i mean, in today's climate, who jokes about stealing a child???

last night wasn't too bad - i've started to leave a night light on so i don't have to put my lamp (which is quite bright) on - it also means Zac doesn't wake up in the dark.

Vino - I just wash my hands thoroughly with antibacterial soap before i touch teats etc. rinse them thoroughly but don't dry them as the towel won't be sterile!!

2Happy - do you think you could give some advice here ?

Very impressed with your outing UD! What carrier do you use?? I'm desperate for Freddie to be comfortable in one so i don't have to take the pram everywhere, but i've tried 2 different ones now and he hated them both

Vinorouge - Agree with UD, just wash your hands thoroughly before touching teats - that's what I do. Think you can get a bit anal about 'sterilising' everything. Few germs don't do them any harm IMO - helps them build up resistance surely?

UD - we always leave the nightlight on all night - so much easier to see when I go in to him and stops him getting disorientated when he wakes up alone (he's in his own room).

Well, we have some progress - Aptamil has definately calmed his digestive system down. He doesn't cry out as if in pain now but is still quite a whingey baby - I think he gets bored very easily. Have also stopped dressing him in trousers as the elasticated waist bands seem to irritate his tum if it is a bit windy, have bought a few pairs of dungarees and a few of those short sleeve all in ones without feet. I have to say he looks good enough to eat and seems to be so much more comfortable.

Shimmer - i use a Tomy front sling, not sure of the brand as we got it for £3.50 at a car boot!! we also use a papoose sling from Mothercare (there's a picture of that one on my profile) although DH uses that one more than i do cause i find it tires out my shoulder if all Zac's (not inconsiderable) weight is on one shoulder!! there's also these which i'm told are really good, but i haven't used one personally!!

Hi everyone, sounds as though we are all doing really well, what with bfing in public and supermarket shopping.

Those special trolleys mean the car seat is tipped right back so the baby is almost lying flat anyway. Lauren hates her car seat though too - its a Mamas and Papas one and seems really upright in the car. Luckily we don't travel far.

Re the teats - I also just wash my hands before putting them together - it's fine. Wilkie's right - you can get too stressed out over sterilisation. In a few months you will be scooping dropped dummies off the floor and giving them a quick rinse before popping them back in...(No? That's just me then....) But then my baby does have two germy older brothers cooing over her every second so she is no doubt used to a few germs...

Glad to hear the aptamil is making things better Wilkie - I am defintely going to use that this time rather than SMA Gold. I am also very anti-waistband - LO hasn't been out of a babygro get despite her huge wardrobe of dresses and tights - tights! in newborn size! - that have been bought for her. Really, if you could choose, for comfort it would be the babygro every time wouldn't it?

It is pouring with rain here - have left DH in charge downstairs while I have come up to offie to do emails and finally make up the thankyou cards, 5 weeks later!

Love and luck to you all tonight!

Well haven't got around to doing cards yet, just realised I can click on your names to read your profiles (doh!)so am doing that instead.

UD - someone else who likes Spaced! Do you know if there was a second series?

Wilkie - agree with you about Gordon Ramsay.

Off to read about everyone else now...