********** December 2006 PART 2 **************

[castlesintheair]

Will this do?

AQ, your LOs are just gorgeous!

Thanks for the tips on constipation - dd had pear and prune puree for tea yesterday afternoon and has filled her nappy twice this morning!!! (didn't have prune juice but soaked some prunes in boiling water than pureed with the water - put 1 tsp in with the pear and will freeze the rest in case it is needed again!)

BP, what about mine? What about mine?

Mine!

Mine!

Mine!

(There's more in my gallery too)

Oli, they are beautiful! DS2 looks much bigger than my DD2 - is he a big boy? My DD2 wears exactly the same worried expression whenever her big sister is around, too!

They're all lovely!

i love looking at all the pictures - all gorgeous!

I'm feeling much better today. perhaps it has something to do with dd1 going back to preschool? I've managed to do lots of housework - very boring but a tidy house makes me feel more organised and therefore happy.

DD2 still waking up 1-2 times each night. I bought some baby rice at the weekend so I'm going to start that in a couple of weeks.

Lovely piccies Oli & AQ.

AQ, it does sound like PND (or depression?) to me. I've never taken ADs so no experience there. I hope you get some good advice from the MH nurse. Don't wish to be controversial but you do sound quite like me and I found that when I stopped bf'ing DD1 things got decidedly rosier for me. I'm not telling you to stop, I'm just saying that when you do, you might notice a difference 'cos I did. I'm ok this time round but I do believe that going from 1 to 2 is the hardest thing. I take the following: Vit B Complex, Magnesium, Spatone. I am also fortunate to have 3 local friends who've all had babies at the same time plus I know LOADS of mothers and really make an effort to get out and see them. It took me a while to establish a network but now I have some lovely friends who I can ring. We are all quite honest with each other too, the ones that make everything out to be fan-bloody-tastic all the effing time, just aren't part of our club!!! Sorry to bang on everyone else but email me if you want to chat more castlesintheair at hotmail dot co dot uk. Hang in there, it is a terrible feeling but it will get better, I can promise you that.

I've just bought a Bumbo for DD2 - it's fab and can really recommend it for anyone whose LO is desperate to sit/stand/or generally get moving like mine.

Eli, re your unsettled LO, I have just ordered a sleepcurve mattress (to prevent flat-head getting worse) but they are also recommended to help with breathing difficulties as they position head/neck correctly thus opening airwaves. Plus it means LO is on a slight tilt. Let me know if you want the website, it might help.

Sorry for long post

HI all

Sorry to vanish for so long, the PC blew up and I also staarted getting bad PND and just couldnt cope with hearing about other peoples babies that actually seemed to do the normal baby thing.

Hannah is now 3 months and is 17lbs we are just changing into the 6-9 mth clothes and she is still feeding during the day every 2 hours, it is doing my head in tbh as I don't get any freedom and have ended up having the occasional Cig if I can outside cause I just feel so stressed.

Paed and HV both say to wait till 6mths to start weaning.

ANyway sorry I am all depressing, dont really like myself all that much at the minute, just seem to say/do the wrong thing all the time

Oli wow - they look cute, must be hard work but worthwhile having 3 that young! I just have no idea what is the ideal age gap to have my 2nd (kinda hoping I don't have to make a decision and have an accident )
AQ, yours look lovely together, maybe that is the ideal gap although having two at home is never easy.
I have been lent a bumbo, I think it will be fab for when I am preparing dinner in the kitchen so he can see what I am doing.
Great milestone today - although he has been able to roll over for 3 weeks today he did it with his great big re-useable nappy on! 3 times! I thought re-useables held back this kind of development so am now very happy (or so my sis says who's 7month old is not really rolling over, think he just didn't want to)
WHo else has started using suntan lotion? I read somewhere not to use it until 6 months but it is too hot to keep him covered up all the time. I will try though, as well as the cream. I shall ask the HV today as I want to see them about DS's excema (ie I think it is but haven't seen the HV since he was 8weeks).

WB, sorry you are suffering too. Are you getting any help from your HV/GP? I know how you feel as I went through this with DD1 and as I said to AQ, it will get better. Email me if you want to chat or meet in Richmond castlesintheair at hotmail dot co dot uk.
Re. weaning, loads of people have started at 4 months. Why don't you give it a try as your LO sound's very hungry? I listened to everything my GP/HV said with my 1st but now I just listen to myself, or failing that MN!

WB, good to see you back again, you can post whatever you want here, we're all here to support each other where we can.
Assume you are bf'ing? Well done for getting to 3 months, my NCT leaflet says your baby is 5 times less likely to get diarrhoea now and a reduced risk for the whole year! (I have to keep readng it to remind myself why I am bf'ing when dh keeps offering to give formula at 10.30pm to see if ds will sleep longer - please don't take offence for those whose boobs are ornamental )
Mind you my sheet also says lower risk of eczema...

Good to see you, WB...and huge well done for all the feeding you've done, every two hours with a big baby is hard hard work. Personally, if you're feeling rough, I would try adding a bottle of formula at this stage - I started one per day with dd2 at 3 months, because I was having to express four times a day as it was and knew I'd reached my endurance limit. She's nearly five months now, and has only just gone up to two per day - but its helped me cope. I think weighing up the whole picture is so important, and HVs tend to stick to stats and guidelines rather than look at individual needs....at least, IME. Even good ones.

Castles, thanks so much - would love that website. Will try anything! Have been putting LO in her carrycot in her cot, with huge pillow under mattress: if I put her on tilted mattress alone, she rolls into bars. But there is no way she can sleep without an incline, never has been - especially with a cold.

Does anyone know if babies can have allergies this early?? DH has bad hayfever, and my eyes are stinging...just wonder if dd is suffering from that rather than another cold...

And as I'm being a tad controversial...tried a spoonful of babyrice with dd at weekend (hoping it would help reflux, which seems to be creeping back in) but she stuck her tongue out and wasn't interested. Unlike dd1 who guzzled it straight down at this stage.

So I'm backing off - she's not ready. Government guidelines are interesting, but not made for individuals. Baby-guidelines are sacrosanct

Sorry, yet another post (after days of silence)

Just noticing how many of us are either depressed or exhausted, and remembering how 3-6 month period was the hardest with dd1. Sleep deprivation has accumulated now, babies are getting heavier (my back says), teething, etc.

Am holding on to memory of things getting a lot better after six-seven months. Or maybe thats because I stopped BFing at six months?? Hmm, Castles, I think you have something there...though I also remember feeling utterly crap for two weeks after as the hormones adjusted...

Eli, this is the site sleepcurve I had to ring them as couldn't order on-line for some reason but it's worth is as they are really helpful.

Eli, DD2 is also sneezing a bit. I wondered if it's hayfever. Could just be lots of pollen about.

Hi, Eli & WB, good to see you back.

WB, sorry the PND is rearing its ugly head for you too, keep posting, especially now you know you are not alone with it. And remember, 'normal' is all relative, ds2 also feeds every 2 hours or so, so I can empathise with you, and is an appalling sleeper. It is hard not to compare him to other babies on here, but I am trying very hard to remind myself that he is just himself, not a stepford baby. He's also incredibly clingy to me, which I find so, so frustrating as ds1 and dd have never been like it. I keep trying to find reasons for it but it's just his personality I think.

Eli, you've made me think, is anyone else, who hasn't started weaning yet, going down the BLW route? I just don't think I'm going to have time to do all the pureeing malarky, and from what I've read on here it sunds like a lot less hassle.

Eli, you're so right. 3 - 6 months was really hard for me both previous times. I remember seriously contemplating leaving dh several times when ds1 was that sort of age. I also think, on top of the reasons you say, that babies are all 'take, take, take' at that age and once they start sitting and interacting more they're not so draining on you. Not sure about the bf, only lasted 4 weeks before, but I do wonder whether it gets better once they're more established on solids and you're not so completely tied to them.

WB, have you tried expressing? I express at 10pm and dh does the feed when ds2 next wakes. I can just get enough for a feed as long as I've had a couple of hours from his bedtime feed. The expressing is a bit of a faff but it makes a difference to how I feel if I can have 4 hours without a small baby hanging off my nipples!

Hello all, sorry I haven't been around, school hols. whata nightmare both kids sick, dh down with man flu and I have cricked my neck. What a healthy lot we are

All the photos are lovely must look how to doit.

Aq It's positive that you have spotted the the signs, good luck with the gp.

Eli, I am thinking about weaning ds too a she is such a big bruiser and his sleep is all over the place.

I took him to the Paed and he is 8.5 kgs and 68cms. Thats 1.5 kgs heavier than the average spanish baby and 6cms longer. I think in Uk he would be average.

I'm not sure what to do about weaning, darent ask on the weaning boards as it always turns into a cat fight! I weaned dd at 4 months which was the recommended age then, to be honest at 18 weeks she probably didn't need it but I think ds might. My next quandry is how to do it. The Spanish Dr recommends cereal in the bottle which I know is poopooed [sp] in UK. I used baby rice in UK but hat doesn't exsist here, all the cereals hae a high sugar and/or salt level. I could probably get dh to get me baby rice in Gibraltar but it seems a bit of a faff as dh is not great about remebering things. Anyway will try and catch up on all the posts now.

oops he is a big bruiser!

hi everyone ..

My ds (19wks) is recovering from Bronchiolitis ...happened over easter whilst staying at mums, he had a cold & high temp to start wiv , then got worse by coughing, wheezing and his heartbeat rapidly fast ..really worried us so took him to a&e ..where a very nice assuring doc told us he has bronchiolitis - viral infection that attacks the small breathing tubes and becomes blocked . Wheezing lasted a coupld days thankfully , very frightening to see in a poor sweet baby , he wldnt settle down at nights cus of the coughing wld wake him up ..god it was sooo tiring and stressful . Had to make sure he was taking in little fluids frequently , it was hard work as he was interested for couple days and me getting worried that he might become dehyrated. Now hes recovering well , and gradually sleeping better from 11pm - 6.45am waking up 4 2 feeds in night. Coughing is still persistant , and sometimes he struggles to cough - his face goes raspberry , I feel for him , i know its the muscus from lungs hes trying to cough out , its so hard watching him ..and doc says cough can take up to a month to clear from bronchiolitis !! a month ! Doc prescribed him infant gavicson as sometimes he throws up after feeds but that doesnt really help ! I attempted to wean him on babyrice , but he just cried which makes it wonder whether its worth weaning him when hes got a cough ? ....sorry ive gone on - just needed to get it out and tell someone ...

lucy5 i weaned dd1 at about 5 months. not sure if she needed it but she loved food then and still does. i am also thinking about it with dd2. she is 4 1/2 months now.

if you cant find baby rice what about something like petit filous? can you get that? or really milky weetabix or banana mixed with milk?

Hi Lucy, long time no see! Glad you've survived the holidays, I didn't realise until last week exactly how much I need ds1 to go to preschool!

Your ds sounds gorgeous, like my ds1. He was a long, heavy baby and now, at 3.3, looks like a 5 year old. Doesn't behave like one though, unfortunately .

Ds2 is the smallest out of the 3 of them, he hovers between the 25th and 50th centiles, whereas dd was steadily on the 75th and ds1 was on the 98th . Mind you, ds2 is still quite tall, so he'll be a real beanpole when he's older if he keeps going that way!

What about just pureed fruit or veg for him, rather than baby rice? Both of mine hated it so I started them on sweet potato and pear and just used the odd bit of rice to thicken.

Cocobabe, that sounds so scary, ds2 had it mildly at 5 weeks and it was so horrible. I can't believe how many of the babies on here have had it, there must be a particularly nasty RSV going around, I don't remember anyone's baby getting it when ds1 was tiny and he's a Dec baby too.

x post. cocobabe - sounds tough, hope you're all getting through it now