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

[castlesintheair]

Will this do?

thxs for the tips , will try summat sweet and mix it with babyrice . Daytime is hard with him , he coughs more during day, making it difficult for me to settle into his naps ..thankfully warm weather is here , he enjoys his buggy rides and have naps then.

Oli, i'm thinking of doing blw as i am lazy! but he is only 16 weeks so time will tell. it souns kinda fun though. but don't know enough about it.

HV told me that the recommended age for weaning is now 20weeks not 16 weeks - has anyone else heard that and why at 20wks ?!

officially its actually 6 months now...to do with readiness of the gut to digest food.

Lucy5 - if you can't get babyrice a friend told me you can just cook regular rice and puree it (presumably with a bit of breastmilk or formula). When it comes down to it babyrice is just rice that is in powder/flake form - still rice just more convenient for making up! I guess you could do a batch and freeze it. Doing this means you get the benefits of rice (low risk of allergies/gluten free) without the sugar etc. of other baby cereals. Looking on packets baby porridge seems to just be oat flour - don't know if you could get that? I'm thinking about just making regular porridge and pureeing it - I'm not convinced about the need for all these baby specific foods as long as you can get the appropriate texture/consistency

I think weaning is done a little differently in Spain - my Spanish sil was trying to persuade me that I should put some honey on a teat to get dd to drink from a bottle! (as well as telling me to put cereal in a bottle)

The other early foods I tried were carrot then banana (both pureed and thinned with breastmilk). Dd also loves pear, apple, butternut squash, sweet potato.

Oli - I'm thinking of doing blw when the time comes. I always want to give the "alternative" lifestyle a try.

Coco - It must be worrying, especially if you have to wait a month for the cough to clear.

WB - I'm so sorry that you are feeling down, you can say whatever you want on this thread, we're here to support eachother.

Lucy5 - If you want to post pictures, I have posted a step by step guide on how to do it on this thread - on the 27th March @ 10.29am. Go on post them. I love seeing all of these beautiful babies!

Omg, just typed a huge message and my crap computer cut out

AQ, I finally realised pnd was here again and am now and the ad's waiting for them to work Hope you feel better soon xxx

Coco, sorry your l/o is poorly, get well vibes on the way xxx

Eli, yes 3-6m is harder I think, Ds1 wants to stand up all the time until he gets tired then he wants to sit on laps or be walked around. No longer happy to sit in his chair though

Ok off now ds1 is calling xx

WB, so sorry to hear you're feeling the same, in fact you sound much worse than me I think I've caught it in time (previous bouts of depression!). Really, you ought to feel free to come on here and talk about it all we won't get sick of you! 2 hourly feeds sound like a terrible bind for you, is that day & night? Do you get a break at all?

Thanks so much for all the positive messages for me, really appreciated! Can't find the dratted letter from the mental health nurse. But today, went for long walk to drop ds1 to nursery and laid on bed feeding ds2 for several hours & we both napped on and off which was lovely, waking up and he's looking at me lovingly. Although I do know what you mean about giving up bf castles (I certainly felt like a new woman after I gave up with ds1 at 9 weeks) I suspect it would make me feel worse at present as I think ds2 happier with it than formula/bottles - tho he will take them.

Lucy, apparently if you mix other things with potato that's a good substitute for babyrice as it's nice & filling?

Anyone who's on maternity leave, are you thinking about the going back? I was hoping to not go back until ds2 was 8 months but finances have changed so I think I must. I just can't bear to leave him an entire day, and don't see how I can still bf as he feeds so much I couldn't express enough.

Coco, sorry just read through again & missed you the first time. All sounds v.scary and worrying for you [hugs] Phaps leave weaning until you both feel better if he's not keen?

Hi All,

Good to see you back WB!

Sorry to all those suffering with PND. I have been fortunate not to suffer with it up to now, but thinking of going back to work has me in tears instead. Love my job, hate my boss - still let's not go there!

Magnolia, how was Woburn, that's just down the road from me.

Gave up with my gallery as I am paranoid MIL will find me, and they would'nt work in private mode

About the weaning, DS also hated baby rice so I offered a petie filous instead which he loved, later suggested by HV. Not I am making all my own purees and today he had potatoe, parsnip and pea - he loved it - not so keen o carrot and swede, but lies sweet potato. And he is totally into his fruit.

I am going to a NCT Sale on Saturday with PG friends who has asked me along to help her choose what to get - shes not got much and despite me singing MN's praises for idea and advice she has only looked once!

DS spots now all little scabbs. They look better than blisters, but in the bath tonight it felt awful running my hand over his little bumpy body.

that should be 'now I am making'

I'm sure those scabs will all fall off within a few days LFM & he'll be all smooth again! I do hate it when ds2 has so much as a spot, couldn't cope with cp. Slathering him in calendula cream to keep the rashes at bay.

I went to nct sale on saturday, twas great as my boy's growing out of everything so fast & not fitting into all his brother's trousers due to cloth nappy bottom. Got 11 sleepsuits for £4, was so pleased with myself! There were pg ladies bumping each other out of the way for the bargains...Was v.disappointed I missed out on the only bumbo available, they're so expensive new & I so want one!

AQ - have never been to one of these sales, have heard so much good stuff about them though. What would say was a good amout of cash to take?? Dont want to get there and miss out on something as I am short, equally I dont ant to empty my piggy back

Ooh, they're fab! Are you going to a big one or a localish one? Big ones have it all ordered by size/age etc, local ones it's just stalls with parents on so a bit harder to find what you want. With the big one in leeds we were there half an hour early & queues were waaaayy round the block! I've never spent more than £30 but if you're looking for big things like 2nd hand pushchairs/cots/stairgates then take more. I did find that I got confused on sat, I should have decided exactly what I wanted as I wasted time looking at other stuff iywkim! So many people if you're not focussed you'll wander around aimlessly. I'm going to get a stall in November at the local one & sell all our stuff as dp & I fairly definite we don't want more.

accessorize - I am looking to return to work in June/July and I am scared. So much has changed and will be changing. I reckon it is also one of the reasons why I am still b/f as an obstacle in returning to work

Lfm, Woburn was fantastic. The kids were feeding a baby joey still in it's mothers pouch
Can't wait to go back again

What's a Bumbo?

How long have you been away from work, margo? How many days will you be going back? I'm sure you'll be able to catch up after a while, are you excited as well as scared?

Meant to say before, have any of you read 'What Mothers do', it's a fantastic book, very reassuring that we're doing a wonderful thing!

Lucy, bumbo is soft chair so babies can sit upright from 4 months. See here

Thanks AQ, The sales is a big one - I think, in a school hall. Will have to tell friend about going early, although we are dependant on my DH geting home from work or we will be taking my DC's.

Lucy, a Bumbo is a moulded foam sort of chair that loks a bit like a potty and allows LO's to sit up before they can di it them selves see here

Magnolia, we have only been once, despite living just 15 minutes away. DD and I love the avery where you can feed the birds nectar - although costs DH a fortune as DD keeps asking for more. Also love the lemars. We must make an effort to go again.
Although

We have decided we might try Wicksteed Park next week. Anyone else been - any good for 3yr olds??

Lucy, it's a big rubber seat like this . It sort of keeps them upright once they have head control. Apparently it's not good for their spine development to be in it for long periods but I've got one and ds2 likes it for a little while - gives him a different view of the world!

LOL at all the xposts for Lucy! See what you do Lucy, have us all trawling the internet, finding links .

Ooh, better to get there late than take dc's! Having a pushchair gets in the way somewhat...

I think a bumbo would be so useful as ds2 gets frustrated when he can't be in the kitchen with me etc, having him up at my level would make life a lot easier but they're nearly 30 quid & I'm on a budget. Am selling some of my cloth nappies/wraps to pay for one on ebay!

Well I never! unfortunately there would be no point me buying a bumbo as ds is already 8'5 kilosand they only go up to ten. They look sweet though.

Really useful to take one to these park outings too, I've worked out I could fit it underneath my pushchair so he can sit up at the picnic & not be blinded by sun! DP now insisting we take a picnic everywhere we go, I am sooo sick of stale cheese sandwiches I'll have to take it in hand myself but usually feeding my little gorgon.

Thanks, I'm so lazy, i could have googled