February 2019 babies - thread 2

[Celebelly]

New thread, ladies!

@maxiflump1 Your poor back!!

Impressive @maxiflump! DD2 was 15 weeks today and 15.3 on Monday. Loving the podge!

@lookingforadvice123 thanks lovely - I needed to do something as I could see the warning signs from last time (undiagnosed but in hindsight...) feeling a little spaced but calmer but that may just be my mindset now I’ve made the first step. I’ve also been referred for ‘talking therapy’.

And anxiety is the worst. It’s just like a perpetual state of fear and worry. Hideous. Hope you’re ok too x

Well done to those of you who have reached out for help. It's a difficult step but important. I'm finding it harder this time I think (or I've forgotten last time). DS is a more difficult baby in that he's less happy, but when he is happy he's really happy. I don't know if he's just less happy than DD was or that the lack of time I have now has a big impact. Literally nothing gets done here because I've either got two children to entertain or a baby on me all the time.

Jealous of all the chubby babies! DS is 11.5lbs at 14 weeks.

@maxiflump1 - Emma was 18lbs at hers x

I had my son weighed on Monday.. he’s 16lb 1oz at 11 weeks. He’s not chubby really though, just long and solid 😂

I started on paroxetine a couple of weeks ago, I’ve had PND twice before so I was half expecting it. Feeling loads better for them 👌🏼

@maxiflump1 aww what a lovely bigboy 😍 my little girl was born same day and we have just hit 10lbs. Shes piled on weight too since getting her tounge snipped the other week and sorting new reflux meds.

So hard to reply on this app. So un sure who mentioned talking therapy. But I have also been offered that &trauma counselling. Just need to take plunge and book it.

My anixity is loads better though now. I feel alot more relaxed. I took baby church sunday to speak vicar about booking christening. Quite happily let her be passed around for cuddles even where I couldnt see her as she was behind me. Huge improvement as other week wouldnt even let family hold her when I was sat next to them.

I am feeling so much happier unsure what the switch was. But terrorfied of falling down that spiral again. So think therapy will be good.

Think sleep deprevation played big part. So really on edge 2 weeks into leap 4 that it will return.

Anyone else hit the 4 month sleep regression?

Urgh we have hit the sleep regression. He was sleeping through 9-6 but he's been waking once every night for a bottle at about 3 since Monday and tonight he's woken at 1 and now again at 4.30..... hoping it doesn't last too long 😴😴

@Notquiteagandt glad you are feeling better and that your little one has gained weight so well. She sounds like she's doing fab. Would be hilarious to see our birthday babes together: I don't think anyone would believe they were born on the same day!!

@maxiflump1 wow! Erin was 13lbs at 14 weeks and I thought that was bad!

What “stuff” do people have at home for their babies now? She’s 15 weeks now. She has her mat and some soft toys and a rattle toy. I bought some soft blocks but she’s still too small for them.

She HATES the chair I have for her (don’t know whether to try another one?) but don’t know if she needs like a seat to try (also hates sitting on the sofa). Just not sure what enrichment she needs to help her get strong and smart!

@maxiflump1 killer isnt it. Baby M is waking almost hourly. Just glad still BF so at least she can get in bed with me and help her self 🤣

@powkin toys wise we have bells, chimes, shakers, maraccas etc she loves to shake. Lots of lamaze toys with differant textures and mirrors on. A poppy top thing you press top on and it spins around. Floor mat with all differant textures on.

Her fave things to play with though are ribbons, scarfs, a metallic crunchy safety blanket she rolls into and her bubble lamp.

On her pram she has a few dangley toys she loves playing with. Some sensory balls that jingle, crunch, squeak. An ocotopus she can feel the tenticles on and runs her fingers through. And a few multi sensory toys.

Her comforter and a fisher price seahorse are fab for comforting her whilst im in shower.

This type of toy are popular

The World of Eric Carle , the Very Hungry Caterpillar Developmental Caterpillar,by Rainbow Designs www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001721U04/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_Bzp6Cb67TC560?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

Manhattan Toy Bababall Sensory Sphere and Rattle www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001QT7QW4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_-Dp6Cb7BT2WJV?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

She also loves her water mat

YMToyz Inflatable Water Play Mat, Baby Water Mat Tummy Time for Infants & Toddlers Fun Activity Center Sensory Kids Toys www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07QZR217W/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_7Ap6CbZTX5A84?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

I try to minimise plastic and anything with a noise or electric. But those are the toys she seems to gravitate towards at playgroups so we shall see.

But to be honnest her favourite thing over any toy is books. She loves looking at the pictures. We have loads of the b&w pattern ones that she sometimes will just lie stairing at. (Although shes doing that less older shes getting 16wks now)

She seems quite contented with the toys shes had a few months though tbh shes just playing with them in differant ways now. She plays indipendantly alot more too.

Still sleeping well here... slightly longer to settle but still doing it. God I hope it’s not as bad as last time!

Chair wise - some babies like bouncers, others not. Tbh I wouldn’t sweat it - they’re useful for such a short period of time anyway.

Toy wise - not much I’d say. A mat. A basket of toys that DD had - a mixture of rattles / bells / soft toys. Anything easily grippable, rattle, material - if supervised. They’re still so little and sleeping so much I wouldn’t worry too much about it. The whole world is a sensory experience at this point!

My in laws (MIL and SIL) arrive in 3 weeks (not staying with us) and we still haven’t sold our house. Agh. Sure it’s all contributing to how I’m feeling. Started running again though which is helpful.

@Notquiteagandt your baby sounds a lot more advanced than my dd! She’s just 15 weeks but was a few weeks early so not sure if that’s part of it. She can’t really grip very consistently yet. She seems to like textures and touch based things over noise though. I get worried that my depression means I’m not as ‘fun’ as I need to be or that I’m not trying hard enough to stimulate her or get the right things for her. I feel like I’m trying hard but maybe I’m not doing the right things to help her develop.

@powkin of course you are fun. At this age they just want to hear your voice. I talk to my daughter alot. I probally sound daft to anyone else listening. But its the thing that entertains her the most.

The fact you are stressing over it shows you are doing a fantastic job. Alot better than you give yourself credit for as it shows you care.

All babies need at this age is love, milk and a clean nappy. Anything else is a bonus.

I find my daughters quite weak and she was quite late to smile. All babies do things at their own pace. She does however have a fantastic grip and has since birth. She famously pinched the midwifes hand during an internal when I was in labour. No baby is the same so they arent comparible. So I wouldnt worry about where they are at etc.

If she loves textures the "thats not my...." books are really touchy feely and lovely.

My daughter is 14 weeks and has only just started to hold things. But she doesn't try and put them in her mouth, generally just drops them again. She has a play gym which she really likes as the toys are hanging there for her to play with. Have just got a jumparoo which I think she will really like but she's still a bit small - can't quite reach the toys! I don't have many other toys tbh, I do have a Lamaze duck which was from TK Maxx which she really likes. I need to get more things which she can hold!

I also have a baby bjorn bouncer chair which is amazing. She likes to watch what's going on and the toy bar keeps her occupied.

Not had great sleep this week 😔 having to put her dummy in about once an hour. And giving her a bottle at 4 rather than 5/6. Not sure if it's her cold or leap 4? Either way I hope it doesn't last, I'm exhausted!

I'm very lucky that - so far - DS2 rivals DS1 in the sleep stakes, he sleeps 8pm - 6:30ish, quick bottle then back to sleep for another 2-3 hours. He has zero interest in dummies so I think I'll give up trying!

Toys wise I agree they don't need much! DS2 has 2 play mats with dangly things which he loves to hit/grab, and a couple of toys eg Lamaze. He's happiest either on the play mats or just lying on his changing mat with someone talking to him! He loves interaction mainly and is the smiliest baby I've seen! He's less for being held all the time than DS1 was although he loves to be carried around facing out, or over your shoulder, so he can see. He hates the inward facing baby carrier for this reason!

Are we in leap 4? Emma's been really fussy the last few days. Sleeps during the day are much much less and she's crying a lot more than she did. Also, I've had a few night feeds when she's been out of these for a month.

She's only 16 weeks so I thought it would be too early but who knows! X

@Yakadee Max is exactly the same. Sleeping through for weeks now and i was up feeding him at 0130 and 0430 last night so definitely something going on! He was 16 weeks yesterday.

I've been looking at getting a myhummy bear. Does anyone have any experience with these? Are they worth all that money?

We have a MyHummy. We use it every night on the 12-hour white noise setting. Could probably get the same effect with a cheaper white noise machine tbh, but I got won over by the cute bear and figured maybe DD will like it when she's older. You can get white noise apps for your phone that are free though.

@maxiflump1 - lets hope it is and get it over with ha x

We had Ollie the owl which I liked and it worked really well for us. Only downside was that the battery life is terrible. We have ended up buying a plug in white noise machine for about 20 quid off amazon which we leave going all night instead.

V jealous of those who have babies who sleep through 😱

Hi Ladies I haven't been on for a while hope you are all doing well! I have also been struggling with anxiety, seem to have been burying my head in the sand but I think next week I am going to go and see the doctor. Does medication really help? How does it make you feel? I think this would probably be my only option, I can rationalise why I am feeling and how I should stop it but I physically can't deal with how I feel if that makes sense?

All this not helped by the fact baby A has dropped down the centiles and I've now been told I need to formula top up, I think tbh that is what is peaking my anxiety as it wasn't too bad after she was first born but it's been about 5/6 weeks nor since the initial drop and when her weight has started to become an issue. She's 12 weeks and 10lb so still quite dinky but she is a embers happy and content baby and she sleeps 7/8 hours overnight which surely she wouldn't do if she was hungry?

@powkin we have a playmat and a little box of toys I have slowly been building - got lots of bargains at a Mum market sale near me a couple of weeks ago! She loves laying on the mat and can push herself up with her legs, she's just discovered her hands and likes looking at toys and when I play with the toys for her to see but she can't hold them herself yet, she also has a chair and bats the toys on that now.

We also have a jumperoo and a mamas and papas snug chair for once her head is a bit steadier. My other kids loved the jumperoo!

@sickmumma. I’m sorry that you are struggling. No personal experience but going to the GP is absolutely the right thing. My DD weighed in at 11lbs at 14 weeks. Her previous weight was 9lbs at around 8 weeks. HV didn’t seem concerned that she had only gained 2lbs in around 6 weeks as she is a happy and content baby. This is her weight and she is formula fed. So I wouldn’t worry too much about your little ones weight as sounds pretty similar to my baby A and she seems absolutely fine. I find that some healthcare professionals are too quick to recommend formula top up (this happened to me as I was EBF in the early days). I found mixed feeding difficult as baby A got more and more used to formula and then became really fussy on the breast. Had to make the decision after 3-4 weeks to drop BF! Some people get on absolutely fine with mixed feeding but it just didn’t work for us. I’m still annoyed that I was pushed into formula top ups so early in the process of establishing BF x

@bubblybrit that sounds like what happened with my elder daughter, at around this time too she didn't gain and we started to top up and then breastfeeding all went horribly wrong and I think that's why i am getting so worked up about it!

She was on the 25th centile and in 10 days dropped to the 9th centile, health visitor initially said not to worry and to just carry on but get her weighed again in two weeks, I then saw the doctor between for her 8 week check who said I should formula top up. I then took her to be weighed 2 weeks later and she had followed the 9th centile line so told to come back in another 2 weeks and then gone back this week and she's dropped under the centile again now so the health visitor said to start top ups but didn't really explain how to do it and just told me to go to the breastfeeding clinic.

My friend is trained as a breastfeeding support so I've been asking her some advice this time round and so she's given me some tips, I've come to the conclusion I would like to do perhaps one, maybe two feeds of formula a day and the rest breast so the last two days shes had a bottle of formula whilst out and about and she's had 5oz so I think perhaps she needed it! When I express I only manage about 2oz but I'm not sure if me stressing about it slows things down?