FEB 07 - 6 months down already!

[suzi2]

A new thread for the second half year

Oh good, I'm not the only bfeeder-on-demand left. Everywhere I go babies are on a strict timetable of this-much-food-at-this-o-clock-followed-by-this-many-oz-of-formula-with-optional-nervous-breakdown-i f-baby-has-less-than-one-spoon-of-annabel-karmel's-recommended-pureed-dosage - so I'm glad there are other ad-hoc mums out there randomly distributing rice cakes and nipples and getting smacked in the head at 3am by their insatiable little milk addicts.

Don't Call My Mummy Yummy is now fascinated by animals. He leans over the edge of his high chair so he can see my mum's dog, chased a cat up the stairs at a friend's house whilst shrieking 'A!' 'A!' 'A!' which is DCMMY-speak for 'Be my friend!' and this morning was fixated by a bee in our window box. At this rate he'll grow up to be a Z-list celeb so he can go hang out with his pals (and eat them) in the jungle. And no, I'm not watching it - as a SAHM with not enough cerebral stimulation I am rationing myself to just the one reality show for fear of my frontal lobes shutting down in protest. I think Kate Garraway probably rigged the votes to get herself out and spare her the humiliation of any more of those frilled purple and red outfits.

I'm sort of breast feeding on demand on my days off. We are on about 3/4 feeds a day but none at night unless she wakes. DD has a formula botle at night and now goes through most nights.. not last night hough -felt like poo at work today due to the 2-3am wake up!
I gave our cat a ping pong ball yesterday which she loves but hasn't had for ages and DD thought it was hilarious!

Hello, may I join in? I posted on the Feb 07 antenatal groups but for some reason never really started posting here - just couldn't keep up with the thread! Am now back at work so obviously have lots of time to browse online again

Quick bit of background - DS Kit Thomas, born 27/02/07 (EDD 26/02/07) by emergency C-section (undiagnosed breech). Now a bright and inquisitive 9-month old (or will be next week!) and an absolute poppet. Not crawling yet, but rolling everywhere and sitting well. On 3 bottles a day and 3 lots of solids (LOVES the solids, less keen on milk these days). Current weight 18lb.

Am loving being a mummy and I adore my baby boy. Kit is a very good baby - have not had to get up in the night since he was about 12 weeks old. Gave him a 'dream feed' before we went to bed until we started weaning at just before 6 months, then gradually cut this down until he was only having about 3oz, at which point we dropped it. He has 6 teeth, two at the bottom and four at the top, and (so far) has had no problems with teething at all except for a sore bottom.

I have unfortunately had to go back to work - would have loved to be a SAHM but sadly it wouldn't pay the mortgage - but work part-time, 3 days per week. DH works from home one day a week to look after Kit, and my mum has him on the other two days I'm at work. So far seems to be working out pretty well. Kit seems to be a happy and contented little chap.

Must try to read back a bit and catch up with you all!

Just flying past quickly but wanted to say Hi to currantbun! We had wondered what happened to you, nice to hear things are good.

we had a lovely trip to London today. dd laughed and chatted her way all round the Terracotta army exhibition and even made a boyfriend .

we also managed to squeeze in the 9 month check up first thing, weight gain is still on the 50th centile so hv not too concerned about the lack of milk intake, she just said we could increase the milky puddings to help.

dd had a spectular projectile vomiting episode earlier just as I strapped her in the car seat to go food shopping. dh said "I knew I shouldn't have made her finish the whole bottle" .

Hi currantbun, nice to have. I am working 3 days a week as well although we are using a cm for 2 days and alternating between the grannies for the other day. am very at 6 teeth.

(you back) insert missing words, must learn to preview

Nice to have you back CB, are you still super fit and running?

T seems to have given up wanting to sleep during the day for the last few days, she screams her head off and only sleeps for 30 minutes at a time if she sleeps at all. If I don't put her to bed she cries like she's tired so I can't win! I've got a stinking cold which I'm getting very fed up with and I really hope the DDs don't catch it too. I wonder if T's starting to get it which may be why she's miserable, she's been leaving 2 ozs of milk at each feed so something's not quite right.

On a lighter note, we bought a new car last weekend I haven't got to drive it yet though, DH keeps hogging it! It's a Skoda Octavia estate and is absolutely HUGE inside, we got it for delivering his furniture to customers but it will be useful for holidays etc too.

Has anyone got one of those Hippy chick hip seats? carrying dd around now she's a hefty 19 lbs is starting to make my back ache worse and my arms ache as well. I can't make my mind up whether to get a hip seat or a ring sling which would be more practical as its hands free but not sure how my back would cope with the ring sling. we have a wilkinet which is great but a bit of a faff to put on.

My cousin used a hip seat for her DD and DS and said it was brilliant both times. The only trouble they had with it was that her DH is very thin and it didn't sit well on his bony hips but unless you're about 6" across I shouldn't think that would be a problem!

Hi all,
Welcome back Currentbun
Marmite could you hire a ring sling to try it out. Or you could look at and post on www.slingmeet.co.uk/ ( I'm on there too with the same name! they may be someone in your area that has a ring sling or even a wrap sling - like DCMY had (would it spread DD's weight better?) that you can try.
I went to a sling meet and it was useful to try out the other kinds of slings.., what about an Ergo, That's a bit like a baby bjorn but you can wear it on your back too. The straps are very supportive and the body part more substantial than a baby bjorn and now I think about it your wilkienet.
Also did you take the buggy in to the warriors? I'm going next sunday with my parents. I'm wondering if the sling might be a better option.
Moosma we have a Skoda Fabia I love it ,... Skoda Skoda rah rah rah!

thanks for the sling/hip seat advice, I think I will have to hire a ring sling to decide. I definately won't have any problems with hip size for the hip seat though .

Peachygirl - I took the buggy into the exhibition but abandoned it in a corner when dd wouldn't settle down and it was too busy to properly see everything with the buggy in tow. I forgot to take my sling so had to carry her round in my arms which was quite hard work. So I would recommend taking both the buggy and sling.

Marmite I've just thought, several National Trust properties have hip seats to borrow when you visit the houses You could have a day out.... and have a little test

hi everyone - and welcome back currantbun, lovely to hear from you and about your LO.

More Skoda owners here - we love 'em! We're on our second one as we had to get a Fabia estate to cope with stuff for two LOs.

marmitemad, hope you get a chance to try out slings. I have a ring sling which I just can't get on with but I know others swear by them. DS2 just feels like he's going to fall out of it so I don't end up with any hands free. The ergo on the other hand has been fab for us - DS2 snoozed in it today round the supermarket. It is meant to have a side carry option but I haven't figured it out yet.

As for news of the LO - some brief updates...
slept through for the first time last Thursday night (tho' he starts the day between 5:45 and 6:15, so really I should already be in bed! ); six teeth; pulling up and standing with one hand holding on before the pudgy knees buckle; crawling fast; still bfing first thing in the morning and last at night but others all gone now; eats anything but especially adores pears, melon, fish (not all at once!!). And favourite toys - dustpan and brush (dirtier the better), plug sockets, dustbin pedal, catfood bowl, buggy wheels, shoes or wellies... can't take my eyes off him for a second! Luckily he's so lovely, I wouldn't want to anyway.

Have a good week!

I just had a thought... when DD1 was this age I was about 2 weeks pg with DD2! Sooooo, anybody got any plans for another?

NO more for me. DD is making sure of that. We're having awful sleep troubles here. Still waking every 45-90 mins. But now she won't sleep in her hammock or cot. Feeding or rocking sometimes works, but she refuses to be laid down. Cosleeping was helping, until last night that was, when she decided that sleep crawling and cruising the headboard were a good idea! I've been seeing a cranial osteopath who has said he's never met such a 'wired' child and is having real difficulty getting any of the bones on her head to move! He's also suggested seeing our gp as she has a very large fontanelle and he thinks her level of hyperactivness might be worth checking out. HV has also referred her to the sleep clinic, just waiting to hear about it.

Not sure what to do next. Osteo reckons it's not entirely behavioural and no amount of training will help. Sleep clinic work on a training basis. They will tell us to put her in the cot, sit next to it and wait until she's asleep with no attention. We've tried this for 2-3 hours quite a few times lately and she's just got more and more hysterical!

Not sure what to do with her tonight... all I know is that I need some more sleep or she'll be in a lost property box somewhere!

She's a charmer though... very social, great cruiser and now stands on her own for a good few seconds, and most definately says "bye bye" and (ironically) "Night night".

Sorry to hear your problems Suzi. Obviously worth checking out..but just to add Henry is very similar and so was Harriet....and asking around so are many others. Harriet eventually settled beautifully but not till she was 3 and a half! Bit cautious of the hyper label...quite often just interested babies who haven't read the textbooks Sounds like your littleun is bright and doesn't want to waste time sleeping now realised how to stay awake.

(p.s although I often explained to my daughter that it would be even 'brighter' to let me have a bit of sleep too!!! )

Suzi- you have my sympathy- I cant imagine what it must be like for you. I'm tired enough, thats with a reasonable amount of sleep. Hope you find a solution and dont have to resort to the lost property box

I'd love another child, but DH is adamant that 1 is enough. Hope to convince him in the next couple of years as not too desperate for another one now!

Having said that it would be impossible to have one now as DH is somewhere in the south of France, north of Spain on a bus!!! He's on his way to his ship, which he is catching to South Africa!! We are going to spend sometime with his family - why the ship - who knows what goes on in his head!! Consequently I'm home alone with DS until we fly in about 10days time! I have these grand plans of tidying the house when DS is asleep and sorting stuff out - but its not started well as I find myself in front of the computer - again...

Oh yes DH and I managed a long weekend in Paris with DS - that was interesting. Good, but not sure we'll do it again in a hurry with a small child!!!

Hi everyone,
Sorry your sleeping woes are continuing suzi.
They might not suggest the 'withdrawal' at the sleep clinic I knew someone who went to one and they were given a whole regime to work on tuning into their babies biorhythms. does your DD sleep in the day as this programme was all about naps and eating etc.
I've just taken a delivery of a baby hawk mei tai sling to be used for back carries. I'm quite excited and have already had DD in it and vacuumed the lounge! babyhawk

I was wondering if the London / SE ladies fancied getting to gether agaIn , maybe after christmas? If you could last that long marmite, we could do you a mini sling meet if baby driver bough her ergo I could bring my baby hawk and DCMY has her Karime
Baby driver loves the bin pedal and the cat bowl too. I found a dry cat food pellet today in the play pen where she had obviously snaffled it for a later treat!
we are going to wait a bit to try for amother I'd love more children but we have a big mortgage and my head has to rule my heart so I'm thinking three years gap for us.. this will mean DD would then go into state nursery and I've been told that women will be getting a years paid maternity leave then too.

Sympathies here too Suzi, I can't imagine how you feel, I know I go to pieces without sleep! I hope you get something sorted soon to help her, it sounds awful for you. My brother didn't sleep through reliably until he started school (although he did improve when he started playgroup), apparently he always wanted to play all night. If it's any consolation he turned out very very clever!!

Well Suzi you can be comforted that at 3am tonight you won't be the only Mum in the world singing lullabies through gritted teeth - Don't Call My Mummy Yummy has decided that sleep is for geeks too.

We've been co-sleeping ever since they let him out of the incubator and all was great until he became mobile - very mobile. These days he will only sit still if a harness of some sort is involved and is definitely of the opinion that beds are for crawling up / around / off. The only thing that works is feeding him to sleep which I know is making yet another one of those rods for my back (latest count there's about 30 on there, no wonder I'm getting twinges) but even then sometimes instead of dropping off he just gets energised and wants to play. If he does sleep then I transfer him to the travel cot / playpen so I can go and have my dinner without worrying he's bungee jumping sans rope off the bed, but as soon as he wakes up it's like "Eh? Oh, travel cot = playtime!" and then it all starts again til I give up and go to bed with him. Last night I tried to be stern, pulling him down from climbing the wall and vaulting over the bolsters but he just didn't get it. In the end I just strapped him into the car seat and let him doze off in the living room. This has gone on for 4 nights now and - pause to adjust weight of rods on back - my patience is wearing thin; I've already had to up the doasge of my self-medication to 2x Cadbury's Twirls a day. I don't have a clue what to do as he is absolutely unable to put himself to sleep if he's 'free', my bed is too high to leave him in (and also my landlord's so I can't get rid of it), my room shape won't allow a bed against the wall, I really really really want to continue co-sleeping plus his nursery is now my housemate's room, there's no room (or money) for another cot and I need the travel cot as it's my daytime salvation. What I need is a mattress with built-in harness. And another Twirl...

Peachy I would definitely be up for another London meet, maybe in a park this time? Regent's Park? Hyde Park? Richmond Park? Finsbury Park? As long as there's a cafe with hot chocolate on the menu we're there.

Oh yummy, that sounds all so familiar! I even tried medised but that failed too! I agree about the matress with harness... I toyed with inventing one the other night. Also, I like the idea of an adult sized bed with pull up sides like a cot that you could pull up so you could leg it and leave baby safe once they're fed to sleep. Was thinking of making one with giant roller blinds as sides lol.

Last night she was awake every 90 mins as usual (and doesn't want daddy, ever!) BUT she fed at 5am and rolled over and went to sleep herself! woohoo! shame I didn't sleep as I was holding her leg as she was on her tummy and kept trying to sleep crawl.

Sending the sleep fairies round those that need it.

Oh, and at your babyhawk peachy. I have an ellaroo mei tai as it suits little DD/DS better but the babyhawks are gorgeous!

My new bed