October 2005 - and then they were 2!

[stinkymalinki]

My darling boy's birthday today

We gave him a Fisher Price Little People garage as his main present, which he loves, as well as loads of Bob the Builder trucks and Thomas the tank engine bits.

He's currently having a nap, then we're having a little birthday tea later.

A good day SM x

My friend had her scan yesterday, I am a little
This is her third - her youngest six weeks older than Evelyn

I came on the thread way back when dd was very young. It seems a long time ago in one sense and very short in another.

I forgot to add she was born the day before my birthday and for the last two years mine has been a bit of an anticlimax after hers, only marked with a card

Gosh, yes, I am too at those who are pregnant again and a picture of my friends newborn made my milk let down . She lives abroad so I haven't been able to hold him but I have seen him on the webcam.

Johnny and DH are away to the airport to watch planes so I had best get on with cooking the tea whilst there is no toddler hanging round my ankles. Anybody else's little one super clingy just now?

Ooo I've missed loads.
Belated Happy Birthdays to all the little ones who've already had theirs.
Ds was 2 on the 4th. We had a little party for him, just the girls from the post natal group. I think ds enjoyed himself but tbh I was just glad when it was all over. I tried making an egg-free cake so ds could have some of his own birthday cake, but it turned into a brick so MIL had to scurry to the local shop and buy one!. Apart from that it went ok but who'd have though blowing up a few balloons and trying to make a cake would be so stressful

I can't believe thay are all so grown up now. A saw one of my PN group friends pics of her dd's 1st birthday last year and one had ds in it and I didn't recognise him at first!! .

I finally started childminding last week. It's for a friend from the PN group. She has a 23 month old and a 6 month old so it's quite hectic but it's only for 2 days a week and just until Christmas so it's worked out quite well as I'll earn a bit of money for Christmas and then be able to stop before i get too large babywise.

MB - Sorry to hear Johnny is having problems with dairy as well . It's hard enough dealing with the egg thing, never mind anything else. I do a similar thing to you, banning all biscuits etc etc, it just makes it easier (especially as some biscuits/cookies do have egg in)

Hope everyone else is well

HI DLAMIS. Nice to hear from you and belated happy birthday to your ds.

Great to hear that you are up and running with the childminding. Have you considered that if you keep working a bit longer then you might be entitled to maternity benefit? It's worth investigating as it's £109 per week for 9 months now! I am just waiting for the fire brigade to inspect here then I am ready to go. Oh and I have to wait for my new certificate from the Care Commission, but given the postal situation that might take a while!

BTW Sainsbury's do a couple of Dutch style cakes in the cake section. They are not "free from" type products, but they just don't have any egg or dairy in them. They are really quite delicious and worth considering. Even if you don't give your ds any, it means that crumbs lying around won't have you on the edge of your seat (or is that just me?)

Belated Happy Birthday to the ones I have missed

Hi all

Belated happy birthdays to those I missed

I have been hiding on the property threads as my house, which fell through, then got another offer accepted, which has fallen through, so my sale has fallen through FIVE times. I think I am going for a record!

Ach, Elf - it fell through again? What a bummer for you. The uncertainty must be very stressful for you

How are your little ones going with sleeping at the moment? Since Johnny has recovered from his various illnesses, his sleeping has gone a bit wonky. He now won't nap without a breastfeed first and he's waking up over a hour earlier than usual in the mornings. He seems to be starving when he wakes up. The other morning he was shouting "'nana, 'nana, 'nana" (banana) at 5.10am for ages and ages and that was him up for the morning whereas he would previously have gone back to sleep after a breastfeed. After he's had breastmilk in the morning, he makes to go downstairs whilst doing the hungry sign. He is eating for Scotland just now, I am assuming it's catch up eating to make up for being ill, but I am getting a bit alarmed at the quantities that he is getting through especially as he was always a good eater. I am concerned that what I am feeding him is possibly too low in calories, but avoiding egg and dairy and watching salt intake only seems to leave fairly low calorie foods. He is breastfeeding loads but after he's drained each breast, he's asking for more, something he never did previously. I know my supply is fine as often I can hear it slooshing in his empty tummy if I lift him up, so there must be plenty in there!

I think I'll start another thread on this actually.

The fire brigade are coming round this afternoon to check out the house for childminding so it won't be long before I'm up and running again.

Elf- sorry to hear about your house problems. Hope you get sorted soon, the whole process is stressful enough without the extra problems of it constantly falling through.

MB- just posted on your other thread. It's easy to say but try not to worry too much, he's probably just catching up.
I won't get maternity allowance as I started working too late, am 18+3 now so unless I go 4+ weeks overdue I won't get enough qualifying weeks in. I've just finished todays cm'ing and have spend most of the morning changing pooey nappies. I swear they save them up for me and you forget what a mess young babies can make!!! I can still smell poo and I've been home over an hour. I'm getting paranoid that it's me that smells

You are 18+ 3 DLAMIS Blimey where is the time going!! I would have sworn that you were nowhere near that far on! Bummer that you won't qualify for MA though. LOL at babies saving up poo for you!

I saw your reply on the other thread, thanks. I just sometimes feel that I am going on and on and on and on about ds on the post natal thread.

The fire brigade have just been to do my inspection for childminding. My goodness they have tightened up. At my last house, the inspection took all of a couple of minutes but today, despite having wired in smoke alarms, a fire blanket etc I need to get self closers on the downstairs doors. Not a big job in itself, but paperwork has to go from the local station to HQ then to the Care Commission, then someone else has to come out and make sure that the self closers have been fitted. Give the postal strike, it could be forever before it filters through the system.....

Sorry to hear your house sale has fallen through again Elf - i know from past experience how gutting it is. Fingers crossed you get it sorted soon.

Well, Joey started nursery today Both myself and DH took him, and hovered for a bit, then we came home on the basis that if he got really distressed, they only had to call. Having practically sat on my phone for the whole 2 hours without any calls, we arrived to pick him up, and he was loving it! We got there at snack time (we were picking him up an hour early as per first-session protocol), and he refused to leave till he'd finished his drink and snack!! I'll assume he likes it then...

here is my latest dilemma

No experience of that yet Elf as Johnny is still in his cot, but I wonder if she's old enough for the repeated putting back to bed technique? I'm sure it will have a proper name, but it escapes me for now. Basically, when she gets up, you say, "it's bedtime Evelyn" and put her back in bed. Next time, you say "it's bedtime" and put her back to bed. And then after this, you put her back in bed as many times as it takes until the morning, saying nothing each time. I have seen it on a supernanny type programme (can't remember which one) and if you are consistent, it works in a couple of nights. One couple put their child in bed something like 200 times one night but it worked for them in the end.

Stinky - glad to hear that Joey settled in the nursery. He could have at least pretended to miss you

Lovely sunny day here today. All my washing is bone dry. Can't really believe that it's october!

I did the controlled crying routine with Dylan (my 5 year old) when he was nearly 2. I put him back to bed 26 times (I still remember lol) it was heart breaking and he was sobbing, my dp was about to murder me, he thought I was being cruel. BUT it worked first time and the next day he went to bed without a murmur and has done so ever since. So I think it is worth it in the end, I think children secretly like routines and consistency they feel more secure.
But I do think these things are hard to do for a first time mum, once you have more and the whole house is affected you do tend to become more strict.

Sorry about the sleep problems Elf. It must be hard work - god knows how i ever managed with a newborn, as i turn into a monster these days if i don't get my full sleep quota!. No direct experience myself, but my friend suggested maybe putting her back in a cot for a bit to avoid her getting up in the night. I know it won't stop her waking up at 3am, but it may be a start...? FWIW Joey wouldn't sleep when we tried him with his toddler bed, but settled back to his usual 7.30pm-8am pattern the instant he went back into his cot. I think he feels more secure having bars! I'll try him again in a few months. Its not like i need the cot for another child yet or anything

Going to see my friend that has just had her second baby tomorrow. If truth be told, i'm dreading it, or rather my reaction to a tiny one again. I'll either come home a gibbering wreck and mega meag broody (even more than i am now!), or be desperate to get the snip!!!

tonight I have taken down the baby guard we had on the bed, on the off chance she was getting irritated by the bars through the mattress (as it is quite slim). I have tucked the quilt under the mattress on the side to the floor, and also stuck one of our sofa cushions (the big ones to the back of the sofa) next to her just in case she does get lose and fall off. She woke up a while ago, just a little whimper, and went back to sleep, but we will have to see how she is later!

Good luck

Johnny must have been reading about the non sleeping malarky Elf. Good luck with it tonight. He was all out of routine today as we had to collect people from the airport right at nap time. I tried him twice at MILs for his nap, but he was having none of it. Fair enough, she had a house full of visitors, so it was quite exciting for him. He then turned into a disaster at bath and bedtime, wailing and breaking his heart shouting mummy mummy, even when he was in my arms, then he wouldn't go to sleep at all. Finally, he nodded off and he's just gone down again after 40 mins feeding and trying to get him back to bed. I've given him nurofen, so maybe something was bothering him and that's done the trick.

stinky, hope you're ok with the new baby tomorrow, I would feel the same I'm sure.

I think she came into our bed and slept through, but I was too tired to notice

Similar here Elf. Johnny woke again at 3.40am and I was so tired that we just crawled into the spare bed together and fed until the morning. His nappy was soaked right through to his sleeping bag in the morning, so there must be gallons of milk going on there!

We were at the Sick Kids hospital this morning regarding Johnny's thumb. Consultant says it's trigger thumb which means that the tendons are a bit frayed and bunched up so they can't slide properly through the sheath. We've to go back in a year and if it's no better then he will have to have a small operation on it. Lets hope it's better in a year!!

Well, just got back from seeing my friend. Amazingly, i was absolutely fine (and i really was, rather than just saying i was, IYSWIM). Yes, her baby is sweet and all, but frankly i thought she looked a bit like Jabba the Hut (all babies look a bit odd for the first few weeks IMO!). I had a little cuddle, which made Joey cry, but i was more than happy to hand her back to her mum without blubbing or jumping on DH.

I was surprised by Joey's reaction ie crying whilst i held the baby, but i suppose he must have been worried that i was replacing him or something! That plus he's never seen a tiny baby before, so all very new to him. Hopefully he'll be an old hand and be used to babies if and when he ever gets a sibling

Better luck for the non-sleepers tonight.

Glad you were ok with the other baby stinky! I beg your pardon, but Johnny did NOT look odd for the first few weeks . Actually, he didn't. He was breech so his head had never been engaged which can squish it a bit, and he was a cs so he hadn't been down the birth canal. He really was perfect. No, really, he was.

Forgot to say, Johnny is determined that I am to tandem feed. I've already breastfed a couple of teddy bears which, btw, he latches on very carefully making sure it's the mouth on my nipple, not just the teddy's face in general. Also, we were mucking about in bed playing with various toys and books. He picked up a book with pictures of babies in it. And yes, he lifted my pyjama top and put the baby in the book on my boob for some milk too! Hilarious. It's very sweet though, they "drink" for a couple of seconds and then go "mmmmm" Awwwwww

LOL Stinky - if I hold babies, Evelyn cries saying "my mummy" and if an older child sits on my knee at the CM, she tries to push them off!
DH sometimes hugs me and says "my mummy" to her, and she gets really mad!

How did Evelyn go last night Elf?
I got tough with Johnny. He wasn't going to be happy unless we were in bed together feeding non stop with him mountaineering over me every few minutes to feed from the other side, so I put my foot down and left him to cry. No longer than 10 mins each time before going in and lying him back down (he stands at the side of the cot wailing mummy mummy mummy) and leaving him to it. He cried from around midnight until 1am and then for 3 minutes at 4am and then stopped. He slept until 8.15am and then made no fuss whatsoever at naptime. I am hoping this is us back on track. I do find that he gets used to being attended to at every whimper when he's been ill and we need to reset the rules again. Saying that, we are driving to my parents at 7pm tonight so he will have a disturbed night. Then tomorrow I am out doing a gig and DH is bringing Johnny too. It will be his first ever late night. Either that or he conks out at his normal bedtime and misses seeing mummy play!

Any strategies for the clocks changing? I think I will do it over three or four nights putting him to bed progressively 15/20 mins later. It's worked in the past, but each time the clocks change, he is six months older and less easily fooled!