August 2007 - milk, mash or puree - take your pick and take cover!

[shrinkingsagpuss]

James - sorry, couldn't wait any longer... hope my link works...

Just looked up and he's sitting up/forward in his bouncy chair. Good practise for sitting up on his own I suppose! Currently he still folds in half if I let go, but he's learning to have a hand on the floor for a bit of support.

Oh no, I just smelled fermented veg.... gotta go.

... anyone got any tips to prevent the thumb entering the mouth at the same time as the food.....? short of a straight jacket this is......

hi - what little characters we've got (what happens to all the fgrins etc after xmas do you think they stay as festives?)

no tips about the hands i'm afraid - other than once they are in a high chair getting high chair toys.

shrinking - really hope the builders finish for xmas and you have your bathroom back!

DD2 rolls onto her side but doesn't yet go onto her tummy - i don't have her down on the floor with DD2 stomping about....

i ended up taking dd1 to dr's today as she was up half the night complaining about a sore hand, finger, nose, lip, head, tooth, ear, shoulder, foot, elbow - you name it she named it! turns out she has an ear infection, he's given me a prescription for antibiotics but only to use them if it gets worse - but i might just give her them anyway.

chnaces are i won't be back on again (as too much to do) so HAPPY XMAS everyone and i hope that santa is good to you all and your wee ones

Thanks sagpuss. My mum and my sister got me spa vouchers. Hopefully I'll be having a facial and maybe a massage in the near future - I really need it.

Ds rolls but can't go right over cos he can't get his arm out of the way. I'm like my2weegirls though, don't have him on the floor often enough for him to practice.

Ds has had a cold on and off (usually on) since he was 2 weeks old. Mum and dh keep telling me to take him to the doctors but I would feel terrible taking up an appointment just for a cold. He doesn't seem to be suffering really. Anyone got any advice?

my2weegirls - I agree, give her the ABs anyway. Hope you have a nice xmas if you're not back her before.

Ooh, massage and facial? lovely. I'm very

My2weegirls, I would give the AB's too, earache is worse than toothache when it gets going!

I just wandered onto a thread about controlled crying, and I hadn't heard of it before really but I realised I'm sortof doing it with James, because when he gets tired during the day one minute he'll be rubbing his eyes and yawning, and what seems like 30 seconds later he'll be crying hysterically because he's overtired.

So now on the first sign of a yawn I tuck him in his pushchair with blanket and dummy and he starts crying but it's a whingy tired cry and I "ignore" it but if he gets more upset and it becomes a real cry I go in, pop his dummy back in and shhhh him til he's drowsy again, then go out again. He's normally asleep within five minutes of grumbling.

I thought this was ok but most people on that thread are saying CC is cruel and the baby would feel abandoned. Seems like the only way to get him to nap without hysteria though.

How is everyone else getting their babies to sleep during the day?

I don't think they recommend cc before 6 months. I did it as a last resort with dd when she was only just 2 but she was old enough to understand what was happening. A lot of people are really against it but sometimes it's the only way and it does work. It's not a nice experience and it's quite upsetting to listen to them screaming for 5 minutes or more. Personally I wouldn't do it before he was a year old.

In the day ds is either cuddled to sleep or if happy enough, with dummy in the bouncer.

James - what you are doing is not CC - don't worry. You are listening to his cries and recognising he is tired, acting on it, and letting him o to sleep. I'm not a CC expert, but it is more about when a baby is seeking your attention and refusing to settle, rather than tiny over tired newborns don't worry.

Anything that resembles routines, or more strict parenting seems to get a bit of a roasting on MN (IMO!!). the airy fairy , breast feeding-til-they're-12 -militia- let- your- baby- do- what- it- wants forever brigade ( I know HUGE generalisation, but we're amongst friends here yes??!) tend to shout quite loudly and let us bad mixed feeding-early-weaning-routine-following mothers suffer in silence and feel guilty about what we do!!

Evie will often crumple into a little cry when I put her down. I stop and listen for a while and decide if she is "winding up" or down - up will be louder and louder and more of a warning cry. Down cries are longer in between, and shorter cries, gradually getting further apart. She rarely cries more than 5 minutes.

you've said James wakes often after 1/2 hour or so. GF (oops swore again) maintins that babies come into a light sleep after a crtain period of sleeping, and they often wake and cry. If Evie wakes I leave her, and she will usually (but not always) settle herself back off to sleep. If she doesn't settle, I give her a cuddle back to sleep, and leave her til she has had 2 hours or so.

I swear by a routine of sleeping and feeding. it isn't rigid, but it is predicatble, so Evie knows what is expected of her. DS used to eat his lunch, have a wee, and take himself upstairs for a snooze he was so well "trained". I have found that using a routine means they feel safe, and are less likely to try it on as they get older.

ok. Missive over, starving hungry. hope it wasn't too preachy.

Sagpuss, I'll give you my firstborn (wait...um, no) if you can get my James to sleep for 2 hours in the day! Today I finally got him to sleep then 2 mins later I tripped over the wheel of the pushchair and woke him up and there was no chance of getting him back to sleep, he was wide awake.

It's half an hour at the very most, usually 15-20 minutes, not really enough time to do anything. I just about put on the kettle and make a sandwich, sit down and he's awake and screaming for me. I'd kill for a solid two hours peace in the day!

Having said all that he sleeps well at night so I suppose I can't really complain.

You made me laugh with your rant about the evangelical "mumsnet elite" I know what you mean, it's sad that they are so loud and self righteous they isolate anyone who has another opinion. On joining mumsnet you agree to "respect other people's right to their opinions, even if you disagree with them" but a lot of members are very dogmatic and bullying. You're only allowed an opposing opinion if you've been here for years.

I tend to avoid the controversional or cliquey threads, not worth getting into bitchfests with bored holier-than-thou housewives over mother and baby parking spaces/ the evils of disposable nappies/ extended breastfeeding or whatever. They'll kick off over anything! Sod 'em. Friendlier here.

JB - LOL at your last paragraph, well said.

Anyone seen the title of May 07 thread ????and all the pregnant again ladies on it, that's just a bit scarily close, I know we all talked about being clucky and wanting another on here, BUT... i'll shut up now LOL

hi all,

hope you had a lovely birthday Gill

mila's taken a turn i'm not appreciating she's started waking upto 4 times in the night for feeds. does that mean she's ready for solids? i'm trying to feed her more in the day but i feel like i haven't got so much milk in the day ach.

anyway check this out, i've been elfed! merry xmas

hahhaa! Oh I had to try that too... James has been elfed!

That's hilarious!

Brilliant. I might get dh to do that for us later.

James - I hope I didn't come across like the 'mumsnet elite'. I didn't read your post properly and thought you'd said you were just considering cc. I Agree with everything sagpuss says. Cc is about breaking habits. James is probably just over tired and needs a bit of help getting to sleep. You're doing everything right and, at the end of the day, you should do what works for you. My dd would only ever sleep on me and I never got anything done before dh got home cos 2 minutes after I put her down she woke up screaming. Fortunately she grew out of this but she's never been a good sleeper.

I had to do cc because (at 2 yrs) dd wouldn't go to sleep on her own and we had to spend up to 2 hours a night in her room waiting for her to go to sleep. I'm not sure how we ended up in this situation but she learnt to rely on it. I posted asking for some advice and, shortly after, a mumsnet member put a new thread up talking about the evils of cc and how cruel it was. I replied with an explanation of why I was doing it. It turns out she had exactly the same problem as me and started asking my advice on how to do cc - WTF!

uki - are they mad????? My sil got pg very soon after her 1st and 2nd were born. When she had her 3rd baby her eldest was only 2 yrs 2 months.

Thanks mama. The actual day wasn't brilliant but I should have a good time tomorrow and an even better time when I use my spa vouchers .

If you're feeding mila more in the day your supply will increase so it might be worth waiting a few days to see if it helps. It won't hurt to start on solids though. I actually tried ds with some baby yoghurt (stuff from a packet, not from the fridge) last night. I was going to hold out til he was 6 months but he's losing interest in his milk and drinking less so I wondered if it might help. He loved it and kept opening his mouth for more. Will see how it goes and keep you posted.

Hi everyone, I don't get much time to post nowadays, or even keep up so I hope I haven't missed anything too major.

Mama, I rang a bf counsellor for the same reason today. DD was sleeping for 6 hours but is now back to feeding every 3 and sleeping with us. She said that she is probably just catching up after she was ill about a month ago and the co-sleeping was probably the best thing. Have you tried expressing after your morning feeds and topping-up with that before bed? And no, I wouldn't bother weaning because of extra feeding at night, we did it with DS and it just made him worse!

Have a lovely crimbo everyone with your little LO's.

Oh and James, love the elfing

GillL - you'd have been chucked out of MN elite for FF Long ago!!!!! (please take that in the spiriit in which it is said -you know i wouldn't judge you for ff!!) what you said was fine - you're right, once you are dealing with 2yr olds it is much more like CC

No worries - taken as intended

Off home soon and I can't wait. I've got 4 days off now Back doing the early shift next Friday.

Oh no Gill, I wasn't grouping you in with the mumsnet lentilweaving mafia! (I don't mean that as harsh as it comes across either, the majority of them have their hearts in the right place- it's just the stick up their arses that's the problem!)

No I agree with where you're coming from, I couldn't leave a young baby to properly scream on their own for 10 minutes, it upsets me when James cries real tears at all. I just know that whingy tired cry and the quickest thing to do is to tuck him up and leave him for a few minutes to drop off. I pop his dummy in, tuck his blanket over him and give him a soft elephant comfort blanket thingy which He does get cuddled to sleep sometimes too, especially after his last feed at night, but it's easier then because he's usually knackered!

We just had a lovely splash session in the big bath, he's a total water baby, he absolutely loves it and his legs are getting so strong from all the kicking!

Off out tonight, leaving J in dp's capable hands, he should be ok though fingers crossed.

Everyone have a good weekend, and a great christmas if you're away now. Lots of love!

I know you wouldn't

Dh is still at work and has been since 8am. He'd better be getting paid handsomely for it! I thought I'd have a hard time putting the dcs to bed on my own for the first time. Ds was in bed by 8:30 and asleep by 9. Dd was in bed a 9:45 and, for the first time in weeks, I didn't hear a peep out of her after I came downstairs.

Wow Gill, perhaps your dd gets too much attention (be it positive or negatie) from your dh in the evenings, and finds it easier to settle when it's just you doing the bedtime routine?

Well my night out didn't work out unfortunately After getting showered and doing my hair and makeup, doing tea, getting baby fed and watered and ready for bed, dp drove me into town to go to my friends for the first night out in at least 6 months... we stopped at tesco on the way to grab some formula and when I came out a mere ten minutes later James was absolutely hysterical, screaming like an air raid siren, and dp was harassed and panicking.

There was no way I could happily swan off drinking and leave them like that, so we came home. Of course as soon as he was home with me cuddling him and soothing him he dozed off (overtired) but you can guarantee if I'd gone out he would have been terrible all night and I'd have spent the night fretting and calling home.

I was sad about missing my night out, it was the only one I was likely to get this christmas/new year unfortunately. I suppose this is all part and parcel of being a mother. It sucks though.

He burst out crying when my dad and my brother visited the other day, new faces seem to be upsetting him now. Is anyone else experiencing this with their babies? I feel like I can't leave him alone because he cries when I'm not there and appears not to trust other people.

You might be right there. Don't tell dh though - he'd never put her to bed again.

That's crap about your night out. Isn't it always he way.

dd was exactly the same as James at this age. She only wanted mummy and would sometimes cry if someone just looked at her. She's been shy and wary of other people ever since but she's finally getting a bit braver. It doesn't help that mum's always teling her she's shy. Fortunately ds is completely the opposite. He will go to anyone and often talks to and smiles at people in the street and in the shops, even men.

Ha ha - I've accidentally turned into one of those MN elite mums - exclusively BF (can't get him to take a bottle ), late weaning (can't be bothered to get into the purees), therefore likely to become an extended feeder - will have a 7 year old dangling from me - yuck! Use cloth nappies as I'm tight! becoming a have been a veggie lentil weaver before babies came along. If I come along with a stick up anywhere - please feel free to shoot me

Gill - I find it really hard to get the kids to bed with dh around, much easier without him as they know my threats are carried through! DS1 (2.6) has a sleep if we go out in the car - but he goes to bed at 7pm at the very very latest (for my sanity). I'm really strick about them going to bed and staying there but I do think that some children (like adults) need less sleep than others. Your dd should be old enough to read to herself for a while before going to sleep - atleast then you should be able to get a bit of time to yourself.

Banana - what a shame you didn't get your night out. By no.3 you'll have turned into a hard faced cow like me - I left dh with ds2 to go to work xmas lunch for 5 hours - he won't even take a bottle (ds not dh that is - think dh took to the bottle!)

Hope everyone has a fab christmas and you all get a silent night!

....and by complete contrast, tonight we went to visit friends at home at about 5pm, I said we'd leave "when he started to go mental" and he just didn't! He was happy, smiley, funny and excited the whole time, interacting with my friends, most of whom he hasn't met before, and being a general little star. Talk about unpredictable!

So we just got home now and he's fast asleep. Feel a bit naughty for letting him stay up til 10pm but hey, anything for a lie in!

Think my diet is officially on hold as I just scoffed vegetable fried rice and eight quality street at my friends. What can you do though, it IS christmas! Don't wory, I will be going back and cracking the whip after christmas is over, by 2009 I will be a healthy weight!

Gill, as I said, ds is unpredictable. He's definitely NOT shy as long as mummy is within his sights at all times. It's very flattering I must say, but not so good when you're craving a night on the tiles. It's all phases though isn't it? he won't always be like this.

Loler, there's nothing wrong with all the lentilweavery ways you have going on, my problem is with the band of hardcore militant women who make out that formula is baby-poison, you should be shot for NOT using reusable nappies and mooncups, and brag about their toddlers first words being "organic ciabatta" or whatever. Please.

Did anyone see that thread the other day about "ooh, my husband earns 125k a year, how much should we spend on a christmas present for his 35k a year secretary?"

Made me sad, envious and annoyed all at the same time- she was obviously posting that crap just to brag about how rich she was, I mean are people actually that dithery and rubbish they can't make up their own minds about anything? it's bollocks. Made me a bit wistful though, they were saying to spend £100 on her, and I was thinking "that used to BE my weekly wage, and our christmas bonus was a bottle of lambrusco" - How the other half live, eh?

Reminded me of a thread about posh restaurants earlier in the year, people were saying they'd been to some fancy restaurant and spent four or five hundred quid on a meal for two people with something stupid like 16 courses. I really just couldn't relate to mumsnetters like that, I think that's a shameful waste of money.

Anyway I've had a martini and I'm ranting, ignore me, I'm going to piss off and go to bed now. Goodnight!!

Just a quick one to wish you all Merry Christmas!!

All v excited in the Pink household, me and ds1 are off to panto today really looking forward to spending time with just him!!!!

All have a great time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

( also if you not done it before you can track santa's progress tonight on the Norad site! great fun!!!!

Keeping my fingers crossed about the silent night loler. We've told dd that father christmas won't come until she goes to sleep tonight. I doubt it will make much difference though.

My diet is on hold a bit too. I won't be eating many chocs though as they don't agree with me but I definitely won't be weighing out my roast potatoes.

I agree that woman was posting to look smug. Why else would she need to say how much her dh earns.

Hope you have a lovely time at the panto Pink. I can't wait for dd to be old enough. I think she'd be scared of the baddies at the moment.

We'll be at fil's tomorrow morning for pressies and my parents for dinner. We spent a few hours with sil and her kids yesterday at fil's. She spent the whole time shouting so we'd had enough and left early. Fortunately dh prefers to spend xmas with my family (as long as my younger sister and her kids aren't there for long).

Hope you all have a lovely day tomorrow and get some great pressies. Hope your dp behaves himself tomorrow James.

ARRGH MIL HAS ONLY BEEN HER 2 HOURS AND ALREADY I WANT TO LEAVE MY HOME!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you all have a lovely time and no-one burns the dinner! (I'm not taking any chances, I'm having a feast courtesy of aunt bessies lol)

Hope your panto was good and your ds1 had fun, pink. Gill, fingers crossed you can persuade your dd to sleep tonight. Lavender bath and a cup of warm cinnamon and honey milk perhaps. You know she'll be up at 5am anyway, I always was, up until being an embarassingly old age!