August 2021 Babies - Running on Caffeine and Baby Smiles

[PurplePansy05]

Welcome to the chattiest post-natal club on MN!

We have welcomed 31 gorgeous new babies together 💖💙 ...

We have filled up several more like a hundred threads in the antenatal birth clubs chat...

...and now we have finally graduated and officially moved to the postnatal birth clubs chat! 🥳

Graduates of the August 2021 (and thereabouts) thread:

@Smurf123 & baby Sophia 💖
@wimbler & her baby boy 💙
@Jessicapebbles & baby Ebony💖
@Inmypjsagain & her baby boy 💙
@PurplePansy05 & baby Leo Alexander 💙
@WinterBabyof89 & baby Rosie 💖
@Winecoffeeteamum & baby Emily 💖
@Ready2020 & baby Rowan 💖
@Magik01 & baby Isaac 💙
@Hoares3 & baby Ellis 💙
@Daffodil21 & baby Elliot James 💙
@sarah13xx & baby Freddie 💙
@MrsB2019x & baby Ella💖
@biscuitcat & baby Rowan 💙
@Whatshouldbemyusername & baby Arya-Nyah 💖
@notinthestarsigns & baby Erin 💖
@Aaaaa1519 & baby Anum 💖
@Angelesque & baby Isaac 💙
@Millymay13 & baby Ethan 💙
@WolfMother326 & baby Alasdair 💙
@BertieBotts & baby Alex 💙
@RandomCatGenerator & baby Solomon 💙
@lucyrp & baby Evelyn Rose 💖
@HopefulB & baby Chloé 💖
@Mmr224 & baby Alasdair 💙
@Smallbean27 & her baby boy 💙
@Fran919 & her baby girl 💖
@Caz1226 & baby Dougie 💙
@Ava50x & her baby boy 💙
@dirtyfries & baby Frankie 💖
@ame88 & baby Lily 💖

Tagging @Dia12, @livingwithbees, @Sheisfee, @Alittlexmasmagic and @LottSE20 in the opening post so you know we're here as and when you wish to rejoin/share your updates 💐

Here we go!

@PurplePansy05 good, so hard to tell sometimes on line!

The answer to your child birthday question is yes. Oh god so many birthdays. We did nct and are still a close knit group so we have 9 babies (well 18 now after #2s have all arrived) and because obviously we were grouped by due date our December and January is a birthday party every Saturday and Sunday for 6 weeks. It’s exhausting and I’m already worrying about having to buy presents for them all. It’s a bit ridiculous tbh!

@wimbler we switched from aptamil to kendamil organic as LO wasn't paying much and was really straining/uncomfortable. We did it gradually and he is pooing more and not uncomfortable.
Glad we made the swap!

@wimbler we are using kendamil, I really like it now but didn't in the beginning. It took about 4 weeks for dd to settle on it. Had seen others mention it takes a while to settle on it so we persevered. Had some very explosive nappies during that time. She's 9 weeks old now, brings up wind easily, isn't very sicky, the nappies are a lot better, she's very content after a feed and is gaining weight steadily.

The milk itself smells like real milk and actually tastes quite nice. No complains as she was bringing a lot of the SMA back up and the aptamil anti reflux was lumpy, smelled awful and she couldn't finish a feed as it was so thick.

@Ready2020 are you in Scotland too?

@PurplePansy05 no you’re definitely not! So you’d have to drive 2 hours to sit in a hotel room during the day while DH was at the wedding to then only be allowed to go at night? 🤦🏼‍♀️ And if it’s an abroad wedding you can’t not invite children if you expect parents to come! My cousin just got married recently and it was a whole big debate as to whether Freddie was to be invited or not. I felt like saying don’t bother inviting him since you clearly don’t want him there 🤦🏼‍♀️ In the end up he was invited but many people with babies weren’t allowed to bring them so some of them didn’t come. They had even invited people from the other end of the UK without their children 🤔 I think if you want the adults there you should give the option of bringing the children too. I was laughing at her wedding because at one point there was hardly anyone dancing.. the only people who were were the mums up with their kids and everyone was watching in aww at how cute it was 🤷🏼‍♀️

@Gem176 i'm in Scotland 🙋‍♀️

@sarah13xx Pretty much, yeah. I doubt it would even be a hotel room, they are getting married in the middle of nowhere so I think we'd have to find ourselves some kind of a cottage or an air bnb for 1 night Fri/Sat if we're lucky to find anywhere, pay for it ourselves only for me and Leo to sit there on our own till DH picks us up for the evening. The whole thing is laughable especially that the couple have a 1 yo daughter themselves. So they're staying at the wedding venue but it only has rooms for them and immediate family, everyone else has to fend for themselves. I mean it's silly, I'm not even starting to plan this, me and Leo are staying home.

@wimbler Oh dear! What about your other friends with kids older than your DCs, did they start inviting you to their children's celebrations following the arrival of your DCs? I secretly hope this doesn't happen to us because this would mean a party every month at least in addition to NCT I'm actually thinking about organising joint parties in the future with at least one of my NCT friends, we get on really well 😊 xx

@PurplePansy05 yeah if your DH is going alone during the day anyway it’s not like you’re abandoning him by not bothering going at night! Definitely better to just say you won’t be there. We aren’t actually married yet although have been engaged for a while. I don’t really want the whole big wedding, don’t really like being the centre of attention 🙄 but planning a tiny tiny wedding during the day then just a big party at night where everyone will be invited and I’ll have a white bouncy castle for the kids 😂

Just doing a drive by post :o To say I spotted on FB today Lyndsey Hookway's sleep book for babies and toddlers is 99p on kindle this month. It's the best sleep book I've ever read for this age group (and I've read a few so definitely worth a look at this price if you like reading.

www.amazon.co.uk/Lets-talk-about-familys-sleep-ebook/dp/B08CRBQVQC/?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

What is going to happen next, are we now going to be invited to our friends' kids' birthdays considering we're now parents too?

If the children are under 3 yes probably!

From around 3 they have their own friends from nursery/school/playdates so you tend to invite those children and the parents come too. Then from around 4/5 depending on how your DC is you drop and run so only the child gets invited to parties.

Other people's children's birthday parties (unless you're very good friends with the parents) are hell :o

Older kids no, you won't be invited because the parents will already be overwhelmed dealing with 10 hyped up 6 year olds (or whatever) and will not want to add a random baby/toddler into the mix.

@Daffodil21 what general area? North, south, east or west? I'm north west, unsurprisingly i've managed one walk with Katie where I didn't nearly drown and it looks like that for the foreseeable 😫

@sarah13xx your wedding plans sound like my ideal wedding, like you I hate being the centre of attention and can't imagine anything worse than walking into a room and knowing a large number of people are all looking at me!

I've managed to dodge most of my friends kids birthdays as we had children at different times and as was mentioned earlier by 3yo it's usually their nursery friends and parents that are invited and by 5yo it's usually drop and pick up later.

@Gem176 ah I'm north-east! @sarah13xx @Ready2020 are Scotland too but not as far up as us 😂

@Ready2020 apparently the 12 week ones are much better reaction wise as they don't have the Men B which is the one they usually get upset by afterwards

@wimbler yes still using the Kendamil when we need to use formula as like you said it doesn't contain palm or fish oil. DD used to projectile vomit every bottle of hipp organic straight back up after her feed but doesn't with the Kendamil

@PurplePansy05 and yes you do get invited to parties. Or maybe invite isn't the right word 😂 you are expected to tag along with your child and keep an eye on them for said child's parents. They're not too bad as long as the other parents are sociable which I've never found to be a problem as I chat with most of the mums at the school gates

DS came home from school yesterday and normally demolishes his after school snack I bring him for the drive home but he hardly ate any of it which was odd then when it came to tea time after his swimming lessons which usually makes him even hungrier he didn't eat any of his tea either. Woke up numerous times in the night asking was it morning yet and now has a cough this morning and school now won't let them in after half term with even a cold so am going to miss my baby group today and have to spend the day with a child who will no doubt still want to play etc but will have to be told to stay in bed 🥴

@Gem176 yes! Everyone else books their wedding then goes on about how excited they are for it. I know if I booked one just to go along with what everyone else has I’d feel a sense of panic every day from now until the date and it would be a total waste of money not to enjoy it 🙈 I’d rather have a small family meal and literally maybe even just get married at the table then have a party later on so I can wear the dress 😂 yeah I’m scotland too, not far from Glasgow

Have people had many health visitor appointments recently? My health visitor saw us at 6 weeks and said we’d get a clinic appointment with her for 10 weeks but she didn’t have her diary so she’d phone me. She’s never phoned and he’s now 12 weeks 🤔 Are they supposed to have a 12 week one?

We had a home visit from the health visitor at 10 days I think, then a clinic appointment at 6 weeks. The next one is when DS is a year old I think?

@Millymay13 I’m in Scotland but we seem to have quite a lot. I had a visit every week from 2-6 weeks

@sarah13xx friends of ours got married with their kids, a witness each with a plus one and that was it. A few weeks later they had a big ceilidh in the local hall.... best wedding I've been to and both said it was so stress free and they got to enjoy their wedding day and then getting to see and speak to all their friends in a relaxed way at their party. Brilliant idea!

I've had two HV visits, one when discharged from midwives on day 11/12ish, she was then happy to leave us to it until 6 weeks (second baby) and have another next week as I asked for Katie to be weighed. I'm a type 1 diabetic and she was only 6lbs2 at birth so if she stays on the same centile it's likely she's just a wee toot but if she jumps up them then it's likely I had an inefficient placenta. After that I'm guessing it will only be if we want to see them. I'd give them a call and ask for an appointment if you want one. I personally don't find them all that helpful, might just be mine but everything she says is basically common sense. However the CEYP is great as she runs a lot of the baby groups, walks etc including baby massage which Katie loves 😊

You will probably have a local baby clinic you can go to if you want to see a health visitor. Home visits aren't really standard except for newborns and then sometimes the developmental check ups are home visits, but sometimes they're done at clinic too.

@sarah13xx I've seen my HV 3 times at home and I saw her at the surgery after DDs 8 week jabs and will see her again at 12 and 16 weeks. Think I see her every month similar to what I had with DS. Every month until 6 months then every other until 12 months then there are developmental check ups spaced out

Same as @lucyrp here. Lucy, how did you survive today? How is your boy? xx

Can I ask swimming questions again sorry…

Who has taken their baby swimming yet? How did it go?

Has anyone been in the sea?

Any recommended kit to avoid babies getting cold in water?

We’re going to a tropical location in December where the sea is a big focus so want to be prepared.

@RandomCatGenerator we went swimming at the weekend to a pool. It was warm so in hindsight we probably didn’t need the full body wetsuit but he had a splash about warm in one on and it seemed to be really good! Don’t know if babies that go to the swimming classes wear them or wear something less for when I take him

So strange how random the health visitor appointments are depending on where you live (think we’ve discussed that before)! I’m presuming she’ll phone me this week to go to the clinic but she’d made such a big thing of saying she’d see us at 10 weeks then I just didn’t hear from her