August 2021 Babies - They Had To Be Gorgeous, Just Look At Us

[PurplePansy05]

Welcome to the chattiest post-natal club on MN!

We spent a year together chatting about all things pregnancy and baby...

...we've tried and tested countless baby products...

...exchanged hundreds of tips...

...talked about all the big things in life, all the little things, the good times and the tough times...

...we had a good laugh together 😁...

...and somehow we now have gorgeous 3 month old babies without looking a day older ourselves 😅 (must be that good laugh!)

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 💖

Sorry if I've missed anyone, please join in! xx

@wimbler oh yeah I heard of those ones when I was pregnant! But yes, very expensive!

@BertieBotts 🤣🤣 yes I definitely get my share of ill-informed health professionals for sure 🙈 yet here I am believing every word and going three months without switching between nappy brands

I took my new little personalised baby cardigan business to a Christmas fayre tonight in a local town square. It sounds like something out of a film the way they have this old-fashioned village get together but bizarrely they do this outside every year, even pre-covid. Before we got there I did think why is it outside in almost December?! Nevertheless, I set up my stall as the rain lashed down and soaked my cardigans. Luckily I had brought a gazebo so was partially sheltered, unlike some of the stands. I was geared up for making 10+ sales, haven’t been doing great on Etsy/Instagram yet (only started this week) but thought maybe when people see them in front of them I’ll suddenly sell so many I won’t be able to keep up 🤷🏼‍♀️ I stayed up til 1am last night making signs/labels etc and spent most of the day printing. Even sent Freddie to my mum’s for hours so I could do it all. Anyway..

How wrong was I? 😂 an hour to set up and two hours standing literally shivering head to toe (don’t think I’ve ever been that cold in my life).. and how many orders did I get? Not a single one 🙈 My fingers wouldn’t even work at the end, they’d got to that level of cold. From about an hour into it I had realised I wasn’t going to get a single sale and I was wasting my time even waiting til the end but I had no choice because that was when my lift was coming back 😂 I even went and queued for a hot chocolate at one point just to kill some time and get a tiny bit of heat in the shop, utterly tragic. Could of cried on the way home at what a huge waste of time and effort it had been but picked myself back up, set up a Facebook page etc to promote it tomorrow and I’ll try again. Got in the bath when I got in and it was a normal temperature but felt like it was scalding hot due to how absolutely freezing I was. So yeah, great night all round, I’ll certainly not be rushing back to a Christmas fayre 😂😭

@Magik01 @biscuitcat I definitely am with you ladies and my boobs become irregular when they're full. Obviously there is one large lump but they're all bumpy.

I agree on the nappy brand thing, I know plenty of mums who just pick up whatever nappies are in the shop they're in and don't suffer with it!
On stupid advice from HVs mine told me on Wednesday that it's okay if I'm struggling with EBF as its nearly time to wean which will take the brunt off the feeding as she'll be eating food ... eh?? 🙄

Well the pampers failed. After ten hours he was absolutely soaked through. He had fallen back asleep so obviously wasn't bothered by it but obviously I couldn't leave him like that so did a full outfit change including sleeping bag which of course woke him up.

@sarah13xx aw that sounds like a lovely idea! Don't be put off your first go! Most of the time people don't make successes of these things on the very first market. Please do feel free to share your shop etc here. I should really be starting mine soon to allow for months of nothing where it doesn't matter, so I know whether to fold or keep open! It's the kind of thing where I wouldn't work unless I had orders so I guess it could just sit on the internet waiting for a customer 😂

@Daffodil21 that’s kind of my plan, so that by the summer I’m well up and running and could maybe work one less day or something if it went well! You do need these things to be on the internet for a while before people will buy into them too

@sarah13xx absolutely. I'm doing a freebie for my friend this weekend so hopefully that will get my bum in gear a bit! She's not paying me (I wouldn't dream of charging her) but I guess she's asked me which is a step in the right direction..!

On the nappy front, the only disposables we use are sainsburys own brand now. We picked them up when away for a few nights and DD was in it for 12 hours over night (we forgot to change thinking she was in a reusable) and although it was full when she woke she was dry and it didn’t leak and didn’t seem to irritate her. They feel thin but held up and she wees a lot!

Ohhh how exciting @sarah13xx please do feel free to share, I’d love to support you.

I have no idea what I can do to try and build a little business as I’m not creative in the slightest but sooo want to do something to eventually leave the corporate world!

Finally being referred for her tongue tie and to a dietician, nothing seems to be working for her reflux and I’ve been researching and i think it’s the tongue tie causing excess air in take no matter how I feed her, prepare the bottle, hold her for 30 mins afterwards etc. each feed takes over an hour, with screaming in between burping. Followed by a good 30 mins of hiccoughs. She often wakes with hiccoughs and screams when passing wind, her nappies are one extreme to the other and as you can tell I’m exhausted by it!

Is anybody hitting the Black Friday sales for things they’ve seen for Xmas, we’re getting a jumperoo.

Thinking ahead about weaning, do I need a baby steamer / blender thing or is that a gimic and any old blender would do?

I have a normal blender and a small Braun food processor that can be used for making smaller portions if needed that I'm planning to use @Fran919. I don't have the space for more stuff that does the same thing 😂! I bought smaller containers for storing his food though, our usual tupperware would be too big I think. I am minded to try BLW anyway though, so might not end up blending all that much for him. I want to see what his preferences are first before buying anything else.

I feel exactly the same as you about the corporate world, but I also know I won't make as much money elsewhere and I want to save up for Leo's future and of course give him opportunities to do extracurricular/fun activities that may or may not cost a lot, I just don't know yet. I'm torn between these things and part of me thinks to keep going now at my highest earning power and then wind down when I'm older, with a smaller mortgage and really can't be bothered anymore. But it's not straightforward.

@sarah13xx Oh bless you, well done! I think Insta and Etsy/Not on the High Street are the way forward - thinking about how I buy/find these things. Markets can be tricky - on one hand you'd think maybe grandparents would be picking up presents for grandkids, but that's probably quite limited. IMO unless it's half term or right before Christmas, it would likely be the wrong demographic to make many sales. So don't give up - I am sure it will pick up once you target the right audience through the right channels. xx

Btw, Leo slept 13 hours straight and had a temp of 38.5C after his 16 week jabs...these were the worst of them all, by a mile. xx

Thanks @PurplePansy05 and @BertieBotts, it's helpful perspective and I know this is just one study. I think I sometimes get a little too in my own head worrying (sitting alone for hours breastfeeding for instance!) I think calpol in moderation should be fine anyway, and of course having a neurodiverse child is always a possibility. I think I tend to be nervous about medicine having had to take a lot of it in my life due to Crohns, often with unknown side effects but obviously Calpol is pretty safe or as you say this link would be much more apparent.

This was great when I was weaning last time if you plan to do spoon feeding/mashed normal food. You can take a bit of whatever you're feeding everyone else, or a small amount of potatoes/veg/fruit/whatever and mash it up in there. I found it good for making a mini portion of mashed potatoes with formula/bmilk and no salt, while I put loads of butter and salt into our ones. Then either feed straight from the bowl or transfer to another bowl.
www.amazon.co.uk/Annabel-Karmel-NUK-Baby-Masher/dp/B005697YP4/?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

I wouldn't bother with a tiny steamer, it makes more sense to get something that can handle enough food for a whole family meal. We have a rice cooker/steamer combo which we use quite a lot. A stick blender is another cheap but useful weaning accessory - you can use it to make soups and sauces as well as baby food.

@Daffodil21 that's annoying. DS2 was the king of nappy leaks. Once you're in size 4 you can get 4+ as the + ones are more absorbent (but bulkier). Try a size up as well. And again I find pampers premium hold a bit more than baby dry.

@BertieBotts I'm not sure the premium ones are available in the UK atm? I did look but I couldn't find them. Maybe I didn't look hard enough! Tbf he has a big feed just before bed and another big feed in the night so it's a lot of liquid to hold. It was fine after about 7/8 hours, as the Aldi premium ones are, but just could hack after the middle of the night feed unfortunately!

The weather has really turned here today. Huge gusts of wind (red alert now in place) and even some snow earlier. I was supposed to be going on a group walk this morning, followed by coffee and then meeting my friend this afternoon but couldn't do any of those things. I guess this is just one of many days to come like this! I did manage to get a couple of paint coats on the dining room coving today though while Elliot was asleep (second coat not timed quite so well!) which I'm pleased about as we have carpet fitters coming on Monday and lots of painting to do beforehand, and won't have any of the morning to do it as I am looking after my friend's toddler as well, while DH is at work. I'm sort of hoping the weather is too bad for them to get her here 😀

Hope everyone has has a good day, and the recently vaccinated babies are feeling better x

These? Maybe they are not as popular so hard to find in stores. We don't have many brands/options here so these are easy to find.

www.amazon.co.uk/Pampers-Premium-Protection-Approved-Foundation/dp/B01BDK66GC/?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

The Pampers Harmonie have the same thing but are more expensive. I only had a sample of those.

@BertieBotts ah thanks. I didn't look on Amazon because I was too impatient and was hoping to ditch the over night changed last night. Those are showing at least 3rd dec for delivery!

@Daffodil21 we have found all nappies hard to find here atm bar the own brand ones so we order on Amazon. I thought it was just a ni thing but maybe a UK issue

Maybe a stock issue - perhaps they are made in EU?

Does anyone use biodegradable nappies? I’m getting guilt about how many DS gets through and he is not a fan of cloth ones

I read that the biodegradeable ones are a waste of money as they will never biodegrade in landfill conditions anyway - only if you compost them.

You could always try elimination communication :o :o :o

(It does work for some people but I tried it with DS1 and it was not the revelation I had hoped for...)

Do babies moan when they start teething? It's not a massively unhappy moan, but he won't shut up today. He slept loads after his jabs, no more fever thankfully, but he's been moaning all day when awake. It's a bit as if he was about to cry, but he's not really upset? He also started biting my nipples during bf towards the end, or it feels this way. I can suddenly feel his jaws whereas before it was all very gentle. Drool everywhere, fingers and teethers in his mouth and his head feels slightly warm. Teething, right? xx

Yeah possibly. Try a teething ring that's been kept in the fridge, they like that.

I don't actually think we're out of the 4 month leap yet...I don't know anymore. He's been terrible since 16 wk jabs, he has signs of teething, he's whining non stop and he doesn't want to nap. Woke up 4 times last night too. He's become awful to look after and I feel like I want to throw myself through the patio door. What has happened to my child 😭 xx

Does anyone know if there's a maxi cosi branded safe head support for their car seats ?? DD has outgrown the newborn wedge as it makes her slump down so we've had to remove it but now her head doesn't have any support ☹️