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

@Daffodil21 I totally get what you mean, these types are best avoided! xx

@PurplePansy05 thanks, yeah definitely. Usually it would eat away at me inside but I wouldn’t say anything at the time. Yesterday I thought no, they’re being so cheeky doing that. I would never go into my friends house who has a baby and start picking her up out her bed then when asked not to say she wanted to see me 😑 I was so angry, then even more so at 3am listening to him struggling to get back to sleep because his naps had all been off. It’s just so so selfish. I still feel like I couldn’t go more assertive than that but they were being more assertive than me so I don’t see why I shouldn’t be! Still angry thinking about it 🙈 it’s the total know-it-all attitude they have like ‘he’ll be fine’.. eh no I’ve asked you not to do it so why are you still continuing. I’m desperate to get a comment in next time I see them about how I was up half the night with him 😂

Some people are so cheeky it’s unreal, involving themselves in other peoples business. I need to take a leaf out of your book 😂

@sarah13xx I think they behaved selfishly and disrespected you. The point isn't whether the baby is going to be fine, ultimately being awake for longer as a one off won't cause lasting harm of course, they'r right. The issue is they're disrespecting you as a mother, your no means no. No one knows your baby better than you do and no one else deals with the consequences of him being overtired and then you being exhausted and having to care for him. They get to go to their lovely, tidy, quiet home for a good night sleep and you deal with the shit. I'm angry for you! 😅🤣 xx

@Fran919 we have been having the same re sleep.. last night was a bit better so I'm hoping it's returning to normal?!
My fil tested positive on a lft yesterday 😫 we had gone to their holiday house on Friday morning and returned Saturday afternoon as they were having friends over. He and Mil did a lft on Friday before their friends arrived as did all their friends and were negative then. Him and mil were out all day Saturday so only returned last Saturday evening, ds was already in bed and dd and I went to bed about 30 mins after they got home. He tested upstairs yesterday morning then stayed upstairs before going for his pcr test to confirm and then on to isolate by himself in the holiday house so I am really hoping none of us get it! Rest of us did test negative on a quick test after his positive yesterday so here hoping.
The never ending comments happen constantly here ... why don't you heat bottle in the microwave, why would you put baby in a bouncy chair, why can't she have a duvet, why don't you give her oats, why won't she go for a nap now, why don't you teach her to take a dummy - you just need to force her to keep it in her mouth for 30mins then she will know it. - I say those questions as why's but really it's said more like a criticism

Belatedly joining the cradle cap discussion: is it bad for them or uncomfortable for them? DS has it quite bad but I’m loathe to try to lift it or anything in case it bleeds or hurts him.

@RandomCatGenerator I don't think you're meant to lift it or peel it off, I used Dentinox and a silicone baby hairbrush (more like a mitten, from Amazon) when he was having a bath and it worked a treat. I'm not sure if it's going to cause them any issues, think it might disappear at some point, but I removed it because it didn't look great, smelled a bit odd and I wasn't quite sure if his hair follicles were blocked underneath or not. Probably overthought it tbh 🤣 xx

It doesn't hurt them. I do pick the dead bits off but you shouldn't really as it can irritate the skin if you do that. But it's fine to brush them off with a silicone brush or baby hairbrush.

Main issue with it is it smells and doesn't look very nice.

Sorry to those dealing with constant criticism, that must be draining!

And sending thoughts to Ready2020 and family.

I've been doing Christmas shopping today. Alex now has a little glowy night time owl (by proxy from MIL), a giraffe towel (Primark), some trousers with fruits on (H&M) and I've got him some weaning spoons and a teething ring :o

But I've really overshopped for my 3yo he has 8 presents now which seems like enough. I think I will re-allocate some of them to MIL and my dad who sent money to buy them stuff.

@Smurf123 I’ve removed the dummy completely today so i think I’ll see every hour if not more but hopefully will benefit in the long run, will shall see.
Hope you don’t catch it and FIL recovers quickly.

@RandomCatGenerator I hope not, literally nothing works / worked for DD so we’ve just left it and it’s begun to fall away by itself.

I know the comments aren’t meant in a malacious way and I really like them and my own family but things have changed in the 30+ years, no she doesn’t need a big thick coat on for the car nor a hat for that matter…

My son actually actively pulls his hat off in the car and puts it in his mouth or worse, pulls it over his face. I had to pull up once because I saw in the mirror he had it all over his face somehow xx

Re Christmas, is anyone doing a stocking for the baby? I bought personalised family stockings and now realised I don't have anything small enough to fill Leo's 😅 individual toys?? xx

@PurplePansy05 oh wow, that must have been quite scary, never thought of that but imagine if you were on a motorway and couldn’t pull up?

Yes, we’ve gone personalised with Mummy, Daddy and DD. Me and DH have each given a limit of £10 to buy it for DD and then £15 to fill each others. I just bought some bits for the bath, rubber ducks / bath book etc. just a little token really plus items that will come in handy / don’t have yet.
Have you bought any weaning items yet? Could buy some spoons etc just to fill it out but something you may need rather than something for the sake of it.

Great shout there, thanks @Fran919! He'll get the spoons, wrapped individually 🤣 Re hats I wasn't travelling far luckily, but he surprised me as he never normally does this, only in the car seat. Think it must have risen up and become uncomfortable for him, and loose enough for him to take it off 🤦🏼‍♀️ never even thought about this before xx

So sorry to hear this ready2020, thinking of you xx

@Smurf123 sorry you mentioned before about your month abroad and I never replied! I like my in laws but a month with them, over Christmas, would drive me a bit mad, plus I’d want to be with my family! Hope it’s better than you think and you all avoid covid! Are you all jabbed?

Stockings- we’ve got stacking cups, weaning stuff, a hat, new bibs and a baby grow squished in his.

How often is everyone cleaning toys? Everything’s in his mouth these days and I don’t want to OTT clean (as I’d probably have a tendency to do!) but I feel a bit funny every time he eats a toy! Ones he’s eating daily (the Lamaze ones!) plus his toy car is getting a hand wash daily, stuffed toys/playmats weekly, does that sound about right?

@PurplePansy05 my aim was to make stockings for all three of us before Christmas - I'm not sure that will happen though!!! Think I was a bit ambitious... pressies wise, the jumperoo won't fit in 😂 but the books will hopefully

@Inmypjsagain I don't think I've ever cleaned his toys! He even shares some of the dog's ones (and the dog sleeps on his playmat!) and I've bought one which I'm intending that the cat will also enjoy 😳 he spends so much of his days being licked by dogs that I'm hoping unwashed toys won't make too much of a difference...

@Inmypjsagain 1 week down 3 to go (not that I'm counting) 😂
It's going ok so far except his dad testing positive so now we have to do pcr tests tomorrow Thursday and Saturday. We are all doubly jabbed except for ds and dd as they are too young. Though it'll be 6 months since my second on 20th December but I wasn't eligible for booster yet before we left. Ofc I could have gotten it yesterday if we were still at home.
Dh forgot the pram cover so had to spend £40 on a new one of them 😬 it's raining constantly and incredibly windy . Their prams here are huge things so they don't have any generic universal covers that fit our little buggy. And Amazon wouldn't deliver for 10 days
I know my brother has bought dd a stocking as her Christmas present but all I have to put in it is a book. Again presents are done differently here. On the evening of the 24th and everyone takes turns to chose one from under the tree and they get opened one at a time so with so many of us ds won't notice what dd does or doesn't get, I think I'll keep his stocking for him to open on the 25th I'm not sure. His main Santa gift is at home also as too big to pack (some second hand hot wheels city things)

Toys get a brief wash down here except the matchstick monkey which gets chucked into a cup of boiling water every now and then.
Ds toys get a spray with dettol aerosol every now and then at home. If he's been ill with a vomiting bug or something I might Milton high touch ones but generally I just get him to take a few toys to play with in the bath 🙈

I read the instructions re toys, so Sophie the girafe gets a wipe over with a damp soapy sponge and then dry few times a day (he chews it a lot). Same with his teether. The rest like Lamaze toys or his toy arch get an occasional wipe with Milton wipes. I probably should clean them more often but have no time. I've never washed soft toys yet. He rarely plays with them, do you all wash them regularly and how?

I wipe his hands several times a day with wet wipes because he touches everything now and they go straight into his mouth. With pets around it's a must here xx

@biscuitcat yip when Freddie goes to bed the dog is allowed through to the living room (he doesn’t get through during the day when he’s on the play mat) so he’s so excited to see his toys every time 🤦🏼‍♀️😂 It’s a constant battle telling him to leave them!

@PurplePansy05 @RandomCatGenerator I’m in this boat still too. I think that’s been about 2 months I’ve been attempting and failing to get rid of it. I need to get one of these glove things to try!

@Daffodil21 I went to reply to you earlier, was half way through a message and you know, usual story, the door went, dog barked, baby woke up etc 😂 so I’ll try again.. that’s good your inlaws are respectful! It’s always better them being like that and gradually becoming more comfortable over time than being like mine. It’s not as if mine see him so much that they’re very familiar with him or our routines. They visit once every month roughly and I’m starting to dread it more every time I know they’re coming 😑 We asked if they were coming for Christmas Day to see him (we’re going to my mums at night but during the day we asked), they said they won’t be. They stay an hour away so for us to trail him down there and back then also have the other inlaws to visit then get ready to go to my mums will be a lot 🤦🏼‍♀️ They said we could go there on Boxing Day but I just thought for their grandchild’s first Christmas they would have been desperate to see him 🤔 That’s good you’re enjoying doing a bit of work again! It sounds really promising, I’m sure it will go well! Yeah my cardigans are doing great thanks, I’m amazed! I think I’ve made nearly £1000 this month 😯 which is great given its not a full time job and just a wee extra on top of smp! I actually don’t know how I would survive, especially Christmas, without it! How are you supposed to live off smp? It’s baffling 🙈

@biscuitcat Well, DS is covered in pet fur here, every single babygrow, his bouncer etc. I am fighting a losing battle and sometimes give up tbh. I keep fooling myself that cleaning his hands is a great effort but seriously, my cat came up to him today whilst bf and licked his head. I think he's highly unlikely to have any allergies on a bright side 😆 xx

We had the HV today and I now take everything she says with a pinch of salt so I feel like I’m having to check and double check all the advice she gave me about weaning 🤣 She sometimes sounds knowledgeable but then I think of all the times she’s told me the extremely old fashioned version of the advice before 🙄 I was kind of blocking out the weaning chat when people were being organised on here a few weeks ago because I was telling myself it was ages away. I’m now thinking it’s only January probably. I’ve bought the tommee tippee machine that steams and blends food so I feel like I’ve made a start 🙈 My main issue is I’m a terrible eater, so fussy and a vegetarian and I hate that I’m like that. I was watching videos about weaning there on Emma Hubbard’s channel (don’t know if anyone watches her) but she was saying never to force them to finish something or they’ll develop anxieties around food. I think that might be what happened with me! My dad was always adamant I’d finish my dinner, beyond the kind of normal level of it I think. He’d shout etc telling me to eat it. I vividly remember being given a breaded chicken thing from marks and Spencer’s and just thinking if I could cut it up into tiny tiny pieces they wouldn’t notice I hadn’t ate it 😂 The fact this still sticks out in my mind shows I obviously had no other way out of eating it. I eventually saw on tv about being a vegetarian so decided that sounded like a good idea since it ruled out an entire food group they could make me eat. I wasn’t anorexic or anything like that, I loved some food, I just hated being forced to eat my dinner.

So I’m still a vegetarian (now due to the animals rather than my dad 😂) and don’t eat particularly healthy or varied meals but I’m thinking weaning could be a good time to retrain myself as well so I can make things for us all.

Does anyone have any book recommendations? The two I was thinking were what mummy makes and wean in 15. I need like an idiot-proof guide on how to do this 🙈 thanks

@PurplePansy05 my sister's dog frequently tries to stick his tongue into Rowan's mouth!! (I do stop this!) So another one here who hopefully won't have allergies 😂

@sarah13xx I'm also hoping to use weaning to train myself out of fussy eating - I'm much better than I was a few years ago, but am still not wild on some veggies and I don't want to set a bad example as he grows. I quite like kids.eat.in.color on Instagram for nice, easy to follow advice. I'm also doing a weaning course in January, not so much because I think I'll need it but because the lady who runs it also did my baby massage and I love her!

@biscuitcat tbh I think that’s really good for him! He shares toys with my parent’s dogs but my mum is a bit like me, the dog bed is washed weekly, as are the toys and blankets so I don’t get too twitchy 😂 they’re dogs that don’t shed which is good as I think we’d go mad otherwise!

@Smurf123 we’ll countdown with you!! And in a week you’re half way done…!!! Really hope you don’t get covid, how stressful on top of all the travelling. So typical about the booster! Is your husband happy to be home?!? And as for having comments, I don’t know how you and @sarah13xx put up with it! I’m lucky no one has said anything to me yet… well except my MiL saying he drinks his milk too quick but there’s not much I can do about that! Take the bottle away and he wails 😂 you’re clearly all more patient than me!

Ah the dettol spray sounds good! @PurplePansy05 good know Sophie needs a lot of cleaning, as he’s got that for Christmas (how’s Leo mouth doing? Hope no pain!) for Lamaze toys I spray have a dettol laundry detergent, put that in hot water with a flannel and rub the flannel all over- I was really dubious this would work but the dangly toys from the playmat made the water a bit murky the first time I cleaned them. I sort of dunk some of the toys too but I don’t want them saturated. Soft toys that aren’t hand wash I put in a pillowcase at 40degrees- I wasn’t sure what the done thing with them was but I washed them when we got them, bit like the clothes. Any plasticy things, which is only a 2 cars atm go in a cold water steriliser. The toy bar gets anti bacd. High chair ditto. Playmats go in the washing machines too. I’m wondering if I should steam anything? I love the steamer and have become a bit obsessed with steaming the pram wheels 😬😬😬 (but I’m already weird with the pram wheels, we have carpets as we’re in a flat so I have shower caps covering them all 😬😬😬) we’ve got wooden toys that I’m wiping with anti bac but I find them hard to clean! I feel like maybe I can clean them all a bit less? I’m just not sure what’s normal 🙈🙈🙈

Also my baby’s hands always seem so gross, always in his mouth being slobbered on but they always get fluff on them?! Where is this coming from?!!!

We’re all in bed and baby is farting away next to me! He is so windy!!!!

@sarah13xx I follow feedeatspeak on Instagram and now my recommended page is all baby meals!