Oct 07 - this little piggy stayed at home...

[Dalrymps]

Hey guys sorry for the sh*t title, if there's already been a new thread set up please direct me there???

Oh and Inzi I would echo everyone else that if Jane is happy and settled then she is getting enough and is probably just finding the weight she should be. Try not to worry honey x

And MrsFish thinking of you honey - tough anniversaries like this especially when full of hormones and sleeplessness! Big hug x

Hi all, glad you have calmed down a bit regarding Jane, you have had lots of good advice here so I hope you are feeling better about it all.

Muppet - your day sounds nice along with last night. Mmmmm bread and butter pudding one of my faves

Chocolate - I'm feeling a little better today thanks. Glad you had a better night with Rebecca, I still wouldn't be able to cope with that little sleep though, I don't know how you manage.

Polar - what a hectic day!

I had friends round this morning which was nice, I then decided to give Ben a feed this afternoon with the Cow and \Gate follow on milk that I had bought to give him the last feed with to help him sleep longer... it didn't agree with him last week.. it didn't agree with him this afternoon either, since his feed at 3.45 until 6pm I had non- stop crying and screaming I felt so useless it is so alien to me all that crying I really don;t know how any of you cope with it I feel totally stressed and frazzled after only 2 hours. Luckily he has gone to sleep now though after copius amounts of Infacol and gripe water. I have had half a bottle of wine and started my period again, only 3 weeks after the last one typical that I have an appt tomorrow to have my coil checked, will have to change it now.

Floria and Mrs F ? hugs for your situations
Missbumpy ? writing a letter sounds a good plan
J20 ? I need to get a smear too, but am putting it off cos I hate them! You?d think I?d be used to all the poking around after having a baby?.
Inzi ? hope you are feeling a bit less stressed about Jane?s weight now.
Polar ? glad to hear good things about Zoe (love that name btw, was my choice if we had a girl)
Choc ? keeping fingers crossed for you on sleep front
Muppet ? need your bread and butter pudding recipe as DH loves the stuff and we always have left over bread

Today we have had coffee in town with work friend, and caught up on all the gossip. Then went to BabyBounce rhymes and singing session at the library, which Olly seemed to enjoy (and its free, so will be going there again!), followed by more coffee with some mums from the group. Off to see a friend who?s 38 weeks pregnant tomorrow ? anyone remember those days??

See you all soon!

Muppet - ugh at H's snot thing! Hope it gets cleared up ok, and that your bits get sorted out!

Inzi - glad that feeding is sorted out - it's such a relief when that happens isn't it? Try not to worry too much about the weight thing - Jane's only just sorted out with her feeding so it will take a while to kick in properly. Anya hardly put on weight when she'd had her first good week of feeding but she's put on a reasonable amount since then. Give it another week and see how she is then.

Clu - glad you had a good time swimming. Must start that with dd soon.

LES - at the chocolate pudding.

Stefka - about your sleep thing - I don't know why it only happens with Dareh at night but babies do surface slightly about 5-10 minutes after they go to sleep (according to baby whisperer) - Anya jerks her arms at about this time. Maybe Dareh then can't get himself back to sleep on his own if he's used to going to sleep with a boob so he wakes properly. I've found with Anya it's easier to change daytime sleeping habits first, rather than nighttime ones, so maybe take him off the boob just before he falls asleep for daytime naps until he learns to fall asleep by himself. Then hopefully he will be able to do that at night too if he wakes slightly.

Missbumby - yes about the hair thing! Alarming isn't it? Glad it's normal - I wasn't sure

Polar - glad Zoe is ok. She must have been very well behaved - Anya would have been purple with rage at all the dressing/undressing

Anya has her MRI scan this afternoon - I've been very good and not put her in clothes with metal poppers (so no vest then - can just imagine her suspended by her crotch from the ceiling of the scanner ). Do hope they don't make us undress her otherwise she'll never sleep. The plan is to go early and feed her there then hopefully she will sleep. If not I suppose they have the option of sedating her.

Anya's suddenly decided she's quite happy to go for 4 hours between feeds - we're not quite in a routine yet though as I think her naps have gone a bit haywire the last couple of days and she's started getting really angry when she's tired - she doesn't just cry now, she gets in a full blown rage. Not looking forward to her toddler tantrums!

hello everyone - how are we all? quick question. I'm thinking about getting the cot sorted for madeleine this weeekend. Those who already have LO's, do you need to use a new mattress or is it ok to use DS's?? Might just get a new one for her anyway, but just thought I'd check.

we had a bad bad night - up feeding every hour and a half, on the button. What is it with babies' internal clocks?!

Stefka - I'm not presuming I have the answer, but it sounds like Dareh is maybe missing his sleep window and then relying on feeding to get back into it. I struggled with this with DS - would thoroughly recommend baby whisperer - check out their website. very useful info on getting them to sleep and when. that may help.

Inzi - hope you're ok and not still so worried - we all have to remember that babies are individuals and develop at alarmingly different rates! I had all kinds of grief from HV's with DS cause he wasn't putting on enough weight for their liking., But I'm glad I stuck to my guns - you will instinctively know if she isn't thriving and similarly, you'll know when she is.

hope everyone else is ok - have a good afternoon

alicet
hi, thanks for your lovely message on our Aug ante-natal thread. I've been trying to work out how to "Cat" you but haven't managed it yet! will a purr on here be ok?
If you still have any bras i'd be very interested please

Anyasmum hope Anya's scan goes OK today x

Nellie I got a new cot as Sam wouldn't have grown out of it before Adam needed to be in it. So had a new mattress. Having said that Sam slept in Adams cot for 3-4 months anyway as his cotbed doesn'ty have drop sides so I couldn't get him in and out of it once I got beyond about 24 weeks pregnant!!! So they have both used the same mattresses. And I don't think I would have bothered getting a new one if I hadn't done this either - I know it's recommended but I can't really see it makes any difference!

Adam didn't repeat his previous good nights last night but we had put him in the big cot rather than moses basket for the first time so I'm not worried - I think (hope) that as he's done it before he'll do it again once he gets used to this!

I am using the same mattress for Ben as I did for Sam.

Ah, so proud of my beautiful baby . Just got back from hospital. We got there early, fed her in the waiting room, and she was falling asleep just as they called us in . They gave us a few minutes to make sure she was properly asleep while they went through some forms with us - she stirred slightly when I put her on the scanner but settled back down with her dummy. I stayed with her while she was in the machine - had my hand inside it resting on her so I could tell if she woke, and had a buzzer to press if she did. Her feet twitched when the machine switched on (it's bl**dy loud!) but I waited a minute or two until her arm moved before pressing the buzzer. They brought her out and she was wide awake and grinning . The radiologist said "that's a good sign - healthy alert babies shouldn't be able to sleep through an MRI". She didn't cry once from start to finish. So proud! We'll get another appointment in a month or so for it to be done under sedation.

I can see why they want to try the sleep option first, but it does make you wonder about the use of NHS resources...

Meet up update!

Ladies I have sent out some emails about the various meetups I am involved in organising. P{lease excuse me if I have left anyone out - I plead babybrain!

Ledbury - ejt, muppet and apricott were interested. Apricott I don't have your email but I've asked ejt to forward the mail to you.

Berwick - inzi, stefka, choc and dalrymps were interested - inzi and dal get in touch with your email addys so i can keep you in the loop!

York - MrsFish, J20, Floria, Anyasmum and Choc - have mailed you all except Floria - again I need your email address.

I'm on alicetownend at doctors dot org dot uk. Anyone else who is up for it give me a shout too! x

Hi all,
Had a busy in out in out day and poor Henry was in and out of his car seat so many times he was desperate for a real nap when we got home!

He slept till 7.15 this morning!!
Went to baby massage and it was great. There were five ladies and 6 babies (twins who looked nothing like each other -pretty stange!) Henry wanted food as soon as we started and then did the most enormous poo (with arrrr, sound effects)
Very good though, could see me doing that...

well, on own tonight so just off to put Oliver (devil child) to bed and bottle/boob Henry
Speak later
x

Hi all,

I hope everyone is well.

I would appreciate your advice on this please

Hi all

Anyasmum - Anya did so well! You must be a proud mummy.

Inzi - sorry but you made me laugh with the massage story. And Muppet with Henry's noisy poo!!! I thought Rebecca was a real convert as we began on Tuesday and that night she really liked it, but yesterday and today she has cried through the massage so I stopped.

Winnie, no suggestions other than that Rebecca does this - or rather she scratches me - I tend to hold her hand firmly when she does that, and imprison the other arm underneath her (if you see what I mean).

Last night we didnt have as good a night as the previous night but nothing like as crap as usual so I'm pleased, all told. We had a lazy day today apart from a walk around the local shops this afternoon - M and S, Next, Mothercare etc. Tomorrow I'm taking her into town to meet DH and a friend for lunch and then am shopping - for a coat with a hood or something to stop me getting soaked on my pram walks in this dismal weather. Any ideas where I should look??

She is still bottle refusing which is a bit of a PITA... any suggestions??

Hope everyone's okay!

Choc Royal Quays is a bit of a hole I find but I got my coat with a hood from there and it's been a godsend. I also bought a pac a mac type thing from ebay because I can keep it in the bottom of my pram for when it rains unexpectedly or if I don't necessarily want to wear a rain coat.

Just a quick note to say hi - had one of those days. Just skimmed the posts I'm afraid but I will go to the library and try and get this book you mention. I do think you are on to something with this sleep window thing - he gets over tired and then yes wakes up after about ten minutes or so. Hopefully they have the book in the library as no cash to buy at the moment.

Anyway touch wood he seems to have gone to sleep finally (five hours again - he's like clockwork!) so I better go to bed too.

Morning all [yawn] Well I saw the HV again yesterday, Ben is now 16 pound 15 ounces and on the 91st percentile for height and weight. He is now wearing 6-9 month babygros but there isn't much room left in them I have yet another cream for his skin, the HV spoke to the childrens dermatologist at the hospital who recommended liquid paraffin so we'll see how that goes. I am to put in on 5 times a day and if it is no better after a week she is going to make an appt for me to take him to see the dermatologist. The Doctor said it WAS ezcema on his arms and legs and very dry skin everywhere else. She doesn't seem to think its a link with formula, but hopefully because he has had it since a baby she reckons he will slowly grow out of it. I so hope so Now he is getting older and knows his hands he has started to try and itch his legs, and he is thrashing about all the while which I think is his way of scratching himself too. He was up at 3am this morning which is very unusual, tried settling him for an hour which didn't work, so gave him a feed, and slathered him up in cream again as he was thrashing around like a loon.

Luckily he has gone back to sleep, will need to wake him up soon though as need to take Sam to nursery in an hour. Not that I want to leave the house in this horrible rain, and I have so much to do today too, we are going to get very wet

Sorry about the me me me post, I ought to go and get dressed but I'm finding it very difficult to wake up this morning.

Stefka - just to warn you the baby whisperer book is quite irritating to read - at least that's what I found. She's got a very patronising writing style and is very waffly (makes the book far too long), plus she's one of these 'if you don't do it my way you're doing it wrong' people. I believe she's got some very strong opinions on the breast/bottle debate too, but I didn't even bother reading that bit. My advice would be to read the first few chapters on the types of babies and the EASY routine, and then just pick from the rest of the book the bits you think will be useful. And take her style with a pinch of salt . I did find it very useful - especially when it comes to sleeping patterns. I now find the website more helpful - there's far more on it than is in the book and there's lots of discussion topics. If you can't find the book at the library, let me know and you can have my copy for the price of the postage - although that's probably about the same cost as the book itself?!

MrsFish - wow at Ben's size! Hope the paraffin works.

stenka - I was reading a sleep article and thought of you, it was saying that when the baby falls asleep latched on, then wakes up it gets a fright because it is no longer in your arms. Perhaps you could wrap a blanket round you or something so that your scent is in the cot with him. It was an older baby and there answer was the parent sitting by the cot and susshing them but that is harder with our age. Just a thought to add to all the great suggestions.

That makes sense too - I did a bit of sitting by the crib last night. He didn't go to sleep but he didn't cry either he just chatted away. I did wonder at that point if he even wanted to go to sleep at all! I started putting him to bed at six last night and he went eventually at 11. He did take a couple of wee naps in that time though.

Anyasmum - you know I think most baby books are kind of annoying! I will try to get to the library today and see if they have it. I will google the website though as from what you say it might be better.

Ben is on the 91st centile? Wow. Dareh is only on the 25th. Mind you I am pretty small myself - I hope I haven't cursed him to a life of being the smallest boy in class though.

Stefka - Try not to worry about percentiles to much. Ollie was born on the 75th dropped from 12 weeks and settled under the 25th. Henry was born on the 91st and is following the line perfectly and is a 'solid' fat boy to say the least. Ollie has grown up to be a string bean, I am small -5" 2 ish and size 8-10 (usually!)1 of my brothers is 6" 6 and a string bean whilst the other is broad and just under 6 foot. My husband is also broad. Have a look at your family...what build are they?
I think the main things to take notice of is are they eating/weeing/pooing/growing/have energy/meeting milstones/gaining weight?

If yes, you're doing a fab job

Mrs Fish -Great news on Ben's weight, good that his skin problem is being sorted, hope he improves soon! I also posted the other day on finding it difficult to get out of bed in the mornings. Henry sleeps through and now so do I for 10 ish to 6-7, far more sleep than I've had in months yet I feel awful in the mornings. Thinking of getting one of those light alarm clock things that wakes you up gradually with increasing light. I do find I'm better once the daylight is better. Roll on Summer!

Oh, re the baby books I think it depends on what frame of mind you read them in! I was desperate with Ollie -1st baby, had no idea what to do with a baby, and was down so I grasped it with both hands as if this were to be the answer to my prayers. But I have now realised that you read them, try some of the ideas, ask others for advice and eventually find your way. I got a little too concerned with the books and the way they contraticted each other, I just wanted to find the one thing that make him better. This was where the 'caveman' analogy that Dh came up with. If you didn't have the books, the charts, the advice -what would you do?

Hello ladies!!

Stefka just to thow my 4 eggs into the 'getting dareh to sleep' campaign! Maybe try putting him to bed a little later? 6 is quite early - we start to get Adam ready and do bath / massage / bottle / bed with music. If you say he is just lying there and chatting it might be that it's worth trying a bit later when he's properly tired (although if you leave it too long it can be a nightmare). ALso can't remember if you have a bedtime routine but it's helped with both our boys to do the same thing every night then over time they build up the associations that this means sleeptime! Another thought I had (whihc may have already been mentioned so sorry if so!) is to put the light out. We used to settle Adam with a side light on - then when we tried with a very very dim nightlight only he settled MUCH quicker. One of dh's work colleague had advised this - apparently for babies that struggle to get to sleep and stay asleep it can be helpful as when they wake they have nothing to look at so they go back to sleep again instead!

We have had a manic morning - been shopping, had a coffee while Adam was asleep, been to the cranial osteopath, back home to make 2 curries for the freezer (OK only with jars so I'm not a total domestic goddess ) then off to the airport to wish a fond farewell to one of my best mates who is off to Oz for a year! Now Adam is snoozing.... When he wakes we're off to get Sam from nursery and out for early tea with some girlfriends and their boys. Will be ready to drop by the time the boys are in bed!

Oh and for those with los who are not sleeping / seem stressy I can big up cranial osteopathy! Being a doc I have a healthy dose of scepticism as to whether non mainstream things like this actually work as there is no hard evidence they do. However, lots of people spoke wonders about it so I thought it was worht a try. Can't say for sure that Adam chilling out is due to this as it was a week or so after his last session and could have just been him changing as he got older. But he has become a much calmer, happier and more settled little boy and so it hasn't done any harm. And if it IS the CO causing this I would have paid ten times the £90 odd quid it has cost me. Just a thought....

Ejt just been posting on a thread I started about Adam's cranial osteopathy to update how we got on. And one of the ladies had recommended a Haberman Feeder for reflux - you can get it in Mothercare. Never tried it as Adam settled well on Gaviscon but hers didn't and this bottle worked a dream. OK be a pita to express but even if you just used it for the feeds you did give EBM for might help Mairwen?

Got to go - Adam is calling!