August 2021 Babies - From Santa to Solids, Hohoho!

[PurplePansy05]

Here we go again!

I'd do another delightful intro, alas I've lost count which thread this is now and we all know our LO's names anyway 😁

So instead I will just say, Merry First Christmas together to you and your LOs! 🎄❤🎁

May the sleep regression pass as soon as they see Santa later this week...

...May they love weaning and may our kitchens survive...

...May 2022 be full of blessings for them and for us ❤❤❤

Oldcomers and newcomers welcome, as always! 🥰

@RandomCatGenerator I second the angel are bath seat that Daf is on about, Isaac loves it. I always fill it higher than it says the max is though as I feel the water hardly covers them when it’s only up to there! Isaac loves to splash about and thrash his legs in the water.

My hair is also still falling out. I don’t remember this the first time around but it must have happened?!

Leo hated that Angelcare bath support and indeed I sold it for £5 on Marketplace 😂 We have the Shnuggle bath, suitable till 12m supposedly but I can't see him fitting in it for longer than another couple of months. Can they just sit in a bath once they can hold themselves well? He sits with barely any support now, I'm positive in the next few weeks he won't need any support. xx

We tried baby porridge tonight just a teaspoons worth dd seemed to enjoy it.., mind you she's decided she loves the gaviscon being spoon fed and cries if I take too long between mouthfuls.. mouth opens she reaches for the spoon and pulls it in to her 😂
I had a cheap wee bath seat for ds that just suctioned to the bottom of the bath when he was sitting by himself it just kept him from sliding out slipping up and down the bath. @PurplePansy05we have the shnuggle one too and dd is smaller than ds was but I still don't see her fitting in it at a year old

@Smurf123 that’s a shame, any slight change in routine seems to be able to do it 🤦🏼‍♀️ If she’s been used to the travel cot she’d maybe be fine in it for a bit longer then just do the switch when she goes into her own room. If she was good at settling herself before I’m sure she’ll go back to that soon 🤞🏼

We have that Angel care seat @PurplePansy05 and we had been doing a mix between that and the shnuggle bath in his room. Since he’s been kicking and splashing so much we’ve switched to just using the bath seat but it’s so reclined that unless the water is up so high it’s nearly going over his face then the majority of his body is out the water the whole time. I think there’s a next stage up seat that they can sit in. I’ve seen the ones you sort of screw on to the sides of your bath but I think the angelcare one just sits on its own, really need to hurry up and get one! We’re moving to a flat between here and our new house until it’s ready and I’m soooo glad it has a bath, for me and for him!

@Daffodil21 I’m still in disbelief that it’s actually taken off so well 🙈 I think I tend to think the worst case scenario in every situation anyway and it would maybe have been a bigger risk and commitment if I was at work while trying to cram it into an hour at night but because I’ve been off I thought what have I got to lose?! Having mat leave is so good for that 🎉 There’s no other time you’d just take 9 months or a year off on the off chance your new business went well 😂 I haven’t heard from my work at all and before I even did this I was thinking I’d want to go back 2 days max then do something else for money the rest of the week. I think I’ve been looking for a route out for years and now I’ve sort of started to do something about it mentally I couldn’t go there more than 2 days! I used to come in from work pre-baby, get a cup of tea, go upstairs and literally just lie on my bed in the dark for an hour or two hours every single night to sort of come back round after what a hellish day it had been. I did the same automatically every day and now looking back I can’t imagine having the time (or need) to go and do that every day. I must have been miserable! So at least if it was 2 days it wouldn’t take too long to mentally recover from it each time 🙈 There are so many enjoyable parts of my job too but on the whole it’s just got worse and worse as the years have gone on, even in a relatively nice school now.

That sounds so good! It’s also a great job for doing from home too I’d imagine so you wouldn’t have to waste time commuting or anything. That Etsy shop is totally the up and coming thing too btw! My friend was talking about someone who does pictures of buildings the other day saying she’d got her parents it for an anniversary present. If and when I ever get round to sorting out the world’s most casual wedding I’ll be on to you for the invites 😂

Ok, silly questions time. DD is getting ridiculously too small for her pram bassinet. We've yet to make the move to the buggy as she sleeps so well in the covered pram. It'll happen soon though and I've been looking in the sales at getting another pram suit.

She's always been in the bassinet so been sheltered from the weather. Do I need a waterproof suit for an open buggy? It's a maxi cosy. I've got a fleece lined pocket thing for her legs but as this is more exposed I guess I need more layers etc?

Clearly I meant too big..... not too small.

I bought a weatheproof footmuff instead @Ready2020 as it protects part of the pram as well as baby and it's big enough to fit a blanket underneath if needed. DS has a standard fluffy pramsuit from Next. Never had any issues. The footmuff is waterproof in theory, I'd say more like water resistant, and it protects him from wind too. However, of course if it's really rainy you'd put a rain cover on anyway and if it's ridiculously windy you probably wouldn't be out for long in a first place. I also have a hood size hood over the pram, I'd think MaxiCosi would be generous too considering they even have big hoods over their car seats? No need for an extra pramsuit IMO, you'd have to buy several as she grows so a bit pointless. xx

*good size hood

That's the reason I got rid off the Angelcare seat @sarah13xx, I wasn't overfilling the bath above the level shown because when we last tried it he was quite little and would've submerged, certainly his ears would be in the water all the time. So to me this was useless. He nuch prefers actually sitting up, kicking and splashing anyway and we found Shnuggle great for this actually. Keeps him much warmer too. l though he might need more leg room @Smurf123, did you try the next one up, Shnuggle toddler? Or what did you move to after 12m? xx

We don't use a pram suit, too annoying to put on and off. I have a footmuff for the buggy and I put a little knitted hoodie on him. If it's really cold then I tuck him in with an extra blanket inside the footmuff. He's always toasty warm when I feel him even in freezing weather, I put the Raincover on if the wind seems to bother him as ours has a great hole in the front. Actually no idea where this came from as I swear e didn't have it for DS2! But it's great.

Also it sounds like your job really wasn't right for you, @sarah13xx, I can't imagine coming back home and having to sit in the dark and silence for an hour to recover every day. This doesn't sound like the right fit at all and unachievable with baby now. Good timing with the new business then! Are you also having to move twice then, awaiting renovation to be done? Don't envy you that, moving with a young baby and renovating even if you're not there means hard work. Hope your other half will manage a lot of the house stuff, otherwise you'll be very, very busy! xx

@PurplePansy05 we just moved to something like this one. We got ours on Amazon I think

www.smythstoys.com/uk/en-gb/baby/bathing-and-changing/baby-bath-seats/bébé-confort-swivel-baby-bath-seat/p/149261

I have a wee soft shell suit I got for Sophia while we are away it seems good for extra warmth without being bulky but I'm not sure you can get anything like it here.
It's from these guys similar to this one. It was -15 when we were in Denmark and we only had the small buggy so even with the footmuff and rain cover we needed something.

wheat.eu/collections/thermo-baby/products/thermosuit-harley-thermo-ink-flowers

@sarah13xx I really wish I'd started working on mine earlier so I'd know by now if it was worth persuing, but never mind! Two days a week sounds like a good balance, but only if it doesn't absolutely drain you still. Do you happen to know how much your friend paid? I'm really unsure about how much to charge! Can you PM me if so? Aw absolutely do! I would love to do them for you 💕

Update on the hungry milk btw - no improvement. He actually woke an additional time for a feed last night 🤷‍♀️

Does anyone know of anywhere that does sleepsuits with the hand covers in size 9-12 months? He is squeezing into 6-9 for night time only because they have hand covers and the 9-12 don't. His hands get cold at night but soon he won't fit in anything at all with hand covers 🙈

Oh also on nappies - we were using size 3 Aldi premium, but they don't seem to do size 4 in premium. Does anyone just use the standard size 4s or are they rubbish?

@PurplePansy05 I know, there’s no way I could do it now with a baby! yes we’re just taking the bare minimum and going to a one bedroom flat for hopefully max 6 weeks (we’ll see) while the house gets ripped out and new kitchen/bathrooms etc fitted. We’re taking a few walls down or we would have just gone into the house and lived in one room til it was done 🤦🏼‍♀️ I’m telling myself it’s all doing to be fine but it is very very chaotic just now! He has actually done almost all of it himself though, I feel quite bad! I’ve pretty much just entertained the baby and done my Etsy stuff while he’s packed up the entire house with my dad. Think we’re going to just move out tomorrow then that’s it done so we can clean etc for handing over the keys. All very stressful but hopefully worth it in the end 🙈

@Daffodil21 I was under the impression they do size 4 premium but my local aldi just doesn’t stock them, maybe not 🙄 We’re still using the size 3s but they are really tiny on him now. We bought a few packets of pampers and feel like we spoiled ourselves with them, now the aldi ones don’t seem as good 😂

Wow, 9-12!! I thought he was tall being in 6-9 🙈

I actually don’t know what she paid. Is there any on Etsy you could gauge a price from? You can always start slightly lower and put it up. I’m noticing Etsy takes quite a bit off you in fees etc which is annoying but I feel like it gets people onto your page which might not happen if it was just a website. I’d like to eventually have my Instagram built up with enough followers that I just rely on that and a link on it to my website to save on fees.

I think most people price slightly higher on Etsy im order to balance that out. That way you can keep both going but direct repeat customers to the website to save money :)

Alasdair is in size 3 Aldi premium but I'm using 4+ from thier normal range on Iona. They used to size 4 in premium but they discontinued them so I moved her to thier normal range. I prefer the premium but the normal range is fine too. I was given some pampers but they don't seem any better. They don't have the elastic waistband but seem to held fluids and poo well and she can easily do overnight on one nappy now. She was born 23 May 2020 so 19 months now. I've also tried own brand from Lidl, Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury's. Of them I prefer Aldi then Sainsbury's. She's also using size 4 Sainsbury's nappy pants as started using the potty sometimes now but Aldi only does size 5 nappy pants.

Dd has learnt to roll over from back to tummy this evening and is doing it non stop though she doesn't seem to be able to go from tummy to back 🙈
We are only just in 6-9 month clothing and only in 3-6 from m&s plus only just moving to size 3 nappies!

We've been in size 3 for about 3 weeks. Still in 3-6 clothes for a couple of weeks, although next and m&s are still biggish. Still (just)!fitting 0-3 trousers from next.

@smurf my DD sounds really similar in clothes size and development. How old is yours? Mine turned 5 months today. She's obsessed with rolling over just now but gets annoyed when she's on her front as she can't go anywhere. But as soon as I turn her back on her back she just rolls again! Hopefully she'll learn to roll back soon.

Thanks for the info re pram suits etc. I'm worried she's going to hate it as she's used to being tucked away. It's the only way we get her to nap as well so taking that away is going to be hard. Please please let her nap as well in the buggy!

My cold had pretty much gone but I've somehow got this bad cough again. This happens sometimes in that my sinuses keep the cold going and I get gunk going to the back of my throat. It makes for a bad cough. Both very tickley but bringing up stuff. DD seems to only want to fall asleep on me these days so it's so hard to get her down as I'm coughing and wake her. I've sent OH out to get more strepsils.

Speaking of OH, things feel a bit strained on that front. I'm being overly short with him I know but he also makes some terrible decisions. We're just both not being kind or patient with each other. I think he resents that DD will settle on me more. She's totally resistant to a bottle. I've ordered the next size teat as I have quite fast flow so maybe that will help. When she gets upset at night he tries to settle her but it doesn't work. Only the boob will comfort her but he sometimes insists on carrying on his way just so he can do it.

@Ready2020 she is 5.5 months she will be 24 weeks tomorrow.. yes hoping she can learn to roll the other way too. I haven't wanted the fight of bedtime yet so she has been asleep on my knee for the last 2 hours (I tried to put her down once and she instantly woke)
I quite often put the rain cover over dd when she's in the small buggy as she doesn't like the wind

@sarah13xx I think there's a bit of tumble drier shrinkage going on but yeah, we are firmly in the 9-12 month camp during the day now. I have to leave some of the snaps undone in most of the 6-9s at night now 😂

That's what I'm hoping with Etsy too - to use it to get started but then hopefully move away from that onto my own website only. But I am getting wayyyy ahead of myself 😂 yeah there are prices I could base on on Etsy but tbh they do seem to vary quite a lot! I did look at having a website as well but I want to keep the costs low to start with, so at the moment my website will just direct you to the Etsy shop rather than being able to buy stuff from it.

Bit concerned I have a baby who is backward in the rolling department - he likes rocking from side to side holding his feet but hasn’t done much actual rolling. Oh well - he’ll get there I’m sure :)

@PurplePansy05 and…@BertieBotts was it? Great tip on Sophie’s bottom. Put her bottom first in his mouth and that is going VERY well, much better than legs or head. Top tip!

Glad I’m not the only one moulting