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! 🥰

Thanks @Magik01 I didn’t know there was an app - searchable sounds super useful!

Last night DS woke every hour 🤦‍♀️ Isn’t teething a bitch.

Can teething pause and restart? Leo seems to be sleeping better but still fusses at some feeds. I can see two teeth nearly through but still not. How can this be taking so long? All I read online is that it's roughly a week per tooth, it's definitely been longer here. It feels neverending! Although when I said a month ago he was teething, I don't think he was. He was just exploring the world. Still, it's been soooo long?!

Also re BLW. I'm just wondering what everyone's thoughts are as I read that actually there's no evidence that either BLW or standard mashed up weaning lead to babies being less fussy later. Re dexterity, there's an argument that actually holding a spoon helps just as much as holding finger foods. I suppose BLW 'wins' when it comes to learning about different textures of food. However, I'm seriously thinking about combining the two. Is anyone doing this? xx

@Magik01 hugely variable! Sometimes as little as 15/20 minutes, sometimes up to 1.5hrs - usually around 45/50 minutes though. I actually quite enjoy contact napping, though means I don't get anything productive done then!

@PurplePansy05 I think I'll be going down my standard path of least resistance method! Planning on mostly doing BLW and if needed will do some purées too xx

There is no difference in fussiness no. At least not IME. I did completely BLW with DS1 and DS2 hated it so I switched to 95% spoon feeding with him after the initial BLW trial which didn't go well! DS2 is the less fussy eater. But I don't think weaning method made a difference there, it is just their personalities.

I honestly think it comes down to what makes you feel comfortable as the "benefits" of either are so tiny and marginal (and anecdotal) - if you love the idea of making little mushes and doing here comes the train and whatever then do that. If you think BLW sounds fascinating and less hassle (this is totally how I felt with DS1) then do that. If you want to do a mixture of spoon feeding and self feeding, that works as well. It's worth reading up on choking and gagging (ALWAYS add BLW to your google search here to avoid anything yuck ), DOH guidance says limit salt to 1g or sodium equivalent 0.4g (multiply sodium content by 2.5 to get equivalent salt) per day until 1 year old. Avoid anything with masses of added sugar (watch out as commercial baby foods and drinks are naughty with this). Avoid honey, even cooked, until 1 year.

For finger foods, at this age babies grasp things with their whole fist and can't open it on purpose, so you need to make things the size and shape that it can be in their fist and sticking out. A crinkle cut oven chip or your middle finger is the perfect size and shape. By around 8-9 months they develop pincer grip and can start to pick up small items like sweetcorn, raisins or cheerios. They enjoy this so it's good to let them practice.

If you are doing mush you can start completely smooth and work up based on the ages on baby food jars, or babies around 6 months old can already handle roughly mashed foods (the 10-12 month jars) as long as they are sitting upright. You can buy tiny baby pasta in the baby food aisle or mini pasta shapes in the soup making aisle to add texture to food. Most "baby foods" have "real food" alternatives that cost about 1/4 of the price. Rice cakes and breadsticks from the adult snack aisle are great baby snacks.

It doesn't really matter, they will all learn to use a spoon, they all get into a fussy period/food refusing period at some point too. They will all want to exist solely off crisps and happy meals at 6 years old. :o

AMA :o

@PurplePansy05 I’m sorry to say DS1 teeth didn’t make an appearance until he was 9 months old and I swore blind he was teething since 3 months old! 🤣😵 Looked really odd having a baby of that age with just gums as well! Hoping Isaac gets his teeth quicker than his bother.

I second everything Bertie says in terms of feeding, I did a mixture with DS1. I made all my own purées etc of really fancy things like salmon and broccoli and batch cooked and froze them for my own ease. Did he eat them? No. Did he eat a ton of the jar egg custard? Yes. He did eventually go on to like the stuff I made so it wasn’t all bad! But he also enjoyed feeding himself as well so we did a bit of both. Jars and pouches are a lot easier when out and about though and just for convenience.

I highly recommend a bibado bib! I brought one in the Black Friday sale and used it yesterday and it’s brilliant. Mess free. Also TMI but Isaac had little black bits in his poop so he definitely ate of the banana I gave him! Hooray!

Also I think it’s just natural for kids to go through fussy stages- DS1 went through a stage where he wouldn’t eat anything other than yogurts (he was over 1) but now he bloody loves chilli and curry! You never see an adult that just lives on crisps and yogurts, I say as long as they are eating just roll with it.

@Magik01 yes I'm due back at work but having issues with my stomach so haven't gone back yet.

@PurplePansy05 I'm doing a mix of both with Dd.. I did blw with ds and he is the fussiest Eater (and was even from baby) though he's gotten worse with some things. He won't eat any meat and though he used to eat fruit he now really only has it in smoothies or fruit pouches

Has anyone sat their lo up in the Tripp trap yet? I feel she would be fine in a high chair with a high back but not so sure she's steady enough for the Tripp trapp

Fold up a towel until it's a thick long rectangle, then curve it around into a U shape for support.

DS is in his TT @Smurf123, I just tucked in a muslin cloth as his belly isn't big enough yet He's holding himself nicely in it! I'm very happy with it so far.

Thank you girls for your thoughts re weaning! I'm very much in agreement regarding doing whatever works, be it BLW or mashed up food. I would like to feed him as much fresh and homemade stuff as possible and that's the goal really but then as you say, kids get fussy...or selective maybe I am desperate to avoid him turning into a mini DH, he was the fussiest eater on the planet well into his 20s (he's 41 soon) and I refuse to have that! xx

Oh and @Magik01, I hope Leo's teeth finally come through soon, I can't imagine waiting till 9mo 😂😂 but I thought he was teething at 3mo, then 4mo, now he's definitely teething but they are still underneath his gums. He bites my nipple sooo hard now though!

Wish I had waited for your thoughts about weaning bibs, that Bibado one looks amazing. I bough long sleeved ones from Kidly on sale for something ridiculous, £4 each I think. And matching silicone bibs from there and they're great. However, the Bibado looks like a 2 in 1 effectively. Oh well! So far so good, it's messy, but manageable 😊 xx

@PurplePansy05 I think I'm probably needlessly worrying about it and just need to bite the bullet and pull out the baby set and try her in it, she's been using her jumperoo for the last week so she can hold her head steady it's just as you say prob need a towel or something in front just to be a wee bit steadier

I forgot to share my favourite Christmas present with you all 😂😂

I did say I liked the rhyming books after all 😀

(Hoping the pictures will load)

Haha @Daffodil21 someone got us that as a gift. It is very funny. Reminds me of the Tim Minchin lullaby.

@PurplePansy05 were doing a mix. I don’t think DS had the dexterity for BLW at all but we’re feeding him food before 6 months primarily to get his weight up. Trying some finger foods this week though…

Alasdair isn't sitting quite well enough for our Tripp trapp yet, but will try again in a couple of weeks. We have the baby set too, but I'm still trying to source a second hand one for him and Iona is sitting in the current Tripp trapp for her meals. We started Iona at about 51/2 months with food with a towel tucked in front of her to support in the Tripp trapp baby set. With her we started with sticks of cucumber,carrot, celery etc to chew to help with teething and then moved on to bits of broccoli and other veggies, then bits of fruit to hold and chew. There's a few allergies in the family so tried each be food for a couple of days before introducing anything else, just in case of reactions. We started giving her Greek yoghurt and mashed up stuff on a spoon like potato, carrot, stew type stuff by about 61/2 months. So we did a mix of in blw and standard, and she's not very fussy now, eats most things but not huge amounts of anything. It definitely made it easier to just cook with less salt for us so she could have some of whatever we were eating. I do have some pouch food in the car though, mainly shelf stable yoghurt or fruit type pouches, in case we get caught somewhere and she's hungry. Planning to try to do the same with Alasdair, he's 5 months today but was 3 weeks early and don't think he's quite ready for food yet. He rolled front to back yesterday for the first time and he's suddenly keen to try standing and sitting but not quite there yet.

DD has taken to not being put down without a fight. Lots of screaming that I'm sure my neighbours love. She also really tries to sleep on her side but just flops over on her front instead and wakes up. That plus the dummy popping out and constantly rubbing her eyes makes for very unsettled nights.

I'm not sure if I need to move her naps about to help her get down to sleep. She's generally up at 7.30, nap 9 ish to 11 ish, 1 to 2.30 ish then half hour from 4.30 to 5. Bed at 7.

I'm so flipping tired. I'm still coughing away too.

@Ready2020 sorry your having a hard time.. I can't help much we have been having a battle with sleeps also. We aren't really doing a set bedtime yet either.

Tonight though dd fed on me then fell asleep on me downstairs about 730 and slept until I moved to go to bed about 930 - she fed/slept throughout that time. I moved her upstairs and put her in cot playing with her dummy while I went to the toilet and got her bottle. She chatted to herself and fell asleep! She hasn't done that in over a month! I'm amazed... of course I have a ready made bottle sitting here open but untouched mind you 🙈 even if she doesn't sleep much longer before waking for it she fell asleep independently for the first time in such a long time it is giving me the smallest glimmer of hope that she might go back to her good sleeping routines of before the sleep regression, the cold, teething, travelling etc,

@PurplePansy05 we will be doing a mixture of the two when weaning. e.g cut up strawberries along side some strawberries mashed etc. i've learnt that the best way to try and avoid a fussy eater is to offer up each food individually so don't combine things together as then they don't get the full flavour of the one item. if they don't like something don't stop giving it to them- consistency is key. xx also blw weaning helps with the fact that you're not forcing it into them so if they pick it up have a little taste and don't like it they can put it down nd maybe pick it up again in a second and try it again where as with spoon feeding you're pushing it onto them not at they're own speed

@Smurf123 Leo is only now tall enough to reach the floor with his feet in the jumperoo. I wouldn't say he bounces away in it yet 😂 But he enjoys it, loves the music and all the colourful stuff. I don't know if it's me being stupid, but he can't reach many of those toys from his seat yet? I dropped the level down to 0 but it's like they're attached too far away for him to reach? It's the standard Fisher Price one, however it's my friend's and I've no instructions.

Thank you everyone for sharing your weaning thoughts and tips, it's really helpful! I must admit I was a bit scared to start but gaining more and more confidence now 😊 He seems to prefer fruit over veg so far, but I read that's quite normal and to perservere with offering veg, sneak in a cheeky spoon here and there or try different veg (like sweet potatoes etc) before reintroducing the 'bitter' ones. I went all out with broccoli this week and it's not gone down well 😂 On the other hand, bananas, apples and blueberries are a success. Will be going back to carrots and introducing sweet potatoes now I think. xx

Oh and @Daffodil21 this looks right up my street, I might buy it 'for DH' ( ) for his birthday xx

@PurplePansy05 I put a wee mattress under the jumperoo initially but she doesn't need it now.. she really does jump .. so much so she almost bops herself off the toys 🙈🤣 but she loves it. She can only reach the toys down low like the music bit and there's a spinny one. She can't reach the hanging toys yet
She's definitely a bit unsteady in the tripp trapp I need a bigger towel than I tried so we might just wait another week or 2 for it. She loves carrot sticks and cucumber sticks in her wee chair though and thoroughly enjoyed the part of my mums toasted tea cake that she stole!

Just looked up the bibs on Kidly and those are the type that I find best. Bibado just looks like way too much fabric everywhere to me.

We have a different Jumperoo but I think for that original one most of the toys are too far away for them to reach. The hanging ones are just for them to look at. He can sort of jump in ours but we mostly use it for him to watch toddler antics.

DS2 is off nursery with an upset tummy and probably will be all week :(

Ready yes it sounds like you might be trying to get too much sleep - that is 16 hours in total (4h naps, 12h night) Lyndsey says if your baby is getting too much sleep then they don't have a chance to build up sleep pressure. 16 hours can be right at 5 months but it is at the top end so she might just not be tired at bedtime? I'd maybe try a 30-60 min later bedtime to see if it helps.

www.instagram.com/p/CIMNuhHn6W0/

Hi All! Hope everyone is well and late happy new year! Ended up going away for 2 weeks with 4 families after Christmas as a surprise from my in laws, I’ve only just recovered! 😂 in England but there was my baby, a 1 year old, a 14 month old, a 3month old and a 7 month old…. It was chaos!!!

How has everyone been? Sounds like sleep is still challenging for many of you, fingers crossed better nights for you all and the move to solids helps.

I can’t get over the developmental changes since before Christmas! During this time a tooth has appeared, front bottom left, with the one next to it going to pop through any day now. Suddenly the next to me got way too small so we’ve transitioned to the big cot (which he loves cos he wiggles so much, he did a full 180 last night!) Trousers are all 9-12 months now, feel like we bypassed 6-9 totally. And @PurplePansy05 like Leo he no longer folds in his feet now, in fact he can do what Ninja baby could do with the sofa now (no joke, Ninja baby is crawling and has 3 teeth! I really think he’ll be walking in a few weeks! Their family went skiing for Christmas and I was half expecting to see a video of him snowboarding! ) I am wondering if we’ll have a relatively early crawl now, on his front he can now lift his body, it started with his upper body going right up in the air and now the hips are up too, he can’t hold it for long but strength seems to come on quickly.

Solids have been a disaster for us though, he’s so interested in food and we tried him on some mashed parsnip but his tongue basically pushed it out and it mainly ended up down his front, so I think we tried a bit too early for him. I want to give BLW ago but I am really worried about choking. I know I need to get over it but the thought Of him holding a carrot stick makes me nervous! He’s still really quite refluxy though, I hope solids helps that.

And Pansy, not all the toys on the jumperoo can be reached here either. We also had to sort of teach him he could bounce in it, we sort of bounced him and it’s like he twigged.

And sleep wise, we get about 12 hours at night but naps on average are 2hours 15 a day

@Daffodil21 that book looks great 😂

Also, does anyone have experience with pull up nappies? Over the last few days we’ve gone up
To size 5 (nappies were getting saturated) and I saw you can get pull ups in this size. Is this just for the older babies near potty training or would they be useable now? Just think they sound easier to use…

Not just for potty training, they are more for wriggly babies. I found them easier for when they were standing up rather than this age, but there's nothing stopping you trying them.

BTW 4+ are the same size as 4 but more absorbent. Once you've got past the tiny sizes, you don't gain much in absorbency by going up a size.