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! 🥰

Thank you Bertie, we were accidentally using 4+, I only noticed the + the other day. 🤦🏼‍♀️ Shame they’re not that much more absorbent in the bigger sizes now though. will buy a pack of the pull ups and see how they go, I’d describe him as wriggley!

@Inmypjsagain what brand are you using? I'm pretty sure my ds was only in size 5 or 6 when he came out of nappies last year (around 2.5) I did find pampers the best as he tended to wet through other brands.

Hi all, hope everyone and babes are well. I haven't been online much and just found this new thread, so marking my spot.

Lots to catch up on and this has maybe been discussed, but is anyone thinking of or planning another baby? Much too early to do anything now but weighing up timelines and pros cons etc, as I'm turning 38 in March...

Anyway Happy belated New Year all x

@WolfMother326 yes, we are planning on ttc again in June. It would have probably been earlier but due to the hospital situation here I don't want the extra anxiety of a winter baby, so we will try and avoid that. Because it took so long to get DS, I'm kind of allowing for that again, but also not going to start until we're definitely ready in case it does happens straight away..!

@Smurf123 we’re using pampers baby dry and active fit, the older babies who we were on holiday with were in size 4s too which I was surprised about! I think he’s near 9 kilos now (maybe more) which is more than the 2 older babies we stayed with (both girls if that makes a difference!) and active fit and baby dry size 5 is for 11kg up… You know those nappies have A B C on the front, for sizing? We’re on B on size 4, so they still fit but they’re not coping with the volume of output. We’ve double nappied tonight, but for the last 3 days every poo he has done has been bigger than the nappy 🙈 (I can count on one hand the amount of poo leaks we’ve had his whole life!) so I don’t know if it’s because he’s teething but I just feel we need bigger capacity!

@WolfMother326 we’re in a dilemma about number 2 in that we’d both love another, I was worried I’d hate parenthood but I love it. But we’re thinking long term expense, one kid you can have a smaller house and we’d have more cash for a nicer lifestyle, big car, smaller house in a good area, holidays abroad, private school, when he’s older potential uni costs, house deposits, weddings (?!?!) it’s really expensive and with one we could give so much more and 2 would be more compromised. I know having money is not the be all and end all but financial security makes life easier, I’m not sure if it’s because I’m an only child that the thought of having one also doesn’t bother me. We are 35 as well so we need to think about it, we were lucky to get pregnant first time before so who knows if we’d be lucky enough to even conceive again… If we do go for it we’d be trying in the summer… also I’m now thinking about it and part of me thinks I’d feel guilty having another because it would take me away from number 1? I know that sounds ridiculous… but I can’t imagine being with another baby that’s not him? I’m definitely overthinking now 😂

IME mine have gone through sizes 1-3 quickly, then stayed on size 4 for ages then size 5 for ages. DS2 is in size 6 and they are really too small (he wears age 4-5 in pants) but the only brand that does a size 7 is pampers and they are more expensive. He needs to potty train really, getting there very very slowly.

Poo leaks tend to be because the poo is explosive rather than the nappy not absorbent, actually going down a size might help more, because they won't be as loose. However DS3 always shits right up his back so a longer back is beneficial :o but nothing can contain his multi-directional poos TBH.

If you can find a brand with elasticated waistband across the back that's good for containing poo. Only one of the own brand ones here does that.

Hahaha that feeling about no other baby possibly being as amazing as your one perfect baby is perfectly normal, don't worry :) And somehow they are. The love doesn't divide, it multiplies.

But I have to say since DH has been back at work this week and DS2 has been home with an upset tummy, my whole parenting on easy mode has been well and truly disrupted. I can't leave them alone together. I have to have 100% of my energy on one or the other of them at all times. It's tricky juggling two and trying to do basic things like feed all of us as well. I feel accomplished if I manage to put the (robot) hoover around in a room, or switch on the already-full dishwasher, or fold some washing. I'm kind of enjoying that level of "impossible challenge" but it's not easy at all.

@WolfMother326 we're planning on trying again in June (snap @Daffodil21!) - I really don't want to be heavily pregnant again in summer! We were initially planning slightly longer age gaps but neither of us really enjoy the baby stage so have decided to get it all out the way quickly 😂 I worry that if he gets to being 3 or 4 and a little more independent I won't be able to go back to the newborn days! Also, it's the same age gap me and my sisters have, and I really like it.

@BertieBotts I can’t imagine going down a size, I think the poo probably was explosive but the sheer amount of it! It’s been like a horror film 😂 from front to back, all up his bum and all over his bits and it’s seeped out the sides. The biggest poo came out the top of the front AND back AND his left leg. His poor outfit was just soaked. I had him on the changing mat thinking how the hell do I clean this up?! While he was happily chewing his feet 🤷🏼‍♀️ I kept thinking I was going to get poo on his head when taking the top off. Tbh I was just thankful he didnt put his feet in the dirty nappy! What you’re saying about the size change speed makes sense though! Potty training sounds stressful, not looking forward to that… and sounds like you’ve had a busy week with your 2! Sounds very time consuming and Alex doesn’t sleep through either does he? When do you get to chill?!

@Inmypjsagain I've had to throw away two full outfits (vest + sleepsuit) in the last 3 days because of poo explosions. Never had to do this before!

@Inmypjsagain weaning hasn’t started yet, tried to offer banana but wasn’t interested, gave a spoon of mashed broccoli and just turned away. I’m going to leave it and just let her play with it at the table and take her lead, she happily takes an empty spoon from me / the tray and put it in her mouth. I don’t know if to mix some of her milk into food to begin with?

@WolfMother326, I was always adamant on just the one but I really want another and soon, I’d like to start trying in April ideally. Not sure how it would work with mat leave though but similar to. We would need a new house though.

On the note of poo, does teething cause them to have bad ones? NHS says not but they’re been horrific the last two days

@Daffodil21 😱 I’m reading the thread a bit back to front and have just seen you said Elliott did the most poo ever! Is he feeding more? Or teething? Or maybe they just got through a pooey stage at this age!

@Fran919 officially no I suppose, but anecdotally yes… having said that our poos only got really bad this week, I’d say he was teething since Christmas but we’ve only had a tooth for a few days. I asked the NCT group and the replies I’ve had so far have said they’re experiencing bigger and watery poos. Re weaning- yes he’ll happily chomp on a spoon with no food too! I guess he’ll get there when he’s ready but just playing with the food is a good idea, we’ll try that tomorrow. My mum suggested milk in the food too but I’m not sure what consistency to make it?

I think we'll probably just have one. As my DD has grown so fast I have found myself thinking I'd like another but really i think we'll be satisfied with one. Both my OH and I have fairly busy hobbies and we'd like time back eventually to get back into them.

We tried the later bed time and there was still screaming but not as much. DD really still wants to sleep on her side so we've spent the evening turning her back there after she flops on her front and cries. OH thinks we should be reading the cues from dd more at night so wants to put her to bed tomorrow as soon as she starts yawning.... I'm just agreeing to please him really. We'll see how it goes.

@Inmypjsagain feeding more - I've upped him to 8oz bottles now! He doesn't take all of it every time but sometimes he does! I also think he's outgrown the nappies he was in and I haven't found a suitable match yet which doesn't help

@WolfMother326 @Daffodil21 @biscuitcat we will be planning for another baby too. I turned 36 in December so definitely need to take age and other factors into account. I was fortunate to get pregnant pretty much instantly. Not sure if that's going to be the case the second time round but I want to wait till she's 1. I go back to work then and if all goes as per plan then can have another baby at 37. Let's see

Also wanted to update all of you after all that sleep drama. We have had a few good abs bad nights. But last night she slept in her cot for 5 hours! Will take that and co slept the rest of the 6 hours with 2 wakes for feeds in between this time.

Hoping tonight is good too. I've just managed to get her to sleep on me. Will try put her down shortly...

When I made purées and mashed up foods I did add a little bit of formula just to thin it down a bit if it seemed too thick. I didn't really measure it or anything, just sort of did it by eye. If you're using a mixture of jars and home made you'll know what kind of consistency to aim for. On the other hand of course if you're doing BLW then you can't really add milk so it's not necessary. Just something that you can do if you want to.

I think teething does affect their poo, maybe the excess saliva. Mine have always had vinegary smelling poos when teething that gives them a rash.

Noooo don't throw away outfits! Stick a bit of vanish spray (or any multi purpose stain remover) on before a wash and then dry them outside in any light, even overnight, or in direct sunlight by a window and most of the time the stain will go away. You can rinse the poo off before you wash if you're worried about it being in the machine but I just chuck them in the laundry basket and don't always even get them in the wash for a few days, so it tends to be dried by that point and never had a problem. Some things do hold onto the stain more than others. This works for weaning messes as well btw, especially orange and red stains. It won't work for turmeric or curry powder as those are dyes.

You can normally get things down over their body as their bodies are smaller than their heads (remember childbirth 🥴) but I've also managed to save the head by just rolling the pooey clothes into itself if that makes sense. When you get a proper neck to knee poo though it's sink bath time. Only had a couple like that ever. They are hilarious in the just total WTF that you get from them.

Luckily he seems to be sleeping better in the evenings at the moment touch wood. So I put him to bed tonight at 7 and he slept until 9 and then 10.15 which was great! DH also handles the early mornings so I get a lie in until about 9 on weekdays.

I hate potty training but the German approach is literally leave them to it so that's what we are doing, he does ask to wear pants sometimes but most of the time he's in nappies. Today he actually felt he needed a wee before he did one but then the whole getting to the potty seemed to interrupt it and it went away and then a bit later he asked for a nappy and by bedtime he'd definitely weed in it a couple of times, so I think he asked for it on to do a wee in. That's progress as when he's had pants or nothing on before he just had accidents.

When we were deciding to have DC3 because it took us 2 years and 2 miscarriages to conceive DS2 we just decided to start straight away and never used contraception. I thought if breastfeeding seemed to be a problem I'd try to do something about that after a year but I got my period back at 4 months. We didn't have any miscarriages between them but it did take that 2y3m to conceive. It was a decent enough approach and if it hadn't happened by 3y I think we might have stopped trying and accepted it. Not sure. But it worked well for us knowing that we had troubles conceiving naturally. I would have been ok with a smaller gap although I was happy with this gap. I knew I didn't want a gap that was to t big, that was my main thing.

We are finished at number 2 for a lot of reasons but a major one being how much I struggle during pregnancy. We had 3 miscarriages before ds then ds needed nicu. There were Smaller concerns at the end of pregnancy with dd too so I can't do that all again. I'm still having regular flash backs of being in the hospital. Which I know is stupid as ds and dd are born here and safe and healthy.

I think poos are definitely more watery when teething, ds got really bad nappy rash when teething too. I was told it is due to excess saliva.

Dd has just managed to get both her legs stuck through the bars of the cot while I went to the toilet. She clearly went to roll over feet must have gone through and then she rolled back again so she was screaming. Thankfully seems fine once I lifted her🙈

@BertieBotts I "trained" ds last year around 2.5 when we were isolation for 2 weeks as close contacts but to be really honest it's only the past 4 Weeks he's actively saying he needs to go. He's been reliably dry day and night for a long time but he'd just hold it all day unless you made him go to the bathroom. Past few weeks though he's actually telling us when he needs it which is good though he still very much leaves it to the last second

Oh that's good. It takes them a while to get the awareness any earlier than the last second if I remember from DS1.

I really didn't think my nights could get any worse. But this is next level torture. Even bed sharing isn't helping. All DD wants to do is sleep on her front but she doesn't realise she can turn her head so wakes up. It's constant. I've been awake since I took over from OH at 2am. Currently crying with DD awake in the cot babbling.

Does anyone use these or similar:

www.amazon.co.uk/NatureBond-Baby-Feeder-Fruit-Pacifier/dp/B076H1ZQ5M/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?psc=1&crid=22AVPE1HYDL5U&keywords=baby%2Bfood%2Bfeeder&sprefix=baby%2Bfood%2Bfee%2Caps%2C183&th=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExSkFFQjFUSUNNUklKJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNTU2MTQwQTc0RzA5VFRQRE1BJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTAzNzg3ODgyQkc2SE05NERQT0dKJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfcGhvbmVfc2VhcmNoX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1642071949&sr=8-1-spons

Sorry, the link looks shocking for some reason, it's a baby food feeder that can help with teething eg if you put frozen fruit in it. Rave reviews and my NCT group swears by these, but I'm in two minds as to whether this is an unnecessary gimmick? I'd rather DS eat with a spoon I think and play with teethers, not 2 in 1? Am I being unreasonably grumpy about it and it's actually awesome? xx

Hope your okay @Ready2020 we had an quality awful night. From 9-3 Isaac slept a total of 3 and a half hours (two superset awake times) then was awake until 6. Some of this he was just talking and screeching to himself but obviously I couldn’t sleep through that. Honestly so tired today, pretty sure I’m putting him in his own room tonight! 😵

@PurplePansy05 I had something similar with DS1- used it once and never again. I have brought the popsicle versions that look similar though and made some breast milk lollies which will be good for teething! Could also freeze fruit purées.

@BertieBotts the first was on the first of four trains the other day so I opted for throwing rather than carting it back 😂 the second was getting too small anyway so I cba to wash it!

I've always taken his vests off over his legs rather than his head - his legs are smaller than his head!

@Smurf123 doesn't sound stupid at all. Sounds like ptsd to me. I thought all would be well now DS is here safely buy it's not (I had 3mcs before as well but a straight forward birth). It's a bit more complicated than that it seems!

@Ready2020