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August 2021 Babies - From Santa to Solids, Hohoho!

998 replies

PurplePansy05 · 20/12/2021 14:32

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! 🥰

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Smallbean27 · 15/01/2022 12:19

@PurplePansy05 I will be going back to work in March (3 days) so he will have him for a day. He also tends to have him for swimming lessons.
We have always shared the nights, we still do that and probably will until his sleep improves.
I just ask him to take him for a bit if I want to go anywhere or do anything, but he is hands on and gets involved with everything when he isn't at work.

PurplePansy05 · 15/01/2022 13:35

@Smallbean27 And how do you split the chores and providing for DCs in a sense of buying stuff for them, arranging activities like say swimming etc? Because this is where DH falls short and I refuse to be a full time worker, mother taking the lion share of duties when it comes to DS and also doing most of the chores. I just refuse. And I need to work it out somehow to enforce he is doing his share at all times. Otherwise I will end up being a martyr with no time to myself whatsoever which is how I feel a lot of the time now, constantly doing stuff for DS or to keep on top of things for the family, never ever for me. xx

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BertieBotts · 15/01/2022 14:16

Magik I would totally let him but I think babies sucking their thumb is so cute! And I don't think it's a problem if they carry on. They will decide for themselves not to do it around friends etc. I think it's more genetic if teeth are bad or not.

Pansy did you ever get info back about the potential genetic issues? I think I would want the full picture on that but yes, other than that wait and see without planning is a nice, stress free way to do things, I just used to test if I was planning to drink alcohol.

Random Alex does push himself up if he's in the mood. DS1 at this age hated tummy time and would face plant and cry.

Will come back with sharing suggestions later

dirtyfries · 15/01/2022 14:29

On a similar note about childcare/babes being less dependant on us now..

Does anyone have any tips about helping our babes to settle/be content around other people?

DD is finally more settled and we seem to be overcoming the reflux/intense crying phase. We've had some lovely days full of smiles and play with me and DH but whenever my in laws come to visit we're back to crying and unsettled behaviour. It makes me worried about returning to work/nursery so I'm keen to get her more used to being around other people but I have grabby hands and just want to whisk her away Blush

Daffodil21 · 15/01/2022 16:07

I guess for us it's different as DS has been FF since birth, even when he was having some BM it was always expressed so DH has always been able to share everything. I don't really have to ask him to do anything which is nice, and atm he usually does dinner when he get home from work with DS with him in the kitchen. He's always done bath time too. Normally I would do dinner some nights but lately I've been doing some work in the evenings so we basically switchover when he walks in the door. I've never had to ask, but if your partners aren't forthcoming there is absolutely no excuse for them not to be doing their fair share, especially when you go back to work. It's not reasonable or fair to expect one person to do everything baby related when both are working (or even if the other isn't tbh). I do more of the chores just because I'm home more so able to do washing etc through the day, but if I was working as well it would be more equal. Saying that, I went out for a long walk alone this morning and DH cleaned the kitchen, and there's a load of washing on now that he did. Paying for things has never been an issue as we have a joint account. You definitely need to be having a ear conversation if they aren't forthcoming, and leave no room for doubt!

We tried DS with some puréed banana earlier - it was a success! We were thinking of giving him something later on as well, is that too much in one day? He didn't take much banana

PurplePansy05 · 15/01/2022 17:06

Thanks ladies. I think that's my issue, I always have to point out the chores and ask and I'm just so tired. He'll do stuff when asked (although sometimes not very well or selectively...there are things he was supposed to sort out weeks or months ago, still not done). I'm not his manager to have to do this, we're both adults. I can't get through to him though, I've tried so many times. I really wonder sometimes if I'd feel worse or better being single. Anyway. I just wanted to sound it off you cause I sometimes wonder if I'm being weird/too demanding, but I don't think I am.

@BertieBotts No, we didn't have genetic testing. Tbh I haven't had the time to think about it too much since Leo's birth. I think I mentioned at the time that my consultant was very reassuring about the likelihood of it in my case being extremely low and I've decided not to concentrate on this. My instinct is everything is fine. xx

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Daffodil21 · 15/01/2022 17:19

@PurplePansy05 100% not being weird or too demanding

Magik01 · 15/01/2022 19:24

@PurplePansy05 I think you need to have a chat with DH and say exactly how you feel and that you will be going back to work full time (sorry not sure if your DH is full time as well) and your both parents and should share equal responsibility for the care and entertaining Leo. In terms of chores I only work part time doing twilight shifts since DS1 so I do a majority of chores in the day because I’m at home. If I was out all day working though I would 100% expect the household chores to be split 50/50 and you are not being unreasonable thinking that too!

@RandomCatGenerator DS doesn’t really push himself up per say, he doesn’t mind tummy time but he just looks around more when he’s down there. 😂 DS1 hated it, couldn’t push himself up either for ages and she’s so don’t worry. He’s a fit and healthy three year old now.

@Daffodil21 I wouldn’t say twice in one day is too much, I think it’s fine as long as your not introducing a load of different foods all in one go.

@sarah13xx hope the house move is/has gone okay! I don’t envy you.

biscuitcat · 15/01/2022 22:00

@PurplePansy05 our split of work seems to have naturally split itself into a stereotypically 1950s pattern 😳 I do most of the baby care (esp as he's still EBF at the moment) and cooking and DH does most of the house stuff - our house is a bit old and rickety so there's loads of DIY needs doing to keep it from falling apart! And he's much tidier than me, so does lots of the tidying too. Overall I think it's relatively equal, though the baby stuff is more emotionally involved, but for the most part I'm not feeling too hard done by.

Does anyone know (@BertieBotts I'm thinking you might!!), around how old will DS be when I can go to work for the day and he'll be fine just on food in the day with breastfeeding on my non working days and the morning/evening of working days? I really don't fancy giving up BFing so am hoping my return to work won't disrupt it!

Smurf123 · 15/01/2022 22:41

@biscuitcat what are your work hours like? I was back at work from ds was 6 months and I bf him before I left my mums at about 745 then breastfed him as soon as I got back about 430/5 (teacher while bf in those early days I just brought the work home with me if needed )
I did leave a bottle with formula for him but he rarely took it and even if he did he still wanted a feed from me as soon as I got home. I kept feeding him too 13 months

PurplePansy05 · 15/01/2022 23:18

@Magik01 Yes, he is FT too. I am hoping to work compressed hours, FT but across 4 days, but I really don't want to end up doing all the chores on the one day I'm supposed to spend with Leo/do bits for myself. Pretty sure DH would assume that's what my non-working days would be for, well, he is mistaken if so.

Interesting question @biscuitcat. I am considering keeping one breastfeed per day after I return to work, but we wouldn't have enough time in the morning I don't think and in the evening he's used to having a bottle. I'm not sure what to do yet. I can't imagine him having 3 meals a day plus snacks in nursery either, how can this be the case in just another 4 months or so 😭 he's still my baby livingboff milk and only trying solids 😭 xx

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BertieBotts · 16/01/2022 08:50

@biscuitcat Normally around 9-10 months. But even before this he can have a bottle or cup of expressed milk or formula in the day and should be OK to continue BF in the evenings and at weekends. Your supply will generally cope with this just fine at any point past 3 months ish without you needing to express or anything, as long as the change isn't too drastic (e.g. going from hourly feeds to 8 hours without feeding).

But that said DS2 went from 3-4 night feeds to sleeping 12 hours and my boobs adjusted within 48 hours. The older they are the more "elastic" your supply gets really.

Some babies "reverse cycle" when you start work so they feed more overnight to make up for it which can be draining.

Sharing the load is such a complicated issue I haven't really had time to think about it. I will say that I find DH is very involved but he doesn't tend to do booked type activities with the DC. He is the one who mainly takes DS2 out on his bike, and he will take him out to look around ikea or for a walk or to the park etc. He would also take him to local places like the zoo but I was the one with the year pass and he saw it as a waste of money to pay for entry.

We split wake ups. I hate mornings and struggle so much with them so he gets up during the week and deals with getting him ready for Kita and drives him there before strting work from home at around 8:30. Then I get up at weekends and sit like a zombie with my coffee and the TV on until 9 when we wake him up! Now that he is working I do the afternoon pick up, but since we chose the Kita because it's on the site of his office he picks up if he is working in the office that day. We might experiment with doing certain days in the office and certain days WFH as he has a flexible contract now.

So of course I do all the care until around 4:30 or 5pm when I get back with them both on a weekday. At the moment we are figuring out a new dinner routine to include DS3 but previously he would quite often (70% of the time?) prepare food and even recently get DS2 to help him cook which he likes. I'm generally frazzled at this time of day, between 3-5 I just have a huge slump in energy levels. I think I'm going to have to get into some dinner prep earlier in the day.

He does probably 90% of the day to day cleaning Blush He fills the dishwasher, DS1 empties it, he tends to wipe down the kitchen sides and collect stuff from around the house. Every night before bedtime he gets DS2 to help tidy up and then runs the robot hoover in the front room. I try and currently fail to keep up with the laundry, and some days do a bit of cleaning in a random room. I deal with all their clothes, sorting, buying new, knowing what sizes they are in, deciding what to do with old ones. I love doing that and wouldn't want to share it. I also tend to be the one to research big purchases like car seats, buggies, furniture etc although of course he might have input or ideas.

He currently does all the baths with baby as in gets in the bath with him. Although he is getting more and more splashy and adventurous so he might need to stop soon. But I really like this and it's something we've done with both of them and even my ex did with DS1 when he was tiny. Nappies at weekends are probably 50/50 as we roughly alternate. We facilitate each other to have a nap basically whenever we want because I think it's helpful. That means that he has periods of being in sole charge as well. I would have no issue going away and leaving him for a week as I know he would handle everything fine. (I wouldn't because of breastfeeding, but I know if I did he would feed formula and it would be fine). If you can't do this, then it's worth looking at what specifically would be a problem and working on that.

Fran919 · 16/01/2022 09:22

@sarah13xx congratulations on the house move!

In terms of our split I’d say it’s 50/50 for everything, the evening routine we split, dinners I tend to do just so DH can spend time with DD but he WFH so will often do some cleaning / washing etc using a break. Obviously the day time feeds i have to do along with naps but weekends we split. At night we just share the monitor, DD isn’t in our room any more and sleeps right through so don’t need to worry about that yet but I’ve no concerns that he won’t do a fair share, he did when she was waking every few hours as a newborn.

@PurplePansy05 similar to me, I’m thinking of doing 5 in 4 or even 4 in 3, I don’t want to miss out on her growing up but would need work to agree and don’t want it to hinder career plans to get me a promotion. Luckily I WFH permanently so I have no commute to factor in and the company is very good at flexi working. Alternatively I’d go back 5 in 4 but for a couple of months use my holidays one day a week so DD can settle into nursery and build up her immunity, I know as soon as she goes she’ll catch everything under the Sun.

Has anybody booked nursery places yet?

Daffodil21 · 16/01/2022 10:01

@BertieBotts I think that's a very good way of putting it - bar breast feeding, if they aren't able to be left with them alone for a week then they're not doing enough!

I so wish DS was sleeping through the night. He had an 8oz feed finishing at 11pm, then another 8oz feed at 2:30am and then another 7oz feed at 550! Then nothing until 9:30am. Hes waking up more as he gets older, not less and not sure what we can do about it when he's taking that much 🤷‍♀️ We still haven't tried weaning him off as @Inmypjsagain suggested, just because we were away for a while and I just haven't (I keep thinking the more he has the longer he'll go between feeds but that doesn't seem to be the case!) but it sounds like it is time to try!

BertieBotts · 16/01/2022 10:30

I know one of my friends used to be the whole "I'll write a list and prepare food and set out outfits for my husband if I leave him in charge" and then she realised that he would never figure out what to do if she just kept doing that, and what a drain it was on her so she stopped, and now she (well pre corona) always seemed to be jetting off for this weekend away with that friend and another with another! No worries or stress for her about leaving her DH in charge. It really makes a huge difference to know they will step up.

PurplePansy05 · 16/01/2022 11:02

Thanks ladies. Bertie, I'm so glad to hear I'm not the only one running out of energy from around 3pm. This is exactly the time when I start thinking I'm done for today 😂

I really don't know what to do, DH had it too good for too long and now he's resistant, just won't notice things and do them. I don't want to turn into a military wife but I really need some schedule with equally shared responsibilities. xx

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Daffodil21 · 16/01/2022 12:00

3pm is usually around the time I look at the clock and think wtf am I going to do for the next 3.5 hours until DH gets home 😂

@PurplePansy05 show him this thread and let him see he is in the minority of being shit (sorry)

I say this but there is no way I would share this thread with my DH 😂 I suspect he does know it exists though, I just hope he hasn't found it as I like having my own little space!

Smurf123 · 16/01/2022 12:42

@PurplePansy05 all I can say is I feel your pain. If I leave h to figure out the kids they'd spend the day watching tv all day and only eating snacks.And h will believe the day was easy and why do I complain as he will have played computer all day with headphones on and I doubt even have heard the kids.
I swear right now I am willing to Chuck the phone and the computer to the back of beyond.

Smallbean27 · 16/01/2022 19:02

@Fran919 we went to look at our local nursery before Xmas and have just reserved our place to start in March. He will be just over 6 months, I'm hoping I will be ready by then - he will go for 2 days and my mom/DH will have him for 1 day.
I need to go back to work for 3 months so I don't have to pay my enhanced maternity leave, as I have a new job starting in June.
He really doesn't mind being with other people, so I'm hoping the transition will be smooth and early enough he won't miss us too much.

RandomCatGenerator · 16/01/2022 19:31

@Magik01 @BertieBotts thank you. I am reassured DS isn’t totally behind… he just face plants and doesn’t seem bothered about moving beyond turning his face from side to side and cooing at things from a different angle.

So glad others have said about the 3pm slump. It’s about when I start to run out of ideas. And then at about 5 he gets all grumpy and tired. We’re in semi-lockdown here - India’s 2nd wave was so awful so delhi government is taking the 3rd wave seriously and acted fast - so we’re basically just doing a lot of playmat time, books, singing and doing actions, wandering around the flat looking at things, and LOTS of walking. It’s not that exciting, it must be said.

DH and I split 50/50 as he currently is only working one day a week. At the start of March he goes back to work full time and then basically all baby care will be me. I hope he’ll still go the evening routine as he’s better than me at getting the baby to sleep, but we’ll see. I know I’m very lucky, but I am worried about DH going back to work and me having all the time by myself with the baby… if he didn’t share the time equally at the weekends and didn’t share finances I would be furious. There is some mental load I keep - Similar stuff to you, Bertie, things like research and clothes buying and big purchases with his input but me leasing - but DH frequently has sole charge of DS and it would be unacceptable to me for him not to. It’s his son.

I haven’t worked out when I’m going back yet. Had an interview the other day and didn’t get the job and I was actually a bit relieved - the job looked amazing but it was for immediate start and I’m not sure I’m ready yet. Or that DS is ready for 5 days a week nursery - full time or at most 9 in 10 is as flexible as DH or I can each go on our jobs. It’s so difficult to make these choices, I’m getting really stressed about it.

Nursery - another thing to worry about! I’m just going to put it off until I’m back in the U.K. and then will go on ‘feel’. They’re all insanely expensive because west London…😬

biscuitcat · 16/01/2022 19:32

Thanks @Smurf123 and @BertieBotts 😊 the current plan is to go back when he's 8 months so I might need to leave some formula for him (I really hate expressing - though if I get super engorged in the day then I might do that for a couple of months). My hours vary depending on whether I go in or it's a WFH day, but I'll probably be dropping off sometime between 7:30 and 8, and picking up at 5/5:30-ish. He normally feeds every 2/3 hours in the daytime, don't know how introducing solids will affect that. Sounds like he might need a cup of milk initially, which I hope he'll be ok with. And actually, the advantage of it is it might help my period come back as we're hoping to try for number 2 a couple of months after I go back!

@Fran919 we've had our nursery place sorted for a while, it's so competitive round us! He's actually going to be going to one for the first few months before moving to my preferred one as they don't have space till September (even though I signed up when I was about 5 months pregnant!!)

Dia12 · 17/01/2022 12:49

I was wondering if anyone has managed to get their baby to sleep through the night?
I've tried but failed miserably. So far, DD wakes up once (sometimes twice) for a feed.
Also day time naps are so difficult as she'll only sleep for more than 20 minutes if she's held.
I read somewhere babies her age (24 weeks) need 15 hours sleep!

RandomCatGenerator · 17/01/2022 12:56

@Dia12 the books I’ve read suggest there is still huge variation in baby sleep patterns! I have read too that they do need 15 hours sleep in a 24 hour period but I don’t think it is likely to be in one to. They need naps until they’re a few years old I think.

DS goes to bed at 6, wakes at 11 for a feed, wakes at 3 for a feed, wakes up for good at about 6. Until he is 7kg I’ve read that it’s unlikely he can sleep through (ie 11-6) as he isn’t big enough to do without food for that long.

Dia12 · 17/01/2022 13:03

I must admit, we have been pretty slack with strict bedtime. Can't seem to get dd down before 9pm! Some of that may be because her naps are all over the place during the day.
How have you managed to get your baby to nap properly during the day time?

PurplePansy05 · 17/01/2022 15:00

@Smurf123 Flowers I feel you, I really do. I will say, my DH is not a twat, he will do stuff, he just won't notice and do it and I've no time to constantly point out and manage, I carry the load of everything else. I just don't understand why he seems to think it's my job to run the household and everyone in it. Was I born with knowing how to be a parent? How to manage finances? How to be attentive and hardworking? Not exactly. I've learnt these things and am learning every day. What stops him? This is a mystery to me. As is how he survived 30 years before we met Hmm let's not mention MIL has a lot to be blamed for.

@Daffodil21 This has really made me laugh! He knows about our thread but he probably thinks we talk about all the rosey stuff because he thinks this is what motherhood is - coffees and cakes with my mum mates, what's not to like, eh? What he doesn't see is the hard work that I do for 10 hrs a day to be out with baby in tow for 2 or 3. And that this is not me time like he gets. He really is on a different planet.

I've concluded if I have another DC I am 100% doing shared parental leave, FF and returning to work earlier than this time. So DH can enjoy his rosey time as a parent too. I think this is the only way and frankly I'd probably be happier too. xx

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