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! 🥰

He’s away down for yet another nap, he seems to have slept on and off most of the day and when he’s been awake he’s constantly had the hands in his mouth and not been very happy. I can’t see any signs of teeth but there’s definitely something in there annoying him ☹️

@PurplePansy05 I started by doing the 7pm bottle and then did another feed every 5 days or so. I expressed the first few days I replaced the feeds but just enough to be comfortable and then after a few days my supply regulated.

I still bf first thing in the morning as I’m too lazy to get up and make a bottle and he does still have the occasional bf at other times too.

@sarah13xx sounds similar to what's going on here today. LOTS of sleeping and hardly any smiling. Not sure what's going on either. Someone who was here on Boxing Day has tested positive for Covid since so I'm half wondering if he has been affected by that? Also possibly teething or just general disruption to routine? He hasn't been too bothered by being away from home so far though and it's been a week 🤷‍♀️

@BertieBotts on the name chat for grandparents I've always called my grandparents nanny and grandad and then great grandparents were granny. My nanny was always nanny rosie to me but DS called her and grandad ro ro and do do from a young age and ro ro has stuck but do do is now grandad 😂

Feeling irritated. DS and I have had a cough/cold thing for going on 3 weeks now and we've done numerous tests which are all negative. DD started coughing about 2 weeks ago and it got much worse just before Christmas. So much so I rang Shropdoc on Boxing Day regarding her wheezing and rattling chest and they said we could go in and have her seen by a doctor and get some antibiotics or she could prescribe an inhaler r over the phone and we could try that. So we did but it hasn't helped much. It's been bothering her more so at night and she's coughing up lots of her milk, and it's waking her up etc. anyway I asked to speak to the gp about it while we were at the surgery today for her vaccinations and they told me I have to have a phone call first even though I've spoken to Shropdoc on the phone. So he rang and basically he just said she's got to get on with it and I shouldn't have been given the inhaler and to stop using that. Feeling quite gross

@sarah13xx @Daffodil21 we’re definitely teething here, the top gums have gone all white and I can see the outline of the tooth in the gum. I know they can stay like that for a while but not sure if they can come through first over the bottom teeth?

@PurplePansy05, late to the convo but our snuza can be seen if wearing all white including white sleeping bag however the white sleeping bag isn’t great to see the chest rise and fall on the camera so opted for patterned ones as it’s clearer to see and we’ll hear the snuza.

@lucyrp apologies no idea what shropdoc is but if it’s like 111 / emergency drs then I imagine they’re qualified to prescribe the inhaler but I’d question why your GP doesn’t think it’s necessary and to get to the bottom
Of the cough though if it’s anything like ours they’ll say it’s viral and nothing they can do. Have you tried a pharmacist? I personally find them more approachable etc.

Also, in case any one didn’t know because I didn’t until today but pharmacist can give emergency prescriptions if needed etc, I ran out of DD medication and they’ve given me 10 days worth to allow time for the GP to do the prescription etc. just thought was handy to know! It was an hour to wait in the telephone queue for the GP today after being closed.

@lucyrp I'm not sure what shropdoc is either but we had loads of issues since ds was born of him getting a cold and then getting a really bad cough that could last weeks or months. He's had croup 3 times as well. But from our experience it off worth asking them to check your dds throat too as after being fobbed off for months pre covid times given inhalers told asthma runs in family etc eventually a gp checked his throat after we ended up at out of hours snd turned out he had tonsillitis. We have now had this happen at least 4 times each requiring antibiotics and every time the cough stops after the antibiotics to help throat.
Probably not the case for your dd but I hate when they give the "some babies just cough they'll grow out of it" without checking everything first.

That's really unhelpful @lucyrp. Surely if you're concerned they should be seeing her in person and then they can decide what's best? It could just be a cold but we're in season for RSV which can lead to bronchiolitis and they should be more open to listening to your concerns as her mum. The conflicting advice is so frustrating, this is what you get with GPs advising remotely all the time. How is she feeling now? Do you have out of hours GP in your area? I'd be trying to get her to be seen by someone who will actually listen to her chest I think.

Thank you for your earlier advice re baby monitors, mine went back to the shop today as it's not possible to control the camera remotely in a sense it will not tilt or pan, only zoom. Does anyone have a monitor that allows that, has decent quality video and audio so I can see if Leo's chest is moving and that can be used without WiFi?

@Magik01 Glad I could help a bit Who gave a bottle to Isaac, you or DH? I'd get him to bottle feed, and to perservere, he should suss it out after a few days. Also yes make sure he is hungry and I'd suggest a freshly made bottle, cooled down of course, but still on a warmer, comforting side. He will eventually get used to it and should hopefully sleep better xx

@Fran919 Yes! All DS's pjs are white or light coloured with small patterns (great minds!) for this exact reason, but my now returned monitor still wouldn't show chest movements well. I could live without seeing the Snuza light on the monitor, but I can't have his chest looking flat all the time on the parent unit, it just defeats the purpose xx

And forgot to say yay to the little rollers! Well done, babies 😊 I have a rather unsettled little boy here tonight, teething too - I think I can see four teeth at the bottom just underneath his gums. Not sure how to make him feel better, lots of cuddles, extra feed and cooled down teethers, but he's wide awake and still in some discomfort xx

My DD has been a delight over the last few days. Lots of fun during the day and has found her feet so spends time grabbing them and rolling about. Her sleep still isn't great but we've had a few 4 hour stretches now. I still feel like I'm doing something wrong to have her sleep the way she is but I guess every baby is different.

We're off to the grandparents tomorrow. I've spoken to the sister in law and they are only staying over 1 night. So we'll just have deal with not much sleep for that night then back to having a spare room to use.

I don't use a breather check thing. I feel like she's a solid wee thing now and still in a cot next to me. Plus she's awake so much I don't worry lol

4 hour blocks sounds great at this age :)

DH wants to have a convo about moving him out of our room. Not imminently but he was saying 1 year is about the latest he'd consider whereas I was thinking more of keeping him in with us even longer :o I just can't, no way is he going to sleep somewhere else. I will get over this btw but right now it feels so primal that I just need him with me at nights! I think I'm a bit of a weirdo though.

We are getting close to rolling, I think we had one roll but can't be sure if he really did it or not. Some real big chuckles but he's been miserable most of today with teething so we've given him calpol before bed tonight.

I can't leave him in the evenings any more. If I try to leave I just get summoned back 5 mins later or more likely I just don't get to leave in the first place.

@Fran919 yeah it is 111 I thought it was a uk wide thing but maybe it's just what we call it around here 😂 I'm unsure as to whether it was prescribed precautionary for bronchitis or because OH has asthma I'm not sure but my DS had an inhaler around the same age for a cough so I wasn't worried. I haven't as of yet as I went a couple of weeks ago for something else and they said they didn't have anything for under the age of 2. Maybe worth asking

@Smurf123 yeah I did wonder if this was croup but don't think it's nasty enough yet to be that. I did ask to be seen and they said it would have to be a phone call first which is then when the gp just fobbed me off. I would prefer to have her chest listened to which is what I thought they'd like to do. OH has asthma and has it quite bad and has done since a small child. Think he was diagnosed around the age of 3. It does seem ridiculous that I am obviously concerned about it to ask and he was just like oh she will have the cough as long as you have it you just have to wait it out. Like oh thank you

@PurplePansy05 she doesn't have a fever or any congestion so I'm thinking that's why they don't want to see her but to me that raises more alarm bells than if she did have those other things to go along with it. A cough alone that makes her sick because she coughs so much does worry me. She's still coughing and having to give Calpol for her teeth which I think is also helping with her sleep, I think I will ring 111 back and not mention the gp just go on the advice that they told me to ring them back if I wasn't happy with the inhaler progress xx

@wimbler we use a dummy and just have to keep putting it back in. But we don't do it too often these nights. If she keeps spitting it out and not settling though I know it means she's hungry. If she's happy and not hungry then she either keeps it in or spits it and sleeps with out it. We still use the scratch cuffs on her sleep suits as otherwise she can pull out the dummy and not get it back in her self.

@lucyrp they won't diagnose asthma until at least 3 now but seem pretty quick to prescribe inhalers just in case. For ds I know his cough when he gets it sounds nothing like my asthma cough so I always said I don't think it's that. To be fair to our gp they will always offer to see a child under 1 and will usually see an under 3 if you ask them too. I'd need to ring 152 times and be at death's door for them to see me though.

@Smurf123 oh yeah I know they won't diagnose asthma until at least 3 maybe even school age or older nowadays. OH says her cough and breathing seems a lot like Whag he feels like when he is struggling with his chest, I hope its not that and know that we won't know for ages but I'd just like something to relieve it a little for her 🥺

Can you try leaving the bedroom windows open a little? Or even take her out in your arms for a small walk in the garden before bed?
The advice on croup used to be hot steamy shower but when we last saw as go he said that has not changed and that cold air was better. He did say that they might cough more initially coming back in to the change in temp but that actually the cold air helps too relieve the airways and inflammation a bit.
If she's wheezy or chest feels rattly though if try again with the gp and say you are very worried about her breathing and need them to see her to check her chest. Just in case she has a wee chest infection or something. They really shouldn't be refusing to see such a young baby and you know her best. Even if they see her and says she's fine it's still give you some reassurance that there's nothing else going on

I'm back at work next week and dd is waking every hour throughout the night for at least the last week, it's not been great the past month but it is getting worse not better. I teach 5 year olds in a special needs school with severe learning and behavioural needs I really don't know how I'm going to do it on no sleep. Tried to do a formula bottle before bed but it makes no different if anything just leaves her really windy so it's worse.
She had been sleeping through the night or at most only one wake up until a month ago 😫

I may want to murder my husband. (I won't ofc) His dads family all came for lunch on Monday. One of his cousins just tested positive. And he's just informed me that she was holding dd while I took our ds to the toilet (tmi but ds takes a while for number 2 at the bathroom so i was with him about 30mins) we had talked about it beforehand and said we would be careful with dd and ds and not be passing dd round everyone to keep as safe as possible yet as soon as I left the room he did just that!
I need my flight home on Monday, I mean I really need us to get home. We have done 4 weeks here already I can't do more. I'm done and so fed up. Also incredibly cross at Ryanair for changing our flight as we should have been flying home tomorrow.

Lucy if you think she needs to be seen raise hell. I'm sorry but I'm so angry at how the NHS is handling this with the absence of real life appointments. Yes some things can be sorted over the phone but a baby is no joke. And as I said a few weeks ago we don't know but it's possible my cousin's sepsis would have been picked up in time if she'd had a F2F appointment.

That said their breathing can be noisy at this age which is pretty normal. When DS1 was little they always listened to his chest and told me they listen for crackling when they breathe in and out. You can check this yourself with your ear to their back.

Croup coughs sound like a seal barking, very distinctive, very scary if you haven't heard it before - you would know something was definitely wrong (people usually overreact to the first instance of croup because it sounds so scary).

Oh no Smurf that's terrible! Fingers crossed she is OK. Travel is just a nightmare at the moment. France have announced that UK citizens can't transfer through France to get to their EU country of residence :( Which means we can't go home at all until they lift that because flying direct is just too complicated and expensive.

Oh dear @Smurf123 what a shitshow with Ryanair and then DH/cousin covid situation. When do you need to test before flying, what's the process now?

We've decided not to travel abroad until there's more certainty, we just can't afford to be stuck somewhere with our pets being here and the covid logistics are a nightmare. Feel for you especially after such a long time there already xx

Oh no @Smurf123 how annoying - I'd be hopping mad! Fingers crossed she doesn't get anything (or more practically, if she does that she doesn't pass it to you as presumably you won't be testing her!)

@BertieBotts sorry to hear the France thing is affecting you 😔 it's so stupid as well - France have more cases than the UK! What on earth do they think this new policy will achieve?

We're hoping to be abroad twice in January, once to visit family and once on a holiday (which back when we booked, when I was pregnant, I assumed would be totally back to normal 🙄), so hoping nothing changes too much between now and then!

@biscuitcat yes exactly I definitely won't be testing either dd or ds so I just need us to all remain symptom free and for dh and I to get negative tests when we test on Saturday for our pre departure tests.
Also due to such high demand for tests here it is taking 2 or 3 days for pcr results so dh is worrying about the results not being back in time.
But pcr test has to be done within 72 hours for Ireland and within 48 hours for Northern Ireland but we fly to Dublin so I think I might just go by their rules depending on what the ni passenger locator form asks for.

@BertieBotts oh no that's hard too though that you can't get home to see family! The prices of flights have really dropped for us to and from here but im reluctant to book another trip until covid settles down. Won't be back before summer at any rate.

Thanks everyone just needing to rant. Was the last thing I needed to hear this morning after yet another night of no sleep we seem to have stopped naps too but she is so happy during the day it's easy to just let her stay awake though I am thinking it might be leading to over tiredness by night time.

We're having a terrible car journey up north. DD has cried all the way. When we stop and take her out the car seat she's all babbling and happy but as soon as she's in it she screams the car down. We tried taking her insert out but now her head looks unsupported.

She's finally asleep now after using the song we use to put her to bed. I feel like we've brain washed her with it but it worked. Still an hour to go! It's taken all bloody day the number of stops we've done.

Oh bless her. I think they just get fed up of being in it after a while, I know we always found that with the older two anyway. Always check for a surprise poo as well just in case.