August 2021 - They've been here for half a year

[BertieBotts]

Can you believe it! Our lovely little ones are (roughly) halfway to their first birthdays.

Welcome friends old and new for discussion of sleep, teeth, weaning, milestones, navigating post-baby relationships and the whole existential dread of parenthood... I mean those amazing moments when they make your heart melt. Or produce a poo that makes the wallpaper melt. Oh, all of them. Nothing is off limits because it's just good to know that somebody else has been there.

How much of a baby jar would your dc eat in one go?

I am so behind! Last time I posted I got tips about a baby first aid kit- thank you for the advice. We also ended up with the bugaboo ant after trying a good few out!

Interesting your babies all like to be warm
At night, I’ve noticed that too! My husband still thinks the room should be colder but I’m sure it’s because he’d sleep in the freezer if he could!

Baby has 3 teeth now, 4th looks well on its way and we now have a full on crawl since last week! I feel the last 2 weeks have been really significant developmentally, sounds he’s making, how he’s eating and playing. It’s noticeable that’s he’s less baby, if that makes any sense at all! As a consequence sleep has been atrocious, we’ve been really jammy with sleep and the last week has been pretty bad. He wakes up every night at 10, he’s moving around his cot, in all sorts of weird positions, hitting the cot bars, he’s even managed to throw his dummy out of the cot a few times. Seems wide awake. He’s started sleeping on his side and I think wants to sleep on his front but struggles to kn his sleep bag? Anyway moving around ends up waking him up. Husband worked a way earlier in the week so I ended up having him in the bed with me for a break and I’m amazed how much better he slept! Probably because the mattress is softer? But I’m wondering how we’ll go with the cot tonight.

Water, he hates the stuff! He drunk it as a constipated baby but now he registers what’s happening he’s like what is this muck you’re giving me?! We give it in a bottle though because a normal cup is just a toy for him! He has tried to drink from a glass on several occasions though 😂

Sorry to hear that there’s some people questioning relationships and @PurplePansy05 about your decision. Sounds like you’ve worked it out though and it’s for the best, seems you’re doing everything yourself anyway!

@BertieBotts poor little Alex, hope he’s feeling better!

@Daffodil21 oh no to covid, is he all recovered now? Hope everyone else who have tested positive with their babies are doing okay now!

@kagerou Ivy is so cute, love the dribble patch!!!

@Smurf123 so we’ll have a full jar or sachet. He has breakfast milk of about 200ml, then porridge with some form of purée, midday 50ml milk, lunch varies but it’s at least an Ella’s kitchen pouch (doing really on those, he loves the different flavours but hates what I make, typical) and then he’ll usually have a bit of yoghurt and a banana, or sliced toast. We don’t do solids in the late afternoon because he won’t drink his milk and I was worried he wasn’t having enough, so normally then another 150ml of milk and about 200ml at bedtime. (Sorry I know you didn’t ask for the full day worth of food and milk but I think it helps with context as to whether he’s finishing a jar) also if it helps he’s currently 91st centile for height and 51st for weight.

We’re mainly on purées with finger foods, the foods get sucked more than eaten 🤷🏼‍♀️ and we’re still on baby porridge for convenience really but I’ve put some oats in the blender to make them fine to try for tomorrow
Morning. @purplepansy if you’re looking to introduce oats this might be good for you as they’re fine so makes it all less lumpy and quicker to cook too, as they get older we can make it chunkier.

I saw Heinz do a chocolate pudding which id love to get him to try but I guess it’s not the best thing to give a baby!

Sorry for the essay! Hope everyone is alright and happy Friday! I’m going to bed now I think 😂

@Inmypjsagain eek maybe I should be feeding dd more . I say feeding her more I do offer. She will eat baby porridge finally so 3 tablespoons worth with 6 tablespoons of cooled boiled water. Then after that all bets are off. She likes to breastfeed but is too nosy and gets easily distracted so snacks 5 mins here 5 mins there if I'll let her. Lunch we haven't really started yet just blw a bit of whatever I'm having so maybe some toast, melty puffs, cucumber sticks. But I mean not any huge actually quantity and dinner tonight was better than we have done so far so maybe 1/3 of a baby spaghetti jar though she did then devour 1/2 baby rice with apple and pear jar. Normally it's the 1/3 jar plus finger food which usually gets nibbled before falling on the floor🙈

@Smurf123 that’s really interesting to compare, because I have no idea if we’re giving him too much. He’ll have about 5 tablespoons of porridge, we have the Hipp stuff. Thing is he never seems full, he’ll finish the pouch and porridge and keep opening his mouth for me, I have no idea how much he’d gobble up if we kept feeding him! I’m sure if she wants to have more, she will, as you say you’re offering it to her. If she wanted more I’m sure she’d let you know 😊

4 tablespoons of baby porridge here + 8/9 tbsps of water. I often add some fruit puree to it too so it should probably count as a bit more food.

He doesn't eat jars but has an occasional Deliciously Ella pouch, he'd normally have a half in one go, but sometimes he'd eat the whole thing.

Otherwise he'd eat a third of a bamboo plate of a meal (so say, chicken pie with veg in it) and another third of just veg, say broccoli - although he eats veg BLW style so he doesn't actually eat all of it, it goes everywhere 😄 If he has Weetabix, he'll have one with approx. 80ml of milk and a third of a mashed banana. Toast, probably nearly one full slice cut up. Obviously not all at once, I alternate, but he eats solids/purees 3 times a day now. xx

My DD loves her food and I do wonder if we feed her too much.

Morning is a portion of baby porridge made with water. Its a portion size that is recommended on the tin. Not sure exactly. But fruit is mixed in.

Lunch is half sachet of an Ella pouch (sometimes 3/4s) or half a large jar and some fruit like a spear of banana or segment of orange or natural yogurt mixed with fruit. I try and give some blw here though so try and avoid more spoon feeding for the fruit. We've discovered she loves kiwis halved that she munches on.

Dinner is the rest of the pouch, some cooked veg sticks and occasionally I need to open another pouch if she ate most of it at lunch. I sometimes feel lazy using the pouches and wish I did more blw but she eats the pouches more than my cooking and her sleep is pretty good these days so I don't want to change anything!

She gets a breastfeed offered every few hours still and after meals in case she wants more. Some days she eats less actual food and more boob, some days the other way.

I've started my period so I'm definitely feeding less. 😕 First period in 18 months!

@Smurf123 he won't have a lot here! If I do a pouch he'll have at the very most half of one (though I think more ends up thrown around than in his mouth...), and maybe a few bites of something when I'm giving him finger foods. He's starting to 'get' food a bit more, but still prefers milk I think.

Sleep here is an absolute disaster still, I'm exhausted! Hoping he'll be a lovely toddler to make up for how badly he sleeps now 😂 right now he seems to be cutting his third tooth which won't be helping, but even before that he's never done more than a couple of hours in a row really

@Inmypjsagain he's back to normal now except for his appetite. He was starting to eat a whole small jar, but Covid's ruined that progress 🙄

I have actually given DS one of those chocolate pudding jars 😳 he had it on his 6 month birthday and it was his gateway into taking and enjoying food - he loved it!

Hmm ok. So I definitely don't think she is eating enough then. But she won't take any more. She's up all night feeding like every 2 hours because she's too busy to feed during the day no matter how hard I try! She hasn't been weighed since 4months so I don't know how's she is doing that way.

@biscuitcat sounds very similar to how it is over here too!
Dd has 4 teeth completely through and 3 more just about through - the very tip of 1 maybe 2 has broken through but just about .

@Smurf123 for ages he really wasn't eating much, and then suddenly it changed x

Happy Mother's Day, ladies! Happy First Mother's Day to some of us. A long awaited one to some of us. A new Mother's Day as mothers of two and mothers of three to some of us! What a special Sunday today Lots of love and celebrate it with your beautiful children (and have a lovely break! ) xx

Happy Mother's Day

Crawling, so exciting!! We are not there yet but he is starting to go up on all fours and rock which is basically the stage before.

Teeth 3 & 4 seem to be on their way, lots of tears, drool and chewing, it's not helping with the flu :( Appetite also completely messed up due to this.

Happy Mother’s Day!!!!! 🥰🎉🥂hope you are all being spoiled rotten!

Having a lovely day, went out for lunch with my family. Bit nervous about the baby in a restaurant (we gave him lunch there) but he was good as gold. His portable high chair is great, so pleased we got it.

Crawling is exciting but it’s chaotic, he just wants to move and I didn’t realise how much stuff we had at baby level. Higher up surfaces are all really cluttered now, I know you can teach no and not to touch but he’s a bit little at the moment I think. I’m also quite surprised at the speed which he can go. He also crawls all over his toys which just looks uncomfortable!

Our coffee table has really sharp edges, I’m not sure how best to cover them? He’ll be pulling himself up soonish I guess 🤯

@Daffodil21 I’m sure appetite will return soon, how are you feeling? So the chocolate was a success! I looked at the ingredients and they look fine really, he’s eaten the Ella’s kitchen baby bread pudding and this doesn’t look too dissimilar, so I’ll give it a go. Glad it was a good gateway food for Elliott, anything that gets them eating is always a win!

@Smurf123 I’d just follow her lead, keep offering and one day she’ll scoff it all down.

@Ready2020 we mainly use pouches and I think they’re great. I would never make the variety that he’s getting at the moment, or use the ingredients (I don’t really cook smelly food and these have loads of onion and garlic in them!), otherwise he’d just be getting plain versions of what we eat. I’m not a big cook so it means I don’t feel bad for having sandwiches for my supper!!

@biscuitcat sending coffee for the sleep. Sleep has really been diabolical for the last 2 or so weeks, far worse than he was a newborn (I think anyway, maybe similar but I expected it when he was tiny) so I know Rowan doesn’t love his sleep and I can’t imagine how you’ve been dealing with this for 7 months!!!!!! You’ve been amazing! I’ve inspected his mouth today and can see so many teeth up top that I wonder if that’s what is causing it rather than deciding he no longer wants to sleep!!!! Really hoping it’s just a phase…

Happy Mother’s Day you lovely lot! 😊 I came on earlier to moan about the fact I hadn’t got flowers and he was away for the weekend but it turns out they just hadn’t arrived yet so luckily I didn’t finish my comment anyway 😂 he didn’t get me them on Valentine’s Day but he’s obviously realised his error!

There is so much to catch up on, I have pages I haven’t read still 🙈 3 bottom teeth here, no crawling but he is going up on like all fours but using his head to support himself 😂 noticed a huge difference in the last week with how much he’s rolling. He basically did it once away at the start then never did it again but I can leave him on the bed and nip to the other room now and I’ll come back and he’s made it to the other side of the bed through rolling/shuffling himself 😂

Happy Mother's Day all 🥰 DH was away with work, so I was at my mum's and we had a lovely day - my sister made a heavenly steak with roast potatoes, and Rowan enjoyed his little portion too! And next week I'm being very spoiled with a massage at a nice spa and lunch, can't wait!

@Inmypjsagain thank you lovely! I think I'm so used to bad sleep now, so my bar for a good night has shifted a bit! Our pregnancy purchase of a posh coffee machine was definitely a good one 😂 I can see loads of teeth up too for Rowan too, so I'd not be surprised if that's it for you too - I think I've learned that everything with babies is a phase!

Hope everyone had a lovely mother's day, I found it a bit surreal but actually ended up having a really nice day with baby ❤️

@Inmypjsagain his appetite seems a bit better now so hopefully that's Covid over and done with for now! Except it's not quiet, as I'm still positive so I can't go out again yet 🙄 DS loves that Ella's bread pudding too. I do give him fruit etc too I swear 😂

DS is in his own room for the first time tonight. He's also gone down much earlier than usual tonight and last night. Last night was a success so hopefully it'll continue.

Hope you've all had a lovely day you amazing mums 🌺

@sarah13xx glad you got flowers! I did not. But I did get a lovely lunch made for me and a sweet little book 'from DS'. I still would have loved some tulips (or daffodils!) but you can't have everything I suppose!

@Daffodil21 aww that’s sweet, I was very surprised but he never usually would because he doesn’t see the point in it. I don’t think he understands that I like them so he should make the effort 😂 he took the hint this time anyway!

Hope he gets on okay in his own room! We’re still squashing him into the snuzpod waiting to move house so he can go into the cot. It feels like we’re never going to move at this rate but I think it is like next week or thereabouts. We’re really running out of time with the snuzpod and he’s a big boy 🙈

Hi Ladies!

I totally lost the thread again 🤣 I hope you all had the most amazing mother's day! We found out a little treat this weekend.....
We're expecting again!

Early days yet so everything crossed that this one sticks! Xx

@Jessicapebbles wow!!! Congratulations!!! ❤️

OMG Jessica how exciting, congratulations!

YY crawling is funny because suddenly everything in your house moves up to tables, shelves etc and then they start pulling up so it moves even further up and then they become toddlers and it's just literally everywhere :o total chaos. Coffee table you can get corner protectors for sharp corners.

@sarah13xx sorry I got excited about @Jessicapebbles and forgot to reply to you! Night went well! He went down at 745 which is a MASSIVE improvement. He woke a few times but resettled as soon as I gave him his comforter as he couldn't find it himself. He didn't have a feed until 4:30am!! And even then it was only 4oz. A massive improvement from a few weeks ago so hopefully it'll continue

@Jessicapebbles ahhhhh amazing!! Congratulations! Everything crossed for you 🥰