December 2007: It's all worth it for the smiles.

[claraquitetirednow]

I've never started a new thread before - has this worked?

Oh yes and ds went in the doorway bouncer thing for the first time yesterday and he loved it-will give my arms a bit of a break anyway!

wow - clairy.

glad you are better

hi clairey - had wondered where you'd been! Glad you are all feeling bettere and quite right that you didn't DTD with your miserable DH! Was he miserable because it was his birthday? Lots of men hit their midlife crisis a lot earlier than their midlife I think

claraq - gosh I hadn't even thought about weaning, like clairey I still think of my ds as a newborn. But it sounds like you DD is very strong (rolling over) so might need the extra calories!

Lizzer - poor you and poor your DS - sounds awful. Hope your boobs have recovered. DS also feeds for comfort or when he is ill and it takes me back to the newborn days when my boobs permanently throbbed!

Caz10 - I am also suffering from maternity leave weight - I think the inital weight loss post-birth lulls you into a false sense of security and so you start on the chocolate and don't stop. I am so sick of wearing the same two pairs of trousers than fit me but refuse to buy any more because I know/desperately hope I will be back into my size 10 jeans as soon as DS starts on solids

might get one of those bumbos as DS seems to prefer being sat up - how much are they?

Hello Clairey , good to hear from you again.

Yes I think I'm beginning to be resigned to the bad nights.

DH can't wait to put the doorway bouncer up. Perhaps I'll let him do it now. DS's head is quite strong now.

Hello everyone!

Wizz you were right, ds went back to his normal waking routine last night! Hurrah

I tried him in the Bumbo at Tiny Treasures, he looked so cute in it and he seemed to like it. The assistants remarked on how he kept staring up at me . Slightly disappointed as I was the only mum there - but I was missed last week Hopefully rest of regulars will be there next week!

Skid- Bumbos are pretty expensive- I think about £28 though I was looking at them today in local Mothercare for about £23 (on sale). What I would say is that a MN search on Bumbo shows that lots of people think that they are their worst buy (ie. biggest waste of money), either because their baby doesn't like them or wriggles their way out (apparently they can tip). So although DD loves hers, you might want to try your LO in one/ beg or borrow one, before investing?

Argh on the maternity leave weight- why is it now going up again??? So unfair, and surely nothing to do with the creme eggs I've been scoffing non-stop. Ahem.

Hello!

Skid - I second trying them out. The one I tried ds in is at a Surestart group.

So clocks go forward next weekend. How will you manage it in terms of routines? I think I'll try and put ds earlier to bed each night so when the clocks go back he'll be going to bed at his usual time 7pm otherwise it'll be 8pm!
Looking forward to the lighter mornings!

Hi All,

Bouncing - I'm keeping DS on his normal routine, and hoping everything will be an hour later for him.

Last night 6 wake ups! I can't blame him though, he had his jabs yesterday. He's lovely this morning playing under his play gym very happily.

Bugger, have just broken our printer . Was trying to print pics for my mum and the paper got stuck. Have just tried to find out how to open it up and the paper guide has snapped off. DH will be cross with me. D'oh!

Hi all, thanks for all your msgs re my sore boobs-i think its the most hardest thing about these early days-they have recovered fine after ds got back to his usual self by Sat..

On the subject of bumbos, we've just ordered one from m'care-i hadn't thought about him not liking it-i hope he does, tis a lot of money! i bought it so we can put him on the kitchen units like i used to do with dd (obviously not unattended)

ARGH, the clocks going fwd. Just as we got ds into 8pm bedtime, we'll have to start moving it back again slowly i think.. He's found a pattern again (1 early hours waking, one early morning wake)

Opps wizz hope its fixable, i'm the master of breaking all things electrical in this house

clairey, how's your ds been with his jabs today?

Wobbegong - Have just googled wobbegongs to see what they look like. Very odd looking creatures!

Just fessed up to DH about the printer. Thought I'd better prepare him so it wouldn't be a nasty surprise when he gets home. Still he'll enjoy slagging me off as as stupid woman who's rubbish with technology. Stupidly my job is dealing with computers and stuff like this at the gallery, hey ho, its amazing what sleep deprivation can do to you.

How many hot crossed buns is it acceptable to eat in a day?

Oh ffs! Is that DS's 3rd shit in an hour I hear.

Mmm lovely wizz, suddenly my cadbury's creme egg doesn't seem so apetizing..

thanks bouncing and wobbegong - will def. try one out first. Bouncing I am also in a Surestart area - aren't all the activities great? Is you BF group surestart as well? I love my BF group - they are all so lovely - how is yours going? Has it started up again?

PS wizz - up to three hot cross buns in a day is completely acceptable

Skid he has just been generally miserable for about 4 years lol! I think birthdays make him feel bad about where he is in life-he only got his first full time job aged 28 (and I had moved around lots) so of course we are behind our peers in terms of getting on the property ladder, savings etc and it gets him down sometimes. Also he doesn't have close friends around here so gets depressed eg at birthdays/new year because he doesn't have anyone to go out partying with and we can't always afford for him to go to London to see his friends and do the kind of partying he'd really like to.

Lizzer DS hasn't been too bad thanks, last night was as usual, and was fine if a bit hot this morning. Today had a 2 hour sleep over lunch and has been grumpy ever since-hopefully won't continue in that vein though!

BT I hadn't thought about the clocks at all! The clocks changing has never affected DD at all-maybe cos we never had a proper routine to disrupt. DS still doesn't have a regular bedtime or waking time so am guessing he won't be affected either but who knows. Don't think will be so lucky with DD this time either-she has been a nightmare with sleep lately.

After DS' jabs yesterday I tried to go to the Latchers group but when I asked the receptionist they didn't know anything about it then asked the midwife who said they no longer run it at the surgery cos uptake was so low I was actually looking forward to being with other breastfeeders for an hour, all the mums at toddlers etc are formula feeders and some are really anti breastfeeding.

Wobbegong, meant to say before about your DDs head shape that I wouldn't worry too much. DS2 had a head that was all flat on one side as a baby and he would not lie with it turned the other way! I guess the shape of it made it too uncomfy. It soon evened out once he was sitting though and is fine now. I have tried that Mother's Helper tea now and rthere oes seem to be more milk, definitely less gaps in the flow! Only drinking 2 cups a day though, not the 3-5 recommended!

Wizz, what made you google Wobbegong? You are right though, it is an odd looking creature!

Bouncing Gorgeous photo of smiley Daniel! I do not believe that all the experts say is right and I confess I have never read a baby book! DS2 has a dummy until he was 3.5 nd he had no speech delays, in fact he talked incredibly early! Most of the time he would only have it when tired or poorly.

Pecka, you have done a great job with Mathilda and still are. Bottle feeding seems to be the way forwards with her and I think you do get the same closeness bottle feeding as breast feeding. Have not given DD a bottle yet but I remember the adoring way my DSs used to gaze at me while they drank.

Caz10 yes the spinner is the Lamaze one, got it off of ebay for less than half shop prices! Was brand new too! I am still undecided about a bumbo, DD seems happt with her bouncy chair, playmat and spinner at the moment. I have a door bouncer too for when she is a bit older - will just see how it goes! for SMP, that is wat I get but as my earnings are only p/t I am only down by about £30 per month so is not too bad.

Well Evie is a proper thumb sucker now and hasn't had a dummy for over a week, have given up even sterilising them. Is a bit difficult while out in the pram though, if she gets fussy I have to get her arm out of her coat, let her put her thumb in her mouth and then zip the coat up over the top! She has grown again and her 3-6 month clothes are all too short, she has some lovely outfits too . Have bought her some 6-9 month stuff but it is mostly summery things so have got to get her some different ones, hope the summer stuff still fits her in the nicer weather!

Did everyone have a good Eeaster? Sorry you were all ill Lizzer but glad you are feeling better now. DS2 spend Easter Sunday on the toilet, literally. He didn't get off it for 6 hours and couldn't even keep water down . He then had high temp all of Monday and still has a runny bum now. I am taking him to the docs soon to have him checked over, poor little fellow. I also noticed that he has got really thin too, particularly his legs, am hoping its cos he has grown a fair bit lately but will mention that to doctor too.

Ooops, sorry for long post, did not mean to write an essay!

hi clairey - are they actually ANTI-BF? Why would anyone be anti as opposed to just choosing not to BF? What a shame the group has stopped - maybe you could start up a new one?

lol at your DH being miserable for 4 years! I completely understand about being behind your peers though (said the 34 year old student!) - but as I always tell my DH, they might have lots of money and nice houses but we've got two gorgeous children and I'd rather that a thousand times over

Clairey, I understnd that breastfeeding is not for everyone and doesn't always work out but I am always shocked that anyone could be anti BF! Talking of BF, I have been having some trouble with getting DD to take a good feed. Halfway through she often needs burping but then her initial hunger has been satisfied and she doesn't want to go back on the breast, she wants to look around her (nosey thing!) and screams and arches her back. Anyone elses LOs do this?.

yep Skid, they are anti-It is disgusting, why would you want to do that, one woman started ranting about how breastfeeders were perverted as I sat there bf ds(she is a bit odd though anyway so her opinion didn't bother me!). Others told me I'd never be able to bf ds with dd to look after and one mum told me I was selfish when I said I was going to at least try-apparently it isn't fair on dd . Apparently all the benefits are over with by this age so I should just stop and start feeding ds 'properly'. Oh and soon I'll start to starve him unless I give him formula because you apparently don't make enough milk as they get bigger...

Hello all. Just read your post, clairey and I'm . I can't believe women actually said that whilst you were bf! Clearly the 'breast is best' message isn't getting through! I never thought I would be like this but the longer I keep going with bf (15 wks tomorrow) the more militant I become! I understand that some people genuinely can't bf or don't want to bf for various reasons but to come out with such rubbish is unbelievable!!

Just had to get that out!

clairey - that is shocking and very sad. I hear stories about people being anti-BF but never really believed them as i have never ever experienced anything negative when I have BF - quite the opposite in fact - and I live in an area where the vast majority of mothers bottle feed

Louise I'm getting a bit militant about BF as well although I certainly don't judge non-Bf-ers. However I did completely flip at DH for suggesting he give DS a bottle of formula so that i didnt have to express

beckle - My DS doesn't do that but I have heard it is very common around 4 months as life is just so interesting and they can't see it all when they are feeding!

How do those women think that babies survived before formula was invented??? Unbelievable!

Sounds sensible Skid, she is 11 weeks but she is incredibly nosey!

beckle - my dd does start looking at me and smiling and then starts playing with my nipple after she has obviously sated her immediate hunger/thirst, so in the end she never feeds for very long - not usually more than 5 minutes. She appears to be getting enough though as still gaining weight and only feeds every three hours in the day...

Claireybee - I am also shocked at those anti-breastfeeders. I know I am giving it up soon but will admit purely for selfish reasons (as well as needing to go away on a course), but think the ideal is definitely to carry on until 6 months. I remember the daughter of a woman I knew said she thought it would be "disgusting" to breastfeed when her mum asked her if she intended to when she was pregnant. What does she think her breasts are there for???

The anti BF brigade are just as daft as the militant bfers. Honestly, why can't people keep their opinions to themselves. It can be so hurtful when people tell you how you should be feeding your baby. It is such a personal thing. There is a place for both ways.

Beckle - Clara, DS is guzzling initially and then he comes off to either smile at me or whinge. I've been worrying he's not getting enough hind milk though he's not been producing any really green nappies and he's gaining a bit of weight.

Clairey- what a bunch of nutters. I hope it doesn't put you off. I found myself being stared at recently by a bloke in a cafe while I was bf DD, but I just steeled myself inside and carried on regardless. I have gone through hell to be able to bf my baby, so a few pervs or minsinformed gossips are nothing compared with those early weeks of sore nipples and marathon suckings.

There is someone on another thread who was told by her in-laws to bf on the toilet at a restaurant. Imagine.

Beckle, snap on the coming off bf to smile. I found the best feed was on Monday when we went to Kew Gardens, and I fed her outside on a bench. In the sleet. Believe it or not, she was wearing her little snow suit with the hood up, so couldn't see anything interesting, so she had a brilliant feed! I may have to use the suit inside again or perhaps fashion some blinkers like horses wear.

Wizz, well if hot cross buns come in packs of four....

mines been doing that feeding much shorter and then playing or coming off with smile...think she has just become more efficient feeder though I do miss the nice long half hour enforced sit down - giving up on dream feed as she still wakes for early/very late feed just varies between 2-4am depending on dream feed so not gonna bother just go to bed earlier so I get some hours in ...can live with just the one night feed as then she wakes up lovely and gurgly at about 7am but doesn't want to feed until about 8am!

Beckle yes my DS does exactly the same with the feeding. Always arching his back and/or pulling his head off and up away from my boob and looking around. It has made me a little concerned but he gained 40oz in 5 wks and is now 14lbs 13oz at 13 wks and still on the same centile so I guess he is getting what he needs (although last night woke at 2,4 and 6 for feeds )

Hi everyone else, sorry don't have time to reply properly