August 2007- Half a year of sleep deprivation later... (but we're finally back in our skinny jeans!)

[JamesAndTheGiantBanana]

New thread! Whoop whoop!

Ohhh, its happening again .... Pink, was it you who said when I joined here, that your ds was born on the same day as Liam - 27th aug. If so, did I meet you in the hospital? We were in for week and I met a lot of mums there. You wouldn't have been able to miss us, we were the one's in the sideroom with the bright blue lights over Liam's incubator. This would be just too weird for words if we'd met too.

i used to wedge DS in a baby swing at the park, with a coat, or rucksack!! DS was about James' size.

Got D weighed today - she's dropped another centil and is verging towards the 50th (from 95th)... ahem ahem..... still think she's huge, and she's got fat thighs..... shes 8.48 kilos.. which DS was at 18 weeks (she's 28)!!!!!!!!

Kinki, no mother and baby groups for us.. hate the damn things.

Both dcs slept 12 hours last night which is a first! They've both got colds though. Ds didn't even have his evening bottle, I just put him to bed at 6:30. He woke a few times for his dummy but apparently wasn't hungry. He hasn't been interested in his evening milk for nearly a week now but I think it might be due to his cold. I'll gamble and stop giving it to him and see if he wants feeding in the night once he's better.

I stopped sterlising dd's bottles at 6 months (even though I knew it was recommended til 12 months). IIRC it was because I got so fed up with cleaning and sterilising bottles and she was probably still having 5 a day at 8 or 9 months. I haven't stopped sterilising ds's yet. That's partly because he's only having 2-3 per day (one of those at mum's) and partly because I remembered dd being ill quite a lot at this age. I'm probably worrying over nothing though. I might carry on for another couple of months.

Ds is just over 10kg now and won't stop growing. He's just below the 98th centile after starting on the 50th. I have no idea why I don't have arms like Popeye. I would have done if ds had been as clingy as dd was.

god sterilizing ti 12 months what tosh - how will our kids ever build up immunity! I'm so slack & figure by 6 months they are picking up all sorts of fluff off the floor or being fed stuff by siblings that sterizing is pointless!

ds2 is full of cold but can still manage a smile for me.

I have someone from the local childrens centre coming later to tell me what they have on offer. - cue a morning of oovering & toy tidying!

still no teeth here - ds1 had 4 by 7 months!

we do tumbletots its great but quite expensive. ds2starts gymbabes next week - making my weds horrendous -
school-nursery-gymbabes-nursery-lunch-tumbletots-school-swimming dd-swimming ds1-beavers-home!

best go fin the gannets some dinner.

kinki - that wasn't me at hospital i was very lucky and had him at home, although i did take a trip to the hospital that morning to get stitched up - As for baby groups cant stand them BUT i am a childminder so i do go for the little boy that i look after, he is 2 and loves them, the one on St Andrews Road is a bit rubbish all squeezed into one very small hall, bit grubby, havent tried the other one, i go to one down t wateringbury on Friday morning, sometimes they can be a bit clicky (sp) but i dont really care -

People - what finger foods are the babies having, Tate dont seem to like to do anything as i think he get frustrated thats its not coming quick enough?? also im paranoid that he will choke

Dh has had his versectomary (sp?)date through, it the 25th of March - bit quick but 2 is plenty and we really dont want no more so his turn for some pain down there!!!!!!!!

lol pink!

Ds is only having toast and rusks for finger food at the moment. I should really start doing other things. Maybe I'll give him some cheese at the weekend. He's still only on 2 solid meals at the moment (apart from yesterday when mum forgot to take his milk out with her and had to buy a couple of jars) so it's weetabix in the morning and mashed veg/fish pie/chicken etc, chopped steamed fruit and yoghurt late afternoon. He didn't want his milk this morning for some reason so I gave him some of dd's weetabix and honey hoops.

James has a list of blw foods she gives to James further down the thread if you need ideas.

God, absolutely loads of messages, sorry I can't keep up, but I'm glad everyone is ok and Kinki's dh is home and feeling better. Bogwoppit you are one busy lady!

Pink, even if you aren't doing blw solely, aitch's blog still has great fingerfood ideas link J has never choked, and as far as I've heard, actual choking is very rare with blw, although some gagging does go on. Gagging is just them discovering the limits of their mouth, they don't usually even look phased when it happens, J just gags and then spit the food out, he doesn't look scared or worried, in fact it usually ends in a faintly amused grin and a few fake coughs, as he loves a bit of am dram!

You'd know if it was choking, they would look scared, panicky, silent, turning colours etc- thankfully that's never happened. It's much easier to choke when somebody is putting things in your mouth for you than if you put the food in yourelf. Plus lets face it, we hover over them with a crooked finger ready to hook out any offending bits of food. As long as you're in the room, (and not feeding them whole grapes!) there's not much to worry about, imho.

I want to find out how to make lovely creamy porridge from scratch with proper oats- does anyone know how?

We didn't go to the park today but I'll take him tomorrow or on the weekend with daddy. But he did go in the door bouncer, do banging with some cake tins and a wooden spoon, play in his travel cot, we did some singing and dancing about to songs off the radio (he puked on my chin) and some rolling about on the playmat. He's been asleep for the last 3/4 hour so it must have tired him out.

Oh shit, I forgot to give him his middle bottle! I knew I'd forgotten something.

pink - i think i need to have that conversation with dp, that it's his turn for a bit pain! and i don't really want to be on the pill for the next 2o years.

dd2 loves the swings - go for it with james, though i have to watch that she doesn't start chewing on it . i put dd2 in the spermarket trolly seat for ist time yesterday and she just giggled the whole way round. though again i've got to stop her chewing on it

we've just met friends for lunch and she was a wee star - it was me who knocked a whole glass of water over my friend - she had to go and dry her jeans in the toilets [blus].

Ok - so my mum has done it again and made me feel like a rubbish mum! (I really must write down what not to say to my dc when they are adults!)

Was saying that I'd love a whole nights sleep and she said that ds2 wasn't sleeping through because it was a habit I'd let form. I was saying at this age it was really too young to make them sleep through and he was only just about getting 3 meals a day (that's a whole other disagreement!!). I can't do the CC thing - I hate hearing babies scream although I know that's just me! So someone tell me that I am completely normal and you too are getting woken up at 4am everyday!

My sister told me a while ago that my mum thinks I am keep ds2 a baby on purpose (which is probably true) - Dh said I should tell her to shove it, that we are enjoying the baby time and if we make it last a bit longer that it's all the better for us and not harming him.

Sorry for rant - actually feel a bit better now it's out. Just have to remember not to discuss bring up dc with my mum - we just do things very differently!

loler, most grandmothers tend to think "if that child had 24 hours with me I'd get him eating/sleeping/acting right" they probably forget it isn't a walk in the park and you have a million other things to juggle as well as worry about your baby's habits. You're doing a good job, try not to let her get to you!

Does anyone own "What To Expect: The First Year"? I was laughing yesterday when I was reading through the 7 month old section of it, as it said we should now be thinking about introducing finger foods (hah) "a frozen bagel is great because whatever they do manage to scrape off will be mush anyway" I'd much rather give James a lovely warm toasted bagel with something tasty on it than give him nasty mushy soggy cold bread. Would they eat that crap?

To be honest I don't much like what to expect anyway, I know they add a disclaimer saying every baby is different, but it does start you off worrying about their development unnecessarily. Plus there's so much scaremongering and guilt creating in there "don't leave pillows or blankets anywhere near your child ever or it may DIE" "don't give your child one grain of sugar ever or it may DIE" "Thou shalt not let thy child partake of In The Night Garden lest they spontaneously DIE"

My sister just bought the Best Friend's Guide to Toddlers, for next year. Is anyone looking forward to the toddler stage? I'm not.

Lolar

I must be a realy cr*p mum as Lizzie didn't sleep through until she was nearly 2.6yrs . She was still having a bottle of milk in the night to.

And as for keeping your ds2 a baby, he is still a baby.

Ignore her as she has either forgotten about what babies are like or she has her rose tinted glasses on.

I'm sooooooo tired. Ds went to bed at the usual time but woke up at 10pm when we went to bed. He stayed awake til 11:30 having had a bottle and been sick on me but then woke again at 5am Dh was being useless when I asked him for help cos my hands were covered in sick and it was running all down my leg. I had to tell him to get me a pack of wipes and some clean pjs for ds. What happens to these seemingly intelligent men when we have kids???? Anyway, I'd stayed up trying to get ds to sleep last night so I asked dh to get up with him this morning. He was really annoyed and doing his best to keep me awake like slamming drawers and doors and telling Alex to shut up grrrrrrrrr!!!!

Agree loler that ds2 is still a baby and there's no reason why you shouldn't be treating him that way. Why wish his life away by wanting him to grow up. My ds normally wakes a few times a night but fortunately doesn't need feeding. He saves that for 5:30am most mornings. I would have to be up at 6 anyway. Your dh sounds like mine when I talk about things my sister has said.

I'm not looking forward to baby proofing the house again when ds is on the move James. Although it will mean that dh will have to stop leaving crap all over the living room and tidy for a change. He always moans about the place being a mess but I always come downstairs in the morning to find an empty glass, yoghurt pot and spoon and the floor strewn with cables for the laptop and yesterday's post.

I know what mean i am so tired i keeping walking into things eg door handles, i also burnt my arm twice on the oven yesterday.

Lexie is waking every 30mins to an 1 hour from 11.30 for the last week she is cutting teeth and has a bad cold and is on ab's(nappies are fab . She is not hungry have offered milk just wants to know i am around IYKWIM.

i must be a bad mum too - dd1 never slept through till 2.2 and she was in her big bed - so don't worry loler. and i think i'm doing the same and keeping dd2 as my baby since there won't be any more.

james - i've got the whole 'what to expect' range, pregnancy, first year and toddler years. with dd1 i was glued to the book and coudl alsmost recite what development they shoudl be doing by what month. with dd2 i think i've looked at it once! and yuck to a cold bagal.

it's finally been agreed what work i'm going to be doing when i go back - i'm acutally quite looking forward the work but not to leaving dd's. and will my brain actually work and remember what the nhs in scotland does! it's only 3 weeks on tuesday - arrrrgh!. so i need to make the most of my time with dds.

hope everyone is well and enjoying the weekend.

James hasn't cut down his milk much yet, he's gone from having 5 x 6oz bottles a day (30oz) to having 3 x 8oz (24oz) but he often has 2 or 3oz of milk on his cereal/porridge too.

I'm seeing more of his personality (and temper) these days. He had a lick of an icepop earlier, and screeched when I took it away. He is starting to do the same when he drops his toys. Unfortunately he drops his stuff all the time!

Jake hasn't cut down, he still bf's every 3-4 hours or so.

sometimes i bf b4 food, sometimes after,sometimes both!

He gets v v narky if we eat without him so he gets a bit of something every mealtime now.

he loves toast & cheese, carrots, pear, broccoli, rice cakes, anything he can grab & chomp on basically. even yoghurts he grabs the spoon to do it himself

loler - ds2 is the same wakes 4-5am for a feed. they sleep through eventually & like you say they aren't little for long.

I'm trying to cherish the baby moments. have forgotte so much about ds1 & dd - must dig out some old videos to watch. I'd like another, but dh isn't so sure - we'll see my birth pool needs aother outing I'm sure!

dd(3.5) is very mardy at the moment - her temper is awful.

only another week of school then 2 weeks of 3 at home - fun, fun, fun! may not be online much then, on the oher hand I might be on all the time to escape lol!

Evie is cutting don on milk - only because I find she eats nothing if she has too much. Yesterday she refused breakfast, scoffed lkunch, refused tea, dran all heredtime milk, and was up at 3 for more. Then today she had no milk first thing, made eyes at my breakfast. She's just refused lunch though. I don't seem to be able t win, she must have a tiny appetite!!
Sorry bad typing, house freezing, DH left back door open while I was out, so have jsut chucked C/H on to warm up. off to find a jumper too.

ok just had a quick scan and im an awfull mummy too lol imagine treating a 6.5 month old like a baby

james i have got a toddler or 2 so my house is pretty baby proof loads of stair gates to trip over and plug sockets to struggle with, ornaments only on very top shelves the rest empty, cupboard locks which are a bloody pain in the arse. but only another 2 or 3 years to go

had a good time in london, missed the boys loads though. the show was great! the boys were so excited when they seen me. bought ds2 an iggle piggle and a makka pakka as he loves in the night garden and he has clung to them ever since. hes such a cuddly wee baby. well beter go and give dp some attention as he was lost without me bless.

hope everyone is having a nice weekend

Thanks for the sleeping support!

Haven't been able to work out the milk thing since weaning at all. One day he wants to feed nonstop the next he's so nosey he can't possibly turn away to have milk and so I spurt it everywhere (another of the joys of bfing!). While on that subject - finding it very unpleasant having food (why is always orange!?) in my bra! The last fed at night is the only guarenteed big one (oh and the ones in the middle of the night but don't tell my mum!).

Bog - I'm really looking forward to easter holidays - ds1 is much easier when dd is around and can't wait to have days where we don't have to gwt dressed until lunch time. Hope the weather is nice so we can get outside. Been out today to buy a huge climbing frame and slide for the garden - am nearly as excited as the dc!

Hi folks, glad all is well, how are all the poorly babies doing now? Hope the colds are going! Big storm coming tomorrow by the sounds of things, not sure which areas of the country will be affected though.

Well today we've had an almost total blw day, he had malt loaf and banana for breakfast (messy) corn on the cob, roast parsnip, homemade potato cakes and pear for lunch, a tangerine, animal biscuits and some of my apple pie and custard (fed off a spoon obviously) for tea. He loved the chunks of stewed apple, made allsorts of mmmm noises so I think I'll try parboiling some wedges of apple so they're firm enough to handle but soft enough not to break off in dangerous fragments.

He is starting to get fed up of being spoonfed, he loves the independence of blw so much he's always trying to grab the spoon and if I don't let him he arches and SCREAMS. I do occasionally let him help with the spoon but tbh I think we're going to phase out the spoonfeeding altogether over the next few weeks as neither of us are enjoying it, and anyway he's pretty good at feeding himself now. Yesterday all that was left of a red plum was the skin, neatly hoovered of all its flesh.

So tired. Goodnight x

hi everyone!

we've just had a really nice weekend. it's been a long time since we had one without any upset/row so it's made a nice change! the good stuff started on Friday when i finally got the call from work confirming i can go back part time! they're offering me 16 hours a week which is slightly less than i wanted/need but i reckon if i can do one weekend overtime a month then all should be manageable. at the moment planning on going back mid-april. big weight off my mind!

on saturday we went to my mum and dad's for the day. my dad's selling us his car so we went to collect that. was very nice driving home in a car that has enough power to actually overtake other cars! poor dh had lo in his car and she screamed the hour and a half home! when we got back and took her out o fhte car seat there was a whole series of burps so think she had trapped wind have any of you got the next type of car seat yet? thinking lo getting bit big for this one now?

yesterday we went furniture shopping and ordered a new sofa for the new house. we've got a black leather one at the moment but can't find another one we like so we've actually chosen a red fabric one. very close in style to this one and i'm hoping with red cushions on the black one it should tie in ok. still waiting for a moving date. praying it won't be much longer!

really can't worl out the best way to roganise dd's meals/bottles. wheni'm at home for the day it's fine but when we go out everything just goes to pot. she pretty much ahd no tea over the weekend because we ran out of time. trying to fit 3 bottles in as well as her three meals. jsut don't want to be feeding her every 2 hours, get othing done!

james i'm so impressed by your little one feeding himself so well. think you should add yourselves to aitch's blog!

glad you had a good time in london tasha and glad you enjoyed the show! i'm ment to be going to see joseph but not sure when i'll get there!

forgot to say lo's two top teeth have come through now! didn't realise until she was chewing on my finger and it hurt like hell!!!!

even though she's my first i think she's growing up too fast and i'm cherishing every baby moment too. when i gave her her edtime bottle last night she fell asleep in my arms. very rarely happens now so i just cuddled her for ten precious minutes before putting her in her cot and going to do the washing up, nappies, etc.etc.etc.

i hope everyone stays warm and safe today x

Hi Leifmum, congrats on your job news! Must be a relief. Bet you can't wait to move now, eh? I love moving house (done it about 13 times, I get fidgety) I so can't wait to move again, it'll be a fresh start. I've put the bat signal out on the web that we're looking for a place, but doubt we'll do it before summer.

Carseats, yes we REALLY REALLY do need the next stage up, he's huge and his feet are touching the back of the seat. It'd have to be a cheap and cheerful one though, money is scarce right now.

I couldn't get organised with feeds and meals either leifmum, I felt like I just never stopped feeding him one way or another when he went onto three spoonfed meals, I felt so tied down, like feeding a newborn only without the sore nips. I spose that's why blw does work for us, because he eats with us I only really have to worry about the middle bottle he has, as the others are at the beginning and the end of his day. And the other day I still forgot to give him it!

Better go, getting started on the (ugh) sales part of my job today so need to make use of J's naptimes.