January 08 shiny new - year babys , tired mums and dads!

[lilyloo]

Will that do

Afternoon everyone,

Thanks for all the congrats and good lucks with eveyrthing else.

Lilyloo - not a contingency as such but we will just go down the management route probably still exploring options. Bless them tho they offered to pay for nursery for DC as they know i am desperate to cut down hours with ILs but the deposit is extortiante (sorry really bad spelling), btu we dont pay nursery fees atm so not sure where that came from but it was nice to have the offer anyway.

Happy Birthday to JKS son.

Frag - Portion Size. That seems like such a small amount and then you will feel deprived. My rule when I cant really be asked to count points properly is to fill half my plate with salad and veggies and a quarter with the meat or whatever and a quarter with rice / potatoes / pasta carby things. I also eat things like chilli and rice and curry and rice (cos we eat a lot of curry in our house) from a bowl as I dont feel deprived like i did when i just tried a smaller plate. And, better snacks... rich tea biccies are a good alternative to biccies with more fat and sugar. I have started using sweetner instead of sugar which has been a smooth transition, although the skimmed milk thing is not working quite so well but am persevering and i normally only take milk in coffee anyway. Trying to find healthier alternatives is the best way but treating yourself when you do fancy something a bit naughty. Breadsticks are great I really am addictied to them.

Have thought about this issue of comfort snacking at night Lucky.

I do worry that if i just resettle him he will only go for another hour before waking up again, which would do my head in even more!

Also conscious of DH who has rather a demanding teaching job. Maybe we'll try it at half term, though MIL is coming for the second part of it.

Ange - following on from what Lucky said, it is never as bad as you fear it is going to be...you do end up with a couple of disturbed (and slightly upsetting nights) but its amazing (and quite shocking) how fast the little ones suddenly just start sleeping right through. Someone also pointed out to me that at some point they do need to learn how to settle themselves in the middle of the night, so going into them too quickly isn't actually helping them in the longer term. If they are really hungry then, as you say, you'll hear about it fairly quickly anyway..

Am very lucky with charlie as (cross fingers) she has bottle at 7 bed 7.30 then dream feed 11 and sleep through til 8ish. ACtually the last couple of days i have woken her up at 8.15.

I find charlie will only sleep for 45mins or so in the morning but is still tired and goes a bit into melt down particularly at the mo with enough dribble for a small lake. she also has a small nap 30 mins around 5.30 gets her through bathtime and bed. My health visitor said in the night if hungry you will only be able to settle for an hour then they will rewake.

When charlie was waking i tried the shush and pat thing which worked and sometimes i pinned her little ands down as she was stuffing them in her mouth and waking herself up.

if its the samw time every night then apparently it can become a habit then one method i heard was to stir them an hour before they usually awake to break their sleeping pattern - dont know if that helps.

Must go dh cooked dinner and Heroes is back on Beller was an addict last series when we were all pregnant

So love baby massage, i always get a good two hour sleep from Martha when we go and she was happy right up to bedtime and had a huge feed so hasn't woken yet since 7 bedtime!

Hoping for good nights for all

Hi all

Well, been to the passport office in London. After the weather forecast put paid to my ambitious walking plans I started to fret a bit and dh went with me to help, which was great, as we were able to take the tube (although that was a bother with both Paddington and Victoria mainly having ancient stairs). Nathan slept on the train in my arms, nice for the other passengers too . He is a real babe magnet, women smile wherever he goes!

He did not like the tube and wailed that bit, but managed to feed at Victoria station (and in the train back, bf at 100mph )

Managed to apply for his passport, after the not so very well trained woman behind the counter tried to tell me he was not eligible as she had never seen my type of immigration papers before she had to go and ask two supervisors when she came back I told her 'could have told you so, I am a senior immigration lawyer'! Oh well, paid over 80 quid but should have passport in a week.

Frag, that is not a lot of food, certainly not when breastfeeding! Mixedmama's suggestion is very sensible. Go for lots of fruit and veg and filling carbs and easy on fat and sugar rather than some formula.

Yeh I 2nd what filly has said - it only took 2 nights for Aaliyah to sleep through. Do you have a spare room your DH could sleep in for those couple of nights? It feels horrible the first night - I had to resist 3 times picking her up the trick I used was "well she's been crying for 5 minutes now, If I pick her up i'll have to put her through it again" then "10 minutes now" etc etc.

If your LO is hungry or dirty you'll find its a different type of cry to just - i'm bored now, or give me a cuddle.

Hope that helps anyone who was interested.

Not for me yet, Nathan does some of his best feeding at night, his night nappies sometimes seem to have bricks in them .

Phew - Amelie has been asleep a whole hour now, this must be her long stretch coming up! So I should be sleeping not on here...

As I think I may have said before, we have "pockets" of routine developing. Morning is wake up, happy, given baby rice, do school run, play a bit, milk feed, nap. That's working well. No routine then at all - depends where we are/what mood she's in - but generally going down at around 9 - 9.30, then sleeping till 1 or 2. Once it was 3 - bliss!

Madmouse - glad you got the passport OK. Must be frustrating when you know what you're talking about more than the staff on the front desk!

Portion sizes - agree with whoever it was who said bulk up on the veg. But don't do yourself short if BF. Apparently a meat/other protein portion should be the size of a pack of playing cards so by the time you add veg & a carb that's more than 2 handfuls. If you want to feel full on less, though, soup is good. There was some experiment on a diet programme last year, they gave a small meal to one group, and the same food liquidised to the other - the group with the soup felt full for longer.

And finally here's the showing off bit - Amelie's first pics on M&S: Amelie on M&S [proud emoticon!!]

Housemum, you are right to be proud, she is gorgeous

Wow Housemum - What a gorgeous picture!!

Housemum - she's beautiful!

I'm off to the baby show today, so I shall have to restrain myself as I'm not supposed to buy much!

Housemum, absolutely beautiful. No wonder you are so proud.

Hello all,

Not been on for a while, so quickly poping onto say 'Hi'...

housemum - lovely photo - you must be so proud.

Madmouse - might have missed it previously, but are you taking your LO somewhere nice abroad? I'd love to go on a holday but will prob wait until I resume work.

Can I ask a quick question about periods: if anyone is bf/mixed feeding what has your cycle been like. Mine has been very random i.e. sometimes 5 weeks or 3 weeks between each one. Actually done a pregnancy test today as I thought I might have started a week ago, but no sign as yet. Thank goodness it came out negative - think I was just being mega paranoid as I was feel a little queezy and things felt a little weird down there IYKWIM

Housemum - how fantastic she looks so cute - how did you get into it as we have been thinking of doing it with charlie as a proper little character and putting any money into her trust fund - havent got a clue where to start.

All well here apart from we are using withdrawal method sorry if tmi and dh didnt last night!!!! Have worked out i am day 12-13 of cycle almost exactly a year since charlie conceived dont want to take morning after pill but equally not really wanting to be pregnant again just yet dh says not worried if i do get pregnant again . I would just like to get my body back in shape a bit!!

ANyway charlie needed to be woken up at 8.30am again this morning is that normal?? anyway definitely not moaning

housemum - lovely

nicky - ! and yes your body will be totally buggered fine having 2 close together
re charlie sleeping so wonderfully, no not normal at all, i think you should set your alarm for about 5.30, no make it 4.30, and go in, wake her up, then sit about the house in your pjs like a zombie for a few hours, then realise you're going to be late for whatever, have no time to shower/wash hair/brush teeth, leave the house in a mad panic and look how a new mum should look
make the most of it...

amani - i am bf and have had no periods but started minipill a month-ish ago so not expecting one. i had weird cycles after ds1 for a bit, they settled by the time he was about 9months i think.

chairmum - did you stay restrained??? i want to go when it's next in london, sure i won't be restrained at all!

madmouse - well done on passport. so are you all going over once it comes through?

hi to everyone else if i try to reply to you all i will never get this posted...

new strategy re sleep:
i am turning off the monitor .....
thinking that i am too paranoid about ds2 waking ds1 so i rush in at first hint of a snuffle, almost forcefeed the poor mite who then falls back to sleep in about 5mins.
MAYBE if i don't hear him, don't rush in, etc. he MIGHT resettle himself and not need me/i won't need to be disturbed. if he is REALLY hungry, he will build up to a proper cry and i will hear him anyway. have dh on hand to deal with ds1 if he does get disturbed.
that's the plan anyway.......

Hi Guys - just checking in so I can keep reading your messages on the 'threads I'm on' message thing. I'm away at my folks at the moment and don't really have time to write.

My only thought for you at the moment is - grrrr - will update you when I return!

Cyber hugs to you all!

Hi all

Just got Nathan to sleep. We had a bbq for dh's student group plus other halves and kids. 21 people including babies. it was a riot but great fun. Nathan was cuddled by all and by the time they left was screaming his poor little head off. Decided to give him a bath anyway and that is when routine has its value. he really relaxed, even more when I put him in his grobag. He had a decent feed and is now sleeping the sleep of the exhausted, which means he can wake up in five minutes to demand more food or sleep for hours and then be ravenous. Fine with me, if he puts up with me through and event like this I am happy to oblige .

It was interesting to keep him occupied while we were busy preparing. I am trying to wean him off being held by me all the time as he is too much of a mummy's boy and in a few weeks he will have to watch as we pack up the house. He sat in his bouncy chair in the door opening as I cleaned the bbq, which he found very funny. Then we propped him up on cushions in the hall way so he could watch us int he kitchen.

Amani, no nice holiday here, just a quick dash by car back to Holland, probably only about four days. MIL has still not seen Nathan as she cannot travel (haemodialysis, heart, fractured hip) and he was so ill that we could not fulfill our plan of going at four weeks. Now she just fell and had to have an emergency hip replacement and we have decided that we do not want to risk it any longer, we do want her to hold her first and only grandchild. dh has dreamed of that since the pregnancy test came up positive.

sorry for long post again

Hi all,

Aaliyah gave me a lie in this morning - she slept till 7:30 was nice to wake up before her for once.

Had to go to my grandad's again today to do some book-keeping for him. Am doing paid surveys online at the mo and have earnt £5 - was hoping it would be enough money to not have to work but doesn't look like it..... hmmm, back to the drawing board.

Hope everyone is ok - I did read the posts but have now forgotten who posted what so i'll reply and you'll just have to guess. lol

2 babies in a row - and you all thought I was nuts thinking of trying 6 months after DD was born, lol.

Hope the baby show was good - I wanna go to one but they seem to far away.

typical

started my post and then went off to do the washing up once I knew Nathan was settled. So now it looks like I am ignoring all the people who have posted since.

Nicky, I am quite keen to show off Nathan as a model as people keep saying he is so cute. But I think he is too temperamental and prone to meltdowns, plus with the possibility of future epilepsy a career with flash lights is probably not great

Susie, that does sound very sensible I hope it works for you.

sorry katie, not susie

madmouse stalks off to bed...can't even type..

Katie, rushing in at the first hint of being wanted is sooooo not the way to go once you get past the 10 week mark (imho only, of course!)...in fact, I can't believe you're still sleeping with the monitor on ....surely he can shout loud enough if he really wants you?!!! Anyway, its amazing how well they settle themselves back to sleep given the chance - and how loudly they can yell if they do really need you!!!

Right, off to shower and bed. Just because Tamara is now sleeping until 8 regularly sadly doesn't mean that ds is that reliable

And Nicky...just enjoy it...ds did it right up until he was over 2 years old - sadly he's finally started waking earlier!!!

Night all xxx

Hi - Nicky - in the nicest possible way fingers crossed you're not, though I had a friend last time from AN classes who had 2 v close together and her kids are lovely together, and she is still smiling!

BF & periods - mine not started yet, was wondering this the other day and remembered to stick some Tampax in the change bag in case! Have appointment at Family Planning clinic next week to discuss Mirena so hoepfully when they do return (if?) they will be v light.

Modelling - hard work in that you have to be willing to drop everything/work at short notice, but fun to have stuff to look back on. DD2 did a shoot for Little White Company today, we only had the call 4pm yesterday for her to go to Hackney 3pm today (she was taken out of school early for "dental app't"!) Temperament is as important as looks, also some kids are gorgeous but don't come out as well on camera. If anyone wants to know more send me an e-mail - main agencies are Bruce & Brown, Kids London & Urban Angels - they all have websites with details of how to apply. Any money earned goes straight to the child's account, so you also need to think about the costs of travelling.

Madmouse - you may need to think about that but he may not be photosensitive. My DD1 has epilepsy triggered by old chunky monitors (her school provides her with use of a flat screen or laptop now in lessons) but she is fine with strobe lighting, and appears to be OK with camera flashes (DH got a digital SLR camera for Xmas and it was like being "papped" on Christmas Day - I threatened to stuff his battery charger in the turkey!) Your problem might be that the agencies would be reluctant to take the risk (you have to have a doctor's note when you join stating the child is fit and well and that the doctor knows of no reason why he/she shouldn't work)

Chairman - I always said I would go to the baby show when pregnant and never got round to it - oh well, will have to save that idea for future grandkids now! (Need nothing else other than a highchair)

Baby monitors - you can tell it's 3rd time round, ours is still in the drawer in the spare room. Used all the time with DD1, occasionally with DD2, never with DD3!

Lucky - I do paid surveys as well but it certainly isn't enough to make much of a difference! TNS gives Nectar points, you spend about 10 mins plus to get a pound! Another gives Amazon vouchers but I'm not up to the £10 yet (valued opinions I think). Pine Cone either were luncheon vouchers or a straight Paypal payment - I think they were the best.

Massive post - sorry, offloading contents of brain - probably missed loads.

Nighty night

Morning all, had a night out with my other new mums last night and had a great time We all got rather drunk, and didn't get home until 1am! (well, very late for me!).

We've been having an absolute nightmare with Ben the last few days. I think he is having some trouble teething and pooing, but more than anything he's discovered how to manipulate us properly! He's discovered that if he cries in the same way that he cries when he's in pain he has our attention immediately, and we do what he wants. I think this is partly why he's been sleeping so poorly during the day. I've tried a more sympathetic version of controlled crying this morning, and although the first time he did get to sleep, he only slept for 10 minutes. I tried it again an hour later when he was tired again, and he fell asleep within 5 minutes. This was just alone in his cot with the curtains drawn, his comforter and his music box playing. He's been asleep for well over an hour now, so must have needed it.

Hopefully we can begin to crack this, because no sleep during the day makes Ben and everyone around him grumpy!

Right, off to do some shopping

Housemum we are intereested and are going to look into doing it any advice - we live in london so not too bad probably re travel charlie very good tempered and smiley most of the time and takes good photo was looking at baby shak but will look at the sites you suggest. I suppose they are all much of a muchness??

Me crossing fingers and toes re the other thing oh well what will be will be. took us 9 months ttc charlie so hopefully will be ok - but i just keep thinking sods law!!!!!!

cant wait for charlie to have final set of jabs then we are starting swimming at crystal palace.