APRIL 2008 - We venture over to the 'other side'

[VictorianSqualor]

Our babies.

07 March: Ashton, a fourth child for gemprincess, 5lb 13oz @ 34+6
09 March: Ted, a second DS for Daftmoo, 7lb 14oz @ 36+0
21 March: George William, a first baby for KnitterintheNW, 7lb 2.5oz @ 37+3
25 March: Olivia, a second baby for TheMaskedPoster, 7lb 2oz @ 38+4
28 March: Pablo, a third baby and first DS for vacaloca, 7lb 14oz @ 39+4
28 March: Matteo Alexander, a first baby for Gangle @ 38+0 (?)
30 March: A baby girl, a second child for PortAndLemon, 8lb 15oz @ 39+5
02 April: Jak, a baby boy for rainbowdays, 9lb @ 39+1
02 April: A baby boy, a second child for bunyanvillas, 6lb 14oz @ 37+5
02April: Struan, a baby boy for Donnabels, 6lbs 15oz
02 April: A baby boy for mummyofaprincess @39 weeks
03 April: A baby girl for PippiCalzelunghe @38+2weeks
03 April: Aeryn Daisy, a baby girl for Denny185, 9lb 8oz @ 39+3
03 April: Benjamin, a baby boy for Micegg, 8lb 3oz @ 39+4
03 April: Roelof Grové, a first DS for Sal22, 7lb 5oz @ 38+5
03 April: A baby boy for siikibam, 6lb 8.5oz @39+1wks
04 April: Matilda, a baby girl for AprilsFoolsBaby 7lb @
06 April: Henry Peter, a baby boy for Sheds, 7lb 130z @ 40+4
07 April: Sebastian George, a fourth DS for Peachy, 8lb 4oz @ 41+1
07 April: Jack, a first baby for ThePFJ, 7lb 5.5oz @ 41+1
07 April: Lexie Bea, a fourth baby for babywhiting, 8lb 1oz @ 39+4
08 April: Alasdair, a second DS for bunnyrabbit, 8lb 5.5oz @ 40+3
08 April: James Samuel, a third baby for honeybee10, 6lb 7oz @ 37+2
09 April: Zara Mia Martin, a first baby for V1KK1M, 7lb 10oz @ 41+0
11 April: Kyran for rdk, 7lb 13oz @ 38+3weeks
11 April: Sebastian James, a second baby for Fleecy, 10lb 2oz @ 40+4
11 April: A baby girl, a first baby for CeylonSapphire, 7lb 12oz @ 41+1
12 April: Maya Alice, a first baby for egyptianprincess, 8lb 15.5oz @ 40+3
12 April: Sophia Viviana, a second DD for AussieDivaonaBreak, 6lb 12oz @ 39+3
15 April: Alexander Oliver, a third baby for VictorianSqualor, 10lb 3oz @ 41+0
16 April: Ailish, a first baby for Mollyfloss, 6lb 11oz @ 40+3
16 April: A baby girl, a second baby for elfsmummy, 7lb 13oz @ 41+1
16 April: Zoe, a baby girl, a first baby for ToastAddict, 6lb 10oz @ 39+3
17 April: A baby boy for paranoidmumy, 8lb 9oz @ 41+4
17 April: A baby boy, a second son for lorisparkle, 7lb 12.5oz @ 41+6
18 April: Millie, a baby girl for scorpio1 8lb 9oz @ 41+?
18 April: Cameron, a second baby for munchkinmum @ 39+5
19 April: Oliver Michael, first baby for bashboid, 7 lb 4 oz at 41 +3
20 April: Samuel, a first baby for Velbels. 8lb15oz at 41+1weeks.
20 April: Angharad Mai, 8lb 4oz, 40+6, first for 7monthsplus
20 April: Emilia, 7lb15oz, a first baby for SuzeM, 40+6
21 April: Eve, a second baby for Scampmum, 8lb 4oz @ 39+3
22 April: Sam, a second son for Soph73 @ 40+0
22 April: Molly, a first baby for EllieG, 8lb 8oz? @ 40+5
22 April: Daisy, second baby for AttilaTheHan @ 40 +3
22 April: Zoe Olivia, second daughter for Piccallilli2 7lb 1oz @42+1
23 April: Jessica Elizabeth, first baby for BabyBratt @ 40+1 7lb 12oz.
24 April: A baby girl, a second daughter for christmaspixie, 9lb 2oz @ 40+6/41+5
24 April: Miya Jade, baby girl for ShelleySare at 39+4
25 April: Amelie, a first baby for Dondons, 9lb, 41+3 (i think!)
25 April: Aisha, a second baby for Jaq39 7lb 14oz @ 41+4
26 April: Hope Olivia, a second dd for northeastmummy, 7lb 11oz at 41 .
26 April: Gabriel, a third child for Bainmarie @ 41+5
26 April: Eli Michael, a baby boy for LittleMissTurquoise, 7lb 15.5oz @ 40+5
27 April: a baby girl for Ayomi, 6lb 1oz @ 41+0
28 April: Jacob Andrew, a 2nd DS for Kaybeeand2boys, 8lb 4oz @ 41+5
29 April: Thomas Henry, a 2nd DS for TLSM, 7lb 8oz 40+3
30 April: Harry Samuel, a fourth ds for Chipmonkey, 9lb 5oz @ 39+2
01 May: Sophie May, a baby grl for Annieroo, 6lb 5oz @ 41+4
01 May: Euan George, a baby boy for Jenniejennie, 8lb @ 40+4
02 May: Robyn Olivia, a baby girl for soph28, 8lb 1oz @ 42+1
05 May: Nora Martina, a first baby for Eva07, 7lb 8oz @ 41+2
05 May: A baby boy for Beeper, 8lb 10oz @ 41+0
05 May: Gabriella Summer, a first baby for Mum2babyroo, 8lb 4oz @ 40+6
06 May: Wilf, 8lb 60z for bigbadmom @ 41+6
07 May: James Andrew, a second ds for Moominsmummy, 8lb 13oz @ 41+5
08 May: Ellie Isabella, a first baby for Carey87, 7 lb 8oz @ 42+1
08 May: Robin David, a 2nd baby for Woollymummy, 8lb 11 oz @ 41+3
09 May: 4 kittens for scorpio's cat!
10 May: Astrid Mary, a second dd for sagitta, 8lb 8oz @ 42+0

good morning all!

poor alex hope he gets better soon!

LadyBee, we are using reusables during the day and disposables at night and when out. But we just started yesterday, so no idea how it will work out. I bought a whole batch of prefolds (27 for day-use, 27 for night use) including 12 covers at ebay for 56 pounds

good morning all!

poor alex hope he gets better soon!

LadyBee, we are using reusables during the day and disposables at night and when out. But we just started yesterday, so no idea how it will work out. I bought a whole batch of prefolds (27 for day-use, 27 for night use) including 12 covers at ebay for 56 pounds

oops, sorry

Ladybee, little Benedict sounds very similar to our little Oli in his evening behaviour, i.e. not sleeping, only Oli gets really grouchy for a while at about 8.00 but refuses to sleep! He does normally get put to bed awake between 10 and 10.30 and seems to drop off ok after lots of silent kicking about (strange to watch on the baby monitor!), then sleeps through to sometime between 5 and 6. His evening awakeness does not bother me too much other than the screaming session part way through but I have also been thinking I should try and get him down to sleep earlier in the evening. Have tried the whole bath, feed, down to bed early routine a couple of times but he just screams constantly and I give in and go in to get him back up. He just does not seem ready to sleep so early in the evening! Ho hum...

Re-reminder for Londoners on the London meet-up thread.

LadyBee if we have the meet at a time we can both make it I could bring examples of various things from my obsessive large nappy collection to show you.

DD isn't keen on going to sleep in the evenings as well. I've never managed to put either of mine down awake at this age -- they just scream. And scream. And then scream some more. At least I know they are determined children with a strong sense of purpose . And at least DD will generally blink a bit, wave her lega around and then scream, whereas DS screamed the moment you let go of him. How do you handle that, VS? I'd love to put her down awake, if I could figure out how.

Well, with mine they don't cry if they are finished feeding, so I've always just kept feeding them, and if I've put them down and they've cried, fed them some more!
They have all ended up being awake but full, and won't feed anymore.
Then I put them into bed, swaddled and leave.
They never cry for more than a few minutes and then just fall back to sleep.

How long would any of you leave them crying? I'm a firm believer in putting them down awake, but A cries longer than dd1 did.

I've tried a dummy, but it seems too big and heavy for her. She gags and it drops out. Is that normal, or have I bought the wrong one? or does she just not want it?

I started putting O down by herself at about the 5 week stage (up til then, she was mine, mine, MINE to cuddle etc ).

I would put her down and she would cry - so I picked her up and reassured her til she was quiet and then do it all again etc etc etc (as per Baby whisperer I think), until she realised that the cot was where she sleeps (AND recognises it as a safe happy place).

Now I feed her (after her bath), have a quiet chat and then put her in her sleeping bag, into cot and kiss her goodnight and leave the room! amazing really - cos I didn't do this with DD1 until about the 5 month stage!

Oh and the picking up and putting down palarver took time (repeated times and over a few evenings - though the repetitions each evening reduced iyswim), but well worth the effort.

VS - DS goes down awake no problem in the mornings, he gives really clear signals that he's had enough and I bundle him up, go upstairs try to get a nappy change (which normally wakes him up if the motion of going upstairs has lulled him, which it does quite often), swaddle, put him down and leave. He does a few little protests and then whammo, out like a light..this happens at his 9ish nap and lunch-ish nap (-ish because his morning waking time varies a bit), but not after. He goes back to sleep no problem in the night as well, I've watched him do it - at the moment he sleeps from 10:30/11pm to about 4/5 then til 7/8 after feeding.
Bashboid, yup, sounds like Ben and Oli have been reading the same book (& it deffo wasn't GF's!!) I try the bath, feed, cuddle, bed around 6-7 to see whether he'll go down like a 'normal' baby in the evening but he just lays there, big eyes open, looking around the room, looking REALLY not sleepy. Otherwise we might get about 20 mins of grouchy grizzle, get him into bed and 5 mins sleep then something happens, the eyes spring open and that's it until 10:30-ish. I wondered about moving my bath routine up to the 10:30 bedtime and then gradually pulling it back to the earlier time? not sure I'll have the energy for that tho, but OH would do it..maybe getting the association with bath and sleep first would help?

Poor Alex , B has first jabs on Monday, I'm dreading it. Got to remember to get some calpol (and saline drops too - thanks Chipmonkey).

PAL - would be really grateful to have a look at some of your nappies, will work around to make sure I can make a meet-up.

Got to go, we're attempting a picnic/cafe today and I haven't even started thinking about packing bags.

Sagitta, what type of dummy did you get? I have a couple of Avent ones that seem quite small and light, Ben is quite happy with them when he uses them (which isn't that often TBH)

We do bath time at about 8ish, so his bedtime falls somewhere between 9 and 10pm as that's what time he goes down.
At this age I'd definitely go with their routine, as they sleep less in the day they'll eventually get tired earlier so it will be quite simple to move it around to suit their age, so yes, I'd probably move it ladybee.

We do re-usables, little lambs, during the day and a disposable at night. DD2 is a bit of a tiddler so has 2 boosters on nappy will last 2-3 hours. Won't last overnight but didn't with DS either.

I do the same as VS - feed, feed, feed until they are happy to be put down awake. DD2 wakes 1-2 times during night but settles self off again most of time

Totsbots fluffles here - pros are dry REALLY quickly (we have no tumble dryer) and are pretty absorbent, cons are enormous bot, but that's quite cute. I must say we haven't started them yet on DD2, maybe when I'm getting some sleep?

I don't put her down awake unless it's inadvertent eg just now when she was clearly knackered and swaddled but resisting sleep but had to leave her for c. 2 mins to prepare DD1's tea, and she yelled VERY LOUDLY and then fell asleep. I just don't usually let her cry that much as I think she sounds anguished, but she does cry herself to sleep often (off and on for a few minutes) in my arms, so I guess what's the difference really?

Need to express a bit as it's DH's night for feeding tonight! Best not have any ambitious plans for the weekend so he can rest...

OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE! Why can't DH realise it is officially unreasonable to tell me he'll be home at 7.30 then phone now and say he's halfway through a pint in fucking Camden? and he tries to make me feel like a nag if I protest in any way. Does anyone else get treated with this kind of disrespect. I'm welling up at the thought of trying to do bedtime on my own - DD2 is stirring already in preparation. I'M TOO BLOODY TIRED, WHY CAN'T HE UNDERSTAND THAT?

I'd be pissed off too scamp.
DP rarely goes out but if he does I expect notice.
What I can't stand is when he gets a call and stands in front of me with the phone saying 'do you mind if I go for a quick pint with X' so I have to be all reasonable and say 'no, of course not'
Then he's out for three hours, for one pint

Can you just sod bedtime tonight?
Just get DD1's blanket down and let her sit under it on the sofa, if she falls asleep, she falls asleep, if she doesn't she doesn't and Daddy can sort her out when he gets back?

done. am really fucked off but don't have energy to explain why it's unreasonable behaviour. cracking open the red and sitting down to watch something he's seen so when he gets in he can cook my dinner. i should also mention he was out till 11 last night - my mum was a godsend in the end!

xx

thanks for being there

Yes, wine is well deserved, seems to be my staple diet lately, bfing makes you so dehydrated

Scamp that was not unreasonable at all if he's told you one thing and is doing another of course your completely within your rights to be pee'd off. It would be different if he was stuck at work but no excuse to be down the pub.

Think men sometimes think they deserve the unwind time as they have been at work all day, earning the money etc etc. What they sometimes fail to realise is it's bloody hard work being at home with 2 small children. I find that leaving DH alone with DC for at least an hour once a week (normally just to do some shopping) is just enough to remind him the trials and tribulations of childcare. Could you piss off somewhere for an hour tomorrow and leave him to hold the fort?

am knackered again, think I might start taking my iron tablets again..might help? so probably would going to bed earlier but it makes me feel like I've completely lost my old self when I do that, plus quite like to have a few minutes with just me & OH in the room.
Scamp absolutely you are right to be royally p'd off. Hope you enjoyed a nice glass or several.
Found myself biting tongue tonight when OH came home - B had just gone off to sleep on me, when he came in and startled him awake..crying started and escalated and OH offered to take him saying, "maybe a change of parent would do him good", which made me feel like it was ME that was causing the crying. Felt like suggesting it would be more help for him to unload the dishwasher/start dinner/tidy lounge as the moment B is out of my arms I feel like I have to do these things, and have been doing them all week and want a break from that, not looking after B. sigh.
VS - I am going to move bathtime later then - I'm so full of self doubt when it comes to all this, such a relief to hear that you do it later so it falls more naturally at his bedtime.
Actually I alternate between self doubt and pride that I've learnt so much about doing this new job..I keep trying to remind myself that the last time I changed jobs it took 6 months before I felt I had a clue what I was doing - so I'm doing ok after 8 weeks. So thankful for the generosity of people here though, makes such a huge difference.

I'll shut up now.

just saying hello really

Scamp - i would be pissed off too; especially as he must know how tired you are and how the baby is sleeping at the moment. on oyur behalf. when dh goes out i get plenty of notice, or if its mate on the phone type thing if i say no, he doesnt really mind. dh goes out about twice a week but not out out, always home by half ten at latest and i quite enjoy the peace after mimi gone to bed to just be me.

My breasts are really sore - especially my left nipple it looks really thrushy again iyswim. will ask for fluc on tues.

Mimi slept from 10-7.30 last night!!!!i was really shocked. my boobs were like katie price's, lol. and hurt

I got my bugaboo yesterday and i really love it.

Hi everyone.

Scampmum, hope you enjoyed the wine and that he didn't come home too late. I'd be pretty annoyed too, and that's with only the one! I hope he at least tried to make up for it today. Sometimes they just don't think at all.

Oooh, Scorpio, glad you like your bugaboo! It's always such fun getting the new things, even if they are actually for the babies...

We went to an NCT nearly new sale this morning, and I got another sling (Babybjorn) for £2 (), so now we don't have to keep adjusting the existing one's straps when we switch between DH & myself. I also got a beautiful Monsoon outfit, a baby swim seat, swim pants and a Mother-ease wrap for a bargain. I'm not using reusables, but as it was so cheap I reconed that I could buy it and play around - we might really like it after all. Then we went to John Lewis (still had some vouchers left from when I left work) and I bought Roelof a vibrating bouncing chair. Didn't really plan on buying one before, but when I visited another mom the other day, he loved her boy's so much that I gave in. Oh yes, and at the NCT sale DH got R a really nice "backback" sling thing which I think would be great if we go for longer walks in the countryside. One day.

I can't remember who it was - Scampmum or Mollie or Ellie... - or someone completely different - but ages ago someone had a pic of their nursery on here and it was just really beautiful and tidy and peaceful. Well, every time I enter ours I so wish I could be so organised, because dinosours and lions and rattles and ugly (but much loved!) flashing lights (combined with nappies and blankets and Starships (don't ask)) seem to have invaded here. Oh yes, and glow-in-the-dark stars against the roof and a moon light shade, but that's just DH now having the perfect excuse to buy everything he always wanted! I had to restrain him at some point in Toys-r-us. Physically.

Hmm, sorry for long post. Hope you're all having a great day.

Sal sounds like you got some great bargins at that sale. I wouldn't worry too much about dumping stuff in the nursery thats what it's for isn't it?

We don't have a nursery sorted out yet, DS is still in the room DD2 will be going into. He needs to move into the spare room first, i think he has enough to contend with at the mo with potty training so don't want to move his room around. Also DH mum is staying for a week over the summer holidays so would be easier if she can sleep upstairs rather than on a sofa bed downstairs.

I did however move DD2's cot yesterday, she is the noisiest baby ever and really does sound like a pig. So even though shes slept through 3 nights this week shes still been waking me up, anyway I decided she could be a bit further away from us but not completely out of the room. Found the ideal location - the en-suit, had a much better nights sleep last night, far enough away to not hear the grunts but close enough to hear the cries

Think DD1 has thrush in her mouth, although realised too late today to get her to the chemist. It's open tomorrow from 12 till 1 so going then. It would be nice if we had 6 months of good health out of her, shes only just getting over the last bout of illnesses and was supposed to be doing full days at school next week.

Ladybee - amazed at how late you were up the other night, I rarely see 10pm at the moment.