Dec 2007: Gummy grins give way to teething tyrants

[claraquitetirednow]

How about this?

Glad that Skid, Caz and others have mentioned that their LO are not sleeping through the night, DD2 has dream feed at 10pm, then is back to her usual routine of

12am-2/3am - unsettled: scratches, cries, goes to sleep and wakes up after five mins, eventually I get fed up and wrap her up tight in a blanket so she doesn't scratch herself and put her to sleep in the car seat

6am - wake up for a 1/2hr feed

8am - wake up for the day.

Must say am finding it so exhausting with DD2 waking up for 2-3 hrs at night. Keep saying through gritted teeth this phase will pass, but for past few days been in tears at 2am in the morning feeling so helpless, upset and a bit of anger that my LO is so small and is going through this. Keep trying to put things in persective saying there are many babies out there in a much worse situation, but it's so hard to try and do this sometimes.....

So Pecka - what news? Was it negative (I am keeping my fingers crossed for you).

Cazzy thanks for the tips, I do some of them but I should give her more warning we need to do something. Reading what you wrote is good though as it does refresh my mind of how to tackle things and we've had a really good day today.

Pecka waiting for your news! good luck!

Amani I'm so sorry your DD2 is suffering so badly with her exczema, is it a case of riding out until until she hopefully grows out of it or do they think it could be diet related? No wonder you are shattered, you're doing a great job though and I hope you have good support so that you can have a wee break now and again.

Amani - I feel so for you, I wish I could come over and help you out. Your poor little dd. This horrible phase WILL pass, but it can't be any fun for you while it's going on...

Skid - I can't say my sex drive has totally returned to normal but it certainly helped A LOT when I stopped breastfeeding - in particular, it helped that I felt like I didn't mind DH touching my boobs again! However unfortunately the "urge" usually hits in the morning, about one minute before pitter patter of little dd1 feet.... So we certainly don't get to do it very often as I am usually too tired at night.

Loucee - your dd1 sounds very normal but that doesn't make it easier. Like Skid, we did have real tantrums at around that age but she is better now. However. She has just suddenly started to get really jealous of dd1 (and started talking about putting her in the rubbish bin the other day ), which I assume is because dd2 has suddenly become more of a threat to her: taking up more of my attention, trying to play with her toys etc.

I try and play with her everyday but it is often hard as I feel like I am constantly running around cooking/feeding/washing/tidying up etc. It is hard for them but it's a hard life and I guess they are learning something from all this!

Hi to everyone else, I am at my parents house at the moment and my mum wants the computer back so gotta go.

Oh by the way guess what I had for lunch? Half a bar of chocolate. Oooops.

Amani - I feel so for you, I wish I could come over and help you out. Your poor little dd. This horrible phase WILL pass, but it can't be any fun for you while it's going on...

Skid - I can't say my sex drive has totally returned to normal but it certainly helped A LOT when I stopped breastfeeding - in particular, it helped that I felt like I didn't mind DH touching my boobs again! However unfortunately the "urge" usually hits in the morning, about one minute before pitter patter of little dd1 feet.... So we certainly don't get to do it very often as I am usually too tired at night.

Loucee - your dd1 sounds very normal but that doesn't make it easier. Like Skid, we did have real tantrums at around that age but she is better now. However. She has just suddenly started to get really jealous of dd1 (and started talking about putting her in the rubbish bin the other day ), which I assume is because dd2 has suddenly become more of a threat to her: taking up more of my attention, trying to play with her toys etc.

I try and play with her everyday but it is often hard as I feel like I am constantly running around cooking/feeding/washing/tidying up etc. It is hard for them but it's a hard life and I guess they are learning something from all this!

Hi to everyone else, I am at my parents house at the moment and my mum wants the computer back so gotta go.

Oh by the way guess what I had for lunch? Half a bar of chocolate. Oooops.

Lizzer ? that?s fab news about the photos, is it easy taking them off the ipod? I know with music it?s nigh impossible. Ours are all over, on my laptop, DH?s pc, DVD, and both of our parents.

Louise ? I?m still a bit clueless about weaning too. I?d like to give her finger foods, but the biscotti/rusks say 9 months and her teeth haven?t come through yet so not sure whether to wait until then.

I?ve been given DH?s cold these last couple of days. Today I?ve had a pity party complete with junk food, Mum took DD for me as I didn?t want her catching anything from me. It was the first time we?ve been apart for any length of time and it was really strange. I got loads of smiles when she came home though, and DH is looking after her and doing all the hands on stuff, he?s rubbish at it . At least I?m not out of a job, but he can?t really dress her ? some of the concoctions he?s come up with are bizarre. Bathing her we normally share, but I don?t like touching her whilst I?m ill, so I observed from the sidelines criticising instructing and the bathroom ended up soaked! Bless him, he tries though..

Right, I do need to get fit though and I don?t have much time until I?m back at work so I will join the surestart aerobics (with free crèche) I will go next week, once I?m well. I will also start eating better

DD sleeps though but is usually chattering at about 6am, I think it?s the light, I give her the dummy and she sometimes goes back to sleep for another hour or is chattering away 10 mins later (it?s like the snooze function on the alarm!) I try not to get her up until 7am ? is that cruel?

Argh didn?t realise I was a page behind!
Skid - Sex drive still returning to normal, but I think that?s coinciding with my body returning to normal. I certainly didn?t feel sexy whilst bfing. Poor DH, boobs looking like they belong on pg3 and they were so sensitive that I couldn?t have him go near them. Haven?t dtd for weeks though as I?ve only just stopped bleeding from coil fitting and now I ?ve got the cold ? he thinks it?s all a conspiracy.

Bibs, I?m chucking more and more out and they have mould on them by the time they are washed. The oxyclean is a good idea loucee, I?ll give that a go.

Hi Pecka, I was thinking the other day about our AN MNers and how busy they are now. I think we lost Housemum to Jan, MM has internet probs, Thelady.

Ambi - no that is not cruel! If she is going back to sleep, I would say it's because she needs more sleep!
Had 2 nappy leaks last night (I was a bit crap changing ds's nappy last night [blush}). So last night we had
Bed at 6:30
8:30 feed and nappy change
11:30 feed and nappy change
3:00 feed
6:00 get up and go downstairs to play, plus feed at 6:30!

So actually it wasn't that bad a night!

NEGATIVE yaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy (and a very tiny bit lol

Pecka - I completely understand about the tiny bit . I juts found out my colleague who had a baby a month after me(us) is pregnant again - she is MAD. I was amazed she got pregnant in the 1st place as she is sooo thin (anorexic???)

I have just ordered a new breast pump as I have to work on Sun and cannot find my old (really expensive nice one)...tis very annoying as it money I don't have and it was free p and p but they cannot guarantee next day delivery so I had to pay up for delivery .

Thanks clara and loucee - had another bad night up from 12am to 3am, been told by GP that eczema is not related to diet as she developed it when I was exclusively BF...

OHH amani . Evie woke up at 5 today and I was feeling sorry for myself but really I shouldn't should I.

You know the BF thing - I thought your diet could affect them becaue of things in your milk - but I may be wrong.

Yay pecka!

I'm at something i saw yesterday and have to share with you... Mil sneaked some low sugar farleys rusks into my trolley, something i didn't use with dd but thought,"oh well, low sugar, should be fine..." They are in fact 20% sugar!!! And the full sugar are nearly 1 third pure refined sugar!!! Now I'm no sugar purist and think a little is ok, but wtf?? I think they get away with it cos its a 'traditional' British weaning food....They're in the bin

Ambi, luckily there's loads of free download apps for ipods now, easy to get photos/music/videos off them-phew

Not cruel at all leaving them til last minute to get up, grab all the sleep you can I say!

Also, surestart exercise classes-with free creche..!! I'm soooo Feel like moving house just to get surestart perks I went to the local gym (not free, with no free creche) last time but now they've shut the creche part down [fumes]

I have this make of bibs (the blue one) 'tis great, doesn't stain, dries quickly, rolls up, has a food catcher built in. Perfecto!

Thanks cazzy - in my unreasonable tired state at 2am this morning started blaming DH for DD2 eczema as he had it severly when he was younger and was convinced she inherited off him....

Sorry took ages to write that so didn't see the latest msgs.

Amani, I'm so sorry, it sounds so so awful.. Its almost a shame that its not diet related as it could be fixed then. I know its expensive but have you thought about going to get advice from your local health food shop? They might have some ideas on who you could see or supplements/natural creams that could help....

Cazzy-how annoying you can't find it-I do that all the time and kick myself...

Gaww, ds is testing me this week-we've had a lot of whining, tears, general unsettled behaviour, where's my placid baby gone?

oh, sorry you had an early morning too..

oh, sorry you had an early morning too..

I think surestart is for rubbish areas isn't it? Like a govt plan to educate, exercise and provide nutrition to deprived areas. There's gotta be some perks to living in Wigan!
Think I will get some rubber bibs, they seem a good idea.
Amani, BT, clairey and others with bad sleepers, I admire you guys so much. I don't know how you are coping as well as you are, especially when you have older kids to look after too. Big medals to you.

Morning all

I don't know how many times I have started posting and not managed it! Great reading all your messages though.

Am typing like fury while dd naps, hopefully it will get done this time! (priorities eh?!)

Amani your poor wee dd i'm not suprprised you are feeling for her it's so much for a wee one to cope with. I would try the health food shop as someone else suggested, or a homeopath? (sp?!. I'd check with the BFN or someone though re the diet related thing - I'm pretty sure if she has a dairy intolerance that can be triggered via foods you eat via your breast milk iyswim? But it is so much for you all to contend with.

I was actually thinking the other day how lucky I am, dd is such a content wee thing, no health worries, she is not a grizzler unless tired but mainly very cheery...now if only she would SLEEP!!

We have a reasonably consistent pattern of
bed 7pm
feed 11ish
feed 3ish
massive cry at 5am - who knows why - but can shush her and put her back down, she settles herself which is good
up for the day at 6.15ish

However every now and again (like last night) she wakes at 9pm and 1am for a wee cry too....aaaaaaaaargh.

loucee that is a good tip re soaking the stuff, I will need to get a wee bin so the dog doesn't stick his nose in though, lol! Re your dd, agree with cazzy that giving a lot of notice is good, as is the positive praise - however it must be soooo different at home than in school...I do find though that if I say eg "after this piece of work we'll be getting changed for gym" instead of just saying "right pencils down, get changed!" it is easier for the little ones. They seem to like to know what is coming! And also def, yes, the behaviour is bad, not the child...hard to remember sometimes !

bibs I have been using the long sleeve ones from tesco, the sleeves are great as they are wipe clean but the body part is white fabric - pretty stupid really

food we are still quite haphazard - trying a bit here and there..oh who was asking re finger food and teeth? ambi? dd has NO teeth but happily munches away on breadsticks, rice cakes, organix rusks etc. I know a lot of these organix biscuity type things say from 7 or even 12mths but there's nothing in the ingredients they can't have, and you obviously wouldn't leave them unsupervised with them. DD ate 2 of the carrot puffs the other day, her whole face and top was bright orange but she was smiling!

cereal I tried the Plum organix baby porridge - it didn't look or taste any different to the baby rice tbh - today I just made some normal porridge for myself and dd had a couple of spoonfuls, she didn't like it any less/more than the baby stuff! Good excuse to make porridge with full fat milk too ! I did 1/2 milk and 1/2 water though to be good!

lizzer at these rusks!! Someone also told me they picked up a jar of Hipp organic stuff and it had added salt!!!

pecka I have 3 faces for you - and for the pg test and for the sleep!! Good news, although i know what you mean, think I would be a tiny bit sad too, although I'm sooooooooo not ready for another one.

Which leads neatly onto sex - not happening! Too tired too tired too tired! No interest either, and am still ex-bfing, so we'll see if that changes when the feeding tails off...I want to bf for as long as I can but when I go back to work in August I'm sure my supply will take a hit

Oh - I'm not going back in June!! So happy! and so skint.....

Oh - Pecka - you MUST cat me and send your address - that pump has been a lifesaver - I used to take 30 mins to get abuot 1oz now I can get 4oz in 10mins and that's in the evening!! So I need to send you some dosh, at least to cover postage.

Keep meaning to ask too, how quickly/often is everyone introducing food? I found this on kellymom (look for the table a wee bit down the page)
It seems VERY gradual, saying 2 meals per day max until 9mth!!

Now I know dd is not eating much at all, but I am offering solids 2 or 3x per day. Some days she'll eat literally nothing, but other days like yesterday she had 2 breadsticks, 2 carrot puffs, 1/2 banana, some baby rice, some nectarine..all at various times of the day. Is that too much?

I've just been bf-ing as normal, then in her "awake" time if we are in the house I'll let her try something, also if we're at a cafe or whatever. Other days if it doesn't fit in she just gets bfs.

Eek that sounds so random written down...

caz10, we do 2 or 3 meals a day. I give her solids first then half a bottle of milk.
Tried some finger foods today, bit of toast with brekkie, some baby biscotti, a chunk of pear and cucumber. The fruit was too slippery to hold, the biscotti was disappointing to her as it didn't rattle when shaken but the toast lasted the longest. Tbh, I think it's too early for her to co-ordinate, but i'll try again with breadsticks. Well the pooch was pleased at the food landing on the floor, I think she'll come round to the baby idea after all.

Off to the clinic to gets DD weighed today, reckon she'll be 17.5lbs.

Clara I don't think i am strong-if I was then I'd have done CC but being too much of a softie means I just go with it! I don't drive so thats not a problem but tbh I think your body does adjust to whatever sleep you get. I certainly don't feel tired most of the time, it's just at 3/4/5 am that it hits me but once I've had an hour or so to catch up I usually feel ok.

Skid I can't reassure you because I have NO drive whatsoever. We still haven't done it yet (hmm could that be the real reason why dh wants me to introduce formula...?)

Loucee poor you . To answer your question I really don't spend that much time actually playing with dd (she usually pushes me away and says "No I do it" or "Go 'way mummy"). When ds goes to sleep though I do make a bit of an effort to spend some time with her, even if it is just a cuddle while she watches cbeebies. She also likes to help me do the washing up etc so I let her do that sometimes even though it takes hours! Also when we go to the park or to toddlers then that is her time-ds is just ignored on my back in the park and passed to someone else at toddlers! Like skid my housework usually gets left til the evening too...(not that I do much of it then either...)

oops pressed post too soon!

Caz ds has 2 sometimes 3 meals a day. They aren't huge though-probably half the amount you'd get in a jar. Today I made him chicken pea and carrot, I thought it was quite nice but he pulled a bit of a face!

DS is crawling properly now

Thanks for your replies, DD seems a bit more chilled out today, I am trying new methods as well.

DS eating a bit of food today - tiny amounts but it's progress!

HV told me to avoid citrus foods for the first year - anyone know why that is?