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May 2007 babies. Shoes needed? Surely not...

1000 replies

largeginandtonic · 21/05/2008 10:20

Here we go ladies.

OP posts:
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JamInMyWellies · 17/06/2008 15:11

Going to chuck my twoepence worth in here PJ.

Re the sleepingwhat about if it was your mum and DH doing the sleep training. I do know what you mean re trusting your DH with L, but if your mum was there too would that help? Also what about getting a bedside cot then L is with you but is begining to make the transition to being in a cot?

The money thing is a obviously a huge issue for you and DH. Why dont you say to him that you both write down your expectations of what happens with your salarys and what you would like to achieve in the future with your cash. I like scoots suggestion of big pot with your throwaway money that neither of you are allowed to comment on. Sort of agree on a contract of sorts that you both have to agree to.

Cool about meeting up lets start a seperate thread SOH, Scoot I have no idea about Camb could one of you suggest a place that would be central, child friendly and easy for us all to get to. Macdonalds

Aneme hope your DH is feeling better soon.

TYG hows A this afternoon?

I feel like crap today am meant to be working through a gigantic pile of ironing but just feel headachey and sick.

JamInMyWellies · 17/06/2008 15:19

Sorry scoot meant to say I really feel for you I have no idea how you manage to do all you do HAts off to all the working mums I get stressed doing it all and I am at home. Can your paretns have the girls for a weekend so you can have a couple of r&r days with your DH, You know the sort you had before children lie in on Sat go do a double bill at the cinema then dinner out then spend Sunday lying in bed watching crappy telly and snoozing or a bit of hows your father.

twelveyeargap · 17/06/2008 15:25

OK, some practical suggestions for Pink.

How about something like the "No Cry Sleep Solution"? I've seen a book called that. I think it's something that will take quite a few weeks to achieve, but committing a few weeks to "no cry" sleep training could really help here. If DH would agree to the cost, there are baby sleep counsellors. Marslady knows someone and I'm pretty sure you can get advice on the phone. The Baby Moon Sleep Counselling. TBH, I can't see it being prohibitively expensive.

It's not "your fault" about her not sleeping. You've never been a parent before, and even if you had, this baby might be different to your others. Along the lines of what SOH said in her earlier post, it is actually difficult for men to understand what goes on in a woman's head in these situations. It's a generalisation, but men can be brutal with our emotions sometimes as well and not in touch with their own, so what they say can be really damaging to us, without them even realising they've been hurtful or cruel.

Your attitude to money may never change, but his won't either. You BOTH need to compromise here, but he needs to understand that by you suggesting you have an allowance is a really big deal for you. If he's that bothered about what you spend on groceries, how about he does the shopping online at Asda or Tesco once a week or fortnight? If you have a freezer, he can fill it with all the cheap bread he likes!

DH is careful with money and I am not. Since I don't work now, it's a given that I will not take the piss on the joint account or his credit card buying stuff for myself. I don't have to ask if I can buy things, but I wouldn't go shopping in Karen Millen like I used to, without "mentioning" it to him to give him a chance to say, "Actually, we're a bit tight this month." (Though he can be lovely and say, "Go for it, you deserve a treat." Likewise, I wouldn't go off buying unnecessary incidentals for the house this month, having just forked out the best part of two grand getting the cars repaired. It's taken us four years to get to here though!

When we were working, we found what worked best was as follows.

Both salaries paid directly into joint account.
Each remove a set amount (by standing order) from joint account to personal account for incidentals. We worked out this based on things like what DH was likely to spend on going out and what I liked to spend on clothes each month, credit card repayments, what we each donated to charities and so on. It wasn't an equal amount, as it happened, but it didn't need to be. It was "enough".
ALL household expenditure came out of joint account. Mortgage, bills, children's clothes and other costs, groceries, petrol, car maintenance and so on. This expenditure was on the joint debit cards always, so that it was transparent.
I wouldn't (and still don't) agree to any extraordinary payments or costs without checking with DH first. Like I wouldn't just get the car fixed without discussing with DH what it was going to cost. I wouldn't buy a new buggy for A without mentioning it to him, although he just assumes that I won't go mad buying clothes she doesn't need.

Anyway, what I'm getting at is that we've found a way to deal with the fact that when I say "how much can we afford to spend on redecorating?" he will always say "NOTHING! We are up to our ears in debt, we don't need to redecorate!" And I now know that if I have already worked out that the paint will cost x and that I've seen things in IKEA for x, that he will then calm down and realise I'm not talking about spunking a grand on random stuff, I'm talking about spending £200 doing up his daughter's room. He used to dread me traipsing in with armfuls of bags from Oasis and then when he realised that me shopping on a monthly basis for clothes in Oasis was probably equal to him shopping twice a year in Selfridges. I do have a bad attitude to money and had a lot of debt I could never afford to pay back when I met him, but he had a REALLY bad attitude TO my attitude. It's taken a long time, but I've been very careful to discuss things with him and not try to hide my spending and he's relenting. He also realised that it's a lot easier for me to deal with money, now that I actually have some. "Attitude to money" is sort of pie in the sky when you live on about £80 a week... I find it really irritating not being able to just spend when it feels like we're quite wealthy (in comparison to how I used to live I mean), but the bottom line is that he's the one with the best interests of the family on his mind - not what he's just seen in Glamour Magazine.

By the way - I have learned to accept, that I will ALWAYS be mortified when DH wants to do things like take home unfinished bottles of wine from a restaurant and will think in my head, "Tight git, how MORTIFYING!" and DH will always think that I am stupid to be embarrassed about not wanting to waste half a bottle of expensive wine. However, I bite my tongue these days and don't roll my eyes and he saves my blushes and doesn't bother doing it much any more unless he's really pushed the boat out on the wine and we don't have time to finish it. It works out in the end.

Sorry about this post being so rambling!

TillyScoutsmum · 17/06/2008 15:26

PJ - I'm really sorry you're going through this crap at the moment. If I was sticking my neck out (and I am !), I would say you have to try and trust DH. Yes - we have the maternal instinct and have bonded better and we may have different ideas but by not trusting him, you're making him feel worthless and left out.

If he did the sleep training, he will leave L to cry longer than you would - and that's sort of the idea. It won't harm her. She won't be damaged by it and you won't have to sit and listen to it and he'll feel as though he's part of something really important and you'll eventually get your time back together.... I know its hard and it broke my heart to think that DP was leaving T to cry but it worked - quickly - and we are all so much happier and less stressed

I really hope I haven't spoken out of turn but I really do think that doing some sleep training now will do far more good than harm for all of you

FWIW - I think the sponging comments are really out of order and nasty (and DP has also bought a bike seat for Tilly and it took me some time to get my head round it - but she loves it)

madeindevon2 · 17/06/2008 15:26

hi all ive had tears in my eyes reading the advice for PJ particularly SOH's post.
ive been offered that job in the city on a three month trial (for them and for me trying to fit it around Freddie)
im still not sure if its the right thing to do but i figure i wont know til i try.
i have to work sometime.....delaying it will only make it harder (like SOH post rightfully said) freddie is only 1 yr old now. and not clingy at all yet. he is fine with nursery one day a week and odd visits to creche at the gym. hopefully he will settle at nusery full time but if he doesnt then i will quit and rethink options. freddie comes first but unfortunatley we cant survive without my income long term.
money is always a tricky one PJ. I have been the main provider in our 8 relationship (dh moved in with me very early on in our relationship and i was paying my mortgage bills etc) as a lot of his money goes to his ex and other 3 kids. I didnt ask him to contribute to mortgage but he paid for some things holidays and shopping and the like.
i still pay most of the bills and mortgage out of my account (we dont have a joint account) but he now pays me a certain amount per month to go towards it...for the past 18 months ....but we have been together 8 so ive paid far more than my fair share!)
i have savings, pensions, isas etc. he has a nice pension but also a very large debt that he is paying off monthly via one of those consumer debt agencies (he took a stock market gamble before i met him and got it badly wrong.....he didnt own up to this for a long time and it cause a lot of problems at the time coz i was upset he had hid it from me. on the back of that everything stayed in my name. houses, car everything even tho we married. hes crap with money even tho he earns a decent salary he is always overdrawn. i have never minded helping him out (often pay off his overdraft when it gets unmanageable 3k at a time....with savings...)but a part of me is upset that I have to go back to work to help fund his ex wife and other children...
also coz mortgages and houses in my name (and dh wouldnt get a mortgage given his financial situation....hes only got a CCard coz hes a card holder on my account) i kind of have to be earning....
anyway. im due to start this job 2nd week august....

AprilMeadow · 17/06/2008 16:32

Pink, i have been thinking about you a lot and after reading everyones posts this what i can suggest (not really any different tho)

As you know I fall into the meanies camp along with LG&T and MrsJB. When ds was a baby he was totally crap at sleeping, infact at the age of 3 he has only jsut started going through the night, i was all for giving controlled crying a go as i couldnt see what harm it would do. Dh on the other hand was dead set against it (mainly because he had a rough childhood). As a result ds gets up 2/3 times a night, will let anyone except me put him to bed (he knows i am mean when it comes to sleep) and is in general a nightmare to get to sleep. With dd i told him that i would do cc if needed as i wasnt prepared to go through sleepless nigths for any longer than necessary. It was a bit tricky as i bf'd dd until she was about 8/9mths so as a result she didnt go totally through the night but did settle well after each feed. As soon as i put on her on a bottle she started going through and i think i only used cc twice. The only downside i can find to not giving in to dd is that i cant get her to settle in our bed at all. With ds if he wakes up we can bring him into our bed and he is asleep in moments, with dd because we did things so differently she thinks its a game and does anything but sleep. What i am trying to say is, the longer you let her sleep in your bed the harder it might become as she gets older to get her out of it. Also what happens when you have dc2, how do you sleep with 2 bubbas in you bed....

Dh and i have lived together for 6yrs and have always had a joint account and separate accounts. When we were both earning a similar wage we paid 50/50 on all household bills and thats all the account was used for. It meant that whatever was left was our own and we could spend as we liked - like TYG no questions asked. When i had ds we changed the split 70/30 and he also toped up my smp so that i could actually have some money to spend (up until this year we had a combined debt of £40k exc mortgage) after paying personal bills etc It did make it very hard to suddenly go from having £250pm to spend on whatever i liked and petrol to having to spend most of that on baby things.

I am finishing work on Friday and have had to ask dh to let me have an allowance per month. i was very to have to ask for one but i cant survive on air.

Not sure if that makes sense or helps in anyway x

largeginandtonic · 17/06/2008 16:43

Pink you are back!!!! I am so releived, no scaring me again pleae.

We have no money in our relationship so have nothing to argue about. I would be useless at advice about it. Sleeping babies i am also useless at because i am a bit mean. I am just so glad you are ok, some very wise advice rom all the lovely ladies. Make him read it? It may help and show him how hard you are trying.

Aneme i hope your dh is ok soon, poor man and poor you playing nurse!

Well i have some news... i am scanned. It is ONE baby > i am 10 weeks and due 13th January! Phew. Hugs was due that date too, he arrived 27th Jan though! I was pregnant before the Colposcopy and all the bleeding! I am amazed. I am also hugely releived, it means the baby is due before dh is due to sail so he wont sail until the baby is out and he has had 2 weeks paternity! Yay!

OP posts:
elkiedee · 17/06/2008 16:50

lgt, that news must be such a relief.

cameroonmama · 17/06/2008 16:51

Wow and LG&T. I had a feeling it might be today and that you were keeping it all quiet. Well done you! Of course we are all terribly disappointed.....

Pink, I am not going to add anything, as there are plenty of good suggestions from others to kick off a really good conversation with dh. But I am pleased to see you back.

All our finances go into one or two joint accounts, I am a kept woman I often joke how I have nothing of my own. I don't bring in any income (at the moment) but my job is very important.

I have to admit though, I am thinking about starting to look for a job. It might be easier than my current one.

JamInMyWellies · 17/06/2008 17:17

woo hoo LG&T wow 10wks already thats fab news. Am sure you are very relieved and thata is brilliant news about DH being at home for birth.

AprilMeadow · 17/06/2008 17:19

Hey you cheeky monkey! Great news that it is only the one and that N will be around for the birth

SKYTVADDICT · 17/06/2008 19:06

Fantastic news LG&T. You can relax a bit now! Hope you stop feeling sick soon too.

Sorry to hear about the poorly people and your numpty DH PJ.

We don't have any money either but I am currently worried as "we" bought our new car at the weekend - a Renault Grand Scenic-not brand new but an 05 plate and DP is doing the figures to see if we can keep the old Laguna on the road too! I have categorically said no we can't as I need to buy new uniform for both girls and can barely afford to food shop weekly. He has insured the new car (which is cheaper than the old) and we are currently paying £77 per month temporary insurance on the Laguna until he decides if he can bare to part with it!! WTF - get rid I say!

Only got 4 days at work to go and finish on 27 June. Could probably do a Cambridge meet on 4 or 11 July.

MKG · 17/06/2008 19:07

Oh man I was so looking forward to sextuplets!

Pink--I'm gonna lay it out for you. You have to let her cry. You have to do. I'm a close that door and let them cry until they fall asleep mom. If you don't get used to it now she is gonna play you for the rest of her life. You need to set your boundaries now, or she won't know you mean business. I'm afraid you are setting yourself up for a vicious cycle.

A friend of mine told me that when her first baby was born her mother came in and saw her tiptoeing around doing everything to keep the baby happy. Her mother told her, "This baby came to live in your house and he's gotta learn that she has to do what you say. You make the rules not him."

The first night will be absolute torture for you. But it gets easier. I don't think your dh should sleep train her either. This is a time for you to be the mean mom that you will need to be sometimes.

It may break your heart to hear her wail, but what are you going to do when she's two and wailing because she wants ice cream or toys or something in the store. If you don't teach her now that crying gets her no where when will she learn?

Sorry I'm rambling and I'll officially join the mean mommies club, but if we weren't mean sometimes our kids would walk all over us.

SKYTVADDICT · 17/06/2008 19:12

Bedtime in our house is still a "late" affair as usual. No ground rules set yet.

In fact my children could be seen as feral as the DDs have just taken DS for his second trip round the block on his bike thing and it is 7.10 pm. I know a lot of babies his age are sound asleep in bed by now but I have decided to be more relaxed about it. He wakes up ok most days and if he was in bed now DP would never see him.

He also now only has a bed time bottle. I dropped his morning one last week as he wasn't eating breakfast after it and we have to leave the house for the school run at about 8.10 am. DP thinks I am mean and he needs it but I pointed out he really doesn't.

twelveyeargap · 17/06/2008 19:29

Great news LG&T.

A is VERY attached to her bottles. Bugger. She looks at me as though I'm crazy if I offer milk in a cup. I might try a soft spout learner bottle to ease the transition. She'll drink other drinks from a straw, or beaker or a normal drinking cup, but has no time for milk in them. Am thinking it took a number of months for her to take a bottle at all, so it may be some time weaning her off bottles now.

Madamejaffa · 17/06/2008 19:31

WHAT!!!! There is not hundreds in there? Dammn , I was hoping for a give away Ohhhh look, have some smileys! Congratulations LG&T, I am over the moon for you, and have to say amazed too about the treatmet etc....you have one determined bean in there.

AM, I have the same problem now with both M & J, our bed = great fun, jump about, climb all over us it most definately does not mean sleep at any time of the day or night.
H would, and still will, (when allowed) crawl in between us or at our feet if he wakes early morning and go straight back to sleep. We have had to be tough with him though as getting him out of our bed at 3/4 yrs old was hard work, it became his habit to wake as we went to bed, get from his own bed and into ours!

Madamejaffa · 17/06/2008 19:33

It's OK TYG, Maddie is 3 in August she still has a bottle to take to bed with her now. J does the same and I will not be stopping it any time soon. I would rather she drank the milk than none, so don't mind how! J will suck her empty bottle all night like a dummy. Ewwwww

twelveyeargap · 17/06/2008 19:45

I'm fine with a bed time bottle for the foreseeable. If it's a great comfort to them, then it's no harm really. It's nice to sit and relax with her for a few minutes while she has it. I'd rather she started eating a good breakfast in the morning, as well as having milk and I'd like to cut out the mid-afternoon bottle and swap it for milk in a cup and a little snack. I suppose it doesn't really matter. I'm not going to force the issue with her.

Incidentally, A thinks my bed is for fun too. She also can't bear to be "handled" when she's tired, although she was like that before we ever did any sleep training. She just wants to lie down in peace and talk to herself and make grunting noises or whinge a bit until she goes to sleep. She gets really upset if anyone goes in and out "checking" on her. I usually get a little hug after her bedtime bottle and then she practically throws herself out of my arms to get into the cot, sticks her bum in the air, rubs her muslin, has a little chat to her bunnies and bear and she's off.

scootermum · 17/06/2008 19:58

Lily has a bottle at night too.M has her morning and night time ones but she drinks everything else out of a normal cup..Lilys night time milk is sometimes the only nourishment she gets all day when she is in hunger strike so Im not stopping it either!

I am mean Mummy too with the sleep.However I do have a friend whose ds is 3 days younger than Lily and he had only just started going through (and didnt go to bed at all till 11.30 most nights)He would wake 4 times a night and wouldnt settle again till they got in with him.He suddenly started going through and on his own in bed, about 2 months ago...and he now goes to bed at about 9 which is a vast improvement..so although I dont advocate it myself, (mine are in bed and if they cry they cry themselves to sleep unless really hysterical)it does show that sometimes kids just grow out if it..so PJ all might not be lost on the sleep front..I mean no kid ever gets to 15 and is still sleeping with its Mum, right so they must start sleeping well sometime or other

Congrats lgandt..really great news on all fronts!

scootermum · 17/06/2008 20:00

Oh and good news on the job MID..I hope it goes well..you might love it, you never know!

AbbyLou · 17/06/2008 20:05

R is still having a bedtime bottle too and will do until I think she doesn't want it anymore. She has her milk at breakfast out of a trainer cup and is fine with that. Did anyone watch My Child Won't Eat last night? Some shocking scenes but certainly made me feel better about R's eating!!
It's C that is causing us all the probelms at the moment and I need help. He is such a good, gorgeous, bright little boy but he has got a new habit which is driving dh and I crazy. He has been dry now for nearly a year but has suddenly started wetting himself again, every day. He was quite easy to train, took about a week and a half and he's only had a handful of accidents since. Now he seems to be regressing. It's not full-on accidents so he's soaked but as if he's leting a little bit out, enough to wet his pants and shorts. His cm thinks it's because he's too busy playing ie being lazy! We just don't know what to do next. There is no way I am ignoring it as he needs to know it is not acceptable. We have been really quite horrible to him but it's making me really . He's not allowed any TV, dvds, sweets, treats or anything to eat and drink when he gets home - he has already had his tea by the way! Do you think we're being too harsh? We have absolutely had enough and don't know how to deal with this. I can't stand it anymore. He smells of wee and no-one will want to be his friend and sit with him. He's been such a good boy forever and has never done anything we can't deal with before. Please help. .

cameroonmama · 17/06/2008 20:25

Abby, don't be sad, its not so bad. Ds1 used to do this at C's age, as the CM said, when he was so engrossed in his play the last thing he wanted to do was to rush off and go to the toilet. I'm sure he won't do it for long. Perhaps the punishments are a little harsh as he is not doing it deliberately to annoy you, more that he just forgets. How about a star chart instead? They love star charts at this age and the reward can be simple, like being able to watch his favourite dvd if he manages to keep his shorts dry all morning. He can even do it at the childminders.

J drinks from a sucky cup and still has loads of milk, with breakfast, at 11/nap time, at 4 with a snack and at 7 bedtime But he is rather enormous and does spend a great deal of time walking around the garden. He gets quite irritable in the afternoon until he gets his 'ma'. Also he gets quite irritable when he sees someone else eating something he would quite like

Love A's little bedtime chatter TYG, so cute. I can't believe that in a month or so's time you will have another where has the time gone???

AbbyLou · 17/06/2008 20:33

Thanks Cam, I had thought about a star chart. I am a teacher ffs, I should know what I am doing. I think I will make one now, I have tons of stickers.

cameroonmama · 17/06/2008 20:36

Good luck, I am absolutely positive it is just a teeny blip and he will be back to his usual wee wee habits in no time

ShowOfHands · 17/06/2008 20:46

PJ, can I have your email please?

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