March 2008:A new thread before they start crawling!

[turtle23]

Thought it was about time....

LOL at the nipple twiddling. My LO has recently discovered that if he squeezes my boob enough, milk will squirt out which is apparently very funny. So, even when fully clothed, his current hunger signal is to give my boob either a chomp with his teeth, or grab it and squeeze with his hand, whichever is closest....

Sorry to hear about sleep problems, although it is reassuring to know I'm not the only one. After a couple of nights which seemed better, last night was one of the worst ever when he seemed to wake up every 20 mins between 8pm and 11pm, and then every hour or two Typically DH was nightshift, so up and down myself all bl*%dy night. DH nightshift tonight too, but so far so good

dh took night shift last night and i wouldn't say i am rested but i do feel more human. i am back on tonight - i should be sleeping but am instead getting ready for tomorrow and mnetting! will pay for it circa 4:30. it's midnight and we've already had three wakings.

i had ruled out ear infection bc nonsense stops the minute i give the iced teether or put the medicated gel (i know, bad, but sometimes just has to be done) but maybe i should revisit with dr when we go this thursday.

glad you got there in one piece turtle - i am dreading west coast flight (to LA) in december as will also have to be myself. and good luck all those back at work. i find it very hard (and i only do pt so shouldn't whine), not so much in the missing of dd but in the keeping my head in two places. also if i've had a bad night the LAST thing i want to do is got to work, make my brain function and listen to the twentysomethings natter on about getting pissed and what's happening on big brother.

just managed to have a (very quick) scan through : )
turtle - hows the ttc going? ill keep an eye out for any announcements
izzy is sitting up and doing the hands and knees rocking back and forth. shes got her first tooth at the weekend with no fuss

LO decided 4am was a good time to wake for a feed followed by a chat today.
Mind you, DH woke up too, only 5 mins after me which is a first. When LO decided to have a screaming fit after a further 10-20mins I ended up having him sleep on top of me, snoring loudly and keeping me awake until the alarm went off. Today in work was much harder than yesterday. At least LO was able to have a kip until lunchtime when he got to his gran's!

hi all, gg spent 6 days going straight back to sleep after 4am milk, to the joy of all concerned. he grew a lot, most noticeably his nose is less baby looking! and on the 7th day, he started eating and drinking insane amounts again with extra waking. we've decided he doesn't do growth spurts. he just occassionally has a little breather from his normal state of growin glike a weed.

all power to those coping with flights and work!

Woot to WBPA and friend. You are a champ. Now go back to the sofa and watch some crap TV.

In true DH last minute style, have finally booked a holiday and we're off to Mallorca on Saturday. Hotel looks suitably stylish and apparently appeals to the Boden-types so I'm sure we'll fit right in. Just pleased that it is baby-friendly and has a spa.

Sorry to hear about all the colds and early wakings. G is teething madly again after having just a few days respite, so I hope something comes through soon. He's had his bottom two for about three weeks, but no signs of any more apart from the screaming. Poor chap!

I managed to throw myself down the stairs last week and wrenched my shoulder. Good thing I bought a lightweight pushchair for hols. Not that it compares to what others have gone through, but gah, pain is a real nightmare with babies, isn't it?? Hopefully will get some physio in the next few weeks.

Will post some funny BLW photos of G on facebook. They kill me!

just cooked same old same old for baby gloop...anyone got a fresh idea or 2 for me?

g's current faves are mashed potatos with butter beans, thyme and olive oil and roast butternut squash mixed with boiled red lentils. after a large mound of gloop he has play food: waitrose do these mini bagels he loves to gum (toasted, hold together well and are hard for sore gums to enjoy), otherwise current faves are just large veg chunks. and roast parsnips. god he loves those. but i do need some fresh inspiration please!

have read the thread but totally seem to have lost the ability to absorb infomation atm, mostly down to sleep deprivation, ds worse than as a newborn atm waking all night

weaning not really happening either, he is just not that bothered by the idea of food, he cant crawl yet, or sit unsupported

am finding it all so different from dd, who was fascinated with food, never kept still and so was crawling and sitting at this age and cruising by 7-8 months

all this talk of holidays has me a bit as the weather has been pretty grotty here

Oooh, mini bagels, how fab. I will get some for G for the holiday.... He loves his carbs.

Here's a variation on your lentils: my Italian friend makes an onion, olive oil, sweet potato and lentil gloop. Can you chuck spinach or beans in? Rosemary and borlotti beans are nice together. Butternut and sage risotto? Chick pea, spinach and butternut curry with coconut milk and light on the spices?

Wish G would take a spoon for some of the nice gloopier things like risotto. Perhaps if I let it stiffen up a bit he can eat it cold with his hands. Will experiment.

I'm finding weaning a bit tedious at the moment. Love breakfast - DS reliably eats tonnes of porridge with whatever fruit puree I have mixed in (mango and blackberry today). I give him a loaded spoon and he shovels it in.

Lunch/tea is a bit of a nightmare. Some days he only wants finger foods (squash, rice cakes with cream cheese, carrots, cheese, banana, green beans, cauli, toast, pitta are on rotation here), other days he refuses them and wants a spoon to shovel gloop in himself. So some days we are BLW extraordinaire and some days we are pureetastic... But I am rarely allowed to help him so it takes forever and is very very messy [Hmm]

I'm loving the lentil/bean ideas here as want DS to start having pulses. I'll give the mash/butter bean a go tomorrow as have butter beans in fridge which need eating.

ideas from me

• beetroot, potato and strong cheese puree (equal quants of beetroot and potato, then grate in some cheese and grind on a bit of pepper - v simple to defrost cubes from freezer). DS's favourite veg puree and even I like the taste.
• pitta pizzas (okay not sanity checked ytet so could be a disaster - trying for tea as he loves pitta - basic tom sauce mixed with grated cheese, spread on pitta, grilled then cut into strips is the plan)
• toast fingers spread with fruit puree - baby version of jam goes down a treat!

JFly - we did Majorca in June with DS and it was fab. You should have a fab time. If you are anywhere in the north of the island, try to get to Cap Formentor. It's really beautiful and you can get a cup of tea and cakes at the Hotel Formentor

ooh great ideas thank you! gg goes mad (barking it sounds like!) if i only give him finger foods, because he can't satisfy his hunger efficiently enough yet. i found finger foods a nightmare with ds1, until i aded egg, which i think i did early around about 10 months. then the world is your oyster. i remember these fab chicken and apple burgers in annabel karmel that we all LOVED. ah now if we simplify that recipe even more there's a finger food idea: poach chicken breast in apple juice: moist, gummable, good!

ps the mash/butter bean is like glue, and so is very good for baby holding spoon as it doesn't end up glued to random surfaces so easily

and try polenta JFly...i cook it, add something like a broth for added goodness and when it's gone solid, cut strips off. if you refry it in olive oil you up the calorie content.

and those rice balls italians make with left over risotto, what are they called? will hunt down once i've responded to ds1 who is yelling for me, despite it now officially being QUIET time

arancini. might experiment with an eggless outside...see what happens...some recipes linked in here

thanks for all the weaning tips, you all seem to be doing much better, ds has held a carrot, plum and a banana (on more than one occassion)

but has only eaten/put into his mouth at least a porridge pancake, some Ella apple and banana puree and lots of bread/toast crusts and naan bread/chapattis

Hi all. Back from Canada in one piece- it was great. Time change not too bad either. However, I would not willingly do the flights again by myself- you can't eat, can't sleep, can't relax. Even with a bassinette, which she JUST fit into. Having another lap and pair of arms would be so much better.

Weaning going ok here- dd so not interested in food though, she's never been a guzzler so why should this be different I guess? She will always eat steamed green beans though, and rice cakes. and yogurt. The rest is hit and miss. She likes baby rice and fruit sometimes, likes squash sometimes, likes other finger foods sometimes. Haven't bothered with breakfast yet- think I'll wait until she seems hungrier. No use introducing more hassle, eh?

Polenta is genius, thanks! Perfect for his little fists. And I bet you could form the risotto ball things into little pancakes, too. I will experiment.

HQ- I know what you mean. I find I feed G when we are home and it's convenient. I think my friends think I'm starving him (one actually called it baby led starving) but he's only 6.5 months and we've only been weaning for a couple weeks! I'm just not going to freak out about how much he's eating. I really don't want meal times to be fraught for either of us. So, I'm trying to be relaxed about it and just give him food when he's happy and we can let him sit and take his time. I like your style, littleducks!

It can be frustrating, though, when he's pushed the same slippery bit of fruit around the table for 1/2 an hour! But he's fine, and doesn't get frustrated, so I'm thinking we're doing OK. Should be fun on holiday! (Thanks for the tip, HQ. Looking forward to it!)

can i have the idiots way to prepare polenta? i have some 'quick' grainy stuff somewhere from weaning dd, but am sure it was a runny mush when i cooked it for her, how do i make it a finger food?

Ta Da! The runny mush stage you've been to sounds like a slightly overwet version of it when first cooked. Basically you cook it like porridge. Try and get it thick towards the end so it kind of lifts from sides of pan when you stir it. Mkaes vast quantities, and it goes quick. We eat some while it's wet then set the rest.

Cool it in a mould, i usually use all my loaf shaped tins and dishes simultaneously! Really, really oil them first, cos then when the stuff has set (pref in the fridge overnight) you can turn it out and slice it like a loaf cake. Refry these slices when you want them. They can hang around the fridge for days and You can also freeze loads of them, best frozen with a slither or greaseproof paper between the slices so they don't weld together as they defrost.

You can actually do like the scots used to as well, exactly as above, but with porridge. They used to have drawers in the kitchen they would fill with porridge, and people would carve out what they needed thru the days, eating it with all sorts. I sometimes do a porridge polenta with half a bag of frozen berries in it, and it is an insanely nice breakfast, refried in a little sunflower oil and butter.

Lots of good ideas for weaning!! I'm really crap at cooking so the easier the better!

Cheesy tuna potato has gone well down here, and tried pasta with tomato, onions, garlic and cheese the other night and it went well although the onions could maybe have done with softening a little more as LO did have to spit a few bits out! It definitely helps if I'm cooking something I will also eat for dinner

On the sleeping front, we tried a bottle of water last night when LO woke at 2.30am and it worked! Normally I would always have fed him, but last night he took a couple of sips and then went back to sleep until 5am. So at least I now know he's not waking due to hunger and can try and be a bit stricter about not feeding as much during the night. Or at least that's the plan....

had a funny morning hanging out with ds1 in parks, as had to keep away form groups, gg having a cough that i'm waiting to see how serious it mught be. lovely day for it. we mostly sang, and ds1 was like a mini simon cowell...

Am very unclear how his musical taste is shaping up.

Not allowed:

?it?s such a perfect day?

?Ag-a-doo-doo-doo, push pineapple, shake the tree
Aga-doo-doo-doo, push pineapple, grind coffee
To the left, to the right, jump up and down and to the knees
Come and dance every night, sing with a hula melody?

Allowed:

?in my imagination there is no hesitation, we walk together hand in hand?

?Go find the young men never to fight again
Bring up the banners from the days gone by
Sweet moderation, heart of this nation
Desert us not, we are between the wars?

dusts off previous years' halloween name

Aw, there's a thread about not liking Halloween. Guess it's the American in me, but I think it's just a bit of fun.

G is going to be Yoda I think. I'm going to have a little party for my baby friends. Pumpkin cheesecake is definitely on the menu.

can a baby overdose on rice cakes? My DS seems to be trying - was all he wanted at tea