Three spikes and they're out. Whose teeth will be next?

[Essie3]

Seeing as it's a quiet time...

pureeandpearls I saw you were in the child modelling thread, good luck with getting some good pics. The ones ds's agency are using for him where taken but someone else as I pearched him on my knee (pic on profile).

Hello Puree

Glad to see you are ok, Would love to see if you have any suggestions for Fleur as weve tried everything we can think of!! She was sleeping from 8pm to 4am and then feeding and going back to sleep til 7am but then she got a cold and now wakes at 2am and its every 45min!!!til 7am. We introduced a dream feed at 10.30pm but to no avail and last night she wouldnt even take that but woke at 2am to feed!

I can post routines naps etc to if you think you could help or anyone else for that matter, really dont know what to do next! I dont mind the not sleeping trhrough Ill happily feed at 4am but its te 45 min spurts from then on that kill me!!

Daytime naps - do your lo's go in their cots for daytime naps?Ethan does but now that he's in a proper cot he either gets his legs through the bars or turns around 180 degrees and gets all mixed up in the blanket. At night he has a sleeping bag so there's no problem. I suppose he doesn't need a blanket in the day but it still doesn't solve the leg problem.

11.36 here and still no nap for ethan, he isn't happy anywhere apart from my knee and I have so much work to do, it's getting me down.

oh debs im sorry I cant put anything on Fleur during day as she kicks it off and re bars not sure what to do, Fleur does go in cot but judging her antics lately not sure im one to talk to!!!

Have to go as like ethan she is grouchy except with me and is now crying on mat!!

Should have said he normally will sit in his chair or play on the floor so that I can get some things done. Dh has taken him now so I must get on. Bye.

Morning all! A strange night here - Iestyn had a dream feed at 10.45, then woke for a feed at 1am. Expecting the worst, I fed him...and he slept till 8.30! The strange thing is though I don't feel as if I've had lots of sleep.

Oh, and he vomited copiously after his 8.30 feed. Covering the bed and me. I think I may have overfilled the washing machine as well.

Re. weaning, may I just step onto my high horse soapbox here? This came up in conversation with my militant breastfeeding (although hasn't even had her baby yet so knows nothing) frenemy. She said Iestyn had grown, and I said 'yes, doing well on the exclusive breastfeeding'. (I always emphasize it to her because I secretly hope she won't manage it becuase of her attitude to it, smugness, and snobbery to ff.) She then went very red in the face and angry, and said 'of course it works, it's worked for centuries, ff is all a new modern thing' (and worse, but out of respect to ff-ers, I won't repeat because I disagree.)

Anyway, here's the thing. And I'm saying this as a historian, and I have worked on medieval children. Early weaning is not a new thing, and 6 months exclusive is a new concept, and quite possibly a middle-class holier-than-thou thing. (Yeah, that's my opinion, and I'm doing it at the mo!) Traditionally, women did breastfeed - no other option - but they also weaned very early indeed. What do you think all those women who couldn't breastfeed did? They weaned, of course! (Also gave cow's milk.) It's correct to say that ff is new, but it's new in an alternative-to-bfing way, keeping the milk diet going. But of course a peasant working in the fields wouldn't be able to exclusively breastfeed for 6 months! She would wean. Early.
Questions at the end of the lesson, please! (I'm expecting ones on wetnurses, a topic I know a bit about!)
Sorry, needed to get that off my chest. (Ha!)
Oh, and yes all medieval, but my MIL weaned my SIL at 5 days old. She got steak and kidney pudding. No joke.

I hope I haven't caused offence now. This is just a few facts from history. I'm too scared to post on the weaning threads but my comments belong there!

we don't take offence in this group, I think if people disagree they just keep quiet. I weaned ds1 and ds2 at 4 months and they are both fine but this time I'm prolonging just because it's easier to carry on bfeeding.

Hehe Essie I do love your theories think you should publish abook with them, but i agree thats why i wasnt worried bout weaning fleur i felt she was ready i was ready. There are lots of guidelines i didnt follow in pregnancy either. They change sooo much and all the time that i dont know whether to believe them!
When my aunty was pregnant in 80ś there was that ester ranzthen thingy with cheese i think it was and then that fazed out.
When i told my mum bout BLW she said and i quote"thats not a new thing!! it was a hippy faze that was out in the 70s when i weaned you"!!!!
Hehe
Can you tell i have a grouchy baby that i cant leave? Never posted so much in one day!!!

Yeah, it's true Paro, nothing is ever new!

Neenz forgot to tell you about wipes. You'll save a mint!
I use cut up muslins, others use cut up fleece, others use cheap flannels.
I'm too lazy to fetch water at every change so I do 2 things:
(a) I don't 'wash' or wipe him at every single change, only if he's wet to the touch, or has pooed.
(b) I have a wet wipes box which I made myself in true Blue Peter style, but I'm a sad frustrated old woman who doesn't get out much, eh Sponge?
I use the Pampers wipes box I got free with Bounty (and you can also buy it), but you can just use a tupperware. Or these boxes from Ikea.

Put all your wipes in the box, pour over a good amount of Chamomile tea (you can add a few drops of lavender/tea tree/other oil to the mix if you want) so that the wipes are soaked and ready to go. Ok, they're cold, but so are bought wipes! Dump them in your nappy bucket when finished.
An alternative is to use a spray bottle of chamomile tea + the drops of oil. Or buy this if you're feeling rich.

Like the wipes idea essie, we use cotton wool pads and water at mo. Think we invest in the wipes idea though

oh and just got fleur off to sleep listening to this music.aol.com/radioguide/kids-radio
Scroll down and there is lullabies etc

I sold the wipes idea to DH by saying it's just the same as cotton wool pads and water, just instead of throwing the pads in the bin, you put them in the laundry basket. And it's cheaper!

Where is everybody? I'm at a loose end here!

Hello everyone, have been lurking but no posts - haven't had much to say of late. Although I did want to post to those of you (Paro esp) who'd posted on that making feeds in advance thread - I was appalled at some of the replies!

BDQ - nice to see you back, how is studying going? LauraT, how was new James Bond movie? Hello to Katyjo too.

We have a proper bedtime routine now, and B is in bed asleep by 8pm every night. Amazing. However, he wants to feed every 3 hours , and it is 'proper' full feeds. I even tried him with a bottle of hungry baby formula one night before I went to sleep. He took 7oz, AND I bf him too - and he still woke up 3 hours later . I am using a little ready to feed formula for him to mix his Gaviscon, as I don't always have ebm to hand. Figured as we are giving him various stomach meds, it's hardly like he's only having bm any more.

Bootees - I got some polartec bootees from Jojo Maman Bebe, which stay on and keep his feet toasty. Love the Daisy Roots shoes though, might treat him to a pair.

Interested in all of the weaning chat. I'm going to start trying B with it in a couple of weeks, when he's about 5 months old. It may help his reflux, and who knows, it may even help his sleep.

I have just submitted my first tender for some freelance work, so keep your fingers crossed for me. I'm in two minds - the money would be good, and I could work from home, but I'd still have to sort out some childcare for B. Bit sad, as my original plan before redundancy was to go back to work after his first birthday. However, as my old organisation has been in the news due to its financial disaster, I am definitely best off out of it!

BDQ, which Maclaren did you get? I am trying to decide on a buggy atm. Quite like the Silver Cross Pop, but interested to hear any recommendations.

Hope all is good with everyone x

Paro- sounds like you are having a mare! Several questions- do you use a dummy? Do you have an issue with co-sleeping? I say this because babypearls went through a wakey phase (not long before she dropped the middle-of-the-night feed) and I tried shoving the dummy in to get her back to sleep. Only worked sometimes...but I also tried feeding cooled boiled water and that seemed to do the trick- she realised there was no point in waking. If you have nerves of steel you could try leaving her to cry herself back to sleep. But my failsafe was always to bring babypearls in to bed with us, with dummy wedged in mouth (she was pressed up against my chest so it wouldn't fall out!) Sounds like terrible parenting and I fully expect a backlash, but three days later she was back to sleeping through.

Debs- babyearls naps in the cot most days-she favours wedging herself across the top of the cot! I found that by starting her off at the top she couldn't go anywhere then stretched the blanket with the long edge across the cot and tucked in really tight both sides so that she was literally pinned to the matress. Seemed to work but a friend tried that with her 'rotating' daughter and it didn't work so I am making her a cot bumper to at least stop her dd getting limbs trapped!

hello pureepearls

yep she has a dummy and we only use it for sleep, nap times she is fine when it falls out and from 8pm til nightmare Hours!!!she is fine too.

I have been going in and sticking dummy back in ,havent tried water, dont have a prob with co sleeping did it when she had a cold and in afternoons siesta, she sleeps for hours that way but was wondering if that is why so wont go down on own and worried wont be able to break it later, so have stopped pm siestas recently

Hi All,

Essie you are right, it really annoys me when people are so self-righteous, how on earth can they be sure they are doing the right thing, I certainly don't and government guidelines change all the time, I wouldn't be suprised if they tell everyone to mix feed next! I was when told to give ds vitamin supplememnts because I was bf.
I don't know why certain people can't just accept that raising children doesn't have a perfect formula, there are decisions to be made, sahm vs working mum, ff vs bf, own room vs your room. Most of us agonise over these decisions (I do anyway) always thinking we should have made the other choice, I wish I could be so self righteous actually, believing your perfect must be so much easier!

Debs Mia is doing the same thing, its driving me nuts! I put her in a sling last night when making the dinner as she kept rolling on her tummy and throwing a wobbler. She was happy as larry in the sling, but my backs killing me today, don't know if I had it on right. Mia usually sleeps in her cot and I wrap her up in a big blanket, she doesn't sleep for long though and is always on her tummy when she wakes, I find it easier when she sleeps in the car or her buggy.

Whinegums Fingers crossed for you, hope you manage to sort childcare for B, I was going to send Hamish to the local Careshare nursery as I've heard good things about it, don't know if they are all the same though.

P&P, so jealous that she is going 7-7! Might have to try the cooled boiled water trick with esther cos she is waking in the night now when she didn't before. Do you just take a bottle of it with you to bed? Mmmm, well Esther won't take abottle of milk so doubt she'll take water! Back to drawing board..

Essie, You scared me when you said you were getting on your high horse, I thought you were going to get all 26-weeks-only/BLW-only on us! Very intersting what you say about centuries ago. Some on MN will have you believe some cultures wean at 18 months . Thanks for tips on reusable wipes, will have to get some chamomile tea. I have my pampers wipes box from my bounty bag (I use it to put dirty wipes in) but I have two of them so will have to dig out the other (two babies = two bounty bags!)

Katyjo, I was shocked at vitamins too. I'm not giving them vitamins but only cos I am too lazy . They say the iron in breast milk is too low but actually it is just very well absorbed by your baby so she doesn't need much of it. The human body is an amazing thing, it wouldn't produce milk that wasn't high enough in iron.

I also thought Top Gear was very funny - didn't think Clarkson's jokes about murdering prositutes was funny though! I have a new-found respect for lorry drivers now.

Crikey, I'd forgotten how busy this thread gets!

On the washable wipes Neenz and Paro, some people use just plain old water, but I found that S's man bits were a bit whiffy towards the end of the day! So I now do pretty much the same as Essie, but my recipe is:

Add dollop of olive oil (about 2 tbs) dollop of baby wash (about 2 tbs) and fill a tupperware tub/empty ice cream tub/pampers box about quarter full of boiled water (there is no need for it to be boiled, it's just what I'm in the habit of). Add a couple of drops of lavender oil and then stuff full of washable wipes.

I use wipes (which I bought from nappy lady - terry flannel type) at every bum change and then let him 'air dry' or use a dry wipe to pat him down if in a hurry. I think using either lavender oil or tea tree oil is quite handy for keeping your nappy bucket smelling fresh. Some people put a wipe with lavender/tea tree oil on it in bucket to keep it fresh smelling but I dont need to because all my wipes are lavender-y!

For out and about, I stick wipes in one of those ziplock freezer bags and put the dirty wipes in with the dirty nappies.

Essie at 'working on medieval children' - have vision of you going back in time to check that they were eating their broccoli spears!

Hi whinegums - I bought the butcher's stripe mclaren, which is essentially the 'quest' but they charge more for the blue and white stripe . I liked it because it was a bit retro though! S is fine in it, it has a semi-recline and he likes to have a good nose about. It's very lightweight though so I wouldn't feel confident with it on a very windy day. Great for on the bus (I've already had to fold it down while carrying S because someone else on the bus already) and for quick trips to the shops etc. Studying has been non existent so really need to sort that out!

Oh meant to say, have just been talking to BF who has two amazing kids. Was bumping my gums about whether or not to wean S off his night time dummy. She says it won't be long till he can put it back in (he currently takes it out and looks at it before trying to put it back in) and that it wont be the hardest thing in the world if I don't wean him off it till later. So am going to hang on in there for the moment. Wish me luck...

Oh, same BF raised her kids the Annabel Karmel way and they are really good eaters!

At last, he's asleep.Puree I tried him at the top of the cot and he was asleep when I put himin, I'll report back on where he ends up.

Fingers crossed for your freelance work Whinegums Katyjo sorry to hear Mia is clinging too atm but nice to know Ethan's not the only one.

Neenz when I was in hospital I was given a prescription for Vitamin D for Ethan, I ignored it and since have been asked twice by the Dr if Ethan is taking it. I said no, I hadn't given the older 2 vitamins and they were OK. However I did some googling after last Drs visit and last week I had an English GP staying so I also asked her advice and apparently consultants in the UK are advising it for breastfed babies as FF milk is fortified with it, and sometimes for bfeeding Mums too. So I think I may try it now. The body can make it if you get enough sunlight but babies are so well covered now and protected from the sun that the body doesn't get chance.

BDQ - my 2 older boys were weaned using Annabel Karmel methods, last night they wolfed down a big Yorkshire pudding filled with braising steak in gravy, roast potatoes, carrots, sprouts and broccoli. I think they eat OK I found my old book and was looking at the recipes and guidelines the other day.

Essie - do you teleport back to the medieval children you work with? {grin]

meant to add BDQ - Stefan -ds1 had dummies in bed until aged 3, it wasn't a big thing. He had 1 in his mouth and 1 in each hand just in case 1 got lost in the night!

Paro-how long is she napping for during the day? Do you wake her fully at the final feed of the day?

Neenz- a friend with twins has a similar problem with her daughter at the moment. Sadly she's just living through it but if she hits on a winning formula I'll keep you posted! How long is she nappping during the day?

The only other thing is that waking during the night is a 'classic' sign of needing to wean- are you both on baby goo yet?

Send sympathies to all those with 'clingy' babes- I think it's an age thing- we're in it with you.

xx