Sept 08 - Is it day or night?

[lollyheart]

Hope no one minds me starting a new thread?

Foxytocin
Constipation is medically classed as having to strain or make more effort than normal to poo. Poo being hard or ball like is from you not passing it at the right time, the more you get the feeling to poo and don't go the more your body leeches the liquid from your bowel resulting in harder poo. I know bf babies aren't supposed to get constipated, dd1 was not constipated till sshe was on a totally weaned diet, but the other signs are there, straining and being uncomfortable. Maybe I am stressing over it and she will calm down in a couple of weeks. To be honest one poo every few days was fine for dd1, I just can't remember 12 years ago as to when she started to poo like that.

hahahaha you guys, i just read my profile since creating it and i stupidly credited katie hepburn for audreys role in sabrina. i guess i had a massive case of pregna brains.

but now i can't seem to fix it. or well.

ok so i should be doing my hair. but the bed looks soo comfy i kinda want to take a nap instead. but i think baby will want feeding before i get a chance to do either.

ho hum.

Debs75 Maebh seems to only poo once every 2 days and I remember DD1 it often being a week between them. She did seem uncomfortable beforehand, but it must be more difficult if gravity isn't gin=ving you a helping hand.

Just spent a v. lazy morning in bed, the first since Maebh was born. She seems to be a complete sleepy head today, but she's all bunged up so did have a disturbed night.

thanks starlight and thanks foxy for the link - I feel exactly like the op. I think I mght have to chuck the book as all it's done is make me feel terrible. We were happy before I was just concerned that maybe ds would sleep better away from me - as he does when dh and my mum are around to hold him. But maybe he's happy as he is for now.

Hi gals and babies,

First chance i've had to pop on here since DD2 was born. Jessica is just over a week old now and the sweetest little thing . I'm on the antibiotics too after starting to develop lower abdominal pains, GP sent me for scan at hospital, they could see a small clot only but i really was going down hill so gave antibiotics to be on safe side. Just been on they for 36 hours and i'm feeling so much better already. We can already see Jess is completely different from DD1 in temperament - far more relaxed - sleeps loads. She didn't feed too well to begin with a couple of minutes every 4-5 hours so we were having to wake her to feed her. Shes getting better at it now and even occasionally demands feeding. She's putting on weight though and is now almost back at her birth weight - so doing well.
We too have had the occasional night of constant crying/not settling - the only way we get through is taking turns to try and put her down (moses basket) and knowing that we went through this with DD1 and it DOES get better
Digitalgirl books are great to pick up ideas from but imo its best to take what works for you and ignore the rest (the same with other peoples advice - especially MIL's and Mothers). Every family/baby/child is different as with is how you want to raise your children. I freaked my self out on my first pregnancy and early days with DD1 by paying too much attention to what i should be doing and what baby should be doing acording to books. Soon decided to go with the flow and took advice which fitted with my families needs and how we wanted to live our lives. The day DD1 was born and my DH went to pick her up when she cried, my mother said "don't pick her up you will spoil her". I couldn't believe it. I prefered the advice my friend gave me which was "you cannot spoil a baby too much in the first 2 months".

So after all that i'm going to recommend a book Kaz Cooke's "Kid Wrangling" its a general don't worry everything will be fine kind of book - but has good ideas no matter how you want to raise your child - I found it (and her pregnancy book "a rough guide to pregnancy and child birth") a God send.

Hi all. I've tried the baby whisperer and I have to say it's given me some useful thoughts and ideas, with the emphasis on 'let's try them out to see if they fit to Charlotte. In other words, maybe useful hints and tips when brain can't think what to try next but all led by DD needs - not a strict routine.

EASY doesn't work for us, as DD likes to do her activity before she feeds and go to sleep straight after feeding, but I guess we are doing a sort of AESY! I also like the idea of keeping day and night feeds different - DD gets lots of stimulation and conversation during the day feeds but evening and night ones are assoictaed with queit, darkened rooms and soft music - they seem to help her keep calm and, we hope, teach her to differentiate day and night. In the evening she's not good at settling, so I've given up 'shush pat' and simply let her sleep on me or near us. Rest of the time (night and day naps) she has got quite good at sleeping alone in her moses basket.
TBH, I'm inclined to keep books to hand as a useful source of ideas/tips but otherwise, leave em to get dusty on the shelf!

Potxola I noticed you said you're selling your Close sling - I'd like it if you've still got it. What price are you looking for?

That Baby Whisperer book sounds shite. Our babies are less than 2 months old, they cry because they cry, not because they are mini-manipulators, sleeping on your chest/picking them up when crying is fine ffs.

Does anyone 'play' with their baby yet? Elizabeth is a month old now and I wondered whether I should be trying to entertain her. I pull faces and talk to her etc but I don't do it for her every waking second iyswim.

Elizabeth seems to be regressing a bit, it started with a feeding frenzy on Monday where she drank me dry as was either feeding or screaming. Tues was very similar and now she doesn't want to sleep in her basket in the day, only on me, as soon as i put her down she cries. She used to be great at sleeping in it, she's still ok at night though TOUCH WOOD!!!

So far today (since getting up at 9am) I have:
Put washing on so now have washing in the machine to be hung, got as far as opening the door.
I have half unloaded dish washer, some plates have got as far as the work top before being abandoned - the door has been left open.
I tried to hoover, have emptied the dust cylinder but had to abandon putting it back on so hoover is in middle of the kitchen, in pieces.
I have managed to eat an apple, it took half an hour and ended up on the floor half way through.
I had to abandon making a hot drink.

So in short - how does anything get done? Well, it doesn't, it just gets half done!

haven't read everything yet but wanted to respond to your post digital

Re this bit: "we'll end up being a slave to the baby. These include: letting him sleep on our chests, co-sleeping, picking him up when he cries and not putting him down as soon as he stops, feeding to sleep, not letting him learn how to fall asleep 'independently', feeding on demand."

This is what I think to that- bollocks, bollocks, bollocks.

With ds1 I did worry that I was doing too much of some of those things but I'm not worried about doing them with ds2 because we are not a slave to ds1 and he is not clingy

Debs, I have never looked for a definition of constipation tbh. For me, constipation is hard stools which lead to straining in order to pass them. I wouldn't regard constipation as just hard stools or just straining. But I may be wrong.

From what I know about bf babies and their poos, straining on its own does not mean constipation.

From a different source, not to do with breastfeeding, I understand that small babies have to 'learn' basically by trial and error, how to poo. In the early days they have no control over their anal sphincter so they poo often. As they mature a bit, they have some control which means that in order to poo, they have to figure out that they must relax their anal sphincter in order to poo. So sometimes they feel the urge to poo but clench instead of relax hence lots of straining and no action. or some such like that.

by and large, i think grown up spend way too much time and effort analysing babies' bowel movements. Babies really don't give a shit. They just poo when they can, by and large, are happy little campers and totally oblivious of our angst.

wow lollipop I am actually impressed by how productive you've been today . At least you have tried to do some jobs, I don't even manage that most days. I did however manage to get 1 load of washing on the line.

Apologies for the bad language in the last post, very naughty of me but it was the 1st thing that popped into my head when I read it! Glad to see everyone agrees too.

lo at "Babies really don't give a shit" foxy. And you are so right, why on earth do we feel the need to discuss our baby's poo???? Would anyone like to know about the big stinky poo I did earlier? No didn't think so.

DD1 (3.5 yo) and I, love discussing poos. Hers, not mine. She won't discuss mine. She tells me to wave my hand like 'this' and say 'eewww' because she's done a smelly poo.

ds1 told quite a few people the other day all about the poo i did at toddler group and about how it was very smelly!

lollipop Thanks for your diary. BTW, so far you have done better than me! I think you must be overdoing it!

BTW, I was in the ladies loos at a supermarket a couple of days ago and I heard a trickle in the cubical next to mine followed by

clap clap clap 'well done mummy!']

Hi guys

Hi mamapumpkin

Back to the 'day and a half of model baby, day of grouchy baby'...
Yesterday was great - I decided that if A wasn't going to be a routine baby, then we'd just have to try him being portable. So despite expecting him to wake up imminently, I went to meet 3 other MNers in a local cafe.

He slept for another 90 min, and then I changed his nappy (changing table provided), and then fed him - no-one else in the cafe by then, but as I had to hitch up my T-shirt I went to a booth table and laid A on the table to be roughly the right height. The waiter carefully ignored me for the duration but told us all to come back, so all good!

Then went in search of clothes for discreet (or less getting cold!) bfing. Recommendations? I usually wear poloneck tops and jumpers in winter!

Course today not so good as while partner fed A two bottles at 6.30am, A decided 100mls wasn't enough. So had to get up. And then feed again 2 hours later. And then deal with hiccupy screamy baby for 3 hours who had clearly drunk too much too fast...
We went for a stroll. I got scared off the local mums+babies group as they were all sitting on the floor listening to some lecture, so wandered up the Common instead and settled in the cafe at the top for a while, complete with old ladies cooing over A. The HV who came this afternoon said that was probably better for my mental health than most baby groups!

MoonlightMckenzie StarlightMckenzie You are confusing me with all your nicknames
I am going to open a baby shop with all the stuff I get and does not work with my little monster.

One question to all of you Does your baby stays with you till you go to bed at 22:00 or later? Loea stays dowstairs with us,in the sling or crying till we go to bed when I BF and start my exercise routine:
1- lift her from my lap after BF,
2- Lower her into her crib slowly
3- Slowly move backwards
4- Jump into my bed,
5- Pick her up from the crib as she screams and has problems breathing from the colic.
I repeat this routine for as long as my 41 yr old body allows me before I give up and hold her close in my bed ans SHE falls asleep

I should mention all those exercises are done while listening to waves sounds, raindrops lullabies and.... me swearing.
It keeps me young and who needs to sleep when you can get by with 3hrs a night?????

I should record myself for all to see.

IT IS FUN
Sassafrass I am interested in your routine, please tell me. The sling arrived,it is very "Gypsy" and I love the colour. I went through the positions and the only one I like is the one that i have been using with the Kari-me, the one you have in your photo. They don't teach that position in the manual, but it is in one of the photos advertising our wrap in Bebecannelle web. Do you know if we can carry our babies looking forward once they can hold their heads with this wrap? i don't see why not, but the manual does not mention it either.
What positions do you do? You know what I mean?

My fantasy right now: get into a gigantic sling and having a nap being carried by someone very big, obviously!!!!

Potxola It's not quite like that with baby Starlight, but it was identical to that with DS. Sometimes after the 12th time YOU JUST CAN'T TAKE IT ANY MORE and start to fantasise about leaving the house and sleeping in the garden.

This is my halloween name btw

notcitrus I think M&B groups are only really for the mothers until about 6 months or so, so do what makes YOU happy!

Lollipopmother I still have the "Close", Lorea is sleeping in it right now in the tummy to tummy position.I did some research on ebay and since it costs new £45.00 and my husband likes wearing our dd in it, I decided to keep it for a bit longer . It is already used, so I won't be getting less money for it if I sell it later on, Sorry. (Maybe I use it a lot while the colic stops).
Keep an eye on blooming marvellous, not so long ago they had 40% off it.
You can bid for this one. It is already £31.00 plus £5.00 P&P. cgi.ebay.co.uk/Close-Baby-Carrier-Rouge_W0QQitemZ230299737708QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item230299737708&_t rkparms=72%3A1301%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
You can buy it new from only £9.00 more form "that cute age", free delivery for £45.))
HOPE IT HEPLS

LOL Poxtola, that's what I said to DP last night...

DD's been a bit funny the last few days. great she stays awake during the day, and what a chatterbox, her brother was soooo laid back!, and finally settling (well, a lot of poxtola's exercising, but getting less and less) around 7-8 in her crib (kept her with us til 10-11pm downstairs til last week though, as it was just too hard and 4yo's sleep was more important as he has to go to school). But now she just has very short naps during the day and mostly in my arms... maybe another growth spurt as she's had one extra feed at lunchtime for 2 days..

housework... washing gets done every day, but I have a mountain of clean clothes on th esofa and one in the bedroom waiting to go in thei cupboards, plus DP's shirts hanging arounds begging to be ironed....the kitchen table is getting smaller - half of it is taken over by mail, sewing box, can see some toys, infacol, camera, baby booties, plus the laptop.... the bathroom is a bombsite - bag of dirty disposables waiting to be put outside, plus nappy bucket (but that's empy at least as I've just washed the nappies...). maybe should switch this off and do something... but I've just sat down with a cup of tea that DS is trying to drink, and need to let it out somehow! MN's keeping me sane....

Potxola We take DD up at 22:00, quick cuddle in bed with the light off to settle her and then in to basket with dummy.

I'm not sure whether you saw my last post but i'd like to buy your sling if it's still for sale.

woops x-post about sling, never mind i shall take a look on ebay, thanks.

Finally up at the in-laws and DH has installed a wireless network so we can use the laptop downstairs! Dougie is still being sick all the time so we've just started the Colief. The pharmacist said to give him a bit of breast, take him off, give him 4 drops of Colief on a teaspoon and then put him back on the breast. We only started last feed though so will have to wait and see if it helps.

It's DH's 40th today and you'll never guess what! I've just found out I've won a 40inch LCD TV and Home Cinema System in a competition I entered a while back. It's going to arrive the day after we get back home and I'm giving it to DH for his birthday as we wanted one (in fact we've been saving up for one with birthday and Christmas money!). What a birthday to remember!