June 2008: weaning with every flavour baby rice . . . . and loving it!

[spongebrainbigpants]

new home!

Oh poor Essie - how awful. I know what it's like to have an infected gum but not even as badly as yours and it's horrid.

PS - they do go quite quickly though the old gum infections I think.

PPS It's snowing this morning in SE London.

Morning all

I am feeling much brighter - the snow has it's advantages - my big boys have been playing out all morning and I could sledge this year too - unfortunately I made quite an indentation in the snow!! They have had a great time but they made a jump and Tristan has ended up with a big bump on his head where he few through the air and landed on a wooden sledge!!I've also been snow clearing , if you've seen the webcam today you might have seen me, and it's a great calorie burner!!

Off for a walk this afternoon - to try out the pushchair in the snow.

Essie - hope you're feeling a little better

Love the baby linguine !!!!

Deb, the snow sounds lovely - would love to go sledging this morning but all we have is rain!

Essie, really sorry to hear about the gum - ouch .

Talking of teething pain, we have definitely decided that Alex's night time waking is due to teeth - on Friday night I gave him some calpol cos he seemed in so much pain from his teeth (really rubbing his gums and chewing at everything, including his bottle teat, like mad). He slept from 7pm to 8am !

Then last night he went from 7pm to 5am, when dh went in to see him, tried to settle him, offered him a bottle, nothing worked - until he gave him some calpol and he went straight back to sleep and slept til 9am.

So, clearly we can't keep giving him calpol every night - so, wise mums, what can we do?! Does calgel have the same affect? Is there anything else we can do to relieve his pain and help him sleep? It's not so much the broken sleep for me as him waking up in pain that I want to alleviate.

Any suggestions gratefully received.

dunno about calpol every night but if you're wtihin limits prescribed and he is clearly in pain I don't think you are likely to be doing any long term harm - its only likely to be for a short while.

dunno about calgel - haven't tried it yet but bit cynical about topically applicated stuff as too easy to rub off.

Hi all,

I am currently in the gym. clearly checking mumsnet is what the gym is for, yes? I arrived here for my prebooked creche slot with Charlotte all bundled up in her snow suit (although we just have sleet) checked her in and then went to the changing rooms to find that I have no trainers with me. bugger. I thuoght about going for a swim but I've also left my swimsuit at home, so I thought I'd get a pedicure in the beauty salon bit - they only have a slot afer I have to get C from the creche. So here I am emailing in the gym - C loves the creche so as I've paid for thwe slot I am having a coffee and a sandwich and sitting on my bum in the gym. marvellous.

Whinegums you have spoilt my illusions of the eponymous detective with a head the shape of an island now, I've always thought he seemed a lovely man, partly because my Dad looks like a combo of him and John Craven.

Celebs my Dad once had Linda Evangelista in his car for work reasons. when asked what she was like he said she had quite bad skin. I love my Dad! We also saw Rupert Penry-Jones in the airport a few weeks ago. I was a lot more excited than Pete (DH)

I've just read 8 pages or something to catch up so apologies for missing people out.

Oh, we had Charlotte's blessing at the weekend. She screamed through the ceremony and then promptly fell asleep as soon as it was finished. Little charmer.

Calpol every night over a short period of time while teething should be fine it doesn'thave a cumulative effect. As Poppy says as long as you follow the dosage instructions it's safe (isn't that right katy-jo)

Hi all, still in pain here but not quite as excruciating. It's great for weight loss, though, because I'm hardly eating anything!

I tried calgel on my own gums. It tastes disgusting, doesn't numb the area as I hoped (you know, like strepsils do), and I swallowed it almost immediately. Maybe babies don't swallow quite so quickly because they drool, but I thought that was a step too far for me personally.

Essie sounds awful - hope you're keeping your pain relief topped up. Co-codamol is OK while breastfeeding if you are OK with codeine and is good stuff, and you can also take Nurofen at the same time. Will email you to discuss ins and outs of ENT if that's OK - still the Bangor address?

sponge if I suspect teeth I put calgel or bonjela on for immediate effect + also calpol or nurofen as they take 20-40 mins or longer to kick in. You can use calpol safely for a few days without any problems I think. I was v. reluctant to dose Liam with anything and he ended up in unnecessary pain as a result several times (ear history didn't help), I am much more willing to give Caitlin painkillers now. They can't tell us they're in pain and I think teething pain can hurt a lot.

You could give Medised instead of Calpol - it's paracetamol + a slightly sedating antihistamine - I know people who swear by it for teething and there were times we used it but I try and avoid it now as am not really sure about the wisdom of sedating a small person and figure it's pain relief not knocking them out we're after. It's good for really snotty colds they can't sleep through though but I try to just use it in extremis.

Things looking up a bit here now - amazing how quickly the house gets completely trashed when things are tough though - must take advantage of nap time to do something about that!!

Hi all, it's taken ages to get through these posts!

Ds has had some kind of sickness bug, so I haven't had time to do much of anything this week. He is such a good wee soul and hardly ever ill so it has been a bit of a shock to the system for me. I really hope he is on the mend now, I feel so guilty when he is ill, Mia doesn't seem to have it yet, so fingers crossed she doesn't get it.

Amber Sorry you're feeling a bit low, being a mum can be really difficult sometimes as you've got noone to tell you your doing a great job, if I'm having a bad day I remind myself how great my kids are!

Laura The blessing sounds lovely, sorry C didn't enjoy it!

SBBP Calpol seems to have some kind of magic formula, because it seems to work way before it could possible have absorbed, almost as soon as kids have it, it knocks them out.
If it's just for a few nights its no problem to give it every night, it won't do him any harm. I'm with essie on the calgel, although I really like bonjela, it brings back memories for me! Aston and Parsons teething powders can be quite useful, I know some people swear by them, does make the baby look like they've been snorting cocaine though!

Whinegums I knew you looked familiar! I loved byker grove, still love ant and dec (aka Pj and Duncan) [kj goes off humming 'lets get ready to rumble' ...I could be a really embarassing mum]

Sorry I know I've missed loads, but I've got to go.

Amber the baby linguine story really made me laugh so I told it to DH - he'd never heard of baby-led weaning and missed the joke. Proof yet again that the guys are all oblivious....

Hi, sorry to hear about rough weeks, gum infections, poorly DCs, lost things and more.

Laura, nice to see you back, thought you'd deserted! Some time where you are forced into doing nothing sounds quite good actually. And I can restore your faith in eponymous detective; just because he was a bugger pisshead doesn't mean he wasn't a nice man! Glad Charlotte enjoyed herself at her blessing, I threw up on the vicar when I was christened.

Katyjo, hope H is on the mend, and why would you feel guilty? Surely kids pick up all sorts of bugs and germs, there's not much we can do about it.

B HATES Calpol, I'm not sure if it even has any effect on him. Tried some yesterday and today because I'm sure he's teething - he is dribbling like fury, little red cheeks, grumpy and his gum definitely feels a bit lumpy.

I want to get rid of his dummy, certainly for night time - he wakes up because he's lost it, and then goes straight back to sleep when he gets it back. I made my sleep log as per No Cry Sleep Solution, and he woke up 9 times the other night - only twice for feeding, the other 7 times to get his bloody dummy back. He is v attached to it, so it ain't going to be easy. I'm telling myself better to have a few crap whingey nights now rather than months of frequent wakings.

I have screwed my shoulder from lugging B up and down the stairs, so have been confined to barracks today. Ordered a new hip carrier online to see if I can manage him better in that. Am so hacked off at living in this flat, 3 floors up is not fun with a baby.

Well, that's me offloaded for the mo. Have a good week everyone x

V quick catch up.

Amber - I am told that there was snow in Wimbledon this morning too, but I was awake from 5-8am this morning and didn't see any. (Ryder kindly went back to sleep at 8am so I did get a Sunday lay in, of sorts).

Baby linguine very, very funny. Like AHiker, unfortunately I can imagine Shane saying exactly the same even though I have been waving the book at him repeatedly. (I'm still not sure if we're going to do it, but I'd like it to be a joint decision with him being in full possession of all the facts).

Essie - Serious sympathy vibes re. the tooth. I had exactly the same when pregnant and it really was awful. I can however recommend haagen daas as a soft food option!

I took the maximum levels of paracetemol allowed (when I hadn't taken any at all for the rest of my pregnancy). IMO, giving Alex calpol whilst he's teething is the same thing Sponge. You're just giving him medicine when he's in pain, that's ok. (I understand that the added bonus of you getting some sleep is making you feel guilty, but don't be silly!)

Re: the drunken detective, he sounded quite a nice drunk at least.

LauraT - I am gutted my gym doesn't have a cafe as my membership includes a two hour creche session every day.

I had a cranial sacrial session today (for me, not Ryder) and it was wonderful. I feel so chilled tonight. If I keep this up, the Militant Mums business may be in trouble Poppy...

I told dh the linguine story- the problem was that he didn't know what linguine was!

Evening all, still no improvement here.
SystemsAddict I could marry you - Co-codamol! Damn it, it's a Sunday night. However, if I'm still suffering the same tomorrow I'll get some. (Mind you, if I'm still suffering tomorrow I may want to give my lovely dentist, Vanessa, another call...this is NOT funny.) I had co-codamol when I broke my foot, and it was great.
I watched a programme a couple of months ago on Stonehenge, and there was a skeleton there of a man who had died of a tooth/gum abscess. (Complications thereof; septicemia.) Anyhow, the infection burst and made a hole in HIS JAW. Through bone! Ugh. Thank God for antibiotics.

Anyhow, second the opinion that teething is very painful. Makes you feel really sick and tired too I think. Must be the same for babies, so go for the calpol, I reckon.

Ryder still awake, grr! But listening to DH talking/singing to him on the monitor is melting my heart. So wonderful.

Essie there is some more detailed info on painkillers and breastfeeding from the Breastfeeding Network here - though having blithely said co-codamol is fine it is worth also checking their updated advice on codeine here - looks like their recommendations have changed from June 08 onwards.

I took ALOT of codeine and paracetemol for at least 3 weeks post c/section and I was bf, and we're fine (sort of)

Morning everyone

How are you all? Teeth/gums/children/babies all better I hope.

AH - any news about the house yet?

Ethan was up 3 times in the night, am beginning to think he is hungry, and questioning my own decision to wait to wean until 6 months!

Duncan is moaning on the coach because I've turned off cbeebies... Should I pick slummy mummy or mean mummy? Mean, I think.

Fraser's in his exersaucer playing away - heaven!

No news on the house yet... thanks deb for asking! And I can see your dilemma about weaning - what's worse? The hassle of feeding multiple times a night or the hassle of introducing food? We've introduced food but sometimes when I'm flailing around trying to get Fraser fed and Duncan fed and spoons/bibs/bowls clean I wish I'd waited and gotten up more at night!

Essie - are you calling your dentist right now? I hope so!

Morning all! It was S's christening at the w/e, so been busy with family and all...

He was very good (sorry Laura) all day which was a great relief!

This is first chance to get on the computer since the w/e but the wee beggar wont sleep, so despite having lots to say I need to go!

Pain relief - when I had that really bad fall during pregnancy I was given a codeine based painkiller.

Hi guys, just a quick one here to say thanks for all the reassurance on calpol. A woke at 3.15 this morning and nothing would make him go back to sleep (calpol, calgel, water, milk, cuddles, new nappy, wind - we tried everything!).

So two hours later he wore himself out and just fell back to sleep! I'm knackered!

Had the in laws staying last night too which is always stressful. MIL has just suggested that I should "pop down for the day" sometime before Xmas - they live a four hour round trip away!

BDQ, glad the christening went well.

Deb, can totally relate to the weaning dilemma but then still not sure A is ready.

Sponge I've been awake sincxe 3.30 too so am with you on tiredness. Unfortunately this is pretty much every day and not a rarity.

Tried introducing food again today but again Luke refuses to open his mouth. Any suggestions? Asked the weaning thread and they said he will give me a sign when he's ready. Dunno. He's om 8oz a bottle every three hours and can sit up unaided for a good 5 minutes now. He just won't have anything put in his mouth other than milk from a bottle. Hmm. Maybe I should try a jar of something. He didn't like pear or apple puree or mixed in with rice or rice on its own. Got a sweet potato one ready to go fro the freezer. Heard good things about sweet potaot so maybe i'll try that. I thought he'd be well up for it!

I found the teething powder worked for us Sponge, well not us the boys!!

Amber and Sponge - so sorry that you're both suffering with tiredness again.Hope your lo's will sleep for you this afternoon and you can sleep at the same time.