September 08 - Just ladies with babies

[pacita]

I thought I'd start a new thread before we run out of space...

I am another 'chop veg in 5 nminutes spurts throughout the day' cook. so we are eating a lot of stews, soups, and pastas. This week we've made chutneys to give as xmas presents - juct chop up a crapload of stuff, boil it up for ages, and put in jars.V babyfriendly activity.

hopefully - drat! I really do feel for you as I was starting to dread nights, even though F is a good sleeper generally - the grunting/groning/squawking after the feed is impossible to sleep through. one more try - i do find infacol reduces frank's wind - are you using it?

starlight the skulls pattern is part of the Mexican Catholic (and Aztec) tradition of 'the Day of the Dead'. So it is very religious.

ninja I am 1/2 Maya. The lentil weavers imitated people like the Maya. Hence I am not a lentil weaver.

MIL has been roped in for a pram walk tomorrow, which is nice. Even if she only goes for a short one I'll get 45 mins or so break, and with a bit of luck the fresh air will knock him out good and proper.
Interestingly, I have just realised that my last 2 days of complete hysterics and failure have coincided with not leaving the house for 3 days - seems probably that they're linked!? I need someone to post on here in the morning to tell me to get out of the door! I'm sure it helps me relax as much as gets him to sleep - there's no way I can settle him when I'm wound up.

oh, i agree starlight. how can you educate them if they will only whisper about your sling rather than tell you about it to your face? i have only taken my wrap sling to church, so far.

Starlight you can design your own Babyhawk

Clearly I am not an organised mother . It's probably cos i spend all day trying to do 1000 things and get nowt done properly in he short time I have between crying.
My new theory is - get out of house every day and try to stay out. C will remain chilled and housework will not be staring me in the face, Poor DP went off to Scotland with unironed tops - tough I say, you know where the damn thing is

*Foxy& is awe at home made tortillas - I am not worthy..... I could never be that organised to sort that out!

don't be in awe of my flour tortillas. at home many girls learn to make them well before they are 16. I OTOH learnt to make them by trial and error when I was in the States at university and got homesick for 'my food' and back then you couldn't find them pre-made in the shops where I was. In fact, I learnt all my cooking skills of my ethnic food while away at uni.

and don't think i am super-organised either. DH would be PHSL at the thought of anyone creating an image of me like this. He would deffo agree, and so do I, that I am more like "t's probably cos i spend all day trying to do 1000 things and get nowt done properly" and that is not being self-deprecating either. It is the truth.

but yes, my flour tortillas are lush! When you have my fajitas, they absolutely rock.

I also make 'breakfast burritos' sometimes, when dh is here to help me the the kids: flour tortillas, refried beans, scrambled eggs and tomato salsa with the right amount of picante (hot sauce of course). everything from scratch. I don't keep my own hens though.

where is EandZ. she'll understand.

Starlight I KNOW. I have spent an hour playing with patterns and strap combo's

I think starlight has made a really good point, that we all have some sort of routine, they're just different. The only problem I think is if you've got into a routine that you're not happy with. Some people love slings, others love prams, some use cots in the day, others use bouncy chairs. Some aim to get their children to self-settle, other feed/rock to sleep. I think there are lots more interesting discussions to come on this thread, for example BLW/purees, but the important thing is that no one is either right or wrong, its just different people doing things to their personal taste. I do feel sad though when people are stuck in a pattern that they want to break and don't know how. Does that make sense?!

Now I need to pick the brains of all you bf experts (or at least anyone who knows more than me). Ds has had green poo since monday, sometimes with some mucus in, usually the same consistency as normal poo, but twice its been almost like water. All my research thus far indicates that he's not getting enough hind milk, so I've been encouraging him to feed for much longer (he does single sided feeding so its not that I'm switching him too soon), but after the first 10 mins (his usual feed time) he's really just nibbling and not interested. I try to keep him going for half an hour by stroking his cheek but don't always manage it. Nappies are still nice and wet, and he's easily going 3-4 hours between feeds and piling on weight. So why the liquid brocolli?!

My friend left this evening, we scored a blinder at lunchtime by having all three children asleep for the same 2 hours

caps off to all you baby-led routiners! I think thats what I was doing until the last week or so when DS suddenly dropped his (baby led) lunchtime and afternoon nap for a sleepy feedathon. I'm beginning to notice the effects now, not only is he heavier but our feeding positions have changed (using a smaller cushion for support), his legs are fatter, the umbiliacal hernia is less pronounced AND he's got a massive roll of fat under his chin .
Will get him weighed tomorrow to find out exactly how much he's put on in the last two weeks.

Should I be worried about his flushed cheeks and chin? He doesn't have a temp or a snotty nose, but he has been grizzly all week.

Carrieon Robyn did a liquid brocolli poo last week and I had been eating brocolli all weekend!

Melt76 I so want either a gothic fairy or retro tattoo on red, alas funds are not what they could be, maybe when my tax credits come through.
Maybe i could just get the material and cover whatever sling i end up finding to fit.
Oh and my pram and change bag and coat... god the list is endless. I could do a Daniella Westbrook but be punk instead of chav.

Foxy thankyou eagerly awaiting. Have ordered a conventional carier to see how that feels as well.

Imoscarsmum I am another totally not organised mum. But then 12 years is a bit late to change now

Oh does anyone know about a babymilk that is good to use if you have a family history of excema asthma or hayfever. Have heard you can only get it from chemists. Opened a thread in bottle feeding but noone knows.

Another question for BF experts! Why in the name of all things good do I have to have a blocked duct at least once a week? I can't seem to clear the one I've got at the moment, despite feeding like crazy from that side and lots of warm baths and massage. I'm getting concerned that it's going to get nasty (had it for 2 days now), and it's bloody painful! Anyone got any good tips?

carrieon once again you have articulated what I think - I think there's nothing worse than someone parenting in a way that doesn't suite them or their baby, just because they feel that they ought to.
T had another hour's nap, and a good feed. He's now watching top gear being minded by DP.

Debs shame the dollar rate has gone down or they wouldn't be bad price.

On the formula front, seems that soy formula is what you want, Cow & Gate seems to be only one that is easy to find. BUT do google as it seems that according to reports it has no effect on reducing chances of getting the allergies.

hopefully - does ds feed in the same position everytime? If so maybe you need to move him around in different positions to ensure he is accessing all of your milk. Also, what bra's do you wear? I was wearing some bra's at nightime that had seams running down the middle of the cup. The seams would press on my boobs at night (I also sleep on my stomach) and cause blocked ducts. Once I started wearing un-structured nightime bra's the lumps stopped.

imoscarsmum - I prepare dinner and clean in bits and pieces here and there. Like others, if ds is feeling chipper and content after a feed I put him in his bouncey chair and take him around the house with me. I put the chair on the work surface in the kitchen right beside me and prepare/cook dinner. He sits in his chair in the bathroom while I shower. I put him on the bed and change the sheets around him, whilst chucking pillow cases over him and playing peep-po. Everything is done at 100 mph so I get it done before ds kicks off, but I can get quite a lot done. I just don't expect too much of myself - or ds.

Hi

I have been following this post and the previous ones avidly as a lurker. Sorry! I love it though and I really appreciate the way that you're all so honest. It makes me know that I'm not alone when I am finding things difficult.

My little boy is now 11 weeks and generally sleeps well at night but tries to fight napping in the day. Most frustrating but you can't have it all I guess.

Before DS arrived I was keen to try GF's routine but I think I got a bit obsessed and it led to me being a bit depressed when I couldn't get DS to follow it (I left the book by his cot but I don't think he read it!) I have got some good things from it. The fact that DS goes down routinely at 7pm each night may be from following the book but try as I might I can't just put DS in his cot during the day and leave him to settle. Things are improving though and I may try again to implement some sort of routine in the next few weeks because DS is getting so cranky between 4.30 and 7pm because he is overtired.

Well, just thought I'd let you know how I'm getting on and say thanks for letting me lurk!

Oh, and CharityGirl - I can't believe you're making chutney. How do you find the time??

BBx

so...my first night time with both boys and no dh (foxy dont know how you do it every night) but I have survived!!!! dh has been giving ds2 a bottle of ebm (or formula) early evening when I cook and it always seemed faster than me bf him, but tonight he fed for not too long and settled without a fuss at all! He's just woken up briefly but gone back to sleep again by himself. Amazing

becaroo I dont mind any questions you want to ask re: school, am happy to help, it will keep my mind active! As for what you can do to help, you are probably doing exactly the right thing which is reassuring him and listening to him about what he finds hard; building his confidence and self esteem will be much more beneficial in the long run I reckon. However, having said that, he will only become more confident as he feels he is getting better, if you want to let me know what his IEP targets are I can give more specific advice HTH

Today is the second day of my bed time routine of bath boob and bed but elli has been asleep since his last feed, should I wake him up to start to routine or leave him to sleep and wke up naturally then do the bath?
hello BBaby don't lurk join in! live to hear everyones experiences.
I was told that when elli was having green poo, it was due to colic. someone else has said it was too much fore milk and i should express 1 oz off before the feed.