December 2006 - Terrible Two's here we come!

[Olihan]

Here we go. I thought the title was apt as ds2 has morhed into a stroppy little horror overnight. His favourite expression at the moment is 'I cwoss with you, I sceam at you AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH' .

Happy Birthday ToddlerJabber and ToddlerEli .

DD is poorly again. I swear every bug in the vicinity has some kind of magnetic attraction to her . She has a bit of a temp, headache and earache today. I need to buy shares in Calpol and Medised I think.

Aoa, hotel is a very good idea - go for a posh one so you can have a vvvv hot, deep bath!

You are all right about feeling less tired once not pg anymore....at least once they're out, you can put them down for a bit every now and then

Hello, Sacha v nice to see you again, can't believe your dd is that 'old' already!

Indith, agree with Castles, its amazing how tuned in LOs are to their rivals' arrivals...I bet ds will settle down more once he/she is actually here (maybe not on the day, but soon after!).

Am sending dd1 back to school tomorrow, not sure its wise but she's missed a whole week. Am off to bed, everything crossed for a quieter night dd2-wise than last night: she ended up with me, gasping and coughing - the op can't come fast enough for us now.

Jabber, meant to say hi and glad you had a better day....I was called for JS (for the second time) when dd1 was a newborn, and they let me off quite easily just for having a baby, so am sure you'll be fine!

Thanks eli, this is my second time as well No one else I know has even been called once!

Glad ds enjoyed his birthday AQ. I have looked at the little people pirate ship before and wondered if ds2 would like it. Glad it's a hit - especially with both of them.

LenniEd, ds2 came at 36+4 and was actually much better breathing-wise than ds1 at 40 weeks. LO may just be ready early.

I don't envy you two these last weeks. I can remember feeling soooo miserable. And AQ is right, it was easier taking care of ds1 even with a newborn than the last month of pregnancy. so nice to have that big belly out of the way!

God, I must be the only person in the world who finds being pg and having older children easier. I hate the newborn stage. It is what is stopping me from having any more sadly. DH still bangs on about No 4 but I always say, I'll do the pregnancy bit no worries but hand me a 6 month old, preferably a 2 year old . I ain't doing the bit before that again!

hi all. yes, is dd2's birthday tomorrow. dd1 and i seem to have flu-type virus. back when i no longer feel like i have been hit by a bus

Castles, I hate pregnancy so you do the 9 months and I'll do the newborn bit!!
Darn, ds has woken up and being on a mattress on the floor now he is on his way downstairs.......

here's healthy vibes to anne and her dh.

castles, i don't like the newborn part either! So I'm basically grumpy from late pregnancy until, ummm, about the first birthday I was just thinking today that even with the tantrums I prefer the over-2 stage more than the under-2. Of course, ds1 is difficult at every stage

Speaking of ds1 - how is yours and the poo situation? We're still doing supplements but - fingers crossed- no accidents in a few months now.

Well done on no accidents Jabber. Must be such a relief.

Hope you all feel better soon AA.

Eli, any news??

Sacha (and anyone else), ok I'll do the pg bit, you take the newborn, but can I have it back when it's 2 please? Am with you there Jabber: the older they get the better they get IMO. I definitely should not work with toddlers or younger if I decide to become a SALT.

at swapping all our babies round. I like pregnancy until about the 7th month (alright, 6 with twins!), newborns are a bit boring although very sweet, 2 year olds drive you mad with incessant whining about everything from going down the stairs to which pair of socks for bedtime (arggghhhh) but are soooo cute and 5 year olds NEVER stop talking. Well mine doesn't, I don't think he drew breath for his entire party yesterday until he went to bed (so about 4 hours of non stop chatter, questions, demands). Bless em all!

I think you might mean my ds1, jabber as castles only has the one! Well done, it's fab when they go without accidents for even a day after weeks/months/years (sigh) of it. DS1 not doing v.well at all, not sure what's going wrong but now school nurse involved. Suggested we give him water bottle to take into school which dp duly bought only for ds to report he wasn't allowed to use it!Not finding the teacher/nursery nurse helpful AT all and I'm pretty much hating the whole school vibe at the moment.Must not pass that on. Oh, well back to scoffing the rest of the cake from yesterday whilst sorting out Christmas photo calendars!

Happy birthday in advance, AoA jnr!! Hope you & dd1 feel better soon, and the boiler is properly fixed too. Eli you must be absolutely hanging on for january, I hope it is lifechanging for you and dd2

Lol, AQ, I reread that and realized I left off your name. Castles, you must have thought I had lost my mind

I'm so sorry he's having trouble at school. Do you do any fiber supplements? Found any of the powdered magnesium glycinate? We add that to ds1's morning juice.

I'm with you Jabber - I'll have them once they are out, but no chance of surrogacy I'm afraid. And I'm not all that keen on the first year either - although with DD things weren't great what with reflux, her not sleeping until 20mo, house partly collapsing when she was 3wks old and DH and I having a few marital problems. Am hoping this one will be much easier.

Are you still thinking of moving AQ? If you are then hopefully you might click better with another school. What reason did they give for not allowing water? That really isn't on for a medical condition, and most schools positively encourage water consumption nowadays. Am a bit at that. I think I'd write a polite letter to the head explaining why DS1 needs to keep up his fluids and requesting that he be allowed to use his water bottle in class. It might also be the last thing you need but have you considered asking for a meeting with his teacher to discuss things with them - they really shouldn't be being anything other than constructive with you, esp so early on in the year, might be worth trying to nip any issues in the bud. Teachers are funny folk, they can get strange ideas from time to time.

Well that's really strange AQ. I thought all primary school kids have water bottles. Our do. Provided by the school. Can you not suggest it at PTA/class rep meeting. You don't have to attend (usually) can get someone to pass on your suggestion (usually a class rep, if you have them).

Have you been to see a gastroenterologist (sp?) yet? My friend's DS has had no accidents at all after one visit. I think they have to be 5. Recommend getting a referral. It changed all of their lives.

Don't worry, Jabber, I realised you meant AQ Though I was about to start telling you all about DS's wonderful achievements anyway ... then decided not to!

DD1 has a mole on the top of her head which is starting to concern me. Does anyone have any knowledge about this? Trying to get an appointment to see GP, which is like getting blood out of a stone at the moment

You know, ours has water bottles in the classroom as well.

With moles you want to look for changes in size, shape, color, irregular borders, bleeding and/or scabbing. And even if there are none of those if you are concerned, get it checked out. Can't hurt.

LOL at all the pg/baby swapping going on.

I'll take the middle bit of pregnancy, and 18 month olds (once they can walk), thank you

Castles, news about...?? Sorry, maybe being dense, am so tired and post-viral atm I would get the mole checked out, but its unlikely to be anything bad at her age, isn't it? I had a small black one on my arm that appeared when I was 14, they were going to take it off and it vanished...very odd. I do remember the GP being cautious and planning the biopsy, but she also said it was unlikely to be anything nasty so young (guess not enough sun damage or something).

AoA, poor you and dd1...all that being cold probably didn't help. Hope you're better soon, dd1 and I also had it and its a mean one.

Anticipating bad night with dd2, her nose is streaming. I got a look in her throat tonight when playing dentists (only way to get teeth brushed) and her tonsils are impressive

Happy birthday baby Anne

I'll swap someone my toddler for, erm...actually I'll just give him away.

Castles can't hurt to get it looked at but most likely nothing.

Hope you had an ok night Eli

Good to hear from you Sacha

Thanks for the kind words re ds. I'm just at a total loss as to what to do with him. He is fine during the day but it seems he only does a full night of sleep when he has to catch up after several bad ones. Last night for eg he woke at 8.30, dh went to him, screaming got worse and worse, they came downstairs, ds eventually cried himself out and went to sleep on me. Then he woke again around 10 I think, more screaming, managed to get him to snap out of it a little with tv so that he would actually accept comfort rather than just rage violently. All went to bed together and he woke about 11.30 and threw himself around the bed roaring and screaming. He seems to wake up mid tantrum, he isn't getting upset he already is, those big gulping sobs that come when they are well into a tantrum and struggling to breathe around crying. He throws us off, pushes hands away, doesn't want to be covered by pjs, overs or anything it all comes off. He seems to wake up very tense too, when he woke already in bed with us he was already all coiled up when he woke, legs drawn up, arms crooked. And he is so tense that his limbs are shaking. Is it really just toddler anxiety? Need for cuddles I can do, reassurance I can do. I suppose he is taking out his anger on us isn't he? I try to go through what else it could be but he is fine in the day, prefectly happy, eating well, affectionate, full of energy.

Nightmares perhaps? I used to have them until I was about 10, would sleep on my parents bedroom floor quite a lot on a little z bed they bought for the purpose. Apparently I had started with them as a toddler. Have you asked your GP?

Happy Birthday Anne's DD2 - hope the bugs have cleared.

Eli - how was your night?

Happy Birthday Toddler-of-A!

Night not too bad, thanks, though dd2 coughed and coughed and had two lots of medised at 4 hourly intervals. Ugh, poor child, she's been mediseded far more than she ought out of sheer desperation. She does definitely breathe better with it, though, maybe just puts up with the discomfort better, or maybe it really does dry up secretions as it says on the bottle

Indith, that sounds v hard, pg or not. FWIW, dd1 had very, very similar episodes at around 2.5.....they were actually night terrors, which are common in toddlers/pre-schoolers, but they took the form of rages? If I tried to soothe or comfort her, it made it worse. In the end, I learnt to just sit quietly by her bed saying shshsh its ok, its ok, till she calmed down and went back to sleep. She never remembered them. It did work if I woke her up completely, with TV or a story, till she calmed down, but took much longer and was much more tiring! Asked a lot about it on MN at the time, and loads of people had similar stories....HTH a bit, xx

Thanks Guys.

DH has had to take day off to look after us all. Have opened DDs presents but we are saving cake for the weekend.

Indith - sounds like night terrors to me. Search the archives for advice. Although if this isnt something new then I would suggest going to GP as it could be a sign of genuine discomfort. Poor thing.

And DH's relative lost his fight against the tumour this weekend.

Sorry to hear that AA And happy birthday: is it you or DD? Sorry, have lost track a bit.

Agree it sound's like night terrors Indith. Poor you. Can you co-sleep for a bit or just have him in his bed next to you? Now isn't really the time for head-scratching. You just all need to get on with it and sleep the best you can. Do what is easiest for you. Fwiw, we were all (5 of us) 'sleeping' in one bed after DD2 was born and probably the lead up to it. Can't remember it is such a fussy time. But, as I always say: it will get better. Have a festive santa

Also agree a trip to GP just to rule out anything else. He could have a crick in his neck or maybe it's growing pains. No harm in a visit ... if you can get one ... I am still trying valiantly to get an appointment for DD1. Thanks for all the advice btw everyone. Very reassuring. I noticed a similar mole in same place on one of her classmates today. Maybe they are more common than I think

Anne, I'm so sorry

Indith, had been wondering if it might be night terrors but thought he was too young. Ds1 had them at about 3. Agree with eli on what to do. We would just comfort him while he was sleeping and that seemed to work well for him. I had always problems going back to sleep though as the screaming always jolted me wide awake.

Anne I'm so sorry Also hope you get well soon.

Have been reading up on night terrors. They are more common after 2 but can happen before apparently. Joy of joys. We had a phase of what I was pretty sure was them when he was younger (screaming while fast asleep for 10 mins or so). Hadn't really realised that eyes wide open and major tantrum like behaviour was also fairly typical. What fun Shall attempt to deal with it as a night terror tonight and just sit by his cot shushing but not waking him and see what happens.

Castles co sleeping has always been wonderful with unsettled ds but have been doing so and he is still having them, plus the added bonus of being jumped on at 4am by a wide awake and very happy child! Shall just have to see how things go. Am tempted to see gp too to rule out ears etc.

Indith, have just done my fornightly mother phone call and asked about my night terrors and she did exactly as Jabber and Eli did and used to leave me to sleep as much as possible. Apparently I slept in their room with them from about 2.5 until I went to school. They put me down in my own room and then carried me through asleep when they went to bed to save to-ing and fro-ing in the night.

Very sorry to hear about your relative AoA and hope you are all feeling better soon.

Castles - DD has a couple of moles. One on her leg that she has had since she was about 1 and another tiny one on her face in her hairline which has only recently appeared.

Our heating has gone off typical that it happens when -3 already outside.

Not much longer now Eli, only as long as I've got left to be pregnant, will be counting down with you. Am sure medised is well warranted - she'd be a lot more poorly if she wasn't able to sleep.

Jabber - thanks for the reassurance on your DS2 arriving early and being fine, made me a lot less anxious.

AofA, I'm so sorry

And I hope you feel better v soon. Mean bugs.

Good luck tonight, Indith, it always really jangled me...stopped about a year ago, for good, except last week when v high temp, she had a brief one then. Took me right back.

LenniEd, thank you, you're right re counting down, and it would be a privilege to count together. You to a new baby, me to a new old baby Hope your heating gets sorted soon, why is it always when a baby is due that heating packs up?!?? Mine did both times