Nov 2008 - sleepless nights and exploding poo, dear oh dear now what do we do??

[Dozymare]

Sorry that is soooo crap but we needed a new thread!!!!!

Hi All
Daisy- you poor sausage. Nope you are not too bruised.

Love the washing powder story- it's just the sort of thing I'd do.

merry sorry you still have rash.

to everyone who needs them.

christjmas I bought pinkyminky for Dd1 for her first christmas, hence the reindeer for DD2, also one of those wooden bummy chains- not for a dummy but to keep her hat from falling on the floor when she's in the sling.

off to my 6 week check today (8 weeks tomorrow) crap mummy alert- forgot to go to Imi's 8 week check on tuesday- had such a bad day.

OMG I am illiterate!! that's hope you ARE NOT to bruised,

and a dummy chain.. what on earth a bummy chAIN MIGHT BE i DREAd to think!!

Oh nooo Nic gutted I missed Fiona's last day, I love GMTV!!

Life with child has been a rollercoaster and the last few days have been very up and down.

M is using a dummy now to go to sleep (apart from at 11pm/middle of the night feeds) but I realised this is nothing new as previously I was the dummy! I loathe the things but all he ever seems to want to do is suck.

Does anyone know when babies can find their fingers / thumbs to suck them?? I really want him to do this instead of using a dummy, although I know finger/thumb suckers have their problems, its better for me if he can put them in his mouth rather than me having to go and put the dummy back in everytime it falls out. Anyone else had any experience of this??

I have stripes! Bruised in three places where I landed on the edge of each step, and the bottom one (in step terms and body location ) I caught the latch for the stair gate so it is all swollen and deeply bruised. Neck also stiffening up now. I'm not going to be able to move tomorrow! Ah well, good excuse to sit around MNing!!

Nic, a faint blue tinge around the nose and mouth generally indicates a little bit of wind and nothing more sinister. But, with his reflux it's worth getting checked out.

F slept not too badly last night, although DH gave him a bottle at 11ish and he didn't settle until after I fed him at 1.00 - 1.30. But he was only up once more in the night and went straight back to sleep. It's getting better by degrees.

Pinky, it must be horrendous for you to get to clinic with all three of them in tow, or is DS at preschool now?

Choco....dummies are seen as a bit better as you can take a dummy away, but you can't remove their fingers!!

My two have used a dummy for a while, but then decided early on (DS at 6 weeks, DD at about four months) that they didn't need them any more and thankfully never replaced the dummy with a thumb.

We are going to have to get DS2 another wee present to be from Santa as DS1 found the spirally thing this morning so I said it was for him and DD to give to F!

Choco, mine are sucking on their fists, but mainly when hungry as opposed to a comfort thing. I have used dummies on and off, but not a regular thing, so hipefully won't become a habit. I am keen, though, that they can take a bottle as it makes it so much easier to get out.

Rash is superlative today. Where has my skin gone?! Daisy, the coeliac thing is interesting. Basically, the rash is an allergy rash. I used to get them a lot from 15-18yrs old, but never worked out what I was allergic to. Then it stopped. Started again last year, and all I could pin it on was it happened whenever I had a cold, so my body/ immune system was fighting. I had about 4 or 5 episodes in the past couple of years, but piriton always stopped it in a couple of days. Then it started badly after I'd had babies. It was a different kind of rash from the one I had before babies (which was pimply). I recognised this immediately. MW said was likely to be a reaction to CS drugs and would go in 2-3 weeks. Anyway, it hasn't gone. It is mostly mild and a couple of piriton a day keeps it under control, but now with this cold it has gone ballistic, nasty thing.

barbs, I forgot to say to you about the painful feeding. I can soooooooo relate. It was like that with ds1. It did finally get better, and become a more pleasurable experience. I had oversupply and overactive let down (when the milk sprays everywhere when they come off the boob). But I felt a great sense of achievment that I had fed him. He was cutest, chubbiest baby and got so much attention. As soon as he came off the breast he got skinny! And has remained so. If his poos are green if could be too much foremilk, may be worth expressing a little of this off, just 1-2oz or so, and then he will not get so full up on foremilk and will actually get to the 'good stuff'.

oh daisy how rude, in midst of own self pity I forgot to say POOOOR YOU. That sounds very painful...is dh around today to help out with kids? Glad that F is fine though.

Never thought about the Santa issue. Hmmmm...ds1 is getting so much (Santas) from parents there is no way twinnies will be able to compete! I made a booboo the other day when ds1 found some sweets and wanted to open them and I said he couldn't because they were supposed to be from Santa ! Hope he forgot.

barbs, just read your post properly about the redness. This also is exactly like ds1. We must be twinnies!!

I remember noticing when the MW was still visiting and asking her why he was so red. She said maybe his skin was sensitive and to try a different washing powder. Sure enough the eczema did develop later on (from about 4mths), but the redness (and milk spots) was the first sign when he was v small. He seemed better on Fairy non Bio than Persil non Bio or Surcare and DEFINITELY no fabric conditioner (sorry, I know it smells nice!). Also no washing in Johnson's or using soap/ shampoos or baby lotion...

In the end during ds1's worst patch I used 'soapnuts' which are totally detergent free and they worked a treat, although whites come out...well, grey if you're lucky!

Daisy, sorry to hear of your accident, I am glad the F is ok and hope that you won't be too sore.

Choco Z will now take a dummy, but it has to be a cherry teat or he can't keep it in and even then, he soon spits it out (shot put style) when he doesn't want it. On occasion he can find his thumb, put himself to sleep on my dh's chet by sucking his thumb last night. All well and good but I wanted Z to be awake, lol!

Nic I agree that the blue tinge tends to indicate a bit of wind, certainly in Z's case but can't hurt to get it checked out.

Z did very well last night, was fed at 10.30, but wouldn't settle, so topped him off with a bit from the other boob, put him down at about 11.30pm and he woke just after 7am . He was back in bed for 7.30 and got up for the day after 9. I have been giving him the full 2 doses of gaviscon at bedtime for the last 2 nights and he is sleeping sounder and quiter, less grunting at any rate.

Z & I both have our 6 week checkups tomorrow. It will be nice to have Z checked as he hasn't been checked over since birth. Do they weigh them at this check up. I really want to know how much my piglet weighs, he mahoosive!!

hello everyone - just checking in whilst i have my 2 and half p+q!!! House is now spotless and dinner all ready to go - just set DS2 up with some handprinting angels and then need to get Tiger up for her feed before the school run (LITERALLY!) I am amazed at how us mum's with lots of kids cope - we just do and I surprise myself (Although this morning was a nightmare as DS1 was playing up as he is soooo tired at the end of term and ds2 who i started potty training on monday, missed the potty and poo-ed on the floor) Still, calm now and got a frined of DS1 coming to play after school.

am feeling sooooooo much better - all the shopping I ordered has now arrived so am taking a chill pill and huge sigh of relief......just got to wrap now and menu plan!!!

daisy hope you are ok - sounds NASTY, but at least you slept better!!! choc even though i hate, hate, dummies with a passion and refused point blank to even attempt to use with ds1 AND ds2, I can now see that they have their place. Some babies are just sucky, and as you say, better a dummy than you. all the reearch (MUMSNET!) I have looked into, bascialy says that definat4ely better than fingers, and so long as given up by a year not a problem. i am actually quite a fan now Tiger also spits out but if she does, i just leave it unless she swcrems blue murder!!!!

helloo again.
dummies never used them. DS wasn't interested and DD1 has sucked thumb since.. welll she was sucking it on my 20 week scan and when she was delivered.. wouldn't take anyhting other than boob or thumb in her mouth til she was nearly 6 months.

Dinkyminky doesn't seem to need either. AS I say, the dummy chain is to hold onto her hat when she's in the sling.

daisy that fall sounds nasty. Can you use any of that ibuleve gel? Worked fab when I fell down our stairs once and bruised my thigh- gets the bruising right down- don't know what it's like when bfing though.

merrymari at the faux pas re-santa. Hope he forgets it.

Right just been and done our monthly shop which is only partially put away, fed dinky, changed everybody's nappies, they are both asleep but I now neeed to sling them both back in the pram to pick DS up from nursery school aaarrgh No I don't know how we manage, Dozy

Hi ya girls...

Sorry I haven't been on for a while but trying to juggle 3 kids under five, move my mum in to her new house.. just don't seem to have anytime to myself anymore!!!

Jack is doing great - had a nasty episode with the bf just after he was born, thought I had flu coming, felt really awful, like I was dying but it turned out to be a blocked milk duct and crakced nipple but have fully recovered not after some antibotics and paracetomal!! Hope no-one else has experienced this! He is sleeping really well and my other two have taken to him lovely, its like he has never been away.

Try shopping for the first time with all three of them yesterday that was fun!!! Am having trouble coping sometimes and I am not afraid to admit that I have moments of complete madness.. but things are now getting better!!

Hope everyone else is doing okay

twinkle183

ouch ouch ouch daisy you poor thing Only had a really quick scan of the posts from the last day so not sure if anyone has already suggested it but arnica would be fab for you right now. Probably the tablets rather than cream if you have far too many bruises to cover! Hope you feel better soon

HM2J how funny, we also call our ds2 piglet (due to the amazing repertoire of piggy noise he makes and howquickly he is growing due to all the milk guzzling!) Sounds like Z is doing so amazingly with his sleep, perhaps he could have words with my J??!!

On which note, I clocked up an amazing 45mins sleep last night... ds1 woke just as i had dropped off after getting ds2 down (about 11pm) with a slight fever... my ds1 always gets really really hyper at the start of a fever and was literally dancing off the walls until 4am (he is normally a very good sleeper these days). Meanwhile ds2 had only woken for 1 quick feed in that time and gone straight back down in his moses basket (a very rare thing) and decided to wake up just as ds1 finally fell asleep and remain very unsettled/refluxy/windy until morning!! Aaaaargh. Poor ds1 is definitely coming down with something today, as am i. Feel rubbish (sore throat, icky tummy...)

The rheumatologist confirmed psoriatic arthritis yesterday. I have to go on methotrexate (a really nasty chemo drug) as soon as i have finished bf which he advised i do sooner rather than later to avoid completely buggering up my joints . I am rather notorious for ignoring doctors advice and shall continue to bf for the best part of a year if ds2 wants to. But quite frankly the possible side affects of the drug are not exactly an incentive to stop bf my precious little man. Obviously if things deteriorate rapidly for me i shall have to think again.

sorry for the completely self obsessed post

oops, meant to send healthy skin wishes to merry (not that i have any of those with my current psoriasis outbreak!!) Hope it clears soon. Bad skin is so miserable

Also, no offense taken at your aunt's story... quite the opposite,it gives me great hope! ...

zoneout you are sounding very upbeat despite all your dealing with, i really do admire all you ladies that are dealing with health issues yourselves as well as a newborn AND other children!!!

hope your feeling better soon daisy merry and others i am reading your posts on skin conditions with interest as i had E at Drs this morning as his face and neck are covered in angry red dry spots, he has called it a viral thing and given me a mild steroid cream.
am hoping this clears it and isnt eczema, but will cross that bridge if we have to

zoned, sorry to hear about your diagnosis . I hope that things aren't too bad and that you can come to a good compromise on getting well and giving DS the benefits of breastfeeding.

We need a break don't we. The better part of this year pregnant and then all the niggles since having the babies. Fingers crossed 2009 will be a healthier year all round!

Dozy, you are fast earning the reputation as the Anthea Turner of this thread. My house is a tip and I don't feel like I'm managing at all.....barely coping would be more appropriate. At the minute DS is stropping because I'm not jumping up and attending to his every whim (which at the minute is baking some buns for the Christmas party tomorrow), even though he has been sat watching TV for the last half hour whilst I've been saying let's get these buns made, DD is grumpy and whingy and keeps climbing all over me and making me sore and wanting on my lap when I'm feeding DS2, and he starts crying every time I put him down.....and I haven't even thought about what's for tea let alone started cooking it.

aaaaaaarrrrrrggggggghhhhhhhh

I'm lathered in Arnica cream already and have taken as much ibuprofen as I dare today....but it's all starting to stiffen up now and i'm very achey.

DS1 has come out in sypathy and given himself a craking lumpy bruise on his thigh where he hit the sharp corner of a wooden planter.

hello!
Cor blimey daisy - sounds painful - not what you need right now!! Hope the arnica and ibuprofen take the edge off!
Merry thanks for the top tips Am definitely going to cut out the fabric conditioner and look into getting a milder washing powder. Sorry that your rash has come back - you do have a lot to cope with!!

So have clocked up 3 hours head - on - pillow sleep in 48 hours. Feel like I am doing something really wrong at the moment. William won't be put down (although I have just managed to )He screams if I do and when I pick him up he wants to be fed. Last night he fed fed fed and then napped on me while I napped sitting up then finally got him into cot at 7a.m and he woke again at 8am! Whole day spent with him an inch at most away from ma boob. (or muchos crying) With the green poop and redness and spots I just think I'm doing a crappo job at mo.

I'm going to get my head down on the sofa while I can - hopefully back later (who am I kidding!!)

Right. Well that was that. 20 mins. Now for an evening of bf-ing followed by a night sitting up with a wide awake boy, bfing.
GAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!
I so don't have it as bad as some of you ladies, and truly am in awe of how you all cope with other little ones - just needed to let off steam before the next session.

Do you think all the dairy milk I'm eating is keeping him awake??

zonedout so sorry to hear of your diagnosis, but you do seem very positive, as choc says.

Choc* viral rashes very common with babies, but I always get them looked at, even if just by the practice nurse.

barbs for your lack of sleep. Sorry if this is really obvious but do you take him out for a walk in the afternoons? It can really help settle them, for some reason.

One more day to holidays! really looking forward to having my boys homw for 2 weeks!!

posrnatal check went well-all good which is..good! made new appointment for dinky's 8 week check

I'm considering the mirena coil- anyone any experience of it?

Oh poor Lacks - that's all you need right now. Hope the arnica helps ease the bruising. On the plus side, thank god little F didn't fall down the stairs.

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis zonedout and the drugs you must take. You sound very upbeat considering. Positive mental attitude - good for you.

merry your poor skin - hope you get some relief soon...

Barbs oh dear, your poor bosoms. Sounds like some of the other 2nd timers on here found it got easier with perseverance - hopefully that will be the case for you.

I watch GMTV in bed every morning whilst feeding the Plumski, so managed to see fiona Phillips' last day...very sad. DH knows Ben Shephard through work, and I've met him a few times - he is also lovely (and IMO, quite handsome!)

Plumksi had a good night last night overall. Started badly, took us 2 hours to get her down, but when she did (after 5fl ounce bottle + extra breast milk from me!! What a chozzer!!) she slept from Midnight - 4am, then fed and was back down at 4:45am til 8am. This was indeed a breakthrough as it normally takes me 2 hours to get her back down. I think maybe the bottle of EBM at night is helping? Would this fill her up more than simply feeding from the breast? Or is it just that she gets fuller quicker?

Had my hair cut today - hoorah! It really needed it. DH and I went down the high road and had a coffee first, where I was planning on giving her a top-up feed, but she was fast asleep and wouldn't wake, so I went into hairdressers thinking, she is bound to wake up starving any minute and scream her head off. But she stayed asleep til my hair was done, little sausage . I got a fringe cut - never had one before, was going for a Claudia Winkleman look, not quite as sophisticated as her, but like it!

We've been getting the Plumski used to her sling which she now loves - we haven't space in the car to take the buggy to my parents house for xmas, and want to do lots of walks with the dog etc, so thankfully she adores being in sling with DH. Looks proper cute in it too!

AM in agreement with Lacks re Dozy - she is the love child of Anthea Turner, Nigella Lawson and Supernanny!!!

Hello everyone else - don't know about dummies as don't use them.

P.S. Someone keyed our car the other night - am so as I suspect it's someone on our street. 5 cars on our street were all attacked (all 4WD vehicles). So annoying.

DH is on his THIRD night out with work this week! DS is asleep/quiet at least upstairs and DD is parked in front of the fish tank so I can rock her chair with my foot while eating leftover chinese!

Dozy - people like you make me sick, but only because I was very proud of myself for doing a load of washing this morning and its still in the basket waiting to be hung to dry!

Daisy - that sounds vicious and I have nothing useful to suggest - are you allowed Scots painkiller while on ibuprofen? How sweet of DS to collect sympathy bruises!

Merry - the rash sounds awful, hope it calms down soon. To all those with eczema, have you considered homeopathy? It worked wonders for DS when the Drs weren't coming up with anything useful?

vbab - hope A is OK after her mixed up bottle

Barbs - don't overdose on sleep - you might remember what its like to wake up ready for a day!

Met new HV today, DD is over 11lbs, on the 98th percentile and generally doing fine. Then we went to mums and tots Christmas party and DS got some little jigsaws and a selection box, DD just got a selection box!

Sorry to anyone I've missed

Well ladies dont feel depressed like last night but still exhausted. But plan on an early one and DH offered to do early morn feed which is nice of him but also he is going out again tomorrow night so keeping me sweet .

Had another bad screaming fit getting DS to bed. Tried to follow GF to get A earlier than 9 into her moses basket upstairs. Not successful. Shes asleep on the sofa at the mo .

As I mentioned I was on my own last night as DH on p**s up in London and of course as well as the DS troubles I described in my post, A had a bad night. Fed her a small amount at 11pm which is not great I know but she lasted in bed until 2.30am . But then started disturbing and crying from 5am. Got up 5.30am and gave her a tiny feed as she fell back asleep! I then changed her nappy in an attempt to wake her. As I lifted her up she threw up! Maybe she disturbed so early because of a poorly belly as she was trying to sleep but kept disturbing. Might be the dodgy feed yesterday . The DS got up at 7am.

Dont know what to do with A feeding and sleeping. Whether to keep winging it or try loose GF again?

Vbabs I have to say, your night with A doesn't sound too bad at all, and pretty much in line with GF anyhow. I think GF says if they wake early give them a small feed and then re-settle them until 7am? Dozy or choc will know. But A's sleeping pattern sounds pretty good to me! Especially after the trauma of yestersdays mix-up with the feed.

Evening - I have tried to keep up with the posts but have been so busy these last couple of days that I have failed!!

Dozy are you deliberately trying to make us all ? Or is GF paying you commission?

Obs good to see you back and the reason you have been 'missing' is cos of computer issues and nothing else

Chocorange Sam has also become a bit of a dummy addict - he has been really unsettled these last couple of days and the only thing that has calmed him down has been his dummy (btw, I have found that the only ones he can keep in are cherry teat ones).

Am a bit worried about Sam tbh as he has started being sick quite a bit and both me and DH are paranoid that he has got the same condition that DS1 had (although the odds of 2 children in the same family having it are one in a million or something!) We are hoping it is just because of his cold and the phlegm (sp?) is sitting on his stomach but I think we may just be kidding ourselves - I really really hope it isn't what DS1 had otherwise Sam will need an operation in the next couple of weeks But there is no point in going to the doctors at the moment as the vomiting has not got 'bad' enough to warrant treatment.

Anyway, on a lighter note, I have added some new photos on my profile for you all to have a look at (all my other ones seem to have disappeared presumably because of my Xmas name )

Will catch up more in a bit.