September 08 Remember what we were doing this time last year?[wink]

[Debs75goldrings]

So what were we all doing this time last year?

happy new year all!! hope you've had a good time. we spent last night exactly the same as last year's - on the sofa watching meet the fockers, only difference we were still in shock from finding out there was a coffee bean inside me and this time we can't believe we have 2 little monsters!!

ps, name change (xmas over, now waiting for the epiphany witch, italian thing...)

Little Connie - My DD goes down awake at night now, I used to cuddle her to sleep but I've been trying to put her down awake recently and it's been working in varying states. What I do is feed sitting on my bed in the dark (hall light on) with a CD playing on low. Cuddle for a couple of minutes to burp then straight into basket with dummy. First I started leaving her and going down stairs with limited success. Now I have adapted a story into the routine and it has worked every time so far. The routine now is:

1. Feed on bed in darkened room, cd playing
2. Cuddle for 5mins max for burps
3. Straight into basket
4. Story

I do stop to put her dummy in occasionally but normally she doesn't need it, also if she's really unsettled I will put my hand on her chest but I'll keep reading and this sends her to sleep in about 20 secs flat! I only do that if she's showing signs of struggling though and haven't had to do it very often. The story has had a 100% success rate thus far but I don't want to brag about it too much as every time I mention something about her sleeping she goes completely off the deep end and it takes me weeks to rectify it!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR hope you all had a quieter night then us. We kept Robyn up till 12.30 as i didn't wantto miss new year.
Next door were having a party but music was good and it wasn't too loud. Fed Robyn in our bed and she took so long to drop off i did.
Got woken up at 1.30 by screaming and fighting from the party. Put Robyn in cot and somehow she stayed asleep during the hour long rows from next door.

On the brighter side Robyn gave us her first smile today. DP was singing Iron Maidens 'bring your daughter to the slaughter' whilst flying her through the air and she loved it. She gave him 2 proper big chuckles and drooled all over him.

You can tell i am sleep deprived
Should read laugh

hi everyone, happy new year to you all. things still going up and down here, just think we're settling down and something happens! Latest is both boys have been ill and now i think ds2 is cuting first tooth...oh dear. btw, keep forgetting to look- is it 12 weeks for 2nd jabs? does it matter if they're a bit late?

happy new year,
condolences to those with sad news
c also waking loads, driving me mad with exhaustion!
c also has bad cradle cap and her hair's coming out, her hairline's slipping backwards, she'll end up like ageing rocker, bald except pony tail!

Gave T a couple of extra feeds yesterday (although he didn't take much extra in reality), gave him sachet of teething powder after his 10:30 feed, he woke at 3:45 (DP gave him another sachet after his bottle), and he slept through till 7:15! No idea whether the extra feed or the teething sachet helped, but will be doing it again tonight!

Hello all and a very happy new year!

it's been a while since I had a chance to post, but I've been following all the ongoing conversations. First, sorry to all you with flu or poorly children. Hopefully, really sorry about your SIL's loss. Such a sad thing to happen over Christmas. Ninja, sorry about your gran - she does sound like a lady who led a good life.

Well, I am strangely relieved to hear that lots of you have had babies with disturbed sleep, because I was about to commit hara-kiri due to exhaustion and sleep deprivation. I think there is a massive growth spurt going on without a doubt, but I also think that all the travelling, the sleeping in unfamiliar cots and meeting tons of new people have unsettled D's sleep.

The really annoying thing is that many of the times he wakes up at night (and subsequently wakes me up) is because he has lost the bloody dummy, which I then need to re-insert. This is driving me nuts, and I'm unsure as to what to do. I think that this is made worse by the eczema itchiness, because he wakes up, scratches, pops off the dummy, then gets pissed off. Sometimes I also wonder whether he is waking up more because my milk supply is not enough, and I'm beginning to think that maybe i'll need to introduce some formula. Although I really don't want to do it yet.

Plusone, I gave D his 8 week jabs at 10 weeks. I think it does not matter. The one thing to bear in mind as I understand it, is that there has to be at least 4 weeks between each set of jabs.

Yes, 4 weeks minimum between jabs, it doesn't matter if the gap is longer but it mustn't be shorter. My DD had her 8w jabs at 9w, 12w jabs at 13w and her 16w jabs will be at 18w as I couldn't get her booked in for exactly 4 weeks difference.

Oh, and we've been having disturbed sleep for WEEKS, it's horrible! The last three nights have been ok but I have no idea what has changed so I am sure it'll all fall apart again soon

Flower - What is this witch you speak of?!

lollipop - she's a good witch here though scary looking...

Happy new year to you all

All is well here.

Fraser is doing really well, he has had a cold and a cough for a few weeks but seems to be clearing now.
He was sleeping from about 9 till 7- 8 ish but has been wakeing at 4 oclock on the dot for the past week or so it might have something to do with his cold.

He loves to sit and play in his playnest, everything he gets hold off goes straight in his mouth.

He is now ebf and my boobs now leak
Im having real trouble finding a nursing bra that fits, i ordered one from bravissimo in a 34 h but it was to small, ive ordered a 34j i hope that fits i dont know anywhere that do anything bigger

There is a due sept 09 thread.

Due in Sept 09???!!!! Oh boy.
Well happy new year everyone, haven't been on here for two weeks, haven't got a hope of catching up so I've just read the posts on this page!
Ds has had very disturbed sleep too - now consistently waking once a night, where previous to this holiday he had started consistently sleeping through. Don't think we hvae a hope of it getting better until we're back at home, back in his own bed and with our more normal bedtime routine.
You'd be very proud of me and how relaxed I've been on days when routine has gone out the window due to visiting family etc. I have coped admirably with feeding a screaming baby in a tiny and cold cafe near Blackfriars when our train was cancelled. Missed some of family dinner though coz put ds down for a nap and instead of crying down he cried up and turned out to be hungry. Made me realise why I do routine so these things don't creep up on me by surprise! Oh well, it was only two weeks, and like I say I impressed myself at my ability to be calm and wing it!

Still at my mum's now, going back on sunday. No idea how we'll fit everything in the car...

And I need a new nickname for 2009! Sadly lacking in inspiration though.

Enjoy the weekend ladies!

hello ladies, just got back from the health visitors, the tooth which I thought els was geting has turned out to the a something pearland will disappear again.
hes only put an oz on since xmas eve, but she said she wasn't concerned and babies shouldn't be weighed weekly as it gives a faulse picture so he's going for a weighing in a months time.
We've got his last set of jabs on wednesday DH cant make it so my mum will have to join us.
She is also refering us to the sleep lady to sort us out a routine/sleep structure, apparently this lady will crack any sleep problems in 2 weeks!! I cant wait to see her.
OK MIL RANT we went over for a new years day dinner, and we have been getting on much better lately, but when ell was screeming I put him in my kari-me sling and did the jiggle to keep him happy, 1st comment was 'oh support his head, its wobbling all over the place' it wasn't he has excellent head control
after he had woken up, he was still grumpy, so I asked DH to change his nappy which he likes to kick around with no nappy 2nd comment 'thats what he wanted a nappy change it was saturated, this 6 hour between nappies is stupid' where she got 6 hours from I have no idea, it was on for 4 hours max
then we sat him in his bumbo to watch tv for a while, well he also does the head craining thing, but to look at what other people are doing, well he was doing this (shows how strong his neck is) 3rd comment 'is he alright in that chair he looks all slumped over and uncomefortable' and I heard her bad mouthing me to my SIL (who I get on with) when I'd left the room, I don't even feel like trying with this woman anymore.

Happy New Year!

Hopefully When I had a mc, eating lot of pate on toast and drinking hot chocolate wityh baileys helped. I also named the baby, but this might not be to your SIL's taste.

Ninja Sorry to hear the news about your gran. Your Christmas must have been sad. I hope your Dad is coping okay.

Whoever asked what you do on a cruise with a baby with chicken pox, the answer is this:

You weigh your conscience against the likliness that the £77 ship doctor fee will get you confined to your cabin the size of a postage stamp for 8 days (do-able perhaps if you don't also have a 25month old) and try to be as responsible as you can, skipping group excursions, eating outside the popular meal times, avoiding the kids club, kids activities and Father Christmas and pray that they are no longer contagious on flight day.

BTW, if you hadn't already guessed this, the combination of having 2 small children and stepping off a cruise ship gives you NO bargaining power with taxis.

Welcome back starlight we all missed you {{{group hug}}}

Apart from the chicken pox and the taxi, how did it all go? Where did you cruise to?

We were in St Lucia on Christmas day. I stole 5 mins to sun-bathe with BS next to me in the shade, but when I quickly looked up to check on her she had rolled right over and was on her tummy looking up and around with her face caked in sand.

We stopped in mostly Eastern Caribbean Islands and were with one of the 'informal' companies. There were lots of people complaining about it not meeting their expectations and that the weather wasn't scorching every day, but tbh both the informality and the on and off cloud were perfect for small children so I was less stressed about keeping them safe and not touching anything iyswim.

Thomas Cook are run entirely by people who hate kids though imo. Separating our party, giving my 25m old a non-reclining seat for the overnight return flight far away from me and not allowing me to move because I had an 'allocated' seat because of Baby Starlight.

I was on my own in the middle of a row of three with a strange fat 60yr old man either side (both very nice actually)that I had to poke in the ribs for the frequent breastfeeds. When I asked one of the men to move 'again' to change her I decided to give them and me a break and hang out in the exit, sit on the floor and feed there, but was told that I had to return to my seat for safety reasons.

My 25m DS leaked through his second change of clothes so I asked for a second blanket because his non-reclining seat was in a major draft, but was told that they don't give out second blankets and if I was that bothered I'd take off my cardigan and give it to him.

However, that was all today and I'm still rattled by it (plus they don't bring the prams to disembark) but overall, it was lovely to have a break, get some sun, see and play with the kids in a different environment, spend family time together, make use of the 24hour buffet to give my toddler experiences of food I'd never be bothered to cook him, to see the Islands and chat to the locals etc etc.

So thanks for asking....

Starlight What a dreadful experience. It sounds like apart from the useless travel attendants you managed to have a nice holiday. I can't believe how rude the airline staff were. I think since all the terror stuff they know that you can't get annoyed with them for fear of being branded a troublemaker or of trying to disrupt the flight so they have gone all snooty and unhelpful.
What was it like being on a ship for so long? Did your dc's get seasick.
I have always wanted to go on a cruise but i have a morbib fear of water and ships, I can't look at one in a marina without feeling sick so don't know why i want to go on a cruise. I think they just sound like utter luxury.

No, the boat has stabilisers that reduce movement. The first day I got a bit of cabin fever and wanted to be let off, but that was because it was a full day at sea, - but they put more entertainment on on those days.

If you fear ships and water then I wouldn't recommend it. Perhaps do a weekend channel crossing (not quite the same but should give you a feel). We had a fab time but I don't normally do all inclusive package type holidays and tbh didn't find the queuing, being herded around etc. any less stressful than doing my own thing. Also I found it annoying arriving somewhere in the morning and leaving late afternoon just as you were getting a feel for what might be nice to explore on the island.

However, with 2 small children it WAS convenient and we mostly just got a taxi to a local beach where my toddler could be free.

hth

Starlight I'm shocked that they did not let you keep both DCs with you - it sounds like cruelty to me, and makes me think that Thomas Cook are slightly hypocritical, with those ads showing golden children running in the sunshine.

I hope that the caribbean islands made up for all that - despite chicken pox!

I am a bit lost by Diego's new breast feeding habits: he NEVER lets go of the nipple, even when he is (supposedly) full, and he never refuses a second breast. Is this because I don't have enough milk, or is it that he likes sucking? I don't want to take him off the breast too soon and distract him with a dummy, but this has been going on for over a week now.

Also, we've been putting him to bed awake, and unless he is rocked, he makes a real fuss and takes ages to go to sleep. It's exhausting. Tips, anyone? Hopefully, what would you recommend as somebody who's managed to establish a routine?

Pacita - it doesn't sound like it's got anything to do with your supply, unless you think he's going through a growth spurt, and in that case he'll be increasing your supply.

Otherwise he might like to use your nips as a dummy. If you don't mind it, then go with it. If you don't like it, when you're sure he's finished take him off.

Pacita we still put T down asleep during the night (so as not to disturb each other with shhing and patting), but when we gradually moved from putting him down asleep to putting him down awake we just put him down when he was in less and less of a deep sleep. Occasionally he opened his eyes and saw where he was, and if he cried we picked him up, and if he didn't he stayed in the cot with us shhing and patting. This moved on to putting him down just before he fell totally asleep and doing the same thing.
We still stay with him till he's asleep though (anything from 5-15 mins), and he is never left to cry - occasionally if he's just grizzling a bit I just place one hand on his chest and pat his shoulder with the other, but if it's proper crying I pick him up immediately.

Starlight glad you managed to have some fun in between the ridiculously difficult bits! Good to have you back.

Oh, and T has never in his life unlatched himself...