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

[Debs75goldrings]

So what were we all doing this time last year?

foxy as always, great sling advice, thanks! will try that short cross carry. I've got a gypsy mama isjoha, which is great for the school run as I can cover Maia's body completly (as she'll scream blue murder at the sight of a hat). but I saw s.one the other day wearing a lovely wrap that looked a lot less wide/bulky (on a simple fwd cross carry), had a look at GSWs now and it might have been a storch inka from the colour pattern. I have a gyosymama gauze wrap too though, which is pretty light, but haven't used it much yet, but I think once I use it more and wash it it'll get softer. you really got me hooked on slings though now, had no idea "soft carriers" even exhisted, but have to stop getting wraps as I should really start saving for a babyhawk next....

hopefully, the last few times we had a bad night was down to wind (M must have spent about 15 mins just continuously farting in our bed one night last week), pulling her feet up to her tummy helped her, or putting her on her tummy with her legs bent underneath her.

i have an inka. it goes with everything. v supportive.

the storchenweige Ulli is v pretty and feminine. same weave as Inka. storchs are very good value for money.

they get softer with washing and use. i bought a didymos ea 2nd hand, probably 10th hand, lol. that was buttery soft. storchs, hoppediz, didymos all have that weave, all get softer with use/wash and still keep their vibrant colours.

the widths of wraps are standard btw. so no 'narrow' wraps

didymos eva

Pacita, is it difficult not eating any dairy? I've decided to cut out dairy from my diet as Katie's exzema is getting worse and the infected exzema on her ear just won't heal in spite of cortizon creams and antibiotics.

Slings, I can't use my stretchy sling as much as I used to now, so have switched to a woven wrap for any longer jaunts. The storch is lovely, I used to have one but sold it =( It feels a bit stiff when new but like foxytocin says, it does soften up.

I really like the gypsymama gauzewrap, it's lieghtweight but quite sturdy. It's not quite as soft as I would like but hopefully a couple of washes will sort it out.

sass I thought that not eating diary was going to be hell on earth, but apart from missing greek yogurt, cakes and cheese, its' been absolutely fine.

You have to make sure that you up your calcium intake. I mainly use sesame and nuts (sesame has more calcium than milk), and green leafy vegetables such as broccoli or spinach. I use provamel rice milk, and tahini in my toast instead of butter.

Two days after I gave up all milk products Diego started to improve. He also had an infected ear by the earlobe that woud not heal. Now he is almost completely smooth except for a patch in his ankles.

Atopic dermatitis comes up in flares, so maybe it was meant for it to subside, but I can't help thinking that diary has helped more than a bit.

I'd love to hear how you get on!

starlight - gah, I just read my emails and saw about that BF meeting too late. That'll teach me to ignore MN all weekend as well, I would have liked to have gone along, could do with more opinions on thrush.

NCT lady mentioned that more BF peer support people were needed too, I was thinking about it already. Hmm.

ponymum congrats on your thrush going - yay! And your holiday certainly sounds like a future comic story. You just need a bit of space from it I guess.

hopefully what a nightmare your nights have been recently I really hope things change soon for you, it is sooo tiring being up every couple of hours. It won't be forever though!
I must be getting enough sleep now, I was so naughty last night. I fed LO from 3-4 with a nappy change in the middle. Popped her back in her cot, and carried on reading my book for another hour and a half. I just really got into it!

foxy thanks, just washed it and it's drying atm. DD's finally asleep so better hurry and make lunch for DP before she wakes up...

jenbot thanks for the sympathy! in a way it was easier when he was starving hungry, because at least it was easily solved and he went straight back to sleep. With this wind it's much harder to settle him, and he's losing interest in feeding in the morning (lots of staring up at me, staring around etc) because I'm feeding him in the night when he's not really hungry, just in order to stop him whinging, and help him relax enough to fart!
pacita good idea - we used to use gripe water and infacol, with great success - if he's windy again tonight I'll try them again for a few days - can't hurt!

In other news, i tried the ring sling. It was fine, but I could instantly tell I wouldn't be able to use it for a long period of time without getting stiff. so.... another friend is interested in buying it from me, prepared to pay £35 (friend who sold it to me is happy to split the profit!), and I'm thinking maybe a wrap sling might be better. You said I could tie it as a 'ring' sling to hip carry if I wanted anyway, didn't you Foxy? I can just see me not using the ring sling very much because of the discomfort, and as spring approaches I can see how useful a comfy sling would be for walks etc (we do a lot of walking, would be nice not to have to take the pram every time). DP loves the bjorn, but I find the narrow straps uncomfy, esp as T gets bigger. Any thoughts anyone?
Love the fabric of the didymos, are the wraps the same fabric? And could I theoretically feed in the wrap with anothe baby?

jenbot thanks for the sympathy! in a way it was easier when he was starving hungry, because at least it was easily solved and he went straight back to sleep. With this wind it's much harder to settle him, and he's losing interest in feeding in the morning (lots of staring up at me, staring around etc) because I'm feeding him in the night when he's not really hungry, just in order to stop him whinging, and help him relax enough to fart!
pacita good idea - we used to use gripe water and infacol, with great success - if he's windy again tonight I'll try them again for a few days - can't hurt!

In other news, i tried the ring sling. It was fine, but I could instantly tell I wouldn't be able to use it for a long period of time without getting stiff. so.... another friend is interested in buying it from me, prepared to pay £35 (friend who sold it to me is happy to split the profit!), and I'm thinking maybe a wrap sling might be better. You said I could tie it as a 'ring' sling to hip carry if I wanted anyway, didn't you Foxy? I can just see me not using the ring sling very much because of the discomfort, and as spring approaches I can see how useful a comfy sling would be for walks etc (we do a lot of walking, would be nice not to have to take the pram every time). DP loves the bjorn, but I find the narrow straps uncomfy, esp as T gets bigger. Any thoughts anyone?
Love the fabric of the didymos, are the wraps the same fabric? And could I theoretically feed in the wrap with anothe baby?

whoops!

before you rush off and sell it, practice with it. technique can be worked on and the tiniest tweak can make a big difference. have a look at this video see where the rings are and the bottom of the sling is before and after you put the baby in.

look how she gathers the top rail to the front and tightens just that rail my pulling one side of the spare material, etc.

ugly sling, mind. looks home made. just to show that slings can be dirt cheap.

it is the same material as the didy wrap but you'd still probably need 2. the short wrap cross carry needs at least 3.5m if you are v petite but rhat would be a lot of extra material for tying ike a ring sling. i can get awat with 2.2m easily.

Scary sling! I will have a bit more of a play around. the problem seems to be that T is leaning forward (well, to his left if he is on my left hip), and that his legs don't seem to fit around my hip, iykwim. Will persevere for a day or two more and see if it improves! I'm so impatient...

look how she is carrying the baby, about the age of ours. i don't think T can quite grasp you around the hip yet. A can't. i noticed she quickly tightened the bottom rail just before the end as well. v good if fast demo.

What does green poo mean? DD has had two dark slimy green nappies today. (Sorry if TMI.) She has a cold and has been feeding a lot more. Yesterday afternoon a big long TWO HOUR non stop session. I thought green was too much fore milk, but that's not how she is feeding really. Usually has a very consistent korma sauce colour. Never seen dark green slimy before.

Glad to you DH thought the connecta 'Manly' Starlight. I'm hoping my DH will feel comfortable using it this summer (if we get one!).

Sunflower you make your DP's lunch??? I hope he appreciates you. DP knows where the fridge is (and the iron, mop bucket, dishwasher etc etc ) and knows better than to ask me!

All this talk of slings - C never really got on with them. We have the wilkienet which we do use every so often when out but C really loves to sleep in the daytime flat on her back with her arms about her head. Only thing that works is the pram, which she adores. And how on earth do you lug along all the extras when your LO in sling (eg nappies, nappy bags, wipes, change of clothes, soft toy, extra hat, blanket etc etc)?
I did try a sling but found it was too difficult to keep taking C in and out for feeding/changing etc. Took me 10 minutes to get her back in after a change of nappy!! I think slings and I are not meant to be.

Ooh - proud mummy moment - saw cranial osteopath today for a last session. She said C had one of the most perfectly formed heads (from a clinical perspective) that she had even seen!!
She also suggested I bring C back to see her when teething as it really helps. Amazing what they can do - her manipulations today also cleared C's stuffy nose.

Off for a bath, DP flies back from Vegas - landing tomorrow morning. WooHoo!!

Hopefully hope T's wind gets better.

Meant to say ninja hope things are OK with your family after your loss.

even ever

Evening all. Def on a week 16 feeding frenzy here, ds has been waking early from naps, feeding like a mad thing, falling asleep on the boob, then when you put him down waking up and screaming coz he hadn't finished. Had a total mare of a day with dd not settling for her sleep when I tried to put her down earlier than usual, so we went out to the weighing clinic in the hope of seeing the floating HV but she was only doing appointments so it was a waste of time, so eventually got dd back to bed at 3:30. As she fell asleep ds woke up again (he heard my duvet!) but at least dd was sleeping so I could give him unbroken access to my boobs for an hour. This evening he drained 6oz formula at 6pm when he usually only has 4.

ponymum HUGE Congratulations on shifting the thrush! Your holiday sounds wonderful - all the good intentions of being virtuous and doing exercise, without actually having to leave the fire. Brilliant. Hope you don't feel too robbed of a holiday though! I felt a bit like that with Christmas where we went away for a two 'holiday' and came back having simply survived a series of illnesses.

imoscarsmum you described my relationship with slings - love the idea but can't make it work in practice. I carry far too much clutter with me!

Here's hoping for lots of sleep for everyone

LOL at being proud of your baby's head shape imoscarsmum! Although I would be exactly the same...

T is lying in his pram carrycot trumping away merrily - I suspect tonight may not be much better than last night. thankfully my mum and sis are visiting this week, so at least one of them can do the odd night time settling.

ponymum you will be able to laugh about your holiday soon, 2 Christmas's ago (ds1's 1st christmas) we weer up in Scotland staying with family and ds1 took the vomitting bug up with us and passed it on to EVERYONE in mine and dh's family. Dh and his dad completely missed Christmas day. We were all laughing about it this Christmas (well all except my sil as she was 'doing' Christmas for the 1st time and it was obviously spoiled for her).

DS2 usual big lunchtime nap seems to have gone tits up, for the last week he's only slept in his bed for a little while if at all and then woken but still tired. I'm not sure why but it is really annoying as means ds1 and 2's naps aren't cooinciding and I'm having to hold a grumpy ds2 more than usual and so am not getting anything done. I'm feeling down and fed up at things I should be enjoying- like being with 2 children 24/7 and also the usual things like washing, cleaning, finding hotels in Liverpool for cousins wedding, finding homes for all the Christmas presents etc etc.
I always get a bit down after being up in Scotland though so I know I'll be ok soon. I just wish dh would find a job up there. It'd be so nice to leave both kids with family or a friend for a few hours so I can get some time to myself or even just to get the housework and long list of jobs done.

Debithescott C has never had long/scheduled daytime naps, at best she catches 30mins here and there, even when I put her down in her cot etc. think it's the price we pay for her sleeping 7 to 7 but it means I get very little done re housework etc. In fact I reckon I'll get more done when I'm back in work as I work from home some days so will fit in stuff at lunchtime.

Bugger it though, she's far more interesting than housework