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

[Debs75goldrings]

So what were we all doing this time last year?

My DD (12 weeks) is going through a growth spurt I think, she's started feeding a bit more (not like in the early days when a spurt would mean bleeding nipples though, thank God!) and she sleeps more too.

Question re: weaning - Unless something major happens in the meantime I am not going to start weaning until 6m and I am planning to do the baby-led thing. I have put a book about it onto my list for Santa so hopefully I should understand it by then, but I was wondering, does weaning mean that they only get adult food from then on, or do you still feed milk too? I don't really want to give up bf'ing but then I don't want to stop her from having what she needs to grow properly. So is it all or nothing, or are you supposed to bf and feed adult foods? I've seen these 'follow-on' type formula things advertised so is that supposed to replace bfing? Also, what happens if you wait longer than 6m to introduce adult food?

I really understand this parenting lark as you can see!

Hello all...

Had an awful migraine so not been on MN for a few days..getting the feeling back in the right side of my face now so hoping I'm on the mend.

Sorry to hear about all the sniffles...Toby is still coughing and has lots of mucus too

Decs up, cards done, only a few more presnet sto get (stocking fillers really) and thats me finished for xmas 2008 - hurrah!!!

Toby will be 3 months exactly on xmas day Should I expect a dreaded growth spurt???????????

lollipop There is a saying that goes 'Food is for fun, until thy are one', which basically means you are getting them used to eating and different textures rather than worrying about nutrition which means that they absolutely still need their milk, and the best milk they can have is that which is designed specifically for them i.e bm.

No need at all to give formula.

becaroodolf Hope you mend quickly.

jenpet my hv told me about the 4 month growth spurt and said it would be about a week of having a few day's old newborn again. On the basis that he's still sleeping really well, I'd just go with it - the way my hv described it to me, i'm expecting a few sleepless nights when we get there!

Having said that, my sister started to wean her devil child DS at about 5 months as he was draining 9oz bottles every 2 hours and was still hungry (and that was hungry baby formula too). The hv said he was just a very big, very hungry baby - dad is 6ft 4 - so there may be some occasional exceptions to the rule.

C is not a very hungry baby, so I'm not planning on weaning until 26 weeks though.

eek! Thanks imsantasmum & everyone else, I must be losing it because I don't remember anything like this with DS1! or perhaps he was just hard work all the time...well, at least I know what to expect, I really didn't want to start stuffing him full of baby rice & sweet potatoes just yet!
Sympathy to you becaroodolf migraines are the worst - can't understand how you're so organised for Xmas when you've been suffering too (or is it just me who is panicking & disorganised??)

carriedonkey - what is this magic avent cream? DD has some terribly rough scaly patches on her legs, but I am waiting patiently for mother nature to fix it. Would this cream help?

Had the reverse of the 4:30 am problem last night. DD woke at what I thought was about 2am, so in my fast asleep foginess I was trying to soothe her back to sleep, thinking, wtf, it is far too early for her to want a feed. But she kept insisting. DH woke up and said but it's 5:30 !! I felt like I had had no sleep at all... I really can't win.

Thanks ILTHHH no family close by, but I did go to bed not long after DD1 last night and managed to settle M and then she woke at 10.20 - DH came back from Footy at 10.30 and took M downstairs until 2.30 so I got a reasonable stretch of sleep. She then went until 5.30 so only 2 night wakenings which is a big improvement.

Got M weighed today though and she's only put on an oz this week which I guess is no surprise with the cold. It ties in with me expressing foremilk though as she must just have been thirsty rather than hungry.

The anti-biotics are starting to kick in so I'm not as achy. I've got a double dose this time so hopefully the tonsillitis won't recur, if it does they'll send me to the doctor to talk about removing them

Off to see DD1's school play soon which is exciting. She has a line this year!!

Starlight it won't be the same without you here for a bit!

Anyone have experience of going away for the night... without your baby? DH has said that what he wants for his birthday is for the two us to go away to a fancy restaurant with rooms and have a night of unbridled pleasure.

At first I thought this wasn't possible, as we have no relatives nearby, and the baby sitter we have used for lunch dates has young kids of her own so couldn't stay the night. Then I found a nanny agency that supplies night nannies with newborn experience. Should I consider this? DD will be 4 months old. She is exclusively breast fed, but is very happy to take a bottle. Also, should we have a practice night with the night nanny in the house with us still here, to make sure it's OK before we leave her alone with a stranger for the night? Am I crazy to consider it?

I would just dismiss the whole thing but DH really deserves this. We are finding it impossible to make progress in the 'loving' department due to exhaustion and non-stop breast feeding, so this would be a real treat. Any thoughts..?

donkeymum that sounds like a really nice idea but don't forget to pack your expresser. otherwise you won't want to let your dh near you once you've not fed for a few hours!

DS2 went backwards last night and woke at 2.30 and 5.30, the 1st time he's woken twice in a night for about 3 months. Don't think he was very hungry but woke because he was very stuffed up with blocked nose and then obviously thought some milk would be nice while he was up.

What's this tongue reflex thing? I don't think I've heard about that as a weaning sign.
DS2 has learned this week to stick his tongue out and is doing it all the time. Someone said to me the other day "oh look he's licking his lips and looking at that biscuit you're eating, he must be getting interested in food" But I find that hard to believe as he's only 14 weeks. Think it was just coincidence as he licks his lips and sticks his tongue out a lot.

I must confess I did give ds1 some food (a bit of baby rice and fruit and veg purees) before 6 months as I thought at the time that he needed it but I want to wait till 6 months this time round. I'm also thinking about looking into baby led weaning as it sounds like a good plan, avoiding spending hours making purees sounds like a nice idea.

we went away after ds1 was born for our wedding anniversary, he was about 5 months and ff. we left him with grandparents (in our house) and all was well! the only thing was that i was so looking forward to a lovedly nights sleep but found i couldnt stop thinking abut him and therefore couldnt get to sleep for ages! it was very annoying. night nannie sounds good, why not have her with you one afternoon so you can see how she interacts and get to know her a bit so you feel comfortable?

donkeymum Its actually called 'avent magic cream'. Its just aloe-vera type moisturiser stuff. I like it, but I'm sure there'll be others who'll say their LOs reacted or there's no need for it or something. I'm gonna put it on dd's face too before we go out in the cold as a protective layer.
Night away sounds wonderful if you can do it emotionally!!
lolli milk is still baby's main food til they're 1. I see 6-12 months as a period of increasing solids and decreasing milk. My dd dropped her afternoon milk at 13m so was then just on milk first thing and before bed. But everyone's different. HTH.

donkeymum I'm sure there will be mums who think you should be horse whipped ( geddit?!) for thinking of a night away (not from this thread, obviously) but I believe that happy parents = happy child and with so many relationships failing, a relatively small amount of time invested in the relationship eg a night away once or twice a year, the odd evening out etc will make you closer, happier and stronger. I've seen first hand how a relationship break up can crucify children, so I'd go for it if you find a nanny you like and trust. If they're good, they will want to get to know your LO first anyway.

C is 11 weeks tomorrow and has already had 3 sleepovers at nanny and grandads! The first time I was awake more than when he was at home tho

From about 5 weeks old C has been following my biscuit, cake, chocolate (oh what a fab diet I have) whenever I'm eating and he's sitting on my knee. HV seems to think I wont make it to 6 mths before I have to start weening.

Oh, and Debi DP has taught C to stick his tongue out. Everytine you say show us your tonuge, guess what happens!

Ooo my typing isn't good today

Well, T slept from about half 12 until 6:50am again last night! That's two nights of no 4am feed, preceded by one night where he only took 2oz. I don't for a minute imagine it will continue, but it's so nice while it lasts! And it gives us something to aim towards as well, since we know he can do it.

DG I'm sure you'll be able to begin inching out the length between feeds once A's feeling a bit better. If you're too worried to go out in the pram, perhaps you could just try distracting him - even if it only gives you an extra minute each time, you're making progress! Once you've achieved a small gap, perhaps you can brave the pram and literally just push it an extra minute or two again. I honestly think that it's possible to achieve a reasonable feeding pattern without any tears or drama, and it's allowed to be slightly proactive in achieving this, so that you and A can go out and see all the lovely things that are are around you and know that as long as you plan a starbucks stop in a couple of hours, you won't be stuck with a starving screaming baby!

And OMG at you already having a weaning plan Lollipop! I still feel like I've barely got to grips with BF, and it's practically time to start researching weaning and seeing what looks like the best plan.

Argh - A keeps dozing off in my arms, then waking if I try laying him down, or else just waking with snot buildup - and the only way to calm him down is to let him bf, as the nose desnotter makes him incredibly upset. Think it's time for a walk to Sainsburys as the pushchair usually lulls him to sleep.

He was like this yesterday pm and evening too, but this morning and the nights have been OK.

Been selling stuff on Ebay - should make £150 but never want to see any more bubblewrap (perils of selling Airfix kits...)

popping in to say hi as I ponder my frivolous dilemma: how many slings to take with me.

well, foxy, go for the GF theory and take one to match each outfit

LOL, in that case I may need a separate suitcase for them!

Hi

Chief lurker here... so thought I should post. Very interesting to hear how everyone is getting on. N seemed very out of sorts and clingy today. Had to resettle him three times before he went to sleep this evening and still not convinced he's completely settled yet. This after having a 'perfect' day yesterday with a two hour nap in the middle of the day and oh so many smiles and giggles.

He's 14 weeks today and I'm already starting to get a bit scared about the legendary 16 week-return-to-newborn growth spurt.

What is this nose de-snotter? I've stocked up on other things to deal with the dreaded cold when it turns up but I don't have one of these. Should I?

N celebrated turning three months last Tuesday but sleeping through the night - until 7am! But doesn't seem keen to repeat it. Up at 4.30am last night instead of the usual 5.30-6am ish. So i guess I can join the 4.30am club.

BBx

debithescot - the tongue poke reflex is something all babies are born with. When you try to put something in their mouth their tongue will push it out (I guess it's evolutions way of stopping our lo's from choking.)

bbaby - I think the de-snotter things are little suction things you stick up the lo's nostrils to get the bogeys out. I have found Nasosal drops (saline drops) are good as well, it seems to cut through the bogeys and gives them instant relief.

foxy - will you be online in AD? I hope so.

dh is putting elliot's cot together in our rom, so i've come away from the swearing!
after cutting down on his morning sleep time elliot went to sleepp at 130 this morning, a definate improvement.
lets hope its even earlier tonoght, he's doing his crying uncontrollably because hes over tired, which he normally does at 3am, so hoping he'll fall asleep around 11ish, fingers crossed

Re: weaning.....I am a bit worried about this...with ds1 (5 years ago) I weaned him at 19 weeks as he seemed to need something more than milk to fill him. I made all his food myself with organic ingredients (PFB moment here!!! ) It went very well and he went from a very tiny baby to the 71st centile by his 1st birthday

Since having ds1 things seem to have changed. They seem to have altered the age for weaning to 6 months instead of 4....not sure ds2 will wait that long!!! He is a very hungry baby and I cant imagine he will cope just on milk for the next 3 months

He is currently having 6 x 7oz bottles per day but think he will go up to 8oz soon as he is 3 months old on xmas day.....is it true that "big"/hungry babies need to be weaned earlier?

Very confused by all the conflicting advice. I have a 4 months app with the HV at the end of Jan so hoping he waits til then....

It seemes so strange to be thinking of weaning already!!!

Supposed to be going late night xmas shopping tomtorrow night.....bluergh. Just want xmas to be here now. I am so impatient!!

becaroo Is the 4 month check something everyone gets? I don't remember the HV saying anything to me about it.

starlight the more I think about it the more the idea of taking a pushchair into central London doesn't appeal. I think I might transfer A's changing stuff into my lapttop rucksack - I used it during pregnancy for carrying my heavy macbook around and it was very comfortable.

hopefully we went out yesterday in the pushchair and I managed to enforce a good hour long lunchtime nap. I was hoping to do the same again today, but was waiting for my mum to turn up (which she didn't until 4:30 -I was so . I also didn't offer feeds at first shoulder suck or as soon as he woke up this morning and I seemed to have more non-feeding time than usual.

A was a very settled yesterday evening and Olbas oil definitely helped for the rest of the night. I thought we were making progress with our new bath, grobag and feed bedtime routine. But perhaps not, this evening DH has already had to settle him three times since I put him down after his feed. I think it's going to be a long night...

I too am dreading the 16 week hell phase. I only seem to have got over the 8-12 week growth spurt. Am attempting to regain some vague sense of control at the moment...only for it to be all thrown out the window in a couple of weeks time. I love my baby more than anything, but I have this constant feeling of just winging it and not really knowing what I'm doing. I actually feel less in control than I did when he was 8 weeks.