June 08: All we want for Christmas is a good night's sleep!

[bitofasnowqueen]

New thread!

Hello all, hope you all enjoyed Christmas. Deb, B is feeding 2-3 hours during the night too - I am knackered. Doesn't seem to matter how much he eats during the day, and I think he eats a LOT. It's a phase, it's a phase, it's a phase (repeat ad infinitum).

SnowQ you will have the energy for later - tis amazing what the promise of a night out can do! I had a lovely lunch with my chums yesterday - cocktails and wine, and then hit the sales. Really enjoyed it! I know what you mean too about not knowing what suits you any more, my shape has changed completely, and I have no waist any more!

Am also starting the diet once all the chocolate and other festive treats have gone. Anyone still got a fridge full of stuff??! We have half a side of smoked salmon, a ham, what seems like gallons of cream, Yule log, stollen, and a Christmas pud! Didn't get round to it on Christmas Day, everyone wanted my trifle instead. (Which finally met its end last night).

We're planning a quiet one for Hogmanay. Might make use of M&S's party offer -not that we need any more booze, the cupboards are full of that too - and pick a film. We had a takeaway and watched Bad Santa on Christmas Eve, which was hilarious, but I was quite shocked at how outrageous it was!

Oh, B is screaming his face off at me, so better go...

Amber - he fed at midnight then 6.30 so much, much better thank you. Your meal sounded great.

Whinegums - it's definitely a phase!

New years eve - we're off out for a new years special buffet , then watch a film/play on wii with boys until fireworks at midnight.We don't buy them but everyone else in the village does and the displays are great, we'll try and get them on the webcam so you can all see them - of course you'll have to watch them at 11.oo instead though as we're an hour ahead.

Hi everyone, very quick post to mark my place - hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

We had a lovely time but out laws have now been here since Boxing Day and I'm starting to have a melt down .

Feeding - yes, Alex can't get enough milk at the moment, much more than before we started giving him solids. Growth spurt? Don't know!

PP, what baby proof stuff are you getting? Alex has discovered the Wii and the DVD player, don't know what's available to protect him/the equipment!

Right, back to the out laws - must smile, must smile, must smile, must smile . . . . . . !

Whinegums - I'm off to investigate your M&S party offer. I bought some underwear in their sale yesterday, but wandered around for ages and ended up guessing at sizes for everything, even pants. I've forgotten how to shop, I don't know what size or shape I am anymore. Gonna get myself measured at bravissimo again I think, I want underwired bras again!

Deb - Love the fireworks on webcam idea. I'll probably be playing Guitar Hero on NYE, I have become a rock god over the last three days.

Sponge - Most of our electrical stuff like dvd player, etc are in a lockable cabinet, so they're safe. The sky box is accessible though so I am moving Ryder's play mat/area once the tree comes down. We got drawer/cupboard things and socket covers today, on offer at Croydon Ikea ATM luckily. Also a cable thing that all wires go in as Ryder loves pulling on them now. BTW, Ryder isn't exactly crawling far, it's just that our flat is so small he can get to everything very quickly!

Just watched Vietnam top gear - very, very funny.

Hello

We are back home after Xmas at my parents and both sets of GPs. Everyone gets on so we had a lovely time. PILs ancient arthritic labrador even made the long journey down and just about survived.

Deb- Ps sleep has also been utterly hideous for the last 10 days or so. I had put it down to the disruption of first flying to PILs and then all the fuss and attention at my parents. He has slept in our bed (that makes it 3 on an air mattress with a puncture ) with us for most of Xmas so have no idea how often he is feeding. It feels like it is all the time, but it probably isn't. Ps ezcema is also bad in his cheeks and he has been rubbing and scratching them causing them to bleed. Will see how he is in the morning and maybe take him to the Drs. I think the cheeks might be waking him up too. Last night he eventually crashed out after a complete meltdown at 10pm and slept till about 3 in one stretch which is utterly amazing compared to what has been happening of late.

Like BSQ it sounds like I have had a sad time, but I haven't it has actually been great. I have felt truly blessed this year.

Ali - totally with you on the cheeks - Luke has had eczema for a while now and gets it worst on his cheeks and back of legs. I took him to the doctors and they gave me all stuff you can buy at the chemist. Junior Oilatum for the bath, emolient (thick greasy stuff in a tub) to smother him with after the bath and aqueous cream which you can wash him with in the bath and leaves a layer of moisture on him (go to a proper pharmacy and ask the pharmacist for these things). The next step is steroid cream which I'm sure like me you want to avoid! Has made a bit of a difference to his skin but the cold does not help. Luke also scratches his face and constantly has little bloody spots on his cheeks poor thing. His legs don't seem to bother him though and the patches on his arms have gone. He has got it on his chest and back too but less severely. Hopefully he'll grow out of it but my sis had it up until she was 4. Mark has it a bit when he gets stressed and it is hereditory.

PS Aveeno cream is good to carry round in your bag for out and about - not bad for minor moisturising if it's really cold.

Sorry to hear about eczema sufferers. What a wee shame for them.

Alipali S's sleep has been terrible since Christmas night - combination of cold and teething I'm assuming. We've given him the magic medised for the last couple of nights, but it doesn't seem to have the magic affect on him .

Am feeling a bit mortified today. Went to party last night and had far too much to drink. Quite shamefully drunk. Feeling terrible today but thankfully DH is doing most of the parenting duty today.

Sponge - how much longer with the outlaws?

Hey everyone, hope you all had a good christmas, we had a lovely time although we have so many new toys I have absolutely no idea where they are all going to go!

Sorry to hear some little ones are suffering with excema. In case you haven't heard of them, this company do really good night clothes with covered hands so they can't scratch themselves during the night. You can also buy t-shirts where you can cover their hands during the day too for short periods if they are really mauling themselves. I have bought ds1's pjs from them for years and they are excellent.

"here"

Just want to say Merry Xmas....Oli slept till 11.30am Xmas eve and DS got up 8.30 then woke DD1 and 9.15 very civil

Moved Oli into her own room last night which was very hard, she is very settled tonight though...she hasnt slept well since the op.

Had a nurse in yesterday to unclip the tube and twist it for the 1st time yesterday and she was very sore and moany yesterday.

Anyway lots of love and Xmas cheer to you all xxx

Hello all, just a quick check in!
Christmas was ok - bearable, anyhow. The casserole was delicious...
Umm, started typing and don't know what to say now! I'll respond to some people instead.
Amber and others - sorry to hear about the eczema. And lovely Christmas present, Amber!
Ali bad sleeping patterns here too. Christmas eve was the worst night - he was awake more than asleep. I think, though, it might have been because I had some Winter Pimms at lunchtime. I've gone teetotal and the sleeping is much better. Not that I'm suggesting you're a drinker!

Penguin and anyone else having clothing crises, well, I have the answer. On Saturday I went to Debenhams Oxford Street (incidentally, Oxford Street was practically empty, no shoppers!) and had a personal shopper do the sales for me. My official reason was to get a winter coat, but the real reason was to look good for the baptism next Sunday. Anyhow, it was totally fab, and I got a winter coat, a lovely jacket, 4 tops and a fab skirt which makes me look size zero. I now want to go back because I've discovered that my usual jeans and jumper combo make me look bigger than I actually am.

Josey hope it's all going well with Oli in her own room. Tonight will be better, I'm sure - we work on a 1 bad 1 good basis here with nights!

Finally, Aberdeen I was reading over the thread and I've managed to not respond to you three times! Really sorry, not ignoring you, just fairly pathetic. Some answers... the chart I was following for Iestyn is the one in the red book - not sure whether it's for bfed babies or not. Anyhow it's all irrelevant as Iestyn has slid off the chart now! Also was it your son with ear infections (or have I confused you with SystemsAddict)? And the third thing was the scandalous dept in Aberdeen. Long story but the Prof was invited up there to take the chair and went. His wife returned from Thailand to find the house had been sold, and finally arrived in Aberdeen just about the same time as his extremely youthful (my age!) research student who had been promoted to lecturer was starting her maternity leave. His child.

Morning

Essie - I was wondering how the casserole went down. How long do you have to wit for your new kitchen, I've been waiting 3 years, we have 1/3 completed - thankfully the side with the oven. Personal shopper sounds great - do they bring you the most expensive things though or is it a selection?

Josey - hope last night went ok for Oli in her own room, and fingers crossed she's not as sore today.

Boys are skiing, I'm about to get mil ironing and I am attempting to tidy up the devastation in my living room - Christmas!My turn to ski tomorrow

Debs, your house sounds a bit like mine! Just marking my place really. Have to get on with dd second leg warmer for ballet rather than mn today. First one has been finished for ages and she keeps asking for the second so must get on!

Morning!
Deb no, that's the best thing about the personal shopper! You can say only stuff from, say Principles (affordable), or only stuff from designers, or, and this is brilliant, only things from the sale!!! Plus you don't have to buy anything. You can just take notes and fashion advice. Tim is going tomorrow!

With the kitchen, well, this is the amazing thing. We went to Magnet on Monday and got a good quote and design service. We rang on Boxing Day to go ahead, and the next stage was getting the guy in to measure up. Tim asked when he could do...and he came the next day, 9am. They're totally desperate. The whole kitchen will be in and finished before the end of January!!

Debs so jealous of the skiing. We're not going this year.

Essie - what a shame about the skiing, Ryanair were doing some £20 inc taxes returns to Salzburg and we've got some great deals at the moment!!!!MN meet up in the snow?

Hi all - finally managing to catch up. Had a lovely xmas with my folks but it all went so quickly!

essie that sounds brill about the personal shopper. I'd always assumed it was just higher end stuff but sounds like a good idea for advice - I'm hopeless at shopping for clothes.

essie how is Iestyn doing with the bottle? I'm not having too much luck with it here either. I'm trying to slowly get A on the bottle before I go back to work in Feb. After a few attempts, we got him to take about 4oz of carton formula when offered. Working out v expensive tho, so tried to powder today and he wouldn't go near the stuff (it does taste v different from the carton, and imo he is right, it doesn't taste good!). I really hope that was just a blip though or else I'm stuffed

Started weaning finally and A is loving it except he def wants to be a BLW baby and doesn't seem to like purees. That's fine with me as probably a bit easier anyway. He will take baby rice and porridge but insists on feeding himself with the spoon (I have to load the spoon obviously!)

amber I'm in the same boat re. sleeping and working. Don't start back until Feb (like you I think) but A's sleeping is as bad as ever. Last night was every hour/1.5 hours. I'd really hoped that the weaning and formula would improve his sleeping, but they haven't. I really don't know how I'll be able to get up in the mornings in Feb. I'm still bf at night for now but don't know what we'll do then. The thought of going for ff at night is not appealing.

Can I just ask a question - are any of you ff having to feed in the middle of the night?

yes

I had to feed in the night last night but out of desperation - we don't normally. We do a bottle about 11/11.30 and then his next feed is 6.30ish.

Luke has completely stopped taking a dummy. We haven't weaned him off he just doesn't want it. I preferred it when he did - hence the emergency feeding at 4.30am. Bizarre - not sure why. I know we should be grateful but it used to be so easy to settle him with a dummy and now it takes forever and loads of crying for him to settle. Damned if you do etc etc. Also Luke now has seperation anxiety which is not supposed to happen until they are 8 months. Another odd thing which has developed. It was really sweet at first where he just wanted me all the time as it made me feel like oh, I don't know 'special' I suppose, but now I am realising how impractical it is and how I will never get any baby free time (although Luke is not an inconvenience but baby free time is necessary for ALL MUMMIES!). Mark is off work and could help loads but when he is with Luke, the baby cries and holds his arms out to me to be taken. Even when I try and feed him he sits in his chair and cries until I pick him up in my arms and then is as happy as Larry so the weaning is not going so well. I feel so sorry for Mark because the baby practically jumps off him to get to me which must upset him. For those who have met Luke and know how gregarious he is and how fond he is of other people fussing over him, you must agree that he seemed so unlikely to get it.

Sorry for such an egocentric post!

Ah - just read on babycentre that seperation anxiety starts around 6 montsh not 8 so maybe we'll all be experiencing it soon!

It's when they realise they are their own person and not part of you and that they can be left (read abandoned). Apparently goes on till the age of two!!!

I will shut up now.

Back from in laws and v. proud of self, have just scrubbed the kitchen floor - first time it's been properly clean since it was fitted when I was pregnant first time round I think, it's just had quick goings over since then!! What sad things make me proud ...

Essie twas my son with the ears, he has an ENT referral in January. Don't know if they are likely to do anything though. I had recurrent infections till they took my adenoids out but that wasn't till I was about 8. We shall see. Loved the Aberdeen story btw - I'm obviously in the wrong sort of dept, our scandals are always much more minor - people leaving washing up in the sink, that sort of thing!

Caitlin has been terrible at nights recently - she has been in with us for a couple of weeks now and feeding constantly. She has a new tooth so that might be why, and she's sitting up now and nearly rolling so maybe a developmental stage? Showing signs of sep anx too. Good to hear we are not alone. I have such mixed feelings - half of me thinks we should move her into her own cot and out of our room, the other half loves snuggling up with her at night, she is likely to be my last baby after all ...

Hi guys, quick post - and quick hello to all!

Out laws left yesterday - twas a total nightmare, too many stories to bore you all with but one priceless one was MIL giving A a GLASS candle holder to play with when he was sat on her knee in the pub ! Needless to say it went straight in his mouth - has she NO idea?!

Amber, that sounds awful for you and Mark - very hard . No suggestions really as A hasn't hit this stage yet - swear I could walk down the street and hand him to a complete stranger and he would just smile at them! What happens if you do just go out? Does he settle with Mark eventually?

Allnew, yes, we regularly night feed A with bottles. We make up his feed before we go to bed if that's what you're concerned about? Fingers crossed he'll start to sleep longer soon.

SA, I'm glad I'm not the only one who hardly ever cleans their kitchen floor!

Right, must go - have loads of thank you cards to write!

Sybil - thanks for the link to the eczema clothes, I will have a look and a think. We could definitely do with some scratch mitts here - blood on the sheets last night.

Since we got home sleep has been soooooo much better. The first night P woke twice [v gd for us]. Last night was a bit more interrupted but [this is the amazing bit] we all slept in till 9.30am.

Essie - I am very jealous of your personal shopper. James bought me a coat for Xmas that can best be descibed as matronly. Bless him he thought it was warm looking. What I saw was something in green peach skin with gold stitching and a fake fur hood! When we returned it a matronly looking lady was trying said style on so I felt vindicated. After umming and arghing I bought something else in Monsoon which is pretty good, but possibly a bit tight over bf boobs and a thick jumper!

Deb hope you have a lovely day skiing tomorrow. Am v envious. We are going mid March and really looking forward to it.

We have also been trying to address the bomb site that is the house today in readiness for NYE. We have friends coming over who have 2 under 2, so we will be trying to have a nice time whilst getting all three asleep at the same time!

Sponge - if I am not in seeing or hearing distance he is not so bad. Luke was exactly the same as Alex and didn't give a stuff about who he was with. this has only happened in the last few days.

Amber, I have all this to look forward to then .

Although, on the positive side, it would p*ss MIL off no end!!!!

Is he just like it with Mark or is it anyone - i.e. is it a man/woman thing? So is he happy with other women but not with men? I know my friend's little girl went through a stage of only wanting to be held by women which was very hard for her dad.