January 09 - 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4......and we're off

[fourlittlestockingedfeet]

Here's a brand new thread for the early party poppers!

hi ray, just read your post about your little one sleeping through the night! how wonderful!

does she take most of her feed during the day? are you breastfeeding or bottle feeding? or mixture?

i had a bad night with my little one last night. of course, it had to be in the early hours of the morning

stripey sounds similar to us - LO just doesn't want to be put down and tries to keep himself awake. Health visitor said very normal for newborns and not to worry - said it shows strong survival instinct!

I have ordered stretchy sling so i can get on with stuff - like eating!

Dog woooohooo! Massive congrats to your very healthy sized DD. AND on doing it at home in the pool.

MJ and Stripey, have you tried the wind exercises... sometimes if they are fussing and won't latch its because of wind.. they try to suck cos they think it will help, get too much air and foremilk, then come off cos their tummy hurts... etc and it becomes a vicious circle. Slings are excellent, especially the fabric ones that push LO tummy to tummy with you as it forces the wind out as you walk, as well as calming them.

Exercises to try and get them farting like a good un!:

Put baby on back and cycle their legs like pistons up and down towards their chest (not too fast!)

Gather both feet sole to sole and push their legs gently up towards their chest. Hold them there while they push.

Gently keep their soles together, frog their legs up towards their chest, then circle them gently one way, then the other.

Good luck... having a fussing baby is truly awful.

(posts very quietly... H went for his first 5 hour stretch last night from 8am til 1pm. Didn't get any sleep as I was busy up drinking wine and as a result my boobs were turbo loaded and bed was covered in milk, but... it took a lot longer than three weeks with DD, so am hoping its not a fluke and eventually will be able to sleep for that long too!)

Tree... hope you are ok

congrats dog thats great news and so glad that u got ur home birth
we all seem to be having good size babies

Congratulations Dog really pleased for you that you got your home water birth. Welcome to your little girl as well. Hope everyone is happy and doing well.

Elizabeth was supposed to have her hearing test yesterday morning (rescheduled after being snow bound last week) but missed it due to DS1 being off sick. She was also supposed to have her hip scan this morning, but Mum was giving us a lift and she drove over some debris from a crash in the road and got a puncture on the way to our house so that was cancelled too.

Cue huge meltdown on my part, many many reasons, not least DH being a pathetic male and deciding its time I was doing everything again so coming home and just sitting (because he is sooo tired) - oh yeah, and I'm not I suppose. Wouldn't mind, but he sleeps through her night feeds now so is having much more sleep than me but behaving like a sleep deprived zombie along with lots of whingeing and yawning etc etc.

I actually went into panic mode because its his birthday on Sunday and I have only bought him his speakers and a card from me so was supposed to be going shopping in town with Mum after the hospital. I haven't bought him anything from the kids and no little presents at all. If I'm honest I really don't really feel like looking for nice prezzies for him at the moment, but know I will feel awful come Sunday if I don't.

Anyway, he got a HUGE serve off me this morning before he left for work, after rolling his eyes a lot and making it plain that he thought I was just overreacting and being hormonal. Yes, there is definitely some hormonal activity involved, but at the same time he is not being at all supportive and is regularly being downright selfish and insensitive. I should've expected it really, he's always been hopeless when he loses sleep, but Elizabeth is going 4/5 hours then 3 and a half between feeds at night and he is sleeping through the feeds anyway.

She is sleeping well once asleep but always has a gripey, fussy hour/hour and a half between 12.00 and 1.30 am ish when she absolutely won't be put down, so although we are getting to sleep late we are getting some good stretches of sleep once she does go down. Tbh if I am coping I don't think its unreasonable of me to expect him to as well.

Anyway, we did eventually get into town for a short while and DS1 eventually chose an EtchaSketch for Daddy from all the kids! Also managed to fit in lunch in a nice cafe, which was full of grannies and grandads so Elizabeth got tonnes of attention and I got to calm down!

Having escaped into the real world for a while I have decided I'll have to buy a smaller buggy for going on the bus so that I can escape more regularly to save my sanity. I wasn't going to buy one until Elizabeth got to 6 months as Mum is usually around and willing to go shopping with me, but she is going to be out of action for 6 weeks after her knee replacement and not only will I need to get out of the house and into town and the hospital etc on the bus, I want to be able to help Mum while she is recovering and its a 2 bus ride to get there (ridiculous really as is only 10 minutes by car, but unwalkable due to the nature of the roads). Was looking at the new Petite Star Zia 4 as it has a soft carrycot from birth - anyone know anything about them?

Hello! Can I join the thread please? I'm Lily, brand new to Mumsnet after having been recommended by a friend. I have 1 daughter, Valentina Camille, who was born 31 January. She is our first child (although DH should count too ) and I thought I'd come on here for some help and support, and maybe even some smiles during this new journey!

We live in Clapham, London, so would be nice to meet up with some other mums if possible, or just in cyber-land as well. Thanks so much if you can squeeze in one more!!

Welcome starbucksaddict - mmmm, I used to love my soya lattes when I lived in London but have been living in beautiful Brecon Beacons for nearly 2 months now so they are a distant memory!

mm you are so sweet to get DH a present from the kids despite his unhelpful approach! I have come to the conclusion that men simply don't have the stamina that we do.

Thanks for winding tips flf; I have to admit I haven't spent too much time trying to wind him as I am always trying to preserve the state of sleep he ends up in, but that might be what wakes him up 10 minutes later.

Nice afternoon at sister in laws with her 2 kids.

Now that we have our babies, can anyone whole-heartedly recommend their travel system? We have held off buying one as we inherited a graco system, but while the car seat is okay, the pram fabric itself is filthy and I don't think it will clean up.

Dog_ Hooray! Congratulations and you got your homebirth in the end...talk about leave it to the last minute!

FLF- J did 5 hours last night too... which was lovely!

Welcome Starbucks, congratulations on the birth of Valentina...beautiful name! I'm over the river from you in East London

mm- Sorry your DP is being a pain, it amazes me how men complain about being tired when they get to sleep through the night feeds, and I know my DP is definitely asleep from the loud rumbling sound of him snoring!

missj- stretchy sling is a life saver, worth thier weight in gold. I don't know about travel systems, but the Maclaren Techno XT I have is brilliant, we used to live in the middle of nowhere with no car and it has survived miles of walking and been on numerous flights around the world and is still in good nic. DD has always liked it and its suitable from birth..would realyy recommend it.

qumps- hope your household is feeling better and there's less vomiting

Spink- How are your boobs? Mastitis sounds horrible, hope its easing up.

MissJ I am absolutely in love with my Baby Jogger City Classic AND it takes a Graco carseat if you buy the carseat adapter to go with it.

We have the jogger in black and silver and have bought the Graco Autobaby car seat in the same colours. It looks really smart and I've had loads of people asking about it and saying how posh it looks.

Its also really well made, sturdy and being a short wheel base three wheeler can go anywhere. Have used mine across the park, through the snow (even when about 6-7 deep) and also round town and it handled all 3 'terrains' without so much as a hiccup. Next trial will be taking it across the hills with the dogs.

Other than that, I would definitely second the Maclaren Techno XT. Had the same one from birth with both boys which now makes it just a tad under 7 years old and its still going strong, although looking a little tired these days so didn't want to use it for my little girl. Think you have to get the XLR if you want it as a travel system though and they are bigger and heavier, or so I've been told.

Have you looked at the Petite Star Zia 4 at all. I am very impressed with it and have read some great reviews. Its lightweight, compact and has a really compact fold and best of all its really cheap. I like it in the black (called moonstone), but you can get a couple of other colours as well.

zia4 here

zia4 travel system here

Hi StarbucksAddict welcome and congratulations on the birth of your little girl.

well the tears are flowing here after an epic day. was going to write all my woes down but started and then decided everyone else has enough on their plate without hearing mine. just to say the worst feeling i have at the moment is the guilt that ds2 is just passing me by. he is already nearly 8 weeks and sometimes it feels like i have blinked and it has gone. however daily survival seems to take over the chance to enjoy him. he is sooo cute and i love him so much.
just to add next time i want to be a man. to have the freedom to walk out the door when ever i feel like it and not have to worry if things will go on without me would be great.

msjackson stripey DD won't lay down on her own through the day and the sling has been my saviour. she'll happily sleep in for up to 2 hours so long as she is on me. DH has just been able to carry her around too now and all the better for me. i love the sling. i have three of them. right now DD is in one on me while i mumsnet in between laundry loads.

Quinney.... that's the travel system we have. its a jogger but not with the overly giant wheels and there are 4 of them. the car seat also had the widest range for baby size. the stroller lays right down flat too. we live in an area that have fine gravel sidewalks and forest paths to get to the shops so this one was a great buy for the money. i use it every day. the car seat was also the lightest. i can't find it on the net but will try later... the milk monster is stirring.

Congratulations Dog and thank you for making our last birth so exciting! Fantastic that you got your homebirth, can't wait to hear all about it.

Girls names: Thea , Ava, Lily, Gwen... just a few of my faves.

Welcome Starbucks and congratulations on the arrival of your DD.

MissJ I don't own a travel system but love my Mountain Buggy and I believe it can be a travel system with one of the carseats... not sure which one. Where is Mel when you need her... oh yeah, she had twins my god, how does she cope??

Sounds like classic growth spurt with the constant nursing, prob to up your supply. Will only last 24-48 hours if it is, just long enough for your supply to catch up. Is hell at the time but soon passes.

I have a Moby wrap - both me and DS love it. Which one have you gone for? A lot of people swear by the hugabub too. I am a bit of a sling/babywearing junkie... I think I have 2 wraps (one storchie and the moby), a ring sling, an ergo and a mei tai at the moment (mostly bought secondhand otherwise DH would kill me)!! Slings and nappies are my heels and handbags nowadays

Qumps and MM really feel for you both on the men front. Been there this week. Make sure you vent on here Qumps, that's what we are here for. And make sure you let them know that you are disgruntled, better to get it out than stew on things. A good cry does wonders.. also been there this week. DH took me out for lunch today to make it up to me after last weeks performance and DD went to PIL so we just had DS. Was lovely to spend some time just with him. Qumps could you get your DH to take DS1 out for the day when he gets back so you can spend some quality time with DS2? What about going to babyswimming with DS2 and getting someone to have DS1 regularly for an hour while you go? Swimming is meant to be great for bonding.

Stripey - Have you tried putting a hot water bottle or heat pad (from John Lewis for £16.50 HERE prob cheaper elsewhere) in the crib/moses basket to warm it before you put baby down? A sleeping bag/swaddling (can use a regular blanket to swaddle) can also help as can put them down without having to arrange bedding afterwards which can startle them too much. Settling with a dummy might help relieve wind. Also can express some milk onto their sheet or shove it down your top for an hour or two so it smells of you in there.

OMG - I do go on...

Miss J - Sorry to hear your so tired with LO feeding all night. Havent even tried feeding laying down, so afraid can't help, but, know one of my friends swore by the "my breastfriend" pillow. Think it props them into a good position to feed & makes nightime feeds easier.

Stripey Sorry to hear DD having trouble settling. I used the tips from the baby whisperer on trying to get her down before the third yawn. Sort of catch her when she is getting sleepy, pop her in moses basket, but stay close, so can sense me, then just have hand on chest - think warmth and pressure makes her feel like i'm still holding her, and then eventually moving away. Have to usually go back to her and sssh ssh and put hand on chest again, but seems to drift off eventually. Worth having a look at her book/website (baby whisperer) alot of the things she says make alot of sense.

tree hope you had a better day today! Thinking of you!

Starbucks Welcome- what a beautiful name for your LO.

heron22 sorry to hear you had such such a rubbish night! I'm solely breastfeeding, she seems to feed every 3-4 hours in the day, but in the daytime if she wants to feed after 2 or so, i'll give it to her. I end up sort of cluster feeding before bed, feeding around 7pm and then again at 9pm ater her bath, so tanking her up i guess. That, and i honestly SWEAR by the swaddle blanket i've been using. It stops her twitching and waking herself up which she seems to do with her daytime naps. Also been reading the baby whisperer book for some tips - worth a glance. Good luck xx

Hope all going well for everyone else. xx

swaddling with a regular blanket When they get to about a month old I was advised to leave their arms out (swaddle under the armpits instead) as can interfere with development after that... DS hated being swaddled though a shame as I used to love looking at my little cocooned DD

Can't remember who said about feeding in bed but I can't feed lying down either asked bf counsellor for help on this and she said she had never managed it either. I use a v-shaped pillow and sit up propped up on pillows in the bed. I put the news on in the night to keep me awake otherwise I drift off as BF counsellor said that if you do use pillows/positioners then is best you don't fall asleep with them since are are SIDS risk.

Feeling proud as I persevered with putting Nye down tonight, and finally left him alone with his eyes open - and he fell asleep! It's the first time he's gone down by himself upstairs - usually we keep him with us. Then snuck downstairs for a glass of wine and grown-up evening with OH and his friend who is staying over. They are cooking dinner for me! But it's already 9.20pm and by the time they've finished I am sure LO will be awake again....!

Thanks for the travel system recommendations, will research them tomorrow.

chefswife & LenniEd my Moby wrap arrived this afternoon. Am looking forward to trying it out although 5 metres of fabric sounds a little daunting!

qumps you must feel free to moan/ whinge/ cry here - I am sure we all will at one stage or another!

Hope you are having a lovely time with LO dog!

miss j Well done you! Did LO fuss at all? or just take himself off to sleep? Sometimes LO fusses a bit, but is quite good at settling herself if she is tired.

Had a lovely day today with good friends of ours who have a 6 month old baby. Esme makes their little girl look MASSIVE! Scary to think that'll be my baby in 6 months! :-/

ps, LenniEd, interested to hear about stopping swaddling at a month......My swaddle blanket (mothercare miracle one) seems to suggest its OK until 14 weeks, as says 0-14 weeks. Will have to look into it, as don't want to be restricting LO's development!

Thanks for all the lovely welcomes! I'll put in my pushchair woes as well, we actually haven't selected one yet shock horror. We had a pretty big fight about it 3 weeks before V arrived - read: pregnancy hormones.

Result is we now desperately, DESPERATELY need a pushchair but seem to have very different ideas about what we want. DH really likes the Bugaboo for reasons untold, he says they 'look nice' but we couldn't afford a new one and I don't particularly want a second hand Bugaboo...this may be me being a snob and having firstborn syndrome! Plus I don't like the idea of a carrycot and then a separate seat as DD is very big and will outgrow Moses basket in just weeks I think, so would be a strain. I think we would be better off getting something like a Maclaren which all friends seem to swear by.

We have 3 slings at the moment which are doing us just fine, but Valentina was a porker at 9 lb 8 oz and she will be too big soon to lug carry lovingly all day.

Hope the mastitis clears up soon, we aren't having too much luck BF'ing. Seems my supply is very low and with V being very big doesn't satisfy her at all, so we've been topping up with formula which just seems to make the cycle more vicious.

Ray - I will ask HV on Friday as she was my HV with DD and told me about swaddling first time round but iirc it is not recommended that they be swaddled once they can roll over but that is much later than 4wks (I think..?) so not sure if that makes sense. I'll see what she says, but ime of HVs they don't seem to have much evidence to back up some of the things they come out with so might just be an outdated idea - for instance my sister has given up bf as her HV told her formula would make her baby sleep better I think she was fed up with bf anyway but even so I think it was so unprofessional to tell a first time mum that. TBH I think the baby would soon tell you when they have had enough and want their arms free, plus if it is meaning you get lots of sleep then I'd go for it!

MissJ - Moby is a little daunting at first but they have fab instructions and once you get the hang of wrapping it you can do loads of different carries with the same wrapping technique. Plus you can wear it with baby out quite comfortably so don't have to undo it all the time. Videos on youtube too if you are stuck.

spoke too early on the sleep - 2 hourly all night and all morning. absolutely shattered. think its three week growth spurt.

I, too bought a posh travel system for my PFB; a Bebe confort loola, no less. loved the whole pram/carseat thing, but after that it was heavy/clunky and generally a pita, albeit a beautiful one! Ended up buying a Jane to have a lightweight one (as they go completely flat, but that was too cheap and rickety) so bought a maclarne techno, as all my friends with experience said to do in the first place. doh. could have saved myself £400!.

Anyway. Just get a maclaren. End of IMO! The current ones are great with the waterproof aprons, so you don't even need to muck around with a raincover or a cosy or a suggle if you don't want one. Mine is even working well with H in the sling and DD in the buggy, then when we are playing/eating, he goes in the flat buggy until we are on the move again.

soo tired. sory for buggy rant.