December 2008 - Its not wind they are smiling.

[JamInMyWellies]

Here we go ladies Rosmerta suggestion.

Bisou - DD's feeds really vary. She will often do about 20 mins on one side and then I take her off, burp her, stimulate her and generally faff for about 15 mins and then she does about 20 mins on the other side. However sometimes she just snacks and then wants to go back on again within an hour. I am going to try and get her into a three hour feeding routine from tomorrow - I am hoping for 45 mins feeding and then 2 hours and 15 mins sleeping or "playing". during the day. In the night we were in a similar pattern to you until last night's shenannigans.

Good luck with expressing. I found it really hard at first but then I realised that if I express on one side while DD feeds from the other then I can get lots of milk. Its the only way that works for me. I also have to use a manual pump as the electric pumps are a bit strong and hurt my nips.

Jam - Thanks for the Tommee Tippee tip. I did try them but those teats are silicon whereas the Playtex ones are rubber. Apparantly rubber is often preferred by BFed babies as it is more textured like skin. Also the Tommee Tippee teats are much bigger, the small playtex one is very much like a smallish nipple.

Hello all,

trace I love what you said about just feeding and cuddling being an achievement. I'd ignore the ironing pile if I were you. I'm living in crumpled clothes!

JJ I'm near Manchester. The snow lasted till yesterday morning but has gone now. I tried to show DD her first snow but she wasn't very interested. DD is very toasty when she's in her sling - like a pot bellied stove .

I was also wondering about Beans. Hope she's OK.

Arti Hurray for your DD taking the bottle.

Can I ask a question of those with dogs? We visited my parents with DD for the first time on Sunday. They have two young terrier dogs. My Dad said they need to get used to DD being around but one of them kept trying to jump up and was too close to her for my (and DH's) liking. In the end they were removed from the room but I don't think they should be near her at all. Am I overreacting? Those dogs bit my parent's kitten when they were fighting over some food, which makes me feel that I have grounds to be worried. I don't want to upset my parents and I do like dogs, honest!Any advice anyone?

mm tricky one Jolly, I think you have every right to ask for them to be removed. If a dog is not used to babies and children it should be a very slow introduction to each other and always supervised. Even if a dog is used to children you shouldnt leave them together. Our dog is very used to being pulled about by DS1 but I would never leave him in a room with DS2. We allow DS2 to be in his bouncy chair and the dog is allowed to sniff him but as much as we can we dont allow him near the babies face.

Jolly, I have a (very gentle) Jack Russell, but with their reputation I would NEVER leave a LO on their own in a room with him. Also, my parents have 2 labs, one of which is only a year old and behaves very strangely around DD (although fine with DS), snapping etc, although I don't believe he actually is intending to hurt her. We wrapped DD up in one of my Dad's smelliest old coats and let him sniff her and he is now fine with her as he realises she is part of the pack. Still wouldn't leave a LO alone with any dog though.

Thanks jam and katie. I think I'll have a chat to my mum about it and say I'd prefer the dogs not to be loose around DD for the moment until they have seen her from a distance a few times - then we could try the sniffing in an old coat thing. I hope they are not too offended but I just felt so uneasy on Sunday it puts me off visiting again.

I think it would be better if they were old family pets that I knew well. If it was the old dog we had when I lived at home I'd be much less worried.

Hi Ladies - managed to track you all down so er, happy new year!

Hope everyone is enjoying motherhood??!!! God I'm exhausted! hence the lack of Orange action for last 4 weeks (where do the days go?) I have no chance of catching up where I left off, so not even going to try.

Bought a BabyBjorn at the weekend so at least I have 2 hands again and can sort of do more stuff now. It is my aim this week to get out of the house before midday, but so far not succeeding - maybe tomorrow?!

Absolutely bessotted with babyOrange but managing to cause more problems outside womb than in. 1st of many (I suspect) trips to the GP yesterday - he has REALLY bad baby acne and is now greased up from scalp to chest with some yucky smelling cream to try and keep him moist. Where's my cute cuddly baby gone?! Hope he'll be back soon as people give us funny looks when we're out in public like I haven't been looking after him properly and they might catch something. tsk.

HA!! My break lasted long didn't it. I've been quite bored, DS1 was at his godmothers, DS2 was asleep. I've washed up, cleaned the kitchen, hoovered and tidied up some toys.

I am going to just FF DS2, I don't have the energy anymore too keep trying to BF him. I am going to have to try not to let it get to me. I am fully expecting my MIL to moan and whinge at me when I go to see her tomorrow but I will try to rise above it.

Arti We LOVE the Playtex Nurser bottles!! My mom brought me a load of them with her from the states and they are amazing! I was going to recommend them to you... but looks like you've already found them! Glad they are working for you and your LO!

Well just got back from taking the dog out and she's exhausted thank god! Quick trip to Tesco, what a disaster! Got some meat, few essentials, some cheerfulness and ds kicked off (since he's damanding feeding every hour not surprised!) Got to check out only to discover left purse in the car! Not handy...
Anyway, ds happily feeding away now as I type! Not sure where he puts it all!

Jam LOL at your dog eating Elmo! Hope he got a run in the fields ok.

Bisou Yeah I was anti dummy until i realised ds was needing to suck to help his wind and probably taking in more air by crying so bought a dummy and he spat it out! Repeatedly! So gave up on that idea! He only wants the boob to pacify him! I have definitely decided that thrashing thing is wind though cause as soon as I sit him up he usually burps, problem is after that I have a hard time keeping him awake so feeds can go on for an hour, and if i get tired of it and let him sleep, he's awake in half an hour wanting more...

Arti Very impressed with your feeding on one side and expressing on the other!! Especially with a manual pump!! I did that once, when I was going out and leaving him with my Mum, but I felt very tied down and it was an effort to get all set up!!

Jolly we have a crazy 1yo Lab and she has SO much energy and still very puppy like and has also had all of my attention for her 12 months of life! There isn't a mean or viscious bone in her body, however she is 33kg and loves attention and likes to put her paw on us to remind us to pat her. When I came home from hospital she was beside herself with curiosity and was trying to run at ds1 whenever she saw him to investigate. she would sit being held back with one paw in the air like she was ready to pounce! WE bought a baby gate to keep her confined to the other room. DH is a little.... erm... lets just say 'forgetful' and 'casual' about things to say the least, and pften thinks i over react. I totally lost it one day when he left the gate open and she ran towards ds1 so i dived infront and tackled the dog to the ground (3 days post C/S!!) Anyway, we also hadf loads of visitors in the house so lots of excitment for the dog. After everyone left and house quietened down, we introduced her very slowly to ds1 in a controlled situation. I would still never leave them in the same room, but she is great with him- if he cries she wimpers and looks at me and then sits next to him like she is protecting him or very worried! It's quite nice, and i think she was just curious more than anything but, it really does have to be done controlled, slowly and at the same time, always make sure the dog gets attention too, but at the end of the day, the dog must understand the pecking order and yeah don't let them be alone together no matter how good the dog seems..
sorry for the novel!

hi all, we've been out all day today which has been nice!

Kayz & katie you've both done fantastically to get this far with bf

bisou are you an alto or soprano? I don't know the Queen of the Night role but would love to come & see you sing!

orange nice to see you back!

I was going to say to anyone whose baby is crying for any length of time, its perfectly ok to put them down so they're safe & take yourself into another room to try & calm down for a few minutes. I remember with ds1 getting wound up and even more stressed by his crying but didn't think of doing this until the HV said it was perfectly ok. I think they can pick up on your feelings so if you're getting tense and upset, it makes them more upset and so on. Sorry if you already know/do this!

Ds2 finally seems to be settling into a bit of a routine! We've started putting him down as soon as he's had his 7pm bottle, even if he's awake & he's getting himself off to sleep. I wonder now if part of his crying & getting upset was just because he wanted us to leave him alone

Something happened the other day which will have to go down as a favourite thing - tried to wind him halfway through his feed, when I went to take the bottle out he actually growled! Dh & I were laughing about it for ages!

ladyt something that might interest you

Bisou my DS2 is the opposite and is a real snacker. 10 minutes is a long feed for him. Means I end up feeding him lots early evening and would rather he just had a long feed but he just will not do it. (mind you the plus side is after a feeding frenzy yesterday evening he then slept from 11.30pm til 7am!!!)

Orange hope your DS's acne improves soon.

Kayzr-just ignore the MIL. If you want to FF that is your business and no one else's. My MIL is generally great but I am breastfeeding and she is not comfortable with it at all and I often get comments I just try to ignore. This is the third time around and you would think she would realise by now, I am still going to feed the baby how I choose no matter what she says.

Regarding routines, my DS2 just has to fit around the others really. On Monday DD had a friend to tea so I was cooking dinner for the kids, supervising DS1 trying to join in with the girls' games and trying to cook a goulash for our dinner-all the while DS2 had to sit in his chair wailing. I would never have left DD crying for that long but I guess that is just what happens when you are the youngest child.

majormoo that sounds familiar, I often have to leave ds2 crying as well!

Majormoo please tell us some of your MIL best comments.

Kayz don't go I need someone to talk Arsenal with. Also your MIL will moan whatever you do, if she didn't have this to give her ammunition she would have something else.

I think I may have mastitis we went to Twycross zoo today which was lovely but all day I had a sore boob and am feeling very fluey. I have had a sore throat for a few days so it could be related to that, fingers crossed. I've had it before with ds1 and antibiotics sorted it but ds1 was grizzly from them so would rather not have to have them.

The Roomba is great it vacuumed downstairs while we were out. Ds1 has named it Wall-E and decided he is it's boss. He was watching it work this evening and checking up on it to make sure it was doing a good enough job. When he cat wander past he explained to him that it was a robot and invited him to have a look.

Oh Kayz I didn't mean that to sound like you have many failings your MIL can moan about I mean she would find something else to fault because she is just a moaner, does that make sense.

I know Veggie, she has been moaning that we haven't put a stairgate on DS1's door so he can't get out of his room.

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Cat my lovely take a deep breath leave DH to it for half an hour and take yourself off to another room and just calm yourself. Do what makes you happy. The advice you are being given is just that advice dont feel you have to follow it go with your instinct.

Oh by thr way its jaminmywellies namechange for burns night.

Stairgates are for safety not for locking children in their rooms (that's what doors with bolt locks are for- just joking)

I'm feeling a little better ds2 fed me almost dry off both boobs and the sore one feels better unless I touch it now. Dh has made me a yummy dinner.

Kayz how is Dylans nipple? Did you ask the HV about it.

No the clinic is tomorrow and when I rang there was no one there. So I'll just take him there and see what it is.

As I have stopped BF I have decided to diet. I am hoping to lose about 5 stone as I am overweight by 5 stone. I want to be a size 10 again but if I get to a 12 I'll be happy. I'm going to get out my exercise stuff tomorrow and crack on with it.

cat- i know just how you feel - it is a minefield of conflicting advice. don't know how to help, apart from try and look after yourself first - get some sleep. even if a friend can take lo out in pram while you get an hour - you will feel better. you need to reboot yourself and then your instincts will be easier to feel.

easier said than done, i know. madam has taken an AGE to settle, have put her down adn she is making not very encouraging noises. is the miracle blanket a one miracle wonder, i wonder???

ps miracle blanket: this page - you've got to be brutal with it, but if they are milk drunk, they don't seem to mind so much.

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Kmp the paspic.com site def does do Australian biometric ones. It seems ours are the same as the EU ones and there is a tick box for EU/AU. We are frantically trying to get his UK passport for this possible Munich trip. Unfortunately it may be when DH was supposed to go to London which would mean we may not come down for a meet up. I kinda think I would rather London than Munich as site seeing isn't quite the same with 2 kids by myself. At least in London it's all familiar.

I kinda sit on the fence wrt routines/training (surprise surprise). With DS1, I found that on one hand trying different approaches/routine made me feel like I was doing something to help and I felt better for having a Plan. But if it's stressing you out further or worse, making you feel that having a baby who doesn't sleep/nap/feed properly is all your fault then you need to fall back on the easiest option as get a break whichever way you can. It's very easy IME to tip over from sleep deprivation/new mother hormones into depression so remember to be kind to yourself

Go for it Kayz, I've just eaten 20 rich tea time biscuit with my cup of tea. So yummy.

Cat I wish I could say somethingbto help. I thought I knew what I was doing this time but ds2 is a completely different baby to ds1 and so I am back to feeling my way again. But the one thing I do know is babies are very forgiving and once you work it out all the supposed mess ups you did while you were muddling along won't mean anything and will not have a lasting effect. You will not create any bad habits or rods for your own back, and you cannot spoil them. Just be good to yourself and the rest will eventually follow.