September 08 - New Year PFBs, Last Year BFPs!

[ninja]

Hi - welcome to the new thread!

Ah, thanks. My dad gave us a walker (which I know MNers have a huge dislike for)...but A is happy to sit in it for about 5-10 minutes and play with whatever I put in front of him (any longer and he arches his back with boredom). He's one of those babies that prefers being held upright and standing, but we can't put a door bouncer in because we have no doors downstairs (open plan house).

pacita Very impressed with D's sleep. A not so impressive last night, woke at 2:30 (nappy change) and 3:30 (fed), but I forgive him because he's got a runny nose. I'm in Muswell Hill, where are you?

digitalgirl, fancy that! I'm very close, in Harringay, just the other side of the bridge from Mount view road, but hang out in Muswell Hill occasionally. We should meet for a coffee with our LO's if you fancy. I sometimes go to Giraffe, just cos they're very child friendly and have good changing facilities...

Do you come down to Crouch End much?

DG I know many are against walkers, but it was the best thing ever for DS, who wanted to "walk" by 4 months, not even held upright, but had to be held by his hands so he could walk (my poor back!!), he was such a pro, racing from kitchen to lounge and back to check himself on the oven door. DD's not much different, so we got it out last week and it's been a big hit so far

Is anyone else doing the Mr Motivator exercises in the mornings? I have been getting both the DC's up and ready in time so I can bounce around for 5 minutes. DS has been bobbing about too, while DD just giggles at me. I don''t expect it to shift the last of the baby weight but it gets me going - even if I do have to hold my boobs so they don't bounce around .

DD has slept through from 11:30-7 for the last week now. and . Now I have a bit more energy I'm trying to do a little more bf and expressing to boost my supply, I won't do it full time again but it's so nice to have it on tap.

carrie my friend has the baby einstein toy, the little ones look so cute when they are playing in it.

exP update, he is being a twunt still and hasn't seen the DC's since sunday. He is fuming because I am coping on my own. I think he expected me to be begging him to come back and downing bottles of vodka, silly him.

meglet and carriebo i've been reading them both stories too and ds2 seems to like books already so that's good as ds1 has well over 100 books. But even cuter is ds1 reading stories to ds2. There's a video of them on my facebook.

carriebo my church does that too. It was so good in those 1st few weeks after ds2 was born having the meals brought to us, hot, ready to eat and huge portions usually.
We also do them for ill people and I've got 2 coming up soon to do. I bought the stuff for my cookathon earlier today.

lollyheart meglet and hopefully I can only do the 3rd Feb too now (dh has job interview on 27th and will have the car) so lets go with then. 10am ish at JJs is fine with us.

Do you know when you have the check for hip problems and they look for the creases on the thigh being the same on each leg?
The creases on Robyn's ankles are different, there are 2 but the space in between is odd. The left is about a centimetre and the right is about 3 mm. Do you think i should pop to the drs?

debi i tried to look at your video but this pc is a bit pants and wouldn't even let me download the flash player. pah!

Goodness knows how I will get it set up for photos and printing for e-bay!

imoscarsmum thanks, it is me. DS2 does adore ds1, he watches him so closely all the time and usually with the biggest smile on his face. DS1 can stop him grizzling or crying better than anyone. I can sense them being trouble in a couple of years though!

re: Basingstoke meet up on 3rd feb, I'll be there.

Ugh ironing is my pet hate and avoid it at all costs. Fortunately DH does not mind doing his own shirts and all my tops either do not need it or I creep at the house at bit crinkly and hope they will fall out.

Also very rarely wear makeup, not because I am a natural beauty but because I am sooo lazy to put it on, and I have a bad habit of rubbing my eyes so I tend to look like a panda pretty quickly!

I'm off to join weightwatchers tonight as weighed myself last week and was very . However I am now running at least once a week and doing a postnatal fitness class too. May even try a Davina McCall workout if the reviews are good! Also trying to walk lots too.

sorry 'out' rather than 'at' - must read through before posting, although I do have a very shreikey baby distracting me

i might do one iron in the summer for linen that's been scrunched up - but i agree if it's going to look crumpled in an hour, why bother!

I do the same starlight, I think I only have about 2 tops that require ironing. I went through a very brief phase of ironing when DS was about 8 weeks. I think it was because I felt stuck at home with all the feeding and it was something I could do with him in the sling that was different from hanging the laundry.

pacita I go down to Crouch End all the time, DH's office is there and 2 NCT friends live there. Lets definitely meet for a coffee and introduce Alfredo and Diego! Do you have a non-namey email address? Alternatively I'm on the Facebook group, my real name is on the group wall.

sunflower Wow, zipping about at 4 months! A occasionally pushes himself backwards by accident, usually when he's arching his back and waving his arms in the air (baby code for 'pick me up now I'm bored')

I thought linen was meant to look creased?

I've had a terrible blocked duct since last night, it feels like I have a golf ball in there and it won't shift no matter how much massaging / feeding on that side I do. Bloody thing, I don't want it to turn into mastitis! cries
I'm going to go out and buy a cabbage tonight if there's still no change. That's all else I can think of!

starlight hey I rang about that course and got Bethany's number but I recall I wrote it on a paper bag with a belgian bun in it, which I later ate, and then threw the bag away.

hopefully ds also makes that noise, has been doing for about a week (coincidentally since first cranial osteo treatment??) but i think maybe its wind or teething? he only does it when hes already awake though. odd isnt it

Great debithesott meglet and hopefully
the 3rd it is then.

hopefully i will email you my number just incase you fall asleep on the train and debithescott i will facebook you the directions.

10 is fine with me, hopefully dont worry what time you get there i will give dc their lunch there.

Fraser went back to waking at 2 and 5 again last night, im so tired today i went and saw the big brother evictions last night, i got to bed around 1am so not had much sleep.

Pacita I use Aptamil and have had no problems. If you suspect Diego is lactose intolerant, I would suggest getting him tested to make sure as I think soy formulas are prescription only?

Tom and Toby both have atopic excema (runs in both sides of the family I'm afraid) and they are not lactose intolerant and have been fine on "normal" formula milk.

Hi all - haven't been around for ages as I've been really busy but am interested to come on this thread and see some of you are having the same problems as me with Effy.

Pacita we think Effy is lactose intolerant. She's had cows milk formula three times and has been really really sick each time (not baby sick either, more like a really bad hangover where she's sicked up bile and gone pale and floppy). We struggled to get the drs to take us seriously about it as they kept telling us it was rare, but we are now being referred to a paediatric dietician and they have confirmed to dr that they think we may have a genuine problem. In the meantime she's been prescribed Nutramigen, which is neither soya nor cows milk based. The main issue is that I currently have to mix it with equal amounts of breast milk, so I'm still having to find the time to express.

One of our other problems is that since the last couple of times she's been sick, Effy has now started refusing the bottle. It's a total battle and she normally wins. She screams and screams and pushes it away. I've tried all different types to no avail and in desperation today I gave her a 'from 4 months' sippy cup, which she started off sucking from, then started pushing away as well.

In addition to all of this she's a really small baby who seems to struggle putting on weight. She started off around the 9th centile, then dropped to the 2nd and sometimes even dips below this. I feel so anxious every time I go to weigh in.

Then my final issue is the night time sleeping. For the first three months she slept straight through to 7am. For the last two she's woken every hour to 2 hours all night, so I'm getting absolutely no sleep at all. I really don't know what to do or how to fix it but I get the feeling that everything is related.

Other than that she's an absolute star. She's the smiliest, most adorable baby and is so interested in everything around her. She also loves standing up so I have her in the door bouncer. I haven't tried her in the walker yet as I think she'll be too small for it but I'm sure she'll love it. She also adores her chair bouncer and loves watching Baby Gallileo.

Hi Becaroo, thanks a lot for the tip. How do you get them tested for lactose intolerant? Do you need to be referred by the GP? What if it is just some sort of sensitivity that he grows out of?

And more than anything, how do you manage to keep flares at bay with your two LOs? I am finding that Diego's skin is a lot better now that I religiously moisturise it with Aveeno morning and night, bath 3 times a week only, and avoid milk products. He has to sleep with mitts on, or he'll scratch himself to smithereens. I am dreading the second lot of jabs though, as if the flare is anything like last time it'll take hydrocortison and patience.

digitalgirl would love to meet for a coffee! I have sent you a friend request in FB. How exciting!

Pacita we're being referred to the paediatric dietician to be tested so I guess you do need to go via your GP. I believe that often, even with the most serious allergy, they do often grow out of it.

Hello sunshinemummy, Effy's issue sounds like real intolerance, and it's great that the pead has acknowledged it and is getting you help. I'm afraid I have no advice regarding bottles, as I am really bad at expressing, and everytime I've given him expressed milk he's taken it fine. Have you tried perhaps changing the type of bottle? The tommy tippee one is the one I've been using, as it's supposed to be similar to a breast (as if).

You must be knackered with all that night time waking. Are you managing some naps during the day?

Hi Pacita I've tried a number of bottles. The latest one is the First Years Breastflow bottle, which let's the baby suck like they're sucking a breast. I tried that one today but she wouldn't have it. I also tried a sippy cup, which she took for a while and then started refusing.

Unfortunately I'm usually so busy that I don't sleep during the day. Am really starting to struggle and once I'm back at work I don't know how I'll cope.

Pacita I have used SMA Gold with Charlotte and she has had no problems at all. I think that most frmulas out there are pretty much the same - it's only if you need a specialist formula that you would need to see your GP.

Had exciting day today as we went to work with DP! Well, that meant C and I went in the car with him as he toddled around Manchester seeing clients. Was nice cos we ended up at trafford centre and C was very well behaved in her pram while we ate at Yo Sushi for an early tea. Big perk of DP being self-employed!

Sending good sleep vibes to all.