April 2005 babies!!!

[Gem1355]

Hi

Howz everyone doing?

Darcie is doing well but losing abit of weight after she put it on after inital weight loss but okay other than that.

would post a picture but don't know how!

[Merlin]

Verso - got my granules in the health food shop. Brand is Weleda and they are called Chamomilla Teething Granules.

[Gem1355]

Hi

Gave Darcie some flavoured water yesterday it was so funny she screwed up her face, but will keep trying!!!! She is still on 8oz but will be upping to 9oz soon! don;t know what to do after that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Verso are you feeling better?
Hope evryone else and their babies r doing well?

[Kelly1978]

Verso - don't let her get to you. Hope you are feelign better now.

Hi gem, that is so much milk for a tiny baby, maybe she is going thru a growth spurt and things will calm down soon. She must be putting on loads of weight!
I weighed the twins yesterday, ravi is now 10lb10 and Akshay is 11lb, so i'm very pleased with myself

[leggymamba]

Hello everyone,

Have just found my way here. Patrick is now 2 weeks old - all arms and legs and has just about grown out of 0-3 month stuff (he's getting very cold ankles and wrists!) the 3- 6 month stuff is huge though. He was last weighed at 10 days and was 10lb 2. Not sure where he gets this tall bit from as dh and me are both shortish!

DD has become chief nappy monitor and brings me nappies whether they are needed or not. Getting through hundreds of wet wipes - Boys nappies are soooo difficult, so many creases. Any tips?

Kelly - love the photos - are they professional?

[leggymamba]

Verso - Had the same from my mum with dd the first time around. I had hard time with dd's birth and so was feeling down and took each comment to heart. I know it's easier said than done but just agree with her (but don't listen!) and let it wash over you. Have a rant at your dh after wards - it helps loads! good luck with the visit when it gets too much use the excuss of having a lie down to get away!

[Gem1355]

Kelly she is gaining 5oz a week and her milk has been going up and up since week 3 and she will be 7 weeks on wednesday, will have to up her milk to 9oz by the end of the week coz she is drinking her 8oz dry! don't know what to do after as she is 2 young to have baby rice!!!!

Your boys seem to be growing nicely!!!!

[Verso]

Latest comment (after a very busy day of on-off feedings yesterday), "in my day, we were on a strict four-hour feeding schedule". I did try to explain that that isn't recommended these days, especially with breastfeeding, but it fell on deaf ears.

Because the baby is having a nap now, my mum says, "oh, look! She's behaving more like a normal baby should behave today!"



I shall attempt to keep calm and try to remember that I'm meeting a friend to go to the baby clinic this morning and can let off steam then!!

I will no doubt be back with more classic comments later on in the week.

P.S. Gem - yes, physically, I am a lot better and got checked out at the weekend and am apparently healing very well, which was quite a relief. I have yet another minor complication, but it should be sorted by the end of this week, I hope! Mentally, I find I can cope ok as long as I have at least one stretch of two or more hours sleep a day. If I don't, I start to lose touch with reality a bit (!) and get very emotional and wibbly.

[alux]

Hello Everyone: I have been keeping an eye on this thread for a week but had no idea where to start.

Maya was 4 wks old yesterday. It all seems to have zoomed by. We were in hospital the first 8 days so that must make it seem shorter. Then much to my horror, I immediately came down with the flu when I got home! It was a nightmare first week home for me.

She is now wide-eyed when she is awake and loves to be cuddled and carried second only to feeding.

She lost 8 oz off her birthweight and the h/v recommended supplementing with a bottle much to my dismay as it made me feel like I was not able to care for her properly.

With the help of my b/f counsellor and mumsnet, we persevered and 8 days after her first weigh, she had put back those 8 oz plus 3 more. [smug emoticon] Mummy was thrilled!

she IS a feedy maniac. happiest if left to fall asleep on the nipple which for 3 nights in a row made my life hell. I initially thought it was a growth spurt. With further advice from my midwife I am no longer a dummy snob and taught her to use one when she is dropping off to sleep.

All in all, I am ga-ga over my baby even when she screams the house down everytime I change her nappy. On Sunday she had her first proper day out. We walked to the pub for sunday lunch. I was glowing with pride that everyone in the pub was whispering to each other when I walked in with Maya in a baby sling. She spent the next 1 1/2 hrs snoozing in her sling while I lunched, making everyone wait to see her little face. [Maya wants to say that: Mummy was doubly proud when others stopped to admire and chat about me in the pub.]

[alux]

Verso: Glad to read that you are feeling better. Will make more comments later or maybe tomorrow as these things go these days as baby beckons. she is sleeping past her feeding time. gotta wake her up and feed. And it is not a 4 hrly one.

Bllluuuuppp to what your mum says. Feed your baby!

[Kelly1978]

leggymamaba - thanks, the pics aren't professional, I got the idea from a website, and took them with a digi cam using the sofas and cushions as a backdrop!

Gem, is she on hungrier baby milk? I've jsut worked out that mine are putting on average of 10oz a week, but they still won't take anymore than 4oz at a feed. I hope they slow down soon.

Verso, I think the comments made by your mum are hilarious. Just remember to smile and nod, then you can laugh at them later. According to dp's parents, dp was never fed milk after 12 at night, and slept thru the night from day one. His gran told me I should wake the babies for a bottle at 10pm then they wud sleep thru. I let it go in one ear and out the other. I think it's jsut one of those selective memory things, but I hope I won't be spouting the same crap to my children in years to come.

lol at lightbulb look! I'm a bad mum too, I keep agreeign to teh HV's nagging to go to baby clinic when I have no intention of doing anythign other than weighing them on the kitchen scales. I'm stuck now tho, they only go up to 12lbs.

[Kelly1978]

Oh alux, I was a dyummy snob, took dd's away at 6 weeks, and totally regreted it. Once she got older I couldn't get her back onto it and she could scream for England going round the shops.
ds had his until he started walkign, and I'm plannign the same for the twins. Dummys really are a godsend.

[Merlin]

hope everyone is fine this afternoon. Verso - your mum sounds hilarious - although irritating 4 u!!!!

Just wondering - how much "awake" time are everyone's babies having? Ryan seems v sleepy today - growing perhaps?

[Gem1355]

Kelly Darcie isn't on hungrier baby milk spoke to HV about it and she told me not 2!
SO don't know what to do?

Verso glad to hear your feeling a little better, and agree with Kelly about your mum just nod and smile!

[alux]

gem, is it possible that she loves to suck like mine and you've misread her rooting as a cue for hunger rather than a desire to comfort suck. that has happened to me & led to 3 consecutive sleepless nights as i b/f. that is why i gave up my principles and use a dummy. right now she uses a dummy to fall asleep and i take her off the breast after 30 mins on my m/w advice.

[motherpeculiar]

hi everyone

been meaning to come find you all and lockets reminded me today

don't have time to read through everything but hope you are all doing well and that your babes are happy and healthy

Esther is getting lovelier by the day. She is really contented most of the time and starting to smile in the last couple of days. DD1 is dead chuffed by this as I'd told her that it was her job to "teach" Esther. Can't believe where the time has gone - she'll be 6 weeks on Friday. Makes me want to cry at times it is going so fast. I am due back in work at the end of July but I need to figure out a way to get out of that for a while, it just feels too too soon.

Last time she was weighed, over a week ago, she was 12lbs so she is doing well on that score. BF has been really nice this time round (was HELL with DD1) and for that I am very thankful.

We are off to Venice next month so that'll be interesting, travelling with a rampant toddler and two month old. Are we mad, quite possibly, but hey, let's give it a go. ANyone else got any holidays planned?

probably won't get to post much as am in a whirl of babies, holiday planning and toddler maintenance but will look in as much as I can.

Love to you all and your beautiful babies.

MP X

[Gem1355]

Hi Alux

tried reducing the amount in her bottle and giving her more in the day but she had right fit about it so had to up to 8oz again so it is just because she is hungry.

[Gem1355]

hey everyone new picture on profiles of Darcie's first proffessional photo!!!

And she looks gorgeous!!!!!

[Gem1355]

Thanx alux i try and reduce her but just don't like her going into a screaming fit!

[alux]

i am on my own 90% of the time as dh works away during the week & have no family nearby so i am trying to find my way in the dark much like you. i am dependent on baby books and mumsnet. i recently bought 'what to expect in the first year' it is v informative in a professional but friendly way. are you using any book guidance? on recommendation from a friend i really trust i will attempt the much maligned and raved about Gina Ford principles if starting a month late.

[Merlin]

Gem - just a thought on Darcie's feeding. My HV suggested replacing just 1 feed initially with the hungry formula. I did this for one night cos Ryan was awake every 2 hrs and not a happy bunny. It turned out that what I thought was hunger was very likely to be wind/colic and by giving him a dummy the sucking helps to relieve that. According to my HV at this young age they don't realise when they are full and will just suck anyway if you give them milk, so tend to agree with Alux and others that maybe try to distract her with a dummy and see if that works. Hope you don't mind me giving my opinion - this baby thing is a minefield even if it's not your first (like me)! Good luck.

[Gem1355]

Thanks Merlin and ALux trying all the advice i get, she has a dummy when she is tired as she likes to fall asleep with it but spits it out after, i try giving her a dummy after her feed but she just spits it out and screws up her face as if to say not milk mum!!!!!

[alux]

persistence w. the dummy. put it back in. it will take a while. i gave maya a dummy when she was under uv lights for jaundice to quell her screaming. she would soit it out too.

[Verso]

Gem - I can't give advice about your feeding dilemma but I can empathise with having a hungry baby. Mine is the same, but as I'm 99% breastfeeding (with a bottle of formula or expressed breastmilk given by DH at 8pm-ish), I've been reassured by the HV that she can't be over-fed. Also she's gaining weight at the right speed too. 5oz a week for your baby sounds about right to me - but as I say, I'm no expert! I hope you get it sorted out ok.

Alux - I have "what to expect the first year" and really like it. Some of the writing style is a bit cheesy, but I find it quite reassuring to read and it covers a lot of ground.

I was resistant to the idea of a dummy, but have found it really useful from time to time. If Anneke doesn't want it, she spits it out, but it really helps her settle at times. Like some of the other posters say about their babies, I find she sometimes just wants to spend her life attached to my boob, which can get rather sore (!), so having an alternative is handy. If I were to believe the HVs, she has been having a 'growth spurt' for the last three weeks! [sceptical emoticon]

Glad to see my mother's comments afforded some gentle amusement . Oh, I'm trying to stay calm but at times it is sooooo hard!!

Does anyone have an opinion about baby swings or those vibrating bouncy chair things? Are they useful? Do they help soothe and settle a fussy baby? Anneke sometimes gets in a bit of an over-tired state and when I pick her up she smells milk and gets confused and stresses out even more. (If DH picks her up at this point she calms down - aargh! But he's usually asleep). I just wondered if the movement of a chair or swing would help settle her a bit...