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!

lol 006 re. mrs doubtfire. yup, those bf bras are really horrible looking, even the elle macpherson ones. hate the emma jane ones too - impossible to button back one handed so ds is usually left just about balanced on one knee hanging to dear life while i try and get my modesty back!

alux, doing the gina ford thing too. can't wait for ds to be over 10lbs so i can start cutting out his middle of the night feed. may be a few weeks yet - 8lbs 9oz at the moment.

csa or alux (or anyone really)- how does cutting out the middle of night feed work? esther is well over ten pounds but is generally feeding at about 3am and again at 6ish. She does tend to have her last feed around 9pm before the 3am feed so can go 6 or so hours without a feed, but when I tried waking her to feed at 11pm or 12am (in the hope that she would go right through), she'd feed fine at that time but would still wake bang on 3. I'm not doing Gina but would be interested to hear what she'd have to say.

DD1, who was a much smaller baby, was sleeping through from 11 or 12 until 7am by now so I'm at a bit of a loss really, just know I'd quite like more than three hours sleep in a row now. (hush those of you who think I should just go to bed with Esther at 9pm and thus get 6 hours - I am not 9 o clock to bed kind of girl, although I often wish I were!)

anyone got any thoughts?

btw CSA - got my Emma Jane racer back on toady as I am wearing a cutaway top, and I SO know what you mean about not being able to do them up afterwards. Realised about two hours later that one wasn't done up at all - and I'd been wandering around the shops too . I quite like my lilac Elle Mc P but my fav is an M&S "vintage" number in a pale blue lace - it is pretty and not too difficult to do up.

Alux - how are you doing with the re-usable nappies? my washing machine broke so have been on disposables but just got word today that the new one ios coming next tuesday, so I reckon I can get back into cloth by Sunday night - sad to say I just can't wait (although my extremely large daughter does look very cute in the slimmer version with a disposable on I must say )

Gem - Esther was the same weight as Darcie is now, at birth! She now resenbles DD1 when DD1 was about 4 months old - it is shocking . She is still mega cute though.

have a great bank holiday folks.

Anneke was 11lb 5oz when she was weighed on Tuesday, and wakes for a feed at about 1:30am and again at 4:40am (she's six weeks old). I have to say I don't mind too much, as the night feeds are relatively predictable, whereas the days are still pretty random.

(btw - she was 61cm long, 9lb 6oz at birth, which maybe explains why she's so big now. It probably also explains why I've had a bit of a hard time keeping up with her demand!)

mp, the logic behind gina ford's routine is that if they get enough to eat during the day, the majority of babies should be able to last one long period without a feed and her routines are structured so that this long period occurs in the night. she emphasises that you must start the day at 7 for this to be achievable. feeding times for her routine is 7am, 10.30am, 2.30pm, split 5pm & 6.15pm (depending on age of baby) then last feed at 10.30pm. if the baby is over 10lbs and gaining at least 6-8oz a week, then she recommends that cooled boiled water should be offered in the middle of the night instead of a feed. she does say that this should work for the majority of babies. i think because she has had so much heated criticism over her routines, her website now has a softer tone to it - check it out

however, if i am not mistaken, you have a preschooler like me? we used her routine with ds1 with much success but it is not as easy with 2 cos it is not that easy to ensure quiet time before naps and sleep with ds1 running around and wanting to give his baby brother hugs and kisses all the time. but bumbling along at the moment and have to say that her routine keeps me sane - well, just about depending on who you speak to

hth.

Still around but struggling to get onto mumsnet due to my gorgeous baby, my ill father, a husband who has just resigned and an impending house move... Feels like the world is rotating at twice the speed at the moment but I still feel like I'm coping reasonably well!!!!(How deluded can you get????)

Seth is now 7 weeks old and doing really well - putting on weight well, smiling loads and particularly responsive to tickles and older sister.

On the down side my bloody periods have come back only 7 weeks after giving birth and I'm fully breastfeeding , bugger, bugger, bugger....

MD - Sounds like you've got a really full plate - I'm panicking over a husband threatening to resign, not sure what I'd do if he actually does. I keep thinking of my maternity leave being cut short! With you on the bloody periods too mine started today (4 weeks exactly!) - feeling very tearful and achey aren't they great!

MP - snap with the huge baby (9 lb 15). A friend came to see me with her normal size baby who is also 4 weeks, made Patrick look like a giant. He's feeding 2 hourly during the day and put on 10 oz in 3 days last week - just glad I'm bottle feeding as not sure my body would have been able to take it!

My period started yesterday! so i'm with those who's has started, it's very uncomfortable first one in just over a year!

Darcie is doing great got really bad dry skin but have got some aqueous cream and seems to be helping! other than that she is smiling and laughing beautifully, and is a right little budda she looks like her dad but like me chubby wise!!!!

Jack was weighed on Thursday and is now 11lb 1.5oz - 5 weeks old today.

Still bf but he has a bottle at night at about 11pm and again at about 3am. I feed him through the day, although i think he is starting to prefer the bottle as he only really feeds well off of me for his first feed of the day and maybe one other feed. Then he gets himelf so wound up that he wont bf and has to be topped up with a bottle. I guess it isnt doing any harm as he has been putting on about a 1lb a week.

I think i have possibly shot myself in the foot introducing a bottle - but it was the only thing that would settle him at night. He is feeding approx every 3 hours throughout the day and night.

I quite like the idea of the Gina Ford routine, esp if it can get him to sleep longer at night.

My SIL had a little boy on Friday and he weighed 6lb 1oz. He was so tiny compared to Jack and felt so light. Although I dont envy her and my BIL getting used to the no sleep, at least 5 wks on you are used to it - sort of!

Hello Everyone! finally got round to logging onto this thread. Haven't had a chance to read everything but had a scan and am delighted to hear all mums and babies are doing well (well, as well as can be expected given the sleep deprivation!)

Jasper's 8 weeks today and doing great. He's been a bit windy but touchwood that seems to be easing a little. I'm not "doing" Gina Ford (I'm not nearly organized enough) but have been vaguely using her feed and nap times as a guideline and compared with dd he's been relatively easy - I don't know whether this is him or us, probably a bit of both. He goes down at 7is most nights which is nice as we get our evenings to ourselves, then dh gives him a bottle of expressed milk at 1030, and then he generally wakes about 5am for a feed. He went on his first holiday last week as dh had a week off between jobs - we went to Center Parcs and had a fab time (as did 18mo dd) - we had lots of babysitting which did us the world of good - made me feel part of the human race again. Well, the parent race at least .

My biggest concern at the mo is recurrent b/f thrush I've been to the Drs about it 3 times and was told the last time (by a paediatrician at the hospital) to give up bf which really upset me as I love it (I b/fed dd for 10m) and find it so convenient. Anyway I've found loads of useful tips on the mn archive so I'm giving all the lotions, potions, pills and bra-boiling a last shot - fingers crossed!

BTW I'm another south londoner (clapham south) so if there are any meet-ups in the offing, count me in please

Sorry for the long post, I'll try and log on more regularly from now on and keep up with everyone's news.

MP: not yet started the re-useable nappies yet. A combination of things really. First I spent 1 wk in hospital after baby, then I had the flu the week I came home. Then as a 1st time mum I, a professional woman descended into gibbering idiot phase as I had no clue what hit me. Now taht I am developing a routine with Maya, I am about ready to start using them during the day. I am also doing the flat muslins too so I will be folding. Poor little Maya will be confused. Wish me luck as she screams and turns red and purple and looks petrified with every nappy change.

lol alux. i have been toying with the idea but haven't been brave enough to do it. let us know how you get on?

oh Alux - I know what you mean about the gibbering idiot phase - I think that is why I never did re-usables last time around. NOTHING can prepare you for that!

this time I was determined to start from the very beginning so that I wouldn't just "not get around to it". But I think that with your second baby it is a lot easier as you know what is in store (or maybe you have just gotten so used to being a gibbering idiot it doesn't seem so strange anymore ). Sounds like you are doing great with Maya now though. Good Luck with the nappies when you do start.

CSA - thanks for the Gina Ford link. I had a look and she has softened a bit hasn't she...still don't think I can manage it though!

So there are lots of us in S London - we really should get together sometime...

A S London meet-up sounds good to me! I am most definitely at the 'gibbering idiot' stage and glad to hear it has an official name. Any tips or suggestions as to how best to survive it would be gratefully appreciated.

Hi all!

How r u?

Took Darcie to the DR's today and she has and infection and weeping ecxema (sp?)
So she is on penicillin, steriod cream, got stuff for the bath and got diprobase cream!
So she's not feeling to great, and is a bit irritable!!!

My aunt brought her a new cot, so put that together along with the mobile to go with it. she is quite happily sitting in there at the mo smiling at her teddy's!

Oh dear poor little Darcie, I hope she's not suffering too much (nor you!).

Well after weeks of only waking once a night at 5am-ish Jasper (8wks) has now started waking earlier and earlier til last night it was 2 and 6am - like when he was about 3 weeks old! Maybe it's because he's now in his big cot in his own room, or because I'm only half swaddling him... or maybe it's because babies are a complete law unto themselves!! Either way I'm definitely still a member of the Gibbering Idiot club

seabird, i think the "complete law unto themselves" theory is the best bet ds wakes up at 3am for a feed, goes back to sleep between 3.45 and 4, then wakes up again at 5.30 and looks at me like why have i not been fed yet? err... because you gobbled down a whole lot of milk less than an hour and a half ago? ironic thing is he doesn't do this in the day time!

Ezcema is one of my fears in babies. So sorry for Darcie. I have not yet introduced Maya to soap or bath gels. Bath gels they are saying now is a main irritant in skin allergies in babies. (at my hospital they only bathe babies in water then rub down with olive oil - then dressed.) I am doing the same thing now. Now that she is 6 wks, they say the skin is more mature and can handle soap. I will be using an old fashioned bar of soap - made with veg oil.

CSA- Gina Ford's theory on the constant waking to feed at night is that they are not getting enough during the day. Is he sleepy during the day? Encourage him to feed more during the day. I tickle and pinch (quite firmly sometimes ) Maya's feet when she starts to nap on the breast.

alux, i'm starting to think so too. am thinking of trying out one of her suggestions which is to offer both breasts at 5pm before bath and give a bottle of expressed milk after bath to ensure a full feed before bedtime. any ideas how much expressed milk to offer? but a little concerned that by doing this, it may have a knock on effect on the 10.30pm feed which he is doing very well now. was actually quite mean this morning. ds woke up at 5.40am but i "presuaded" him to go back to sleep without feeding him and he had a really good feed at 7am as a result

unfortunately, the "complete law unto themselves" theory applies too to being awake during the day. some days he is really awake but some days nothing and i mean nothing would wake him up! can i say it again - a "complete law unto themselves"?

well Jasper had a perfect Gina day yesterday - slept and ate at all the appointed times - and then had his worst night in weeks! (I think he was probably trying to prove a point )

He doesn't fall asleep while feeding but just decides he's had enough after about 10 or 15 mins, even when he's been 3.5hrs without a feed. In a way the short feeds are convenient - with dd I would sit there for hours - but I don't think he's getting enough at each feed to last the night on just 5 "daytime" feeds. Perhaps I should go back to the split feed at 5 and 6.

It's v reassuring hearing everyone else's experiences, I've totally forgotten all this even though dd is only 18m (selective amnesia to ensure survival of the species, I suspect).

Hello
We're also suffering from thrush - this time oral. Patrick has had two doses of nyastatin (sp?) but not makinf much difference. He's woken up this morning with a gamey eye. What with projectile vomiting and a bad case of milk spots, i feel like I've got a very manky baby!

dds first day at home after cutting down nursery due to cost - thinking about going back to work early alreadY!

csa, it would be to offer 1 breast before bath & one after or 1 breast before bath and expressed milk after bath. give the amt that would be appropriate for her weight. at 9 lbs maya gets 4.5 oz.

I only started following gina 2 wks ago and don't think i'll ever have an exemplary day. i figure if she helps me just to structure our day then that's a victory.

leggymamba we didn't have any joy with the nystatin either. There are lots of useful threads on here and a link to a very helpful leaflet which says daktarin oral gel (available over the counter) is much more effective than nystatin. I think part of the reason is that the instructions for nystatin don't explain that it has to stay in the mouth to be effective - I got the impression that it was to be ingested like a medicine. But in any case daktarin is meant to be more effective more quickly. You apply it thoroughly to their mouth several times a day and also use daktarin cream on the breasts after each feed. Sorry if far more info than you needed!

006, i think you have your priorities well sorted. 3 chocolate eclairs, a spongebob pinata and a new patio sounds much more exciting than your intended list

Hi,
Sorry to hear about babies' thrush and excema. Hope they are all better soon. Gem - dd had excema, the steroid cream worked wonders tho.

Haven't had chance to post for a while, been out and about a lot since it's half term. Babies had their first trip to the seaside on Monday.
They are over two months now - can't believe how quick it is going. Ravi is getting very strong, sits bolt upright when held and keeps trying to lunge forward in his car seat at home. They are both cooing and smiling loads. For some reason Akshay finds having his head stroked really funny! They are sleeping most of the night now too, which is great to get some rest, but it means they are awake a lot of the day and it's hard for me to get stuff done.

We haven't tried to lay down a set routine as such, but as the babies settled into a pattern I just tried to keep to that pattern. I'm not sure they would appreciate GF much!

Any1 got any tips to stop them growing up so fast??