Fab Feb 2009: attack of the zombie mums

[dinkystinky]

So here we all are, complete with babies and gro-bags under our eyes

hey Fruitstick - same here. DS (nearly 2) is the same - lovely with DD but either aggressive or clingy with us. I guess it will pass in the next few weeks as I think he is just feeling rather insecure. DH is already in the spare room as he says he needs a full nights sleep - so I have to deal with both DCs at night whilst he snores away.....[typical bloke behaviour emoticon]

Welcome Raisingrrl

Thanks McDreamy - will ask HV on Thurs, can't wait to be mobile again!

Have just listed loads of maternity clothes on Ebay - so this is definitely the last baby !!!!

Fruitstick - my ds is the same. He's very sweet with dd, giving her kisses and cuddles and stroking her head but he's been spitting, biting, pinching and hitting me. All very out of character for him. He's not aggressive to dh, or at nursery, just to me. He's just 2. I'm also repeating, "This too will pass," over and over, while watching Thomas DVD's for the 235977989767856465th time!

Glad to know my toddler isn't the only emotionally scarred one!

Can I just ask how you're coping with bed/bath? So far, DH has been home in time but soon he won't be and I'm wondering how I'll manage. Been giving the baby a bath in the mornings so far and no real bedtime for him until we go to bed.

DS is not going to like sharing his story time with a crying baby!

Can I just say once again, re: emotionally scarred toddlers... DS1 is now five, DS2 is two and rather more than a half now. After a bit of a shaky start they are inseparable, best of friends, love each other to bits (still fight and hit each other ). DS2 was the best thing ever to happen to my PFB DS1!

fruitstick - I'm very lucky because dd will doze downstairs in her bouncy chair while I do bedtime with ds. I have her upstairs with me for bath/storytime, or he sits downstairs with us while he has his bedtime milk and then she sits downstairs while I get him to sleep. There's only been a couple of times where she's wittered a bit, but tbh I've just left her - poor second child!!

Oh, and dd has had about 3 baths in her whole life!! When she's a bit bigger I'll start slotting her into ds' bath and bed routine, but it's not like she gets very dirty yet!!

fruitstick, aaron tends to get a little neglected at bed/bath time. i pop him in the bath for a few mins with the other 2, get him dressed and tuck him up in his crib where he usually shouts the whole time i'm getting the older 2 out and dressed and hair dried. then i feed him while i do stories and that keeps him quiet and older 2 happy.

i'm an odd mix of AP and 'a bit of a cry won't hurt him' in my parenting style though so not sure everyone would be comfortable bathing the older kid/s to the sound of a shrieking baby in the background. occasionaly he's happy enough and as he gets more aware he'll start to understand that shouting or not i'll get to him as soon as the others are done and will hopefully be happy to roll around in his cot or on the floor for a while like ds1 always was when he was baby bit atm i simply can't spend hours trying to get him settled before i deal with the others, dd has playschool so we have to be up in the mornig and she's not a happy child with too little sleep so she simply has to get into bed by 7.30, if aaron is having a cranky night then that's just tough really as i can't bath, toothbrush and dress the others one handed! he gets to be up in my arms the rest of the day and night so i firmly believe it doesn't do him a jot of harm to air his lungs out a little in the evening

chilled mama what a great birth story ! love the .. 'think i am in labour' to the nursery staff and actually driving that is incredible.. and the birth itself sounds fantastic..

catstar.. i hope all is well with your DS now.. how very, very scary..

welcome back TBM we have missed you !

congratulations and welcome raisingrrl

re: toddlers .... I feel for my poor DS who is getting so much less attention.. and can now re-enact some of his cbeebies programs.. .. he is fine with DD but has regressed in terms of his needs for a bottle and dummy, which had pretty much stopped using, but now uses a lot again..but he is very good helping with 'baby' (whom he completely refuses to call Alexandra!)

SMS.. lots of hugs to you.. my husband got it earlier this week .. i decided that I was really mad at him a couple of days ago and pretty much did not speak to him for 2 days !! i dont even know what the trigger was anymore.. what i do know is that yesterday i had a good sleep.. was given the lie in time in the morning (which DH seems to manage to get normally) and felt human again, and i stopped being mad at him.. can you book a weekend morning as your lie in ? would that help ?.... my HV also encourages us to talk to her if we are feeling 'blue' would that help at all ? hope you are feeling better today...

littlesez... any infection needs to be seen by a doctor, you did just right..

we are all pretty good.. but all our nannyshare plans have fallen through and i am trying not to panic ! hope everyone is well..

PT near identical parenting style here ....

afternoon all.... Sorry I have not been around much but we are going through a bad patch at the moment. DS is still feeding like a porker but is being really sick and is up screaming most of the night. He wont feed from 8 in the evening until about 3 (he just keeps coming off the boob and screaming) and just screams and is sick constantly during this time..... DD had reflux I only pray it is not that. If anyone has any advise or idea what else it could be please let me know!!!!

I am loving being a mum of two but just hate seing my little boy in so much pain...

swampster - glad to hear that your DS1 and DS2 came through it all and are best buddies now - that cheers me up no end. I felt awful last night as DS was awake at 2am calling out 'I want mummy and daddy' over and over. When I went in to see him he held onto my arm for dear life and refused to let go......he's never been clingy before and we both ended up in tears . Needless to say this morning he was fine and chirpy and I was an emotional, sleep deprived wreck.

TBM Great to see you, glad you're ok. Is the boss-eyed thing not connected to the wind? Both mine had/have it when there's wind trapped in there, which is all the time.
chilled I'll catch up on your birth story later if that's ok, it's long! Just waiting for ds1 to go to sleep and then I may try to catch an hour myself.
fruitstick glad all's well, think we're all having the toddler battles though. Hard isn't it?

Went docs today because still have that itchy rash all over, the doc said it looks like something, long word never heard before. I have to have full blood works done and he'll follow up next week.
On the positive, Luke needed feeding when I was at docs, so we all went into the baby room where they were holding family planning clinic, and ds1 was soooooo good! He was strapped in pushchair and whinged a bit but I sang to him and laughed at him and he soon cheered up, was such a relief as I'm feeling very fragile, he must pick up when I'm on the edge and knows not to rock the boat too much or I'll fall off! It was amazing how good he was, so I bought him a banana on the way home to say thank you.

Morning all. We've been off to have our 6 week check this morning at the GP (lovely man and wife pregnant with 4th child...brave!) Anyway, wound looks loads better and properly healing, DD got all clear although her belly button has a little lump and was oozing slightly so Doc put some stuff in (silver nitrate?) which he did for DS and said it should heal up. She peed and puked all over his lovely couch !....

SMS sorry you are feeling blue and down. I am sure that you are a lovely mum and that you are doing your best - that is all that you can do. It is hard with two to deal with on top of everything else. I spend all day when I have two of them thinking that I've neglected one of them too much and trying to compensate getting myself in knots and DS's behaviour is sometimes horrible at the moment - my mum who thinks the sun shines out of his behind, even commented on how "stroppy" he'd become recently. Like everyone else says I'm sure it will pass but it doesn't feel like that at the moment. Our Dp's don't help matters either do they. Just keep ranting on here - it really is better out than in.

I have on several occasions told DH that it's like having two teenagers (him and stroppy DS who has started (at 2.8) to say "oh GOD" and breathing heavily with it ) in the house

calico if you feel ok to drive, there doesn't seem to be any "policy" as such.

I tend to dunk DD in the sink at the moment at about 6ish whilst DS is watching cbeebies and then get her changed downstairs with him before topping her up with milk before going down. She's very vommy and can be quite fractious at this time but I find a dunk in nice warm water sends her into a peaceful trance and as she tips her head back I can get all the cheesy sick out of her neck rolls !! Lovely.

TBM welcome back - DD also has a cold and wind together which has gone on for ages. I just spend each morning fishing long bogeys which are bothering her, out of her nose ?! Poor little thing.

Anyway - have made lovely fish pie for dinner (thought I'd make an effort today) off to surf the net for a new bathroom....if we ever get round to it. DH seems to think that will just "happen" like everything else...moan moan moan.

Saw my lovely friend in london yesterday, no traffic, DD slept all the way and found a space outside her flat. Friends boyfriend had dumped her so I spent 2 hours drinking tea, eating cake and playing Agony Aunt Sally which made a change from clearing up vom and wee. DD was an angel

Must go now !

i want!

aaron has just dozed off for the first time since 8.30 this morning. i'm still in my pj's waiting to have a shower! going to try and put him down now..... send me sleepy baby vibes please!

bugger, he's awake again. not crying this time though and looking dozy so might chance the shower anyway.... will have to lock the other 2 into the bedroom too though as dp is studying and can't see him settling with them screeching and roaring next to him

oh great, now he's shouting

PT - we have one of these. It's been a godsend, like having an extra pair of hands - dd loves it and usually nods off in it! Means we haven't had to faff about with double buggies either - although we were given one when i was pg.

PT, lovely and stretchy and super comfy!

I have a Patapum which I think is quite similar to the Ergo - MUCH prefer my Moby and my Papoozle.

Pink - hope you got your shower.

TBM - lovely to see you on; hope you're all settled in your new pad and that Sian is doing well (the belly button thing sounds worrying - hope it closes up soon; hope her crosseyedness resolves itself too).

Nkweto - hope your nannyshare woes are short and you find a new share v soon.

Bloody passport application for Danny got rejected as a letter touched the edge of a box and so have to do it again - was going to get DH to get colleagues to countersign the application but he's been home sick for 2 days; then tried to get a friend to do it today but she's come down with some vommy bug - feels like its cursed or something!

Lardy - that sounds like colic maybe? Have you spoken to your health visitor? Think SMS and Herb have had colicky babies so they may be able to advise on what might help. If you're worried its reflux please do get into see your doc asap.

Oh, and to add to DS1's current woes, he has lost his beloved George from his Peppa Pig campervan set today (his nanny let him lose it while they were out and about in his buggy so no bloody chance of finding it) so have spent half the day trying to source a replacement George - though all possibilities on the internet are sold out (as REALLY dont want to buy a new campervan just to replace a Gerge). Poor DS1 - he's bereft

no way am i relying on my tying ability with a sling! i'm sure intelligent people can do it just fine but i know for a fact i'd either fuck up, or be constantly so worried about doing it wrong i'd never relax and always keep one hand on baby thus negating the purpose of the sling. not to mention dp would freak out at the thought thus making me even more nervous.

ergo is supposed to be fab for dodgy back which is also luring me in.

aaron is asleep in my arms, every time i put him down he shouts... think he's just going to have to shout while i shower at this point!

PT - will he sit in his carseat/bouncy chair while you have a shower? That's what I do with dd, also has the added bonus of clearing her snuffles up a bit!

Dinky can't help with George your poor, poor DS !

..but do the passport application online (they send you a printed version).. because we forget things.. we also did the check and send service at the passport, very unlikely to have to re-do after that.. (deary me..how boring am a I)..

I really want a lovely sling as discussed, but there is just TOO much choice.. ladies what is the best one for indoors (ie washing up etc whilst carrying baby)..

Fruitstick, I agree it's a phase, when he gets used to the new person in his life he'll settle down. Try and give him as much attention as possible, get someone else to hold the baby as much as possible.

Calico1 I'm still wearing mine, I have some nice items I'm in no rush to get rid of and they're warm/ easy for feeding.

Lardy, we went through something similar, my nipples got hit hard and I was crying all the time. I decided that if I got refused I wouldn't keep trying and just cuddle until she calmed down and looked interested. I found that there was a couple of times in the day where she just liked to shout. She stopped after a week of not trying to force the issue.

SomeMightSay, it doesn't seem to be, she does it when she's quiet and concentrating on something. I have a lovely pic of the girls which I'll put up on FB later, you can see it quite obviously in that pic.

Thanks Herb, Sîan seems to be past the really yucky stage, I'm wondering if it's on her chest now

PT, that's really kewl! I love that embroidery and colour scheme. Don't worry about the tying, they will hold without the knot. I undo then move to hold her before undoing the rest.

As you all know I'm bit of a wrapping fan and during the move I've found quite a few wraps and far more than I really need. I normally do them for £20 (pretty much cost price) with £5 p&p but if anyone wants to help me clear my stash, I'll do them sans p&p.