Sept 08: the thread for when they may start crawling, and there will definitely be some separation anxiety bawling ....

[ILikeToMoveItMoveIt]

Welcome ladies

Well, there's no crawling going on in our house, but there's defo some separation anxiety bawling going on .... tears, screaming, the works - oh joy!

Hello ladies, I've just had a massive catch up after having been away on holidays for a week, with no wi-fi. I have felt mumsnet separation anxiety and missed you all!

I am very impressed with the lot of you. I leave you alone one second and come back to published articles, sleeping through babies, and weaning prowess!

We had an ok time, were able to rest and relax, but the weather was not great. I did not get to used the big floating thing for D because it was too cold, and the bathing suit did not even come out of the package.

On the weaning front, I have to tell you, I never thought it would be SUCH hard work, baby led or not. Or maybe I'm rather inept. Starlight don't feel bad: I have already started solids and Diego will actually quite happily eat a lot of them, but I'm just not always organised enough to have food to give him. Plus he gags on bananas every time. While in Spain, I have been giving him cereals for dinner, which meant that he slept really well, we're talking 8 till 4, then 8 or 9 to wake up. On the downside, I have to confess that these apparently wholesome cereals contain sugar, that's why he likes them so much. That, and boots organic rusks, which also seem rather suspicious to me...

So all in all, I'm feeling a bit inept in the weaning front, and after sleeping really well on holidays, Diego has had a remarkably crap night, waking at 1, 2, 2:30 (feed), 4, 5:30 (feed) and into our bed for a bit of a party at 6:30. The house is a bombsite, the luggage unpacked, the laundry waiting, the fridge empty and I have done nothing but laze about in a comatose daze, plugging D to the boob to get some peace. [bad mum emoticon].

Please send some efficiency vibes in my general direction!

Oh, and I've been wondering about periods too. No period for me either...

re: sugar in food, i seem to remember a weaning talk with ds1 (so 3yrs ago) they said that if you look at the nutrition info, under carbohydrates it says 'of which sugars' and if you look in the per 100g bit then that is the percentage sugar. So if it says 70g sugar then it is 70% sugar!!! And seem to remember her saying that rusks are about the same as 3 digestive biscuits sugar wise...oh dear I have bought some organix 7month plus biscuits which are sweetened with grape juice but still 15% sugar

OK folks

no 1) READ THE THREAD TITLE - coiincidence that all these babies are suddenly grissly? I think not. Could it be the start of separation anxiety?

Of course in M's case it's the fact that I didn't notice she had a temp . Bless her she cied at swimming for the first time yesterday and only realised afterwards why.

Am I just imagining it though, or since i left M to go to work last Tuesday, has she smiled oe at other people than me??

Starlight IT'S OK - you'd be telling anyone else that they're all ready at different times. Baby Ninja is still just (enthusiastically) sucking at a few bits and pieces, and I only know she eats a bit 'cos the raisins from raisin bread come out the other end whole!!

Pacita I said to my sister on Sunday that I'm finding this stage (ie weaning) harder than it was when C was newborn.
Once she's dropped the milk and is on 3 meals a day plus snacks, it'll be much easier (not rushing to get there, don't worry!) but atm it's solid food plus milk feeds. Some days I feel like I'm feeding her 10 times a day.
BLW isn't easier than pureeing, IMO, as every day I have to think of and prepare healthy lunches that she can grasp hold of. Bread and philly with tomates is getting a bit boring. It would actually be easier to spoon a puree in. So all those HVs who think you do BLW cos you are a 'Jeremy Kyle' type TV addict can get stuffed.

We're doing BLW at lunch plus a bit of spooning in at breakfast & tea, and she is coming on leaps and bounds. She is learning to chew and swallow and enjoys the food she has (hasn't refused anything yet - even ate spaghetti in a tomato, anchovy and caper sauce last night) but she's such a petite thing that she can't get all she wants to her mouth. So we do a bit of spoon feeding smaller bits of food and she has food in her hands so it's a great compromise.

But as everyone says, they are all different. The one thing that has really worked is the doidy cup. Can't praise it highly enough.

ponymum thanks for the reassurance. I know the nursery she is going to and there is a waiting list it's that good. i know they'll love her but it's me that's scared cos I'll miss her so so so much.
I keep consoling myself with the thought that they will do alot of the potty training for me

Thanks imo, good to know I'm not the only one finding it hard.

For those of you feeding your baby rice cakes, I've been looking into the organix ones, but they say it's from 7 months onwards, does that matter? Are other rice cakes more suitable?

And what porridge would you recommend?

I am also sad to think that he'll be going to nursery soon. To make matters worse, there is no room in the one I wanted, so I may even have to consider a child minder or baby sitter. I find it so hard to judge whether an individual is right to be trusted with your child for a full day...

pacita for some reason (probably £££), anything more than a puree is sold as from 7 months. Think it's cos the stage before is 4-6months.
Anyway, I checked on Dept of Health website and it said that there is no nutritional reason why a 6 month old cannot eat the foods branded as from 7 months. All I would say is check the labels. it's shocking how many baby foods have added sugar. We have found the plum brand to be the one we prefer as they sweeten with grape juice and use quinoa.

Basically, apart from the obvious guidelines re allergies in the family, nuts, added salt/sugar, honey etc, there is not much your 6 month old can't eat. C had salmon sashimi a week or so ago and had a chew on cuttlefish at the weekend.
We are feeding c with whatever we eat, but full fat versions of everything and low salt Lurpack.

As to porridge, C loves Hipp banana porridge and Plum superfoods porridge, but only cos i bought it first. once they're finished she'll move onto Scottish porridge oats like me (readybrek has added sugar), although the Plum one has spelt and quinoa (superfoods)in it, so we may still use that.
Porridge is a good way of getting more milk into them as well. C has 90mls of formula with her porridge.
She also loves a mashed weetabix mixed with milk and apple puree (As do I!!)

God, I've gone on again..sorry. DP doing 'evening run'.

I have had such a lazy day!

Hello I'm back! Not that anyone noticed I was gone [I've had a glass of wine and feel melancholy emoticon]

I was going to ask about ready brek coz someone here recommended it, but I can only manange to make it with the consistency (and taste) of wallpaper paste. How do you make it properly, and should we be avoiding it due to sugar anyway?!

Will look out for the plum range, haven't come across that.

Ds is still eating his own body weight in purees daily, with no interest in finger food whatsoever. He's had corn chowder, leek and potato soup, chicken casserole, butternut squash and lentils. He eats better than me! Still sleeping brilliantly too [probably jinxed it emoticon]. But reading this thread makes me realise all the things he can't do - roll, sit up, grow teeth, talk, crawl...I struggle with comparing him to dd too coz she's always been so ahead. On which note, her 2nd birthday last week was fabulous! We had such a happy time and having 7 days of parents visiting was ok, horray!

Well done ponymum on publishing successes and a happy settle dd at nursery! How's work...?

No period, and definitely not pregnant! Although I do think about it quite a lot. Like someone else said I've had half a day of spotting about 4 times, with cramps, but nothing more than that, and no regularity.

pacita I agree with IMO that our babies can eat pretty much anything, I might be wrong but I think things like rice cakes say 7 or even 12 months because traditionally babies are/were spoonfed up to then and not given foods to hold themselves in case they choke.

No honey because of some bacteria(??) that might be in it, avoid things that your family have allergies to (although the latest research is suggesting that giving nuts to babies in small quantities stops them becoming allergic), no whole nuts in case they choke and I think they're not meant to have things like shark and othe top of the food chain fish because of high levels of mercury.
And obviously not too much salt and sugar.

I know what you mean imo about blw being hard work and sometimes boring, ds2 has had soft cheese on bread most days for lunch. Mind you so has ds1 for the last 2 years and its still what he asks for.

We've been out all day at Wisley gardens with 3 friends and their toddler children, had a great day and was lovely being out in the sun all day. really must try to get sun hats for them both asap though (and as soon as I do it'll start raining).

pacita i started dd on 7 month food before she was 7 months. Any food for under 1's has pretty strict ingredient controls so it won't harm her. I love the organix rusks

carriebo the plum baby food is lovely. It actually looks like the food that has been pureed, unlike the jars that all seem to end up orange coloured. The only plum baby that dd doesn't like is the salmon one , she kept spitting it out which is very unlike her. I get it in Boots & Sainsburys. I haven't seen it in morrisons though.

I think ex P is losing the plot, he has barely seen the dc's for 3 weeks. He refused to go out with his family for his brothers 40th last week and was threatening suicide again at the weekend, no one knows how to help him anymore . His brother was round earlier worrying about him and doesn't know what to do to help. It pisses me off that even now he wouldn't be entitled to good nhs therapy as he hasn't actually done anything stupid yet. We all have to just pray that he finds a way to get better without harming himself, or anyone else.

ok, it's shallow bimbo time now, I have a face mask, new conditioner and Grazia magazine to relax with this evening. And the food of kings - potato gratin, fish fingers and veg and a GU pudding . Off to tuck the g-pigs up for bed then I can relax.

Yes, blw IS hard work! Constantly thinking of something interesting to give him. Mainly because he genuinely refuses to eat the same thing twice in a row (apart from avocado humous, which he could eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner).

A slept through last night, not even a peep out of him. I, on the other hand, had a TERRIBLE nights sleep. Sorry to keep banging on about it but this period is making me feel absolutely dreadful. Shite night's sleep and too exhausted to carry my 'getting heavier' baby around.

I am doing yet another job application. I think I'm actually rather rubbish at it.

Just checked no added sugar in ready brek

Agree that BLW is gard - I have tried M with purees (well I tried once!) but she wasn't interested.

I have found something she will take off a spoon though - Calpol

I'm jealous of all of you who have avoided periods til now. With dd1 I bled for 2 weeks, had 2 weeks off,then periods back regular as clockwork. This time bled for about 5 weeks, 3 weeks off, then back they came

Meglet - you certainly deservean indulgent evening. How stressful re ex,does his GP know he's threatened suicide? I would have thought that would have to be taken seriously.

P has left,which is great in many ways. Unfortunately I am totally broke, reliant on him financially and he is totally selfish and unreliable,and is probably out spending all his pay (having spent all my savings and more) as he is not answering his phone. What an idiot. I wish I'd left earlier when I wasn't so vulnerable.

I got cross with dd1 earlier becaause she wouldn't eat her dinner because she found leeks in the sauce I'd made,she was crying cos she said she was hungry and I was angry cos can't afford to waste food, and it's not her fault of course,so I felt very guilty

I don't think Readybrek has any sugar in it - I like the fact that it's got some nutrients added to it in case she doesn't get enough elsewhere! Pacita i'm with you,dd2 is a keen eater but I'm disorganised. On Sunday I dropped dd1 at her gran's,by time I got home it was 8,dd2 hadn't had anything except milk since breakfast so gave her some mashed banana which she loves - she was asleep half hour later & I had the best night's sleep in ages,don't know if coincidence. Last night not so good,think lentils made her a bit windy!

Carriebo - dd2 isn't great at sitting up- she keels over all the time, or flings herself backwards with force then gets v fed up. She also can't roll,though my theory is leg to body length ratio - v short legs mean she doesn't get enough swing action ,and no words - though at the moment she's working on sounds starting with b,despite my attempts to train her to give mum a go

Ooh Ninja i read on a BLW site that ready brek has added sugar. Perhaps I was sold a dud?! Having said that, there is sugar on the list of ingredients in weetabix and i give her that. Hey Ho.
I'll stick to Scottish porridge Oats as I can also use them to make flapjacks.

We get our Plum stuff from tesco, which has a good range, including fromage frais that has only natural sugars. My pet hate atm is muller Little Stars, which actually says on the label 'perfect weaning food' and the 3rd or 4th ingredient is sugar!!!!I want to take them and dump them in the pit where I have already thrown the global supply of Sunny D .

I guess I'm lucky that C will take finger food and spoons. With the spoons i encourage her to hold it herself and feed herself. Certainly makes fromage frais a bit less messy and she loves them. Cold on her gums too. I've never pureed things though, even last night's spagetti was just chopped a bit so it fitted on the spoon, plus she had full lengths of spagetti to hold onto.
I don't think there's anything confusing in a combination of spoons and finger food and I think c will naturally turn towards more and more finger food. It's the 'getting food into baby whatever the method' that I don't like. As far as I can see, if i hold out a spoon of food to C and she takes it or opens her mouth and wants it, then that's BLW

On the summer front, I have bought the cutest pair of baby sunglasses from JoJo Maman and a UPF50 cap too. Our iCandy came with a sun parasol, so we look quite the part....

splish that explains a lot - ds has very short legs! His arms are too long for his babygrows, the poppers only just do up...but has feet haven't made it into the foot bits yet! I'm loathed to move up to the next size coz the feet will look even more ridiculous!

He's discovered playing peepo in a big way, absolutely hooted with laughter it was toooo cute.

meglet and splish you can finish my bar of chocolate, you deserve it

Hi all

Just popping in to say hello really.

I'm going to sound like im really boasting now, F can crawl, sit, can say dadada and has 1 tooth My dd was the same at that age but my ds1 did things alot later.

My periods came back after a couple of weeks, i dont have them now tho as i have the implant. .

If meglet debi hopefully want to meet up soon let me know

imoscarsmum does that mean we are getting a good summer this year?! I bought the baby sunglasses when I had ds, I think there's a pic on my fb page somewhere.

splish have you checked you are getting all the benefits / tax credits you are entitled to? CAB might be able to help too. I might go to ex p's gp, I know they can't kidnap him and make him get help but its worth a try.

meglet and splishsplosh I think you both deserve medals.

IMO I totally agree blw is hard work. My worry is we aren't very healthy eaters so a lot of what we have is unsuitable, too high in fat, sugar or salt. She is having lots of veg, tonight she had mini corn dipped in yogurt which she loved. Banana on toast is good as well. It takes her ages to eat it as she finds the whole thing quite funny and is full of smiles and giggles.
Not quite rolled over but very close, like Splish she just can't swing hard enough to get over. She is nearly sat up, she manages about 30 sweconds then slips to a side.

AAAARGH! I had a purposeful mummy attack and put some carrot and sweet potato in the steamer for Diego's lunch. Then sat down to watch madmen and only remembered about the steamer because I smelt burning. The pan, basket and contents are currently in the bin. Do I have the curse of the weaning? Also, for some bizarre reason he refused his cereal tonight. I'm just hoping this does not mean another night of wakefulness, but I think I may have bought that ticket... I really hate being reduced to a zombie by tiredness, but that's where I was today.

splish and meglet, my hat is off to you big time. Meglet, I hope your ex P gets help. And splish, I do hope he sees sense and coughs up for his kids' sake.

Very impressed by all your menus ladies. I am just so bloody confused about it all, what with Spaniards telling me to feed him this but by no means that, and the brits saying the opposite, and then the BLWers saying to give it all to them, and the hippy brigade saying that pretty much everything I give him will make his eczema worse.... Give me differential equations any time!

Ponymum I'd generally like to branch out a bit with my writing. I do a very dull branch of journalism as my 'proper' job (although I quite enjoy it due to being a geek), but I'd like to do a bit more lifestyle type stuff. I also have a book on the go, as does probably every journalist since the dawn of time. It's actually one of the reasons I'm thinking of putting T in childcare for a couple of hours a week - to enable me to knuckle down and get some writing done, as if I can make money from my own writing, it would mean not going back to work in London.

Lolly at crawling and talking! T just about sits up, usually falls over after a few seconds, and mostly just screeches for communication.

I definitely find BLW quite hard work - on the weekend we were at a friend's house, and as I didn't want to be cooking seperate things, or make them eat bland food, I ended up taking some Plum food/Hipp organic jars and some carrot sticks etc, and it was soooo easy! However, seeing how quickly his fine motor skills are developing (he can already pick up funny shaped things, after starting by only being able to pick up finger shaped things that were handed to him) is motivation to continue. Plus he quite likes to have a cauliflower floret in each hand, and the odd spoonful held out for him as well - he leans forward with his mouth open when he wants a spoonful, before I've even got it out of the bowl!

Sleep has finally begun to improve a bit here - we've had a couple of nights of only having to resettle 1.5-2 hourly, and he's only fed twice from 8pm-7am. And last night he went 4 hours without needing any attention at all!

I just had fun, I introduced DD to one of the guinea pigs. the poor little g-pig got a bit mauled, i was trying to stop dd grabbing a handful of fur and stop the g-pig biting her. She seemed rather impressed with the whole experience, I had to give my g-pig a nice big dandelion leaf to recover from the trauma .

I've just fitted a buggy board to our old 3 wheeler. My friend is going to sell it to me if it fits, so i'll do a dummy run with it when i pick up ds from nursery at lunchtime, i hope it works as i love the old 3 wheeler more than the P&T.

DD has grown out of the 0-6 month gro-bags so they have been packed away in the hope my sister will have a baby at some point in the next few years!! I'm keeping all the stuff we found useful as it will make her life a lot easier and cheaper if / when she has a baby. It feels like the end of an era knowing I won't need the little gro-bags anymore .