October 08 - A spoonful of sugar* (*not recommended as a first food)

[CantSleepWontSleep]

Have done shortened stats this time, just for those of us who seem to still be around.

10th Sept (Due 1st Oct) - loulou33 - Boy - Joe Louis David - 6lbs 12oz - Induction due to rhesus sensitivity, G&A.
16th Sept (Due 8th Oct) - Ksal - Girl - Emma Rae - 6lbs - Just beat induction for PE!
21st Sept (Due 5th Oct) - myjobismum - Girl - Naomi Caitlin - 5lbs 10oz - Fast and furious hospital birth.
22nd Sept (Due 10th Oct) - Lozza70 - Boy - Sander Gene - 7lbs 5oz - Em C-Sec due to raised BP and high ALTs from liver.
2nd Oct (Due 12th Oct) - star6 - Boy - Quinlan - 5lbs 15oz - 36hr labour, ventouse and stitches.
3rd Oct (Due 26th Sept) - purpleflower - Girl - Rebecca Jill Erzsebet - 8lbs 10.5oz - Homebirth with paramedics due to meconium.
4th Oct (Due 30th Sept) - Aubergenie - Boy - Stanley - 7lbs 12oz -
5th Oct (Due 4th Oct) - hedgepig - Boy - Oliver - 6lbs 3oz -
5th Oct (Due 29th Sept Oct) - CherryChoc - Boy - Ryan - 6lbs 11oz - 3 day labour with natural birth in hospital
8th Oct (Due 6th Oct) - ronshar - Boy - William Dexter - 7lbs 11oz -
9th Oct (Due 17th) - Marthasmama - Girl - Martha - 7lbs 10oz - Elective c-sec
10th Oct (Due 1st Oct) - CantSleepWontSleep - Boy - Duncan Elliot - 8lbs 4oz - 4 day induction with 1 hour established labour!
12th Oct (Due 4th Oct) - pistachio - Boy - Thomas Fraser - 10lbs 2oz - Homebirth.
13th Oct (Due 15th Oct) - mum2jakeyroo/jrsqueak - Boy - Joshua - 7lbs 2oz - Delivered in car by dh!
16th Oct (Due 17th Oct) - rowanmac - Girl - Anna Ruth - 7lbs 2oz - 2 hours ARM to placenta delivery.
16th Oct (Due 11th Oct) - heather1980 - Boy - Alexander James - 9lbs 5oz - Homebirth
17th Oct (Due 10th Oct) - pepperrabbit - Girl - Jessica Rose - 7lbs 15.5oz -
24th Oct (Due 29th Oct) - Ekka - Boy - Matthew - 7lbs 15oz - Home water birth with gas and air.
26th Oct (Due 20th Oct) - jenwa - Girl - Phoebe Jasmine - 9lbs 2.5oz -
1st Nov (Due 22nd Oct) - SmudgeyDoodle - Girl - - 8lbs 2oz - Hospital water birth.
5th Nov (Due 29th Oct) - Honeymoonmummy - Girl - Poppy Grace - 6lbs 15oz -
5th Nov (Due 30th Oct) - MamaG - Boy - Harry James - 10lbs 9oz - Em C-Sec. Back to back and knotted cord around neck. 24 hours of labour first though, and don't you forget it!

You'll like the latest update. He's just finished making it (plus little one for freezer), and said it wouldn't fit in fridge. I pointed out that as he'd just taken 3 packets of mince out to make it that there should be plenty of room.

'3 packets?' he says.
'Yes' I said. 'Remember when we were in the supermarket I expressly said that we were buying 3 packets (complete with 3 fingers raised for emphasis), so that you'd know how many to cook, as last time you only cooked 2 of the 3 and the third ended up being wasted'
'Bugger' he says.
'Tell me you're joking' says I.
'No' he says 'I'll go and cook the other now'.

Goodness knows whether he has any squash/potato mix left to top it.

so exactly as you predicted you've had to rescue the meat part!
I hope you've left him to it. At least once you've got through this bit, you know you don't have to make dinner tomorrow.
Can you go to bed and safely leave him to finish it off?

I could, but I'm watching ER first. Am not quite so tired tonight as went to bed early last night and had a reasonable (for me) sleep.

CSWS - that sounds just like something my dh would do!!!!!

Pepper - nice to see you today , I can't believe it took me so long to work out where I'd seen Jessica before . You are definitely quicker on the uptake than me!

I love the broccoli forest recipe! Though I'm not sure I have enough time on my hands for that. Dh thinks it would be really funny - I may find he actually gets carried away and helps with preparations this year (other than getting the bbq out and opening beers) .

So Matthew put on 10oz over the last 2 weeks, which is great, but his eczema is still not really under control, so the paediatrician has asked me to go on an egg free diet (as well as keeping up with dairy & soya free) I think I may just go vegan right now . Plus I've got to take him in for blood tests and the cream they usually use to numb the spot before inserting the needle really makes eczema flare up, so they'll have to use a freeze spray instead and warned me he won't be very happy about it , this boy is determined to be high maintenance....

Right, off to bed to get some sleep. Night all!

you mean you're still allowed gluten ekka? Well that's just too easy .
Meant to say, apparently angel cake is dairy free. It is just food for the 2 yr olds you're stuck on isn't it? Have you looked on aitch's site for recipes from moomin? She posted lots of allergy friendly ones iirc, using rice or gram flour where necessary.

Right, bedtime now that ds is fed again and dd's crying and screaming (she won't say why) has either calmed down or is simply inaudible from my bedroom.

Grr. Give or take a few mins, ds fed at 11, 1, 3 and 5, and now isn't resettling.

have given him some soft toys to at least try to stop him whinging. Expect dd up any minute. Suspect it's going to be a long day.

sorry about your night csws don't read next part...

Q did 8.30-3.30, dummy in at 3.30 back to sleep until 4.40, I came out to express in living room, DH went in and put him in bed with him as i wanted him to stay in his cot, but anyway, he slept again until 5.30 then had his breakfast and now he's up and happy and we will leave in 20 minutes! YAYAYAYAY for good night's sleep! I think I slept 5 hours straight! SO HAPPY!

well done q. Well ds finally asleep again, but dd wants me to go down with her, so no extra napping for me.

Morning. M woke up at 11, 1, 4 and then stayed awake until 5.30 then went back to sleep until 6.30. So I had a pretty rubbish night too. M will now only sleep in with me. If I even try to pop her back she screams and won't settle. I've told DH that he'll have to sleep in the cot when he comes home. It's lovely and snuggly but what the hell do we do now?! Plus she is getting a bit hot in my bed, she sleeps in her summer grobag but manages to wiggle over to me in the night so is right next to me when she wakes up. She is getting so warm that her eczema has got so much worse. Instead of a smallish patch behind her knee she now has it all over her leg. I am not confident that elimination diets work that well with eczema Ekka, as I cut everything out of my diet with ds (dairy, gulten, sugar, eggs...) and he only actually got better after we stopped bfing and he was eating dairy, egg, wheat etc.

Well done Q! And CSWS I know how you feel. Even if dd wants to go back to sleep ds gets me up to sort out his breakfast. Hrumph!

Well I am sorry to have to report but.......
William went to bed at 6.45pm and he didnt wake up AT ALL until perhaps 6.30 ish. Not sure as the girls were shouting & playing so bloody loudly.
I have achieved this by being strong/hard. I moved William into his own room and spent 3 nights up and down like a yo-yo. But now he doesnt need feeding at night and is able to either sleep through or self settle. I knew he could do it. I am sure it is DH snoring that prevented him from sleeping before.
DH still ia adamant the he doesnt have a problem and going to the doctors wont help. I did point out rather politely, that as I am such a horrible bitch he may wake up one morning missing a rather vital bit of his anatomy! Funnily enough he didnt think that was funny

Hi, just hearing your sleeping problems is making feel tired, feeling very sorry for you guys.

I'm afraid i have no advice on the co-sleeping MM but i know from experience that you never get a good sleep with them in your bed, you poor thing.

Also feeling very thankful for a baby that sleeps well (am touching chair, table, windowsill and noggin just to make sure i don't jinx myself) otherwise working would be an absolute disaster!

I'm feeling very at the lack of support you seem to be getting CSWS it must be rather upsetting. I can't remember who said it but it does seem to be the capable people who get on with things that seem to get a bit neglected when they actually really need a hand.

we've had mixed results on the gaviscon, apprently she went almost the entire day at nursery with no sickiness until her keyworker commented on how great she'd been... then she sprayed her dinner all over the shop. oh well, that's still an improvement on last week!!

Think her teeth are bothering her now, she was crying yesterday when we got home which is very unusual so i put some teething powders on her tongue and got a big smile in response!! I can see them fairly clearly as though there is just a thin layer of skin over them now... its quite exciting.

Don't be sorry to report good sleep ronshar. It means that mm and I don't have to share the pity!

Chicken with okra in the slow cooker (might leave the shepherds pie til tomorrow ), and carrot cake in final stages of being made. Going to do a big batch of chilli today too. Did I mention that the new freezer rrived yesterday?!

I really should read before I post.

Sorry ladies that was really insensitive. I know how horrible it is when you dont get any sleep.
CSWS, why is DD up at night? Does she get night terrors? at your DH antics. Is he feeling a bit down about work?? Men do react funny when they are not working!

Ekka & Pepper. How cool sitting next to each other in clinic and not realising. Brilliant. Good news for the weight gain Pepper.
Ekka are they doing the blood test to actually find out if Matthew is allergic to all these things they want you to cut out? Seems a bit pointless otherwise? Wiiliam had a blood test at hospital. It was very quick. They use the tinyist needle and the Senior nurse who took it was no nonsense, got on with it and William didnt really notice. Find toy he hasnt had before and hopefully he will be too interested in that to register what is going on.

Star can I book a space in your DH knob room

My DD2 (4) has recently been complaining of tummy ache at dinner times. Only dinner times. She will eat snacks during the day, loads of fruit and is drinking normally. However when it is time to sit down for dinner in the afternoon, between 5-6, she walks into the kitchen and starts crying saying she has tummy ache and cant eat her dinner. I have been sympathetic, I have tryed giving very small portions. I have cut out snacks during the day. Last night I gave her three options.
Sit till she finished
Eat a little bit.
Go to bed as she is being very naughty.
Little bugger picked option three. She was asleep by 5.30 pm. Unheard of.
Could she actually be ill or is it some kind of control issue. She starts school in Sept. I have heard of chlidren regressing before they go to school.
What do you all think? Should I be worried or just ignore it and let her miss out dinner?

I would offer her those same choices every night ronshar, and if she's still choosing bed and no dinner every night after a week, then I'd consider more properly what the cause might be.

I don't know why dd was upset last night, but generally she just seems to want a cuddle in the night. It only started when ds arrived, and I think it's because she doesn't like him having anything that she doesn't. We've just opened ds' christmas present from my parents (was a bit old for him at Christmas), and she is already trying to commandeer it, claiming that it is 'hers'.

Ronshar - Yes, how mean of you telling us that W slept through I think M will be in with me until she leaves home at this rate. I really think it is to do with seperation anxiety as she howls every time I'm out of sight. DS was never that bothered and has always been able to entertain himself.

Has dd2 been waking up earlier and actually be getting tired by dinner time? DS used to complain that he was feeling ill when he was in fact tired as he was not able to really fathom that what he was feeling was fatigue. But he was probably around 3 rather than 4. Does she know she's going to shcool? To be honest I would have thought the problems would come in the Summer just before she starts if there's going to be any problems. When I am convinced that ds is faking illness I threaten him with the drs. Talk to her and ask her if she wants to go to the drs about her tummy if she says yes, take her, it won't hurt and if she says no, then you can use it as an oppotunity to discuss why she's been saying her tummy hurts. It probably won't hurt her to miss dinner, but the point is that you feel she should so it becomes a control issue. This is only theory as ds has never, ever refused food! He's rake thin

CSWS - I think I want to resign from this terrible sleeping lark. It's a bit tired now isn't it? (pardon the pun) I am at a loss! M is so different to ds. He would self settle but she just becomes frantic.

CSWS - DS is nearly 6 and he won't leave M's toys alone! Oh forgot to say, Jumperoo is on it's way! I am willing to bet that she stands in it, get's fed up instantly and screams until I pick her up. Then never wants to go back near it. I don't have bouncing babies!

ronshar - DS1 is very similar, he's nearly 5. He's always been a fussy eater for "proper" meals. He normally starts by saying his tummy hurts (I always suggest he goes to the loo), then he moves on to saying he's tired, next his legs hurt and then finally he hasn't got enough breath to eat This is every time even sometimes for pizza.
I give the same choices as you and, yes, sometimes he goes to bed (this means no bath as well and he loves that). Sometimes he will simply get down on the understanding there is absolutely nothing else on offer and seems fine. What I have learnt from roughly 2 years of this is not to make a fuss. I used to worry constantly that he wasn't getting enough nutrition but I think it all evens out in the end. He is noticeably one of the smaller boys in his class and I think that's the most obvious result.
You're right to cut out snacks though, he'll have a huge breakfast and then try to fill up to avoid having to eat anything later.HTH

The other thing I do is offer DS2 an incentive, like some of his easter egg after tea. DS1 hates to think DS2 might get something he can't have

DD2 is like Puss in boots from Shrek. As DH said this morning all she has to do is flutter her eye lashes and she gets what she wants. He did justify this by saying that he is the first of hundreds of men to get sucked in!!!! We have been very guilty of indulging her far too much because she is just too cute. Poor DD1 is not so canny and as result misses out big time.
Ever since William arrived her little life has been turned upside down. Daddy is in love with his boy and so she feels pushed out. Obviously I have my hands full and she doesnt get as much time with me.
She does know she is going to school. We take DD1 every day and she has been into the playground a few times in the morning.
DD1 is embarrassed by us all now so we are not allowed to pick her up from the gate, we have to wait down the road

I am wondering if it has started because last week DD2 managed to eat her way through about three of her easter eggs. Chocolate is firmly rationed in this house, for the children, so she ended up being sick after dinner. It could be that she associates hot dinner with being sick. I have since taken away all of her easter eggs. Somehow she keeps finding more!!
William is currenty doing a caterpillar crawl across the living room floor Very funny to watch but scary that within weeks he is going to be crawling and no more babies for me

DS2 eats like a locust by the way. Yesterday, I said it was nearly tea time and he said "can I have cabbage?" He's 3 and has restored my faith in a childs ability to eat (and my weaning skills).

x-posts!

Harriet has never been fussy before. We used to call her the dustbin because she was always hungry. Complete opposite now.
She will do the opposite of what you ask her to, just because she can.

I think I will stick with the options and ignore the dramatics for this week, see how we get on.
Thanks ladies. Always a pleasure.

ronshar We did the same with DD2 put her in her own room and I would go down (we in the loft) and put dummy in several times in the night until she got used to not waking so now she is fab, Slept from 7pm-7:30am and back to bed at 9:15 and still asleep now
Also your DD sound simular to mine re control! She is such a a pain at meal times with her food yet can manage anyting else if I was to offer it her! It has become a bit of an issue so I am dong the same, I have cut portions down and if she does not want it I say "fine but nothing else" and she gets nothing else. She asks but I dont let her. I was getting soooo stressed that I have stopped now as I think she had clocked on to it so she eats it or she does not without me getting stressed now! We do the 3 more mouthfulls etc and yesterday I got a reward chart for her so will see how it goes.
I think it is so frustrating as you make the effort ot make a meal then they wont eat it. I have however apologised to my mum as I was such a slow eater when I was little and would gag my way through dinner! Am now having it repayed to me my my DD

Ienwa, I think I was the same. Ha, sins of the mother eh[hm]