Nov 2008: Spain, France, Leeds or Brum, wherever we are we're still mums

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Hope this works! I'm a techno-idiot!!

Hope everybody is having a lovely evening.
Lacks Hope you can persuade DH to relax tonight
Tegan Hope you enjoyed your hen party and didn't have to dash home.
Obs We're not doing BLW here - E tends to wave food around when it's put in her hand or in front of her and it's a bit hit and miss as to whether she puts it into her mouth or not so I think she'd be half starved by now if we'd done BLW! Strangely sweet things seem to make it into her mouth more easily than savoury things
Chocolategal Lovely that you've got another break to CP to look forward to
Ceebee Hope you find a good deal so you can get away. I can imagine it's quite a daunting prospect with two DCs. I was fretting enough about driving to France with only E last month, never mind taking two on a plane! But sometimes we think things are going to be a nightmare and they turn out to be a lot easier than we think, the anticipation is worse than the reality IYSWIM.
On a totally different subject, I wonder if anybody had any tips for settling LOs in the evening. E has her dinner between 5 and 6, depending on when she had her last nap, and then she has a bath and has a good play in there. Afterwards she's tired and is usually rubbing her eyes once she's out. I give her a massage before dressing her and putting her in her sleeping bag. She seems to know that once she's in the sleeping bag it's bedtime and starts to make the noises she makes when she wants to feed. I feed her to sleep lying down next to her in our bed (that's a whole different issue!) She feeds for quite a long time but then more often than not she goes hyper. She'll start waving her arms and legs about, chatting and generally acting wide-awake, even though she'll also rub her eyes. Over the past week she's also started to bite me during this feed (not at any other time) so I looked at the Kellymom site and I'm doing what they advise, which is basically moving away from her and leaving her kick around/play etc. Basically, it takes at least 45 minutes and often more than an hour to settle her and get her off to sleep. How can I avoid her getting so hyper? I don't think I can read her a story once she's dressed for bed after her bath as she's expecting to be fed. Initially she feeds fine, it's after 20 minutes or so that she gets all excited. I've thought about playing some soothing music whilst she's feeding, but does anybody have any other ideas? Thanks in advance!

Ceebee WOW! Where is that deal! Tell me now

We went to portugal with pil year before last, to a villa, DD was 11mo. It was a really good break. Would have gone again last year but I had such a bad pregnancy I just didn't want to add flying into the mix as well. This year we thought on it, then we had a absoulute scorcher of a day and DS ws miserable to say the least, so that was that out the window.
Now thinking on Ireland or, DH say, The Ilse of Lewis, not sure there is much to do there
But might also be nice to go just ourselves, but DH won't camp and we can't afford anything else
Totally grateful for FIL generosity, but I just feel that every holiday of DHs is spent with them. He has already arranged nearly 2 weeks at christmas to be with them.
Oops, that turned into a ramble.

cricri DS does that too, but not for too long. I just avoid eye contact for a bit, then think sod this, and pop him down. He settles soon after. Sometimes has a shout about it but DH gos in to replace a dummy and then he settles. If it was me going in it totally wouldn't work.

Chocgal did you ask, I can't remember. The Zapp does not recline and does not really fold all that small, I feel.
I reckon those ones that just fold in half take up less room.
The zapp may be smaller length ways but it seems bulky height ways IYSWIM

choco you are thinking of replaceing your Quinny? Gosh that Jogger must be good. I loved my Buzz but it is really bulky in the boot. Think I will go check out the mini jogger thingy

Hello all

Ceebee that does sound like a good deal! Sadly we are no longer able tobook holidays outside of termtime, from sept, as DS will start reception

choc I really fancy that spa lodge thingumy, is that a centre parcs thing? I've never been but Imay look into that, sounds lovely.

Daisy sorry to hear DH is struggling. My DH is a bit prone to anxiety- has been very stressed about new job. I just try to remind him that it is not mine or the DCs fault, and to chill out- he seems to be much better at the mo,andis better at talking aboutitrather than taking it out on us,IYSWIM.
His Mum has always been a control freak, she's lovely but I cannot imagine what it would have been like to be her child- she treats mine like unexploded bombs! DH had to pull her up on it the other day- she was been so obnoxious towards them.

LOvely day here. DH has taken the older tow swimming so I'm off to tk maxx this morning with mimi.Apparrently they have loads of birkenstocks in at the mo and I desperately need some new ones.

Hi all

Gosh so much I want to respond to but not much time...

Cricri I asked the HV about the biting as it was what ended bf for me last time. She said that usually if they bite then they no longer hungry so just latch them off. I have used this advice and it does seem to work.

So in reply to your query.. this is just my experience so not an expert but reading your post it sounds like E may be getting a bit overtired during her bedtime routine. I would try pulling the routine forward by half an hour or maybe cutting it down in parts?? Just my thoughts tho.

Ceebs hope that deal was correct and u booked! Was thinking maybe deals getting cheaper as less people going abroad to Europe due to poor exchange rate?? It was enough to put us off at moment..

Daisy my DH doing exact same at moment, he has pressurised job and the disturbed sleep really affecting him this time. He is normally so laid back it is a total see change in his character. He is able to snap out of it (albeit temporarily) with a bit of (or promise of) TLC iyswim so hope it works for urs too.

Hope u get those birkenstocks Pinky love a bargain me!

Waves to all!

Afternoon all

The holiday was in Cyprus (our fave place - haven't booked it yet as I still haven't worked out how we are going to afford it (got to factor in that 3 of us need new passports which isn't cheap, plus all the holiday clothes we would need to buy etc). Am still pondering....

Cricri you are right - I am sure the prospect of going on holiday is far scarier than it actually is - it is just DS1 is such a handful at times, it is easier to deal with him in our own home rather than in strange places/situations iyswim. Also, I think Sparks is correct - it sounds as if E is getting overtired which is making her switch into 'hyper' mode and making her struggle to switch off and settle down. The suggestion of bringing it all forward half an hour is a good one. I know when the Hamster is overtired his arms and legs flap around uncontrollably!!

Daisy I think it is a 'man' thing as Dh is also a bit of a stresshead at times - and also lets his work affect his time at home. I just try and ignore him when he is in that mood and ask him nicely not to take it out on the boys.

Afternoon all!
Thanks for your responses re E's evening routine. I did a bit of reading of the threads in the Sleep topic earlier and came to the same conclusion as Sparks so tonight we're going to try bringing the evening routine forward. It's difficult some days as she's still on a 2 hour wake cycle followed by a nap so if she has her last nap after 5pm then it's tricky to fit everything in and if she awakes from her last nap at around 3pm then it's a long time until bed time and I've been afraid that she'd get overtired, ironically. But perhaps I should just forget that last nap full stop now. Having said that, today she's due a nap at about 3.15pm so there won't be time for another nap after that so I'll just put her to bed early. I think her sleep pattern is changing because she's waking between 6 and 6am in the mornings, which she's never done before, and the naps are a bit haphazard at the moment - she had two very close together at lunchtime today because she was tired 1h after waking from the first one yet other days she'll go for 2.5 hours without napping or skip a nap all together.
Pinky Hope you found your Birkenstocks. Thank you for the blanket btw, I sent you a FB message to say it arrived safely, it's gorgeous
Daisy Hope DH is more relaxed today.
Ceebee Hope you manage to work out the finances so you can book that bargain holiday - would be a shame to miss out!

cricri I was going to suggest brining the routine forward a bit as well, but I've been beaten to it.

Re the biting, DD used to do this, generally when she was either just about to pop out a tooth, or if she was done feeding. It's hard not to react (first time she did it I screamed "fuck" and yanked her off which made it more sore!), but I found eventually that just unlatching her and putting her on the floor facing away from me got the message through to her. I went through a phase of sitting with my wee finger hooked at the ready just in case, and after a while she started pushing my hand away as if to tell me she wasn't going to bite, and she didn't. I also found that if she was getting full and losing interest in the feed taking her off before it got to that point helped enoprmously. she still did it when teething but it wasn't really her fault.

DH is much more relaxed today...in fact he is comatose due to a combination of cellulitis, industrial grade anti-histamines and anti-biotics. His tetchyness was probably down to the infection and the tiredness it was causing. I sent him off to the walk in centre today as his whole elbow was swollen up with the skin red and swollen in about a 6inch circle round a bit he got last week. He had taken a course of ABs rthrough the week but obviously they weren't enough. The doc has drawn a line round it and if it hasn't started to improve in 2 hours he has to go directly to A&E for some IV antibiotics.

But......drumroll please.......we finally got back in the saddle last night

Choc, I wanted a lightweight buggy on a budget so bought a Chicco 0.6T stroller; it is light as a feather (5.5 kg) and has a bit of a recline, but doesn't go flat back. It was only £50 as well. I like it.

OMFG.....whilst posting that, bumble has bum-shuffled about a foot across the floor to get to one of DD's toys . He was grunting away as I was typing and when I looked up he had moved.

Clever bumble.....there'll be no stopping him now!!!!

What a clever boy you have there lacks. We're still waiting for a roll here from M. Congrats also on the "back in the saddle" bit .
Which leads me nicely onto saying that M will be sleeping in his own room for the first time tonight. I feel quite sad about it really, he still seems so little to be on his own . Am sure DH is quite happy though (refer to above remark from lacks!!!)
Have started trying M on solids, but so far he will only gag and be sick. Have even gone for purees, which I hadn't planned to. Even with a bit of baby rice, or apple, pear, carrot etc, he will just gag away until he is sick. Have tried the finger foods too, but that is even worse!!! Any advice?? It's weird as the other two were weaned earlier, as the advice was 4 months then, but also they seemed to do a lot better. Shouldn't compare I know, but I do!

good luck with the change in routine cricri. It is a bit frustrating when they change what you are used to. Common sense says of course they are going to change the way they do things, but even so, I know I am never prepared when it actually happens!

ooh pinky I love birkenstocks. Have had a pair for many years and need some new ones, but alas don't have a tk maxx near me in Hicksville.

Well done Bumble Lacks and also congrats on getting back in the saddle Hope DH feels better soon though.
Fudge No advice re weaning unfortunately, but sorry you're having such a hard time with it. Could it be that he still has a really strong gag reflex? Maybe speak to the HV? Hopefully somebody will be along soon with some suggestions. Good luck with putting him in his own room tonight. I must admit, I hadn't planned to co-sleep at all, but I do actually rather like it and would miss E if she went into her own bed (although we are still working towards that goal!)
Update on settling tonight - I took her to bed at 6.15 after dinner and bath and she fell asleep at 6.40 so obviously bringing everything forwards helped. I'm now waiting for her to wake up in 5 minutes or so as that's what normally happens - she sleeps for half an hour then needs re-settling and goes off again for anything between 2 and 4 hours. We'll see...

Phew....DH just called from A&E. He isn't going to lose his arm after all! It's like the skin infection equivalent of man flu though

He needs to get a less dangerous hobby.

LB, you look fab in the photos of your friend's wedding on FB . I wouldn't dare wear a strapless frock; my tits would be somewhere around my waistband!

fudge, how many weeks is he? he's one of the younger ones isn't he?

not sure what to suggest.....have you tried loading the spoon and then giving it to him to see if he manages to get a bit off and into his mouth by himself?

none of mine have gagged at anything foodwise so I have no experience sorry.

SORRY ladies. I came on Thurs eve said trying to catch up on posts since Tues and havent had chance. Cant catch up now as DH needs laptop to prepare for interview next week. BUT will try and read posts since Tues (EEK) and post tomorrow AM when DS at nursery. LATERS. Hope I havent missed info on NORTH MEET UP.

Evening

Sorry me post and I can't see the screen properly

Eye getting better but still bad, vision blurred and keep misjudging things, face swollen, hurts when opens mouth and I need to scream or cry....

My mum useless, my MIL fab. Becca and Charlotte were angels in church but now Bec's has temp of 39.4. DH on course all week and I am flying solo.

really really sorry for selfish post but I am struggling in RL, tired of trying to carry on as normal.

Was just lurking as using phone and too hard to respond to everything I want to.

But wanted to reply to coolkat, no real useful advice just wanted you to know someone is here! Becca has been spiking temps on and off hasn't she? iirc? Is she out of sorts with it? Can someone come help with the girls for an hour or 2 this week to help you get over your own infection?
Glad the christening went well though.

Oh gosh coolkat that sounds just awful

Chocgal is right, do you have anyone local who can help out? Could MIL come help you for the week?

lacks did you say you got your hair cut? I did on Wed and it is about 2 inches shorter than I asked for.
I asked for 2 inches off (and I thought that was brave!), now my hair is at the middle of my neck I tried to live with it and learn to style it, but twice now and it just gets worse as the day goes on until I am pulling it back.

That sounds so selfish off the back of poor coolkats situation

oh coolkat . Sending you some hugs and get well vibes. I always find that things seem much much harder when I am ill or stressed. Illness involving how we look is always harder as well as you feel that everyone is gawking at you.

Have you got some help this week whilst DH is away?

sorry your mum is being less than helpful, but yay for your MIL. Much as I moan about my ILs they are pretty good in a crisis.

Now who was it whose LO has socks on their hands at night to stop them scratching? I'm thinking of putting them on DH tonight to stop him scratching his elbow

seriously though; I have some 6-12 month scratch mitts that we got for DD that I can send on.

I have just had the most awful phone call. One of my best friends little boy passed away this morning.
He was only 20 months old. I am so devastated for her, I can't even begin to imagine how she must be feeling right now.
Sorry for the me post I just needed to get it off my chest will catch up tomorrow.

Just lurking. LadyBuzz, I just wanted to say I am so sorry for your friend and her loss, I can't imagine the awful pain she and her must be experiencing.

OMG LB . I'm so so sorry for your friend and her family's loss. How absolutely horrible and unimagineable.

LB that is awful, awful news, am really sorry for your friend.

Terrible news LB very sorry for your friend and her family

Sorry to hear that LadyBuzz.
Glad things are back on track Daisy
How Is E *Cricri, with the bringing the routine forward ?
fudge, I have no experience of gagging. But M did have strong tongue reflex and couldn't swallow anything for weeks. Then all of a sudden he was just ready and started with avengance. Do you think that could be it ?
Coolkat, how is that eye ? Are you glad that the whole christening is over ? Are you allright ? Big hugs to you.
We had the most 'perfect' weekend. You know when you just have one of those lovely lovely ones. We went to ds1's school fete. Then on sun we did a car boot and sold loads of stuff. Then we came home filled up the paddling pool and had both boys in it. Cracked open some wine. And the bbq'd minted lamb chops, chinese pork kebabs and lamb kebabs, from our local butcher. It was devine. We all had an afternoon siesta. then dh and I finished the evening off in style - Now does that all sound idyllic to you. It was lovely.

Oh ladybuzz that is so so sad and makes my life nothing in comparison.

Gong doc at 10.30. Can' stop crying now, no one to help. Face worse glands worse, sorry ladybuzz shouldn't moan considering. x x

MASSIVE APOLOGIES AS NO CHANCE IN HELL OF HAVING TIME TO CATCH UP ON POSTS SINCE TUES. Read last nights though . coolkat sorry to hear you still poorly and kiddies not much better. Wish I was nearby to try to help will DH away. It never rains just pours doesnt it! Thinking of you lovely. You are a strong person and DH will be home to help before you know it. ladybuzz at your friend's news. Poor love. Cant imagine it. With each of my kids I have become more paranoid that I will check on them in the night or morning and find the worst has happened. Just so scared. Hugs to your friend.

Things good here. Had a nice weekend. Yesterday was weird as DS was with ILs for the day at Pets corner as a treat as they arent coming to Twycross Zoo (weather permitting) for his 3rd b'day on Thurs. Me, DH and A went clothes shopping for hol in July. A is no bother at all hardly know we have got her so was a really relaxing and quiet day. Felt odd and more so to do things at own pace rather than rushing. Missed my boy. He stresses me and tires me out when with me but once away I miss him and dont know what to do with myself. Had nice meal with old uni mate last week. We have kept in touch but she has since moved so dont see each other as much. QUESTION - How do I tell my 3 good (since uni, they live Manchester way I live Sheff way) mates that my kids are being christened and they arent invited due to numbers (but also no one likes 1 mate's BF)? Was wanting to tell my friend all about the christening but didnt because a coward and dont want to upset.