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

[juanitad]

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

Hi all

Hope you are well - we are, M is lovely apart from finding his voice more and more which usually comes out in a high pitched headache inducing squeal!!

I have just bought a new pram - a Baby Jogger City Mini - which should arrive tomorrow, we tested it out in the shop and its fab! We needed one to go on holiday so rather than getting a really cheap one we decided to get a nice one to use all the time. Anyone else got one?

So now I have to sell my Quinny to justify it and as I have all the Quinny bits I thought I would sell my Maxi Cosi with it too but that means I have to buy a new car seat. So big question - what do I get?? I want a rear and front facing one, after seeing this on MN but where do I start??

Quick post, DH will be in the door any mo.
Thanks for that link ChocO. I've never heard about keeping kids in rear facing seats longer than 9 months or so. but I'll definitely look into now.

All quiet on here eh? Where is everyone???

All ok here, M is back to his normal self, all a bit quiet and boring to be honest, although I have a couple of friend going through really difficult circumstances at the moment so it makes me feel very grateful for my lot!

Gotta go x

We changed our rear facing one, to a front facing one, a britax, that we had for ds1, for our airport journey, to go on holiday.
M was all hunched up and his knees had to be bent, because his toes were touching the back seat. Not recommending this to anyone else. At all. Just saying, we have done it.
Choc, it is SO hard to decide on which to to get, isn't it ? I am sorry, I can't advise.

Evening all

Re car seats....I kept my older two rear facing until they were nearly a year old and their necks were really strong. I would have kept DD in longer as she wasn't quite 9kg, but the straps on the maxi cosi were too short and we couldn't fasten her into it. If we had been buying a new seat I would have gone for a Britax First Class, but we were reusing the one we had had for DS1 which was forward facing only. I think we'll have the same problem with bumble as I'm struggling with strap length already! I'll get a first class for him and keep him rear facing for as long as possible.

It's all a question of risk isn't it? Rear facing is definately safer than forward facing, but forward facing is still safe.

Choco, I might be "borrowing" the double version of your new pram for a few weeks . I'm quite excited about it.

Hi everyone
We are at centerparcs, just put DS down, he slept most of journey so not sure how he's going to sleep tonight.

choco does the city mini jogger fold small enough to take on a plane as hand luggage?

carseats one of my best friends is in the traffic police so I have been asking her advice on seats, she has a DD just 3 weeks younger than my DS. She is going to be buying a forward facing seat quite soon. She says she wouldn't buy anything but isofix. It is really difficult choosing though isn't it!?

DD is in a forward facing seat already, there was about an inch left in the strap length but she was only a lb short of the upper limit on the baby seat, and into the lower limit on the Maxicosi priorifix which we have for DS so now they are both in the same. Heavy, but you don't swap them between cars much, and I have her tipped back in it atm.
Vbab, you sound like you had a great night at beyonce, hope you weren't too tired afterwards. I think that is why I've been finding DS such hard work recently - DD hasn't been sleeping, so neither have I and I haven't got the energy to deal with him
Chocolategal have a great holiday
Daisy very of getting more buggies to play with! but getting DH a bike trailer for his birthday so we can go for rides together and be all fit and healthy! very wet summer coming up - sorry all !

yorky - Yep it was a great night . I know what you mean about dealing with kids is harder when tired. Trouble is we arent aloud to catch up on our sleep until they turn 18 and we can push them out the door! Just realised how bad that sounds. Dont mean it in a bad way. Always be my babies no matter their age. Hope you are able to catch up on zzz soon and you have a better day with DS.

me - had good aft with DS with the odd bad and weird behaviour. But had some lovely moments . Going for italian at meadowhall tomorrow eve with a uni mate . No wine for me though as driving and my mate has gone T total .

Just a quick hello from me. Having a hard time sleepwise. Fed 3 times in the night last night. Knackered.

Have a look at the thread I started in style as got no responses. Having a mare with Christening outfit!

X

A quick hello from me too, I've been lurking but not had chance to post recently.
Just wanted to add to the discussion on child seats - our local council offers advice and try before you buy facilities for car seats. They will also check the seat is correctly fitted once you've bought it - perhaps your council offers a similar service Choc? We're debating what to do about E's car seat too as she's getting quite big for her MaxiCosi, although she's still got a bit of space at the head end so we'll see how things go over the next couple of months. She's well over 20lbs now so could go forward-facing.
Vbab Glad you enjoyed Beyonce, sounds like you had a great evening and a lovely time with DH.
Chocolategal Enjoy CP! Hope E sleeps soundly for you.
Daisy Glad DD had a lovely birthday
Obs Glad you had a good holiday, although it must seem a long time ago now!
Coolkat I think E woke at least 3 times to feed last night too so I know how you feel. Didn't help that I hadn't had much sleep the previous night as I was doing a 12km midnight walk for charity!
At least E is still going down OK in the evenings since we got back from France, although it does take a while to get her off to sleep and often she'll wake after 30 minutes and need to be re-settled. Then she'll wake 3 hours later for a feed Still, it's progress and hopefully things will continue to improve. The next big step will be to get her into her cot as we're still co-sleeping at the moment and I feed her to sleep in our bed.

oops, fallen off the end again.
I have been battling with my mum again, over co-sleeping with J.
Have tried to start a couple of threads, one on how to get him in with DD and then another to get some back up for deciding to stick with the co sleeping (both very short lived, but hey)
It is so hard to keep having this struggle, with my mum, trying to convince me that I should have DS in his own cot and room by now (well, not exactly cos we only have one other room, so they will have to share but YSWIM) and me being happy enough with how it is going, cept DS does not sleep too well.
She is desperately trying to convince me that he will sleep through if he is in his own room/cot and that his clingyness to me will subside too.
Not sure it is the answer to all my worries but she won't rest until I either fall out with her or just do as she 'suggests'. Heaven knows if I were to imply that I felt any pressure she would be terribly offended.
She keeps saying how good DD was(slept through from 12 weeks, never slept a minute in my bed) and how, not good, DS is, and making rods for my back. All the old favourites.
Sigh

twinkling - hi lovely. Even though I am personally not into co sleeping and havent with DS or Alyssa I feel so sorry for you that you are being put under pressure and by of all people your mum. I wouldnt have done co sleeping for a number of reasons. Just a couple ... scared we would roll on A in the night (DH is a big guy), like my space, worries about clingyness and not being able to get to sleep on her own although love cuddles and very soft mummy and also better chance of rest to deal with the next day. Alyssa has been in her cot bed in her room since just before 6m and has been sleeping through for a while. This could of course be purely down to personality of A and my DS who was the same NOT because I didnt co sleep.
OK WILL GET TO IT ... If YOU feel that the current negatives with DS are worth it for the benefits you feel you get from co sleeping then stuff what everyone else thinks! But on the otherhand you could just TRY DS in a cot in your room then onto the other room. If it doesnt work (would need to persist though) then go back to co sleeping. But at some point you will have to deal with DS moving from your bed.
HOPE it helps . Not very good with my words and hope I didnt sound bad in anyway. YOUR CHOICE you are a fab mummy.

Good morning twinkling and everyone else
I would love to cosleep but DS always ends up sleeping across the bed and taking up more space than 3 adults! DD quite often cosleeps for half the night, depending how many night feeds she wants and whether I can open my eyes or not!
If you're looking for support on cosleeping then I know some people on the new lollipop forum are very into attachment parenting and are more likely to have some advice or experience on getting kids out of your bed (if thats what you want) or not.
Its sad, I would hope my mum would support me as a parent even if I'm not doing it the way she would have chosen.
Hope everyone else is doing OK

Morning all
Re: the car seat issue. I am considering my next car seat in August as J is very long and skinny so we have loads of room in the Maxi-Cosi at the head, but his feet are kicking the back seat now and he ends up a bit scrunched. Haven't had him weighed in ages so no idea where he is but i'm not too concerned. I moved into a new doctor's surgery when I moved to Kent and no one contacted me to see if J should be seen by a HV or anyone! Makes me that babies can slip through the net like this. Mind you, I only ever saw the HV 3 times in London since November so I can't be on the 'bad mummy' list

J still has no teeth but loves his food and sleeps well so I count myself very lucky. Who needs his nasty father involved when he seems to be growing up well?!

Mind you, I now have to lose weight and tone up as I am pudgy and unattractive

speak more later and sorry for the 'me' post
x

Twinkling I read your thread on co-sleeping with interest because I would also like E to go in her own cot soon (see my previous post). Fortunately my mum is supportive, it's DH who keeps saying that I should get her sleeping in her own cot. Yet he's the one who can't bear to hear her cry I never set out to co-sleep, quite the opposite, but E was just so clingy that there was no other way as she would have screamed and screamed (and still does!) if left to go to sleep on her own. Fortunately the clinginess has eased during the day, although she still has naps in her pushchair so I can rock her, and night-time is the only remaining "issue" really. I figure she will grow out of it at some point, as she's grown out of being in the sling etc. What I'm trying to say is that if you're happy co-sleeping and it's helping you to get some much-needed rest, then why change? Our LOs are only 7 months old, still very little. Your DS was early too and had a difficult first few weeks so that could be a reason for his clinginess. From what I've read on MN (and believe me I've read a lot since having my velcro baby!) I honestly believe that clinginess is nothing to do with what parents do or don't do, it's the fact that all babies are different, as you've seen with your DD and DS. Hope you can make your mum see this and respect your choices.
Yorky What is the lollipop forum? Can you post a link please as I'd be interested to read what's being said on there.
Autumnlady Amazing that your new dr didn't put you in touch with the HV! There must be baby clinics near you where you can have J weighed though and see the HVs if you want. IKWYM about the fact that it shouldn't be down to you to do the leg-work though.
Can I just say though, for those who haven't met Autumnlady in RL, that she most definitely is not pudgy and unattractive! She always looks very elegant whenever we meet

Thanks cricri Trust me, I need to lose the stomach before summer begin properly!!
There is a baby clinic around the corner from teh dr's surgery but no one seems to know when it's open and there are no signs on the door will investigate on the PCT website. It is just annoying that I have to run around and no one seems to know anything about it!
I only received half your text message last night, can you send again?

PS - just like to add that cricri in RL is utterly gorgeous and doesn't look as though she had a baby 7 months ago at all!

Hello Ladies just checking in will be back later, waves to all

Lollipop a site which sells washable nappies and they have recently launched a chat forum for anyone, but obviously mostly populated by cloth nappy users, and sling wearers but I remember a thread on co-sleeping, there is a link from www.teamlollipop.co.uk

Quick post as am trying to sort out for hols on Sat and minirosa has been waking lots so I flaked out yesterday afternoon for an hour !
We don't co sleep but is is in cot anext to my bed - I am wondering if I should move her out of eyesight - not going to move in with dd1 yet as she can wake up a sleeping lion with her yells !!
Re buggies and flying I have a giordani worldwide that folds up small and I take onboard - I have only seen in Italy to be honest but it has been a godsend for me at Gatwick- Crappio of you want to use on hols as it doesn't recline. I will be checking in my bee ( in is very expensive bag!!!) and then dd1 in a sling - oh and I will be on Valium !
Car seats I have a first class the Uk and a similar one here - both stayed / will stay in until they could no longer fit. For dd1 seat I am going and trying out when I get to the UK as want to get the right one for her.

Ill be reading the car seat issue with interest, im hoping to keep the maxi cosi until hes big enough to get a front facing one but no idea which one to get.

Co-sleeping an interesting one but at the end of the day if your happy then whats the problem? Regarding 'rod for your back' ive heard mixed reports the worst case being me (I was still going to sleep in my parents bed then being moved to my own bed right up until I was 6) but my parents didnt mind this, I didnt mind this and I sleep very well and am one of those people that can sleep anywhere at any time of day.

Hi all, Interesting stuff re the car seats. We never have had a group 0 seat as I am a big wuss and can hardly lift them without a baby in never mind with a big chubster like my 2 have been .
I have the Britax first class SI which goes rear facing up to 13kg which is great BUT there is no way Jay will be able to stay rear facing for alot longer as there are only 2 strap points for the rear facing mode and they are getting a little bit low on his shoulders.
I'm happy for him to go forward as DS1 did around this age. DS1 was in it until around 9 or 10 months and as he was quite large he started to look a bit cramped when he had his winter clothes on so we moved onto the Evola 123.
What I'm trying to say in my round about ramble is I don't think they are particularly worth spending alot on at this age as the use you will get out of them will be minimal unless you have quite a small baby. It would be more worthwhile getting a larger forward facing seat which would last a bit longer.
Hope this makes sense!

Twinkling you do what you feel is best, he is your baby and you know best!

Hi everyone else, hope these sleepless babies have better nights for you.

My new pram has arrived and its so pretty !!! Its the Orange one here (click the second photo.

M and I are off to try it out, although silly me didn't order a rain cover so fingers crossed that despite the grey clouds it stays dry!!

Just checking in whilst Sam is having a nap.

Carseats I am a bit of a 'by the book' kind of person so I waited till DS1 was 9 months before we moved him forward-facing and I will no doubt do the same with Sam - but then again, neither of my boys have been particularly big so I may have done differently if they had. We have a spare old forward-facing carseat (from my sis) which we will use for Sam for a year until DS1 is big/old enough for the group 2 ones - when Sam can have DS1's old one. We have the Maxicosi SP one (I think) and DS1 has always been really comfortable in it.

Hi to everyone else - not really got time to catch up!

Can you believe it - they are restructuring at work (again!) so my job will probably be different when I get back. This happened when I was on mat leave with DS1 aswell - good job I am not going on mat leave again fgs! I hate being on the 'outside' of things and not really knowing what the hell is going on other than the snippets my colleagues are telling me.

twinkling, sorry your mum is giving you giref about the co-sleeping. Is there any way you can just deflect the issue? Next time she asks if he's in his own bed, act like you haven't heard and ask her if she wants a cup of tea? Or if on the phone "oooh, gotta go, baby stirring"

As a stopgap between him being in your bed and in his own bed though, have you considered a side car cot, like this or if you have a cot bed then you can just leave the side off and have it at the same height as your bed. We bought this cot in IKEA as we didn't want to spend too much money as we already had a perfectly serviceable cot that DD was still in. It converts to a bed but is only cot sized. It's the same height as our bed in the top position (also an IKEA bed so not sure if this is just coincidence or not), but their mattresses are really cheap and they do mattress pads for cots so you could probably layer to get the right height. I realise that you aren't exactly convenient for a quick trip to IKEA though, unless they now have one in Inverness!!

Sorry, that was a bit of a ramble, but I just wanted to reassure you that he will go in his own bed at some point; it's unlikely he'll still be sleeping in with you when he's 6. And, if both you and DH are fine with it, then it's hardly a rod for your back is it? Can you ask DH to have a word? being told MYOB might be better coming from him

Hi ladiets

Twink sorry your mum giving you grief about co-sleeping. Muy mum has been giving me terrible grief about Breast feeding which is why I have started to stop feeding her in the day. I have dropped the 10am feed and I am going to drop the 3pm one next week. I am going to continue feeding monring and through the night and at bedtime. To be truthful I can't believe I have been so stupid to do what she says!

I woke up this morning and one of my eyes looks hugely swollen, I look awful, don't know what happened. Will have to go doc's tomorrow. I hope it clears for the Christening.

I have two Britax seats in the loft for when Becca reaches 9 months. We have the Britax baby carrier seat and there is lots of room left in it.

X

coolkat, that's sad about your mum giving you a hard time about BFing and that you feel you have to stop doing daytime feeds . My mum, god rest her soul, never made any negative comments about my parenting; she was always terribly supportive of what me and my sisters were doing, whatever that was. I hope that I can be the same sort of parent to my lot when they are older and making their own decisions in life. My MIL otoh......but she isn't my mum so I don't feel the need to actually listen to her