March 09 - there is no snooze button on a baby that needs milk.....!

[meep]

over here ladies

Hi corgi sorry about the hard times. Just know they WILL pass! I also don't know much about reflux except that you have to give them medicine for it, and I agree with Wheely about the formula. Seriously, rice cereal cannot harm him so give it a try, but maybe speak to your GP?

Is it you who asked about mixed feeding? I've done it with Ben since birth and he's never had nipple confusion or whatnot, but it does, veeeery slowly, affect bf. It's just so much easier for him to suck on the bottle, lazy little bug, and breastmilk slowly dried up. i'm still, but just about, feeding him from one breast in the morning, but he's slowly losing interest in that, and I'm sad about it.

meep What a bitchy comment? Hamster cheeks?! Seriously! Rosie is beautiful. But I understand, I'm v touchy where LB is concerned.

oops, back on duty...

Corgi really sorry to hear you're struggling. DD1 had silent reflux and it was very hard, and I didn't realise how hard until having Hannah without reflux. Why have you discontinued the Gaviscon? If it definetly is reflux, it will not get better without treatment, or at least not until the weak muscle devevlops. If Gaviscon didn't help, there are other alternatives. I'm certainly no expert on reflux, but from what I have read and experienced, formula doesn't make it better, it's just esaier to administer gaviscon in, and weaning does not always improve things. DD1 was on Gaviscon until she was 13 months, and obviously solids. Sorry if I'm telling you stuff you know, but I really felt for you reading your post.

Corgi I really understand your worries about nursery - but my experience of them is that they should be able to help get him into a routine. I'm sure they'll have had babies with reflux before and will have coping mechanisms in place. Perhaps you could talk to them about it beforehand?

I don't know much about reflux and how it affects weaning, but if you can start him on food before he starts nursery that will help massively - I weaned DD1 early at five months so she'd be well into eating when she started nursery at six months. Good job we did too because she wouldn't take a bottle at all at first - not even EBM - so she was at least getting something during the day. The nursery coped!

I know it's hard not to worry, but it will get better - I promise!

I'm feeling slightly nervous about taking both girls to see a friend in Cheshire this weekend. It's a 300-odd mile round trip and I'm going without DP. Am I mad?

Thanks for the sympathy and insight, ladies.

missm, I am hoping you're right about the nursery; I'm actually going to see them this weekend (it's a brand-new set-up, and was under construction when we signed him up, so I'm eager to see what they've done and speak to the staff.

laurenypops, we'd stopped the Gaviscon because our paed said to have him on it for three weeks and then take him off to see how he goes -- the answer, obviously, is "not well!" He's back on as of yesterday, and if I don't see an improvement by the weekend, I'll have to get in touch with an alternative paed (ours is off on hols for a month) to see about a different medication. It helps, actually, to hear you say your LO was on it for a year, as I'd wondered if there were any side effects/contraindications to long-terms use.

Wheely, DP is pushing for formula, I think, because he's worried that Rhys is reacting to something in my breastmilk (the diagnosis of silent reflux was made kind of on the fly, on the basis of my comment "he's fussy on the nipple", so I think he may not trust it). I've avoided dairy while nursing, and we'll be putting him when the time comes on hypoallergenic formula, and hoping that will prevent any issues with dairy intolerance.

When you talk about administering Gaviscon -- in the UK, do you use the powdered form? My pharmacist here ordered the kind available in France, which is basically a thick goo that you draw into a syringe and give that way. Rhys does hate it, so when we do finally switch to formula, I'll probably switch over to the powder and pop it in the bottle. One small advantage...

Yup, mdavza, it was me wondering about mixed feeding sounds like my worries about diminishing supply are on target! Oh well it's just hard to think that I've only got a month of bf'ing left before he needs to transition over to formula. I really didn't think I'd get this attached to it -- but when it works, it's just such a lovely feeling of closeness.

corgi go to your paed and tell them you want a proper investigation into R's ability to keep food down, you've got enough evidence to suggest that he needs something a bit more comprehensive than Gaviscon! My friend's LO was v fussy and similar problems, and after they did an investigation (they sedate and put a probe in the baby's throat to measure how often acid comes up) they found that the poor mite was refluxing 20-40 times an hour! She had an op (called a Nissen fundoplication) to fix it but she was an extreme case. My friend she was a different baby afterwards! Don't worry about the nursery, they have large staff-child rations for a reason and if someone needs to walk R on their shoulder for a while, well that's what you pay them for!

Slick I claim Gabriel for next Biggest Baby, he's 19w and 17lb 1.... still BFing but he has 1-2 helpings of solids a day.

Wheely at L nearly crawling, G's still working on sitting up without toppling on his face with a confused expression! And he's older!

Not much of import in the laumiere household, got out last night with my best mate for a music evening, and off (leaving DH with the boys) Fri and Sat for a hen night in Brighton. Fully expecting to come home to total meltdown . DH is usually ok but Gabriel's never gone without boobs for that long!

Other than that DH is currently in my bad books! Normally when he's starting the night shifts he'll have a few beers and come to bed about 3 am. Today I woke up at 6 am alone, no sign of DH. Found him downstairs where he'd stayed up all night drinking. Then G threw up all over our bed and himself and I had to clean the lot up as DH wasn't in a state to help (he managed to get a sheet on the bed eventually). He couldn't understand why I was absolutely fuming!

laum Can understand your feelings, I'd be livid. My Dh is working again but this time it's going much better. Even though he works from home, I'm now treating it as if he's not here and then there are no expectations from me that he'll help out during the day. Just a bit miffed if I see him working on his bicycle during office hours, grrrr....Ben is 7,4kg at 19 weeks, and he's way long! I was too hurried yesterday to meaure his length though.

Corgi It's a very gradual process, the drying up, and like I say, my lo was on mixed from the beginning. This morning he was pplaying on the boob for a while, not really intersted anymore, made me sad.

Wheely wow, that's early! B is spending more time on his belly and he rolls around and shoves himself up on his back. He's also sitting in his stroller, needs a little help every now and then.

LB is sucking his feet - we call it "feet steak" and he is making new noises every day. Hmmmmm is a new one, and he is starting to laugh at nothing in particular. When I lean over him he grabs fistfuls of my hair, eaouwch! He's also droling like mad, I have to keep a bib on permanently as he soaks himself. I'm also worried that I'm not 'playing' with him enough, and there are so many toys and classes that you feel you should have and should attend, but I can't always be bothered? I went to a netmums meetup closeby, it was ok, but B was the youngest by far. Felt v strange meeting people that way, but I don't know any mums closeby. Really miss my good friends from back home sometimes!
Feel very irritable today, must be the period that's returned after almost a year...

PS: we're starting to think of a forward-facing car seat. Do they have to stay in the back-facing one until a certain age or can we change when we want? And which one would you recommend? Thanx

hi laumiere yes, I think a visit to the paed is in order. But I have to find one first (mine's gone for a month...). As an interim step, a midwife/lactation consultant that a friend recommended is coming for a HV this afternoon (I hope Rhys will feed while she's here, though with my luck, he'll be an angel and have no probs). That's the frustrating bit 7 out of 10 feeds go tits up, as it were, but the other 3 are just fine (and always include his night feeds -- he's never had an issue there). Going to have fun explaining this to the doctor...

I had to laugh at your comment about staff/child ratios because here in Belgium, the ratio is 8 babies to 1 caregiver! Hence my worries the odds of him getting that kind of soothing are slim to none.

And I don't blame you for getting cross with your DH! On the bright side, at least only one male member of the household was vomiting last night...

Hey all - sorry that I only come by and post every now and then - I do read the thread every few days to check in and see how peeps are doing and to see if Penny is in the same place as everyone else.

Speaking of which, she turned 16 weeks last Sunday, and I'm wondering, from a purely "just interested" point of view, how she's doing developmentally vs the other March babies. I know it all evens out in the end, and they'll all be walking and talking and whatnot by 2 and it doesn't matter at this stage... but like I said, I do take an interest now as she's my first.

So, what were all yours doing by nearly 17 weeks? She can roll onto her side, smile, laugh, suck her feet, hold toys (for a little while), stick them in her mouth etc. She is nowhere near sitting up or crawling (how old is L Meep?) Don't know how much she weighs as haven't been to the clinic in weeks, but I think she must be over 15lbs? We're going to wean at 5.5 months so she's had solids for a couple of weeks before she goes to nursery at exactly 6 months. Dreading that (both the food and the nursery... bf-ing is so convenient and I don't want to leave my wee babe!)

Sorry Corgi to hear of your probs with Rhys - if it makes you feel any better, I am bit of a walking zombie at the moment as Pen has decided to go from waking once in the night to every 2 or 3 hours these last couple of weeks. Am hoping it's a phase...

Corgi I'm so sorry about your issues with reflux. Spike had it for a month, or something that seemed very much like it, and it was horrible. Gaviscon did nothing for us - he just threw up more lumpy vomit and found that more upsetting. In the end, his episode passed, but my partner who is a pharmaceutical researcher looked into the use of ranitidine in babies and found that it was a very safe. I think Lau is right, that an investigation is in order. It may be worth asking to try out ranitidine, if you haven't already.

We had a trip to the HV yesterday and Spike is 7.4kg or 16lb 4oz at 17 weeks, so one of the bigger babies by the sounds of it. I hope my breast milk can continue to sustain him until 6 months.

Boobz We're doing the same kind of things as your LO, although I haven't seen Spike with his feet in his mouth yet. He's very strong on his front and does push ups with his arms. He has a big head so I think sitting will take a little while. He has just become very vocal, making a lovely racket all the time. He was hooting like an owl for most of yesterday.

I was wondering whether there is anyone who hasn't left their LO yet? I've not had more than 15 mins to myself since Spike was born. Am I a freak? My friends seem to think so! He'll take a bottle of EBM from anyone, so I'm not too worried. My DP has a day off on Monday and I have booked a couple of hours off! What on earth will I do with myself? The possibilities are endless!

corgi when G had reflux it wasn't a problem at night either (weird huh?)

boobz sounds like Pen is more coordinated than Gabriel! He's very good at picking up objects now, and can throw pretty accurately! Oh and the sleep to pot knocks off in a week or so :-p

As for ticklish, he's very ticklish now, but its only been the last 3 weeks or so, so from 16w on?

mdavzda as long as he's sober enough to work tonight I'll calm down, I don't often need to call on him in the daytime, but do rely on being able to if I can, so was pissed with him for removing that option unilaterally.

Yarnie you are not a freak. Amy will be 15 weeks on Saturday and I haven't left her with anyone yet either.

Being honest, I am very reluctant to leave her on her own with dh. He has epilepsy (although quite well controlled with pills) and I am terrified of him having an episode while I'm not there. He only has them in his sleep, but I'd still worry!

If I had a couple of hours to myself... I think I'd go for a haircut

Thank you, Grinning - very reassuring.

It's difficult that your DH has epilepsy. At one time, my boyfriend and my best friend both had epilepsy. It's quite a responsibility looking out for them, I know. And a shame that it raises obvious concerns about leaving your LO alone with him.

I noticed my profile pictures of Spike were woefully out of date, so I have uploaded some new(ish) ones.

I had to be forced out the door by my Mum to go to the shops on my own without dd1 - I walked round the supermarket and sobbed when I saw anyone with a baby . So you are defeinitely not a freak yarnie or grinning

With Rosie I (almost) didn't give her a backwards glance - and have been out loads without her .

lovely pics of a very cute spike.

Rosie is 16wo now. I have just realised that she hardly has any "tummy time" but the nurse who did her jabs yesterday said she has fantastic head control - so not sure how much benefit tummy time will give her. If I carry her over my shoulder she straightens up and looks around at everything and anything - very nosey! No rolling or anything resembling crawling - but dd1 NEVER crawled or rolled - went from sitting at 6mo to bum shuffling then (finally) walking at 16mo. Rosie's feet are always in her mouth - makes nappy changing interesting!

Corgie sorry you are having such a rough time - poor you and poor Rhys. I wish I had some magic solution to impart to you - but I have no experience of reflux - sounds horrid.

I need to firm up my return to work date and settling in period at nursery. Luckily it won't be too alien for Rosie as she is in and out of the place when I am taking dd1 there - so I am hoping it won't be too traumatic. And her big sis will just be in the room next door if cuddles are needed.

Just been out to the park with my 2 girls AND my brothers 3 girls. Picture this - me with baby in sling, toddler in pushchair, 3yo holding onto pushcair, 6yo holding onto other side and 9yo walking beside me. I looked like I had 5 daughters. You should have seen people staring and doing a double take! My mum & dad were with us and they were walking behind finding the whole thing very funny!

Hi All

Boobz - sounds like Pen is doing just fine. Lara does seem to be quite physical - she's 18 weeks today and has been able to roll both ways since just over 3 months and is pushing herself along (its a weird movement - she obviously has the strength in her legs but not upper body so much). I think she's almost sitting but not quite. She holds plays with toys. But, DD1 wasn't doing any of this at this point, She rolled at 5 months (one way), sat at 6, crawled at 9 and walked at 12. The difference we think is that dd1 is dh's build (v. slim, averagey height) and she did things at the same sort of time as DH, L has thunder thighs so we think is probably more my family (welsh mountain goat stock) and me and my brothers were all phyiscally early. She doesn't blardy sleep though (30 mins nap is a long nap in this household and if she does 2 of those we are happy).

At the end of the day though it means absolutely nothing and has no bearing on anything else.

I have a friend who was obssessed with her dd1 doing everything before everyone else (she didn't but did some things which we never heard the end of). She's managed to have twins at same time as L and we are getting it again. Sigh.

Anyway, v. exciting news - my bro has just announced him and his wife are expecting a baby. Quite unexpected as we didn't think they'd ever get round to it. Due in Feb. V. V. Excited.

I also almost booked L's christening today - well, I did book it only to come home and find a wedding invite for the same weekend so not sure what we'll do now.

Yarnie Spike is adorable! These kids are going to wrap us around their wee fingers...wait, aren't they allready doing that?! I noticed that you love sci-fi - I just saw 'Twilight' and I think I might actually have a small crush on Edward Cullen...my best friend has read all the books, I thought she was strange but now I've booked the next one at the library.

Also have a hard time leaving lB with anyone, but I trust my sil and have had a few moments of me-time - which I spend worrying about lo...

Boobz ben did none of those things at 16 weeks, he's only started rolling at around 18 weeks and now putting his feet in his mouth.

Wheely Congrats to your bro and partner. I love my nieces to bits, they're more like my kids too.

mdavza - I meant to say, on the forward facing car seat, you really should try and wait until 9 months because they aren't ready for forward facing until 9 months even if big. I know friends who had real trouble waiting because they were outgrowing their little seats but best to wait as long as poss if you can.

And on the leaving front - my other brother (who has 2 kids) couldn't believe we still hadn't used any other babysitters other than grandparents - and dd1 is 4.6.

& Yarnie - Spike is gorgeous.

(Must finish a post before hitting post - brain like a sieve - will it ever improve ???)

Hi everyone, back from a few days break in the Cotswolds. It was nice but now I think I am coming down with something, possibly a cold.

Yarnie - Spike is very cute.

I've lost track of how many weeks Mae is, but she still isn't rolling but she does try to stand up at every opportunity. And she is definitely chatting and dribbling like crazy. And don't get me started on how much she has been eating recently. I am literally putting her down for five mins to go the toilet and she is hungry again.

Corgi I hope that things start to improve for you. It sounds awful.

I've left Mae for a few hours with my parents or DH but I am not sure how I am going to cope with a whole day at work.

Hey girls!

That's it, I've officially gone mad... we're considering putting an offer in on a house knowing it needs £30k worth of work.... why? It's £239,995 and has five bedrooms, but is in a nice area of London.....

I know comparisons are invidious, but it IS really interesting to hear what other babies are doing ? especially as Rhys is one of the youngest babies on the board, I love reading about what developments are in his near future (well, probably in his near future). He will be 15 weeks old tomorrow, and today weighed in at 7.1 kilos ? not in HB or Gabriel territory, slick and laumiere, but maybe giving Spike a run for his money, yarnie.

He?s rolling from back to stomach (but not back again), holding his head pretty well (though there are times he looks like Yertle the Turtle with it stuck out in front of him) and talking up a storm, but is nowhere near sitting up, and his hand-eye grasping coordination has a long way to go. He?s not particularly interested in his feet, but has just learned that he can scoot around on his back. And he is FASCINATED by a laptop slideshow of pics of himself ? he will hoot and laugh and giggle and flirt with the handsome devil on screen.

boobz, my sympathies on the night wakings ? this too shall pass, right?

wheely, like you, I?m grateful for a couple of half-hour naps a day. I spend a lot of time calculating just how to maximise those precious 30 minutes ? ?Right, can I squeeze in a shower and breakfast, make a couple of phone calls AND fold all the laundry??

yarnie, I hope you find something unspeakably delightful and hedonistic to do with your free time on Monday! And Spike is adorable.

Impressed at your ability to keep five sparkly princesses in line, meep.

at the bargain house price, laumiere! Where is it? Can?t believe London prices may actually be going from extortionate to only terrifying ? how long will that last?

corgi in Hither Green, Lewisham, properties like it are about £495,000 but it is a WRECK! Am just not sure we'll have the energy to do it up with 2 small kids.

G likes lifting his feet to waist height but not in the mouth yet. He still hasn't got the hang of back to front rolling but is great from front to back.

So. We may be doing an about-face on the reflux issue.

The midwife/lactation consultant came over this afternoon to talk about Rhys and get a look at him in action ? she was lovely, and spent ages with us asking me questions about his quirks and habits in general. The upshot is that she feels the problem isn?t reflux, for the following reasons:
-- The timing seems off (normally reflux episodes kick in a bit later in the nursing/post-feeding process)
-- He shows no discomfort at all when he actually regurgitates (he never vomits, but did spit up a bit after he ate when she was here)
-- His general demeanour is bright and perky
-- He?s gaining weight like a madman
-- The Gaviscon hasn?t had an impact this time round
-- He nursed while she watched and had no issue whatsoever (I had to laugh when she said that it seems babies reserve their absolute worst behaviour for the people they really trust. Can?t they just say it with flowers?). She also noted that for the five minutes he does nurse, he?s incredibly strong.

What does she think the issue might be? His personality ? i.e., his impatient, gratify-me-now approach to EVERYTHING in life at the moment. Basically, she thinks he gets pissed off when the milk supply slows down and then throws an enormous hissy fit.

(Caveat: I know midwife doesn?t = paediatrician, and she was quick to say that this was her opinion based on what she?s seen before, that she could well be wrong and that if I want to get tests, etc. to rule reflux out, I should be sure to do so. Those of you who have had babies diagnosed with reflux, would be interested in hearing your thoughts on her thoughts?)

So as an interim step, we?re going to see if we can get him away from the EBM habit and back solely on the breast for the next three days. She warned me that he will probably be seriously cranky about it. She?ll come back on Monday to weigh him and make sure he?s still gaining properly ? and of course, if I get worried or concerned in the meantime, off to the hospital we should go.

Since her visit, he?s had four feeds ? two, he nursed calmly and fell asleep at the breast; one he took from a bottle because we were out on a terrace and I didn?t want to risk a meltdown; and one he had his traditional meltdown after nursing for 5 minutes. I didn?t push it and didn?t offer him a bottle, and he was all smiles five minutes later. That was at 9.15pm, and he did wake up hungry at 10:45 ? but then had one of the calm feeds.

Grasping at straws? Maybe. But we?ll see what happens. I AM concerned that this might lead to him never getting his feeds stretched out beyond a couple of hours. But I also know I only have four more weeks of bf'ing before he's got to transition to formula.

Off to bed with me. Good night to all.

Oh gawd, I think I may have a picky baby on my hands! Jim won't touch any of the savoury baby foods (got in some Hipp after the homemade puree was a success). He only wants the sweet, the cheeky little sod. The banana and blueberry yoghurt was a hit, as was the apple and pear pudding. But carrot / sweetcorn was implicitly declared rank as hell, ie spat out. Ditto veg and lentil bake, and cheesy spinach. Still won't touch the Cow and Gate rice either.

Not that this newfound trait seems to have done him any harm - 17lbs just over and not far off 29 inches tall at the last count.

Work is really beginning to stress me out, the office workload appears to have doubled recently and a lad I work with managed to cause an epic Excel botchup which muggins here had to fix alongside everything else. I kind of wish I'd listened to the rare echoes of reason during trollianjagate that unfortunate month, about taking on an inhuman amount. (D'you know, I clean forgot till this morning about some would-be Marple who suggested it was suspicious that 'anja' was in my nickname when I had a James and had planned to call a girl Anna. Anja's my bloody middle name (well my first middle name)! I would have pissed myself laughing at the time if I wasn't so blinkin furious! In retrospect, particularly given the circumstances IRL, I can't believe I gave a monkey's and was running around justifying every nook and cranny of my existence. I wish I'd just told them all to get stuffed.)

Sorry for bitter tangent.

Anybody else very paranoid about swine flu? I feel really wary about continuing with a commute on a packed Essex-London train. My mum's begging me to let her drive me in instead but realistically would the difference in "safety" so to speak be worth the waste of the season fare? I'll still be in a veritable hotbed of germs when I get to the office. I know it sounds daft since there are no proven adverse effects to a pregnancy or to a breastfed child but I just hate the idea of having to go on Relenza. Not far off 17 weeks now and have popped out a fair bit so it's all starting to feel horribly real.