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

[meep]

over here ladies

If it any consulation that Robbie is only waking once during the night at about 3am. But Lizzie (5.6yrs) woke up last night at 3am, 4am, 5am then at 5.30am (this time waking Lexie 22mths) then Robbie woke up at 5.45am so i gave up on sleeping last night.

I'm hoping tonight will be better, as it Lizzie last day at school today, so hopefully she will stop stressing about going from Reception to Year 1.

Glad I'm not the only one in the 'sleep is for the weak' camp. Actually she did better last night and slept from 7.30 to 2.45 then 3.15 to 4.45 (ok so that bit wasn't good !) then came into bed with me so not sure what she did from then until dd1 got up !

Slick - no pelting from me, am not adverse to formula. DD1 was almost 100% formula fed bar some mixed feeding up to 6 weeks. And she was sleeping 12 hours by 12 weeks grrrr. Mind you, already 'i can see they have different personalities so may not be feeding related. She does just wake, feed and go back to sleep and she's so happy all the time that I shouldn't complain !

My plan last night was to do calpol if she woke early to see if it was teeth and if that hadn't done the trick to do a formula feed to see if that did. My plan is to start swapping over once we're back from hols anyway. Although, am wondering if I should keep goingwhilst the threat of swine flu is around.

corgi - I didn't do a routine with either dds and although dd1 never slept well in the day she did sleep well at night. The only baby I know that was in a strict GF routine is a pain in the arse as a toddler because he can't take any variation in his routine but if it works for people then great !

meep hope all is ok.

Its my wedding anniversary today - 9 years. We will be celebrating by dh working late and me going to bed early. But we're going out at the weekend so shan't feel too sorry for myself

I am so sorry for all of you with non-sleeping babies. Mind you my HV filled me with doom and gloom telling me that Rosie woudl start waking up through teh night when she turned 6mo - hmmm - I know that may be true but I like to dream that it will not be so!

lizzie sympathies to you - it is my 2yo that is waking up at 6am and shouting "mummy come here, open door wahhhhhh" - and she wakes Rosie up - grr!

Totally forgot that the HV was coming round yesterday - so she arrived and I was unshowered in old clothes and a bit sweaty because I had been cleaning and sorting through the toy mountain (slick you inspired me to get my butt in gear!). But she said it was a good sign taht I wasn't waiting for her as it showed I was pretty much coping fine! Rosie is growing well and has been marked down as "very sociable"!

All illness has now gone. Dd1's eczema scars are healing - only a few scabs left and Rosie had the one fever and has been happy ever since. Part of me hopes it was a touch of piggy flu so that they've got some antibodies now!

Happy anniversary wheely!

Re the formula top ups I do have friends that that totally worked for. THeir baby transformed into a happier sleeping wee thing. But as slick says it isn't going to work for everyone.

yarnie I hadn't heard of wonder weeks - very interesting though - would have applied pretty well to dd1. With Rosie she is so chilled that I hardly notice any changes!

jolly you are very brave for moving Mae to her own room. It took me 9months to move dd1 out - and who knows how long Rosie will be with us. It is lovely when you get your bedroom back though

laumiere does the flat have a shared bit of garden at the back where you can hang out the washing (most flats up here have that) - though saying that I have always been a flat dweller and NEVER went downstairs to teh gardens in any of them. I do now because we are in teh upper half of a house and have our own garden and our own back door access to it. We are on a mission to buy a house though.

Mdavza good luck for the family visits. I have FIL visinting for a couple of weeks soon - but at least that is only one extra mouth to feed!

Have a lovely day ladies!

meep we sort of did everything backward, I think (esp in London) you're supposed to get together, buy a little 1 or 2 bed place and just keep trading up with a bigger mortgage til you have kids.

Since we did the kids first, we're not sure about the risks of house buying, since if the landlord evicts us we can find a place tomorrow, if the house gets repossessed we lose the huge required deposit too.

At the moment we're looking to rent either a 3-bed with a study or a 4 bed place for a year so we can get a live in nanny for the boys (bizarrely is cheaper to do it this way than stay where we are and pay a live-out or a childminder!)

This does mean we're going to be REALLY badly off through Nov/Dec as I won't be getting any money and we'll have to absorb the costs of moving too.

Things have gone rather pear-shaped around here in the past 24 hours. Yesterday morning I had Rhys on the sofa and was just bending over to put his arm in his jacket sleeve when BAM! something went horribly wrong in my sacroiliac area. I literally shrieked aloud and DP came pelting over from the dining room and managed to prop me up just as I was about to pass out.

He got me onto the sofa, where I stayed for about 7 hours; then I gritted my teeth and crawled into the bedroom where, with the exception to two agonizing Bataan Death Crawls to the bathroom, I've stayed. I can now just about lie on my back and on one side without too much pain, but sitting and standing are absolutely out of the question. I was supposed to go see the osteo today, but as I can't get out of the house...I called him again and he said to call the doctor. I don't think my GP is going to be able to do anything, but she said she'd stop by this afternoon.

I've had sore backs before, but this is so far beyond anything I've ever felt, it's ridiculous. I am SO grateful that this happened while DP was here; I have no idea what I would have done at the time if I'd been alone, and no idea what I'd have done for the past day if he hadn't been on vacation and able to take care of Rhys AND me.

I also miss Rhys terribly. I've been able to nurse while lying on my side, but haven't been able to spend any time with him apart from that -- and as that's not his favourite position, we've had to abandon the no-bottle policy to make sure he's getting enough. I'm glad I froze a couple of days' worth of milk last week...and let's hope my little manual pump can defeat gravity. Otherwise, slick, we may be heading down Formula Road!

I feel sure he's going to forget who I am he's already been looking very perplexed when DP takes him and winds him during the feeds, and when DP wanders into the bedroom to say hi he'll peer down at me from DP's arms with the most quizzical expression on his face!

oh corgi you poor thing - how awful and scary for you.

Rhys won't forget who you are - you are and will be for a long time coming the centre of his world. And he will be fine when he is not physically with you - I think at this stage they don't feel any sense of loss or that their mum has left them - but they are instantly enthralled by you as soon as they see you again.

I am sending you lots of get well vibes - it must be very frustrating and painful.

Oh Corgi thats sounds absolutely horrible. But I am sure Rhys isn't about to forget his mummy that quickly! I really hope the GP is able to do something for you.

Laurmiere we've been wanting to move house for ages but I think we need something to actually push us into doing it. But on the childcare front some how I imagine a live in nanny is going to cost far more than a couple of days at nursery and nanny's lunch when she is looking after Mae. Although if/when there are more children you never know.

Meep I'm impressed your HV is still visiting, mine came twice I think and that was it. And to be honest none of the health professionals actually managed to help with my biggest concerns anyway. As for weeks after Mae was born she had an enormous bruise on her cheek from the forceps which is now a depression in the side of her face and no-one seems to be interested at all.

Mae is off to the hospital next week to get her eyes checked as I suspect she has a turn.

Sleeping in her own room still isn't going well either. I was awake from about midnight till 3am trying to help her settle in her own room. It feels like such a backward step, it is so annoying.

Happy anniversary wheely.

jolly it was our 18 week check where they do the depression test again - did you not even get that ? It was funny because she came armed with AK's weaning book and was all ready to tell me how to wean (I think she forgets that I have a 2yo). I just told her that I already had that book, I'd done it before, I was waiting till 6mo and would do a bit of BLW too - also recommended to her a good finger food book . She seemed happy with that!

Do you mean that Mae has a squint? Sorry t o hear about the forceps mark - my dad still has a teeny tiny scar from where he was dragged out (you would never notice it unless he showed you). From doing cases about deliveries most forceps marks do go away in time, so I am sure Mae's will disappear as her face matures.

Meep yeah her right eye turns inwards when she is looking at things. My DH had the same thing, but generally his eyesight is appalling so I hope she doesn't take after him.

Well, as expected, the GP couldn't do/say much but she did give me a scrip for anti-inflammatories that are okay to take while nursing. Down side they can upset my stomach, which should add an additional note of excitement, not to say desperation, to the Bataan Bathroom Crawls.

And she said I could be like this for a week! If it's not better by then, I'll need a scan to check for a hernia. I foresee an unexpected prolongation to DP's hols...

From the sounds of things, Rhys has spent the day perfecting his screech owl imitation. Lucky DP!

You poor thing corgi! Could it be a coccyx problem? It sounds similar to the pain I had after giving birth (G 'clipped' my tailbone on the way out). Docs can give you a brill anti-imflammatory that's BF-safe and mine got fixed with three osteopath appointments.

jolly with 2 DCs we've either got to pull DS1 from his specialist afternoon nursery which he loves and put them both in day nursery (around 2100 a month), or a childminder (1700 a month) or a live out nanny (2073 a month), whereas if we got a live-in nanny it's 1300 a month. Because we do need someone who can meet DS1's needs too we end up paying over the odds...

Jeez,corgi how horrible! Feel really sorry for you! I'm sure Rhys is ok, he'll continue to adore you, and your dh is getting some valuable bondong time...but the rest must suck. Hope the meds work soon. M

laum. Can't quite believe the prices of childcare in London, phew, are you getting any gov help? My friend's son, who has Downs, receives a lot of support from the council. Wise decision about the house, that's why we live in a cheapish area...

meep and jolly. My HV came once, she's ok but gave me advice that I didn't appreciate. Hate it when they make you feel as if you're making a mistake when you do something out of the ordinary. Ben has been having his naps on a bed for weeks, we put a mattress on the floor in case he rolls off, but she warned me and oohed and aaahed. Fact is, we all do things differently, sometimes against the official advice, and you'd think she'd know that. I suppose she 's got to stay professional.

Had an argument with DH last night because he didn't pitch for his evening turn with lo- his boss phoned- and I knew he could've postponed the call....aaargh, too many misunderstandings.

Glad the meep household is better ! 18 week check ??? Pretty sure I didn't have that with dd1 and definitely not had it with dd2 (19 weeks today).

corgi - hope you're ok. Sounds awful. Are the painkillers keeping you pain free-ish so you can at least catch up on sleep whilst laid up (wheely contemplates doing something drastic if the answer is yes ). Seriously though, hope it eases soon and Rhys won't forget you at all.

Right, I must go to bed but can't be bothered - DH working long hours so not home until early hours, is doing his first proper transaction since being ill and not coping well with the tiredness so am now worrying about what we're going to do/ whether he's going to get ill again/ how he can do something different etc etc ... but hey ho - life's rich tapestry and all that...

actually am going to have a cornetto and then go to bed.

thanks to all for the good wishes! no sign of improvement as yet -- and wheely, the great irony in all of this is that now that i basically have carte blanche to sleepsleepsleep, i can't! i moved involuntarily while dozing last night and came shrieking awake. SO not worth it.

poor DP is really feeling the strain after several months of not waking up at all at night now he has to fetch R from his cot, wind him and put him back to sleep. And with R pretty solidly in the trend of down at 9.30, up at 2, up at 5 or 6 and up again at 7.30 after a final snooze in bed with us, DP is suffering. Bless him, though, he's doing a great job. His useless daughter is still with us and still useless. I was appalled yesterday when she basically retreated to her room all day and he had to ask her specifically to watch R while he went to get my meds at the chemist's. Bloody little cow.

jolly don't worry too much about Mae's eye, it's best to go to the GP and get referred to an opthamologist, but squints run in my family and often seem worse when you're tired or trying to focus on something far away. G's got one sometimes so he's on the opt waiting list now...

mdavazda we basically get sod all beyond the standard DLA payment because my salary is too high (even though it's essentially covering 2 adults and 2 kids). We can't get them to work it out by joint income, so we get nada.

a rare moment: two in the sandpit, one playing cards, one on the Wii and lo happy for once....long may it last.

poor corgi, you are going through a rough patch...really hope you recover asap. it is hard for all when mum is down! We are giving our lo gaviscon for suspected reflux. She can be very screamy at times, but not at night. it is so distressing to think they are in pain. It has also had the charming effect of making her poos harder, poor thing.

re car seats: check instructions as they go by weight of child too. most of mine went forwards at about 9 months.

meep glad to hear dds on road to recovery.

jolly it is always a good thing to get things checked out early to enable early help I find.

i am a bit worried about Swine flu here. considered taking eldest out of school for last week but gp said no point, so now feel helpless. keeping all of them away from others this week as have family wedding tomorrow and wanted all to be well.

thing is, dd1 has heart problem, contracted when she was 9 months old from a virus, so feel very scared of things going badly.

also feel emotional about tomorrow as without dad there it feels so terribly wrong.

laumiere we live in a 3 bed ground floor flat with garden. it is a victorian conversion and is brilliant with larger rooms and space to play outside.

knew the peace would not last....got to go again

Hi fearless!

Talking of slings - wheely I have just managed a successful outing with Rosie facing out in the Close sling - hooray! Also just popped her in the door bouncer - will post some pics - managed to do some ironing while she stepped around cooing to herself! The only door we can really use is in the kitchen (old victorian house so most of our door lintels are huge) so I had to think of something to do while she bounced - ironing - ugh!

fearless Glad it helped, feel free to pass on...

meep and anyone else doing 'facing out' babywearing, I was told by the osteopath to keep this and any other position where baby's feet dangle to 1 hour at most, as it puts strain on their hip joints. Osteo recommended positions where the baby's legs are supported to stay at a 90 degree angle (with the knee making the 'corner' for longer periods of time.

We're having a tv day today as I'm knackered and it's rainy.

Lb has had a week of mammoth naps, thank God! How amazing! He's sleeping now so I'm having fun on ebay - not for myself, though. Friends are coming from SA to perform in the Fringe Festival and I'm helping to get them some props, for example a male mannequin torso - ha-ha, never thought you could find it on ebay!

Corgi Still with you in your pain, I just hope it passes sooner rather than later.

Kanga I love weddings! Nice that you can take the kids with, I can imagine it must be hard without your dad.

Meep Ben also loves facing out in his sling, and he charms the socks off everyone wherever we go. Laum I 've never wanted to keep him in there for longer that 45 mins, interesting to hear about the joints. He is also now sitting in his stroller, facing the world and loving it.

Going out again tonight, hope LB does as well as last time! Hope y'all have a good weekendx

Blimey - anybody there???

Well, I've just had swine flu. It's horrid, especially while looking after a baby and a toddler. Miraculously (frantically touching wood) noone else in our house has yet - hurrah for bfing and constant handwashing!

Laum thanks for the tip re slings. I never felt that the face out position was as comfortable for the baby so have never done more than an hour that way anyway, but it's good to have my suspicions confirmed.

Mdavza know the feeling about HVs and doing anything vaguely different. I was really surprised about their reaction to me telling them I was cosleeping with DD2, it was far more negative this time than when I had DD1 a couple of years ago. It seems to be getting a more contentious issue.

Having said that, Melissa is no longer going to be napping on our bed as she is far too mobile. Today I put her in the baby gym as usual and was to notice a couple of minutes later that she'd rolled onto her front and then crept backwards about a metre away from it!

Corgi get well soon. Sounds absolutely ghastly.

Kanga always lovely to hear from you. I do not know how you manage five - hats off

Ellie hope you're doing okay too. Let us know!

Wheely your pre bed snack sounds a little like my Saturday eve - six Ferrero Rochers! DP was spoiling me

missm God I live in fear of SF, not because of the danger, more I'm too frickin' busy to get sick! Also doesn't help that DH doesn't get paid sick leave, just no pay for the days he's off.

I'm amusing myself by trying to decide on a new name for my company, I'm currently Eden Literary Services (Eden being my maiden name), as I used to mostly do proofing and research. These days I can offer a full project management/ lifestyle coach and job prep service, so need a more general name.

So far I quite like Clarion, as it's a nice tie to the boys (who both have angelic names), and it's the sound of the angels' trumpets signalling an end to chaos, but DH quite likes Dragonslayer (ridding life of those little problems). Though slaying dragons may be a bit culturally awkward if we move to Wales....

Hi everyone

Corgi I do hope you're on the mend. Sounds really painful, not to mention very restricting.

Still itching away here. I'm hoping this lurgy will disappear of its own accord when it's ready!

Quick question for you all. Amy has just turned 16 weeks, and for the last few days has taken to shrieking at the top of her lungs. Most of the time it seems to be out of fun, but sometimes it goes into crying. I can't work her out and it's doing my head in. Anyone else had this little quirk?

I'm off later to see the hv to get her weighed, so I will ask there too.

Last weekend she had a mammoth paddy when we were in the pub. One of the regulars thought it would be a hoot to sit next to me and wail like Amy was. So I had her in one ear, and him in the other. I was getting more and more wound up/upset. Dh took A out for a walk, the regular stroked my arm and said "just chill" at which point I burst into tears and ran and locked myself into the loo... oh dear. I feel like a right muppet, but I'm fairly sure I'm not the only one to end up in tears 'cos I don't know what to do!

Bought a cot mattress this weekend in order to get our bed back. Yeah... that worked!

If anyone has a way of getting A to stay in her cot and not end up back in bed with me, there's a case of wine/chocolate/cookies in it for you. I will not accept answers of velcro or superglue etc

Laumiere I like Clarion too.

Missmodular Hope you're feeling better. I dread the SF as I'm asthmatic. How long did it take you to recover?

Wheely Hope you enjoyed the cornetto. I haven't had one of those for ages... yum! Must look for them next time I'm shopping.... totally your fault!

Off to attempt a hair wash now before the shrieking banshee wakes up from her nap.

Hi all, just passing through and catching up on everyone's news.

Corgi - ow, sounds awful. after the pgp in pregnancy i massively sympathise with sacro-iliac pain. you're right,'tis ironic that as a new mum you spend all your time wanting to catch up on sleep, then when you have to stay in bed it's torture. i was 'bedrid' for about a week with my bloomin' teeth and it was hell.

Grinning - George doesn't exactly shriek, i would say he shouts. And yes, sometimes it leads to crying. I think (and i'm probably wrong) that it's an attempt at communication, and if your response isn't what the baby wants then it leads to crying. Sometimes i get the impression he just wants to chat, other times he seems to want something specific. Not much help i know, but at least you know you're not alone!

Laumiere - another vote for 'clarion' here. not to disrespect your former lifestyle choices but 'dragonslayer' sounds a bit goth, and i reckon it could narrow down your clientele somewhat.

Kanga - hope the wedding went well in the end and that you are still SF free.

Slick (i think) - it was 3 of the old wisdom teeth and they would have done them singly with local, but did them all at once cos i opted to have a general. guess it's a cost consideration.

All of you with sleep problems - can i join the club? G is still feeding at 8pm, 12am, 3am, 6am and 8am. That's on a good day. He is one hungry bubba. Tried him on solids as he is 4 months now but was met with a face of total disgust and a lunge towards the boobs...

I'm not doing updates on personal life at the mo as it's just all too raw and complicated, but thank you all for your enquiries. It means a lot