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

[meep]

over here ladies

ouch lizzie! I have decided that teeth are just a bl**dy nuisance. DH has a bill for over £400 to get his re-filled - one of my teeth cracked in half and I had to get it filled with a wailing Rosie beside me - and if I don't give Rosie Calpol at bed time she wakes up at around 9pm howling

loli enjoy James' hair - my dd1 still has very little and I covet the hair that other babies/toddlers have! I overheard that there was nits at our nusery - but I suppose the sparseness of dd1's hair means it will not look so comfy to those horrid wee beaties!

CONGRATULATIONS Lau - HOORAY - new job - sounds fab - when do you start?

Miss / mini I am going to try a bit of blw and a bit of finger food with Rosie - 10 days till weaning day - though saying that she did swipe a bit of toast from dd1 this morning and gave it a good old chew!

livi I have hhorrible hair loss - has been going on since Rosie was about 3 or 4mo. Had it with dd1 too. Round my temples and on my hairline I now have a fuzz about 3 mm long where it has all come out and is growing in again. DH assures me you can't see it . The wosrt bit is when it gets a bit longer and the fuzz sticks up through your long hair and gives a kind of fuzzy halo effect!

law hope Mols is better now - it is really scary doing that middle of the night dash to the hospital to see the out of hours doctor. Even though I have been through it loads now I still get freaked out by high temps on little ones.

All illness has gone here. Dd1 was being a reall tantrummy brat for teh last week - but she is back to her happy wee self again - phew. Rosie is all chuckles and smiles again too - so the meep household is a happy place!

Hey all --

Back from my business trip, where I kept getting emails from DP saying that Rhys had slept from 9pm til 3 or 4am, to two nights of same-old-same-old sleep hell. [hmmm]

So all in all, it was pure bliss being away and sleeping for ten hours at a stretch at night! Although I must say that pumping in airport and airplane loos is just nasty. Ick.

We are joining in the solid food fun as of yesterday -- Rhys is starting with pureed carrots, and the look on his face for the first few bites was priceless: "What the bl*dy hll are you doing to me?" But we kept making a fuss over him, and by the end of it, he was grinning and shrieking like a banshee, quite proud of himself. We're feeding him in his bouncy chair, but I'm really looking forward to doing more finger foods when he's better able to sit up in a high chair (and although we inherited an old wooden high chair from a friend, I believe I have Antilop envy. They look so easy to clean...).

Glad to hear all's peaceful in the meep household and sorry about the tooth tragedies, lizzie sounds horrid. As do the nits, loli!

Congrats, laumiere!

Ooops, R stirring in his pram.

Popping in to say 'hi' !

Sorry to hear about nits Loli and teeth probs Lizzie.

Glad Meep household better, business trip went well Corgi and Congrats on job Lau.

Lara turned 6 months yesterday and even more I am still breastfeeding a bit. Mind you, down to 2 feeds and going to drop one of them now and the last one once supply adjusts. Am v. pleased with myself to have got this far but relieved to be calling it a day.

SO, talk sense to me people. Lara has been being weaned for about 6 weeks now and is doing freat - done the puree thing and she's up to mashed food and I feel she could deal with stuff like spag bol with mini pasta. But, I am still terrified of finger food. Don't know why - wasn't with dd1 and no reason why L is any different. I have been giving her rice cakes which she's dealing with fine so in people's experience what do you reckon she could handle if she can handle rice cakes ? She has no teeth but desperately wants finger food - swipes whatever she can. I need to get over it !!

wheely, 6 months and still bf - you are a star - well done, especially after the tough start. I do envy you a little bit for toughing it out - but, as I have said before, I definitely do not have bf "issues" like I did with dd1. So I am able to celebrate with those who have made as far as they can !

How about mushy veg sticks or toast sticks (goes pretty mushy once knawed a bit)?

Have you seen the blw blog - will try to find the link............

corgi 10 hours sleep - ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! THe nicest thing must be to wake of your own accord and not by teh banshee wail of a hungry baby!

10 hours sleep... I can't imagine the bliss!

Well, I'm still bf'ing but my goodness it is becoming a challenge. Amy is still very bitey and at the weekend she bit through. I managed to pull my poor nipple out and she had blood running down her chin

My boobs will never be the same again.

I'm also still having a week of bleeding every other week which is peeing me off. Ah well.

Hopefully we're going to a baby massage class on Thursday, although Thursday might be more interesting watching the cricket on tv... if anyone will be in and has Sky - my dh will be there in the crowd dressed in a pvc number with stockings and his red hair in pigtails... oh the shame!!!!

We're finishing up the BF-ing this week - am still feeding her in the night and first feed of theb day at 7:30, but I start back to work on Monday next week (noooooooooooo) and so by the then she will be on a bottle all the time. Makes me sad that BF-ing is coming to an end, but at 6 months it felt the right time to stop as I need my sleep now I am going back to work and DH can take up some of the night time slack going forward! However, I am hoping that she is going to drop that middle of the night feed soon - she HAS slept through already and is on 2 solid meals a day, so hopefully it won't be long...

Weaning is going well - we took her out for lunch yesterday with the PIL who were visiting, and a mini roast lunch for £4.50 (miniature version of the full price ones we were eating) and she got a lot (most?) on the floor, but did have a go at eating / sucking on everything - lamb (bit too fatty I think for her, in the end), roast potatoes, yorkshire pudding, carrots and pasnips. Yum! Considering she's only been on solids a week, we were pretty impressed!

She's also mastered sitting up, pretty much, although does topple over after about 20 seconds if you don't steady her - but I'm pleased with her progress as have been doing "sitting up practice" for a week now, as I want her to be able to sit up on her own when she goes to childminders next week.. and she finally rolled from front to back the other day so I don't have to rescue her anymore - hurrah!

No teeth yet though.

How are all the other LOs getting on?Wheely - I started Penny on finger foods (toast, fruit, veggies etc - so no advice here on what to do if you're scared of it - Pen just sucks it all to death so I haven't had any worries of gagging / choking yet)

Sorry to hear about the teething woes Lizzie.

Very jealous of your 10 hours sleep Corgi! DH and I did manage to get out the house for a bit on our own yesterday afternoon, due to Pen taking a bottle properly now, and we went to see District 9 at the cinema. Twas a good film - people should go see it if they can get a baby sitter!

BLW blog here

Thansk for the advice all ! And for the link tot he blog Meep. Makes interesting reading - esp. about gagging/choking etc.

Well since my post yesterday L has had pear, brocolli, avocado, rice cakes as finger food and has been fine so I guess I'll just keep plodding with it and will get over it by the time she's 18. Daft really, I was giving dd1 whole grapes by a year because I had no idea about their choking hazard. I think I read too much these days !

Good luck back at work Boobz and well done on the sitting and rolling Pen !

I still cut dd1's grapes in half AND she only got her first apple aged 2yo - I also read too much.

meep, thanks and LMAO at mini beaties, have an image of small Maureen Lipmans marauding about... (anyone remember the BT ads?)

Will be 'officially' back at work on 1 Nov but taking 2 weeks annual leave to hand over childcare to DH and use up some of my holiday (I've got 30 days but have to use it up by 31 March and can only carry 5 days), so will be actually starting 17 Nov.

loli don't worry too much abut names, Gabriel was only named on his way out! I know what you mean by hair though, am so proud of G's bouffant, although it's been very hot in Spain for him, poor lamb. He looks very Flock of Seagulls today.

grinning OWWWWW! God I'm definitely going to stop BF now, that's a major fear of mine!

Noooooooooo don't let me put you off

She hasn't done it today thankfully. Maybe she's waiting for them to heal...

Went to look at the children's centre today where A will be having massage on Thursday. It's just around the corner so very handy. Looks really nice, it's a room within the little school. Very cosy with comfy chairs, loads of books and toys.

I was told there'll be about 8 of us for the course, so (hopefully) it will be a nice experience...

Still bf'ing here in the morning before work and when I get home, I don't really want to give it up yet and as Mae doesn't have teeth yet it doesn't seem to be too much of a problem. (Definitely feel sorry for you grinning with the bitten nipple - ow, ow, ow)

Boobz - impressed at the idea of your LO eating a mini roast dinner. Mae is know where near that advanced and she has been eating for a while.

And I can't believe all these babies with lots of hair, Mae still has hardly any. I'll defnitely have to start investing in some of those girly hair clips if it doesn't start to grow soon!

And grinning I gave up on the massage as Mae doesn't really seem to be too keen on lying still for long enough. But it was fun to learn and chatting to the other mums was nice!

Boobz ? mini roast dinner? After a week on solids? I am well and truly impressed. Like wheely, I?m a bit spooked about finger foods; I was shocked this weekend when I gave Rhys an apple slice and he managed to gum off a big chunk of it before we fished it out of his mouth.

Question for all you weaners ? are your LOs all sitting up on their own? Rhys has decent head and neck control, but he?s nowhere near sitting up independently. Don?t know if that makes a difference with solids/finger foods?

OUCH on the bitten nipple, grinning. Luckily no teeth this end, as we?re still at sort of a half-and-half formula/BF stage and I really, really don?t want to give it up. Hoping all stays right with my supply.

Okay, I know this will seem laughable to everyone who has a good sleeper, but I was SO PROUD of Rhys last night. He fell asleep in my arms at 8pm; we gave him a dream feed at 9.15 and put him to bed asleep ? and then, when he woke up crying at 11, he actually SELF-SOOTHED for the very first time ever and went back to sleep on his own. And then he did it again after his feed at 3am! Tiny, tiny steps, and I?m sure it won?t happen again tonight, but wow ? it was almost like having a GOOD baby.

Jolly, Rhys hated his massage class ? like Mae, he didn?t want to lie still for that long. But I?ve found that he quite likes an informal massage in the evening; it?s not a big production with oil and whatnot, but part of our quieting-down routine is just him in his PJs on our bed while I talk to him and rub his arms, legs and back.

Hey Corgi - don't be too impressed! Most of it ended up on the floor, and what did go in her mouth more or less slipped out the sides again - but some of it did go down! She just sucks it all to death until it's a pulp and then swallows about 10% of it. I think she likes all the different tastes and textures but doesn't really understand that it's for nourishment IYSWIM. She's still have a breast feed in the morning (and one at about 3am if she wakes up in the night, which is happening less and less thank god) and then a fruther 3 x 210ml bottles so she's definitely getting nearly all of her calories from milk - I heard that "food is fun until they are one" so am not spooning in purees trying to get extra calories into her - I'm just giving her exactly the same as we eat in terms of solids (cuts down on making separate batches for her) and am enjoying her figure out how to eat it all.

As for sitting up - yes Pen can sit up on her own for about 20 seconds before toppling over, so not quite there yet, but getting there! We do about 30 mins sitting up practice a day at the moment, to get her better at it before she starts childminders on Monday (booo!)

Am also sad to stop the breast feeding... am actually looking forward to my next one so I can do it all again! Mad? Probably.

We're still BF-ing here. Trying with the solids but she seems to hate purees (unless she can get her hands in and very messy as I discovered this morning ).

Going to finish up the jars we stupidly bought in the next couple of days and then just start her on pretty much mini versions of our meals. Just need to make sure of what she's allowed/isn't allowed. She's 6 months on Friday so hopefully most things are ok from now on. Also going with the food is fun mantra and assuming she will be BF-ing for her main nutrition until she gets the hang of it. Makes me feel less pressured too.

She's been having her growth spurt the last few days - 2 hourly feeds overnight and lots of whinging and a nightmare to get into bed. Hoping it's almost over as I'm shattered and my poor nips are pretty darn sore - but not as nasty as yours sound grinning - ow ow ow. I dread her teeth coming through. You sound so brave keeping on through that!

corgi Eti is sitting up on her own now which is what we wanted to be sure of before we gave her finger foods. She sometimes forgets though and topples over but most of the time she's fine. Think it's only an issue for choking but assume all food is given in a high chair or something with support so is probably ok. Good for Rhys and his sleeping/self-soothing. I know how exciting it can be as Eti is a nightmare sometimes!

jollyjoanne no hair here either. Enjoying the ease of bathtime while I still can as I'm sure long hair is going to be hard work!!

Ok lunchtime for me! What happened to the weather - very Hardyesque in response to all the sad news today!!

Penny eating sausages and mash for lunch (apologies it's on its side - I know for next time!)

Penny eating

awwwwwwwwwwwwww - adorable - she is the poster girl of BLW !

so cute boobz, she really seems to know what she is doing!!! i also know exactly how you feel about BF. i sympathise. i have had enough BF now, it must add up to about 42 months of my life so far .....crikey that scares me! yep 42 i checked again...

lizzie, sounds horrible with all the teeth problems, hope things getting better.

congrats laumiere on the job.

yes my hair is coming out in handfuls for last couple of months.

v. glad to hear sleeping is improving corgi. here it is getting worse.

i gave her formula top up on the weekend, and she LIKED it AND slept better, though not all night.

lots of big changes seem to be happening now all the los are passing 6 months.

not able to sit yet, but very very desperate to, but she is jut 5 months. she is NOT happy unless i am holding her upright, means i get NOTHING done all day.

loli when it comes to names we are useless, takes us days, even weeks to do it!

poor grinning how agonising for you. hope they are better now.

wheely i feel like you about finger food, having seen ds1 choke on a piece of peach once. i like the rice cakes you can get, or any baby biscuit that basically crumbles in their mouth, but still gives them a feeling of independent eating.

lo scratched my eye this morning by accident, ow ow ow.

must go and do dinner

Great vid Boobz and LOL at '30 minutes sitting up practice'. Is that before or after her french lesson . I make L practice sitting too - she's about same stage as Pen. 20-30 secs before 'waaaaah'.

Well have relaxed a bit about hte whole finger food thing as I realised L will just spit out lumps that are too big. Am still shovelling in the mashed stuff because I do think it makes a difference to L's sleep (and she is having 3 7-8 oz bottles during the day plus a bf first thing and then has an 7oz bottle if she wakes in the night).

Corgi - well done Rhys and may it be the start of something good.

Such a cute video! Pen looks as though she's loving trying food.

I tried putting slices of banana on A's tray but she just poked them

I've discovered that eating curry has an effect on her nappy... I made a lovely curry last night, and was greeted this morning with a very full but runny nappy. Nice! Mind you, I suppose 5 cloves of garlic will do that to anyone

Thanks everyone for the sympathies for my boobs. Fingers crossed it hasn't happened for a couple of days now and they are healing up nicely!

Off now to make a tandoori chicken recipe to marinade for tonight.

LOVE the video, boobz -- I'm going to turn my computer on its side and show it to Rhys for inspiration!

To prove YET AGAIN that two days do not a trend make, Rhys was up three times last night -- the last for 1.5 hours. So much for self-soothing.

does anyone open this thread and everything is in bold type?!!! None of the other threads I open are like this..........................maybe this one is just the most important

Corgi you have a determined wee man on your hands. At least you know he can do it so one day he will sleep (sleepy vibes being sent your way)

Rosie has taken to waking every evening about 2/3 hours after her last feed. She will (normally) then sleep till around 6.30am - but we used to have to wake her in teh late evening to feed her - now she howls for us! Is 6mo a growth spurt stage?

I can hear little meeps over the monitor - must go..........

I'm getting bold type here too...

Thanks for all the video compliments - I just worked out how to get the video from my phone to the computer yesterday so me thinks this is going to be the first of many

Bold type here too. I even saw it happen (the change) when posting yesterday...

Sorry to hear Rhys is still not sleeping well. I am tired all the time and Pen is only waking up once for 10 mins so god knows how you feel (which actually makes me think I might be pregnant as I felt this tired last time as well...)

Boobz................................go and test