April 2009 - Chapter 3 - Let us round up the stragglers

[PuzzleRocks]

Ta da.

Aloha

I have decided to come off cerazette. I have bled non-stop for over 4 sodding weeks.
How dodgy would it be to go down the coitus interruptus route?

Dawn - Sounds great. I hope he has fun.

MrsG - How did the Pimms sorbet taste?

Boff - Bloody hell, what a carry on. Are you ok now? And DD?

Maths - Hey there, we have missed you. I see Boff has been dispensing pearls on your thread. I hope things get better soon.

Nutty - You really did mean red didn't you. . I love it.
So is P a crip or a blood?

Bicnod - I don't have any answers but you have my sympathy. DD1 was the same so I feel your pain.

[trots off to read the Guardian article]

Puzzle... dodgy

So why do my muffins and cakes always end up a bit too wet and soggy in the middle, no matter how long I bake them for? Come on, I know there are some domestic goddesses on this thread! Help me please...

hmm i see from this thread and others on mn that cerazette seems to have quite high levels of bad side effects - the opposite of what the GP told me. Oh well will see how it goes.

a cleaner does sound like a wonderful thing. I have never ever learned to stay on top of things - i try shultes way of taking things up/down stairs when I'm going anyway but i'm just not organised enough,.

2 viewers for our house tomorrow though - been trying to sell since last May so fingers crossed, so house is getting a tidy tonight.

Actually what am I doing on here? Should be cleaning the loo .

Hope you all have a good night.

Schulte could your oven be to hot? Also, flour won't be the same absorbtion rate for each batch so watch how much liquid you are using. Post the recipe and I'll have a look for you.

UseToRunACateringCompanyTigga xx

Yes it might be too hot. Does that mean the cake cooks on the outside only?

I used this recipe

I have just been on one of the swine flu threads - I wish I hadn't - what if my girls get it? [worried worried worried]

schulte I agree with Nutty about swine flu. In reality lots of people die each year from ordinary colds if they have serious medical problems already. But I understand where you are coming from it is scary with little babies.

puzzle cerazette had exactly that effect on me. I will never be one of the 'most' women who apparently have no periods at all . I am considering natural family planning tbh because according to fpa leaflet it can be up to 99% effective (although probably to be sure to this level there are probably only 2 days a month when you can actually have sex )

I am impressed at this talk of cake making, my muffins are always cooked evenly, by Sainsbury's

Bleu I kind of feel the same way about a cleaner but from what others are saying, it sounds like the business. We should both get one.

Puzzle the Pimms sorbet almost works, but I'm finding Pimms increasingly less enjoyable and cough mixture-ish. sacrilege i know.

Ginger, round our way CMs used to work out cheaper than nurseries, but from reading threads on here it's not always the case. I put ds1 down for a nursery after 20week scan and it was too late

nutty that is funny about dd1

swali i feel your pain on the incessant talking.

boff congrats and at felix's sleeping.

So on the subject of sleeping, can you all help me on something because I really really think I must be missing something obvious. What exactly do you do to put your baby down for a sleep/the night? Because neither of my boys has been put downable awake or even really asleep. Because we're co-sleeping it's okay because I get sleep but if I try to get up in the night with him I never get back to bed again. He doesn't go back to sleep and I end up passed out on the sofa in a very dangerous fashion (hence cosleeping for preference). I can't for the life of me remember how we ever got DS1 to be a (slightly) better sleeper.

Am a very tired mummy at the moment - big trip to town DS1 and his best friend ran amok round town and the library today and I came home with far too many library books again which were damn heavy to lug home, along with bag and E in a sling. We got home and DS1 wanted to paint and make models and then glitter them. I'm not good at the art stuff - it prostrates me.

Brettgirl, natural family planning and the Persona machine gave me DS1. Don't go there.

DD is still in hospital, having tests. She is really quite ill. It might be gallstones or a major kidney problem - they are not sure which. She's still on IV antibiotics and also oromorph for the pain.

My ear is a little bit better but I am still half deaf. Mum is coming over tomorrow for a bit so that will be nice and cheer us all up a bit.

Bleu, I have the answer to all your problems.

Fly Lady

Not this:
A very different kind of help

Morning All

Nuffy I can get you a nekked cleaner but you may have to beat the soundly with a crop should they get anything wrong! I know some very odd types

Schulte am a tad worried at the recipe straight away due to the 20 to 250 minutes typo What type of flour are you using and what weights or are you going all Nigella and using an actual cup?

VeryTiredCosIt'sToEarlyTigga xx

Right, I need some help. I am running on empty and need someone to show me the way forward. From thursday B should be able to come out from her harness for 1 hour a day so I'll be able to give her a bath and start a proper bedtime routine. How else has a proper bedtime for their baby and what time is it? All the books that I read seem to think that B should only get about 10 hours night time sleep at the moment and 5 hours daytime sleep. She doesn't get any more than about 3 hours during the day (partly because she will only nap in the sling, partly because of her noisy big sister. Will anyone tell me the rough sleeping/waking times of their baby if they have a rough routine? I feel that I need to start leaving less to chance and encourage more good sleeping habits in B so that I don't run into more problems.

Also, how do you put a baby down awake? If I did that to B, she would cry and wind herself up. I can put her down in light sleep after her night feed and she will open her eyes then settle herself down to sleep, but not at any other time.

TIA

Up! Already! Again!

This is unacceptable behaviour. H has decided he is distressed by the ceiling light in our bedroom, so once he woke up at 6 this morning, he would not settle again as it was lurking up there on the ceiling malevolently, and he had to keep looking at it.

Sorry DD is still poorly Boff, but glad your ear infection is clearing.

Fly Lady is scary! It makes perfect sense, but my inner slattern rebels. I did actually shine my sink each morning when I was on pre-baby maternity leave, but that stopped pretty quickly once he arrived!

MrsG - we are the same here re: sleeping. H only falls asleep in arms or tucked up next to me in bed at night. None of this falling asleep on the playmat! There was a memorable 90 mins or so some weeks ago when he slept swaddled in the moses basket during the day, but that has yet to be repeated! Don't know how we're going to get him into his cot when the time comes!

Good morning all!

Boff, poor DD! I didn't realise it was so bad - hope she gets better quickly!

Swali that's good news that you'll be able to bath Beth, I bet she'll enjoy that! Have they said how much longer she'll wear the harness for? What's the next step - only wearing it at night?

Juw welcome to the world of early risers I haven't slept longer than about 6am since DD1 was born so sadly I have no advice - but if someone does, I could use it too!

H falls asleep between 8-8.30pm, has one 15min feed in the night and then wakes up for the day between 6.30-7am. So I'd say 10-10.5 hours sounds about right. But I know of babies who slept 12 hours at night at this age so it can be done!

Re. putting them down awake. I have tried to do this pretty much from when H was born, whenever I got the opportunity, and it seems to have worked. With DD1 it was a different story altogether, and when we started doing it at 8 weeks we had to do 1-2 weeks of controlled crying. This meant we'd try to settle her in the cot (cuddling, kissing, rubbing tummy...), then leave the room very briefly, then come back in, try to settle her, leave the room... and so on. Sometimes she got so upset that we gave in and picked her up, but put her back in the cot as soon as she calmed down. It wasn't nice for any of us but once she'd got the hang of it, she went to bed beautifully. TBH I don't think it can be done without a bit of distress on both sides but the longer you leave it, the more difficult it may get. Mind you once your babies have found their thumbs, that might make it easier?

Dawn I know but I couldn't be bothered to look any further - this was the first one that came up on Google [lazy]

I used a 250ml teacup and just estimated how much 1/2 and 1/4 of it was... and Homepride plain flour.

Hi Swali - Rainbow Kids sleeping bag (I got it in TK Maxx) 41 cm at the bottom - it is very long though, the feet would not get that far so narrower at the relevant point.

Boff - get well soon to dd. sounds scary

Hi Nutty - hope you are prepared for the rich and honoured lifestyle customary for the mother of a successful gangsta.

Thanks to all who answered about nurseries - this is pretty worrying actually, I must get going on Real Life Sorting Out.

Sleeping - Swali and Mrs G both asked about this, I think:

Daytime Sleeping: V can be persuaded to catnap by being rocked / shushed in the pram - this would lead to a 30 / 40 minute sleep max. She will sleep longer at lunchtime if put down properly (closed curtains, tightly tucked in) in the cot - sometimes. When she does a good 2 hours, she is sunny and cheerful all afternoon, which makes me think she should, but I can't always persuade her.
I only put her down formally for day time naps if I happen to be at home; if we are out, I hope she will nap as suits her in the pram / sling / carseat and leave her to it.

Night time: at 7 or thereabouts usually we start to put her to bed - unless she is hysterical with fatigue beforehand. We close the curtains (there is still light but it darkens the room a little which I think is symbolic), take her into the bathroom for her bath (which she loves and calms her from any fatigue-related tension and screaming), put her nappy and PJs on and then I feed her on our bed next to her cot. This is a very long calm feed when I never make phone calls or go on the computer or anything else at the same time, and the room is dim, and I sing all her favourite songs very quietly (without the words as humming is more soporific). She always feeds for a long time then even if I have had to feed her soon before because she was too hungry to last. Then when she is burped and wrapped in her miracle blanket I say goodnight and leave her. At this stage she is never asleep, aways eyes open and sometimes looks quite alert. After she has been left, sometimes she will cry once or twice and one of us will come up and soothe her (finger to suck, shush-patting). Sometimes she just goes to sleep and we don't hear another thing. then I come to bed and she doesn't stir till about 4 or sometime after that - maybe even 6.30. If she asks for a feed before 7 I put her back to bed afterwards and don't open the curtains. She may not go back to sleep but she accepts being in the cot under those circumstances. Usually. If it is 7, we are up for the day.

Sorry that was long, but someone said "exactly"!

I'm afraid she doesn't have any of this docility about being put down and left in the day. For V there is a big difference between day and night and I honestly don't think we made that happen - we followed her lead when she let it be known she had a bed time, and when it was - in the early days she was alternately asleep, waking and feeding with no regard to the time, like all new babies, and we let her. So I don't think her night time sleeping is something that we achieved.

Swali, great news about the harness coming off for an hour - if B likes her bath this will be a lovely addition to her / your day. Do you feel the end is in sight?

Schulte I've used this recipe to great success - just swap the raspberries for cherries

I have a cherry muffin recipe somewhere but it's buried in the tip that is my work room!

dxx

Morning everyone

Schulte I'm considering making some blueberry muffins today (never made them before) - will report back on sogginess levels if I manage to get my arse into gear to do them...

MrsG, I'm about to post on another thread about my DS's sleep related issues - still waking up 3 times in the night to feed even though he's 15lb and apparently physiologically capable of going 8 hours. I haven't had more than 3 hours sleep in a row since he was born (10 weeks old now) and I feel like death most of the time, so I feel your pain... no answers I'm afraid, just empathy.

Swali - I'm the same with Oscar - he'll go down vaguely awake in the middle of the night, but no way for naps in the daytime and no way for the first putting down to sleep of the night. Our bedtime routine (not that it makes him sleep through or anything you understand!) goes something like: bathtime somewhere between 6.30 and 7.00pm (depending on how tired he is), last feed and cuddle in quiet dimly lit living room, put down to sleep in his crib in our room (dark) somewhere between 7.15 and 8.00pm - usually asleep, sometimes awake. Sometimes he goes down beautifully, sometimes it takes picking up and rocking, sometimes he won't go down at all and I end up feeding him again 2 hours later.

To get him to sleep during the day I either march the streets of SW London for hours on end or shove a dummy in his mouth. He would sleep in the sling but I have a bad back (broke a vertebra snowboarding in March last year) so can't do that too often. I always try and get him to sleep without the dummy first but it never works... he gets nearly there and then goes ballistic. He'll only sleep for 30 mins max in his cot during the day. If I walk with him in his buggy he'll sleep for 2-2.5 hours in the middle of the day and then, as gingersarah says, he's a sunny and happy little man for the whole afternoon, so he clearly needs it - but will he do it if we're not out? Will he heck.

Oooooh, tigga, just seen your muffin recipe - might try that later with blueberries

Just to add, when I say he sometimes goes down beautifully I mean he stays asleep when I put him in his crib... he's in the process of finding his thumb though so I'm hoping when this is less hit and miss it might help him... (and me!)

Dawn, thanks for the recipe! I might try and have the oven less hot next time as well - I always think it's a bit on the cool side so tend to turn it on slightly higher than the recipe says, but maybe that's wrong?

Bicnod, some parenting books say to give them water if they ask for a night feed when they 'shouldn't', to try and wean them off the feed. The HV was appalled when I asked her if I could do this but it might be worth a try? You must be desperate for sleep!

Actually you know what, I'll just blame it on the recipe