June09: the one where we learn to type with one finger

[Tee2072]

Hi all and welcome to our first post-natal thread! Nappy's, colic and burping OH MY!

Come join the conversation as our baby's grow and grow.

Just a thought for all you ff mums. Does your dh/partner do the late feed or any middle of the night feeds? How about at the weekends to give you a chance to catch up on some sleep?

choccie my DH takes entire nights. I do about 4 or 5 a week and he does the rest. Even on nights he has to be at work. We share this 50/50 as much as we can. We also have a 'tell me if you need me rule' which we have both invoked. He woke me yesterday because he was too tired and was afraid he'd drop him and I did the same thing this morning.

And after having a horrid night of practically no sleep last night, DH has let me sleep most of today while he looked after Adam.

hi all

choccie - i feel shattered this weekend too! think its finally catching up with us. Sorry you are getting no support from your dh. sounds very unfair for you to be doing everything. my dh does the late night feed and will stay up with Isobel until she is settled (usually about 11.30) then i do all the feeds during the night (usually 2am and 6am ish!) then dh gets up with dd at 6.30 and i get up just before he has to get ready for work (about 8am). works quite well, at the weekends he will look after both of them for an hour or so in the afternoons/later in the morning so i can get an extra sleep if i need it. Hope you manage to speak to him and get some extra help, you cant go on like that you will burn out

silk - oh no your poor dd (and dh!) sounds like fun. havent really got any advice, but maybe she has shocked herself into not doing it again! while i was in hospital having Isobel, dd1 got out of her bed and into ours (mil was looking after her at the time) when dh came home fromt he hospital he found she had pooed, put her hands in it and smeared it all over our bed then gone to sleep!! nightmare!

Louise - i wouldnt like a stranger holding isobel either. you should only do what you feel comfortable with. i havent taken her into my workplace yet as i know all and sundry will want to hold her and she will get cross being passed around.

oh no must dash dd1 is raiding the fridge

Evening all

where has all the time gone?! Managing to read but not post at the moment

silk, sorry to hear about the poo problems, does your dd still wear the bodysuits with the poppers that do up underneath? They are usually pretty toddler proof. Hope things are better tonight

Edward did the biggest pooey fart at mil this afternoon, leaked instantly over the pair of us (he also has very watery poo, can't remember who else did ), now of course I carry spare clothes for him, but nothing for me! Best bit was his bum was in line with my trouser waistband so that got hit as well as my tshirt, lovely Needless to say we didn't stay long after that!

I had my postnatal check on friday which was all ok, just forgot the couple of questions I wanted to ask arrgh, bloody typical at the moment! I've got a gtt on tuesday just to check my blood sugar has gone back to normal, that will be fun especially with a newborn and dd3! Then Edward has his hip scan on wednesday which is at 4pm so I will have all the dcs with me as we will have to go straight from school, hopefully dh will make it there to help, otherwise I'm not going to be popular, it's a tiny room they use!

Hope everyone has had a better day today, waves to all

Trying to do a proper catch up as I've just put both my little girls to bed. we'll see how long it lasts before crying/wailing/needing milk/stripping and pooing ensues

Erm - She is in a flipping growbag and gets out of that too. Perhaps she'll have a great career as an escapologist? Nevermind, the poo story will be one to mortify her with when she's a teenager. Didn't have a repeat this morning but dh got up pretty bloody quickly when he heard her wake up. In fact, this afternoon (in a cafe) she told me, for the first time, she'd done a poo (even before I smelt it). So there is hope she maybe getting near to be ready for potty training.

Does yr dd take after her mummy with her flirting with Italian waiters?

Choccie - I'm sorry you've had such a tough weekend. I think you're being perfectly reasonable to demand some me time. There does seem to be a huge variation in what dhs do. Tee is very lucky that hers is doing so much night time stuff when he's having to go to work. I am finding juggling 2 children difficult. God knows how you're coping with three and it is sod's law that they are never asleep/well behaved at the same time.

Looouise - Ishbel is very pretty and looks so grown up too - no wonder you keep crying with happiness when looking at her.

Llynnn - I think you're right about the exhaustion thing. We get through several weeks post birth on sheer adrenaline I think and then it runs out and we're left knackered and deflated.

Naat - if only reaching the age of 3 months was the miracle cure eh? Don't wish away this time, I sort of did with dd1 thinking everything would suddenly get easier. This time round I want time to stop because I have to go back to work when dd2 is 12 weeks old and I'm already feeling pretty bloody miserable about it.

Right that's my grand catch up. I've had quite a good day. dh has been helpful and hands on with the children. Dd1 has been a ray of sunshine. dd2 has been easy going all day (sleeping or making cute gurgling baby noises). We spent most of the day in town. Got photos printed, had lunch at La Tasca (so 3 of us stink of garlic now) and took back loads of baby clothes people had bought us (she'll never get round to wearing them). I prefer baby grows/vests rather than 'proper' outfits whilst they are still very young (easy to change and seem softer next to their skin). Will probably use the gift vouchers for me/dh/dd1 and put the money in dd2's new bank account.

Quick reminder - have you all applied for child benefit and tax credits (if applicable). Dont' forget to open your child trust fund when you get the voucher and finally .....

if you're as, ahem, slack as me then Pelvic floor exercises!!!!!

x posts Bigcar

Yep to bidysuits and nope to toddler proof - she can open anything!

Hope the gtt results are ok and the hip scan goes well

eeeurgh at the watery fart incident

that would be bodysuits not bidysuits

heya, cant beleive it's sunday evening already...

We share the feeding/changing pretty much 50/50 too. There isn't apattern during the day but Dh will stay up until midnight for her last feed, then I get up at 4am and 8am for the next two.
I can get some sleep in the afernoon, maybe one hour or two around 4 to 6pm as sil comes round twice or three times a week to feed/change the baby which is great,then I usually fall asleep around 10pm. I usually wake up anyway for the midnight feed but i can just stay in bed and read a book and just be there is dh needs me.
We have the same rule as Tee, we tell eachother if we're too tired, that's not actually happened yet.

well baby is tired and crying so, off I go,
take care!

oh dear silk, not good eh?! Sorry to hear you've got to go back to work so soon

thankfully, finally got round to child benefit and tax credits last week, but then Edward is 6 weeks old now, so no excuse really! Loving all the proper smiles now though but know what you mean about enjoying the baby stage, it's over way too quickly.

Wow Tee you are a lucky lady

Silk - tbh Elina is such a good baby that its not as difficult (so far) as I thought it may be juggling 3 kids. DS's are up and down behaviour wise but overall it's better than expected.

Lynnn - yes I will get burnt out. You are right. I am posting this late tonight as I have been busy trying to settle DS's again. Not as bad as last night and Elina very settled. I think dh realised how hard it was for me to do so many feeds over the weekend during the night etc. I had a chat with him about how I was feeling and just hope it has sunk in. It is a shame that I seem to always have to rein dh in....if that makes sense.

Anyway, off to bed now. Dh staying up for last feed. Fingers crossed he brings Elina up settled .

Hope everyone has a good nights rest.

Morning all.

choccie I don't think its luck so much as me saying to DH 'I can't do this alone' long before Adam was born. For one thing, I am not 100% healthy, with my diabetes and my arthritis. There are days that my arms hurt so much I can barely move, never mind hold my son! So DH knew from the beginning that he was going to have to share this with me. I still do probably 75% of the childcare, since I am on leave, but he cheerfully and willingly does the 25%. He also enjoys doing it, of course. Who doesn't like baby snuggles?

silk thanks for the reminder about Child Benefit and Tax Credit. Child benefit is not only applied for, but already received first payment! Need to do Tax Credit and waiting for Child Trust Voucher.

Anyone have any good ideas for places to invest the Child Trust Voucher? I feel like I've gotten flyers from 10000 different places saying they are the best for it!!

morning everyone! quick catch up here after an especially fitful night for Leo ?

So has anyone had any success with Colief as opposed to Infacol?

Daisy thank you for that acid reflux link, very informative and i've bookmarked it for future reference too. So sorry to hear about your dd's reflux, what a trial -- Leo's doesn't sound as severe (so far) but have also been fed the 'babies just cry, deal with it' line by various people

Hmm I like the sound of a swinging seat -- may look into something like that this week. Otherwise it is you-know-who that ends up swinging the baby

Naat we did incline the cot! it seems to help but I may need to do it even more don't want to tllt it too much though Leo spent a few hours sleeping semi-upright leaning on mum & dad instead! thankfully we don't have to do this all the time, it seems to come and go a bit. By the way Mila's sleep routine sounds heavenly

Loooouise Ishbel is such a sweetie in your pics!

choccie sorry to hear about that exhausting day -- can relate to being shattered but it does sound like your dh could pick up some slack, esp if you are f/feeding. You definitely shouldn't burn yourself out? often my dh will burp and rock Leo after I've fed him in the night to give me a bit more sleep, he's been amazing doing this even on worknights. If you need more support maybe just start asking for these small routine 'handovers' that can happen just when you're feeling especially tired? (I find breastfeeding really draining so handing Leo over to dh for a burp is very helpful? )

hiya everyone - sorry for not posting in a while been rather busy with Sarah esp trying to relieve her of wind and constipation poor wee thing Also tried to catch up but like some of you guys my brain is mush.

WRT sharing responsibilities of night-time feeds, DH works basically 12 hours a day i feel rather guilty asking him to do feeds at night time as he needs his sleep for work so i basically do all the feeding, nappy changes etc its not thro DH's lack of trying to help, i would just feel so guilty at him not getting a proper nights sleep esp as his store manager is a right bitch. This is how bad the woman is, I took Sarah in to see her daddy at work and the store manager came up and started using curse words in front of Sarah like c**t and I know Sarah can't understand them but i was not a happy person, and according to DH that is just a sample of how bad her language is and uses much worse to her staff, telling DH that now he has a baby he should grow some balls, i mean that is no way you should treat staff members (sorry kinda went off on a tangent)

I cannot believe Sarah is only 3 weeks old tomorrow, i feel like she has been in my life forever and can't actually remember how it was before ahe was here lol apart from the feeling of having a full nights sleep lol. I love that she can give proper smiles now and her nickname is wriggler as all she ever seems to do when she is on her back is try to turn over, HV said she was surprised at how strong her bones are and how much contril she has of her neck already
She is still back with wind but changed formula to Cow and Gate Comfort and put a drop of dentinox in her feed so hopefully that will help.
Has anyone noticed if their child responds to music? Anytime Sarah is unsettled I have to put my Ipod on the docking station and that gets her sleeping again - and it's not gentle music it's like Bat Out Of Hell that makes her fall asleep she is one strange baby

tee I am in the same boat as you wrt investing the Child Trust Fund money, I have no idea where to put it. Sarah has been very lucky so far with money gifts, My grandparents gave her £100 and so did my BIL (who is her godfather) and from other bits of money received we have an additional £250 in total so hopefully i can put that with the voucher and open her fund with £500 what a great start in life already she has

silk Child Benefit form sent first class on Saturday so hopefully wont take too long to process. Unfortunately I dont think I am entitled to Tax Credits due to the amount of money DH earns which makes our total income quite high

Sorry for the long me (sarah) post and i promise at to try to keep more up to date with your little ones development

silk I had to go back to work when DD was 4 months old and felt awful, but we managed. My sisters looked after her for the first month, then she went to nursery. She's now a v happy and well-balanced 11 yr old . Hope you feel better about it nearer the time, but it will be a wrench .

Tee there are a billion funds, aren't there? I went for one run by the Children's Mutual for DS1, might look at the Co-op this time because I like their policies. But I bet they're all the same.

I'm not putting any more money into that - have put other money for the DC into Halifax accounts. My worry is that CTF is there when they're 18 and what if DSs spend it all on an electric guitar?! . It could happen. So the £500 total (half at birth and half at 7) that the gvt gives them will be theirs but all other monies won't be handed over until I think they're sensible enough to use it well. So, probably 18 with DD and 35 with DSs

choccie poor you, hope DH pulls his socks up soon.

baby screaming, must go xx

Morning Juners!

Let's try and catch up

Choccie, so sorry your wkend was so hard and exhausting... as the rest of the Juners said, it definitely sounds like DH should help you so that you don't burn out. Glad to hear you talked to him and he's helped you a bit more, although I know what you mean about having to rein him, it's like all husbands should know some help is essential. I can't complain, DH fortunately does 50% of everything every day and I'm extremely thankful for that. Babies are hard work and if not we'll all end up completely drained Hopefully after you talked to him he got the message and will be there for you to help you

Zozo, glad to hear Leo's reflux is not as bad these days, hope Colief does the trick for him

Tee, hi! Very organised mummy!!

Llynn, wow! poo nightmare! I can imagine your mum's face

Bigcar, I can totally relate to those watery farts that spread eeeeeverywhere On Saturday I was feeding Mila in the car after we left a shopping centre and she managed to smear my jeans with poo It's amazing how things like that don't seem as disgusting now, though I just cleaned it with a napkin and water and that was that They are quite frequent, though, and that's not too pleasant

Silk, mmmm La Tasca Hopefully DD1 will stay with her clothes on after the other day Fingers crossed!!! I guess if all this means she is ready for potty training that is good? Sorry to hear you have to go back to work after week 12, I can imagine you're really making the most of every minute and day with LO. Thanks for the reminder about pelvic floor exercises (makes urgent mental note)

June, hi!

Loouise, gorgeous pics! I esp. like the second one as those eyes are just beautiful!! I agree with the other ladies, you can hand her over to someone else only if you feel ok and comfortable with it

Ermin, yes, utter myth that bf babies don't need burping! Mila burps like a sailor LOL at DD and Italian waiters

Hi to all the rest of the Juners!

Unusual night here, Mila woke up quite a lot, no crying, no discomfort, just fed and went back to sleep I started fretting thinking she might be getting a cold, which made me feel awfully guilty for taking her to a picnic yesterday as it was sooooo windy I didn't want to look like the paranoid new mum so I tried to stay calm but now I feel bad

Anyway... hope you all have a lovely day!!

(((waves)))

Hey girls, wow it is hard to find any time to come on here these days it is amazing how little time for me I am finding but that said I know that the early days are flying by and soon that won?t be the case. I have been having issues with evening colic with Aaliyah. Saturday night she cried from 12-3am and then I only got 1 hr 45 mins sleep all night, I felt like a zombie yesterday. Last night I decided to give her a dummy during the usual screaming times, it seemed to really calm her down and meant she had a bumper feed at 11pm and slept 12-5am I am not feeling much benefit from that extra sleep but I guess it is a tiny amount having not had much for 5 weeks. We?ll see if the dummy routine works again so wish I could catch up properly but I shall have a quick skim in a rare moment when both DCs are sleeping

Ermintrude ? like the sound of your plan, the wakeful time would help DH bond with Aaliyah too, I feel like he isn?t really getting to know her much. My let down is so strong that poor DD gets sprayed in the face, no wonder she gulps air and needs to be winded!

Ineedmore ? hope the time between feeds continues to widen my poor DD got so hot and bothered with her screaming, kicking etc the other night that she is now covered in heat rash poor little thing

Any suggestions to get rid of heat rash in a gentle way?

Tee ? LOL at the thought of them being teenagers that sleep too much sorry to hear about the nappy rash, hope it clears up soon.

Naat ? like you we have started the Infacol, just last night so we?ll see if it has an effect this evening.

Looouise ? Ishbel is GORGEOUS no wonder everyone is smitten! Love the Mummy & baby shot, she clearly gets her looks from you. I love the feed just before bed too (providing I am ready for bed too) and we can snuggle up lovely what you said about your feelings for your baby it?s hard to know what causes the night time crying, I know with Aaliyah it is tummy related because she kicks like mad and I can hear the bubbles in her tummy, she also bobs on and off the breast and seems generally unsettled poor little mite. Fresh air certainly helps so the heat here might also be an issue with her. With regard to people holding your baby, trust your instinct. My MIL (now gone back to Scotland ) wanted to cuddle DD drunk, no way

Silk ? how awful that you know someone with swine flu! your poor DD with the poo incident my DS can take his nappy off so we make sure he wears shorts or is in his sleeping bag at all times, just not up to the risk of a poo saga at the mo!

Choccie ? poor you I absolutely agree, I only need a little bit of time for me to feel human again but I do truly need it to function. I am lucky DH has been doing a lot more with DS but when it is just me and the DCs I get very tired. A lot of that is due to the time spent BFeeding and having to try and keep DS out of trouble whilst that is going on. I keep telling myself that that will get easier as the feeds get shorter and further apart and are at more predictable times, we still don?t really have a schedule, more of a rolling 2-3 hour gap between with a longer stretch if I am lucky after the last evening feed.

Lllynnn ? that?s a horrible poo story!!

Bigcar ? uggh! Nasty poo story too. Hope the GTT goes well as well as the scan.

Hi there June and zozocat and littlesarah

Hello and welcome Hollybobs I have 16 months between my two so I know what you are going through ? not enough hands, eyes, hours and sleep

Doris ? sorry to hear that things have been hard with you, I know we have a different climate but I take DD outside in the breeze too, it does calm her down.

Laura ? your Dh?s boss sounds awful

Daisy ? Fraser is so cute and I love the photo with you too sorry to hear about the reflux, my nephew had it

Bunny ? sorry to hear about all the worry over the tongue tie.

So does 6 weeks mean diet and exercise all round? What are you all going to do to get back into shape? I need to look far less pregnant than I currently do if I am going anywhere the pool and beach this summer.

My time?s up more soon?.my friend had her baby this morning, Niamh bet she seems tiny next to my DD even if she does weigh 4kgs!

Hi all. Haven't posted for a while, but have been reading your posts.

Still in colic hell. We're about to try Dentinox as Infacol doesn't seem to be doing anything at all. Sounds like loads of us are going through it. Will try Colief after this if Dentinox doesn't work. It's a PITA with breastfeeding though as you have to mix it with milk and so I'll have to express and keep some milk in the fridge. Which also means a kitchen visit every feed in the night.... grr.....

We've made the scary decision to put Emily in her own room from now on. I cannot sleep with her in the same room as she's such a restless sleeper with trapped wind that I'm awake all night. I've done six weeks (a lot longer than DS who was in his own room pretty early on). I don't think I can go through another night of laying awake next to her piglet snuffles and thrashing around.
The Health Visitor said that if I left the door open and had the monitor on extra sensitive, then it should be fine. It also means DH can come back to bed, which will be lovely.

Emily's gaining weight like mad and now weighs 10lb 8oz! Feel really proud with myself - silly, I know!

She's been awake all morning with griping pain, pretty much from 5am to 3pm . she's zonked on the sofa now. Need to wake her for a feed soon as my boobs are about to explode!

Sorry I can't do an individual catch up as I'm so knackered I can't bloody remember anything I've just read.....

ineed i'm using dentinox and it has been helpful with Sarah's wind more going down than up if you're breastfeeding you can use the syringe you get with it and give her it directly into her mouth after a feed so you shouldn't need to express milk...hope this helps x

Yeah, just tried it laura, she did some good burps! Hurrah!. I meant the colief needs you to express. Just realised it's a bit unclear in my post...

sorry for misreading your post ineed glad you got some burps

can't remember who's written what sorry

Poo update - no stripping or removal of grow bag last night or this morning thankfully. Can't decide whther she understands the lectures we've been giving her or is traumatised by the poo on her pillow!

CTF - it's a long term investment vehicle and they haven't existed long enough yet to be able to judge which provider's fund will do best so just go with whoever you like/trust. Agree that birthday money etc should go into a separate account. Both my girls have bank accounts already (I do work in the industry) and if they are anything like me they'll want to access some of those funds before they are 18. I bought a piano when I was 12 (parents couldn't afford one) - those fivers from great aunties had added up over the years. Sadly despite my dedication to practising I had no musical talent - I sold it 3 years later!

Tax credits - no expert here but worth checking out as I believe they are available to families with household incomes of up to £60k (must be staggered)

Must wake my sleepy little girl to get some milk into her before bedtime

Just a quick message as heading straight to bed to get a much needed nap.

quite a few of us with troubled babies - zozokat, Ineed, naat

Colief is one big faff, I agree. I have to express some milk every morning and sterilise 6 or so bottles. Each feed I warm a tiny bit of milk and then add the colief drops sometimes while Fraser screams for milk. He has a feeding frenzy between 4.30 and 8.30 feeding every hour, so I just give it to him every second bottle. And I have to express an extra bottle in the morning so I don't run out of milk during the 'frenzy'. Hmmmm!

It seemed to work well at first, it took the edge off his pain, but the past couple of days it hasn't made such a difference. I was at the doctors this morning (contraception planning) and mentioned this and she smiled in a knowing way and said that was quite common, that something might work well at first but then the problems would 'bounce' back. I remember dd responded well to Infacol, and then 5 days later not so well. And then the same with Gripe Water and Gaviscon.

But on the whole Fraser winds better with Colief and doesn't have such agonising pain.

Ineed - is it making much of a difference do you think?

zozo - how is the Rantitidene going?

The doctor has suggested I go back and talk more about it if it gets any worse. For instance last night he collapsed on me utterly exhausted at 10pm and then 10minutes later a tremor shot through his body and he let out a high pitched wail - it was terrifying and reminded me of the 'reflux' days.

zozo - We heard about swing seats and so went to Toys R Us, popped our dd in one, and suddenly 2 minutes later she quietly fell asleep - that's when we knew we had to buy one.

Gotta go. Crying baby.

lovely photo of Ishbel louise.

Hello ladies!

A cloudy day here but the temperature is quite mild so no complaints

Daisy, so sorry to hear nothing has given Fraser 100% relief, poor lamb, but it's good to hear he's got some at least. Hope you get a good nap now and get some rest.

Silk, glad to hear DD has not gone all exhibitionist at night again

Laura, hope the new formula gives Sarah some relief LOL at the music effect, that's absolutely marvellous! It doesn't have such a great effect on Mila

Ermin, hi! How are you?

Mrsmc, hope the Infacol works as it did on DS

Bigcar, hope the GTT goes well today

Ineed, so sorry to hear things are still hard for Emily... you have another appt today with the osteopath, let's hope she gets some relief soon! Great weight gain, though!! You are absolutely right to feel proud

Hi to all the rest of the Juners! Writing quickly now as Mila is waking up and will soon cry with hunger

She's one month today, I can't believe how big she is, she's changed so much since her birth! Some clothes don't fit anymore

Fortunately she's over the pain due to wind, she's not had any for about 2 weeks now. Does anyone know when you're supposed to stop the infacol, by the way?

Right, feeding time! Back later

afternoon all

naat, we had rain all morning and it was still hot! Great news on Milas wind, no advice on infacol, only used it once with dd3 and she projectile vomited so we didn't bother trying a second time

daisy, I don't know why they say bf babies don't get wind, pile of rubbish, at least you've got something that works for now

silk, yay on no escapologist training I find the whole child trust fund thing totally confusing, aren't some higher risk than others? I think dd3s lost money last year that's a great start!

MrsMcJnr, poor Aaliyah with the heat rash, hope it clears quickly. Very at your mil wanting to pick her up in that state, you must be glad she's gone!

ermin, don't say that, ds1 is desperate for an electric guitar, not that he'd know how to play it, but it's top of his wish list

At least the gtt is out of the way now, Edward and dd3 were really good and slept for most of the wait in between blood tests nursery really seems to be knackering dd3 out and she's sleeping much better. I get the test results next tuesday at the antenatal clinic, that'll be fun!

Both the schools my dcs go to have swine flu now, it's spreading really quickly round our way at the moment Fingers crossed we avoid that one!

Gotta go, someone needs feeding Waves to all