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.

bigcar - the idea of swine flu terrifies me. Have any babies caught it around your way?

naat - that's wonderful that Mila is 100% better with Infacol. I thought you were supposed to keep going, but can always stop for a day, as if she's still have problems it will come back again.

bigcar, daisy same here, the idea of swine flu scares me a lot, esp. for Mila. I'm trying not to get too carried away by the news and all but it's scary Thanks for the advice re. Infacol

Glad the GTT went well and that the DC were brilliant

daisy and naat, I wasn't too bothered about swine flu until it started getting really close, it's not so much the older ones as they are usually a healthy bunch, it's just the babies I worry about Haven't heard of any los with it but that doesn't mean a lot. I have a thermometer so will be taking their temperatures the second anyone looks vaguely off colour!

Hey there had to chuckle at the fact that none of us can really remember who said what nor what it was they actually said these early days hey? Aaliyah is 5 weeks tomorrow, I can't believe it. I went to visit a friend this afternoon in hospital to meet her DD she looked so tiny next to mine!

Any bfeed babies not pooing as much as before? It's suddenly dawned on me that though her nappies have been wet, they haven't been poey for the last day or so. Should I worry?

Mrsmc, I noticed she's not getting as many dirty nappies as before (8-9 to 5-6) but dirty nappies still Has she not pooed at all? Of course I cannot speak as an experienced mum but I think I read somewhere that if LOs didn't poo at all for a couple of days we should call the doctor. If at all worried sweetie it's never bad to give them a call

Bigcar, what's the best way to take LOs temperature? There are many places but no idea which one is best for tiny babies

MrsMcJnr, still getting lots of pooey nappies here, would definitely think about getting her checked if it goes on much longer.

naat, you can get ear thermometers for getting accurate temperatures from babies, otherwise I would probably go for under the arm if using the normal sort

thanks, Bigcar!!

Hi all,

not been on for a few days but have been really really busy! It was dd2's birthday on sun (in my head a really big deal as we had such a traumatic time with her surgery and diagnosis as a newborn). She still too young to fully appreciate a party ( I'm too knackered!) so we had a day out at a local adventure /teme park with masses of indoor soft play (we'd seen the weather report for Sat!!!!)Then sun we had the gp's round for birthday tea (so I had to clean the obvious rooms!!!).

Spent yesterday recovering and then had a clinic appt with DD1 at the hospital, so on the go quite early again....

Annabelle had been getting bettr with her colicky episodes but as I've increased the dairy she's got worse again (not as bad as some but she had been waking for feeds then going straight back down in the night without any fuss, but last night she cried for an hour and a half not fun, so stoped the dairy again to see if there's any improvement again.

Re swine flu got a cal from dd1's pre school today they have 2 children with suspected SF and they all attended last Fri with DD1 however she's not been in since then (should have gone this morning but had hospital instead ) They phoned me because of DD2 so we have decided that for the 2 sessions left of this term we are going to start the holidays early, can't see the point of putting ourselves at risk. We may still come into contact with it but at least i won't think oh my god I shouldn't have sent her....

Child Tax Credits (CTC) definitely household income under 60,000 is entitled but make sure that ANY changes to income during the year ore reported (I forgot last year and now have a deduction from this years to claw back the overpayment!! (Dh had his staged payrise).

Fwiw I think it is normal for bf babies to get slightly constipated, maybe try nhs direct for reassurance??

Sorry I have atrributed responses to people I'm finding it hard enough to remeber topics let alone posters as well

Right off to catch up on all the other stuff I need to do online ( but not very comfortably as baby wearing to get 5 mins peace and my back is already starting to ache !!!!

Night allX

V quick note about Child Tax Credit - if you pay for registered childcare you can get help with that. We've had CTC from the moment it started - even when we both worked full-time (arty public sector jobs with sh*te salaries) - and it was useful when DS was in nursery p-t and DD at the after-school club. I earned a lot less last year than the year before, but our payment stayed the same - there's a huge band of household income from something like £25,000 to £70,000 which is eligible for the same amount of CTC, which is a bit strange not to mention annoying . But childcare element is based on what you pay and how many DC are using it so is more targeted.

Sorry no time to answer folk properly, must get some sleep while baby is sound asleep.

Child trust funds tend to be stocks and shares type investments (which outperform money just held in cash). You can't judge them on short term performance as they fall when the stock market does. Not surprising that funds lost money last year as the stock market is a pretty low at the moment. They'll recover by the time yr los need the dosh to waste spend on drinking university necessities.

Sorry so many of you are having problems with little ones in agony with wind. Not much fun for them or you

Another one starting to get slightly worried about swine flu now. Think it's natural to feel like this with such little babies to look after.

MrsM - I read recently (on some leaflet from the bf group) that after 5/6 weeks poos canbecome less frequent and not always daily. Maybe it's worth looking it up on a bf website.

Off to wake up sleephead now

Heya, haven't got much time for posting either though my phone that has (slow and awkward) internet facilities has been useful to catch up with your news in the middle of the night between feeds when I've not been able to get back to sleep (too often!).

Calypso has colic too, been using infacol but sometimes only "movement" (rocking, going for a drive) will do and calms her down.

Very tired and can't seem to get any rest, I seem to be insomniac. It seems we're all in the same boat

I wanted to give expressing a go but my wound got infected again and I was put on another course of antibiotics. Dunno how many times I've said, "right I give up" and then tried again only to feel even worse when it doesn't work out yet again.

Child trust funds: I don't know about this, are we supposed to get a voucher through the post or did we need to apply for something? Does everyone get this? Something else to put on my ever growing list of things to do when I get a minute. I haven't had a shower this week yet...

We spent monday after in A&E as we descaled the kettle and DH thought some of the descaler might have ended up in the bottle I'm pretty sure it didn't but we're both so tired we decided it was wiser to get it checked. They weren't actually able to tell us for sure at the hospital (even though we brought them a sample of the water) but baby is absolutely fine and showed no sign of discomfort whatsoever so they "discharged" us (we didn't realise we were "charged".)

I'd better get some sleep or I will regret it tomorrow,

take care!

ah yeah and quite worried about swine flu too, some of the schools not far from here are actually closed apparently. I'm not planning on meeting up with other mums or kids at NCT tea parties for a while, put it that way.
I'm not looking forward to this winter, it'll probably be worse then.

I've been so run down I've had cold sore after cold sore, so not been able to kiss my baby pretty much since birth

We got the photographer's shots of Calypso through the post today and there are some wicked ones there. I'll try and post some somewhere on the net (sometime this year, maybe!)
She'll be a month old on Thursday (wow time flies!) and I want to choose a spot where I can take a pic of her every month and then have some kind of montage after a year or so. Some friends of ours did this with their son and it was really nice to see him change.

aah really have to go and sleeeeeeeeeeeep.

Morning all.

Have completely forgotten what I have just read in the past 10 minutes... my brain is mush!

With DD1 I think we just put the CTF in a building society, didn't want to take the risk of losing money. Picked the one with highest initial rates. Will probably do the same again this time.

We've been using Colief since Friday (although not at every feed as it has to be in the milk for half an hour to work & obviusly we can't plan the night time feeds). Tbh I don't see it making much of a difference but then again not sure if it is colic what Poppy has.

DH & I had a chat on Sunday cos things were getting on top of us & were starting to take it out on each other . Poppy was sleeping so well in the day but would take hours to settle at night. We figured maybe she had her day & night mixed up (most days she would have a 6 hour sleep, wouldn't even wake when we fed her) so decided that we were gonna have to keep her awake more in the day. So Monday we did just that although it was hard work (how do you keep a 3-week old baby awake???) but we managed it & that night she went to bed at 8pm & got herself off afer a few wimpers. Slept til 3am(!!!) then had a feed, managed to settle her back down by 4am & then we woke her at 7

Tried the same again yesterday although took DD1 to soft play centre with friend & struggled to keep Poppy awake whilst trying to keep an eye on Holly. Last night wasn't as good. Put her to bed at 7.30pm & she seemed to go to sleep then 20 minutes later would cry again (only for a minute) then drop off again. This carried on for an hour. Gave her a bit more milk but she carried on the same & eventually fell fully asleep at 9.30pm. Woke at 3.15am for her feed. Then back to sleep by 4am til we got her up at 7. Still a huuge improvement on the 3-4 hours crying that we had before.

I know it seems really early to try get her into a routine but with DH back to working his 12 hour shifts from 5am next week, we feel like we have no choice. And with DD1 we are both absolutely drained at the mo. Fingers crossed she gives us another decent night tonight

Btw Poppy been diagnosed with oral thrush. Any other little ones have it, does it cause them any discomfort?

Morning all.

Personally, I am not fretting about swine flu, but, of course, I have no other LOs to bring it home from nursery or wherever. Also, from what I am reading, it is very mild and ya know, the flu, except for a very few rare cases. There are some things in this world you can't control, so why fret over them?

holly sounds like that is working well. I hope you can continue it! Adam seems to have a few days like that and nights like last night when he was up every 2 hours, and then he switches! Babies!!

june once you apply for child benefit you get a Child Trust Fund Voucher a few weeks later in the post. Then you choose a fund to put it in and let it sit until they are 18! You can add to it yourself, if you like. We will be putting all of Adam's monetary gifts from Grandma and Pops into it, as my mum doesn't do actual gifts for holidays and birthdays, but sends cheques!

morning all

june, bloody hell, you're not having much luck at the moment are you! Sending you ((((hugs)))) and hope things improve soon! Someone can't remember who, recommended a swing seat earlier in the thread if that's any use.

holly, I think there should be a mushy brain club as well as a colic club, I'd certainly sign up

doris, belated happy birthday to your dd2 Your cleaning routine is much like mine at the moment, only clean what visitors will see It's not worth taking the risk with swine flu, enjoy the early hols!

Hope all those with colic finds it eases soon and all the mummies start getting some decent sleep.

Edward is 7 weeks old tomorrow, the time is just disappearing so quickly! We're off to the clinic this afternoon to get him weighed when I've dropped dd3 at nursery, he's definitely put weight on, my arms are starting to ache holding him now! Then we're off for his hip scan after school, I don't think he's going to appreciate that so I've bought a dummy to take. Edward likes to have his legs bent most of the time still and he will have to lay out straight for the scan, I just hope he copperates so it doesn't take too long. Dd3 had one and screamed most of the way through He slept really well last night (sorry) from 10.30 till 6.10 this morning, twas lovely

Only one more week now of the school run, dd3 finishes on friday, dd1 finishes monday and ds1 and dd2 finish wednesday lunch time, it will be so nice not to have to dash out every morning! Just hope we get some decent weather over the hols so we can get some nice days out

waves to all

morning all hope everyone is well

holly sounds like a good routine to get started. I must admit Sarah is great during the night sheis like Poppy she falls asleep around 9ish then up at 2-3 for a feed then off to sleep by 4 then up at 7. She has been like that for a while now. DH and I were like you needing to get a routine in place asap as DH went back to his 12hr shifts last monday. As he works all the time I do all night time feeds and it is started to get too much for me.

june DH's management colleagues bought us a swing seat and Sarah loves it. I dont think it helps with her trapped wind but she certainly loves the swinging motion :D

tee like you I was going to put the monetary gifts Sarah has received into the Child Trust Fund.

silk & erm I think both of you had mentioned about tax credits and I cannot thank you enough. I thought that we would not be entitled to it due to DH's wages but I called them for an application pack and was told we are entitled to approx £21 per week so again thank you for bringing tax credits to my attention. I take it when I go part-time in March and put Sarah into nursery for half day a week I need to let them know?

Everyone with colicky babies I hope the babes are more settled

I cannot believe Sarah is only 3 weeks, seems like she has been here forever! Her wind problems are still around but not as bad as last week, she doesn't give me a dirty nappy everyday tho which worries me, she gives me hundreds of wet ones but maybe a dirty nappy every second day HV is here at 11 so will ask her what she thinks.

Quick question, my MIL has offered to have Sarah overnight tonight to allow me and DH to have a full nights sleep, a part of me thinks this is a good idea but then another part of me thinks it is way too early for Sarah to be away overnight, what do you guys think??? I feel guilty at the thought of leaving her so soon but DH thinks Sarah will be ok.

Morning Juners!

Lauraloo, I have no experience in this but I think you should go with what you feel OK or comfortable with. If you feel it's still too early and will not actually have a full night's sleep due to feeling bad, guilty or worried, then leave it for a bit later Glad Sarah's wind problems are starting to get better

Bigcar, wow! That's a great sleeper!!! You lucky lady Good luck with the scan, hope it takes no time! Yay for no more school run as of next week!

Tee, hi! Yeah, I notice Mila's "routine" changes every few nights But she sleeps quite well so no complaints

Holly, that's a great routine you got started! I imagine how hard it was to keep Poppy awake during the day! Well done you! No experience of oral thrush, but I'm sure other Juners will come soon with great advice

June, oh poor you sweetie... you've had some pretty tough days. Hope the insomnia goes away and you get some very deserved rest soon (((hugs))) great idea that of the pics!!

silk, hi! thanks for all that info re. trust funds!!

ermin, thanks to you as well hope to hear more from you soon

doris, sorry to hear you've had so much going on and have been left so tired... Happy belated birthday to your DD! Sounds sensible you decided to start holidays early, not worth running a risk

Hi to all the rest of the Juners! Hope to hear soon from LittleS, Bunny, Insy, Worried, Tibsy, Apple, Help soon A big wave to you all!!!

Right, calm day here, will try and catch up on some paperwork
Yesterday a friend of mine sent me a link from youtube (triggered by a picture I uploaded on FB) showing a method to soothe a crying baby with a sign that said "save three weeks of your life" LOL. There was a man with a baby and a sink next to them... the man opened the tap of water and instantly the baby stopped crying Now, I don't know if it's something well-known by everybody but I was quite surprised DH immediately wanted to try it LOL so off we went to the bathroom when Mila started crying, we opened the tap and she stopped crying!!! DH was Feel free to tell me "come on Naat, we all know that!!!"

(((waves)))

Hi all,

Thrown lunch at the DD's so have 2 minutes to catch up and post.

Swine Flu has been confimed now at Pre-school, the reason I worry so much is DD2 and her Cystic Fibrosis which puts her at massively increased risk, I'm hoping to keep her away from swine flu until the vaccine is availbe (she already has the winter flu jab) as she can't fight infection very easily (thick sticky mucous that acts as a petri dish.

We have our cft vouchers in non stakeholder shares account, I think of it as free money so have taken more risk than I would normally. and like someone else (?ermin or bigcar) I want to choose wnen I give the bulk of the savings to the DD's. The thought of it going towards a motorbike for a completely unsuitable bf had crossed my mind

I've also been having a nightmare with Annabelle this morning massive possets and colicky pains I have ended up putting her down on her Tummy ( completely against FSID guidelines!!) and I keep a REALLY close eye on her, BUT SHE HAS SETTLED AND IS STILL SLEEPING NOW!!!!! Which means I've managed to get some washing done and start sortin the dd's.

PS Naat - never heard of the water thing will give it a go later!!!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADcajG3yjJg

In case Juners want to have a look

naat that's amazing think i'll be trying that next time Sarah starts screaming lol

June once you apply for Child Benefit - which you can do as soon as you have registered the birth - you should be sent your CTF info and cheque a little while afterwards. I've already been bombarded with leaflets about which fund to invest in - from the Bounty pack, in mother/baby type magazines etc. but you can always look at the options online. As silk says, they're 18 year investments and are stock-market linked so it's not as simple as checking out interest rates in deposit accounts. And they haven't been going long enough for companies to build up a track record, so it's a bit pot luck.

So sorry you're not getting sleep and still have cold sore problem. As for the expressing, you are making really valiant efforts but you don't want to risk another flare-up of your wound so take it easy.

lauraloo MILs and their DSs often collude to get the baby in her clutches overnight . But I know lots of f-fed babies who are left with relatives quite happily from an early age so it really is your call. DH and I didn't leave our older 2 with anyone except each other overnight until they were 4 or 5 - not because we didn't trust anyone but because that's what we felt comfortable with; if our sleep deprivation had become v severe that policy might well have changed!

Do tell the tax credits people about any changes in your circs including nursery - that might put up the amount they give you.

hollybobs keeping them awake when they don't want to be is hard, isn't it? We find a bath helps just before bedtime, to make sure he's really lively and hungry - Arthur used to scream passionately but now he just whimpers a bit at first - either way it keeps him wide awake and then quite mellow while his daddy dresses him for bed

bigcar Hope Edward doesn't object to the leg straightening too much, and that his hip is pronounced fine!

Doris lol @ the motorbike scenario. Do you think we don't trust our LOs enough, or do we remember how sensible we were at 18? NOT!

Naat We will try the tap thing! My SIL used to put her hair dryer on a low setting at the other side of the nursery and her babies all went to sleep to the sound. I'm a bit concerned about wastage of the earth's resources whilst using this methods

I started writing this at 11am, can you believe that? /resounding YES WE CAN!

naat, I'm trying that next time Edward screams! Never heard that one before!

laura, I wouldn't be leaving Edward at that age, but that's just me. Go with what you're happy with, will you catch up on sleep or will you worry all night that Sarah is ok?

Well, Edward is officially a lump! He weighed 12lb 15 and a bit he was 11lb 9oz 2 weeks ago, I think I can say bf is working

waves to all

hi all just a quickie

laura - i wouldnt like to leave Isobel (although i'm sure she would be fine!) i'd just feel guilty and worry all night so wouldnt actually get any sleep! if you feel comfortable then go for it, the break/chance to sleep would be brill

bugcar - Isobel is catching Edward up, had her weighed yesterday and shes 11lb 2oz! shes only 4 weeks old!

louise - LOVE the pics of Ishbel, she is just gorgeous!

June - sorry to here about the tough time youare having, is it your csection wound that keeps getting infected? must be awful for you.

Holly - i agree its hard keeping them awake when they dont want to be! and hard getting them to sleep when they dont want to be too!! pleased Poppy is sleeping better now tho

We put dd1 ctf into the nationwide as thats where our bank accounts etc are and seemed easier as i was totally boggled about which was the best!!

I also worry about swine flu with Isobel in particular, they are soooo tiny and dont have any immunities to any bugs to help them

Sorry to hear so many of the little ones are suffering with colic etc, must be tough for you all. hope it improves soon

silk - really feel for you having to go back to work so soon. I'm due back in january and already dreading it. i'm enjoyng maternity leave and just 'being a mum' so so much!

WE are good here. Isobel has only woke once in the night for the last 2 nights now. i feel so much better after having a good chunk of sleep rather than an hour or so here and there!! hope it continues

hi to everyone else, hope you are all well

Hello

Just a quick one - like llynnn! (Isobel is bigger than Alex little monkey!)

Pretty tired here, Alex still up plenty in the night but no surprise there! He has a bit of a cold poor thing so is quite snuffly.

Got my graduation ceremony tomorrow which is very exciting, nice family meal afterwards too.

Laura - Re sleepovers I would say go with what you are comfortable with. I have always been happy to leave dd with my mum and in fact did it when she was about 6 weeks as a one off. Then she would have her now and then from when she slept through (about 8 months). It didn't worry me at all, my mum is a perfect babysitter, and I have to admit I am rather laidback about these things! (And I love my nights off!)

MrsMcJnr - My HV told me weeks ago sometimes younger breastfed babies can hold onto their poo for days and lo and behold this week Alex went about 2.5 days with nowt! I mentioned it to docs at 6 week check (fter it had been two days) and she wasn't worried, suggested I eat more fibre. Anyway then he pooed, I'm sure Aaliyah will too!

Naat - Great tip about the water, must give that a try!

ermin - Yes we can indeed! Everything seems to take forever now, took me about 2 hours to get 2 items on ebay today! ARGH.

ah, thanks for the trust funds explanations, I will get round to posting this form this week ;)

I must admit that i don't think I could leave Calypso with anyone overnight, I cried when dh took her to the shops the other day . And I miss her when she's sleeping for more than 2 hours upstairs . Hopefully I can go on to have a bright and independant girl

I was trying to follow the baby whisperer's advice on how to put a baby to sleep today and it's all nice and well on paper but does anyone here have a baby who will go to sleep in their basket/cot on their own, without any rocking or dummy? I usually have to rock baby, pace the hallway, go up and down the stairs, sing to her and stick a dummy in in order to have a sleeping baby, even when she has been yawning.

swine flu: Tee dh is with you on this, lots of people have had it and not died, we have to put things in perspective. Both fil and my dad called this week to tell us not to go to the cinema as "people might sneeze in there and give you swine flu".

Eek, dh has asked today when I think we can resume, erm... marital obligations .
My wound is better now actually, looking good today I hope it says that way.
Not feeling sexy though with all my extra weight, I look like I'm carrying a spare tyre on my belly!

naat The water trick kinda works for me in the morning if i'm waiting for the bottle to cool down and baby is up already and wondering where the hell her food is ;)

well that was a good start at cathcing up but all the time I have.

take care!