Jan '09 'All we are saying is give peas a chance....and carrots and broccoli and cumcumber and........'

[hongkongzoe]

...here we go ladies, right I'm off to catch up!

just realized what a diva that made me sound!

Moose - sorry to hear about DS1 - hope he is better very quickly and you have an ok night. Not sure if relevant now (might be too late) but friend with a littly was prescribed tamiflu for her the other day and got the liquid one instead of the capsules as easier to take. Have a feeling you have to ask for it though, not sure really.

MissJ - just keep using them and hang out whenever you can and the stains will fade. Wouldn't put anything like vanish on as you might make them leak for same reasons as fabric conditioner. If DS poos badly in his nappy I rinse straight away and leave them damp until first opportunity to wash. I do a cold rinse cycle first with just the nappies and then throw in any odds and ends and wash them on 40 with the ecoballs no detergent - and from time to time do a 60 wash with just the nappies and some white vinegar in the fabric conditioner drawer. Any marks always budge after a few washes and sunny days.

Straightening is my one must do as well Dog so sympathise. I only ever do my fringe though as have a bit of a mega fringe and can't cope with it going fluffy. The rest I'm happy to scrape back unless we go out - and of course that doesn't ever happen. Mascara is a traffic light job here too Tree - or more like a stuck behind sheep job round here!

GP told me yesterday at DS's eye appt that tamiflu wasn't sufficiently tested with bf and did come through into milk so not likely to be prescribed if bf at the moment. She did say though that there would prob be circumstances in next few months where it would get prescribed and they'd get some clinical results. Worrying really that that is how meds get tested out for bf. She said best thing to do was to carry on bf through the winter as even if I didn't get it first the breastmilk would help with d&v and I would likely catch it off him fairly quickly and produce antibodies for him. Much respect to my GP for giving me that advice, shame my HV was trying to convince me to give up last Thursday because he's 6mo. WTF! When I told bf counsellor she wasn't surprised, apparently HV's don't like it as don't have control over what is going in and they can't cope with that. Sounds like a cop out to me though, think they are just bloody ashamed with seeing women feeding older babies, just shows you how our society works. Shame also news yesterday was that SF will be around for 4/5 years - don't fancy bf a 4yo not even to say up yours to a HV! Someone on MN was expressing bm for an older child when they were all hit with SF though. Doesn't seem like a bad idea.

Does anyone ever make it to the end of my posts?

Thanks for all the support guys.

Right. Have pulled myself together, calmed down and have everything back in perspective.

Ds1 really isn't all that poorly, is eating and drinking fine and his temp is high but under control now with calpol (we also have calprofen if its needed). Tamiflu has arrived, but in pill form as only one pharmacy in the whole town has any left and there is no syrup to be had anywhere. Dh tried to get him to swallow a pill, despite me telling him they said to open it and put the contents in some fruit juice, and he tried to chew, cue lots of tears and choking.

Hopefully if we all get it, it will be a similarly 'mild' dose and should be over and done with before our holiday in August.

Dog they advise against Tamiflu when bf but you are allowed Relenza. To be honest, if its as mild for me as appears to be for ds1 I don't think I'll bother. Think I'd rather just neck a load of paracetamol and stay in bed for a couple of days.

Oh yeah - naps - that was what I was going to respond to

10am - 30mins ish (usually 15 in car plus a bit after) or 2 hours if in cot/pushchair.

2pm - as above

sometimes sneaks in half an hour at about 4pm if he hasn't had a decent-in-the-cot/pushchair nap at some point during the day.

So some days 4 hours, some days 1 hour no wonder he gets cranky on the 1 hour days.

*Moose poor little moose. I would have been freaked too and you def did the right thing not telling him what it is. Hope he makesa quick recovery and the rest of the mooses avoid it.
Hi Dog. How old is Arlo? Ds1 here exactly the same and he is 2 and 2mo. He is a pig by 5 if he doesn't have it but awake in his cot until 9 if he does.
Had a rubbish few nights with S. After a week or so of going until 5am we are back the last few nights to at least 3 wakings and then ready to start the day at 5. I am feeling broken and off to bed in a sec. Also realised that he has no idea how to put himself to sleep other than screaming in my arms until he flakes or falling asleep on his 7pm bottle. I need to 'teach' him how to fall asleep alone but not really sure how. Can't do the whole pick up and put down as he doesn't actually stop when I pick him up until he is asleep. Any ideas?

Naps
3 sleeps of up to half an hour if I am lucky. Usually around 830 1130 and 3. Then randomly will throw in a long one once a month and I weep with pleasure.
Remind me again when they start to do the 2 hour lunch sleep and I can doze on the sofa watching loose women?

Thanks for washing advice Lenni and tree. Have just ordered another FIVE ittis (including tiger) and more booster sets, so am fully committed. Love them. Just hope those stains go...

qumps I know how hard it is to have a baby that needs you to fall asleep with, but hopefully they will grow out of it eventually. Have you tried a very long drawn-out bedtime routine - I have to do this with N sometimes when he is all wound up - we have long bath (together) and I feed in the bath, keep it very low-key and relaxing, then massage while listening to lullaby CD, then feed - at which point he usually falls asleep - but whole process takes up to an hour. Prob not so great for you with DS1 around?

OH just arrived home so must go and chat. We are both feeling crappy with sore throats today. Hope it's not the dreaded SF, although good to hear it's not so bad for DS, MM - hope he feels better soon.

Don't know what to say Qumps re: sleep and PUPD not working. Many roads to tread, just depends what is right for you. Have to say I think there is something to be said for dummies as an interim to learning to sleep but some people hate them, and fair enough. I think they can help as get away from needing you and are still sucking so get away from needing milk too. But I also think they need to be an interim measure and weaned off when you can. There are so many other things to do though. What about a cot toy? Sometimes they'll zone out on watching something and nod off, but has to be the right thing for them. Some seem to just get even more overstimulated.

Best advice we were given with DD (among much crappola advice) was to be consistent and whatever we chose to do to stick to it. Same for bedtime routine, pick things we could do every night without fail. Bears no reason does sleep and babies though as I said yesterday. If anyone could make them all do it without CC then they'd be worth a gazillion dollars and more.

moose hope DS1 is okay, and on the mend soon. You must be so worried though

tink hope you're feeling better soon too...

naps? hmmm... bearing in mind he has to fit around dd and school runs... tends to be
nap 8-9:15
nap 11-12
nap 2-3
nap 5-5.30ish
bed at 6:45 or 7

some days he drops a morning nap and does a couple of hours after lunch... but not when dd is around (too noisy)

qumps, we had horrendous difficulty with c not being able to go to sleep, and we found a bedtime routine really helps, so it's bottle bath boob in a really regular way - i say the same things everyday ("say goodnight to the baby in the mirror" "time for a bath" "time for the sleeping bag" etc) and she seems to really like knowing what's coming next. but it was really difficult to get her to go to sleep in the cot on her own, we use white noise and we eventually realised that she does just cry herself to sleep unless she falls asleep on the boob, it takes her six minutes of gradually de-escalating crying (but it's not really really howling to start off with). shush pat worked for us, mainly i think by getting us to learn that she does this crying in the same way that her cousin sort of chatters. we also introduced some formula at bedtime because she was taking so long to get full enough from the breast (slow evening letdown) that she was horribly overtired by the time she was full enough to go to sleep, and so she couldn't sleep... this was making me so stressed that i think my letdown was even more impaired - hideous vicious circle. now we give her about 120ml of formula before her bath and it's all much easier.

okay, that's more than you asked for, isn't it...?

Big non mn (((((((((((hugs)))))))))) to you Moose, I 'aint scared of no flu
I really hope ds has a mild bout and is back to 100% quickly. I hope he finds his meds easier too. Poor man.
You must be worried sick love. Much love.

No solids here today. She looked horrified at bannana, both club wielding style, and mush style. Didn't take her to be weighed. There's nothing I can do to make her go faster if she is falling off the centile so why stress? Will give her another week or two, then maybe start being a bit firmer and not let her bellow for boob and give in so easily.

She is overtired [as is dh] and is downstairs. I can near the rumble from here. I fear dh is being H-bombed!

Thank yo for the nap feedback. So in comparison dd is about the same as the overall average, which is good to know. She has kind of been labelled 'hard' after the colic, so actually it's good to take a step back and say no, this is just baby. This is normal. You don't get glorious long naps in which you can shower, eat, nap, tidy. Be nice though wouldn't it!?

Big non mn (((((((((((hugs)))))))))) to you Moose, I 'aint scared of no flu
I really hope ds has a mild bout and is back to 100% quickly. I hope he finds his meds easier too. Poor man.
You must be worried sick love. Much love.

No solids here today. She looked horrified at bannana, both club wielding style, and mush style. Didn't take her to be weighed. There's nothing I can do to make her go faster if she is falling off the centile so why stress? Will give her another week or two, then maybe start being a bit firmer and not let her bellow for boob and give in so easily.

She is overtired [as is dh] and is downstairs. I can near the rumble from here. I fear dh is being H-bombed!

Thank yo for the nap feedback. So in comparison dd is about the same as the overall average, which is good to know. She has kind of been labelled 'hard' after the colic, so actually it's good to take a step back and say no, this is just baby. This is normal. You don't get glorious long naps in which you can shower, eat, nap, tidy. Be nice though wouldn't it!?

qumps I totally agree that a good consistent bedtime routine is the way to go. DD settles well when we follow ours. its the rest of the night wakings we struggle with. She wants her dummy a lot and likes to wake up at 4ish wanting to play!

Its so much harder at night to be patient though. According to gp our steroid levels are at there lowest around 3-4am which is why it is so hard to be calm.

qumps have you tried a hairdryer noise to calm S? DD always calms down when we turn it on. Then we can try pat shush when we put her down. Her cot toy is also really good as she can settle herself sometimes.

dog enjoy your dinner!

Gonna sign off now. Bedtime!

Dog - I had a sleep as soon as dh got in from work, then I was lanolising some wool longies for nappy duty when the earther isn't so muggy. Nice to see you over in nappyland btw .

Have no routine here, or not one that can't be reproduced in any random road lay-by, friends house, train and so on. We are usually off on many jaunts [although the H-bomb has put pay to that] so am careful to ensure the dc's can settle where ever. Has worked to some extent with dd, she doesn't need dark etc to sleep. But then she has never ever slept whilst travelling or in her pushchair and so on.

Seems my babies don't do day time sleep

Me too! I want to stop people and ask what they do to make it happen! We were on the school trip yesterday and a 15 month boy just dozed off on his mothers knee. I think she thought I was a loon as I sat gaping at him.

Longies are knitted wool leggings, with extended bottoms for nappy fluff. You lanolise them [mine are soaking in Lansinoh] and they are basically waterproof. So like a sheep! Lanolising is pretty much putting back what the processing of wool takes out.

So, the wee soaks through the nappy, and then travels through the wool and condenses off. Int he morning the nappy is touch damp rather than wet. It's blooming magic, fleece works the same way.
Hence fishermen used to go out to sea in big arran jumpers.
In the morning I sling the wool/fleece over the banister, and by evening it is fresh. It's never been wet and the fibres have never been in contact with the wee, so they need washing a whole lot less.

Then factor in the stunning wool, the patterns, the shorts, the longies, the ones with skirts attached......heaven!
Tree's happy place

Harriet is modelling hers in the 3rd pic on my profile! They are lovely, the wavy edging is lush. She now has a cream jumper with cat face in beige to match

BUT I NEED a skirtie, especially for the festival we are heading too end of Aug. Living the dream

Hope ds ok Moose.

Yup - nappy then wool or fleece. It is so weird the first time you do it. We co-sleep on and off with Hatts in her fleece so I have high standards on this [my white company sheets are having no leaks on them that I can avoid] but there has never been so much as a damp patch.

Rofl at huge hand!