March babies part II

[misdee]

Right, yesterday went way better than I'd feared and by midday she took 5oz from a bottle . I then got her to repeat it later that afternoon (well, 3oz) and then after that fed her myself so i wouldn't burst .

This morning she's taken a 5oz bottle of ebm so she hasn't forgotten overnight! I will now feed myself till bedtime then dh is lined up to try a bedtime bottle as that's the one I need her to take for work. I'm then going to keep to that one and see how we go, I'll introduce other bottles if and when I feel like it. Just knowing she'll take a bottle has made me feel better already .

Oh, and I've taken to calling her 'munch' (from munchkin) for some reason! And she's 15lbs and was 17 weeks yesterday.

Well, we took Freya swimming for the first time yesterday. DS1 was very excited about us all going together, and he was pushing Freya around in her little swim seat. She seemed to take it all in her stride, and even smiled a couple of times. She just looked a bit confused when her face got splashed, but no tears at all. DS1 has always been really confident in the water, so I hope that Freya takes after him.
Added benefit was that it really wore her out, she had a 3 hour nap when she got home, went to bed at 7pm and still isn't up. I think that we will have to go every day, only trouble is that it no longer has the same effect on DS1!
Last week of nursery school this week for DS1, I will be v sad to see him leave ....onto reception in September

Sylvia likes being in the shower with Dominic. She looks a bit bewildered but enjoys it soon after. I haven't taken her swimming yet but will try and go during the school holidays.

It's so quiet in here - you must all be doing holiday stuff. Posted some new pics of Lauren. She has a cuddle with DH in bed every morning and loves it. Taking her for her last jabs on Thursday. Should have been 2 weeks back but was too sick to take her. Have just cooked up a big batch of pears and sweet potato to freeze in ice trays. So easy that. Each cube sections takes about 2 teaspoons, so it's easy to know how much they are having. She's up to 4 teaspoons of pear for breakfast. 2 teaspoons s.p plus 2 pear for lunch and tea. Loves the pear and so-so with the s.p. Going to leave her on this for another week before trying some other veggies and fruits. She is opening her mouth nicely now when the spoon is waved in front of her and seems to be swallowing more than she spits out. Do you think it's ok to try avocado? I love them, albeit with lots of salt and pepper. Want her to like green veggies. What is it with most kids and anything green?

jambot - not all kids hate greens, my dd1 loves broccoli bizarrely

I've got a tray of pureed carrot I've just made in the freezer ready, won't be needing it for a while yet but I figured since veg is ok for 6 months I may as well get started when I have the time.

Dd1 is now on 2 bottles a day and 3 breastfeed and has settled into a roughly four hour routine, and last night I dream fed her at 11pm and she wasn't hungry until 8am . I'm doing bottle at breakfast and bedtime, then breast at 12 and 3.30 and last night I did the dream feed else I think my boobs would have burst in the night . Going to stick with this for now, although if my nipples don't stop hurting I may drop another feed yet. Just don't want to stop too quickly. I am soooo much happier though, and am enjoying her once again

Good to hear Zoe. I think a happy medium is great if it makes your relationship with your baby a better one.

Zoe - really pleased to hear that the bottles are going well. It seems to have been relatively painless!

Have had a stressful few days as Grace seemed to be really out of her routine for some reason - not being able to get off to sleep during the day and getting really overtired and screaming, and waking during the night (having previously slept through). Dh twisted his back on Friday and damaged a disc so has been laid up since then (although is a lot better now, having had 2 osteopath appointments). To top it all, my mum was taken into hospital on Tuesday - she and dad came over on Sunday and she was feeling really odd and couldn't remember things. Hospital are running tests but still don't know what it is.

Took Grace for weighing yesterday - she is now 13lb 9oz (17.5 weeks). HV said I should think about weaning her and told me the advice to not start before 6 months was wrong (despite the fact she gave a book about weaning which clearly states that recommendations are to give only breast/bottle for 1st 6mths ). I'm not in any rush and will continue to breastfeed as long as poss. as it's just so much easier. Also, we're going away in just over 3weeks and I really don't want the hassle of having to think about food for her on holiday.

3mummy - am thinking of getting a bumbo for Grace - they do look good, and she is just desperate to sit up all the time now. She loves to be on her feet as well - pushes down really hard and looks so pleased with herself! She rolls from front to back without any difficulty (although sometimes seems to forget how to do it and gets frustrated!) but can't go the other way yet. It's just a matter of time...

Jambot - my dd1 also loves broccoli ("trees") and peas - the trick is to get them used to them at a young age, before they succumb to peer pressure and realise that they're not "supposed" to like them!

Hope everyone else is doing ok - off to check out the new photos on the bucket before Grace wakes up (should be doing ironing, but still...)

Oh - just want to say that my comments about weaning should in no way be taken as criticism of those who have already started. I started dd1 at 16 weeks - just that I'm in no rush this time around (seems like too much hassle at the moment )!

Hi everyone, its been a while but thought i'd catch up. Dylan is 19 weeks now and weighs 16lb 3 oz, i have been worried about weight gain as he was only putting on 1oz a week, but he seems to do that for about 4 weeks then gains about 8 oz a week for 2 weeks. He's really active now and rolls onto tummy and starting to pull himself along. Nice to see him developing but can no longer leave him and expect him to be where i left him!!!
Have changed feeding routine to b/f 1st a.m and last p.m and 3 bottles in day. bed is at 7pm and dylan usually wakes around 3am for b/f. goes down much better with b/f last thing rather than bottle. wanted to establish routine for when i return to work.
i'm trying to hold off weaning as long as poss. but dylan is really interested in food, being a first time mum i'm not sure whats best, health visitor keeps saying wait til 6mth. What do you guys think?
Would quite like to take dylan swimming, there are no baby classes in our area but i thought we could go to under 5's on sat am. what do i need to know about swimming with a baby. I do have swim nappies (although they seem a bit baggy), arm bands and swim seats. HELP!!!

babyd - you don't need anything else, I only used to put dd1 in a swim nappy and didn't even have arm bands on her since I was having to hold her anyway. They just enjoy the floating

bonym - my hv is on about solids too, maybe because they were so used to saying 17 weeks for so long, they can't just change to 6 months all of a sudden - especially if their experience suggests that 4 months has been fine. No way of knowing I guess when the stomach is mature enough. Judging by the rows that have kicked off here I think I'll keep quiet about when I do start and do it in secret . Although just between us, somewhere after 5 months and probably before 6 is likely because I go back to work then and feel I'll be stressed enough!

hello! I'm back! Just managed to read all the posts, great to catch up!

We had a really good time. It was nice having lots of poeple to entertain Niklas. It was so cute seeing his 3yo cousin cuddle, kiss him, play with him!

We are really going ot miss being able to swim everyday. Niklas has so much energy and swimming really tired him out. He has been going to bed with no fuss at night!

He is so funny at the moment. Loves being on his belly and everytime I put him down on his back he rolls onto his belly, but gets really tired and frustrated so I turn him over onto his back again, then he rolls over again and again and again...!

He is 5 months tomorrow!

Ok, he's really fed up now.....

I have noticed htat Norash hasn't posted here for ages. is she still around?

Welcome back Leogaela. It's been very quiet and quite a few mums have been conspicious by their absence. Think they must be on their holidays.
Nothing new to add re dd. She is doing everything as she should at the moment. Taking her to be weighed this afternoon. She is getting so heavy. I think the solids are going to make her nice and chubby! Last night's bottle was the first where I felt that she was full before it ended. She had had her dinner of sweet potato and pears at about 5:30, which she polished off with much glee! She still finished her bottle. Quite funny - she took it out of her mouth and contemplated the teat for about 5 seconds before deciding that she didn't want to loose out on that last 20mls! She tries to hold her own bottle now and changes the angle herself. I think she will start laughing any day now. She does a sort of hee-hee sound but still not a proper laugh.

i havent had time recently to read/speak on here. been so busy with baby dd and 4yo son.
dd fine. hungry, growing. stsarted solids at 13.5 wks only rice products tho. just starting to introduce fruit/veg. she loves food. 18 wks, 17 lbs.!! and gorgeous.! shes just got over chickenpox now ds has it bad. not pleasant at all.
anyway just thought i'd say hi and we're doing ok. altho dh still finds it hard to cope with when dd cries and cries.
and dd has been in big cot bed for few wks now! bless her - she ends up totally the wrong way round and opposite to where i left her in the first place.!

Summer hols are here already, DS1 does not start in reception until 26 Sept cos he will be one of the youngest in the year, so any ideas of what to do with him (maybe sell him on ebay? ) would be appreciated.
Freya is doing well and will now be following DS1 around on his summer holiday activities rather than enduring the school run everyday. She will hopefully be going in her own room this weekend, I know that they recommend 6 months but it will be nice not to have to creep into bed with all the lights off - I stubbed my toe on the bed too many times already.
She is also becoming fascinated by people eating, she seems to begrudge you every mouthful so maybe it will be time to start weaning her soon. However, I don't really relish the idea of using my 'spare' time (what spare time ? ) to mash carrot so I might leave it a bit longer.

Played my 1st game of netball last night since having Freya and am really aching today, I need to get back to training before the winter season - it is hard to get back into the exercise thing. Anybody else having much success with the exercise?

Hope everyone has a good weekend. We are off to a BBQ tomorrow so it is bound to rain - sorry to everyone in the south east !

I'm here in Wales again with my parents so with access to broadband. And hopefully by the time I go home in 10 days our computer at home will be sorted out too.

We've been having a total nightmare on the sleep front. Iris used to go down at 7pm and sleep till 3 or 4, now she's taken to waking up at 9pm, 11, 1, 3, 4 and then not wanting to sleep unless I feed her in bed with me. On top of that (and actually even more stressful) dd 1 who will be 3 on Saturday has suddenly decided to become an insomniac. From the age of 5 months she has slept 12 hours through the night plus a 2 hour afternoon nap. Now she won't stay in bed in the evening (the other evening it was 10pm before she went down, then she woke at 4am, 6.15am and finally got up just before 7am. We've dropped her daytime nap in an attempt to get her to stay in bed at night, but now she's just shattered, completely unmanageable and whingy. The whole thing is horrible. I used to have a lovely little girl who never threw a tantrum and now I have an exhausted, angry child. She also being ghastly with Iris - lots of hitting, and huge resentment of me feeding her etc.

Anyway, my latest strategy is to literally lock her in her bedroom - or here at my parents house I have to stand outside holding the door handle as there isn't a lock! It seems to be working - tonight I got her down by 7.30pm which is the best I've done in a fortnight. So hopefully tomorrow (her birthday) she will be a happier kid.

And my big achievement on the baby front is that I finally have Iris in real nappies - I never managed it with dd1. Now I can't believe I was so feeble, we've only been going 10 days, but I'm already getting the hang of the wraps and the liners and the laundry is not a hassle so far.

Hi all. Nice catching up with all these kiddies and their mums. They are so lovely at this stage, each stage is nice in itself but I love to see how DD grows and changes and becomes more aware of the world (OK, maybe getting a bit carried away).

I have given Sylvia a few rusks so far, she watches us eating very avidly and, like someone says, almost begrudgingly ("you keep me on milk and look what you lot are eating" LOL). We are starting weaning properly a little bit early, while on holiday. It can seem like an odd choice but I will be with my parents for 3 weeks and they can help with feeding DD during the day, giving us a little bit of time on our own.

I'll be off from tomorrow till the end of this week. I'm taking the kids to Lancaster, to a course.

OMG, how could I possibly forget? I passed my b*y driving test today!!!!!!!! Fourth time, only 8 minor mistakes. I am very happy and will go out and buy some beers to celebrate when DH and DS come back from the football. They are watching AFC Wimbleodn vs. the fans' new team from Manchester United.

oh well done on your driving test!!! i have mine booked for the end of sept and cant wait.

serena is moving into her own room tonight. she is getting way to big for the moses basket now, so tonight it is. it will also give her more room to roll about in. she weighs approx 15lb 6oz (just been on the scales with her) and is lovely. she is such a conternted little baby and even now i dont belive she is mine. the poor love has so much to cope with already, but everyone loves her, she has her own little fan club at harefield hospital.

she has her kidney/baldder scan in about 2 weeks time, so fingers crossed eveything will be fine. will put some new pics of her on the bucket soon.

cristina7 - huge congrats on the driving test!

We just had a lovely day for dd1's 3rd birthday. All following a much better night last night - got her down by 7.30pm and she didn't wake till gone 7am. Iris is still a bit of a menace - waking at 11.30pm, just when I've gone to sleep. But after that it was 3am, then 6am then back to sleep with me till 7am. I guess not brilliant for a 4.5 month old, but after our recent sleep deprivation it felt like heaven.

Definitely no food on the horizon here. We're off to Spain shortly for almost 3 weeks and I don't want to be hassled with food for Iris there. Plus I have eczema, asthma, nut allergies so will definitely wait the full 6 months. She certainly is not starving - her rolls of blubber are extraordinary!

started on the baby rice today, she is 4 weeks short of 6months, but was just gasping at my food and trying to grab it.

Just had Lauren weighed and measured today. She is 16 pounds 7 ounces and is 27 inches. She has chubby 'hamster' cheeks but the rest of her is just nicely covered.
She is really enjoying her pears and sweet potato now and is grabbing the spoon and wants to put it in her mouth herself - which of course is a messy disaster as she ends either with food up her nose, in her eye etc! As soon as she sees her little bowl she starts getting excited. I've noticed that she is also very interested in what we are putting in our mouths now. Not a good thing when it comes to DH as it's most chocolates, coke and crisps! Have told him it will have to be hidden away when dd gets bigger. We have a little kitchen off our home office, so he can keep it there. I am up to 6 teaspoons of food per meal at the moment. She is still glugging back her very big bottles four times a day, on top of all this food. The midwife says she should actually be taking more food for her weight, but I'm happy to go at Lauren's pace.
She is teething. Tons of drool and keeps gnawing on my finger. You can see two little white spots on her lower gum and it's very hard. Not sure how long before they push through. Will be funny to see her with teeth. So used to her big gummy smile.

Niklas was 5 months yesterday! Still no solids yet, but he has a top up bottle of formula which I hope to drop when he starts on solids. He's definitely ready but we are still having discussions about what to feed him on! Dh doesn't like the idea of baby rice as he says rice is chemically processed blah, blah! Spoke to SIL yesterday who said she started her babies on .... oh, ha ha..... Griess (in German) which I have just looked up in the dictionary (as I write) and it is Semolina, which is....Ground rice!!!!!! Right that's it then, we start off with baby rice disguised in a packet that says Griess on it and I won't mention to dh that its rice ! She also said oats and millet - anyone tried them?

Jambot - i checked in my baby food book (Annabel Karmel's Feeding your baby and toddler) and she says that avocado is fine to give to a baby. also for green things she suggests spinach, peas (wihtout skins), brocolli and kiwi fruit.

Christina - Well done on passing the driving test !

Pidge - sorry to hear that your girls' sleeping patterns have gone mad, hope things improve again.

Misdee, how did Serena get on in her own room last night?

JoPG - I am swimming as much as possible, and been out on my bike a few times, I tried running again but it didn't feel right so I've given it a break but I think I'm ready to start again. A couple of weeks ago I had a great idea that I would do a marathon next spring.... ! ...not so sure about that idea now though!

Hi, i've started dylan on baby rice today, he's nearly 5 mths. though he was more interested in the spoon than the rice.
congrats christina on your driving test!

can i ask, has anyone had a period yet?

no period yet.