Fab Feb 2009 - hey ho, hey ho, its off to babyproof we go...

[dinkystinky]

off we go again

yep... It's an extremely absorbant fibre and one of the most sustainable crops on the planet as it's so fast growing.

The material is super soft and actually has natural antiseptic properties, you can get clothes, towels and nappies made from it. I have a few pairs of bamboo socks and they're really soft and lovely, and bamboo nappies are way more absorbant than cotton and also better than hemp.

[lurks]

Did someone mention cloth nappies?

THOM and elkiedee, why don't you make a pilgrimage down to sarf London to see my fluffy nappy stash me? PT you are more than welcome but I reckon you've got a really long way to travel. Happy to lend you each a Baby Beehinds one-size bamboo nappy to try out, they are fab for nights. But you can only stroke my Bedbugs as they are the lushest bamboo nappies imaginable and I love them too much to let them out of my sight.

Haha, you took the bait!

Would love to come & visit though it'll have to be after half-term as DS1 only at school til 12pm until then. I normally don't go further east than Balham but for you I will make an exception...

bedbugs? haven't heard of those swampy, where'd you get them?

Don't even go there Pink - it is the slippery slope!

Yay, THOM, let's do it!

Bedbugs! - scroll down, don't like that pumpkin one.

At Bums 'N' Roses

At Jabula

More at Jabula

There is a yahoo group where you can order direct to your own spec...

no. 4 Moltex nappies, which also recently seem to have sprung a leak at nights. upwards though so I suspect it has something to do with his nocturnal press ups.

i actually experimented with putting a size 5 on over a size 4...is that a dreadful thing to do?

had a lovely weekend. met up with some old school friends last night and had one or two too many. dp let me have a lie-in this morning but dd managed to sneak past his lookout and came into my room 'to check you're ok' while i was fast asleep at 9am. i've just about forgiven her.

dd has been nagging to have her stabilisers taken off so we gave it a try today. not bad for a first attempt but any top tips would be welcome.

Blimey just popped on here and what do I see....

A DISCUSSION ABOUT BEBOPPY FLUFFY WOOPY CUDDLY NON-DISPOSABLE NAPPIES......GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Anyway, on to other things.....mos hee hee at the horse - maybe she was hoping she could bring it to KSA for a visit too? I'd be fuming re the schools closing too.

On a more sombre note, I've been a miserable cow today and feeling quite miserable and anxious all week really. It all came to a head today when we went out shopping and I left DH to finish buying some jeans whilst I settled the kids in the place we were having lunch and he turned up half an hour later - I'm trying to feed DD and keep DS quiet ( I did order for him) - then after lunch I said I'd sit with him in this little park - DD was asleep and DH wanted to go and pick up a shirt he'd seen before we left to go home. He was half an hour again but it was more my reaction when he came back I was absolutely livid and feeling really uptight and anxious at being on my own with the kids. I've been really on edge the last couple of weeks.

We did chat about it in the car but I am worrying about my anxiety. Work has been tough, I'm finding the kids tough and well I need to pick myself up and find a way through it...

Sorry for being miserable and I know I've not been on here much recently.....

(((((herb!)))))

If someone offers to do the ironing do you think it reasonable that they then expect someone else to get the iron & ironing board out of the cupboard and the stuff to be ironed out of the basket? Just theoretically, of course...

Herbgarden sorry you're having a tough time. I expect you're probably quite tired and going through a period of readjustment with work/childcare etc. Hope you perk up soon.

Thom..... twathead dp does that nonsense too and then acts all fake offended when i get annoyed and just do whatever it is he's supposed to be doing.

He also does this really annoying thing where even when he's offering to do something he phrases it n such a way that i have to ask... 'Just let me know if you want a hand with that' or 'Would you like me to do X?' instead of just doing the damn job

{{{ herby }}} sounds like th tension is really affecting you sweetie, being on your own with the kids shouldn't be stressing you out that much Is there any way you could go for councelling or something to help with the anxiety so you can start enjoying being with the kids instead of worrying?

Mmmm, might do if it gets out of hand. I did counselling for a couple of years nearly 10 years ago now but an "update" course of sessions probably wouldn't do any harm. I never feel like that with the kids usually and am pretty confident in caring for them - we go out and do stuff and all muddle along fine. DD just fits in with us but I have this horrible tight feeling in my chest with that horrible dread feeling. DH really wound me up though so I think it might be due to that too.......

THOM, no, not reasonable - I don't do ironing and dp is pretty good really but sometimes he makes out I should spell something out when I think it should be possible for him to see, or he partly does things - he brings the washing in during the daytime and leaves it on the highchair, for example, rather than trying to put it away (after the kids' bedtime it's harder to put away properly).

Swampster, I could be quite tempted if I can actually find my way there by public transport. Whereabouts are you? I've just been offered some more Freecycle nappies and have bought some if the post ever starts to work again.

oh herby, you are tired sweetie. You are back to work (full time I think?) and probably still doing all the housework with little or no help (they do try bless them but its normally easier to just get on with it)

Of course you'd be a bit miffed with DH keep slopping off. When do YOU get a chance to slope off for a break/shop etc.
I hope you manage to sort things. Maybe a babysitter one evening and a quiet night out? x

Woke up this morning in agony as my back is really playing up. Not sure what I've done but a few weeks ago I sort of jarred it and now I've got a very suspicious bulge just above where I had my spinal fusion. Am starting to get really bad sciatic pain in my leg and a lot of numbness. No sympathy from DH as he can't actually 'see' it. Probably get more sympathy if I had a broken leg. Anyway, have made a doctors appointment for this morning (we have a fab medical centre)but to be honest, not sure what they will do other than refer me. When I had my original back injury it took years of referrals and eventually 4 years after injury I had a diagnosis so not holding my breath.

Hope everyone ok

Herb I get annoyed when dp dos stuff like that too. xxx

Well, on a positive, we made £100 at the car-boot and got rid of a load of stuff. We sold everything off really cheap, like 30p for adult clothes, 30p for a book, 20p for baby clothes, 50p for pictures, £1 for shoes and it was great! My dad told me off for selling everything so cheap, but at the end of the day, all this crap was just sitting in the loft so all's good.

I'm a bit annoyed with my dad actually. He had Luke overnight and whenever I called to check all was well, dad kept telling me he was really stressed with it all. He thinks BLW is lazy of me and I should take the time to feed him 'properly' arrggghhhhhhh

Also pissed off with dp. The boys were a nihtmare sttling to bed last night (I think my parents sat with them on sat night which is why they both screamed everytime I left the room), I finally managed to get Luke settled and told dp he could try with ds1, he said ok, but still didn';t move off the sofa so I yelled at him not to put himself out and I'd do everything. He didn't come to bed last night. Good.

Now I'm just pissed off. For a change

lbb well done at the car boot sale. We could do with a good clear out soon - probably much easier to do a car boot than e-bay with all that posting and stuff. re teh boys and your Dad - I always prefer parents to lie if my kids have been a bit hard work - you do feel like saying don't do it if you're just going to moan !!.....I think my parents just lie most of the time !...

mos poor you - sounds horrible. [grr] at DP...they are hopeless sometimes aren't they. Why do we have to have be virtually dying before we get any real sympathy - I think they worry that their support system is about to go down and they might have to do even more than usual !!!!

Back to work part time and luckily I do have a cleaner so I still have day to day clearing up to do but at least I know the house has had a good going over once a week. DS has just started doing pre-school 2 mornings a week at a lovely pre-school I've had his name down for since birth (it's that popular). It's in our local church hall run by some very committed ladies and where the parents get quite involved too. He seems to love it there and it means that I can actually do a few things without both under my feet for the few hours he's there on 2 of my days off. I forgot how much easier (not saying "easy!" for those of you with one !!) it is with a non-mobile baby in tow rather than a 3 year old with attitude plus baby....I do tend to run around trying to do all the stuff then though so I can actually get to sit down at lunch whilst DS is watching some TV after lunch and DD is napping. Otherwise I seem to be on my feet 7 - 7....

I think it's also been a bit of a shock to the system working 2/3 days a week and then the very next day DS wakes up at 6.30am going "what are we going to do today mummy"....and I just think "Oh god, I'm knackered......" (!). At least when I was on mat leave with DD, DS was in nursery 2 days so we had a couple of quite nice pottering type calm days when we'd do very little together. It was lovely.

I think there's an "ironing"! topic going on - I don't iron a thing until it needs wearing. DH irons a shirt in the morning for work and then anything he needs at the weekend as he needs it. I was just thinking this morning about how I tend to wear mostly my stuff that can get away without ironing as it seems such a faff !!.....

Right, in work today - my hours have been cut so I don't officially have to get going til 9.15 and I can now leave at 4pm.....I think tonight I'll leave at 4 and go and have a quite cup of coffee before picking the kids up.

Hello all

{{{herb}}} Sorry you're finding things tough, anxiety seems to come and go in waves and catch you unawares. Most frustrating and very annoying.

We're muddling through with the formula here. DS still not sure what to do with a bottle although miraculously he managed 7oz from a bottle last night but was awake at 4.30am crying for boob and nuzzling in to me. I cracked and gave him a little bit and he went back to sleep. Then worried myself stupid about what he might have ingested!

He's still better with a cup so I am tending to make up a 5oz bottle in the morning, use half of it on his weetabix and give the rest to him in a cup. Then a couple more cups throughout the day and a big-ish bottle before bed.

I have no idea if I am doing this right!?

Oh and LBB- that's brilliant about the car boot! We only managed £53 the last time we did one. I think it's better to sell it off cheap- if the prices are too high people get put off and like you say, otherwise it's just sitting in the loft. At least this way it's making you money.

What are you going to do with all that cash?

Morning all - hugs to Herb (it will get easier, just hang on in there) and Markstretch (sounds like F is doing really well - again, will get easier - top tip if he's nuzzling for boob with you get DH to settle him until he stops associating mummy with boob in the night - once he's done that you'll be able to cuddle him up and give him a bottle at nights too - F will get there. Hope the exploding boobs have gone) and hurrah to LBB for raising all that cash at the car boot but boo sucks to your dad for his unsupportive comments re BLW (works for you and Luke and that's all that matters) and hugs re the boys last night and your argument with DP.

SHATTERED here - Danny and DS1 were brilliant as a whole over the weekend, fed well but sleeping still rubbish - Danny basically awake from midnight last night till 5.30 this morning so got 3 hours last night and still full of crappy cold. DS1 now reacting to me being back at work telling me not to go to work and how he misses me - and getting up in the dead of the night to come into our room (3 nights in a row!) on some spurious pre-text. Know its just a phase and will pass but rather worried I might pass away before this phase does. Is a good thing they're both so cute or I'd be putting them both up on ebay today...

P.s. MOS - grr at nursery and hugs - though very gentle ones - to you re your back. Hope its nothing serious and passes/gets fixed really quickly.

KBN - DS1 managed to sabotage both my attempted lie ins this weekend. Had me up at 7 on Saturday and 7.30 on Sunday. Know its because he misses me but really could do with the sleep too...

MS sounds like you're doing everything perfect to fit F's needs. I'd second whoever it was that said stick to a cup if you can, it takes away that task of having to do it in a years time.
Unfortunately, the car boot money is going to pay the majority of council tax. How exciting!
dinky sorry you guys still aren't getting much sleep. Remember to be consistent with whatever you do with them. I always kick myself when I allow ds1 to ave a night in my bed because it means a week of hassle trying to get him to stay in his!! Also make sure your dh is on the same page as you with how you're dealing with this. This is our main trouble. Me and dp aren't of the same thought with this kind of stuff. He wants to shout and I want to re-assure (and thgen shout!)

Just been to playgroup. Jacob had a morning where he was pushing all the other kids over, so after the third time of taking him out of the room to sit him in a naughty corner, I left. I was getting real dirty looks from the other mothers like I'm the scum of the earth or something because my 2yo pushes!!!!!!!!! It'll be their turn soon and I will laugh.
This is why I only go on fridays, because everyone on that day knows what 2yo are like.
I had to hold my tongue earlier when one of the mothers started telling Jacob off.

Anyway, park this afternoon, so lets hope he's in a better mood for that!

i feel awful for complaining about my aborted lie-in compared with what's going on with you dinky. i don't know how you're still standing never mind functioning at work. how's it going? has the new legislation made things more complicated?

herb i hope you're doing OK, anxiety is horrible and often is a warning sign of an underlying problem so if you've had counselling before i think a top-up is a good idea. presumably you know that it worked for you before so perhaps look into it before you get too stressed. you will also get used to your new routine soon and yes, you should take advantage of having to go to work to do some occasional coffees, shopping trips etc for yourself.

MS sorry to hear you had to stop b/f before you wanted to and i'm sure one little drink won't have done any damage but dinky's suggestion sounds a good one.

Sent you a message on FB, elkiedee.

Ouch dinky how are you functioning??? Poor little man too. I think if I was on no sleep mode I'd be admitted to The Priory by now !! I've had DS waking me at 3am for the last week for nothing in particular (Ooh my pillows in the wrong place GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR) and I just can't get off again after that so thought that was bed. I've taken to wearing ear plugs so that DH can get out and deal as at least he gets back off with the click of a finger.

lbb - I hate judgy mothers when I'm out - I remember a lady at the soft play place who had a really quite agressive 2.5 year old and a baby to look after. He came over and pushed DS (and sat on him !!) once (after he'd done it to a few others) and she eventually draggede him off home looking really upset and harassed. I just wanted to go and tell her that it didn't matter and it would all be ok ...I wish I had really as clearly she was having a bad day like we all have sometimes and all our children can be, well, children sometimes can't they. That's why I like my ante-natal friends as we all just know what our kids can be like sometimes and we're there to support each other and realise that we're not alone....

Re the anxiety - it's been building up and one trigger I think is that DS has been weeing constantly (I'm talking sometimes 5/6 times an hour and often he will ask to go but won't go and gets all upset and usually does it when DD needs me or if we're out in a cafe we all have to up sticks from the table wait in line go in and then ....nothing ) so I've been upset about it/handled it badly /turned all shouty rather than sympathetic and probably because in the back of my mind I'm scared that I'm bringing up an anxious child IYSWIM so I'm almost taking it out on him....It's daft because it really is a phase and I think he's attention seeking a bit now that DD is getting more demanding and now I've done the nonchalant - "ok just go for a wee darling mode" and ignore it, it seems to have improved a lot. He'll get bored of it soon I'm sure -

Right off to some lunchtime meeting with free sandwiches !!

Herb, you could be describing my DS2 who is three and still busy regressing with his potty training since DS3 arrived. He's dry all day sometimes and other days it is four or five changes. It really gets me because I know he's more than capable of using the toilet (or a tree!). And because I'm convinced he's doing it on purpose I often don't deal with it as I would wish to.