April 2009 - Chapter 5 - The one where no-one is allowed to feel guilty (except about all the chocolate...)

[Guimauve]

There will be chocolate fines for the guilty!

I may need to swap you an extra toucan for an extra dangly monkey, or possibly an extra spinning parrot thing!

Right, formula questions:

Do I really have to boil a whole kettle of water? Why why why?
Instead of waiting ages for whole kettle to cool down, can I not measure out the appropriate volume into the bottle and wait for just, say, a minute?
Someone DH works with suggested giving more diluted formula initially due to it being more viscous than BM i.e. make it thinner so it's more like what he's used to. Any thoughts on this?

Total volume formula taken since Wednesday: approx 1oz!

Gui, to make formula quickly and easily, measure out the correct number of scoops as per the instructions on the packet, add a little boiling water to kill any nasty bacteria lurking in the powder (enough water to dilute the powder), then top it up with cooled boiled water to the correct amount so it is easier to get to the correct temp.

NEVER dilute formula because the nutritional science side of things starts to go badly wrong if you do. The only time you should consider this is if your baby has had an upset tummy and you are gradually reintroducing a little food, and then only on the advice of a doctor.

It is however possible in some circumstances to give diluted doorstep milk with vitamin supplements, but again this needs medical advice, and the dilution needs to be varied quite precisely according the the child's growth and so on.

i'm a bit scared. my period's late and my sense of smell is suddenly ridiculously acute.....

Ah Frekkles, now wasn't it you who had to take the morning after pill recently???

We have a fab mobile by tiny love that you can turn the music off down or even off. I'm not sure that the exact one we have is made any more as we had it for DD1 but I can see a fab new range of them online. They aren't cheap but they are brilliant.

yes yes twas. shit i'd forgotten about that. i'm too tired just now to remember when that was or when my period's meant to be. eeeek

Thanks Boff. I said I thought the dilution thing was bunkum. Of course, it was advice from a health visitor! It's the boiled cooled bit that takes the time. What a faff. I'm only making up 2oz at a time for the moment (and pouring away 2oz). I can't see any reason why I shouldn't just make it up with water just off the boil, as 2oz takes no time to cool.

Frekkles - Oy vey!

Evening!
Puzzel thanks for adding me to the list .

so DS1 is off to my mothers for the night, he has a stinking cold and a terrible cough so another day off School tomo. i'm painting in the morning so i dont think being round the fumes will help him, and also my mother is a great nurse to her grandchildren.

So Zak is asleep and dp is away to pick up our drunken friends from the pub, honestly why do people not get taxis home? they spend all day in the pub spending money then phone to cadge a lift home rather than pay a few quid for a taxi, they will offer dp some money but he wont take it. Thats what we get for living in the town.

So sorry rant over new to here and im moaning already,

Yes so Zak is fast asleep in his cot he is a really good natured baby, he is so chilled out that when he cries i automatically think he is in pain, altho DS1 was never chilled so I know how hard it is with a constantly hungry, needing attention, colic, teething, and very very bad sleeper (still is at 13)baby.
I love reading about all your Lo's daily achievements, sitting, rolling, crawling, (BB) standing, screaching at the top of their lungs, i get excited as i see Z trying doing these aswell, altho the fact that he is so chilled means he cant be bothered to roll over he just lies on his side and thinks shouting will get him over, sitting he's ok with on my lap but anywhere else he just tumbles to one side and he also hates his front so think crawling is a bit away yet. But all in good time. Oh and no sign of teeth or teething yet either, but everything goes in that extra large mouth of his.

Listen to me going on and on, honestly im not that much of a chatter box .

Well I'm looking forward to getting to know you all,

Leaves wondering what fanjo warriors think of soupsmum after that book post

They think you'll fit it splendidly.

Well you can make a whole jug of cooled boiled water and keep it in the fridge for a few days if you like, ready to make up feeds.

The old way was to make the whole day's worth at once in the morning and cool them down asap in the fridge, using them as needed throughout the day, but this goes against official advice allegedly because if there are any bacteria lurking, the delay between making up the feeds and giving them to the baby meant they could multiply and cause stomach upsets, especially if your fridge is not the correct temperature. Now while this is official public health information, personally I might be tempted to cheat from time to time because if you are fastidious in making up the bottles and chilling them, I am actually not convinced this is a very great risk in the bigger scheme of things. But that's just my personal opinion.

May get gunned down here [hides]
Gui Z is ff and i always make his feeds with fresh boiled water from kettle then just cool it down by sitting it in some cold water, i know there are som many dos and donts but i do it the same way i did 13 years ago (taught by my mum) i was only young. And i havent had any probs. can i ask why it has to be cooled before you make the feed?

Yo girlies!!

After reading all about the milk banks, I have found my local one and will be calling tomorrow, before it's too late.

Talking about milk...E is feeding almost all day at the moment! I got in the bath tonight and the next thing I know DH is there with her and I had to feed her in the bath! Still sleeping all night though So, as she is feeding so much I am having to express when I go to bed (as she goes 3-4 hours before me) and I'm majorly uncomfortable, so I thought I might as well give it to the milk bank.

Boff - my mum has just bought E some of the Plum stuff but haven't tried it yet, breakfasts will start tomorrow

Guimave - I too put the jam under the cream (is that really wrong??) and I say scon or scone, but seeing as we only lived a few streets from each other once upon a time..... Also, I have to admit to making up bottles (although E won't take them either) the way you describe wanting to make them. Is that not right??

Welcome Nelly. Soup, welcome to you too, our little ones have the same birthday!!

frekkles -oooooo! would this be a good thing?? I had an AF when E was 10 weeks and not one since, also am feeling very sick and tired but I am 99.9999999% positive we have been 100% safe!

Now, after seeing Bron's gorgeous gorgeous sling, please come and tell me about yours!

soup - that is also how I was told to do it 10 years ago and hadn't realised it had changed - maybe it's a good thing E won't take them anyway!!

X post boff, thats what i did and still do. so i am a cheat also. It is so much easier.
Going to the fridge for some chocolate as i can feel the guilt creeping in.

All this talk of formula sounds v scientific and scary.
I've begun wondering where and how to express when at work, as I share an office with several people. Don't fancy the loo much. But if I don't express, my boobs will explode mid-tutorial. That'd shake the students up a bit.

Frekkles, you sure are living on the edge, lassie!

You have to remember the advice is aimed at everyone - including people with mucky kitchens, broken fridges and cats pooing near the teats.

Frekkles, do a test, my dear.

Hello

Just checking in before I am off to bed. Welcome to the newcomers. Wise words from Boff and WFH as you would expect (why have I never thought of making formula up in this way? and WFH is so right about babies growing differently etc.). Hello Springy! Good to see you back. Glad you're on form, as you managed to mention sex in your post

We had a lovely weekend in Germany, although I got an upset tummy from the food at the wedding we went to. All back to normal now though, in fact have had some beer and am feeling a bit tipsy. OOooops. Just hoping H will continue her slightly better sleeping and not feed before 1am.

I dropped Hazel's head onto the arm rest on the plane earlier... DH was very worried and thought it might have given her concussion but I think she's fine... It happened because the stupid check-in lady had given us seats so that I had to look after BOTH girls while DH sat across the aisle reading the newspaper!

Scroll through to about 1 minute 30 in the handsfree video - this should go down well in the office. Or you could even lecture whilst pumping away merrily.

Freestyle

Acually 1 minute 24 seconds.

Hi Soups! I don't know why the water should be cooled. It's just the info about not letting it cool to less than 70C makes it sound like it should be not boiling, but not too cool either. The only thing I came across was that some formulas might not mix properly with boiling water. So at that. Think I'll just do them with boiling water !

Boff, I had imagined boiled, cooled water had to be freshly boiled and cooled.

Even blocked ducts is easier than making up bottles (though they'll be a lot easier from now on...)

Auld - fascinating fruit fact of the day - have discovered that a citron is called a cédrat in French. So there you go. Full of useful info, me.
I believe employers over here are obliged to provide you with somewhere private (not the toilet) to express (or have I made this up? Anyone?). I don't imagine there is anything similar over there?

Surprise - All my friends from Quarry Bank were 'scon' people, so always imagined my 'scone' was a result of some more Northern ancestry

Hey Surprise, yip alrready checked the list to see who else was in a lot pain the same day i was. Z was born at 6.20 pm 8lbs 3oz, 1lb more than E. Is the times as close?

soup! E was actually 8lb 1.5 They told me 8lb 2 but when I converted from kg myself they were out!! She was born at 12.53 am so I was back home while you were still pushing! hee hee! She would have been born 25th but was back to back so the poor little lady was stuck

Just thought I should check in & say hello! I've kind of disappeared from this thread! oops! could do with a catch up post of what's been going on, but probably everyone talks too much to be able to recap everything since I last was here! LOL So hope everyone is doing OK and little ones will all be not very little anymore, I'm sure!

My wee Clement is a big 18+lbs at 4 months, and now over 4.5mo, so he must be nearly 19lb by now! He was approaching the 98th centile when last seen by HV, so no worries with his weight gain, or bfing! But he's begging for food! Yes, I know all the arguements for waiting till 6 months - and I'm always one for waiting as long as possible (my 2.5yo was nearly 12m before he ate much!) but Clement is just soooo different! The first time food went in his mouth he chewed like a pro and swallowed it! and he gets soooo excited if he thinks food is coming towards his mouth ... and upset if it goes in someone else's mouth, so I think he's ready! But still drinking loads of lovel mummy's milk too!