March 2009 - The crawling / walking / talking race is on . . .

[jollyjoanne]

the new thread for March 09 mummies

Argh - looks like we're next in the March babies stomach upsets. L started with diarrhoea yesterday morning, although she only had 1 episode first thing so assumed it was one of those things and then she had the swine flu jab. SO hoping that doesn't effect anything. Since then she's had a lot more episodes usually preceded by screaming so she must have a really sore tummy too .

She's not really eating and seems to be less interested in drinking today. Have got some electrolyte but she seems uninterested.

She seems to drink some milk although I was ondering if she shouldn't have milk ? What have others done ??

Our doc had said the electrolyte stuff or watered down formula, so only making it half strength so to speak. But to try and carry on giving her as much liquid as she could manage becos they get dehydrated so quickly.

Fingers crossed all the tummy bugs are clearing up for everyone else.

Mae is not using any words for the right things except for the cat which she chases whilst shouting 'cat, cat, cat' at her! And she tries to answer the phone by picking it up and putting it to her ear and then she makes noises that could sound similar to hello but its not really there yet. But she will say, mumma, dadda, nanna, ta, cat, but generally they are just randomly shouted until someone pays attention.

Now worrying about Gabriel not talking enough!

Silly Mummy....

lau stop it!!!!! Rosie only says "da da da da" - nothing else (apart from veious screeches and screams when she wants attention).

Oh "wheely", poor wee L.

I think the advice is to have just liquid for 12-24 hours then to slowly introduce solids. If it is bad, cut out dairy for 12-24 hours.

If she's not interested in eth electrolyte stuff - try syringing it in like medicine - just to keep her hydrated.

yarnie no advice on how to get Spike to drink from a cup. Nursery always seems to work miracles on babies - so I am sure he will be fine when you leave him and will be drinking happily from a cup because all eth other babies are doing it

Lau! Very silly mummy! We're all early walkers and talkers in my family - so don't use us as a bench mark. Spike is the first of his peers to walk and amongst the earliest talkers. Gabriel will be at it in no time.

Wheely When you do offer L solids, remember BRAT - banana, rice, apple and toast - I found this diet effective in regulating Spike's bowels when the worst of the diarrhoea had passed.

Meep That is interesting. I had wondered whether nursery might succeed where I have failed, but I thought they might think I was a delinquent mummy if I abandoned Spike to them with poor cup drinking skills. Maybe I should give them a call...

I use this without the handles. The top also fits on to the bigger tommee tippee bottles.

If Robbie has a cup with handles he just throws the cup at me.

Robbie is walking around the furniture not taking any steps as yet. He is slower then my dd's as they where both walking by themselves at 9mths.

As for talking his says Dada, nan nan (although this normally shouted), Is Is (lizzie) then Mum.

Sorry for the babies with poorly tummies hope they get better soon.

We are the house of snot. We all have bad colds, its half term and dh has been away with work this week. It has been a very long week.

Thank god the dd's are at nanny & grandad today.

Thanks everyone - day 4 of bug here !! I thought she was getting better yesterday and then she threw up twice in bed yesterday evening. Poor thing. Took her to the docs this rmoning and they confirmed a virus and when I said all that she's had since new yr the doc said she reckoned L had had every virus going so far this year Poor Lara.. Anyway, I've probably made things worse by keep giving her milk so am withholding it for a bit which will cause heartache ! At least the doc said she wasn't dehydrated so I must have done something right.

lau - don't worry about the not talking ! L isn't really at all. She makes lot sof different sounds and some sound like she might be saying some things (the odd 'bye bye' and maybe 'mumma') but then she might just be babbling at the right time. AND L still hasn't made any further forays into walking so am beginning to think I made it all up .

Oh and I have a new niece as of this morning .

Thanks girls!

And yay for the new niece wheely!

congrats on the new niece wheely - did you go "ahhhhhhhh" when you had a cuddle and her little newborn head just lay on your shoulder and she scrunched up on you like a little frog (newborns always make me a little broody - and I am so not a broody person !)

Rosie is back to early waking again. Nothing we do helps - we put her to bed later - cut short her naps- extend her naps - give her food before bed - put the heating on in the middle of the night so she's not cold - but when it hits 5.30am she is scearming to get up. It is killing me.

I know she is all out of sync after being ill for so long - but has anyone got any tips for getting it sorted. I left her to wail for 15nibns this morning and she just got herself so upset so that isn't going to work.

Help!!!!!!!!!

On top of that dd1 has snot and temp and a "sore mouth" so I am off with her today. Hoping she'll have a decent nap so I can catch up on some sleep!

lizzie we had a very long day yesterday - constant toddler whining and Rosie shrieking if I left the room. I was very grumpy by the time dh got home!

yarnie I don't know what they do at nursery - they must pipe something into the airconditioning. Bothe have mine have slet and eaten better there than they did at home - it is magic!

Need to go - dd1 is shouting for her potty.......

Wheely. How lovely! A niece. I don't have any brothers or sisters, so I'll never have the honour.

Meep. I'm afraid we're the wrong people to ask about sleeping We've just about got Spike back to waking only twice a night, but obviously that's not great.

Ok. Another nursery question for you ladies.

I am a SAHM with ambitions to rekindle my freelance work, although I am not in a hurry. I think Spike would benefit from the socialisation that nursery provides and it would also give me a little bit of time to myself. I was thinking of sending him for 2 afternoons a week. However, I don't necessarily think that 5 days a week (even half sessions) is what I am after. I am really enjoying showing Spike the world and teaching him skills, words, concepts, manners, etc.

I have found an excellent montessori nursery who will have him for however many (or few) sessions I want. They have, however, advised that some babies find it very hard to deal with only a couple of sessions a week as they don't get used to being away from mama or get to know the nursery. This makes a certain amount of sense to me but, as I say, I have my reservations about sending him so often.

Does anyone have any thoughts or experience on this?

I am sure it depends on the child, the nursery and the mother, to a great extent.

I send Penny 3 days a week and am cutting down to just one day a week when I start mat leave in a couple of weeks. The cynic in me thinks they are just trying to get you to commit to more time and more cash, but they may be right - you won't know until you try. Why don't you start off at 2 afternoons a week and see how he goes - I'm sure he'll settle in just fine. Just look at it like 2 toddler play-date afternoons a week, but without mummy, and then he'll start to look forward to them as "play time" rather than "time away from mummy".

Can't believe you are teaching Spike all those things (manners?!) - Pen just rolls around all day chattering away to herself! I must be a very lax mum... (although she can now do a high-five - we're very proud of that in the Boobz household).

My dd's are at nursery 3.5 days a week. Rosie doesn't actually seem that phased by it. Dd1 can get upset - but it is normally when one of her "bestest friends" isn't there.

THey do go though phases of clinginess. I trust my nusery because they tell me if dd1 is sad during the day. She is mostly happy - but it is tough having to go to work when they are clingy.

I love the fact that nursery lets both dds get really messy with paint. My favourite picture of dd1 was in the height of summer - they stipped all teh babies down to their nappies - put a huge sheet of paper of teh floor and let them run riot with paint and brushes. You wouldn't catch me doing that at home!

Some children really enjoy the social aspect of it. The only thing I would change is to make the days shorter. Working means they are in from 8am until 6pm which is a long day for a wee one. So an afternoon for Spike sounds perfect (and it is soooooo lovely to get some time for yourself)

Thanks for the advice Boobz and Meep. I think I might give it a go for a couple of afternoons a week and if it doesn't work out, I can either increase the number of sessions if I think he would really enjoy it or take him out altogether.

Boobz. When I say "teach" manners, all I mean is say "that's very kind" when he offers a friend some biscuit or encourage him to wave goodbye, etc. As for the rest of the stuff, it's just what I guess we're all doing. Naming things they point at, showing him how stuff works and explaining what I'm doing - that kind of thing. It's just that I enjoy it much more than I expected, and more than some of my friends who I know were keen to get the baby stage over and done with.

High fives - how cool! Spike is not very developed with his hands and does not clap or point with a finger (or perhaps doesn't have the inclination, who knows?). Anyway, I'm looking forward to my first high five!

Thanks for all the congrats on my niece (and I didn't even have to do anything ). Haven't seen her yet - hopefully will get there sunday. Obviously wanted to keep the diseased child away from their lovely newborn . So I think me and dd1 will go over for a squish. I must say, SIL had a perfect birth by the sounds of it - at home, quick, etc. Brings back my feelings of inadequacy at not being able to birth 'properly'. DH told me off though. I know it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things but I guess you always hanker after what you can't have . I have been giving bro advice this morning - yikes.... makes me feel old (and he's actually older than me).

L seems to be turning a corner, fingers crossed etc. We did 24 hours without milk which caused some issues at 11-1 last night. She is v. able ot get her point across about when she wants milk. She screams (obv), then throws herself back and points at where her bottle/carton is kept at night (on the chest of drawers in her room). I tried her on some milk this morning watered right down (1 scoop to 4 ounces) and it still went through her although I think the poo was a bit of a better consistency. TMI I KNOW. She's much more interested in food and food generally seems to be staying in ok what little she has. So fingers crossed we're on the up.

No experience of nurseries here Yarnie but it sounds like you can increase the hours if you felt it would be better after trying it.

Lots of experience of early wakings and poor sleep but no advice that will actually work. We have gone through similar actions to try and find a cause to no avail. Maybe hen they're 1 ?!?!?!?!? .

Thank god its the weekend almost. Haven't seen anyone other than my 2 little darlings since monday (DH obv but he gets in late so not muhc of him either) aswe've had to cancel every one of our half term plans cos of L. Looking forward to some adult comapny !

Just hit me that G's one in two days. MY BABY!

Yarnie I can see where your nursery is coming from - I put DD1 into preschool for two sessions a week to help get her used to it and she never settled until she started going four days a week. She is quite sensitive though and every lo is different. But I'm a big fan of nurseries - and getting baby free time is reason enough to put him in imo - it's v hard being a sahm.

Speaking of which, Wheely, am genuinely in awe of you being on your own with dds so much this week - I go stir crazy if left to myself and the girls for longer than a day . And don't even waste head space on birthing. I've had a c-section and a vbac and - end results aside - both experiences can kiss my grits

Meep M is also waking at 5am, but tbh I'm usually just thankful she didn't wake earlier.

Wow L - our first to turn 1. I must admit, I keep seeing March 2010 annoucements and can't believe that year has gone !

Thanks MissMod. It has been a tough week especially as I'm the sort of person who cannot spend time in the house. Usually I drop dd1 off at school and go off and do all sorts of things and really struggle if I don't have something to amuse me outside of the home. That said, dd1 has been great (although she has watched loads of tv) and it has been quite nice to spend some time with her - we did get out shopping today (for new baby presents) and she was a pleasure to shop with - the convo did go 'right shall we shop or coffee first' - 'hmm' says dd1 'coffee and cake first'. That's my girl .

oh and missmod - LOL at kiss my grits. I know you're right - its just when you hear stories of lovely homebirths where the baby pops out (not even gas and air...) one feels a bit wistful but then am sure its not all its cracked up to be.

Right off to bed to see when L will decide to be cross tonight . Oh I suddenly noticed tonight her 5th tooth is poking through, up top though which is why I hadn't been aware as thought bottom comes first. Probably hasn't helped things this week !

wheely I've had 2 of those births (natural delivery, no drugs, both babies arrive in under 3 hours) and they're still bloody horrible, same amount of pain but all at once, bled lots very fast and no time to have any pain relief! (Did have gas and air for the tears with Gabe, god that stuff is great!).

0n the plus side at least G arrived in time for DH to make it to the concert I'd bought him tickets for that night!

Wheely, glad the LO is getting a bit better, can't believe how many of our little ones have had this tummy bug. It must have really been doing the rounds.

I am also one of those who is shocked at how fast this year has gone. Can't believe Mae is going to be one in a couple of weeks! Not even got a present sorted yet!

Mae goes to nursery for 2 days a week and my parents look after her for two days a week, and both arrangements seem to work fine, Mae seems to really like nursery and spending time with her nanny and grandad. I like the nursery because it isn't too big, but at the same time it gets Mae used to socialising with other children and to having to share things etc as she is our only LO.

Definitely not been giving any thought to the quality or not of my birth. I am not sure that any circumstances are necessarily any better than any others, just glad to have a nice baby at the end. And then to put the rose tinted glasses on and make out it was all lovely! Although as Mae has a dent in the side of her head still I think it will always remind me that she was pulled out with forceps!

Also very impressed with the high 5s now desperately trying to teach this to Mae as well, although it possibly means some other recently learnt skill will disappear.

as first birthdays are looming - can anyone give me inspiration for a present for Rosie?

We have so much already - a wheelybug, ride on scooter, swing and sandpit for the garden. Her GP's will want ideas for something special for her - any ideas ladies?

No high fives here - just gleeful clapping and waving (especially when in hospital - whenever the doctors did their rounds she waved at them through the window of her room !)

whelly for me it was never the birth that caused me sadness - it was the feeding.

my sister got my 2 dd's one of these for their first birthdays.

We got dd2 these. We probaly get the ELC rocket as i got a 20% of voucher from their birthday club.

whelly - oops

Thanks lizzie - good ideas

Meep We've decided to go halves with the grandparents and get M one of these - it's a bit too old for her but she can use it to cruise around and I know an 18mo who is obsessed with his. I'm also hoping it might encourage DD1 to play with her.

If all else fails, we can use it for toy storage

oops - just noticed our present of choice is for 3 years and older - might have to rethink