The All New Fresh and Sensitve February 2005 Thread

[Hazellnut]

Right-ho here we are - hope you've all found it ...... let the new thread commence....

He's taken to solids really well. I'd decided to leave it for as long as possible, but everything that I've read has said that a baby is ready for solids when......'They take an active interest in your food'....As Elijah was making attempts to grab anything I was eating and salivating wildly, I decided that he was ready. He still loves his boob feeds though.

i'cco platon is a pushchair tipex! am very excited... sad isn't it?

linus still asks for his milk feeds...but is taking much less than he was. but he is still thriving and happy.

tipex... do you think it could be teeth coming through making your ds so unsettled?

my AF came back 8 weeks after giving birth, even though i was exclusively breastfeeding. i was so gutted! it was only a day or so though. but have had them regular as clockwork since!

Tipex, i didn't know what it is either. Starlover it sounds very modern and posh! Just a quick question, how often do you see your hv? I haven't seen her since Polly had her second jabs at 4 months. Is it worth getting an appt to see her, do they do much?

IME it depends on the HV pjsmum. We've had two very good experiences and one not so good. I'm going to stick my neck out here and say that.....

Cancer Nurses don't need to have had cancer to be good nurses.

Midwives don't need to have experienced childbirth to be good MWs.

But, and this is only my opinion of course, health visitors dealing with babies/children are better at their job if they have cared 24/7 for a baby or young child. A HV without children will know developmental milestones etc and will be on the look-out for various things but a HV who has experienced colic/teething/feeding problems first hand has the added bonus of empathy.

If you need to see your HV for routine measurements etc then it's not going to be an issue, but for in-depth parenting help, I prefer a HV who is a parent. Even if their children are adult, they will remember.

Tipex - the extra waking seems to be a theme with all the babies I know of this age ! I had coffee today with 2 friends with babies this age and we were all moaning about it ! So perhaps it is just a phase.... yet another one !

Am v. excited - we start our swimming lessons tomorrow. Well, I think its singing and dancing around in the pool which could be a bit embarrassing but as long as dd enjoys it ..... Mind you, for the first time ever she started crying in the bath this evening so am hoping she hasn't suddenly got a water aversion !!

My latest worry is that she seems to have decided she likes sleeping on her front and sleeps much better like this. I let her do it during the day and she did from 5 this morning. She has gone to sleep tonight like it but I think I will turn her before I go to bed. I know they say it is fine once they can turn themselves but its difficult to get out of worrying about them when its so ingrained they must sleep on their back !

Starlover..just looked at new photos..he is so lovely! Does he sit up by himself? Sam not doing that yet despite being similar weight to Linus (I think?). He will tolerate the bumbo a bit better now after trying to fling himself out but it will be so much easier when he can sit by himself.

His latest trick is getting his legs stuck in the bars of the cot which he did at 3am this morning..grrrr..took half an hour to get him back to sleep (did not feed him as I knew he didn't need it). I have wedged stuff to stop that happening again tonight as my other son then woke at 5am and 5.45 so I am shattered! I still feed Sam at 10.30 but he doesn't really need it now I think but it is hard to take the plunge to stop it as he is erratic at the best of times with early morning waking!

Tipex, don't let that old bag get you down she knows naf all! Could he be teething?

tipex i agree with hazellnut! linus has suddenly taken to waking at night too.
To be honest people have been asking me since he was about 3 weeks old whether or not he sleeps through! they're bloody obsessed with it! Especially the older generation I think.
JUst ignore her... you're doing fabulously! (and i'm not just saying that!)

Thank you all for your compliments on LInus! He is sitting up now yes. For ages he had been sitting up while on my lap (with me holding him), and he will NOT lie back against anything. So I figured we would have a little practice and see if he could do it by himself. Was a bit wobbly at first but is fine now!

He is also showing signs of crawling too! He gets right up on his hands and knees... but hasnt figured out what to do next.

Evening all !!

Had our swimming lesson today - it was ace !! Despite the fact you had to sing and dance around the pool with the babies so looked a bit of an a*se dd loved it !! She giggled and smiled all the way through and really kicked her legs when on her front (its amazing how it must be an in built reflex). She was a bit obsessed with these balls they put in the water that floated and loved catching them ! If you can do this in your area I thoroughly recommend it !!

That photo of Linus is soooo sweet SL !! DD is kind of sitting up too and can do it on her own for about 20 seconds until she realises no one is holding her !!

Tipex once ds is sleeping through everyone will be asking is he walking/talking/counting to 100 !! The current obsession at the mo with people I know is teeth and dd is resolutely gummy but as I still have 2 baby teeth myself am not expecting her to be forward on the teeth front !

Aaargh, dd has started waking in the night too!! Must be a phase (I hope). I've got a private theory that it's because she's too interested in things, she notices things more - I've just being staying with my folks and for the first time she was really intersted in the dogs & cat but was a nightmare at night - up & down like a yo-yo. I wonder if it was being in an unfamiliar place?? What do you all reckon?

Am taking the weaning fairly slowly, have EBM in the freezer in ice cube trays so making baby rice with that. Just started getting a weekly organic veg box so feel some nice purees coming on. Am debating whether to make her vegetarian or at least avoid red meat, I'm sure it'd be better for her (and me, fewer stinky nappies).

Hi to Bubble & Elijah . We're TTC too as it took ages to get pg first time round.

Wow !! Good luck those ttc.... I'm just beginning to feel broody again and think about when we might try again which feels like I have come along way from 'oh my god, never again !'. But won't be for a while - have a skiing holiday booked for march next yr so will have to be after that at the very least !! How exciting though - I wonder who will be first !!

As for my wierd dental problems - I have 2 baby molars on the top. I had 3 until about 4 months ago but one had to come out as it hadn't been made to last 30 years !! Apparently the other two still look like they are in for the long haul.... There have never been any adult teeth underneath to push them out ! Just a freak of nature I guess.

Tipex, I agree with you about this being the best time so far - its so amazing watching them learn to do things and how they know (eventually what to do).... We've just had our place confirmed on a music group thing from september so am v. excited about that !!

Anyway, best go am entertaining my MIL and her sister today (well dd is I expect whilst I cook lunch) and due soon...... sigh...

hi all yes katy wakes most nights at 2.45 am goes too bed between 9/ 10 dont think shes hungrey just teethin it must hurt i generally rock her too sleep still bf her throu day an nite

poor you Tipex. Have the teeth come through yet ? I can only think thats what we're going through too as dd was up at 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 this morning..... grrr.... and to cap it all I am going off to join a gym today to attempt to get rid of the post pregnancy bulges (well think it is more to do with 6 months of sitting around eating cake !!).... what a day !

Sorry to hear about the teething issues Tipex and Hazellnut. Poor you being woken up every hour of the night. I have had a few night wakings recently, and am finding them pretty tough. Also, think it is down to teething. Find Calpol works wonders.

Is anyone else's baby become very noisy? My dd gabbles non-stop at the top of her voice. She especially likes talking to old ladies in supermarkets. I am forever having them coming up to me going 'ooooh she's lovely, appreciate her as it goes so fast'.

dear all
hello to all the new mums on here!

so interesting to read all your posts so similar to what has been happening to us on our hols!
i hope you are all well - it's funny reading everything having been away, i really think that they're all going through incredible change as they hit the 6 month mark - so much more aware of the world, eye and hand co-ordination bringing joy and soooooooo much frustration, weaning and all else
hazelnut - leon has slept on his tummy for ages now - i was worried at first but its his favourite place, i'm just finding out about swimming for leon - cannot wait!
tipex - i'm so sorry about your probs with childminders - are there any others you can visit?
cannot believe some of you have your period(af)?? i feel like i almost cannot remember what they are like!!
we went to france and leon was great on the aeroplane and with all the travelling and tried loads of different fruits whilst we were there, he bathed in freshwater rivers and went in the paddling pool in an inflatble thingy, only prob was the sleeping, having been a good sleeper he went down really late and woke in the night; then we went camping in devon and leon loved it in the sea!!!! everything was fine but woke in the night;
so i'm not sure if this was being away or teething or growing!
leon still has no teeth but has days when he dribbles loads and has v.rosy cheeks and sucks his gums and seems in pain poor thing
he was weighed last week - 17lbs6oz
really enjoying food and starting to give him finger food like organic rice cakes and bits of bread, and he's on 3 meals a day
but i have 2 problems, he still doesn't go to sleep until 9.30-10pm at night - ayone got any pointers?
also we have started to try and give him one bottle of formula a day but he really will not take it, at some point we need him 2 so that i can go out without leaving dp a stressful night, but also i will be doing a little bit of work and will need to leave him with someone, any helpful hints?
thanks and hope you're all enjoying the summer

xxxx

oh tipex i am so sorry to hear that things are going pear-shaped again.
you know that these things are just sent to test us (i mean the behavious not the baby!)... if you can cope with this you can cope with ANYTHING!
you are a fantastic mum and i really have a lot of admiration for you because you've coped SO well with everything.
I think I have suggested osteopathy to you before but not sure if you ever tried it... please give it a go if not. Surely it's worth a try?

Things WILL get better... although i realise it is hard to see that right now.
Is he on solids yet? maybe you need to up the amount?
it could be teething (as you mentioned before)... have you tried cold teething rings (that go in the fridge?)/teething gel/teething granules/calpol?

sorry if i sound patronising, or if you have already tried the above... i don't mean to be

I really wish taht i had a magic answer for you because you sound like you're having such a tough time... but hang in there... and keep coming on here and letting us know how it's going. sometimes letting it all out to a bunch of strangers on the internet can do wonderful things!

Tipex - it is just a phase! It really really is. It is almost certainly not anything you are doing or not doing. And if you have another baby, he/she will be different (and you'll be glad you had the difficult one first). You always feel like a crap mum when they're being difficult. Those are the times when you know you're a good mum - you haven't thrown him out of the window have you? Anyone can be a mum when the baby smiles and sleeps.

Dd was just like this. Would not sleep unless in a moving pram/car/swing and even then not much. When she started crawling she suddenly needed two 90 minute naps a day and 12 hours at night - I didn't know what to do with myself.

No advice apart from hang in there.

Actually; advice - kind of. Whenever dd has been difficult, I've done my head in getting stressed about it and trying all sorts of different things to try to solve it. And then after a few days she's gone down with some illness, or sprouted a new tooth, or some such, and I've realised what the problem was. I have now learnt to just weather the storm.

They also often get unsettled (hah! unsettled! read nightmarish) just before they learn a new skill or make some developmental leap.

tipex i do feel for you katy still dosent hasent but hope fully one day will sleep 7 5 6 hours undisturbed sleep would be great she goes too bed at 9 or 10 an we go bout 11 or 11.30 shes awake by 1.15 then i settle her then she wakes at 5 she is up there now screamin i must go spk soon xxxxxxxxxx