june09 Weaning the babies and shifting the Mummy Tummy!!!

[Tee2072]

Here it is, Juners! New thread!!

heya

llynn do you give Isobel anything for her cold? I think my lo is breathing through her mouth, maybe her nose is blocked. She doesn't seem otherwise unwell.

I gave her a couple of nasal drops and put some infant vicks drops on her sleepsuit. (it's not "vicks", the name sounds like "calpol" but its not "calpol" either).
I'm not sure that'll do the job.

bigcar Enjoy the cake :D

(to cut a long and complicated story short) we ended up at mil/fil/sil's place with sil and a few of her friends doing fireworks last night and C got scared by the ones that go "woooosh" when they take off I spent most of the evening with her in the furthest room I could find.
mil then turned up and did my head in "she's too young for fireworks", "she's going to get cold" (we forgot her jacket, but she had a vest and a t-shirt, was wrapped up in a blanket AND we were inside the house!!), we took off pretty quick after that. (and now the baby has a stuffed nose so maybe mil wasn't wrong? argh!)

Baby did sleep well after all this :D

Riiiight, dh's looking after baby and she's crying.. better go and see what's up.

Hello ladies

Sorry been a bit quiet - been having teething nightmares here and Jazzy has been unsettled day and night so a bit of a zombie at the mo. My period has also decided to put in an appearance - can't decide to be as it means everythings working and we'll be able to get back on it at some point in the distant future or as I thought bf would keep it away for a while and it makes me realise I really really need to keep up the pelvic floor muscles - if you know what I mean (sorry, TMI!!)

MrsM - glad you can see toothypegs so at least there feels like there is an end in sight for the initial stage... we just have pain and tears but nothing showing at all.. boo!

Lynnn - hope the smear went ok, remember mine being a bit on the tender side! Hope you also had a fun fireworks party - or is that tonight?

Ineed - hope everyone is better at your place, hugs if not!

Choccie - have to echo everyone elses thoughts re 27 kids !!

Naat - bet you're looking forward to next weekend - at long last! And had to laugh about your Ikea visit - so know where you're coming from as always spend far far more than I intend! I thought the biccie thing was just a celebration of jammie dodgers , don't know about the Gordon Brown connection!

Erms - rah for working, am putting it off personally and not looking forward to it at all. Well done though!!!

Bigcar - very of being able to watch fireworks out your window, save syou having to take a trundle anywhere! We live opposite a Gurdwara so when Diwali and all the fab festivals come round, we are treated to an AMAZING display!

Doris - time is truly flying! And also, you are so right at MN making you laugh - I am a personal fan of AIBU as there are always some strong opinions on there!!

Strawbs - hope you've had a nice break. I wondered if I could ask you a quick question around swaddling and gro-baggage... have you successfully managed to move L to a sleeping bag? We are struggling soooo much - not as much at night admittedly but during the day it is sooooo bad - she was awake for 9 hours before she zonked out today, about 5 of them crying, rubbin eyes but would she sleep, would she heck!!!

Anyways - Strictly on so am going to dash so I can watch. Speak soon lovely ladies xxx

Hi lovely ladies!

Skillbo, ohhh we're having exactly the same here, lots of eye rubbing, fist in hand, whining and whining! She was up every 2 hours last night and I really felt like a zombie and soooo frustrated by 5am I really hope she gets over this teething stage. Another major AIBU lurker here I just have so much fun with some threads but never post, it can get soooo heated sometimes huh? And there are some hard-core MNetters that are just plain scary Really hope you have a better night tonight

June, grrrr those comments are just not on... why do people think that it's ok to remind us of mistakes we've made when we cannot solve them at that specific time? You had already forgotten her jacket and couldn't do anything about it, besides you were inside FGS! Anyway, ignore ignore ignore. Hope Calypso has a nice night and doesn't suffer with a stuffy nose. Mila has been complaning in the middle of the night of "dry nose". You know when you feel it's dry inside and you can hear their breathing? She starts rubbing like mad and blowing out through her nose to get rid of the discomfort, don't know what to do to make her feel better though

Bigcar, happy birthday to your DH! Mine turns 30 not this Monday but next Enjoy the cake! and Strictly, of course I can't believe how our LOs have grown! Mila looks so big to me now, where my newborn baby?

Llynn, I've added you to my MN mates list so now you'll be able to see the pic. I thought you were already there Hope Isobel feels better soon, poor wee one. I'm glad she liked the fireworks.

Doris, a fellow zombie hope you had a better night last night. I think I saw some pics of your new patio a few weeks ago, my God it looks absolutely amazing! (hope I'm not mistaking the pics feel free to tell me )

Sam, hope you're having a nice time, despite having to fight for internet time Sorry to hear the new pills are not actually helping much, is there anything you can do about it? Ask for different ones? (((hug)))

Right, quiet day here, Tesco in the morning and then DH went to play football so Mila and I took a looooong nap. Apparently she was feeling tired with all the night waking Looking forward to X factor and ice cream tonight

Quick question about expressing: I need to express this week and build up a small stock for next Sat as I'm leaving Mila with my translator friend while we do the move, as I can help DH and it's much quicker. I'm starting tonight expressing a bit each time (as I don't want to send the wrong message to the brain and end up with huge boobs again) but, can I top up the bottles? or when I put, let's say, 2oz in a bottle then I cannot put "new" milk there anymore? I don't want to mess this up as I need at least 3 full bottles for her.

Have a lovely night everyone!

Waves!!

Hi Naat

Currently expressing myself and trying to build up a supply.

You can top up the bottles as long as both the contents are cold. So basically, I express and put it in the fridge. Then after the next one, pop in the fridge for a bit and then put it in with the first one. At the end of the day, throw it all in a bag and put it in the freezer.

I must admit am having a bit of a nightmare as not getting the amounts I was hoping and have been trying after every feed since Tuesday. Think I need to express it whilst I am feeding but the logistics are hard to get my head round - how do I hold her, for example!

Will keep it up for a while as hoping when I get back to work it will be different as won't be feeding her at the same time [hopeful emoticon]

Anyways - best go... Glad Craig has left Strictly but thought the comments were a bit too mean, where does Alesha get off!!

hey, for the stuffed nose sufferers, read somewhere to run a bath and put the baby in the bathroom (so the steam is like an inhalation for her sort of thing.)
At least it's managed to clear her enough to take some of her bottle. Doesn't seem to bother her for sleeping.
if she's not better by monday i'll get the gp to check her out. (no temp either)

skillbo, i thought alesha's comment to craig was totally uncalled for as well?1?

Hi all,

It's quiet here

Skillbo, thanks for that info! I'm feeling lazy today so will resume my expressing duties tomorrow

June, oohhh gossip away, what happened in Strictly with Alesha???

Quiet day here, some last packing, the only thing left is to disassemble the cot, our bed and the wardrobe but that's left for Friday I guess. Soooo looking forward to next Sat

Hope you have a lovely Sunday, ladies!

evening all

june, hope C is feeling better. I wasn't impressed with Alesha either, poor Craig.

skillbo, the kids said the fireworks were fab. I was inside with E, sticking Donnies (Osmond, loooooong story ) on dhs birthday cake and making him a cuppa in his new Donny mug Gordon Brown came to mn towers for an online chat with us wonderful mners quite a few people asked what his favourite biscuit was, he didn't answer because his advisers were feeding him the questions to speed things up and didn't pass that one on. Hence biscuitgate started, twas in a few papers and even made it to pmqs that Gordon had refused to answer what his favourite biscuit was, Any clearer? As for expressing, sit up against the arm of the sofa then use pillows to bring her up to the right height, doesn't completely solve the problem, makes it a little easier, especially if you have one of those shaped nursing pillows

naat, oooh, it's getting close now, I must admit to not envying you at all, having to move again, your new place sounds lovely Alesha said that Craig wasn't as good a dancer as he thought he was Bit on the bitchy side I thought, I always thought he knew he was crap but was making the most of it! He definitely deserved to go this week.

been at pils most of today, glad to be home out of the smoke. Had a lovely roast dinner and homemade rice pudding [yum] E enjoyed all the fuss and was really good, kept grinning all the time, especially at grandad!

waves to all

Ooh, hello, I didn't know this was here! DS was born this June and is upstairs snuffling away in his sleep as I type.

June2009 the stuff you put on their sheet or whatever to clear stuffy nose is Kalvol. I should know. The entire house stinks of it! I could take DS and waft him about the doctors' waiting room and cure everyone in there!!

You can also drop some in a bowl of water and sit the bowl on the radiator.

Also, my top tip from the HV - elevate the baby's head by putting a pillow underneath the cot mattress at one end.

Then spend an amusing night watching them slowly rotate and slide down the cot till they end up lying stuck at an angle at the bottom end...

Hi StrawberrySam - I also have a swaddling tip. (I'm on a roll here!)

This one is from my mum, and it def works...

Baby is in his growbag, then I put blanket over it, tucked under his arms, and push the sides of the blanket down the sides of the mattress (between mattress and cot) so it is quite tight across his chest.

Gives some of the effect of swaddling, but without actually swaddling.

It also helps stop him sliding down the cot as per my elevating tip above!!

Hi all,

Strawberry, with all due respect to your MIL although she's had 4 kids if she never had PND then she doesn't know what she's talking about. Depression especially the postnatal kind can affect mums in so many different ways and at different point ante or post natally. I have a friend who had PND within a month of giving birth and another who developed it much later (after 6mths I think). If you are struggling and not coping as you would like and getting down with that, then get all the help you can and if that isn't working speak to your GP again and see what else is available.

I also think that nights of unbroken sleep make the world a much more difficult place, and that combined with being with your IL's (I managed 2 days last week ) no matter how hard they try to make you relaxed all add up to a nightmare waiting to happen!

Linds Hi and wecome ( says Doris who hasn't been around for months) Your cot tip is good but what also works is books under the top of the cot, telephone directories and such mean that you don't have such a steep incline (you choose how many books) and the matteress retains it's shape and support

Naat It was my patio and garden [v proud emoticon] we had the big patio done professionally but the small patio the wall and the seating on top of the wall was all my own (and my dad's work). I also laid the lawn (by myself!!!!) 3 weeks ago now and it seems to be doing ok . It's one of the reasons I haven't been mn much, that and the realities of 3. Good Luck with the move I read a bit about your hassles but I not being around much I don't know the detail, but it sounds like you needed to get out!

Last week dd1 came home from preschool with an itinery of meetings etc for this week before she starts school in Jan. Then dh visits the vet on Fri (aka "the snip") so that's next weekend written off! He's going to need some serious TLC ( I used to nurse and post op the 'balls' do swell slightly (understatement) and I have been trying delicately to warn him,(well as delicately as a nurse can to her spouse!))

We also have a woman visting from the Family Fund on monday (government fund to help out families of disabled children) so she will decide if we are able to be put forward to be considered for help (Yes yes yes!!!!)

A is still being a nightmare, she has taken to using me as a soother if she wakes to get back to sleep, think in a very short space of time we are going to have to resort to controlled crying We are however going to start Veerrrry slowly trying a little bit of weaning, Tomorrow!! (maybe I'm not sure I want her too but I think she's ready)

Have expressed again tonight, can't remember who it was but if you were holding your LO to improve flow when expressing have you tried a photo, I have my camera and flick through the really cute pics of her, and generaly let myself get all emotional to help my letdown.

Right off to look at Argos fopr an extra ironing board to both dh and I can iron together to get through all the piles that are generated EVERY WEEK!

Night all

Dorisx

Hey just here to say hi and bye so hoping tomorrow night can be my catch up night....hope all is well and that your babies are feeding less than mine in the night!

morning all

mrsmc - hope you managed to get a decent night sleep

doris - the washing/ironing drives me insane too! always sooooo much hope the controlled crying goes well. however much it is debated on here we did it with dd1 when she was about 4months. just left her for a couple of mins then went back in and settled her and it definitely did work after only a couple of nights

lindsay - welcome to the thread!! they are a really nice and wise bunch on here! dd2 also has a cold at the mo and we have the baby sliding down to the bottom of the cot too!! bless!

sam - sorry to hear you are having a tough time. staying with my mil would have me very very stressed though! if you are unsure of how you are feeling and coping it can't hurt to speak with your gp or hv {{hugs}}

bigcar - hi! your dh a big donny fan then!

naat - thanks for adding me gorgeous photo's love Mila's cheeky smile on the 2nd one! good luck with the move hope all goes well and you are soon settled in

skillbo - hi! hope poor Jazzy
(and you) get a break from teething troubles soon

june - i hope C is feeling better now. Isobel is still full of it but still feeding well so just putting it down to a cold still?? we have only been giving her calpol and raising her mattress to help

Isobel was up at 4am today, we tried to settle her again wth dummy but she was having none of it! dh got up in the end to give her a bottle then she was wide awake!! so ended up staying up with her! i was none the wiser as was sooo tired i didnt realise he hadnt come back up bless him!

Morning all!

Llynn, we had a similar night here, but here she woke 3 times Hope you can manage a power nap today Thanks for your sweet comments re. Mila's pic. I keep taking loads of her smiling but she just moves soooo much all the time that I cannot get one that is not blurred

Mrsmc, hope to hear from you tonight

Doris, phew, my brain does work then, it was your patio The best of luck with the family fund lady, everything crossed for you here. Ouch! on behalf of your DH but glad you'll have that sorted and won't have to worry about contraception anymore.

Linds, welcome to the thread!

Bigcar, ohhhh so mean of her... do you think she's saying those things to appear as a "tough" and "real" judge? Maybe she thinks that way people will take her more seriously? bad tactics IMO. Is it just me or the first days the biscuit emoticon had eyes as well?

Rough night here, up at 2, 4 and 5.30 My back is killing me as well, don't know why... She's zonked out now so I'll try and take a nap and catch up on some sleep.

Hope you have a nice day!

Waves!

Morning ladies.
Hope you get a good nap in Naat. Roll on Saturday for you

Mrsmc - Hope you manage to get some rest. Sounds like you have been having a tough time with teething and being woken in the night. Hope it doesn't last much longer. It's been really hot over there too hasn't it?! Lucky you. It's freezing here in Ireland.

Hi everyone else. Not much time to catch up on everyones posts. So sorry.

It was lovely to see ex- au pair on Friday. She stayed for the afternoon. DS1 remembered here but DS2 was not so sure which was really sad for the au pair. She is a very sweet girl but has had a very troubled life. (lost dad 3 yrs ago and then her boyfriend of 7 yrs a month later to meningitis. He died within 24 hours.Now her mum has a month to live. She has cancer). It was all very emotional.

Anyway, we are all good here. Elina is sleeping Time for moi to get a few jobs done.

xx

gosh Doris, you laid down the lawn on your own!!! how did the meeting go today?

choccie it's nice that you still see your au-oair. I worked as an au-pair for a year and it would be nice to know how they are all doing.

naat alesha also said something like "I'm gutted Zoe Lucker left and I had to endure this (ie, craig's dance)" which I thought was really bitchy.
good luck with the packing! I hope the next place is good!
mrsmc how did the christening party go?
We went to a christening sunday and it was really lovely. Looked like a lot of work though, and we have that coming at the end of the year.

this weekend has been quite eventful and not got a chance to rest really, lack of sleep + stress @ work = cold sore, I hate them with a passion, no kisses to baby until it clears, so fed up!!

Very tired now, little bro just told me he got scammed out of 650 euros and after hearing the whole story I can't beleive he was so gullible, but you live and learn don't you & .
I feel so protective and responsible (he's 24yo). I wish I was closer to him sometime, I feel like he is a little bit of a lost soul what with my dad being so old fashionned and distant and my mum no longer here. and at the scum that took advantage of him.

dh keeping my spirits up though with tea anc choccie bicsuits.

We got C. a "bounce about" (one that you clamp to a door frame) today and she loves it :D
Her nose has cleared up a lot, I think she'll be ok now.

looking forward to my bed tonight and hopefully to a good night sleep, C's been so good lately.

I really am exhausted, it is no exaggeration to say that I have averaged 3 hours sleep a night for the last week and none of those hours have been consecutive. Most of the problem is Aaliyah. She?ll feed 6-8 times in a day and go to sleep nicely at 8pm only to wake up at 11.30/12 and then every hour after 2am. It?s so debilitating. She has had a bit of a snuffle and with the teeth coming in too that has unsettled her but I cannot believe that she is waking so much and a pat won?t work, she wants milk. I have given her some baby cereals (as recommended by the paediatrician) tonight but she is still swirling it round her mouth and spitting it out again like she did two weeks ago. I stopped giving it to her because of that. DS is also being diabolical. Refusing to nap during the day and screaming at night when we put him down because he is exhausted. He is also waking at least once in the night and his morning starts are getting earlier and earlier.

Evening lovely ladies

Hope all is good and kind of glad to read that everyone seems to be having disturbed nights at the moment. Means that there is obviously something going on with them all - growth spurt or group teething or something... doesn't make it any easier but good to know that it seems developmental rather than just being awkward!

Lindsay and StrawbS - thanks for the tips.. we have actually tried Lindsay's tip the last couple of nights on MIL's advice and it does seem to really work at night. Now if we can just get the naps during the day sorted - all will seem right with the world again (well, I might be able to catch up on some sleep!)

StrawbS - I haven't suffered PND myself, thankfully, but a friend went through it and she could function to a point but really struggled. As Doris says, it hits ladies in different ways and I think it would be well worth speaking with a professional about exactly how you're feeling and see what they suggest.

Doris - I know lots of people aren't up for controlled crying but we follow a 5 minute rule thang... basically, she is never left for more than 5 minutes without some comfort. It doesn't always work and sometimes we end up picking her back up and trying again in a bit but on the whole its not bad and is a godsend for the first time we put her to bed (much harder in the dead of night!).

June - I know how you feel about your brother. Mine is older (36) and still gets caught up in stupid things and is taken for a ride and even though it's his fault, I do get all protective and feel for him! Thats the joy of family though

Expressing not going too great - and am worried that Jazzy is not getting what she needs either. I know supply is supposed to compensate but her nappies have been a bit lighter than normal so I think I am going to restrict it to first thing in the morning - this is when I get the most anyway (normally about 4ozs) and means they're all hers for the rest of the day. My nips are also a little tender (sorry, TMI) and can't face going back to how they were when we first got stuck in... god, that was hideous!

Anyways, gonna head so I can get myself down before the inevitable 4 wakings ().. sweet dreams ladies x

X post, MrsM - big hugs re your lack of sleep and as mentioned in my post, seems we're all suffering a bit at the mo... hope DS starts sleeping a bit better as well as that sounds tough...

Hopefully, like all things, this too will soon pass...

can i join the 'rubbish nights sleep' club this morning??? i dont even know how many times I had me up! i lost count! feeling like a zombie this morning but dd1 is full of energy as usual!! i think its this cough of Isobels that kept her (and me!)
awake all night! not fun!!

sorry to hear we are all having sleep issues at the mo, do you think the babies have been on babynet discussing how to make our lifes more dificult!!

we will be having a very easy day today, can see a lot of cbeebies for dd1 , soft play this afternoon and lots of tea for me!

Morning ladies!

Llynn, LOL at babynet It definitely sounds like they're ganging up on us Most of them are doing the same! Hope you can get a power nap

Skillbo, hope the expressing improves for you, although mornings sound like a good idea, if it's when you feel the fullest. Another one with a younger sister here that worries me most of the time... she just can't seem to get her act together and rebuild her life after her divorce (she's only 26) After it she just went back to behaving like a teenager, which would be OK-ish if she didn't have a 4yo son

Mrsmc, sorry to hear about your nights, they're pretty much what we're all having these days. Teething does blow!

June, sorry to hear cold sores are back Hope they leave soon. Awww glad to hear Calypso loves her bouncer The flat does look great in every sense at the moment, the building is very nice, the neighbours are young professionals, the area is very nice as well, so fingers crossed!

Choccie, glad to hear you had a nice time catching up with your ex-au pair. It does sound like she's had quite a hard time.

Not "such" a hard night here, just up twice. DH also helped as my back is really giving me a hard time and there was a moment when she started whining and moving and I asked him to help.

I'm watching the news and there'll be a programme on the BBC tonight (10.35pm) called 'when a mother's love is not enough' about the life of mums with disabled DC and the hurdles they have to go through to get some help I have complete admiration for these mums and it makes me so sad to hear they don't receive the help and support they need

Hope you have a nice day ladies...

Waves

Your talk about controlled crying prompted me into looking it up. This is pretty much what I have been doing, so I would call it controlled moaning in our case as she doesn't actually cry.

Anyway, reading about it has brought up a couple of questions for me:
What time is your last feed?
What time do you do the bedtime routine?

C usually feeds last around 10pm and then is up for another hour after that.
I am - kind of - under the impression that bedtime routine should be around 7 or 8? (like if you are giving a bath etc.) Or is that for older kids once they go to school?
We still don't really have a proper routine in the evening, I usually give her her baths during the day though I think I will try that this week.
I just don't see how I can feed her more (or more often) during the day so that her last feed be earlier, it's not going to happen at the moment as it is hard enough to get her to drink her bottles (let alone finish them!).

Thanks for your comments re my little bro, I feel better that I'm not the only one. His story kept me awake all night. When C woke up at 4am I actually freaked out as I thought it was the guy who ripped him off and that he was in our room .

mrsmc Can someone help you so you can catch up some sleep? I could not function at all on that little sleep.

naat I read about this somewhere, I think one of the mums did an article in a newspaper.

Hello all,

Sorry out of touch with what's going on. Thanks for tips when in London. Both children with high temperatures and on antibiotics with DP away on business was interesting experience. Basically we all ended up in the double bed at night. I would wake every couple of hours and take their temperatures and administer medicine as necessary and comfort them when crying. Had a pen and paper by the bed to record everything so I didn't loose track. DD kept popping up to 40.5 and wouldn't come down easily. Fraser couldn't drink for a whole day coz his throat hurt so much and DD vomited for 2 days or so and was just skin and bones!

Anyway, we are back home now. New crisis (which has been brewing all year) is that DP's current job under threat. Outcome not yet obvious, but stress oozes out of our every pore.

mrsmcjnr - me too. All going downhill - both naps and sleep at night. I am going to start weaning within next three days as I cannot see any other way around it. I was hoping to start weaning when he was in a good pattern of sleeping and drinking but don't see there is much choice now. Am frantically expressing to ensure a good strong milk supply and then shall introduce baby rice and apple.

I actually handed him a piece of cooked carrot the other day. He took it and put it straight in his mouth, and I suddenly panicked and removed it, as thought it might be wiser to start with something mushy, but clearly HE IS EAGER!!

Hello everyone else.

Oh and june - our neighbour chopped down our tree!!! At least yours asked, ours never said a word and then one day just chopped it down. It was just a 7 year old sycamore but still, it looks desperately bare. The woman is a complete looney, but trying to calmly sort out this mess will not be fun. Police are asking me what I would like done, but it's not straightforward as it's a bit scary when they are basket cases!!!