July 2009: Grinning, wolfing, rolling and puking! :)

[alibobble]

Hi thought I'd take the bull by the horns and start a new thread. Hope the weaning was covert enough! Fire away!

Hi I was just wondering if Haribosmummy comes on here as I am trying to get in touch with her?

No sorry Nappyaddict.

Happy New Years all.

Hope everyone had a good time. I struggled to stay up and passed out by 12:30.

Sleep is pretty rubbish right now and after we go to a wedding next week I am starting the solids. I physically can not get anymore BF in as LO refuses. I am dead proud that we have reached 6months (yippee) and have yet to set a stop date. I'll get on with solids first and take it from there. I mainly want him to SLEEP.

Have a lovely evening.

Evening all - Happy New Year

We went out for tea - DD had a suck of a lamb chop, then we went home for the Hootenanny and finally crawled off to bed about 1am New Years Day. I think we'd have both gone to bed by 9pm but would have felt like party poopers

Oops - best dash - baby crying

activity when I started weaning dd2 (at 3 1/2mths ) I just offered bf as well as solids. Still do that but sometimes worry that she's not drinking enough so try and offer boob before feed rather than after as I do now. Have just started to offer cooled boiled water with lunch/tea for the same reason tho usually from the nuk bottle that she refused to feed milk from! Is quite a success as she can hold it herself and loves it chilled as she can sit and chew the teat like a teether if she doesn't fancy drinking it! Although did early weaning with mush am also doing a bit of blw too. On christmas day dd stole a roast parsnip off my plate and sucked all the middle out of it and also a rice cracker will keep her amused for the rest of a meal while i get chance to eat after she's finished her food.

wow is napppyaddict still around. She was on when dd1 was a baby!

newyear didn't end up at PIL () as FIL ended up in hospital () with possible labrynthitis/inner ear problems tho they suspected him of having had a heart attack cos of his funny turn but that is all ok fortunately. Celebrated with a bottle of cheap bubbly with neighbours across the road at 5.30 with the girls before they went out (the neighbours no the girls!) and went to bed at 10 as usual! Felt better for it as we're all still ill here (STILL!).

Must go, got lamb soup on to cook. trying to use up stuff out of the freezer and this soup is delicious. Just use left over cooked lamb instead of fresh. Especially easy if you use those bags of ready cubed root veg recipe here

Offering water - I've been meaning to ask about this. I keep forgetting to do Noah some cooled bolied water before his food. By the time i remember about it, it won't cool in time for him to drink. So i had a quick look online and a lot of people seem to give tap water from 6mth. So i think i'm going to try him with some Brita filtered water.

I've been reading about sterilising too. Some say they stop sterilising at 6mth too. But i'm still going to carry on doing his bottles for a while longer. I have never sterilised a dish or spoon for him and i'm not particularly good at sterilising his dummies either.

NYE Went over to friends' house. They made a lovely crab and shrimp curry as an appetizer. We then ordered Chinese. I drank an entire bottle of white wine myself over the course of the evening. Got up to use the loo and head was spinning away!! Yup... I am a cheap date!!! Marco was given a BF before the wine, and bottles thereafter!! Was nice!! We spent the evening playing Guitar Hero and bowling on Wii. We did not get home til 4am! Then I was still wired, so I played some games on my iTouch. Older DCs stayed over, and the babies were up at about 9am. No lay-in for us, so I was shattered for the rest of the day! All in all... wonderful time had by all!

sterilizing We usually sterilize bottles until six months. I dont bother with my spoons and bowls though, and Marco doesn't take a pacifier. We arent using many bottles this time round, so I may continue to sterilize them... who knows!

weaning/water I have never given my babies water. My doc says they get enough from the BF or formula, that they dont need it (unless it is really hot out). Marco eats his meals with us, then I usualy wait about half hour, then I BF him. In between meals, he BF on demand, and same with at night (though I may start intervening there!). We have tried to let him cry it out at night, since he seems to wake every 2 hours for the past week. I can't take it much longer! I dont mind the one feed at night, but every hour! He is just using me as a paci (but refuses to take one!).

laundry I was a little lax between Christmas and New Years, so I had a mountain to tackle today! When I layed it out in piles on the floor, I figured 17 loads!!! Can you imagine??? It would have taken me a couple of days at least with the washer and dryer running constantly! I ended up taking the lot to the laundromat, spending 2 hours and almost $40, but got it all done!!! Unbelievable! (and I still had a couple of loads going at home too). I guess 6 people including 2 babies make a lot of mess!!!

I don't give dd water either - she doesn't like it. I might start offering diluted juice in a cup though because she refuses to take liquids other than via my breasts (!) and it would give dh more options if I go out in the evening for a couple of hours.

weaning feel like a complete novice as can't remember what I did with ds (5 years ago). Started with baby rice but she didn't like it, so went straight to banana cos I just wanted her to eat something and didn't want to be fiddling about with veg for a few weeks - esp as she has started refusing bf in the day. So she is now on day 4 of weaning. First day she had a third of a banana, second day almost a whole banana, third day she had apple (didn't like it - not blended enough maybe) and banana plus later on a jar of mango and banana (loved it) and today almost a jar of pear. Will offer some banana porridge tonight. Will try veg this week. Not sure when to offer meat/fish as lots of the jars say from 6 months but I thought it was later. Will talk to h/v this week.

baby 17 loads !

ladylush according to little chart hv gave me can have well pureed meat from 6mth. it's egg that i leave till later for allergy reasons. that said dd2 has been eating food with meat since 4 1/2 mths to no ill effect. just makes for extra smelly poo! have also found that adding grated cheese (so it melts) means dd2 will eat pretty much any veg! that sais some people say u should leave cheese till 6mths too. dd still only 5 1/2 mths

sterilizing i sterilized dd1's bottles till she gave them up at 12mths but a never sterilized her beakers. (she would have water but not milk from a beaker for ages!)

end of hols anyone else missing dh/dp? mine's gotta work late this week to make up for having 2 wks off over christmas. boohiss. I miss eating meals with him esp tea. not as much fun as eating together as a family.

happy new year everyone!

sterilising i very rarely sterilise but up unitl now Bill hasnt needed bottles, never do dummies either! But then i read on here somewhere that it is just as good to wash them well with hot soapy water and a bottle brush as it is sterilising because the bottles become un-sterile (is that a word??) when you open the lid of the steriliser.

ladylush i was told that you can give meat from 4 months (even tho i know weaning is from 6!)as long as it is cooked well and as long as you're very careful with chicken.

baby 17 loads bloody hell, i get flustered when i have more than 2 piling up!

breastfeeding-bottle am now almost completely switched to bottle feeding now, very sad about it but it seems the right thing to do for him PLUS despite everyone saying he'll start sleeping when on solids but he didnt, in the last few days when ive stopped night breast feeds, he has gone from feeding every 2 hours or so to only one wake up for a bottle last night at 12.30!! cant believe it! my body is so not used to more that 2 hours kip now. im still having to express milk at end of day as getting a bit engorged, i only went and fell asleep doing it in bed last night and spilt the whole lot over my duvet!!

lydia dd1 only slept thro when i witched and dd2 only when i weaned.

wingey child gonna kill dd1 if i hear another paddy about a)the light not being on in the bathroom even though hall light on/wanting another cup than the one she has/not wanting the food i've cooked/not wanting to play with whatever we've got out etc etc etc....

that should have been a/b/c etc but there we r. dd2 sqiggling on my knee. gotta go

Lydia falling asleep pumping - has happened to me as well . I am looking forward to a time when Marco only gets up once for a feed. I dont want to jeopardize my milk supply, or I would switch to formula just for the night too. Am not ready to give up BF purely for selfish reasons as I like the cuddle time In fact I got myself a lush BF cape online as my Christmas gift to me! here Marmont pattern My old one was not that great for BF in very public places. This one was wonderful.... I BF in the middle of a restaurant with no worries.

Routine such a relief at laundry/housework being all done yesterday. Was able to sit down with a book and actually READ today! Not to mention both DCs are asleep AT THE SAME TIME!!! So nice to have the house back in order and the routine back as well. Love my older DCs to bits, but I needed them to go back to school as their constant bickering was driving me batty!

DH back to work today as well, even though he only had 3 days off. Am not happy with his work at the moment. New director came in and is starting to mess with everyones schedules (DH drives a city bus). He usually works a mid-day crew (11:30am to 8pm). Now, in order to save money, they have taken most mid day work away. Since the work is given out according to seniority, he will probably not get the good shifts as he only has 10 years on compared to over 20 that most have. This means that come Feb, he will be working some form of night shift for the forseeable future! Sigh... It will be nice to have help during the day, but it will mean going to bed alone every night. Not to mention, I look forward to having a nice coffee together when DCs are in bed and we have some alone time.

17 loads and i was panicing because I had 8. I still can't work out why 1 small person has made sooo much extra washing!

baby sorry about DHs shifts changing. We are still in the long and drawn out redundancy consultancy. Thast partly why we thought we would have another baby now as we time it right he might be able to be off for a couple of months gardening leave between jobs which will help with preg/ newborn. However as my mother would say the best made plans of mice and men ging aft ta gly. (in other words never happen!)

sterilising I never sterilise the dishwasher gets things sterilised the only difference is that it doesn't stay sterine which for the odd bottle etc I use isn't really an issue. I also think it helps them build up a bit of immunity.

weaning Alfie is eatingmost things we eat now but pureed I need to give him some finger foods which I am sure he will be fine with as he is chewing lumps now, however I can't think for the life of me what to start with suggestions please! I presume a is out of the question (don't worry I just wanted an excuse to use that emoticon!)

I ask myself that very question everyday. I never did this much washing before Noah was born.

I would die if i had 17 loads . I don't wash everyday so sometimes have 3 or 4 loads when i eventually do it

Queenfee - Try him with carrot sticks, brocolli and cauli florets cooked to soften them a bit. I gave Noah some carrots the other day but he just bit bits off and pushed them out of his mouth but he had fun

17 loads is pretty hefty - you must have a LOT of clothes because I don't think we even own 17 loads of washing

ladylush was going to say earlier that I think my cupboards would be empty if I had 17 loads of washing. that said I have a 7kg drum on my washing machine and if you overload fill it you can empty one of the three compartments of the washing basket. (has 3 so you can sort colours etc) so maybe 17 loads wouldn't be 17 for me.

snow it's snowed here again but that pathetic type that freezes to ice. grr. DD1 back at nursery tomorrow. Might skate there I think. Hopefully the weather will improve, am supposed to be going tubing at chillfactore on wed. Don't want to ski there!

teeth am amazed that dd2 hasn't got any yet. (though grateful since BF!) as I remember distinctly that dd1 had 6 teeth at 6mths and at 5 1/2mths we have yet to see sign of one.

sitting anyone's LO sitting yet? DD1 was sitting unaided at this point but dd2 still floppy when not being supported. Means her high chair not worth it yet. Still feeding in her "bouncy chair."

btw anyone feel that baby stuff is overtaking their house? Maybe it's cos we were broke and didn't have anything for dd1 but this time my house seems ridiculously taken over. maybe it's all the stuff for dd1 as well.

ali kids have taken over my house lol. I walked into the front room this afternoon and I couldn't see any carpet (bearing in mind this is 2 rooms knocked through Alfie was sitting surrounded by toys my DS1 had a trsinset everywhere and DD had dolls and blankets and a camp set up! I officially give up!
Alfie figured out sitting unaided all of a sudden last week and now hardly ever falls. He has been sitting up breifly on and off for ages though but it was wierd it just suddenly 'clicked' one day.
teeth my other 2 had their 1st teeth at 7 months but Alfies look like they may be here sooner as he has the little white spots under the gums now.

ali - dd not sitting unaided yet. Kind of sits supported for a while (feed her in her playnest as can get her more upright that way) then gradually slumps

dd did well last night. We've been co-sleeping since she came home from hospital at 5 weeks of age (cos she refused to sleep anywhere except next to me). Last night she went to sleep at 9pm, woke for a feed at 3am (fed her in her room and put her back in her cot), then woke again briefly at 5am but was asleep by the time I went in to her, then up at 6.30. It was weird having the bed to ourselves again - but nice I was a bit neurotic and kept checking the baby monitor but hopefully that will ease with time. ds never had a routine really and never slept through til he was 3 years old

laundry Having not done any between Christmas and New Years is why I had so much piled up. Not to mention my DCs got a lot of clothing for Christmas that needed to be washed first... PLUS I washed all the duvets and towels and linens. I guess I got carried away with my New Years' cleaning and my washer is just a regular size. Its 14 years old... they didnt have the nice large ones back then. Hmm... was telling DH if this keeps up, may have to by an entire laundromat!! LOL

sitting Marco sits up assisted, and can hold it on his own for a little while. We just packed away his bouncy seat (and washed it ) because he wont sit in it anymore. He keeps trying to sit up in it and then cries when he cant. I feed him in his booster seat. We have a high chair from DD2, but I dont think I am going to use it. Takes too much space in the kitchen, and the booster seems to work fine.

baby gear I know exactly how everyone feels! There is not one room in my house that does not have some baby related item in it! Even in mine and DHs ensuite, we have a basket of toys and baby soap in our shower stall! Our family room is jam packed with toys and baby contraptions of all kinds. Once our basement is finished (in a few years) hopefully we will have a second family room with no toys in it.

weaning I cant believe how far along you ladies are with your LOs. I tried Marco on peas today, and the faces he made said it all!! LOL. I have been giving him jars until I see what he likes. Then I will spend a weekend in the kitchen cooking and freezing a bunch of different foods. I cant even imagine giving him finger foods yet! Then again, I think Marco is one of the youngest members of this thread.

teeth none here yet. Thank goodness! I am truly afraid of what he will do to me when they come through! LOL

sleep Marco didnt do too badly last night. He was in bed at 10, up at 3:30, 5:30 and 8:30. funny how everything is relative. Just looked back on what I wrote and wondered how that sleep pattern could be considered NOT BAD by any definition!!! LOL... I NEED SLEEP!!!!!!!

snnnnnnnnooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwww the neighbour measured the snow on the wall. 5 1/2 inches! off to make a snowman :P good job we live 2 mins from train station for dh getting to work. no nursery today.

It's been snowing (and settling) here (Barnsley) non stop for 2hrs. I was going to attempt to take ds1 to pre school but we have to go in the car cos it's 10min drive away and we live on a hill and have been watching cars struggle to get up so we're not bothering. Not worth the risk. I'm more scared of getting him there then not been able to pick him back up.

Dh went to work around 5am when it was clear but probably won't be getting back home if this carries on til 6pm

Have told ds1 we'll make a snowman. Brrrrrrr

ali and lydia thanks for advice on weaning

ali and phoenix enjoy the snow but hope your oh can get home.

babyblue I think the weaning is going ok because I haven't offered veg yet - that might bite me in the bum but I'll have to deal with it. Ds was pretty bad with veg as a baby but eats a fair bit now. My mum said I ate all veg as a baby but then refused throughout my childhood (only eating them raw)- I do eat them now though. I think my mum overcooked them - I like them quite firm.
dd seemed to enjoy her breakfast more this morning (banana porridge) because it was warm.

laylush i always used to steal the carrots off the chopping board cos i prefered them raw!

snow dd2 fits in the crazy backpack carrier we had for dd1 so was well useful for sledging. Seriously though is hard work! leaving dd1 with a neighbour while i get bread and milk later as snow is above her wellies plus i have to get to tesco (20 min walk there) cos we need lactofree milk and can't get it from the paper shop.