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. did everyone have a good weekend? Is it me or has winter arrived? Brr!

Feeling quite perky today! Managed alot of my to do list as dd2 has slept all morning (making up for not sleeping much for a week!) and dd1 at nursery. Even made my famous banana chocolate loaf yummy!

must go and wake her or I'll never get her fed in time to collect dd1 from nursery. Hope you are all doing ok.

sleep deprivation Marco has gotten himself into a new routine I dont much care for! He goes to sleep about 10pm, wakes at 3am for feed, then 5am, then 7am! His 3am feed is good, but he plays around on the boob at his 5am feed. Have tried not offering breast and just soothing him back to sleep. He goes back to sleep, but then wakes up at 6am! DH and I are sooooo tired! Marco is STILL coughing and grumpy, and so am I!!!!

jabs on Thursday I will have a house full of grumpy babies! DD2 is going for the second dose of her swine flu vaccine, and Marco is going for his 4 month jabs. Not looking forward to it. DH will be taking them to the docs office, but I will be stuck with the aftermath! Hopefully a healthy dose of tylenol will put both to sleep and I will escape unscathed!

Christmas got very little decorating done this weekend. But did manage to get some shopping done! Christmas tree will have to wait til next weekend I guess. I will attempt another trip to the mall with the babies tomorrow. Have decided that December 12th is my 'baking day'. Will have DH take the kids out so I can work in peace. Each year I make at least 7 varieties of biscuits and fill about 16 tins! Its quite the venture!

Hope everyone had a nice weekend!

baby tylenol?

tree decorating am i the only one waiting till a few days before christmas to put it up? feel like a scrooge but is our family tradition.

warning sweet potato cooked in a lamb tangine and weaning are not a good combination! Dd2 loved it but her nappy says NO!

Activity Apple I'd stay away from that weaning board if I were you!! LOL. My doc is a stickler as well... but after having 4 kids and starting them ALL with rice at 4 months, I am going by my own experience. I never had issues with any of them. I dont start fruit and veggies until 6 months, and follow guidelines about allergenic foods (eggs, cows milk, etc). But thats just me.

ali I am guessing Tylenol is our North American brand name for what you ladies call Calpol.

diet very tempted to ditch the diet for the holidays, as I cant stop cheating anyway . But I feel guilty giving it up entirely since I have been doing very well. Still have 22lbs to go, but am hopeful I will have a bikini body in time for summer! LOL

I feel like i've gone back to the newborn weeks with Noah. He's fast asleep on me right now. He was going into his cot around 7.30-8pm and sleeping til the early hours without waking. Well the waking has got earlier and earlier and he is now waking back up within half an hour of been in his cot. and he isn't waking and stirring or crying he's waking up screaming and a high pitch scream at that . The second i pick him up he's quiet and going back to sleep. For the last 3 nights and tonight dh has been on nights so i've been putting him on our bed and he sleeps all night. I'm not even having to cuddle him he's just on dh's side of the bed with me on my side so i'm not convinced he needs me to be able to sleep. Dh thinks he likes our memory foam mattress . I've got no idea what to do with him. I know i can't leave him doing that scream, i have to pick him up.

Sorry i'll reply to peoples posts tomorrow i've forgot what i wanted to put after that long moan.

(you like my christmas name )

queeenfee thats awful about your dh job. my dp job is secondement, after being made redundant, but the secondment ends in march so it's a bit up in the air here too!

work having to start looking for a job as mine doesnt exist anymore! anyone else having to think about going back to work?

activity my hv was suppourtive as she knows Bill is big, has reflux and was feeding every 4o min. what she adivsed and lady at a weaning thing i went to was to give bland root vegetables and baby rice/porridge. im avoiding dairy and fruits apart from pear and apple (apparently banana can make reflux worse!) However Bill is still waking every 2 hours to feed , but i suppose its better than every 40 minutes!

phoenix again Bill likes our bed come midnight. what i've started doing and dont know if it will help you is putting bill on a nap routine in his cot. so he goes down 9.30 til 11/11.30 then againabout 2.30/3 for an hour or so to get him used to his cot. he also likes something in his hand when asleep (weird!) so have started getting him attatched to this soft blankie thing in an attempt to make him more at ease. probably making things worse for myself but hey!
other things we've tried:wedging him in with blankets/noise/no noise/my top/breastpads/mobile/no mobile...you can see my desperation! i know what you mean about screaming, when staying at my dads he said to leave him scream but i cant do that!
love the name by the way!

diet pah! not here, it's the 1st today the tins of sweets get opened

jabs how many sets do they have? Bill has only had 2, is that right? they're rubbish at sorting them out here!

work in the middle of a crisis of arranging child care for when I go back in june. Plus have signed up for MA course in sept so need more child care. Hmmm. All a bit mental.

phoenix since the cold weather arrived dd2 has appeared in our bed more frequently. Had an oil filled radiator in her room but had to lend it to a friend who's got NO heating in her LO's room at the mo. DD2 woke at 6am despite weaning. is feeding ALL DAY today. think she's catching up from being ill. Anyway point is that I think she's been cold. Not sure what HV would say about baby under a 15 tog douvet but our house is FREEZING at the moment.

weaning as you know dd weaned early. I think HV opinions vary alot. My last HV was pro BF and made me feel terrible for giving up with dd1 but new one is dead laid back. She says some need it sooner than others and to be fair we have a disproportionate number of big babies on this thread. You know yourself if baby is super hungry or if you're prepared to wait. It's hard but we have to do what we think is best (whatever that is) even if you feed HV will be supportive or give you a roasting. my decision was based on the fact that my dd was better off with a mummy with some sleep than a mummy without because that would be more detrimental to hear health! I think the pressure isn't as great when ff because you can just up the amount. Not really the same with bf is it?

oops that should be "feel HV" not "Feed!"

Lydia think the jabs are at 8 weeks, 12weeks, 16 weeks, so I am guessing Bill still has one more lot to go?

Working childcare for 2 was going to cost us £25k a year for a childminder (not a nanny or a nursery, a childminder!), then I fell pregnant w/Tristan and was made redundant just before rtng from mat leave so never returned to work after DC2. I can't imagine how much the childcare for 3 would cost so will be a SAHM for a while. BUT if DH has no freelance work early next year I will get out and at least temp if he is at home. It's all quite shaky right now.

Weaning I am sick of hearing that if you go the puree route that a) ur shoveling food down a baby's throat b) they will be eating jars as toddlers and c) could have health issues. A baby (and you) are ready when you are ready. It could be 18 weeks, it could be 28 weeks. Do what is best.

My older 2 are great eaters and were self feeding by 10/11months or so. Both weaned on puree to start and before 6months.

I do wish Tristan showed some interest in food. I held a banana, cauliflower and pitta (not all at once) in front of him and he just looked away. ARRGH.

I want to drop a feed (the 10pm bf) and replace with a bottle but very scared of getting mastitis again. Maybe do when he starts solids and hope he drops it himself slowly?

Phoenix love the xmas name, going to change mine. I bring LO to bed too and he can sleep and sleep. It must be a comfort thing.

Ali wow work and studying (and children?) 2010 is going to be very very busy for you.

Baby massage anyone done a course? I am doing it and LOVE it. Baby sleeps so well after.

done it
bit of a naff reference to xmas

TA DA!

awww, i want a festive name....im going to scuttle off and think!

TA-DA it's the only thing i could think of that rhymed with tattooed lady!

so Bill was an immaculate conception?

of course and Esme!! I have no recollection of the conception of either!!(although that could have been the booze )

Ta da! Although it should be Patchyrain with the weather we are having!

Re sleep...I feel I have a newborn again, was up twice in the night with him which is horrible! Not sure though whether it is for comfort as he only had a quick feed both times and then went back to sleep. Am so tired that the thought of leaving him to cry and lose more sleep while I listen to him makes me want to cry!!!

Maybe they are all having a growth spurt?

Oh my brain is too fried for a christmas name I will put it to the vote - suggestions ladies

weaning I didn't tell my HV until after I had started weaning Alfie, However I only told her because she asked outright and was expecting a roasting but instead she just said well he's a big lad he probably needs it. I think they all differ in their opinions. I know in my peer support work some of the things I am supposed to recommend goes against my personal feelings about things and I find myself saying well the official line is.. but I found... and let people make up their own minds as MsP said they are all different and all mine have been weaned under 6 months. (on the flip side I also know a baby who wasn't ready for weaning till 8 months so it's all about trusting your instincts.)

DH and jobs thanks for all your thoughts, he had his 1st redundancy interview today and to be honest I think he would be better off out of there. He has 3 months notice and would get 3 months on top of that for length of service so would give him 6 months to find something else. He has been pretty unhappy recently anyway and put it this way he works for a big brand tea company and they have all sat there in the office today as the heating wasn't on to save money and they have no tea at the moment to sell! Sounds to me like he should get out while the goings good. On the plus side he has cheered up a bit since this interview and is being less mardy!

sleep I have now got a big problem with Alfie in that he has just learnt to roll over and he keeps doing it in the night and getting all bewildered thus waking himself up as he can't get back - any tips?

I can't believe Alfie is 5 months old tomorrow it really doesn't feel like nearly half a year since we were all on here whinging that we were too hot and too fat etc! I feel that my baby is just growing too quickly.

newborns I agree... Marco is acting the same way. Up at least 3 times at night... not wanting to nap during the day... UGH!! I am so tired! Today I finally got him to nap by laying on the sofa with him attached to the boob! He fell asleep, but as soon as I tried to 'unplug' him, he would wake up. So I resigned myself to a lazy afternoon in front of the tele! When my older DCs got home, it was a mad dash to make dinner!

Santa More appropriate for you ladies who have toddlers/older DCs... have you seen the Santa video you plug your info into and it plays for the children?? Google "Portable North Pole". I would send you the link, but I think its for Canada only and that the one for the UK is different. Give it a go.. its pretty neat. Sent one to DH (they have msgs for older naughty people too) and we both got a good laugh out of it!

Woke up to some snow this morning! Funny since the news had stories that we had the driest November in 70 years! Not one flake of snow fell. This morning, there was a light dusting, but it soon melted as our daytime temps have been close to 10 degrees celcius for the past few weeks. I can get used to this! I have flowers here that are still blooming!! LOL. Compared to the amount of cold and snow we have gotten in the past 2 years, this is wonderful!!

Love all your Christmas names... will have to come up with one as well

QF How about WeQUEENFEEsofOrient - lame link to we three kings?

I need sleep.

Baby snow? How xmas'y is that?

[SMILE]

Loving the festive names all!

Pissing Cat - literally. Think she has finally rebelled at having a baby in the house and is consitently wazzing by the front door. Have been trawling the housekeeping threads for tips. Bless! I love her to bits but could do without this... Off to Pets At Home later for some spray.

QueenFee - hope all's well at your house. Redundancy is shit. It's been happening all around us this year but thankfully not touched us directly as yet. DP's bro' was in a similar boat in that he was made redundant from a job he had come to loathe with a passion. To be fair, the company brought in a specialist team to help them all with CV's, interview skills, training - all sorts of useful stuff. He was out of work for maybe 3 or 4 months and then got a new job and never looked back. He's a different bloke now. I really hope it works out for you all.

babyblue3 - DD has also reverted to night waking, from sleeping through. 3:10 promptly seems to be the favourite time. I can just about plug her in without turning the light on now and she generally spends the rest of the night in our bed. I'm assuming it's her way of having a growth spurt. She can almost sit up by herself now Tis tres knackering though, and I will admit to fumbling around in the dark last night and shoving a dummy in her mouth rather than feeding her.

PND - getting a wee bit concerned because my sis put the fear into me by sayng her's started at 5 months post-natal. Feeling the tiniest bit lost and blue recently. I think it's a combo of the time of year (dark nights and stuff), the state of the house getting me down, the sheer relentlessness of taking care of the baby, the lack of sleep, and I think a bit of loneliness thrown into the mix. Would anyone be concerned? I wondered about St. Johns Wort but not sure of it's safety with BF. I'm certainly brighter at the end of the week because of the prospect of baby group and RhymeTime and then the weekend. Last week after a particularly bad screaming session from DD I did resort to shutting her (in the pram snuggly, warm, safe and totally beside herself with tiredness) in the downstairs bathroom (it being nice and dark) and I had a LARGE gin and tonic to calm down!! She screamed for 5 minutes and then slept for 3 hours solid.

Christmas - first 2 cards arrived tis morning - MIL being one of them - she clearly doesn't like to be outdone with her early-ness. And she's spelt my name wrong. I suppose it's to be expected after 15 years of me & DP being together! Tree is going up in the next couple of days. I tend to be early because A) I love it and B) we have a rash of family birthdays & anniversaries (sp?) in December so it all gets a bit frantic from now on and if I didn't do it early then I'd be doing it on the 25th

work - very stressed about going back. Lord but I hate the very idea The work itself I enjoy but the politics, back stabbing and general bollocks of the place make me insane and utterly miserable. Was thinking of posting on the employment board to see if anyone has successfully learned to stop giving a shit and to just turn up and do their hours and take the money! Leaving isn't really an option for too many reasons. But if I could just alter my frame of mind I think it could work. I don't know how though.

Shit - gotta submit - battery going......

Love the name Jetli! Re MIL spelling your name wrong, how charming, NOT!

I have had the day from hell. Small stuff includes baby poo'ing through clothes right as I was setting off on school run. Quick bath and change and somehow I got DS1 to school on time. Then my morning gets better by getting to the post office when it opens only to be served 40min later! But the piece de resistance was a 20min drive taking 2 hours!! Queue 2 screaming children and me getting nowhere fast. I had a mini breakdown and cried and did what all women do - called the other half at work to explode.

I have never been so close to having a drink during the day as I did today. I reached for some chocolates instead.......I am looking forward to a medicinal glass of something tonight.

PND I have heard it does creep up a good few months after birth. Hormones are still loopy and the months of lack of sleep probably starts to really take its toll. I did cry the other day because DS1 broke one of the baby's toys. I called DH and started sobbing.

Think it is just a crap week. This torrential rain isn't helping.

Hope everyone else is doing better.

Loving all the christmas names. Re feeling blue, I feel a bit like that too, and like you said Jetli I am more cheerful when i am out doing things and also at the weekend when things are not soooo manic. I do find 3 dc hard, its a massive juggling act and I seem to be doing everything at breakneck speed to get it done. This morning I shook a bottle of breast milk to mix with Max's baby porrige only to find that I had already taken the lid off and the whole f**king lot went all over the kitchen! It would have been funny if it hadn't been expressed and taken my time last night!! On the plus the 2 big dc thought it was the funniest thing they had ever seen and I don't think i will ever forget the laughter!

I do think that the lack of sleep it taking its toll though like MincePaella says as they all seem to be waking in the night again and now they are bigger everyone expects your life to have gone back to normal and the support and kind words aren't there anymore!! DH solution: stop breastfeeding and give him a bottle.....helpful not!!

Sorry for the winge! Going to drink wine now!!

Yes the lack of sleep makes us do crazy things I had a shower the other morning then packed the dishwasher then took the towel off my hair to find I had forgotten to wash my hair Ahhhhh! I think the lack of sleep and dark days also makes us feel miserable and lethargic. I go out to some sort of group every day or I would go mad without proper adult conversation.

My internet connection has been up and down tonight ( talktalk) so I have been a good mummy and baked some cornflake muffins for the school fair tomorrow