May09 - Christmas is on it's way and Grumpycaaa is comin' to town!!

[essenceofSES]

Hope that works!

Cocktail anyone?!

Morning all!

belgina - yep, persevere with the food. Hard, but they do get it in the end. DD1 didn't really get it until she was about 10 months old. Don't think she's stopped eating since. Sorry to hear about the dreadful sleep. Teeth, crawling, usual milestone stuff?

runningdonkey - love the name! And yay to the good night!

OK night after all. The enormous poo before bed obviously wasn't enough for A - she woke at 2, had a great big feed, fidgeted for a while, pooed and went staight back to sleep. But of course I had to wake her t change her nappy, such a shame. She did eventually go back to sleep though and slept until 6:45, a lie in!

Miserable weather here, soft play calls today.

Oh, and don't talk to me about laundry piles. Can't move in the bathroom for the pile of dirty washing and the airers full of wet washing.

Grumpy I cry at the Green Balloon Club often -cause those stage school children are so irratating .
Glad your home for Christmas. Make sure you stock up on French fancies in the meantime to eat in the evenings-better tahn museli.

Momi H is stunning. Her eyes sparkle!! at your piano. I want one.

Jinglebel You must be knackered after tackling wood and washing pile. Much respect to you.

Llareg Prayers said for your friend and her baby boys. Twin PG are that bit more complex. Hospital is the best place for her and her LOs. Has she got other DCs??

Pula How did the sleep training go?? I hope you had a settled night.

I decided on TOUGH LOVE 101 last night. I feed R at 6.30-7 he woke after an hour so we went in calmed him came straight out. Many many times before he got the point. He then slept but woke at 10.30pm I was in bed so I decided not even to get up to him. I shushed him so he knew I was there but didn't touch him or pat or anything and he eventually fell back asleep. He woke a few more times over night but went back to sleep on his own until I feed him at 5.20am as he had a hungry cry by then. He drank like a starved boy but then slept until 8.30. I'm going to continue with this strategy and try and make him last until 6am.

Well I've been away to toddler group and am back now. I started this post at 7.30 so will x post lots I'm sure.

Afternoon all.

Well a pretty good night here really. S woke at midnight, so i gave him a feed (the ultimate aim will be to dreamfeed him before we go to bed). We then both fell asleep until i woke at 2.45 and returned him to his cot. He slept until 5.30, I fed him again, fell asleep and returned him at 6am and he slept til 7. He went back in his cot without a dummy although i must confess to using one when in his pushchair today as he cries and cries whilst we get organised. But he won't be having one in his cot again.

Momino- snowman suit is from Sainsburys- £8 (bargain!) and it is nice and warm so could be used as a snowsuit too i'm sure. They also do reindeers and santas.

Hello everyone.

Thank you so much for the good wishes. I've passed them on and she is very touched. I've put the christmas decorations up partly to keep DS1 happy but also to stop me ringing her every five minutes for news. She will be in until the babies deliver now.

Pula & Febes well done with the sleep training.

Belgina I'm probably not the right person to give you a BLW pep talk as H eats next to nothing. He picks food up and tastes it but mostly can't be bothered with persevering trying to eat it. I generally sit him down 3x a day with me but end up throwing most of the food away. I confess if it's inconvenient or he's asleep when I'm hungry I sometimes don't bother . I asked my HV if she thought H would ever get it and she told me that most babies step it up a gear when they develop their pincer grip at around 9m, which fits in with what Flippin said about her DD1.

I think H is one of those babies that are just not bothered about food. Most of my NCT friends' babies just love it, open their mouths wide for puree and scream with impatience when they see a bottle. H is not like that at all, in fact sometimes it seems as if he thinks even bf is a chore . I do try not to get stressed about it because he's generally a very active, alert and happy baby, but there are days like today, when he's a bit off colour, lost his appetite and grumped about at the boob, when it does get to me a bit. It's not helped by the fact that if I offer him a boob when I think he may want it but he doesn't, he either screams or gives me a 'playful' nip with his brand new teeth. Ouch.

Sorry that developed into a me, me, me post. Can you tell I'm having a grumpy day today?!

llare so your friend will be hoping for a Christmas on the ante-natal ward. It's rotten being stuck in hospital but I'm sure she will get some comfort from the fact it's the best place for she and her babies to be.

belgina- try not to worry. A friend of mine has a 10mo who won't eat purees and will only eat a bit of finger food but still prefers BM. He is happy, healthy and very active (crawling and pulling up on furniture at 7mo, almost walking now). S isn't too good with finger food but is getting better now i try him with more (he sucked on some satsuma segments today). But he loves being spoonfed and when i was putting the shopping away the other day he had a screaming fit when he saw his puree pouches being put in the cupboard . Like spangle I get a bit fed up when I offer him milk and he's not bothered, or just makes a mess on my top as he pulls off when i have my letdown. For example today he had milk at 5.30am, I offered him more at 7 when he woke (he wasn't bothered), he had some baby cereal at 8, then at 11 i offered him milk and he still wasn't bothered. Wolfed down his lunch at 12 though.

pula H does that with the letdown! It's like he gets impatient and pulls off just as it arrives. H has also started refusing a 7am feed - eg this morning, he fed at 3.15am, refused a feed at 7, and got about half a pot of puree down him (in both senses) and a couple of chews of toast at 8. He does generally have a short feed to get him off for his nap at 9.30am-ish but won't have anything else until lunchtime.

febes- i meant to say well done last night. You are doing a great job. My HV said the usual stuff, try not to pick up and settle them in the cot, don't do anything that's worth them waking up for (chat, milk etc). She also suggested CC. So if you could settle R with a shush from afar, and popping in to see he again and again, that is great . Operation dummy is still going well. It did take 20 mins of crying (him not me) this afternoon before he settled for his nap, but it was probably because he was tired as he only slept for 5 mins on the way to playgroup and 15 mins on the way back. Then he cried after 30 mins (not unusual for him) but it took one pickup and a back rub/shush to get him off to sleep again . Hopefully he is getting the message too.

Afternoon all.

Am a bit calmer now.

DS1 being much better today, although we very nearly had a repeat poo accident. He realised and it was dealt with before it got too messy

Am a bit calmer about the nursery situation too as am now wavering towards the "new" nursery for many reasons that I won't bore you all with. I am STILL waiting for current nursery to phone me back. I will chase them tomorrow.

llare hope your pg friend is ok. Thinking of her.

belgina keep going! You know its playing with the food (or bibs) that they do at this stage and many babies don't actually eat much until they are 9/10 months. All C needs is your lovely milk.

febes and pula well done on the sleep training. It really sounds like its working. I keep telling R he has (now) 3 weeks to sort himself out but I'm not sure he is taking it in.

Thanks for the pep talk ladies . C doesn't seem hungry, doesn't bf more often or anything and she's happy enough, but I had visions of her being on 3 solid meals by the time I go back to work as I couldn't be bothered with C doesn't take bottles very well and if she takes solids I'll be a bit less worried, IYKWIM.

C does the letdown thing sometimes too. Very annoying! Really need to get her to settle back to sleep at night without a feed again. She used to be able to do it 2 months ago or so, so can't see why she shouldn't be able to do so now

Well, she's sitting on my lap now, smiling at me while ominous rubles are coming from her nether regions. I think it's time to have a look what suprises she's got for me...

ominous rumbles. Dont know what rubles would be coming from a baby's bum, lol.

belgina its pooing time!! R has just done one too. I could smell it across the room. Delightful.

This sleep training is going a bit too well -he's been asleep 2 and a half hours . need to go and wake him up soon as he'll need a feed and then we need to get DD from afterschool club.

spangle, as I've said, H isn't very keen on eating. it's also been a mess as she squirms in her chair and screams, pushes the spoon away. the best i can do is give her a piece of cheeseon toast to gnaw on but I wouldn't call it a meal. she seems to prefer BF but does the same as your H and Pula's S and pulls off when the milk arrives. sigh.

also, when she's in the mood for spoon feeding (i have to be cautious at first), she loves fromage frais or fruit puree but hasn't got to the point of screaming when I take it away.

ladyH, glad your day is better. I love the smell of poo in the afternoon.

febes/pula, great jobs on the sleep training. I've done similar to what Febes is doing and Harper settles much better now though still takes some work.

jinglebelg, have done my ironing .

also made two turkey pies and 2 mini ones for dd1&2 from thanksgiving leftovers.

the house is a mess though. sigh.

out to walk the dog in the dark before nursery pickup.

Hello!

My house is a mess too but for lovely reasons! 5 babies, 2 toddlers and 5 mums but we had a lovely time

Febes/Pula - big admiration for you and the sleep training. I'm going to wait and see what O does in the next few days as he gets over his cold and can breathe more easily.

LadyH - glad you're having a better day. Yesterday sounded v trying.

Uoh! O head butting something, must go rescue!

Ses Well done for surviving all the babies and toddlers- that many would freak me out!!!

Pula R also napped for 2 hours which is unheard of for him. So maybe sleep induces sleep.

Momi Your house maybe messy but you have made pies MMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmm.

Weaning Well I have the opposite problem to you guys. R LOVES his food. He hardly ever turns away a BF even if 30mins after a solid meal. Today he ate porridge with yogurt for brekkie, cottage pie for lunch and leek and potato soup with bread for dinner. I think he had 4 BFs as well.

Evening.

Boys in bed. DH out on the first of many Xmas dos and I have a glass of wine and am looking forward to a bit of Gavin and Stacy!

ses well done on your afternoon. They are hard work but so worth it!

Who made pies? They sound lovely!

I meant to say to jael too earlier that good on you for making your own reindeer costume. At least your DD will look like she has a mummy who is prepared to put some thought and effort in! And I say that as one who would probably take the easy way and buy one but would rather try to be creative and make one! I was to see all the nativity costumes in Asda the other day. When did that happen? Corporate Nativity.

dandy I love your DD's name (as seen on FB). A friend of mine ooop north has just had a baby girl and named her the same. Its a lovely lovely name.

Still nothing from The Nursery yet either.

Right, back to writing Xmas cards..

Oh! Meant to say as well that the chimney sweep never showed yesterday! They phoned and said they'd got held up on another job and are coming Monday instead. Price estimate £45-£50.

All the babies and toddlers was great fun
(Just about cleared up now!

LadyH - writing Christmas cards... yes... I must do that at some point!

evening. just watching Gavin and stacey (out of the corner of my eye). DH away so have eaten much earlier and am planning a hot bath with book. ahhhh. wishI had a glass of wine but can't be bothered to open a new bottle. 'twill be chamomile for me.

Ses, you're brave for having so many to your house but sounds like fun! at the chimney sweep for not showing and £45-50 sounds like a lot. we really need ours done, it's been 2 years and we have open fires all the time.

LadyH, grrr at the nursery. they really take the psssss. oh, and it was moi who made the pies! turkey pies that went straight into the freezer. I really made the £38 turkey worth it's money!

off to soak.

momi Gavin and Stacey was fab tonight. Enjoy your soak.

Am only on to the Ms in our address book on the Xmas Card mission. Thats it for now. Am bored of them now and ever so slightly tipsy after 2 glasses of wine.....

LadyH,
what happened at the end??? I missed the last minute.

christmas cards Went swimming with C today and a mum was saying she'd sent them all already I'm lucky enough to have half of our family living in a country where cards are supposed to arrive around the holidays, so it's still acceptable for cards to arrive early jan because in a way the New Year is more of a big deal than xmas. Our proper presents etc... are given on New Year's day. xmas presents are just token ones. Oh and we also tend to celebrate Xmas eve rather than xmas day. Anyway, that's totally off topic now, but I thought I'd share that anyway

ses Sounds like you had a lovely day with all the mums and babies and toddlers together. And pies of course too, yum

febes I do believe firmly in the sleep induces sleep thing. I always find that los fall asleep more easily when they've had their nap quota in the day. And they wake less in the night too. Generally speaking of course, it's not always the case.

momi Hurray for the ironing, lol.

weaning C found some food she liked today: chocolate cake! I think that's all she's eaten today though.