October 09 - Solids and Sitting, 'My Jeans Are Almost Fitting!'

[twinklegreen]

Brand spanking new thread everyone

Yep, still 2 ish hourly feeds here. Always have done!!

Dh is at football. I'm going to watch One Born Every Minute

I watched the neo natal one born every minute and cried my eyes out.I felt really lucky to be a mum of 4 healthy children.

I decided that I am going to be a better mum !!! I work hard at this but I always feel that I haven't given enough

The storm is easing.

The children break up at lunch time.Let the holiday begin.Not quite sure what we are going to do as it is so cold.Any ideas ? ages 10,8 43/4 and the Connor bear.

Soup in the aga, back to wintery food.

DS1 is sitting next to me drawing, Connor is asleep.I should be sweeping the floor.How srtange that I am on MN !!!

[hands around a hot bowl of lentil soup]

hi all

was out last night at my BF - she has just had a baby so i cooked dinner for them. Ruby looks like a giant next to him (she is only 15 lbs as well!)

Fidelma - boo to the awful weather. When it is bad i do cooking with DS or crafty stuff. I have big rolls of paper and let DS go mad with crayons or if i am feeling super nice paint!

PM and BC - Rubes still feeds every 3 hours especially at night . Weaning is going better this week. She has porride and toast for breakfast and then veggie or fruit puree for lunch and tea. I offer her loads of finger foods and she had melon and kiwi today which she enjoyed

she also take a beaker of water

her nappies are even worse now! We have a paed appt for the middle of May as well ...

scout - great news about your trip. I bet your mum was so thrilled!

x

weaning nappies - eugh

Just had to cut Rubes our of her vest and rinse her under the tap ... all that fruit is obviously having an effect

Hi all!

Sorry to hear of DC illness PM Hope there's a speedy recovery

fidelma horrible all this chilliness no? Feels like I've been cold forever Hope the sun comes out soon.

weaning Hmm not sure I'm doing a very good job of this! Annalise takes so long to get down for a nap that I'm having trouble fitting in all her milk feeds (every 3hrs but lasts an hour!) and solids. Was keenly spoonfeeding herself last week but nothing doing this week, just plays around with it and wipes it off the spoon with her sleeve. Weight gain was good last week (relatively!) so she's a whopping 12lb 10oz, heh, at 6 months. I get so fearful of her choking as she did on some cucumber that I daren't give her toast - I make it, cut it up into fingers, pop butter and avocado / cream cheese on, break out into a cold sweat and eat it myself! Don't laugh: how wide are the fingers and how dry is the toast? Too warm and buttery and it falls apart?!? And how long before end of milk feed and start of solid? Battling to get A dressed milk and solid feed before morning nap .

pushchair FINALLY bought a pushchair (2nd hand bugaboo bee) and I push it about the house for fun but still haven't taken A out in it, tried it for 1 min and she thought it was and

This time next week I'll be working back on my PhD argh, I hope the thrice nightly wakings ease off before then!

Hi everyone!

Great news scout on flying to see your mum. I'm sure Seb will come around to the weaning. Have you tried just letting him play with some finger food instead?

ruby did you go straight to three meals a day? I'm still only doing lunch for William but thinking I need to give him tea too as he seems really hungry.

calypso oo I like those pushchairs!

fidelma lentil soup sounds yum. roll on the summer I say.

We stopped PUPD after three nights and an argument at 4am... Did patting instead. Much better. William is now settling much faster and he even fell asleep all by himself for a nap today! This is after months of napping on me! I put him down awake after trying and failing to rock him to sleep - he gurgled for a bit and went silent... Couldn't believe it However, failed to settle for bedtime though so DH doing it.

Well HV came and Nathaniel is now 13lbs 9ozs put on about 10.5ozs in 2 weeks so doing well at moment.I think its great weight gain but she`s still wants him to put on a lot more in a week and have to go back in a month if still on 2nd centile,will refer him to paedatrician.
I am supposed to put butter with anything savoury and custard with fruit to get more calories in him . Really not sure about that.
Will try fish with him and more finger food.She suggested to put a wholelot of different foods on tray and let him get stuck into it and should get something in his mouth. Basically meaning BLW.He had some yoghurt today and some pear pieces.

Calypso I give just bread not toast as then its soft and easier to chew.Will try some avocado i really like avocado.Do you mash it up or give it cut in pieces?
Good weight gain for Annalise .Nathaniel hates the pushair when he`s overtired and just wants to be held,otherwise he enjoys looking around in it.

rubby hope her poo will get better and paed will find whatever is causing it.

Had nightmare night with N.Had a lovely night out but came back by 10.30pm then he woke up so made mistake of feeding him in living room where he then completely woke up and wouldnt go back to sleep till after midnight.Sure he feed somtime between then and 5.30am at which point he was wide awake. Gave him to DP at 6.30 and he gave him back for a feed after 7am.Then alarm didnt go off so woke just before 8.45am so had 5 mins to get kids ready and off to school.Never again will I take him out of bedroom for feed once he`s down for night again.

Off to buy some milk quickly and maybe some chocolate.Did want to go swimming but can`t be bothered now.
x

Hi all

Just a quicky. calypso I used to do brown toast and make it quite soggy, so it's suckable.

prams F is much happier in his now. He goes to sleep well in it, usually half reclined, not flat . This is because he usually starts of in that position awake then nods off and I keep it like that. And when he's awake he likes to look around Will be nicer when it's warmeer and he's not under a million blankets and raincovers.

bella good news about the weight. If it were me I'd go with the butter/custard business. I was told once that if you're trying to put weight on, then donuts are good as they contain fat and sugar

We had a busy afternoon today. Cuppa at a friends after lunch, then school run and the school Easter Bake bloody --nightmare-, which is sooooo busy. Imagine every child from school, plus parents, siblings and buggies crammed in the hall buying cakes and doing crafts. After that was straight to swimming lessons, then a friends for tea. BUT as we came out of the pool I noticed I'd left my lights on so had a flat battery Luckily dh was nearby so came and gave us a jump start

nightmare

Just marking my place again. Rotten cold getting me down. Matthew learnt to blow raspberries which is so cute.

Waves and sniffs.

HC
x

Still blowing a gale !!!

Bella I am very very shocked at your HV guide to putting on weight. That is not the answer.What qualification does she have in nutrition? (very mad cyber friend goes mad in Scotland) Some nutritionists don't even recommend dairy products until they are 1.Off to eat some bon bons to calm me down.

HC I hope that you aren't too porly it is so hard looking after children when you are not well.[passes the hot soup and hot water bottle]

The holiday has started today.Oh help !!!If you feed 6 people for a week and they all get their 5 a day that is 245 portions of fruit and veg

Connor still feeds during the night I have given up looking at the clock so no idea what when or why !!

For breakfast he sucked on a lightly toasted hot cross bun and butter.1inch by 1 inch.

Lunch lentil soup

Tea lemon sole carrot and parsnip.

I am not great with the blw as he often chokes and it scares me s!"less

princesmel busy day for you.We had easter cake sale too and was a nightmare to get close to the tables and into hall with a buggy.

fidelma I did say to her I wanted to wait with dairy products as there are allergies and eczema in my family.She just ignored that and said that about butter and custard,would try the soya ones instead but wonder whether that has as many calories,probably not.
Wow Connor eats so much different things that`s great.Nathaniel wakes up during night too never remeber in morning how often or when.

Off to bed now.xx

Went to Mini Makers (creative messy play for the under 18 months set) today and we both got covered in paint. Seb also colored his first picture -- an Easter egg. Okay colored his first picture probably isn't the right phrase as he only did some colored lines across the egg, but still, it's a coloring picture and the first one he's done so I'm going to treasure it. [sappy Mom emoticon]

While there we popped next door to the Family Support Clinic to get him weighed and to ask the HV about weaning and nights (if I got 3 hours of sleep total last night I was lucky). I had never been to that weigh clinic before and found the HV there very rude and unhelpful. She kept saying "you need to do xyz" as I'm saying "I've been trying xyz and abc and I need help." The other phrase was "read your book." TBH, I found the book lame and can't find it.... lol She did say that babies under 6 months may have trouble with gluten, which is why he might not be liking the porridge -- but I checked and his porridge is gluten free. So when I went to the grocery store to get snacks for the SS meeting, I also picked up a sweet potato, a plum and [dum, dum, dum] a box of baby custard pots. Got home, gave him a good feed and then gave the banana custard a try and [sigh of relief emoticon] there seemed to be enjoyment and success! There was a hint of a smile, no frowning face when he had food in his mouth, and a few times even grabbed and/or guided my hand/spoon towards his mouth. Mom said he just wanted to go right to the good stuff. And yes, I had been trying some finger food with him but he wasn't having any of that, either.

Will need to quickly figure out how to puree foods and get started. Do I need special equipment?

Continuing with my theme of OAPs and random words of kindness/advice.... went to Thorntons yesterday to get some eggs for the in-laws. Lady in front of us in the queue saw Seb and started cooing (as the elderly tend to with babies). She saw the eggs in my arms and asked Seb which one was for him then said to me "I always think it's a shame when children are denied sweets and chocolates. I hope you'll give him some for Easter." I politely told her that he's just barely five months old (he is very long looking and has been mistaken for an older baby in that regard) and that he'll get his chocolate from me later on Sunday night. She said "oh, give him his own chocolate egg, let him have a lick, it'll be fine." What do you say to that? I just smiled and said "The Easter Bunny is set to visit our house with a special surprise just for him." (Basket with a stuffed bunny, bubbles, bunny ears and some chocolates and sweets to share with his parents.)

Off to bed -- here's hoping I get some sleep tonight!

Bella I would give him heavier starchy vegatables.Carrot, sweet pots, parsnip, advocado the darked skinned ones as they are easier to digest.Get some plum organics first porriage it is made with Quinnia (keenwa)and millet these contain amino acids and are very very nutricious (sp?)and good boby builders.

Connor doesn't eat huge amounts but I do give him a good variety.

I kept my other 3 off dairy and wheat until they were 1 (however Connor has had wheat and I cooked his fish in a little milk)

I give protien from 6 months so far baked beans, lentils and fish.I will add chicken and beef over the next 4 weeks.

All mine like advocado and banana
and lentil with apricot.

Sorry don't mean to preach just want to offer some advice from my experience.I studdied a basic nutrition course when I was becomming an exercise teacher.It is something that I am very interested in. (sadly I eat far to much rubbish when the children aren't looking !!!!)

X post scout I puree like mad and my freezer is full of the stuff.Get a hand blender they are about £20 somewhere like (whispers quietly) tescos.I freeze mine in fairy cake tins then into food containers with lids on.I just go to the freezer and pull out a mix eg.carrots and green beans.I freeze the stronger green veg in ice cube trayes as you don't need as much.

Sorry feel like I have ranted .hope you don't mind.

fidelma Don't feel like you've ranted at all -- advice is a good thing! Will try and get a hand blender after (our last) Baby Massage class. Think I used to have one but didn't get on with it and got rid of it LONG before Seb was even an egg. I have my big Kitchen Aid, but knew that wouldn't work (besides, it's currently in work-aholic mode making cakes and frostings). We're going to the in-laws for the long Easter weekend, but my MiL is always good about letting me invade her kitchen so might have to make some of Seb's goodies down there if I don't have time today.

On a big positive, Seb seemed to sleep in three-hour chunks of time last night -- wahoo! I feel almost human again having only gotten up a couple of times rather than almost every hour.

look what i found wandering around ...

they seem to like chocolate

Oooo Chocolate! I've seen eggs elsewhere - an April fools thing?

fidelma I wanted to keep William off dairy for a while as we have allergies and he's got ezcema. however I'm worried about him not getting enough fat (i know he'll get most from milk) - what foods best? Or just stick to starchy veg, pulses and meats for now?

I'm finding this weaning a bit daunting really! I've got a few books but need to get more organised in terms of meal planning. I haven't pureed anything!

scout here's to better sleep. William still wakes all the time but goes down for bedtime so much easier now - although last night he woke up screaming in pain. The doc told us to reduce his reflux meds and it was obviously too low as he was bringing up acid

It's sunny here but I think rain is on the way. DH has found a mouse living in our shed - it has eaten the bird food! Do we leave it be or try and get rid??

morning

Sorry to hear about your rough night with WIlliam

My DS had silent reflux so i sympathise hugely

if his meds have been reduced to quickly i would put him back on a higher dose

when DS was sitting up (around 7 months) his reflux got so much better plus their digestive system is more mature

WRT weaning we are doing a mix of BLW and purees. This morning rubes had porridge and sucked on some toast - no lunch as such as we were out and i couldn't be bothered! Tea is rice pudding and some pieces of fruit and veg

we started on just brekkie for a few days and then onto lunch and this week tea - so over the past 10 days we have built it up

she is definitely eating more and more easily

i am avoiding red fruits as DS had allergies to those - no meat or fish just yet (probably next week plus things like lentils for protein)

hope everyone is doing ok

weather grim and cold - looks like the weekend may be spent mainly indoors
x

Hand blenders are a Godsend and not expensive, mine came with a plastic jug like thing so I pile in the potato, veg etc and puree. Like this one

Hope all OK.

HC
x

i have one like that HC - it is ace and i use it for blending soups as well

Holiday [dances around singing to madonna very badly]

I sometimes put a few drops of olive oil into Connors food.Keeps the nappies nice and soft if you know what I mean !!

I guess if you were being really clever you would add oil rich in omega fats.

I was much stricter with my first child. I now find it hard not to give Connor peking duck and chocolate when we are eatting it Because I know he will be eatting haribos in a few years lol

Happy holiday to you all x

Marking my spot for now, but who ate almost an entire pot of banana custard?! I know, I know, it's not fresh fruit or fresh veg, but it's the first thing he's really seemed to enjoy and actually look for (when I put the pot down) and try to get into his mouth (grabbing my hand/spoon to get it in) and ask for more. SOOO happy! I bought a whizzer today (an inexpensive one and I have plastic jugs at home already) and a variety of fresh fruit and veg to steam and then whiz and freeze. Will do different size portions so I have small ones for him to try and then larger ones when he's ready to dive in. For now, I will do a happy dance around the kitchen while I bake bunny cakes for the weekend.