New, bright and shiny MARCH 2005 thread

[ZoeC]

Thought this was about due, hope that's okay

Well, no solids here (forget who asked that, sorry) - except she licked my finger when I was pureeing some apple but I don't think that really counts ). I have icecubes of carrot, apple and pear ready in the freezer though but really she's fine on milk and I'm in no rush.

She's now all formula fed though - we did mix feed for a bit but she quickly forgot how to draw the hind milk so was getting less and less from me, plus we got thrush again so I really wasn't sorry to finish to be honest. I much prefer the routine we can have now and am just pleased she got 4 months of breast first. It really was as much as I could do and stay sane.

She is such a smiley baby it's untrue - you only have to glance her way and she beams, it's so nice to see. She naps better too - 2/3 hours in the afternoon plus a small nap in the morning - and that helps her be happier I'm sure. She was 15lb a couple of weeks ago by the way.

She's 4 months, 1 week and 3 days old today.

Cristina well done and good luck misdee with the driving.

I keep meaning to take rebecca swimming as I'm sure she'd love it but I haven't figured out how I'd manage two of them in the pool and changing room yet, maybe I'll talk dh into going with us at the weekend - that'd help. Dd1 is so lively and into everything I'd probably lose her while looking after dd2.

[jambot]

The link doesn't seem to work. You can find them at www.babysense.co.za

[mumtosomeone]

ikea do blackout blinds..not very expensive either.

[jambot]

I wish we had an Ikea in South Africa. Whenever we are in the UK we always pay a visit. Last time we bought a lot of metal venetian blinds for our office at a fraction of what they cost here and bought them back on the plane with us. Even with our exchange rate, Ikea is cheap.

[Sproutfeet]

Hello to you all.
Hope you don't mind if I join your group. My little Adam was born on 21st march so is now 20 weeks old. He is a very well behaved baby most of the time and is great..

He has most definately started on solids- 16 weeks and absolutely loves them. our decision to start so early was influenced mainly by the fact that he suffers from reflux and so we thought that something solid would help keep things down, also his weight had started to tail off cos he wasn't drinking his milk too well, half his usual amount then screaming! (He weighs around 10.5lb now, growing well but along the 0.4th centile!bless!)We now have packet baby cereal in the morning followed by two lots of milk and solids meals during the day and 1-2 more bottles before bed.

He has been sleeping from around 9-9.30pm through till 7ish since he was around 8 weeks old, very lucky we are! now however I can't seem to get his bedtime any earlier as every time we try it he wakes up at about 4!! not good. Ah well. He has good naps during the day, I do sometimes think that all he wants to do is sleep, he can't stay awake for any longer than a 2 hour stretch at a time so frequent naps are in order.

We bought our blackout blinds and curtain liners from a shop called Dunelm Mill and they were very reasonable so perhaps there is one of them near you.
Thanks for letting me join you.

[jambot]

Can you believe that I have just done a pregnancy test!!!!. Have been feeling very nauseous for days now and that was the first sign that I was pregnant with Lauren. Had pregnancy sickness from week 6 to 20 with her and was sick as a dog. Thank the Lord the test was NEGATIVE!! Hope it's accurate. The thought of falling pregnant again with Lauren barely 5 months does not fill me with joy. We want a 2nd child but def not now! Still trying to get my body back. I was too heavy with Lauren and it really made my last few months of pregnancy very hard, especially in the South African summer heat. My dd was quite upbeat when I told him I was worried I might be pregnant. He liked the fact that they would be one year after each other at school and probably doing the same activities so that he wouldn't have to schlep around as much!! To hell with the physical and mental state of his poor wife!

[jambot]

Hi Sproutfeet. Sure you'll enjoy being here. It's good to be with mums at the same stage as you are with ds.

[moresleepplease]

morning,
Thanks for the feedback, I would like to get Freya onto another sort of comforter but we have not managed so far. She sucks her thumb but never when she is tired. She just seems to like putting things in her mouth.

Her eyes are green/brown at the moment an still changing. They started out pale blue.

[busywizzy]

Hello everyone and welcome to Sproutfeet and Adam. How lucky are you with your well behaved little man.

Cristina7, I'm in Hook in Hampshire which is about half way between Reading and Guildford. I've got a great set of friends from my antenatal group so if anyone else is local to me, let me know and you can come and join our weekly get togethers.

Jambot, oh my god. I can't think of anything worse than being pregnant with a little baby on the scene. I had terrible sickness with both mine. I thought it was so awful first time that it's one of the reasons I have a 7 year gap (never wanted to be pregnant ever again) and it was even worse second time round. My labours are short though - five hours start to finiah with DS and only one and a half hours with Harrison. Won't be having anymore as I'm afraid I wouldn't even make it to the car, never mind the hospital!

Hope all babies are eating and sleeping well.

[Sproutfeet]

Gosh Jambot, definately could sympathise with that one! My husband keeps asking me if we can have another one now!(started this when Adam was just 1 week old).Can't get my head round that one at the moment, even though he is dead good, one is enough for now!

His eyes started a brilliant blue and don't seem to have altered too much athough a bit lighter.

Thanks busywizzy, I do know I am lucky. Like all babies though, he does have his days.

[3mummy]

Hi everyone, and a big welcome to sproutfeet .

Well we had a deradful night last night, I don't quite know what's wrong but have an inckling it could be a growth spurt! So I have just added another meal during the day - Faith now has 3 meals (or bits of solid foods!) a day breastfeeds throughtout the day and night and one bottle about 8pm.

Jambot - I fell pregnant with DD2 when DD1 was just 9mths old, and I panicked!! But it all worked out in the end - they are now the best of friends, it was hard going for a while with 2 lots of nappies and DD2 had very bad reflux problem. But now they are 4 and 5yrs it's great, DD2 is due to start reception in september and knows DD1 will be there in the playground for her if she needs a friend. In fact I'm feeling a little sorry that Faith won't have that close bond with a sibling, and have mentioned to DH about maybe trying again in a few months . It's the financial constraints and the fact that my DH works away that are preventing us from having any more . If we had a lottery win we'd definitley have more!!

[carve123]

hello - first time on this thread : )

Harry is a 26th march baby so just over 18 weeks and c. 18lbs. Has had two days of baby rice, now panicking about what comes next (help anyone)

what is everyone else doing ?

Thanks

[carve123]

also - how many teaspoons of baby rice should they start on ? the packet doesn't say : (

[3mummy]

Welcome carve123 .

I think lots of us have started our LOs on a bit of something solid so you should get lots of advice! I kept Faith on baby rice for a few days then introduced things like mashed banana and pear - individually then mixed together (she likes it very much ). I do sometimes get a couple of jars of different flavours to try her with before I cook up a batch of stuff she's not gonna like! Good luck .

[3mummy]

Try 2 to start with, make it quite sloppy. There's no rule that says you have to start with baby rice, I have done with all 3 of mine, but I know a lot a mums like to start on "proper" food pureed. Your HV should be able to give you a little guidance chart that list the foods to stick with when starting out. Annabel Karmels book is pretty good too.

[busywizzy]

Hello Carve123 and welcome. My DS (20 weeks) has been on 'solids' for 10 days now. We are following the Gina Ford book of weaning which is excellent, although I must add I haven't followed any of her other advise so I'm not a 'fan'.

We started on 1 teaspoon of baby rice AFTER his 11.30am feed and did this for 3 days. Then we added the same at teatime (5.00pm ish) and did this for 3 days. From there, we added a cube of pear puree to the teatime feed (increased to 2 teaspoons of baby rice) for 3 days and today we have had one cube of carrot puree at lunchtime and our usual pear and baby rice for tea. Next we're going to replace the pear with apple at teatime and waiting in the freezer is sweet potato, courgette! and parsnip.

Basically, you add a new fruit or vegetable every three days and increase the amount given very slowy to avoid runny bottoms or more worryingly, the baby cutting back on their milk. By day 30, they should be having approx 3 cubes of vegetable puree at lunch and 4-5 teaspoons of baby rice mixed with 2 cubes of fruit puree for tea. At this stage, all the milk feeds should still be in place, except you might find like mine that they drop a night feed, which is OK.

The Gina Ford book really is easy to follow and my DS has taken to solids so easily. He is like a little bird waiting for the next mouthful and funnily has started feeding his milk better (he's always been a 'fusser') and he's started sleeping much better at night.

Hope this helps.

[busywizzy]

Gosh, I just read back my post and I sounded like a right 'know-it-all'. Sorry, I didn't mean that, I was just trying to explain what has worked really well for us

[bonym]

Hi everyone and welcome to carve and sproutfeet (great name ).

Grace's eyes have not changed colour - still grey/blue as they were when she was born. Exact same colour as dh's eyes so I guess they will stay like that.

She has eczema - she has suffered with dry skin since she was born and it has recently become very red and inflamed on her chest and neck and a bit behind her knees. Have been avidly reading the eczema threads for tips and took her to the GP today who has prescribed hydrocortisone. Poor little thing - the last couple of days, every time we have taken her clothes off she starts scratching, and she actually drew blood today . I am wondering if this is why she has been waking so frequently at night recently. Am sort of hoping this is the case as if we can get the eczema sorted then maybe the waking will decrease.

Despite my original decision to not start weaning before 6months, we have been thinkiing for a couple of days that we might start. Up to now she hadn't reallly been showing any interest in our food but suddenly she is! We went out to lunch yesterday and she had a little taste of mashed swede off my finger which she sucked with relish. We are going away for a week though on Friday so will probably wait until we get back.
Busywizzy - I might get that Gina Ford weaning book, although. like you, I am not a fan ( I hated The Contented Little Baby - made me really cross )!

Jambot - at the pregnancy test! I would feel exactly the same if I were to fall pregnant now - probably worse in fact as we do not want to have any more. Feel that we are too old now (I'll be 39 in a couple of weeks, and dh will be 47) and that two children is enough for us (although if we were younger would probably have more). This makes me want to savour every moment with Grace as I know she will be my last baby - part of me feels a bit about this, but only a small part!

Well - we are hoping for a better night tonight - she has hydrocortisone and Epaderm on her eczema, half a teething powder and Bonjela on her gum, plus 5ml of Calpol to help with the teething and eczema - bless her, it was like a chemist's shop in the bathroom tonight!

Wishing everyone a peaceful night tonight .

[carve123]

wow - thanks for the help so quickly : ) no one seems like a know it all ! just friendly and helpful

[Cristina7]

So sorry to hear Grace has eczema. The poor little mite. I hope it will get under control with the potions and lotions and she'll have some peaceful nights.

Welcome to Adam's and Harry's mums too. It's nice to be with people whose babies are at the same stage. I notice from a group of people I meet with IRL that the babies seem to have much in common but also their own little things: one rolls over, another has his first teeth, another one stands and sits (but doesn't roll) and so on.

Jambot - glad the test showed what you wanted for the time being! I'd been feeling nauseous a couple of times and DH asked me to do a test but I didn't (and enough time has passed by now to know I'm not pg). We are definitely not having further children.

Busywizzy - if I had enough confidence to drive we could meet. Maybe in a few months' time. Today I was visiting a friend in Earlsfield, one stop away from Wimbledon, but I didn't have the courage to drive, even though she lives in a mews development and I knew there'd be ample parking space. I will pick up courage one day to go on my own (without DH).

Sylvia is asleep now. Today she had a small jar of carrots & potatoes and she really liked this. I undressed her to her nappy before starting it in case she got all messy. But she was so keen hardly anything got out of her mouth. I will try and make a note of the things she likes so I can make them myself afterwards. Good idea from 3mummy (trying out ready-mades before doing them yourself).

[JoPG]

Very sorry to hear that Grace has eczema. DS1 suffered horribly with it, but other than the odd flare up if he is poorly he has pretty much grown out of it. We had to go to the hospital a couple of times with him when he was younger because of the eczema. Chicken pox was awful, he scratched constantly and was sent to the hospital again cos it became infected! Touch wood, Freya has shown no signs so far and I really hope it stays that way. Give me a shout if you want any tips, tho you have probably heard it all on the other threads that you have read.

Went out with DH on Sat night - on our own! We went for something to eat at Ed's Diner and then to see War of the Worlds. Not a great film, but it was a lovely night out overall. DS1 and Freya didn't even know Nanny had babysat for them, slept thru the whole thing.

Good luck with the driving Cristina7. I'm sure your confidence will improve quickly, and then you'll be off everywhere.

[Sproutfeet]

Thanks bonym, sproutfeet is Adams nickname, it's a very long story which I won't bore you with!

Sorry to hear that Grace has bad excema, the hydrocortisone should do the trick hopefully. Just a note, you said you were using Epaderm also which is good, did the Dr remind you to perhaps use the epaderm before the hydrocortisone to moisturise cos that way you do not need to use as much of the hydrocortisone and so minimise side effects? (if he has told you different then I don't want to mess up his advice it's just I' a pharmacist and this is the advice we give our mums.)

Carve123, I had the same concerns as you but found that as long as I kept it simple and didn't introduce anything too quickly Adam ate whatever he was given. Although, because he wasn't great at drinking his milk at the time I mixed baby rice and milk with the solids. Now I have a problem that he won't eat anything that isn't "watered down" in this way! In fact, yesterday after 4 weeks of fabulous eating(now on 3 meals a day) he refused to eat anything except his milk.! Babies eh.

We had a triumph on the sleep front though, last bottle at 7.30, bed at 8 and woke up at 7! he is asleep at the moment though.

[carve123]

by the way, on a totally different note - I've started to go to baby cinema in Kingston on a thursday morning - it's great, loads of mums and babies, no stress if DS cries and you get to see a film - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory this week, also seen Madagascar and War of the Worlds (covered Harry's eyes for bits of that !) THink Odeon does it at a few venues - def worth checking out. What else do people recommend doing with the wee ones ?

[popsycal]

bonym - if grace has ezcema it may be better to hold off weaning...

i have the gina fird weaning book and used it with ds.
i cant abide her other book but found it reallly useful - if you ignore the bit where it says if your baby is 3 months and over 12lbs you can start weaning.....#

i just use the weaning program bit
although with ds2 he will be 6 months not 4 as she suggests

[Leogaela]

Bonym - hope Grace's excema improves.

Carve - The cinema sounds like a good idea! I think they do the same thing in Zurich.
I take Niklas swimming quite often, he loves it. I've got a ring seat and if I go to a pool shallow enough he pushes himself along the bottom of the pool and goes exploring on his own (he thinks )! I try to go with someone, then when the babies have had enough of the water we take it in turns to swim. Great to entertain and exhaust the babies and get some exercise yourself. We also have a wildlife park here that
Niklas loves.

I've got the contented little baby book, she does a bit on weaning in that, but she seems to introduce new foods and a second meal quite quickly. i thought it was a good idea to introduce a new food and only every 3 or 4 days?

Niklas sleeping is OK, still wakes up around 5-ish for a feed which is no problem, but he can still be a nightmare to put to bed! he is unpredictable, last night I did all the usual things put him in bed, he played a little while and dropped off to sleep wihtout a peep! The day before I did exactly the smae thing and he took 1 1/2 hours of fussing, crying etc.. before he went to sleep! During the day he can be really bad to put to sleep. Anyone else still having problems like this? I'm really worried this is going to develop into a long term problem.

Niklas still has really blue eyes, me & Dh both have splodges of brown and yellow in our eyes, so I just wondered if they could still change! I guess I will have to wait a bit longer to find out!

[popsycal]

leogala - in the weaning book she intriduces it ever 3-4 days.........

we are starting in a week or so........so that he has had solids for a couple of weeks when ui go back to work......just 2 weeks off six monthd

cant belive i am still exclusively breast feeding
my demons from ds1 are well and truely banished