November 09 - solids and crawling underway but sleepless nights still here to stay!!

[scarlotti]

New and shiny thread

Oops! posted twice

Back from weekend with old uni flatmates/partners/babies in the North York moors. Lovely. Currently absolutely POURING it down here in Oxford. Hm. What to do today.

Nice to return to see lots of familiar faces!

Sorry to hear of scary incidents pav, wizzy ursi - 5 teeth! And crawling! How exciting. We're still sitting up proudly here. Some sign of teeth under gums but nothing as yet.

helips it's deeply disappointing when you think you've cracked something and then you realise it was a one-off, isn't it? Rosa is so unpredictable re sleep...

No period here either. I am still breastfeeding though. I think they say that if you breastfeed regularly it should not come back? Cannot remember when I got it after having ds, possible when I stopped breastfeeding at 6 months.

tigger you know I was just thinking the same thing. I even bought pregnancy test couple weeks ago?.negative of course, its just because I have been feeling funny, you know tired, headaches, weak when my food is delayed etc. but it could be the funny weather the changes in pressure is not good for me. I usually can tell straight away if I am pregnant, I literally wake up feeling pregnant and my boobs are immediate sign as well but I am breastfeeding now and my boobs do not belong to me anymore so cannot tell! But I did buy multipack so might retest in few days. But to be honest am not having anywhere enough sex! But I suppose it only takes that one time so anything is possible. What?s everybody doing re contraception? My doctor gave me the mini pill at 6 week check but I never remembered to take it and with that one you have to be more careful so went back to using condoms. Ds was unplanned as we were using just mentioned & obviously not reliable form of contraceptive! Dd planned and conceived straight away so should probably be extra careful. Sad as it is we cannot afford more children. That and having one of each seems like the right time to stop. Sorry that might?ve been too much info for some!

Oh, meant to say. My inlaws were visiting last week for a week but as I have been on my best behaviour my MIL has decided to stay another week! 5 days to go 5 days to go 5 days to go. I have been smiling a lot! At least she will look after the little ones on Thursday as I am doing KIT at work so that?s actually going to be really helpful. Thank god we now have a bigger flat and she goes to bed early!

wizzy I am afraid that that obsession never stops - from the discovery of that body part till they die!

Dd was up like every hour last night. Exactly at half past. Was that?s supposed to mean? Very weird.

Missinterpret glad you had a nice weekend with friends. Did you manage to find anything to do in the rain today?

Both kids asleep, fingers crossed it stays that way!

I had the health visitor round today to do Millie's check, having it early as we are going to Singapore next month! Anyway, HV was happy with everything but pointed out that Millie has an extra crease on the back of one of her legs, she said it's probably nothing but to get it checked out by the doctor as it could be something wrong with her hips. However, all creases at the frount were fine. I'm not overly worried, I think these HV's always have to point out minor things to cover themselves but will get it checked out nonetheless.

Very quiet here today, where is everyone?

Crossed posts koumak hope the next 5 days pass quickly for you! I know how you feel, my parents stayed over for 3 nights a few weeks back and I was pulling my hair out by the end! God knows what it will be like when we move to Singapore and they come and visit for longer, arrrgggh!

hey there

been a while since been on as been on hols down in sunny south, had a great time but nightmare day today as feel like crap and 2 kids who didn't stop crying, DD2 so far has been angelic but last few days never heard her cry so much..think its combo - seperation anxiety wants to be by my side all the time and daytime nap probs - she really needs now a big nap post lunch but wakes after 25 mins and real stuggle to get her to go back, for those that have solved it how many days of trauma and making them go back to sleep do u have to go thro for it to happen easily?? today she screamed in the car..in the swing..

on another note the tomy hide and seek eggs, £5 in tesco seem to be a good toy!

right nurofen cold and flu and bed for me

Helips C has also an extra crease on the back of one of his legs . C was breech until 36 weeks and then turned. Had an ultra sound soon after he was born and he's hips were fine. I think I'll question it tomorrow with my HV. Not that I trust their judgement. I'm getting C's weight checked as I'm worrying about his weight gain. I will let you know what she advises.

Koumak was also given minipill but decided to not take it. I don't trust myself taking it on time. We are using condoms. DH thought it had split last time. Scared us both. I really want a 3rd child, but not yet, and I'm still trying to convince DH!! I might look at getting the implant as I don't want any surprises.

weston C is good at going down for the afternoon nap in the cot. Initially I had to let him cry it out for the first couple of days. I didn't leave him for more than 1 minute (prob less) and went back in and soothed him. I think he went to sleep after about 3 attempts ( I think I've been lucky). I worked out he likes his muslin for comfort and sleeping on his front is guaranteed to get him off to sleep quickly. I was prepared to stay home each afternoon until we cracked the routine.

a scan not an ultra sound!

OOer H has stopped growling and started making a kind of teeth sucking noise like in the silence of the lambs. !! But she continues to be very sunny generally while carrying on with her herculean feats- this week it is all about pulling up and climbing- she refused her cot nap this afternoon and when I went back to check she was standing up clinging to the side. Ds didn't do this till he was about one.

As far as I am concerned, you are all having FAR too much sex. This is because I am having precisely none- still at snip impasse.

Reading a fairly amusing book slummy mummy free with She magazine- (which I bought to read in the car on one of the endless journeys to Sussex we are making these days) It's the Lucy Sweeney columns from the Times all together, quite funny it has made me giggle a few times.

missinterpret when do you start your job?

koumak have mil visit here in a couple of weeks. Sympathies....

periods none here as yet, dread the return as it is a sign that I have to stop eating cake and wake up to the fact that the extra stone is in fact nothing to do with bfing.

Awful grammar sorry tired and have had two beers!!

Hey just a quick post. Wanted to say really pleased too to see some old faces coming back - we have missed you! Please stay even if you just say 'hi' and nothing else, we know you are lurking and staying in touch.

Exhausted. A stuck poo along with a DH who is so poorly with a throat infection it affecting his night time breathing (has antibiotics, pray for recovery before the weekend please ladies) means a terrible night, and an early start with a 6am bouncing hungry girl.

Hi everyone, hope you're well.

Pav will keep my fingers crossed!

Trikken poor Annabelle! Hope she is better soon.

Ursi welcome back, glad you had a good time

Out to lunch today with DPs mum, have shocked myself by looking forward to it That's not something I thought I'd say this time last year

Still no teeth here, and no crawling - but he will walk forwards if you hold his fingers And have made progress with the water in bottle so am breathing a sigh of relief

desperatly need day nap tips...do you just put DD/DS into their cot and they fall asleep or do u stay with them or what is the technique for joyful day naps??
got DD2 off there after 20 mins of going in and out to her crying, putting dummy back in, holding hand to her face etc and she will prob sleep for 25 mins max..

oh yes also need to know what is best technique to deal with three year old tantrums...thought age 2 was bad..age 3 is a whole new ballgame...should u:

(a) ignore
(b) attempt to put on naughty step but then spent an hour putting her back on and off that is not worth it
(c)put her up for adoption...
(d) other advice gratefully received

weston I've just got Roo off to sleep by putting her in her cot while I had a shower and then ignoring her whimpers for a few mins. Next thing I know, she's asleep! Doesn't always work like that, before I sound smug...but more and more often. It probably helped she had a full tummy. AND that she was up at 12, 4, 5, 6 this morning, grrrrrrrr.

pav sending get well soon to Roobs

whoppers start the job in September officially but have a couple of days before then, suppose they can count as KiT days? Have an afternoon's training on 29th actually, be good to have the old brain working again then! What's happening with yours? Might have missed it when I was away this weekend. at H conquering the world. Roo is still nicknamed 'the Destroyer' - she has been trying to pull herself up in the bath and cot too. I swear she's going to be an Olympian. Maybe not 2012 though...

Anyone had any problems with SMP? The end of last month was supposed to be my first sole SMP no actual pay month and nothing's come in! Contacted employers etc but wondered if anyone had had a similar prob.

Yesterday, in the rain? We tried to go out twice and got drenched so headed home quickly. Made it for a quick amble round the park in the afternoon and got wet on the way back too. But last night my friend came round with some new True Blood episodes which was fun. SO trashy but v entertaining!

MissInterpret [envy} at your maternity package! I havent been properly paid since Christmas! I wonder why I am going back... where is it you work again?

oh and looking forward the suggestions re naps as dd ONLY sleeps in the pushchair now. mainly due to the school runs am and pm but at lunch time she would not settle so I just put her in the buggy parked dowstairs in the hallway and rock her to sleep for few minutes or even take her around a block and park sometimes. That is bad really bad isnt it? God i am a bad mother.

weston The 4's aren't much better! I have a mini teenager in the house who is 4 going on 14! He can be an angel, but has such a stubborn streak, it's scary! I choose my battles with DS1. I ignore him if he's not doing anything that is destructive or really naughty. I tend to use the naughty spot, especially when he was around 3 years old. He hated it and still does, but it does work. I've now moved on to taking toys and treats away. Have done reward charts. I'm going to go back to that when I get the chance to organise myself. He will be 5 in November. I feel your pain.

fruit u can't say that!! i have only survived 2 and 3 with the shining light that 4 will be the transformation....am thinking now its not the age its the child's personality...

will dig out the reward chart as did work with her before

well just solved lunchtime nap by giving her milk before and she fell asleep on the bottle..now how to convince to go back in 25 mins when she wakes up...

koumack sounds find to me esp when you have to fit it in around other kids, i just have this fear that i will end up with a child like DD1 who would only nap in the car and i used find myself going for drives just to get her to sleep

Fruit my ds is also 4 going on 14, he is always moaning about his clothes and dictating what music we can play in the car.
Weston naughty step worked a bit with ds and when he was v bad at the time of H's birth he responded to a reward chart. Like Fruit I do/did lots of ignoring minor issues and sticking to the key battlegrounds. Regular naps and regular snacks helped as he was used to this at nursery and often I would realise he was just hungry and/or tired. (always AFTER the big problem of course!) If all else fails I just shout 'boy for sale!' which is really mean and v bad parenting as he is never 100% sure whether I am joking or not, even though I have told him that he is priceless, we'd never want to be without him etc. Tends to make him pipe down though

We have gone from fighting to get him dressed scenario and now moved to dictating what clothes he will and WILL NOT wear! I've gone out and bought a heap of t-shirts, shorts and jeans as we are off on holiday. I've picked plain, bright and dark colours. He can't complain too much about not liking a design or style with this wardrobe. How funny whoppers, DS1 tell me off about the rubbish music I like to play in my car . I also agree with you keeping them topped up with food and drinks. We have some meltdowns with DS1 if lunch or dinner time run late.

Weston By the way.. I would rather go through the 4's than the 3's again . I find DS1 far easier to reason with now. But there is belief that boys go through the testosterone surge in their 4's. I think it's very true in my recent experience.

4 yr old DS here too. We've been using a marble jar recently and it's working an abosolute treat. Basically any good behaviour gets a marble, but they can't be taken away or asked for (or reminded about!) He's just finished filling his jar for the first time and got a lego set he wanted. Took about 3 weeks to fill - jar is a 7month size baby food one. He gets big marbles if he's especially kind to his brother!!
Regular snacks are a must here too, makes all the difference in the world. Low blood sugar has lots to answer for!

koumak Ioan only naps in the pushchair, I don't try him anywhere else so I wouldn't worry about it. I used to use the cot for DS1 but then he refused to sleep anywhere else, making me either house bound or with a grumpy baby.

No sex here either combination of tiredness and can't be arsed. PMT made a reappearance a few days ago which I was not impressed with. Seems worse than before, sigh, and that was bad. Only realised it because the relief was huge the following day when my period started. If anyone has any hints or tips for that, I'll love you forever!

Scarlotti fellow PMT sufferer here, so bad I used to mark off the ten days before period due on the calendar every month- so that I knew why I was spotty, mental,a nd prone to chucking things around! Anything that worked would be good.

GRRRRRRRR MIL has just phoned and done her classic 'hello..can I speak to dh please?'. Not 'hello popyourwhoppers how are you is dh there please?' or, better still, this week she could have said 'Hello pop, I am so sorry to hear of your loss, how sad about your grandmother, how are you?'
She is SO RUDE.
My grandmother would have never done that to dh, and nor would any of my family or friends, even if they didn't like him.

I can't stand my MIL!!!!

And I can't stand her whether I have PMT or not!

So there!

foreigner here whats pmt? Mils are just odd creatures arent they? I shall be wonderful though! Typing this on phone in bed, going to work tomorros and realised i dont know where my high heals or wallet and handbag are oh well might have to take nappy bag instead!

Evening!

Said this before and no doubt will say it many, many more times: can't keep up!

Lovely to see all the ladies popping back to say hi.

Hope you're all well. I'm trying to tie many a loose end house-, work-, life-in-general-wise before I go away for five weeks. Starting to panic just a teensy bit about time slipping away like water...

Hang on, just seen whoppers' comment about too much sex on here. Off to read back to investigate.

Hope you'll have a good night everyone.