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

[scarlotti]

New and shiny thread

DWB my heart goes out to you, I back to work in September and not looking forward to leaving H at all. Also, though often the time between school ending and dh returning from work is a major, major pita, I will so miss just that bit of time to check ds has had a good day, etc. I won't miss bit where I am trying to cook whilst two kids go potty in various ways for two hours though...

Was a single mum for two days this weekend and found it pretty OK really, but only because I knew that dh was coming back on Monday. How on earth anyone copes full time I do not know, I am pooped. Took them to the park yesterday am then later to see the parade, swimming this morning and fair this afternoon. The thought of not having things to do and places to go was too much. Today just the three of us on our own all day, I am zonked, but it was so nice.

Sorry to hear of people feeling low, this first year is so hard as well as being full of joyous moments too.

Surprisingly, I quite enjoyed work today! The novelty will wear off I'm sure but first day back was fun! The company isn't doing great and are probably overstaffed now so job not very secure but I'll keep looking for something else safe in the knowledge that if I'm made redundant I'd get around two months' pay and that should be enough time to find something else.

I came home at lunchtime and DP was giving Ethan his second bottle of the day at twelve. His second bottle is usually around 3:30/4pm!! Other than that mistake DP has done well. Two loads of washing completed. Can't complain.

I'm glad your first day went well DWB, I have been thinking about you. Did you have that really nice thing where you realise you can make yourself a cup of tea, not have to worry who is going to knock it over and drink it while it's still hot without interruption?

I'm glad DP did well too, that will make you feel more secure I'm sure.

Good luck with the packing and the big move Helips. I guess now we might see you on the other side! Looking forward to descriptions of your new lifestyle. I can't get over my envy that you're going to have a maid!

Thanks for the messages cheering me up. I don't feel too bad now, but I think seeing all my old friends made me feel like I was missing out, as well as missing them. I can't believe how exhausting I am finding it all though. Some days I feel like I haven't managed to complete a thought nevermind anything else. By the way, SirBoob it wasn't me on anti-depressants, but thanks anyway. (I had just asked BBL for some advice for someone else who is suffering insomnia etc too)

Oh, SB, the amount of housing benefit you are entitled to will depend on the cost of living in Brighton and your needs ie two bedrooms. I don't think you'd be allowed any more money if you'd already found a property to if you asked them in advance what you are entitled to. If you have a Sure Start centre, ours always seems to be putting on events helping people get the benefits they are entitled to/ find work etc. so you could see if there's anything coming up.

Oh and we had a lovely time at Butterpie's.

Glad you enjoyed your first day at work DWB because it gives me hope

think i will stop going away as always come back to sickness! DD2 now has chicken pox and soo much worse than DD1, lots of vile spots everywhere and think they are linked to insomnia as had to resort to swing last nite to get her to sleep as she was hyper!

please come back sunshine!

weston, poor DD, that sounds terrible. I hope at least it will be soon over.

DWB, good to hear about your first day at work.

sirboob, any news on the housing front yet?

pavlov, where are you? It really has been a while. I hope you are fine and just enjoying the sunshine.

Paula is really cute at the moment. She started to say bye-bye when waving. Only that she says it in my very particular Austrian dialect. So not even my husband understood it , obviously even less the people in the supermarket.
But she is also very exhausting. She is still waking up several times each night and gets up at 5 almost every morning. Even bf then doesn't get her back to sleep.
I'm wondering if I should put her into bed later but a couple of weeks ago she would always sleep until 6 and it didn't matter what time she started her night.
It is quite dark (not totally) but even if it is darker than usual because of clouds,... she still wakes up at 5.

And the other thing is that she refused completely 2 out of her 3 daily meals yesterday and today.
I think, she wants to eat independently so she turns her head when she sees the spoon. I offered her vegetable sticks but only little succes so far. It seems as if she only likes rice cakes. And today she tried to eat her porridge with her fingers (quite funny to watch actually) So it is quite obvious that she wants to be in charge.
I guess, I just need to continue offering her finger food and trying in the same time to sneak in a bit of the mashed food and she will eventually learn to feed herself.

I have my first flat viewing tomorrow, am very nervous. Especially after hearing from the council one side of me (am right on the dividing line) that everything is fine, and the other side warning everyone to look for a place about £200 below what they are entitled to as that is the amount they are expecting it to go down by

Ursi How lovely Paula is saying bye, bye. I'm trying to teach C to wave. He's still saying mum,mum. Paula seems quite forward for her age, would she take a loaded spoon from you and try to feed herself? C enjoys doing this but it's more miss than hit! I found with C, on the days he eats more solids he sleeps better for me at night. He still wakes, but normally 1-2 times and straight back to sleep until 6.30am. He was waking for an hour at a time at least once a night. I've since made the bedroom totally dark and this broke that pattern. My friend moved her wakeful baby into his own room and he slept through straight away. Do you return to work soon?

I made meatballs today. They were yummy, but both DS' didn't enjoy them I'm stuggling to get any meat down DS2. He is becoming a little more difficult to please. I'm hoping I've not got another fussy eater. DS1 drives me around the bend at dinner time. He has such a limited diet, but he's healthy enough. I feel I've done my time with fussiness and want DS2 to really enjoy food. Early days, I know.

DWB Great news on your first day back!

Weston Sorry to hear DD2 is poorly. I hope it passes quickly.

Yes, Pav Where are you my dear? You are very missed!

Ugh! Half post again!

Weston, I she is better soon, poor her and poor you

DWB am so glad to hear that your first day was less traumatic than you feared

SB Good luck tomorrow. Keep us updated.

fruit, it took me really by surprise that Paula is doing the bye bye thing (In fact she likes it so much that she does it even at night when half asleep). I didn't try to teach it to her. But we do say good bye to daddy every morning at the doorstep. I did try to teach her mummy though and nothing so far!

No news on the feeding front, she refused once again her entire lunch. There was one plate with finger food, I took some and showed her and one plate with her mashed up regular veggies and she turned her head as soon as I came near. I tried to put some food on a spoon and gave her the spoon which she refused as well. She only took it when I put the spoon on the plate... and put the wrong end in her mouth. It is as if she got traumatised and I would normally blame my husband who was in charge on the weekend but I did the last successful feed on sunday evening and the problems started on monday.
I can already see the "result", there are considerably less wet nappies and only a tiny poo today instead of three. I wonder how long we can continue. She is just under the 75 percentile so I guess there is a bit of room. I do not want to increase breastfeeds as then she will never get hungry enough to take the solids. Or is that cruel?

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Look on my profile pictures! Wedding dress ahoy!

:D

ursigurke - I'm pretty sure "they" say that if a baby is hungry, they won't take food anyway, because they're not old enough yet to associate food and hunger. Certainly I've found that; if my DD is too hungry (or tired) she won't touch solids and will 'hold out' for milk. (That makes it sound like I make her wait... I don't )

Butterpie, you look really nice in your wedding dress! I'm so excited for you! And happy to see another one with glasses. Paula just loves grabbing mine. Sometimes I can see better without than with as they are covered in tiny fingerprints.
jem, that is interesting. When I started weaning, Paula would still go for a full portion of breastmilk after having had solids no matter how big the portion was. As if she hadn't understood that actually food was good to kill hunger too. But after a week or so she got it and didn't want anymore milk afterwards. So I think she knows that food helps if she is hungry. I agree though that there is no chance if she is tired. Anyway, she ate her whole afternoon snack quickly and without any problem. I thought because she was hungry enough but maybe because we had a visitor so she was too interested and smiling and staring at my friend and didn't actually pay much attention to this stupid spoon.

Butterpie your dress (and you in it) look lovely!

Ursi could she be teething? That sometimes put them off food as their gums are sore. I think it's a good idea to keep offering food but not fretting about it if she doesn't take much. Babies really pick up on stressed vibes and it might make something that wasn't an issue for her into one. I can't remember if you are giving finger foods, but now is a good time to introduce them whether you are BLW or not. She might prefer that element of control.
How cute she is saying bye bye!

SB I hope the house hunt went well?

Butterpie Beautiful dress! Is it flowers round the bottom of the skirt? V unusual and I like it! Am I right in thinking your wedding is late august?

Yes and yes- August 28th, Gateshead. You are all invited of course.

Butterpie Lovely dress! Thanks for sharing.

SirBoob Fingers crossed the house hunt is going OK.

Laugs Interesting point about teething putting babies off solids - that might explain my troubles with M, her first tooth broke through this week!

ursi So cute that Paula is waving and saying good-bye!

We're moving in to a new flat this weekend, so I've been busy driving all over moving things while DH is at work. Totally knackered - sent DH out for beer and ice cream

Oh, and another shout-out to Pav - we miss you!

Hey everyone as usual totally rushed off my feet so i've been lurking for a while. counting down the days till 11th of August when my summer hols start (its also my birthday so def big celebrations due)

sirB Hope the flat hunt went well, sounds really exciting getting your own place!

Laugs def think teething upsets feeding, whenever ds2 is teething he eats loads less than normal and is bit queasy -he'll throw up at the drop of a hat -Oh joy!

I'm planning on cutting back on bf from this weekend as i'm in total agony. DS is teething and has bitten me so hard i have tiny bleeding holes every time he feeds i have to clench my fists not to scream Its a bit sad as bf both my ds has been a dream, seems such a shame to finish on a bad note IFYSIM plus i'm not really sure how to wean ad ds1 was older and just stopped on his own

Oh and i saw pav on another thread and apparently her ds took a tumble off the bed! He was fine but had a big bump hopefully she'll be back soon to tell us how he's doing. Must be a 9month thing as my ds2 fell off the sofa. His favourtie toy (the tv remote) rolled off the sofa so he literally threw himself off to pick it up!! So now looking into a new system as cushions aren't enough - thinking of a mini baby bungee rope!

Laugs, teething? I really hope not. And I do not think so. She already has a set of shiny 8 teeth and I didn't expect anymore for the next couple of months (but after I had read your post, I noticed that she is once again chewing on her fingers). Anyway, I agree that she is picking up my stress vibes but I'm more relaxed about it now. My very sensitive husband said (when I first "complained" about it on the phone): Well, she is not going to die of starvation! I was a bit annoyed by this comment but then I thought that he is right. She still gets breastmilk and is a healthy child so far. So even if she continues for a couple of days, it doesn't matter.
I still think she refuses the spoon because she wants to feed herself (which is fine by me, except that she isn't eating any of the finger food except rice cakes) but funnily enough she ate her whole afternoon snack and whole dinner (with both hands IN the plate) which was fruit mash with babyrice and just plain babyrice, so in both cases really soft.
Well, we'll see how it is going today with lunch.
longway, good luck with the move.
maman, I hope the weeks until your holidays will move quickly. And thanks for giving us news on pavlov.

Just popping in for a lurk....

maman I have been bitten too and now have a deep cut on my right nipple that reopens every time I feed him on that side. Ouch! I tried not feeding on that side yesterday, but by last night it was really sore from being overfull. I've expressed a few times and fed him again from it this morning, but the cut opened up again. It really is toe-curling isn't it?
Is he on 3 meals a day now? You could just give him an evening feed on one side if you didn't want to totally cut out the BF and end on a sad note?

ursi Glad to hear Paula seems to be back on her food. I only mentioned the stress thing as I once went to the park with someone whose baby was refusing food. She'd brought about 10 pots of different homemade purees for her baby to try and each time the baby refused one thing, she was offered the next pot. The mum was really anxious. I could see why, as she just wanted the baby to eat something, but she was sort of overwhelming her.

long Hope you enjoyed your beer and ice cream! Is this you moving out of your parents/in-laws (sorry can't remember)? It'll be nice to have a place of your own again. God I hate moving though. Hope it's as stress-free as possible.

missI did you get your work sorted?

You have my sympathy maman2tom - DD has just started nipping as she's bringing in another top tooth. Hoping that's the only reason why and it'll settle down once it's through.

Have actually had 2 nights semi-decent sleep! Have found that if Izz sleeps cuddled up to OH instead of me, she feeds less. (We cosleep.) Making the most of this before she realises where the boobs have gone...