March 2010- Group Therapy on the cheap

[ValiumtheConqueror]

And cupcakes

Bluey that also sounds like my ds! Were they separated at birth!?

My friend with the premature baby just posted on facebook: "at 6 1/2 weeks old, Joseph managed his first breastfeed this afternoon. I am floating along on a prolactin cloud of delight..."
Just had to share.

Dizzi for your friend - what an achievement for her and her baby

Big waves to everyone else. No time for anything else but have been reading. Will be back properly soon.

Aww, that's lovely Dizzi, your friend must be so pleased. Glad to hear they're doing well :)

IWCAS On the BLW front ? we?ve sort of started today (we put DD in her highchair and put some banana in front of her, which she largely ignored in favour of playing with the chair itself, and then her hands were too slobbery to pick up the banana ) against my instincts.

We took her to be weighed, HV noticed her weight gain had slowed (which I?d forewarned DH about this morning!) and asked about weaning. I told her ?we?re waiting until 6 months and we?re going to do BLW? ? she seemed a bit taken aback, but gave us a sheet and booklet on weaning, both of which are tailored around traditional puree/baby rice weaning. She said that as DD was nearly 6 months (5 months tomorrow) then we can start to wean her.

Anyway, the Gill Rapley book says you can start BLW when they?re sitting up with little/no support, and DD does sit up with the lightest of support to her back (as well as a few seconds unsupported, until she goes to grab her foot and if she?s not ready for food she?ll ignore it again anyway. We?re going to see how she goes tomorrow and if she?s not interested I?ll suggest we leave it a couple more weeks. My instincts are to wait, but I think DH wants to wean her asap, particularly in light of the HV?s comments today. We?ll see anyway, it might just be that it?s because it?s another tiny step towards independence that I?m fighting it.

Dizzi How utterly wonderful for your friend

ANYHOO?.sleeping isn?t going too badly, but DD does most of her sleeping at the start of the night which is of course when we?re still up, but from 7pm-11pm we are child-free, and we?ve dropped the waking-her-up-at-11 feed and instead I?m letting her wake up naturally and sometimes that?s at 1am, others at 3am. Then up again at 4, 5 and 6am!

Am very envious of all of you taking babies abroad and all over the place, I?m daunted by the thought of taking DD away to Wales at the end of next week!

Finally had the invoice for my hospital notes, £43.00, which we can?t really afford. DH asked me if I ?really needed them?, and when I said I did, he wanted to know why despite him knowing how angry I am with myself about her birth still, and that I hope reading them will help, and also because I want to know what actually happened at the end because I was so far out of it anything could have gone on and I?d not know. Anyway, I?m selling some stuff on ebay and hopefully will get enough to pay for the bloody things that way :(

IWCAS It's SO hard! On the plus side, DH has just read the intro to the Rapley book and has decided that we should wait to BLW.

Arcadie - oh yes - your little bumblebee is absolutely gorgeous

that was the worse night ever. Either its her cold or what i thought was the four month sleep regression wasnt, or this is a long growth spurt.. She woke at 2am for a feed and fed for an hour (not since she was 4 weeks old has she done that!) and then would not go back to sleep - kept rolling over and couldnt roll back, started singing, white noise didnt help.. at 4am DH went into the spare room which is far away from her room so he could sleep so I brought her in with me and still she did not sleep until 5am. And woke at 7. I think part of it is that she cannot suck her thumb comfortably with a bunged up nose, but ARRGGGH! Im so tired! This has been rumbling on for a week now - super long feeds and night singing. DH asked if his mum should 'come and help' but I couldnt think of anything worse - Id have to look after her.
That was a proper winge, sorry! And now she wont nap either..

fliss at the cost of your notes! For photocopying?? Gits.

IWCAS - baby + food does get quite a lot easier once they can eat more or less what you do and you don't have to worry about preparing separate meals. (Says she who has just been studying her DS' nursery menu in order to identify the meals the staff should insist be able to persuade him to eat while he's going through a fussy phase.)

My DH waved an apple in front of DD yesterday but she made no attempt to grab it. But, as I said the other day, she's some way from being able to sit up unsupported. No idea about her weight. I am blessed with laissez-faire HVs and so have had no hassle to have her weighed since she was about 3 weeks old. Mind you, there can't be a problem

Hope you make the ££ you need, Fliss. sometimes (often?) men just don't get why we remain haunted by our births - good or bad.

Sariska :( at your rough night.

right back at you for DH's suggestion...what would MIL do? 'Help' with night feeds whilst he snoozes on the other side of the house ?

I'm surprised at the cost, 67 bloody pages at 50p each plus a £10 admin fee , perhaps the copier uses Dodo blood instead of toner...67 pages!

Fliss- AFAIK they are limited by law to £50 for your notes so IME they try to charge as near to that as possible. (I see bills for medical notes as part of my job) !! Hope you get them. I can totally understand why you would want them. Sorry if you have already gone down this route or if not appropriate but could you request a review of notes with senior midwife/consultant. You would not get a copy of notes but you would see them.

I hear you Siamese I thought it was supposed to be easier than this by now........

Hello everyone! We finally have a landline, and hence internet connection, after a very long 2 week wait. Yay, back in the land of living again.

Hope everyone's well - have just skim read the last couple of pages and my first reaction was (that's a face of horror) at your poor little boy Sarah - your heart must have stopped when you saw him fall in to the lake. So glad he is ok and no harm was done. My second thought was about weaning - I guess most of our March babies must be starting on solids now. I forget that Jasmine is one of the youngest on here - 20 weeks today - and although I obviously haven't started weaning her yet, she really is showing a great interest in food! Poor little thing drools when she sees us all eating. Just a month or so to go and then I will start her. Interested in doing blw this time arounds...will read up on it some more over the next few weeks.

Jasmine is just the sweetest, loveliest little baby. She feeds (but just for food, never for comfort), she sleeps, she gurgles and smiles and laughs. She will only ever cry if she's hungry or uncomfortable. She sleeps pretty well, normally just waking once per night. I just adore her.

We have been in the new house for 2 weeks now and we all just love it. There is so much more space. The move went amazingly well. We had the removal men come in the day before and pack everything up and then they moved us on the Thursday. No breakages or anything - we were seriously impressed (if anyone in the Cotswolds is ever moving, would recommend them!). Then had SIL, DSS and one of his friends come up on the Saturday and help with all the unpacking and then my brill big brother & his gf up a couple of days later and they put a load of blinds up. So now it really feels like home (it did from day 1 tbh). Just a couple of pieces of furniture to get for the playroom, a logburner to be installed and some curtains to go up and we're there. Phew.

I just hope the rest of the year is now calm and without any further stress. I have coped with everything so far, but don't think I could with anything else!

Will try and keep up with everyone now xxx

Ang The bonkers thing is the notes are copied and ready for me to get, but not until I've paid the bill...but if I don't pay the bill then it'll just go in the bin I imagine. I'd rather have them myself though and digest them in my own time, curled up out of the way with a cup of tea. I'd like to be able to keep them as well. Not really one for sitting and going through stuff with anyone else.

Rinders What a lovely post. Makes a change from me being a whingebag

Dizzi, great news for your friend.

Arcadie, that's such a cute picture of Simeon!

Rinders - hello, how lovely to see you and it's great that your move went well and you're enjoying the new place.

Fliss, at the cost of your notes. I know they're allowed to charge but still... Hope the eBay session gets you there.

Iwcas, I'm with you. Just when I get comfy, he changes again. My mum tells me she still finds this with me and my brothers . But I second Sariska, it's easier when they eat what you eat and BLW shortcuts that too.

Siamese, sorry to hear about your rough night.

Anyway, bottle update - he will take a bottle. As long as it's ready mix Cow and Gate and very very warm. I think it's the temperature thing that's key rather than content, but as that's the combo that works thus far I'll stick with that for a few days till he gets used to it.

He's tried some bread, roast potatoes and broccoli but just as a plaything. He can nearly sit so I'll hold off serious weaning attempts till he can do that a bit better, but he was so desperate to get at the contents of my plate I thought I'd let him.

Had a lovely day with my mum today - Alex wouldn't go back to sleep so ended up taking him and DD to the park in the pouring rain. She loved it, and it was so great watching her enjoy herself that it didn't matter we were drenched! Alex wasn't, obviously, all tucked up under his rain cover.

Hi all,
very quick post from hot and sunny greece. My angwl sleeping child has gone to waing ar 5.35! aaargh!!! Not what I planned for hols. Frankly it's ruining my holiday. Im goin to bed to sit in the dark at 8.30 and i'm awake at 5.30. It doesn't seem to be hunger cos he's not screaming for his bottle when he wakes. It doesn't appear to be light as it's not until about 7am. He isn't unhappy generally but is up for the bloody day.If I were at home the bad mummy would ingnore him when he eventually gets fractious but as I'm in a hotel I can't let him scream too much for the neighbours. Is there a 6mth growth spurt???? Help!! Sorry I can't read all your posts- hope you're all well and I'll read up when i'm back next week. On a positive DS seems to emjoy wave floating in the sea in his seat!

Sorry to hear that, scooby. hope you manage to enjoy your holiday anyway.

Realised I missed out name checking ang. How are you dealing with LO's feeding behaviour? I hope it's just a phase.

And I forgot to tell you Alex saw the paedaetrician (sp?) on Thursday after the midwives at hospital had mentioned possible spina bifida at his newborn check. She was very reassuring, explained that there is a spectrum of the condition from severe to cosmetic, and Alex is fine. The cosmetic/minor end is apparently quite common and she wishes it didn't have that name! Such a relief....

Ahhhhh peace and quiet

DH out at cricket
DS out with GP's

Cup of tea peace of cake and mumsnet - BLISS!!!

Rinders - so glad that things are going better for you, and well done on achieving a straightforward house move, I am on market at moment and live in hope that I can have a stress free move.

My sympathies to all with poorly babies/non sleeping babies. hope it gets better soon.

at 5.30 starts whilst on holiday Scooby

Bluey YAY for your DS taking a bottle! The impatient thing tends to be at his bedtime feed when he is tired. He is getting better and recently has not been so impatient, when he does it I just give in to him having a ten or twenty minute whinge or play then try him again when he starts to look hungry again, it gives my boobs time to recover a bit and it then take less time for a let down when he starts to suck. I wouldn't worry about the foremilk/hindmilk thing. I spoke to a BF counsellor and she said there is less of a split as the babies get older as your milk changes to accomodate shorter feeds. Oh and good news re Paed appointment. Sometimes labels can be so uneccesarily frightening.

Waves to everyone else I haven't name checked.

DS is so lovely at the moment smiling and chatting away, he is almost sitting up, problem is it makes him sick and because he is unstable I have to hold him more while he plays sat up, I used to be able to count on him playing happily lying down (more time for mumsnet housework

He is very unpredictable though, some days he has good daytime naps and others he wont nap at all, yesterday he napped for a total of 1.5 hours all day and had huge bags under his eyes!!

I got my highchair this week - the antilop one from ikea, bargain at £15! He seems to like sitting in it, though I too am in denial about starting weaning. I intend to go down the BLW route so can close my eyes and put fingers in ears on the weaning thing till he hits six months. He still seems quite happy on booby milk alone.

Have a good weekend everyone x

Opps obviously meant piece not peace of cake!

hello ladies, so so so sorry i have been away for a while, lovley to see szo many of you returning to post!
life here is the norm- just plodding on seperating the odd fight from the dc's every now and again! lol

i have had a really down in the dumps week but i am hoping its going! u know what i am like by now and will jut get on with it!

Glad to hear so many of our babies are nearly sitting and the teeth are coming however i miss my little tiny baby so much!

right off to open a bottle of wine to stop myself from rocking in the corner at the thought of another sibling fight!

Hello lovely ladies

Sarah sorry to hear you're a bit down in the dumps - hope you're back to your usual self soon.

Ang hope you enjoyed your break today! I got to have a nap read the New Yorker undisturbed this afternoon and twas lovely . I'm also waiting until 26 weeks for weaning but am raring to go (honestly, I'm super excited by the whole prospect! Remind me of this when I get sick of wiping food off the highchair/floor/walls...). Hope you get a buyer soon btw

Bluey phew about the paed's appointment - that must have been a worry for you. and good news about Alex taking a bottle

Scooby nightmare about the early starts but I'm finding it hard to be too sympathetic as you're in Rhodes and I'm in rainy old London . Seriously, hope the little rascal gets back to his good sleeping soon and that you continue to enjoy your holiday...

Fliss at the cost of your notes! Hope your ebaying pays off (I sold my first thing on ebay and am definitely going to have a clear out). I'd ignore the HV with regards to weaning and just follow what you want to do.

Rinders so glad to hear the move went so well! Great to see you back online . And it's lovely hearing what a cutie J is - this is just such a lovely age for our babies.

Sariska I like how you measure your DD's weight/growth [says she who's DS also pokes out of his clothes].

Siamese sorry to hear of your rubbish night - hope your DD sleeps better tonight! And I agree, not sure how your MIL would be able to help...

IWCAS sorry to hear you're dreading the weaning - I'm a bit ambivalent myself but mainly as I really enjoy the convenience of BFing and am so proud that I stuck with it but am also very excited by it. I remember all the great cooking you used to do (and when your freezer broke and all those lovely dishes were lost!) so I bet your DS is going to just love all the home cooked treats he gets . I've been getting into the habit of eating breakfast/lunch/dinner at the table with DS in his highchair as a kind of first step for when we start BLW. Haven't used a high chair when out and about yet, but keep him sitting on my lap (and he grabs at anything/everything - including my cafe au lait the other week, which had thankfully cooled and which I had thought I had moved out of his reach...I was about it and at myself for not keeping it out of his way!).

BMI hope your boobs have calmed down by now and glad to hear Belgium was so nice.

Arcadie hope you had a lovely anniversary - and that photo of S is super cute!

So I had a lovely day today, including bumping into Rebecca (and meeting Mr Rebecca and seeing her gorgeous DD again). Great minds think alike (of course) as we were both at Ikea .

We were stocking up on plates/cutlery/place mats/random baby stuff for weaning and the long sleeved bibs for about 4 friends. I must say, I do love the Ikea baby stuff.

We're off to Ireland next week and I'm very much looking forward to it (we're planning to head off camping with siblings/nieces/nephews to have a little "holiday within a holiday" and are also having a naming ceremony for DS). Donttry not sure if you're lurking but we bought our little man a wet suit to handle the freezing bracing Atlantic! IIRC you're Cork bound soon too?

Sarah Hope the DCs have give you a day of peace!

Have made £41.70 on ebay so have made enough to pay for the notes, shall go and pay the hospital tomorrow and then wait for them to be posted - the cash office is at the Telford hospital but the notes will be sent from Shrewsbury Hopefully they'll turn up before we go away on Friday.

We've been having a go at BLW and actually, I'm not half as worried as I was the other day. DD sits happily in her high chair, takes whatever she wants off the mat for herself (rather than a plate she can throw we've got a placemat clamped to the table by the chair) but atm it's more about getting her used to sitting at the table (and us, breaking the bad habit of eating on the sofa) and if she tries anything, it's a bonus.

Went to our friend's wedding reception last night so Mum babysat - don't know what she did but she can come again, DD slept from 8.30pm - 6am!

I am sooo not going to be able to finish this post as DD has been sleeping for 2 hours so far..!

Thanks for all your thoughts. After that horrendous night and the whole week being very odd, DD has settled into quite a nice pattern of waking only at 3am and not feeding very much then either. Todays wake up at 6am however didnt feel so good!
I think the whole week was probably a growth spurt as she seems exponentially bigger! Also she can now sit unaided for a few minutes, and seems much keener to giggle at the drop of a hat :)

Ive just finished reading this which I have bought for my pregnant sister. It really is excellent and I think we should have got it at our births!

That said though, I am going to the breast feeding counsellor this week as DD's latch has changed? and I have a sore nipple. Must be something to do with her being bigger.

scooby how frustrating for you. Hope it gets beter - perhaps you could get up at 6am and reserve your place by the pool?

rinders what a lovely post!

Arcadie hope your anniversary was lovely. What is the traditional 'thing' for 8 years?

Ang I have bought the antilop from Ikea too. Did you get it too flip?

darylmps if you are out there - been following your status of fb - DD seems to match your DS2 night for night recently. Hope you feel better soon.

ICWAS I wouldnt say weaning is so bad - we've started a very gentle approach to BLW and DD thoughly enjoys sucking all the foods but bearly takes anything down. She really seemed to enjoy humous on pitta bread which surprised me as is such a strong flavour :) She didnot like asparagus!

Fruit stains - something else that has surprised me this week - apple juice stains? How do I get that out?

Wave to everyone else - the small one stirs...

oh yes and welcome back pixie of your tan. And of course pacific! missed you!