Due May 2022 thread 5

[Kittycaz]

@midnight90 @MrsMay19 @JMill13 @YfenniChristie @EastMidsGem @morphe @Sarah239 @fejkalove @Mummyingetc @Orangesunshin @aNewYorkerInLondon @Bubbasmama2017 @GinnyBee @Lavendersblue42 @Honeymint @YummyMummyXoX @K834baby3

Hey all if I missed anyone please add. Noticed last board is almost full.

We’ve had a bit of porridge a couple of times now too 🙂 just simple oat porridge, and I even found finely ground oatmeal in a farm shop randomly so I don’t have to grind my own 😅 it doesn’t seem to have caused him any tummy trouble, just more farts! And last night he had a random crying fit but then that resolved without passing gas or poop so I don’t know what that was. I’ll start adding fruit purées to it now that we’re pretty sure he doesn’t react to the porridge itself. Keen to get evening porridge on the plan soon as his sleep is a shitshow so want to try if that would help.

We had to start cosleeping now too as that way I get 2-2.5 hours but in his cot he’ll only sleep 1-1.5 hours on a good night 😴

We went away to visit my family in Finland when he was just over 3 months and it went really well! It was when he was still sleeping beautifully so that helped a lot. I had him in a sling in the airport and we bought a second hand travel stroller as our main one is super bulky off-roader. On holiday he even napped really well which has always been a struggle even when his nights were good, I reckon all the stimulation and excitement just made him tired. I don’t think this kid has ever been overstimulated to the point of not being able to sleep, he seems to do better with lots of activity 🤷🏼‍♀️

@Kittycaz nice to hear from you my health has been on I still have my condition and have to have regular blood tests if it doesn't rectify whilst I'm off medication I have to go on long term meds again.
Stress but I have to cross each bridge.

I give her cow and gate porridge packets or jars and I've also tried her with puréed pouches and fruit Ive mushed. I just repeated what I did with my son a decade ago lol
@GinnyBee thanks for giving the idea to bring my sling too, partner suggested it in passing yesterday. I'm glad you enjoyed your holiday! X

@YummyMummyXoX sad to hear you still have ur condition. Hopefully it turns out OK while you're off meds 🤞. I've been making homemade purees for ds. Banana puree made him constipated but he liked it. Wasn't a fan of carrot puree but he's now on roast butternut squash puree and he loves it. Next one is mashed avocado. I let him have just one type of puree for 4 days to monitor how his tummy copes and for allergies.

@GinnyBee do you make your porridge with normal cows milk or baby's normal milk (breast /formula) might try after a few times of plain porridge mix it with banana as it may help with his constipation but can still enjoy taste of banana.

@Kittycaz I’ve done with breast milk and water. Not sure if cooking destroys the goodness in BM so after the first time I just made it with water and then mixed some BM in to loosen it up a bit.

Just want to wish everyone a happy holiday season with our lovely little ones! ❤️

@aNewYorkerInLondon and to you too. Merry Christmas everyone to you and your families.
Leo is very much enjoying all the sparkly lights and attention. 🎅❤

Same back to you @aNewYorkerInLondon

Hope everyone is doing well and has a great Christmas/holiday season and New Year x

OMG, I hate the spring time change. It's 8:30pm and we're only just doing bedtime. 😅

Sending hugs.

I was all prepared to do a later bedtime for a while but he decided to do his first nap early today and then skip the second, that we actually ended up doing bedtime earlier than normal! 🙈 he’s mostly just on one nap now, but has a bit of a cold and the past few days have been strange because of it, so he’s been wanting his nap early and then having another short one in the afternoon, except today!

How's everyone doing? Has anyone started back at work yet? I am in a few weeks and he will be starting nursery. Feeling nervous but also ready for the next stage and getting a bit more of 'me' back.
Only worry is how I will cope with the nights when I am working. We are still getting a few wake ups every night and about 1 bad night a week.

I'm back next week but only doing two days per week. I also worry about nights, or mornings specifically! Our system was that around 4am or whichever wakeup is closest I do the last middle of the night feed and then put the monitor on husband's bedside table, baby usually then sleeps until 6-7. Husband gets up with him and does breakfast and I get to sleep in until 8.30 when he takes the dog out before starting work. Well now we need to do nursery drop-off at 8 and we both start work at 9! Nights are not great. In fact it's been various shades of shit ever since the 4 month regression started in August 🤦‍♀️

@GinnyBee very similar worries! We (baby and I) stay in bed till about 8.30 and we get some extra sleep in after my husband gets up at 7 and makes me a tea and does a nappy. When I start work we will need to leave the house by 7.30 so think 6.30 start? Ekk I am dreading that part.

Hey guys, how is everyone getting on? Can't believe where the time has gone!

I've been back in work for 4 days a week for about 3 weeks now - DH has taken over for the next three months. Honestly, I wish I'd gone back sooner cause my mental health has improved so much.

Our nights have finally improved touch wood. DS wakes up once a night and if it's before 2am then I'll go to him. Anything after that I wake up DH and he'll go to him. I'll then get up at 6am, get ready for work, with DS usually waking up around 7am, so he'll have a breastfeed, DH will shower and then I'll go to work.

Not sure how it will work come June when DS starts nursery but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Hi all! I'm glad to see posts from you!

I'm getting ready to go back to work and I'm dreading it. Everyone always told me that I'd be relieved to go back, but I'm not. All I want to do is stay with my son. Everything else seems trivial. Sadly, it's not possible for us.

Otherwise I'm loving motherhood and the past 11 months have been amazing. ❤️❤️

I’ll also be returning in a few weeks! (When baby turns one)

Luckily my husband is going to look after him so no stress about getting him to nursery, but still worrying about it.

Our nights are still awful. We cosleep and he wakes up every hour or two still! Zzz
In two minds whether night weaning might help but it’s the one thing that gets him back to sleep atm so don’t want to stop it and maybe make things worse!

So nice to see posts on here again! We are doing good, Little Marmalade was 11 months yesterday. She’s starting to shuffle/crawl and is such a happy baby (as long as she has my full and undivided attention 😂) it’s really lovely seeing her develop in the last few months I can see her personality coming through. I can tell she understands a lot of what we are saying and she’s a funny little thing with a real sense of humour.

The baby stage has been quite hard this time around. She is a lovely but very, very clingy baby and has basically not let me put her down for the last 11 months. She’s made me into an attachment parent without my consent 🤣 it’s been quite hard managing her needs with those of my older 2 (4 and 5 years old so still very little) but hopefully will get better when she can walk and communicate more.

Hope everyone gets on ok going back to work. I’ve been a stay at home mum since my eldest was born so I’m not going back to anything for the time being but I must say I’m quite jealous at the thought of people able to sit at a desk and drink a coffee in peace, go to the toilet in peace, sit on a train commute in peace- sense the theme here?! 😂

I have another American-in-UK question:

We're trying to get baby used to washing his hands at the sink. In the kitchen, this is fine, but in out bathroom the sink is set up with two separate taps on the basin. One for hot and one for cold. I understand this is fairly common.

My husband and I are fine using the hot side before it gets scalding hot, but in the coming years, how do I teach a young child to wash his hands without risk of scalding? In winter, our cold-water taps are shockingly cold - like underground mountain spring cold - so just using that isn't an option.

Do I fill the basin and have him plunge his hands? That's seems both unsanitary and an enormous waste of water.

Hi everyone, glad you are all doing well. We had our last Baby Sensory this morning, it was actually quite emotional as I’m realising my maternity leave is coming to an end soon 😭. This year has gone by so quickly!

Sleep is a shocker for us, baby is up and down (last night was bad as she just wanted to be on me), I’m still blaming teeth as we have only just got the first two popping through. Add into this the 3 year old now gets up through the night, hard to cope with when he has been a good sleeper. At least when I return to work I’m mostly at home so hopefully can schedule in the odd nap 😴 🤫😂

@aNewYorkerInLondon can’t help with the tap question, all our taps are mixer taps 🤷‍♀️

@aNewYorkerInLondon the tap thing is so silly! We have turned our hot water down quite a bit on the bolier. It was a money saving thing but it also means our taps don't get as hot for the little one washing his hands. I have it set for how I like my bath without having to add in any cold as I thought it was silly paying to heat water up then cool it down.

@Yellowbelly12 I am getting so emotional about the last baby groups! I go to two and will be finishing both in the next week. I feel so lucky to have had a year off though. It's been tough but I have loved it. Really wish I could do it again but need to persuade my husband who is team one and done!

@TunaJacket same, I daydream about night weaning so hubby could help more with nights but dreading actually doing it and I'm confused about how as well? Every online guide says to reduce the time of the feeds by a couple of minutes every few days but every night is different so I don't know how long he feeds. And if I try to extract my nipple from him before he's ready (even if just comfort sucking) then a screeching demon is summoned 😩

@GinnyBee, ahh, you have a screeching boob demon too? I have to wait until he unlatches himself to transfer him back to his cot. If I unlatch him... FULLY AWAKE! FULLY SHOUTY! MIGHT NEVER SLEEP AGAIN!

Thankfully his MOTN feeds are usually pretty easy and he doesn't stay latched forever.

I have a screechy demon whenever he doesn’t get his own way atm! Anyone else? 😂

he’s very wilful! If you take anything away from him, take him away from somewhere he shouldn’t crawled too, try to get him dressed, he really screams! 🤦‍♀️

hoping this is just a phase 🤞

@GinnyBee i am confused about how to actually night wean too! I feed him semi awake, so have no idea how long he feeds for and it’s mainly just for comfort anyway. I think if and when we do do it, I will just start offering it less and start by only offering if it’s been 4 hours and then try and stretch it out. But that means actually getting out of bed to settle him so don’t really want to do it unless it might help him sleep better in the long run! Who knows…. This parenting lark is an endless guessing game

Anyone used childcare.co.uk to find a babysitter/nanny?

I need someone in my home for 8 days coming up while I work from home and I'm having a really hard time trusting strangers.

Does someone have an agency they'd recommend instead?

Can't I just never let him out of my sight until he's 18? 🥺

Ladies! Can you believe it’s April already? 🥹

I need to buy a baby monitor. I can hear him anywhere in the house, but now he’s so mobile I need to be able to see him too.

If you have one, which one are you using and do you like it?