The Fantastic Forties Forum

[johnworf]

Pregnant or Popped. Partial to Cake. Thrills, Spills & Bellyaches....and SO much more. Come on in for 'mature' chat (go on, I dare you!)

yay, respec' to JW. I'm just bookmarking so I don't lose youse!

Ok to kick us off and for those interested...I read this over the weekend. It's about BF baby feeding charts.

JW may I ask what on earth is that woman doing with that bottle??? I seems the baby is eating the side of the bottle rather than sucking on the teat.

Ooh, lovely new thread! Thanks JW!!

Good question about the bottle hedgepig. How odd!!

Afternoon

New thread hurrah. Can't remember what was said at the end of the last one except something about wanting inlaws who bring meat. Sounds a good plan to me.

3hrs kip last night. My dark circles have dark circles round them and my eye bags are visible from outer space. Feeling a tad demented from sleep deprivation...

must get on.

YAY! jw was FIRST!!! Nice, slick title...I LIKE it - Does what it says on the tin

Hahaha, wish my HVs understood BFing It's not just slower weight gain....it's also height. I can see the difference between Verity & Iris. Verity was quite big at 3/4 mnths then it slowed down (typical BF) whereas Iris really shot up - both weight and height around 8mths mark. I noticed the WHO BF chart doesn't have the significant height that FF one does.....hence why HV went hyper over Verity being a midget - yet on the WHO chart she was BANG in the middle. So, I hope they ammend then height element too

Have zero energy today. Don't know what the malaise is all about. Well, I think it's the constant building/garden work....feels like it's all been going on for years. Oh, it has!

Obviously the pic shows a baby that is well on it's way to looking like Arthur Mullard so the mum has drilled a tiny hole in the side of the bottle. It's the new 'diet bottle'

I figured if the Daily Mirror was reporting it then it must be a topic that's become popular. Mebbe something will be done about the charts henceforth?

mrsb my sympathies to you dear What's that cute little lad of yours up to at night? Crappy being in work on top of the tiredness too.

Is there a growth spurt at 8 months? For some reason thought it was 7 months but I'll keep my eye out for it.

JJ you need a new hobby. One that doesn't involve children. May I suggest pole dancing or bob sleighing? I can see you on a luge Pop round if you fancy the former. I have a few good moves on the pole that I can show you.

JJ I think I'm mixing up my knowledge of FILs, Serbians and butchers who appear on this thread from time to time. I must now try to associate your FIL with large slabs of chocolate - hold on a mo - trying now - yup - got it - that visualisation exercise was surprisingly easy. JJ's FIL = Yum yum

Ta for the link JW. What shameful breastfeeding figures for the UK! It's going to be a long haul trying to change the culture - especially if the govt is relying on HVs to spread the word about ideal weights. My sister's HV told her in all seriousness that she 'should be aiming for the 50th centile'. Sis did ask her if she knew what a centile meant, and in any case, how do you 'aim' for a specific weight for your baby?! .

ermintrude when K was in NICU out of 20 beds (when she was first admitted to St Marys) only 5 mums were BF (expressing). I used to despair at the other fat (formula fed) babies that looked so bonny next to K and she was there all scrawny. However, it was the doctors that wanted to put K on formula and which ultimately (methinks) dwindled away my milk supply. I called a meeting with the reg and her consultant and 2 of the nurses caring for her I was so upset...but then they pile the guilt on say 'it's best for baby' and so I crumpled. Worse decision I made in there.

No wonder the BF figures are low.

But JW you started her off with expressing, which must have been very difficult, and then took medical advice at an extremely stressful time - anyone would have done the same. The obsession with baby weight - fat deposits rather than more reliable signs of health, like muscle tone and alertness - has dominated public health for years, esp in the prem field. I also suspect that some of the nurses prefer to be able to give all their charges a bottle when it suits them (the nurses) rather than upset the schedule with mums popping in to feed their babes hard-won expressed milk at all hours...

And baby K is thriving, thanks in no small part to all your devotion and determination, so don't for a moment be hard on yourself!

Some mums try and don't get to grips with b/feeding for all sorts of reasons and I don't like the holier-than-thou disapproval they can sometimes receive. It's the many who won't rather than those who can't or are advised not to by medics that make up most of those figures.

jw was it just the extra calories in formula that the consultant used to justify stopping BF? I can't imagine how hard that must have been for you

love the link about "how much milk a breastfeeding mother should give a child" ...and we're going to know this because we have gauges on the side of our boobs saying how many mls the baby's taken I guess - or should we all weigh our babies before and after feeding lol

wonderwitch how did you get on with your test results? - in reflexology the area below the ankle bone (outer) is the ovary (and surounding tissue) reflex so it could be an indication of the stretching/hormonal activity affecting it.

jj when are the works due for completion? is the end in sight?

mrsb the forthcoming full moon tends to make people tired/fretful (like windy days make children go loopy and hyperactive )

I was talking to a friend today about women having hobbies outside of the home - particularly SAHMs (we both agreed we could do with one but childcare is a major issue).. We concluded that we don't seem to know any women who have them but plenty of men who do. Does anyone on here have a hobby they do regularly away from home and, if so, do you rely on DH/DP/family for childcare?

hi - sorry been MIA for such a while - have been tired and a bit whingy and cranky and didn't want to inflict it on everyone here. Starting to feel a bit more human again, and hoping the third trimester now will be much healthier than the first and second were. Hope everyone is doing well.

Agree wholeheartedly.

Like jw I ended up with a dwindling supply when Iris was born. The main reason we were in SCBU (NICU) was because she was SO tiny. It's hard to have a relationship with a breast pump and all the time there is the intense pressure to put them on nutri-prem. Plus you desperately want to get them home, so you capitulate as it's so calorific, it does the job. I certainly don't think Iris should have been on it for so long

I've printed out a copy of the WHO BF chart and stuck it in my red book. I've then plotted Verity's previous weight readings on it....looks bloomin splendid They can darn well use that one from now on!

I have to say that I do look around and see some hulking fat toddlers And I'm not encouraged by the enormity of girls' clothes....the waists are HUGE...and leg length.... But more than the height - I think it's the waists that shock me.

Welcome back triggles Awwww bless you...sounds like a hormonal meltdown

iris LOL at kids going nuts on windy days That's so true - both Iris AND the cat go wild in the wild!

And you're right about hobbies. I plan to do running again and I'd love an allotment-but I'd have to get DP to take the kids.....or drag them down there. I think women give up hobbies/interests (like yoga/swimming etc) before a man would because of childcare.

ermintrude that was a lovely (and particularly well articulated) post - I struggle to string two words together at the best of times - let alone whole sentences! ...and thanks for your earlier advice BTW re BH

jean I agree with you that the waists are huge - I have a horrible time trying to find trousers that fit our 2yo - the waists are always far too big for him and the trousers don't stay up unless we use a belt.

Triggles hi - hope you have a happier time. It's not nice beeing pg & miserable. When are you due (I'm 6th Jul but hoping for the back end of June )

More agreement on waist sizes here too. DS1 (3) is still in some 18-24 trousers and DS2 (18mths) is in 9-12mths. M&S have adjustable elastic on most of theirs though and I recently discovered Asda do adjustable elasticated waistbands too!

jj - I'm not sure about the waistbands for girls though - sorry

iris I'm due 5 August.

I can't buy DS the smaller sizes for the smaller waists as they are then far too short for him! He's got long legs. Trousers at Sainsburys have adjustable waists as well.

triggles thanks. Haven't been in a Sainsburys that does clothes for ages [iris racks brain to think where nearest one would be...]

have to go & wake DS2 up to collect DS1 from pre-school. Have a good afternoon ladies

jw meant to say.. I love the new thread title

Tee how did you get on at antenatal and have you started your parentcraft classes yet? One thing ours missed was these breathing techniques that people now keep mentioning to me. Bit late now.
Iris have you done these classes and, if so, did anyone talk to you about breathing? I feel that I've been breathing now quite successfully for nearly 44 years so I must know it all by now. However, I'm not sure that it is really quite that simple.

Interestng read about baby size charts, JW. I'm making a mental note of all this info in case my HV tries to tell me off, as I would like to BF.

who mentioned pole dancing? I'd quite like that as a hobby (in a keep-fit sense obviously, rather than the seedy variety)

Ah yes mrs that was jw suggesting it as an idea for me to take up - as I clearly need to get out more. I'm favouring the Luge option...I could slip into a slinky all-in-one condom/femidom thing, lay on a tea tray and Whoooooosh! I'm gone. Huzzah - with these Chiltern hills...that'd be a hoot

What's the betting Iris won't eat sweetcorn or my chips or my pork cakes......4 to 1 anyone?

Afternoon all.

Well baby is measuring a bit big and weighing in at 5lbs already! As noted before, these measurements are not all that accurate, and no one seems all that concerned at the clinic!

tab tonight is my first Parentcraft class. I am really looking forward to it, although, based on the mums at the clinic, I expect I'm about 15 - 20 years older than most of them!!

JJ send that dinner this way. I'll eat it.