SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK PART 5....... God have mercy!

[Tamdin]

Can't believe we're onto another new thread already!

Ginger I have emailed you a question about Piriton, if you are about!

Meg, Baz mixing finger and purees is perfect. I have occasionaly given purees and fromage frais but also have a spoon refuser so finger foods got the better of us.

evening all
amber, i dont give dd a bottle every day, just occasionally, wondered if that was why she was fractious last night tho as thought maybe she hadnt had her boob quota of the day its a hard one for sure. if you seriously are thinking of introducing a bottle, i'd make sure you're ready for it emotionally. i know that sounds a bit dramatic, but i got really upset after dd took a bottle for the first time properly. bizarre, as i'd been trying for months and when she eventually did it i felt usurped i cant quite explain it, just make sure you're prepared my lovely. sorry if that sounds preachy, dont mean it too, its just i know how much of an emotional thing i've found bfing. you're truly doing a fab job amber x

ginger, poor dd. hope shes ok now. their powers of resilience truly are amazing. i'm sure dd bounces, the times she's fallen off the bed!! (god that makes me sound really negligent i'm not honestly!) those walkers are fantstic dd was so pleased with herself the first time she trundled off down the hall, only thing is, she cant reverse yet, so when she comes to a wall or something blocking her, she shouts at us to turn her around .....i had a hold of a 2wk old today, broody? moi? ....i should blooming coco, he was sooooo tiny, ahhhhh!!

meg poor lo, they must get it sorted soon for goodness sake. re. the weaning, i've done mixed with dd, she manages really well and atm is leaning towards nicking food from everyone else

hey ibs, meant to ask if you have any contact with MIND where you are? i used to do some work with them bdd (before dd ) really enjoyed it. just being nosey really

well dd didnt get to bed til 9.15, she had a late nap from 3.50 to 5.20 as she was a bit mardy and i couldnt bear to keep her awake in that mood ......wonder what tonight will bring?
off camping tomorrow and hoping for better weather and improved sleep on dds part!!
night all, must end my epic post. wishing you all sleepy nights

morning
just a quick one before we head off camping.
hope there were some good nights out there with plenty of sleepy babies
our night was quite good, dd woke at 10.15 but was quickly settled with a bit of patting, woke again about an hour later, ditto....then didnt wake til 4.50am for a feed then back to sleep til 6.45am feeling almost human this morning

tam - hope youre enjoying yourself, catch you when you get back

amber - hope i didnt offend/patronise you with last post

catch you all in a few days or maybe more if we're enjoying ourselves

tibs, i totally agree. i even felt sad when LO started eating solids because i wasn't his sole source of nutrition anymore. i still do feel weird about bottles and i guess thats why i haven't caved and been giving him one. but sometimes he just drives me absolutely crazy and i think well maybe it would just be less stress.
sometimes i think about leaving a bottle with dh if i go out for a bit (rarely as it is), but now he's 8 months i think, well dh can just give him some solid food and he can wait until i get home, maybe he'll appreciate me that way
anyway i wanted to investigate sending LO to nursery next year for 2 half days a week so i could concentrate on yoga practice and maybe even some teaching. but the nurseries i've enquired with only do full days, or the best i've found is a minimum of 3 half days. i'm not sure if thats too much for me. it wasn't my intention. still want to be SAHM. i'd like him to go to nursery though rather than CM to be around more children. is this normal? will i find one where he could just go twice a week for a half day?

yay for having a good night too tibs! ours was ok. feeds at 12 and 3.30. he stayed awake for an hour at 3.30 just playing in his cot and then i had to feed him again at 4.30 to get him to sleep, but i dozed during that period so don't feel so bad. up at 7.30 (wooo sleep in!!)

Morning all!

Amber and Tibs - for your ok nights.

Tibs - have a nice time. I hope the weather is better than last time!

Amber - I have a friend who is a SAHM, who sends her daughter to nursery 2 days each week. Her dd has been going from 18months, and my friend thinks she really benefits from all the social aspects of nursery (plus my friend gets a little time out).

OK night here. DD asleep 7-1 then awake 3.30, 4, 5, 6, and 7. can't seem to get her to have a second decent stretch. It will come with time, no doubt (the first decent stretch took long enough ).

yeah, i think ds would really do well with the social aspect which is why i want him to go at least a little bit.

Morning, well, the Piriton was bugger all use last night! And today has been a complete nap disaster so far -- awake at 6 then half an hour nap at 8 and another half hour at 11. I guess I will put him down again at 1.30 and hope for a proper sleep then!

grrr, i just had an argument with the parcelforce guy, because he didn't knock like a normal person he kept slamming the knocker and pounding on the door repeatedly until i came to the door. i didn't even take a long time. i just walked down the stairs and answered it straight away. i'd just put LO down for a nap.lukily he was completely zonked. but what a freakin' idiot.

Meg: glad you got to see the consultant at last. Hope giving up cheese is worth the effort (I would find it extremely hard and I'm not veggie!).

Amber: that chickpea recipe looks great. Am trying to think of more quick and easy foods for DS now he's getting increasinly irritated with spoons.

Re weaning, I did a mix of purees and finger foods. I think most people do, unles they have a spoon refusenik. Just bung a few pureed/steaned veggies their way and see what happens.

Hope the camlong trip goes well Tins and the suns lasts.

Ginger: hope you and your DD have recovered. Do you have more settling in periods at the nursery? Is it near home or work? I think I missed the period between your CM cancelling and you finding the nursery.

Re childcare Amber, you might try a nanny share/CM where they take your LO to some of the many baby and toddler groiups in N London. Our CM does this and it's great for socialising DS.

Our night wasn't bad, though no progress in keeping DS in his cot. When he gets crotchety I try settling him fotr uo to 3 times then give up!

Better go as DS is yelling at me...

hello EP! how are you?
the CM thing is such a minefield, i don't even know how to go about finding one!

Amber, I am pleased to report some success on the BLW front today: pear! This was a huuuge hit -- I offered him long chunks (had to hand it to him as it was so slippery) and he took great joy in squashing it in his fists, sucking his fingers then spitting out any bits that were too big. Gives me renewed confidence in this BLW business. And tomorrow the high chair arrives!

at Parcelforce guy. LO had a two-hour nap this afternoon (making up for this morning's catnaps) but almost got woken up by next door's little boy screaming his head off for ages (he has Asperger's and the parents have warned us about the screaming). Our old place was so quiet, it's been a bit of a shock coming to a street full of noisy kids who run around shouting all day... but then I guess DS will be joining them before too long!

yay for BLW pear! i think pear is a good early BLW pear cos it really melts in your mouth if its the perfect ripeness.
at the moment LO loves the "perfectly ripe" peaches and nectarines that waitrose have. and they are always half price!
i also was making roast beetroot for dh and i tonight. and then at the last minute decided to give LO some and he loved it. he ate two massive pieces and refused to eat anything else. and it wasn't nearly as messy as i was imagining, though i've put his clothes and bib in some napisan to soak. dreading tomorrows nappy though

Morning all,

Meg for BLW breakthrough. Here's to lots more pear.

Amber for your parcelforce guy. I, in Ginger's words, am turning into a Noise Nazi, and am contemplating ways to kill my door-slamming, gangsta rap-loving downstairs neighbour.

EP - don't blame you on sticking to 3 attempts at keeping DS in cot. If I go into DD more than twice in an hour she comes into our room.

OK night. DD finally settled at 8, woke up at 10 (funnily enough, exactly when DH came crashing in from the pub ), then 2 for a feed, 4, 6.15. I fell asleep in her room waiting for her to settle at 6.15 and we both woke at 7.30 !

Hoping to hear of some good nights .

Morning Baz. DH has come down with a cold this morning and I think I might be incubating it, so we're all a bit under the weather here. Didn't get any sleep til gone 2 due to restless DS and snoring DH, eventually kicked him out of bed and brought LO in with me where he settled OK until 7.

I think he must be on a growth spurt though, because he had about 4 massive feeds in the night, and was still mega hungry this morning (normally only has a nibble first thing).

hi meg, that there is a bug in your house, hope you all feel better soon.
hi IBS
we had an ok night. a bit challenging to start with as LO cried from 9 to 10, but settled after calpol. he seemed really in pain, poor little mite. don't know if it was teeth, maybe. then woke at 2 for feed and 6 for day. just gone back for nap.

Glad there were some OK nights out there. Ours was a failure in terms of the cot, as DS refused to settle there after we had gone to bed so stayed in with us all night. He only woke about 3 times though (from what I remember) so not too bad on that front. Still having a loong feeding session at about 2am though I've given up looking at the clock! It might be a developmental thing, as other people with Oct 06 babies have also been reporting general grumpiness. Who knows?

Meg: hope you aren't suffering too much.

Baz: try not to kill the neighbours!

Roasted veg also good for BLW, DS loves sweet potato and if you chop them into chip shapes they are easy to pick up.

Had a bit of a fright at lunchtime, he bit off a bigger bit of carrot than he could chew and coughed alarmingly before spitting it out. DH convinced he was choking though I think it was just gagging!

EP, I was with you on the co-sleeping last night. Just too much effort not to!

Meg, sounds like gagging to me. It does sound scary but is an essential part of learning to eat. He may sick up a bit if he gags on a large bit of food, but again nothing to worry about .

Re food, does anyone have any interesting and dead easy recipes for finger foods? We're struggling to find enough variety for DS now he's refusing most spoon-fed stuff apart from yoghurt (and the odd bir of porridge or fruit). We don;t have a lot of time to cook and no freezer, so we're a bit limited! Luckily DS is fine with eggs so omelettes and scrambled eggs feature heavily (as does cheese on toast).

EP, I have got this book for later on -- lots of nice-looking but simple recipes.

That looks great Meg, may have a look in the library on my way home.

EP, i'm now a convert to the pattie or burger as a concept for BLW. you can literally make anything into a pattie and bake or grill it. today LO is eating quinoa and sweet potato ones based on this
the other day i did beef burgers something like this even though i don't eat red meat myself LO lurrrrrved it. as did dh!
also if you scroll down there is a chickpea dumpling soup thing. i gave LO the dumplings and he loved them.
also aitch's blog has a recipe section on it www.babyledweaning.com
i've been trying her porridge pancakes, but LO just won't eat them. But I'm determined. I keep going back to it every few weeks. Hopefully one day he'll decide it tastes okay.
i might set up a blog for BLW recipes, you never know. i actually really love cooking and making stuff for LO to eat has kind of re-inspired me about things.
he ate roasted beetroot last night, and loved it so much.

Burgers a great idea. Pasta would be easy if he ate it, but I don't think he likes the texture. I keep trying but he just throws it on the floor!

oh, and there's this that i put on the blog.

Take 3 Zucchinis