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minks - re cups: jacob won't drink milk from anything other than a bottle and never has done. some people find the softer spouted cups (rather than the hard tommee tippee beaker types) are better and their babes will take milk from them. i battled for weeks with jacob to get him to drink milk from a beaker but he refused completely. he even went 10 days with nothing to drink at all as he went on strike completely once i stopped giving him milk in a bottle and would drink nothing. the main problem with milk in bottles is actually for those children who wander round all day with bottles in their mouths - which you do see. my HV (who is v. sensible) told me that although it would be better for j to drink milk from a beaker, if he's having his milk all in one go (and it takes him about 90 seconds to drink 9 oz of milk from a bottle!), then it wasn't a problem. i should only offer him his other drinks in beakers (which i do - and he drinks them).
Interesting reading about the cups and milk. I tried James with egg on Sat (birthday cake) and will try it again this week but will probably hang on a few days for the milk. I hope I don't have to put cows milk into a bottle (if he has no reaction).
Anyway, James had his first birthday yesterday and was a wee star! He had his morning sleep and then we went to the zoo. He loved the animals that moved. The lioness even came right up to the glass where we were! He fell asleep on the way home so did not get his lunch until he woke up at 2.45 (usually he gets hungry anytime after 11.30!).
He then opened all his presents - carried around the spade and rake from his sand and water table and had cake before his tea. he loved it and was not bothered by having all the in-laws and a cousin there. I do love him and can't get over the fact he is a full year old. Wow!
JT - that's great news! The no make-up trick always works for me too (well, actually, I only have to miss out my blusher and people ask me if I'm feeling OK!). Bet you feel so much better for all that unbroken sleep.
Things are also very well here. Operation 'Get Baby to Take More at Each Feed' has worked spectacularly well. He's now feeding every 3-4 hours (roughly GF timings, but I'm not bothered if we go a bit awry occasionally), having good daytime naps AND (the best bit!) is sleeping through every night from about 11pm until 7am. Heaven. And I do think my milk supply has gone up now, as he's only needing about an extra 2oz of formula per feed to see him through until the next one. Suppose it must be cos the poor old boobs are getting a good chance to rest in between! It's amazing how much easier things seem now.
PA - the birthday celebrations sounded lovely. I can't wait until Xmas now so JP can have pressies (even though he won't have the first idea about what's going on). I am such a big kid.
Off now for a nice cup of tea while JP is sleeping xx
We started weaning at the weekend too Janie! Ella took to it like a duck to water and cant get enough! Milla is a little more hesitant and turned her nose up at baby rice but enjoyed it with pureed pear and has now got the hang of it! The only prob I have is they get frustrated between mouthfuls wanting more... bit of a mare when feeding them both today! Sure they will learn to wait!
Glad ted is sleeping better, you must feel better for it. M woke at 2 this morning but managed to settle her with water so they just had a 5 am feed which isnt bad, will wait til they are having more solids before trying water at that one!
When are you giving him the solids and what?? I have tried before, in the middle and after thier 11 am feed and after seems to work best... in the middle as recommended was a right faff with 2 and they didnt want any after so only had half the usual time on the boob. Also considered if it might be best to give at lunchtime, not with a feed as this will where we will end up?? eg milk 11, lunch 1 ish, milk 3 etc. Quite confusing isnt it!!
Any advice from those that have been there would be welcome!!
Happy birthday to James!
Sounds like you sussed it Tatty.
Im not going to get the girls much this year but have done them stockings... as well as a few little toys and books they are mostly full of bits and bobs like beakers, bibs, spoons etc that they need now they are eating! As they cant have choc coins, nuts, tangarines etc yet have wrapped a carton of formula each for them
hetty - re: timings for solids. eventually when they are taking proper lunch time solids, you drop the mid-morning feed. so you go down to milk feeds first thing, then mid-afternoon (2.30ish if you are doing gina) and then bed time. (and 10.30pm until they are fully established on solids). so i started with some solids at 11ish and then gave him his milk (never got on with the half milk, then solids, then rest of the milk thing). and then when j started having breakfast, i pushed his lunchtime solids forward to 11.30 and then finally noon, and dropped the lunchtime milk feed as well. occasionally i would give him milk at lunchtime still if he ate nothing at all, but mostly he didn't have any.
happy birthday james!
and congrats (belatedly) to sequin.
JT - great that ted is enjoying his first tastes of solids!
Vanish oxi-action spray, and the powder works a treat JT on carrots. I used full sleeved bibs from 6 months from tesco. Before that I found some large wide bibs in boots. Also boots do some good very wide wipeable bibs all plastic a bit like painting bibs, which I use out and about.
I gave my two lunch to start with around 11am, then dropped milk at this feed once they started protein, split milk never worked for us either, just gave it after solids. I then gave them tea around 5-5.30pm, once they were taking veggies etc. Brekkie was last to be introduced around 6.5 months. Then lunch gradually moved to 12. I have now dropped afternoon milk too, and they just have bigger lunch and tea, and have snack if really hungry.
Bit pooped after long weekend in Goathland. Really beautiful if a little chilly. Big family occasion in a cottage for my mums 60th. Was great fun, and boys were fab.
hi
Congrats Sequin, looking forward to getting all your chat on this forum soon!
We're still not weaning but it's definitely becoming more of a possibility. She loved the spoon I gave her to play with on Saturday! Tonight she did another big wail thing about an hour after going down. I just don't know - I veer between thinking it's hunger and thinking it's teeth and thinking it's probably both because she's not fed well at my boobs today and I wonder if it's cos of her teeth! She chomped on my pinkie for a bit and eventually settled back down. I haven't used any products at all for teething yet, have bought some but just not sure enough of what is bothering her! I have bought the yummy baby book and also lorraine kelly's book (which has nutrition by Anita Bean who is RW contributor) - it's £1.14 on amazon! - and will also get annabel karmel. I am the sort of person who has to read about ten books on any subject before she does something and then I will do my own thing but use tips from all of them!
Janie, another stain remover suggestion is Napisan - I think it's fab for getting hideous poo stains out so maybe it would work with carrot too? Baby aisle in Sainsburys at £1.69 for a box. I just shove 35g in with my liquid stuff in a ball in the machine.
Did some Christmas shopping today and we even took the bus. It was fine on the way in but the way home was a total mare. We left town at 3.45 in an effort to miss rush hour but fatally I forgot about schools finishing and we are on the route for 5 high schools!! Even at our stop which is virtually the end of the line the bus was still crammed with kids standing or sitting on luggage bit or on stairs and there was me trying to push a pushchair off the bus. AAAGH.
MR I hope you are feeling better. This sickness thing is going round, my friend has just had it and it took her about 3 days to start to eat again. She couldn't keep anything down, not fluid or solid. So far we have missed it but I am terrified of catching it and passing it to Lou! I think it has gone round the local nursery as someone else there had it too but weirdly none of the kids are going down with it, just the adults!!
Had a training sesh on Friday. My trainer told me to get a grip and stop woosing out of the abs stuff at the post spinning abs class. He's the tough talking sort of guy!! But it did mean that I managed a proper plank for the first time in ages and also 5 full press ups before I fell on my knees! That is an achievement for me as could barely do 5 pre preg! Must be all the humphing baby about! I do hate it when he's right though.
Have chopped my hair. Went in for a wee trim and came out with it bobbed to collar length at the back and longer at the sides. Hubby called it "unusual". Hmm.
Got my FLR acceptance today. Torn in two. Desperately want to do it but only if I think I will beat my time and to do that requires dedication at a level I don't think I can have whilst looking after Louise and working full time. If I did it and went over 4 hours I would be furious. Actually if I went over 3.52 I'd be raging so there's some pressure there. I just don't know what to do with myself. If I don't do it, I will need to leave the country when it's on or I'll just sit crying cos I should be there.
Better go. Got to wash, dry and straighten hair. So much for short hair being easier!!
FLR??
That'll be FLM!
Congrats to Sequin.
Only been away since wednesday last week and about 4 pages of posts, you've been busy chatting !!
A quick question, Islas skin is a bit dry in her face arms and legs, anyone any suggestions ? She gets bathed every second day and i just use mothercares own baby bath and baby shampoo. Should i be using some baby oil/lotion on her, would that help ? Or different soap/shampoo ??
I just massage in some olive oil after bath - seems to do the job! Have used a boots sensitive moisturiser cream on a dry patch on M's face and that worked really well (good as a hand cream too!)... thinks its thier expert range of baby stuff.
Bit of a blow yesturday... found out the nursery I wanted cant offer them places, I should have been written to in the summer apparently. Had my name down at 20 something weeks pregnant and thought I was organised! Its a lovely nursery and attatched to the school they will be going to so ideal, and being local authority reasonably priced.
Now facing a dilemma as private places are a bit out of our price range, I would effectively be working for about £150 per month! Weighing up the options including one of us giving up work and doing agency in the evening/weekend... part of me would love to give up as my job is very stressful at times which I thrived on before but not so sure if it would be quite so good with 2 toddlers to care for. A bit upset at a comment a friend made who cuttingly asked if I hadnt considered how much childcare was before getting pregnant, well yes I had done the sums just didnt count on having 2!
Ef - your hair looks lovely
Minks, we started with just breakfast milk in a beaker, tommee tippee to start with, but was very messy. We switched to the anywayup cups (tesco again) after a few weeks they are non spill with handles, but these do take a while for them to get used to. Stuck with a bottle before bed till just before their frist birthday. Am not sure how best to do it. H didn't like it at all, but with persistance he did it. Just keep plugging away till they get used to seeing it, then one day he will eventually drink all his milk from it and you won't need the bottle you've had on standby.
Have to say it does make life easier, no sterilising, not that I had to do much cos breast fed, so was already down to 3 feeds before I stopped.
Tatty I used to feed them one after the other, I couldn't get feeding together to work, my two were pretty small I guess, not sure why but feeding separately worked better for me. Am sure once they were good at latching on I could have tried again, but was out and about so much and feeding together then is a big no no unless you can really cover yourself up. I used to have bouncy chair near my feet and jiggle the baby waiting to keep them happy! Think I was lucky as had tonnes of milk and my two were guzzlers.
Couldn't get online yesterday (Tiscali broadband playing up) so have masses to catch up on! Lots of weaning staring I see! I did pretty much what CM did re. lunch - initially I think I gave Kit a small milk feed before his solids and gradually reduced it by 1oz every few days until he was down to about 3oz, then stopped it completely once he started on protein. I couldn't get on with splitting the milk feed either. The main thing I've done differently from GF is the timing of his tea. 5pm for the solids is a pain because we're often out and about in the afternoon and I don't always want to be getting home by 5pm. So I give Kit his bedtime bottle at 5:30-5:40pm, then sit him in his high chair with a rice cake, toast or other finger food while I get his tea ready. Am still giving baby rice mixed with various veggie concoctions for tea. I know I should be more adventurous but he's always quite tired by teatime so something easy to eat (and quick for me to prepare as we've often only just got home) is essential. I have never been able to give him his bottle after his bath just before he goes into his cot as he's too sleepy and just not interested. As he also far prefers solids to milk there's not much point in offering him the milk afterwards as he just won't take it.
Thanks for all the tips on weaning from bottle to beaker. Have given up (temporarily) until I buy a different beaker. I think he needs something he doesn't associate with water. I might try one of those Doidy cups (the tilted ones) - a friend has one and her baby seems to like it.
PA, congratulations on James' first birthday. It goes so fast doesn't it? Kit is 9 months today! He has now been around for as long as I carried him, which seems weird. He's changing all the time and I love watching the progress he makes. He's just startsed to wave which is really cute, but he waves at everyone, even strangers on the bus! Most people think it's really sweet and wave back which he loves! His favourite toy is a set of plastic stacking cups which he plays with endlessly. He used to just unstack them and throw them everywhere, but now he's started to work out which ones fit inside each other and he also puts other smaller objects inside the larger cups then tips them out again. If I give him a smaller cup, then point to a larger one, he'll put the smaller one inside the larger one I've pointed to. I got really excited the first time he did that! Now that he's properly sitting in the bath we've abandoned the bath support and he now plays with rubber ducks and a selection of different-sized plastic tubs in the bath. Only downside is getting him out as he gets quite cross!
I also use aqueous cream on Kit. He has a few tiny patches of eczema, mostly on his back, and if they flare up I use hydrocortisone on them, but otherwise keep them moisturised with aqueous cream. I quite like Avent Magic Cream too - the smell reminds me of when Kit was a newborn as we used it when we very first bathed him.
EF, completely understand your FLM dilemma. Think I've pretty much decided I'm not going to do it. I just don't feel motivated to do the training. Also having Kit combined with working (albeit part-time) is tiring and although I can manage runs of 10-12 miles at the weekend I'm not sure how knackered I'd feel if these were 20 miles! Never thought I wouldn't feel motivated to train for a marathon but I guess my priorities are different now and I don't want to spend 3 hours away from Kit on a Sunday morning.
Oh no Hetty, thats not good. I had the same dilemma, hence have not gone back to work. Depends how much you enjoy your job when it just pays childcare. I decided I did not enjoy my job enough to simply pay the childminder, so hence I work for hubbie on tues earning much more than my old job simply because me doing his book keeping means he is out earning his daily consultancy rate. I also am finishing my diploma so can start my own business in garden design. This is slow though as take ages for me to switch my brain to gardening.
If you enjoy your job though it may be worth considering part time, if you think you can cope on the money you have now. Can they put you on a waiting list? Childminders are usually cheaper than nurseries, my two are quite happy at our local one and the benefits are they are just a few doors down the road in the village. There is a gorgeous local nursery, but we can't justify the cost which is £4 extra per hour for the two of them, with an extra cost of £4 for food each day.
I had a similar comment from work when I complained about the awful maternity policy. I got a comment 'You should have thought about that before getting pregnant!'. Well yes but I didn't know I would be buying two of everything!
That's such a pain, Hetty! You would've thought that it would be fine, considering you put your name down so early. Maybe part-time working would be better, like you say, especially if your job is stressful. But it's really tough to balance financial and practical considerations with what is best for you and E and M. JP is going to go to nursery 3 days a week, while I attempt to do my full-time PhD in those 3 days instead of 5! We just can't afford to do full-time, and I also like the idea of looking after him myself on the 2 days. It should be fine as long as I am ultra focused on my work on my PhD days instead of drinking endless cups of tea and being distracted by daytime telly.
Think JP has caught Ben's cold! He doesn't really seem too bothered by it though, he's just a bit snuffly and even more hungry than usual. There was a most amusing incident at bathtime last night with a giant projectile bogey, which Ben took great delight in showing to me after it had flown across the bathroom and landed on the mirror... He is so gross - it's what comes after working as a respiratory physio for a while!
EF - I didn't even register the FLR thing, I just automatically knew what you meant! Just shows the power of meaning in context! No marathons for me just yet though, but I'm going to do the Stafford Half in March. Was planning to do a 10K on Saturday, but I don't feel fit enough yet to get a really good time, and I HATE not doing my best!!
Mrs O - I have used some aqueous cream on JP's dry skin before, which worked nicely. He suffered with it quite a bit because he was so overdue - like he'd been in the bath for too long!
I'm in! Got my acceptance letter today...funny, would have had guaranteed place next year if not anyway! Hmmmm, I'm so excited and would LOVE to do it in 2008, but realistically I should defer.
On a down note, got my purse nicked out of my bag on the bus earlier, and I was holding Hector at the time, how nasty is that?! Luckily only had about a fiver in there and cancelled all cards as soon as I realised. It's just annoying as husband had bought me a lovely purse when I had my last one stolen...and then you remember all the bits and bobs in there. oh well.
Off to paw over Marathin News and wish...
Thanks for the support guys... I have to do 30 hrs + per week to stay registered as manager so that is as part time as it gets! think I am veering towards resigning and doing agency a couple of lates a week and every other weekend - I would have been at work this time anyway so wouldnt make much difference to family time. Going to look into it but it looks like this would make financial sense as SIL would have them a couple of afternoons til Dad finishes work. Have looked at childminders but they charge £4.50 - £5.50 an hour round here each so not much cheaper really! The other thing that complicates it is that I will owe work money in mat benefits if I do not return - must find out how much before I set my mind on anything.
Sorry about you purse AP - its horrid when things like that happen.
Congrats on the fab half time Cragchick!
That is expensive hetty, and a real dilemma on your hands. My childminder is £3.50 a hour each. I have to give her the boys food, but thats fine and means I know what they have eaten.
Sorry to hear about your purse AP. Never nice to have anything stolen.
Hetty, really feel for you. It's a really difficult position to be in. I almost feel it's unfair of employers to demand back maternity pay if the employee decides not to return to work. I know why they do it, but in my experience most of the reasons women don't return to work are to do with the complications of finding suitable and affordable childcare rather than because they just decide they don't want to. When you start maternity leave, before the baby is born, you have no idea how you'll feel about returning to work. I was 100% sure before I had Kit that there was no way I'd ever want to be a stay-at-home mum, but now I have him I would far rather be with him full-time than have to work. I know I'm really lucky with my childcare arrangements though - am not sure I could have gone back when he was 7 months if I'd had to put him in nursery. I am just far too soft! We do pay my mum for looking after him two days a week - she took semi-retirement to be able to do this so it seems only fair, and obviously costs far less than a nursery place would have done.
Sorry to hear your purse was stolen, AP. Always leaves a nasty taste.
All this talk of FLM is making me wonder whether I should just get my act together and go for it, and just accept the 3-hour Sunday morning training runs - after all, it's only for a few weeks in the scheme of things. I just really need something to motivate me and give me a kick up the backside. I had a really awful long run on Sunday - wimped out of doing 12 miles and opted for 8.5 instead, but suffered a stitch almost the whole way which, coupled with a strong headwind which appeared to be against me no matter which direction I ran in, left me feeling less than enthusiastic about marathon-length long runs. Excellent PB, CC - think I need some of your motivation!
Minks, I suggest you find a 10k soonish to give you an idea of how you feel bout the marathon. Am sure there must be one relatively local.
I am veering towards not doing marathon even if get under 90 mins for half next weekend just because its so much training to not run a good time. Even finding the time to train normally is hard. I had to get up at 6.45 today to get in my 9 mile run before hubbie went to work. Its so hard as we live in the middle of the sticks. Its 5 miles to nearest town. Can run to next village with head torch if desperate and do a 40 min run but thats about it. Another good 12 weeks of darkness yet too!!
Cost of childcare is the main reason I didn't go back to my job. I couldn't justify it as really didn't enjoy my job very much, and was in a bit of dead end position, no way upwards, no career progression, so couldn't see the point really. Also after working my arse off to achieve my objectives before I went on maternity leave we were told that noone would be getting a bonus anyway. 'But well done for achieving your objectives' they said!!!!! Gits!!!! I really hope I can make a go of it doing garden design, but do struggle to find the time to do my diploma.