Babies Born August 2007 #6

Hai Ladies!

The theme of my post today is all about how cute and loveble our babies are. I'm so in loooove.

Wow at how all the bubs are doing so much, crawling, pulling up, side-skirting even! And yeah, I totally agree that the holding on tightly thing is just sooo lovely. I can't get enough cuddles! Do they only get cuter from here? I can't imagine it. 2nd time mums can answer that question lol.

Willa is only just starting to pull up on stuff but she isn't really crawling yet, but she'll attempt it if she really really wants to get to something- like my younger car, Asper. All I have to do is say, "HELLO ASPER!" and she starts searching for him like crazy. She does this thing where she'll get up high on her hands and feet and then goes back into a sitting position with one leg folded under her. But no super fast crawling like I've seen in other babies. But we keep the digicam on standby! I too love those wet kisses they give though. She sucks at my cheeks and it tickles. So wonderful. The belly laughs are great too. She finds me singing the alphabet hillarious (I do it really silly) and laughs so much her voice goes hoarse. Also, she's well and truly gotten over her stranger fear and has a smile for everyone now.

Misty - glad ur flight went ok and hope u have the best time at home

kim - at risk of repeating myself, all that stuff Hayden is doing right now is soooooooo cute

sara - congrats on bfeeding for so long. that's amazing so well done to u, mummy! Colby's nice and tall!

Scone- were u looking to get pregnant again? I thought I might have been too just this week as AF has been strangely late, but no go. Phew, I think!!

Ok, back to work!
take care,
sonia

Hi everyone,
Just a little hello to touch base, and say WOW! at all the babies that are pulling themselves up, babbling mum-mum, and generally becoming very grown up! It happens so so quickly... People always say to us "treasure these times cause they pass so quickly", but you don't really take any notice of that til you realise suddenly that you have to baby-proof your house!

Milla is going really well. I'm a little sad to say she is definitely not a clingy "give me my mum" kind of girl. She is such a Little Miss Independent. She just wriggles out of our arms to get back on the floor... :( I know I should be happy about that, but sometimes I'd love for her to be still enough for a 2 minute cuddle! She has just started crawling... only took 3 'steps' yesterday, but she figured out how to move her knees forwards, so I guess by the end of today she'll be trying to get out the back door! She had been kind of shuffling backwards, and going from the crawling position to the sitting position all the time.

She has two bottom teeth, but I think the next ones are causing her a bit of grief at the moment - we've had some awful nights lately. The best she has ever slept so far is from 7pm til 5am. THat has happened ONCE, and otherwise I am feeding her most nights at 2 or 3am still.

We have been sticking to fruit and veg, and rice cereal, and oat cereal so far. Once she gets to 7 months I'll start her on some dairy (cottage cheese), and some meat, and maybe wheat too. Although we have no allergies, DH's dad has Crohns and lots of food issues, so I am erring on the side of caution. She eats quite a lot of vegies as finger food now though - will happily chew away on a stick of broccoli or a chunk of soft fruit. We haven't found a vegie that she wont eat - beans, broccoli, swede, squash - she'll eat anything! Bet that will change one day though :(

Better go and continue baby-proofing the house. Got things to move, like the rubbish bin... where am I going to put that?? She will be eating out of it the minute she discovers it in the corner of the kitchen!

Byeeeeee x

Well!
Things are starting to happen now! My baby boy is growing up too fast! Slow down lil man! Yesterday he got 2 teeth! He didn't have any when I left him with Nana at 10 but somewhere between 10 and 230 his teeth came through. Would have been before 230, as he'd been asleep for an hour before I got there, but we wont get into symantics. I just couldn't stop trying to feel them! Can't see them yet, but they're there and thru the gum. Can't wait to buy a tiny toothbrush and tiny toothpaste. There wasn't much leading up to the teeth either. Tuesday he was really clingy after I picked him up from Grandmas (I had to work for 3hrs so she looked after him) but I assumed that was coz he doesn't really know her and he fell off the bed :( . He had a tiny bit of nappy rash, right between the cheeks and a lil bit of a runny nose. I just guessed he caught the cold all the other babies have had recently. Had a warm head yesterday morning, but not enough to worry about a fever. When I get home from work - hey presto! teeth!

This morning, waiting for us to come and get him, he was crying calling out mum mum-mum mumm. Too cute.

Someone asked if I was planning a 2nd baby.... We are, but not right now. I think we might wait a few more mths - just to enjoy the baby-ness of Jensen.

I had other things to write, and do some personals, but I'm at work and really can't get away with typing too much with out looking too suspicious.

BBL

Hi Everyone,

Happy Easter - hope you are all enjoying the long weekend.

sounds like everyone is doing sooo well, aren't we all lucky that our bubs are so healthy and happy!

Scone, I have been going through a chocolate craving and I actually got Aunt Flo for the first time, but only for a couple of days on 6th of March (day we arrived in Coffs Harbour for our holiday). I think maybe I am starting to ovulate again ... having some pimples and moodiness, but Ella has started feeding up to 4 times a night so a total of 6-8 feeds a day again so I am hoping I will be lucky and maybe miss a couple more months. We are still feeding between 2am and 4am every morning, but sometimes it is 8.30pm, 12.30am, 2.30am and 4.30am, then up with everyone around 6.30 - 7am. I was thinking it was teeth but still no teeth!!

I cannot believe your little man got his teeth so quickly - I can only hope ours is similar.

With playgroup - I just try not to think about where things have been before..they are going to pick up so many germs etc, just from crawling now. Ella is also exposed to DS who goes to daycare and no where is germ free. I think it is just all part of it for their immune systems to develop. I would just say try and wash their hands regularly (because they are in their mouth so much).

Also, the holding on cuddles - Ella does too. And it is very obvious when she wants to come to me, either crawling or putting her arms out. I adore it.

They must be getting to an age when they are aware of who are strangers and also more assertive about what they want... along with screaming when I am just swapping sides during a feed...it's as if I have taken it away and she hasn't taken herself off.

Kim - Hayden sounds gorgeous...enjoy it!

Campari - congrats on the crawling!!

Sara - well done with the birth - it must be so exciting see new babies. I admire you for it. Your DD is long - 10cm longer than Ella!!!

I know we are all saying how quickly they are growing up - but it is just terrible. Ella is pulling herself up and straightening her legs whenever she can find something that will help and finally saying Mumma (but not at me) and dada and buba.

I know this is about our babies, but I just want to share something my 3yo son did last weekend - DH and I raised our voices at each other (I know Dr Phil says not to do it in front of the kids) and DS told DH not to talk to 'my mummy' like that because 'she is my loveheart'. DH just said 'doesn't that make you feel special' to me and it did!

Sorry for not getting to everyone, I love reading what everyone is doing. Got to go - Ella is calling for a feed. Just quickly, don't forget to put the cot down, Ella was already standing up at it before we noticed...

Take care :)

:

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Just quickly, don't forget to put the cot down, Ella was already standing up at it before we noticed...

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You know, I've been at DH all weekend to put that bed down, but, so far he's just been lazy (how unusual - but we wont go there), and this morning he comes in and says that he was standing up in his cot when he went to get him... Maybe it's time to pull his finger out and actually fix it.... (lol DH's in the other room mimicking me saying "dear bellybelly my husband is fat and lazy. He's on holidays and he wont get out of bed" in a sappy voice.)

Kim - Oh the playgroup thing? How very higenic (sp?) I'd try for a group with more kids Hayden's age. Something in common is better than nothing iykwim. Oh don't you just love baby kisses? Jensen's been giving them for a few wks now, 'cept he's got teeth and it's not longer an open mouth smooch as much as it is an open mouth smooch with a bit of a chew. :) We bought Jensen a chocolate bunny, and gave it to him, but it was only for show and to take some pics , and we're giving it to the friend of the friend's kids.

Rebecca - Hows your bub going? Sometimes I'd prefer to have the stationary Jensen back. Just put him on a mat and watch him play while I hang out the washing, that sort of thing. Now, the edge of the mat gets pulled closer and the grass is fair game. I bought some BabyLegs from one of the BellyBelly girls websites called The Nappy Bucket. They work really well, his knees are no longer splotchy from the itchy carpet. HTH

Molly - Don't wish away those 6wks, whatever you do! I'm back at work already (have been back at work 2days a week since the last week of November and don't want to be!) AF returned for me in Dec, just after I returned to work. We were still having the same amount of feeds (the few I missed were made up by pumping, but according to my body - just not the same thing.) Least she's regular and at the same intervals and dates as before pg. That was gorgeous what your son said.

Lisa - We've been giving Jens some pureed chicken. Loves that! I do need to start some meat, so let me know how you go. :)

Misty - Hope the Malaysia trip is going well!

Sara - Congrats on the Doula job!!! Was it interesting to see it from a different perspective?

Rhiannon - Re: Where are you going to put the rubbish bin? Yeah we have the same problem. We have a large shop vac and it seems to have a baby magnet in it, it's what he goes for the most when he's on that side of the lounge.


Well, in a previous post, I mentioned that we'd been to the health nurse on Wednesday. I mentioned that both my MIL and myself were worried that he wasn't gaining weight. We weighed him and in a month he'd actually lost 5grams. She told me not to worry. I have to go back in about a week and a half to have him weighed again to see how things are going. I also mentioned to her that we are having bf problems. It seems a few days before 7mths, Jensen's been having trouble feeding. He looks like he's sucking really hard and not getting much for his efforts. So we swap to the other side, and there's a little more reward, but not for long so we swap back (in the past this has seemed to help the let down on each side). This mainly seems to happen in the late afternoon and bed feeds. Night feeds are not a problem - drinks like a champ. I fed him at the nurse and she's said that maybe my milk has dropped off and he's not getting what he needs, which may also be why he still feeds so often thru the night. She's recommeded comp formula feeding at the last feed to fill his tummy. Seems to work no problem. Only now, I find that even during the day the milk supply is waning and occasionally I have to give him a bottle. I feel terrible that I have to give him a formula feed (and thats not being mean to the formula mothers) and I'm letting him down some how. Nurse has suggested some Blessed Thistle supplements that may help to boost my supply. Has anyone had any success with these?

Also, to those bf bubs with teeth, how do you stop the chomp?

We're off to a friend of a friend's place to pick up all his old baby stuff he no longers needs!! Woo hoo! Free stuff. :)

Have a great easter day!

Hope everyone had a lovely Easter.

We had to have an egg for Ella, because Myles went looking in Ella's room to see what the Easter Bunny had left for her. We didn't give Ella any chocolate though - don't you just love it when others choose what your baby eats!! My Mother was good,she asked if Ella had flour yet before giving her some of her scone.

I struggled through breakfast with my MIL, who asked how much our mortgage was now, and went on about how much it would cost for a funeral (she is 73). Other than that it was good.

I love the photos in yor tickers Kim and Rhianon. It puts a face to the names!!
Wow, you two are thinking about baby no 2 - I couldn't imagine having them so close. My SIL has a 19mth old son, and he drives me crazy (doesn't listen and gets into everything) and I am actually dreading Ella getting to 18months but they tell me girls are different. Goodluck to both of you!!!

Rhianon, if you do try the thistle, can you let me know please. I think my milk is dwindling (I haven't had a day rest in weeks and am feeding 2 -4 times a night) and I think tiredness is contributing. DH is even saying to give Ella a cup of formula before bed, because she just doesn't seem to settle. I tried giving her a cup of it this morning with her vegemite toast but she wouldn't drink it. she prefers water. Thanks for the suggestions about the baby legs, I have been contemplating getting some but couldn't find a local website.

Campari - well done on baby proofing the house. In a way, try and enjoy Milla not being clingy - she is just so busy exploring now. Does she have cuddles at bedtime?

Talk later, little Miss is awake..

Hi all,

I don't get to post very often. But at least I can keep up.

Scone, I've seen those babylegs, and xavier does have leggins that he wears sometimes, but the carpet burn is because it's too hot to actually put anything on his legs. I'm sure it will reduce once it cools down and he wears pants all the time.

Molly, Xavier has been waking lots at night, and demanding food, I think it's got a little to do with him not getting enough food during the day.

gotta go, the boy is awake

Hey girls,

Sorry this is gonna be a me post, got lots to do

DH has a new job!!!! it is building frames for shopping centres and it is an hour away so we are looking to move closer to my parents coz it is near their house.

Em is crawling and is 8.5kg. I am so proud of her. she is wearing a cloth nappy for the first time coz i have decided to save some money.

Hi Girls!!

WOW its been quiet in here. I've been quiet but around.

Kim - Glad to hear the Hayden is doing well. Bit rude of your DH to do that behind your back! My MIL lives with us so if she is home while Brent is looking after the girls he normally palms them off to her!!! Lazy pr*ck!

Ali - Em is growing lovely now is'nt she! Great to hear!

Bec - How are you and Xav going hun??? You've been as quiet as me in here! Life is busy is'nt it!

Mollygirl - Glad your easter was ok. Equally good to hear your survived brekky with your MIL! ;) Have you tried Fenugreek tabs for your breastmilk supply. I took 1 tablet and my milk flooded in!!! And your meant to take them 3 times a day! I would have had cannonballs on my chest had i have went with that!

Hi to everyone else! Sorry to cut it short....girls are fighting!! :wall:

I will try and keep up with you all now!!!

Take Care!

Hi Everyone

It is soo quiet in here! I don't know about you but I don't always get the e-mails of the posts.

Alioops - well done with the nappies, good on you. I think they are a great idea but just can't get myself organised. Congrats to DH for the job. I hope that it is good news that you are moving closer to your parents. Congrats for Emma's progress. :clap:

Sara, how are your studies and doula training going? Thanks for the suggestion on fenugreek tabs. I think we are ok at the moment but will keep an eye on it.

Kim - :wall: I think DH are just on a different wavelength to us and don't understand about MIL. It's funny because I find that most of the time DH's don't really know what is happening with the babies and everything is up to us, packing the car for a trip, knowing when the next nappy change is etc, but seem to be able to make quite big decisions like who is looking after them without discussing it with us first yet can't decide to change a nappy or what to feed them. My DH also doesn't understand why I don't want his mother doing his washing and ironing.... Good luck with the course, hope it goes well and Hayden behaves for his carer.

Scone, how is Jensen going with his weight? Ella has NO TEETH YET!! But as for chomping, with Myles, my Mum told me to pat him on the bottom and say no in a stern voice. He did it once and never again. Have to be careful not to react so they think it is a game. I was reading babylove the other day and remember it said to take them off the breast and not feed for a little while after they do it. don't know how practical that is.

Bec - what is Xavier having during the day? Are you back at work, could be he just wants comfort from you. Hope it has improved in the last week. let us know how you are going.

Ella is eating more food during the day now so is only waking twice at night which is a nice change. She is having three meals a day - cereal for breakfast, yoghurt for lunch and vegies for dinner.

Even though Ella is feeding less I am so tired, DH thinks it is because of daylight saving, but I just have this overwhelming feeling of fatigue, in my legs particularly and I haven't been exercising. Yesterday at 3pm I just couldn't keep my eyes open and had to have a nap, even though Ella was up. I just closed the safety gates to the kitchen and laundry and laid on the lounge. Lucky Myles was at daycare. I cannot leave those two alone, he is too rough with her and I would never forgive myself if something happened to my prescious girl. (I feel more bonded with Ella than I did with Myles but that might be because I thought I was going to lose her at 16 weeks when I lost almost half my amniotic fluid).

I have had a look at Flylady on the web, but now I feel like I am cleaning and washing everyday and don't relax. I am just going to put up with a messier, dirtier house and spend more time relaxing with the kids.

Sorry for the long post, needed to let some steam off.

Take care everyone.:)
MG

Just popping in while at work.

Been MIA for a while now, sorry.

Molly, I know what u are describing and yeah you shld def. try and do with a dirtier house (although that sometimes stresses you more esp. if you can't handle mess!). Re. the fatigue feeling, I was like that a few weeks back and I figured I was low in iron so started on multivitamins, plenty of b12 because we're not big red meat eaters at my place and also fish oil. Both my colleague and I were like this (we're both mums with youngin's) so she started the same regime too. It's made SO MUCH difference in about a fortnight for both of us.

I'm walking to the train station which takes me 20 mins each morning instead of just walking around the corner to catch the bus. These small things have made a HUGE difference in getting rid of that lethargy. Bonus is I also have more energy for my DH at the end of the day. Oh and drink water, water and more water.

That's all from me for now. Back to work. Hope everyone is doing well.

sonia

Sonia - thanks for the advice - I really do think it could be iron and dehydration. Too busy cleaning to look after myself. :lol:

Will try what you said and see how I go, and let you know. Last night I took Elevit again, because it is in the cupboard and funny thing was that DH said it could be iron last night too.

I know a couple of you were losing weight - how are you going???

Hey everyone!
Had to jump in and agree with Kim and Molly - My DH is the same - he is a great dad in that he plays with Milla, will walk her in the pouch if she's ratty in the afternoons, he'll read to her, sing to her... all that fun stuff which people see and would think "wow, he's such a good dad", BUT, he never would pack her nappy bag before we go out, he doesn't know what time her sleeps are (she is on a vague routine, and I try to make our outings fit around it if possible) - he is happy to feed her her dinner, but its me who has cooked everything, and learnt all about what foods she can eat at what stage! Someone once said to me that babies are always going to be a mothers mental responsibility, meaning that even if we go out for two hours, we are responsible for them in that time in that we are worrying whether they are feeding / sleeping / nappy changed, whereas dads can go out all day and never have to consider all that.

I go back to work two days a week in August, and there is a chance that DH will be working part time or working a bit from home, and he will look after Milla on those two days. I don't think he would ever be able to do as much as I can during the day.... I certainly dont keep the house spotless (far from it!), but I also seem to be cleaning up mess all day, and even doing the dishes is hard when you have a baby crawling around... I prepare loads of food for Milla that is in the freezer, and I do the groceries, and mostly I cook our dinner or at least prep everything so DH just has to turn on the stove or cook the meat on whatever... Bring on Mothers Day, and lots of spoiling for all of us I say!!!

Milla is crawling everywhere and is already pulling herself up on the couch and coffee table. We also have this great inflatable pool that we have inside (with no water).. she was always really happy to sit in it and play with her toys, but now she can climb in and out of it, so I have nowhere to leave her even when I go to the loo. I have to plonk her down on the bathroom floor while I pee, and hope that she doesn't escape too far, but I think its a good thing for toilet training down the track, as she loves to sit and watch me on the toilet, and she smiles so much!!! Sorry for TMI there!!

Still just the two teeth, but I think more wont be too far away as we have had some shocking nights recently. She has slept through a couple of times, but I know not to get my hopes up, as its never been twice in a row.

She's eating really well. We have just started on some chicken (mashed up with pumpkin and broccoli, she loved it!) , and also tried some cous cous, which she loved too. I was a bit worried about wheat, but now she's 7 months I guess its OK. I haven't given her bread yet, but she eats rusks til they are a soggy little stump in her hand.

I am still waiting for a return of AF. Is this normal, to go 7 months without it?? I know its all to do with breastfeeding and hormone levels etc... I dont want to completely stop BF for at least another year yet. I am not planning on TTC #2 til next year, but it would be nice to know that my body still worked! But I guess I shouldn't complain, its been nice not to have AF that's for sure!

Better stop typing before this turns in to a novel.

:) Rhi

Hey All!!

Molly - We had a choc bunny for Jensen, tho it was just for show. Might see if I can upload some photos into the bellybelly photo section... Well, we were thinking about #2, but I decided the other day that I want to wait til Jensen is almost 3, so we can enjoy the baby time with him. Friends of mine have just had their 2nd babies, and my sister is pg too, and I'm clucky - but remember the nightmare colic that Jensen had and it's just too recent. So, it's been put off til 2010 - dh says if I'm lucky. haha :rolleyes: I did try the Blessed Thistle, and does seem to work. I haven't been taking it 3 times a day, like it says - only when I remember, but have been doing that for about a week and have only had to feed a bedtime formula feed once in that time.:confetti: He still fights and fights, but he eventually gets what he needs.
Telling Jensen no at biting me doesn't work :) He just looks at me with a blank expression then comes out with a huge grin. I hold back as long as I can but end up having look away as it's infectious! It doesn't happen often, so I'll try again :)

Kim and Molly - I discuss a lot of issues with my MIL, like finances. Then again, we rent their house! Things might change on that front, but they are having the same money troubles as us, so its not so bad, i guess. Is a bit rude when they just want to know for the sake of knowing tho.

Ali - CONGRATS on DH's job! Being closer to your parents will make it easier on you too (if you wanted - iykwim) Woo hoo on the Cloth Nappies! They're great, aren't they? The downsides are the dirty ones, but I actually enjoy him wearing them (too cute!), cleaning and hanging them on my clothes line. Are you using the fitted type ones or just the terry squares?

Kim - How did the shopping go? OMG about your DH. Maybe organise something with your parents first ? As soon as we plan something it goes on the calendar on the fridge, as my DH seems to always be in there! When I read your post the other night re: wriggly wire... I had no idea what you were on about. When I re-read it then, it make perfect sense! I haven't shown Jensen one of those yet, coz he doesn't sit still long enough anymore. Re: dh's "no-one told me". Makes you wonder who he thinks told you! DH's excuse to me is you're better at this stuff than I am.... as if I've have x amount of kids and am totally experienced and in control. pfff. Have just as much an idea as he does sometimes.

Sara - I thought my dh would palm Jensen off to his mother, but he does well enough, although when push comes to shove, he'll put a 'sposie on instead of a clothie. Where do you get the Fenugreek tablets? I looked everywhere and all I could get was Fenugreek Tea. It sorta did/sorta didn't work - really a waste of time.

Sonia - My house is constantly messy. There's just far too much mess to be picking up every night. I hate mess and couldn't deal with mess and a newborn (all those months ago!) and was doing all myself. I finally burnt out and decided that i should enjoy time with Jens while I can. Ppl understand what having a child is like, so I'm not too fussed. The place isn't overly messy, but enough to notice. hth. Congrats on the walking. I have to get out!

Wow, this is huge already, so I'll be quick. On Wednesday, he'd put on a nice 435g in a fortnight, so we're all v pleased. So Jensen is 7520g, 67cm and slowly making his way into '0' sized clothing. He is into EVERYTHING atm, but the things that seem to be the most interesting are the ones in behind doors(ie: the tv unit doors that you can't see thru - he worked out how to open them) and anything thats on a table. Toys on the floor are yesterdays news. Prefers to be at the safety gate, pulling himself forward and backwards, calling out down the hallway to no-body. He pulls himself up on things and just in the last week, has started letting go while standing up. Hasn't quite worked out moving from furniture to furniture, but can move along the one he's standing at. Health nurse seems to think he'll be walking by 8mth, mil agrees. However thats only 2wks away and if he's going to walk early, imo it will be before 9mths, not 8. Does anyone have any tips on getting him to self settle at home? At MIL, put him in his portacot when he's tired enough and he does it himself... :wall:

Work is giving me the stuff around atm. It's not something that I should talk about in this thread, so I'll post it somewhere else... look out for it!

Dh's Nan passed away this morning so this has taken my mind off that sorta thing for now. Thank you for listening. Hope all is well.
Ren and Jens

Rhi - you posted as I posted so I missed replying you. AF for me returned at 3mths as I went back to work. I was still expressing, but it wasnt the same thing for my body. It still comes on the same day and for the same length of time ('cept this month don't know what happened there). Jensen has always been a play-by-himself kinda baby, so I just leave him in the loungeroom (there's nothing that he can get to that he shouldn't) and off I go. Even down to hang the washing on the line and put another on, but have been taking him down with me so that he gets a taste of the outdoors.

My DH would have no idea what to get me for mothers day... so I've said a years subscription to BellyBelly! I'm sure its gone in one ear and out the other for now, so will let him know closer to the date!

Scone - we are using fitted pockets. terry flats are only good for spew rags in this house lol. i dont have the patience to learn how to fold terry so it doesn't leak.

It will be wonderful to live near my parents (well mum moreso). we looked at a house on thursday evening, and faxed off the application yesty. i really like that house and it is walking distance from DH's new job. and we can have our cat there! she has been living with my parents since we got married! i miss her.

My girls are both sick. Sarah is sleeping in our bed atm and has been for about 2 hours and em is playing in her cot but she wants to get out. she whinges occasionally. so hope neither of us gets it coz we both need to be well for work! argh why do they have to get sick at such a busy time! we really need this to be as stress free as possible!

re taking bubs to the toilet - it is a good idea to take them with you coz it teaches them how to use the loo and makes it easier when they are toilet training. Sarah usually comes in with me so that em is safer :lol:

Yeah, I take Ella into the toilet sometimes, or leave her in the lounge room but only if DS not home so he can't hurt her (accidently).

With AF, I got it at 10 mths with DS so disappointed I got it last month with Ella but it was so short and light. Enjoy not having it while you can!

Scone, Myles was about 2.5 when Ella arrived which was quite good, but as he got closer to 3 things got easier, especially once he was toilet trained. Congrats on Jensen's weight. You must be relieved.

Kim - good luck for April.

I think Ella is finally getting a tooth, it is really red and she has red cheeks. Will keep you posted.

Is it bad if they have wheat now? Ella has vegemite toast and quite likes it.

I love hearing about what the other bubs are getting up to. The only cute thing Ella does at the moment is growl, everyone finds it a bit off putting, sounds like she is possessed. It is a real animal sound.

Have a great weekend all.

I've been quietly lurking around - not alot to report, except rotten sleepless nights :( I think (hope) its the top teeth coming down....

Molly - I love the growling too. Milla does the exact same thing. She isn't much of a talker, like we don't get the ma-mas or ba-bas, just real throaty growls, or squeals. I think Milla is more of an active sporty type than a linguist!!! She is already standing on all the furniture and taking steps to reach the remote if its further along the couch (her fave toy)

Ali- did you get the house you applied for? Sounds great, so I hope you did. I hope moving wont be too disruptive for the girls... are they good sleepers ATM? I am obsessed with sleep...!

Scone - did you get your work stuff sorted out? How many days are you working now? I have been "negotiating" with my boss too... its a bit daunting. And is Jensen walking now as predicted my the nurse???!! He sounds pretty similar to Milla - she doesn't go between pieces of furniture yet either. Milla is also pretty happy playing by herself if I get her started, but if she is tired or hungry, or has just woken up, then I need to be down on the floor being more interactive with her. I cant leave her while I hang out the washing cause I've been very slack with baby-proofing and she would just eat everything like books, powerpoints and dvd-players... I need to move more stuff. She's not in to her toys either - the remote, our phone, and books are her preffered things lately. I have a photo of her sitting on the floor "reading" the dictionary. Very cute.

I am at my wits end about her BFs. She is being a horror. Days are OK now, after a period where she wasn't interested. She was down to just one feed at night at around 3am, which was great. But lately she has been waking at 10pm and screaming the house down. She wont settle for DH, and even if I give her cuddles she isn't happy until she gets a BF. Same thing happening at 12 or 1am. I am trying to cut back the night feeds, or rather trying to get her to settle to sleep without a feed. I'm sure she can't be hungry, if she is eating chicken and vegies for dinner, and then having a decent breastfeed before bed at 7pm. I guess she is a bit addicted to the boob... Any suggestions anyone? I've tried giving her water from her sippy cup at night, which she drinks, but she still wont go back to sleep despite being desperately tired. I am at my wits end and am contemplating a bottle of formula at bed time so I know that she can't possibly be hungry?? Have any of you BF mums done that? Or do you think I should just use EBM?

I would so love a big all-night sleep. I neeeeed it so bad!

nounfortunately we didn't gett he house, looking at another on saturday morning. MIL will take the girls for the day while we move.

ALI - sorry to hear about the house, fingers crossed for the one on Saturday.

Campari - nice to see you are back! I feel exactly the way you do about the night feeds! I am in the same boat, feeding at 8pm, 11pm, 3am currently, no matter what is eaten or bf during the day it seems. Poor DH on Tuesday night, I went out for dinner with Mother's group and fed her at 6pm, left at 6.30pm, then she woke at 8pm, screamed for 45 minutes and then sat up with DH until I got home at 10pm, had a bf and went straight to sleep. I am going to Matchbox 20 concert next Thursday and he is preparing for the screaming again. He can't seem to settle her and I can't settle her without a bf.

I spoke to the Nurse about it on Wednesday, and she said that she must be having lots of little drinks during the day and night, (feeding 6-7 times in 24hrs) but probably only equates to 3-4 full feeds. I am finding that DD best feeds are during the night. during the day she has so much to do, not much time for a long feed before she is distracted.

My main concern is that I go back to work on May 1, and whilst yesterday I managed to get DD to only bf on waking, a little at lunch and before bed (I need my body to get used to only a few feeds whilst I am at work all day 3 days pw) so she ate alot during the day, she really had big feeds during the night still and I am going to be so tired going back to work!!!

Unfortunately I don't have any suggestions. This coincided with Ella getting her first tooth, FINALLY! So I don't know if it will settle down, but my gf in BNE is having the same with her DS who is only 5 days younger than Ella.

To be honest, my DS didn't sleep during the night until he weaned himself at 10mths and went onto a cup of formula before bed - if you want to try that don't be hard on yourself because it may be the best thing for you and your DD. My DH said as he left for work this morning that I should try and get Ella to drink formula in a cup more so he can feed her. I'm a bit lazy but also I like bf and don't want it to stop altogether, so am willing to keep going at least until I go back to work.

I think you would have to be consistent and not give in to bf (before bed) for at least 3 days to see if it would work which could involve a lot of crying. But if you have got to that point and a prepared to do that, then go for it.

I think that you could try EBM, at least you would know how much she was getting, and if that didn't work, go for formula in the cup/bottle, that is if you have the energy for expressing. I think formula fills them up a bit more.

Sorry for the long post - goodluck and let me know what you decide/try. Having read this, I think I will talk to DH about him giving Ella cup of formula if she wakes during the night, over the Anzac Day long weekend and see how that goes. Then he won't be too tired for work the next day.

Thanks for your huge reply Mollygirl! I think Ella and Milla are reading the same "how to annoy my parents the most" book ! Our nights sound very similar indeedy.

I ended up buying sachets of formula to try before bed. I will try to express some for future top-ups, as you said, that way I know how much she is drinking, but am a bit too exhausted to express ATM. I want to continue BF as long as possible (til she is at least 18 months or so, ideally)... but wont beat myself up about a little formula now that she has been exclusively BF for all this time. Am thinking maybe my supply has dropped a little.. will have to work on that as well with some fenugreek etc. Anyway. She refused a bottle, which is to be expected since she hasn't been offered one for a few months. Tried the sippy cup, but she refused that as well (despite loving it during the day when all it has in it is water!) So, she survived on just boobies again, and it wasnt TOO bad. I dreamfed her at 10, then she slept til 2.20, and needed a feed, then til 5:00, and I just bring her in to our bed then, and she fed again. With the leftover formula I just added it to her breakfast this morning.... Its awful, cause I hate the thought that she is hungry, but like Ella, Milla rarely has a good feed during the day. I am sure she would have self-weaned already if I hadn't been so persistent in trying to feed her - like going to a dark, quiet room, bouncing her on the swiss ball while feeding her, and singing! If I were to let her solely demand feed, I think she would just feed at night, and maybe once at midday or so.

I weighed her yesterday too, and she has only put on 100g in four weeks, so she is 7.55kg. I know its normal for them to slow down a bit, but I dont want her to get too skinny! She's loving all her solids, so I guess I will just have to fatten her up that way... But its catch 22, cause the more solids they get, the less BM they want, and then she'll want her BM quota at night!

It must be hard for you to be worrying about going back to work in May already :( I have to go back part-time in August, and already am wondering what to do re. feeds. I have to get in to expressing, I just really suck at it (pardon the pun!)....

When your DS weaned himself at 10 months, did you give him formula in a sippy cup all through the day, or just at bedtime? Did he just keep refusing the boob, or did he cut back gradually? I can see Milla self weaning off day feeds, but still wanting night feeds... crazy little nocturnal monkey that she is.

well, she is asleep at the moment, and so is DH.... I might make me a cup of tea and sit outside on the deck and relax a bit... then get stuck in to some cleaning ... urghhh. Got visitors this arvo.

Hello to everyone else, and hope you are all getting more sleep than me and Mollygirl!!

Rhi x

Hi all just dropping in to say hi,

Don't seem to have much time on my hands latley.

Hope all are well,

Bye

Everyone - how many sleeps are your babies having now? I have noticed Ella is doing: gets up 6am, bed 7.30am-9am, bed 12noon - 2pm and bedtime 6pm. Any suggestions on getting her to stay up later????


Rhi - you are right, they are both reading the same book. Ella loves water in the sippy cup but turns her nose up at formula. I told DH he should be the one to try that more.

Sorry to everyone else not interested in BF information.

Because I am going back to work, I actually don't mind that Ella is feeding more at night now, I have been giving her more solids during the day and she is just have a little suck at lunchtime, so that my body isn't used to feeding much during the day and now she is having her 3-4 a day with 2 -3 bf at night. Some nights it is not too bad, when I go back to sleep straight away (sometimes I lay awake for 2 hours) but DH is worried how I will cope being at work and being tired. We'll have to wait and see. Given that I will be tired I may not have much milk and she might wean, unfortunately. Ella is putting on about 500g in 6 weeks, so not much either but then she spends all day crawling and standing and is way too busy to bf. The nurse wasn't worried.

To answer your questions:
When your DS weaned himself at 10 months, did you give him formula in a sippy cup all through the day, or just at bedtime? Did he just keep refusing the boob, or did he cut back gradually?

I had been back at work 5-6 hours a day (just missing one feed) for 3-4 months when he weaned and my days had been getting longer and he had been drinking formula from a sippy cup a little during the day (they don't drink as much as bf) and on the day he weaned it was a sudden thing. He fed at 4pm when I got home from work then at 6pm he wouldn't feed again (or anytime after) and kept crying and wouldn't have a bf. Eventually I worked out he was hungry so gave him ff in a cup and he slept through the night from then on! So it was a sudden thing and I got mastitis even though I expressed. I got AF for the first time at the same time so I thought the taste might have changed or something???

You are doing a great job, and have given her a great start and even though it is sad when they wean, it also brings a sense of freedom (for me anyway). I am still hoping to get to 12months but will take each day as it comes.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Hey all!!

Using the loo - despite where I am, I use the parents room toilets, if I have Jensen with me. It's a tad difficult when you have no pram, but for now, it's all we can do ! :) TMI - Andrew has started showing him how men use the toilet. We are sorta trying toilet training, but it's a bit difficult coz he's young. We have had success in waiting 5-10 mins after an arvo nap, onto the potty and voila! But the looks and comments I get from saying that we've started.... it's too much for me to deal with so it only seems to be at home and at nana's that we do this. Today he stood up holding onto the couch, looked at DH grabbed his nappy, looked around, concentrated, looked back at DH and then went about his day... Turns out he wet himself. I think he might sorta know whats going on...?

Very relieved with Jensens weight. The health nurse seems to think that its not the food that puts on his weight, the calories in the milk is.

:

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I never thought about having to keep older siblings away from the younger ones if you leave the room, but I guess this becomes instinctive. I wouldn't let Hayden near newborns without me close enough to stop him pulling their hair or crawling over them.

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- newborns?? I can't stop Jensen from trying to crawl OVER the other babies the same age at mothers group...

Work.... grr, not a good topic atm. I'm nervous about going in, and especially tomorrow (monday) as I called my boss on Friday to see if he'd be in so I could have a chat to him and he said yes coz he wants to have chat with me.... Not sure if it's good news or bad news. So, for now, I still work 2 days a wk, Monday and Wednesday 730-230. Fingers crossed for me tomorrow that things work out for the best....

BF at night Rhi - Jensen is the same... I can pretty much time the first wake up to the minute. 1130pm. It used to be only 2 feeds a night, but it's back up to 3. I've been told to offer water instead of a bf, but he wont take it during the day, let alone at night. I have given a ff at night when my milk was dwindling in the afternoon. IT seemed to help when I bought some blessed thistle tabs and took them. Havent' had to ff at night for awhile now. Formula should fill Milla up. pff... well I say that, but regardless of bf or ff, he still woke the same. Hopefully, its not the case for you. I find that Jensen wont take a bottle from me, but plonk him with anyone else with the same bottle... hey presto!

I am so over Jensen waking 3times a night. Sometimes it's just for a cuddle, but others its a full feed. Been thinking about a referal to a sleep centre coz it's crazy... Even if it's just down to once a night, that would be a god-send.

Congrats on the tooth Molly!

Hows things going Becca?

Jensen seems to be showing the teething signs (not that there were any last time) again. He has been really clingy and doesn't let me out of his sight. With all the free clothes that we got from a friends kids, finally all washed, I now have to fold them and put them away, but omg there's no time coz busy body is just that... busy... Left him with DH, in the lounge room - I was up the hallway, yesterday. But DH got (and this sounds worse than it is) trashed by 9am. Jensen just played on his own, but who knows what could have happened if I wasn't there.

Hope things work out with this other place Ali...

Sorry this was long, just had to pop in before hanging out the washing and putting a stereo on DH's car.

All the best,
Ren and Jensen

Scone - keep going with the TT - don't worry about others. If you can do it early, why not? My MIL tells me my DH was toilet trained by 1! Just try and tune them out.
Goodluck with work, I cannot imagine how hard it has been going back before now, so well done to you!

Kim - fingers crossed for you. I'm sorry I don't know about what you are going through, just wish you all the best.
Thanks for the advice on why they are waking. I think Ella does wake up more if I leave the house at some point, whether day or night and I am not there when she wakes up. She's not too clingy, but seems to want to know I am around.

I think another tooth is coming (2nd bottom tooth) and she is just grumbly. It doesn't help when I find her brother has put a toy down the back of her jumpsuit this morning. That made her cry.

Good luck Kim !!! That must be so exciting. Because Milla was a suprise for us, we are actually looking forward to "trying" for #2 (later this year, not just yet), just so we can experience that excitement and anxious wait (and I am sure, our share of disappointments too...) Anyway - all the best, and make sure you keep us posted! Is it a lot easier this time around, if they already have the frosties?? Thanks for your advice re sleeping too. I definitely think Milla is being a bit more clingy... not cuddly, but just wanting only me, and not DH etc. She still wriggles away everytime we want a cuddle, unless its at 2am in the morning...

Good luck with Ella's tooth Molly... I think they normally come pretty close together (there was only a few days in between Milla's bottom two). We're still waiting for the top ones, and I think I can see them.

As for formula/night sleeps... well. Milla just refuses formula entirely. I am secretly relieved that she doesn't love it more than boobies :) We've tried different temperatures, different brands, and different cups, and DH tried all these as well as me, but she just wont drink it. I've put it on weetbix for her, just to use it up, since I spent $8 on different sachets. So, I have given up on the formula idea, and my new scheme, which we began today, is to wean her off the dummy. I think half the time she is waking at night looking for her dummy. She's just gone down for her second day sleep without it, with no protests (but she was dog tired, she nearly fell asleep in her high chair). We're going cold turkey, I'll keep you posted.

Scone, that's great about TT, and I would keep going and ignore all the comments. I think about plonking Milla on the loo sometimes too, cause she ALWAYS does a wee on the floor as soon as I take her nappy off before her bath (we let her have naked time for ten mins or so before the bath, and she just crawls around the wooden floor, does a wee and then tries to lick it... lovely, I know!!)
I hope Jensen's sleep improves for you too.... Maybe this 8 month stage is just a bad sleep period, lots of our bubs are pretty restless... Are you going to try sleep school? When Milla was 10 weeks I took her to Bubba Hush for a day-stay, and the lady was great at identifying the problem back then (was wind, fixed instantly by Brauers), BUT< she advised me to use the dummy, and didn't really spell out when I should stop, and that damn dummy has been ruining our sleeps lately... Are there other sleep schools in Brisbane that you've heard of? I think I'll persevere with Milla without going to one, but you never know, I could get desperate. I just really don't want to CC.

Hope the rest of you are all well!

Cheerio :)

Hi all,

Xavier started crawling today!!!

Molly, bubs on bf really slow down with weight gain around this age, so it's not that strange to only gain 500gm in 6 weeks. The graphs you find in the back of your mch book are based on ff babies.

Scone, I'm good thanks, Xavier has been doing some pretty mental sleeping. I found the last time was from cutting a tooth, we woke every 2 hours. Arrgh. But after a lot of trial and error, I introduced regular morning and arvo tea, and that has really helped. Re toilet training, Zofia in the July thread has been tt since birth for her little lady, and it is really amazing how well they are doing. Just foolow your gut, he's your child.

Kim, Xavier is doing very well, we have had one hell of a wild ride, with very little sleep, but he is now sitting, has two bottom teeth that have broken the gum, he started crawling today. We hear a lot of Da Da da da da's but very few Ma ma ma's. He goes to swimming lessons every Saturday and really enjoys them. He is becoming very cleaver, and just seems to know things, like he tries to put shapes into holes.
Good luck with your cycle.
Xavier was very windy a few weeks ago, I decided that he wasn't quite ready for yoghurt then, and took him off it, he stoped the feral farts. now a month later, we are back on yoghurt and going strong. I also found that a bit of infants friend helped.

Campari, I let Xavier have his nappy free time after his bath. I figure, if he's going to wee, he's more likley to do it in a warm bath, then he is less likley to wee on the carpet, but lol on the licking it off the floor.

RE us, we are now starting the new house count down. We are scimping and scraping together every little bit we can so we don't have to borrow too much. We have a block of land and are hoping to begin building early next year. So it is all getting pretty exciting. Especially because once the house is here and around when xavier is 2 I will be able to start planning bubba #2!!

Well best be off

Kim - Fingers crossed for you!! Hope things go well! OMG about the dogs! How is Hayden doing now?

Rhi - Good luck with the cold turkey dummy. We really need to do the same thing here. Sleep school - I'm going to hold off for a while, he may just grow out of it. My sister went to one, through her health nurse. I don't know where it was, only that she was there a week.

Becca - Congratulations on Xavier crawling!! It's such an exciting time now that he can get to what he can see. Only now, look out! He'll be into everything! lol :) I agree that BF bubs slow down on the weight gain. Jensen actually lost 5g between 6-7mths. But he's right back up now and is getting a buddha belly. How exciting about the house!

I can hear Jensen having a sook in the loungeroom, so I best be quick... Jensen's caught a cold. After discussing how sick my sisters boy was in his first year, and saying that Jensen's never been sick... What happens? He catches a cold. He's not alway as irritable as I expect, but sometimes he's a nightmare. Snot running from his nose and drool from his mouth (so he can breathe better he breathes thru his mouth) is not a good look. Had a fever of 38.8 the other night, seemed to go down with panadol and huge 1130pm feed of bm. During the day, he wont bf, so, despite the fact I'm a little disappointed he's not feeding from me, he has to drink something.... Most times you don't even know he has a cold - he's just a normal baby up to his good ol' tricks. His new thing is to stand up on his own with out holding onto anything. Frightening to see as you see all his babyness gone and this little toddler boy grinning stupidly back at you. Makes your heart melt too. :)

WORK.... Well I went in Monday and I needed to have chat to my boss. I got to my desk and there was work in my tray!! Woo hoo!! Only as I thought that the other girl, without looking up from her work, says don't bother doing that work, its for someone else. So I sat there. Then she snaps and says to open my email and print all the invoicing requests. Ok. I did nothing for a good 30mins waiting for my boss. When I get to speak to him I told him how I've been treated out there (and almost burst into tears), he says he doesn't like the way things are going for him either. We've lost a major client, so a lot a work is gone. He says that he'll have to cut my days down to 1 (from 2). I said thats ok, coz I want the rest of my maternity leave off. He thinks for a second, asks when I'll be back and says yes! Yay for me. Then he asked if I wanted to go then... I said yes and got dh to come back and get me! Best day ever! I did feel guilty for not saying yes to the one day a week, but there's no way that I'm doing 1 day a week and being treated like rubbish on that one day iykwim. So I've given 21 July as my first day back. The boss doesn't know much about maternity leave so he's loooking into it, as the boss that was there when I left told me that my job would open for 12 months, so I'm expecting to go back into my job.... we'll see how that goes.

Well, DH is waiting for me to get my gear together so we can go fix someones car..

Have a great weekend!

Hi!
Kim- We don't actually change the toys around. ATM he's not interested in toys. Far more interesting is where he can get to by pulling himself up. With walking.... He'll be walking shortly we can tell! He tries to stand on his own (from squatting to standing or letting go of what he's holding onto). Also, for a long time (and I'm not trying to exaggerate) stand him on his feet, let him hold my fingers and he'll walk me! He used to hate his walker (he's not in it for long coz when he was younger he had a problem with muscle tension) but loves it now coz he can get places on his own by walking. Last week he discovered that he can (somehow) lift the wheels of the walker over the stuff keeping the lino to the floor and over the foam alphabet. And with coaxing from the top step (2 steps) can crawl up.... Was not impressed when my mother showed me that... Where has my baby gone!? I want the sleep 20hrs a day baby back! Sorry to hear that you have to wait again to do your FET. Hope it goes better for you this time!

Did I tell you?? Now that FIL has his mothers will (she passed away two weeks ago) we have to move in with the PIL. It's not a problem, I get along great with MIL, just don't know if it'll save me any money - flat broke with more bills than money. I'm stressing out.:crying:

Kim
Sorry to hear about postponing FET - hope the time goes quick for you.
We don't change our toys over either, we have them in a big basket from Ikea and she pulls it down and pulls them out. Mostly though, like the other babies, Ella doesn't play with toys, she normally goes looking for things to pull herself up on or climb onto (or things to chew on like Hot Wheels cars). Myles wasn't a climber so it is weird for us to see her try and climb on top of everything, Myles' big playdoh container, his Little People Garage (which she doesn't fit on btw), and his wooden chair, not to mention the washing baskets which I think are the favourite, plus the two stairs to the study. The worse thing is that she just goes forward to climb off, and has hit her head on the tiles where I moved the playdoh container to, I just forgot to shut the gate so she couldn't get through, it was such a big thud.

I don't know what you can do about the toilet, put a couple of bath toys on the floor and hope he will play with them? Who am I kidding - Ella has to climb on Myles' step in the bathroom or touch his toilet seat (disgusting!!!). I hope the germs help their immune system.

Campari - how are you going with the dummy and sleeping?
I dropped Myles at a friend's place,and being 12 gave Ella a bf and put her to bed. I am meant to pick up Myles at 1.30, and she only went to sleep at 1pm!!!!! Damn.

Scone - congratulations on going back on mat lve! I am so pleased for you - although not great about the client etc, but fantastic you can spend more time with Jensen.
I don't understand why you have to move in with PIL??? Sorry to hear of your DH's loss.

I have put Ella onto only 3 bf a day, and now she feeds 3 in the day and 3 at night. I am so tired. But at least she is eating more solids. She still won't drink formula from a cup.
Has anyone else found that their baby will eat more bought baby food than what they cook? Ella ate a whole jar of Nutrica vegetables and rice and will only eat 5 teaspoons of my chicken, carrot and parsnip mash. I have decided if that is what she likes, I won't bother cooking until she is a bit older and she can have the bought stuff and I will just give her finger food of what we eat where I can.

We are all healthy, although I really need to start taping Brothers and Sisters on Sunday night, I am just so impatient with the kids on Mondays from not enough sleep.

Take care everyone.

I forgot to say I went to the Matchbox 20 Concert on Thursday night and it was fantastic.

DH was a gem looking after Ella who screamed for an hour after I left, eventually went to sleep only to wake at 10pm and crawled around quite happily until finally going to sleep about 11.30pm. I got home just after midnight with full bb and she didn't even wake up until 4.30am for a feed.

DH said she did this thing where she cried for a bit and then looked at the door to her room to see if I was coming/there. Has been a little clingy but not to bad since I abandoned her for the night.

I am really lucky DH just copes, even though he had a presentation on Friday. Mind you I did tell him to try formula in a cup a few weeks before hand but he wouldn't listen.

Kim - we were row 14 on the floor at the concert, it was sooo good.

I agree with the grobags, expensive but worth it, and I am using Myles' ones for Ella now, because they do such a wide age span (6mths to 18mths and 18mth to 3yrs) you will probably get to use them with No 2 no matter what season they are born in. I have two for each winter season, and one for summer (in case of leaks).

Well, just popped in with some updates. Weighed Jensen myself yesterday and 2wks ago he was 7.4kg and yesterday was 7.2kg. Maybe coz he's so active? Because of his cold he's not eating as much? He's had his cold since sunday last week (not sunday just gone). Today, while we were at mothers group, he threw up and covered his whole shirt in mush banana and milk. Then again on my shirt, although not as much. Temp is 36.0. Hopefully the doctor will tell me whats going on tomorrow at his appt.

RE: moving in with the in-laws. The house we rent is actually owned by DH's father. We rent off them, while they were living in DH's parents live with FIL's mother - it's her place. (not too confused yet? ;) ) Now that she has passed away, the will says that everything must be evenly divided between her boys (there's only 2). So either her house has to be sold to give the uncle his share of the inheritance, or this place has to be sold so they can stay in Nan's house - which boots us out. OR the 3rd option is to do some sort of loan thing and get real tennants in to pay off the loan which would pay out the uncle..... Either plan B or C will be put into action. However, we just do not have the money to stay here as the real tennants (coz the rent would go up) and we don't have the money to buy and pay back a loan. So we're moving in with the PIL.

I was wondering, of those who are BF, is anyone elses baby sometimes refusing the breast regardless of how starving thirsty they are ? Jensen will have a few sucks at one side, so me thinking that thats got nothing left swap him over then he does the same thing. Try that for about 10 mins, trying to hold up tight coz he just pushes his whole body weight away. Make a bottle, whether warm cold or hot and he just takes it. But first thing in the morning and last at night (and thru the night) BF is not a problem... WDID? I'll post a thread in the BF section, but do you think he's trying to wean?

Hope everyone's well.

Scone, are you sure it is not just the let down? I noticed with Ella she will suck for a bit, then come off, then suck for a bit (she seems like she wants to get down) but then I can feel the let down and she goes on and stays on. The let down takes longer now, and particularly towards the end of the night I have less milk (she is waking every 3 hours during the night). My nurse says they just want to keep moving around so want the feed to go quickly.

Also, how many feeds is he having during the day? As they get to 9 months, they may only need 3-4 in 24 hours, I just wish Ella was one of those lol.

If Jensen prefers the bottle there is a chance he prefers that to the bb during the day. Have you rung ABA? They have some ideas for breast refusal, but I don't know what they are, sorry.

Goodluck.

Hi everyone!
I had written a huge post, and then I went to put a new smilie in it, and I lost the whole thing!!!! :doh:

So, just quickly now, as I am running out of time!!!!

YAY to Xavier for crawling! He'll be up on the furniture before you know it...! How is his sleep going? Do you find he wants to feed during the night still, since he's at daycare?

Molly - Thanks for keeping up with Milla and the great dummy removal story! We are getting there, but its kinda two steps forward, one step backwards. She is just too addicted to it to go fully cold turkey, and I can't leave her crying. She doesn't have it all night, maybe just for a minute or two to calm her down if she wakes less than 2 hours since I last fed her. So last night I had to feed her at 10, then DH gave her the dummy for a few minutes when she woke at 11, then I fed her at 2, and then she came in to our bed and fed AGAIN at 4.!!!! Grrrrr. I am hardly getting any sleep these days. Day sleeps are OK, mostly without the dummy, but today she was extra cranky and wouldn't settle at all (despite being tired, I know the signs so well now), so I caved in and gave her the dummy for a few minutes. She doesn't seem to care too much when we pull it out. Trick now is to be able to pull it out BEFORE she is asleep, and so far we haven't been able to do that without serious screaming... I am sure she is teething, she has never been such a bad sleeper as this, and I can see the top teeth just below the gum. Brauers teething relief and bonjela don't make any difference, and I am not going to give her panadol every night just so she sleeps...

Scone - yeah, Milla was exactly the same with BB feeds a while ago, and I was desperately trying everything to keep her day feeds going. She happily feeds all night... I found I really had to persevere, and in the end what worked was going in to her room turning off the lights, bouncing on a swiss ball and singing to her!!! This combined effort distracted her enough to encourage her to feed for more than 30 seconds! She did pass through that phase and now feeds pretty well during the day, so long as no-one talks, makes a noise, turns on the TV... or generally does anything more interesing than a boobie! Milla has never had a bottle (and in fact refused to drink formula from one when I tried to top her up last week). Keep offering, and avoid all distraction, and maybe Jensen will also pass through the refusal phase. I got the ABA booklet, but most of the info is free on their website anyway. I was worried about Millas weight gain over this period too, which was only about 100g in a month. That's why I happily fed her as often as she wanted at night. Now that is killing me, cause she wants to feed all night still, despite feeding at least 4 times properly during the day, AND being a total guts with solids. I am going to weigh her tomorrow..... surely she will have put some more on this month!!! I am hoping for 8kg by her 8 months...

Gotta go, hope I don't lose this post now that it turned back in to a mega one!

I have a dr appt for Jensen today and a health nurse appt in May (seems so far away, was the first available on the 8th!), so I'll discuss with the dr first about the feeding.

Those bubs teething... I have SM-33 Teething Gel, seems to work well. It's behind the counter, so you'll have the ask for it.

Kim - my dh loves Jensen making a mess. He doesn't clean either. Instead of messy fruit, he gives an arrowroot biscuit, which isn't too bad - it keeps him quiet, but if you don't get to cleaning any mess of it up right away, it hardens... Not a good look on wood floors.

Better keep going as I'm trying to clean the house so it looks like someone actually lives here!

hey all,
Scone - how did you go at the Drs? What did they say about Jensen's weight?? I just weighed Milla, and she is 7.72kg, just short of her 8 months, which means she has only put on 100g in the last month again :( I know at least its a gain, but she is dropping down the percentiles more rapidly now... I might try to make an appt with the MCHN too.

Kim - yeah, Milla is the same - she loves her dummy so much. She is asleep now without it, but the night time routine is so much harder to crack. She used to like bonjela, but now she hates me putting it in her mouth. Maybe I'll try that SM-33 stuff Scone uses. Its so hard, when you're not even 100% sure that its the teeth causing the problem. I really want to get rid of the dummy.... DH wants to keep it , but he's not the one getting up at 2, 3, 4, and 5am to stick it back in her mouth!!! We're probably confusing Milla entirely by giving it to her just sometimes, but hopefully we can just gradually get it out of her life!

Her latest trick is to wave at us! Its not only when we say bye-bye or hello yet, but she really waves after we wave to her. And she is doing "high-5" sometimes too, and she loves it when our hands clap together. Also a lot of mammamamamams and bubububububbbas. Especially the mumumumumss when she is cranky for something (like when I leave her in her highchair with an empty spoon while I wash the dishes!) Too cute.

Hope you're all good!

Rhi - Cute pic! The dr says he has got a cold, but basically let it run its course. That what I was going to do anyway :) Good thing I was bulk-billed! About his weight. She weighed him in nothing but a huggies nappy and he was 7.75kg. I didn't think that was too bad until she said that for his age he should be 8.25kg. Pff. She did tell me (like the health nurse said so there must be some truth in it) that because he is so active (she was amazed at how busy he was) that his weight was fine but we have to watch it. There was also some raised lymph nodes in his groin (as there was in Feb) so we have been reffered to a Paed. They take forever to get into, but we had seen one 5mths ago about his muscle tone, so she wrote a letter to give to him. With dropping percentiles... DR measured him as well, said "he's gotten longer" (duh) and the measured his head and then told me it got smaller! So she measured it twice more! Same result. But not to worry coz he's "clearly bright and clever". I'm not worried coz I know it's gotten better. Must be from all the compliments he gets hehe ;)

On Tuesday, Jensen climbed the footstool thing by himself. It's not very big. We were all pretty impressed. He really is too clever for his age (even if I do say so myself :p ). But last night I put dinner on and dh was in the study (upstairs) so I left Jensen in the lounge room and went up stairs and quickly got changed before the rice burnt. I was maybe two mins... if that. I come out of our room and my heart stopped. Here's Jensen at the top of the stairs (there are only 2 normal step height), just lowering his bum on the landing to look at where he'd come from. He was close enough to the edge, so I had to call for DH without calling out too loud to frighten him. Jensen heard me, looked around as DH came out and grinned. I started to freak-out as it finally sunk in what he'd just done when he started crawling towards me. We have a baby gate at the bottom of the stairs, just never shut it coz he only ever played with the gate and never got to the stairs. I am upset that he did it, but proud of him all the same... It really makes it hit home that he's no longer a baby.:crying:

Gotta go, he's awake!

Hi Girls!

suddenly got busy in here again!

Yay on the crawling Xavier

Whoops on the stair climbing Jensen! dont think you will get up there again any time soon!

OMG DH just put Em in Sarah's dolly stroller and let Sarah push her around! that stroller is not designed to hold 8-9kg! GRRRRR DH!!!!!

Em has had Gastro this week, but considering she doesn't have lactose she doesn't get it as bad as the rest of us. but i have not used any of the MCN on her this week coz i dont want them ruined.

Life has been very busy these past few weeks and i was to write it all down we would literally have a novel!

Gave Em some lactose free chocolate cake for Sarah's birthday today and she loved it! so that is going to be the cake we always get from now on, unless em passes her challenge mid May