Babies Born December 2006 #3

[chon]

Maya is having 2 meals at the moment. I started her off with Farex baby rice mixed with formula milk. I would give this to her about an hour before she was due for her next bottle around 4-5pm. Always when she seemed the most alert.

I always serve her food warm or she won't eat it, even her pear and banana gets a zap in the microwave.

I agree you may have more luck with less night wakes once she starts some solids so I don't blame you for holding off for now, I would too.

[Shezabelle]

I say do whatever you are happy with Amy. My sister still gets up sometimes to her 13mnth old and even her 3 year old twins. I say if you're ok with it then it's the best choice. I am very lucky on the sleeping front, these days Issy generally sleeps from 9pmish til 9amish. I count my blessings for that all the time.
We had needles today, she screamed her little heart out but as soon as I picked her up she was chatting and smiling away. Has had temps this evening though, and it's so hard cos it's freezing so I want her warm but not overheated, you know!
We are going to start solids again soon too.
Welcome and welcome back Kylee and Em
hugs xox

[LotusFlower]

Hey all,
Sorry I'm such a slacker, I tend to lurk a lot so I keep up to date on how everyone's going.
Noah's doing great! As huge as ever. He was just under 9kg, and was 72cm long at his check up last week.
He's going great guns with the solids, he's had tonns of stuff. He had spag bol last night and woofed it down!
I have to try and get him to eat more of the farax though, for the iron content.
His sleeping is still sucky and he ends up in bed with us most nights, mainly because I'm lazy and it's too cold to be standing around trying to settle him.
The nurse last week told me that if he wakes from a nap at under one hour, I have to try and re-settle him. Musch easier said than done let me tell you! Sometimes it works others not so much! I'm trying to do a bit of a routine for nap times so he knows it's time for sleep.
Hope everyone's doing well.
Welcome back Em and welcome Kylee!

[Snacks]

Is Issy better today, Shez? That is a tricky one with a temperature and the heater... That must be just lovely to have 12 hours of sleep in a row. Clever little girl
Good to hear from you, Lauren. Glad Noah is doing well. I know what you mean about re-settling - I tried it a few times and it would take just ages. These days if Natalie only has a 40min sleep, I just try to fit an extra sleep in that day. But hey, we are by no means the sleep experts in this household
It is so jolly cold atm, hey. I'm loving my fluffy dressing gown - it's not going to win any fashion awards, but it's lovely and warm (particularly for those nighttime room service calls, LOL)

[chon]

WOW Linz, thats not too bad at all. I wish I could get Maya to bed that early, I think she is finally getting sleepy now

I haven't been able to give maya any food that has some texture, she loves her pureed food. I might try some banana mashed tomorrow as she loves the Heinz banana puree. Fresh is best but I'm not going to stress about it at this stage.

Lotusflower - thats awesome you have tried Spaghetti Bol. !! I'm impressed!! Is that homemade or bought??

Snacks - Its bloomin' cold here too! I'm no fashion statement either, love my trackie pants, dressing gown and uggies....

Well looks like I better put someone to bed..........finally.......cya all later!

[chon]

Well that was quick! She closed her eyes straight away.

Amy, thats a Cute photo of Natalie, Is that all her hair on the pillow??!!!

Also is everyone in a parents group? and how is it going? Mine is good, we have 10 babies altogether but we are having problems on finding a good place to meet every Monday, we will get there though.

I've got the first night with the work phone tonight so I have to stay up till 2315, BB is a good place to pass the time inbetween calls.....How did your meeting go Amy?

[em..]

chon, that must be hard staying up for the phone,,... at least there are distractions on here for you..

princess, i think dylan is starting to feel much better now ..

we managed to get a decent sleep last night from 8 till 1.45 then to 5 so that was pretty good really... he had his check up at the nurse yesterday and weight 7.96kg length 67.5 so we are still sitting on the 50th percentile...

liz

[LotusFlower]

Lotusflower - thats awesome you have tried Spaghetti Bol. !! I'm impressed!! Is that homemade or bought??

It was a bought one. I'm such a nerd, if I give him something bought I try to buy the organic varieties. So it was organic jarred baby spaghetti bol! lol
I made a huge batch of spag bol yesterday though and froze lots of the sauce in ice cube trays, so hopefully he likes mine as much as the jarred type!

Wow Linz! That sounds like a great routine! I'm trying to be more strict with Noah's.
This is what I'm aiming for:

8am - Wake up.
8.15 - Boob
8.30 - Farax with yoghurt (he won't eat it plain anymore)
9.00 - Play
10.15 - Wind down for sleep. (Nappy change, book, song)
10.30 - Bed
11.30 - Awake, Play
12.15 - Boob
12.30 - Lunch (Some type of fruit)
1.00 - Play
1.45 - Wind down for sleep (Same as before)
2.00 - Bed
3.00 - Awake, Play
4.00 - Boob
4.15 - Play
5.15 - Wind down for sleep
5.30 - Bed
6.00 - Awake, dinner (Vegies and meat)
6.30 - Play
7.00 - Bath
7.30 - Boob
8.00 - Bed

lol at the moment this is such a pipe dream! Noah wakes up from a nap at 30 mins on the dot! And on the (extremely) odd occasion he sleeps longer it's 45 mins at the very most.

What does everyone else's routines resemble?
Do everyonbe else's babes put themselves to sleep, or am I not alone in the rocking to sleep department?

[Snacks]

Ah, I forgot to report on the work thing - thanks for asking, girls. Well, it went as positively as it could've. As a lot of my work involved reception and customer service, they really want someone 9-5, which I understand. So, I resigned. However, they said that they would give me some casual work at the same rate of pay, but working in production any time I should feel I want some easy money. I thought that was very generous of them and I might take them up on it before we go on holiday in September - get some pocket money! I can't really leave Natalie for a whole day atm tho, as she won't take a bottle and hasn't started solids quite yet... Its a bit of an unknown too - I don't know what she'll think of food. Anyway, it's good to know that there's some work there if I should need it. And I think they'll give me a great reference for when I look for a 'real' job
Linz, that routine looks great - I can't believe Laila has such great naps - what a little angel And Lauren, that looks good too - IKWYM about routines getting stuffed up because a little one decides to wake up early It can be frustrating, hey.
Our day sort of looks like this:
7am - Wake, Bfeed
Play
9am - Settle & sleep
10-11am - Wake, Bfeed
Play or go out (usually go out)
2(ish)pm - Settle & sleep
3-4pm - Wake, Bfeed
Play/go for walk (maybe quick nap in stroller if I'm lucky)
6pm - Bfeed
6:30pm - Bath & goodnight cuddles with Daddy
7pm - Bed (Settled by Daddy, again if I'm lucky, LOL)
9:30-10pm - Bfeed, sleep
1:30-2am - Bfeed, sleep
4-5am - Bfeed, sleep

Course, sometimes she sleeps for a couple of hours in the day (like this morning - wow!), or wakes a bit earlier or a bit later and everything moves around. Some days I just go by how tired she seems or if she's been up for two hours I think, 'right, miss, bedtime for you.'

Lauren, sometimes when we're out Natalie is rocked to sleep, like when we go to church or when she has a sleep at my parents' place. At home, she sometimes settles herself, but more often we pat her to sleep. She's still wrapped too. The other night when she woke an extra time it was because she'd unwrapped herself

Chantal, yes, that's Natalie's hair She's always had lots of hair. I put a clip in it these days to keep it out of her eyes - Dave wanted to cut her fringe but I said, 'NO WAY'. I'm not ready to cut my baby's hair yet.
How was your first night on the work phone?
Our parents group is still meeting. We have 9 babies and we are blessed to have a mum who is truly gifted at administration We all suggest places to go each week, usually a park or sometimes a cafe, and she draws up a 6-week 'roster', and we take it in turns to provide a simple morning tea. We have someone's house as a wet-weather contingency plan. I'm really enjoying our mornings together these days. It took a while, but we are gradually getting more comfortable with each other.
Is there are park where you could all meet that has shelter in case of rain? I know, it's getting a bit chilly for being outdoors...

Liz, sounds like you had a much better night - 8 til 1:45 is a lovely stretch of sleep. Its a shame you weren't asleep yourself to make the most of it, LOL. But it must have been nice to have the evening to yourself.

[chon]

Work phone went fine last night BUT had to turn it on again at 0530 today and all of a sudden it was ringing like crazy !! I bought Maya into bed with me as I was getting phone call after phone call asking for Personal Carers to fill shifts and not having any Carers left to fill them Didn't even have a chance to get her a bottle or change her nappy, then when I did she had fallen back to sleep. By 7am the phone died down, thank goodness.

Oh well the money is worth it.

Amy - I wouldn't want to cut her hair either!MEN!! I wish Maya's would grow. You seem to be comfortable with the decision regarding your job, its great they have offered you work anytime you need it though, thats great!Now you can relax and not stress about it all.

Gee, you guys have me thinking if I even HAVE a routine for Maya, but then I have never written it down just let the day take its course, but here goes.....

6am Maya wakes and I put her in bed with me
6-9.30am sleep and wake up
BOTTLE
9.30 to around 12 is play, always consists of watching her learning DVD's
12pm some sort of solid such as fruit or a cereal fruit
12.30-1.30 Nap
around 2pm BOTTLE
Play
Around 4 to 5pm Solids again usually a meat and veg or just veg
BOTTLE
Around 7ish Nap
Play till her next BOTTLE around 9.30pm
Bath to help get prepared for sleep
settle time
by 10.30pm I want her in bed (have not been successful getting her to bed any earlier)

Thats a pretty rough guide as each day can be different, especially if we go out for a few hours.

Lotusflower- I am just wondering how you prepare the yogurt and Farex as I just bought some yogurt for the first time and think the farex in it is a good idea.

[Charly's mum]

My god you guys have been busy. Didn't realise it had been that long since I last go on.
Charly and I are doing well, she has started enjoying solids, realised she doesn't like to eat as soon as she gets up. If I wait half hour to hour she eats without any drama I give her solid twice a day now, morning and afternoon. Was able to give her banana this morning without have to make sure all the lump where out.

She is really starting to make different sounds now, when shopping this morning very chatty lots of da da da, for the first time, when she is upset she says mum.

Tried the other night to let her cry herself to sleep in her cot, but not successful. Sitting beside her was making her worse, so ended using the boob after 30 mins of trying. She does settle herself in the middle of the night after a few minutes, if she goes for more them 5 minutes I go in.

Snacks I with you on the one or two feeds a night, usually between 2 and 5 and if it is close to midnight she will have a 5 o'clock feed. Think it is more of a comfort thing sometimes, then other times she feed so fast diffently hungry.

Favourite toy at the moment would be the remotes if she got her hand on them, but books or paper.

Good luck with the jobs, I will be going back in October for 2 days a week, not really looking forward to leaving her for a whole day. At least she will be with Granma and I can call.

[LotusFlower]

Oh I just make up the farax as normal (with boob juice, or water if I'm feeling lazy) and whack in half a tub of the baby yoghurt. Noah goes a tad feral for the yoghurt but I noticed if he has too much he seems to get a little constipated. He'd still rather the plain yoghurt but will tolerate the mix. Which yoghurt did you get Maya? Noah's had both the vanilla and banana Vaalia

[chon]

I got her the Vaalia Banana. Just tried a tub with her before, either I was too eager to see what she would think (not hungry enough) or she just doesn't like it. She was a mess though

I will try again tomorrow, I liked it, HAHA!

Charlys mum - so good to hear from you again, yes we have been chattering away lately.

[Snacks]

Hi Charly's mum... LOL, it has been a chatty few days. Glad to hear you and Charly are both well.
Oh yes! I forgot how much Natalie enjoys the remote! And the phone too... She loves the coloured buttons or something...

[Snacks]

Ha ha, snap Chantal! Posted at the same time
Is vaalia the best yoghurt for babies? How do you choose what to buy when there's so much out there?!

[chon]

I only saw two brands and Vaalia was the only Banana one and I thought well since she likes banana in the Heinz jars I would get her this one. Oh well, I can't blame her for not getting into it straight away as I can't heat this one up, she needs to get used to unheated food or I will be stuck when we are out and about. It would be nice to not have to heat up everything, not always convenient.

[LotusFlower]

Vaalia make a special baby yoghurt Amy. So do Heinz I think? I don't know but there's always 2 brands in the fridge at the supermarket.
You're not supposed to give normal yoghurt til about 8 months I think but baby yoghurt's specially formulated to be easy on tiny tums.

[Snacks]

Ah, that's good info, thanks Lauren. This is all very new to me