Hi Everyone!

I know, I did it again with the long absences I'm a shocker.

Erica - There's 18 months between my girls. Like Dansta I will say it is great for the kids, they are too young to be jealous, and you're already tired and in the 'mode' of babies. BUUUUT, I absolutely would not have another one until DD2 is at LEAST close to 3 as it is really difficult until they're 2 and have that extra comprehension level, maybe even older, but then you got the jealousy . . . pros and cons to everything in life I guess.

Dansta - I've been picking up that DJ has been really sick! I hope he's ok now? I feel terrible I haven't said anything, what is happening with him (if you don't mind my prying?)
Ech to your MIL - I hate it when people say that, what does it mean anyway. I was pretty small with both my girls (granted I had small kids) but still I just carried very, very tightly. I still put weight on evenly all over, so yeah, my tummy was all baby and back to it's normal self in a week but I still had 10kgs and a full dress size up to slog off and I'm only half way there. Others put on all their weight on their tummy, and some lucky people don't put any weight on. Good for them. Unfortunately we can't control what our hormones do with our weight gain or where they put it, or how much amniotic fluid we have, the shape of our uterus, the size and positions of our babys, so why comment at all!!! Does it make any woman feel good?

Alex - Welcome to the world of juggling! In my opinion - no, if you're only working 2 days, still breastfeeding before and after work and for 5 days, just giving formula while you're away won't affect your supply - it should be well established, though it's probably dropped naturally if she's eating a lot of food now. You may find your DD may prefer to wait for you or at least mostly wait for you, especially if she's not been used to a bottle, but your boobs will make up for it when she gets home, and now that she's older, she can keep going on food and water/juice at least if need be till you get there. Also, with DD1 when her weight started to drop (she was just being fussy) I added egg yolk, butter or avocado extra to her vegies and toast to calorie them up. The 2 hourly cycle at night is totally normal, at around 7-9 months babies start sleeping in the normal 2 hourly night pattern and some need comforting or an aid to get them back to sleep between these, especially if its the same way they go down for their sleep - this is fine if it works for you and baby, if you're not getting any sleep and are starting to feel insane well that's why if it gets really bad it's usually at this point some need to teach their baby to go to sleep on their own but since this is a gentle parenting forum and I don't want to stoke the fire I won't go into details, I'm not for or against either. I did CIO with DD1 and it worked brilliantly for her she slept 7-7 for most of her babyhood, but I was at my wits end and she didn't WANT to be aided to sleep she just wanted to get miserable. with DD2 she's always aided, rocking or feeding or walking around the halls in her pram, but I haven't needed to CIO with her as she only wakes if she wants a feed so, feel it out, she might get over it, if it gets bad, don't feel like you're a bad mum if you need to try other methods.