have been reading but not posting - seeing i almost inevitably end up out-waffling all of you!
Vic - are you doing cloth or sposies while o/s? if you're doing sposies, you'll only really need enough to get you over there and can buy over there - if you're doing cloth, you'll need more room for them. i'd work out to take enough clothes for both hot and cold weather for about a week each - yup, sounds like a lot, but if you hit a crummy streak of weather and can't get stuff dry, you'll need them. i might also be thinking of E being a really chucky bub - so i tend to go through a couple of changes for me each day - a week of clothes for a normal person would only last me two days lol.
with Cerys, you may end up getting gifts so don't need as much, but better to assume you won't (either that, or you can have a shopping spree over there and we can all drool over the stuff we can't get here!). make sure your carry on luggage for C is well packed so you can get as much as possible in the smaller bag. roll clothes if you need to, use muslin wraps if she likes to be wrapped (cos they fold up deliciosly small!). you're going for a while, so maybe take clothes up a size if she is nearing a change over size. if you get heaps of stuff over ther for her, post it back home! postage has to be cheaper than excess baggage costs! will you take the HAB? it will be autumn over there won't it? not sure what the weather will be doing, but the HAB shouldn't be too bad in autumn. even if you just put it on over a singlet (i did this with E during winter, singlet, HAB, light jacket over my arms so we didn't overheat). packin is always a PITA cos you either under or over pack. i guess underpacking isn't much of a drama if you have a budget to get yourself things while O/S but if you are running close with money, you want to pack pretty efficiently and make sure you have enough. ooh, rolling clothes should make them smaller for packing - and allow you to fit more in. stuff your shoes with underwear (but put clothes in snaplock bags so they don't get stinky lol)
Bridg - yay for better day sleeps! that's great news! i have been getting slightly better day sleeps out of E, but not fantastic. she still prefers to be held - if i can get her to stay asleep past one sleep cycle (40mins=ish) i can generally put her down for up to 20 minutes - just enough time to feed myself!
Naomi - am so glad the solids are working for you and Bailey. i'm copping pressure from a couple of people to put E on solids as she watches us eat, and will stick the right end of a spoon in her mouth. i'm doing my best to hold off on it - she still sleeps really well (considering what others are going through!) and i am inclined to try to hold off as i want to go with baby led solids. i think if you make the decision yourself it's fantastic and you'll be happy with it - i'm just getting grouchy with people pressuring like they know better than me than what is best for E! (sorry, little vent there!)
Bella - i'm sorry to hear you're having so much awake time through the night - it's hard going being a new mum when you feel reasonably well rested - running on so little sleep must be very difficult! we've had a bit of a sleep regression here as well - no where near as bad as yours though! E seems to be needing a top up in the middle of the night some nights. generally around 3-4 am. not sure if it's related to DH being home though - she sleeps through when he's not around, but has woken every night he's been home the last couple of weeks (either earlier - 5am ish - or like last night) - i'm thinking maybe she is stirring, hearing him snoring and waking up, as opposed to just hearing me and going back to sleep... i'm hoping that you get some more sleep soon!
reading all these baby stats is making me think E is a pretty small bubba (which is novel, given she seems so big to us now!) - at three months she was only 5.426kg - and was averaging about 115g gain per week - so if that's continued, she's likely to only be around 5.9kg at 16.5weeks - eek! i'm hoping her gain has gone up, but i'm just not sure. which reminds me - must call today to make appt with mchn - i told the fill in chick last time to just book something (e was screaming) - looked last night for the timing - and nothing there - NOT HAPPY! (hmmm, not in the MCHN book either - so we're heading in this Friday to get her weighed etc.) just looked at her book as to what she should be doing "holds rattle for a few moments with deliberate grasp" - hmmmm, you try taking a rattle off her!
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