Hi Ladies,

Welcome to Peta and her sweet little Kaylee...look forward to sharing your journey here.

Queenie...Marydean was right...if you go down a bra size, go up a cup size to get the same fit. or Vice versa if you need to go bigger around the back.

SupaB...hope things have settled down for you. I know what it's like, as i'm sure most of us do. It's frustrating to keep going through the list and nothing seems to help them settle. Sometimes there really is nothing you can do except support them as they let it out. It may be a combination of things, such as wind, plus a 'busy' day for them, plus picking up on your stress, tiredness and frustration, which all perpetuates the crying cycle for them (and us mums!). Taking a quick break does wonders for your sanity and is often enough just to refresh you and you can come back being more open to helping your little one. There is a technique called Touch Relaxation that can be really helpful to calm baby down and support them through their crying. Lay baby down so that you can get quite close to her, so a change table or bed is usually easiest. Making eye contact and maintaining a quiet, calm composure, lay your hand over her chest/tummy area (you can cover/hold their hands as well if they are holding them in tight to their chest) and gently speak to her in low, soothing tones - tell her that you are here for her, that you understand how she is feeling and that you love her - lots of positive feedback/reinforcement/support conversation. Even singing a soft nursery rhyme or song in amongst it will do. The main thing is to a keep calm, relaxed, smiling face and provide loving touch. Project all your positive thoughts and energy to her through your voice and actions. She will kick and scream and turn red in the face for a while, but often after a few minutes they start to calm down as they realise how supported they are and start to imitate your calmness. You can also move straight into some massage over their tummy, just through their clothes is fine, which will help if the issue was predominantly wind. Once you've spent a few minutes doing this you should be right to pick her back up, cuddle her, wrap/feed/rock or do whatever you feel is needed at this point. It may not work smoothly the first time you do this....but if you continue to try it on a regular basis, your baby will learn that this is how to be relaxed and self-regulate her emotions. It's also a good tool to use during other times of stress, say if they hurt themselves, or while getting immunisations. I did this technique a lot with Broni, and her immunisations always went really well. I'd talk to her while the dr was getting the needles ready, tell her she is about to feel some pain but mummy is right here holding her, and that i love her and that the pain won't last very long. She cried when the needle went in, but then promptly stopped as he took it out and looked straight up into my face. I smiled, gave her a hug, a kiss and praised her. It happened like that every single time she got vaccinated.

As for sleeping arrangements, i've always had my babies sleep in their own cot right from birth, and in their own room. I used to use a monitor, but after a few weeks i decided i didn;t need it as i could hear when she woke for a feed. I found that because i could hear every snuffle and squeak she made, i never slept properly! I sometimes will lay in our bed to feed but once she's asleep, i lay her back in her bed. On occasions though, if she's a bit restless during the day, i will lay her in our bed to sleep, as our smell seems to comfort her and she sleeps much better.

All is going well with my PND tests so far....i'm feeling really good about things at the moment, not having any concerns or problems coping. In fact, i find i'm much calmer this time around and that my partner is the one not coping so well when Jasmin is sooking or if Broni is whingey.....worse if they're both going off at the same time!! lol The irony of me telling him to calm down is hilarious!!
I hope everyone else is going well with it too.

Jasmin's name mostly just gets shortened to Jaz or Jazzy.....and she gets all sorts of pet names, like poppit, sweetpea, possum, littles....whatever term of endearment comes out at the time

Well...i spose i better get myself organised for the day. We're off to pick up my eldest daughter from her cousins place where she's been holidaying for a few days. They live about 40mins away, so its a decent little road trip for us. Its meant to be about 30degrees here today, a bit warm, so if we can get out and about before it gets too hot, that'll be good.

Hope everyone has a great day....catch up again soon,

Cheerio