Hi Girls!

Carmey - Great to see you found a solution for Jack's waking at night for his dummy! Ryan has settled himself in to a routine that looks a lot like the one you have with Jack. Here's the one from Babylove that I used for Craig, for comparison. Ryan's already roughly following this routine by himself, except I was BFing when he woke up and then giving him cereal after an hour. But this morning he refused the breast until after he'd had his rice cereal, so I'm going to start following this one for him too. This one's milk first only if they wake early, then it's food first milk second every time after that.

For six months and beyond...
5 AM TO 6 AM: Breastfeed or bottle. **Ryan's still asleep here**
7 AM TO 8.30: If your baby sleeps this late, offer her breakfast as soon as she wakes (choose something from the dietsheet on page 424) before her breastfeed - give her a breastfeed straight after her food.
9 AM TO 11 AM: Bed - after some morning team (if she wants it - see diet sheet). Baby may sleep from forty minutes to two hours.
12 NOON TO 1.30 PM: Make sure she's up by 1.30 at the latest - it's okay to wake her. Give her lunch - choose something from the diet sheet and give her a breastfeed, bottle or cup after her food.
2 PM TO 3 PM: Bed but make sure she's up by 4 pm and keep her up until bed at 7 or 7:30pm. Baby may sleep forty minutes to two hours.
4 PM: Afternoon tea (if she wants it). You'll probably need to devote this time to amusing her or going for a walk. **Ryan BF's here**
6 PM: Dinner - choose something from the diet sheet.
6.30 PM: Bath followed by breastfeed or bottle.
7 TO 7.30 PM: Bed.

For anyone wanting yet another opinion on how much sleep our babies should be getting and when, it goes on to say that 'Total sleeping in the day varies from one to three hours. Changing from two to one daytime sleeps happens any time between nine months and fifteen months and depends a lot on what time baby wakes in the morning. Babies who catnap (only sleep for thirty to forty-minute stretches) do better having several small sleeps throughout the day. Trying to 'make' babies who catnap sleep for longer periods is usually not possible.'

Alison - We've tried chicken, beef and fish so far. I just puree up what I've cooked for the rest of us. It was fish pie tonight (Barramundi) and Bolognaise with wholemeal pasta the other night. If you have steak or chicken breast that you've cooked (or just cook a small amount in the microwave) you just blend it with some boiled water to get the right consistency. Ryan's not as excited about fish as he was about bolognaise.

AFM - It is freezing here! The last two days have been sub zero and frosty.

Hope everyone is nice and warm! Off to make myself a hot cuppa.