MSE Parents Club Part 5

astonsmummy

My_Fathers_Daughter wrote: »

Hi AM - was thinking about you the other day. Ryan sounds like he is doing really well. ((HUGS)) for you.

Only another week or so before Aston will be back - does he start on the 8th?

7th, cant come soon enough!

Buttonmoons

They are a few different types of avacado I think (I lurrrve them) if yours is green, then wait until it goes black, then you know it's ripe, also give it a squidge, when it softens slightly you'll know it's ready to eat.

I'm going to go to Lidl and get some more. We go through about 8 a week here!

cazscoob

aww AM hope your ok! not long til the schools are back and you can relax!
what kind of car are you getting MDW? i bet you cant wait!

SusanC_2

Sami_Bee wrote: »

He slept from 6pm last night until 7:15ish this morning, I say ish because when he came to wake me up he'd obviously been up a bit first as he wasn't wearing his PJs anymore:rolleyes:

:rotfl: The other day when I went to get Alice up she was in her painting dress and announced, "Alice painting!" as soon as I opened the door.

SusanC_2

weezl74 wrote: »

A question: fergie has dropped his dream feed now, just clamps his lips tight shut and refuses! This is fine, but does mean he's woken by hunger pretty early. We were wondering about introducing a milk drink just before bed, but have never done this before in case he possets on his back and chokes a bit. Lots of children of 2-3ish seem to have a bedtime milky drink, so does anyone know if it becomes safe after a certain age?

We've always given Alice a feed just before bed. (Well she does have toilet, tooth cleaning and bedtime story inbetween but near enough.) I never would have thought of it being dangerous but Alice was never a very sicky baby (unlike me).

ladybirdintheuk

cazscoob wrote: »

weezl i cook my rhubarb in lemonade as my mum was told to do this and i think its better!

Wow, that would mever occur to me!

I called the benefits people and we will get about £30 a week towards the £100 a week childcare costs (plus the family element we are getting allready). MIL is insisting on paying half of what is left over, as she initially said she would do a day, so we might actually have some money left after food, bills and petrol, so no-one will have to walk around naked and we might be able to have the occasional trip to the pub.

I'm trying to instil into DH the idea that we can have fun/a social life without going to the pub. Not that there is anything wrong with going to the pub, but I don't think it is healthy for Izzy to see it as the only way that adults can relax/have fun IYSWIM. Also, I think some of his "pub friends" (the ones who he has met through going to the pub, and who seem to live there, rather than friends who he happens to go to the pub with iyswim) are not the best influence on him too. I know that makes me sound like I'm talking about a 14 year old, but a lot of them sit around the pub moaning about how they never see their kids (when maybe there is a reason for that ) and he sits with them when he could be coming home. :rotfl:

I think it's probably a good idea for us to have more of a social life as a family too, as at the mo me and Izzy go and do stuff during the week, and he goes off to the pub on a Saturday. Sometimes he takes Izzy too for a bit, sometimes all 3 of us go, but he has to have his time there on his own too. The trouble is that he is a routine of going every saturday afternoon, which interferres with doing anything else, and if he doesn't get to go he is HORRIBLE. Maybe I need to get the toddler taming book early and try out the techniques on him to break the routine :rotfl:.

We discussed this morning that we need to be a bit imaginative, and think up things to do that don't cost money, so far I have:

once our living room is finished:
inviting people to ours ever so often (we have no fruit machine, but we do have a wii and if they bring beer they can drink it )
and also invite over some of the mums we have met with their families the weekend. (I think that would be good for all the dads, not just my DH!)
And I'm going to try Izzy out on the swings this week if the rain holds off, so maybe I can send him to the park with her for them both to blow off steam and have some 1-1 time too.
He doesn't like going for walks, but we have zoo membership, so we can have a walk there, seeing as we get in for free.
Going swimming (I take Izzy every few weeks, but we've not managed it at the weekend yet.)

Any other low/non spend ideas?

Sorry, I ended up with a huge rant there... he just sent me a very apologetic text about being horible this morning. He is really good with Izzy, it's just hard for him to adjust to the fact that he has to spend less time doing his things in order to spend more time with her!

redmel1621

Phew...calm now.

Everyone was loud - baby crying, kids bickering, dh grumping, cat yowling, tv blasting..... and all this while I was trying to finish off extremely important financial forms....I nearly broke the computer by banging the keyboard Ooooops:o

Anyway kids happy now, baby napping (he due dinner so will prob wake in a mo) dh watching the rest of the program he was trying to watch (but a bit quieter!) and cat kicked out!!!!
I got the forms finished off, wrote the covering letter thay asked for, dug out our marriage certificate, typed up my resignation letter for work and will now feed Kai while sending dh down shop for milk and eggs and a jar of curry sauce:rolleyes: and then when he gets back he can do his forms for finance....

Feel bit better now - can you tell.
To be honest I keep having anxiety attacks about money:o I have never, not worked, from the age of 15yrs old....it is scaring me:o

Lastly, before I sign off till later - I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU for everyone who replied about childminders, you are all wonderful:A

Mel x

Sami_Bee

feelinggood wrote: »

About the breastmilk thing, I feel responsible for this baby being born and I'm terrified it is going to have an awful life

feelinggood wrote: »

I set them up

She isn't that mentally healthy, and we don't know if SS are going to let her keep the baby

I just worry that the baby will be destined to continue the cycle

All you did was introduce 2 people their choice of contraception (or lack of it) is not your problem. Its a shame if they aren't able to look after their baby but it's not your fault if things go 'wrong'
I think the general consensus has been that if she is planning to FF from birth then offering your milk will not go down well.

weezl74 wrote: »

Thanks mel, and all who've offered milk before bed thoughts, I'll give those ideas a try

Sami, sugar is on that list of no-nos, does anyone know what to do about giving fruits like rhubarb which are far too acidic to be tolerated by babies or adults without added sugar?

TIA

I think the only option is to cook it with something naturally sweet, When I made rhubarb crumble at school I cooked it in orange juice so that may be an option, but the advice is to not give babies any added sugar.

MDW - that video was Chris and his 'girlfriend' going mental at Timmy Time coming on, if you're on FB add me as a friend if you want to see it

My_Fathers_Daughter

I keep forgetting to say what I want to say!!

Mel - Benjamin loves toast too!! He will happily sit in his highchair and gum crusts of toast until they are mushy enough to swallow


Skinty and other early BFers - have you thought about introducing a bottle of EBM to baby? Once BF is established and the chance of nipple confusion lessens it is really worth introducing a bottle to give mummy a break (although it can be stressful expressing to start with) to include daddy and most of all to ensure that baby will take one. I met yet another lady on Thursday whose baby will not take milk from anything other than the breast at 7 1/2 months. The lady was very upset and feeling really guilty because after so long of feeding baby she wanted a little break (just an afternoon or whatever) but she couldn't because baby will not take a bottle.
I have several friends IRL who have this problem.


MacSmiler - bibs. We have these bibs with sleeves from Ikea and they are fab - just a rinse under the tap after use and they are dry in half an hour. We will be taking them on our hols (if I ever stop looking and just book somewhere!)

[URL="javascript:popLargeImageWindow('en_GB','colour:','','Size','IKEA FAMILY member price', 'close window');"][/URL]

There was something else....

weezl74

ladybirdintheuk wrote: »

Oh, back to peanut butter, you can get cashew nut butter and pumpkin seed butter in Holland and Barret (and probably other health food type places too!) which do the same job of being something not sweet, but high in callories to spread on bread/crackers Izzy loves her pumpkin seed butter, but it is very sticky stuff. Sometimes it is easier to pop her in the bath afterwards!

ladybird, I've found cashew butter is quite easy in the food processor and worked out about 1/5th the price of the healthfood shop stuff. Happy to give more of a recipe if you like

Sami_Bee wrote: »

I think the only option is to cook it with something naturally sweet, When I made rhubarb crumble at school I cooked it in orange juice so that may be an option, but the advice is to not give babies any added sugar.

sami I have prunes in natural juice tinned in the fridge, might that work with the rhubarb?