MSE Parents Club Part 16

Nephthys

Aw BB - what a fab photo! I'm impressed - broccoli is the one food I has refused to eat! May have to try him again and see if he will take it - I will not let him grow up with my faddiness towards food!

Would LO be having lunch or dinner at childminder? And would they be cooking it or does it need to be something which just needs reheating?

I've left I at mums before with bread, cheese, yoghurt, etc. She has also made him scrambled egg - which he loves. My niece who is 10 months eats anything - vegetable soup is one of her faves with bread.

Dinners - what about Spag bol - easy to make up and freeze - can even mix bashed pasta into it. Sausages freeze easy too as does mashed potato (don't freeze boiled spuds - horrible when defrosted!). Um - will have a think....!

sir_monster

Sorry forgot to add a few things, someone mentioned poo and not going? If LO is bf then they sometimes can wait a week to poo, t did this at Xmas and then decided to have the biggest poo ever sat on my mums lap which then needed a bath and complete outfit change so wait for it, it will prob be mega! Have the opposite now is on solids tends to go 2 -3 times a day usually sat in high chair eating!

Sorry job being rubbish MV, have you considered a childminder as may be mor flexibe re hours? I'm doing the part time with hols too as have 40 days to use till end of March 2012, then can see what I want to do re part or full time.

A mixture re preparing food. Breakfast I tend to do DH breakfast (the same as T) at same time. Then lunch and dinner I sometimes use leftovers from previous meal (for example I had scrambled egg this morn but did extra for t lunch and gave him some veg from last night) or I do him something in advance, like cheese on toast and tomatoes or meat. It does take some planning, but do a bit extra at each meal either for that meal or the next.

wendz86

Hello all,

We finally have Poppy back sleeping in her basket. Took till 4am last night, OH finished work at 3 then came back and managed to get her in there and she slept till 8 then i fed her and she went back down for a bit and she is having another nap in there now. FC it lasts.

MV and CL- gorgeous pictures of your LO's.

MV - that is really annoying of your work but like others have said might give you a chance to find something better. Apparently at my work you have to do a presentation to prove you could do your job in less days and the people who do end up working longer hours on those days, isn't fair really.

jennynoo

*BigBird* wrote: »

....

I'm also wondering when would be a good time to start trying for another baby. I don't want to wait too long so there's not too much of a gap and I'm not getting any younger. But I really don't want a double pushchair! Sounds silly, but I know I would hate it So it'll have to wait til Joe's walking.

...

I think most of the recent questions have been answered but on the issue of having another baby, financial considerations aside, I didn't get my period until Erin was 17 months so for me I think that is an indication that my body is ready to start trying again. Financially we're waiting a bit longer so that Erin will be getting reduced rates at nursery. coincidently we just found out that you can continue getting childcare vouchers while you are on maternity leave - on top of your normal maternity pay

You don't have to get a double pushchair - if you are up for it you can sling one baby and have the other in the pram - that's what I would do. My younger sister's eldest will be 2 and a bit when her second is born and she is just going to get a buggy board.

Lovely photos everyone

gizmodo_2

Cute babies CL and BB Loving all the photos.

CL wrote: »

Giz, my niece works on a Saturday as a receptionist for a vet (and cleaning, etc). She is planning on starting her vetinary degree this year. You could look for something like this to get a foot in the door?

This is a good idea. I wanted to be a vet nurse, but I think the amount of work required it's not really ideal to go into just now. It's something I will do in the future though. I've looked into working at Chessington zoo, but jobs I've seen so far want qualifications related to animal husbandry.

sir_monster wrote: »

Sorry forgot to add a few things, someone mentioned poo and not going? If LO is bf then they sometimes can wait a week to poo, t did this at Xmas and then decided to have the biggest poo ever sat on my mums lap which then needed a bath and complete outfit change so wait for it, it will prob be mega! Have the opposite now is on solids tends to go 2 -3 times a day usually sat in high chair eating!

Yep that was me. DD still not been. I've got her on the changing mat at the moment for some nappy free time - hope she doesn't explode now! She's gurgling away (she loves being naked) but she's still straining. I've mentioned it to other people and they are saying I should take her to docs, but my instincts say I don't need to, she just needs to poo and it'll come when it comes.

She slept better last night just waking once at 12:30 for a feed. Then slept through to 8am. I still keep having people tell me I might want to consider topping up with formula. But I really don't think I need to. SOmetimes I just feel like saying nothing to nobody cos I'm getting fed up of people saying to give water or give formula.

pigpen

Giz.. if that is all she woke then she is not needing anything other than what she is getting.. t is quite normal for a small aby to wake for one feed. As for poop.. vaseline on her bottom around he anus may help. Sometimes they get a plug of dry poo which is hard for them to pass as their tummy muscles aren't good and the vaseliene just lubricates it.. years ago when DD2 was a baby (she is nearly 14) the HV told me to dip a cotton bud in vaseline and gently and carefully just rub it around the anus as she was very bunged up... Bright spark here.. didn't have the sense to lay her on the floor and my goodness there was so much poo I almost drowned.. as soon as the seal was broken it was the most poo I have ever seen in a nappy.. but DD2 was so much better lol...

Metranil_Vavin

CL wrote: »

Thanks MV. Josh is so cute! Where did you get that hat? (That's a song isn't it?)

CL - the hat actually belongs to a friend of mine but I love it so much! They are called 'Merry Berry' hats and you can buy them online. They do all sorts of cute hats..I've just ordered Josh a melon one

Metranil_Vavin

this is the hat:

http://www.juicytots.co.uk/product/1157/watermelon-hat/

They have some lovely things on this website

CL

Nephthys wrote: »

Aw BB - what a fab photo! I'm impressed - broccoli is the one food I has refused to eat! May have to try him again and see if he will take it - I will not let him grow up with my faddiness towards food!

My LO loves mashed potato with a little unsalted butter, broccolli and salmon. I just use a fork to mix in the broccolli and salmon to the potato.

Courgette

Metranil_Vavin wrote: »

Morning gals.

Well I got a reply from my boss to my request for a 4 day week with one of those working from home..no..of course. My company are a bunch of b@stards when it comes to being flexible about anything. I KNEW they would reject what I was asking for.

I just wanted to clarify (and I have checked the ACAS website but it's a bit vague), the company only have to consider a request don't they? As long as they can come up with some reasons (excuses)to say no then they don't have to agree to anything do they?

I'm going to ahve to work out now if I can actually afford to go back to work as they have offered me some reduced hours, which will pro rata my pay down accordingly. Childcare is hellishly expensive round here and it costs me about £250 a month just to get to work :eek:

They also expect me to do as much foreign travel as I was doing before..complete with 'dig' that my maternity cover has done loads of travel since she's been looking after my accounts in the last 3 months. Not ideal with a young child. Still waiting for them to clarify too that if I do travel, then I will essentially be on 'full time' hours and pay for that time, as it would hardly be fair to be away on a trip for 3 days and being paid p/time hours!

..radio silence on that one so far!

To be honest the whole contact with work has sent me into a bit of a tailspin and depressed me. It's not always a pleasant place to be..loads of internal politics and if you're not in with the 'right' people you can have a pretty rough ride. i've always got on with everyone and kept out of disputes, but if I kick up a fuss about what they are proposing, my life there could easily become difficult.

Been there 7 years now..amazed sometimes I am still there as I've seen so many people come and go.

So...may have to think about resigning at the end of my Mat leave (due to return January 3rd 2012) and find something else..but that's a scary and depressing thought too as there are so few jobs about, and trying to find convenient hours to suit childcare is even harder!

Meh.

Metranil_Vavin wrote: »

Giz - he's come back with a bunch of 'corporate jargon' reasons why I can't work p/time. Fact is there is another girl in the team who came back from mat leave 3 years ago and they wouldn't give her a day off, so they were never going to let me!

I'm scared to find another job too. It's so daunting when you have been at a place for so long. The thought of startng again terrifies me, and my priorities have really shifted since having Josh.

Metranil_Vavin wrote: »

You're right BigBird, I have been unhappy there and you are right, this could be the rocket I need to get me to finally move on.

Guess it's my self-esteem issues making me think I wont be able to find anything else.

I think we could manage for a bit on OH's salary if needs be. It would be very tight but with a lot of budgeting it should be doable.

So there I am just popping by for a quick lurk and what do I find? Me and MV are at almost identical places again :eek::rotfl: You are one of only a tiny handful of people I know who have had their flexible working request refused. I really could have written everythign you wrote there.

I'm about to resign my job and am seeking a more child friendly post elsewhere. One thing that really helped me with the old confidence thing is to redo my CV and covering letter, gets the brain working and reminds you of the skills you have