MSE Newborn to 1 year (& beyond!) baby club 3

lazywife

Wow well done Saf, T won't go in his cot unless he is asleep, although he's not bad at settling himself if he wakes in the night, so i don't mind. We started giving him cows milk as the start of his bedtime routine, whilst chilling with a bit of telly (something fairly subdued... often the news!) then take him up, brush his teeth and get him into his grobag. Then story book on my lap (Dear Zoo is the current favourite) then I'd feed him and gently rock him to sleep with a big of a song. Just dropped off the feed bit in the middle and he didn't seem to mind!?! (morning we dropped off as I started work as he gets up and has brekkie with cows milk drink straight away.. seemed pointless to try and fit in a feed too. Thankfully that was well established enough before he had a few 6am days, so again just chill with the tv and milk until brekkie about 7am.

He's had a really early night tonight, just was so tired he went to sleep about 6.30pm, normally could be 7.30-8ish (sometimes not fully down until 8.30) so I could be in for a 4am wake up call!

L.xxx

*Nutella*

My LO's nursery bag is a rectangular-shaped thick cloth bag which I found at the back of my wardrobe, but it's handmade and actually quite nice Most people have a backpack of some sort, but: a) I had a million bags at home, so didn't want to buy yet another one when it's just going to hang on a peg at the nursery 24/7 (it lives there and we never take it home - dirty clothes are handed over in a plastic bag and get taken home to be washed), and b) I figured that if I was the one standing there with a screaming baby covered in poo up to their armpits/dealing with a runaway toddler with pasta sauce all over their clothes, I'd prefer not to have to deal with zips to get some spare clothes out....

Saf, that's a very cute bag

On a related note, if anyone needs name labels for clothes, I'd recommend these. They were recommended by LO's nursery, and they're fab - they really do survive wash after wash, and also attached well to her suncream, wellies, potty, Sudocrem.... Delivery was quick too

Crabapple

My daughter has a little Peppa backpack for nursery, which she loves (Peppa is the bane of my life!) and we got for nothing as it was given to her second hand but in perfect condition. One of my mum's friends runs a toddler group and she is always being given things which she passes on or sells (we go to the group and she has known me since I was 2) and I call her my Peppa dealer now!!

I might need a separate thread for this, but wondered if you lovely ladies would know...

Can I join a childcare voucher scheme when I go back to work (Dec/Jan probably) if I won't be paying tax until April? I won't earn over my tax allowance for 2014/15. Just not sure if I can get a topped up voucher if there's no tax being deducted from my salary anyway.

My employers are meant to be sending me details of the scheme so maybe that will tell me, but I haven't got it yet. Knowing the deal will help with planning my extremely poor 3-4 months in work with 2 in childcare before toddler gets her 3 year funding!

[At which point I will be slightly less poor]

lazywife

Not 100% sure Crabapple, but in my work the only benefit of childcare vouchers is that you don't have to pay tax on them. So if you'll not be paying tax anyway there's no benefit in joining them before April.
L.xxx

WalkingOnADream

Thanks for all posting about clothes , it's helpful to see what others do. I just don't feel like I've got enough for him as at home we can go through 3 outfits a day unless it's warm so I can just have him in a vest and only have to change the one thing then.

You also reminded me that he does like to take his nappy off so we will stick with poppered vests for a while yet. I also need to but him a bag to take the childminders, I have a tendency to overpack his change back so will have to start being more considerate!

I'm having an awful time with lo at the minute, he's got what's thought to be a viral infection so is having lots of runny stinky nappies and barely feeding but the doctor doesn't seem concerned and just told me to push fluids. He's also extra extra clingy and I don't know if it's related to being ill or the start of separation anxiety. If I dare sit him next to me or stand him in front of me he has a meltdown and screams and sobs and tries to climb up me and into my arms, but when I'm holding him he's trying to escape!? I'm finding is so exhausting as bedtime is now taking 3-4 hours and he's not settling until very late. Even the sight of the cot is making him scream and once he's asleep he wakes screaming as soon as I try to lie him down. Co-sleeping isn't an option as that doesn't work either, he has to be held upright on my chest/shoulder and even gradually dropping him into a lying down position (in my arms!!) still results in scrwaming. I'm at a loss as to what to do and I'm becoming increasingly stressed by it. Thankfully once he finally goes down he sleeps through or self settles if he wakes but it's still exhausting nonetheless.

Nutella, your little girl sounds adorable!

Sorry for the long moan, I didn't realise how long it was

Bangton

Thank you for the bag advice! I love the turtle one!! I'd like something easy for nursery to pack too.

On the back of the nappy thing Saffa mentioned, do nurseries tend to allow you to send a big pack or is it a case of sending a few each day?

WOAD - that sounds so exhausting. It doesn't help but you have my sympathies. I think your lo is a similar age to mine and we're having definite tantrums here. Not extreme, but every day we have crying fits and thrashing multiple times whereas he's always been described by family/friends as placid and cried only really when he's tired.

Now he cries over lots of things. We often pick his dad up from work and he used to open the door and kiss little one/say hello and get in the front. Now if he does this little one cries his heart out. I think it must be because he sees dad/ he's happy/then dad goes.

We have the crying to be picked up and then crying to be put straight back down. He's done it today at my mums to the point where I tickled him and said I didn't know what to do which incensed him further! normally he'd laugh at tickles.

One thing could it be teething? I know it's always to blame but when my son cut his first two teeth he was clingy and now we know he's cutting his top teeth he's doing the exact same thing..clingy/fractious and hard to please.

Could well be seperation anxiety though.

hugs x

continualdiamond

Re nursery - I at 1st was sending in my ordinary changing bag, I'd gone for over kill with wayyyy too many changes of clothes. I soon realised that they don't change them as often as you might yourself at home.

Now I just send - a long sleeved top, t-shirt, trousers and a pair of shorts, along with a pair of socks. Her sun cream and hat also stays in her bag everyday and then I also send 2 bottles. Plus her diary as well as her dummy and comforter. It all fits in pretty nicely, though am tempted to get a slightly bigger one, but for now it seems to be working. (I've taken out vests for now as LO is always warm and the nursery is always warm as well)

My nursery lets you send in nappies either on a daily basis or a pack at a time. I went with the pack at a time option, same with the wipes. They asked for a new pack of wipes on Monday this week as they were running low so that wasn't too bad as that was 5 days and then a pack of 28 nappies lasted 7 days as I just took in another pack today. Roughly LO is changed 4 times a day at nursery.

Saffagal

I send a large pack of nappies in and they then use as required. She also has a pot of sudocrem (with her name on) and a sunhat which stays at nursery. In winter she needs to have a warm hat, gloves and wellies which will stay at nursery.
I can send a change of clothes in daily, but she has a box at nursery to keep her things in so instead have left her change of clothes there to save carting it back and forth each day. She also has a comforter/snuggy thing though that is kept in her nursery bag and comes home each day, as does her contact book.

I had an Awww moment... when I got to nursery to collect her this evening, she was sitting at the table with a couple of other little ones having a snack. My little baby was sitting at the table, on a chair like a big girl! (I know she is perfectly capable of doing so, but seeing her so... )

BeNiceToMySelf

aaaw Saffa that sounds very cute, I love proud mummy moments!

WOAD that sounds awful, my goodness being a mum does mwant you a superhero! Just a thought, you could maybe hire a sling froeveryone l sling library and try one. You would get some handsfree time and maybe your LO would get some sleep in the sling and would perhaps be in a better mood and more easy to settle.

Bangton poor LO, sounds like he gets pretty upset now. Has he got any teeth yet?

Not much from me, just really liking being a mummy. LO is so interesting now - he can play with toys properly and is very interactive. 3 meals a day with BLW is a lot of work tho!

I'm just starting to look at stairgates. I don't really see why one is needed at the bottom of the stairs. I think I want a wooden one fixed to the wall at the top. what stairgates does everyone have?

Saffagal

Um, stairgates at the bottom to stop LO climbing the stairs! That said, I don't have one at the bottom of the stairs as can stop A getting to the stairs by shutting doors leading to the hall.
We have metal pressure fit gates
And off to work I go...