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

Bangton

oh and just a note on the things to do. I don't have a 15 month old (yet ) but have found a blog called the imagination tree to be fantastic for baby age and beyond. I'm sure when I was pregnant someone linked to it on the pregnancy thread and it's great!

This morning we filled lo's highchair tray with water and he loved smacking it and splashing everything (an idea from the blog). 20 minutes of easy fun for him while I had my first ever full cup of tea!! The floor was soaking as was the boy but the joy on his face was great! It was a nice little after breakfast thing when he needs washing/changing anyway!

We don't have a telly (we did but it broke a month ago and we don't miss it)! We probably will replace it eventually but lo is a bit young and has never really taken notice of it. I bet I'm gagging for one when he's a bit older though! !

oh and Freddie is so dapper!! gorgeous x

fran-o

Hope everyone's had a nice weekend, thanks for all your news.

Baby is definitely teething now, had some grumpy clingy days last week and the whiteness of teeth just below the surface is becoming more and more obvious! Thankfully he was back to his easy going self yesterday as we went to a naming ceremony for a close friend's baby where I was goodmother (ie godmother but non religious). Ceremony and afternoon was lovely - drinks and friends in the sunny garden.

We'll be starting weaning early next month, does anyone have any recommendations for books on weaning? Annabel K seems to be everyone's favourite... Also, is there any reason to buy special pots for freezing pur!ed veg or can I use silicon ice cube trays? I'm hoping to go with baby led weaning once we get going but want to start with pur!es and I'm sure having some ready in my freezer will be helpful as we go on too. Thanks for any advice!

lazywife

Boo for the teething Fran-o, but yey for seeing some coming through.
Any reason for not fully BLW? If LO is going to be about 6 months (we started at 25 weeks) I would thoroughly recommend it. All the nutrition he needs will still be from the milk and I found that because T was old enough to pick stuff up and handle it, he quite quickly learnt to get stuff in his mouth. No purees, simple food prep (and easy when out and about) and you know LO is in control of his eating. (As for the mess, because we didn't do sloppy food until he was better controlled at what he wanted & we could spoon it, it wasn't super messy, just used a drop mat on the floor and a coverall bib. Even now if it's yoghurt, pasta in sauce we'll use a spoon.. although he does try to do it himself now).
If not keen on BLW from the start there are plenty here that have got on really well with puree's (MrsH & Nutella, I think) I'm sure they can help. Have fun!

T is getting on well with our new back to work, nursery routine, however last week he scratched someone on two days (I don't think it was the same person/child?) and then bit a child's finger on Friday, he's only in 3 days, so an incident form each day... aaargh! We tell him off every time he tries to bite at home and he doesn't really scratch us. I've cut his nails short and put in some teething gel. Nursery have been quite chilled about it, but I feel quite guilty. I hope they don't chuck him out! There is a get together evening next week so I'll go along and have a chat (DH does all the dropping off and picking up, so I don't get to catch up with them that much).

L.xxx

Mrshaworth2b

Hello ladies, hope you are all well.

Not much to say here so not going to be a long post! Wonderful to see Freddie fluff we miss your posts!
Lazy I took my lo to a playgroup last week and he tapped a little boy on the head because when he hurts himself he taps whatever hurt him to say naughty (my doing to calm him down) and that's what he did and also another on his way back to me. I felt so embarrassed but laughed out of nervousness. I pray he doesn't do it again soon!
Frano good luck with the teething, we've had one a month on average since he was 6 months, currently getting the back teeth and the fangy ones

fran-o

Thanks Lazywife for the info on blw. I think I'm hesitant to dive straight into blw for a couple of reasons. Mainly cos it seems like a big step from milk only to finger food. Partly because all the NHS support here seems to advocate first tastes of food in pur!e form (even if it's just for a week or so). I also think it'd be handy to have some food frozen in case we're eating a dinner that's not baby friendly (eg takeaway or something super spicy). But would like to read more and am totally happy to be flexible on approach... So many times with baby you start with one approach and adapt as you go to what suits you and your baby!

Saffagal

Hi ladies Hope that we all had a lovely weekend?

We're a little up and down here. A hasn't been too well the last week and has shared her bugs with OH and myself... yes, she has practiced "good sharing" as she gets encouraged to

We had two terrible nights last week where she took two hours to go down, then "normal" nights and then last night, she had fallen asleep, was just about to put her down when she had a mammoth coughing fit that woke her up... so last night it took me two and a half hours to get her down. I was not best pleased such a little thing, but I really need my evenings to have some "me" time.

Took her to get her feet checked today and we have now grown, almost, to a size 4! Yippee!! Lol the things that now make me happy

Fran-o, which part of the country are you as I do find it strange that the NHS is advocating different advice in different areas. I also have to say baby led was super easy, and if we had a take away, I would just give her some fruit/veg/ slice of bread instead

lazy, glad that T has settled into your new routine. The little ones are much more adaptable than they are given credit for, esp when they are younger.

Hope that everyone has a good week
Saf x

sunshine_1988

Fran o, we did puree food here. Did a bit of both I suppose, but mainly puree.

I had a couple of annabell karmell books, got them super cheap in the works. Also used her website too. Its purely a matter for you regarding the pots and bpa free etc, I used ice cube trays so you can try new mixes, i.e. a brocolli cube with a sweet potato cube or a cauliflower cheese cube with a carrott cube....Also, if you bag up the frozen cubes out of the tray, it takes up less space than tubs.

I did use the little tubs if we were going out somewhere and a meal needed to be heated there, and when he got bigger and was on the same meals as us I would pop a bit in the tubs and freeze for days when he needed an earlier tea/out somewhere/at nannys etc.

I also froze afew cubes of sauces, such as a plain white sauce or a tomato sauce, so I could add them to things I was cooking fresh i.e fish, chicken, pasta etc.

Xxxx

fran-o

Thanks for all weaning advice and suggestions. think I'm going to use silicon ice trays for freezing food and decant into freezer bags. I've got some avent pots which I can then use for out and about if needed. Love the idea of freezing sauces to go with pasta - thanks Sunshine.

dizziblonde

Things we do (Robyn's 16 months and Erin is 2years 3 months) - parks a lot... we're lucky and have a lot around here that have very toddler friendly play areas including a couple of fab splash pad parks (basically the more advanced version of running through the front lawn sprinkler we did when we were kids with pressure pads setting off water jets and the like), puddle splashing (bit harder at the moment with one wobbly walker and one toddler tornado), we have a massive massive sandpit my mum bought for a ridiculous price from a closing down creche that is just outside our patio doors under a gazebo so they're out there all weathers, pavement chalk on the walls and floor and easel (again out under the gazebo). Play kitchen - they'll both spend hours mixing up play food, water table and the biggest one of all - a clean paintbrush and a bucket of water and let them "paint" the outside walls of the house - keeps 'em busy for hours.

Weaning - I did the "whatever blooming works" approach to weaning... Erin had more purees as she didn't have the motor skills to self-feed easily (combination of being prem and just later in that area anyway) but was blooming hungry and wanted the food into her gob with least resistance possible... Robyn's much more stroppy and independent so just tended to get left to get on with it a lot more - and I can honestly say I can see no blooming difference whatsoever with how well they eat and their lack of pickyness now. Obviously Robyn's less adept with a spoon - but she's almost a year younger and Erin only really clicked with spoons and forks near the 2 year mark - so I'd expect that right now.

I still tend to over-portion and freeze anything child suitable for those days we're being lazy and having a takeaway or whatever now.

Crabapple

I don't think I have anything much useful to say right now but this thread needs bumping!

My kids are getting grown up. This week my daughter was 2.5 and my son 5 months. As much as I love seeing their little personalities grow and develop, I still want my babies!!