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

minimuffin12

Morning guys! Havent posted in ages, hope everyone had a nice christmas and new year. Lazywife, I know how you feel, lo isnt standing yet but most of my day is sitting watching him as he can shuffle on his tum, we havent been out for a proper walk in ages as its been raining, really cold or windy. Any walking is usually between shops.lol cabin fever can easily creep in.

Can someone help with weaning please? Lo is 6 months today and we are doing trad, weaning. I think mrsh did this? Did you give lo breakfast before his morning milk? I really havent a clue what to do, its so daunting. Im mostly mashing stuff and will start finger foods in a few weeks time.

Hope everyone else is well x

Finch7

Kira000 - Claudia - 13th January 2012 Mozzyc - Charlie - 17th February 2012 Sunshine_1988 - Aiden - 11th March 2012 Dizziblonde - Erin - 9th April 2012 (7weeks prem) turtlemoose - Reuben - 4th June 2012 fluffnutter - Freddie - 6th July 2012 Cake4brains - Amelia & Mollie - 1st November 2012 Bamama - Dewi - 25th December 2012 Mrshaworth2b - Blake - 16th March 2013 Saffagal - A - 26th April 2013 Lazywife - Edward - 4th May 2013 Snozberry - Toby - 15th June 2013 Sparkles87 - 3rd July 2013 Oscar_the_Pug - 7th August 2013 Lao_cat - C -23rd August 2013 nessie216 - Rebecca - 29th September 2013 amus - Anna - 1st October 2013 Continualdiamond - Scarlett - 6th October 2013 Tiny_courageous - Patrick - 6th October 2013 Bangton - Jefferson - 3rd October 2013 Toothfairy4 - Olly - 26th October 2013 neneromanova (nene) - Edward - 28th October 2013 BabaMoose - Jack - 3rd November 2013 AngelMommy - Joshua - 3rd November 2013 vic3 - Thomas - 24th November 2013 Abis21 - Aliona - 3rd December 2013 Finch7 - 8th December 2013 amyloofoo - Inara - 23rd December 2013

Hi everyone, my first time on this thread. Our little girl is four weeks now, today is my first trip into town on my own for a passport so I'm very nervous! I had a set back due to being hospitalised with mastitis so although I've been out and a bout not for an appointment (so nervous we are ready to go and not due to be there til 12:30!!!)

abis21

KScarlet - I don't have a specific memory box for LO as I tend to keep hold of lots of memories for the loft - so its all kind of stored together in cardboard boxes. DD1 is 7.5 and I find it hard to throw out some of her pictures that shes made and things, and cute little notes that she leaves me. One day I will tackle the memory box and get it in to some sort of system, as everything is just piled together including all my memories from when I was little... My LO loves her playgym. I had it saved from DD1, so shes used it a few times already. We've ordered a vibrating bouncer thing with her christmas vouchers as I think sometimes she'd like to be sat up a little more to play with things as well. She's sort of getting the hang of batting the toys, but its very hit and miss. She likes to kick her legs around lots and sometimes manages to hit the crinkly material and stuff when she does that. Its very cute

Snozberry - umbilical cord _pale_

Lazywife - do you go to any baby/toddler groups? Tis a good way of meeting other local mums with similar aged children and also gives a little structure to the week and gets you out the house and out of your jamas (or is that just me who would stay in jamas all day :rotfl:) I found it v good (very daunting at first tho!) with DD1 and she still has friends from those groups we went to. We also had a subsidised swimming group too through the sure start centre (I believe this has stopped now) but that was great to build up confidence going with other babies and mums. It was easier to get out with DD1 I think as she was a may baby, and I don't fancy going out in the buggy when its so cold and miserable outside - but I have found some baby groups to go to and will be starting there this week with DD2.

Lao_cat - I'm bottle feeding and using tommee tippee bottles. I tried the dr brown bottles with DD1 and didn't get on with them, so am a bit reluctant to buy loads of bottles again as she does take her milk really nicely - she just has issues afterwards sometimes, mainly on an evening. She seemed a lot more settled last night, so fingers crossed the new medicine is taking effect. She was still up for feeds etc, or to put her dummy in, but nowhere near as much screaming and no pacing around the room required - so I'll say thats definitely good progress :cool: I'm doing ok mainly for sleep as DH does the 'late' shift and I go to bed around 8pm. Its just very interrupted sleep that I get! Over the weekend DH takes turns with getting up with LO, but he commutes for an hour each way in the week and I don't want to interrupt his sleep when he has all that driving to do. This is the first week where he will be at work for 5 days tho -so fingers crossed I can still cope ok by friday :rotfl:

Minimuffin - I did the traditional weaning with DD1, and from what I remember, I fed baby rice for brekkie and supper mixed with formula (or breast milk of you are BFing). I tried that for a few days before moving on to anything else. Then I moved on to veggies pureed for lunch. Again, everything tried out for 3-4 days before moving on to anything new to check for reactions / allergies. I didn't try fruit for a while as once they have a taste for sweeter things, they usually find the veg less appealing, but after a few weeks she had veg followed by fruit for pudding. I batch cooked a load of carrots, parsnips, etc and then blended them and froze them in ice cubes. When I knew she was ok with carrots for example, she could then have a cube of each veg, and then I moved on to pureeing things like casseroles to add in with the veg cubes.

Finch - hope your trip to town goes ok. And hope you are feeling better now! That sounds nasty!

lobey

I think baby groups are the answer to staying sane! I see my NCT group every week usually and try to go to baby massage etc or at least a walk around the park if we've got nothing else on.

Just come back from the weighing clinic and LO has slightly dropped percentiles; 10lbs 10 from a month ago to 11lbs 14 now which seemed ok to me though I must admit I had thought she had got a lot heavier recently. They told me to go back in two weeks to discuss options but I'm not sure how to force more food on her as it is!

Anyway... Evenings still bad here, last night was better with her falling asleep on me post feed at 7 for 30 mins, then screaming hysterically for 50 minutes instead of the usual 3 hours! She is obviously tired but continues to fight it. Hopefully just a screamy phase.

Good luck with the weaning! I have no clue how to approach that in a few months but will bank the suggestions on here for the future

Sparkles87

We've recently started weaning here too and the mixed approach is working for us. I usually spoon feed puree before we eat, while OH cooks, then give her something more BLW like cucumber sticks to munch on while we eat - keeps her occupied in the high chair and she's eating with us.
I tend to give breakfast first as she sleeps after her first bottle, lunch is usually the same food, play, bottle, nap. Then evening meal is just food as she then has her bottle before bed. We've only been doing this for a few weeks but it seems to be working okay

BabaMoose

Lobey my evenings are also filled with a very tired baby who refuses to sleep...

TBH I think I have a general napping problem. Unless he's in his pram outside or in his carseat on a journey he basically doesn't nap... There might be 5-10mins after a feed but then he's awake again. Doesn't normally get grumpy until around 7-7.30 but then just wants to be held and feed (use me as a dummy) until around 10-11pm.

Saying that when we then go to bed he normally sleeps through (until about 11am... lazy us) with one small feed around 6am.

I know I should get up earlier and that might bring his sleep forward earlier in the evening, but he has not napped since he was about 2weeks - so I feel like I'm catching up on sleep still!

Any tips for getting them to sleep without feeding to sleep? I think he very much associates sleeping with the end of a feed..

onetreehillgrrl

Hi all

I haven't been on for a long time, but some of you may remember me from the few posts(!) on the pregnancy club thread. It is hard to believe that Francesca is two months old now and weighs in at a hefty 12lbs 15oz.
I have nipped on very quickly whilst she is napping to look for someone to sort of reassure me and just say "that's okay" - if you know what I mean? As I have mentioned before, I don't know anyone in the area, but I have tried my best to go to baby groups on a Monday and Tuesday. ((It is on my return from the aforementioned club that I have become more upset because none of the other babies seem to cry! Whereas my LO just seemed to cry the whole time )). Anyway, I can't seem to shake the feeling that whenever Francesca is awake, she is crying. It makes me so upset to think that she is so sad (if she is). She will calm down when I walk around with her, but as soon as I put her down again she'll cry. Most of the time anyway. So, here comes the million dollar question, is this okay?
[OH has gone back to work today after a lovely two weeks at home with us, so I'm feeling particularly 'fragile' anyway ...]

xxx

abis21

Awww, onetreehill, it is ok. Don't be fragile. Enjoy a [STRIKE]lovely[/STRIKE] slightly creepy looking hug :grouphug:

All babies are different. Some need more reassurance and cuddles than others, but thats totally fine and normal. If it is bothering you and you are finding yourself not getting much done, then theres maybe a couple of things to try (if you haven't already?). Some babies like a sling and that way you can keep your hands free whilst baby wearing - so your baby still gets comfort from being close but it maybe gives you chance to get on with things too (DD1 hated her sling tho - doesn't work for all babies at all!). Some babies like a baby swing or bouncer with the vibration type settings as it helps them to settle a little better. Also my DD2 loves her dummy. I was a little against dummies with DD1 as I thought they didn't look so nice, and I was thrilled when she started sucking her thumb for comfort. Not quite so thrilled that 7.5 years later she can't get out the habit of sucking her thumb tho! So now I am very pro dummies :rotfl:

When she is crying, it isn't so much that she is sad. She is trying to get a message across and thats her only way of communicating right now. So it might be to tell you shes hungry, or tired, or had wind, or it might just be to tell you she's feeling a bit frightened and really needs her mummy close. And thats what you are doing - helping her and reassuring her.

**ALL** babies cry. Mine mainly cries on an evening when we are already tired and feel less energetic to be pacing around, but others cry in supermarkets and other public places to make us feel bad! Its just a stage tho - it really won't last forever and it is totally normal xx

Cake4brains

Hugs onetreegirl. Mollie cried A LOT when she was tiny. It seemed neverending but it did get better. No idea why or what she was crying for most of the time but it just seemed to improve Its very draining though and I totally understand why you feel upset by it. Mollie did have lots of trouble with wind though and she seemed to settle being walked around as she was being held more upright. Tilting her mattress a bit seemed to help too. Don't know if you've ruled wind out x

As Abis said, babywearing can help with this too

Sparkles, when we started weaning we did a bit of both too. We gave the girls pureed breakfast first then a bottle after. And we gave them chunks of food to gum on as well.

The girls are now using spoons (sometimes forks) and almost managing to get most of it in their mouths! The shower curtain is coming in sooooo handy. As is the dog :rotfl:

Lazywife, I feel like I could have written your post myself. We've got cabin fever here I think :cool:. I usually visit my Dad or my Auntie who live in the same village, a couple times a week just to get out, or nip into town. But this last month or so while the girls have been full of colds we have been staying in. Which means sitting in the living room. ALLLLLLL day. There are only so many times I can read the same book without lapsing into a semi-coma . And its so time-consuming just getting the girls ready for a walk round the village (well, in the pushchair) that Ive started not bothering. I should really make the effort but it can take over an hour to get them both nappy changed, shoes on, coats on and myself ready. Then when Im about to leave I realise Ive not stocked up the changing bag so that gets done, then I realise Ive forgotten their water bottle or snacks.

:eek: Just read that back and it sounds so bad. I need to get off my a**e


The girls are doing great though. They just need so much stimulation and I run out of ideas of things to keep them amused The thing they say most is Get Down. As they are about to climb on something. Which shows what I spend most of my day saying to them :rotfl:

Oh yes and we took them out with their reins on for the first time yesterday. No idea how Im going to manage that on my own :eek: They just kept running in circles and hanging from the reins cos they kept falling over!

Sorry for the long post haha

lao_cat

Onetreehill, big hugs it normal. Are there a range of baby ages at the groups? Older babies can be alert longer without getting fussy or crying. C is 19 weeks and I can now bring him places and not have him crying or feeding the entire time. The sling definitely helped around the 7-13 week stage. Do you have a sling library near you that you could borrow to see if it suits her?