any other over 35 first time mums?

[clio]

Oh, and I have officially joined the "Dad-dee!" club. He said my OH's "name" first. Everyone keeps re-assuring me that it's because it's easier to say, but I don't know. Lots of kids say "mama" first.

I think I would have felt best if he had said the cat's name first. That would prove that 1) he doesn't really have a preference, and 2) just as I suspected, the cat has been coaching him. That cat is crazy.

 

[Rowan75]

oh what a night we had - maybe 2 hours sleep max - gah! and of course no caffiene for mammy gah!

martha says dada too and last night said dodo and went for her dummy - so i took clios stance and later on asked her where her dodo was and she went for her dummy - youre right they do know more than they let on! lol

yesterdy martha learnt that radiators are hot and nearly gave herself a bla ck eye - today she choked on a biscotti oh the scrapes!! sure there will be many more! all ok tho!

i am v impressed re putting a sleeper on while crawling!

re calpol , bongela etc - i give it when shes nearly at the end of her tether - today she hasnt had any at all just chewed on things and wanted her dummy all day but yesterday she had it every 4 hours so its different every day!

 

[kosh]

ETA - I started writing this in the morning!

re. painkilles - I've only given G calpol once! I know what you're saying that if you were in pain you'd take them, but, I don't know, if I only see him a bit upset I prefer not to give him anything strong - I prefer to leave drugs for when he's properly ill as I really don't want him to get somehow resistant to them, if that makes any sense?
In your example ClioI would have offered BF/bottle first, but that's just me

sorry I've been MIA
how's everyone

kosh--I know. I normally would offer a bottle first. But it was a completely uncharacteristic wake-up. It was at 11:00--he is guaranteed to be asleep at this time if everything is alright. So that made me suspect teething. And when I went in, he was still asleep. He was crying in his sleep. If he were hungry, he'd be awake and standing up and crying non-stop. It seemed like a no-brainer. This was teething pain, not hunger.

I think I should rephrase that - I would have offered BF- but not because I would have thought it was hunger but because I know that BF is not just food but comfort, so many times he sucks a little and then manages to go to sleep, but I really don't know how it works when you FF, I have the feeling that bottle = food full stop, right?

I think it's pretty brave that you make your way through teething without any medication! I totally agree with you about the resistance issue as well. What do you do at night instead of meds? During the day we can often cajole him through, but night times are hard. Do you use any alternatives to these OTC painkillers? I'd be interested in hearing what some of your tricks are.

well I wouldn't say brave...maybe I am just making it worse (for him and me!). We use the teething granules and I was about to try the amber necklaces too, but I have to say I gave him Calpol today. But having said that, it confirms what I already suspected, I think I did it more for me than him. He was grumpy and wanted to be held all the time, I think he was more in discomfort than pain, and in fact I don't think the Calpol did much really.
and re. during the night - again, BF...but in fact it hadn't happened (until yesterday) thay he seemed in real pain during the night

 

[Storm1jet2]

Wow ladies - this thread has moved in the last couple of days - just had a quick skim read! Love the kiddies talking, my DH would be thrilled if L said dada, I wouldn't mind if she did As for the yoghurt, I've been giving her fromage frais from 6 months - I'm going for the dairy is fine as food but not as the main source of milk til over a year.

In other news we were at the hospital today - saw a paeditrician (can't spell that) who was lovely - didn't disagree with ANYTHING I said, didn't look at me like I was a crazy first time mum and in 5 minutes flat had prescribed losec for her reflux and a preventative antibiotic for her uti's - has ordered an ultrasound, dye test and kidney reflux test all he says she needs. I've been saying there is something wrong with her for pretty much her entire life! A baby that screams at night when they aren't wet/dirty/teething/hungry etc has something bothering them. I reckon I got nowhere as everyone was obsessed that I was going to get depressed with my mum dying so unexpectedly - I wasn't depressed - devestated yes but not depressed and making up my bubba was poorly - anyway rant over - we are at last getting some help - hurrah!

L hasn't slept since she fell asleep in the car as 12 noon for half an hour and its nearly 8now, she's beat! DH is giving her the first half of her bottle and then I will take her to bed. Hospital for me tomorrow - it's all fun and games in our house - oh and the dog has the runs as my friends kinds sneakily fed her a pile of biscuits and cat food when I wasn't looking.......... DH has pulled his back - but the cats are fine - so far

Ps teething ladies - when L was getting her top 2 teeth it was awful, I did find anbesol helped a little but the best was buying a teether (one that looked like a dummy but had a different end) and smearing dentinox teething gel on it, you can use the dentinox every 20 minutes. This was a handy tip passed on to me by another mum in the middle of tesco while I stood looking lost at the teethers That way the wee lady got teething gel and something she could have a darn good bite on!

Laters ladies - nearly time to take my currently passing out on the sofa baby to bed - awww she's cute and given she was still bouncing off the walls at 9pm last night a welcome change....

Ps Kosh - L uses the bottle for comfort too! She can pretend she's drinking it when she is just sucking it for comfort and not actually taking any milk - wee monkey - and she won't take a dummy...

 

[kosh]

oh forgot to say
yay for all those talking babies!
and clio -wow he understands all that?
oh, and the new picture is adorable!

 

[clio]

oh what a night we had - maybe 2 hours sleep max - gah! and of course no caffiene for mammy gah!

martha says dada too and last night said dodo and went for her dummy - so i took clios stance and later on asked her where her dodo was and she went for her dummy - youre right they do know more than they let on! lol

yesterdy martha learnt that radiators are hot and nearly gave herself a bla ck eye - today she choked on a biscotti oh the scrapes!! sure there will be many more! all ok tho!

i am v impressed re putting a sleeper on while crawling!

re calpol , bongela etc - i give it when shes nearly at the end of her tether - today she hasnt had any at all just chewed on things and wanted her dummy all day but yesterday she had it every 4 hours so its different every day!

Oh my lord, I had never thought about the fact that you can't have caffeine while breastfeeding! I TOOK UP drinking coffee when Jonah was born. Never drank it before. Hated it, in fact.

Yay for M and her dodo! I've been testing J more, and holy cow does he know a lot of words! Mainly nouns. BUT, I maintain, just as M proved, I think we just wait too long to ask them, because we assume they don't know. J's not particularly clever--I just finally asked him!

Oh, and it is definitive. My OH came home from work and J crawled like crazy towards him and said "Dada!" Poop. I was still holding out for it just being a coincidence, or we misheard him earlier.

J looks like a little bruiser right now, too. He's got a black eye (his second so far), bruises all over his head and forehead and a few here and there on his body. But at least some of them taught him a lesson. Ever since he let go of the gate on the steps and fell hard, he has learned to go down the stairs backwards. Which is such a relief; I no longer have to watch after him (what was the point of a gate when I had to make sure that he wouldn't approach the gate itself?!). And when you add the fact that he only has three teeth, he really looks bad ass.

I guess we give Tylenol to him in the day when there is no way to stop the fussing and crying. When he'll cry at anything, which isn't like him at all. But for us, a raw carrot works wonders. He doesn't like any other teethers; he'll just gnaw on the carrot all day. Watermelon rinds are great as well.

Anyone use the amber teething necklaces? I have one, but I always forget to put it on him, but my (very skeptical) BIL and SIL swear by them.

Re: reading to LO--do you do this regularly? And since when? I tried to read to J at a very young age, but after you read him the book once, he wasn't interested in it ever again. And, it seemed like he was only interested in the novelty of new pictures. I tried again in earnest at 6 months, but all he wanted to do was chew on the book. And even now, this is all he will do. (This is all very ironic because both his parents are academics and in our discipline [history], you have to read a lot. But we both adored books from a young age.) Anyway, since J's showing so much development in terms of language, I've been googling and came across all that stuff about how reading to him from birth is so important. And we've never really done it. Did we do him a great disservice not reading to him?

 

[Storm1jet2]

Hey Clio - I read to L, but usually just the books which have touchy feely bits on them or she loses interest pretty quickly and just tries to eat the books. We are currently reading 'thats not my teddy', 'thats not my snowman' and 'thats not my reindeer' - little bit out of seaons but she loves them. My SIL gave us about 6 of those books but those are her favourites - she just loves all the touchy feely bits.

I never tried an amber necklace but I did buy one of the hazelwood ones, wore it on her for a day and the little clasp irritated her neck so I gave up! I do know people who swear by them though - anythings worth a try if its not going to cause any kind of harm!

 

[SabrinaKat]

Clio - we try to read a little every day. I have a book (for 3 yrs+, tho) called 'This is My Kitten'; This is my kitten, she has two pointy years and she says, 'meow, meow', but it's a button that goes 'meow, meow'; I only read part of each page, but now, he knows it so well, we turn to the real kitty and say, 'this is OUR kitten (Daphne is 11, tho), she has two pointy ears (I touch the ears or point to them), and she says 'meow, meow', etc. It makes LO laugh and when he's teething, I recite it to him to try and get him to laugh. It works especially well when the kitten (the smaller cat) comes into the living room, mewing...the older one (Sabrina) only meows when there is food available, speaking of which.........

my older, fat cat Sabrina tried to get at the baby's oatmeal/porridge this morning, when I went to get some packages (ordered some sleeping bags from ebay), and when I came back the baby was staring at the cat, who was either eating or about to eat the porridge from the bowl, so, of course, I had to throw it out....(the food, not the cat!)....

storm- I so hope that your LO is finally happy soon! am so glad that the doctor listened to mummy!

am off to sleep, so of course, OH goes to use computer in the spare room, forgets to bring a bottle, etc., for LO, and then when LO wakes up, 'where's the bottle?' doh! and then, comments that all I do is use the computer during the day, etc., I explained that I did the housework first, then the computer when LO was napping...growl. am off to sleep, as OH is taking LO tonight....I hope!

bye

 

[AngelUK]

Hi all, am a little behind again cause I am on AF and feeling a lil low cause of it and stayed in my lil corner for a bit. That and the usual of Dom not sleeping.

As for reading, no sadly I don't do that much. I had such good intentions but somehow I never manage it much. The only way I can read to them both is when they are on their playmat on the floor and I lie next to them and hold the book up above their heads. Easy peasy but my sciatica is AWFUL when I lie flat on my back like that and I feel SOO old but it is a real struggle to get up from that position lol. I know it is all a good excuse but it seriously has stopped me reading to them. We have a book of nursery rhymes with picture by Beatrix Potter that I have read to them a few times. I love her work and I like the rhymes cause my boys seem to like them and when I sing to them. (Sebastian especially always giggles when I sing "Let's Go Fly A Kite" to him, not that that is in that book) But oddly enough lately Sebastian often starts crying when I read a book to them. So I have given up a lil. I too loved reading when I was a kid and teenager. I didn't have many friends but boy did I have many books! lol

Clio meant to say, I love that new pic of J! Soo sweet!

 

[Leeze]

Definitely can't keep up but just dropping in to say hello! Storm, Kia loves the 'That's not my ...' books too. She's just started turning the pages too and this is very cute. She loves cloth books too especially if there's something that dangles from the book that she can play with. Her 2 favourites are 'My duckling book' and 'My monkey book'. We normally read to her just after her bath and before the endless saga that is bedtime! Can't remember much else, sorry. Except teething. We give her calpol if she seems to be in pain in the evening so probably once or twice a week but normally if she wakes in the night I pop her on the boob and she falls asleep within 10 mins or so. Our big news is that Kia started properly crawling forwards today. She's been sliding backwards for a while but this is the first time she's gone forwards. Exciting yet scary times!

 

[clio]

Thanks everyone who replied about reading. I'm certainly now going to pick up some "That's not my..." books then. My nephew used to love them, but I think he was older. As well, I'll just work with a page a day, too, so neither of us become bored.

He loves only one of his books, and that's an old touchy-feely one, but he likes it only because he made friends with the elephant in the book. Then Elephant had to join J's toy posse. Here J (and the cat!) are with Elephant (I think he was around 8 weeks?):

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8308/8021289270_a9cff848a3.jpg

 

[kizzyt]

Ladies!

I haven't posted for ages, I'm
So sorry, this thread just moves so quick and it's hard to keep up on my phone but love seeing all your updates

Re painkillers, I use calpol/nurofen sparingly and because I know that then I am comfortable giving it when I know she needs it if that makes sense? She's currently got 4 molars coming thru (two have broken the skin, two still trying) so that's 12 teeth at almost 12 months, utter madness! In a cruel twist of fate she started a couple of nursery sessions just as this teething phase started so she has been tearful and clingy when I leave her which makes me v tearful, hoping it will get better as the teeth appear. I don't work ATM but am looking for a job and wanted to get her settled in before that happens plus those 6 hours per week I get to do some stuff which is hard to do with a very mobile baby!!

Re books, Georgina loves them, I read to her sometimes but more often than not she spreads them all around herself on the floor and picks them up, turning the pages and "reading" to herself (not entirely sure which language she reads in, sounds like one she made up haha). I don't think NOT reading to them holds them back in any way so long as they have access to books and can look at pictures etc.

As for talking she has progressed from dada to daddy and baba to baby which is nice as it feels like she's putting different sounds together, she woofs all the time tho, like a little dog, hehe! She has taken her first steps too, 5 is the max so far and she looks so proud when she does it!!

Lastly it's her first birthday on monday, where has this year gone? I'm so emotional about it!! Xx

 

[Rowan75]

ah Im not bf (not my cup of tea) - naa just meant cos Im pg

martha is sporting a lovely shiner on her head - lordy! its bumps a minute round here!

we read a lot - mainly started due to the 30 min sit after milk for reflux - only way to keep her put - so we read after milk as long as we can - she loves books and now she can press the noise buttons herself and turn the pages its quite interactive we go to the library every week to swap books too

 

[SabrinaKat]

well....hello! I got some decent sleep last night - yeah! and feel almost normal. The top tooth has just cut through, so am hopeful that LO is over the worst of his teething (for that tooth, at least!)....

got an early b-day present, my OH got a discount for a 6-hour first aid for children/infant course (which I wanted to do when pregnant), so will be doing that in a couple of weeks, so if anything should happen, I won't panic too much....

clio - your cat is amazing as it looks like she can read!

bye!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Rowan75]

yey for sleep and course! we want to do one as well

kizzyt has the year gone fast? i think time whizzes by now!

wanted to check with you guys...

how much tv does your lo watch? do you havw the tv on during the day? i dont usually and my friends think im bonkers - i tivo zingillas for when i am absolutely exhausted and have no more - walking up and down, playing, readng, singing left in me and we sit and watch that for 10 mins - not every day but a couple of times a week - is martha missing out? some of my friends have the tv on all day?

have your los had chocolate yet? martha hasnt and i thought maybe hen shes one - again my friends think im, too strict!

 

[clio]

Rowan--I don't think any child misses out if they don't watch TV. I wasn't allowed to watch tv as a child and became an obsessive reader instead.

That said, if it's past 3 in the afternoon and we've got to get J to 7 pm and my hip hurts and we're all played out, then I'll take him on my lap on the couch to watch whatever is on. I'd feel more guilty about it if he didn't start squirming after around 10 minutes and then we have to rough-house on the couch.

Now I feel like a horribly negligent parent for not reading to my baby enough. I'll pull all the books out now, and see what he does. Though I suspect he is going to go straight for Elephant. Yesterday, I pulled out that book and he grabbed it, went to the page, and proceeded to stroke and talk to Elephant.

kizzyt--our first walker!!! Congratulations Georgina!!! Do you have anything planned for her first b-day?

So yesterday I was offered a gig to teach at the university I lectured at before I got pregnant! Yaaaay!!! I love teaching university (I tried teaching high school, and hated it), and it's American History, which I adore. I'd be starting after Christmas, and it doesn't clash with my husband's schedule. Yaaaaay!

Re: Husband and painkillers--I could have killed him this morning. I'm still actually quite mad. J woke up for a second time at around 4:30. This is one of the times when you don't really know why he's woken up, but he was probably ready to start the day. I rocked him for a bit, and he was calm, but just not sleeping. I hand him off to my husband at five (he's the one responsible for mornings), but he takes him back to the nursery and starts to rock him back to sleep again. So the kid starts screaming. And I learn that my husband gave him Tylenol because he believed the screaming meant pain. Huh? And then, because the kid was still upset, after a while he gave him Advil, too! (They can be used at the same time because one it processed by the liver and the other by the kidneys. Still, this was ridiculous!) When I heard this, I grabbed the boy and took him to my room. When we were alone, I saw that there was no sign of any distress or teething, and the Advil had yet to take effect, so this was not due to lack of pain. (Did any of this make sense?) So my husband dosed him TWICE when neither was actually needed.

Grrrrr! Where is common sense when you need it?

 

[Borboleta]

Hello ladies,

Hope you are all well.

Clio: we normally read to thiago after he woke up from a nap or something otherwise he has no patience for it.

Rowan: sometimes we do have the tv on the whole time but with news and stuff like that. He does love some videos that we found on YouTube from simple learning so I normally play for him during our mealtime so we can sit and eat while he is entertained by the videos and does not care if he is being held or not. He absolutely loves them!! It is the cutest thing to watch. He face has a big huge smile when he sees the owl on the video!

Kittyz: thiago too is teething AGAIN!!! He has been waking up more often during the night again, sucking on his lips and drulling like a maniac. Here we go again ! He is trying to catch up with Martha.

And Sabrina my birthday is this Friday! I am going to be 39 years old! We are have pretty close birthdays.

Oh, how often does your LOs take naps during the day at 7 months? Thiago normally takes 3 but yesterday he decided to take 2 so I was wondering if it would be better for him to take 2 instead of 3.

 

[SabrinaKat]

Naps: Finn still takes naps every two to three hours, e.g. today, he woke up at 8.45am (bliss.........!), took a nap from 11 to 1 (unusual for him, usually 1/2 hour to an hour), then he's on another one, started at 3.45 until ?....he'll have one more before bedtime. We do put him down about 7pm, but he never stays asleep, so we consider that a 'cat-nap', before proper bed at around 10pm.

Clio - we keep a log of everything, but....why not have a sticky on the bottle or box and write on it whenever you give a dose of something? That way, there is no confusion...

TV: I'm addicted, sorry. It IS most of the day, except naps, getting to sleep, etc. However, my feeling is that if you are engaging with LO - regardless of the TV in the background, then it's okay? However, I am starting to turn it off as I notice LO is sometimes engrossed in it. So, I guess I'm being contradictory. That said, I prefer news, documentaries, etc., in fact, we watched Cats 101 on Animal Planet in the mornings (just finished) and LO kept looking at the TV and then our cats, etc., and I was talking to him about the cats, so I do think sometimes TV can be beneficial.

My birthday is 11th October and I'll be....45! If the weather is nice, we'll go to the Zoo (I go every year that we're not travelling, e.g. 2008 returning from OZ; 2009 returning from Portugal, but 2010, 2011 - the Zoo), I always take the day off work, so cross fingers the weather is nice...and my Finn will get to see in real life the animals we play with and see on TV....

oh, well. It's amazing how decent sleep helps. I've done so much housework and all is well with LO (I am hoping that with the tooth cut, he'll be better....)

bye!!!!!!!!

 

[clio]

SabrinaKat--The issue isn't that he got confused; it's that OH himself administered BOTH drugs within 20 minutes of each other because he believed that J had teething pain. Maybe the Tylenol was warranted, but the Advil most certainly wasn't. Before the Advil could kick in, I took him myself into my bed and he was very happy playing around. He certainly didn't need the second drug. AT ALL. We're going to have to talk about it, but we're both so tired and grumpy that I don't see this ending well.

Yay for upcoming birthdays! We'll have all sorts of smilies and hugs at the ready!

Re: Negligent Me and Books--So I've got Jonah surrounded by books. There is one that makes animal sounds if you push the buttons, and he's pushing the buttons and pushing the book itself around the living room, but otherwise... Here is a picture of J and his books:

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8317/8023697602_2217e3456e.jpg

Awesome. I'm raising a dunce who'd rather chew on Tigger's hat. I'm freaking out and my husband refuses to listen to me because I'm being "ridiculous." Well, I guess I can take comfort in the fact that he knows what a book is. Bah.

 

[clio]

Sorry, I forgot:

Re: Naps--his pattern at 7 months is the same as now. Because J sleeps 11 hours a night, we could never get three naps out of him. We aim for two, and usually get only one in the morning. If we're lucky (and we are, around half the time), his one nap will be a nice long one, but afternoon ones, if they happen at all, are never longer than an hour. So my husband just takes him to the zoo or the botanical gardens or an historic park almost every day so I can get my nap. He will sleep in the car, though, so we consider this a nap. Obviously, J chose this himself. There is no putting him down if it is only a "one nap day." So maybe T is making up his own mind and choosing his own schedule?