April Munchkins 2013- enjoying our wonderful babies!

[ReadytoMum]

So, your comment about not picking up Peter prompted a question: do you let Peter sooth himself to sleep? I read somewhere, not to worry about any of that until 3 months . I always rock (or nurse) Grayson to sleep and then put him in his crib. Now I'm wondering, I I should let him self sooth himself or if it is too early?!?

He never nurses to sleep, usually we have to rock him, or walk laps around the apartment. I just meant that once he was asleep the grandparents keep holding him instead of putting him down, so he was starting to get fussy at night because he was so used to being held all day!

OH MY GOD... I just turned around to check on Grayson, and he has put himself to sleep in the swing

Hurray!! Peter is almost always awake when he's in his chair. He usually hangs out in there in the morning for a bit while I have my breakfast. Last night, for the first time ever, I put Peter down in his craddle knowing that he was still awake to see if he would fall asleep on his own, and he did! It was magical. lol

so I say he might want a feed, it's been a few hours! So she carrys on. Then he really goes for it! Like cherry tomatoe red face, screaming so much nothing comes out and still doesn't pass him to me! In the end I had to ask for him back!!!! Grerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I've been having this problem with my in-laws as well... they love holding Peter, and I have to rather bluntly tell them to give him back so I can feed him sometimes. Today DH was home, and he had to tell his dad to hand Peter over or start lactating!

the poor child nearly had a heart attack, as did her father, who couldn't understand why I was laughing when he explained what had happened. Literally he just thought she has swallowed the 'nipple' bit of the bottle...even though its attached to the rest of the silicone bit!

I was literally laughing out loud while reading this, and it was even funnier because MIL was boucing Peter around singing to him, and she thought I was laughing at her. Poor Simon... Adam is also rather hilarious sometimes. He's been banned from wearing the Moby wrap because he pokes at Peter every 5 minutes to make sure he's still breathing! Poor kid.

We also received the Infantino one as a gift and every time I put Grayson in it, he starts bouncing his head off of my chest and it looks like he is motorboating me lol ... Then he realizes that he's not getting fed and he gets pissed.
So... Moral of the story... We are failing at baby wearing ahahah.

We have an infantino carrier as well, but I feel like Peter is still too small to use it, so we haven't tested it out yet. I really like the Moby personally, but DH can't use it. So I know he's looking forward to using the Infantino one eventually.

Afm, we had our lactation consulatant meeting today... and apparently Peter is actually gaining weight like a champ! I clearly don't understand how the weight things work (and they keep weighing him in two different weight systems!) But apparently in the last 5 days he's gained approx 10 oz!! They recommend that babies gain 1-1.5oz a day and he's been averaging two! So we only have to formula feed every other feed till Monday when we weigh in again. And as long as he's gaining approx 25grams per day at the weigh in we can stop the formula altogether!! I'm so happy and so relieved!!

 

[ukgirl23]

doggylover I got mothercare's own brand of nappy soak powder.. I found it over by the terry nappy sets.. also found 100% pure tea tree oil in ASDA for £2 which is awesome. Thank you for the extra tupperware box advice!! I never even considered that I should do more than one! I have packs of wet wipes everywhere in my house so it makes sense to have extra xx I can't wait to use my home made ones. My aunt thinks Im mad! lol I can imagine that the texture of the cloth wipe would grip more poops hehe.. I think thats partly why I like it. I think its much nicer for them too. Has Isabelle had any rashes on cloth? Ben has had a few minor nappy rashes on disposables because he poos literally all the time... He is laying next time me straining and farting as I type and I only just changed him! lol xx

Nimbec Im glad Harrison is doing better now and putting on weight! I get people at the school telling me all the time that Ben is tiny but all of a sudden all the kids I used to think were tiny look huge! I would think most babies look like newborns until they were more robust and sitting up.. basically around 9 months. Its only because we see our LOs growing and developing that we see how big they are getting. If you get what I mean? I rarely make sense anymore lol xx Dont let it get you down though Harrison is beautiful and perfect and 10lbs is a lovely size He is doing really well xx

Steph I cant believe he left him locked in a cage all day poor doggy! Aaron is a bit the same during an argument, he likes to argue his point even if he knows he is wrong. Can you try to talk to Rob and tell him that he is being a huge penis? I bet he knows he is in the wrong and doesn't want to admit it, stubborn men xx

 

[ukgirl23]

yaaaayyy go Peter!! Readytomum that is brilliant news! xxxx

 

[doggylover]

Candy Isabelle has a tiny bit of nappy rash between her butt cheeks(poor child, in telling all her intimate details!) but nothing major. I think like benson it's because she poos so damn much at the minute and its impossible for me to catch every one, so I think it'd be the same whether she was in disposables or cloth.

Readytomum I'm so happy that Peter has gained so much weight! What a champ! And wonderful news to start weaning him off the formula.

Nimbec sorry to hear Harrison is still suffering reflux. I wouldn't worry about lying him in his front as that is how we were all raised and we are just fine!

Afm: worst night yet. Isabelle was awake every hour. She didn't cry, she didn't necessarily want fed or need changed she was just....awake and grizzling. So I am exhausted this morning.
Also after my initial success in pumping 3oz, this morning I couldnt even get 0.5oz.

 

[kealz194]

Awww readytomum and nimbec sooo glad your lil guys are putting on weight!!!!
And so glad Harrison is doing a bit better!
I have to say I would love to try cloth nappys but I just wouldn't be able to! I am doing at least 2 loads of the kids washing a day, my own washing has seriously built up coz we only have a tiny 3kg washing machine because of the poorly designed kitchen. It looks like it should be Paige's play toy!
Sorry you had such a rough night last night dl! I know what it's like to have nights like that, I hope it gets easier and your little madam is good for you tonight! X

 

[doggylover]

Oh Kealz that is a lot of washing already :/ I don't like doing more than two loads a day (for some unknown reason!!) so now I have the nappies I only do one other load a day.

Steph forgot to say earlier I would have MURDERED Rob for leaving the dog in the cage that long. And to find out he did it all day once before? Try sticking him in there and see how he likes it!

Today has been so much better, she slept brilliantly this morning and I napped, then went to my dads and he looked after her while I caught up on some sleep

 

[Steph82]

Thank you Sarah. Well, after having that mexican stand off (since we dont fight... we just dont talk ), it has turned into a full on relationship reevaluation . Not sure where this will leave us, but just letting things go for today and will bring it up again tomorrow. Its a long story, but he is very frustrated with finding a job (which I understand) and it is making him unbearable to be around...which in turn is making me turn cold... which makes him unsure if he wants to be with me... ugh... I will give it until tomorrow and bring it up again.

On a positive note, my cild is an Angel when I take him out in public ... at home.. not so much

Sarah, ay for some much needed sleep! Hopefully your little lady will sleep like an angel tonight.

Readytomum, so good to hear that Peter is gaining properly. So all your efforts are paying off

Kealz, I am with you on the non-cloth nappies!! I dont have as much laundry as you, but I have to go back to work in another week and a half... and then I wont have the time to do that much laundry

Candy, I mentioned to Rob that he was wrong (and I explained why... no dinner and not walking him = don't leave him locked up that long) and his response: I dont believe that I was wrong but I could see why you would think so . That's about the normal apologies I get from him

BTW I am majorly impressed with your "granola mamas" . I wish I had the dedication! Instead, I will continue with my wasteful disposable stuff.

 

[Mommabrown]

Hey ladies! Sorry I haven't been on much, Sunday was Allen's birthday and he worked over 80 hours last week which left me a complete wreck!!!!! So I took time with him amd to myself as much as I could before he returns back to work tomorrow.

We love our infant carrier its a Beco Gemini. We took Emmaleigh with us on a hike and it was amazing!!! She loves it.

I will try to catch up properly but the Princess is haling my name so I must go and feed her.

 

[ReadytoMum]

Steph: I'm sorry to hear that things are so rough with Rob right now... I hope you guys can sort things out and move past it. I'd be pissed about the dog thing too--men don't think very well sometimes. Peter is pretty good when we go out too, he generally just sleeps the whole time! lol

doggylover: Yikes, sorry to Izzy had such a terrible night. It makes it awfully rough on mama. I'm glad that your dad was able to watch her for a bit though so you could catch up on some sleep. Peter has had two amazing nights the last two nights--he slept for 4 hours straight had a feed then slept for another three hours! I hope we can keep this kind of pattern up! We're trying to get some fresh air during the day and have as much awake time during the day as we can it seems to be paying off!

ukgirl: Peter has had some nasty diaper rash the last few days too. Since we started the extra formula feeding he's been a pooing machine! It's starting to get better now though, but you can't help but feel bad for the poor little things.

Afm, life with the in-laws continues... today Peter and I escaped for a hour or so to go for a nice long walk with the stroller. And we went to a second hand store to pick him up some more newborn sized stuff because the 0-3m stuff is still way to big! Nana wants to go to Carters tomorrow to pick up some more stuff... so if Nana wants to pay... let's go! lol

 

[dan-o]

Morning ladies, sorry for not replying much, I have about 7 half finished posts open on my laptop from the last week, all totally irrelevant now, lol!!!

Started going out for our walks again now my bleeding has pretty much stopped, feels great to get outdoors for a few hours at a time!

Here's me with LO in the ergo and Sid in the buggy (he can't do the whole 6 mile walk on foot yet)

https://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k240/DANIELLA77/249e0977-aa55-4ad1-a654-1fe112c655d2.jpg

And baby Vin now

https://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k240/DANIELLA77/bump%202/DSC_0687-001.jpg

(Hope these pics aren't too big, i cant tell as I'm posting off my phone!)

 

[doggylover]

Dan-o you and your boys are gorgeous! Looks like you've been having some nice weather as well, which is great (we are getting nothing but rain...) what type of carrier have you got?

Readytomum: I am so jealous - can peter come and tell Isabelle about the secrets of sleeping for long stretches?!

Steph: sounds like things with Rob are rough at the minute, and I'm sure exhaustion from having a newborn isn't helping either. It sounds like a vicious circle - he is annoyed with the job situation, he takes it out on you, you get mad and that makes him worse hopefully a few days 'quiet time' will help you both, and help him see exactly how he's treating you.


Afm: we had another 5hr slee stretch last night, which was great! A little fussy from 4am onwards, but nothing unmanageable! Which means I feel human again today which is wonderful news! I'm off to get some freezer bags for my breastmilk (haven't been able to find them yet...) and have had a little pump session this morning so all is well in my world today!

 

[Steph82]

DanO you look great! One would never guess that you just had a baby . It's great that both kids seem so content with your walk!

ReadytoMum, let nana spend away at Carter's! That's what nanas are for!

How on earth are you guys getting 4-5 hours of sleep stretches ? I'm still stuck at my 3

 

[ukgirl23]

doggylover do you know if its ok to use bepanthen on cloth nappied bottoms?

we have started our cloth nappies today and I love them so much aready! they are gorgeous and Benny looks so cute in them.

Last night was awful! Benson had tummy ache and was colicky and demanded attention constantly. he wanted feeding every ten minutes for 4 hours then puked on me because he had too much! Then he screamed at me because he was tired.. until 11pm when we both went to bed and crashed out cold together until 2am when he woke up for his midnight feed and had wet all up his side.. to top it off Connie and Lucas would not stop fighting over stupid things then I done dinner and told them to go get ready for bed when Connie wet herself!!! all over the bathroom floor but Ben wouldnt let me put him down to sort her out.. Lucas is going through the constant question phase too which is mentally draining enough on its own! I was so worn out and mentally beaten last night it was awful!

today seems a bit better.. he is sleeping much better and has done a few green poos which usually means he had an upset tummy so hopefully he has pooed it all out now.

dan-o I love those pictures of your boys they are so cute! xx

 

[Mommabrown]

Wow Dan-O you look great with those two handsome boys!!

Doggylover Emmaleigh has been like that to for about a week now. I absolutely love it. We are in bed by 10 pm and up at 4 it is like routine everyday so maybe i need to start getting her into bed a bit earlier so we aren't up so late.

Ukgirl Emmaleigh has one bottle that was bought for us at our shower that is a Dr. Brown's bottle and it is the only one that doesn't allow air to get to her tummy and cause colic. They don't sell them at a store here so we have ordered some online and I am now waiting for them to get here. I feel your pain that is how my week was last week with Landon and Emmaleigh then the weekend with all 4 kids i was walking around like a zombie!

Readytomum My mother in law was the same way. She would even come to my bedroom door if i wasn't up and see if i was ok and ask to take Emmaleigh. I loved her being there to help don't get me wrong but i felt crazy at point also.I am like you if Nana is paying heck why not! I hope you have a fun day out!

I am so glad to see everyone's babies growing and chugging along so well! and I LOVE seeing all their pictures on Facebook. Emme has her one month check up tomorrow and hopefully she is as big as everyone elses. Last week she was only up 9 ozs in 2 weeks putting her at 8 lbs 9 ozs.

 

[ReadytoMum]

Hey ladies! I hope everyone is doing well.

doggylover: glad to hear Isabelle had a good stretch of sleep for you!! Peter is starting to get the hang of this night-time thing I think. Last night he had three 3 hour stretches... so that's three good nights in a row! I'm not so nieve to hope it's for good, but I'm certainly going to enjoy it while it lasts.

mommabrown: Good luck tomorrow!! I hope Emmaleigh's check-up goes well. We head back to the DR on monday for a weigh in, and as long as Peter is still gaining 25g a day we can finally switch to exclusive BF--which we're really hoping is the case!

ukgirl: sorry to hear Benson wasn't feeling well! I'm glad he seems more settled today. You're an amazing mama trying to split your time up with three LO's! Hopefully you'll get a bit of breather to your self soon so you can recharge a little bit!

dan-o: Those pics are lovely!! Vin is such a cutie!!

Afm, we had our spend at Carters today! Peter has got quite the new little wardrobe between the second hand shopping yesterday and Carters today. It's nice that Nana footed the bill... she was pretty excited to go shopping for him. Also, Peter has officially grown enough that he has out grown my favourite NB onsie and one of his NB sleepers! Hopefully the little man keeps putting on the weight.

 

[dan-o]

Thanks ladies

DL its an ergobaby carrier with infant insert. Had no luck with slings last time, but I never tried this specific type, its fab and Vincent loves it! Expensive though

Ukgirl, we had a colicky night last night also. I decided to detox and eat only fruit and veg for a day as I eaten so much crap the day before. Big mistake! My milk ran out by 6pm, LO was beside himself, took on loads of air with what little he could get out and then ended up unconsolable for several hours! Never again, back to eating copious amounts of home made cookies and other tasty treats today, loads of milk left and a happy baby again!

Ready, I'd love to shop at carters, some of the stuff is gorgeous! I've seen some carters bits in tkmaxx over here, but that's about all we can get!

 

[doggylover]

Dan-o I looked at the ergo but went with the boba 3G in the end which is basically the same thing (just a teeeeeny bit cheaper!) I'm glad vinnie is doing well in it, I've only had Isabelle in a few times but she has fallen asleep easily. I'm hoping it lasts us for a good long while.

Readytomum: yay for an all expenses paid shopping trip! Unlike you, I'm gutted that Isabelle has grown out of my favourite newborn outfits! I feel like we didnt get anywhere near enough wear from them! I want her in her cute 0-3 stuff but miss her newborn stuff haha!

Candy: huge sounds like last night was a horror. Connie and Lucas must be so much harder to work with when benson is being clingy, and I'm sure they maybe act up a little more as they don't want to share mummy.
No idea about bepanthan. As long as you use a liner it should be ok as it will only go on that, but long term I would look at something else like CJS BUTTer, wendula calendula or burts bees apparently also do one. I bought 6 sample pots of CJS from babypeach.co.uk, for £6 and its great as I keep one in our room, one downstairs, one in the nursery and one in the change bag (I seem to have lost two!!) and you need just the tiniest bit.

Mommabrown: I hope Emmaleigh's appointment goes well. I agree its amazing to see all our little babies doing so well!

Afm: I went to see my pregnant friend today. I've been worried about her as she has been basically a hermit for the last few weeks and been refusing to see anyone, but she seemed much more cheerful today. Her baby girl is due next week so I'm excited for Isabelle's new BFF to arrive!!
Isabelle went straight to sleep at 8.30pm tonight, so I'm hoping for a good night... I'm taking her to work tomorrow to how her off. I really hope she doesn't scream the place down!!!

 

[Mommabrown]

Oh how exciting DL for Isabelle to have a little playmate!

Readytomum Emmaleigh is still wearing NB clothes she can fit into all of them perfectly now so i am sure before long she will be growing out of them.

There is a Carter's outlet in Springfield where my MIL lives i absolutely love that store and that is were most of Emmaleigh's clothes came from. Speaking of I am already buying winter clothes for her since they are on sale and very very cheap i can afford more. I have bought 6-9 months and 9-12 in case she become a chunker over the time period!

 

[ukgirl23]

thanks ladies! Benny is doing much better tonight I've managed to have a few hours of peace and quiet and time to myself.. which was spent on cleaning and cooking for me and Aaron but it's still nice to move freely without being screamed at lol!

Dan-o I would have thought the fruit would have given you more milk than the junk! I'm going to stuff my face with crap now! I think the raw onions in my subway were the culprit on this occassion! I love onions

Thanks Doggylover They absolutely do act up when I'm holding the baby! They are big babies themselves lol.. I had this problem when I first had Lucas, as soon as I worked out a routine so I could split myself between the pair of the kids things settled down and everyone was happier, I just need to find a routine for us all. Can't believe Connie wet herself though!
I've tried Burt's Bees on Ben and didn't really like it, I like the Bepanthen because it spreads thinly and works well, I will give the others you mentioned a go too. I am sure when you take Isabelle to school she will be a perfect little angel! Benson is lovely when we go out you'ld never think he would scream until he couldn't catch a breath just for a cuddle 10 minutes after being held! lol.. as soon as we get home it's another story lol xx

Readytomum yay for Peter scoring some new clothes off his nanna! That's what grandparents are for, money, clothes and food. They do the spoiling for you I bet he will look super cute in his new little outfits xx

mommabrown I hope Emmaleigh's check goes well tomorrow and she's nice and chunky for you I didn't think Ben had put much weight on since his last check 2 weeks ago because he looked a bit thinner than before, but he had put on 2lbs! xx

Afm: I took Benny to weigh and play today with a girl I know from the school my kids go to, she has 3 kids too and she's really lovely, we went to the cafe first and met another mum there who has 4 kids who was also really lovely and she came with us to the center. The midwife there was amazed at my cloth nappies lol! She almost gasped when I took his clothes off to get weighed haha! She kept saying how I'm an amazing mum and I'm doing a great job and just really telling me how awesome I am which was really nice to hear when I was feeling pissed off and tired from the previous night of hell lol.
Our first day of cloth was great!! The only thing I don't like is how bulky they are, I'm going to see if I can get away with just 1 soaker pad in the insert and see if that works ok for us. Aaron wasn't sold on the idea of cloth yet btu I think he will grow to love it too! He did get a bit excited when I said he could pick out the next nappy lol.
I made my own wipes today and they are amazing! Love them so much!

 

[doggylover]

The wipes are amazing aren;t they? Makes you wonder how you ever got on with disposable wipes!! Honestly, I have used disposable wipes to change lots of different babies and never thought anything of it, but my cloth wipes are amazing! I think experiment with the amount of boosters you put into his nappies to see what works. I like to change Isabelle roughly every 2 hours in cloth just to make sure her little butt isn't wet, and sometimes her nappy is almost dry, sometimes it's SOAKED. So I put enough in to make sure that it doesn't leak out, but not too much to make it any more bulky. Cloth is definitely fatter than disposables though!

Afm: have been filling in an application form for a job today. It starts in September which isn't ideal as Isabelle will only be 4/5 months, BUT it's only part time and in a pretty great school. I have mixed feelings about it tbh, but thought I would apply and see what happens from there. I hate the thought of leaving her so young, but i love teaching and know that the longer I am out of the game, the harder it will be to get another job.
In fairness, I'm still luckier than you US mummies who have to go back so much earlier