Bumpkins & Babies Chat Thread

[Kte]

Chloe has a toy cupboard, we have a display cabinet downstairs and so put her toys in the cupboard bit underneath. I don't really purposely show her it's time to put the toys away, mainly becasue she will join in and take things back out again! (She does the same at nursery when they clear away the toys). She still thinks it play time rather than bed time. Sometimes she goes up to the cupboard, opens the door and takes toys out herself, so if it's near bed time I tell her no and pop the toys back quickly and let her play with one teddy or something.

She has only just learnt to put balls into the gumball toy she has, going to wait a bit for when she starts putting objects into things maybe before I teach her its time to tidy up the mess!

 

[jo_79]

I got sam weighed today and he's 26lb 3oz he also went Dr today and he has his 3rd infection this year, he had chest infection back in june, ear infection 2 weeks ago and now another chest infection Is odd too as Chloe also has a chest infection so im dosing them both up with antibiotics, lol medicine is about the only thing sam will take of a spoon!

 

[Kaites]

Happy Thursday!

I'm done with work for the week Tomorrow is the start of thanksgiving here so it'll be a nice long weekend for me and Emma (hubby only has Sun,Mon off). Emma and I are both coming down with a cold, so I suppose a long weekend is exactly what we need- lots of rest. Emma's been napping for over 2.5hrs now

Jo- I hope Sam and Chloe are feeling better soon!

Kte- Emma does the same taking the toys out when we clean up too It's like it reminds her what toys are around and suddenly she wants to play with them all over again.

Colsy- We have a few toy boxes in the livingroom and Emma is around when I make a big deal about cleaning up with the older boys so hopefully she's learning about clean-up from being around them On the days when it's just Emma around, i usually wait til she's in bed to clean up since she always drags toys back out almost as fast as I put them away- my dad calls her the Entropy Machine I don't actually bother with cleaning up her mess in the basement lounge until we need to vacuum though.

Aimee- Congrats on the new job and good luck with finding childcare At least you have "normal" hours- I know most people working in call centres around here aren't as lucky!

Oh- Emma just woke up- better run!

 

[helz81]

Belated Happy Birthday to Harry!!! Sorry Flora You'll think I'm trying to suck up cos I'm feeling bad if I say how cute he looks in your avvie but I'm not, he's diddy like my Ethan xxx

 

[Kte]

Morning all,

Well Chloe and Nij had a Daddy~Daughter day yesterday. Seems they had lots of fun together. He took her to one of his friends who has a little girl (18 months) so they could play together.

I finally managed to weigh Chloe (with me on the scales) and although its not 100% accurate give or take a few pounds apparently she weighs 19lbs 6oz. Which I'm maybe going to try again tonight or something because when she was weighed in July she was 19lbs 5oz, so erm, yeah . . .

Jo: Hope Sam and Chloe feel better soon. My friend/colleague at work gives her little boy Echanacia tablets at the start of the new term / during Autumn as he always gets throat infections otherwise.

Kaites: Hope you enjoy thanksgiving and that the colds go away!

Aimee: Congrat's on the job!

 

[aimee-lou]

Thanks Kte - Meant to ask, how did you find your nursery. I seem to have run out of ideas lol.

My current headache is trying to find a childminder/nursery for Earl now. I may have someone for 2 days a week as an emergency cover for a few weeks but she's having a baby in March so can't do long term obviously.

I've got to just keep trying and broadening my search field. Originally we said close to Uni so that hubby could collect him on foot then take him back to the car (we use the P&R). I'm not sure this is going to work but if we get moved quickly then we can get him moved to somewhere perm near to where we live instead. I just don't like the idea of him being upset more than necessary - although this lady has an 18 month old little girl so I'm sure they'll have a whale of a time together! lol

 

[florabean1981]

lol, again, thanks for all the birthday wishes... And yeah, it's great to see that so many of the Bumpkins are 'still' being breastfed But also, in general, how much all the Bumpkin babies seem to like their food in general it seems!

Aimee, Harry's a dairy monster too. I swear he'd eat an entire 6 pack of fromage frais in one sitting if I let him; he's also vERY into fruit, especially blueberries & kiwi fruit at the moment; it's kinda costing me a small fortune in fresh fruit n vege, but hey, at least it's pretty healthy for him (and me!) rather than chocolates & biscuits etc...

Colsy, we just keep the toys kinda 'displayed' across one wall & corner of the living room. all harery's stuff is contained in there & his bedroom & everywhere else is adult only, lol. i am thinking of getting a wooden toy chest for his room in the new year & putting up a book shelf in thgere as he has enough books to start his own library, lol. (my mum n dad are teachers, so books are given at every darn visit, in a mulitude of languages, lol)

Happy start of Thanksgiving to the North American folks on here

so, i said i'd tell you about Harry's birthday... well, we got up really early for achange & took him to get his 1st proper hair cut; it was an awesome place that specialises in kids & they did a great job! then we went to the soft play centre & spent 2 hours there, where all 3 of had a blast; there was so much there for him to play with & he loved every second. we had some quick lunch, then home for a nap. in the afternoon we went upto the leisure centre n went swimming; i was a bit worried he wouldn't like it as it had been 4mths since we last went, but he loved it still & was kicking his littlre legs n splashing us all & laughing his head off. i wish they allowed cameras in there, lol! then we went to Nandos for tea & harry devoured a quarter of plain chicken, pitta bread n hummous, then kept trying to nick my fries! then it was home to open his presents, have some cake n p[lay with all his new toys before we all went to bed exhausted!!!! it was a lovely day!

here's a pic of the haircut chair thingy- BnB for some reason isn't letting me upload any more photos, so I'll try again later with a couple of others.

 

[florabean1981]

I know earl's too young for it now, but UEA runs a creche thingy during half terms & stuff while parents are in lectures/seminars that as far as I can remember were free. I think you had to be 5 though to go to it, but I'm pretty sure there was also a nursury near or on campus? I dunno, for sure though... I know like back in Bangor, there was a nursury near Main Arts & the MSc/PhD Psych dept used to go & observe the kids play n stuff for their research, lol. I guess I assumed it was similar for all unis, but maybe not? I hope you find a nursury or suitable CM soon so it's one less thing for you to worry about!

 

[aimee-lou]

Thanks Flora - UEA does have a nursery on site but they have a massive waiting list and they even said that they couldn't guarantee a place until Sept 2012!!

I have a list of nurseries to call and I'm just plucking up the courage as so far I've got through to 4 childminders, all of whom have no vacancies! I could really do with some help as this is a massive decision that I'm having to rush...hubby should be home in an hour! so he can help! lol

 

[Kte]

Aimee: It was recommended to me through a colleague at work but just in case I got a list from this website https://www.daynurseries.co.uk/day_nursery_search.cfm just incase they didn't have any places. Or you can do a search via direct.gov https://childcarefinder.direct.gov.uk/childcarefinder/ which does childminders and nurseries

We were in a rush to get Chloe out of the CM's and inot somewhere else otherwise I would of had to quit my job but the nursery we found is amazing, so don't worry if you think its a rush job, you can still find an excellent place for Earl

Flora: Our Uni were buggers, they used to have a nursery on campus but knocked it flat and just put grass there instead . . . neadless to say there were lots of very unhappy people!

 

[colsy]

Hey girls, what happened while I went AWOL for most of September? I left you all chat-happy, all coming on here daily with little updates on your lovely babies ... but now I'm back and ready to yak again, hardly anybody seems to be around. Are you all just too busy now with crawling/toddling/walking babies? Is it that as we are now all seasoned mums, we don't really need the support that we got from here in the early days? I miss hearing from you all

We went to toddler yoga today - Monty whizzed around the room, and I was thinking 'awww, I've got the active child again, while all the other little babies sit there looking cutesy', but then one of Monty's baby friends (actually one of the very first other babies we met after Monty was born) got well in to the swing of things, and the pair of 'em did circuits for half an hour

OH is now sitting in the car reading cos Monty was asleep when we got home, and I was desperate for a wee and lunch, but didn't want to wake Monty, so I made OH pop out to the car while I came inside. That was an hour ago!

So, my 'this time last year' thought at the moment is that I was thinking 'I really, really, really want this baby to come out now'. Even though I still had a week until due date, I was DESPERATE for him to not be late, as I was going to have that birth centre pool delivery rather than an induced medicalised hospital birth come hell or high water!

Right, better do some work ...

 

[Kte]

I'm still here Colsy, I have noticed what you mean, I feel like I am overkill here sometimes as i'm at a PC for what feels like 24/7 so I can pop in anytime as such! I think life has just gotton a tad hectic for most ladies (I put that lightly) and it's not that they don't want to be here, everyone does pop back in when they get the chance and I think (and most certianly hope for our lovely bunch) that things are settling down a bit more now It's so hard to put reasons why on the open forum bit.

Glad Monty had fun at Yoga and has a parner in crime to wizz around with!

My thought for 'this time last year' . . . . it was my last day at work before MAT leave!

Hope everyone has some nice weekend plans. The usual at my end. Cleaning and the potential of inlaws. I hope its nice and sunny tomorrow so I can take Chloe to the local park to play on the swings.

It's almost bus time for me now! Enjoy your evening / weekend all

 

[florabean1981]

I'm still here too Just dont get much time to myself at the moment because I have to have eyes in the back of my head now that Harry's getting into/onto/under/behind everything in sight, lol. I figure all this running around after him will help me lose some weight at the very least, hehe. And he's not even walking yet, so god help me when he figures he can doing it without holding onto something!

My thought from this time last year was 'where the feck is Craig, he's meant to be visiting me at the hospital & he's not here yet!' and also the terrifying realisation that after tomorrow, I'd be home & it would all be really real & i'd be raising my child without all the help from Midwives & stuff from my 4 days in hospital after Harry was born, lol, I needn't have worried obviously, but I was so scared at the time!

Quick Question for you all:
How do you discipline your babies/toddlers? I mean, áll I've been doing is saying no & shaking my head emphatically at him, then if he does something naughty again, I get up, pick him up & take him across the other side of the room so he starts to understand that no means stop it & get away.... Was just wondering if anyone has any other suggestions for helping them understand no & things that are naughty or dangerous etc... I definitely don't wanna be one of those mum's who scream, swear or smack their kids, but I feel like what I'm doing now isn't necessariky firm enough, if that makes sense? Or is it just that it takes time for them to understand what 'no' actually means, rather than thinking it's a game or whatever????

 

[Kaites]

I've been saying "stop" and signing it and then redirecting her to a new activity Pretty much the same as what you do I read somewhere that at this age, it's completely normal for them to explore and be into everything since that is how they learn and if they are into something they shouldn't be, it's the parents' fault for not childproofing sufficiently. Sounds pretty harsh towards the parents, but there is a lot of truth to it imo (and reminding myself of this is what keeps me from getting angry when Emma gets into stuff she shouldn't)- the only times I really have to tell Emma to stop are when she is in the basement lounge (hubby needs to babyproof his Man Cave!) and when she is "exploring" her little friend's face... oh, and the cat's food bowl too The rest of the house is pretty much Emma-friendly

My "this time last year" thought is that a year ago today we brought Emma home from the hospital

 

[colsy]

Quick Question for you all:
How do you discipline your babies/toddlers? I mean, áll I've been doing is saying no & shaking my head emphatically at him, then if he does something naughty again, I get up, pick him up & take him across the other side of the room so he starts to understand that no means stop it & get away.... Was just wondering if anyone has any other suggestions for helping them understand no & things that are naughty or dangerous etc... I definitely don't wanna be one of those mum's who scream, swear or smack their kids, but I feel like what I'm doing now isn't necessariky firm enough, if that makes sense? Or is it just that it takes time for them to understand what 'no' actually means, rather than thinking it's a game or whatever????

I'm really glad you asked this, and dead pleased that others have offered some suggestions. I was feeling surprised that at less than a year old, we're having to discipline Monty and sometimes he even has what seem like proper tantrums when he's told off. A book on my list to buy is The No-Cry Discipline Solution, by the author of The No-Cry Sleep Solution - I had a little success with her sleep ideas, and I like her parenting style, so I thought I'd see what ideas she has.

For now, I do like you Flora - a big 'no', shake head, wave finger and then move Monty elsewhere. His big things are the log basket (full of splinters, old moss and of course logs), electricity cables (he literally chews them, so lots of shock potential there!) and the slippery, steep, stone steps from the kitchen up to the back door (really solid, so just great if he falls and bangs his head on them).

I shall now go and read others' ideas ...

 

[colsy]

the only times I really have to tell Emma to stop are when she is in the basement lounge (hubby needs to babyproof his Man Cave!) and when she is "exploring" her little friend's face.

Isn't it a nightmare when they 'explore' faces?! It can hurt when Monty 'strokes' mine, but it terrifies me when he tries to remove other kids' eyeballs Now, how on earth do we deal with that one?

 

[Kte]

Wort part of Chloe exploring faces is her 'let me pick your nose' phase!

I basically do what everyone else
has said, say no, action no and then move her away or distract her some other way. I did read that at this age if you say no they generally carry on doing, not to be disobedient, to explore. So I think its good to move them away / distract too.

 

[Kte]

Chloe can use a straw properly!

 

[Kaites]

Wort part of Chloe exploring faces is her 'let me pick your nose' phase!

I basically do what everyone else
has said, say no, action no and then move her away or distract her some other way. I did read that at this age if you say no they generally carry on doing, not to be disobedient, to explore. So I think its good to move them away / distract too.

I also read that "no" is a pretty abstract concept for babies to understand. I've been using "stop"- after teaching ESL, I'm all about using verbs

For faces, I've been removing her hand from her friend's face, and signing "gentle" (stroking one hand with the other in ASL- might be different in BSL) and then using her hand to stroke his hand gently, while saying "gentle". We do the same when she tries to maul the cat. Emma is all about the bear hugs these days

WTG Chloe on using a straw Emma's a bit hit or miss with straws- I think it's more by accident that she can drink from them

I'm just waiting for Emma to wake up from her nap so that I can do some running around. I have to meet up with a woman about buying a quad stroller off her later today- never thought I'd be in the market for a quad thank god it's for daycare and not 4 of my own kids!

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

 

[Kte]

I try and say gentle when Chloe is mauling the cats and guide her hand, never thought to show her on her oen hands first! Might try that next time to help her, great tip!

Oh dear, speaking of cats, Chloe just went to headbutt one, it's something the little cat does to her, not hard I have to say. It's more of a nudge, anyways, they were just having a headbutt session and the cat decided she had had enough, poor Chloe just went to headbutt the cat but the cat had gone and she was cuaght off guard and just carried on and hit the floor. Not hard either I have to add but she was a bit upset from the shock bless

Best go, bottle making time