Bumpkins & Babies Chat Thread

[Kte]

Morning all

My sis has an alarm clock in my nephews room, it is set to go off when it's okay for him to leave his bedroom, he is wide awake at stupid hours. He used to go in their room or go play on his own downstairs creating a bit of a mess, so this helps a little. Prob is he is 8 years old now!

Jo: Chloe does the same as Sam, ends up on her front screaming, I pretty much do the same as you too That's a bit crap they don't class you as a student!

Kaites: Yeah background noise too, her nursery usually has rhyms on in the background but I have none at home so I revert to the TV. I end up being drawn in more than her I think Hope you can get your laptop sorted.

LK: :wave: hefty shifts! Hope you get some relax time soon!

Mellie: Congrats on enrolling! Eye wise,like you say, it will be worth it, I have know a few people do it too and the freedom! I just hate things to do with my eyes. I'm okay at putting my own contact lenses in but if other people go near my eyes - eek! lol and I din't think they have yet designed a pair of glasses that suit me, hate hate hate them so I live in my contacts mostly!

Well best go see if madam is awake, typically I woke up and she is snoozing away! Her eyes seem a little better thanks to the drops but she don't like me giving her them one little bit!

 

[colsy]

Hello ladies, I'm back in the land of the living and finally able to chat properly again. So, as you may know by now, Monty's sleeping reached what we though was an absolute nadir the night before OH went away for the week. He was up something like six times that night, including a crying session over an hour long, and we thought it couldn't get any worse. OH then went off for this week away and the nights got worse ... and worse ... and worse. I had more than a couple of nights where we woke eight times in ten hours and then was up for the day at 5.30am. I had crying sessions that lasted more than an hour and a half and nothing I did could settle him. I just didn't know what was wrong. I would offer BF and he would suckle for a bit but then get worked up again. I think every night OH was away, Monty ended up in my bed for almost the whole night.

The odd thing was that during the day Monty was absolutely fine and dandy. His daytime napping also went to pot, but it didn't seem to affect his health or happiness during the day - which was a very good thing, as I don't think I'd have managed very well if he was grumpy all day as well!

Anyway, my mum came up for quite a lot of the time OH was away, which was good in some respects (lending a hand during the day, getting Monty dressed, feeding breakfast etc.) and hard in others (we tend to bicker a lot, and she don't half question EVERY thing I do).

By the Wednesday, I was at breaking point. It was our monthly HV appointment and as the HV said 'How are you?' I think the look on my face said it all. She immediately scheduled a visit for the Friday morning. She was GREAT. Usually I find her pleasant enough but so scatty that I just don't feel she's on the planet. However, the Friday visit she was soooo helpful. Her biggest suggestion was to move Monty into his own room because she said we were likely all keeping each other awake. She also suggested putting him down for naps and his bedtime and then walking away immediately after a kiss and a 'sleep tight'. And then, hardest of all, she suggested CC for the nighttime wakings.

So, OH came home that same afternoon and we immediately moved Monty's cot into his own room. (He is in a cot now, after we stopped using the hammock a couple of weeks ago - I have to say that changeover wasn't as hard as I predicted.) We also did as HV said and just walked away immediately after putting him down for his sleep or nap.

Now, those two things have worked great. He now drops off much easier and more quickly than if we are in the room with him. And of course we are most definitely not waking each other up now. We have even switched the monitor off, as we realised we can hear him no problem if he cries in the night.

But the CC is the difficult bit. I mentioned it on here yesterday, so you know my feelings re it. I should say though that last night was amazing. He woke for a single feed before midnight and then slept till about 6am. Then he babbled away in his cot for half an hour or so without once asking for us, so although we were awake we were happy just lying in bed listening to him chatting away to himself and to his blankets.

So, does this mean the CC has already worked? It's hard to know, because who knows what will happen tonight. If we have another night or two like last night, then I might begin to feel it's working/worked. We shall see ... time will tell ...

So, yeah, OH being away was bloody difficult, but only really because Monty chose that week to have the hardest sleep pattern he's had since the day he was born. In other respects, OH being away wasn't anywhere near as hard as I had predicted (but then you all said that anyway, didn't you ).

On the development front, he's now sitting unaided for five minutes or so, till he forgets and falls over. He's happy on his tummy, holding himself up on his hands and spinning round and round - but not yet moving back or forward. He's learned to grab the cot bars and pull himself to the other end of the cot - I often go in and find his head at the foot end, and his feet at the head end And food ... well, yesterday I had the first refusal (mung beans and brown rice, with asafetida and cumin seeds - I loved it so don't know what his prob was!), so I am very proud we've got this far and he's eaten everything apart from that .

I am afraid I've lost track of what most of you have been up to this past fortnight, but it goes without saying that I hope you and your Bumpkin babies are all happy and healthy. I hope to be around again a bit more now. Bye for now xx

P.S. Anybody hear from ESwift? I hope she is OK.

 

[Chaos]

oooooh! This makes SO much more sense now. For some reason I assumed he was already in his own room!

Yes! This was another reason we put button in to her own room, cause we all kept waking each other up at night! The first 4 nights in her own room, SUCKED. She was obviously used to the ghastly tones of my husbands snoring, but then I got a noise machine and it plays 10 different sounds, she likes the rain one, so now I put that on low just for some back ground noise and she was out like a light!

Good luck!!

Re Eswift, she's active on FB.

 

[colsy]

oooooh! This makes SO much more sense now. For some reason I assumed he was already in his own room!

Yes! This was another reason we put button in to her own room, cause we all kept waking each other up at night! The first 4 nights in her own room, SUCKED. She was obviously used to the ghastly tones of my husbands snoring, but then I got a noise machine and it plays 10 different sounds, she likes the rain one, so now I put that on low just for some back ground noise and she was out like a light!

Good luck!!

Re Eswift, she's active on FB.

I have to say, it felt soooo odd Monty not being in his hammock next to our bed for the first two nights. I just wanted to reach out and know he was there safe and sound and cosy, but of course he wasn't - instead, he was on the opposite side of the house, down a quarter-flight of stairs and up another quarter-flight of stairs - a trip that takes about ten seconds to make but feels like a l-o-o-o-ng time in the night when he's asking for us.

By the way, what do others of you do re general household noises? Our house is very noisy, as it's an old cottage with creaky boards, gaps everywhere, pipes and conduit in all sorts of odd places that carry noise around, no carpets to soften the sounds, and rickety doors with clunky latches and no seals underneath or to the side. We have a habit of doing stuff quietly while Monty is asleep, but I've been thinking about how we can't be quiet forever. I mean, what about when we have dinner parties or weekend guests? I am sure he would sleep through the noise, but we don't ever want to tempt the idea in the evenings, as we want him to stay asleep, LOL.

 

[Chaos]

oooooh! This makes SO much more sense now. For some reason I assumed he was already in his own room!

Yes! This was another reason we put button in to her own room, cause we all kept waking each other up at night! The first 4 nights in her own room, SUCKED. She was obviously used to the ghastly tones of my husbands snoring, but then I got a noise machine and it plays 10 different sounds, she likes the rain one, so now I put that on low just for some back ground noise and she was out like a light!

Good luck!!

Re Eswift, she's active on FB.

I have to say, it felt soooo odd Monty not being in his hammock next to our bed for the first two nights. I just wanted to reach out and know he was there safe and sound and cosy, but of course he wasn't - instead, he was on the opposite side of the house, down a quarter-flight of stairs and up another quarter-flight of stairs - a trip that takes about ten seconds to make but feels like a l-o-o-o-ng time in the night when he's asking for us.

By the way, what do others of you do re general household noises? Our house is very noisy, as it's an old cottage with creaky boards, gaps everywhere, pipes and conduit in all sorts of odd places that carry noise around, no carpets to soften the sounds, and rickety doors with clunky latches and no seals underneath or to the side. We have a habit of doing stuff quietly while Monty is asleep, but I've been thinking about how we can't be quiet forever. I mean, what about when we have dinner parties or weekend guests? I am sure he would sleep through the noise, but we don't ever want to tempt the idea in the evenings, as we want him to stay asleep, LOL.

We don't creep around or try to be quiet for that reason. We have people over and it can get loud. I mean obviously we don't go slamming doors and stuff, but we can stand out side her room talking and it won't wake her. The cats thunder up and down the stairs playing and it don't wake her.
I read somewhere a while back that trying to make the house quiet is the worse thing you can do really because when they are born they are used to all the sounds of your body. Heart, guts digesting food, outside noises. Its comforting. In the start when she'd sleep down stairs in the day I'd just get on with cleaning and normal house hold noises.

 

[Maffie]

Hi girls, not feeling good see GS (didnt want it here)

 

[Chaos]

Hi girls, not feeling good see GS (didnt want it here)

Maffs

 

[Mellie1988]

Maffie

 

[Kte]

Major major Maffie xx

 

[jo_79]

Hi girls, not feeling good see GS (didnt want it here)

Huge maffie.

 

[jo_79]

Help!!!

Ok so i went to the open day today was ok i suppose. But when asked what i really wanted to do after the midwifery course i said i want to work in the neo-natal unit. So they now said i need to do the child nursing degree if i want to do that. Im all confused now, it takes the same amount of time and the access course im doing now can get me into it but there are other aspects of midwifery i wanted to experience such as labour and delivery ward with the childrens nursing i can still go to UWE but they intake twice a year which would be much better timing with me and my work (they have no idea im leaving after 13 yrs with them). I asked if i could do the nursing then do the top up 18month course into midwifery but that only applies if i do adult nursing. So now i dont know which course to do not looking for anyone to say "oh yes do that one" but need some advice - the careers centre where i live is shit, if your over 19 they're no help whatsoever!

Littlekitten if you see this im gonna try message you on FB tonight as i know its your line of work!! x

 

[Kte]

Hmm, if ultimately you want to work in neo-natal then the child nursing degree is the way to go. Im guessing the adult nursing before midwifery is because of complications to us ladies, more than the LO's, so you would deal more with the adults. I know from what you have said to me before you would be a great midwife and would have lots to bring to the table so to speak, so I guess its where do you really want to end up?

Not much help sorry, but I can see one way working with LO's and one way more with adults - well pregnant ladies

 

[Kte]

Chloe crashed out for the first time ever today so I couldn't resist and share . . . she was sat on my knee watching Top Gear and the adverts came on and all of a sudden she was asleep - she just doesn't do this ever as she alwas fusses to be put down to sleep.

 

[jo_79]

Hmm, if ultimately you want to work in neo-natal then the child nursing degree is the way to go. Im guessing the adult nursing before midwifery is because of complications to us ladies, more than the LO's, so you would deal more with the adults. I know from what you have said to me before you would be a great midwife and would have lots to bring to the table so to speak, so I guess its where do you really want to end up?

Not much help sorry, but I can see one way working with LO's and one way more with adults - well pregnant ladies

yeah im guessing thats why you have to be an adult nurse. well i looked more on the nhs careers website and that tells you that if you do a midwifery degree you can then expand into specialist fields when you've done 6 months work after qualifying. Yet thats not what the careers woman at UWE said!! I just dont want to waste 4 years then at the end of it find i cant do the job i really wanted to do.

They did say that out for 600 applicants for 2010 entry there are only 70 places!!! Its sooooo competitive to get into midwifery, i felt well old too lol lots of young whippersnappers just out of college lol

 

[aimee-lou]

Good evening ladies,

Hubby is giving Earl his bath for the first time in about 3 months lol, so I get to sit here and catch up properly.

First of all, I hope we're all well. It's all go here with the move. All the letters have been sent and I've got a lot of stuff done but I'm still nowhere near prepared. You add in a few stresses and it's all making for one stresd out Mummy.

I'vebeen trying to get hold of my Dad - he has been unwell for about a week, and I spoke to my brother (which never happens) about him the other day and he's really poorly. I can't afford the fuel to get to see him until next Tuesday at the earliest and I am feeling a bit hopeless to be honest. He's 82 and normally so strong but apparently he's become very frail and weak. The Dr's aren't worried butme and my brother agree it's not like him at all. I've tried to call him 4 times today and it's been engaged every time. Going to try again after 6 - maybe he's on the phone to my brother?!

I am also a bit stressed about money as normal. Quite simply it's just not going to stretch...I need to get Earl his new carseat as well as somehow pay for a van hire for 2 vans for 2 days! Not quite sure how we're going to do that but we'll just have to do it somehow.

In better news, Earl has his first tooth. I was on the phone to a friend this afternoon and he was chewing on my finger and all of a sudden CHOMP! I felt a tooth. Obviously my finger was what was needed to cut it through properly. I'm hoping in the next couple of days we'll have something to show as you can only feel it at the moment, rather than see it. lol.

What else? We had our check up with the HV on Monday - did I already talk about that? Well Earl was 22lb 4 according to her scales so obviously we've overclocked him lol. But he's still up there on the %iles

We have our check at the hospital on Tuesday nest week...I'm weirdly looking forward to that. Should be nice to show Earl off. PLanning on taking him in his best outfit lol.

Oh and I'm distracting myself by organising Earl's christening. It's going to be a low-key affair. I'm going to go and talk to the vicar at my MIL's local parish church and hopefully he'll let us have a christening there. We'll then follow it with a BBQ at MIL's house as they have a massive garden. Not really inviting people as such, but I'm sure that some family will come along and we'll have a cake and some pressies. I'm actually really excited about that....I love things like that and it'll be nice for Earl too. (Plus another outfit needed - gotta love baby clothes shopping! he he not that we can afford it lol)

Anyway, I can hear my name being mentioned upstairs so I think I'm needed lol. Have a nice evening and I hope we're all well.

 

[Kte]

Hmm, if ultimately you want to work in neo-natal then the child nursing degree is the way to go. Im guessing the adult nursing before midwifery is because of complications to us ladies, more than the LO's, so you would deal more with the adults. I know from what you have said to me before you would be a great midwife and would have lots to bring to the table so to speak, so I guess its where do you really want to end up?

Not much help sorry, but I can see one way working with LO's and one way more with adults - well pregnant ladies

yeah im guessing thats why you have to be an adult nurse. well i looked more on the nhs careers website and that tells you that if you do a midwifery degree you can then expand into specialist fields when you've done 6 months work after qualifying. Yet thats not what the careers woman at UWE said!! I just dont want to waste 4 years then at the end of it find i cant do the job i really wanted to do.

They did say that out for 600 applicants for 2010 entry there are only 70 places!!! Its sooooo competitive to get into midwifery, i felt well old too lol lots of young whippersnappers just out of college lol

BTW me kinda spelling it out was for my brain lol Didn't mean to sound erm, well you know, see my brain is totally not working today!

Best bet really is like you are already doing, speak to LK and to others in the industry? I have always been given duff advice by careers advisers when I was completing my GCSE's they recommended I do a BTEC in performing arts, I got hated it the first day, quit and the college said why didn't you apply for the A-Level? Stupid F***ing careers person. I had no clue what I wanted to do, got decent GCSE grades and they could of completely fluffed up my future. I went to a different college failed my A-levels spectacularly but hey-ho worked out okay in the end! Also, my Sis was recommended to do a Psychology degree at Manchester Uni, she got sent to the Crewe and Alsager campus and part of her degree was based in Sociology so she wasn't qualified enough to have a career in psychology after all that (and still isn't after various other top up courses to put it right). So after my random babbling, so long as you get enough info from the industry, stick to what they are saying!

Also, she may also be suggesting the other course because Midwifery is so popular, so it's maybe an alternate route you could go down?

Some of those whipper snappers will quit after the first few weeks - sad but oh so true! If you don't get on maybe call a few weeks into term to see if a space has come up, we sometimes get late starters, think two weeks into term is still okay as there is enough time for you to catch up on any missed work. Maybe worth a try at least? They would be daft not to accept you at first though anyway!

 

[Chaos]

From Eswift!

Hi babe... I'm sorry I've not been about much. MIL has had some falls and her diabetes has been going too low; she's really frightened. Currently moving in with us. SIL is still in hospital, her condition is really critical and they've said she won't be coming out...

CC is moving and lovely, growing fast... Send my... love to everyone, hopefully; I'll get some time when everything settles... Love Autumns pic's too

Em
xxxx

 

[colsy]

Nice to hear from Eswift, thanks Chaos for posting that.

Aimee, hope the rest of the move goes well. Moving house is a big thing at the best of times. God knows how hard it must be with a 7-month-old in tow!

Maffie I feel for you

Well, last night was not nice. We'd kind of hoped that Tues night was an example of nights to come - i.e. a quick feed around 11 or 12 and then sleep till morning. But no Jose We did indeed have the quick feed - at 10.30pm this time, so pretty early. But then from 2.30 till 5.30 we were doing CC. Well, I say 'we' but actually I mean OH. I just couldn't do it. It breaks my heart to hear Monty crying when we're not going to him. So OH did the whole shift and I tried to sleep with earplugs in . Having taken some advice from a few of the BnB girls (including Aimee - thanks!) we don't leave intervals any longer than 10 minutes now. But still, it is horrible. And I don't see it getting better, because each time we do CC the whole period actually ends up being slightly longer than the last. So, the first time was an hour, the next an hour and a half, the third two hours, and now almost three hours. The info sheet the HV gave me did say we should expect it to get worse before it gets better, but THREE HOURS?! WTF?

Again, the good news is that Monty woke all cheerful this morning. He is entirely happy in his cot, so it's not that that's keeping him awake at night. I went in to him at 7am and there he was playing with his blankets and his furry elephant. Got up, BF, and then a long leisurely breakfast during which he chatted away to me. It's like he learned a load of new noises overnight - we've started back on ra-ra-ra, which I love! Also now na-na-na-na and ning-ning-ning and yam-yam-yam. So cute So, all I can do is think well at least he is entirely happy during the day - it's like he doesn't have any memory at all of the CC during the night. (But if he doesn't remember it, then is it doing any good in terms of sleeping?!)

We're meant to be off to a play centre with some of my NCT friends in a bit, but Monty's naps seem to be getting longer and longer, so not sure we'll make it. Because he's missing so much sleep at night, I don't want to deprive him of sleep in the day. We shall see ...

 

[florabean1981]

Colsy, I know what you mean about the heartbreaking sound of a baby's cry That's one of the reasons why I just couldn't do CC. That being said, I am lucky now in that over the last 8 days, Harry's sleeping pattern has been a dream 7 he is so much more content. he just doesn't cry anymore- instead he does kind of a fleeting whine, then chats to himself, then whines again & eventually falls back to sleep- the whole things never lasts more than 15mins, which is great. He goes to bed by 8pm at latest, wakes at 1:30am ish for a feed that never lasts more than 10mins, then is soundo till anywhere between 6&8am (depending on how loud OH is when he's home), then naps again aftre BF & play/cuddles in my bed until about 10am, which is heaven as we both kinda does in & out. He then has brekkie, plays, we sing etc etc, do housework, nip up to the shops, all that jazz, then has a quick nap after lunch & another nap before tea time. then dinner, then playtime, bath with daddy & bed. And he's down to 8 BFs a day now too I hope it lasts!!!

Mellie- I have looked into CMing, but you need an NVQ level 3 in childcare, along with first aid, CRB check & be registered with OFSTED for it to be legit. I could do cash in hand baby sitting stuff though, but it would be hard to get clients & also affects tax credits n that kinda stuff I was looking at OU & college courses last night, but as yet, nothing jumps out at me, and I'm not sure if I will have the patience to restart my MSc in Psychological Research Methods just yet... But I defo want to do something, lol.

Re my job. I emailed my boss yesterday & informed her I will definitely be quitting. She said she understands & asked if I would consider being on the relief team instead... so I said yeah, that'd be great (I actually like my job, lol), so technically I have quit, but I will be sent a list of available shifts each week & if I am free to do any of them, I call her & do them. It's only £7.21 an hour, but at least it gives me the option of an income if I need/want it & I can say no if I can't get childcare. The benefit is that with this option I could feesibly get my sister to look after Harry, or if OH is not away or working, he could have him, like on a weekend or whatever, so I then wouldn't have that expense to pay out for, so yay!

Ummmm.... what else? I know there was stuff I wanted to reply to... baby brain excuse; my mind has gone blank. sorry!

Oh, maffie, I have never been able to get onto the GS section I keep asking, but i still cant look at it, so whatever's happening, I send you some anyway hun... How is gorgeous Noah doing?

aimee- good luck with the rest of the move & also with money troubles. damn money. bring back bartering!!!

 

[Maffie]

I think overall im lucky with Noah too he does wake in the night last night was just once and he was giggling. His teeth do wake him but usually a stroke of his hair give him blue ted and he resettles. I couldn't do CC id be more upset than him I think.