(TEAM) Aphrodite - delivering Tigers in 2010

[Joli]

Hello Ladies

It seems like every time I get a chance to write and I start drafting a message, I get interrupted - usually by work, so I'm very sorry So updates since I last wrote...work has been manic as usual, in fact, since I started back at work, there hasn't been a single weekend where I've been able to just chill out and enjoy time with DH and Harrison. DH and I had our 2nd year anniversary this past Sunday, but I was so exhausted and was working from 7am that morning, that we didn't do anything much! We went for a quick drink and DH got me some lovely orchids for my office, but that's about it. On the Saturday, we also had to put down my lovely family dog, she was a golden retriever and was 15.5 years old. It was heartbreaking, though she must be happy now in doggy heaven.

In other news, Harrison has started saying "Ma" and "Da" when he's upset! I don't think he understands what it means yet, but it's lovely to hear those sounds coming out - and I'm proud to say that "Ma" came out first! He is loving his baths even more and splashes so hard I need a change of clothes every time. The little emperor still won't sleep throught the night though - we still do a 3am feed every night, but at least it's only once during the night! I'm still managing to see a lot of Harrison by coming home for 30mins during mny lunch break to feed him, and I'm also home at 6pm every night for his bath and bed - then I just continue on working into the evening. I got really ticked off at clients, who are making me go on a 5am conference call today for a closin we're having (they're located in NY).

Britt - I love love LOVE the name Sienna - it was in my top list of names if we were having a girl. Piper is super cute too - I think you should wait until she comes out and then you can decide. We never told anyone the name we were thinking about with Harrison, simply because some people loved it and some didn't. The thing is, after you have your baby, and name it, no one is going to think it's a bad name, because you hear it in context. For a day, Harrison was nearly William, but I'm glad we waited and watched him sleep, saw his personality and then named him (yup, babies have personality on day 1 !!). Either choice you make I think sounds beautiful and strong at the same time, which is perfect for a girl. I love the middle names you have chosen too I'm really looking forward to seeing a bump pic! It's been so long! I honestly can't believe you're 27 weeks already - do you feel like time is flying by for you? Have you got any pics of your nursary?

Nic - we're going to be ttc again too, hopefully by Jan as well! I think it's great that you've started Daniel on solids, mama knows best - don't listen to anyone else! I haven't started Harrison on solids yet, but this last week he seems ready for it, so I'm going to get a book on how I'm supposed to start it all (I haven't got a clue!) - we're going to homemake all of our rice cereal as well. If I get time to start cooking, I'll get onto it this weekend! I lost lots of weight in the beginning with bf, but I'm starting to gain some back now as well - maybe your weight loss slowed down once you put Daniel on solids? As long as your healthy, that's the most important thing. I'm worried that I've done zero exercise since Harrison was born, and I'm sure my core muscles in my tummy are in shreds inside. I really need to start, it's just hard to find the time...

GG - I'm loving all the pics of Libby that you're posting on fb, she loves her solids!! She was always such an early developer too. How are her teeth coming along? She is such a cutie and seems to have so much personality!

2016 - I saw on fb that Stewart is in hospital!?!?! What's happening? How are things going with DH as well? It sounds like Stewart is a handful - Harrison is pretty high maintenance as well. He's impatient and gets grumpy fast when he doesn't get enough sleep (not to mention the waking during the night!), but after he hit 5 months, he seemed to grow up suddenly and is learning to express himself in ways other than crying. I bet Stewart will be the same way! It takes a lot of patience being a mama, especially with a demanding bubba, but each time I hold Harrison and he's crying, I remember what life was like without him and how badly I wanted him - I also think that he'll never be as small as he is today ever again, so I'm going to cherish every minute of it -through the smiles and the tears Sorry for getting all gooey! Did you ever get Stewart's underwater pic?

 

[2016]

Thanks Joli. You are right Stewart is high maintenance - gets impatient and grumpy quick just like you said. Doesn't like anything interfering with his sleep. In the last couple of weeks he's been having full on going red/blue screaming fits....but, like you, I keep reminding myself how much I wanted him and how my life would be empty without him now. Wonder if part of this is the reflux which him and Harrison have in common. Is Harrison off the Losec yet

Sorry to hear you have to work so hard. Will it always be like that or are you going through a busy phase? Terribly sorry to hear about your dog as well. I know how pets are like members of the family.

 

[Joli]

Hey 2016 - I honestly do think it's the reflux when they're just born that makes it hard for them to get into good sleeping habits and routines like other babies - reflux babies also tend to need more cuddling and comfort. Harrison has been off losec since he turned 4 calendar months old, and he's just gotten better and better! He used to hate being on his tummy because he would always throw up, but now we can't stop him from rolling over! We still have him in the co-sleeper next to us, because he just doesn't sleep through the night and it's easier to deal with him like this. I've also started swaddling him again too at night time (day naps he's unswaddled) - it just helps him sleep longer. I know most think he's too old to be swaddled, and he cries when I put it on him, but there's no denying that he sleeps better. Is Stewart in hospital?

Some updated pics of Harrison attached!

 

[hibiscus07]

OMG, Joli, those pics of Harrison are so cute, I squealed! No joke...
I hope everyone is doing well.

2016--Sorry to hear about the PND. I'm surprised I didn't get any myself, but I did stay on a minimal dose of Prozac throughout the pregnancy--I imagine it helped. How are you feeling now?

GG--I hear you on the 'no more ttc' thing! It will be a few more years until we ttc again. DH has said several times in the last week, as we're dealing with Jack's 3 AM fussing, that he doesn't want any more. I hope it's a temporary feeling. He loves Jack so much, and is really great with him, so I don't think he's really serious.

DH and I are both like walking zombies these days. I seriously thought 0-3 months was supposed to be the hardest, but this work/baby balance stuff is for the birds! Jack got his first 2 teeth within the last 10 days and it has been brutal. Hopefully, that's it in the teeth department for a while. We've been trying to split up feedings, so I do the last evening one, and the 6 AM one, and if Jack wakes up in-between, DH will give him a bottle. However, it's only been working about half the time. My breasts get so engorged, it's hard to sleep anyway. I think I need to suck it up for a few days in a row and just let my body adjust. The sleep will make it worth it!

I've attached a pic of Jack in his Johnny Jump-Up from yesterday, and one from last weekend with DH's brother (during a teething frenzy!!)

 

[GossipGirly]

hi girls sorry I never feel like I post much these days..hope everyone is well

Joli - sweet pics of harrison, he has really changed and looks so grown up I cant believe her said Ma & Da that is so cute!

Hib - nice to hear from you jack is a sweety! Im definatly no ttc again, we might have another well into future as i cant imagine not being pregnant again but at the moment, libby is enough yeah on the teeth! libby got 2 about a month back and I think another two are going to be following suite!

hope ur feeling better 2016, did they catch anything at the hospital? Your fb status's suggest your boy is not sleeping? U know I know about that!

we are sleep training libby we are using a mixture of pu/pd baby whisperer and the shish pat technique.. I need to get this girl to realise she can go to sleep herself! she is being put down for all naps now and not held/rocked to sleep, its challenging but I have my bed back! and I need it back as im starting uni again end of the month and il be doing nightshifts so need her to sleep for mum. Last night she had me up every hour, but I didnt get her out the cot once just patted her back to sleep, her last bottle was 7pm and her next 7am but she only had 3oz tonight so im not expecting that again!

britt - hope ur well, bump must be getting bigger!

 

[Joli]

Hey Hibiscus! It's been a while, great to hear from you! Jack is SUCH a cutie! I showed DH his photo and he was chuckling at the pic of Jack teething on your DH brother's finger! Harrison has a jumparoo, which he just loves to pieces. Even when we hold him now, he's trying to jump in our laps all the time. I totally know where you're coming from regarding work, I'm constantly shattered! DH and I have to share a room with Harrison cause we're in a temporary serviced apartment studio whilst out house is being renovated (we've been here since Harrison was born), so everytime he even wakes up slightly, we're both up. He still wakes during the night, and I'm still just bf him, although last night he managed to go to 4:45am (new record!) but my bb's felt so engorged, I was dying for him to feed! oh the irony! I wonder if they start going through the night (if they ever do!) if we'll suffer from not having enough milk supply!? How's bf with teeth?? Have you started Jack on solids yet?

GG - I'm loving all you fb pic updates, I feel like I'm watching Libby grow up I can't believe you're going to do Uni then a night shift, aw hon, you're going to be so exhausted!! Will DH be able to look after Libby or do you have to put her into day care? That's amazing Libby went from 7 - 7am without a bottle. Each time Harrison wakes up at night, I do the pat pat method, until it's clear that he is just hungry. I was really proud of him today though, we went out all day, and each time it was his naptime, and we were eating in restaurants, I just put him in his stoller, put a blanket over to block out the distraction, held his hand underneath and he feel asleep. Today was his first day ever when he didn't cry even once. Hopefully a sign of things to come!!

 

[Joli]

Wow, super quiet on both threads! Are any of you who have started solids doing baby led weaning?

 

[Britt11]

Hey Joli,
sorry meant to respond sooner. Love the pics of Harrison, he is such a cutie, seriously I love when babies get a bit older because they get more features- gorgeous baby. I also noticed in like every pic on FB he is laughing or smiling he seems like such a super happy baby, is that true for the most part?
Sounds like work is still so crazy busy for you but I am glad you still get to go home for lunch to feed him.
So have you guys decided when you will TTC for #2?

I do have an updated bump pic (I am sooo big) I will post a bit later along with some 3D pics of my little girl.

thanks for your advice on the name, I agree we will be naming her officially after she is born.
We are leaning towards Piper Sienna right now- basically take out the grandmothers names unfortunately and give her a name she can change or use later if she wants if we are gutsy enough to name her Piper

GG and 2016 glad you are doing well, would love some updates

 

[nicole3108]

Hey everyone, just got Daniel to sleep...I think he's getting worse at sleeping rather than better. I have to go to bed before he's up again but I wanted to post since it's been so long again! I got crosshairs today and ff says 5 dpo but I don't really think I ov'd yet. I'll see in a few days but I'm impatient to see, it's exciting to get crosshairs even when you're not trying!

hibiscus: Jack is so cute!!! Great to hear from you again! I am curious as well about breastfeeding with teeth...scares me a bit but I'm hoping Daniel won't be a biter. I love your avatar pic!! We have Sophie too and although it's a ridiculous price for a piece of rubber it was worth it, Ben loved it too. Hope you start to feel more rested soon!

Britt: can't wait for the bump pic and ultrasound pics! How was the 3d ultrasound? We had one with Ben and it was really nice but didn't end up getting one for Daniel...hope he's not mad at me later on. When are you going off on mat leave?

Joli: I think I'm going to do a mixture of baby led weaning and traditional weaning, (probably not the right name for it) We're going to give him some soft food on his tray while we eat and still do cereal and feed him purees after. Are you doing BLW? Those pictures are so so cute!!! He's such beautiful boy!

gg: That's great that Libby will fall asleep for naps now, is there a site where you learned the techniques? I need to try something, Daniel has fallen asleep without nursing only once other than in the car and I think that was a mistake because he's never done it again. Are you looking forward to starting school?

2016: How are you doing? are you feeling any better? Hope things are going well for you! Love the pictures of Stewart on Facebook, so handsome!!

Not sure if Clairenicole, ladybird and tink still read this but hello!! Hope you guys are having fun with your little ones!! :wave:

 

[nicole3108]

I just re-read some of that and noticed it was a bit rambly but I'm going to use the excuse that I'm tired! Night everyone!

 

[hibiscus07]

Heeyyy giirrrllls!

Nicole, so nice to hear from you! Any baby pics to share?

Jack got his 2nd tooth w/in 10 days and was making us insane--argh! He seems better now, though, but was going through teething and a cold at the same time, so he seemed to feel kind of miserable.
Re: biting, I think I noticed it a little bit last week but that seems to have stopped. My nipples haven't been super irritated in the last few days.

So, I finally decided enough is enough with this post-baby weight! I can't take it anymore!! I joined the Weight Watchers Point-Plus program, hoping it helps. I did WW before when I didn't even have much to lose, maybe 20 lbs (those were the days!), but now I'm seriously looking at like 50 lbs. I really don't think I've lost any weight since 3 months post-partum. They allot additional daily points for nursing moms, but I've read other people say that their milk supply was affected. Anyone have experience with this? At this point, I kinda think "oh well!" re: milk supply. It's important enough to me to lose weight, that if he needs 2 bottles of formula a day (or even 3) instead of just 1, then so be it. I really don't want to feel guilty about it. I've nursed him most of the time for 6 months now--I think he'll be OK with a little less breastmilk. (Can you tell this is the internal debate I'm having with myself?? haha)

OK, back to work...Hope all is well with everyone.
TTYS!

 

[2016]

How you working ladies and those with more than one manage to write on here and I fail to time and time again is shameful on my part really!
I seriously don't know where each day goes. Stewart takes up all my energy and seems to be getting more strong willed by the day. His naps and nightime sleep has gone out the window and he demands to be entertained all day. Usually the only way to stop him screaming (literally I thought the neighbours would call the police the other day) is to walk him the the pushchair. Fast! If I slow down he starts yelling again. Slight issue is my SPD seems to have flared up again for some reason and, no, I'm not pregnant.

Anyway, last week after the disruption of being in hospital and the shock of Stewarts whole apnea breathing thing, my milk supply seemed to all but disappear. Stewart then refused to feed from me for a whole day which didn't help but fortunately I had enough stashed in the freezer to keep him going and then pumped each feed. I realised my supply problem when instead of pumping 5oz out each feed I only managed 1oz in 4 pumping THE WHOLE DAY!
I took action and went on fenugreek, oats and domperidone and managed to recover my supply over a few days. Now just have to build up the freezer stash again darn it!

Joli - you asked about weaning. Stewart's paed suggested I start him on rice cereal from just before 17 weeks so that he could maybe have a bit of that instead of the Gaviscon/Domperidone. I was keen because I thought at least that's food rather than chemicals. I seem to have got a lot of flack from some friends for starting him "early" but I decided to try anyway and wait a bit longer if he wasn't ready. Well he was! Even after having porridge once, he now flaps his arms in excitement as he sees me mixing it up! He grabs my hands as the sppon aproaches to shove it in faster and today cried when his quota was finished. Ahhh that boy love food like his mummy! I am so glad now I didn't wait until 6 months. When he does get to 6 months thought I will try a bit of BLW to make life easier. I think I will go for a combo of TW and BLW rather than choose one or the other.

Oh darn it, he is waking up. Sorry girls will have to catch up with the rest later. mUst dash!

 

[Britt11]

Hey ladies just a quick one to post some pics but hello to everyone, nice to see 2016, Hibisicus and Nicole on here posting.
2016- I think I will be even more swamped too when the baby comes so no worries. Any new pics of Stewart?
Nic- sorry to hear that Daniel is sleeping less...he sure is cute though. New pics please! yeah for ovulating does that mean you may be thinking of ttc again soon? crazy girl
Hib- I cant believe Jack has 2 teeth, wow that must make for a cranky baby at times. Same thing we havent seen Jack inawhile, new pics please. Sounds like you have a great plan on your weight loss. I am a bit worried about the weight gain, I am actually up 25 pounds!! lol I have a docs apt on Thursday so she will let me know how I'm doing I guess

Okay pics are of my LO on the 4D u/s last week- she has DH's lips

I'll post a bump pic from yesterday on my other computer when I get to it

 

[GossipGirly]

GG - I'm loving all you fb pic updates, I feel like I'm watching Libby grow up I can't believe you're going to do Uni then a night shift, aw hon, you're going to be so exhausted!! Will DH be able to look after Libby or do you have to put her into day care? That's amazing Libby went from 7 - 7am without a bottle. Each time Harrison wakes up at night, I do the pat pat method, until it's clear that he is just hungry. I was really proud of him today though, we went out all day, and each time it was his naptime, and we were eating in restaurants, I just put him in his stoller, put a blanket over to block out the distraction, held his hand underneath and he feel asleep. Today was his first day ever when he didn't cry even once. Hopefully a sign of things to come!!

Thats good as thats what I was hoping it looked like for my family back home as they will miss her growing up so I like to put a lot of photos and updates on so they sorta feel like they are.

Wow, super quiet on both threads! Are any of you who have started solids doing baby led weaning?

Joli - harrison is getting so grown up, when will you be starting the weaning? Im guessing as late possible as it will be easier for you with just the bfing with you working and dashing home for feeds? How are you? Am I correct in thinking you are moving soon? or did I make that up? Im thinking of doing some blw in a few weeks as I cant get her to eat any pureed veg, just fruits and sweet veggies (parsnip, sweet pot, butturnut squash) so Iv had to buy a few baby jars just so she is not having all sweet fruits and doesnt develop a sweet tooth. She already sucks on a bit of rusk or banana but Im going to get one of those mesh things - NUby Nibbler that you put the fruit in and munch on.

gg: That's great that Libby will fall asleep for naps now, is there a site where you learned the techniques? I need to try something, Daniel has fallen asleep without nursing only once other than in the car and I think that was a mistake because he's never done it again. Are you looking forward to starting school?

Libby got a lot worse as they change how they sleep at 4-5 month I think we have it sussed. I just read the Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg, iv read it before but it never worked as well as it does now!

Heeyyy giirrrllls!

Jack got his 2nd tooth w/in 10 days and was making us insane--argh! He seems better now, though, but was going through teething and a cold at the same time, so he seemed to feel kind of miserable.
Re: biting, I think I noticed it a little bit last week but that seems to have stopped. My nipples haven't been super irritated in the last few days.

So, I finally decided enough is enough with this post-baby weight! I can't take it anymore!! I joined the Weight Watchers Point-Plus program, hoping it helps. I did WW before when I didn't even have much to lose, maybe 20 lbs (those were the days!), but now I'm seriously looking at like 50 lbs. I really don't think I've lost any weight since 3 months post-partum. They allot additional daily points for nursing moms, but I've read other people say that their milk supply was affected. Anyone have experience with this? At this point, I kinda think "oh well!" re: milk supply. It's important enough to me to lose weight, that if he needs 2 bottles of formula a day (or even 3) instead of just 1, then so be it. I really don't want to feel guilty about it. I've nursed him most of the time for 6 months now--I think he'll be OK with a little less breastmilk. (Can you tell this is the internal debate I'm having with myself?? haha)

OK, back to work...Hope all is well with everyone.
TTYS!

Libbys came in within 3 days so you had it rough! they always come in in twos, the next ones are the top, I think it wont be long as she is showing the same signs as last time, the top 2 are next but she looks super cute when she grins with her little teethies.

Iv joined ww but it hasnt gone to well and with moving bk home at the end of the month for uni Iv kinda just given up and will try again when im at my mums as she always eats healthy so she can cook for me I think you have to do whats right for you and you have done so well to bf this much for this long, you cant do it forever xx

How you working ladies and those with more than one manage to write on here and I fail to time and time again is shameful on my part really!
I seriously don't know where each day goes. Stewart takes up all my energy and seems to be getting more strong willed by the day. His naps and nightime sleep has gone out the window and he demands to be entertained all day. Usually the only way to stop him screaming (literally I thought the neighbours would call the police the other day) is to walk him the the pushchair. Fast! If I slow down he starts yelling again. Slight issue is my SPD seems to have flared up again for some reason and, no, I'm not pregnant.

Anyway, last week after the disruption of being in hospital and the shock of Stewarts whole apnea breathing thing, my milk supply seemed to all but disappear. Stewart then refused to feed from me for a whole day which didn't help but fortunately I had enough stashed in the freezer to keep him going and then pumped each feed. I realised my supply problem when instead of pumping 5oz out each feed I only managed 1oz in 4 pumping THE WHOLE DAY!
I took action and went on fenugreek, oats and domperidone and managed to recover my supply over a few days. Now just have to build up the freezer stash again darn it!

Im glad ur supply is up again, wish i had tried fenugreek when my supply dimished, I feel my problems where down to lack of support too though so I try not to dwell. Sorry Stewart has gone backwards with his sleeping, Iv always had a overtired, overstimulated screaming baby so I know how hard it is, hope he grows out of it quickly.

Dont worry once I start uni I wont be on much at all, too much work to do.

Hey ladies just a quick one to post some pics but hello to everyone, nice to see 2016, Hibisicus and Nicole on here posting.

Okay pics are of my LO on the 4D u/s last week- she has DH's lips

I'll post a bump pic from yesterday on my other computer when I get to it

Lovely pics, It will be intresting to compare when baby is here, such a cutie.


Well as for us, things are good. Libby isnt sleeping through but she is sleeping. She is still having a 3am feed as she doesnt seem to be able to get through the whole night this is pretty much our day at the moment if we stay in the house, it obv changes a little if we need to be somewhere, I find the more sleep she has the better the night

7am - awake and bottle
8.15 - breakfast
play
9am - 11am nap
11am - bottle
play
12.30 - lunch
1pm - nap
3pm - bottle
5.30pm - dinner
6.45pm - bottle
bath
"chill time" on her cushion
7.30 - bed
11.30 - wakes for bottle
3am - wakes for bottle.

I can pretty much handle that, gonna be hard next month having to wake for feed in the night but she is going back down in within 10 mins. When I put her down for naps she just turns on her side, pops her dummy in and goes to sleep, and I can leave her! never been able to do that! We always make sure we put her down to sleep now. I have a different child through the day too.

Ok so I'm moving in the next 2 weeks, and Im dreading it! Its only for a year and then we will be able to buy a house and settle down so Im kind of wishing the next year away which is sad as I should be enjoying it.

Hope everyone is well

CN - payson is getting so big, I saw some fb piccys
tink - you seem to be doing so well, congrats on the weightloss and the pole dancing! I used to do lessons for fitness and its a lot harder than it looks!

 

[Joli]

Lovely to see the chatter! (Plus it makes my 3am feeding-reading much more interesting!)

Britt - Harrison is a happy baby, he giggles a lot and loves it when I'm being silly. Have you seen the video I put on fb of him giggling with DH pretending to sneeze? He's just getting cuter by the day (in my humble biased-mama opinion!) We'll be ttc#2 as soon as I get AF back - I guess it might be a while, as I'm still bf Harrison 7 times a day! I think baby needs to go at least 6 hours between feeds for AF to have a chance to come back. We've just started Harrison on solids the last 3 days, so as that increases, hopefully he'll drink less milk and I can have my body back. DH mentioned just last night that he was thinking about names for baby #2 - he said if we have a girl, he really likes the name Coralie. It was just sweet that he was thinking of it. I love love love you 3D images!! They're so amazing!!!! I think they're the best 3D images out of our thread. I am dying to see a bump pic! Don't worry about 25 pounds, that's totally normal! Most ladies go 35 pounds I think. Piper Sienna is such a beautiful name, honestly, I imagine with those combination of names, she can be anything - sounds like a model or actresses name to me - very glam!

Nicole - sorry that Daniel is sleeping so badly, he must be going through some big developments. What is his sleeping schedule like at the minute? That's so awesome that you have crosshairs! are you exclusivly bf? I'm feeding/expressing every 3-4 hours thoughout the day and night, so I don't AF is coming for me any time soon. Before we had Harrison, I had PCOS, I just hope that having him kicks my cycle back into normal gear so that we don't need any assistance to ttc #2. We're going to go a combination of BLW and TW (Traditional Weaning) - last night when I gave Harrison his carrot, I had pureed carrot on a spoon and I let him hold a slice of steamed carrot to put in his mouth if he wanted to. He took a bite out of the carrot, then spat it out, and took the spoon - so I figure he'll let me know what he wants (in the same way he did when we first started bf). I want him to know what the pureed food looks and feels like as a whole food, so I'll try to keep up putting both in front of him and let him choose which he prefers.

Hibiscus - that's so cute that Jack has teeth! Harrison's teeth haven't come through yet, but he seems desperate to chew things in his mouth, so his gums must be itchy - apart from that though, he isn't showing any other signs of teething - should I be expecting anything else? Good for you on committing to ww, the hardest thing about losing weight is getting started! You should be really proud of yourself for being able to have bf Jack for nearly 6 months, especially whilst working, I know how exhausting it is! I don't think there's any harm in Jack having some extra formula if you're ready to ease up on the bf a bit. I totally understand your internal struggle though, I've been exclusivly bf Harrison, and part of me thinks that since he's 6 months old next week, I can try introducing some formula, but then the other part of me thinks if I'm physically capable of continuing to bf him, then I should just do that, and let it ease off gradually as he increases solids. You want to be a good mother and not be selfish (plus I genuinely enjoy bf), but on the other hand, you want control of your body again.

2016 - great to hear from you! Well done on getting your milk supply up again! Getting back up from 1oz is such a great achievement! I've been drinking the wierd Chinese soup my mom makes every day. I have noticed that on days that I don't drink it, I only pump 4.5 / 5oz every 3 hours, but on days I do drink it, I get 5.5 / 6oz every 3 hours. It's such a mystery to me how it works. With Stewart screaming in the day, it sounds like he needs a nap but can't sleep (we had big problems with Harrison before on day time naps). We bought this musical dog which attaches to his cot (plays 4-5 songs like a cot mobile would do), and we play it every time he has to go to sleep. Now when we put him in the cot and play the music, he calms down and settles to sleep. We carry the dog music thing with us when we go out for the day in restaurants etc. so that he'll fall asleep in his cot whilst we're having our meal, it's fantastic! When Harrison was going through a rough sleeping patch as well, we started swaddling him again until he was ready to be half, then fully unswaddled. That's fantastic that the rice cereal has helped his reflux! What a relief to be able to deal with it with natural foods. You should remind your pals that when all of us were bubbas, the recommendation was 4 months rather than 6 for solids and we all turned out fine!

GG - we just started weaning 2 days ago. It's so much fun! We made home made rice cereal (which Harrison didn't like), so we moved onto carrot which he loves. The next food I'll day the day after tomorrow is avocado, I've read that it's nature's baby food. I'm still running home for feeds every lunchtime, it is exhausting, but I love getting my Harrison fix for the day! We are moving soon (good memory!), we're choosing decorators at the minute to do up the interior of our house, but we probably won't be in until June - poor Harrison still shares a room with us and he's going to outgrow his cot so soon! I think it's normal for babies to prefer the sweet fruits, since breast milk is sweet - I've read that jared carrot is actually better for babies than fresh carrots, as they don't have nitrates in them. What are you going to be studying at Uni? It really sounds like you've gotten the knack of Libby's sleeping - Baby Whisperer seems to have really worked for you! That's fantastic that she goes to bed on her own, and that she goes down for the night without being fed immediately beforehand (this will be good for her teeth!) - Harrison can't go to bed at night without having some milk first! How long are Libby's naps during the day time? Harrison won't sleep longer than 30-45 mins at a time generally. His schedule:

7am - wake, feed, play
8:15am - nap for around 45 mins, then play
10am - feed with milk, the play
11:15am - nap for around 35 mins, then play
1:00pm - feed with milk
1:35pm - feed with solids
2:15pm - nap for around 45 mins, then play
4:00pm - feed with milk
5:00pm - nap for around 30 mins, then play
6:45pm - bath
7:10pm - feed with milk
7:45pm - sleep for the evening
11:00pm - wake for dream feed
3:00am - wake for feed
[sometimes he wakes again around 6:15am for mini feed]

Phew! that message took a lot longer to write than I thought! Since we're on the subject of feeding - I thought I'd attach some pics of Harrison's first try of carrots!

 

[Britt11]

thanks for the update GG, I love that picture of Libby on the carpet with her cute little nappies on she looks like such a character, glad you have settled into a routine.
Ahh lousy about the move but like you said its only for a year and then you get your own house

Here is a bump pic of me from a couple days ago, yes I'm huge lol and I wore black to be more slimming

 

[Britt11]

hmmm says invalid file type, will play with it later...sorry girls

 

[Joli]

Try converting it to a jpeg?

 

[GossipGirly]

I would try extending his awake time to around 2 hours as he should be able to stay awake that long and his nap should last longer? Then you can feed him when he wakes and this could extend his time between feeds and maybe help him go longer at night as he can clearly go 4 hours? libbys naps are generally 2 hours if I catch her in her "sleep window" if I put her to bed to early (this morning) or too late she generally only sleeps for 30 -40 mins. Sorry I knwo u totally didnt ask for BW advice there Of course if your ok with the current schedual just ignore me! xx

 

[Joli]

GG, I totally appreciate the input!! I agree he should be awake longer in the morning, I just can't get him to stay awake longer, as DH and I need to start getting ready for work by 8am, and once we leave him on his own, he goes back to sleep! Those days that he doesn't, he starts fussing which make it impossible for us to get ready for work. It will be different after we move, and the nanny can come earlier as she'll be living in with us. Keep any suggestions coming, I need the advice! I also wonder of his morning will extend if we start giving him solids then. One thing though, even on weekends where he doesn't go to sleep until nearly 9am, his naps are still short and he still demands to eat every 3 hrs. If I didn't know better, I'd swear the kid was wearing a watch!