*March and April mums and babies*

[Babbybo]

Thanks Northerngirl. I thought I'd read that someone had started. Could be developmental as I've noticed big improvements in various things this last week. Suppose Ill just have to remind myself of that at 4 or 5 in the morning.

 

[kitten2014]

babbybo our lil miss goes 7pm-6/7am with one feed, generally its between 2-4am, settles back down after so not concerned, the one night she did go without for 12hrs she woke the next night at 1am demenading a feed so obviously needs it...

havent tried the porridge/rice yet as she struggles with the spoon (tommy tipee 4month weaning spoon), any suggestions aside from simply pasting on to upper lip and seeing what they make of it? she is very curious and think her head support is getting there altho wouldnt put her in highchair yet lol...

 

[northerngirl]

Kitten you could try putting it on the end of you finger and letting her suck it off? xo

 

[kitten2014]

no but I know that would work as she already does plenty of knuckle n finger sucking lol...thought you had to wait until the tongue reflex had gone before giving them solids but ill try some porridge tomorrow maybe....

trying so hard to get our lil miss on just four naps per day but she keeps changing how long she'll sleep and her intervals, I know you gotta go with the flow n watch the cues as well as clock but sometimes she can go hr n half waketime others barely 40mins (during the day not first thing) so just as I have figured out the nap timings she confuses me lol...also been trying to get her on 6.30pm bedtime but currently she's just gone down for final nap which I doubt'll be more than 45mins (she's had, 1hr, 1hr 30mins, 50mins so far as naps which is great...) and so therefore up by 4.30 im guessing, hoping to keep her up til 6.15 but not holding out much hope, plus when they do take long naps it can throw off their feeding schedule and then you're working on a later bedtime to get their quota down for the day...how do people manage to maintain same wakeup and bedtime every day....

 

[cossie13]

Wow, I haven't been on here in aaaages! I feel like I've missed out on so much! How are all you ladies getting on? Alex is thriving, he's such a big boy! At 3 months 3 weeks he's just over 17lb and already in 6-9 month clothes! He's already having some baby rice at tea time and porridge in the morning! He struggled with a spoon at first but after a couple days trying he's got the hang of it. He generally just sucks the food off the spoon rather than us scraping food off the spoon with his lips/gums. The only issues we are having at the moment is reflux after feeds, night time and the fact that he fights nap time. He just does not want to be asleep! Bedtime we don't have any problem at all but nap times are a nightmare! But when he smiles at me all the issues go out the window! Xx

 

[northerngirl]

So my OH was let go from his job yesterday, have no idea what to do with myself. We've been told that because he's german we can't even claim benefits so we're utterly screwed. Scared doesn't even come close :'(

 

[kitten2014]

bless ya northern girl, thats the last thing you need, hope you get something sorted!

Anyone else notice their LO's eating less? Phoebe is 17wks on Wednesday and just these past two days has been taking 4/5oz bottles instead of 6/7, I read somewhere about the sucking reflex diminishes at this time and so they self regulate more and they start to work off their body fat a bit but should I be concerned if she doesn't get her quota for the day? she weighs 17lbs and so needs 34oz, today she has only had 16oz with two more feeds to go before bedtime plus a dreamfeed...it may be because last night I went cold turkey on the 3/4am feed and instead fed her 11.30pm and she went to 7am this morning with minor fussiness, could this be why? She almost gets upset if try and offer the bottle after she's had her fill whereas before she would just push away, always give her 2-3 opportunities to take more...it could also be she hasn't done a BM today yet...oh well bathtime next that should get things moving lol...

despite the above she is very happy and content and starting to take a real interest in grabbing things under her playmat, have today bought a jumperoo as well for all the bouncing to come, she already loves bouncing on my knee...

 

[kitten2014]

ok last night I caved, she hardly took anything at 11.30 so was hungry at 3am so fed her her usual, think Im gonna drop the 11.30 as dont want her getting used to two nightfeeds lol, I will put up with 3am one if thats all she needs, was just trying to think longterm and bringing it forward from 3am is goin to take a long tim plus I wait for her to wake me, I dont set an alarm as it would then wake her...will she eventually drop the 3am feed on her own? Ive read it can be 7-9months before they do - yawn! I should be hapy tho she sleeps 11-12hrs each night and naps 4-5 times totalling 4hrs naps...cant complain really...

 

[cossie13]

Alex is taking less at his breakfast feed (4oz instead of 7oz) so we've added a spoonful of porridge to that feed and he still takes 4oz on top of the porridge so that makes me happier. He has a routine of feed at around 6pm along with a spoonful of baby rice, then bath at 730-8ish followed by a top up bottle and he then goes til 3 and then til 7ish. Last night was a bit pants as he fell asleep after his bath and before his top up feed and was then up at 1am and 5am he's been getting upset very easily lately that is making me wonder if there's a bit of teething action going on? Anyone else experiencing any teething already? Xx

 

[kitten2014]

Hi Cossie, she was needing to do a nO 2 in the end as once she had 'been' she took 400ml in 3hrs! Talk about playing catch up lol...she has also started taking less at breakfast but think thats cos its 4-5hrs since middle of the night feed by that time and stomach smaller perhaps? She always catches up on feeds eventually so not concerned...dropped the 11.30 feed last night was hard as she fussed 11.30/12.30 and eventually at 1.30 I fed her, want to keep to once at night only if I can...

just recorded some ace video of giggles, chuckles and squeals, she is properly trying out new sounds...got a jumperoo coming today so cant wait to sit her in it as she loves to try standing on my lap (now gone from big grins to chuckles when doing it lol) and has developed great head support now (make a point of practising sitting/standing and pulling to a sit from lying down after every feed and she's getting used to it....

can't believe she'll be four months on Saturday!

also doing spoonful of porridge each day if I can making it a game between feeds...she's not adverse to it but doesnt act hungry for it either, just curious...

ok time to take her outside under the buddleia bush (loves watching leaves on trees and now butterflys are out...

on another note, when is a good time to take a baby to a butterfly house as surely the temperature and humidity too much just yet?

 

[Babbybo]

Northerngirl that's awful news. I hope it works out for you's soon.

Cossie we've had teething trouble here. Unbelievable amount of bubbles and obvious discomfort with him crying and biting on everything. His teether helps sometimes though he seems to prefer biting on a muslin cloth and his own hand for some reason. After reading on here I got Ashton and Parsons salts. We've only used them a few times and they seemed to work well though a nuisance to use at this stage cuz they only get a half dose.

After days of feeding much more often than usual and waking for a night feed LO seems to have settled again. He's back to four feeds a day though first feed is around 630 instead of the 730 or 830 it had been. Must've just been a growth spurt. I was so close to giving up ebf'ing and give porridge. Glad he's settled again and hopefully we'll make it to the 20+ weeks HV recommended.

How's everyone and LOs doing?

 

[kitten2014]

Babbybo im wondering if our lil miss teeyhing as she seems to be munching a lot n not on things she just pulls a straight face then looks like she's eating (extra saliva/ mouth discovery with tongue? Who knows) along with fussy feeds where she acts like she's done but if you offer bottle again she's v hungry. Extra drooling but no red face or irritability so not sure. She's always tried to chew on toys n hands so that's not new...

Also babbybo how olds your LO n how did u get to 4 bottles per day? Our lil miss 17wks n still 7x 4/5oz bottles every 2-2.5hrs. Tried for a wk to extend to 3hrs on 7/8oz bottles but seemed more work than was worth n stressed us both out. Is every 2ish hrs too regular for 4month old?

She seems happy with qty n regularity so dont think its a problem for now...

 

[Babbybo]

Hi Kitten. I can't take any credit for it being four feeds tbh. I'm breastfeeding on demand and there's no way of putting my LO on hold as he will cry sore within two minutes of deciding he's hungry. I wouldn't even have time to make a bottle if I tried! He had increased to six feeds there last week and I was knackered so hats off to you as I don't think I could cope long term.

LO is 18weeks (and a half). His teeth seem to have calmed again and although he is drooling and dribbling a bit it's nothing like the foaming at the mouth he was doing. Sounds awful but I think he's cute with no teeth-very gummy which looks funny when he laughs. Almost think he will look grown up when his teeth come through Maybe I won't feel like that but will soon find out I suppose

 

[kitten2014]

well I dont get the crying fits unless I try and move her position, lets say she's playing and I move her to my arms or another place on the floor she suddenly decides she's hungry then but during naps she very rarely cries for feed evenm though thats what happens next. But when I get her in my arms for the feeding hold, god forbid I take longer than 30seconds to get the bottle to her mouth lol...thing is if I didnt do it routinely then her naps would probably suffer and she wouldnt enjoy playtime so much so have just gotten used to feeding ever couple hrs....having said that last night she surprised me, having taken an extra 100ml for the day at 6.30pm she then went til 4am without a feed! 10hrs!her record had been 8.5/9hrs at night and recently 6/7 so very pleased, she then fed again 3hrs later and her routine for the day starts. she fussed a little during the night but nowhere near as often and seemed to settle herself so kept leaving her, managed to get some decent sleep for once lol...maybe a 7.30 bedtime is her magic hour afterall...

 

[kitten2014]

going to try the mashed carrot today, see how she finds the spoon as when offered it last week she didnt know what to make of it, at least with carrot can imitate for her to copy lol...is it best to get her in a situp position or will lying down suffice? she isnt able to support herself unassisted yet so dont want to add to the work by pushing a spoon in her mouth lol...

 

[kitten2014]

ok so probably too early for carrot due to consistency, mashed and pureed best I could but she didnt really like it, plus think the pieces too big as she almost choked on a bit til she spat it out and that was with her sat in my lap so think purred potato better maybe, will try again with porridge later on...with the carrot she was watching me have a bite and knew that she had to open her mouth so progress but not able to swallow yet...

 

[Rooster30]

My daughter is teething too. She is drooling lots and chomping on her hand - she too isn't taking too teethers and much prefers her hand. Frustrating because I spent dosh on a Cheeky Chomper

She had a her first night in her own room last night in her big girls cot - she slept the whole night through! She settled at about 1930 (later than usual) but slept through to 0830am - woohoo! My son has never ever made it past 0730 so i'm seriously impressed.

I'm not weaning yet - no point really. She's sleeping fine and she is only 3.5 months old. I might start on baby rice in a couple of weeks.

 

[kitten2014]

ok so outr lil miss defo teething! Thought she wasnt as despite drooling and sucking my arm etc, she didnt have swollen gums/red cheeks but just now whilst feeding her she got all upset on the bottle, offered her my knuckle and she nearly bit it off, offered bottle again and she pushed away so clearly not hungry (altho she has taken bigger bottles today) and clearly needing something to chew, my knuckle, her bib or muslin at the mo works, tried various teething toys and only a very thin squidgy one works kinda but not as satisfying as my knuckle lol....luckily she's napping well swaddled as if its hurting thought she'd get frustrated...oh and she is more irritable than usual, playing on back no problem but putting her on tummy or sitting up and OMG did she complain! think she needs some extra TLC, plenty of toy distraction and no hard work for a few days lol...also wont try with spoon for few days as thats probably making it worse...wierd how its just come on all of a sudden altho the drooling increased tenfold 2 wks ago and today again much more saliva...she has to spit it out after a while lol, she also sits there with straight face munching away which is clearly the saliva production going into overdrive lol...

 

[kitten2014]

ditto rooster!

 

[kitten2014]

well done on sleep as our lil miss usually does 11-12hrs sometimes 12.5, so a 7.30pm bedtime usually means 6.30/7 waketime...