March 2017 Babies club

waterfaerie

It's great to hear your boy is doing well, CheerLouth. Hopefully, as you say, there'll be nothing to that check up with his hips.

That's great that he's rolling. Can he go from back to front already or just front to to back? I keep forgetting which one they're supposed to do first.

My girl hasn't done either yet, although she does go from her back onto her side. She's quite good at it and can easily go from one side all the way to the other but her arm stops her going any further. Whenever we put her on her tummy, she's too busy trying to crawl and not at all interested in rolling!

dreamstar wrote: »

Everyone keeps asking if I'm weaning him yet. I thought it was too early but don't really know. Have you thought of weaning yet?

I think in the past they used to wean at this stage but the current advice is that it's important to wait until 6 months.

I'm planning to do baby led weaning. Has anyone else tried this or looked into it?

dreamstar

waterfaerie wrote:

I think in the past they used to wean at this stage but the current advice is that it's important to wait until 6 months.

Went to a preparing to wean info thingy in our local clinic today. They were saying you can start weaning from 17 weeks and should do it before 6 months. Just said to look out for the signs. Baby not satisfied with milk etc. All the breastfeeding advice is to breastfeed exclusively for the 6 months. So I'm just going to keep going as I am for the minute.

waterfaerie wrote:

I'm planning to do baby led weaning. Has anyone else tried this or looked into it?

This seems to be very popular now. I'll be honest I haven't looked into it much. But I think my fear of choking would put me off. Might do a bit of both though.

spottybananas

It's recommended now not to wean breast or formula fed babies until 6 months. We did baby led weaning, so easy and gets them used to real food. Start with soft foods like avocado fingers, pancakes sliced up, bananas, etc, and then anything you're having in your meals that can be sliced into fingers! Once you know that gagging and choking are very different it's not scary, gagging is loud with coughing and general gagging noises, choking is silent. Gagging is a good thing, it means baby's body is doing the right thing and stopping food going down the airway.

Also important to remember that baby's gag reflex is much further forward than adults, so while we see them gagging and think sh!t that's scary and uncomfortable it's not as big a deal for them as it would be if something made you gag. They do it much more readily than an adult, their body is learning how to turf food out if it might be heading for the airway, it's an important step that has to be learned.

LirW

I did kind of a baby led weaning thing with my son. It worked really well.
When I went to the PHN she said my little one is a very petite one and her weight is below the curve. She also mentioned if it doesn't get better we might think of giving a bit of solid food to her. I told her that I don't really want that because she's so small and nowhere near ready for it. She then went on a rant that it's about doing the right thing and so on. I seriously don't like her, I met her before and she's not a very nice person.
Beside that she wouldn't gain more weight because of a few spoons of pureed carrot a day. Send a new PHN please :mad:

waterfaerie

Is the PHN compulsory or can you opt out? I'd love to know for sure because I've seen people say different things on here before.

Mine is actually very nice but I still don't like being checked up on. Why are we not trusted to do the best thing for our babies? Nobody cares more about my own daughter than me!

Also, I find the lack of consistency in advice from one PHN to the other disturbing. It seems to be pot luck if you get one that's up to date or one that's still working off the same information they were giving out 30 years ago. For that reason alone the "service" seems pointless. How are you supposed to trust them if they're not regulated and consistent?

From what I can make out from other mums I've talked to, most of the PHNs are giving advice that's contrary to WHO guidelines and very definitely not in line with international breastfeeding guidelines.

I'm lucky mine is pro breastfeeding, although my baby is big. I wonder if her weight was lower would she be as supportive.

I met with a group of other March mums and all of the ones who have this one particular PHN are giving their babies orange juice to help with digestion! I don't judge other mothers for anything if that's what they want to do but the fact that the PHN is advising that is shocking to me.

LirW

I know another mom that's the sister in law of a good friend, she attends the same clinic and her boy had a tongue tie and she really struggled feeding, she's a FTM and now has to call it a day. They were incredibly harsh on her. Mind you, that's the clinic in Drumcondra, so not some shady back-alley clinic.
As far as I know they have to do these check-ups to rule out neglect or abuse, because unfortunately there are black sheep.

I have to go in next week again for another weight check, there will be a different nurse. Hope, she's a bit nicer.

dreamstar

waterfaerie wrote:

Is the PHN compulsory or can you opt out? I'd love to know for sure because I've seen people say different things on here before.

I think it's so sad that people are having such bad experiences with PHNs. Makes me lucky for the lovely nurse I have. I find her such an invaluable help and has great info on classes etc in the area. Must be awful to dread going to your nurse. And they can spot things that other people wouldn't. So I do think it's important to see them.

But I do find sometimes that mammies can be too far on the defensive too. I guess you just have to do your research and go with your gut feeling.

CheerLouth

dreamstar wrote: »

That's a fantastic sleep! What's your secret? :-)

I have no secret, lol! I'm bottle-feeding him so when he stopped waking in the middle of the night, I gave him a dreamfeed at 11pm for a week, then over the course of two weeks, I dropped the dream feed back by 15minutes until we got to 10pm. Once we got him sleeping from 10pm through to 7am for three or four nights, I dropped the dream feed. Seems to work. I did the same on Number One and she is still a great sleeper.

dreamstar wrote: »

Everyone keeps asking if I'm weaning him yet. I thought it was too early but don't really know. Have you thought of weaning yet?

My PHN mentioned weaning at the three month check. She did stress leaving it as long as possible so that he is closer to the six month mark but she did say that some babies just need to be weaned earlier. She said to look out for the signs like they are watching everything you eat, not being full after a feed etc. I'm hoping to wait until he's six months.

waterfaerie wrote: »

That's great that he's rolling. Can he go from back to front already or just front to to back? I keep forgetting which one they're supposed to do first

He's going from front to back. I think he just learned to do it because he hated tummy time so much that he needed a way to escape it. :P Every time I put him on his tummy now, he rolls straight over. He is nearly going from front to back, he can get on to his side and then just lies there stuck.

Love2love

I love my PHN, she lovely and is very happy for me to be in the driving seat. She checks everything she's suppose to and explains everything so I'm never left feeling inadequate or that I'm be checked up on. I just feel a bit naughty for not doing what I know I'm suppose to be doing!

In regard to weaning, it is now advised that babies under 6 months should not be given solids as their gut just isn't mature enough. This causes allergies to certain foods so unless an infant has severe colic or reflux and on the advice of a GP, I wouldn't be risking it. Also, I believe now they advise a bit of both when it comes to weaning as the baby-led weaning movement has lead to a significant increase in infants needing speech and therapy support. (We can never get it right, can we?! :rolleyes:) It's important to remember though, that food before 1 is just for fun!

Gosh I wish my little man would sleep through! My other two slept through from about 6 weeks and here we are 12 weeks tomorrow and waking twice a night!

fits

Love2love wrote: »

Also, I believe now they advise a bit of both when it comes to weaning as the baby-led weaning movement has lead to a significant increase in infants needing speech and therapy support. (We can never get it right, can we

Why is this I wonder. Can you point me to a link?

dreamstar

Love2love wrote:

In regard to weaning, it is now advised that babies under 6 months should not be given solids as their gut just isn't mature enough. This causes allergies to certain foods so unless an infant has severe colic or reflux and on the advice of a GP, I wouldn't be risking it.

Any my Health nurse and gp said they can have solids from 17 weeks. Just can't start baby led weaning until 6 months. So can have purees before then. So getting different info from different people is so confusing.
I went to a SHE weaning talk and they said the same. Just can't give eggs until 6 months in case of allergies.

fits

It's so confusing no matter what you do there will be someone saying you're doing it wrong.

Love2love

fits wrote: »

It's so confusing no matter what you do there will be someone saying you're doing it wrong.

This is it really! There will always be someone who has conflicting advice.

My sister in law's sister is studying speech & language and mentioned that they discussed in class the link between Babyled weaning and speech development so I've no link I'm afraid.

In regard to puréed foods, I fed both my last 2 kids from 4 months. However my GP has now instructed me that it should definitely be closer to 6 months because of allergies. It's a definite no-no however before 17 weeks on HSE guidelines but as far as I know, it's 6 months on WHO guidelines which I'm going to go with as my daughter does have some food sensitivities and allergies. I remember being in temple st when she was about 5 months and the doctor asking me was she on solids and I said that she was having some porridge but I hadn't moved onto other foods and he told me it was 6 months for solids but as I had already exposed her to the porridge, that I could continue with that.

I ran into a girl last week that had a baby 4 days before I had mine and she told me she was already weaning and giving her daughter petit flous for brekkie and banana at night!! (This baby is 12 weeks old! ) But as shocked as I was, the baby seemed happy and healthy and her son for which she did the same, was happy, healthy, well behaved and mannerly so each to their own I suppose. It's really what you feel is right, I suppose! And as my mother kindly pointed out, they didn't have WHO guidelines in their generation or the one before that and they didn't kill of the population!

CheerLouth

You are right, Love2Love, about not having the WHO guidelines back in the day. My nana makes me laugh as in her day, they started a baby with egg yolk from a soft boiled egg! People would have nightmares about that now!

In relation to the speech therapy and the baby led weaning, I remember my PHN on Number 1 saying that the puree's and then moving on to mashed food help to strengthen the baby's tongue which in turn helps them with their speech. She didn't back that up with any facts or figures but it made sense to me at the time I think. It's all a bit hazy now!

LirW

Not good news: baby didn't gain weight over the last 2 weeks (she's already on the small side) and I have to go to the GP today to get her properly checked.
I feel absolutely horrible and devastated. I really hope we can find a solution quick. She does seem like a really happy baby but everyone's concerned now.

We're going on holiday on Friday and I probably will only freak around now. Oh dear.

dreamstar

LirW wrote:

Not good news: baby didn't gain weight over the last 2 weeks (she's already on the small side) and I have to go to the GP today to get her properly checked. I feel absolutely horrible and devastated. I really hope we can find a solution quick. She does seem like a really happy baby but everyone's concerned now.

Oh no! Is she not feeding well? Is she having plenty of wet and dirty nappies?
Sometimes nurses etc panic over the littlest thing. Some babies are just small. If she's in good form I wouldn't worry too much.

fits

Plus they can gain in fits and bursts too. Some recommend only weighing once a month. Probably a good idea to get checked all the same

LirW

dreamstar wrote: »

Oh no! Is she not feeding well? Is she having plenty of wet and dirty nappies?
Sometimes nurses etc panic over the littlest thing. Some babies are just small. If she's in good form I wouldn't worry too much.

So I'm back again, she's feeding, she was her nappies full but she's not gaining weight. The doctor is happy with the rest, she's alert and interacts and doesn't seem lethargic but we made a plan now that I follow.
She gets very long feeds with a bit of top up if needed and I'm supposed to start with solids. Had a good long talk about it.

She's a small baby in general and isn't good in gaining weight in general, she's on the very lowest percentile. If she falls under this we'd have some serious problem. It's just a struggle, my son was a behemoth as a baby. When I'm back from my holidays we'll be seen in Temple street just to make sure it's actually nothing physical.

That was such a draining day but my GP was a saint and very supporting. Just really need to take that seriously because every gram counts.

fits

It doesn't matter much if she is on lowest percentile if she is staying on the curve. One of my boys has been on 0.4 th percentile. I haven't weighed him in ages though. Anyway I hope she starts gaining for you again.

LirW

Thanks. That's the thing, she dropped from 50th to 35th to 0.4.

fits

LirW wrote: »

Thanks. That's the thing, she dropped from 50th to 35th to 0.4.

Ah ok. Well it's good that it's being monitored and you can work out a plan xx

CheerLouth

Hope everyone is doing well. Hope your little girl is getting on ok, LirW!

My little man had his 4 month injections on Tuesday. He was grand except waking up in the middle of the night. Nothing wrong with him, no temperature or anything, he just decided that he should be wide awake at 3am and therefore so should Mammy :P Was just falling back asleep when his sister came bounding in full of the joys of the morning! Glad he has them over him though!

Love2love

Hope everything is ok LirW.

Cheerlouth, I'm dreading them. He was fine after the 2 month ones but still. Do they get 9 again or less? There's another MenB, isn't it?

Little man had his 3 month developmental yesterday. He's 75th for weight and 91st percentile for height. She said that technically makes him underweight but she can see he's fine. I asked about feeding / weaning and she said 23 weeks! So more conflicting advice!! I did ask about BLW and she said that she recommends a bit of both but not to start BLW until the baby is able enough to sit up in a chair properly and that they are capable to pick the food up off the tray by themselves. She said research the hell out of it first and that what tends to happen is that the baby ends up lacking in nutrition because they are just being giving 1 veg at a time. Where's as with puréed foods, it's normally a mix of vegatables and fruit so to just be conscious of that when I start. She said what she would do is put the baby in the high chair, put some vegetables (edible size obviously) for baby to pick up and eat while feeding the puréed food from the spoon.

dreamstar

Hey guys! Oh you're so lucky the injections went well. My little guy was bad after both. But after the last ones he just went really pale and was very retchy but not actually being sick. I hate the injections!

He's doing so well though. Still breastfeeding but trying to get him to take a bottle. That's not going so well. So I'm trying an expressed bottle every day. Hopefully he'll get the hang of it. He's in his own room and sleeping great thank God.

Everyone is asking us about starting solids too. I'd like to wait until closer to 6 months. He's still satisfied with his milk for the minute so just taking it day by day. But I think I'll do a mix of purees and BLW. The fear of choking does put me off BLW slightly though.

CheerLouth

Well done, Dreamstar on getting him in his own room. Half of me is thinking that we need to move him out of our room as he is waking a lot at night and I think he is not settling because he is waiting for me to get up to him. Maybe if he was in his own room, he'd settle himself. Although, he'll be going in with his sister and I don't want her waking up in the night either! It's hard to know what to do.

I'm totally wrecked at the minute. Little man has been up the last two nights...possibly three now, I can't keep track tbh & my husband is away for work until Monday week. I'm so tired

dreamstar

CheerLouth wrote:

I'm totally wrecked at the minute. Little man has been up the last two nights...possibly three now, I can't keep track tbh & my husband is away for work until Monday week. I'm so tired

Oh Cheerlouth that's so tough. I always say once you're missing out on sleep it makes everything so much harder. Do you have anyone else around who could help out? It must be so hard with two as well. On our bad days I'm always thinking what I'd do if I had a toddler too.

Yeah I reckon we were waking the little man a bit at night so moved him in once he was over his 4 month injections. And it is nice to be able to read and talk in our own room. :-) We still have no daytime routine though so I'm wondering should I be starting a nap time.

VandC

CheerLouth wrote:

Well done, Dreamstar on getting him in his own room. Half of me is thinking that we need to move him out of our room as he is waking a lot at night and I think he is not settling because he is waiting for me to get up to him. Maybe if he was in his own room, he'd settle himself. Although, he'll be going in with his sister and I don't want her waking up in the night either! It's hard to know what to do.

Cheerlouth, how old is his sister? I'm contemplating putting the baby in with her sister who is nearly two but afraid of them waking each other. The older one has decided to scream the house down until she falls asleep at the moment but I'm sure that will pass. It's the other things that wake them like illness, teething, restlessness, general divilment, that I worry about

CheerLouth

VandC wrote: »

Cheerlouth, how old is his sister? I'm contemplating putting the baby in with her sister who is nearly two but afraid of them waking each other. The older one has decided to scream the house down until she falls asleep at the moment but I'm sure that will pass. It's the other things that wake them like illness, teething, restlessness, general divilment, that I worry about

Sorry, VandC, only seeing this now. Don't get much laptop time these days His sister is two and a half. She is a very good sleeper though. She goes to bed around 8ish and sleeps until 7am. She doesn't normally act up. I'd be more afraid of himself waking her up, but that said, he could be roaring the house down when she is going to bed and it doesn't seem to bother her. He'll be five months next week so I might take the plunge then. I really want him in his own room before I go back to work at the end of September.

I'm also going to be starting solids in the next while. Want him started before he goes to creche and also because he is now staring at every mouthful of food that anyone takes. If you arent careful, he'd have the grub whipped off you before you'd realise - defo his father's son :p

waterfaerie

How is everyone doing? It's hard to believe the babies are 6 months old now!

I'm back at work and absolutely hating it, even though it's only part time. I'm seriously considering leaving. People all tell me I'm crazy to leave a permanent job but I'm so unhappy away from my baby and she's not settling for her Dad either.

Otherwise, everything has been great. She's been sitting up on her own since 5 months but still hasn't rolled over in either direction or shown any interest in crawling. She'll happily lie and play away on her tummy but doesn't try to wriggle or move at all, even though she used to when she was smaller.

She's babbling away and laughing out loud. Sometimes the noises she makes are mad! She's so interactive and sometimes we can tell she's really trying to tell us something.

She's quite cold with other people, though. Apart from me and her Dad, the only people she smiles at are the other mums and babies at the breastfeeding group. When people she doesn't know well try to talk to her she just stares blankly and if they get too close she cries. I don't know if that's normal?

We've started baby led weaning and it's great fun watching her. Anytime she tries something new she makes a face like she's totally horrified but then continues to eat it (or attempt to eat it) anyway. We had her in a high chair in a restaurant for the first time today and she thought it was great fun.

I hope everyone else is well. It would be great to hear how you're all getting on!

dreamstar

Hi waterfaerie!!!!
So good to hear your little one is doing Great! Wouldn't worry about her making strange. My nurse said that's an important developmental milestone as she's learning to recognise people.
And she's sitting up? My little man still not sitting on his own. But he's rolling everywhere! Literally can't leave him for a second! Going in to him in the morning is so funny coz you don't know where he ends up in the cot. Got a fright one day coz I couldn't see him!

He's doing great too thank God. He'll be 7 months next week! Flying it with the food. Having 3 meals a day and demolishing every bit. I didn't do baby led weaning. The gagging scared me I wont lie. But he has the odd carrot stick and slice of toast. :-)

I'm also weaning him off the boob now. He has two teeth and I've been bitten a few times. I dread every breastfeed so we're only breastfeeding at night now and will gradually stop that. But he's fine with the bottles thank God.

That's miserable about work. Is there any option to go part time? Or could you look for something else? Life is too short to be miserable. I'm not back till January. I took unpaid leave so have no money coming in now. It's very strange. I'm hoping to get part time then when I go back but not sure I'll be able.

Hope everyone else is getting on well too!