Newborn and baby advice

Oh wow - the thread's been quite busy.

Pinky, how was the exam? We used to rock Emily to sleep and then when she went through that awful waking-up phase I decided no more, and implemented sleep training. It really worked like a bomb and now we just put her in her cot at the appropriate time and she goes to sleep. It's saved us hours of rocking or sitting next to the cot patting her to sleep.

Jacadebra, loved the photos! I agree with you about not getting into a debate about it. We fought so much during the pregnancy about it and came to a compromise.

Claudia_B, I'm also fussy about what Emily eats - and I agree with you all about the Purity, it really does taste horrible - although I must admit that the carrots I boiled and pureed for Emily tasted like Purity! Yuck! I'm probably going to try make my own veggie stock, which is probably going to be awful seeing as there's no salt involved. At least with a meat-based stock you have other flavours.

Desiree, I love your new profile pic, and Connor is so dapper in his cozzie. Can't believe he's already 7 months old! I'm not sure about getting together. Meags couldn't make it and nobody else seemed keen so we've arranged to go to my folks for the weekend. We haven't seen them in ages.

Morning ladies

Yay for G sitting, Bronz. Such a milestone!!
And yay for C getting his teeth, Desiree. Is he the first to get teeth here?

Well, my night was a dog show! Katie got the flu or a cold yesterday and was sooooo grumpy. I grabbed her and put her in the bed with us the first time she woke up last night (around 4am), but I feel so bad for her. I'm consolling myself with the fact that we've survived winter and 5 and a half months without ANY incident. It was inevitable.
With her being sick, she's very grumpy and doesn't want to eat or drink much, so avoid any issues, we're only having lunch until she's better - the rest of the day will be milk and water bottles.
Once she's better we're going to try avo and mango sticks (not together though lol).

On happier notes, I had another interview at a private school last night - hold thumbs and found a creche for Katie. Will start sending her asap - I want to do it in the middle of the week (Thurs or Fri), so we're home with her on the weekend.

@Beansmom: You are so right - we have all these dos and don'ts before baby arrives and then we bend and break them to suit baby. I was a firm believer that people who said my baby doesn't like this bottle brand or that food brand was talking rubbish - until Katie arrived and projectile vommited each time we fed her off the WHOLE range of bottles we'd bought. Mmmm, mental note for baby no 2 (and if I'm lucky 3 )

Have a great day!

Good morning ladies.

Doing a quick update while in bed before I go hit the books. First exam is next Thursday.

@Claudia. Did James sleep better last night? Any Idea what the problem was?

@Pinky: How did the first exam go?

@Beansmom: I saw you at the casting yesterday. But you seemed to jump the que. So I thought I would wait for you to come out but never saw you come out.

We went to 2 castings yesterday. I don think either went very well though. First one was very quick, and the second they measured him wrong. (he is 69 and they wrote down 60). I am putting all of it on hold until after my exams, so unless he gets one of these , which I doubt, we will only do it again after the 18th. By then he will be sitting properly any way. (We had another poop incident - but this time I was prepared. Clearly he does not like the clothes I put him in.)

Other big news. Graeme woke up last night at about 11 and just would not go back to sleep. We were still awake so let him sit with us for a bit (I know we shouldn't, just did not feel like fighting it last night since we were up anyway). And my baby decided it was a good time to start sitting. He manages for about 10 secs for now. Will catch the customary photo a little later today.

Oh I think and hope teeth are making their appearance soon. His hands are in his mouth non stop, but hanging his fingers of his bottom jaw were the teeth will come out. And he is drooling constantly.

Jacadebra: Lia Is too gorgeous. I love the little cozzie.

Desiree: Happy Mirthday to Connor.

Sorry if I missed any one or some thing important. Mind is not here.

Yay for a good night's sleep Beansmom, that's awesome!

Hey Des!! Connor has grown so much! He is looking too adorable! Glad you had a good break . We are going away for a few days soon too, really looking forward to it!

I haven't posted a pic in ages so I'm spamming ya'all with pics to make up for it hehe:

Slightly older one:
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More Recent:

www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=7573008&l...89599d1&id=682946132

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@Desiree.. I was given purity for my baby shower as a penalty... and i swore then that my child would NEVER eat that rubbish! It may be convenient but it tastes terrible! Absolutely no resemblance to the actual ingredients! I do all my cooking for Tayla over the weekend... so far I have 3 weeks worth of food frozen and as soon as I run out of anything I just cook that up...

Wow - after reading all your posts I am a real food nerd! I've done gem squash, butternut (she hates it), potato,carrots, sweet potato with cinnamon (loves that), apple, pear and fresh banana (Hates this).. oh and peas... touch and go on that one... everything has been pureed though cos any sign of lumps and she sticks her tongue out and gags - but then laughs!

Tayla went for her callback casting today and she managed to actually sit long enough for them to take a pic... too sweet! And she's been called in for another shoot as well.. a real little star... just not sure if mommy can handle the stress behind the scenes

As far as walking rings and all that goes... i was dead against one all along... but Tayla is so frustrated with lack of movement that I eventually caved in... she doesn't get left for ever and a day... but it does cheer her up because she can be mobile for a bit... Was actually just saying to friends on the weekend how funny it is that while pregnant I had such strong ideas of how things were going to be done.. but in real life when the baby is around, many of those strong ideas have been bent and some totally broken... just to keep baby happy!!

Tayla did mommy a huge favour last night and slept from 1915 through to 0620 this morning... we eventually snuck in at 0500 to check that she was still breathing cos usually I have to do a dummy run or 4 at night! Lets see if that happens again tonight!?

Hellooooooooooooooo ladies!!!

Feels like I have been gone for ages, and its only been a week.


I've been reading & catching up and it seems as if everyone is ok - with some sleep deprivation and the works - sorry to all the mommies who are seriously needing sleep, hope your babas bounce back to their normal routines asap. Sorry that Im not replying to you all personally, you guys have been way to busy, he he - I've had to play serious catch up!

Our holiday was soooooooo great, we had such a fab time - Connor enjoyed himself so much - my little man is 7 months old tomorrow - AND, he cut 2 teeth last week, Im still amazed, lol

Thought I'd also give an update on Connor & his solid food experience so far.

He's tried all the regular foods - and I've been experimenting with lots of fresh fruits like melon & mango - and I've tried dried fruits - he loves sucking on mango pieces. I've tried chicken....and mince.....and will try fish soon......oooh, and I've also tried cheese, which he likes alot - Im gonna do toast & scrambled egg this weekend. Whilst on holiday, I ran out of Woolies fresh baby food.....so I tried a Purity meal (have only tried their fruit before) - anyway, it was SOOOOO GROSE....I gagged, and so I refused to give it to Connor - lol, so he had fresh banana and yogurt instead. Have you ladies tried the Purity meals? I've sworn never to use them again, ever, lol!! I am going to make a point of making fresh food for Connor....and if all else fails, will use the Woolies fresh foods. I find the Olli jars too pureed anyway!

Will catch up with you ladies later!!

BUT, before I forget - JHB ladies - are we still up for a breakfast on 23 October?? please say YES, It would be great to see you all again!!

Ok...here is a piccie of Connor in his BabyBanz swim cozzie

@ NickyMG, I agree about everything in moderation:) I also would never recommend a bumbo seat for a normal child, yet I have one which I use when James eats! I have seen so many kids who have delayed milestones due to parents using apparatus as babysitting tools (I'm pretty sure none of the moomie mommys would fall into this category) and it kills me! My most recent was a 9 month old baby who was scared of movement because her parents wrapped her in cottonwool and kept her in her bumbo for "safety". I cant believe that my job is sometimes just as simple as telling parents to let their child play on the floor! Within 2 weeks this particular child was rolling and sitting!

@Scribblingal James was terrible again last night:( So I gave in eventually and he came to bed with me which made my life easier. I've already told my hubby that I'm not going to even fight tonight. He is allowed one wake and if he is up again hes into our bed. It may be lazy, but I'm not functioning. I think my patients today must have thought I had lost my mind.... I couldnt remember simple things!

James also more sucks on things than chews. He occassionally shoves something to far back and he'll gag a bit, but I watch him like a hawk.
As for me being easy going about food, my family thinks I am being too picky. There is no food allergies in my family so I'm allowing a selection of foods, but I have overhauled what DH and I eat completely. I have even got my SIL to buy salt free baby organic stock cubes in the UK so that I can use those when I make soups/ stews. I want James to have a selection of foods so that he is used to a wide variety of tastes and not just the standard potato carrot and butternut:)
As for fish, fresh is best, but the easiest is the IJ hake medallions. They contain no bones and hake is fairly innoculous. Mashing it up with some potato will probably make it go down easier if you spoonfeed:)