veryseriousgirl

Hi Clare,

Our daughter had the jab at 10 weeks and, while she still has a red spot on her shoulder (she's 5 months old now), we didn't see any other problems or side effects.

I think Livvy was definitely the hit of the picnic - I nearly cried giggling when she tried to cheer up my cranky little monkey by singing to her about her toy cat. So cute!!!

I'll be there with not so serious baby (who will probably be sporting some of Baby C's cast-offs!) Molly - what time are you planning to be there?

Vx

One thing I did hear at NCT is that atear is better than a cut - this, however, didn't seem to be an option at Kings. I knew I was being 'sewn up' after the birth but it didn't twig til the next morning that it was an episiotomy. Was never explained to me.

I think I learned that ventouse and forceps were automatic episiotomy territory on my NCT course - my husband remembered enough to cover my ears so I didn't hear the snip sound. But ventouse without episiotomy was definitly not offered - must remember to write no episiotomy in my birth plan next time!

I also had an episiotomy (ventouse birth rather than forceps) which broke down and meant I spent a couple of weeks on anti-biotics. My daughter is also four months old and I'm feeling nearly back to normal, but still get the occasional twinge. I've been checked out several times by the GP and Kings who say that it's all healed up as it should be, so I guess it's OK not to be 100%, but I would definitely see your GP if you're at all concerned. My daughter was my first baby and, though I had a lot of pain, it wasn't until I asked the midwife who was planning to discharge me to have a look that I found out that I had a relatively bad breakdown.

Ruth_Baldock Wrote:

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> We do have the

> odd screaming evening, when I am tempted to put

> him on Ebay,

I am so glad to hear that other people have those moments. Not-so-serious baby is wonderful most of the time, but sometimes I feel the need to inspect her for a return label...

I'd love 3 - we have one tiny daughter at the moment and now that she's not quite so new, I'm thinking it would be OK to do the pregnancy and newborn thing again... We may get there, we've got time, so we'll see.

We had ours done at the photo shop next to Soup Dragon on Lordship Lane - the guy was very friendly and the pictures came out great.

Fuschia Wrote:

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> The Food Standards Authority and the detailed

> research into the bacteria that can live in

> formula powder is what I'd trust, I'm afraid an

> NHS direct nurse can't really expect to be an

> authority to go against the research!

Fair enough. The whole reason I phoned NHS direct was that the locum at my GP had told me earlier in the day to replace all her milk feeds with dioralyte for 24 - 48 hours and to give her baby rice if she got hungry (at 15 weeks). I thought that advice was insane enough that I wanted a second opinion.

We were streetcar members for ages but gave up due to lack of availability at weekends and peak times. Good to see that they are getting more places - a shame it's too late for us as we've just bought our own car!

Fuschia Wrote:

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> veryseriousgirl Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> A nurse from NHS direct

> > confirmed that it's perfectly OK to keep boiled

> > water in sterilised bottles for up to 24 hours

> at

> > room temp or 48 hours in the fridge. When you

> > want to use them, heat them to the temp you

> want

> > to feed them to baby at, then add the powder at

> > the last minute. You don't need to heat them

> if

> > your baby will accept formula at room temp

>

> I'm afraid that is NOT the advice that is now

> issued, after some incidents with contaminated

> formula powder and is another case of individual

> NHS staff straying away from the official

> position. Really, HOT water is needed to "scald"

> the powder... have a look at the FSA link I

> posted...

We've just started doing this after an NHS direct nurse told me to do it over the phone last week. Previously I had been making all feeds up for the day at once (with scalding hot water), rapidly cooling them and refrigerating them until I needed them. The nurse told me the cooled water was better as it didn't give bacteria the time / material in which to multiply. There is so much contradictory advice out there that it's hard to know which to take.

sillywoman Wrote:

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> Is it true that it's not legal for an Au-Pair to

> have sole charge of under 2's - or is it another

> urban myth?

It's something I've read on several nanny agency websites - have looked for more "official" information, but haven't been able to find it on a cursory search.

For various reasons, breastfeeding didn't work out for not-so-serious-baby and me and we gave up after a week. I felt terribly guilty for ages (so much so that one of the midwives visitng us after the birth broke off mid-rant about how I should be breastfeeding and gave me a hug when she saw how upset I was). One of my friends sent me this article to comfort me (the title, "The Case Against Breastfeeding" is a lot harsher than the article itself), so if you need any reassurance, it did make me feel better.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/04/the-case-against-breast-feeding/7311/

My daughter has had the tummy bug going around, so was eating erratically and I really wanted to avoid situations where she was screaming for ages while I tried to get water boiled and cooled enough for bottles. A nurse from NHS direct confirmed that it's perfectly OK to keep boiled water in sterilised bottles for up to 24 hours at room temp or 48 hours in the fridge. When you want to use them, heat them to the temp you want to feed them to baby at, then add the powder at the last minute. You don't need to heat them if your baby will accept formula at room temp - and you can heat the water on its own in the microwave for a few seconds (never do that with formula, though!). When travelling, I normally put really freshly boiled water into the bottle and put it into an insulated holder where it cools down more slowly so will (with luck) be the right temperature when you mix the powder in (as mentioned above, the Tommy Tippee formula dosers are great).

Hope some of this is helpful - and it sounds like you are a wonderful mum to baby Baldock!

We use a big piece of blackout material that sticks to velcro on the window frame - has pushed not so serious baby's waking back to 7 again.

http://www.easyblindsonline.co.uk/index.html

Thanks for reporting to T-mobile, lilolil. Service seems OK today (fingers crossed).

Calpol makes a saline nasal spray that is meant to relieve nasal congestion for tiny babies. I haven't used it yet, so can't comment on effectiveness, but got some in when both Mr Serious and I came down with colds. Fingers crossed, but not-very-serious baby seems to have escaped it!

I bought mine at Lloyds pharmacy on Northcross Road, but I'm sure it's stocked everywhere.

Back to no service today - anyone else similarly affected?

I have also had no signal for the last few days - v annoying!

Jojobaby,

It's fantastic that you have your extended family around you and that your style of parenting works for you and your kids. You sound like a very happy bunch and I hope our family bonds as well as yours sounds like it has.

Unfortunately, not all of us have that kind of support network - both my parents and my partner's parents live on the other side of bodies of water. Both of our mothers weren't terribly interested in babies the first time around and, while they are thrilled to buy gifts for the baby, have no desire to be involved in childrearing and both claim they can't really remember what they did with their babies, so wouldn't like to offer any advice. Both were loving mothers, but not everyone adores tiny babies (it's hard to see how, with them being so engaging and squidgy, but it was the 70s and I guess both were being bombarded with the idea that if they didn't attempt to "have it all", they were letting the side down).

People are also given different advice - when we first got home from hospital, the midwife visiting me ticked me off for not waking my (jaundiced) baby for a feed every three hours.

People adapt given their circumstances to adopt what works for them. I think everyone contributing to this discussion has the same goal - to have a happy, healthy, well adjusted baby.

I am with the Gardens and had a baby in November. Stella, the Gardens midwife, is absolutely great. However, the antenatal clinic is pretty oversubscribed, so at the end of pregnancy when I needed appointments more often than every four weeks, I had to see a GP instead. Not the end of the world, but it did break up the continuity of care quite a bit.

Bumpkin Wrote:

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> Quite frankly I think much less of Nick Clegg now

> for his comments. Not because he didn't agree

> with Gina Ford's routines which everyone is

> entitled to do; but that he was "in tears from

> trying to force his child to conform"! For

> goodness sake, why couldn't he just read a range

> of parenting books and take the advice that made

> sense to him and work it round his child rather

> than just blind follow something to the letter. I

> think I would have gone mad if I'd followed her

> routines to the letter and certainly didn't

> remotely try to do that, but there are some very

> sound tips and timings that helped a lot. Doesn't

> say much for him in my opinion if he can't use his

> brain to use advice in the way he thinks is best.

Exactly! When I told my health visitor that we were going to try Gina Ford she warned me not to get upset if we didn't follow the routine exactly. I laughed - it's just one tool we have for trying to make sure the baby is happy and I'm seriously not worried about letting Gina or the routine down by not following it to the letter!

helena handbasket Wrote:

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> We have the pesky issue of being bilingual......

> in English!

Hah - I am the same with American English and have resolved to remain "Mommy" for as long as possible! :)

I have a six week old, and, like others, we follow loosely follow Gina. It was a real help for us - we tried to do things "by instinct" for the first week or so, but our baby stayed awake for up to six hours at a time (mostly during the day) getting grumpier and grumpier. The book mainly allowed us to understand when the baby was likely to be tired and put her to bed so she actually sleeps (and is consequently delightful rather than angry at the world when she is awake).

We see the early sleeping through the night as an added bonus - our main reward is that, when it's time to play with our daughter, she's alert and happy and cooing (mostly - she still occasionally gets grumpy), and if she gets upset, I know she's fed, changed and well rested, so we can work from there to determine if she's too hot or too cold or just needs a little bit of extra cuddling.

Does anyone know the rules for bringing formula / etc on to planes? We are flying to Boston with our baby in April (she will be about four months old) and dreading having to get through security with enough milk to feed the baby throughout the flight.

Dallas, Texas

Carrollton, Texas

Austin, Texas

Braunschweig, Germany

Paris (France, not Texas)

Plano, Texas

Austin, Texas

Boston, Mass

Battersea

Tower Hill

Brockley

East Dulwich