The Nappy Lady

Soooo tempted to go down and stage a breast feeding sit in I can't tell you!!!!

I just managed to watch episode 3, riveting as always. You know, I think that idiot husband was letting out his own stress and worry when he was giving his wife a hard time, but I did want to slap him! Of all the things to say to a woman in the middle of her labour, I don't think that a single word that left his mouth during that time was helpful. I thought his wife dealt with it amazingly well, no idea how she stayed in the right 'head space' with him carrying on like that. I think women how have VBAC are probably some of the bravest, she did amazingly well. So glad the little man was eventually OK - it was so scary to see him so floppy. In her early labour when she was at home and swaying her hips it reminded me of my first labour - hubby told me it reminded him of elephants he'd seen giving birth in Africa....err thanks then! It made the midwife laugh at the time! Luckily I knew how he meant it so didn't take offence. The water birth was amazing - that is a lot what my 2nd birth was like, in terms of being very quiet and relaxed. Seeing how shaky she was afterwards reminded me of being like that after No.1, but I wasn't after my 2nd. Interesting to read some of the comments where you are amazed by how quiet that birth was as equally I am amazed by how loud some of them are! It never ceases to amaze me how different births can be. Yet again I am thanking nature that I had 2 girls with smaller than average heads, which I am sure is partly why I had fairly easy births. I hope they show some more natural/easy births though as I feel at the moment the slant is a bit towards harder births or baby's that come out needing some attention/help to get going. That midwife was a strange old mix wasn't she. Her heart was in the right place though I think, and when the head was coming I thought she was fab - the comment "it stings like mad doesn't it" and "its the ring of fire" made me laugh! Molly

I am absolutely disgusted by this, I will be writing to head office too, and also, I have a good mind to pop into the shop next time I am in ED and tell the relevant staff what I think of them. People like this should not be allowed to get away with it. Feeding your baby is a basic human right. They should be ashamed of themselves. To the Mum involved, I hope you see this thread, and get a full apology from MIND in due course. They are lucky it wasn't me in there as I wouldn't have gone into a changing room, I'd have fed baby while I continued to shop, which I am sure would REALLY have disgusted them. Molly

Tum de dum....stuck at home awaiting the delivery....have a bucket full of nappies all ready to be washed....am sadly very, very overexcited about the impending arrival, probably the most excitement since baby C arrived!! I am a very sad person. M :))

Belle, If you are worried please phone you Doctors tomorrow - they are very good about this sort of thing with babies, and I find mine will always call me back and talk things through, and if worried will get me to go down to the surgery, or even come to me. I have never had jabs cause problems beyond about 2 days personally, though I think for some babies it can take longer for them to get fully back to normal. I really hope he is better soon. Molly x

Just had this through the post, thought I would share it; If shopping on line enter the code MTA01 to get 10% off if you spend ?45 or more, you can also order via the phone - 0871 423 5656 and quote it. P&P is free. Molly

This page is quite helpful; http://www.fitnesstipsforlife.com/eczema-cure-oatmeal-bath.html The stuff I got is Aveeno Baby Colloidal (sp?). So pretty much the same stuff but ready prepared. I have heard of people using oats without blending as discussed, so you could maybe try both methods and see which works best for you? Molly

Hi Ko, New oats every time as whatever it is that helps the eczema will then come out of them in the bath, and so will not be in them next time. Also they will go moldy if left in the muslin. I got some Aveeno sachets from Kristal Pharmacy in Nunhead that are oats and stuff for eczema and seem good too (but do make the bath slippy so you have to be a bit careful). Molly x

We got the ELC rocket and flying saucer for Christmas for our 1 year old, but the older children all love it too....every age even the 5 and 6 year olds. It is a fab toy. Mine seem to love all things with little people they can put in and out if bus/house/rocket or whatever so Happy Land stuff great too. Molly Xx

Pickle!!! You have contaminated NZ. Poor Mr Pickle, can't think of many worse places to have the bug than on a long flight. Did he just hide in the loo (imagine standing in a queue...nightmare). Hope everyone is bug free soon. Molly xx

The man from Del Monte - he said yes! :)-D Thanks to all those who helped me raise funds by buying buggys and things, and my lovely hubby for stumping up some money from his savings, on Friday I will be taking delivery of the Miele Washer/Dryer. Mellors - the funny thing is that they are by all accounts great machines, but I don't think they look great - really quite old fashioned, and boring old white, no flashy Stainless Steel or anything. But I think at the end of the day performance and reliability matter more here (gosh I must be getting old!!). candj - it was same price at Comet as JL, I just got mixed up with one of their washing machines, one of which was ?1,400. Managed to find a discount code on line to get ?60 off, plus the British Gas ?70 voucher which all helped. Plus it has a 5 year warranty on parts and service, so that will save us another ?250 or so we would have spent on British Gas Service cover over 5 years. I do think that in general the British Gas kitchen appliance cover is pretty good, given that you'd probably pay ?50 just to get an engineer out to look at a broken down machine, let alone fix it, so worth investigating if you have appliances that are out of warranty. They do some kind of deal for 3 appliances of your choice. So relieved to have finally got this sorted, can't believe how hard it has been. Phew. Molly

Oh don't, it is ridiculous really. I AM going to buy one tonight or tomorrow, I HAVE to make a decision! Can't give the voucher back now, nearly went for the refund instead so I could shop around but what's done is done. Anyway, delivery is free so that's good. Am going for either a Bosch or Miele if can persuade hubby we should both raid savings to afford it. Both German makes and by all accounts that is the safest bet. I think if going to do the washer/dryer combo it may in the end be best to go Miele simply because you know you are going to get reliability then (and 5 year cover direct through Miele themselves, so no dealing with Comet later if we do have problems). But it is twice our budget, so......may have to do a lot of persuading tonight! LOL. Molly :-S

We have both - My Sister got a 'real life' doll for my daughter via a Charity Shop. She plays with them all equally, the real life doll is quite heavy because of all the workings inside her body. Body is soft so dressing and undressing is easy. I don't think they add that much value to the play, just a nice to have, if you can get on at a sensible price. I did totally wind her up once by putting some peanut butter spread on some loo roll (to look like paper liner) inside one of her washable dolls nappies (Tots Bots do really cute pink cotton velcro fastening mini dolls nappies). She is to this day convinced her doll really did a poo, and can't understand why there haven't been any more since! Tee Hee. Molly

You can get something called Snufflebabe which is Vicks for babies - not sure if you can use it at 8 weeks, but you could check at the chemist? You put it on their chest and leave top of babygrow open. You can also put a few drops of Olbas Oil on a muslin and tie it onto the bars of the cot, out of babies reach, or on a tissue and put it under the cot sheet. Hope this helps. Molly

Hey - huge apologies to anyone who felt upset by my post, not my intention at all. As I said, the main thing I realised (yet again) is just how lucky I have been. People said after my births how amazing I was, but I never thought I was, I was just plain lucky, and that's all. I am in no doubt that some labours are much, much more painful than others (to clarify I didn't actually say it was 'just' a case of pain thresholds), I know much more to it than that, things like baby's position and size etc. all make a huge difference. I do keep wanting to tell these women to get off their backs though because I found it hugly painful to be on my back during a contraction - I know it may be different for others, but in the footage some of them don't seem to even try other positions, and in the case of dilating I've always been told that getting upright so their head is pressing on the cervix will help to speed up dilation. Anyway, sorry again if I caused offence, really not intended. :)) Molly

Hi Linzkg, Yes, just keep an eye on him - can't recall which one you have, but the ones with bells on are not quite as strong as the other ones. The Breast Buddies ones are really strong, tested to very great strength so don't think he'd break one of those. Glad he likes it! Molly

Only just watched this episode today - it was great, can't wait to finally see Joy have the baby next week. Was shocked to see how the young girl was carrying on, realised yet again what an easy time of it I had. I do think people have different pain thresholds though, and she just wasn't in the right frame of mind to cope with the pain, no matter what. Amazing how different she was once she had the Pethidine though. I know Pethidine can cross the plancenta - is there any evidence that it can cause the heart rate to slow down, does anyone know? I know it is banned at some hospitals and not others, and just wondered, given how her labour subsequently progressed. Molly

Not at all Alice, you are entitled to your opinion!

was about to say UTI as I read the post. Hope she is OK. Let us know how you get on.

I am told the John Lewis own brand machines are effectively Miele so a good buy. But I have the ?70 voucher for Comet so can't do JL. Faster spins help a lot but can damage some more delicate stuff. But you can usually reduce the speed of course. M

Well said Belle, each bead is smaller than an average pea, and the necklace clasp is designed to break under very little pressure. I am sure that if a child had ever been hurt through wearing one of these it would be all over the Internet for us all to read. But we live in a world where you hear of parents drying each item baby eats with on an individual piece of paper towel, or not letting little ones crawl around in public places for fear of germs. As Sillywoman says each to their own, I am happy with my choices. Molly

scotlass, my daughter did this about poos, though was fine about weeing on the potty. It is very upsetting. I think you are right to have put her back in nappies. What I would do now is try to talk to her about how big girls do wees and poos on the potty, take her into the loo with you (if you don't already), and show her (grim I know) how you use the toilet, and how much nicer it is than being in a wet nappy etc. etc. Get a potty training book (I got "Potty Training for Girls" which included a start chart and stars and read it to her every day for a week or so. Also, try to explain to her about why we wee and poo - once I talked to my daughter, in terms she could understand about how poo was just the left over bits from the food we eat, that our body cannot use etc. etc. and that it therefore has to be 'thrown away' by coming out of our bottoms she seemed a lot better. Finally, you could try cutting a hole in her disposable nappy, so she has the security of wearing it, but obviously needs to sit on the potty to do what she needs to do...sometimes this does the trick, and after a few times they get over the fear. It is very common, so try not to worry. The good news is if she is able to hold the wee for so long then she is certainly ready to potty train, she just needs to get over the fear, and hopefully the combined approach above will do that. Oh - maybe if she had friends who are now using the potty get them around to show her too? And if she does get stressed again, go back to nappies for a few days and then try again. You will get there....good luck. Molly x

Thanks guys, all very helpful. Molly

Maybe Taper, that's what I thought initially, but they look pretty anyway and my 2nd has certainly teethed better than my first. Who knows! Molly

Thanks, I think they have improved, the one I am looking at does 7kg wash 5kg dry and has a 45 min quick wash and dry option which consumer feedback suggests really does work. This is my dilemma, I suspect a lot of the problems associated with washer/dryers no longer apply as machines have improved. We shall see!!