crystal7

Ohh thanks! I'm always on the look out for places to eat with baby and buggy in the West End (not that we go there much). Another place is the cafe in Mamas and Papas on Regent Street,good for crawlers!

I'd also like to add that I didn't see an Oakwood midwife until I was 17 weeks. I began to get quite paranoid that they'd forgotten me and left a few messages. When I did see Linda she was able to find the baby's heartbeat and all was fine. She did say that it is normal not to be seen until 16 weeks or so. Lots of luck with your pregnancy!

Tuna mayo and sweetcorn go down well here. Also cream cheese and fruit spread, chicken pureed woth cottage cheese (bit of a faff but at the time I would have tried anything to get E to have some protein!), hummmus, hummus and avocado... As you can tell sandwiches are popular here!

I could have written some of your post! I'm back at work on Wednesday too and my 11 month old daughter had her second settling in day (4 hours) with the childminder today. She got quite hysterical when she saw me putting my coat on to leave and then was tearful when I picked her up. Apparently she enjoyed herself for a while in the middle though! I felt very guilty. Sorry no advice but I'd be interested to hear others' experiences!

I'm afraid I have to agree with most posts. My HVs have given me consistently useless advice. Told me my 2 week old had colic after observing 30 seconds of crying before a feed, said that there was 'no way' my 4 month old could be getting enough milk when she only fed for 5-10 min and that I should express the hind milk and feed it to her in a cup (her weight was fine at the time), advised me too feed my 10 month old sponge and custard to increase her weight gain and finally on Wednesday I was told to replace breastfeeding with formula in the day, again to get her to put on weight. Urgh! AND it's at least an hour's wait to get baby weighed at the clinic which I'm supposed to do every other week! Yes a very emotive topic...

I feel your pain! This has happened to baby C7. Was very stressful watching her ribs become more prominant each day! As others have said it's probably teething related (accounts for the horrid nappies too). Baby C7 would slurp cold Ella's Kitchen straight from the pouch- especially the red one. Ella's kitchen also do smoothies which have been a success for us too, they're with all the kids lunch box stuff in Sainsbury's. Try not to worry as my mum keeps telling me they wouldn't starve themselves!

* a garanteed minimum 4 hour block of sleep every night for the next 18 years * Mary Poppins to come and care for my daughter when I return to work in January *sob* * permanent hair removal for my legs * for my daughter to suddenly realise that food's great and eat everything I put in front of her so I don't have to * instant painless weight loss (see above) * oh and some short grey Uggs I've been a very good girl...

Sleep, have long baths and shop (if you have the energy!) Not done much of any of the above for nearly 10 months. DD was 8 days overdue and I tried everything! RLT may have contributed to my quick labour though so definitely worth drinking...

My childminder doesnt provide food and packing weetabix, milk and fruit puree seems a bit of a pain..hmm..will have a think. Luckily not a brain surgeon but I will be teaching the January reception class so 20 4-5 year olds- eek! Hopefully I'll be too busy to be tired.

I am due to return to work in Janaury when DD will be 11 months. I am dreading it! Having lots of sleepless nights worrying about childcare and how I'll cope with a day's work after a broken night. However I am really lucky to have negotiated 3 days (had to fight my boss down from 4) and I'm hoping to be able to pick up DD from childminder no later than 4.30. Although I love being at home I wouldn't want to be without my career, I did enjoy it and am sure I will again. Also I too worry about the issues R&A raised, depressing but worth considering! More to the point I've no idea how I'm going to get DD and I up, dressed and breakfasted by 7.30 3 mornings a week- urgh!

Thanks for all the advice! I neeed to stop worrying, it's just that she seems to survive on so little! An added problem is that she wont be spoonfed (except yoghurt) but is nowhere near being able to feed herself with a spoon so everything has to be dryish so she can pick it up (and throw it on the floor). Also my OH and I don't eat meat but we want her to so separate food is necessary sometimes... 2 hours in the kitchen the other day making Annabel Karmel's chicken and apple balls only to have them swept of the table- urgh!

My daughter is 9.5 months old and we've had some issues with her weight gain (dropped from 25th-4th centile, health visitor not happy etc.) and although she seems perfectly happy, healthy and active it's difficult to get her to eat 'proper food'. She'll eat loads of yoghurt with fruit puree, rice cakes and cream cheese, breadsticks, hummus, weetabix and tomatoes but anything else is a bit hit or miss. I started weaning her with purees but now she wont let me spoon feed her (unless it's yoghurt or weetabix!) so I'm trying finger foods. She refuses all meat, potatoes, pasta and our meals. I eat with her but it seems to make no difference. Perhaps I need to stop worrying but surely such a limited diet isn't good for her? I return to work in January and am dreading her refusing food all day with a childminer. So any great food ideas of fussy babies? I feel like I spend my life preparing food for her to chuck it all on the floor without tasting it! Thanks!

My Saturday night consists of Strictly, takeaway and wine...and I always sleep with a hot water bottle- our flat's cold! Middle aged at 28. Sigh...

Food not sleep this time! My 9 month old's weight gain has been slowing down since we started weaning (6 months). I took her to be weighed yesterday and was surprised to find that she had only gained 3oz in 7 weeks and has dropped from the 25th (at birth) to the 4th centile. I'm breastfeeding 4 times a day and 2 at night (although I'm not sure if she's having much). We are doing a combination of spoon feeding and finger food, she just doesn't seem to eat much! She loves weetabix and yoghurt with fruit puree and will eat lots of that but anything else I'm lucky to get 4 spoonfuls down her. For lunch she usually feeds herself little sandwiches, steamed veg, cheese on toast etc but very small amounts and has no interest in spoon feeding herself. The health visitor said I need to cut down the amount of breastfeeds I'm giving her (starting with the mid morning one) so that she'll eat more at meal times. She said that by 8 months babies only need 3 milk feeds per day (and was very disapproving of night feeds!). What does everyone else think of this? At the moment it seems mad to reduce a sure way of getting calories into her. Having said that I do return to work in January and wont be around to feed her mid morning, I wondered if I needed to replace that breastfeed with a cup of expressed milk or cows milk but the HV said not to. I feel very confused! And a bit guilty that I can't seem to get my little one to eat enough! I should add that she seems absolutely fine and is a very active baby- bouncing, crawling, standing, cruising she doesn't stop! Any advice gratefully received! Thanks!

Prdarling: I had my baby in February with the Oakwood midwives, although she ended up being born at home (very quick!) we had planned to go to Kings accompanied by them.

I'm with you all too! Feel a bit cheated about the whole breastfeeding-weight loss thing, it just makes me eat more and at nearly 8 months I'm about 10lbs more than I'd like to be! (Feel a bit shallow even saying this). I think it's a life style thing too, much more time spent at home and in cafes. I do Power Pramming once a week, need to get motivated to do some running with the pram on my own... As others have said it's not the weight that bothers me it's the muffin top and wobbly thighs! Urgh! Oh well off to console myself with some cake... And yes it does seem unfair that OH can go to he qym in his lunch hour!

Hi Snowboarder We're having similar problems. Baby C7 (7.5 months) used to be great at being fed in public but now the slighest thing distracts her and she comes off showing my nipple to the world! When I try and put her back on she arches her back, screams and everyone stares- urgh! I'm tying to remain calm and not push it and then feed her when we get home. If it's been long enough she will feed anyway no matter where we are. The problem is that the night feeds are definitely becoming fuller, whereas before it was just 1 or 2 minutes for comfort now it's 10 (a long time for my little guzzler). I worry that it's having an effect on her apetite for solids and her weight gain has been slow. I'm feeding 4 times in the day and that has made a difference (giving water and solids in between). I have also just started to try to reduce the night feedings to 2 with OH's help but it is just so hard! So many tears and less sleep for all involved. Hoping that's temporary though! Sorry not been much help but you are not alone!

My thoughts exactly snowboarder- 15 MONTHS! I'm only halfway there! I remember 4 months being very hard 1-2 hourly wakings etc. and it has settled down to 3-4 wake-ups per night which is manageable- just! Like snowboarder I think acceptance is key, I've come to the conclusion that baby C7 just isn't a great sleeper and hope that eventually our bath, story, feed, sleep routine and (mostly) 2 hours of naps each day will pay off! At least she is a happy little thing during the day! Having said that she did sleep through for the first time on Monday night (or 10-6 anyway!) But last night we were back to 3 wake ups and a 5.30 start today- urgh! Hopefully this is just a short phase for you dingading! Good luck!

Please don't worry EmmaG! I became very anxious about birth during my pregnancy- heard so many awful experiences. I was with the Oakwood midwives too and they were absolutely fabulous. So reasurring and made me realise what a natural process birth should be. I had prepared myself for days of on-off contractions and induction but my daughter was actually born after 3.5 hours of labour, we didn't even make it to Kings. A midwife I'd never met before ended up delivering her but it didn't matter at all and I saw lots of familiar faces post-natally. I think people with positive birth stories are reluctant to share in case they seem insensitive towards people who had a more difficult time, which is silly really...

Thanks for the helpful comments! I realise that controlled crying works for some but it's not something I could do, little one becomes hysterical if left in cot. In-laws keep telling me to let her cry and have even suggested that the night wakings are my fault because "she must think you're awake anyway"! I've got the no cry sleep solution but like you SB I just don't have the energy at the moment.

My 7 month old has never been a good sleeper. we have a good bedtime routine and she is asleep by 7.30 but then wakes up every 2-3 hours every night (apart from the odd one where she just wakes once- out of exhaustion I'm sure). Up until now I have been (breast) feeding her back to sleep. I realise this is a bad habit but anything else I try (shushing, patting, rocking, cuddling) results in her screaming which is quite distressing and counter productive as it wakes her up even more. She has 4-5 feeds plus 3 meals a day so I'm convinced most of the wakings aren't down to hunger, although I expect the night feeds have an effect on the amount of solid food she eats. I try to get her to nap in the day as I know this has an impact on night sleep but she often only sleeps for 30 min at a time. Anyone else had similar experiences? Any advice?! Or is this just how she is?! Thank you !

Hi Maki (& Alieh!) No advice just to let you know you're not alone. My little one (6 months) has started waking every couple of hours in the night. It's torture! I am feeding her back to sleep each time which I know is a habit I need to stop (as MIL reminds me at every available opportunity). I'm not totally convinced baby E can go without milk all night though. She isn't a big eater and weaning looks like it will be a slow process. Not sure if she's feeding for comfort or because she's actually hungry...Also as you know I'm a wimp and can't bear the tears involved with ending night feeding...sigh...Hopefully catch up this week to brainstorm!

Snowboarder I feel you pain. My little one is nearly 6 months and still waking 3-7 times per night. She used to wake just twice until about 12 weeks but since then it's all been downhill. I've read so much on the subject of baby sleep. We've had some success with the Baby Whisperer and The No Cry Sleep Solution has good ideas but according to all of these books good night sleep seems to depend on good day sleep and I can never (or rarely) get my little darling to sleep longer than 40 min. She wakes up all smiles but half an hour later she's rubbing her eyes- eurgh! So sorry no advice but as I said I feel your pain. Fortunately from about 4 months she beaome a lot happier/easy going in the day- easier to cope with when sleep deprived!

Such an individual thing. My little one is 5.5 months and her cot is by my side of the bed. Don't think she'll be moving into her own room anytime soon mainly because she wakes up to be fed/shushed etc 3+ times a night and I don't want to stumble down the stairs (well only about 6 of them- it's a split level flat) to do that. Pre baby I always slept lightly but exhaustion has meant I've learnt to sleep through baby's snuffles and squeaks. Also if things are really bad my OH can hear (especially if I kick him- he's a very sound sleeper) and take over although rarely on a work nigh). In the early days he changed the night nappies. I think at my antenatal classes they recommended 6 months in parents' rooms.

Jealous...short naps here so too tired to eat much at bedtime so 3 feeds in the night (and several more wake ups)... sigh...Any tips on how to get a 5 month old to nap for longer than 30-40 min?