radnrach

Since being back at work, I've noticed I have horrendous under-the-eye shadows and bags. No matter what I do, I look stupendously tired. I know it's because I AM tired, but juggling it all is really taking it's toll on my face. Does anyone have any make-up suggestions, or general ideas to help with this problem? I know it's pretty shallow, but I would really prefer not to look like I've been dragged through the crapper on a daily basis.

What I've been doing recently (because I have the same problem!) is putting a vest/babygro and light blanket on him. And then before I go to bed, I sneak in and re-cover (he always throws/kicks it off) and then put a heavier blanket on, too. I do always worry he's going to kick them off again, but he seems to be nice and toasty in the mornings.

'A Case of you' by Joni Mitchell. I used to sing it to my squeeker when I was trying to get him to sleep when he was a newborn, and it would make me cry my eyes out. Everytime I hear it now, it makes me pretty teary. Phew.

Apparently he's filming in Heygate Estate, which I don't really class as Peckham. More like Walworth, I would think (?)

I was wondering if any of you other ED cyclists could help me out. I cycle from ED to Old Street for work, and try to take as many quiet routes as possible. This usually means cutting through a lot of Burgess park (I aim for Southwark bridge due to London Bridge being a bit manic). Since the park is closed for a good while for regeneration, does anyone have tips of other ways to get to Southwark Bridge? Or even if you use London Bridge, any tips for avoiding the main roads? I would be grateful for any suggestions - at the moment I keep ending up going at least a mile out of my way for no good reason!

In a couple weeks time, my hubs and I are taking our 11-month-old to the States, where a lot of my family live. We're flying to New Jersey then changing and flying to Denver. So it'll be a 7 hour flight then a 4 hour flight with a layover in between. It is also a daytime flight there. I'm already aware that this is going to be a bit of a nightmare trip. He loves to crawl and get around, so having to sit still (on our laps!) all day is not going to be easy. The good thing is, both of my parents will be on the flight with us, and are willing to help out as much as possible. Has anybody had experience with long flights and babies? If so, what advice do you have? I'm looking for practical and emotional advice, really! Haha. Thank you in advance!

Oh, definitely... that reminds me, cauliflower cheese a big fave (mild cheese), hummmous with steamed courgette mixed in (he loves that one!)

I've been recently using beans, my 8 month old really likes butter bean and butternut squash. I puree it most of the time, but the beans are also good for finger foods if he's ready. I tried couscous with him the other day, but all that ended up happening was having an amusing video of him spitting it out in disgust. I've also boiled eggs and he likes mushing those up and eating them, particularly the yoke. Hope that helps!

Hi there, Me and my 8 month old actually went last Tuesday. There are lots of toys all around the room, and when we were there (around 11am) there were about 10 other children there. Most were toddlers, and I quickly realised I am seriously not ready to deal with toddlers just yet! So me and the little one actually left early because I'm a little lame. But, there were a wide variety of toys to play with, and people seemed friendly. On Monday mornings, they have song and rhyme for about half an hour, which my little one absolutely loved - it's a little more structured and he loves to sing/dance/shake a rattle around :)

Pretty much the same as what you described; lack of appetite (solids), wanting to comfort suck a lot so he's breastfeeding much more, lip smacking (in a very weird way!), red cheeks, waking up more in the night.. one big symptom is he'll be happily playing and then you can tell he suddenly feels in pain because he'll look at you confused and start crying. He is also chewing everything in sight, particularly cloth toys. He also touches his ear quite a lot and tugs on it. I think the nerve hurts him there when his teeth are coming through. And lots and lots of drool. I've been using bonjela and giving him calpol at night so he can sleep a bit better, but to be honest, nothing helps much! Those teeth just have to come out! I hope your little one starts getting some relief soon.

I think it can be different for every baby. I was expecting the usual bottom 2 then top 2, but my 8 1/2 month old got his first tooth (bottom middle) at 7 1/2 months and then just last week got 3 more on the bottom (including eye tooth), 3 on the top (including his eye teeth) all in one big go. He's not a happy chappy! So he may well be getting more than one at a time, hence the many teething symptoms.

I didn't know about this, so have been wearing my normal (underwired) bras the whole 8 months I've been breastfeeding. Haven't had any problems, but maybe I've just been lucky!

Hi all, Just thought I would give a quick update on the situation - which has greatly improved! Thanks to Saffron for the lending of books which I have taken a few ideas from. He is now sleeping about 4 hours at a time, rather than waking up every hour or so. This means he's only waking up twice a night, and seriously - it feels amazing!! The two times he wakes he seems genuinely hungry/thirsty so I'm just breastfeeding him and then he goes back to sleep pretty well (last night it took about an hour, but I'm not complaining!) I've tried several things, I'm not sure if it's just one of them or all that have had an effect, but this is what I ended up doing: -Having the room quite warm. The weather has helped with this anyway, but he sleeps a lot better without a blanket on so he can thrash around to his heart's content -Playing quiet baby bedtime music pretty much throughout the night. We realised he was waking up at the slightest noise, and this has helped significantly. I think he's getting used to continuous noise and just wakes up and goes back to sleep. I'm not yet thinking about the fact we'll have to stop playing it eventually, but for now it's working. -Trying pantley's method of going to sleep off the breast (rather than breastfeeding to sleep). I'm unsure as to whether or not this is working, but I'm still trying at it. He just seems to eat until he's fast asleep, so everytime I pull him off he goes rooting again and starts crying till I give it back. And by the time he's stopped and I pull off eventually, he seems to be asleep anyway. But - it might be working, I'm unsure. -Getting him to sleep any way possible during the day. I've been taking naps with him, making sure he's sleeping in the pram, etc. The books said he needs to have good, long naps for him to be able to sleep well at night - so to begin with, we've just been getting him to sleep any way we can. Seems to be working! He's been napping up to 4 hours a day. -He seems to have started rolling over onto his stomach to sleep. This is a new thing and freaked me out a lot when he started doing it. But he seems to sleep better this way, so I haven't been rolling him back over. I figure he's 8 months old and has good enough head control/rolling over skills that this isn't too dangerous. I think this has stopped him from startling awake as often and makes him feel more cozy. It gave me panic attacks the first few nights, but I think I'm getting used to it... This all seems small, but has made such a huge difference to our lives! I'm not thinking this is the way it's going to be forever, but just the fact that his sleep at night has improved has helped me to no end! Thanks everyone for your helpful suggestions.

Hi everyone! I have an 8 month old who eats 3 meals a day, but still breastfeeds a lot on demand. I'll be going back to work full time in September (when he's a year old), but will start going 1 day a week starting in June. My question is: How do you stop on demand breastfeeding? I want to get it down to one morning feed and one evening feed by the time I start work, but how do you do this? What does the little guy drink instead? Juice? Water? Formula? I've been so focused on breastfeeding him for as long as possible, that I have no idea what to do next! Your help is, as always, greatly appreciated :)

hahaha... .i just asked myself the same thing, snowboarder!

yes! i couldn't care less before and i'm sat here glued to the tube feeling rather weepy (also blaming hormones)

Thanks Saffron, I've PM'd you

Saffron, which of the two books you recommend do you think would be the best investment?

Wow, thanks so much for your suggestions! His crib is in the room next to ours. I think I'll try some of your suggestions and make his cot more cosy, try putting him down later, etc. His room is already pretty warm because he likes to kick all his covers off as soon as he gets in there! He sounds almost exactly like your little one. I'm scared he'll never grow out of this phase! I'll also try reading the books you suggested. Thanks!

Does anybody have advice on getting your baby to sleep in their crib? My 8 month old has ended up sleeping in our bed most of the time due to lots of night feeds/teething/and now what I assume is separation anxiety. None of us are really getting much sleep, so I was wondering if anybody had hints or tips about how to make the transfer over to crib (full time?) He starts the night in this crib after a nighttime routine, tends to wake up at least every hour and needs me to go back to sleep. At usually about 2 or 3 am he wakes up and stays awake for as long as it takes for me to bring him into bed with us. I get him to sleep, and then as soon as I put him down on his mattress he wakes up with a start and starts the whole process again. As soon as I bring him into our bed, he falls fast asleep until 8 am. Any tips?

Due to on-going sleep problems with my almost 7-month-old, I've decided it's time to tackle some of the issues with some sleep training. I haven't wanted to try any so far, but am now just getting no sleep whatsoever, and it's really affecting our days. I'm definitely not keen on the cry it out methods, but have heard good things about the pick up/put down one. Is this the Baby Whisperer? If so, I'm wondering if anybody has had good results with it!? Any thoughts appreciated!

I've had good advice on here before, so thought I would post this problem and see if I get any answers! I'm all out of ideas at the moment... My 6 month old has never been an amazing sleeper - he still generally wakes around 2 times a night (one for food, the other usually just shushed to sleep again). However, the past week has gotten a bit crazy. I'll give the example of last night: He went to bed at 8 after play, bath, feed.. went down as per usual. He then woke up at 11pm and I fed him. He then woke up at 12am and would not go back to sleep. He ended up staying awake for 2 hours. He didn't seem tired, he didn't want food, but he just made constant noises. I tried co-sleeping, rocking, etc... all the things that usually get him to sleep straight away. He then finally went to sleep at about 2am to wake up again at 5am and do the same thing all over again until 7am when I finally got him to sleep by co-sleeping and feeding him till he slept. He then slept until 9. I can tell the poor guy is utterly exhausted, but he won't even take a nap - I have to take him out in the pram or in the car to get him to sleep. Usually this isn't the case. I'm so bemused and perplexed, and tired!! We tried leaving him in there on his own to make noises and play in his crib, but eventually he always starts to cry. So what's going on?!? why won't he sleep?!? Does anyone have any ideas? He doesn't have any teeth yet, so is this just a side-effect of teething? Any ponderings or ideas would be greatly appreciated!

phone line and broadband both back up again in Melbourne Grove... finally!

My baby is now 6 months old and has made the grand move to his big-boy cot. He's all tucked in there nice and tight, fast asleep.. and then I go and read the internet. I was given a cute cot bumper by my aunt, and thought nothing of it. But apparently they are not recommended for babies under 1 year old? Due to risk of suffocating? And overheating? It's all I can do to run in there screaming and rip the bumper off the cot... Does anybody have any thoughts on this? Do you use one? Do you not? I'm unsure whether this is just another one of those things that I shouldn't really listen to. And as always, I'm an over-worried first time mother.

Me too - Phone line dead and no broadband. I'm on Melbourne Grove.