Oct / Nov / Dec mums - how quickly they grow up

fab to hear how you're all doing.  I always read these threads and plan to reply but never seem to get the time.  He's just woken so won't get long....!

George is 13 weeks today and a little star.  Generally speaking he's very smiley and content, so we're very lucky.  He holds his head really well now and loves 'standing' and 'sitting'.  He plays quite happily in his bouncy chair or on his playmat for a while which gives me a few minutes at a time to get stuff done / eat etc.

Last week my Mum took him for a couple of hours.  It was the first time I'd been apart from him and although I missed him, it was nice to have a bit of me time.  H is being a bit more helpful now though too which is helping.

His sleeping is hit and miss.  He was doing 11pm-6am but after his jabs that all went to pot.  At the minute he seems to go down at about 8pm, wakes around 10pm for a feed then wakes regularly after that, usually every couple of hours *yawn*  I'm bearing with it because I know it seems to change fairly often.  I'm still sleeping in his room with him so it's not too much of a problem getting up for him.

Gah, he's crying now.  Really good to hear from you all x

ft - she just gets more beautiful every day. I miss her so much! That smile is a cracker.

xx

Hello again all - what lovely babies we all have. So lovely to hear how you are all doing.

Spam - are you sure Isla wants feeding when she wakes at 2.30? I  know that sounds like a daft thing  to ask, but N woke at 2.30 last night and I left him for a bit to see if he'd settle again. It  took about 20 minutes but he went back to sleep and I ended up feeding him  at 5am. If he'd been crying or upset then I'd have fed him of course, but he was just wriggling and grunting a bit so I left him to see. The book I have says that something like 80% of babies should sleep 5+ hours at this age - maybe she's one of the 20%? Hope she settles for longer soon x N has cradle cap too but we#'re just leaving it to go in its own time as he's not bothered by it. Oh, and I'm starting baby massage in a fortnight, can't wait.

Tigresslady - oof, a blister sounds sore. I find that N is compressing my nipples when he feeds to slow the flow of the milk so often after a feed my nipples go white where the blood stops flowing (eek).  That can be quite painful at times, but we persevere eh?

MQ - N is currently on his Barnaby Button mat which he now loves - you were right about him coming round to it! I am hoping against hopew that sleep stays good here, but am not expecting it to if I'm honest.

Katyg83 - I do hope you regain your confidence with the feeding, it must be tough with the growth spurts rolled into one. My friend has just switched to formula at 4 months for similar reasons, but I think she's regretting it a bit. Good luck x

GA - big hugs, I'm just waiting for N to revert back to his more wakeful nights, so I feel for you.

El11 - I see a lot of people recommending teething granules on here, and in fact my hairdresser told me to get some when N starts teething so maybe try them?

sparkle_kez - well done on getting through 3 weeks! BFing is hard work isn't it?

Babymama - E sounds like a model baby, lucky you x

mixie - Lucy is so cute. N is a really fast feeder too, he rarely feeds for more than 10 or 15 minutes each time, and often a fair bit less!

KB3 - sounds like L is doing brilliantly x

GED - I was definitely more upset than N at his 1st jabs too, although he did scream a bit but not for too long. Urg, hated it though.

FT - N is out of his 0-3 clothes too as he's too long. I have had to go and buy more 3-6 as we can't keep everything clean!

dinx - N is holding his head nicely too and pushes really hard with his legs to 'stand'. Can't wait to get him a Bumbo chair so he can sit up and look around a little more.

Hi all - lovely to hear how everyone else is doing...i don't get a chance to post much at the moment with a toddler who LOVEs my laptop, and baby! Currently though H has J and Atticus is asleep so I have time! What lovely babies we all have!

Att is doing really well, growing and a very cheerful baby, and I can't believe he's nearly 14 weeks already!  He's smiling and laughing so much these days (although mostly he laughs with H, and at me!). We're struggling with evenings, he wakes from a nap around half 5 and then has a bath with J at about 7, and sleeps for about 10 mins (after a massive feed), before waking until about half 11, or midnight. After that he's been sleeping really well - through the night untilabout 8 some days, but it means that H and I get NO time in teh evenings and we're all shattered. He's still feeding really well, but will throw lots back up so I think he'd be twice the size if he kept it all down! He's also a very windy baby, I suppose because he's gulping down a feed so quickly. He's really strong, and has sat in the bumbo a few times already for short times which he seems to quite like.

J's been poorly with colds / coughs and eye infections so hasn't been sleeping well ironically, so between all of us we're getting very little sleep.

However, J loves Atticus and so do we! He naps well in the day time, so I suppose I can't complain as it means I get time to spend with Jacob too.

We're mostly loving being a family of 4, although could do with less colds and bugs, and a little more sleep from the older brother! x

This pic was taken a couple of weeks ago, as I've not uploaded any recent pic's x

What gorgeous babies! I am officially freaked out at how big they all are though - it doesn't seem like 2 minutes since we were all on 'The List'!

Toby is a feeding machine at the moment - 5/6oz every 3 or 4 hours at the moment during the day, but he is going for a longer period at night now. Last night he had a feed at 3am and slept through till 8am - I wondered what was going on! I am finally pretty much healed after my CS and can start kickboxing in 3 weeks - I can't wait!

He seems pretty chilled out for a 9 week old, we shall see how that lasts when he has his jabs on Thursday! I am dreading it!

Lovely to see how we are all getting on - I do love these update threads!

Here's Tobias at 9 weeks, taken about an hour ago!

from Snot Central!

Riiiight...I'm going to attempt personals.....wish me luck!

smarties - Noah is such a cutie! Thats a gorgeous pic of him. I get the nipple blanching too, and it smarts a bit, but like you, I'm plodding on trying to ignore it. I think I have the same problem in that O is trying to stem the flow as it does squirt out rather speedily!

Spam - Get some more recent pics of your gorgeous girl up!. I hope the sleep sorts itself out soon. I'm in total sympathy with you on that front.

tigresslady - ouch to the blister! Am rather jealous of the sleep you're getting though!

MQ - Gabrielle is lovely. Hopefully her sleep will sort itself out (growth spurt?) and she starts behaving with the bottle so you can get out and about!

Katy - <raises hand to join MINOS> Tis grim, isn't it?! Ava is such a sweetie though! I hope you get your BF confidence back. x

GA - Hopefully James' sleep will even out a bit soon. I want to see some pics and have a nosey at whether or not he's another ginger boy to add to our tribe!

El - Grainne (please tell me I've got that right?!) looks so sweet in that picture! I wouldn't worry too much about her weight/centiles as long as she's healthy and happy. She certainly seems content in that shot!

Sparks - We're struggling with reflux too, which horrid, so you have my sympathies. Well done for carrying on BFing as long as you did.

babymana - Ethan is gorgeous. I'm not sure I've seen any pics of him until now. And 12lb 4oz at 6 weeks! Wow!

mixie - Lucy is such a cutie! Love that smile. <stalker alert> I must locate you on FB. I think you're LS? and friends with Kat, so I might find you from there if thats ok? <stalker alert>

KB3 - Louie is looking so grown up! 3-6month stuff already? O has only just grown out of his newborn gear!. Don't worry about the jabs too much, they'll be fine.

GED - I hadn't realised before, but I think our LO's have the same birthday. Such a gorgeous boy you have there.

FT - Anna is another beauty! O is the same in that he'll go from smiling and playing happily to throwing a right strop in seconds!

dinx - I hope George's sleep settles down again soon. I think its prime GS territory, which would certainly explain things.

Edie - Att is gorgeous. The excessive vomming is grim, isn't it? Hopefully that'll calm down soon, and you'll get your evenings back a bit!

Kat - Toby is luuurvly. He looks so innocent. Glad you're getting bck to kickboxing soon. You can vent your PIL aggression then.....

<phew>

Now, on to me.
As previously stated, its Snot Central here at the moment. No sooner had O got shot of the cold he's had for abou 6 weeks, he's gone and picked up another one.. Poor little mite is snuffling and snorting and caughing/choking all over the place, and not forgetting the near constant stream of snot.. I'm hoping this one passes quickly as its really not helping with feeding or sleeping as he can't breathe properly.
Other than that, he's doing ok. Not had him weighed since the middle of last week when he was 9lb 12oz and had piled on 1lb in a week, so judging by that standard, and the fact that he's chunking out more, he's probably a bit over 10lb now. He'll be 10 weeks on Monday, so compared to all your little porkers, he's still teeny, but is chubbing out nicely and now hovering between the 2nd and 9th centiles (after dropping off the chart completely). He had his jabs on Monday, and aside from a bit of wailing in the evening, he was fine. Treated it like a hangover and slept it off.

As for sleep, well we're not different to before. He actually sleeps ok and will go off around 8.30 - 9.30pm, have a feed at 11-12, then again at 5am(ish), which is fine for us as H has to get up by 6 for work. He'll then nod off again until about 8.30ish. After that it can be a bit hit and miss, but he's now started to have fewer longer naps and much more awake time. He still won't sleep anywhere other than on me or H though, which is annoying to say the least. Thats day and night, so there's absolutely no respite from it. We thought we were starting to get somewhere as I got him to lay down in his moses basket for 30mins or so (wide awake though) before we reached meltdown status, but then we had jabs and now this cold which has scuppered things somewhat!
He's also FINALLY been diagnosed with reflux, so we have gaviscon for him. It certainly seems to help keep his milk down, and we definitely notice a difference if he doesn't have it, but its not doing much as yet to help settle him and help with the sleep/being on his back issue. I'm holding out for some small miracle on that front I think.

Saying that though, he is possibly the smiliest baby in the world (when not screaming!) and LOVES giving big gummy whole face grins. He's also got fantastic head control and much prefers sitting up and looking out at the world. Such a nosey little man, and  loves having a good old natter with mummy and daddy. He's also got really strong legs and will happily push up on them so he's 'standing'. He certainly enjoys hvaing a good old squirm and thrash about at any opportunity!

Here he is a couple of days ago (pre-snot!) looking a bit perplexed about something or other

Sparkle_kez- I have some of the Ashton and Parsons powders but haven’t tried any of them yet – they were the only powders they had in Boots! I will give them a go.

Smarties and Mazzy – I am very impressed at the personals!

Mazzy, you did get Grainne’s name right! I hope you all recover from cold soon – we bought a steam vaporiser the other day as G has a blocked up nose. I’m glad the gaviscon is helping a little. I hope the sleeping issues resolve soon.

El x