The new rolling ILX parenting thread, since the other one was getting unwieldy

4,5 months? Feed Howie! Actually I think at four months O slept through the nights. Woke up maybe once or so but on the whole she slept through the night. Just do what you feel is right. :-)

She'll be okay. I hope. We're going to the doctor tomorrow but we might have overreacted. Well, better to be safe than sorry, I guess. I really hope it clears up one day. I really do. Poor thing. :-)

Yeah, everybody's baby but mine sleeps through! :(

His sleep was really good until about 6 weeks ago but has been a nightmare since then... just waking and waking and waking. Am really hoping it's just a phase as I'm bloody knackered. Co-sleeping does help, though.

Maybe a stupid thing to ask, but have you tried a night-light (as we call it here)? Is the room completely dark? Some babies don't like it.

BTW Kim Clijsters, the tennis player, is PREGGERS (har har that awful word).

Owen is in this frustrating phase where he wakes up at 2am and blabbers to himself for a while until finally freaking out around 3am. We can't get him to go back to sleep, but if we feed him before 3, he wakes up again at 6am for another blabbering session. If our house was bigger, it wouldn't bother us too much (we would just let him blabber), but since we hear everything, it's driving us CRAZY. These guys are on such a sleep see-saw. Nowadays, BEN is the one who sleeps through the night (or WOULD, if it wasn't for Owen the Loudmouth). Twins...

Shit, what have I gotten myself into... again. At times I do freak out over the fact I'm getting a second baby. I'm already knackered as it is. :-)

(The spell is broken, btw; Ava is howling and no amount of gentle persuasion by Pam is going to get her back into her room tonight. I better go up and stake a claim to the three inches of pillow I'm allowed on occasions like this...)

Michael, have you tried going "cold turkey"? I know it's hard, but she won't really have any emotional scars from it either.

I think she's illin', actually - bad nappy rash (she tells us herself - "nappy rash hurting"), bit of a temperature.

We've done the leave-her-to-wail thing for up to 45min in the past but she scares T with her tantruming, so then we've got two screaming kids. And, really, we can hardly complain about our neighbour playing Neil Diamond really loud at 6am if we're subjecting her to that.

It's OK - I really think we've made some progress with Ava not always wanting "mummy daddy bed" and last night was a fever-induced glitch. I hope.

Fellow Ned, your son's hair meets with my seal of approval.

-- Ned Raggett, Tuesday, July 10, 2007 2:32 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Link

He wants dreads (after seeing Ed's pic!).

Haircare is a constant battle with our two. They both hate having their hair dried and brushed. There used to be a little girl who lived next door to us who cornrows and you could hear her crying when she was having them put in. We thought 'how cruel' but now we now that even trying to drag a brush through a child's hair can result in disproportionate screaming.

I just want to bitch and moan for a bit about what a heavy bugger my boy is! It's nice to have a big healthy kid but I'm such a weakling, I weigh 115 and he just passed 31 lbs. I think I mentioned we threw out the crib six months ago because I was regularly pulling muscles throwing him in. So he has his crib mattress on the floor for naps and then spends nights in our bed. And he's a year and a half, it's not like I can avoid picking him up. oh well, just like anything else, it'll all change in a few months.

oh and we were totally on the way to potty training and then I spent a week at my folks' and now the potty chair is no longer fun. :(

I fear potty training. :-( I mean, I don't really, I just don't know how to start. They tell you to just put the baby on the pot (sans diaper) and hope she urinates or, uh, poops. *sigh* I am tempted to wait till september cause then she moves up to an older group which means she will be potty trained there (in the creche I mean).

115 pounds? Sheeit. I weigh more. Even without baby bump. ;-) But I understand your discomfort a little. I got used to it after a while. I remember at one point my shoulders and back hurt. But enough practice cleared that up.

I made an appointment with the doctor but tried to cancel it cause I think we're just freaking out over the UTIs. She said for her it's okay but she recommends to come anyway just for a check-up. I guess she's right. Hopefully it'll be ok.

I totally just thought of you: "at least I'm not pregnant too!" :)

What I did with potty training is naming it when I saw it (and letting him run around without a diaper a lot)--but we started this as soon as he could stand, maybe before. Then one day I asked him to pee, and he did, and I cheered, so that was the next step. Then asking him to pee on the potty. He'll do it when we prompt him and was starting to do it spontaneously until this trip. He does not want to poop on the potty but he will tell me when he is pooping (with a hand sign), so that's progress. But now he doesn't even want to sit on the pot to pee when I ask, who knows. It's tough because he doesn't talk much and he doesn't have the motor skills to take off his pants, but if he's naked, he does great! And he stays dry for naps and sometimes even overnight, which is amazing considering how much he still wakes up.

Woha! I know about the "leave the diapers" nekkid routine but I'm not ready for THAT. I can't do that cause I run the shop and she runs in it. :-) I can just picture her pooping/peeing while I am serving a customer. :-) Still, I probably should start. Maybe the UTIs will disappear magically that way? :-)

Well, holding her while pregnant isn't what scares me, it's the TWO KIDS part that scares the frigging shit outa me. My husband and I sometimes talk about it: OH NOES SECOND BABY SOON. Then we revert to ignorance phase again. ;-)

Teeny, you have one big beautiful son - Ava's almost a year older and is only around 29lbs. Lulu is making up for it though - nearly 19lbs at 8 months! Picking 'em both up at once is the thing that really tests the thighs...

New pics of Alice! I think these photos must be BEFORE dinner, since there's no way she'd be that clean afterwards...

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1327/786951640_a9d4796c4e.jpg?v=0

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1209/786951598_2e0a545d9a.jpg?v=0

aww! bright eyes!

Oh Archel,so so so cute! Does she already try to grab the food with the spoon?

what a great smile she has!

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1006/797022301_9840de5888.jpg

babymkII at 25 weeks. :-)

Wow! That is some CSI-level imaging technology.

do you know if its a boy or girl yet nath?

That's AMAZING!

Yes, it is amazing that I know it's a... baby. ;-)

OK, time for more pix...

Rompin' in their rompers!
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1334/825281014_3c7ebe6cbf.jpg

Owen loves goatees:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1370/824403659_d7cb635195.jpg

The difference between Ben...
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1297/751247963_47ce78441a.jpg

and Owen:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1437/752098950_e4ec173513.jpg

I have never seen this thread before. I wonder why.

Anyway, I am now a full-time stay-at-home Dad and I think I'm beginning to get he hang of it after a few weeks of THE FEAR etc. I think we are doing OK. Does my swede in at times though.

I wonder if this will work:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1270/829072512_23ecfa3ac2.jpg

This is us chiling out. Must have lasted all of five seconds.

So how is the experience? I can't imagine being a fulltime parent. Even the first week, after delivering OPhelia, I coudln't wait to get back in the shop. I could *do* it, but I prefer being in the shop. (That said, I work far less than I used to, I feel extremely guilty about this yet I can't seem to up the work amount. It's partially a lack of energy, being pregnant again does drain you from some energy.) Anyway, PJ, I am really interested in knowing how it is! Same for Teeny, how are you feeling? How do you organize your day? Do you guys plan to remain fulltime parents until.. when?

Now I'm back at work I feel like I was BORN to be a full-time parent, grrr. There is nothing in my job that is as fulfilling or enjoyable as looking after Alice, and I can't imagine any job that would be.

But then again if I was still at home full-time perhaps I'd be going mad. The grass is always greener...

Oh yeah and twins = gorgeous! And Edith looks so like you PJ! Hope your swede isn't too broken today.

I'm just glad I have a choice in the matter and that it all worked out for me. It was good timing, I'd gotten out of radio anyway and was just doing contract PR jobs when I got pregnant. I'll really have to start from scratch when I get back to work, though, oh well. I was definitely afraid that staying home with a kid all day would drive me bonkers, I never cared for kids before, but it worked out. I'm not terribly social so I don't miss having co-workers. I do some volunteer and freelance work though just to keep fresh and connected.

What do we do all day? I dunno, we just play! It's easy to go out if we get restless, we have a tiny tiny backyard or a park across the street, and lots of other stuff within a walk or short drive. Sometimes I take one of those delightful classes at the YMCA like kid gymnastics. St. Louis has a free zoo I live close to also, which is great. It's not too structured.

So looking forward to the second kid yet? :-)

I am sorry if my question seemed loaded with negativity.It certainly wasn't intentional. Maybe I'm just very paranoid (as here being a stay at home parent is... sometimes frowned upon, I guess.) I really am interested in hearing how you guys experience it all! I do think that me being in the shop and having her "in the back of the shop" isn't always that grebt. It has its good and bad sides. Just like being a stay at home dad/mom, I guess.

One of the things that irk me a LOT is this "romantic" view the media has of kids and how they portray babies. Just last night watching Veronica Mars (yeah shut up, I go on about it too much) there was a baby in it and NOT ONCE did it cry nor even mutter a sound. It was just "there." I commented to my husband that the baby must have been on some tranquilizers to be that silent. It was weird to the point of freaky: it just STARED into nothingness. :-)

My wife is staying home with Molly for at least the next six months; she would probably like to stay longer on some level but we are too poor; on another level, she feels guilty about not using her recently-completed teaching degree and feels like she will just turn into, I dunno, a Desperate Housewife or something. I would happily stay home but someone gotta make that cheddar.

Hi, by the way. Pictures whenever Liza deigns to download them from our camera. Most amazing trip ever, and lil' M0lly is smart and beautiful and amazing, more fun than Cheap Trick opening for P.Funk in 1978, cuter than one million lolkittens, funnier than Gallagher mistaking Carrot Top's head for a watermelon.

yay! congrats!

im ready for babe number 2. too early?

Of course not! :-) (Although they do recommend you to *recover* physically for about a year.)

my wife is about 5 months pregnant, guess I better start paying attention to this thread

How is she feeling? Still nauseous? Tired?

there's no nausea anymore - she's not particularly tired either, but she does tend to take a little nap when she gets home from work. There have been a few more trips on the hormonocoaster than I would like but there isn't anything I can do about that besides be patient...

I'm ready for baby no.1 to arrive, even though I've just reached 38 weeks! My ankles are swelling up, I think I've got a trapped nerve in my back, and the midwife reckons that squirrel is already 8lb, they do get their estimates wrong, don't they?!

Having said I'd like squirrel to show up asap, we still haven't finished decorating the nursery and there's loads of clutter everywhere and a couple of things we still need to pick up, but I can't do any housework as it's too painful and I'm sure we'd cope with what we've already got!

Hi, by the way. Pictures whenever Liza deigns to download them from our camera. Most amazing trip ever, and lil' M0lly is smart and beautiful and amazing, more fun than Cheap Trick opening for P.Funk in 1978, cuter than one million lolkittens, funnier than Gallagher mistaking Carrot Top's head for a watermelon.

Best description ever! Huge congratulations to all of you!

thx 1138

oh no nath I didn't think you were being negative at all! I can totally totally see what you're saying. You're right, it's all a mixed bag. We're lucky to have choices but it's the existence of those choices that makes us wonder if we're doing the best thing. I'm sorry if you catch any flack for your choices, I think it may be even worse in america though, where you're damned if you do and damned if you don't, it's really horrible and occasionally misogynist the way people go after moms.

hello dere
http://i12.tinypic.com/4knc6ed.jpg

Oooh. *melts*

awwwww!

parents with older kids, tell me about teething. beats is sucking in her bottom lip a lot and i can see two very distinct teeth outlines in the front of her gums. shes been drooling for maybe 6 weeks. how long til they pop out?

Depends, it can take days for some, weeks for others. Just be prepared. It can be a hellish ride (waking up in the middle of the night,..). Get some teething toys (which you can stick in the frigde, it numbs the pain a bit) and there's also some ointment which you can rub on their gums as well. How old is Beeps again? Drooling can be a sign, but also rubbing ears.

beeps is 4 1/2 months old. im using the stuff you rub on their gums. thing is, package says you cant use it for more than 7 days. i dont want to use it now if the worst 7 days are still yet to come.

Another way you can tell the teeth are sore is if their cheeks are hot.

Top tips corner: The teething rings that you put in the fridge tend to defrost pretty quickly in my experience. You'll need two or three of them or alternatively tie up some ice chips in some kind of chewable cloth - that worked better for us.