The biters of the ankles

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The biters of the ankles

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Will

Joined: 30 Jun 2005
Posts: 571
Location: Grenoside, Sheffield

Posted: Sat Sep 16, 06 10:32 pm Post subject: The biters of the ankles

Due to impendingish (next year) move from carefree dinky to probable orchid,

I'm pondering what my principles are in this child-rearing and consumption lark. In between denial and panic attacks.

We've already decided to go for cloth nappies (but which ones?), breastfeeding (but can we?) and scrounging where possible. Is a free Mountain Buggy carrycot worth having even if the chassis to put it on is hugely expensive and needs a garage to keep it in? Is it sad to lust after a Land Rover buggy for the badge? Even when there's a cheap one on e-bay? How do you prevent adoring relatives from swamping the house with brightly coloured plastic objects? Why does OH keep getting up in the night to eat dry weetabix? Are organic babygrows a rip-off? How do I produce cute tously kids who think it's more exciting to eat mud than chicken nuggets?

Oh, and is it just a coincidence that the amount of DIY we're doing is in inverse proportion to OH's ability to climb ladders?

So...ideas, suggestions, links, spam please, but not too many gooey pictures...

frewen

Joined: 08 Sep 2005
Posts: 11405

Posted: Sun Sep 17, 06 7:06 am Post subject:

Hi - congratulations,

I have tackled some of these things over the past year with Twinkle and have found you need suprisingly few things especially when babies are very small.

On cloth nappies - I used some free second hand ones (after all they are only going to get poo'd on and since the polio vac is no longer "alive" no problems there). Bought some other different kinds second hand and topped them up with some new ones which were the birth to potty kind as I will be using them for no2 (coming end of Nov). The nappy lady does a very good free advisory service and I like the bumbles and bimbles which dry nice and quickly on the line/radiator. I tried woollen and fleece wraps but got a lot of wicking and the gusset leg style wrap are the best wraps in my opinion. PM me if you have any questions as I could talk for my country on this topic.

I used a second hand "gifted" carry cot as a moses basket which was longer and so saw her through to 5/6 months before she went into her cot.

As she is screaming for her breakfast I will be back to post later

Penny Outskirts

Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 23385
Location: Planet, not on the....

Posted: Sun Sep 17, 06 7:37 am Post subject:
Congratualtions Will and Will's OH Can't help with the other bits I'm afraid, my youngest's 11, but what's an Orchid ???

frewen

Joined: 08 Sep 2005
Posts: 11405

Posted: Sun Sep 17, 06 7:52 am Post subject:

Back again!

Twinkle spent her first week in SCBU and they were really not helpful with the breastfeeding. She then went on to have 2 nursing strikes. I found the La leche league and the local breastfeeding support groups useful and was just single minded about it. Our council distrubutes a leaflet telling you where the best places to breastfeed are and when all else failed I found a changing room or a quiet corner and turned my back on the world.

When I weaned her it was a case of lots of pureed veg - home grown if poss and frozen into cubes. I don't know if this is stupid but all the jars of baby food are orangey coloured and seem to taste the same so I made sure that she got used to eating green food and varied the tastes - as a result she now likes curries and pilchards

Clothing wise it has been gifts (didn't need to but anything other than a few sleep suits in the first 3 months) and charity shops/ebay. In an ideal world I would buy organic cotton but I don't have the budget - I am sure some of the other mums would be able to help you better here - likewise with the pram dilemma as I screwed up big time and got a travel system that was bulky and heavy just because it had an expansive shopping bag underneath it. This was so I didn't need to use the car and could walk everywhere which I did; but felt like I was welded to a shopping trolley. I ended up buying a telescopic stroller and using a big rucksac - far better.

Toys - my baby prefers to play with a wooden spoon, muslin or anything she is not supposed to have so I don't really bother (bad mother). I did knit her a toy cat the other day and she was desperate to have it right up until the moment I finished it (I think she was after the knitting needles really)

Hope some of this ramble helps - the cravings for wheetabix do go away, the brain eventually comes back and thank goodness for routines - I couldn't have managed otherwise!

Last edited by frewen on Sun Sep 17, 06 9:57 am; edited 1 time in total

Sally Too

Joined: 14 Sep 2006
Posts: 2511
Location: N.Ireland

Posted: Sun Sep 17, 06 8:26 am Post subject:

I have four children... eldest now nearly 18 & youngest 10.

Breast feeding the first ba was tough for me esp the first 3 weeks ... but worth perservering. Feeding the others was never as complicated - ever! I fed them all for between 8 & 12 months introducing solids around 3 or 4 months (I started with carrot... then you can see it in the nappy and know that some of what you spread on their faces went in!) Only snag for me with breastfeeding, was none of mine would touch a bottle (& believe me we tried so that I could go out to teach a nightclass once a week ... hubby had a miserable time till I came home & the baby never did take it once he/she got hungry - & it was my milk & all!)

Along the way I accepted loads of second hand stuff & bought it that way too. Became a dab hand with a sewing machine making cloth nappies & new covers for buggies etc. (Although I did use some pampers too.)

0 - 4 years is not too difficult to manage this ecofriendly way. Once they head for school it is almost impossible not to relent a bit. There is a fine balance between obeying the parent's principles and the children ending up as oddities. Some going with the flow is very important. e.g. Macdonalds -all self-respecting children have been there. I hate it! But on a couple of occasions we have taken the kids - so they are not regarded as freaks!

In fact as they become adults and start to find their own way I do want them to form their own views and become their own people. This may mean letting go & letting them hold views different to my own.... eventually I hope some of the home principles will be recognised - not as oddities of 'the parents' (said with an eye roll) but as valid in their own right.

Gee I've rambled on a bit... welcome to the big adventure of parenting.

Sal

frewen

Joined: 08 Sep 2005
Posts: 11405

Posted: Sun Sep 17, 06 10:00 am Post subject:
Sally - how did you manage feeding the babes yourself when they were teething? I gave up at that point

Will

Joined: 30 Jun 2005
Posts: 571
Location: Grenoside, Sheffield

Posted: Sun Sep 17, 06 10:08 am Post subject:
Orchid = One Recent Child Horribly In Debt

Sally Too

Joined: 14 Sep 2006
Posts: 2511
Location: N.Ireland

Posted: Sun Sep 17, 06 10:10 am Post subject:

Mine mostly got teeth late... and only one tried the biting game. Every time she bit - meal over! She soon got the idea. I found she usually only chewed on me once she had fed - so I had no qualms about pulling my jersey back down and ending the game!

But is was sad when I realised the last babe no longer 'wanted' to drink from me.....

Remarkably 4 years later when I was left with my sister's month old baby who wouldn't settle - I was able to produce enough milk to help her fall asleep! Mind you it was weird feeding a baby not your own & I tried to settle her every other way first before finally doing what mother nature was screaming at me!

frewen

Joined: 08 Sep 2005
Posts: 11405

Posted: Sun Sep 17, 06 10:13 am Post subject:
That's fascinating - I have heard of women being able to relactate like you describe but never spoken to one. Do you think it was because you fed for an extended period of time or because of the number of babies you fed?

Sally Too

Joined: 14 Sep 2006
Posts: 2511
Location: N.Ireland

Posted: Sun Sep 17, 06 10:19 am Post subject:

I guess both.... I did experience a let down, but I don't think it would have satisfied a hungry child. The baby had drunk expressed milk from a bottle left by my sis. She just couldn't settle with out the breast. A very small comfort drink seemed to be enough to put her to sleep....

However this did convince me that it would be possible to re-lactate if absolutely necessary. I think meaningful amounts would take a few weeeks though. I only ever fed her that once.

On a related topic we had friends whose dacshound relactated for a pair of kittens. Funniest sight lying in front of the Aga, little dog & 2 kitties!

frewen

Joined: 08 Sep 2005
Posts: 11405

Posted: Sun Sep 17, 06 10:22 am Post subject:

Sally wrote:

Funniest sight lying in front of the Aga, little dog & 2 kitties!

alison
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 12918
Location: North Devon

Posted: Sun Sep 17, 06 7:41 pm Post subject:
Adopted mothers can also induce a lactation, without having given birth at all, within about a month or 6 weeks of feeding the baby. There is a tube contraption, fitted to the milk source, that is attatched to the nipple, and feeding occurs. The stimulation will create the oxytocin and get all the right things flowing.

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Sun Sep 17, 06 9:01 pm Post subject: Re: The biters of the ankles

Will wrote:

Due to impendingish (next year) move from carefree dinky to probable orchid,

No.

Quote:

Is it sad to lust after a Land Rover buggy for the badge? Even when there's a cheap one on e-bay?

Yes.

Quote:

How do you prevent adoring relatives from swamping the house with brightly coloured plastic objects?

You can't, and small children really really like brightly coloured plastic objects.

Quote:

Why does OH keep getting up in the night to eat dry weetabix?

Err, 'cos she's pregnant or your OH is a gerbil

Quote:

Are organic babygrows a rip-off?

Yes

Quote:

How do I produce cute tously kids who think it's more exciting to eat mud than chicken nuggets?

Dunno that either, but I can tell you how to make your own chicken nuggets when the time comes.

Behemoth

Joined: 01 Dec 2004
Posts: 19023
Location: Leeds

Posted: Mon Sep 18, 06 8:50 am Post subject:

Don't buy too much to start with as you'll be suprised at the number of people who will want to give you all their baby stuff to get it out of the way. You don't need to buy much new as it's all out there. Some branded items are better than cheapy ones but a Landrover pushchair should set your consumerist alarm bell ringing. reusable nappies are easy to use but you may have to try a couple of services/styles to find the one you are comfortable with.

Breastfeeding - no, you can't but she can. Prepare to runaround with cups of tea, biscuits and general household dogsbody as your OH will be knackered and you'll feel all guilty that you can't help in the middle of the night. However to do the supporting work you need a good night sleep so don't feel too guilty.

Due to having a friend who was a buyer for them we got lots of mamas and papas stuff seriously discounted. It's good stuff but overpriced in the shops. However their pushchair/navetta carry cot combo was very convenient as the carry cot could be fitted in the car.

Also, I used a baby back pack more than the push chair, easier to get around town and country. Several on the market but we used and liked the LittleLife Cross Country.

Strangely I have a Navetta and Littlelife Cross Country for sale if you're interested.

As for the plastic stuff, that and the cuddly toys are unavoidable.
Congrats and enjoy.

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