Mums Running Club

Mrs O - I am an intruder from the Pregnant runners thread although I have two children already so I guess I can post here to. Anyway, regarding breastfeeding I breastfed both mine to 13 and 15 months and both were still feeding at night at 11 months although they both stopped between 11 and 12 months, the first because I just cut out the night feeds and the second just suddenly stopped of his own accord.

The second one used to go to sleep on the boob until about 12 months as well. I'd say if you're planning to wean completely at 1 then you could start trying to get her to stay awake during the 7pm feed now so you're not trying to cut out both the falling asleep on the boob and the boob at the same time. It'll probably be easier than you think it will be - I found with both mine that although they were both keen feeders and I was dreading how I was going to stop night feeds it wasn't actually that bad at all. By that stage it is more of a comfort thing (although I believe there is still nutritional value as well) but also by that stage they are easier to comfort in other ways as they are that bit older.

Anyway, good luck and hope you're not too tired at work today.

Minks have you tried banana, that sometimes helps solidify things! Especially mixed with baby rice. Best also to use some bepathane or meconium while his bottie is a bit sore. Teething can really upset them, so it could be that especially the top teeth. But could be food, did he have any reaction to pear before, if not its unlikely? My two still react to strawberries, so laying off them until next summer.

Have no suggestions mrs o, but do really sympathise. My two loved the boob and I felt so guilty weaning them off at 6 months, but I needed my body back and some more freedom. Have you tried giving her a beaker of milk at night to see what would happen, maybe best to start that in the morning first, then knock out the night feed last. I had an awful time trying to stop as I had so much milk. In hindsight I should have carried on until they had started food weaning as they naturally take less milk, but I had really had enough by then. Good luck with it all.

Another very rough night with Joshie, his cold is so bad. Can 11 month olds have cough medicine, have sent hubbie off to chemist to see, he is getting so upset poor love.

tabtri, thanks for all the advice, will try some of your suggestions.  Did yours drink formula during the day ?  Isla so far has refused any formula (from a bottle or cup), so just worried she won't be getting enough milk if i try to take her off the boob and she won't drink formula as not sure if she'll get enough calcium and vit d from her food alone.

MM, very impressed that you bf twins till 6 months, i've been wanting my boobs back for a while now, but its just been easier carrying on than trying to get her to take formula and all the hassle of sterilising bottles having to make up feeds and heat them up etc. 

Have just entered the Scone Palace 10K (near Perth) on 21st October, so better get training, can comfortably run 35 mins 3 times a week, so just going to increase at least one run a week by 5 mins or so each week, may need to take my trainers on holiday to Cyprus (going for a week at start of october, sister in law lives out there) to keep the training going, quite excited now.  Will be a busy weekend, Isla's first birthday on the saturday and my first post pregnancy race on the sunday !!

Mrs O - first one had some formula from about 7 months because I was doing some work from then but would never take it from a bottle, however he used to take it from one of these (I'm going to try attaching a link but if it doesn't work it's an Avent Magic Cup with the soft spout). I put him on cow's milk as soon as he was one and he always drank quite a lot of it.

http://www.avent.com/uk/en/toddlerfeeding_magic_cup.php

The second one would take a bottle but never really liked formula. He only started on solids at about 6.5 months and formula at the same time just as I went back to work but he barely used to drink any of it. He would always have a massive breastfeed when I got home at 5.30pm. Other feeds were at 7pm and then several times through the night (first one around 11 and then at least two more). He did eat yoghurt and have cheese in some of his food so he was getting calcium and vit D from those but he never really seemed to like drinking any milk unless it was mummy's. I worried a bit but he seems fine and now he loves a glass of milk (he's now 3.5 yrs).

Your holiday sounds like it'll be nice and good to have a race to look forward to.

MM, thanks for the tip re. banana.  I think I'd read that somewhere too so tried giving him a little bit of mashed banana last night after his baby rice.  He loved it!  Has not had a problem with pear before - I don't think he does now, it's just that because he loves it I tend to put it in things if he won't eat them as they are.  Once he's used to the new flavour I leave the pear out again but have found it's a good way of getting him to eat something if he turns his nose up the first couple of times.  He was fine when I first introduced the pear but he was only having about 15ml a day then, now he's having at least 45ml so could be I'm overdoing it.

Am wondering if the Heinz baby cereal I started him on yesterday is upsetting his tummy.  He's not been himself at all since breakfast this morning, really grizzly and just wanting to suck his thumb and be in his cot.  He's even been quite keen for me to hold and cuddle him which is most unlike him!  He may not have slept very well last night as seems a bit tired - he bawled all the way through his 11am solids which he usually loves.  He ate the lot but put him down for his nap a bit earlier as he just seemed to want to go to bed.  Hope he's OK, poor little chap.  Has only done 2 poos so far today which is an improvement, maybe the lack of pear/introduction of banana is helping.  That said, wondered if his tummy was hurting this morning and that's why he was grizzly.  He did a poo just before I put him down for his nap but it was quite loose, yellow and seemed mucus-y.  Read that mucus in the stools can be an indication that a particular food has irritated the gut and am currently pointing the finger at the cereal.  It contains gluten which I wasn't keen on but he won't eat the Organix banana porridge without a bit of pear puree in it!  Could be the gluten has upset his tum a bit.

MM, the things you mentioned for his sore bot - are they creams available over the counter?  Haven't heard of either - actually thought meconium was baby's first poo or am I thinking of something else? 

Another food question - sorry!  How do you know how much solids to give?  Kit's having a 7oz bottle first thing in the morning followed by 2-3 dessertspoonsful of cereal (dry weight).  About 11am he has 3oz of milk then about 6 tablespoons of mixed veg, usually sweet potato mixed with something like carrot or parsnip and something green like courgette or beans.  He then has another 7oz bottle around 2-2:30pm, and then another 7oz and 6 teaspoons of baby rice usually with a tablespoon of fruit puree around 5:40pm.  I tried giving him the evening solids an hour or so before his bath then his milk afterwards but he wasn't interested in the milk at that point and was too sleepy to drink it.  Not sure if I'm feeding him enough?  He's been gaining 2-3oz a week since I started weaning but he always finishes everything so am wondering if I should be offering more?

Minks - Sorry but I too have the 'Is it enough?' foodwise.  I think each one is so individual and if they still sleep well and play, are happy in themselves etc there is probably not a problem.  If you are concerned add in something extra.  If he takes ithappily then keep it up.

Mrs O, I am still b'feeding at almost 10 months.  James now sleeps through the night but when I initially went back to work I did not expect him to sleep through as that was his time with me.  He never took as much from a bottle (only expressed, not gone down the formula route) and would wake up feed and go back down.  From a few weeks he only woke once between 7 and 7 unless poorly, then he would feed and go back down.

We were mean and decided when my husband had a week off work he would get up to him and give him water instead.  it was the first night that James slept through (sixth sense or what!).  However he did get up to him and gave him water so eventually he slept through.  I felt I was not right to see him at first as he would just want milk.  That worked for us and all little ones are different.

James has 3 milk feeds a day and I can see the lunchtime one being the first to go.  I find the night time one lovely, he does not fall asleep but does calm down having had his cream on.

My friend is hoping to replace an afternoon milk feed with somehting like a yoghurt when she returns to work.

 We also use vitamin drops at the moment.  HV recommended Haliborange or Abidec.  However I noticed Abidec contains Peanut oil.

Hello all

had a great time in france and the girls were beautifully behaved while we were ther and slept through both legs of the journey!  Got lots of attention and they were very admired wherever we went which was nice and they seemed to lap it up, they are such sociable wee things!.  the wedding was fab, there were 14 babies under 1 there for the weekend so we were in good company.... it was nice to let my hair down for a bit and the girls slept happily in thier buggy til 2 in the morning when we successfully tranferred them to thier travel cot without them even waking up.

Cant offer any advice on weaning etc but reading with interest!!

I'm now starting to dread weaning - it sounds horrendous!

Speaking of horrendous the Gaviscon situation is no easier...  Realised I'm going to have to use bottles during the day otherwise I'm just not going to be able to get the stuff down Ted.  Poor thing it does taste AWFUL.    Going to try and express two feeds a day and give the Gaviscon in that.  He can have up to six doses a day so will see if we can cope with three (he has formula at bedtime), any improvement is better than none and I really don't want to give up breastfeeding as that is supposed to be far better than formula for reflux. 

I've discovered there's a meeting of our local La Leche League on Friday with a bf counsellor so think I may try and get some advice there too.  Their website is very good too so if I can use a combination of medication and natural methods I'm hoping I may succeed.  If anyone has any pearls of wisdom they'll be very gratefully received!!!

Is Kit 6 months yet? Is it worth trying some chicken or yoghurt?

He may just be wanting some more protein.

Amounts of food is never easy. My two have finally worked out how to tell me they are full or want more, which makes life easier. Otherwise I think they were having 6-8 cubes at lunch and 5-6 cubes at tea with baby rice around 6 months. Now at 11 months they share a small Klippa fresh pot of food with extra veggies as finger food, chunks of cheese, then fruit and yoghurt.

My Harry drinks little milk, he has 4oz in the morning in beaker and about 2oz in the afternoon in beaker. Then around 6oz at bedtime. But he has cows milk on cereal, yoghurts, cheese etc so I think he is OK. Joshie drinks about 4-5oz more milk a day.

Sorry this is a bit rushed, I've not read back properly.

Janie I have heard that Fennel is very good for upset tummies. You can boil it and give babies to drink like water.

With regard to how much is enough, I go by his reaction. Once he's had enough he normally just shuts his mouth and won't take any more and when he's hungry he starts sucking his tongue.

Sorry this is a bit of a rant on child seats,  I bought a Britax Evolva 2-3 Isofit car seat 2 months ago for my 3 and a half year old.
I bought it becuase it was supposed to be one of the best. I also made sure he was the correct weight.

Normally we only go on short rides but last week he fell asleep in the car and his head just dropped forward. I kept having to stop to try and prop his head back up. In the end I just gave up and had to keep driving.  I rang Britax today and the lady said some people sleep this way and it was fine, and that as there is nothing wrong with it Mothercare would not take it back.  I am so angry but not sure what to do next.

Can any of you with older children who use high back boosters share your experiences please.  Is this how high back boosters generally are?
Should I just buy another seat and cut my losses?
 

Tonia - I've got Britax Hi-Liners for my two boys (5.5 and 3.5) but both seats can be sort of angled so that the boys are tilted backwards a bit if I think they're going to fall asleep. However, if I don't angle them and they fall asleep, their heads often tip forward but usually I can just push their heads back and sort of rest it against the side 'wings' and they then stay up unless we have to brake suddenly.

Don't know the Evolva seat or how the Isofit system works so this may be no help at all but have you got the head bit at the right height? Hope you can sort something out to your satisfaction.

Thanks Tabtri
It does have a recline function but but it's not much (compared to the Maxi Cosi Priori stage 2 seat I had)
I might take it off the isofix fitting to see if I can angle it a bit more.

Tonia, we have a Maxi Cosi Cabriofix (obviously it's a first stage one as Kit's only 6 months) but we've found that he often falls asleep in it and drops his head forward.  The first few times he did this he looked so uncomfortable, sort of folded in half, that we stopped the car and pushed his head back into the seat.  But a few miles on and it had dropped forward again.  He seemed fine so we've ended up just leaving him if he does that - sounds awful but if he was really uncomfortable I figure he'd wake up and we can't keep stopping the car.  I don't think it's a fault with the seat, just the way they decide to sleep sometimes!

Thanks all for advice on amounts of food.  I think Kit is eating enough as he seems happy in himself - he just seems to like his solids so much I think he'd just keep going indefinitely unless I stopped him!  I spoke to the HV yesterday about it and she said that the jars of baby food constitute about a portion's worth and he's having about the equivalent of one of those, so won't worry too much.  He hadn't gained any weight when I had him weighed yesterday - in fact he registered a loss of 1oz - but they didn't seem remotely worried as apparently weight gain slows down dramatically at this stage and as long as he's happy, healthy and alert and eating well then no problem.  I put it down to the sheer volume of poo he's produced over the past week!  They also advised me not to have him weighed weekly any more as he won't gain that much weight on a weekly basis.

I had a nightmare day with him yesterday.  He just wasn't himself at all - cried constantly (which he never does) and seemed to be in pain.  I was in tears myself at one point as just didn't know what to do to console and pacify him.  I honestly put it down to the Heinz cereal - as soon as he ate it yesterday morning he was cranky and remained cranky for the rest of the day - horrendous nappies too.  Today gave him Organix banana porridge with a little pear puree and he's been like a different baby: happy and smiley all day; much more his usual self!  MM, thanks for the nappy rash cream info - have now bought some although as he's pooed less today and they've been much firmer his bottom looks a lot less sore.  Today I made a job-lot of sweet potato, but mashed it rather than pureeing.  Mixed it with some carrot that I'd pureed less smoothly and he was fine with it - also tried mashed banana this afternoon and he loved that too.  The blender's days are numbered!

Haven't started him on protein yet - he's getting on for 7 months and had planned to start chicken and lentils this week, but with the tummy issues decided to postpone it until next week.  How soon should dairy products be introduced?  Would be nice to give him cheesy sauces and yoghurt, as more calorie-rich than vegetables so would probably fill him up a bit more.  Am wary of introducing too many new things at once though.

Am having to take it a bit carefully running-wise.  I can feel a recurrence of the hamstring insertion injury I got while training for FLM last year, and I don't want to make it worse.  Had to have physio last time and was agony, so am keen to avoid a repeat of that experience!  I knew my lack of stretching would backfire in the end - guess what I'll be doing tonight?! 

Hi all!

Haven't posted here before but some of you will probably recognise me from the Pregnant Runners' Club.  Great to see the old faces and some new ones as well.

Jacob is now 14 months old, running around and saying his first words (tractor, cow, duck - how can you tell we live in the country!) and is an absolute star.

Janie Tri - I think you live in the Newport area?  If so, I really recommend you try to get to see Carol Walton who is at the Caerphilly Birthing Centre on Mondays and Fridays.  Phone first to check she is in if you are planning to go on a Monday / Friday.  She will almost certainly tell you that the problems you are having with reflux and weight gain are due to attachment - and will show you how to attach babe so that he gets a good mouthful of breast tissue and therefore stimulates the ducts to get the hindmilk.  Apparently, too much foremilk can make babies sicky... The hindmilk is also higher in fat so it helps weight gain.  Apparently... I spent a LONG time seeing Carol and unfortunately I never mastered it.  But I know so many people whose babies' lives were literally transformed by seeing her.  If I'm right and you are in Newport, then I also know the lady who is the b/feeding 'guru' at LLL (they meet in Rogerstone on a Fri morning).  She is also great - very different from Carol; much more 'earthly' and less proscriptive.  See both if you can - they have different attitudes but both really want to help.

For those of you who haven't already endured my tale on the pregnant runners' site, I fed Jacob on the breast till he was 3 months enduring agonies at every feed.  Then I cracked (had PND) and expressed my milk.  I thought I'd just express until my milk ran out - imagined that would be just a few weeks.  But I was still expressing 9 months later!  I finally stopped when he was 1.  I NEVER want to see a breast pump EVER again.  But, apart from a couple of formula feeds when I had d+v for a week (!) when he was 4 months old (and I couldn't actually even stand by the end of the week let alone express milk), he had breast milk for a year...

 My PND is under control with a low dose of citalopram - came off the a/d's briefly in May but had to go back on them again pretty swiftly.  But Jacob is a joy to be with - never ever thought I'd say that! 

As for my running (this *is* a running website after all), I do a lot lot less than I used to - but try to get out 4 or 5 times a week for 30 mins to an hour.  I enjoy being out - shame we are now heading into grimmer weather again!

Thanks DM - I do remember you as you recommended Caerphilly to me, sadly all didn't go to plan and I ended with an emergency section in the Gwent, who to be fair were fantastic.  Being blue lighted from Caerphilly to the Gwent in 15 minutes was impressive though!  Glad to hear you're recovering well.

You've kind of pre-empted my post bizarrely!  A friend from NCT recommended LLL to me and I've emailed details to Katrina and am going to the meeting on Friday!  I live in Rogerstone so it should be good.  We're going to look at latch on, my HV didn't even mention that...

Minks - Glad to hear Kit is ok today, it's a nightmare when you can't work out what is wrong isn't it?  Ted has become very unsettled at night since taking the Gaviscon and it's horrible not knowing what to do.

Hetty - Glad to hear your holiday was good.

Tonia - All I can say is that things like that drive me mad too

Been to Birmingham today to see big sister, had a lovely day, Ted was a star and thankfully slept all the way there and back. 

Janie - I thought of a couple of things which may or may not be helpful - firstly, are you letting him feed for long enough at a time to get a good lot of hindmilk? I've found with Eddie and my other 2 that sometimes a feed will last for ages, especially towards the end of the day. Also, are you getting enough rest / hydration / nutrition so that your milk supply is at its optimum? Sorry if you've thought of these things already - and I know it's probably more than just a breastfeeding issue. Hope Ted gets some relief soon - sounds like a great idea to be seeing the LLL lady.

Mrs O - I had a similar problems with my 2nd baby and found this cup really good when I was worrying about him not getting any fluid during the day when I went back to work - http://www.nctsales.co.uk/prodshow.asp?id=750 . However, they're not mess-free at all!  Also, once I'd gone back to work he started taking expressed milk and formula from a bottle after a few weeks - it felt like ages but he didn't seem to suffer at all nutritionally and I think made up for it with water in the day and big breastfeeds morning and evening. Lots of cheese, yoghurt etc. for calcium too. I'm sure you will manage to sort it out.

Minks - I think dairy is ok from 6 months?  Mind you , I do need to check all the current weaning guidelines as they seem to change quite quickly - when I had DD (11.5 yrs ago!) they recommended weaning at 4 months and giving peanut butter quite early on for protein!

Eddie and I had our first night out last night - we went to a friend's house for a get-together, and Eddie slept the whole evening without waking once. At home he usually feeds solidly for at least an hour in the evening - but not last night! No after-effects, in fact he's been very settled today, which is lucky as we're out again tomorrow night.

 Have now done a week of run-walking (and hated the walking bits!) - am moving on to gentle continuous running this week - hurrah! I'm trying to be very careful not to overdo things - but I'm enjoying getting out so much, even though it's only for 25 mins at the moment.

Morning all!

 Sorry for lack of chat, but husband's computer is caput and he's using mine for the next couple of weeks until it's fixed, so no chance to catch up on all your posts...and you've all been so chatty!!

I thought I'd quickly fill you in on our hols. I can't say I had the most relaxing time, I felt totally 'en guard' - our travelling companions have a four year old girl and a one year old boy and the one year old is BIG...and likes to launch himself at Hector either for a 'kiss' (ie headbutt) or to grab his hand or wrist and squeeze it until Hector's bottom lip prodrudes. Oh what fun I had trying to be diplomatic and not swipe the darn kid away! You quickly realise how fast parents forget what it's like to have your first 11 week old baby and feel a bit protective...Anyway, the other joys of our companions were their ability to empty a cafe/bar/restaurant within five minutes of arriving!

Ok, enough moaning. Croatia was quite beautiful (a lot like Greece I thought, with lovely islands and clear water) and I managed a few lovely swims...so gorgeous to stretch out and feel active again  

We have got the bug - Hector is a great little traveller, sleeping a lot of the time and getting LOADS of attention from everyone we meet, so we're off to Venice in a couple of weeks as well! This is for a big art exhibition we go to every other year, so we'll see what he makes of wandering around for hours and hours looking at art...I'm hoping he'll like it!

Ok, sorry it's so brief and I can't respond to your posts, but I will try and read back properly when I can.

Take care all.

A xx

PS Hector is drooling like a puppy at the moment and chomping on his hands all the time - is this a teething sign? Bit early though isn't it? Any ideas?!