Oh, the night feeds!

[blackwarrior]

This is the first time I've read this thread. I had assumed it was about drink-fuelled curries and such on the way home from the pub.

I stand corrected. Guys - I was there once, with four kids. The first time was summer 1990 during Italia 90. Holding the baby in the dark kitchen, I would turn on the radio low, and there was Pavarotti with Nessun Dorma (No one is sleeping!) - every night. Whenever I play or hear the song nowadays, it takes me right back to those warm nights. Not a bad memory really.

By the way, that baby has grown up a bit. Last night she was in Cork for the Jazz.

I'll leave this thread now to all you light sleepers....

[Upfront_1979]

Stupid clocks.

No really, stupid clocks. Trying to explain daylight savings time to an 8 month old is no fun.

[NotreDameRFC]

Any tips for getting up wind lads....not me btw...

10 day old....is full of it.... i don't recall the other 2 being this bad ...

[Balla Boy]

Bouncing can help. Make sure that if you're rubbing it's the lower corner of the back - that's the easiest access to the stomach.

Lying on their back and bringing their knees up to the chest can help too.

If it's a running problem, check out Infacol - a few people I know swear by it.

[fitzy73]

Infacol is great stuff, but pretty sure its not available in the States. My cousin in NY swore by something called Mylincon (spelling may be wrong) which appears to be pretty much the same thing.

Edit - it's called Mylicon.

http://www.mylicon.com/

[Boo-boo]

Any tips for getting up wind lads....not me btw...

10 day old....is full of it.... i don't recall the other 2 being this bad ...

'The Passover'. As soon as you have lost reason and hand them over they belch.

The other thing is to lay them flat for a minute on a slope (head at top). Slightly risky but it lets the gut flatten out and then pick the up again.

[ListryMurphy]

Agree with Balla, bouncing is a great way. Sit them on your knee and bounce them. Gently tap the lower back. I learnt this with our third and it's a great technique! The 'Passover' is soo true boo boo!

[NotreDameRFC]

Thanks for all your help Time for a snooze ...3hours sleep last night...gave better half night off.....snoozing at 10am

[blackwarrior]

Any tips for getting up wind lads....not me btw...

10 day old....is full of it.... i don't recall the other 2 being this bad ...

If he/she is that young.... try sitting them, with their back fairly straight, facing sideways on your thigh. Hold one hand around their back, and one around their chest. Then lift them very slightly off your leg, hold them lightly under their armpits, so that there is almost no weight on your leg. Add in a very natural, gentle motion if you want. I think it gives their stomach the best chance of getting rid of all the air.

Worked for us x 4!

[NotreDameRFC]

If he/she is that young.... try sitting them, with their back fairly straight, facing sideways on your thigh. Hold one hand around their back, and one around their chest. Then lift them very slightly off your leg, hold them lightly under their armpits, so that there is almost no weight on your leg. Add in a very natural, gentle motion if you want. I think it gives their stomach the best chance of getting rid of all the air. Worked for us x 4!

cheers b/w..... girl btw

[Hugged Rugger]

Hand on lower back and a bit of a vibrating rub in short bursts and a pat or two usually worked very well for me

On a different note I got peed on during nappy change for first time in about a month this evening

[Hugged Rugger]

Older members of family used to put kids over knee and rub back. Always found that hard as imagined the feed would end up on floor

[masterchief]

Older members of family used to put kids over knee and rub back. Always found that hard as imagined the feed would end up on floor

It works, helps if you have wooden floors though (or a dog).

[blackwarrior]

cheers b/w..... girl btw

Congratulations!

[Piggybui]

cheers b/w..... girl btw

Congratulations.

[Piggybui]

On a different note I got peed on during nappy change for first time in about a month this evening

My lad scored a hat-trick on me in one changing over the weekend. The three p's; Peed, Pood and pucked. I still can't figure out how some poo splashed up onto my glasses (having poor sight isn't necessarily a bad thing - always have safety goggles on!) but it was some bowel movement.

[My2Cents]

The GP, DHN and pediatrician all said reflux. It appears to have improved a bit; last night he was grand after the 7 and 10 o'c feed but not so good after the 2 o'c feed. A good bit came up. It was diagnosed as silent reflux so he doesn't throw up, just wriggles uncomfortable in pain and makes horrible noises.
A lad at work asked me today if the baby was on bottle or draught! I lol'd.
He's great though. He got his first email yesterday - from Conor Murray/MRJSC.

One of ours was diagnosed with silent reflux as well, he was put on an antacid called Zantac as well as Gaviscon - has done the trick. We're weaning now so hopefully it'll settle down without the meds once he's on more solid foods.
One thing about the gaviscon - it can cause a bit of constipation as it thickens the stomach contents, a breast fed baby should be fine but with formula you'll probably need to give some diluted pear/prune juice a couple of times a day to keep them moving!
Since ours arrived it's amazing the amount of time you spend discussing bowel movements!

[the plastic paddy]

Our lad had silent reflux which we fortunately spotted very early as it runs in the family. The gaviscon powders worked a treat and once he got onto the solids it sorted itself out fairly quickly. One thing i always found with our lad was that if he didn't get a good walk strapped to my chest, he really struggled with colic etc at night time. If you are having any sort of digestion problems I do recommend trying to give them a bit of a walk about strapped to you upright as the gravity seems to help.

[Piggybui]

Our lad had silent reflux which we fortunately spotted very early as it runs in the family. The gaviscon powders worked a treat and once he got onto the solids it sorted itself out fairly quickly. One thing i always found with our lad was that if he didn't get a good walk strapped to my chest, he really struggled with colic etc at night time. If you are having any sort of digestion problems I do recommend trying to give them a bit of a walk about strapped to you upright as the gravity seems to help.

Thanks PP. We're after getting one of those harnesses or whatever they're called so I'll give it more use.
We have stopped using the Gaviscon as it was causing some bowel difficulty. The lad is on draught and he wasn't too bunged up but he was under pressure. We have him on gripe water not (the in-laws brought it back from England a week ago) and that helps as long as he keeps it down.

[the plastic paddy]

The harnesses, ours was a second hand baby Bjorn, are great bits of kit. We used to go for miles as my lad would sleep as soon as he was up against my chest. In fact, we hardly ever used a pram and don't have a push chair in the house for him as he still goes in the back carrier when he is tired even though he is quite a big three year old.

[Upfront_1979]

speaking of a baby bjorn and considering hte day thats in it

[Grandpasimpson]

Does anybody here have experience of fine motor skill deficiency in young children? Our 5 year old twin boys are really struggling with school at the moment, they only started in September but have been identified as being way behind already. We've been to a lot of specialists with the HSE Early Intervention Team over the past few years due to developmental issues as they were born 3 months premature but pretty much all these visits were just talking shop assessments. Nobody actually put a structured plan in place only passed us from specialist to specialist for assessment but they failed wholely to deal with the issues.

We organised play therapy for them and they attended for the best part of a year but I dont feel they got anything out of it. We also sent them to a particular play school who have a special needs wing and so have experience of this. Now the boys were in the mainstream wing of the school but we were told they'd be given extra attention, which to be fair to a certain extent they did. If they had been brought up sitting in front of MTV for the past 5 years then that would have been a different issues altogether but they havent and we have tried everything we could.

Now they are lagging seriously in school and I can see their confidence draining from them as they struggle to cope which breaks my heart as they are happy healthy fun loving regularly clever boys, we have been given a few exercises by the OT but I was just wondering if anybody has had hands on experience of this.

Cheers.

[fitzy73]

Anyone got any advice for toilet training? We've tried pretty much everything at this stage! He's nearly two and a half.

[Grandpasimpson]

Anyone got any advice for toilet training? We've tried pretty much everything at this stage! He's nearly two and a half.

It really has to be on their own time, our lads were nearly 3 before we conquered it.

2 things helped us, every time we seen a "big boy" going to the toilet when visiting friends etc we shoved our lads into the toilet with them - never underestimate the influence of "big boys". T

he other thing that helped us in more ways that the toilet is the reward chart, a simple one from tesco with gold star stickers and each time they do somethign extra good - like going to the toilet - they'd get a star, fill the line and a little treat is got. This works brilliantly for us around bed time now and other things like finishing dinner etc. They hate when we threaten to remove a star.

[munstermog]

Anyone got any advice for toilet training? We've tried pretty much everything at this stage! He's nearly two and a half.

Fitzy our girl was three weeks short of three when she decided she want to be a big girl. Had wasted our time and upset her at 2 and 2.5. She was trained in about 10 days once she decided it was time, and about two weeks after that she had stopped wearing pull ups at night as well. Lots a pressure out there that kids are supposed to hit various targets/milestones. They are all different and will do it when good and ready.

[fitzy73]

Thanks lads. I was thinking that - and I know from speaking to other parents that boys can be later in wanting to try than girls.

We've tried the chart thing, but he wasn't interested. Even the bribery of a biscuit didn't work. I guess he just isn't ready.

[Harry]

Anyone got any advice for toilet training? We've tried pretty much everything at this stage! He's nearly two and a half.

I was really frustrated, there was crap everywhere with them all, on the floor, the walls, the seats, hands, you name it and without wanting to throttle them I used the phrase "Mr Poo Lives in the Loo and he wants to go home". They found this very easy to understand after a while and I was pleased it started to work, they became fascinated with the thought of Mr Poo living in their bums, not being happy living there, and wanting to get out of there. We're now in the final stages of the last one and apart from the odd dump here and there it's a corner I have finally started to turn.

[Hugh Jardon]

Can't force them to do it, around 3 seems to be the mark, though you'll always hear from the super parent who's kid was out of nappies at 18 months.

Peer pressure helps, if they're in a preschool get them involved.

Usually happens when your kid becomes more self aware, they start to hide or become embarrassed when something happens, again talk about it, what do their friends do.

Trying to teach boys clean toilet habits after they start using it is another job in itself.

[Hugged Rugger]

so what age to you start trying to toilet train? i.e. to find out if now is their time?

[Waterfordlad]

Ours were 2.5-3 years when we cracked it. Boys were later than girls

Agree with others on the 'Big Boy/Big Girl' psychology - also we used to sit them on the loo at regular intervals with a afavourite book to get them in the habit of it - make sure to do that at nights too before bed to help prevent accidents

Worked a treat