LilMissAlien

That's great to hear, I hope it goes well for you both! I agree about the Saturdays thing - our group of teachers have been toying with the idea of Saturday workshops, which might be something we'll consider running in the future.

Awww, Annie, sorry to hear things are tough at the moment. Jamie was the same and was also a very cuddly baby always wanting to be held. I am now able to use the signs for 'wait' and I'll often tell him where I'm going 'kitchen/toilet' etc. and he's generally ok with it (although sometimes it depends on his mood/tiredness). For what it's worth he's been to nursery twice now, yesterday and a month ago, whilst I finish up at uni. He's not been out of the care of family members at all other than this and you'd think he'd be really upset, but no, he's didn't cry yesterday, and only cried once when he was tired last time. I'm sure if he got comfortable there he may behave more like he does at home, but it's like he has ways of behaving at home (tantrums, major tantrums) and when out (an angel), and this has always been the case. I can't suggest anything other than persevering with doing stuff as quickly as possible, otherwise distraction works wonders (tellytubbies DVD and a bumbo/baby walker worked for long enough for me to have a shower - I could even dry my hair too if I gave him a rusk, hehe!). To address the AP stuff mentioned upthread, I found it all to be about balance. We did sooo much AP stuff instinctively (preferring to hold/sling him, co-sleeping even with a crib/cot, not leaving him to cry etc.) but there comes a point where it becomes too much and for us it was the 2+ hours it took to get him to sleep each night (with lots of crying) with us there. When he was 14.5 months we decided to try sleep training/CIO (at the end of our tether), and it was a huge success. On night one he cried for a total of 10 minutes (we went to him every 3 mins or so), on night 2 it was another 10 mins (we went in at 5 min intervals) on night 3 he went straight to sleep, night 4 it was 5 minutes and after that he was fine. It was distressing at first, but we even managed it staying at my parents' house in a cot he wasn't used to (with a couple of his toys in) and now he prefers to be alone to go to sleep - he'll give himself his bottle, he'll spend a few minutes looking out the window (at the end of his cot) at the cars going past and then he'll lay down, pull his cover over him and go to sleep. The problem we had was that we hadn't realised how independent he was and that he actually wanted to be left alone to go to sleep. Now all we need to sort out are the major tantrums!

We always had this kind of fun when Jamie first became mobile (7 months), but I started consistently using the signs for 'nappy change', 'lay down' and 'clean' and things got manageable really quickly (about a week). Jamie would be up and off, usually peeing on the carpet on the way, but now I say and sign 'lay down' (he doesn't do it, but I lay him down anyway), then I say and sign 'nappy change' and he will sign it back and will lay there until I tell him and sign that he is 'clean'. Then he gets up and goes back to what he was doing. Sometimes toys are still required and we have the odd day where he just has to get back to what he was doing NOW and tries to run off with his bum hanging out, but generally anything that falls into a routine can be easily signed and they will understand it very quickly. Then they know what to expect and aren't trying to get away!

Because of some health conditions, pregnancy was always a risk for me, and I'd intended to plan it. Of course, it never works that way! I had consultant care from 10 weeks onwards and had fortnightly ultrasounds (both external and transvaginal) from 14 weeks. I had a detailed anomaly scan which detected no issues, and a fetal echocardiogram (also fine). I also had to have an echocardiogram and an electrocardiograph for myself, both fine. The pregnancy itself was uneventful until the last 2 weeks when I developed a UTI and pre-eclampsia. I was induced at 39+1 and 6 hours and 59 mins later at 9:19pm my son, James Andrew, was born on 25/06/07 at Watford General Hospital. I had second degree tearing and some grazes and lots of haemorrhaging, so Jamie was given to his Dad and I was rushed off to theatre for 2 hours for a spinal (lots of vomiting) and repair work/stopping the bleeding. I also had to have a blood transfusion the next day - never again! He's 16 months (and 2 days!) old now and an absolute monkey! Your babies are lovely and look so cute together!

I couldn't get on with 2-part nappies, so we use pocket-style ones. Baby Alien wears a mix of BumGenius One Size and FuzziBunz. We had a lot of leaks from the BGs until recently, when I realised he needed to go up a size, d'oh! I've adjusted the size and he's now fine again. The Fuzzis are still going strong, as he's nowhere near the upper weight limit yet (although I'm guessing he'll get too long in the rise for them before he gets too wide, lol!).

LOL can I admit that knitted sanitary towels are on my 'to-do' list for real?! I already use reusable stuff anyway, but I'd never go as far as a knitted tampon, I have to say! Knitted uteri are quite fun though!

I'm littlemissalien over there.

I'm sorry to hear Rachel's murmur has got worse, but it is a good thing that it has been picked up and is being addressed. I really do send all my best wishes. I don't have personal experience of having a child with any type of heart problem, but my Mum told me what she went through with me, and I was a non-surgical case. You and Rachel are in my thoughts xxx

The first sign for me was I went off any kind of sex(!), I just felt like I had sand in my ladyparts within days of conception! At first I blamed it on having a smear done, but it went on for the whole month. Then I needed to wee more. Then I got period cramps but no bleeding and phenomenal exhaustion and my nice new trousers suddenly felt too tight because I got so bloated.

This often happens before they take a big leap developmentally. Is he sitting? Pushing himself up? Trying to crawl? Any of those big milestones (or the smaller ones) could be having this effect. Jamie sometimes has phases of waking up anywhere between midnight and 2am and being awake for anywhere up to 2 hours. He wasn't necessarily loud, but we kept the lights dimmed, spoke quietly and let him play until he was tired again. We've not had a single night like this since he started walking properly in August. Thing is, they do the most growing when they sleep, and that includes the brain. When the brain grows and makes new connections it's like a switch is flicked and they suddenly have a new skill. New connections are strengthened by increased activity (ie. repeating the new action) and sometimes the new skill can be something we can't see (like the ability to begin developing memories) so the surge of brain activity can mean they wake up/sleep less in general or act strangely for a short time. Then when they've mastered that they might end up catching up on their sleep (Jamie did this from when he was in the womb - days of endless activity and then days where I would be drinking cold water/jumping up and down/prodding my belly to check he was ok). Try only responding if he cries. He sounds quite happy on his own. Recently Jamie has begun liking to be left alone to sleep - if he wakes and we don't give him his dummy and lay him back down RIGHT NOW we have a massive temper tantrum on our hands. Thankfully even when he's sleepy and cross he will sign what he wants - dummy, bottle, clothes (he does wear pyjamas, but it's how he says 'cold' at the moment because he knows clothes make him warm), sleep etc.

Re: the nappy thing. There was a potty training expert on the TV yesterday morning who said that small children often hang onto their poo because they feel it is a part of them. One thing she suggested was to put them back into pull-ups so they can wee normally in the potty, but if they poo you take the pull-up off, take them and the pull-up to the toilet and empty the poo down the toilet, saying "This is where poo goes". Apparently they begin to learn that they can put their poo directly into the toilet rather than in their nappy. I have to say I don't have any experience of this yet, but my son signs to me when he wants his nappy changed after he's been. He's in real nappies too, which may help with training. We're being very relaxed and don't have a potty yet (he's 15 months and MIL says we should have one as hers were 'trained by now' and my Mum's like 'let him do it at his own pace, I regret pushing you'). I'm working on getting him to tell me when he's about to poo now, by watching for the signs and then signing to him 'poo?' When he can do that we'll get a potty.

Yeah, also recommending Jellys. I don't take my car though because parking costs are worse than public transport.

I would say if he's in enough pain to warrant painkillers at his age on a regular basis then it warrants investigation. I've had quite a bit of surgery since childhood (including appendix) and have never had post-operative pain as severe. The only things I can think of off the top of my head are that they cut or damaged a larger nerve and the pain is neuralgia (which can be very debilitating), or else like the surgeon said there is scar tissue or a blockage. I hope things can be sorted for you both and your son feels better soon.

If he's small enough and your arm is large enough you can lay him tummy down on your forearm, supporting his head, and then rub his back. Or else lay him across your knees (or along the length of your thigh) and do it that way. We found that worked with Jamie, who was terribly colicky. Also as he got older walking around with him upright and showing him stuff whilst we patted/rubbed his back and bum distracted him from crying enough for us to get the wind up. He's very good at burping now. Takes after both parents!

I didn't get it until quite late on - I had a very small, neat bump (and eventually, baby, but you wouldn't know it now, he's quite lanky for a toddler!). I enjoyed getting out and about nearer the time - 2 days before I gave birth I went to get my partner's watch fixed for him and got the question. When I said 2 days (I was being induced, so I knew), they literally ran around trying to get a chair from the back for me to sit down, lol! I got asked quite a few times that day, when I hadn't much before so I enjoyed messing with people - I didn't tell them that technically I had another 8 days but was being induced early. We also parked in a parent and child spot on the way to the hospital because I wanted snacks (I know, lol!). At the time we were in our 2 seater Smart car and this couple drove up (no kids in their car either) and nastily said "Got kids in that thing?" To which I spun around - you couldn't tell if I was pregnant from the back, pointed at my bump and breezily said "Just picking up a few bits en route to the hospital!" The look on their faces was priceless and he went bright red. Without a word he put his foot down and sped off. Finally I only had one unsolicited bump grope - an old lady in the doctor's surgery at my last MW appt who told me I was definitely having a girl. I raised an eyebrow and said, no, it's a boy, but she was insitant. Finally I told her we'd had a VERY clear scan (4D) and if it was a girl then it was one with 'boy bits'. I was perhaps a little rude, but she just came up and grabbed at my 38 week belly, which I was pretty damn protective of!