The Newborn & Toddlers Off-Topic Chat Thread

IvyTheTerrible · 08-04-2014 10:08am

It was my OH that encouraged me to get out when L was new! I found it completely overwhelming and scary. I only went out with him for a long time when he was a month old. In fairness, there WAS a major flu epidemic here at the time and the doc and midwife had told me not to bring him to crowded places until the epidemic died down.

iguana · 08-04-2014 11:11am

S is getting his pre-molars and it's destroying his sleep. He keeps waking up with a scream of pain and I barely get him back to sleep when it happens all over again. We practically had a wrestling match in the early hours of this morning while I tried to give him some paracetamol and he didn't know what I was doing but objected very strongly. Finally managed to get it into him while he was roaring with displeasure, making me feel like a monster and then got him back to sleep for a couple of hours.

But (not to be a celebrity grief tourist) I couldn't help but be glad that even though teething pain was upsetting him, he at least has me to comfort him, unlike the two Geldof-Cohen boys.

Neyite · 08-04-2014 11:41am

I know.:( When I heard my little one go "mama?" when he woke up, I thought of two little boys who will be very confused when they say that and she doesnt come into them. I hugged my wee man a little tighter this morning.

Nead21 · 08-04-2014 12:21pm

Neyite wrote: »

I know.:( When I heard my little one go "mama?" when he woke up, I thought of two little boys who will be very confused when they say that and she doesnt come into them. I hugged my wee man a little tighter this morning.

I feel the same, it's terribly sad for them. Her youngest is the same age as my little man

iguana · 08-04-2014 1:36pm

Oh

. Just read that the poor woman killed in the Luas crash yesterday had a 2 year old daughter. Another poor baby missing her mum.

Rachineire · 08-04-2014 1:49pm

Neyite wrote: »

I know.:( When I heard my little one go "mama?" when he woke up, I thought of two little boys who will be very confused when they say that and she doesnt come into them. I hugged my wee man a little tighter this morning.

I heard about it at work and I couldn't wait to get home to hug my little boy. I feel so sorry for her little family

Chattastrophe! · 09-04-2014 9:22am

Does everyone use the microwave to heat bottles? My son takes them at room temperature, so we just boil the kettle and stick the bottle from the fridge into a mug of boiled water for a few minutes. Would be so much faster and easier if we could just stick the bottle in the microwave for a few seconds ... my boyfriend disagrees, because of the danger of hot spots, but sure if you just made sure to shake it wellI it would be fine?

Also - stupid question - do you take off teat and lid to heat in microwave?

cant26 · 09-04-2014 9:36am

Chattastrophe! wrote: »

Does everyone use the microwave to heat bottles? My son takes them at room temperature, so we just boil the kettle and stick the bottle from the fridge into a mug of boiled water for a few minutes. Would be so much faster and easier if we could just stick the bottle in the microwave for a few seconds ... my boyfriend disagrees, because of the danger of hot spots, but sure if you just made sure to shake it wellI it would be fine?

Also - stupid question - do you take off teat and lid to heat in microwave?

No my son is almost 11 months and I pop it in a steel jug of boiling water for a few minutes. I always planned on using the microwave but when I changed from avent bottles to tomee tipee CTN I found the bottle would be fine in no time.
As he got older he became a bit more patient! The early days of waiting for the kettle to boil with a screaming baby were tough.

nikpmup · 09-04-2014 9:36am

Right, I'm gonna get lambasted for this one..... *whispers* I microwave!!! For the record, the HSE guidelines say not to because of hotspots, but I do it anyway! I give the bottle about 40 secs on half power, minus lid & teat, put the lid back on and shake the beejeebus out of it., and wait a minute or so and shake it again. And I always test it on my wrist. I only ever heat to to room temp, just take the fridge chill off it.

I figure that if the advice is to stir his microwaved food to remove hotspots, the same applies to milk.

Chattastrophe! · 09-04-2014 9:53am

OK I just rang the SMA helpline to see what they had to say ... I knew the answer would be "No", but I wanted to find out the reasons for it, if it was just because of hotspots or was there anything else.

The woman said they don't advise it due to the milk being heated unevenly, danger of hotspots, bla bla bla.

So I said, "But surely if you just make sure to shake it really really well and test it before giving it to the baby, it'll get mixed evenly throughout ...?"

She laughed and said, "Well, you know I can't tell you to do that, but ..."

So I asked were there any other reasons not to microwave apart from hot spots, and she said no, that's the only reason they don't advise it.

Yeah ... I think I'll probably just do that from now on.

Pain in the ass waiting for the kettle to boil and for the bottle to heat up when he's looking for it NOW!

Roesy · 09-04-2014 9:57am

We just keep a flask of hot water ready so we're not waiting for the kettle. Saying that she rarely feeds in the middle of the night anymore. If she did I might be tempted by the microwave method, as nikpmup says, there seems to be no problem with microwaving their food.

Neyite · 09-04-2014 9:58am

I microwaved, but always always shook it well, and tested it on my wrist.

In the early days, I did sit the bottle in a jug, but discovered that a warmer bottle makes him sleepier at bedtime so that swung it for me.

yellow hen · 09-04-2014 9:59am

nikpmup wrote: »

Right, I'm gonna get lambasted for this one..... *whispers* I microwave!!! For the record, the HSE guidelines say not to because of hotspots, but I do it anyway! I give the bottle about 40 secs on half power, minus lid & teat, put the lid back on and shake the beejeebus out of it., and wait a minute or so and shake it again. And I always test it on my wrist. I only ever heat to to room temp, just take the fridge chill off it.

I figure that if the advice is to stir his microwaved food to remove hotspots, the same applies to milk.

We used to try heat the bottle in boiling water but once our little guy decided he was hungry he would scream the house down. Eventually I caved and popped bottle in the microwave and I've never looked back to be honest. Once it's given a good shake, I honestly can't see the problem.

Xdancer · 09-04-2014 10:03am

I always microwaved them. As long as they're shaken afterwards there shouldn't be any hotspots.

The_Conductor · 09-04-2014 10:12am

Chattastrophe! wrote: »

Does everyone use the microwave to heat bottles? My son takes them at room temperature, so we just boil the kettle and stick the bottle from the fridge into a mug of boiled water for a few minutes. Would be so much faster and easier if we could just stick the bottle in the microwave for a few seconds ... my boyfriend disagrees, because of the danger of hot spots, but sure if you just made sure to shake it wellI it would be fine?

Also - stupid question - do you take off teat and lid to heat in microwave?

We got a little Avent bottle warmer for less than a tenner on sale. There is a dial that you can set the temperature to- and when you come back 7-8 minutes later the bottle has been heated accordingly. It did need to be constantly refilled with water, and descaled, which meant it was more trouble than it was worth- though it was an interesting little gadget for a while.

Millem · 09-04-2014 11:05am

I use the tommee tippee machine and it heats bottles to body temp. My babs would literally scream the house down!

yellow hen · 09-04-2014 11:59am

The_Conductor wrote: »

We got a little Avent bottle warmer for less than a tenner on sale. There is a dial that you can set the temperature to- and when you come back 7-8 minutes later the bottle has been heated accordingly. It did need to be constantly refilled with water, and descaled, which meant it was more trouble than it was worth- though it was an interesting little gadget for a while.

My sister gave us one of those but 7-8 mins with a baby crying is like a lifetime. The microwave was 30 seconds so there was no competition!

The_Conductor · 09-04-2014 12:15pm

yellow hen wrote: »

My sister gave us one of those but 7-8 mins with a baby crying is like a lifetime. The microwave was 30 seconds so there was no competition!

Ours were tiny- our little guy was being fed every 40 minutes when we first brought him home- so scheduling heating a bottle was easier- we weren't feeding to demand. We were also using the glass Nutriprem bottles- so even when we were sleep deprived zombies, we didn't have to mix formula etc

It all depends- some people are happy with microwaving- others like me- hate microwaves, fullstop. I don't use one at all- I'd much rather heat things by almost any other method. I guess I'm old school.

January · 09-04-2014 12:19pm

I microwaved... will microwave if I switch to formula on this one too. Used a bottle warmer on the first until she was about 8 weeks...

Just shake the bejaysus out of it.

Synyster Shadow · 09-04-2014 12:57pm

Same I use microwave at times. My little guy isn't a hungry baby but when he wants his bottle he won't wait

Sligo1 · 09-04-2014 1:04pm

I'm lucky... Both mine take bottles straight from the fridge... Wohoo

yellow hen · 09-04-2014 1:17pm

The_Conductor wrote: »

It all depends- some people are happy with microwaving- others like me- hate microwaves, fullstop. I don't use one at all- I'd much rather heat things by almost any other method. I guess I'm old school.

It'd be very dull if we were all the same!:)

Suucee · 09-04-2014 2:01pm

Sligo1 wrote: »

I'm lucky... Both mine take bottles straight from the fridge... Wohoo

Oh might try this. L is so impatient. When hes hungry he wants it 10 mins ago. I microwave for 25 secs and its still a little cool and he takes it no prob.
My daughter was a disaster to get a bottle into and we tried everything eventually discovered that she prefered it cold but didnt realise that until she was 5 months.

Emmadilema123 · 09-04-2014 3:21pm

Chattastrophe! wrote: »

Does everyone use the microwave to heat bottles? My son takes them at room temperature, so we just boil the kettle and stick the bottle from the fridge into a mug of boiled water for a few minutes. Would be so much faster and easier if we could just stick the bottle in the microwave for a few seconds ... my boyfriend disagrees, because of the danger of hot spots, but sure if you just made sure to shake it wellI it would be fine?

Also - stupid question - do you take off teat and lid to heat in microwave?

I had a bottle warmer and it was muck so went for microwave too. Never had any problems

Suucee · 09-04-2014 3:57pm

Suucee wrote: »

Oh might try this. L is so impatient. When hes hungry he wants it 10 mins ago. I microwave for 25 secs and its still a little cool and he takes it no prob.
My daughter was a disaster to get a bottle into and we tried everything eventually discovered that she prefered it cold but didnt realise that until she was 5 months.

No joy straight from the fridge. Thought he was gona eat my hand . But popped in microwave for 20 secs and drank it. Eventhough it was still cool . Ah well. 20 secs wont kill me.

iguana · 09-04-2014 4:55pm

We don't have a tv service so the kids tv S watches tends to be from dvds I buy or stuff I pick online. We're at my Mum's today and RTE Jr is on and I have to ask; What the actual F@ç* is In the Night Garden?!!!!!?????

I've had a rotten migraine for the last few days and am wondering if the painkillers I took are making me hallucinate. This show is like a bad acid trip (or at least what I'd imagine a bad acid trip to be, never having had one).

The_Conductor · 09-04-2014 4:58pm

iguana wrote: »

We don't have a tv service so the kids tv S watches tends to be from dvds I buy or stuff I pick online. We're at my Mum's today and RTE Jr is on and I have to ask; What the actual F@ç* is In the Night Garden?!!!!!?????

I've had a rotten migraine for the last few days and am wondering if the painkillers I took are making me hallucinate. This show is like a bad acid trip (or at least what I'd imagine a bad acid trip to be, never having had one).

Wait until your 3 year old has an ear ache, and its 4AM and he won't sleep, and wants to watch 'In the Night Garden' and starts giggling about the 'Ninky-Nonk'- thats when it gets really surreal........

If they liked 'In the Night Garden'- Tesco and a few other places might still have the DVDs..........

I'm going to have 'Ooops, my name is Upsy Daisy'...... in my head for the rest of the afternoon........ damn you.........

nikpmup · 09-04-2014 5:19pm

iguana wrote: »

We don't have a tv service so the kids tv S watches tends to be from dvds I buy or stuff I pick online. We're at my Mum's today and RTE Jr is on and I have to ask; What the actual F@ç* is In the Night Garden?!!!!!?????

I've had a rotten migraine for the last few days and am wondering if the painkillers I took are making me hallucinate. This show is like a bad acid trip (or at least what I'd imagine a bad acid trip to be, never having had one).

I think ITNG is one of the least offensive kids shows out there! It's not too loud or colourful, and all the noises are gentle and tinkly!

My niece & nephew loved it.

Neyite · 09-04-2014 5:19pm

ITNG has to be a show that was dreamt up on acid. No other explanation really.

nikpmup · 09-04-2014 5:24pm

Neyite wrote: »

ITNG has to be a show that was dreamt up on acid. No other explanation really.

Oh, totally. But it's a sweet, nice trip

Emmadilema123 · 09-04-2014 5:44pm

nikpmup wrote: »

Oh, totally. But it's a sweet, nice trip

I think all the ones that really suck them in are weird. I used to leave the telletubbies on but not actually watch. One day I watched it and realised how unbelievable weird it us. David Lynch is writing all these shows under an alias I suspect lol

yellow hen · 09-04-2014 8:29pm

Guys just curious if any of you have any experience with lactose intolerance? Little guy is repeatedly getting chest and ear infections and after researching this eve there is evidence of a relationship between the former and the latter. I'm not looking for medical advice but rather peoples experiences.

Chattastrophe! · 09-04-2014 11:35pm

There is a survey being carried out by AIMS Ireland about experiences of women in the Irish maternity system.

I have absolutely NO link at all to the survey or to those carrying it out, I just saw it linked by a friend on Facebook. And I think it would be useful, as the idea is to improve the maternity services available to all of us.

It is looong, like 100 questions, so you'd need maybe 15-20 minutes to complete it. But I think it's maybe worthwhile.

http://www.irishhealth.com/article.html?id=23473

iguana · 09-04-2014 11:40pm

Emmadilema123 wrote: »

I think all the ones that really suck them in are weird. I used to leave the telletubbies on but not actually watch. One day I watched it and realised how unbelievable weird it us. David Lynch is writing all these shows under an alias I suspect lol

They are like some sort of weird baby hypnotism. I can't help but wonder if they are full of subliminal messages and programming our babies for some nefarious future. :pac:

Personally I'm sticking with Sesame Street and The Wiggles for as long as I have any say in the matter. Shaun the Sheep was good though.

IvyTheTerrible · 10-04-2014 9:48am

Liam loves Bosco, someone got me the dvd years ago as a joke (I was a bosco addict as a child) and I dug it out a few weeks ago! God it's gas.

He got a cd of French traditional farm songs from his granny a while back and I love it, they've rearranged them in a more modern style, there is a great motowny song about a sad rabbit, and another jazzy one about rocking chickens. It's on repeat Chez Ivy but I don't care, it's great!

sillysocks · 10-04-2014 9:51am

If ye haven't seen Gabba Gabba yet you're in for a treat. No idea how he saw it first but my youngest gets enthralled by it, his sister (3) loves it as well. Worth a watch just for the craziness of it. Definitely made by someone on drugs!!
Freakiest show ever.

January · 10-04-2014 9:53am

sillysocks wrote: »

If ye haven't seen Gabba Gabba yet you're in for a treat. No idea how he saw it first but my youngest gets enthralled by it, his sister (3) loves it as well. Worth a watch just for the craziness of it. Definitely made by someone on drugs!!

There's often been a night when I've been up with one or other of the girls who were sick and Yo Gabba Gabba was the only thing on... that is one freaky show and beats the crap out of ITNG for weirdness.

nikpmup · 10-04-2014 9:57am

Baby TV at night time is just trippy hypnotic colours and shapes. I don't have it (I have UPC, not Sky) but my sister says it's definitely worth turning on if you have a newborn awake at 4.30am

seamus · 10-04-2014 10:01am

iguana wrote: »

We don't have a tv service so the kids tv S watches tends to be from dvds I buy or stuff I pick online. We're at my Mum's today and RTE Jr is on and I have to ask; What the actual F@ç* is In the Night Garden?!!!!!?????

ITNG is great, our little one (18 months next week) loves it.
Yes, it's barking mad, but it's for 1-4 year olds really, so there's only the vaguest of narratives, it's more about the characters and the colours and the sounds. Each show also fits to a very set routine, so the aim is to make a pre-bedtime show; everyone in the garden goes to bed, then Iggle Piggle goes to bed, then you go to bed

Neyite · 10-04-2014 10:10am

Its Sofia the First in this house.

It used to be Green Lantern Daddy didnt realise that age 6-14 meant it might be unsuitable for a toddler and put it on but I phased that out thank god.

For trippy stuff, baby einstien is good too.

January · 10-04-2014 10:21am

Doc McStuffins is the winner in ours at the moment.

Xdancer · 10-04-2014 11:28am

My little one loves Baby Jake.....it's a bit weird. She also loves Mr Maker on Cbeebies......actually she pretty mush likes anything on Cbeebies. She's 2.

She also loves the theme tune to The Big Bang Theory and always has done. When she was really small and crying non stop, she would always stop just long enough for the credits

There is this group here called Cantajuegos that sing songs aimed at toddlers and young kids. She loves them too.

nikpmup · 10-04-2014 11:41am

Xdancer wrote: »

My little one loves Baby Jake.....it's a bit weird. She also loves Mr Maker on Cbeebies......actually she pretty mush likes anything on Cbeebies. She's 2.

She also loves the theme tune to The Big Bang Theory and always has done. When she was really small and crying non stop, she would always stop just long enough for the credits

There is this group here called Cantajuegos that sing songs aimed at toddlers and young kids. She loves them too.

My nephew was hypnotised by baby Jake!

Suucee · 10-04-2014 1:43pm

In the night garden and peppa are the favourites here. But Waybuloo is also up there as is Mr Maker and Zingzillas. Oh and Mr Tumble and Justin's House. Jeez she'd watch anything really.

Just want to ask how long does your 2 year old sleep. A will be 2 this month and always loved her sleep. Usually 7.30-7.30 at night and approx. 2 hours during the day. But the past few nights she is taking ages to settle at night. We have a black out blind in her room but its not pitch dark but it doesn't bother her at nap times. She settles straight away at nap times.
Now she does have a 11 day old baby brother. But we have not changed bed time routine much (L is now included in it) she still gets her cuddles and her story.
Then into bed. She's not crying just mooches about for ages. Last night it was nearly 9pm before she finally went to sleep. I think she might be sleeping too much during the day but just wanted to compare with kids her age.

Cunning Stunt · 10-04-2014 2:44pm

we microwave bottles as well - straight out of the fridge, take off the lid, pop it in the microwave. We are always wary of hotspots so we stop the microwave halfway through heating and swirl the milk around a bit in the bottle, then start it again and when it's finished put the lid on the bottle and give it a good shake.
We never had any problems and have been doing it this way since our baby was 2 weeks old. We have to microwave - he can go from zero to hysterical in 5 seconds if he is made wait for his milk :P

The_Conductor · 10-04-2014 2:45pm

2 hours sleep during the daytime seems quite long for a 2 year old?
Our two were more 45 minutes, to an hour, at this stage (and even then- early afternoon- any later than 3PM and there will be mooching at bed time in the evening).

Neyite · 10-04-2014 2:47pm

My almost-two year old has 2 hrs usually after midday meal. This was suggested by the creche so presumably its average for that age group?

January · 10-04-2014 2:49pm

My two year old doesn't nap :eek:

None of my kids ever napped after the age of about 1 and a half. No matter how hard I tried.

RentDayBlues · 10-04-2014 5:39pm

Suucee wrote: »

In the night garden and peppa are the favourites here. But Waybuloo is also up there as is Mr Maker and Zingzillas. Oh and Mr Tumble and Justin's House. Jeez she'd watch anything really.

Just want to ask how long does your 2 year old sleep. A will be 2 this month and always loved her sleep. Usually 7.30-7.30 at night and approx. 2 hours during the day. But the past few nights she is taking ages to settle at night. We have a black out blind in her room but its not pitch dark but it doesn't bother her at nap times. She settles straight away at nap times.
Now she does have a 11 day old baby brother. But we have not changed bed time routine much (L is now included in it she still gets her cuddles and her story.
Then into bed. She's not crying just mooches about for ages. Last night it was nearly 9pm before she finally went to sleep. I think she might be sleeping too much during the day but just wanted to compare with kids her age.

My almost 2 year old sleeps 12-13 hours at night and then 2-3 hours during the day. We have a 7 week old and its only in the last 2 weeks her sleep pattern has settled back down. For the first few weeks she was very similar to yours, mooched in cot for ages before settling and then woke earlier in the morning and shorter naps. She seemed.fine about the new baby otherwise but sleep was the only issue

The_Conductor · 10-04-2014 7:55pm

Neyite wrote: »

My almost-two year old has 2 hrs usually after midday meal. This was suggested by the creche so presumably its average for that age group?

Our creche would love kids to have a 2 hour sleep after their midday meal. It would coincide nicely with the staff's lunchtime........

What we were told (by the PHN) was for a 2,3,4 year old, a single nap during the daytime was normal- the length of time sufficient to bring their total sleeping time in total to 13 hours for a 2 year old, 12 hours for a 3 year old, 11 hours for a 4 year old- and from 5 onwards that their nighttime sleep actually increases upwards again- to a straight 11-12-13 hours.

If the child won't sleep at least for 10-11 hours at night for a 2 year old, 9-10 hours at night for 3 or 4 year old- they're sleeping for too long during the day- or not getting sufficient exercise.

Its all a balancing game- if its a wet day outside and they're not as physically active as they are normally- they may not need a nap- thats entirely normal..........

The Newborn & Toddlers Off-Topic Chat Thread

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