A river of snot.

Poor Baby E has been unwell.

We noticed on Tuesday last week that he had some snuffles in his nose. When we put him to bed he was unhappy and would not settle in his usual way. We reached for the Calpol and attempted to give a small dose. This sounds easier than it actually is as Baby E refused to take it from his syringe so we tried the spoon. The battle of the medicine started ... who would be the winner? Surely the parents, after all we know best ... oh no ... how wrong can you be? Baby E started fighting our efforts to calm him and his first move was to bring out the bottom lip. We had quivering and crying, bit as that did not stop the medicine attacked he moved onto the secind stage of the assult and started coughing. This was a tactical move to bring up his milk which he deposited into the bag of clean clothes that were lying on the floor next to him! Ha! That will show you, evil Mummy and evil Daddy for trying to make me feel better. Now you have to work out how you are going to get baby sick out of a travel bag!

Another bottle of milk and lots of cuddles and Baby E was back in bed for a disturbed nights sleep. Poor little baby, he was up at 5.30 when I forced more medicine into him and put him back in his crib to sleep. By morning he was completely congested and had been mouth breathing all night, he was all dry mouthed and sore lipped.


Wednesday brought food and milk refusal, bright red cheeks and more medicine fights which resulted again in coughing and vomiting in comedy places. This time it was in his floor chair and down my jeans. This does not sound too bad, however we were getting ready to go out. I had tickets for the theatre and was meeting the girls for dinner. Baby E was about to be taken to the childminder, and this second vomiting incident made me doubt weather I should leave him. A quick phone call to my Fabulous Boyfriend calmed my anxiety (after a few tears from me), after all the childminder is an expert and would not let anything happen to Baby E when he was on her watch. A quick wet-wipe of my jeans (I'm sure some perfume would cover up any smell), and I was off. Baby E was very happy with the childminder, and had a slight temperature, but was OK. My Fabulous Boyfriend had stopped on the way home to buy a Calpol Vapour Plug to help Baby E breath more easily at night, and it has been a miracle cure to sleepless nights. It was clear that Baby E had a better night, however he was still awake very early.

After a few days of high temperature, and finding the forehead and under-arm thermometer practically useless with a wriggling baby, I took Baby E out on Thursday morning to buy a Calpol Digital Thermometer. We are now a fully signed up member of the Calpol club, well ... except Baby E who is the only person who should like it, but actually hates the stuff. Armed with the medicine, vapouriser and now the thermometer we are fully primed to fight anything! I also bought some Ibuprofen medicine for him in an attempt to try an alternative tasting medicine ... this was all in vain as Baby E also hates the taste of this also.

By the time my Fabulous Boyfriend came home Baby E's was 39.5degrees. We also found some pink colour in his nappy so were concerned about his health and possible infection. After a phone call to NHS direct, we were called back by a nurse, and then a doctor, and were advised to visit the Loughborough NHS walk in centre to get Baby E checked out. I started to worry that I had left it too long to amke the call, however everyone we spoke to was satisfied we had given Baby E the advised 48hours to see if he was going to get better. Several hours later at the NHS walk in centre, Baby E had been seen by a Doctor, spent time in a room naked in front of a fan with a plastic sample bag taped to his willy to collect a urine sample, had his wee checked for infection and was given the all clear. The doctor said he will be poorly for a few more days, so I am looking forward to the weekend when my Fabulous Boyfriend is home. The doctor advised that we can give him almost double the amount of Calpol and ibuprofen than we had been which would help Baby E to feel better. Now the only challenge is to get Baby E to take the medicine.

Baby E slept a little better on Thursday night after lots of medicine, however was up very early on Friday morning. It was at this point that I realised I had forgotten to shower yesterday. Mmmm will I get the chance today??? Baby E fell asleep in his play nest after his breakfast he was so tired. One minute he was playing with his fun activity cube, the next he is slumped with his head on the side snoring. I have been moving the Calpol vapouriser to each room we spend time in to help his breathing, and that has made a difference. Baby E took the rest of his morning naps cuddled up on my chest as he would not let me put him in his crib to sleep. We took a very long walk in the afternoon where Baby E slept in his pushchair for an hour and a half. This was a welcome relief to rocking him to sleep on my chest ... Baby E is getting heavy.

A week has now passed, and I have finally relaxed. Yesterday was the first day that Baby E seemed to be back to normal. While he is still a little snuffly and we are still using the Calpol Room vapouriser, Baby E has his appetite back (after a week of only eating half his normal amount), he is laughing again, and wanting to play with everything. His day naps are all spent in the crib in his room, and Baby E is recovered. And time to relax ... now where did I put the Gin!

Real Nappy Week

Real Nappy Week seems to have passed me by. Real Nappy Week 2009 ran from 27th April - 3rd May. I had every intention of picking up some bargains in the sales and discount offers that some of the websites were offering.

I already have about 18 washable Nappies, however there is a part of me that thinks I need more. I have some that I love more than others, and I think this is my motivation to purchase more Washable Nappies so that I don't have to use the ones I am not so fond of.

I keep running over in my head the reasons why I should buy more Washable Nappies
1. I have only 12 Washable Nappies that I enjoy using and this is not enough to use Washable Nappies full time.
2. One of these Washable Nappies is a small size, and Baby E will soon be too big for it. The rest are 'Birth to Potty' Washable Nappies so will always fit.
3. I have 3 Nappies that I prefer not to use. They are big and bulky and do not provide the level of absorbency and containment that you would expect. They are always used last when the other Washable Nappies are in the wash.
4. Baby E is going to the Childminder full time from the middle of July. I do not have time to wash my Washable Nappies as much when I am at work all day. I will need more for Baby E to stay in Washable Nappies when he is at the Childminder, so I can wash them less often.
5. I will be buying more Washable Nappies for my next baby, so it will be more cost effective to use them on Baby E as well therefore saving money in the long run.
6. I can claim some of the money back from my local council who have a grant scheme for people who buy Washable Nappies.

Then there are the reasons why I do not need to by more Washable Nappies
1. I have managed for 5 months with the Washable Nappies I have, so there is no reason why I need more.
2. I buy Eco-Friendly Disposable Nappies Nature Babycare Nappies which are 100% biodegradable. We currently use these at night or when we are away on holiday. We could use these at the Childminders if the Washable Nappies are in the wash.
3. My income is now down to SMP, so we have less money to spend on extravagant purchases like more Washable Nappies. We need the money to buy food!
4. I can apply for the local council Nappy grant to help pay for the Nappies I already have.
5. Missing the fabulous discounts available for real Nappy week is a sign that I should not be buying more Washable Nappies. I have saved myself money.

So for now I shall be resisting my urges to buy more Washable Nappies. I will keep reminding myself that I don't need them, and at the moment I don't have enough money to justify buying them. Maybe when I go back to work!

Adventures at the Childminder - Part 2

Yesterday Baby E had his second official trip to the Childminders. We were due to go round at 11am and I would stay with him the whole time showing the childminder how Baby E takes his late morning nap, and how he likes to have his lunch.

True to form Baby E fell wanted to go to sleep at 10.30am and remained asleep for 2 hours. Why do babies have a talent for interrupting perfectly formed plans??? Meantime I was sending texts to the Childminder to tell her he was still asleep and hoping she would still be available at lunchtime for us to visit her. The Childminder was very amenable (as always), and was kind enough to let us change the time of the appointment.

As soon as Baby E woke from his morning nap, I bundled him into the car along with his lunch, his stuff for napping and I crossed my fingers that he would need sleep early afternoon so we could continue our plan to get him accustomed and settled in another environment.

Baby E was delightfully happy and smiley after his long morning nap, and impressed the childminder with his giggles and cheeky grins. He ate his pureed apples like a pro, and then drank about half of his milk. This was not bad considering he was in a different environment with lots to look at and dsitract him. After lunch Baby E played with the Childminders toys, did lots of roley poleys and chewing of anything he could grab with his 'go go grabby hands'.

Despite his long sleep in the morning, all the excitement must have tired him out as it was not long before he needed another nap. I was a little nervous that he was bluffing, but once again he performed perfectly for his audience. I changed his nappy, put him in a Grobag, gave him cuddles and kisses while the childminder put his lullaby CD on to play. Once he was tucked into the travel cot with his teddies and blanket he needed only a few minutes to fall asleep like a perfect angel. There were no tears, no crying, only a few tired noises as he drifted of to sleep.

I felt so proud of my little boy. Even though it did not show the childminder what to do if he does not want to settle straight away, she now thinks she has the perfect model child coming her way. Whilst life is always a joy with Baby E, it requires a great deal of patience and calmness to instill the confidence in him that he is safe and loved. We chose our childminder because she seems to have the same air of calmness about her that we have, and I am hoping she will easily be able to fill in for us when we are at work.

Baby E slept at the Childminders for 2 hours. By the time he awoke, more children had arrived from the local primary school. They were buzzing with excitement to meet Baby E, and he gave them lots of smiles to reward them. He is shaping up to be a little performer just like his Daddy!

So we were very successful at the Childminders yesterday. Next week I am planning a trip out for dinner and theatre with the girls so Baby E is spending a few hours with the Childminder on his own. I am confident he will be very happy there, and not miss me one little bit. It is a good feeling to trust that your baby will be OK when you leave him with someone else, and I think we have found a great Childminder who will give Baby E the best care (next to his Mummy and Daddy of course).

The First Childminder Session

Baby E visited the Childminder for the first time today. We spent a few hours with the Childminder to get him more accustomed to her company.



It is the 4th time Baby E has met the Childminder, and he seemed more interested this time. He is still not laughing when he is there, and I think this is his way of telling me he knows what is going on!



I felt quite nervous about visiting the Childminder this time. It feels so formal now we have confirmed that Baby E will be spending all his time there when I am at work. Someone else will get to cuddle him, play with him, and give him lots of kisses. This feels a strange concept, and not one that I warm to. I decided to stay with him today so he knew he was with friends, and we arrived at about 11am after his morning sleep. Baby E was very happy to be there, and was so occupied with what the Childminder was doing, he did not have much of his milk but instead wanted to play with all the toys.



Baby E had some cuddles with the Childminder, and played with the fabulous Lamaze toys for babies his age. The childminder helped him play, and he especially enjoyed the Lamaze toy with little horns. He got tired within an hour of being there, so we called the morning a success and prepared to go home.



Next week we are planning for Baby E to have his first sleep-over. I can show the Childminder how we take our day naps at home, and then once Baby E is comfortable sleeping there the Childminder can put Baby E to sleep. In preparation for this we are changing his day nap routing.



Baby E currently has the same day nap routine as nighttime, and it works exceptionally well. This is fabulous at home, however it is not favourable to carry an i-pod, lights and sound machine to the Childminder everyday. Today is Day 1 of using a Lullaby CD for Baby E to fall asleep to. So far Baby E has needed a little more cuddles before falling asleep, but it is no problem, and is going very well. Fingers crossed that by the middle of next week Baby E will have forgotten his womb music, and will be loving the Lullaby's!

Raspberry Blowing!

Baby E has found his tongue today for the first time. He was playing in his swing while I was in the kitchen making lunch. Above the delightful electronic classical music I could hear lots of raspberry's being blown.

I popped my head round the door, and found him with his tongue in full actions merrily blowing raspberry's and loving it! Until now the raspberry blowing has been using his lips only and he has easily bored of the novelty noise. Today he carried on blowing raspberry's for about an hour. He did not stop even when we were in the car on our way to visit the Childminder, and carried on the whole time we were there.

I love the noise so much, and he looks very cute having so much fun.

On a more somber note, my childminder reminded me that I have only 11 weeks until I go back to work. I am finding this more emotional than the countdown to weening. I intend to make the most of it, and enjoy every precious minute I have with Baby E.