OcUK Dadsnet thread

[Devrij]

The boy is now a shade over 3 months old and getting him to stay asleep is proving a challenge. He will doze off in our arms and as soon as we lay him down, BANG! turbo melt down. It's like he has a built in altimeter. It's tough, and it seems the general concensus is "enjoy this time" ...if one.more person says that to me though, I might poke their eyes out difficult to enjoy screaming at 3am.

Jengaaaaaaa

Yeah I remember those days. Not gonna blow smoke up your arse, it's a pain, but it passes. Then they start getting out of their bed on their own.

 

[Devrij]

Thats what we get, my 2.5 year old wakes after about an hour (although i think hes too hot), then normally about 10ish he will trot through into our bed. Has been doing that since july last year.

Yep, likewise. Thankfully she just hops into our bed and passes out most of the time (except for the few dreaded occurrences of "daddy, fink so we could play downstairs?" when she's totally awake).

She's starting to get a bit of lip on her now as well. I suggested we play with her fav puzzle and she goes "noooo daddy, that's booooring" Or my favourite
Me: "hey Riley, how about we play with xyz?"
Riley: "how about not"

 

[Devrij]

So today is the day that Docs have decided that they want my boy out of his comfy place in the womb due to the medical issues he's causing his mum.

They've booked my partner in and will be using something new called balloon induction.

Good luck dude!

 

[Devrij]

Sorry for the mumsnet type question but in the following circumstances 'Am I being unreasonable?'

Myself & my partner are currently in the Labour ward (day 3, although today is the last before section).
The Mrs has a group messenger chat with her friends, about 13 people.

Her phone is constantly beeping with messages of "is he here yet?" or "any news" etc.

I've joined the group chat and posted:

"Can you all just stop messaging every 5 seconds. People will be told on OUR timetable, with family told first, no exceptions.
If you were that bothered, given most of you are 30mins away or less, you'd have been and visited over the last 4 weeks whilst Bec was in and out of hospital.
Only ONE of you has. "

Since then it's been pretty quiet but my Mrs isn't too happy with me.

I think that, given the circumstances you're gonna get lots of attention. We just ignored most of it as we had more important stuff going on. Perhaps your wording was a bit much. I'd have been a bit gentler about it. Eg "thanks for all the comments, we are just going to switch off until after the baby comes"

 

[Devrij]

Tbh we didn't want any visitors until after we had settled back in, so I think I might have a different perspective here. I can understand how you would be upset if people who only cared enough to text but not to take any action were wasting your time. I would have just ignored it, myself, but mainly because I find that easier than becoming embroiled in any drama

 

[Devrij]

Thanks for the responses guys.

We did set up a messenger group and that's where this all kicked off.

Anyhow it's all done now.

My son was born at ten to midnight, weighing a healthy 7lb 3oz, by c-section

Congrats mate!

Had anyones young ones been hit with a virus? My 3yr old has been knocked for six since Monday. Not eaten much, enflamed tonsils, nasty dry cough and no energy at all. I don't even know what to do with him at moment. Doesn't want to play or do anything. Lots of cuddles though which is nice. Docs said could last 10 days. So this will be day 5.

Yeah my girl has had a cough for like 10 days. Started with a temperature then a cough she couldn't shake. Chicken pox was on the rampage at our nursery so we thought it might be that. Had a couple spots come up last weekend, but then they disappeared so now we aren't sure (unless she just got a very mild case). Either that or it's just a standard winter bug.

 

[Devrij]

On a positive note, my daughter did her first **** in the toilet yesterday. Told me not to come in and I heard her grunting away. She did a second man sized log 15 mins later so she must have been pretty backed up.

The reaction in our house would have led you to believe England had won the world cup.

 

[Devrij]

currently 27 weeks with our first child - bricking it is an understatement

How did you guys do during the 2 weeks paternity, any tips?

As others have said, it's just about helping out as much as you can, it will be worth it.

We're at 26 weeks with our first - and it's twins. My wife has been through hell already, so not looking forward to the next couple months.

Good luck. That's all I can say! You might enjoy "diaries of a learner parent". Scouse comedian who had twins and shares his stories. Very funny and a bit of light humour to help yuu through the more trying times!

 

[Devrij]

My daughter is going up north for a week with her nana and I read your story before she left. Needed lots of hugs from her before she left after reading George's story, but she said no. "no daddy, I'm playing with nana". Stone cold little girl

 

[Devrij]

Our baby - Samuel - came graciously into the world on Thursday, surfing a tidal wave of his own excrement. A slightly odd delivery, but my wife gave birth without painkillers - although we were on our way to get an epidural when they told her to start pushing.

Cord wrapped around his neck and covered in his own ****, so was a little unwell at first - had to stay in for a couple of nights, but all seems well now.

I do quite wish I still worked for myself from home, as a year spent with the little one and my wife would have been great.

Congrats! Childbirth is definitely not like they show it in the films, eh? That said, mine came out my wife's stomach like in aliens so I guess it kinda is

 

[Devrij]

Wife and I have our 12 week scan in a couple of weeks for our 1st, finding this thread has been a bit of a godsend as though I've always wanted kids and am genuinely over the moon, every now and again I get a wave of anxiety already about doing things right and knowing everything I need to know. I guess it's good to be reminded that it's everyone's first time once!

I'll give you one piece of advice, and only one, because you'll be given it by every Tom, dick and Harry who you didn't ask for it.

Protip: if, in your panic, as you manhandle an excrement covered baby around a changing mat like some David and goliath mud wrestling match, you forget to open the nappy bag before getting your hands dirty... Moisten your fingers with a wet wipe so you don't have to lick them to gain purchase on the bag.

 

[Devrij]

Had quite an eventful 24 hours with the unborn child, without going into too much detail we’ve just gotten home from hospital and thankfully all has turned out to be safe and well. What it has done is make me realise how emotionally invested I already am at this stage, I can only start to try and comprehend therefore why parents are rightly or wrongly so protective of their other halves and kids.

I already love the little blob of flesh and blood and can’t wait to hopefully meet them! Yes you can hopefully remind me that I said this when I’ve had no sleep for 12 months

12 months? Pshhh, try years.

 

[Devrij]

Nah don't remind me then, I don't do well on little sleep..

You'll be surprised. You just get on with it. The first month is pretty rough, and then it eases out eventually as they stop waking up for nighttime feeds. Then it gets rough again if you're unlucky like me, and once they're big enough to get out of bed and come wake you up it gets worse. I haven't got any further than that yet.

 

[Devrij]

Our 10 month old has been a stellar sleeper ever since we got past early feeding issues. Regularly does 6.30pm to 6.30am. I know toddlers can be awful getting up early (groclock armed and ready), but if he's this good until now are we past any unexpected worsening in sleeping performance?

I think it's different for everyone. Our girl was great sleeping through every night until about 9 months and that was that. She's getting better now though. She'll often pop in quietly, crawl into bed and go straight to sleep, but it's rare that she actually wakes up screaming these days. Now she has a big bed one of us just hops in her bed if she comes in.

 

[Devrij]

The other halfs mother gave our then 8 months old baby girl pepsi while I was in hospital... Rage doesn't even begin to describe how I felt especially considering the following the day the baby got a really bad stomach from it.

Yeah I'd have been equally angry.

Luckily my daughter has no interest in anything other than water and milk so no worries about trash drinks for the foreseeable.

Been away for a week and am now back with my little girl, and it's crazy how great it is to see her. Been playing with her for hours and now feel like I need another week off

 

[Devrij]

I must admit I wished I had one if those things during the nights I waited for the kettle to boil and then soaking the bottle in cold water to cool it back down, all while Riley cried upstairs.

That said, I think we may have broken the back of the late night awakenings (not that prepping bottles is a thing anymore). She was 3 yesterday and she hasn't come into us for a few days now, and it's getting rare that she does.

 

[Devrij]

All this chat about prepping bottles and boiling water to sterilise the powder... Am I the only muggins that pays extra for ready mixed formula? By some crude maths I did, it's about 80% more expensive than buying powdered, but 1000% more convenient. No boiling water, no tommy tippee machine taking up half the kitchen. We tried powders for a bit but the milk always looks a bit gammy and our son never really liked it as much. It also looked really dodge if put back in the fridge for a couple of hours. I know that's supposed to be a no-no in any situation, but we've always done that with premixed formula and never once had a problem.

We just sterilise the bottles using the plastic microwave sterilisers which are great.

We did a mix of both. But like anything you gotta have a bit of discipline otherwise you end up spending a fortune. We just used the premix for 3am emergencies

 

[Devrij]

Oi, this is dadsnet, not mumsnet. We should never aspire to be so organised.

Precisely why we need to unite against our other halves who are so easily guilt tripped into breaking the bank!

I'd be happy to update the OP with the consensus on "New dad essentials and things not to bother with"

 

[Devrij]

I've had singletons and then twins, you may think you'll know what you're doing but......nope.

"Soon settle down" *snigger* ahem

Date stamp on your post 10th April 2019

Lets revisit this post again in 6 months for an update

He's sort of half right. He'll soon settle into the state of insanity that will be his life for the next few years.

 

[Devrij]

In that case...

Don't bother with any fancy clothes or anything that is not essentially a grow for at least the first 6 months! The amount of lovely little outfits we were bought but never used is ridiculous and sad really. Trousers on babies are just a stupid idea. Vest + grow. Done!

Yeah, maybe one cute outfit for the first round of "we have a baby" outings, but that's it.