Tiny Turtle Hatchlings

[Rhodonite]

Look at them both! They look like trouble!

We had no pulling up until she was 11 months I think, and she’s still in that stage although I do wonder how much faster clever Conchie will do it with someone to copy!

I know it's probably inevitable with J around, but I don't want him to grow up too quickly! It's making me sad how fast it's going!

That's great news about the sleep! We've had some awful nights here, but he's pretty grizzly during the day too, so I think it's just teeth related. Doesn't help that I forget to give him Calpol, so he's probably in pain the poor thing. Must try him on some tonight.

[Leap]

Hop won’t take it on a spoon so we still have to syringe it in and it’s a horribly upsetting ordeal for all of us so we only do it when absolutely desperate, like the other night when she woke up with a temp. I do know most people just give it at that one but the letter and then the nurse confirmed for third immunisations calpol should/needs only be given if a fever develops, so we hoped for the best and in the end only had to do that one dose.

[bramblerose]

Pov! They both look so much like A

[Princess Morripov]

Pov! They both look so much like A

His genes are strong, it’s so unfair nothing of me, no worries, I only cooked them I still remember my dad saying that Tupac did look a bit like me and my mum shutting him down “Don’t be ridiculous Peter, he’s the absolute double of A” thanks Mum

[Kenickie]

They are both so lovely and so grown up!

Tim has two teeth now but Topsy still has nothing, despite showing all the signs for about a million years now. Neither of mine are showing any interest in standing and can only crawl backwards at the moment. I'm not really looking forward to them being properly mobile as them happily sitting is a very nice stage so I'm hoping it lasts for months/years.

I'm very pleased for Hop's better sleep! You must feel so much better, Leap, and it's great timing with going back to work.

[Kenickie]

Both of mine hate Calpol so I only give it for really high temperatures. They seem to tolerate the sugar version a bit better, which I'm not surprised about as the sugar free one is vile.

[Kenickie]

I didn't walk until was 18 months and was a really lazy baby so I'm hoping they have my genes. ;)

[Kenickie]

How is everyone doing?

Paris, how are the early days/weeks going?

Mine are ten months now. How much interacting should I be doing with them? If they're happily playing with toys in their own for a bit I should just be thankful, right, or should I be constantly talking to them or joining in with their playing?

I read a thread elsewhere which was talking about how awful playpens are and how leaving babies in there for more than about five minutes is really neglectful. Mine are in their playpen for much of the day. it is a big one (see picture, and I tidy it up reach day and rotate the toys to stop them being bored), and sometimes I do get in there with them, and there's other times where we have stories or do a music class together where I'm totally focused on them and obviously if they're in there and start crying or whatever I don't ignore them and if I'm sitting outside I'll still chat to them every so often or wave etc. I was assuming that it's good for them to be playing independently but now I'm questioning myself.

[Cerise]

You just need a balance, Ken, and it sounds like you’ve got it. You take them out too and that’s more like a room than a playpen anyway!

[Loralei]

You're definitely doing it right, Ken. T&T have lots of stimulation but also the opportunity to explore their world themselves. Personally I don't hold with constant stimulation as it must be exhausting; don't forget that just taking in all those colours and shapes is working their little brains. Make the most of every opportunity where they are happily occupied without you; it's good for them to be able to entertain themselves and it's good for you to re-charge so you can engage better when you are doing activities with them.

[Kenickie]

Thanks, that makes me feel better. It was a load of people saying they'd only use a playpen if they absolutely had to dash to the toilet for a couple of minutes but wouldn't leave a child in one, and it really made me think twice. It hadn't occurred to me to worry about it before!

That list is interesting, Beatrix. They have no gross motor skills on there yet but are definitely excellent finders of hidden stuff, particularly if it's a phone or remote or something else forbidden. ;)

[baargain]

I want to live in that playpen

knowing that you go away, but always come back is a good thing.

[Loralei]

Playpens are one of those things that some people have really strong opinions about but, like most things, it's about how you use them. I am sure that our parents' generation did pop us in them for hours, we were the benign neglect generation but objecting to using them to safely contain your baby while they are happy is madness, and a sign of a martyr complex, imo. I don't know if tv still gets the same treatment but I remember so many people banging on about "not using the tv as a babysitter," when I first became a parent, which I thought was ridiculous: that's EXACTLY why I need tv! Why would they be watching it when I have time/energy to entertain them myself? Surely it's most useful function is when I need to nip to the loo/pop a wash on/stare into space with exhaustion? (And I'm absolutely certain my children's broad vocabulary and knowledge of stuff I know nothing about is 75% down to CBeebies.)

[Leap]

God those painfully worthy people are JUST the types to post all over a thread like that and silence the normal ones. My measure for how long to leave P entertaining herself is how long she can do it without complaining After a pleasant week or two in the playpen she suddenly hated it, would shout and press herself up against it in outrage, but I bet if she had a sibling in there with her or if we’d rotated the toys more she would’ve been fine. Ditto if C wasn’t home, I would’ve spent more time trying to get her to cope with it because if it’s a choice between playpen and eg having a shower that day, I would choose a shower for my sanity every time.

In the house the main Hop entertainment is just one of us ‘playing’ with her in her room, but that’s a loose definition because I will absolutely encourage her to play by herself because I think it is really important for her development, independence, fine motor skills and most of all the opportunity for me to drink coffee and zombie-scroll my phone in peace whenever possible

[Rhodonite]

My measure for how long to leave P entertaining herself is how long she can do it without complaining

Absolutely this! Unfortunately R complains much more quickly than he used to. He'd rather be free to roam the house.

Your playpen looks really nice. R looks like he's standing in a tiny jail in ours!

[Princess Morripov]

Your plastic tatt zone looks so lovely. We have a big hexagonal one for outside but generally don’t enclose him inside as there’s no need at the moment as we are both always here

I definitely have let them both just entertain themselves until they have had enough, it’s the only way to get stuff done . I remember with Tupac it was ace when he could sit (but not move) as I would just put him on the rug in the living room surrounded by plastic and he’d sit there for ages Biggie decided to learn to crawl before he could sit up so I got cheated out of that this time

We have a travel cot in the kitchen that we put in front of the TV and Tupac still loves sitting in there. We call it The Prison

[Kenickie]

I think a lot of people are definitely still against TV. I remember that my antenatal teacher went on a weird rant about it and the other parents nodded sagely whilst I just thought she was being ridiculous. They actually watch a lot less TV now than they did a few months ago as they can play more so don't need it so much, although we do online music or sensory class stuff where they are often a bit entranced by the screen. I'm looking forward to the time when they can actually enjoy programmes properly and might make them watch all my childhood favourites. ;)

Developing the skill to entertain themselves whilst an adult scrolls through their phone is an important lifeskill, surely. I don't know why it's not on that list. ;)

Plastic tat zone. I definitely think sitting but not moving is the best stage. Even though we're both around a lot at the moment it's so much easier to enclose them rather than try and keep redirecting them away from wires etc.

Does anyone have any tips for doing nails? I used to do them while they were asleep when they napped on a person, but now their naps are all in the car, pushchair or the cot in the dark. Having them watch a bit of telly also used to get them to sit still enough but they're just too wriggly now. I've tried filing them at night when they fall asleep after a feed but when it's dark I'm not very good at not making them uneven which means they get jagged again really quickly and then they scratch themselves.

And how are all the other lovely turtle babies? I hope baby Paris is still doing well.

[Leap]

My current method for nails is chucking her a normally forbidden object on one side and then going as fast as I can on the other before the novelty wears off, but it still involves baby wrestling (a tragically overlooked sport) and a lot of frustration. It helps that I’m a lot more confident now that I won’t hurt her with them as it was even more of a disaster in the past when I was certain one slip would chop off the tip of a finger

Everything is good here, she’s at a really lovely stage and so happy and determined to figure things out. She now understands certain things like ‘take off your socks’ and ‘Where’s the bunny’s nose?’, and along with Mama and Dada, we have banana which I only realised when I was doing my make up one day while she played on the floor and she suddenly said ‘Ba-NA-na’ - a normal set of sounds for her, until I saw she was holding the toy inflatable one It turned out not to be a fluke although she sticks with ‘nana’ now when asked what it is.

Being back at work is also going really well. She has settled really well into the routine, loves being with the grandparents and it’s lifted any worries about needing to be there to be in control of everything 4 weeks before my return date she was still feeding every 3 hours with no end in sight, but I slowly tested dropping one after the other, and she now feeds only at bedtime and wake ups which also obviously makes whole days in the office no issue for me or her.

In hindsight I think I could’ve dropped sooner but was too worried that no milk = no nap and I wasn’t willing to take the gamble. I actually think she could go without the bedtime feed too, but I’m not ready for that just yet. Wake ups haven’t changed much unfortunately, we’re back to around 4-5 hourly ones which isn’t too bad but not great, obvs. Usually it’s 11 / 3 / 7:30 which is best case scenario, whereas I’m awake now as she woke at 5 which is rubbish as not much of a sleep window now before we get up at 7:30 (great that she goes back to sleep though of course, I know 5 is the start of some people’s days!).

[Princess Morripov]

I have never done nails as I deemed it a Dad job from day 1

I think the TV does help with their vocabulary and I don’t think it zombie-fies in the same way that an iPad does, which is banned in our house (apart from for flights and restaurants, so ). We do try and turn it off between 9-4pm but I’m not particularly precious about it.

[cluefree]

Pete watches shitloads of TV. I can’t make myself get overly upset about it. We do as much with her as we can but sometimes stuff needs doing while she’s otherwise occupied.