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Thats the stuff VS13. I nearly lost my drink when I read your Green Goblin comment:D.
Gok have you done the research into cloth nappies? The saving is quite phenomanal. I was all for disposables until I researched and found out the savings. It's all up to choice but when someone has a hobby such as ours any saving is a good saving because it means more money for TF's:D
Finally got to take mum and bub home last night! We were meant to come home on Friday, but got held up an extra day due to jaundice, but it cleared up by Saturday morning - but we got held up for another 9 hours due to hospital bureaucracy. :mad:
I mentioned cloth nappies to my wife last night during a nappy change and she was like, "Do you want to wash them?" :p I see what you mean though - sometimes when I throw out a nappy due to just a bit of pee-pee or discharge where there's no poo it feels like a waste. I kinda wish she'd actually do a poo just to get our money's worth for each nappy!
I think right now we're kinda too tired and a bit overwhelmed as first time parents where we're just gonna go with the convenience factor, but maybe later on when things get easier with practice we'll revise cheaper options like cloth nappies. :)
^most convincing argument for me! :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Bartrim
Now that is devotion!Quote:
It's all up to choice but when someone has a hobby such as ours any saving is a good saving because it means more money for TF's
I think we found as we had more kids there was a time factor (takes time to clean wash and dry the nappies) which led us to move to disposables. I was thinking about this topic last night and i think we stopped with the velcro tabbed cloth nappies because the little guy would get chaffed if you didnt get to him quick enough when he did a wee. If i recall they dont hold the mess in as well as disposables which can lead to soiling of the outer clothing. Its not a big deal but i guess its up to the individual. I guess if bubs grows quick too you may be left with a lot of nappys you cant use because they dont fit him. Im sure though if you do the sums you would still come out on top! Which brings me back to Bartrims quote...
Oh and dont forget there is a very good reason to go cloth nappies from an environmental perspective- to reduce this stuff from going into landfill and/or the water table
Which can be a blessing for others! On Saturday some friends came over and gave me a box load of leftover newborn size disposable nappies! ;) My dad called this morning telling me that Babies R Us are having a sale on nappies, and my wife looked at me saying that we really don't need any new nappies. We've also been stockpiling on nappies too during the pregnancy - so yeah, we're currently up to our necks in disposables for newborn. We might have to give some excess away to the next person who has a bub. :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Vector_Sigma_13
Baby's been drinking nothing but breast milk since she was born, but now you-know-who is getting sore you-know-where. So I bought an electric pump yesterday but it pumps really slow (unless we crank up the juice, but then it's really painful and even draws blood) - so today I bought formula. We kinda feel guilty about it because we do feel that breast is best... but I think that there are just some times when you gotta use bottle. For us it's until the you-know-whats can recover. It's purely a supplement to breastmilk... we do still prefer to feed breastmilk, but we're finding that formula comes as a handy backup.
Look at me justifying this... can you tell how guilt-ridden I am over this? :(
Yes it's true cloth nappies aren't as good as holding the waste as they don't have gutters you can counter that by using pilchers. Of course sometimes even disposables don't hold everything in sometimes. We actually are quite fortunate as our baby got into a habit of pooping at night. This of course didn't happen every night but it happened about 95% of the time so we used disposables of a night time. It worked out really well for us:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Vector Sigma 13
Before bub was born, changing nappies was one thing I was really dreading about being a parent. But I gotta say that changing your own baby's nappies really isn't that bad, and in a way... it's kinda fun! I also started bottle-feeding for the first time. Heh, it's funny - each time I do these seemingly mundane tasks, they're kinda exciting (I guess cos it's all new and novel right now), and I can see that I'm really not good at doing it, but at the same time I can feel myself - intentionally sounding nerdy now - gaining experience points! Every time I change a nappy I feel like there's text running up saying, "You have successfully changed her nappy. You gain 3 experience points and 0 gold. There is a door to the east." ;) Pretty soon I'll hit level 2 and I can finally stop dungeon-crawling! <nerdish.snort.laugh> :D
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime
Its all part of the fun Gok!
You think your having fun now- wait to they crawl/walk and talk and get little personalities! These are very enjoyable and satisfying milestones for you to reach with your kids. I always found the little babies a bit dull, lol- they spend most of their time sleeping or eating.:)
When they start talking its great... until they learn to say NO!:eek:
Question- Do your children use pacifiers (dummies)? Our kids have had mixed experiences with them. They are often reluctant to say goodbye to them when the time comes. Some of the hissy fits our current "little" guy has had over us taking it off him have been unbelievable.:confused:
No dummy use yet. Have been thinking about it though, but my wife's been worried about it becoming an addiction. :/ After reading your story I'm beginning to have second thoughts about introducing dummies for mine. Eep!
I'm enjoying bottle-feeding. It allows me to have a chance at feeding my girl. :)
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22..._20090608a.jpg
I'm a complete noob compared to my wife when she breastfeeds though - hence why I've attached a bib onto Yuki there cos there's occasional spillages. :p In this shot I'm feeding her breastmilk, but other times I've fed her formula too. <<guilt>>
Hey Bartrim, I vaguely recall you mentioning that your kid understands some Italian? (that was you right?) - how's that working out for you? Two friends of mine had a baby nearly a year ago, and I convinced them to raise their bub trilingually using the "une-personne, une langue" ('one person one language') method. They've stuck to it, and so far their boy who's coming up to his first birthday is able to understand his parents in English, Tagalog and Japanese. ;) My wife and I have started doing the same thing with our bub too (we intentionally gave Yuki a trilingually compatible name for this purpose), although my mother-in-law is throwing a fourth language into the works! :D
Time to get the kids a salt lick!Quote:
Originally Posted by TheDirtyDigger
Iodine, calcium, iron, all are minerals/vitamins that kids seem to be deficient in these days, hell we'd all be fluoride deficient if it wasn't in the water...
We didn't start with the Italian until Marcus started speaking We did have a few hurdles (for instance he thought uno came after ten for a while:D) but (again parental brag here) doctors have told us that Marcus' vocab, comprehension and memory is way above what it should be for a 2 and a half year old so we really haven't had too much confusion with the language thing.
Oh VS13 on the whole "no" thing all I can say is QFTx10000000000000000:D
I love how springah actually says "affirmative" and "negative" in real life instead of "yes" and "no." :D
When Yuki was still in hospital, staff used alcohol wipes to clean her belly button after the umbilical stumpfellrotted off (eww). They gave us some sodium chloride to use when we went home, but since that's run out I bought some Isocol rubbing alcohol from the supermarket and have been using that with cotton balls to continue cleaning her belly button. I spoke to a colleague of mine who's an ex-nurse who said that was fine. My colleague also recommended using saline solution (the kind you use to clean contact lenses with) - but I'm just sticking with the Isocol for now.
I'm curious to know how others have dealt with cleaning the post-umbie belly button.
OMG, just found out Gok has a baby! I can hear the Hasbro executives rejoicing now...seriously, congrats dude.:) Don't guilt out over the milk thing, you have to consider your and her needs as well as the bub's (not that I'm a parent or anything, God forbid, but you two still have to exist somewhere too). Key words = as well as.The baby bonus = worst idea ever. I don't want people who think $6000 for a baby is a good deal having babies - I can fill my own petrol tank thanks.:rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by kup
For those with older kids struggling with the birds and the bees, the best 'sex talk' I ever heard came from a father of 3 and went along the lines of "Don't get knocked up, and don't catch anything."...:D
Hey Gok belated congrats on your new family member.
After occasionally looking at this thread I'm gonna add my bit; 16 Months of full time Fathering under my belt. :D
Nappies - Cloth nappies are the way to go. Yes you will have to clean them, but its not a big deal. After the few different brands we've tried these are the best. After 16 Months of continually use, the 18 we bought are just now showing wear. That only being the elastic in the leg which is easily replaceable with a little sewing know-how. That is only 18 nappies; I'd recommend 24 minimum.
Dummy/Pacifier - Stay away if you can. If you have to go for one this is recommended. My son never had one. If your bub is crying/whingey there is a reason. Try and find it and resolve it.
Milk/Formula - I'm glad to hear your both keen on having bub breastfed, it is the best. There will be time when its really difficult for your partner, but with most difficult things baby they pass quickly.
Umbilical residue - Make sure nappies stay away from that area. The rubbing can make it become unclean. Like all healing wounds open air and kept dry is the best. Warm water and cloth should be all you need to clean.
We had our son here at home. Water birth. We are actually what you'd call modern hippies. I'm a bit of a hypocrite being a Transformer collector though.:D
Thanks for the congrats and tips Firecracker!
We had Yuki in hospital, and I'm personally really glad. The hospital staff were absolutely invaluable, especially showing the ropes to total noobs like us. :D I also met another father-to-be at the birthing unit who was wearing a shirt with a Decepticon insignia; I of course was covered all over in TF paraphenalia as usual (;p), so I struck up a short conversation with him. :) But there were downsides to being in hospital too such as restricted visiting hours (even though fathers have extended hours, they're still limited), other babies crying (although it was nice talking to other parents), people smoking on hospital grounds* even though they're not supposed to (ggrrrrr!), hospital buraeucracy (gah!) and of course, the bogan teen parents from post #63. ;)
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*In Japan it's worse... people smoke inside hospital buildings. There's a smoking room, but the door's open so the ciggie smoke just wafts all over the inside of the hospital! :mad:
Hey Gok, good to hear that Yuki is doing well...
not sure if everyone (that has had kids) can agree, formula tends to produce heatiness and more solid poops... so make sure you give a dose of water after feeding.
breastmilk-fed babies tends to recover from illness quicker because of all the nutrients.
manual breast pumps tends to be easier on the -you-know-what- as you have more control, so less soreness. Try Avent brand, uses the same bottle for feeding as for pumping
The novelty of nappy-changing is starting to wear out on me now and is beginning to feel like a chore. What can I do to bring back the romance to nappy changing?
Best suggestion I've had so far from a co-worker: do it less often. ;)
We used Avent when we expressed. My wife found them the best. We had to resort to bottle feeding unfortunately when my wifes milk supply dried up due to the stupid effing early childhood nurses not diagnosing my sons reflux. :mad: Also bottle fed baby poop stinks ALOT worse then breast fed baby poopQuote:
Originally Posted by Saintly
I wonder how many possible future fathers we are discouraging with our discussion:D
Maybe you should start a Tour that goes to High Schools to scare the bejesus outta High School kids... :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Bartrim
Also, if you start giving your little one formula, for the love of God don't taste-test it. I would rather drink puddle water in a back alley of a XXX theatre than drink baby formula. But i guess it's full of goodness so it musn't be that bad. Luckily their taste buds haven't fully developed yet other wise they'd be spitting it back in your face.;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Bartrim
When I was in school I never saw that childbirth video. They always showed it when I was away. But I would always remember the next day all the other kids would be freaked out and all the girls were saying that they never want to have babies. I now know why they felt that way. :p
yeah i couldn't remember what it smell like with Tim & Marcus got to drink breast-milk for 20 months, then hop straight to luke-warm fresh milk. Before the fresh milk, marcus hated the formula & rejected it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bartrim
i believe "Elevit" tablets help with the breast-milk production& the growth, so much so that mrs saintly is always expressing & putting it into milk bags then put them into the cold freezer.
if you need to feed the milk, always use the bottle warmer & not the microwave.
I test-tasted some formula milk, wasn't that bad. Wasn't that good either. What I find worse is baby food. I was doing my post-grad study at uni when my wisdom teeth came out, so being unable to eat any solids I subsisted on baby food. Weird, I remember loving Heinz baby food when I was an infant, but when I had it again as an adult it was FOUL. I had to douse it with salt just to make it palatable! At first I thought that Heinz must've changed their recipe in some majorly horrid way, but after thinking about it I realised that it's more likely because my taste buds have changed. :pQuote:
Originally Posted by shokwave2
Yeah, I'm avert to using the microwave with anything to do with the baby. I bought a steam-steriliser instead of a microwave one which would've been a lot cheaper. We usually use either the bottle warmer (which I find is really slow) or pouring hot water over the bottle. We seldomly use bottles anyway - at this stage Yuki is primarily feeding straight from the breast.Quote:
Originally Posted by Saintly
You guys tried Farax? Ugh. Had a swig of farax mixed with Nesquick that was intended for a kid, wrong mug at the wrong time, bloody hell...
Start doing EXTREME nappy changingQuote:
Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime
I used to love the taste of the choc custard and banana custard baby foods. My wife would have to buy double the amount of cans just so me or the baby wouldn't miss out at meal time.:D I think i even took some to work oneday to have as an after dinner suprise.Quote:
Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime
lol! :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Golden Phoenix
Okay I just gotta throw in a recommendation for those who might actually like to introduce something other than TF's to their kids.
Yeah yeah, i'm a heathen, deal with it. :p
Balsa Wood Airplanes.
Got one from the hobby shop for $4. Nephew and I have had heaps of fun with it, but it is balsa wood so it eventually succumbed to the repeated crash landings.
But for $4 they're cheap and great fun, and you get to teach them how the winds work and everything.
No need for heresy - you can combine both passions with Masterpiece Jetfire! :)
pfffffft! That's far too elaborate! It has wheels!
99% of the fun with balsa wood planes is smashing them into things to break them!
The other 1% is trying to get them to smash into the back of my sister's head so my nephew can really laugh at his mother. :p
Quote:
Originally Posted by Burn
I used to love the foam planes of a similar style, cost about $1.00. Lasted about 7.5 seconds.
Ok guys- we are just about to head to the hospital for bubs no 4. Here we go again...
Wish us luck!
Good Luck! http://sango2.hp.infoseek.co.jp/cara/4_kamazi.jpg :)
I've decided to change Yuki's "TF name" from Time Warrior to Yukikaze. Her function shall be 'Time Warrior.' ;)
Well guys, i have a new little boy in our ranks. He is healthy and liveley. The delivery was very much a text book case. His name is Jett.
Now im going to bed....
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...atverynice.jpg Congrats! :)
So perhaps his TF name should be Jettfire? ;) :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Vector Sigma 13
All bar our eldest has a story behind one of their names- Jetfire may have something to do with it!Quote:
Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime
My partner and the little guy should be home tomorrow so that should be interesting!
Congrats Dude!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Vector Sigma 13
Congrats on number 4!!
I wanted to name my son Jett, but i ended up with 2 girls and Jettalina doesn't sound that good.
I want to publicly advise that i will no longer be having anymore children! Lol.:eek:
It was like WW3 here today and Jett is yet to come home. I think a good word of advice is to space you kids out a little further than we did- Eldest is 5.5 yr,s youngest nearly two days now.:confused: