Harvey eats solids!

Harvey's First birthday was such an amazing day for us! As well as seeing all of our friends and family we were able to enjoy fun and exciting mealtimes!

Here is breakfast and Harvey is having his first taste of honey (no longer a forbidden food yay) on his toasted muffin. One piece was flung but the other was devoured. Pear has been his favourite breakfast food this week! I have left the on the side for ages and they are incredibly ripe...

Here is Harvey at his birthday teaparty eating many of his favorite foods. Prawn crackers are rare treat but strawberries were disappearing as if by magic.! I made banana and raisin sugar free muffins as well but they didn't really get a look in as his favourite foods were far too tempting. He did try some later on and ate a little bit. I gave him some sugar free jelly as well but was treated to a look of pure disgust as if to say 'That's not even food!' and he refused the rest so mummy enjoyed it!

He is walking around now leaving the furniture and taking steps to mummy, daddy or other furniture. It's such a pleasure to be a mummy and see all these milestones!

Daddy did some baking today - Cheese, broccoli and ham muffins! I tried one with trepedation and ended up eating another one. They are so yummy and good for you! Harvey didn't eat his but them he was getting very tired at that point and had recently snacked on breadsticks. We're definitely going to make them again!

We're extremely pleased with Harvey's eating and with how blw has worked for us. Next goals - dipping spoons and introducing forks!

H was ever so poorly with broncialitus. He started early in the week and by Thursday was suffering with a high temperature and struggling to breath. I didn't make an appointment with the GP having been told last time I felt he was chesty that I was being overly paranoid and that he was best being left to fight infections himself. Matt and I phoned NHS direct at 4am when H's temperature was 39.6 degrees and were immediately told to bring him to the out of hours GP at Hope Hospital. The GP diagnosed him with broncialitus and referred us straight to the PANDA unit (the children's A&E department at Salford Royal. It was a nice department and not too busy we were seen straight away. They got straight to giving H an inhaler and some Ibuprofen and then gave us our own room with a cot so I could give H some nebuliser and then he had two sessions of oxygen. The Russian nurse both told us off for being co-sleepers and praised us for BLW. She encouraged me to breastfeed him frequently and then told me off when he asked for a feed in the middle of his nebuliser. What was I suppose to do-leave him to cry? It broke my heart to see him so poorly. Luckily the medicine brought his temperature back to normal and I could see the oxygen in his blood was back up closer to 100% rather than in the 80's where it was when we went in.

It was a slow recovery. Nurses can daily and then every other day to our house to check his chest and oxygen. He ate nothing but breastmilk for three weeks after he was disagnosed which was exhausting for me as I was feeding him and also offering him healthy snacks so I would know when he felt like eating again. He now has his appetite back and is eating more than ever! It came back slowly with fruit being a hit initially but now anything and everything is happily being consumed with two snacks a day for good measure. Baby led weaning in its truest form- he chose not to eat while he was so poorly and instead dined on the goodness of mummys milk to recover from the illness. At 11 months, the nurses were all shocked that he was still breastfeeding. It's such a shame because it was so reassuring to know he was having all the water and food he needed from breastmilk.

Christmas was lovely as he ate meat, potatoes and veg like all of us. He is almost one year old and his eating is coming on leaps and bounds! Pincer grip is now mastered and perfected. Favorite foods are currently: yoghurt, raisins, baked beans, toast, pasta, breadsticks, clementines and bananas.

We're going to have a lovely baby led weaning style first birthday tea party. I am going to attempt to make Sugar free banana bread and he's also having raisins, breadsticks, mini philadelphia sandwiches, strawberries and clementines. For breakfast he is going to have porridge with honey!

Very very excited about the next year of food possibilities with my baby boy!

Harvey had a new skill! If I cut a piece of toast (or anything) into a soilder shape/ chip shape, he used to shove the whole piece in and sit there like a hamster until it either was chewed enough to swallow or he spat it out with impatience! Now he uses his pincer grip to rip the food into a smaller bitesize piece and puts it in bit by bit. He's really funny to watch.

Also I can no longer eat junk food without sharing it. Now he can crawl and stand up confidently, he sees me eating a biscuit or ice cream and is by my side before I blink twice! If I don't share he begins shouting at me! It does make me realise that if I don't want him to be eating something then I shouldn't be eating it myself. Although the odd treat doesn't harm anyone! Plus I still breastfeed loads so I deserve it! It's not as if I can wait until he's in bed as it's usually late, about five minutes before we collapse in bed. Although as a rare treat Harvey has been asleep in his room for about two hours now.

Food is for fun before one, we always remind ourselves of this when allowing Harvey to 'play' with his food.  Nowadays, the playing is more purposeful- he actually looks at what is on offer, carefully chooses what he would like to eat first and then eats it.  Less and less ends up on the floor.  Before if he was upset for whatever reason, putting him into the high chair was not what he wanted.  He wanted mummy's milk.  Over the past couple of weeks we have noticed a different pattern. 

On waking he will have a bf, just a small one and then after a while he gets whingy and we decide that it is breakfast time.  As soon as breakfast is served he becomes his normal usual self again.  He'll eat tons at breakfast it's the best meal of the day for him.  I usually offer him whatever I am having (toast or cheerios) as well as fruit.  He has wheeabix/porridge a couple of times a week also.  He's now super with loaded spoons. 





Lunch I don't notice any behaviour changes but if I am late with lunch or teatime for whatever reason (like today) he turns from his lovely usual self into a whingy monster until food is placed in front of him.  We think he is getting hungry for solids and whereas before a bf would satisfy him temporarily, now it doesn't.  I too get in a bad mood when hungry so I can totally understand where the little guy is coming from.  Meal times are going to have to be a bit more ridged from now on!

I find myself relaxing about what Harvey eats now as I know most of his food is healthy I don't feel guilty if we have to have a rare jar of curry or a fromage frais.  I suppose it's the same way I have relaxed about him drinking formula when I am away- the majority of what he drinks is lovely mummy milk and the forumla allows me to work or be out of an evening so it's really benefitting us.  My mum says Harvey takes forumla without any problems nowadays.  Yesterday evening Matt gave him some before bed and he drank about two ounces in about two minutes. 

I am so looking forward to a blw Christmas dinner with my family!

Harvey has never really had a problem picking up small pieces of food- cheerios, raisins, bluebrries etc however he would often drop them before getting them to his mouth since he was using his whole hand and that was quite clumsy.  Today at dinner time I would say he was definitely using the pincer grip to eat raisins.  One by one, straight into the mouth, while chewing pick up another one and before long the whole box was gone!  It took him a while but I'm really pleased we're now and this stage!  *runs off to record it in his red book!*

My computer has no Internet at the minute meaning I can't put up all the pictures I have taken over the past few weeks which is such a shame.  Hopefully I will be able to sort it out soon. 

We have seriously deviated away from our four weekly menu planner at the minute as we're having a few weeks of using up frozen bits and cupboard essentials.  I tend to buy meats on offer so there was plenty of mince and chicken to use up and also pastry.  It makes it tougher to figure out what to do for tea though as it's not written so I have creative freedom!

Harvey's eating is coming on in leaps and bounds daily.  He has recently clicked with spoons and whereas before he ate from loaded spoons as a product of him playing with them, he now aims the tip of the spoon at his mouth and licks off whatever is on it before reaching out for the next spoon.  The best loaded spoon foods are definitely yoghurt, Wheetabix/porridge and cottage pie or mash.  He eats loads more than he did before and seems to have loads of fun attempting it too! 

We've had a suction bowl for a while now but until yesterday I've always placed all his food on his tray.  Yesterday I was serving up penne carbonara and opened the cupboard to find a bowl for Harvey's to cool down in and saw that one.  I decided to give it a go.  As I expected, upon seeing the bowl on the highchair tray he attempted to pick it up.  When he couldn't budge it from the tray he reached inside the bowl and ate a piece of pasta instead.  I have to say he ate more pasta last night than ever before and that was probably because of the novelty of the bowl. Usually the pieces of pasta are pretty much ignored on the tray.  Although it was really soft pasta so he found it very easy to eat.  And when I was eating mine much much later after Matt was home, Harvey was still up and ended up eating more of it.  I think he might need some smaller pasta pieces as he has started stuffing the whole of it in his mouth and that leads to a lot of gagging.  This has started happening with many foods.  He just put the whole finger sized chunk in of kiwis, pasta, orange etc.  And that leads to a baby with a lot of food in his mouth and not quite sure how to handle it.  Bless him!

Harvey had his first trip to the dentist yesterday!  I didn't really like him and felt he rushed through my questions but he said it was ok to allow Harvey to independently 'brush' his teeth which is what we generally do.  He recommended sticking to milk/water and not giving juice which we do and then he said, 'all children have sweets and chocolate, there's not much you can do about that!'.  I still feel H is too young for sweets and chocolate.  He does have treats - he loves fruit, yoghurt and custard and he has been given the odd biscuit from nan (and whatever Ashley drops on the floor) but I feel that he'll have plenty of time to have regular chocolate and sweets when he's old enough to understand that it is a treat and not a daily ritual. 

For Halloween tomorrow I am going to make a pot of casserole and we will carve and look at the pumpkin. 

When I was pregnant I said our baby would always be put to sleep in his own cot.  I said we'd have a strict bedtime routine and he'd be a good sleeper.  Not sure why I assumed that I would have some control over his sleeping because I have to say, we have no control whatsoever. 

The first night he was born, he slept for a couple of hours in the awful plastic hospital crib much to my dismay.  I was far too excited to sleep.  I was on my phone texting and mobile interneting all night.  I was thrilled when he woke.  The second night Matt left us at 9pm.  I'd been breastfeeding Harvey for about an hour by this point and felt sure that when it got later I'd be able to place Harvey in the plastic crib and get some sleep myself.  The midwives about me reminded me several times to ensure I didn't fall asleep with him in bed with me and I was scared  as they said my breasts were so big I would be sure to suffocate him.  Every time he fell asleep I would very gently swaddle him, as they'd told me to do and place him in the crib where he would wake up and start searching for milk again.  I didn't have milk in at this point it was still thin colostrum and I was told by the midwives that he kept wanting to come back because he was hungry and the colostrum wasn't enough to fill him.  By four am I was tired and tearful and had been feeding my son for eight hours straight.  I felt like I was doing something wrong.  The midwives brought me a leaflet.  It had a lot of information about how to feed your baby and made it clear that breast milk was the best for my baby but also said there may be some times when formula may be needed.  She explained that my baby was simply trying to establish my milk flow and that it was very common.  She said that because my milk wasn't 'in' I could choose if I wanted to, to give a formula supplement to 'fill him up'.  I knew that once forumla touched my baby's lips I would feed like a failure at breastfeeding and so I decided to plod on. 

Each time he was fast asleep on the bed cuddling up to me and I would pick him up, attempt to put him in the crib and disturb him.  At 6am, I had been feeding for ten hours straight and I wrapped Harvey up in a blanket and went to the brightly lit midwives desk crying.  They thought something must be terribly wrong but all that was wrong was that I was tired and I was terrified of falling asleep and killing my baby.  One of them took pity on me, she took Harvey from me and told me to go and get more sleep.  I did, but only after I had her promise she would bring him to me for a feed if he was hungry. 

When I woke up perhaps an hour later, my baby was in the crib besides me, swaddled so tightly and fast asleep.  I fell back to sleep before at 8am I was asked if I wanted my bed making.  Sigh!  Harvey slept five hours but I couldn't as the ward came alive.  I was happy that he was getting rest though.  My nipples were getting extremely sore at this point and I was appreciative of the break from feeding.  Something felt wrong to me though and I just couldn't put my finger on it.  What was I doing wrong? 


The next night we managed to get Harvey to sleep and placed him in his crib at home now.  This time he did not stir and slept for two hours I believe before he woke us.  When he awoke, Matt brought him to bed and I fed him lying down.  I was relaxed and very sleepy and awoke some time later with Harvey cuddled up right to me.  I felt guilty at first and then I was really happy to have the cuddles and fresh scent of a newborn right there with me.  He fed several times through the night.  The next night a similar thing happened and the night after that.  It was a while before I could admit to anyone what was happening because I felt guilty and embarrased.  Everyone had warned me that when you bring a baby into bed with you it is a risk that you are taking.  But I have to say that even asleep, I felt very aware of Harvey's position in our bed.  He fed after a couple of seconds of fussing instead of full blown crying.  He seemed cosy and warm and I loved waking to his cooing in the morning. 

It is only recently when a friend gave me a book called 'Three in a bed' that I think I can now fully understand co sleeping and why it works for us.  Mothers who have not been smoking, drinking, taking drugs (prescribed or otherwise) or are seriously obese, have a natural instinct not to roll on their babies.  It is inbuilt.  The cot or crib has only been about since Victorian times.  Before then, everyone slept with their babies.  Babies have a natural instinct to cry if they awake and their mothers aren't there.  If you sleep with your baby it cries less as it's primary needs are usually being fulfilled.  In the hospital when I moved Harvey, he was searching for me again because his insinct was to be close to me.  Had I just allowed him to remain in my bed with me, I probably would have slept soundly while he fed all he wanted.  I am not going to harm him. 

Co sleeping has had much bad press lately and it is true, mothers who are not entirely themselves do risk their babies lives when they take them to bed.  But the research does show that mothers who are normal and healthy and take their babies to bed do not increase the risk of SIDS.  Harvey is nine months old now and apart from those two nights in the hospital, he has slept in our bed each night.  He doesn't have any trouble sleeping if we are in a different bed, so long as we are there with him.  He sleeps alone for naps in his trolley or car seat close by to me and in the early evening if he falls asleep I try to put him in his cot so he doesn't roll out of our bed before we're in it but at night when he wakes, we put him between us and feeding, he immediatly falls to sleep.  Not once have we rolled on him, although he's kicked and beaten us a few times!

Last Thursday I went back to work.  So far I have only done two shifts but I have to say it's going ok so far!  Harvey doesn't have any seperation anxiety issues and is left with nanna or daddy so he knows them both well anyway.  BLW going great, he puts away a lot of food and will try anything.  Last night we had a really successful homemade chinese two course meal.  Harvey tried duck for the first time and ate more duck than he's ever eaten of any other meat!  He also loved pancakes, cucumber, peppers and chicken from the stirfry.  We gave him some noodles which he picked up and threw off the side of his highchair.  He then watched them catch on the legs and swing for a while.  Such fun!  He's in the travel high chair at the min as I washed the covers from his usual one.  I do wipe it over after each meal but there came a point when it was too dirty to sit him in anymore.  The corners were looking manky so I just stripped it and bunged it all in the washing machine.  It came up pretty well and is now drying in the dining room.  I also mopped the floor beneath the high chair yesterday as certain foods seem to stick to it really well.  There was a raisin that was clinging to our laminate for dear life!  I put an old sheet beneath the high chair now to catch the food before it reaches the laminate floors!  I did intend on started doing this ages ago but we kept forgetting and it is generally quite easy to sweep up beneath the chair afterwards. 

Sleep is still very much an ongoing issue.  We think a tooth may be appearing sometime as baby is generally very dribbly and whingy at times.  He's not been crying with pain, just generally being unsettled at night.  Nap times usually go well.  I get him down for a nap approximately two hours after he wakes in the morning (usually about 10am) and he sleeps for about an hour.  Then about two - three hours after he wakes I put him down for another nap and he sleeps for about 2 hours.  It's great as I have time to prepare his tea and clean the kitchen during this time.  When I say put him down, I mean lie him back in his buggy and rock him.  After a few minutes he is fast asleep and barely stirs.  The No Cry Sleep Solution says to do whatever you have to do to encourage better napping so this is what I do. 

In the evening after his bath, we go into his nursery, the lullabies are playing and the lamp is on.  He is dressed and then fed and he falls asleep feeding.  I try to remove the feed before he falls asleep but he doesn't really let me until he is fully asleep.  I then put him down in his cot.  The problem is that he then wakes about half an hour later and then again two hours later.  I know it's because he went to sleep in my arms and then woke up in a cot but I don't want to do CC so I can't see any other way.  He comes into bed with us anytime after he has fallen asleep and feeds throughout the night in his dreams.  It's ok so long as he doesn't wake up fully and sit up and start wanting to play!  It's at these times that mummy and daddy, bleary eyed and croaky voiced will do anything to get Harvey back to sleep!  It's 3am and he thinks it's playtime, we know the best thing for him is to be asleep so I feed him or daddy rocks him or both until hes sound asleep.  It's been like this for about 3 weeks now on and off and we're exhausted!  It doesn't help that his cold of three weeks hasn't fully dried up yet and most days he sounds very chesty.  Last night was the best night we've had in a long time and he's been asleep for an hour now in his own cot so fingers crossed for a better night tonight!

Harvey's off colour today he has been breastfeeding loads more than usual and brought whole feeds back up twice!  Last night was a bad sleep night for all three of us.  It could be teething, it could be growing...hmmm not sure.  Not too worried about him as after his bath he happily was a little bit sick and then had more breastmilk before falling asleep and is now in his cot wrapped in a gro bag and peacefully sleeping.  He has also eaten cheerios, shreddies, apple pieces, orange pieces, banana, cucumber, cheese, bread, toast, philladelphia, pear, roasted red pepper, garlic bread, pasta and mince and sauce from loaded spoons.  I don't think the food has anything to do with him bringing up milk.  No worries with his appetite!  I restrict Harvey's bread intake to approximately 2 slices per day as bread is a salty product but I get the feeling as he gets older he is not going to like this as half a piece of toast already disappears in no time!

Still not sure when I am going to be working.  Looks like it might be next week now.  Yippee!....or should I say....what a shame!