Pregnancy And Parenting

[Shuggie_Murray7]

Re: girls v boys - they're all different. My son was/can still be a bit of a nightmare. But my daughter was an absolute breeze. They're just completely different personalities, nothing to do with gender, IMO.

Agree. Some children are difficult. Some are not. Gender is irrelevant.

[RH33]

I never got to that stage

It's a stressful time. I never went to any parenthood classes, I asked a midwife and she said if you knwo how to change a nappy and not to kick the baby across the room there isn't much point going.

And I have one piece of advice for expectant mums.

Take the epidural

Never did have another epidural!

But this little man is starting school tomorrow! He'll be 6 in September. Never did I think back then that I'd have seen Ross County beat Celtic to make the final of the scottish cup or play SPL football!

[Reina]

Never did have another epidural!

But this little man is starting school tomorrow! He'll be 6 in September. Never did I think back then that I'd have seen Ross County beat Celtic to make the final of the scottish cup or play SPL football!

We've another week yet. My wee dude was 5 last week. Scary!

[scottsdad]

I was 10lb 1oz. WHen my wife was pregnant, my mum told her all the stories of my Uncle John who apparently was 15lb and made the papers in 1940. Had it been my dad talking I would have put it down as a wind up, but mum isn't like that. No idea if it was true or not.

My boy was just 6lb 15oz. Tiddler.

[HEED]

My little one just gave me his first full on smile just short of him being 6 weeks, to say it was heart melting would be an understatement!

Anyways, we are putting him down at night, about 8ish after a big feed, he is sleeping through to about 1/2ish, then has another big feed and goes down about 3/4 ish but then will only sleep for about another hour after his nightime feed, he tends to be really restless after the feed. Any ideas on how to make his sleep after his nightime feed last another couple of hours.

He only sleeps about 5/6 hours during the day, so I thought he would be shattered at night, especially after feeding.

[HighlandSaint]

I started this thread under another name, before I moved, 5 years ago.

Tomorrow is the reason i started this threads first day of school!

Amazing stuff, feel very proud but it will be a hard day as my wife is In Afghan til November.

[Shuggie_Murray7]

Madi had her first day of nursery. Mental.

[Mallo_Madrid]

Madi had her first day of nursery. Mental.

Zak starts tomorrow. Although he's been going in twice a week for over a year, but that was paid for.

[lightscamera]

There will be one very proud dad today as Phoebe starts Primary 1, should have been last week but there's obviously a bunch of idiots running Dundee council who can't count up a 6 week holiday properly...

Edited August 20, 2014 by lightscamera

[Raithie]

Our wee one, who is 2 and a half, has been referred to an Autistic specialist. There's certainly traits he's shown that are different from his peers. He seems hyper sensitive to a lot of things and whenever he gets excited he constantly starts to flap his arms. He goes to a Mummy and Toddler class every week and seemed quite reserved from everyone else and would rather sit and keep himself to himself. He's had an abundance of toys since he was born, most of which have had to be sold as he doesn't play with them, and would much rather sit and line everything up in order of size than actually 'play' with them. He's still a happy, bubbly chatty wee boy and as long as he is happy that is the main. When speaking to the Pediatrician specialist he said if he is Autistic it could just be very mild but would refer us on for piece of mind. I work full time and my other half is a stay at home Mum. We had this gut feeling that when the time came for him to go to school nursery that he wouldn't settle so decided to enrol him into a private nursery a couple of days a week to see how he got on. We felt this would also help him socialise better with other kids and prepare him for when the time comes to be left without us more regularly throughout the week. Thank feck we've done this as our fears came true as he just doesn't like being left on his own. Need to persevere though and hopefully over time he'll start to realise that he's not being abandoned and that we'll be coming back for him. Costing us a fortune but can understand why as he doesn't technically 'need' to go to private nursery at the moment with my other half being available throughout the day to look after him. God forbid she was working as we'd be getting phone calls left and right asking us to pick him up due to him not settling. He's not long had his 2 year check up (only about 6 months late I might add) and we were told his fine motor skills and intelligence levels are incredible for someone of his age yet his gross motor skills are slightly behind. Just need to keep an eye on things but if he's happy we're happy.

[Lisa Cuddy]

Our five year old was diagnosed with Asperger's just about this time last year. To be honest, it was just a confirmation of what we'd already guessed and it didn't really come as a shock in the end. We'd noticed a few traits, as had his nursery, and the more we looked into Autism/Asperger's, the clearer it became. The thing with Asperger's is that it's those traits which make up the most notable parts of his personality. He wouldn't be him without it. Funnily enough, the only person that asked "are you ok?" when they heard about his diagnosis was his teacher - not his grandparents, not the doctor or health visitor that dealt with him, not the paediatrician that diagnosed him - but by that point, we actually were ok. It wasn't a devastating thing, it just explained everything.

The only real trouble we've had with it is that, this summer, I've had to take time out of uni to stay at home with Charlie as he's not coped very well with the summer holidays. His behaviour's been awful and it's most likely down to the total change in his routine. At school, he had a timetable that his teacher used so that he knew what he was doing and when so being off for six weeks really threw him out and he's been a nightmare to deal with - cheeky, aggressive and violent at times. While I was on placement, childcare was divided between me when I was off and his Grandad while I was working. It's not really fair to expect a 60 year old man who's meant to be enjoying his retirement to manage that kind of behaviour and at least if I was home, he knew that he was going to be with me every day. I tried taking him on days out to different places, Blair Drummond and The Kelpies and that kind of thing, but that was actually making him worse because it was different all the time and he still had no idea what was happening each day. So, I've taken the summer off and I'm just wating to go back. It does mean I won't graduate this year because I won't finish my course until January now, which also means I can't work as a nurse until then. It's a bit of a disappointment but, as Raithie says, all that really matters is that he's happy.

[Raithie]

Our five year old was diagnosed with Asperger's just about this time last year. To be honest, it was just a confirmation of what we'd already guessed and it didn't really come as a shock in the end. We'd noticed a few traits, as had his nursery, and the more we looked into Autism/Asperger's, the clearer it became. The thing with Asperger's is that it's those traits which make up the most notable parts of his personality. He wouldn't be him without it. Funnily enough, the only person that asked "are you ok?" when they heard about his diagnosis was his teacher - not his grandparents, not the doctor or health visitor that dealt with him, not the paediatrician that diagnosed him - but by that point, we actually were ok. It wasn't a devastating thing, it just explained everything.

Spot on and that's exactly how we feel as well. I couldn't imagine my little boy any other way. How was your wee one at the 2 and half age behaviour wise? was it a case of the older and more aware he got you'd start to see changes in his behaviour? Touch wood our wee ones behaviour is fine minus the odd tantrum but he's also got his own wee routines that he likes to follow. It can sometimes be small trivial things eg he likes to play football in the house (I know a bad habit but thankfully it's just a soft wee ball) and he might kick it off the sofa but to him it means he MUST do this and if it doesn't pay off he'll get frustrated. I know that sounds more like OCD trait but there's other things we've noticed as well such as him repeating himself constantly until we repeat it back to him and most recently at his gran and grandads when he's out in the back garden playing with a ball. He has to constantly follow a strict regime of where the ball is rolled/kicked and where we all have to stand when he's doing this. If anything is out of order he'll have a wee girn to himself but it's usually over and done with fairly quickly.

[Lisa Cuddy]

Spot on and that's exactly how we feel as well. I couldn't imagine my little boy any other way. How was your wee one at the 2 and half age behaviour wise? was it a case of the older and more aware he got you'd start to see changes in his behaviour? Touch wood our wee ones behaviour is fine minus the odd tantrum but he's also got his own wee routines that he likes to follow. It can sometimes be small trivial things eg he likes to play football in the house (I know a bad habit but thankfully it's just a soft wee ball) and he might kick it off the sofa but to him it means he MUST do this and if it doesn't pay off he'll get frustrated. I know that sounds more like OCD trait but there's other things we've noticed as well such as him repeating himself constantly until we repeat it back to him and most recently at his gran and grandads when he's out in the back garden playing with a ball. He has to constantly follow a strict regime of where the ball is rolled/kicked and where we all have to stand when he's doing this. If anything is out of order he'll have a wee girn to himself but it's usually over and done with fairly quickly.

Erm, almost exactly like your little one! He constantly repeated sentences until you repeat and respond. He's always had to have things a certain way and would have a tantrum if it wasn't exactly as he wanted it. At that age, he could also read fairly well. I got him a set of "learn to read" type books and he was reading the age 3-4 level books. I was expecting our youngest at about that time too and we'd introduced the idea of potty training but he wasn't remotely interested. Around 2 months before the baby came along we decided to just leave it and wait again until the baby was a couple of months old but then one day he took the potty out of the bathroom and told us he wanted to use it. We didn't even have to try with him really, he just took almost immediately to it because he was the one that had decided he wanted to do it.

Something he's never been able to do it sit still. He wasn't allowed to go to the panto with the nursery as they didn't think he'd have behaved himself. My mother in law took a bit of offence at this and decided to take him herself. They left after the first half! He can't watch films. He likes the television on in the background but he doesn't actually focus on what's happening. He can, however, tell you what's going on because although he doesn't look like he's paying attention and he could be focusing on something else entirely, he takes it all in.

I went to an information session on Autism and Asperger's through uni as part of my course and I think what really made it sink in that he had Asperger's was when the health visitor taking the session (who also happened to be the one that saw Charlie as part of his assessment) said that often children with either very often found it hard to sit still. In the same way that to feel comfortable and "normal" we can just sit in a chair. A person with ASD would need to be moving to feel the same way. Similarly, they may need to be hearing some sound or other or they may find any noise unbearable. They very often need to be touching something with an interesting texture, something fluffy or bumpy for example. We've noticed all of these things with Charlie.

[Raithie]

Erm, almost exactly like your little one! He constantly repeated sentences until you repeat and respond. He's always had to have things a certain way and would have a tantrum if it wasn't exactly as he wanted it. At that age, he could also read fairly well. I got him a set of "learn to read" type books and he was reading the age 3-4 level books. I was expecting our youngest at about that time too and we'd introduced the idea of potty training but he wasn't remotely interested. Around 2 months before the baby came along we decided to just leave it and wait again until the baby was a couple of months old but then one day he took the potty out of the bathroom and told us he wanted to use it. We didn't even have to try with him really, he just took almost immediately to it because he was the one that had decided he wanted to do it.

Something he's never been able to do it sit still. He wasn't allowed to go to the panto with the nursery as they didn't think he'd have behaved himself. My mother in law took a bit of offence at this and decided to take him herself. They left after the first half! He can't watch films. He likes the television on in the background but he doesn't actually focus on what's happening. He can, however, tell you what's going on because although he doesn't look like he's paying attention and he could be focusing on something else entirely, he takes it all in.

I went to an information session on Autism and Asperger's through uni as part of my course and I think what really made it sink in that he had Asperger's was when the health visitor taking the session (who also happened to be the one that saw Charlie as part of his assessment) said that often children with either very often found it hard to sit still. In the same way that to feel comfortable and "normal" we can just sit in a chair. A person with ASD would need to be moving to feel the same way. Similarly, they may need to be hearing some sound or other or they may find any noise unbearable. They very often need to be touching something with an interesting texture, something fluffy or bumpy for example. We've noticed all of these things with Charlie.

Similarly our wee one is great at reading as well. He used to enjoy getting books read to him but now he'd rather bring us a book and sit beside us reading it himself. We've not quite managed toilet training yet but he's hinted at us at needing a pee and will actually say he's needing to go. We've got a potty for him but he's quite reluctant to go once sat on it. GP said to leave it just now if it looks like he's holding it in so we'll see how he gets on further down the line. He'll sit and watch a TV programme that he likes but is reluctant to sit and watch a film, usually gets restless then goes off to do his own thing. We've noticed he's very sensitive to touch and sounds. He loves his wee cuddly squirrel which has a furry tail and whenever he gets sleepy he'll rub the tail under his nose, he's done this since he was born. Could be a comforting thing or another trait linked with his possible Autism/Asperger's. Lately he's started to cover his ears even if there's nothing noisy (to us anyway) really going on. We've been told this is another sign to look out for but again he might be just experimenting to what he can 'hear' with his ears covered. When he does this he doesn't have an episode of looking stressed so we'll keep an eye on it. All in all there's certainly a few things similar to your wee one. We've been waiting for quite a while now to see the specialist at the hospital but we'll see how it goes as time goes on.

[RH33]

Rathie, my wee boy doesn't have asd and didn't even entertain the potty until he was three. He's a September baby but I defered him from school as he was emotionally immature. I also kept him in a private nursery rather than a much bigger school nursery as it would have been to much for him.

He's still not great at pooing in loo and had only been dry over night since earlier this year and he'll be 6 in September. You're wee guy will get there in his own time.

[Raithie]

Rathie, my wee boy doesn't have asd and didn't even entertain the potty until he was three. He's a September baby but I defered him from school as he was emotionally immature. I also kept him in a private nursery rather than a much bigger school nursery as it would have been to much for him.

He's still not great at pooing in loo and had only been dry over night since earlier this year and he'll be 6 in September. You're wee guy will get there in his own time.

Aye we're just going to let him go at his own pace and when he's ready he'll hopefully be fine. The potty we have sits on the actual toilet so might look at getting one that sits on the floor. Could be just a fear of sitting in a high position with his legs dangling that's putting him off. He's started going away to do his number 2's in private these days so having me or the other half hanging about when he's on the potty might be putting him off as well. We tried just letting him run about without a nappy to see if he'd go automatically or if he'd try and hold it in and let us know when he's needing. We got a bit excited when he'd actually come up to us and say he needed to go but minus a few dribbles he wouldn't let himself go on the potty so it was back in a nappy where he'd then do his business. I'll admit I did praise him for not defecating on our new carpet

[RH33]

You have a 2 year old and a new capret?! Brave.

[Raithie]

You have a 2 year old and a new capret?! Brave.

Indeed. So far so good

[Shuggie_Murray7]

I've decided we are getting nothing "new" until ours are at least 12.

[Uncle Psychosis]

My son is about 2 and a half and he's very nearly toilet trained now (we have about a 90% success rate, just need to keep at it now). Thankfully he picked it up very quickly, we started him off by sitting him on the potty for a bit as part of changing him and he soon got the idea. He learned to warn us about poos very quickly which I will remain eternally thankful for.

Will probably finally be free of the cursed nappy just in time for child number two who is arriving at Christmas and is currently causing me angst because we can't agree on any names that we both like...