wow! thanks for that...thats a great tip.

5 minutes later...holy moly...my husband was just working out the finances associated with formula...goodness me its expensive!!

If it helps, a nurse friend said it costs about the same to formula feed vs breast feed. When you breastfeed, you personally have to eat more so when you compare the cost of that and a tin of formula, it's about the same.

Not sure if it is true, but it kind of makes sense and I kept coming back to that when I was buying formula.

Well, we leave for the airport in about 2 hours and all I can say is wish us luck. I have no idea how these two are going to deal with the flight (am prepared for the worst though) but all in all its only 2 hours out of our lives (as well as all the other poor souls on that plane) and I think I am as prepared as possible. I've got bottles for them to feed on to help with the pressurisation, a few favourite toys and we are taking a late night flight to try to have them asleep for the majority of the trip.

I've never tried to take a family trip that required a flight so hopefully 4 kids will be easy enough to handle (thankfully the older boys are brilliant ) and I avoid the idiot comments tonight

Will try to check in with you all tomorrow or whenever I can. If I'm admitted to the nuthouse, I will leave Dal with step by step instructions as to how to get on here and let you all know

thats a great way of looking at the cost of formula...i guess i jst have to stop eating now to make it work!!!!

Oooh, good luck with the flight. They will probably be a dream and you will wonder what you were so worried about. Let us know how you get on.

My husband and I went up to Port Macquarie a few weeks ago for a friends wedding and we were terrified with the travel and the boys sleeping in port-a-cots...we dubbed the trip the trip of death...
and what do you know? they were amazing there and back and sleeping!!!
I guess it's better to prepare yourself for the worst and then anything better is great!!!

I guess gumby's trip is underway by now. I hope she is going well!!

I agree... prepare for the worst and hopefully they will surprise you. We did the same moving house - and the were fine!

i have emailed that tooth emergence study... i do want to know officially whether or not the boys are ID... tho again, I still vote NOT!

Can''t remember what else I was going to say.. been a tough day today.. its 8:30pm here now and I can barely keep my eyes open!

good luck to all

gals! Been MIA for only a little while and you all of the sudden get chatty Took me a little while to catch up!

On the solids debate: All the advice I have been given and read suggests that introducing solids to early can actually increase rather than decrease the likelyhood of food allergies. As for the need for iron, our Paed did a blood test on the twins before they had started solids and found their irons levels to be quite low but rather than suggesting starting solids before 6 months corrected age he just started them on a low dose of iron supplement. I personally would prefer iron supplements to early solids, much less potential problems. Also I highly recommend Rafety's (sp?) brand baby cereal for those interested. It is A LOT less processed than than the Farex.

Hi Karla Glad you have decided to join us after all this time! Your boys are stunning!

As for how many times a day do we feed? Like others have said it feels like constantly but we still have around 4 breastfeeds a day each and 3 meals plus snacks if needed.

Thats all I can remember at the moment - sorry to anyone that I missed.

As for us - What a terrible last few days! Just when I though Anna's health problems and hospital stays might just be a thing of the past we were admitted to hospital yesterday morning at 1am Bronchiolitis yet again!! Oxygen sats down to 78%! At least this time it was picked up and treated ASAP (instead of 6 long weeks last time!) After 2 days on oxygen and a couple of different drugs (thats names escape me at the moment ) we were discharged late this afternoon with an appointment for the specialist to see what (if anything) we can do to stop every da*m cold turning into a chest infection! So basically I've had VERY LITTLE sleep between then and now They just don't do sleep when they are not at home (I say THEY because little Zachary had to come along of the ride too seen as he is sooooo stubborn and WILL NOT TAKE A BOTTLE!) The nurses just love when we come to visit

On top of all this I'm having MAJOR issues with a rebellious soon to be 11 year old DD who seems to hate DF (not her real dad) But thats a whole different post

On a happier note though, we are the proud new parents to a little 6 week old kitten! The kids have called him Oreo.

Better go, Zach is calling The bonuses of being uprooted for a night! Take care.....

ladyhawk, have you heard back from the tooth study people?
i've emailed them to but haven't heard anything...

Oh Naomi, I feel for you. I hope Anna recovers quickly and it doesn't get any worse. She's been through enough, as have all of you.

If it is any consolation, I was the same as your DD, I hated my stepdad with a passion but I came around after a while and we ended up having a very close relationship. i don't know what the answer is though.

My boys are currently having about 4 - 5 bottles a day and 3 solid meals. Isaac still wakes about 3 times overnight looking for abottle though and I just gve it to him so we can al get back to sleep.

What do others do regarding 'sleep training'?? I am always giving in and giving a bottle because I am just so tired but nights like last night really get to me. I got up 3 times with Jacob and 5 times with Isaac so I am a wreck today.

Hope the flight went okay Kate!

Poor Anna (and a big hug for you Naomi!). I hope they can get on top of it for you so that she (and the rest of you) don't suffer too much over winter.

Katie has chipped her front bottom tooth, so now we have an extra way to tell them apart . I don't even know how she did it.

Georgia has come down with a cold (from AMBA Tiny Tots no doubt) and is feeling a little miserable and full of snot. I was up to her a few times last night so am tired today.

Joe and Elizabeth have 4 bottles per day and 3 meals with each meal having 2 courses (a savoury and a sweet). So breakfast is porridge and fruit, lunch is vegies and yogurt and dinner is meat/veg/pasta and custard or fruit.

Their bottles are on waking, going down with first sleep, going down with second sleep and going down to bed. Sometimes they'll have another bottle to settle if they wake during the night.

We survived!!

Although we did wind up with nearly an hours delay before departure, the flight in the end was one of the smoothest I have ever had. We decided to do a late night flight in the hopes that both babies would fall asleep in the terminal and then stay asleep for the flight. Not to be. We thought we would have no end of trouble with Isaiah as he is usually the one who struggles with new places, but, he was asleep by the time the plane lifted off

After about half an hour of carry on, Kyla finally fell asleep as well. My arms today feel like I've been to a Body Pump class at gym as carrying them around the terminal at either end got to be a bit much.

We are having a few dramas with Isaiah. The best way to explain it is that he is not a 'people person'. He absolutely goes into hysterics when a strange person looks at him, let alone touches him. Thankfully only a few people got in his face last night. I warned the check in lady, she decided she was going to play cutsies with him anyway and paid the price of his ear-splitting screams.

Bec - Poor Katie . I always worry about teeth as both I & K are grinders . Sorry to hear you've got Georgia sick as well. Fingers crossed tonight is a better night at your place.

Naomi - Oh no - I am so sorry to hear of all the dramas with Anna and her health. Pleased to hear though that something is being done and there are no long waits to get taken seriously. Please keep us updated and know we are thinking of you all.

On the step-dad thing, we are starting to encounter some various 'issues' here too. Jamie is 8, soon to be 9 and we are just at the start of all those sorts of problems. You have my utmost sympathy...

To everyone else, a huge hello! It is freezing here in Melbourne, thankfully have access to the net thanks to my sisters wireless and laptop so will try to keep checking in as often as I can. I am blaming the lack of personals on this temperamental scroll issue, I jump and hop all around the place, fingers crossed I don't lose this entire post come to think of it

gumby!!!!! well done!!! glad you made it in one piece!
america or europe here you come...you'll be a pro at flying with babies before you know it!

Congratulations Gumby!!!!

Hope you don't mind a mini-vent but I have just locked myself in here for time out. I am trying to organise dinner and Katie and Georgia are driving me insane! I have already burnt their dinner. I can't unload the dishwasher because they keep going for the knives, I can't get anything out of the pantry or the cupboards because they try and pull everything out as I'm doing it, and I can't even turn around without knocking them over.

I have put them in their cot before I do something stupid, and have given myself 5 minutes to calm down.

.....

Okay, might tie them in their highchairs with a biscuit and try and get dinner going...

Hi guys,
Finally have 1 minute to join your group- I recognise some from the expecting multiples and also some who have answered my many questions..

Well my boys Deegan and Kale were born on the 3/3- natural delivery Kale was breech. They were born at 38 weeks via induction (only had to break my waters) and they were 2.9 & 2.6kg.. We have one daughter who is now 18months- was 16months when the boys arrived..

the boys were 9 weeks monday that just passed- life has been very crazy- but today I had a good day- usually when people ask me how I cope - my reply is 'I dont- I just drag myself through each day'- but today was one of the very limited good days- now expecting a hectic night- only time will tell..

Great work gumby!

Bec, I hope your time out improved things - or at least gave you a few minute breather! I hope you got dinner finished and they're bed so you can put your feet up for a bit.

Anyone else here finding their babies sleep routine is changing again? Mine went to 2 sleeps a day about 2 months ago and were great until about a week or so ago - they'd self settle in abot 5 mins and were in the same routine for most of the day. Now I'm back to fighting to get Gia to sleep during the day. BJ is still ok, but I find he's taking longer to go to sleep. Is anyone elses doing this?

Welcome fringe



I used to feel that way everyday too until mine were about 3 months. It started to get better from then and also after they started sleeping though the night consistently it got better again.

Yep, there are still some days wher eyou could just but, it does get better. I'm sure the other ladies here will agree with me!

i totally agree and as much as you cant imagine it now...it does get easier!!!
i found once my boys were able to grab things and become more interested in the world around them it was easier. and once they really get used to the routines of the day they know what to expect and really look for sleeping cues etc etc.
It'll get better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Guys,

I have four month old ID girls. I have just yesterday started Rylee on Solids. She tried a teaspoon of apple and today i tried baby rice. My ??? is how often and how much do i give them solids to begin with eg. 1 teaspoon once a day etc.

Haylee isn't getting any as yet as she is much smaller and shows no interest.

Any help would be great.

Cheer Skippy

ME (33)
DP (35)
DSD (7)
DD1 (3m & 3W)
DD2 (3m & 3w)

hey skippy,
my boys are 5 months so are similar age to your girls. I have just started mine on "solids" as well. I started with farex for about 5 days and then mixed some apple into the farex - 1 teaspoon of farex and 2 teaspoons of apple. Both boys seem to like the apple taste as opposed to the farex taste!
I only give it once a day about 20 minutes after their lunch feed.
I'm going to introduce "solids" really slowly so will probably keep doing this for a week or two - next week i'll replace the apple with pear though just for a new taste!

hope this helps! good luck with it!
vicki

Hi everyone

Ruby started on Losec this morning: does anyone have any idea how long it takes to kick in?

Jacob kept us up from 4am on... I think he's mixing day and night a bit. Also he doesn't ever feed enough (he SHOULD be on 120ml but he rarely has more than 70ml) - so he gets hungry... but last night he just never settled after his feed...

How do we get a "mini multiples" thread started?

I spoke to our paed; he wants them to start solids at 4 months corrected so around the start of July. That suits me just fine... nice middle ground too between 4 months actual and 6 months corrected...

Hi Fringe and welcome!!! Yeah I understand its really hard at first... I admire you so much with another little one as well!!! I'm about to head off for my very first outing alone with the babies! I feel so housebound lately!

Bec, how are you going today? Sounds like you were having a tough time there for a while! 5pm is horror time in this house!... and I can't see it improving much (unless the losec kicks in... that might help Ruby at least...)

Oh well I'd better go... I'm one exhausted chickadee today...

Nerissa x

pardon my ignorance but what does 6 months corrected mean?

Niss, I noticed a difference in a few days but it took about a week for the Losec to really be working well. But then it was good - even if you miss a dose it didn't seem to matter unless you missed a few doses in sort succession. I hope the Losec works as well for Ruby as it did for Gia. PS a tip I found was to make the Losec up in a syringe - much easier! I hope they settle down for you and you get some sleep soon.

Hi its Nerissa here... I got sick of 'niss68' in case you're all wondering...

6 months corrected means 6 months past due date, so mine were born Dec 30 but due Mar 6 so 6 months actual is on 30 June but 6 months corrected isn't until 6 Sep...

Thanks Kazzil for the advice! So I know not to expect miracles today!!!!!!

Niss x

ETA yeah the hospital gave us an info pack about how to 'dissolve' the tablet!!! She seems to like the flavour a bit better than zantac or mylanta...

You were lucky! We didn't get a lesson and tried disolving it in water in a cup and then trying to draw it up in a syringe. Not an easy task! The lovely ladies here on EB gave me a lesson!

Mine didn't mind the taste either - it tastes like chalk (don't ask me how I know that )

Niss here again...

(same profile as niss68)

Kazzil:

(hope it works soon though.... she's in such discomfort yet again!)

Niss x

Niss, I found it took a few days for Sammy to settle with the Losec too.. it wasn't a "like wow" instant thing, but when I looked back over the week he really had improved day by day. Sam doesn't mind the flavour at all and tolerates it extremely well compared to the Zantac.

Kazzil, I did the same thing the first time... now I use luke warm water, and only about 1ml, then another 1ml to get the bits in the bottom of the syringe that didn't go thru the first time.

OMG I just had a sudden realisation - it's 7:30 on a Friday night I'm in my PJ's, watching Big Brother and cooking caramel to make tarts - I'M OLD!!!

Anyway, I haven't checking in for a while and you girls have been busy. Welcome to the new girls - it's good to see our little group is growing.

It's been great reading everyone experiences with solids, I had just started thinking maybe my girls were ready but I think I'll wait until their next Paed appt in a couple of weeks and see what he says.

We've just gone through either a big growth spurt or developmental stage or something. Girls have been really sooky and clingy and feeding 1.5 hourly during the day and started waking during the night again. The last 2 days and nights have been great though - they've almost doubled their "awake" time and are back sleeping for 8 or 9 hours, having a feed and back to bed.

Ladyhawk just wanted to say that I enrolled the girls in the tooth study and they've been great. I'm pretty sure my girls are fraternal but thought I would get the test done to confirm. Just be aware that there's a lot of back and forwards before you even get the test - I enrolled the girls in Feb and still haven't done the DNA swab I'm not complaining though if it saves me $150.00.

Bec Poor Katie's tooth - now just to remember that it's Katie who's tooth is chipped

I can't remember what I had to say to everyone else so I'll just say hi everyone and I hope us Brissy girls get a meet organised. I was looking forward to meeting everyone.

Chantel.