5 months old – flu and wet nappies

By Lisa Lactivist, on July 9th, 2008

Oh my god I’m a mother, do you want some cake? I made it myself, its organic, very good for you, you liked it last time you had it, oh go on, have some for later, are you wearing a vest? You treat this place like a hotel…

I can see why people give up breastfeeding. It’s only my sheer stubbornness and reluctance to be beaten by someone who can’t even sit up that has kept me going. The teething and growth spurt thing lasted 2 weeks and left me so tired I was slurring my words. The exhaustion lowered my immune system and I was a prime candidate for the most recent flu that hit this city. There I was bouncing around my sofa prone boyfriend, boasting about how mothers are resilient to infection because they haven’t got time to be ill. The next day it hit me, fever and all and I’m only relieved that we did the flu in shifts because looking after Moo Boy was really difficult. Parenting was reduced to listless waving of toys in front of his face and feeding him so much he slept lots. After his growth spurt, Moo turned into a heavy wetter. Oh the joy of changing nappies 4 times a night. It’s a vicious circle now because it’s the path of least resistance to feed him back to sleep, which makes him wee more. I am doubling up on cloth nappies and have invested in a Popolini that is supposed to hold a pint of wee. I am almost ready to use disposables at night, I don’t care if his willy falls off, I just want some sleep.

I am still exclusively breastfeeding him because although he is interested in watching us eat, he still can’t sit up and he has a tongue thrust reflex that would make spooning food in a waste of time and energy. He is a chubby boy, exactly on the growth curve and my milk doing a really good job on him. Ten pounds of him is entirely grown on my milk, its amazing stuff. Apparently as I fight illness my breastmilk passes on that immunity and that’s why he didn’t get the flu.

http://www.familyfrench.co.uk/nappies/elinornappiesabsorbancy.htm

A list of cloth nappies and their absorbency.

http://www.realnappycompany.com/NappyFacts.htm

Disposable nappies and the impact on the environment and babies health.

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/3/T032000.asp

Reasons to wait until 6 months to get onto solids.