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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Sailorlets thread
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
I gather you are holding the infant? I would not wear a shawl if you are -- draperies are hard to manage if you're also juggling an infant in a slippery and unfamiliar christening outfit.
Surely the parents and godparents do not have to wear white? I would select a Sunday dress that you are comfortable in. Contrasting colors will make the star of the performance, the infant, show up well in his/her white. And comfortable shoes!! In fact shoe selection might drive your entire outfit; anything is better that teetering up to the font in heels.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
I suspect you may have got the wrong end of the stick, BC - I assumed that Recklessrat was asking about what other clothes the baby would wear, underneath the christening robe.
I may, of course, be quite wrong ... ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
Then it is far simpler. Diaper!
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Curiosity killed ...
Ship's Mug
# 11770
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Posted
I wonder, is said robe really a dress for an older child? My daughter wore one as Victorian fancy dress aged 5 or 6. Because that would give lots of scope for clothes underneath but not necessarily full length sleeves.
Cold stone church in late October / early November requires lots of layers. A nappy alone is unlikely to be enough.
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Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat
Posts: 13794 | From: outiside the outer ring road | Registered: Aug 2006
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Zacchaeus
Shipmate
# 14454
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Posted
If it were one of our church group in November the answer is as much as posssible! incuding warm shawl
I'd have the vest and tights variations, long short/thick thin ready so that whatever the temerature of the church the babe would be warm
Posts: 1905 | From: the back of beyond | Registered: Jan 2009
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
I hope it is a gown for an older child as historic christening gowns often are too small for modern babies at their baptism. There are two reasons for this, babies are in general being born larger and they are also being baptised later (due in part to decreased infant mortality). Therefore, I would have a modern alternative, rather than risk having to find something at the last minute..
As Curiosity says the gown normally have lots of space underneath except for in the arms. The result is that I would have a cardigan ready to go over in case you can only get it on without a long sleeved vest on.
As to colour, creams normally sit pretty happily with other creams. If you wanted something special look for something with gold in it. Indeed the cream gown would be set off well against autumnal colours.
Jengie
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"To violate a persons ability to distinguish fact from fantasy is the epistemological equivalent of rape." Noretta Koertge
Back to my blog
Posts: 20894 | From: city of steel, butterflies and rainbows | Registered: May 2001
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recklessrat
Shipmate
# 17243
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Posted
Thanks all for your help - much appreciated. I think I'll have the following ready so we're prepared for all eventualities:
1 x long sleeved and 1 x short sleeved white/cream vest (or maybe 2 of each...)
White/cream tights
White/cream cardi
White/cream shawl
Modern alternative dress, just in case!
Our church is pretty cool so I think she'll need layers. I am told the dress will easily fit her but I'm not really sure exactly how large it is. Unfortunately, she's teething atm so I'll need to keep a bib on her right until the last minute!!
Posts: 80 | From: The Shires | Registered: Jul 2012
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
When my son was christened (25 years ago) I dressed him all in white. The bishop was doing the baptisms, and he too was all in white brocade vestments. Unfortunately my son (aged about 2 months) had not had a bowel movement for three days. I was on tenterhooks, unable to rest, for the entire ceremony. I have too powerful an imagination.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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daisydaisy
Shipmate
# 12167
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Piglet:
I suspect you may have got the wrong end of the stick, BC - I assumed that Recklessrat was asking about what other clothes the baby would wear, underneath the christening robe.
I may, of course, be quite wrong ...
BC's post reminded me of the outfits that some of the mums have worn to christenings at the church I attend - including a fuschia-pink tutu-style dress with matching sparkly vertigo-inducing platform shoes.
Posts: 3184 | From: southern uk | Registered: Dec 2006
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
That sounds like a whole new busy thread: fashion critique of the congregation. (Lo-rider jeans? Really?)
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Welease Woderwick
Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by daisydaisy:
...a fuschia-pink tutu-style dress with matching sparkly vertigo-inducing platform shoes.
Do you think I can buy that outfit online?
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
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I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
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Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005
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St Everild
Shipmate
# 3626
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Posted
Some people wear their very best dresses to christenings...which might perhaps be more suited to a night out? Low cut necklines, short skirts...
Posts: 1782 | From: Bethnei | Registered: Dec 2002
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L'organist
Shipmate
# 17338
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Posted
Agree with that last comment: our most recent baptism saw guests dressed as if for a nightclub - and all shivering like frightened whippets because it was a good 6-7 degrees colder in church than outside - much mirth among the choir (thermals October-April for most of us).
RR: expect the Christening robe to have an underdress but I'd advise you source a white babygro and put the infant in that underneath.
Your own outfit? Something that won't be ruined if the infant decides to up-chuck on you - better safe than sorry IME ![[Biased]](wink.gif)
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Rara temporum felicitate ubi sentire quae velis et quae sentias dicere licet
Posts: 4950 | From: somewhere in England... | Registered: Sep 2012
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recklessrat
Shipmate
# 17243
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by L'organist:
RR: expect the Christening robe to have an underdress but I'd advise you source a white babygro and put the infant in that underneath.
Your own outfit? Something that won't be ruined if the infant decides to up-chuck on you - better safe than sorry IME
Good advice! Especially as she is just starting solids and her digestive system is not as err...reliable as it was...
Posts: 80 | From: The Shires | Registered: Jul 2012
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sophs
Sardonic Angel
# 2296
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Posted
How often do little ones need to feed?
On the advice of the lactation consultant and health visitor I'm not feeding baby on demand, but waiting until she's actually hungry. She just plays with the bottle/boob and spends hours sat there using me as a dummy, which is frustrating. The problem is, she can easily go for 5 hours without a feed, and is only having about 8oz of formula at night. She's seven weeks old and has dropped a percentile, so I'm a little worried she's not eating enough. Any advice?
Posts: 5407 | From: searching saharas of sorrow | Registered: Feb 2002
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Zacchaeus
Shipmate
# 14454
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Posted
for ours the HV said, during the day, don't let them go over 4 hours without feeding
Posts: 1905 | From: the back of beyond | Registered: Jan 2009
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welsh dragon
Shipmate
# 3249
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Posted
Our first child gained weight slowly but attached himself to feed for hours, I remember evening feeds 5 hours long. I think it is called cluster feeding and it can build up milk supply. It was so worrying as a new mum when he dropped a centile or 2, but supply improved and then he gained centiles again.
When we had the same midwife for our second child, she remembered our first child gaining weight only rather slowly, and was surprised then to meet a tall and well built 4 year old with a very outgoing manner. It didn't seem to have done him much long lasting harm.
I found Mumsnet good for breastfeeding support.
Posts: 5352 | From: ebay | Registered: Aug 2002
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
My daughter was in the tenth percentile for weight and the ninetieth for height -- a long thin noodle of a baby. She stayed that way no matter how much we fed her. Today she is a tall thin woman. Sometimes no amount of nurture will change the nature.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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recklessrat
Shipmate
# 17243
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by recklessrat:
Thanks all for your help - much appreciated. I think I'll have the following ready so we're prepared for all eventualities:
1 x long sleeved and 1 x short sleeved white/cream vest (or maybe 2 of each...)
White/cream tights
White/cream cardi
White/cream shawl
Modern alternative dress, just in case!
Our church is pretty cool so I think she'll need layers. I am told the dress will easily fit her but I'm not really sure exactly how large it is. Unfortunately, she's teething atm so I'll need to keep a bib on her right until the last minute!!
Ratlet was successfully Christened on Saturday, wearing the Victorian robe (a perfect fit!), a cardi, a short sleeved vest, tights and a headband. No change of clothes was needed in the end, but I was pleased to be well prepared! The ceremony was great, though she did grizzle throughout, poor thing. Think she got a bit tired. She had a sleep at the reception and was happy for the rest of the day.
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stay simple, remain whole
Posts: 80 | From: The Shires | Registered: Jul 2012
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L'organist
Shipmate
# 17338
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Posted
Sophs
The cherub is actually in a percentile? Good enough.
Ours never made the bottom line. They were perfectly healthy, just small.
FYI in the late 80s (I think, could have been '90) the UK height/weight charts were altered to "bring them up to date" - in other words it was thought they should reflect that people in the UK since then are better nourished than when the first lot were laid down (I think during the 1940s).
However, we were told by the children's paediatrician that they upped the heights by 5% and the weights by 10% or more so if you have a child who is naturally slender you're stuffed.
As I said, ours never made a weight percentile (height was a different matter): both are now 20, very healthy, play representative sport, are 6 foot tall and neither has yet broken the 60kg mark.
Ask your mother and m-in-l what you were like for weight when you were small - I suspect you'll find you weren't huge.
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Rara temporum felicitate ubi sentire quae velis et quae sentias dicere licet
Posts: 4950 | From: somewhere in England... | Registered: Sep 2012
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sophs
Sardonic Angel
# 2296
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Posted
Well, she's dropped another percentile but is thriving in every other way. Smiling, alert, grabbing things, holding onto fingers and hands, pushing down and standing, rolling onto her side...she just still won't eat! Yesterday she drank about 12oz in total...
I've switched to formula full time to monitor exactly what she's drinking and will be talking tot the doctor when she goes to her 8week check tomorrow.
Posts: 5407 | From: searching saharas of sorrow | Registered: Feb 2002
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sophs
Sardonic Angel
# 2296
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Posted
We've ruled out all of the obvious things, and had it confirmed that she's perfectly healthy as far as the doctor can tell. Switching on to formula meant we could say with certainty that she drank 15oz in 24 hours yesterday, and it looks like today won't be much better. 6oz since 03:00.
Feeding her is a battle. She has been refusing the bottle but wanting a dummy, which we really confuses us. We have gradually introduced more bottles, so she's not confused, has an excellent latch and suck when she wants to drink but is so lazy. I so upset, frustrated and worried. I love her so, so much, and would do anything to help her! Infacol, special bottles...I'm almost hoping she doesn't move up on the curve and we get a fast track paediatric referral.
Most of the time I just feel like crying!
Posts: 5407 | From: searching saharas of sorrow | Registered: Feb 2002
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JoannaP
Shipmate
# 4493
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Posted
Sophs,
Apparently I was similar as a baby. I refused to eat more than an eighth of a Weetabix at any one meal. My mother took me to the baby clinic every week until the doctor told her to stop wasting his time with a perfectly healthy baby! I was gaining weight steadily, just very, very slowly. ( Unfortunately that is no longer the case and I really must get back to Weight Watchers ![[Frown]](frown.gif) )
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"Freedom for the pike is death for the minnow." R. H. Tawney (quoted by Isaiah Berlin)
"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." Benjamin Franklin
Posts: 1877 | From: England | Registered: May 2003
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
If it makes you feel better, my daughter the noodle was the same. In high school she joined the crew team. She was strong enough to crack walnuts with her thighs. She is now a captain in the US Army, in an MP battallion, a female of such remorseless power and strength that she terrifies everybody.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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North East Quine
Curious beastie
# 13049
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Posted
My daughter fed well enough, but then vomitted the lot back up, and fell steadily through the centiles. It took months before any medical person would take us seriously, because she was otherwise well, bright, hitting her milestones of sitting up, rolling over etc bang on time. She was 8 months old before she saw a hospital pediatrician, by which time she'd gone from the 75th centile at birth to the 4th centile.
I was massively stressed out at the time, but once we were in the hospital system, all the hospital professionals were brilliant.
One mistake we made was that when she was about 4 years old, and back over the 50th centile, we kept feeding her the enriched diet till we ended up with a distinctly tubby 8 year old. But she's 18 now and just perfect!
Posts: 6414 | From: North East Scotland | Registered: Oct 2007
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The Kat in the Hat
Shipmate
# 2557
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Posted
It sounds as if she just isn't a big eater - not every child is the same. Charts are all very well but someone has be be above & below them - we are not all exactly the same. I sometimes wish the "professionals" would look at the child, not the chart, since she doesn't sound as if she isn't getting enough to eat.
I used to stroke the cheek of mine (gently in a downward movement) which would make them suck.
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Less is more ...
Posts: 485 | Registered: Mar 2002
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Sarasa
Shipmate
# 12271
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Posted
My son was the same, didn't eat a lot, wasn't anywhere on the percentile charts etc etc. We eneded up having to take him to the hospital, where someone saw my husband, (5' 10" , 9st) and decided the child was just following in his footsteps. He's now 26 and not nearly as thin as my still skinny husband, but he survived. As long as she is thriving in other ways I'd try not to worry too much.
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'I guess things didn't go so well tonight, but I'm trying. Lord, I'm trying.' Charlie (Harvey Keitel) in Mean Streets.
Posts: 2035 | From: London | Registered: Jan 2007
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Jack the Lass
Ship's airhead
# 3415
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Posted
Er, *some* professionals, please! Not all of them (us) look only at the chart and not the child (sigh, soapbox moment).
As one of the professionals (I'm a health visitor by background, and looks like I will be returning to that for a while in the near future) I always used to tell parents to try not to get obsessed with the charts, that they're useful to give us a rough idea of what might be going on but it's not the be-all-and-end-all, birth centile is more an indication of the mother's health in pregnancy and the baby usually doesn't stay there, look at their happy health baby not the dot on the chart, etc etc, and then I had my own baby and all of a sudden I was TOTALLY OBSESSED with them. I think it might be because the weight is what gets done most often, that's why it's so easy to get really caught up with every tiny little blip on the line. In all my years health visiting, I think I have only ever seen 1 (count him - one!) baby who stayed on the same line from birth all the way through to a year. Every time he came to clinic for a weight I used to chart it and then have to double and triple check, because staying on the same line for that long was so unusual I was sure I'd got it wrong. And when I've told other health visitors about him they've all said things along the lines of "wow, I've never known that".
Sophs already knows this as we've had this conversation elsewhere, but from 3 weeks till nearly 5 months the Elf Lass dropped below the 0.4th (ie bottom) centile and although she did (apart from one occasion) put on weight every time, it was always just a couple of ounces, never much more. I was mixed feeding her, giving her breast for as long as she wanted and then giving the amount of formula that the paediatricians said they would be giving a fully formula-fed baby of that weight, and she was still hardly putting on anything. Just before 5 months it was like her body finally got it and she has been packing on the weight ever since. She was referred to the paediatrician as being below the 0.4th centile is a referral criteria, but he just said that although while her weight was so low he had to keep her on his books, he wasn't remotely worried about her as she was clearly doing everything else she should be for her age and stage, and so just needed to keep a 'benign oversight' (his words). And, like most other babies, she has got there in the end - in effect, if you plot her weights from birth to about 7 months, whilst the chart shows a quick weight gain in the beginning and then starting to slow down/plateau, she just did it the other way round.
All this to say, if your baby is generally healthy and happy and putting on a bit, and doing all the things she should be for her age and stage, then looking at the chart is not the be-all-and-end-all. I do think you're doing the right thing (and I'm glad it's being taken seriously) in getting them to look at the practical things around her feeding (the taking ages to drink a little, playing with the teat/nipple etc, as well as the amounts of milk she is or isn't taking). I know it's easy for me to say this, as it's not my baby and so I won't be worrying in the same way, but don't forget to also look at her global development - all the things she's doing apart from messing about with feeding - and see how well she's doing.
[X-post - 1st sentence was in response to The Kat in the Hat's post]
[ 08. November 2014, 15:18: Message edited by: Jack the Lass ]
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"My body is a temple - it's big and doesn't move." (Jo Brand)
wiblog blipfoto blog
Posts: 5767 | From: the land of the deep-fried Mars Bar | Registered: Oct 2002
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The Kat in the Hat
Shipmate
# 2557
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Posted
You are right JtL, I should have said some professionals rather than possibly implying all. It does seem rare though that they find the time to consider family features, and I guess they tend to err on the side of caution.
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Less is more ...
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North East Quine
Curious beastie
# 13049
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Posted
I suspect professionals can't win.
Our problem with my daughter was that they were looking at the child (bright, alert, hitting all her milestones) and not the charts. The bigger problem was that my GP thought I had PND and was over-estimating how much she was vomitting.
Once she'd had the barium swallow which proved she had a severe gastro-oesephagal reflux, the paediatrician said he was astonished she'd reached 8 months without ending up in hospital, and there was a wee investigation as to how they'd failed to diagnose her for so long.
But in fairness to the GP, she was seeing an exhausted, raddled looking, weepy mother with a bright and alert baby, so you can see why she thought the problem was with my mental health, rather than my daughter's physical health.
Posts: 6414 | From: North East Scotland | Registered: Oct 2007
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
We were just as lucky (NOT) in the other direction. LL was in 3rd percentile and dropping, vomiting up everything he ate, and the pediatrician wouldn't take it seriously (first time mother, yo) until he reached age one and suddenly an alarm went off. We had a barium swallow and it didn't show the problem (barium swallows don't always, sometimes you have to scope 'em). So he insisted on everything from EEG testing to karyotyping, told me he was expecting agenesis of part of the brain or a similarly horrid uncurable, and basically we had the six months from hell. Checked everything but GI (since, of course, the barium swallow was infallible, and four generation history of GERD was ignored). Mad at me for wanting a GI referral anyway. Finally gave in after six months and the GI specialist's NURSE diagnosed it correctly over the freaking PHONE.
Grrrrrr hisssssss.
But it was in fact reflux, with massively painful esophagus as a result (they showed us the pix). No wonder the poor child didn't want to eat, and couldn't keep stuff down.
The proper meds, and it all went away. Thank God.
[ 09. November 2014, 18:51: Message edited by: Lamb Chopped ]
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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Moo
Ship's tough old bird
# 107
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Posted
There are great variations in rates of growth, and there appears to be a genetic factor.
In my family, the average weight at one year is sixteen pounds. Our babies grow more slowly than average the first year or two, and more quickly in the next few.
My older daughter weighed eleven pounds when she was five months old. When she was three she was in the fifth percentile for height and the third for weight.
Her adult height is 5'5", and her weight is in the normal range.
Moo
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Kerygmania host
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See you later, alligator.
Posts: 20365 | From: Alleghany Mountains of Virginia | Registered: May 2001
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Lothlorien
Ship's Grandma
# 4927
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Posted
My first child put on over a pound practically every week for the first six months after birth where he weighed 6.5 pounds.
People would not believe his weight at six montgs till they held him. However, he was very long, over 24" at birth. He is now 6'5" tall as an adult.
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Posts: 9745 | From: girt by sea | Registered: Aug 2003
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Ferijen
Shipmate
# 4719
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Posted
JtL - I'm sure I've said this before, but I wish all Health Visitors were like you.
Interesting, NEQ, I also had the 'you must be depressed' response to 'my baby is puking too much'. (insert rant here about waiting an hour and a half in a stuffy waiting room, covered in a baby who has puked nine times in that time, just to be told 'you must be depressed') Eventually met a GP who said 'try cutting out dairy' (baby was mostly breastfed, and entirely from that point onwards) and it made a huge difference.
The sad thing is, for the people I know who were depressed, the support was non existant...
Hope things improve with you Sophs.
Posts: 3259 | From: UK | Registered: Jul 2003
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sophs
Sardonic Angel
# 2296
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Posted
I'm very lucky that the GP I saw for Elaine's 8 week check was the one who deals with me so didn't think I was exaggerating how much she was drinking. We have now changed bottles and are exclusively formula feeding went from 13oz in a day to 25oz, which is a pretty massive leap instead of battling for hours to get 4oz down her it's taking less than half an hour, which is awesome. We are having her weighed today so that should tell us!
Posts: 5407 | From: searching saharas of sorrow | Registered: Feb 2002
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L'organist
Shipmate
# 17338
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Posted
So please to see you sounding happier.
Things in paediatrics don't change much really: in the early 1950s, after months of tests and in-hospital observation at Great Ormond Street, my parents were given the all-clear about me with the immortal words "Some people give birth to a potential policeman, other to a jockey - you've got a jockey."
No, I haven't pursued a career on the gee-gees.
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Rara temporum felicitate ubi sentire quae velis et quae sentias dicere licet
Posts: 4950 | From: somewhere in England... | Registered: Sep 2012
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Beethoven
Ship's deaf genius
# 114
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Posted
Op 1 was around the 75th centile at birth; over the next few weeks dropped to the 7th, despite feeding well. For all the stress caused by an anxious HV, she never gained weight quickly. Thirteen years on, she's still around the 7th centile. If I'd known then what I know now, I would not have stressed about her weight At All!
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Who wants to be a rock anyway?
toujours gai!
Posts: 1309 | From: Here (and occasionally there) | Registered: May 2001
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