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High Needs Baby Support Group (thread IV)

960 replies

ATruthUniversallyAcknowledged · 26/08/2012 21:51

Yoohooo! Over here!



The last thread was filling up so I've started us a sparkling new one.

The original thread was to support those of us with babies fitting the following criteria:

  1. Feeds frequently daytime
  2. Feeds frequently nighttime
  3. Needs to be constantly held
  4. Wont sleep alone
  5. Hates the car seat/pram
  6. Short naps


Some of our babies have grown out of some of those now, but we're still here to support each other through the sleepless nights and noisy car journeys and to offer hugs, chocolate and wine to anyone who's struggling.

So if that list sounds familiar then come and join us as we delight in our active, inquisitive, curious and restless babies or toddlers!
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PeggyCarter · 26/08/2012 22:46

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SpannerPants · 27/08/2012 17:02

Hi everyone!

After a few reasonably good weeks, we went to to my cousins wedding yesterday and DS went for 9 hours without a nap - he was a delight during the wedding and loved meeting all the new people, but slept abysmally :( he's started having nightmares where he starts screaming his heart out and it takes us ages to wake him up and comfort him - I don't know what we can do about that.

Hope you're all enjoying the bank holiday weekend!

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tickleme63 · 27/08/2012 18:22

Hello everyone, just checking in. New thread, wooooo!

Just looking at that original list makes me realise and appreciate just how far my little fella has come in the space of a few months. He's still not a huge fan of the car but will tolerate it, ditto buggy. Everything else seems to either be resolved or resolving itself

Great night with him last night - bed at about 7.30pm, one wake-up at about 1.50am, quick feed and back to sleep till 7.20am.

Joyful Poor DS, fireworks are the work of the devil. I used to love them, but now they make me very growly - how dare they wake up our babies!!! Grin

Spanner Sorry to hear your little one is having some nightmares :( Hope that they pass lady, must be horrible to hear.

Truth Lake District = beautiful :)

We're hopefully going to look at a place this week under the Homebuy scheme. We so crave our own space...

Bathtime for DS, hope you all have a lovely night!

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PeggyCarter · 27/08/2012 19:54

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LittleWaveyLines · 27/08/2012 21:58

Hello!

Just checking in - haven't been on MN much recently as everytime DD sees my laptop out she wants a go and starts bashing - so any posts tend to be urgent and to the point!

Thought I'd see how far we've come since we started this support group ... DD is now 14 months!

1. Feeds frequently daytime - yup if I'm there, has even upped the frequency recently (but I'm told this is common for this age and should calm back down soon, and she copes without OK when I'm at work)

2. Feeds frequently nighttime -Not anymore :) ! I think she feeds maybe 8/9pm (her bedtime), 11/12pm, 4am, 6am, 7am and up at 7.30 - so I now get more than a 2 hour stretch of sleep maximum at night! I reckon most nights I know get a 4 or 5 hour stretch, and it feels FANTASTIC! Grin)

3. Needs to be constantly held - well frequently still the case but it is now just a good excuse for getting a bigger stash of slings, so I enjoy it Grin
(For the sling nerds I now have a Bara barn, girasol size2, caribe 5, ER 6, Light rainbow DW 7, a wompat, an indio ring sling and a babyhawk Grin)

4. Wont sleep alone - Well she's up in bed on her own right now, but sometimes this one still holds... TBH I would feel weird putting her in a cot now, I've got so used to sharing the bed.

5. Hates the car seat/pram. We've got a fab new rear facing car seat that she mostly just falls asleep in! Shock I think it was the bucket shape of the infant seat that was the problem. I don't use a pram now (exclusively sling) so not sure about that bit

6. Short naps . Well you can't win them all. She now does about one 30minute nap a day - not really long enough to sleep myself or get anything done, but I'm reconciled to this one now..

I've probably jinxed the sleep thing now, but it really makes such a difference to get more than 2 hours in a row. We had a rocky patch a couple of weeks back where she didn't even give me the 2 hours, and I felt just awful..

Anyway - how is everyone else? Grin

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ATruthUniversallyAcknowledged · 27/08/2012 23:15

There's some positive stories here. Well done BabyTickle and BabyWavey (although two hour stretches still don't sound like much fun LWL!)

Keep trying with the putting him on the floor when he bites you Joyful. It took DS a few days to get it but he has 9 teeth now and hasn't bitten me since those first agonising few came through. Bloody painful until they work it out though eh? Oh, I think I used to give him a teether as I put him on the floor so that he realised the link.

I think DS is cutting another one actually, he's had a couple of very awake wake ups recently (usually wakes, screams, feeds, sleeps, but has been really unsettled and squirmy on wake ups recently) This is causing friction with DH, who thinks that at 13mo DS should be doing much better than this. Has anyone had any success with convincing their OH's that their HN babies are normal and it's not because of anything we do? If so, what did you do?

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PeggyCarter · 28/08/2012 07:05

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PeggyCarter · 28/08/2012 07:13

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PeggyCarter · 28/08/2012 21:44

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PeggyCarter · 28/08/2012 21:50

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LittleWaveyLines · 28/08/2012 22:14

Oh Puddle your poor DS.... what happened?

Well DD didn't sleep until 9.30 tonight - but then she actually had a decent nap today so I'm not surprised! Normally it's just 30mins 11 or 12 ish - but today she did 2 hours Shock from 1 to 3.... Shock

I actually didn't know what to do with myself Grin

Mind you she normally doesn't sleep until 8.30 so it was that different a bedtime....

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PeggyCarter · 28/08/2012 22:24

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LittleWaveyLines · 28/08/2012 22:46

Hope he gets better soon./// now I must go to sleep!

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PeggyCarter · 29/08/2012 07:13

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tickleme63 · 29/08/2012 08:14

Joyful :( Poor DS and poor you! :( I'm sorry you've had such a shitty night and morning. Big breaths lady. I hope your little man feels better today. Teeth are bloody evil.

We've got a molar here... it's now poking through on the top left. And another bottom tooth as well. Our poor bubs...

Office day today, sigh...Can't complain really as I only go in one day a week, but I hate leaving DS all day long. Hope you all have a good day.

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ATruthUniversallyAcknowledged · 30/08/2012 12:13


How is everyone?

DS well and truly rebuffed the HN tag last night. We drove back from the Lakes and he chatted away to himself for the first half an hour, dropped off to sleep for the rest of the way, woke up when we pulled up outside the house, gave a cute little nod as if to say 'ah, home' and then let DH put him straight in his cot with no fuss or feeding. Yay him!

He did then wake up every two hours and demand food, then end up in bed with us because I couldn't persuade him to go back in his cot after 4am
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Mitsouko · 30/08/2012 12:33

Hi ladies, nice to see the new thread and hope everyone is managing ok.

I've been offline since last week due to migraine...again. Came down with a stomach bug last Thursday. The fever got quite bad and seemed to set the migraine off. Tried to tough it out but caved after two days and took my sumatriptan prescription (regular painkillers don't have any effect). That meant that DD had to be bottle fed for 8 hours. I tried to express, but couldn't pump much and ended up getting really painfully engorged. All in all, a really rubbish weekend. But DH was great, as always. Did all the high need baby care and the bottle feeding while I was ill.

I feel like the chronic sleep deprivation, and lack of support is really taking it's toll on my health. I'm getting severe migraine episodes every 3 weeks or so, and have had multiple bugs and fevers this summer...which I never used to get!

On a more positive note, DD is being super giggly and showing so much excitement and enthusiasm right now. She's almost able to sit unsupported and seems to be developing a lot of strength in her neck and torso. She's really thriving, despite reflux and patchy sleep, and her little personality is emerging. She's a very social baby and loves people and faces. I need to get out more!

And I just found out my best friend in my home country is expecting and will be due next March the week before DD's 1st birthday. Really really thrilled we will have babies so close together in age. And as DH and I are hoping to get out of London and move back to my corner of the world next year, they might even get a chance to grow up together.

How are all of you keeping today?

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LittleWaveyLines · 30/08/2012 14:14

Sleep deprivation is a killer - but strangely I am only just getting migraines (again) now it's improving!

... and last night DD went to sleep at 9.30 - and didn't wake till 6am! Shock Shock

Shame I still woke at midnight and 4am! Grin

Prior to that the best we've had is the last couple of weeks she has dropped the 2am feed and gone from 12 till 4am. So here's fingers crossed that it's the start of better sleep, just in time for me being back at school teaching with a proper timetable....

(DD is 14 months now, before anyone starts worrying why their 6 week old isn't doing this. It's only the last month that she has ever slept more than 2 hours in a row. So I know about sleep deprivation!)

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ATruthUniversallyAcknowledged · 30/08/2012 18:29


She did WHAT LWL??!? That's amazing. Had you or she done anything differently during the day or was it just random? I'm also starting to worry about back to school next week. I went back at Easter and was fine, but it was a much easier timetable than I'm about to start. I've just started lesson planning this afternoon and cannot believe it is time to go back already! What do you teach?

We're supposed to be trying night weaning in time for the new term but DH slept through all but one of DS's wake ups last night (despite much pushing & prodding by me!) so I'm not sure how succesful it will be.

Sorry to hear about the migraines Mitsouku. Mine are usually stress/tiredness related so I'm surprised not to have had any with DS. I do dread them though so I'm full of sympathy that you're having to go through them.

It's good that your DD is developing so well though. I'm sure most of us on the thread would agree that once our LOs starting doing stuff the sleep deprivation came a little more bearable and the oh wow, you're so cute moments a little more frequent! For my DS, being able to do more for himself and communicate a little (by which I mean pointing at what he wants and screaming about what he doesn't) also helped him calm down a lot. It's really just sleep we're struggling with now, but honestly, that gets more bearable as the other stuff calms down.

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LittleWaveyLines · 30/08/2012 20:39

It was just random... absolutely nothing different so I'm not holding out too much for a repeat - but 4 hours in a row would be nice :)

I'm secondary science and still in denial about term starting really! Done NO lesson planning Blush I also had an easy timetable last half term so I'm a bit apprehensive..... you'll have to let me know how you do!

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PeggyCarter · 30/08/2012 21:09

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ATruthUniversallyAcknowledged · 30/08/2012 21:25

The househunting is going well thanks Joyful, although I made the stupid mistake of doing all the first viewings myself, then taking DH to see 'the shortlist'. Because he didn't see all the crap places that I discounted he's being a bit 'meh' about the good ones. Sigh. I also stupidly took him to see the best one first, so now he just compares them all to that one. Double sigh. I shouldn't complain. He loves it so much that he's willing to increase the budget and it really is a lovely house Grin The biggest challenge is selling our house now. The signs are up and the place is spotless. Going back to work is probably a blessing as it will give DS and I less chance to mess it up!

Anyone want to buy a house?

The lesson plans are done. They didn't take long actually. I've just done two 'intro' or 'getting to know you' lessons that I am using for every class for the first week and hopefully every class for the first week of my new job in January too so the real planning mission will start next weekend after I've met them all.

Does DD go to nursery or anything at the moment Joyful? It sounds like she's very excited about preschool and hopefully it will give you a chance to catch up on some rest, but I agree that the 'what if' questions are worrying. If it helps even a teeny bit, I was terrified before DS started nursery, but he absolutely loves it.

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ATruthUniversallyAcknowledged · 30/08/2012 21:29

Oh, Mitsouku, just a thought, what pump do you have? I used to use a Tommee Tippee and could never get very much, then a friend lent me a Medela and it was a revelation. If you can beg, borrow or steal one it might be worth a try.

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PeggyCarter · 30/08/2012 21:59

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