HELP! 3mo waking 2hourly for feeds and 3yo waking 2 or 3 times cos he's pooed!!

[daisybo]

ok what can i do, my very hungry (breastfed)dd wakes 2 hourly at night for feeds and my 3yr old has started waking because he's pooed - don't think he's ill, my feeling is it's an attention thing, it doesn't help that he wants to sleep with his door open, so us getting up to dd in the night disturbs him...
anyway just wondered if anyone else has had this, i'm starting to loose my mind

[Elasticwoman]

Try having 3 mo in your room and feed lying down, to minimise disruption in the night. When I had 2 yo and new baby, it was dh's job to see to the toddler if she woke. Do you have dp/dh available for this?

I know it sucks and you must be exhausted. Hope you are taking all opportunities to put your feet up during the day. Are you getting any daytime help with your older child? If not, ask friends/family. You need support now, but this stage won't last very long.

[daisybo]

thanks, i know it's just a phase
unfortunately i don't have any help with ds, he's due to start playgroup in september, but tbh he's a very clingy child and doesn't like being left with anyone - even his daddy!
also dd won't nap so i cant sleep during the day - only time she ever falls asleep is in the car! ho hum!
anyone got any ideas on how to stop a 3yo pooing at night?

[Elasticwoman]

Take him out of nappies.

[daisybo]

won't that just make it worse? i tried potty training 3 weeks ago and he just didn't get it, kept weeing and pooing in his pants and didn't know why he shouldn't do it, i gave up after 2 days of scrubbing poo off the floor - just figured he wasn't ready yet, maybe i should have persevered!! (sp?)

[Elasticwoman]

Sorry my last post was a bit quick (I was called away). I was assuming (wrongly) that he might be dry during the day but still in a nappy at night. You're right - it would not be sensible to take him out of nappies at night at this stage.

How was last night (in terms of 3 yo pooing)?
Can it be Daddy's job to deal with 3 yo at night?

In the daytime, can you settle down after lunch to bf the baby, while reading a story to ds, all 3 of you on the sofa or bed, leading to some resting time when the story and feed are finished? Even if you manage 5 mins, it might be the beginning of a routine. Doesn't matter whether any of you actually go to sleep, if you can achieve some quiet time.

I've had an idea about the night time pooing.
How about high fibre breakfast? My dd used to eat Crunchy Bran at about that age and it certainly got her bowels moving! If you can encourage his bowel habit to the mornings, it might help.

Good luck.