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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Have i overreacted?

171 replies

Quiinkong · 07/01/2025 22:18

I have a 5 month old DS. At 3.5mths old, i had to tell DP that he needs to start helping with night feeds because the exhaustion was unreal. So, he does night shift 2 days a week depending on work schedule, so days aren't fixed. Last week saturday night rolls around and he goes to go to sleep as normal until i tell him he's on night shift (he already knew this because he does night shifts when he doesn't have to get up for work the next day). He tried it with "i thought you were doing it" but i knew he was partly joking and we just laughed. I fed DS around 11.

Now, this boy's feeding habit is erratic. Sometimes he wants to feed again 2hrs later, 1.5hrs later, 3hrs later etc and DP knows this too. In fact, just last week Wednesday, he ate 3x within 3hrs (90ml each time, max he will feed is 120ml at a time). Around 12:20am, he started fussing in bed which is his feeding cue when he's sleeping, so i nudged DP to feed him (we were still awake in bed). DS only eats 60ml and DP is like "he wasn't really hungry" but 5mins later DS starts fussing again. DS has moments where he will eat a little bit and 5-10mins later, wants the rest. So, i said to DP "i think he wants the rest now" and DP said "no, he's not hungry", i left it and said nothing. About 20mins later, i got up myself because DS was still fussing in bed (fussing just means he's restless while his eyes are still closed), i take him and fed him the rest of the 60ml and he ate it. I say nothing to DP because he already started sleeping.

Just before 2am, DS is fussing again and i once again nudge DP because he's a deeper sleeper than i am, so, i usually have to wake DP to feed our son. I nudge him and he's like "omg he's not hungry, what time is it? What time did he last eat" and I'm like "that's what you said earlier but i got up and he ate" and DP said "yeah, so how long ago was that" and I'm like "that doesn't matter, he's hungry" and DP begrudgingly gets up and starts feeding our son (our convo was in whisper mode as we didn't want to wake DS). Once again, DS eats 60ml and DP comes out of whisper mode and starts going "see, he only ate 60ml, he wasn't really hungry, let him get proper hungry" and our son pops his eyes open from obviously the not so quiet voice and i was like "really? Did you have to bring this up right now?" and DP reiterates himself again and i was just like "ok, you know what, I'll do the night shift" and i scoot near the crib , essentially taking over where DP was sleeping which is usually my place to sleep.

DP starts going off "move back to your place, I'll do the shift" and I'm obviously over his complaining at 2am over having to wake up to feed our son and i tell him no, I'll do the shift and stay on that side of the bed. DP angrily (i could see his expression) puts DS in his crib and starts to power shove me to the other side of the bed, no bra on and he's just angrily trying to roll me like tissue paper to the other side. After he was done, i was so pissed off that i took my foot to his body and started pushing him back as well and he starts telling me again to move back to the other side "i know what you're trying to get me to do" he says. I'm there like wtf does that mean? I've never been violent in my relationships, never a shove or a slap or even cussing, me shovinv him was the first time ever for me in a relationship. So, i was there like is he implying I'm trying to make him be violent? What an effin laugh! Told him if he can't control himself, he shouldn't try to put that on me by gaslighting me. Mind you, our DS is fully awake in his crib. DP yanks my pillows and throws them on the floor, so i laughed, got up with the duvet, grabbed my pillows and went to sleep in the living room.

He goes to the kitchen while mumbling "i know what you're trying to get me to do and it won't work", i didn't say anything in response. Let's just say i had a difficult time sleeping. Sunday night, he goes to work. Monday morning, DS wakes up early and I'm obviously exhausted from night shift (waking up every 1.5-2hrs to feed him and then change him once) and sometimes when i wake up around 4/5am to feed him, i find it difficult to go back to sleep right away and by the time i want to go back to sleep, DS wakes up right then. So, i grabbed DS from his crib and put him beside me in bed and i start to doze off but fear of him falling out of bed (he's now crawling) if i actually sleep off made me get up and move to the sofa bed in the living room. This way, i can secure him against the back of the chair while i doze in and out of sleep. I finally get DS to go back to sleep an hour later and start to sleep too only to be woken up less than an hour later by DP semi shouting why i have our son sleeping in the living room. Honestly, i could have thrown him out the window. Our son was sleeping, i was effin finally able to get some sleep and he wakes us up. I told him to stop shouting and that we only moved to the living room in the morning, so not like i had our son sleep there all night.

DP goes off like "go to the bedroom and put him in his crib" and i told him to take DS there himself then, he doesn't but keeps repeating himself and i just ignored him and he just kept going on and on saying how petty i get over a small disagreement, as a mother I'm not acting mature and i just continued to ignore him. On his way to sleep, he says "don't bring that boy in to disturb my sleep or else we'll have an issue". Oh, so his sleep is precious and mine wasn't? When DS took a nap, i just left him on the sofa bed because i didn't want to have any sort of conversation with DP. In the evening, he had the audacity to ask if i was going to be cooking dinner and i just continued to ignore him. As I'm typing this, i still haven't spoken to him.

AIBU? Was it really not as big of a deal as I'm making it out to be because tbh I'm questioning my relationship with this man.

OP posts:
Manthide · 11/01/2025 08:26

Dd1 would be hysterical if her dd has your ds's sleeping pattern. She is a first time mum and baby is ebf, no solids before 6 months but baby was sleeping through the night at least 8 hours by 5 months. Dd did put baby in her own room at 5.5 months (earlier than recommended) as baby is quite restless at night. Baby has just turned 8 months and dd1 has to wake her up in the morning after 11 hours to ensure she still has 2 naps in the day.

peachystormy · 11/01/2025 08:48

KitsyWitsy · 08/01/2025 08:47

You should be able to get away with one last feed about 11ish then nothing till the morning by now. Don’t feed a sleeping baby. Honestly, it sounds like neither of you have a clue what you’re doing. Can you see a health visitor?

Just because it may have been the case for you doesn't mean it's standard.

peachystormy · 11/01/2025 08:50

HoppingPavlova · 08/01/2025 09:37

If nobody tells her about teat sizes, how could she possibly know

Surely, if you visit a shop that sells them, you would see there are different types and they state they are for different ages/stages. Similarly, if you purchase online, you need to pick one, and it’s easy to see that they have different types for different ages/stages. That then acts as a flag to look at them and see ‘roughly’ when you need to change for the next stage? Or to at least wonder what the difference is between the different types. Typically, that can even lead to a bit of a Google.

That explains how/why the majority of people know. The other option is someone runs into a store blindfolded and grabs one? Then I guess they wouldn’t know any of the above?

Wow how rude. Maybe the OP quite rightly so is shattered and wouldn't notice a teat size when in the shop

Notforbeef · 11/01/2025 08:51

Quiinkong · 11/01/2025 06:17

Update

The new teat is working wonders. He now eats 150ml at a time. He had his night time feed at 9pm and i woke up to feed him around 2:30 and he is still sleeping now. I could kiss the teat suggestion person! GP also said he should be on solids now, so i went veg shopping yesterday and the baby food processor will be brought out from storage. All in all, i want to thank you all. I was really starting to get discouraged about having another kid but my womb's faith has been renewed.

Horrified a GP is suggesting solids when not 6 months yet. GPs are not sufficiently clued up on feeding guidance.

Alwaysinamood · 11/01/2025 08:58

It sounds to me like the baby has wind - and fussing cos of wind and not eating much at a time as he’s getting wind during the feed. Have you tried sitting him up in between feeds and winding him ? And making sure he’s properly winded after each feed?

peachystormy · 11/01/2025 09:00

BooAvenues · 11/01/2025 07:40

Why haven’t you addressed the unsafe sleep? You are aware that isn’t okay, right?

Oh my god just shut up leave the woman alone ! Am sure she has taken the comments on board she doesn't 'need' to address it, to you or anyone else. And the fact she has updated to say the baby is sleeping for a lot longer probably means she won't have to resort to co sleeping on the couch.

Rachybabez · 11/01/2025 09:04

Both just as at fault as each other. But you both just sound like you are sleep deprived. Maybe see if you can have a date night and a grandparent have the baby for a night and both get a good night's sleep. I think that's all that's needed

Quiinkong · 11/01/2025 09:14

BooAvenues · 11/01/2025 07:40

Why haven’t you addressed the unsafe sleep? You are aware that isn’t okay, right?

Addressed what? Co-sleeping on a sofa bed? Not a sofa alone, a sofa bed! Yeah, not gonna "address" sleeping on a sofa bed like sleeping on an actual bed together where he could fall off is a better alternative. Does this feel addressed for you now?

OP posts:
jgjgjgjgjg · 11/01/2025 09:15

My suggestion would be to call rhe NCT feeding helpline and gave a discussion about feeding a 5 month baby. I think you've allowed DS to fall into a feeding pattern more appropriate to a very young baby. Just because he doesn't want to take bigger bottles in the daytime doesn't mean he necessarily needs to eat more at night.

The NCT feeding helpline is 0300 330 0700, and is open every day from 8 AM to midnight, including bank holidays. The helpline is free for all parents.

Quiinkong · 11/01/2025 09:15

BrendaSmall · 11/01/2025 07:50

Absolutely ridiculous!
every baby is different, they’re all not going to be drinking the same amount, just like anyone else, we’re all eating and drinking different quantities every mealtimes

What is ridiculous is this post that offers nothing but criticism.

OP posts:
Quiinkong · 11/01/2025 09:18

myplace · 11/01/2025 07:58

Brilliant! These stages really are gruelling. You get stuck down in the thick of it, exhausted and can’t see how to get out.
I’m so pleased you stuck with the thread, and found something that worked, despite the sometimes robust responses you got.

And this is why new mums should still be seeing the HV. Can you check if the HV is available when asked for? Mine said ‘see you at the 3yr check’, but was still available if needed. There were drop in weighing sessions, among other things.

Mine just said i was discharged, there was no "see you in blah blah", even the GP asked me about it yesterday and when i told her i was discharged, she just said ok.

OP posts:
Khanga27 · 11/01/2025 09:22

Quiinkong · 11/01/2025 06:17

Update

The new teat is working wonders. He now eats 150ml at a time. He had his night time feed at 9pm and i woke up to feed him around 2:30 and he is still sleeping now. I could kiss the teat suggestion person! GP also said he should be on solids now, so i went veg shopping yesterday and the baby food processor will be brought out from storage. All in all, i want to thank you all. I was really starting to get discouraged about having another kid but my womb's faith has been renewed.

I’m so pleased the teat helped. Can I just clarify, did you wake to then wake your baby to feed, or did your baby wake naturally to need a feed? Wasn’t sure how to interpret and just wanted to check:

  • If the first one, then at this age you don’t need to wake your baby to feed. My health visitor told me to stop doing this at a month old once weight gain was steady
  • if the second one, then this sounds like a fab night and I hope things keep on the up.

Here’s to more sleep 😊

Quiinkong · 11/01/2025 09:25

Rachybabez · 11/01/2025 09:04

Both just as at fault as each other. But you both just sound like you are sleep deprived. Maybe see if you can have a date night and a grandparent have the baby for a night and both get a good night's sleep. I think that's all that's needed

My mum have the child for a night?? Lmao she can't even stay with him for 2hrs. Even when i visit with him, she will hand him over within 10mins

OP posts:
JillMW · 11/01/2025 09:25

Can you make an appointments with your health visitor. There is a lot of advice that can be given about how to alter feeding pattern. To me this sounds as though if you did not wake your baby to feed that he might go an extra hour and then take a little more at the next feed and gradually you can increase the time between night feeds. BUT I don’t know the reason for your baby only taking such small feeds and nor do the others on here. Whilst some of the advice is sound some is not and some maybe ok for another baby but not yours. Your health visitor will be able to offer you sensible evidence based advice in a kind, professional manner.
Being new parents is hard and even more so if you both are exhausted. I think sorting out the feeding issues will give you both a little more rest and I imagine less worry, which should help you to relax into parenthood rather than night time anxiety.
Good luck

peachystormy · 11/01/2025 09:31

OP am glad the teat helped, you sound a lot happier 😊

NavyTurtle · 11/01/2025 09:31

ToKittyornottoKitty · 07/01/2025 22:38

Babies don’t start weaning until 6 months if you follow the guidelines.

Utter rubbish. Each child is different. Mine started solids at 4 months. No harm came to them and they slept. Make your own decisions, don't be a sheep. The 'they' people don't know your child, you do.

Towundertwo · 11/01/2025 09:35

Quitelikeit · 07/01/2025 22:44

How on earth is your baby crawling?

And yabu feeding so often

Fussing could mean a bit of wind or something

shush pat back to sleep

What do you mean? 5 month olds can crawl 😂

Emmz1510 · 11/01/2025 09:39

You are both tired and neither of you is getting enough sleep so if he doesn’t usually behave like this I’d put it down to exhaustion. At five months old the baby really should be in a better sleeping and feeding pattern. Some babies are sleeping right through at that age. That’s not to say it isn’t normal for yours not to, but at the very least he should be having proper feeds, like 5/6oz or more, not grazing on 2oz here and there. I suspect that is happening because you are feeding him at the slightest fussing. Leave him alone if he is still asleep. Babies can be very noisy, active sleepers. Leave him unless he is properly awake. You could soon be thinking of putting him in his own room, which might also help you not to react to the slightest movement or noise.
Your partner was right about the chair sleeping. It sounds very unsafe.

MincePiesAndStilton · 11/01/2025 09:46

This isn’t right OP. You should continue to get visits throughout the first year, usually around vaccinations to start off with and then every 2-4 months thereafter. You don’t need to contact your GP - on your child’s health record, there will be a contact number for the HV. Just phone them. Many HV teams also have drop in clinics.

scoopoftheday · 11/01/2025 09:46

@Quiinkong

I'm glad things are looking brighter with the change of teat.

But re: sofa bed sleeping. It's incredibly dangerous. As is taking baby into bed with you so I don't know why you think you know it all in that regard. In my job I have sat through numerous inquests for infants who had been sleeping in the bed, one memorable one where his mother had him on the crook of her arm on tje inside of the sofa 😞

I say you sound like a bit of a control freak, and that's not meant in a bad way, but you need to learn to let go and let your dh get up. If you're hovering over him is it any wonder he doesn't get up, he knows he's going to be criticised no matter what he does.

Let him build a bond with his baby and in the long run you'll get more sleep.

These are the most difficult days. Stick together to get through them.

CosyLemur · 11/01/2025 10:54

You're over feeding your son. He doesn't need feeding if he's fussing for 5 minutes and his eyes are still closed. If he was really hungry he'd take more than a few ML.
Just put a hand on his tummy too help him settle

JMSA · 11/01/2025 10:55

I didn't read the whole post but in my view, the person who is working has the greater need for sleep.

CosyLemur · 11/01/2025 11:01

Quiinkong · 11/01/2025 09:14

Addressed what? Co-sleeping on a sofa bed? Not a sofa alone, a sofa bed! Yeah, not gonna "address" sleeping on a sofa bed like sleeping on an actual bed together where he could fall off is a better alternative. Does this feel addressed for you now?

Sofa beds are not safe for babies. The base you sleep on isn't solid enough for them. Honestly do not do that again!

BlueMum16 · 11/01/2025 11:20

Quiinkong · 11/01/2025 06:17

Update

The new teat is working wonders. He now eats 150ml at a time. He had his night time feed at 9pm and i woke up to feed him around 2:30 and he is still sleeping now. I could kiss the teat suggestion person! GP also said he should be on solids now, so i went veg shopping yesterday and the baby food processor will be brought out from storage. All in all, i want to thank you all. I was really starting to get discouraged about having another kid but my womb's faith has been renewed.

I'm so glad you are getting longer sleep.

Make arrangements with your DP if you do the 2am feed he does the 6am feed and lets you sleep in longer

It won't be long until DC drops the 2am sleep.

Good luck with the weaning. I found keeping to the same thing for a week was best rather than trying lots of new things are once. I batched cooked and froze in ice cube trays so I could take out a few cubes each meal time.

Baby rice or Weetabix at bedtime was always good. My DC sleep longer as they were full.

Kazzybingbong · 11/01/2025 11:36

Fidgety31 · 07/01/2025 22:33

It sounds very petty from both sides .

on another note - all my babies were on solids and sleeping through the night at that age . Does your baby still have only milk ? Maybe hes too hungry to sleep all night ?

That’s hilarious. It’s completely normal for a baby to not be sleeping through at this age. They feed for comfort and to get back to sleep. The baby isn’t the issue here.

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