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I'm loosing it... advice about 5 month old please

38 replies

TheJen · 25/09/2007 19:16

Please help, any advice appreciated. My DS is 5.5 months. He seems to cry a lot. He is usually only awake for about 1-2 hours before he becomes really grumpy and wants to sleep again. Is this normal? He has 2 good naps a day but the stretch from about 3 or 4 (depending on nap time) til 7 is almost unbearable. I am beginning to find it really upsetting. He is BF (with a little solids) and sleeps well at night (maybe wakes once but doesn't usually have to be fed after 10pm). Take today for example. Up and BF at 8, fruit puree and rice for breakfast, lost it by 9.15 so down for nap. Woke him and fed him at 11 as had to go out- slept from 12.45 in buggy and woke once we arrived at friends for lunch at about 1.30. He was grumpy and cried for the whole time we were there and I found it so embarrassing. Eventually hit the streets again with buggy to try and get him to calm down and he had a 25 min nap at 4.30 but was still hysterically tired during bath and went to bed at 6.40. I feel so stressed about it as unless I give everything up to his naps and let him have 2 two hour naps in his cot, he is really tough to cope with. I feel that there is very little time in the day when he's enjoyable to be around and it's really getting me down....

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Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
TheJen · 27/09/2007 15:21

Thanks guys... all good to hear. Just had slightly better trip out, he was pretty chilled really. Had calpol before we left (think teeth are botherng him) and long nap in cot which helped. The guilt thing is tough- I do worry about him and doing the best for him a lot. for example pergaps he's grumpy because his teeth bother him and i should be giving more drugs? I have to admit PND has crossed my mind but think am ok really- just anxious new Mum. Had hormone coil (mirena) removed at w/e and feel less tearful which is good. All your encouragement and support helps a lot too- especially since DH away with work all week
You're right about feeling like we should be coping better by now... can't believe some people are back at work already...my brain is broken!

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fizzbuzz · 27/09/2007 20:19

Can they have Nuerofen at that age? When dd is teethibg, Calpol makes very little difference, but someone recommended Neurofen and it did seem to make a big difference

TheJen · 27/09/2007 20:21

They can have neurofen from 3 months and it is FANTASTIC! They shouldn't have it on an empty tummy though.

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phdlife · 27/09/2007 20:26

Jen, hope you are feeling better after seeing our other 2 threads?

ds is a huuuuuuge sleeper, I figure he wouldn't do it if he didn't need it - and I fret (much more than he does) on a day like today where we had to be out, so he didn't sleep OR feed all day.

and then with the screeching, and the screeching, it gets a little wearing sometimes. take yourself off to the bar bar bar and have a little har har har.

TheJen · 27/09/2007 20:36

Am so confused as on 2 threads! New to MN so easily get confused. lol at pub image! he wont feed out though! What do you do? I do feel a lot better, partly thanks to having Mirena coil removed (was making me very hormonal I think) but also better thanks to hearing lots of people are in the same boat. Enjoy the bath... that may be from other thread!

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jellybelly25 · 28/09/2007 09:23

we could start an amalgomated one? (i shouldnt use big words if i cant spell them!) a thread i mean

i havent woken up properly yet

dd has given the middle finger to the usual nap process that i so carefully described yesterday and fell asleep on way back from school... who knows what today will bring, la la la...

phdlife · 28/09/2007 09:49

snap, jelly, ds gave the middle finger to everything yesterday - no feeding, no napping - because we were out and there was So! Much! To Look At!

Jen - if he won't feed while out, there's little I can do except wait til we get home. I do try when we're out but I either end up sitting there with boob out while he smiles at passing strangers or getting sharply bitten, since he cannot say "no thanks, mum!" But I do keep trying because I don't want him to think it can't happen, and I have heard this is Just A Phase.

Also I was thinking about the napping - sleeping is when we write stuff to the hard drive, so to speak, so if your ds is having lots of long naps, it's a good indication of how much he's taken in/done while awake.

At least that's what I keep telling myself

phdlife · 28/09/2007 09:50

oh and second the vote for an amalgamated thread.

what shall we call it - "they're 5m and doing our heads in"?

TheJen · 28/09/2007 09:57

Think we should call the amalgamated (?!) thread...'I am breaking up with my 5 month old!' Up for 3 hours (at different times) last night- mainly just wanting to chat- obviously screaming when I didn't oblige... think when he heard mu DH back from a business trip he wanted to see him. Feels better to blame DH anyway! This morning has also given middle finger to morning nap- ended up trying to feed him to sleep (shock horror) and he promptly BIT ME!!!! Now he can only get about 30 mins before I have to wake him to take him swimming.... this is gonna be a great day!

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phdlife · 28/09/2007 10:01

oh, blame dh, by all means - that's what they're for!

now see, I am cruelly depriving ds of swimming lessons as they are smack when he likes to sleep and "don't wake a sleeping baby" is now my religion.

good luck yourself getting through day wiht bad sleep - we went to bed at 9:30 last night so I am feeling FAB, even though ds was in bed with us most of the night.

TheJen · 28/09/2007 10:07

That's also my religion but have prepaid for lesson (stupid idea) and arranged to pick people up on way... not sure why I bother- singing 5 little ducks in a luke warm pool of yummy mummy's is not exactly my idea of fun especially not when I spend most of it holding my stomach in and being paranoid that my boobs will turn the place into a milk bath with all the little ones crying!

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jellybelly25 · 28/09/2007 16:06

hmmm swimming lessons... I really think I am a bit of a lazy ass at the moment, I have wondered if I have PND again but actually thats a feeble excuse and I am just tired and lazy. I spent today watching snooker. Dd rolling around eveyrwhere and shouting of course, oh and I signed up to some student doctor research thing so he came to visit.

Then I fetched dd1 from school and now we are having snacks and watching newsround and also watching dd2 tangle her legs in the baby gym as she tries to roll 'through' it.

Jen, on a night like that who cares about the dreaded feed-to-sleep habit?! We had a night where dd slept 8-4.30 with a bit of a moan at about 1am but went back off without intervention. I however, did not sleep at all, I had a stupid song in my head and was cold.

Right I'm starting the thread now.

jellybelly25 · 28/09/2007 16:07

Oh and Jen, al the yummy mummies will also be holding their bellies in I guarantee!

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