Graduated Elderberries. Thread 9

[Cavort]

The over 30's expecting or just had their first baby.

How annoying, I've got a thick mattress and was planning to start using angel care when she moves to her own room. Can it still be used as just a sound monitor between rooms without the pad?

Oh and random question (as I bikini shop at 4am) - when did your linea nigra fade? I was lucky not to get any stretch marks smug but a linea nigra appeared more noticeable after birth. I really prefer bikinis to swimsuits.

lol you have tried to adjust the sensitivity? Otherwise probably need to get another mattress until you're comfortable with her in another room. I have a foam mattress, that works fine with angelcare.

alex yes you can turn the movement sensor off.

so V is definitely teething, yesterday woke up from his nap crying, which he rarely does and when I went to check, grabbed my finger and furiously chewed with the side where I see the next white dot. Put some teething gel on, seemed to help, as he didn't cry any more during the night. Still woke up at midnight, 1,2,3 and then slept til 6.

Fascinating thing is that a) I now consider this a reasonably good night and b) I'm actually managing fine. Motherhood really does funny things to your body.

And he now agrees that food is a nice thing and eats happily - fruits better than veggies, but both are acceptable. It's messy though, especially as his favourite part is grabbing the spoon and banging it against the tray. I have no idea how people in Switzerland manage - I seem to be washing something all the time, but there most apartments don't have their own washing mahines, but shared laundry rooms with dedicated slots, which could easity be every second Wednesday.

Hazle we have the same here but no sign of teething. E woke from all 3 naps crying yesterday, 2 of them in floods of tears for seemingly no reason, which is very unusual. She has also been very fussy/moany during the day for the last few days and the nights have been worse than usual, with additional wake ups in addition to her usual 2 hour nightly extravaganza. I don't know if this is a reaction to us turfing her out into her own room, but I am inclined to think that it's not because she goes to sleep fine in there at bedtime - she just can't stay asleep! So if I buy into the Wonder Weeks theory then it is a developmental phase and should pass by next week - I certainly hope so. She is extra hard work at the moment.

Alex this isn't what you want to hear, but my linea nigra is still there, albeit very feint now. I think it was still fairly visible until 4/5 months. You have a little baby with you though so anyone who spots it in a bikini will know what it is so I wouldn't feel conscious about it. I also got away stretch mark free.

cavort that's interesting. And not because of her own room, as V behaves the same and he's still with us. Sure E is noth teething? They usually complain some days before the teeth appear. Or, fx, it's just a phase.

Hazle E has been furiously dribbling and chewing absolutely everything for about 2 months now so I have given up speculating that teeth are going to appear. She almost certainly is teething but no sign of any cutting through yet. We have been putting Anbesol on her gums in case the complaining is gum pain, but she's still just as moany with numb gums so I guess it's just a quite annoying phase.

Great, I was just feeding Sophia in my nursing chair in the bay window and the window cleaner arrived. The blinds were down so no problem until the cat decides to see what's going on, jumps up, knocks the blind to the side and leaves my boobs in full view!

Interesting about the linea negra - I'm another one with no stretchmarks (hurrah!) but a visible LN and wondering for how long.

After a v long day yesterday which left me feeling the most tired I have done so far (she fed pretty much hourly from 4am til 4pm, then slept long stretches) we had a great night last night, feed at 11.30pm, woke up at 2.30 for another long feed, then right through til 6.45 which in my newly adjusted mind is an acceptable time to get up for the day! She's been all sweetness and light this morning too with lots of chatting and big gummy smiles. Jekyll and Hyde baby! They are weird. Currently obliging asleep in the sling so I've been able to finish my tax return.

No stretch marks here either despite being the size of a house when preggers but you can still just about see the bloody line. Is really very pale now though, would happily wear a bikini (especially post my fly followed by food poisoning enforced diet at the start of the year!)

We have a lovely thick sprung mattress in M's room and the Angelcare works fine... Is a good 3 or 4 inches thick so I'm amazed it does! Not sure why it works for me not you though?

Fly = flu

Oh and lol yes you can change sensitivity settings on the Angelcare - ours is on 3 (out of 5). Maybe changing that might help?

V slept 3,5 hours this afternoon, that never happens. So I'm taking bets - up for the day at 3AM?

FX for you Hazle. You never know, it might have the opposite effect and he sleeps much better...

I have the sensor on level 5 and it still doesn't work!!! Sooooo annoying. I will try getting a thin bit of plywood to see if it makes a difference (now we have a thin metal tray).
On top of that we have teething symptoms and a grouchy baby. But on a positive note I gave L some baby porridge and she loved it. Will properly start weaning by the end of the week. I know it's a silly feeling but I'm finding it hard to start. My baby is growing up too fast for my liking!
Question - is everyone still bf? How is food affecting your supply? Are you still bf on demand? Ta

Lol porridge is E's absolute favourite so far. I think she'd quite happily eat it all day.

Yes, still BFing as the little bugger is point blank refusing to even try formula. I currently offer solids twice per day around an hour after a BF. She is still feeding with the same frequency as before solids but I think she is now taking less milk at some feedings as my boobs are feeling fuller sometimes, even after a feed. No idea if supply is getting less now but if not presumably it will as she eats more solids. I still BF on demand in theory, but she rarely demands it during the day now and I usually offer boob before she is grouchy through hunger. I have no idea if I should be waiting until she demands a feed, but I am conscious of her not getting enough milk if I don't offer at least 4 times per day (she usually feeds 1 or 2 times at night as well).

She is currently fluctuating between 2 and 3 naps per day (depending on nap duration) but, for example, today (now yesterday) went like this...

07.40 - wake up and BF
08.45 - porridge and yoghurt. A few fingers of toast to suck on.
10.30-12.30 - nap
12.30 - wake up and BF
13.45 - mashed potato, pureed carrot and parsnip. Pureed apples & strawberries.
15.30-17.00 - nap
17.00 - wake up and BF
18.00 - banana
19.45 - BF then bed

Currently up doing night feed number one for 2 sodding hours and she may or may not wake up for another before morning.

was OK night - he was actually quite awake at 3AM, but a feeding helped. Managed to get him back to sleep with just some rocking at 4 and he self-soothed at 5. I don't remember the last time when I slept for more than 2 hours in one stretch.

V loved porridge too, but got very constipated, so maybe try to mix a little fruit in as well? He does not have any problems now on fruit and veggies.

I still BF at night, in the morning, then after work and before bedtime - so in principle on demand, when I'm around. I haven't noticed much of a difference in supply.

cav how do the naps work? Does she just go to sleep alone? Can't imagine not needing to feed or use a dummy for S to go to sleep! Am conscious I'm relying on feeding her to sleep all the time.

After three amazing days and nights which I'm so grateful for, S had a shocker - screaming/crying from 11.30-1am then from 3am-5am. Feeding soothed her temporarily but I wondered if it was trapped wind as she was doing the whole body rigid thing again and the crying was high pitched. I just could not get the wind up though, in the end she slept with her dummy looking exhausted. The sad thing is, if it was reflux, winding positions would only hurt her more! I did give her gripe water at 4am. She's awake now so will try a gentle feed and wind. The positive thing is I know how good things can be when it's more manageable so hopefully will be having days and nights like that again soon!

sorry you had a rubbish night alex.

H has got into a bit of a nap routine, he naps mid morning....11 (ish) for about an hour. Annoyingly this tends to coincide with the dog walk so I dont benefit from it then again around 1ish but that is more of a nap, maybe 20/30 mins, then at 3ish for an hour and a half. They gradually find a pattern of their own. Saying that after 2 nights of sleeping through we were back to only sleeping till 3.30 then being up every sodding hour and a half last night, it's so frustrating. Whats more annoying is that after putting him back down at 6.45 he is still fast asleep and as we have to be somewhere I'm probably going to have to wake him.....sods law!

I should also say he does sleep/nap during the evening but there is no pattern to those as yet. Sometimes he'll sleep for a few hours, sometimes its lots of 15minute catnaps.

How do you get him to sleep mother?

S still isn't bringing up that wind and is clearly distressed. Please burp!!!!

M used to go to sleep on his own in the Moses basket during the day: I'd make sure he was fed and burped, swaddle him up, dummy in and maybe a pat and he would sleep. And I had time to myself to wash, cook, eat cake - whatever I fancied.

Not any more, since four months it's needed a car journey, walk in pram or a sling to get him to sleep in the day (settles on his own fine at night). Gah. And I've been happy with that as the nights were so bad I'd do anything to get him to sleep in the day to avoid the nights being even worse.

His nights are better (7-7 last night with a 15 min feed at midnight ) so have decided it's time to tackle the days... So am now trying to introduce naps in his room during the day. Not going well so far - been up six times in the last half hour - but am hoping we get there soon! Ewen the sheep is playing away and he's quiet and calm... Just awake! He should be tired though so fingers crossed he drops off....

Just realised that looks incredibly smug. I'm not!! Am sure it won't last and he has been a nightmare over the last few months - it's a smile of absolute relief, not smugness!

Alex no, she will not go to sleep alone but as long as we time the naps right she will go to sleep in a few minutes lying in her cot as long as one of us is there until she's properly asleep. Sometimes we need to do a little shush pat but usually not and if she really isn't settling (which is thankfully rare) I just pick her up and cuddle her and she goes straight off. I give her to opportunity to get herself to sleep but if she really can't I don't think it's the end of the world to help her to settle. Now she's in her own room I'm hoping we can start moving towards the bedroom door while she settles to the point where she can do it without us, but time will tell.

Obviously all babies are different, but for us timing is everything and putting her down for a nap too soon is just as bad as too late as both result in her getting worked up and no sleep happening!

When E was S's age she had to be rocked and put down asleep so I really wouldn't worry about it.

Ah I feel your pain Janey! E was up for her usual 2 hours last night, but slept 19.50-01.00 and then 02.45-08.30 so could be worse.

After moving her to her own room last week I am making sure all naps are taken at home in her cot this week to get her used to it. Inevitably life will get in the way and some naps will always be taken in the car or pushchair but hopefully after this week she will be comfortable taking naps at home in her cot. She has just woken up smiling from a 1h45m nap and it only took her a minute to get to sleep so FX it's going ok so far