High need baby support thread

[LittleWaveyLines]

Does this sound like your baby?

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

If so - join the club! :)

Bloody hell. He's asleep. Had a bit of boob then switched the dummy in and he is snoozing peacefully.

Why are babies so inconsistent?

I may be at risk of repeating myself but if dummy rejection is a problem get shot of the silicone orthopaedic jobs and try the ultra old fashioned cherry shaped latex teats. DS would spit out the silicone ones and screech like I was trying to force feed him slug pellets or something. Cherry ones though? Oh, we like them! He immediately went all chilled and content and it's now his bff. Once I knew it worked I was straight out to Tesco to clear the shelves!

That was 11wks ago and now at 19wks the love affair shows no signs of abating. When we introduced it we said that as long as it was gone by 6m that would be ok (that's when the sucking reflex goes and it becomes habit - therefore harder to break). Now though, if he wants to take it into his GCSEs - that's fine with me

He's the first of all four to have a dummy, but man alive, I'm so grateful for it!

Hmmm inspirational dummy talk! I did try one aaages ago and sure enough he hated it. I'm thinking I should try again! Do you use it to get them to settle themselves? Or is it once they're down? Are there different dummies for different ages?

DS has on a handful of occasions settled himself with it. However, it's mainly to shut him up

I can stretch night feeds from 2-4ish hours by popping his dummy back in again once or twice which you can practically do asleep

There are different dummies, but I think the major difference is size.

I also invested in a couple of dummy holders as they kept falling on the floor or getting lost.

Just took DS in the car with his new dummy. Not a peep there or back, now asleep in his car seat in the living room!

Am actually feeling really happy for u all reading this!! Long live the dummy- my ds loves the cherry shape- he's had a dummy practically from birth , so that's prob why I've never had car seat or pram trouble!!! Of course tho, he favors the now discontinued Tommee tippee ones- typical- I now have to stock up on them from eBay!!!

Tell me it ain't true Mampig - they've not discontinued the cherry ones with the pale blue surround? No no no no!

If it is true I shall be doing the rounds of the shops tomorrow to check for any residual stock

My DD rejected even the cherry ones....

Phwoar thanks Queen

DS would only entertain the Mam ones. And only after a month of trying lots of different shaped. Even the latex cherry ones he hated. Then all of a sudden he decided he liked the very first brand we tried! Babies!

We use ours to help him settle at night and sometimes for naps. Also in the pram and car seat. We try not to use it more than this, but at times, when we've exhausted all other options, it helps soothe him.

Right, I've been to boots and bought some! Got a latex one ans a silicon one. Now where's my steriliser?! I shall report back.

I really shouldn't get excited, I bet it doesn't work!

Good luck Jee! Persevere with it if baby doesn't fancy it at first. Just keep offering every day - that's all I did and for some reason known only to DS, he decided to take one!

Well, first try DS was very unimpressed, after a bit of perseverance he decided it was for chewing rather than sucking! I'll try again later I guess!

Button- there's a couple of diff ones. The old one is bigger surround and the bit that you hold is stiffer than the new one. The good news is that ds is now taking the new one- got them today, he still prefers the older one though- and you can get them brand new on e bay at the minute

igoring previous posts - sorry - WHY WON'T SHE EFFING SLEEP????

Been bloody pacing/walking jiggling ALL FUCKING DAY sje jas had 3 30min naps and is still bloody awake and whining...

Oh LWL that was me yesterday. When he finally went to sleep I just sat there in a sort of catatonia for a good while before I could summon up the energy to go to bed!

I hope she settles soon for you. Maybe all this wakeyness will mean she's extra tired for the night

thanks button... eyes are now drifting off v=but sjes got one of my hands trapped snd I darent move!

I am soooo close yo saying to DP just take her and give her a bottle - Im off out!

... but I cant not least because of the cmpi, and that shes a bottle refuser.....## i'm so tired i'm reeling dizzy...

Oooh, sorry to hear about some bad evenings... hope you all had better nights.

I'm of mixed opinion as to our night. On the one hand, I've not had a great deal of sleep. On the other hand, DS actually did really quite well on our first attempt at him sleeping on the mattress rather than me! . First, he didn't get stroppy with being put down on the mattress. This may have been luck I guess, but on doing this in the cot he invariably wakes within 2 mins. He slept the first 3 hours no problem, then fed, then slept for a bit longer but then got a bit narky and I had to get up to rock him, but only 5 mins or so. Then back down until he had a momumental poo at 3.45 (why??? he's never done this before the last couple of days....urgh...), and after changing him it took me about 45 mins to get him back to sleep by pacing/rocking, and finally feeding in the rocking chair. I stayed there for about 10 mins to make sure he was asleep then crept back to bed and managed to feckin wake him up when we got there!!!!!! He wriggled around in bed for another 30 mins, awake but fairly quiet so I just stayed there for a bit, but then he decided at 5am he'd had enough, so we're up now. But overall I think actually it wasn't a bad first attempt.

I think I had more problems sleeping than he did! I found my back hurt from lying in that position on my side. He did 'allow' me to roll away onto my back for a while so I could rest it a bit before rolling back, so not so bad I guess. Does anyone else have problems with their back when they cosleep? Any tips? Also, how do you feed from the top boob?

I hope he wants a nap soon....going back to bed for that one!!

Oh and how to you avoid a milky wet patch on the bed?? I'm wearing a bra with pads but I cant easily pull it back up once hes finished as either im asleep too, or its still in his mouth and i'm scared of waking him!

I used to swap him over sides but I understand its not the wisest thing to do. Some people can feed from both by just leaning over a bit but my nipples are a bit, erm... wall eyed!

Also, I always slept on a large towel which I used to change daily.

Hmmm, can't help with the 'wet patch' issue jen, as have never really leaked. I do sympathise with the bad back though. I think you do get used to it as im not as stiff as i used to be. And i guess, as he gets used to lying on the mattress, you'll get more freedom to move away and get comfy. Re feeding from both boobs, I still tend to sit up and feed him properly (from either boob) if i think he actually wants a drink as I don't think he latches great laying down. Basically, when he wakes I don't move and shove a boob in his face. If he has a couple of sucks and falls asleep, fine. If he starts chowing down for longer than a minute, I sit up and feed him properly. He then feeds off to sleep. I can sometimes lay him down without him waking or he'll stir but a gentle waft of a nipple in his face is enough to get him off again. Does that make any sense?!

Had an interesting night. Put 'bedtime' (ha!) back by an hour and he went down much quicker. I still had to settle him a bit but wasn't the usual battle of wills. We went to bed at 10, and he only woke at 1:30 and 4. Then up at 6:30 to start the day. The other difference was we put him in between me and DH. Wonder if he found that a bit cosier.

DS up like clockwork every 2 hours last night.

I'm finding it completely insane that he still feeds as much as he did as a newborn. Surely he should (and has on the odd occasion) be able to go longer :(

Got an appointment with the GP on Thursday. Am bricking it :(

Dont worry about GP!! You'll be fine!
Similar shitty night for me too. Went to bed with ds at 9. and again, back to 2 hrly proper feeds! (one hand typing). my nipples are also wonky, but if i lean far enough i shove it in, and with practice has got easier. i'm also frustrated at all this feeding... getting a bit ridicu;ous if you ask me!!! anyway, nowt much else we can do = i think we are all going in cycles of good/bad nights and days!!!! my back also hurts more than ev er now too..... arghh. nice to be able to vent on here tho!!!

Thanks for the tips! Queenkong, that does make sense, sounds like a good solution. I actually did that for the 'top ' boob last night but wasn't sure if there might be a better way!

tickle - I can imagine the GP feels daunting, but hopefully you'll come out of the appointment feeling like a huge weight has been lifted and things are moving forward

Tickle - I'm of the same opinion - are you going to the GP specifically about this? Let us know what they say?

Yes I get back ache from cosleeping, and lean right over to offer the top boob. I also have to sit up for the morning feeds as my acreage of boobage means some ducts arent drained properly when feeding lying down, so need emotying as soon as poss. Slightly wall eyed nipples here so have to lean back slightly for bottom boob, and right onto my front for top. Have to guide with hand as well.

Well she finally went to sleep at 10.30, and woke at 12, 1, 3, 5, 6, 7 up at 7.30 all happy and smiling. I am not happy and smiling, I'm fucking knackered :(

Not been able to get on much as am visiting my Mum and my phone stopped working. Got it sorted now though.
Drove down (with mum) from midlands to London on Friday - DS screamed in car seat so had to pull off motorway and calm him down - took an hour. I really thought we were over the worst with the car!

Had a couple of family get togethers over the weekend (not seen family much since DS was born as I can't face the drive too often). Cue totally overstimulated baby who took hours to wind down and hardly slept. Still at least mum & aunts got to see what he was like so they're a bit more sympathetic now ( they tried to rock him to sleep for me for hours to no avail).

He was very happy and smiley though (until the evening) as he was the absolute centre of attention!

Everyone here also says " isn't he alert" think it must be a high needs trait.

Heading back tomorrow on the train as I can't face the drive on my own with the screaming.

Hope to be seeing lactation consultant today that I contacted about DS' tongue tie and low weight gain. Will ask her about sleeping and let you know if she has any pearls of wisdom.

Tickleme - really hope you feel better after doc appt.

LWL - hope you manage to get some sleep soon. You sound shattered.

Hope everyone else has a good day - we're having a quiet one after a few days of madness.