BF in the middle of the night thread...how to stay awake!

[MummyPigandDaddyPig]

( distributes tea biscuits and nursing pillows allround....)

How do yo stay awake at night feeding??? Am struGgling to stay awake and have a sore thumb from playing solitaire on the iphone...alternates with reading muMsnet, daily mail and facebook....

What else is easy reading websites, games apps that dont require any brainpower that I cana entertain myself with? Any tips how to stay awake? Am seriously tired here!

Have cosleept with my dc's from approx 8-10 weeks, which makes night feeds easier, but I have weeks to go until then and wont dare to bedshare yet as older dc's still turn up in qour bed at night....

Oh raininginbaltimore, it's frustrating isn't it...? I do hope you're managing to catch a few zzzzzz's....

DD Periwinkle didnt stir at 11ish tonight and went through from 8 til 0145... Wow! (if she did stir earlier it can't have been very loud and must've just gone straight back to sleep !)

In her first 'newborn' size albeit one of the small seeming newborn sizes! babygro tonight! :o

Had a bit of deja vu last few days as my best friend has just had a prem baby... Can't believe the chances of it happening to her too... :( makes me realise how far we've come and how good periwinkle is now, and how lucky we are :o I just feel for her so much, knowing what a roller coaster it is, and wish it wasn't happening to her too....

Feed poo feed done... Hope she goes back off to sleep well fingers and everything else crossed !

Nope I'm still here. Every so often I think this must be it, but as I get back into bed she starts again. My nipples are raw. I know it is only for a short time. But not sure I can sustain this.

Hi raining I'm lying down with dd on me. She nodded off after a good feed. I have managed to put her fiwn whilst still asleep but it's so hard inst it? How old is your lo?

Only 5 days. I can feed lying down, but as she is so small the latch isn't great, so it gets sore.

I can't co-sleep with her with Dh, as he has ME and needs rest. But we don't have a spare room, so I have to get up.

Oh bless you!

I haven't co-slept as I feel overly anxious about it but I bri g my dd into bed to feed. I've just put her down in her cot and I'm hoping she's drifting off! I'm wide awake but know she'll be wanting another feed shortly!

Hey Sarita think what a massive support and source of advice you will be to your friend though, horrible for anyone to go through I'm sure, but much easier knowing someone else who has been through it

Raining it does get better honestly, get some Lansinoh cream for your nipples - it's the best available and I'm certain you can get it on prescription - and if you concentrate on nothing but feeding for a few days, that's fine

SusieLoo the clueless feeling is normal too I'm on my 3rd dc now and still end up with a face at times!!! Glad I make you feel better though!

So we got a sleep here from 10pm til 4.12am
Not bad again, but now I'm wide awake and baby Babylon us snoring again

We had two rather large poonamis today and I'm sure people are wondering what I'm eating as ds smells like a farmyard

Oh forgot to mention, baby Babylon was weighed today and came in at 16lb 13oz - bloody piglet!!

Teaandhobnobs sounds like you've got similar weight gain happening with yours

God bless these boobies!!!!

Morning everyone

Babies are getting big we've had an okay night, I woke baby susieloo at half nine for a feed and nappy change and he went through until one-only interrupted by dp coming to bed at 11 and having trouble sleeping so shaking me every ten minutes because he can't hear the baby breathing, baby was of course fine

Fed for an hour at one and then awake again at four and he wanted to get up so we are hoping to go back to bed around half six.

Hope your friend is doing okay sarita agree re all the advice you can give, you will be a great support.

Hope you finally got some sleep raining

I'm home all day with the baby today just the two of us I'm going to be very self indulgent and go for a nap every time the baby does or have a little rest on the sofa with the Olympics

Hope everyone has a good day

Hi to everyone
I am still lurking around on this thread but babyjet is sleeping better and going longer in the night now!
Glad to hear all the good news about how well the babes are doing - that's a great weight Babylon, how old is baby babylon now? babyjet is 12 weeks today and at last weigh in was 12lbs (little porker) you would hardly even know she was a month early!
Good luck to everyone and hope babes continue to do well x

And so to bed, baby susieloo has been much more awake today and is starting to look much more alert which is really lovely, I'm still producing way to much milk so really hoping it settles down soon, by 4am my boobs are excruciating, I've stopped expressing in the morning for the time being until it settles down although I might have to express just to get the baby to feed, he's struggling to latch on because they are so full.

Had two lovely naps today, one this afternoon for three hours which was great, still feel knackered though and completely in awe of all of you who have other children to look after too.

Hope you all have a good night

JetStar baby Babylon will be 15 weeks on Friday he's a proper porker!!!

SusieLoo how lovely your day sounded, did you get some nice naps? Are you freezing any of your excess milk? I've got loads stored and it's really handy for someone else to feed ds at times - he will take a bottle so I'm lucky!! But as it keeps for 6mths in freezer, I'll be using it when I start weaning - mixing into foods and porridge etc..... Just a thought, and I got some great little breast milk storage bags too
No danger of anyone else using it by mistake

Well I've turned in for the night, been awake since 4.12am this morning don't know why, just couldn't drop off after ds' feed! He went straight back off but no such look for me! I've just fed him and hopefully that will see us through until between 4 & 5 (fingers crossed!)

look LUCK
It didn't seem right when I typed it!!

Sending big long sleep vibes to all our little DCs
Nighty nights!!

Yet again I have mistimed bedtime and not taken advantage of DS falling asleep around 9:30, so he's now asleep in his bouncy chair while I decide whether I can stay awake until he next wants feeding, or if I dare wake a sleeping baby I really need to get organised in the evening, I am shooting myself in the foot here.

Back to the original topic of snacks my current favourite is granola mixed into fat free strawberry yoghurt. Not a middle of the night snack, but a pre-bed filler to try and get me through til breakfast. DH took the day off today, which meant that as usual I had to wait for him to be ready for lunch, so it was at least 2 hours later than I usually eat He sensibly didn't ask why I was in a bad mood (I get so grumpy when I'm hungry), although he did say after lunch "oh so have you stopped being grumpy now?".

It was nice to have him at home, but at the same time he absolutely does my nut. Last night he offered to share the room with DS while I slept in the spare room, and he would only wake me for feeds (and he would settle DS inbetween), but I said there was no point as I wouldn't get any more sleep than usual and it would be nice for us all to share the same room for once. Wrong! He pissed me off all night - from complaining I didn't wake up / sit up quick enough to feed DS, to lying there like a blob while I got up to change DS's nappy... I think it is safer for him to stay in the spare room so I don't get so worked up!

Hope the thread babies are sleepy tonight....

Two three hour stretches tonight and I'm really hoping he will sleep through until seven when I put him down again, really don't want to start a habit of getting up at 4am but there is not a lot I can do if he's wide awake!!

Babylon I had no idea you could use breast milk in food when weaning, what a great idea, I have started freezing but only two bags so I need to get into the habit of freezing smaller volumes so I'm not defrosting whole bags for one off feeds.

I do think sometimes it's just easier to get on with things yourself so I sympathise tea with unhelpful dh.

Just had a very uncomfortable feed with baby fighting my boob and straining and farting all the way through-lovely!!

Me and my nct friend used to text each other when we woke. It served 2 purposes, firstly it was nice to know that you weren't the only one having a disturbed night but also I was amazed how often we were both up at the same time so had a text natter.

My first wake up call!!! 6.30am

SusieLoo - sterilise an ice cube tray! Ta da!!
It's what I did with DDs and then when I switched to FF I was able to mix the milk and not do just a straight swap from bf to ff

Each cube gives approx 1fl oz (30ml) depending on it's size

6.30am that's fantastic babylon baby susieloo woke up at ten to six so I took him downstairs so dp could stay in bed until his alarm went off and the baby promptly went back to sleep until 7

The ice cube tray is a completely brilliant and inspired idea I love it.

I too have a dp that means well tea but sometimes misses the mark a bit, I was in the middle of my first three hour sleep when he woke me up with some cheese on toast, lovely idea but I would rather have had the sleep!!

I'm walking the baby into town today to call in and see the people at work and do some shopping, I've roped in my mum in case things get tricky, I'm hoping that mothercare still let you feed in there shops.

pmgkt I always catch up on my texting (if I can keep my eyes open enough to focus!) during the night, and also use Kik as my DP's mum is awake at 4am, so she messages me to keep me entertained :)

We've had some funny nights recently, MiniPop has done a couple of 4 hours stints during the night, and he's started being a bit more awake during the day, not sure if that's normal for a premmie? He's 10 weeks real age, 5 days corrected.

Anyway, last night he slept for four and a half hours, and then 5 hours..!! I had to wake him from both. I was really worried something was wrong (again), but he seems his usual self and no temperature, so maybe he really is just tired.

Sarita hopefully you can help your friend out with support and advice, I have found it really helpful and incredibly reassuring to talk to other people with premmies.

Susieloo How did the walk into town go? :) wasn't the weather lovely? We made it out for lunch today, poor little MiniPop was baking when I got him home.

Tea You have my sympathy with regards to DH, mine also does my nut in sometimes... ;)

and hello to everyone else waves

Hi all

We've been out for dinner tonight, all five of us with my parents and three of my sisters DCs (sister is in intensive care ATM with a blood disorder).

Had a lovely meal and now just getting ready to settle down for the night. Baby Babylon had massive feeds and poonami galore today and is just feeding again now!

We've been outside all day and he us knackered hoping for another 9.30-6.30 if possible please??

Wishing everyone big sleeps and an easy night!!

Hello everyone

Hope your sister is doing okay babylon sounds like you all had a really nice evening and hopefully you will get a big sleep tonight.

Walk into town went really well thank you minipop and I timed it just about right because he only started to cry for a feed as we turned into the drive. He's been cluster feeding for the last few hours, he did this last time the weather was hot, I've got the fan on in our bedroom but might end up downstairs with him later, our bedroom is too hot.

No idea if it's relevant minipop but baby susieloo was born at 39 weeks because I had a section and for the first couple of weeks I had to wake him after four or five hours to feed him.

Have a good night everyone I've just got into bed and I'm regretting eating toast in it!!

Ahhhh Susieloo toast crumbs in the bed is horrible! DH is a nightmare for eating stuff like that in bed.

Minipopsmum there was definitely a point where DS became more awake during the day - I can't remember for sure but I guess it was around his due date.

Also remember that formula takes longer to digest than BM so that might explaining his longer sleeps? Although formula is no guarantee of sleep, of course.

Been out in the sun too much today, feeling exhausted...

Baby susieloo slept for just over three hours, had a ten minute feed and is now asleep again! I on the other hand am wide awake!! Why!! Perhaps I need to cut down on my naps!!

He's wearing a sleep suit and I have got a thin cellular blanket on him but I do worry about him over heating when it's warm.

Hope everyone is enjoying big sleeps