Calling all night time feeders - always up feeding when we should be sleeping! Let's keep each other company PART 2!!

[Writerwannabe83]

I think to start the new thread off we should reintroduce ourselves and our babies for the sake of our own memories and also for any newbies who may join

I have a 10 week old DS who is EBF. Has been sleeping through the night for the last week and I'm just waiting patiently for things to go downhill as I'm sure they will

Why why why? Last night was the worst yet. Who has replaced my lovely well behaved baby with one who will only sleep on my chest,every time I put him down he literally screamed,he has never been like this.I don't know what to do as I cannot sleep like that so I have had no sleep at all!

Up for the day. That's two nights in a row where I've seen every hour on the clock.

I can never nap in the day - I am only just weaning DS from napping in my arms by transferring him into the bouncer and so I have to sit by him and rock him as soon as he stirs otherwise he'd wake up after 5 minutes.

The only times I've ever napped in the day since he was born is if my MIL visits and watches him for me.

Ooh mrs, sorry! Really hope tonight is better

As many of us are probably coming up, or experiencing, the 4 month sleep regression, I thought this might help

Good night here - she slept 7-6, only waking when I woke her for a feed before going to bed myself. I feel much better this morning!

Fingers crossed for better days/nights for those who suffered last night.

That's brilliant twentieth - it sounds like heaven! How old is your DD?

Thanks for that link frank - it was interesting to read.

15 weeks writer. She's been doing it on and off for a few weeks, interspersed with some horrific early starts! I'm making the most of it though because we had a shocking sleep regression with DD1!

Frankel, that's very interesting. My baby is going to be 4 months on Thursday and is definitely bigger and more interested in everything. He can now laugh and wants to look out windows etc to see what's going on. He also seems to get super wound up when he does get annoyed and enjoys making very, very loud noises. I guess it makes sense that sleep will be harder too...I suppose I should really crack down on a bedtime routine now but does anyone else find this challenging whilst they still have to sleep wherever we are? So he is ready to sleep at 8 or 8.30 and I get him to sleep downstairs as this is just when we are putting dinner on and he's too little to be upstairs on his own. Once he can sleep on his own I am keen to put him down by 7.30 and try to teach him to self settle but I'm worried it will be too late.

midnight if you don't want to put him down on his own just yet you can still start a bedtime routine to get him used to the process - bath, change of clothes, feed, etc.

Personally I've been putting DD to bed in her cot at 7pm since she was 9 weeks old and she's really benefitted from it. I've also had the benefit of getting my evenings back to myself which makes a huge difference when you're doing everything on your ow. If DH was here I might not have done it quite so soon.
The first few nights I was quite twitchy and kept going up to check on her as I didn't believe the monitor was working! Her cot is in our room so she's only on her own for 3 hours before I go to bed.

Midnight - I was going to say exactly the same thing as Frankel. We also put DD down in the cot in our bedroom for the evening. She was starting to be disturbed by the noise downstairs so this works better for us.

My eldest had been moved into her own room completely by 9/10 weeks but I've decided it's easier to keep DD2 in with us for a bit longer.

If you're not comfortable putting baby upstairs (which I understand), then the bedroom routine suggested below sounds like a good suggestion.

DS was up for feeds every 2 hours as usual and succeeded in taking over most of the bed last night! DP took his at around 5.30am til 7ish and then he slept again til about 9. He was very fidgety though - the legs were up and down so I had to pat him and some him a lot.

Going to attempt to go to a baby feeding drop in this morning but we shall see. I'd really like to meet other mums but have had no luck so far as the ones I've met I've not really had anything in common with. It's so hard!

Thanks for the tips, I think you're both right, I can still start a routine once my husband gets back at 7. I think I will keep him with us for a bit longer as out room with the cot in is really quite far away from the living room and kitchen. I will try bath, little play or book. I tend to go up with him early anyway before he wakes at 10 for a feed. He definitely asks to sleep by 8 so I think I need to get there before he demands sleep as he gets wound up.

I'm having the same issue in that when DS is asleep by 8.30-9.30pm I don't really want to spend the rest of the evening just sitting in my bedroom but at the same time I don't feel quite ready yet to leave him alone upstairs.

We have just got back from the doctors about spot and she said it's quite nastily infected so he's on antibiotics four times a day. Last time he was on AB he had a really dodgy stomach and let nights he was screaming....please God don't let it happen again. Poor little man.

I started a bedtime routine at 8 weeks but I go to bed when he does (sometimes even at 7:30!) otherwise I wouldn't get a "long" stretch of sleep. He's such a crappy sleeper this is what I've always done. I've forgotten what evenings are like!

I only got about 2 weeks of lovely 4 hour stretches and only 2 night feeds and now I'm back to being awake all night! I'm pretty sure it's 4 month regression even though he's only 15 weeks as he's just learnt to roll and is suddenly always wanting to be upright all the time so he can look round. My lovely days of him cooing under the play gym are over as he's bored of it after 10 minutes now and wants to be carried upright or sitting on my lap the whole time now. My Mum is bringing his bumbo next week which should be a game changer.

Now he's napping in the bouncer I've been able to try expressing/bottles again with him. I got him to take 50ml of EBM yesterday. Today I managed to express about 80ml so I'll try getting him to take that later. DH is never going to be able to do a bottle feed at night though as we co-sleep and so it's just not going to work.

Do you actually manage to sleep at 7.3m or do you just go up to relax?

I'm glad things are going better in terms of expressing

I sleep! He gets me up before 6 every day, i can never nap in the day time and rarely get more than 2 hours in one stretch at night.

I'm always shattered. I could sleep on a washing line, on command!

That image made me smile because it reminds me of DH as he can sleep anywhere and anytime. All he has to do is close his eyes and he's asleep within a minute. I'd love to be able to do that!

DS just woke up from another 4.5 hour 'nap' - I think he's making up for the fact he didn't sleep yesterday!

Had our 7 week check and all was good. He does have upper lip tie as we suspected! And we still have a follow up to last weeks hospital appt about his kidney thing at end of July.

He's 12lb13oz at 7+2 so he's put on 1lb3oz in 2 weeks and is following 82nd centile. He has his jabs next Monday and I have a smear :-(

HV is coming tomorrow for the 6-8 week check so will get his length done too.

Is anyone else's baby very hard work today? So worn out already I am hoping the night goes well...

He's currently in his overtired state. It took me ages to get him to sleep, then he finally gave in and just when I felt sheer relief my FIL came through the front door, slammed it shut and yelled "Hello" as loud as he could. DS obviously woke up and hasn't stopped screaming since.

He's not in the best mood anyway seeing as I'm forcing antibiotics down his throat - what a nightmare that is

I foresee a bad night.

Cannot you might want to double check with the nurse re your smear. Mine said you shouldn't have one til at least 12 weeks post-partum as it takes that long for cervical cells to get back to normal. In the end I had mine done around 15 weeks and it still wasn't long enough as they couldn't get a result and I have to go back for another one in 3 months. Joy!

DS slept for a long chunk of time today but has been up since about 4pm and is starting to get fractious. Am hoping it's not a repeat of last night when he took forever to sleep. Went to the feeding drop in this morning and it was helpful re his reverse cycling but it wasn't very busy and all the other babies there were newborns. It shouldn't be so hard to meet other like-minded mums should it??

Yes I've heard that cariad I will ring up tomorrow and tell them!!

He fell asleep at 8.30pm but then woke up half an hour later and the crying has started again. He is very out of sorts today. The ANP I saw today at the GP Surgery said the infection may make him feel a bit crappy and act a bit 'off' (I said how he'd been over the last few days, particularly with his sleeping) and she said to give him Calpol if he seemed unsettled and grizzly. I definitely think that's what will be happening tonight. I hate seeing him so upset and just not himself.

Got mum round tonight and dh off work, and dd was far to interested in the noises to feed and sleep like a good girl... sometimes much as I appreciate the help, being left alone is the better option

Hmph, DS awake and beady-eyed!