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

[Salmonspringroll]

After finally putting her down at 12.30 she's just woken for her feed and a big poo. 5 hours unbroken sleep, feeling v lucky! Hoping it lasts and I have a sleeper

[puggywug81]

Morning all,hope everyone had a restful night.

We had a good night here after Fin had finally managed to poop he was a lot more comfortable and slept for 6 and half hours!

[Cannotbelieveit]

Writer that's what I did with ds1 only if it escalated into crying/screaming would we pick him upset so we were unknowingly letting him settle himself and he's been like that since!

Up now anyway! Just fed again and I can hear ds1, need to change him Vd give him his ready brek and DH is up for work too. The day begins again!

[Writerwannabe83]

singsong - sorry if my post was coming across as judgemental, I really didn't mean it to. I hope nobody thinks I was implying others are doing it 'wrong' because it wasn't my intention and I obviously don't think that so apologies if I accidentally offended anyone.

I only started self settling because we hit a point where DS just wouldn't feed to sleep anymore and so me and DH would spend ages rocking him, singing to him, rubbing his back, walking around the bedroom with him, a whole manner of things to try and get him to sleep but if anything it made him more awake and irritable. We could be doing this for up to two hours sometimes and if he ever did fall asleep he'd only wake again following the transfer and we'd back at square one.

The HV advised that instead of us trying to rock him to sleep etc to just put him down in his basket after his feed. She said his irritability when we were trying to soothe him was probably due to me and DH faffing around with him so much when all he probably wanted to do was lie down and sleep. So we took her advice and things have been so much better. I think we started it properly around the 9 week mark. When he has his daytime naps, 90% of the time I will rock him to sleep. Like I said, I never "leave him to cry" and am not neglectful or anything like that, I pick him up if he's genuinely upset but otherwise he's happy to be in his basket.

He actually settled himself off only 5 minutes after being put in his MB following his 4am feed which is his record!! He slept for another 3.5 hours, had a feed and is now falling asleep again

[McBaby]

We have had a v unsettled night since 4 due to the wind! She is mainly asleep and not distress just v noisy so we only pick her up if she gets distressed but it's impossible to sleep through.

With DD1 I'm sure I picked her up too soon and we fed to sleep till she was 1. We had a couple of weeks of hell then but we taught her to not feed to sleep and self settle but now at 22 months she is a great sleeper and can settle herself in the night.

I can't remember not wearing a bra in bed I started when pregnant with DD1 as they got so sore and fed her till I was 3 months pregnant this time.

Salmon I would consider talking to your midwive 5 - 6 feeds and a five hour gap is unusual for a newborn. It is normal for then to need 8-12 feeds a day to build your supply up as then need little and often due to v small tummies. Plus until they have regained birth weight it is usually reccomended to wake then every 3-4 hours

[notadoctor]

Morning everyone! Lovely to see so many new babies on the thread.

I have a 10wk old DS. He's EBF. He was born 7.11 but is a total milk monster and has piled on the pounds ever since and is just above the 75 percentile. He's a very chilled out little thing - loves his day time sleep. Wakes every 3-5hours to feed in the night.

I also have a 2.5yo DD. She is a bit of a live wire and her sleep currently gives me as much trouble as his does!

[Singsongmama]

Hi writer - I think we've been on this thread long enough to know we wouldn't judge each other! I wasn't offended and I realise that you weren't lecturing. It is an interesting area for discussion though!! I know you and others aren't neglectful and I hope I made it clear that I wasn't implying that you leave your baby to cry...I know you don't. I should have been more clear in my message....I do let DS lie down and snuffle/grizzle but it just happens that more often than not he does end up genuinely distressed. I guess I just long for a day when he can go to sleep himself....don't we all!!

[Singsongmama]

And good luck with weigh in!

[KateTheShrew]

Hi all. Sorry, I'm a bit late to the party as usual since I don't tend to check/post in the night (although I am awake. A lot.)

Introductions: My DS is 20 weeks. We had a horrendous start with weight loss, inefficient feeding, hospital appointments and feeding expressed milk for two months with formula top ups (expressing 7 times a day was hellish and a I have so much respect for those mums who exclusively express long term).

Miraculously I did manage to get him back to the breast at 11 weeks, and now he's bf except for one bottle before bed and, fingers crossed, he's gaining weight steadily.

He feeds usually twice in the night and shows no signs of dropping either of those. Last night it was 2am and 4.30, which is fairly typical. I could cope with this if I could get back to sleep between the two feeds, but usually I can't and do I am tired. Very very tired. Going to get blackout curtains today to see if that helps.

[Writerwannabe83]

Thanks singsong I just hate to think I may have offended anyone

His weigh in is later his this afternoon but first off I'm going to the hair dressers to get my very long hair cut off!! I'm feeling nervous about it but it's time for a change. My DH doesn't know I'm getting my hair done so it will be hopefully a nice surprise for him when he comes home.

Then I'm going out for lunch with 3 friends who I used to work with and haven't seen for a while. Two of them have also got baby boys (aged 7 weeks and 9 weeks) and the other woman is 20 weeks pregnant with boy Loads of baby boys!!

Then I'm going to Babies R Us/Toys R Us to treat DS to some toys

Busy and expensive day ahead I think

[Misty9]

Morning all. Late to this new thread because...she practically slept through! In the crib! Went from 10.30-4.30. So maybe she just wants her own space

Intro: dd is 7 weeks today and was 8lb 13.5oz at birth, and a whopping 11lb 3oz last week. She loves milk and usually cluster feeds in the evenings. Last night is the longest stretch of sleeping we've had, let alone in the crib (attached to bed).

Currently asleep on me for first nap. Having issues with getting her to sleep independently for naps. I seem to have the only baby who isn't lulled to sleep in a pram or car seat, and in fact wakes up when put in either...
I also have ds, 2.8, who can be more problematic at night than his sister.

[KateTheShrew]

Ooh writer that sounds like a lovely day!

I'm somewhat I would love to get my hair cut but it's falling out in huge clumps as it is so I'm worried a salon shampoo, blow dry etc might leave me bald!!

Re: feeding to sleep. I do this at night and was quite relaxed about it because DS usually settled for his daytime naps without it. However the last few days we have had massive overtired screaming sessions and he absolutely will not nap without boob time and then has to stay sleeping on my lap. Don't know where this has come from or what to do about it! We were about to start putting him in his big boy cot for daytime naps to get used to it before we move him into it overnight in a month or so, but that seems impossible now.

He's pretty much outgrown his Moses basket and his bednest so he has to go into the cot soon. I fear that the transition will mean even less sleep for me if that's possible

[Singsongmama]

Misty....wooo hooo! That's super...long may it last!

Hi shrew, good luck with big boy cot ( that's what we called it too!). We just persevered with it during the day and now the only nap I can rely on (touch wood!!!) is his morning nap in his cot. That's where he is just now.

Have a good day everyone.

[KateTheShrew]

That's reassuring singsong, I'll keep trying.

[Cariad007]

Ugh, DS fell asleep on me so I transferred him to the crib as I had to put some washing out. He lasted all of 5 minutes in there! At night he will sleep in the crib for a few hours but in the day only on me or on the bed if I wait next to him.

[Writerwannabe83]

Well my lovely day put didn't go as planned and was expensive for all the wrong reasons!

Got my hair cut and on the way to meet my friends I pulled into Halfords to replace my brake light and it opened a can of worms!! To cut a very longs Tory short I ended up at the Peugeot garage and basically the wiring for my back lights are knackered and none of my back brake lights, main lights of indicators work God knows how long I've been driving around like that for!! So that's going to cost me £200 to fix and it can't be done until next week so I'm housebound!!

The good news though is that DS's weight is really good - he's put on 11oz in 6 days! So it reassures me that his new feeding/sleeping regime isn't causing him any harm [smile ]

[KateTheShrew]

Oh no writer what a shame! Excellent news about your DS's weight though. Now you can relax and enjoy the sleep

I haven't had my DS weighed for a few weeks as I'm trying to wean myself off it -- he was weighed twice weekly at the beginning when he had feeding problems, and then really frequently again when we were transitioning back to direct bf from expressing so getting him weighed became a bit of a security blanket for me. But since he seems to have been gaining steadily for two months I'm trying to get him weighed less often and just relax and trust that if he seems well and has lots of dirty nappies then all is peachy. I'll probably get him weighed next week though as it will have been nearly a month since his last weigh in by then. I do love it when I see he's gained and I think, "I've done that!"

[Cariad007]

I'm almost afraid to get DS weighed as each time I do he's put on a kilo or grown several centmetres and I'm dreading him not fitting unto the bassinet for our Oz trip.

In other news my parents are returning to Oz today. My mum has been here for two months and has been such a help with DS and he is so fond of her. She's going to be gutted to leave him. So I'm feeling a bit teary and maudlin as I'll really miss them and won't have any help with DS during the day anymore :(

[KateTheShrew]

Aw Cariad, huge hugs! My mum came for two weeks after DS was born and it was so amazing to have her here. I was teary when she left too, and didn't know how I'd cope, and she only lives a a couple of hundred miles away! (I mean, she can't just pop round for an afternoon to help out, but it's nothing like as far away as your folks are). It feels a bit scary when you're alone with the baby during the day at first, but you will get used to it and get your own routine and way of doing things going. It helped me to remember that I could still phone my mum in a panic if I needed to, and while the time difference might be an issue in your situation, I'm sure your mum wouldn't mind you phoning at odd hours if you needed a chat or some advice.

I'm sure you're really looking forward to your trip over to see them -- when are you going?

[Cariad007]

Thanks Kate - she drives me mad a times (whose mum doesn't) but there's no one I'd trust more with DS than her. I'm going over in October when he'll be 8 months. He has 2 little cousins who can't wait to see him and loads of other relatives who have staked their place in the queue to cuddle him! He's the first boy born into the family for a while so is bound together v spoiled. I'm going for 5 weeks so it'll be a nice long break. But between now and then we have to move house so am dreading that.

[mrsmugoo]

Evening ladies - it's Friday woohoo! Not that we have social lives of course..! I still look forward to my DH being home with us though.

Have just fed Edward and he's dropping off in my arms. I am going to bed as soon as he does as I'm shattered from last night plus I did a really long round trip with the pushchair today which was good exercise and great for his napping but has totally done me in!

[Writerwannabe83]

My DS has been grizzling for ages. He's so tired but won't sleep. He had a good 2 hour nap around lunchtime but nothing since. He's being really needy too, I don't know what to do with him.

Might try giving him a feed and seeing if he will drop off....

[Singsongmama]

Hugs Cariad

Yes weekend is here and DH is back from his business trip! I managed 5 days and nights by myself, feel well chuffed. I'm thinking of any ladies out there who are still by themselves.

Another bedtime, here we come.....good luck everyone

[Cariad007]

Hmm DS has started his usual grizzling. We've had bad Friday nights for the past 2 weeks and no reason to suppose it'll be any different tonight judging from how he's acting...

Plus my hayfever is horrendous and the pharmacis said I can't take anything for it

[Writerwannabe83]

DS had an absolutely mental screaming episode earlier and we resorted to giving him Gripe Water which led to the most horrendous belch

He is still grizzly but he's in his MB and showing signs of being sleepy. The problem I have now is an overtired baby and there's nothing worse....