Sleep is for the Weak Reunited

[gingerninja]

As we're officially not the weakest of other posters on the sleep boards anymore, it's time to move on. So, here is the new home for those of us that have been on SIFTW so long we can't bear to leave and who finally, can think about other stuff to talk about.

So my SIFTW sisters, this is where the kettle is always on and we can talk freely about sleep, no sleep or anything that takes our fancy.

Hi Ginger

DS's eczema has actually got quite a bit worse again since it's been warm. It's funny because DH's eczema is the opposite, it's worse in cold weather. He has good and bad days, we've got Betnovate for when it gets really bad. I've been using steroid creams on him every day for a year now but there's really no choice, if we don't put them in then within a day or two he's terrible all over.

Yay for the later mornings. DS has been sleeping a little later since he's been walking, it must be wearing him out. Most nights recently he's gone from 8-7ish which is fine with me.

Hi Meg, yes we've had to use the steroids quite a bit for over a year too. I do feel crap about it periodically especially when someone tells me how over using steroids affected them long term. Dr seems to think it isn't a problem. I really hope that's the case.

I really thought we were getting on top of it too.

I think (hope) it's the stronger steroids which cause problems with long-term use. My stepmum is a GP and assures me that it's worse to leave it untreated.

How is your DH at the moment, any more news on his condition>?

That's good.

DH finally has a diagnosis. Migraine Associated Vertigo apparently. Similar symptoms and treatment to damage of the inner ear. I don't think anyone knows what causes it but the consultant is confident that with intensive physio and rehabilitation he will make progress. We're still awaiting the physio tho so he's physically in the same position. Having said that, his mood has been much more uplifted since the diagnosis which is good.

Hello ladies

I am so glad to hear that your DH is feeling more positive Ginger. It must have been really scary for him without any kind of diagnosis.

DD also has eczma. The dermotologist told me it was important to use the correct creams for long enough and that often people stopped using them too quickly. DD also pretty much always has a steriod cream applied at night, but we do try to occasionally give 1 or a few 'nights off'. I remember being worried about hydrocortozone, but it would be lovely to get back to that TBH. She is so brave about it all and it makes me so sad that she has to live with such a horrible condition. DH also developed eczma 4/5 years ago. He has had some pretty scary treatment including possibly carcnogenic immuno suppressents. He has to have regular blood tests to check his white blood count. His is on his hands and when it's bad it really affects his everyday life.

(Excuse any wrong spellings!!)

Please all send sunny weather thoughts for Sunday - DS1s party is fast approaching. Eeeek!

So glad you finally have a diagnosis Ginger It's been a long time coming!

Re: eczema, DH's is much worse in the summer, he has a flare-up as soon as it gets hot (which is ironic as he loves summer weather). Betnovate works really well.

Hi folks.

Wanted to say thanks for being sweet on another thread Effie, and I hope your pregnancy is being kind to you.

Also so pleased to hear your DP is feeling more positive ginger, that's brilliant news.

To everyone else, hello and I hope you are sleeping well and often

Hello everyone,

EP - hope you are blooming.
CM - how was the party to end all parties?
Hurrah for Meg's longer lie-ins (funny that 7am is now a lie-in)
Ginger - glad DH has a diagnosis. It's a starting point, and at least relieves you of the worries of uncertainty.
Rose - how's the little man sleeping?

I hope you are all well. We currently have tinfoil up at the windows as DD will now sleep to 6.30 if and only if the room is blacked out with no chinks of light. It's a great look .

DH is interviewing for a transfer in a couple of weeks. Although I'm a bit nervous about getting the flat sold - the market's so crap, and we've not got a huge amount of equity. Fingers crossed!

Hello all, i'm still lurking.

We've had some rotten stomach bug which has been awful. Poor DH had two migraines over the weekend and has been back to square one with his symptoms. Still, least he's in touch with the Drs now so hopefully that will speed recovery up.

Hope you're all well.

EP how's the Pgn going?

hi all
ginger for your stomach bug and dh's migraines, but pleased that the docs seem to be on the case now.

EP hope all is well with you.
and all you other lovely ladies

All ok here, apart from 4.30am starts
nothing i do seems to make a diff, so have resigned myself to them at the mo. just making sure i go back to bed with dd when she has a nap if i can.....
perkin, i think i may need to invest in some tinfoil, just read your post!!!!

Hello all

We were in a caravan in Norfolk last week, very nice indeed and sunny every day, but DS woke at 5am every day, erk. He had a great time though, and loved the beach.

Ginger, hope DH is feeling a bit better.

EP, how's the morning sickness? I keep feeling very broody but then realising how much I love sleeping all the way through (most nights) and think I'll enjoy it for a while longer...

Tibsy, nice to hear from you

Perkin, how did DH's interview go?

Hi everyone else, hope you all aren't having too many early mornings

Very tired today DS was up 6 times in the night just like old times!

I think it must be his canines as he's been dribbling rivers for days, refusing food and incredibly clingy -- yesterday he spent the entire afternoon glued to my lap. Can't feel anything poking through the gums, I hope they hurry up. Dunno how I used to get up that many times every night!

hi meg, poor you and poor lo
its surprising how we forget the wake ups. hope lo's teeth come thru soon. Am awaiting dd's back teeth at the mo, they seem to be taking forever
your hols sounds lovely. i cant wait to get away.....

Tonight DS got woken by a rainstorm about 20 minutes after going to sleep. He has literally only just conked out after two hours of screaming not pacified by cuddles, boob or In The Night Garden

Hi Meg, we're having very unsettled days and nights which I'm putting down to the back molars. They're a nightmare and have turned DD into a monster. At least I'm assuming that's the problem as I can't actually get a proper look. She's also turned into a little bitey, pinchy, hitty little child when she's cross so I'm guessing we've got terrible twos fast approaching!

Glad your holiday was nice. I would like to go away again, feels like ages ago that I went.

Hello all. I have been lurking, but don't seem to find the time to post very often. DS1's party was fine and the carnage was kept to bearable levels. Luckily the weather was good. So that's me done until December when DD will turn 4. I have booked for us both to go to see Cinderella at our local theatre as a birthday treat, which she is really excited about.

Ds2 also had his birthday in June, but we kept it very low key. I am still amazed that I have 3 children. But I am sure I have stopped now!! Ds2 is quite a challenge. I think it is lucky that he was number 3 because I might have stopped with him if he had come first!

If having 3 children has taught me anything it's that you can parent to the best of your abilities, but at the end of the day they have their own personalities and there aint much you can do about it. I used to smugly think I had done something great as Ds1 and DD have never been early risers. Well Karma must have seen my secret smugness because DS2 wakes anytime between 5-6am. And the morning he slept until 6.30 DS1 wet the bed and woke at 5.30!!!!

Anyway DS1 is at school, DD is at a friend's house and DS2 is in bed so in this rare moment of peace I am going to read a magazine.

Bye

Hope you enjoyed your magazine, Charliemama I must say I find it hard to understand why people ever have more than two kids -- it looks so hard! But then I'm the youngest of three, so if my mum had followed that logic I wouldn't be here... and what a terrible world that would be

Dunno what is up with DS but this morning he slept until 7.45 -- I nearly fell out of bed with shock when I woke up and saw the alarm clock.

On an unrelated note, Effie if you are around, can I ask how you found dropping to one BF a day? I'm getting fed up with the bedtime feed as it's really hard to get him to concentrate enough to latch on, and when he does then he wriggles into loads of very uncomfortable positions and tends to chew or pull at my nipple -- ouch.

In the morning he is much calmer and the morning feed gets me an extra half an hour in bed so I'm keen to keep that going. But I'm not sure if a) my supply will be alright and b) he'll be hungry in the night because he hasn't had his bedtime milk. (I'm reluctant to give cows' milk because he has a skin reaction to it.)

Any thoughts...?

OH MY GOD, BFP

I feel quite shell shocked, wasn't planned and DH is feeling quite ill at the moment so I'm dreading telling him, he's finding it very hard to cope at the moment.

OMG! Ginger! Congratulations, first off. I am sure the others will have more appropriate responses given the context, but I do know you're dealing with some tantrums (hope the advice from the other thread was helpful) in little DD, and read enough to know that DH has a diagnosis so is feeling positive, so perhaps this will be an upper rather than a downer? Something lovely to look forward to?

Wow. I can't imagine, especially it being a surprise. Will back down now and wait for the other ladies to come 'round...

I've missed you guys. I hope everyone is doing great. We're good, DH's drinking is under control, DS is growing fast, and like ginger's DD, practicing boundary-pushing with some tantrum-y behavior, getting molars as well, four on top all at once. Work is fine, very slow, and we're moving to Vicky Park at the end of the month, which has got me very nervous.

BUT WHO CARES about all that...congratulations Ginger!

Thanks RRM, that's sweet. DD was planned and so this has really come as a real shock. Poor DH is having a bit of a set back at the moment, feeling just terrible and although we've talked about more children he felt now wasn't the time because he's struggling to get through the day as it is. He always takes the world on his shoulders and I know he'll be worrying about how we'll all cope financially and emotionally, not to mention physically (the tiredness has been a big factor in triggering his migraines) bugger. Well, not much we can do about it now.

Anyway, glad to hear that your DS is doing well and that your DH is also sorting himself out. That is great news. So you're moving to Victoria Park? Is that the office or your home? It's quite nice around there, I've walked and cycled the canal there many many times

hello eveyone just lurking ...

but congrats ginger, must be a shock, but i'm sure everything will work out once you get your heads around it. lots of hugs to you.

tibs, i'm with you on the early mornings. i just dropped the morning milk feed, which in retrospect may have been the dumbest decision ever as now ds gets up at 5am and won't go back to sleep. if he used to wake up at 5, i'd feed him and dump him back in bed. hmmm. hoping it's a phase.

so megs, we've gone down to one feed (the night one) since 2 weeks ago, so i think you could do it. especially if he doesn't seem that interested in the night one. maybe try a special cup to have some cows milk or something and see how it goes.
ds didn't have so much of a problem with not having hte milk, but he is just cranky in the mornings from not having had enough sleep. i see the night feed being harder to drop for us as he is quite attached to it.
for me supply has been ok. the first few days i felt a bit full in the morning and during the day, but now it feels quite normal. i think at this age you wouldn't have to worry about supply dropping too much. hth.

ooops meg, just saw that your ds has a reaction to cows milk. sometimes while we're reading books, i bring ds a piece of toast with cheese or something or a banana. always hoping to fill him up through the night! the other night i was roasting some potatoes for our dinner, and when ds saw them, he decided to eat so many just before bed, that we atually didn't have enough left for our dinner. eh!? maybe a snack and a bit of water/juice or something before bed. you could even blend a banana and other fruit with a little juice for a smoothie if he would like that. could even sneak in cheeky stuff like ground up seeds or wheat germ or something. i'm always trying to be creative to get stuff into ds. he's a funny eater. sometimes great, sometimes frustatingly fussy. hope it goes well.
these days i usually wait until ds asks for milk, sometimes he forgets, but usually he'll run around yelling MI-MI's!!!

Meg, can he have milk puddings or is it all forms of cows milk? reason being, I think if they're eating lots of dairy, their milk requirements go down anyway and milk puddings are a great way of getting extra milk into them. What about goats milk? I don't think soya is advised is it?

Do you know if his skin reaction is from an ingrediant in the milk ie casein (sp) or whey as I think you can buy milks with those elements removed. It's a bummer isn't it? My DD's reactions seem to be ok at the moment. She used to react to tomatoes but is fine now. Pinapple still brings her up occasionally as has kiwi. Milk and yoguart also fine now.

Congrats Ginger! Must be a shock but I'm sure you will be fine

Hi everyone else. Thanks for the BF advice; DS is fine with other dairy and eats loads of cheese and yoghurt so maybe I will just offer a drink of water and a small snack at bedtime and see how he goes.