June 10 babies have arrived. Now we are all sleep deprived!

[CantSleepWontSleep]

Welcome to 'the other side' ladies. Long may we all continue to post!

ARRIVALS
27/04 (due 23/06) - SunshineDay - Faye - 3lbs 2oz
16/05 (due 02/06) - Meggymegmegs - James (Jimmy) David, 7lb 1oz
19/05 (due 01/06) - whenwillisleepagain - Alice Emily, 8lb 7oz
21/05 (due 21/06) - Gizmo - Hester Rose - 6lbs
23/05 (due 9/06) - greensnail, Alice Elizabeth, 7lb 2oz
24/05 (due 8/06) - Saucepanman, Gabriel, 8lb 4oz
24/05 (due 31/05) - minimoonumber2, Sebastian Robin
26/05 (due 24/06) - GibberingGinger James Alexander, 5lb 13oz, & Douglas John, 5lb 15oz
28/05 (due 30/05) - GoodName, Fergus, 8lb
28/05 (due 31/05) - mampam, Tilly May, 9lb 11oz
28/05 (due 4/06) - jo807bump - Hannah May, 5lb 7.5oz
04/06 (due 07/06) - perkster - Sidney James Perkins Berner, 7lb 11oz
05/06 (due 31/05) - dinosaurinmybelly - Zoe Leila - 6lb 9oz
07/06 (due 02/06 ) - AlwaysHopeful - George, 7lb 13oz
07/06 (due 07/06) - MrsC09 - Rufus Jack
08/06 (due 01/06) - PogueMahone - Magnus Gabriel, 8lb 14.5oz
08/06 (due 11/06) - woofie - Laurence Elliot (Laurie) - 7lb 11oz
08/06 (due 21/06) - sunworshipper - Romola Ann Bettina, 5lb 15oz
09/06 (due 08/06) - LittleRobbo - Summer Dawn
09/06 (due 09/06) - Boobz - Constance Ella Reed,
11/06 (due 02/06) - Justbeme - 'Nobody' (boy) - 8lb 9oz
12/06 (due 02/06) - roundabout1 - Lauren - 8lb 14oz
13/06 (due 18/06) - Virgo1979 - nameless boy! 7lb 9oz
14/06 (due 30/06) - monthlymayhem - Hayden, 7lb
14/06 (due 08/06) - MrsAlwaysRight - Alice Rose, 9lb 7oz
14/06 (due 15/06) - Millymollymoo - boy
15/06 (due 31/05) - RnB - Artemis, 7lb 9oz
15/06 (due 29/06) - playftseforme - Rory 6lb 4oz, and Fergus 6lb 8oz
16/06 (due 17/06) - Chestnut100 - Daisy Belle 6lb 14oz
17/06 (due 01/06) - Madamfreckle - Emma 6lb 6oz
17/06 (due 30/06) - MonkeyMargot - Atticus Fox 7lb 8oz and Rafferty Bear 7lb 14oz
17/06 )due 04/06) - Suzy1975 - Samuel 7lb 14oz
18/06 (due 23/06) - earlyonemorning - Edgar William 7lb 8oz
18/06 (due 13/06) - sobloodystupid - Stella 8lb 8oz
19/06 (due 22/06) - Gaelicsheep - Robin 6lb 14oz
22/06 (due 14/06) - Fillybuster - Mia Rae 9lb 3oz
24/06 (due 16/06) - Nizzynoodles - Samuel James 10lb 10.5oz
24/06 (due 17/06) - summerhols - Lilly
25/06 (due 17/06) - Barbeasty - Ruth Damaris Rose, 9lb
26/06 (due 16/06) - JoKettle - James Lennox, 8lb 7oz
26/06 (due 29/06) - MrsDmamee - Elyssa, 8lb 5oz
28/06 (due 26/06) - imkeepingmum - girl, 7lb 11oz
28/06 (due 12/06) - Georgee - Anna Rose, 7lb 15.5oz
28/06 (due 12/06) - Elena67 - boy, 9lb 5oz
29/06 (due 17/06) - bluesnowfalcon - Corey, 8lb 11.75oz
29/06 (due 18/06) - theperfectbaguette - Clementine Jemima, 6lb
29/06 (due 26/06) - RubyReins - Luke Douglas, 7lb 14oz
29/06 (due 25/06) - Ilovemyterrier - Jeppe Sebastian Fagerlund, 7lb 6.5oz
01/07 (due 30/06)- LaTrucha - Daniel Timothy, 8lb 11oz
3/7 (due 29/06) - CantSleepWontSleep - Jeremy Francis, 9lb 4oz

hi all. My laptop broke and just got a new one. My husband has been letting me use his for about 10 minutes a day :-(
How I've missed MN!!

Sorry to hear people are having such major sleep deprivation. I really feel for you.
I was in bits after several weeks of my DD waking early (at 5am, sometimes earlier...). Fingers crossed she's got over that now although frankly the clocks going back tonight fills me with dread. And this is nothing compared with only having 2 hours of consecutive sleep a la CSWS.

Really sorry I missed the london meet-up. sounds like you all had a lovely time. I couldn't work out how I could possibly manage with the twins and DD.

Barbeasty am envious of your night at the opera - how lovely!
filly have a fab holiday.

Right - off to watch the X-factor...

2 hours of consecutive sleep margot - I wish!!!!
Welcome back :).

CSWS - Margot might be mixing us sleepless people up, maybe not. Anyway after this weekend I am dreaming of 2 hours of consecutive sleep too.

welcome TSgardener

Greensnail let us know how the move went

what is with these babies who dont sleep? I would like to swap mine for a sleeping model, at least for a couple of nights, feel so wrecked. Noone tells you its going to be so hard. Fergus would not be moved from my chest at all after 3 this morning, everytime i tried to shift him, he screamed till i picked him up and fed him again. This after his usual every 1-2 hourly feeds which i was starting to get used to. Every time i think well he cant get any worse he manages to surprise me

I remember when dd was 6 months old an American soldier was imprisoned for torturing an Iraqi by not letting him sleep for more than two hours for two weeks. I was on three weeks with no more than an hour and desperate. I sympathise.

Daniel is variable but it's till usually three times a night atm. bearable.

Loving the descriptions of taking babies swimming. I haven't tried to take both at once yet - not feeling brave enough, but will have to bite the bullet soon. DD and I have something of a routine sorted out now, which involves her being bribed with food (often fruit, so not too bad) to stay still and get dressed nicely so mummy doesn't freeze to death in the process.

Not sure whether I should share this so I will post and run.... George slept through last night!! Not expecting a repeat performance tonight, but feel very excited at the fact that he can do it if he wants to.

Another exciting development is him being able to sit up completely unsupported on his own. He's much more content playing now that he is sitting rather than lying about. Hopefully things are on the up.

Feeding isn't great, still, but you can't have it all going your way, can you?

Always Hopeful Hooray for George! Enjoy the sleep and make the most of it!
We thought Jack had cracked it when he did 8 nights on the trot. Sadly the past 2 weeks have been a nightmare as compensation!
Currently in the Brave household I am on a mission to banish the dummy and encourage Jack back to self-soothing in the night, in the vain hope it might mean a return to previous good sleeps.
However, we have spotted big white spots on his bottom gums, so it looks like a lot of his recent night wakings might be because of teething. I ran to Boots yesterday and bought 3 boxes of teething powders (currently on 3 for 2) and they seem to have had an effect last night! Fingers crossed...

How exciting BraveGirl. Teeth at last! No white bumps have appeared for Jon yet but he's dribbling like a champion. Maybe his sleep problems could be teething related actually as he often wakes crying and then doesn't take long to resettle.

He woke 5 times last night, with only one marathon between 2 and 3. We're trying controlled wriggling at the moment. When he's awake he tosses and turns and wriggles his way around the cot like mad, but we have adopted a policy of leave him in the cot and sit by him, holding his hand when he lets us. It took 2 hours the first night for him to resettle, then an hour and a half and then only 50 minutes last night so we're hopeful it will keep improving. DH is on duty tonight so I shall be going to bed shortly to make the most of it.

Congratulations to George AlwaysHopeful and can he pass on tips to the rest of the DC on here by the sounds of it.

Jon is also sitting up and playing, I agree it makes it so much easier, but I can't leave him completely as he'll see a toy out of reach and lunge for it with the accompanying either roll or thud, depending. On the plus side he cries less when he goes thud now .

Right, DS is in bed, I've washed, sterilised and repacked everything that needs washing, sterilising and repacking. Time for something containing ethanol.

Well, my MIL did it again. She was babysitting this afternoon, while I had my 2nd round interview, and Ruth slept for 3 hours! Of course, that means she is wide awake now, and trying to eat the iPod as I type!! Maybe I should rent MIL out....

I haven't found any way to deal with swimming except to change Ruth first and either leave her strapped to the changing table (public swimming pool) or on a change mat on the floor (swimming lesson at a school) while I change. I normally leave the showers until I get home.

Ah yes...the curse of the MIL. Mine believes that if she pushes Jack in the pram he will go to sleep...[evil cackle!]

Hi Ladies!!

I've been meaning to come and join you all for ages now, and as I'm stuck on the couch with a cold thought I'd get on with it.

Kate was born on 10th June, was 7lb13. She is an ANGEL in terms of sleep, has been since she was about 10 weeks old, but she is also a champion puker so it's swings and roundabouts I guess.

Her daddy has taken her out for the afternoon as I'm not feeling well. Peace!!!

Welcome Foxy and SkiingGardener, it's nice to have some newbies on the thread... congratulations on your little ones.

Needless to say, George didn't manage to sleep through last night, so I fear it may be another 21 weeks before he does it again, by which time I will have been sacked from work for being so completely rubbish on a disturbed night's sleep.

CSWS, much sympathy for your situation. Having three who can't sleep must be no fun at all, physically or mentally.

I calculated, rather miserably, that I only have 10 weeks of maternity leave left. 6 months down, 2 (and a little bit) to go... I can't believe it. It's not like I'm a good SAHM - I get cabin fever very quickly with a small baby, but I am OK-ish with DD now she will have a decent conversation with me . I don't want to stay at home forever, but I am nervous about going back to work and it being the end of my baby days. Just like I can't bring myself to completely stop breast feeding, I feel like I'm clinging on to my tiny little baby (which G isn't anymore) with my fingertips.

Anyway, that's 10 weeks off and there's lots to sort out before then.

Has anyone had any success selling their re-usable nappies? I've listed mine on MN, but not got any takers and don't know where else to try. Spent a fortune on them for DD, but can't get in the swing of them for G - the washing machine seems to be on constantly as it is!

Hi Always I got my bumgeniuses (genii?) and other liners etc from www.usednappies.co.uk and www.clothnappytree.com. While on the subject, does anyone else who's using them find that they are REALLY smelly when full of pee - I don't expect them to smell of roses but they are rank!
On a (possibly related?) subject, Tom has just got his first tooth! At 18 weeks and 1 day!! I am so proud!!!

Wow teeth so early!!
Try washing your Bumgenius in Loose Dishwasher powder once in a while - it sorted my smelly nappies out!!

More injections tomorrow - DP is taking A for me - thank goodness!!

We're on day 3 of routine and sleep training.
Going quite well so far (fingers crossed).
A went 9 hrs last night, then I fed him (but not to sleep) and then he went 3hrs, fed and then another 2 hrs!! I'm trying to get him to self settle, which seems to be helping.

Welcome foxy and TSG :)

Back from hols and have just about caught up on the thread but not sure I've retained much !

Spain was lovely, although travelling/being away with 3 dcs under 6 in self-catering accommodation wasn't exactly chilled I had been really nervous about holidaying with a 4mo (never gone away with one so little before) but was amazed at how easy it was when all we needed for her was my breasts :) :) (Oh, and a fair number of nappies!!) She was mostly angel baby, but DS had an awful ear/nose/throat thing with high fever etc and was sharing a room with DD1, so the 2 of them had us up approx 4 times every night.....Mia never did ! Anyway, it was a change of scene and we saw some sand and sun, so worth going, I think....

Can't help much with babies and sleeping as I've got one of the ones that does (including 2 x 2 hr sleeps in the day....sorry!) but have much sympathy for those who aren't getting enough. Remember, this too shall pass....and we'll all be grumbling about them sleeping too much when they're teenagers

I've emailed you with some suggestions for DD LaTrucha, so check your inbox!

Can I have some expressing advice please? Mia never takes more than 120ml ebm at 11pm so I now have a freezer bursting with bags of ebm as I produce approx 9ozs every morning. DH wants me to stop expressing daily and just use up the frozen milk, as it will last a couple of months at least, by which time I will probably have stopped bfing. I'm a bit nervous that a) my breasts will be agony all day, as they have been on the days I've had to skip expressing and b) that it might have a negative impact on my supply, which until now has been great. Can any of you help? I thought I might try expressing less in the mornings for a bit, to start adjusting down - what do you think?

Hi Ghost could you donate the extra ebm to your local hospital if they have a scheme? I never managed to express but my NCT teacher said she did it and it was great for the NICU babies.

I will be donating some elena but my question is more about whether I should stop expressing, and what impact that might have, than what to do with the milk! To be clear, apart from the lack of freezer space, the big issue is that I currently spend 20-30 mins expressing after feeding Mia in the morning which leaves DH looking after the other dcs, getting them ready for school and himself for work, on his own. He doesn't mind, but it can get a little frantic sometimes whilst I'm quietly sitting in bed with a cup of tea and the newspaper, plugged into the pump!

Enjoy the peace, Filly! Sounds like a great strategy for some feet-up time, to me!!

Mia will take what she needs and your body will adapt after a few days, I'm sure. When I cut down the feeds for George, I had a few days where I was uncomfortable - especially lifting my arms up - and the DC's always managed to bash me in the boob when they were at their fullest. But it did sort itself out in a couple of days. I'm sure your supply would do the same. Perhaps just standing in the shower with the water on them would trigger your let-down and they'd release a bit of the excess for you?

I have to do the same as your dh every morning filly! But to answer your question, yes, I'd start by reducing the amount you express by a little each morning. If you normally do 9oz then I would try doing 8oz on day 1, then 7oz day 2, 6oz day 3 etc, as long as your breasts aren't sore. If they get sore then just stick with each amount for 2 days instead of 1. :)

... newsflash... George has cut a tooth!!!!

Hopefully his very nasty nappies will disappear and his appetite will return over the next few days

Thanks for the advice ladies - have already put it into practice, mainly out of necessity as DH had to leave super-early for a meeting this morning so I only had about 10 mins to express post-feed. Was very sore until the next feed at 11.30, desperate for Mia to have a big one and of course, sods law, she wasn't really very interested!! :)

Hopefully her next feed will be more useful....

Well done George, hope you're all getting back to normal now alwayshopeful? I can't believe you have teeth already....DS didn't cut any until 14 months

Earlyonemorning, I feel for you, and will keep you company in spirit as you pace that hallways - it will be worth it for you and the rest of the family....and Edgar will probably enjoy life more that way too, as you'll be a happier mummy :) Good luck!

Right, better run before I explode ! Hope you all have lovely weekends xx

Hoorah early for E playing ball. Have all these babies not read the books we have been studying religiously? (psst.. I am also a routine queen now as with 3 under 2 it is a necessity). When DD was born the days were a free for all, the nights routine based. But now I absolutely NEED that lunchtime slot where all 3 are soundly asleep so I can catch up on all the chores and have a cup of tea.

filly good luck with reducing down the expressing - I applaud you for doing it at all. I have the opposite problem - have never expressed with the twins, and now have a wedding to attend in February where it would be fab if we could stay overnight and leave the 3 DCs at home. But they are 20 weeks and have never supped from a bottle. Too late?

Hello all! I can barely keep up with the paperwork in this house along with the two dc and maintaining a few sqare inches of clear carpet space let alone keep up with this thread but I do frequently read everyone's posts.
Alwayshopeful - George is doing really well sitting unaided! Emma is quite far from doing that I think.

MonkeyMargot - Perhaps you won't need to introduce a bottle as they could theoretically go straight onto sippy cups (freeflow best) and formula. They will be getting used to solids by then I assume so they may be fine with this. If you just started giving them the odd little drink of formula in a cup from around xmas time then by feb they should be used it it. You might just have to take a pump with you to the wedding so you don't explode.

I've been thinking about the same thing as I don't express and Emma has never had a bottle. We are going to Australia in December and I'm just a bit concerned about what I'll do if I don't have enough milk on the plane/while travelling - people have said that sometimes supply can be low due to dehydration - and if you have had to feed more frequently than normal to keep the peace. Does anyone have any experience of this? Any other top tips would be welcomed!