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

Mainly lurking as not much time to post but noticed a few people are expressing - any recommendations for pumps? Don't really want to express yet but perhaps in a month or so's time so i can go out for an afternoon!

quick post here.

Congrats onebaby and welcome to the thread. as the others suggest, definitely try a mother/baby group first time out so you are all in same boat.
I recall my first trip out with DD to the post office and she was screaming her head off whilst I queued. A really lovely lady came up to me and said, it only sounds piercing and loud to you, the mother - to everyone else it's just background noise. That made me feel much better!

I am shattered. Our maternity nurse left 2 days ago and have had 2 erratic nights with the twins. I get more stressed by DH being annoyed when they start screaming, so I have actually instructed him to sleep in spare room once the 10pm feed is done and they are settled, as I actually find it easier to deal with them on my own without him being grumpy. So last night DH had uninterrupted 7 hours kip in spare room. I had about 1 hour in total.
Hoping for a better night tonight.

Hello to everyone, and csws hope you're coping with 3 OK whilst your DH is away. Do not envy you.

hi just marking my place!!! ds is almost 6 weeks and we are getting on fab! bf is going well, hence the one hand typing!!! nice to catch up with everyone, still trawlingf thru all posts but hopfully will be abe to post regularly....hi to all x

Monkey Margot - Sometimes separate rooms are the only way to go. Just make sure you remind him how much sleep he is getting!

CSWS - has he got his day and night sorted yet?

Sorry I've not been on much lately. The infection has officially been declared non-infectious and gone today and it is such an incredible relief to not have to wash my hands quite so many times a day, wash so many sheets and clothes and to let DD have a cuddle and kiss with Daniel I can't tell you.

In the middle of it all, we had another misfortune - DD managed to swipe a coffee pot from the table the other day and got a scald. DH was looking after her and is beating himself up on an hourly basis. It doesn't seem as if it is going to scar, which is great.

So, I've spent an awful lot of time at our local hosptial recently. It's so nice to have been able to go somewhere apart from the hospital and home today. We went to the swings after getting the all clear and bandages removed at A&E and a friend came round with her girls this afternoon. Normal life seems but a few steps away! Let's hope I didn't speak too soon!

Daniel in no kind of routine yet. Soemtimes he goes for five hours int he night, sometimes he feeds every two hours. Early days. He usually feeds constantly in the evenings. In fact, he and DD seem to have fallen spontaeously into a routine where he starts to feed whenever she goes to bed, nap or night time. Nice in a way, but no rest for mummy and not much MNing!

He's slowly getting there I think LaT. Certainly he's had proper awake periods during the day the last couple of days. Still not sleeping for more than a couple of hours at a time at night, but some of his night feeds aren't helped by the fact that I fall asleep with him on top of me half way through, so then when I wake up I have no idea how long he fed for, and 10 mins after I put him down he wants to get up again!

Hooray for the infection being gone and your family being able to interact again. That must be such a relief.

Eek for only 1 hour's sleep margot. Hope that tonight is much better.

goodname - welcome to facebook! If you know my RL name then you are welcome to add me. Or email me on CantSleepWontSleep at gmail dot com with your real name (and details of your profile pic if it's not unique on fb) and I'll add you.

That sounds like me feeding at night. I have very good intentions but usually fall asleep!

Thanks CSWS will do that when I get a sec

Dont know what is wrong with Fergus tonight. He has been crying inconsolably then feeding as if starving, then being sick since this afternoon. Its driving me mad. Need some sleep tonight as have had horrid week of him having a cold and waking himself up coughing/choking far too regularly. ahhhhhhhhhh

Also CSWS on the day/night thing, advice I was given was to give them lots of fresh air during the day. Think it does just sort of happen though. DH is currently walking up and down the stairs with baby so he is temporarily quiet. DH will prob only have energy to do that for a couple of minutes though

How was your night goodname? Is his cold getting any better?

I ended up taking Alice to the doctor yesterday afternoon as after after struggling to feed all morning due to her snuffly nose her fontanelle had become quite sunken and I was worried she was getting dehydrated. Typically, between phoning the doctors and her actually getting seen she managed a really good feed and looked like the picture of health when I got there. Doctor was really lovely though and didn't make me feel like an overly neurotic mother at all.

So far today seems to be a good day here, hope everyone else is having a good one too.

justonebaby welcome and congratulations. Agree with what others have suggested. My heart sank today as a builder who's working further down our street came over as I was rushing home with Alice in full cry, to comment on fact that she's doing that every time he sees me. Like I didn't know.

Sympathies to you goodname, hope things a bit better.

greensnail that is so typical but good if means Alice improving, and you aren't neurotic anyway.

Am typing whilst this Alice uses my boob as a dummy substitute, which is situation of my own making and that I guess I need to try and unmake soon... she's noticeably less happy to be put down and sleep in moses basket, or cot, or indeed buggy. In fact she won't really. Oh well, one for a sleep thread at a later date

whenwilli - don't forget that a dummy is just an artificial breast substitute, so by saying that she's using your boob as a dummy substitute, all you are really saying is that she's using your breast as a breast, which is surely not a bad thing!!

whenwilli what an unhelpful comment from the builder. I wonder why he felt the need to say that?!

Talking of dummies, can I ask who is using one? Alice has a dummy, but DD1 never did (she is a thumbsucker). I sometimes feel a bit bad about using a dummy with Alice and that I should be trying other ways to soothe her, but she seems to really love it and its great for buying me a bit of time to deal with DD1 before feeding/ seeing to Alice. I don't know why I feel bad about it TBH. I've never judged anyone else for using a dummy and I had one when I was a baby, it just feels a bit strange to me

Hello -

just popping in to say do not despair if your babies don't want to be put down. Zoe was like that until a couple of days ago, and now at almost 7 weeks, she is happy to lie on a playmat / in her cot on her own for 15mins while awake.
She has even put herself to sleep in her cot (something unheard of with my DSs) after a feed of expressed milk. Have been following greensnail's advice and giving an expressed bottle in the evening. It is working well for us for a few reasons
(1) I think it is helping my supply to be expressing at least once a day (I do it just before I go to bed and then try again around lunchtime when the boys are having quiet time)

(2) I get a feel for what she is taking in a feed - she is taking between 5 & 6oz at around 8pm and then sleeping until 1:30am.

(3) I have the option of going to bed early with her at 9pm and getting a little chunk of sleep.

Also, on the day/night thing - I have been dressing her in a little onesie for the daytime (it is quite warm here in NY), then putting her in a bodysuit for the night as it can get quite cool with air conditioning on and no blankets. I think that has helped structure her nights a bit better.

I didn't use a dummy with dd or ds1 (both were offered but refused), but ds2 has accepted one a couple of times this week for just a few minutes, so if this continues then we may end up using one with him. I don't have strong feelings about them either way tbh (although don't like to see older children wandering round with them in all day).

Thanks CSWS. I think my opinions and experience of dummies seems pretty similar to yours (DD1 also refused one). No idea why I'm worrying about it really. I think lack of sleep seems to make me worry about ridiculous things!

Hi all - thanks for all the advice on getting used to taking DS out on my own - unfortunately for me I seem to have a bit of an irrational phobia about going to baby groups! I will however persevere in going out on my own with him this week (hubby mostly works evenings but is doing a few days this week so I will push myself). I'm not about to become a recluse or anything - DS & I have been out for dinner twice this week, out for lunch, supermarket twice, clothes shopping etc - just not on our own!
Whenwilli - what a knob of a builder!

DS has been offered a dummy & hasn't really taken to it, he also likes his thumb - I agree with CSWS - not nice when you see older children with them but I don't think there's anything wrong with babies using them. And you can take a dummy away when he's older but I won't be able to take away his thumb!

Greensnail -I'm with you about the lack of sleep!

I never used a dummy with DD either, but am using them a little with the boys. DD was never interested in sucking her thumb but these babies want definitely are.
I am only using them in the cot and limiting use for settling then removing.

It's amazing - I had a real thing about dummies, and when I broached the thorny topic with some NCT chums the other day, it turns out practically ALL of them had used them with their DCs as babies - I just hadn't realised as they never used them out in public, only in their cots, and no-one ever came clean....oh the snobbery of it all.
This time around I'm taking the stance of anything that makes life a little easier is worth a try.

P.S. The boys slept through from their 10:30pm feed til 6:30am last night - i had 7 hours of unbroken sleep...bliss. I know this will be a one-off for now, but at least it shows they are capable of doing it. Feel like progress is being made.
Also, the smaller of the DTs has really got going with his feeding, and is piling on the wweight at last.

Hope everyone is having a decent weekend of it. xx

Hi all,

I've not been around much as we had another mini disaster after the infection. DD got a scald on her arm and down her side by swiping a coffee pot from the table. DH was looking after her at the time and has been really affected by it because he thinks of himself as very careful (whether he is or not is something of a moot point - I guess we just have our different bug bears). In fact, we've all been a bit shocked by it as we've been very fortunate with her in terms of accidents and illnesses.

It looks like it will heal without a scar though. One thing we do know is that DH and I would never get away with any kind of child abouse because the first thing DD does when she meets someone who doesn't yet know about it as to start telling them and pulling up her t'shirt so they can see the burn

Feeling like it's time for life to get back to normal now.

I never used a dummy with DD. I did try at about 3 months, but by then it seemed to be too late. I might try one with Daniel, but we've not got there yet. Probably I'll leave it too late again! In terms of sterilising and the dummy being stolen by DD, though, I thikn it might be better to use the natural dummy!

Those of you who have used them, DO they make life easier in fact? I always think of them as something that actually makes life more difficult in the end, but I actually have no idea.

Really interesting to hear everyone's dummy stories. I have to admit I'm not sterilising Alice's dummies. I'm quite dubious about the benefits of sterilising anything to be honest - its not as though it will stay sterile once its removed from the steriliser. I'm just making sure I wash them well. DD1 is absolutely fascinated with them and spends a lot of time either chewing on them herself (I think she's trying them out as teethers) or trying to put them in Alice's mouth.

LaT - at the moment they do seem to make life a bit easier, however I think as she gets bigger they may make life a bit more difficult. DD1 never has any bother finding her thumb in the night (obviously!) but I know lots of people who have to get up in the night as their toddler can't find their dummy. I suppose we'll just need to cross that bridge when we get to it.

Monkeymargot I'm trying very hard not to be jeallous of your long sleep last night, as with twins you definitely deserve it!

I'm exhausted again today. Alice fed pretty much constantly last night - I think its a growth spurt. Is 9 weeks a normal time for one does anyone know? Then I very stupidly made DH go and wake DD1 this morning at 7.30 as I was worried she might have choked to death in the night . My sleep deprived anxiety seems to be getting worse....

Anyway, both girls are asleep now so I'm enjoying a bit of peace and quiet.

onebaby I had a baby group phobia with DD1 too. Took a lot of psyching up and a few false starts before I actually got there, but it really did make a huge difference to my state of mind when I did.

Not had a chance to post in a while - but then again nothing interesting to report. Still a bit groundhog day like here, boys are still feeding every 3 hours, even in the night. Can't wait for it to stretch a bit longer!

Sorry not rnough energy to reply to individual posts - hope everyone is ok though

I have a mixed experience of dummies. A dummy would settle DD1 but she got fed up at around the 3 month mark and would spit it out. However, DD2 was more keen and still has a dummy for naps/bedtime - which does have it's downside as I used to have to get up to find it for her! I'm not really happy about this but hoping she will soon grow out of it or I will have to apply the "dummy fairy" to take the dummies away when she's a bit older. So far DS will have a dummy to settle but spits it out so may be a bit more like DD1 - only time will tell!

DS is doing ok - he was 1 month yesterday and I can't believe it's gone so fast. Last night we put him up in his cot at about 8 and he slept until 2 in the morning for a quick bottle and then slept on until 5.30. So not bad for a month old. DH took all 3 of the children downstairs at 8 and I had a couple of hours extra sleep while he looked after them - it was great!! He's also had a couple of short stints on the playmat and seemed to enjoy them - I think there's more space for him there than in the bouncer or the pram.

The girls seem to like their little brother but I've noticed a couple of things that make me think they are a bit unsettled. DD1 has had a lot of changes recently - best friend moving to Australia, finishing playgroup, new brother - and has started to have a few toilet accidents for no real reason after being dry for ages. DD2 has suddenly become very clingy with me or DH when DD1 isn't around while at the same time she is almost smothering her little brother. - Has anyone else with older siblings noticed this or am I doing my usual overanalysing thing? Any tips from those with more than one would be fab.

Anyway enough wibbling - it'll soon be time for bed!

onebaby group phobia is not uncommon for ladies with their first babies, i think. They did make a huge difference to my morale with dd though. I am now an avid group attendee with both my dcs. They are good for the kids too!

George did his first BIG sleep last night. My boobs woke me up just before 4 absolutely bursting and sooo sore! I had to go and stand over the sink and milk myself to relieve them a bit. Then i got George to feed for a few minutes before he fell sound asleep again until 6:30. Hoping for the same amount of sleep without overflowing milk tonight!

On the dummy thing, dd loved hers. We did go through a phase of having to get up in the night and put it back in which was a pain, but she gave it up very easily at around 18 months. George has outright refused one and still hasn't managed to find his thumb!

Good news on the wedding dress - I have a lovely scarlet dress to wear which makes me feel fab, so i am a happy lady!

Sending restful sleep wishes to everyone.

Hi all,

Just caught up on the last 2 weeks of posts and am going to try to respond but can only remember 'headline' stuff, not who posted it, so sorry in advance for the lack of personals!! All going well here, I can't believe that Mia is a month old now ...it's all going by so fast!

So...

DH's sleeping in different rooms: Yes Well he had been for the past 2 weeks until last night, anyway. He didn't vacate for DD1 and DS as he didn't want to abandon me (and didnt want to be a 'husband in the spare room' for 6 months!) but this time I insisted as he was in a new job and I needed his help with the older 2 DCs in the mornings. The last 2 weekends we swapped, and he stayed in the room with Mia and I got the spare room except for the middle-of-the-night feed, so I actually got more than a few hours sleep.

But there's a lot to be said for DHs sleeping in a different room, especially if they need to be awake for work in the morning, or get grumpy about being disturbed - I found it a lot easier this time not having to worry about waking DH as well as looking after Mia.

Night and Day: I've been dressing Mia in less in the daytime, and giving her lots of fresh air. As much as possible (allowing for the other 2 dcs) I'm trying to keep her in a loose routing of feeding every 3 hours in the day (and waking her to feed if needed) and trying to keep her awake for approx 1.5 hours each time from the beginning of her feed until her next sleep. It seems to be working - last night was Mia's first night in the nursery and DH was back with me...Mia only took 20ml from her ebm bottle from DH at 11 but still slept until around 5, when I fed her and put her down again at 6, then slept until we woke her with the DCs at 7.30. So hurrah....!! Stupidly I didn't go to bed until 11, so 'only' got 5.5 hours sleep in a row, but that's a huge improvement!!

Dummies: Yes ! We've used them with all 3 DCs, but only in their cots as a sleep aid. LaT is right, and there is a risk of it becoming more work rather than a help....we won't go and replace a fallen out dummy after the lo has gone to sleep (but might replace it a few times in the first 20 mins of settling them down if needed) as that became a problem very quickly with DS when he was about 8 weeks old. (To be fair, it was a problem until we noticed and stopped doing it, and then it was fixed within about 24 hours ). Generally we don't use dummies for anything else, and I really encourage my DCs to get going with their fingers/thumbs instead from about 10 weeks when they have a bit more muscle control - the older 2 dcs both ditched their dummies by 20 weeks latest; DS stopped his thumb sucking around 1 year and DD only sucks it in bed now, which is fine with me

Expressing: Yes In the morning and DH gives a bottle at 11pm. I provide about 100ml and Mia appears to ignore most of it every night . I've got the Ameda Egnell Lactaline double pump and its fab, although I still loathe expressing...

Older DCS: mine are being lovely to 'Baby Mia' as she is now known (phew!) but we are definitely seeing some behavioural stuff....DS (nearly 5) is temper-tantrumming a lot more at the smallest thing (he is normally super-good and this is quite unlike him) - his best friend is moving to NY next week so I don't think that makes it any easier either DD (2.5) is actually being great but is definitely a bit more clingy and demanding, although its mostly fairly low-level. We're trying to keep on with lots of positive reinforcement and to make as much 1:1 time for each of them as possible - not sure if its helping/working though!

On the whole, everything is fine, but this weekend brought home to me that the next 2 years are going to be a lot of hard work with very little parental 'down time'!!! Although its nice that its summer time, its a shame its the school hols - DS is at daycamp for a few weeks but all our local toddler groups are shutting until September so DD is going to be so bored until then. Lots of park visits I think

Thanks filly at least I know that it's not just my 2 that are still adapting. I'm trying to give everyone some 1 to 1 time too but it's tricky to fit everything into the day isn't it??

hi ALL.

hope everyone slept well, i had a very tough night on my own with Baby Elyssa, she seems to get very unsettled around 8pm each night.

Last night she refused to feed and was screaming and very hard to calm down.
She wore herself out around 10pm, slept for 20 mins and then woke for her bedtime bottle and fell back asleep from 11:30pm til 3am.

But i hadnt moved her upstairs yet and i was so afraid to move her incase the screaming started again . I eventually moved her at 1:30 and she didnt wake phew.
I then didnt fall asleep until after 2am as I cant seem to relax once she is asleep incase she is awake in 10 minutes. Finding it very hard to actually sleep at nights when its just me home alone, DH is working nightshifts this month so ive 2 and half more weeks of anxious sleeptime for me

DS1 and DS2 are away for a few days as i was at my wits end trying to keep the peace between two cranky boys. DS1 refuses to listen to me when i ask him not to wrestle with his 4 yr old brother.
DS1 ended up headbutting DS2 yesterday and I was afraid poor DS2 would end up with a huge swollen nose. I honestly feel DS1 is more work then baby and DS2 put together...I wish school hols were shorter!!