March 2010 - Six months in - will they ever sleep?

[Arcadie]

Welcome to the latest thread for mums of babies born in March ( and a few in Feb and one in April!).

Come on in. Find out who'll be pg next and who's weaning onto what.

Evening all!

Scooby Ouch! Hope things improve very quickly

Heckle You write as if you are me. I am having the same problem re. sleeping. DS screams when I leave the room, even when DH is holding him.

Sariska You sound a lot more content. It might be worth to keep a kind of 'champagne moments' diary and include this one in it. That way, every time you feel down, you can read about your moments and remember that things aren't always so bad. I stole this advice from the career coach I am working with...

Evitas Are you actually able to work at home with sick people to look after? Sounds very hard to me. What is your thesis about?

Thank you all for the well-wishes on the interview. I am very excited about it and now have tons of work to do before Wednesday, when I have to do a presentation before a panel. The job is for Gartner.

DS was 6 months today. I can't believe how time has flown. In particular, I can't believe that I haven't slept for more than 5 hours in a row for more than 6 months. I am sooooo tired! :(

The last few days have been particularly bad, almost identical to Heckle's nights.
I am very tempted to try a little CC and see if I can help DS to sleep more that way. Fingers crossed, although I am not sure I can actually do it.

Off to bed now. Night night!

Mowning

PD really sorry you are feeling sooo down. You are a saint for coping as you do. My non medical head thinks you are exhausted not depressed- with your lack of sleep for the last 6 months it's wholly understandable you have a shorter fuse. Please don't beat yourself up.

Also please don't take offence at my thoughts on sleepiness. I was brought up in a strict household, went to an all girls school and with my job I often see the worst of teenagers. Good on you or anyone else chilled enough to allow it- in sure you would be seen as the cooler parents by all and as was said you at least know where they are and fostering good relations. I just don't think personally I would be comfortable

Urmmm - just checking - there aren't any saunas on the MMMM in York are there?

No RKD, although there is a swimming pool at the cottage. But the self-proclaimed Continental floozy wil be outnumbered at least 4:1 by British prudes, so I reckon we can enforce strict non-nakedness at all times

(quick break while I wrestle electrical cables out if Isobel's grasp )

Sorry to hear you're feeling down PD. It does sound like exhaustion could just be sucking all the enjoyment out of life atm, but only you and your instincts (and maybe a sympathetic GP colleague?) know if it's depression or not.
I've heard good things about Crieff Hydro, I hope the break does you good. And, FWIW, I understood your point about sleepovers. Haven't seen the TV clip, just read the thread. Aaand, another FWIW, if it helps... no sex here since Isobel was born. In case you were wondering

Need to make breakfast for hungry baby so excuse lack of shout-outs. Will hopefully be back later.

*out of, even.

Morning, all, sorry I even mentioned nudeness at all yesterday ; I promise there won't be any unsolicited nudity at the MMMM!

And, scooby, who KNOWS how I'll feel about sleepovers when our kids are actually the age in question?? I already think DS2 is an ASBO in the making, so I am v likely not to trust him in that kind of situation.

And yes, I think being exhausted and scared worried about going back to work has a lot to do with how I am feedling.

Also, I am really sorry I did not even mention your poor arm/injection. How are things today? Did they warn you that the pain can get worse before it gets better? I do hope it does something for you.

I enjoyed a lie in this morning and am on my 1st cup of tea .
Hope you all have a good one.

nudity - bugger that, iwcas has already owned up to boob flashing random delivery boys and I have my bits out ALLLLL the time..and as for The Elk...this is her favourite outfit I thought we were all naturists on this thread?!!!

Dear PacificDogwood & mummyElk please feel free to be as nekkid as you like for the duration of your stay in my fair city. However owing to everything having drifted south already chez RKD I shall not be joining you.

Oh and did I mention that Simeon is entirely FF as of a fortnight ago so no nork spotting either. Sorry.

Popping back in to collect my Worst Mummy in the World award (category: Negligence); was getting ready to go out in the car, had Isobel in carseat on pushchair frame and remembered I'd left something in the flat that I needed. Popped back into house for 5 seconds, and heard a crash and a cry. The wind had blown the pushchair down the path and it had toppled over :( Isobel was completely unharmed (depsite initial fright), but I had to calm myself down quite a bit before getting in the car. So, for those of you coming to the MMMMs, be sure not to leave me alone with your childen, I am clearly Not Capable.

P.S. I will not be getting nekkid in York either, but if you're very lucky you might get to see my in my pyjamas

P.P.S. I bought a bunch of new toys for Isobel the other day, and she is currently playing with... an unopened pack of nappies

Passes worst mummy in the world award to BM,:o then gives her a super tight hug while grabbing the award back and chucks it in the bin,glad Isobel is doing ok and was not harmed
:o on the unopened pack of nappies,lovely toy

PIXIE it took me less time that i expected,i stopped the pill end of march,had one period and the following month i was pregnant,i am positive it happened on my birthday too,DH was very chaffed,no idea why

sariska,i know what you are talking about,relations btwn DH ,not bad but not great either,and its me,i just can't seem to want to have sex,my DH is wonderful but since the baby came i have no zeal for it,DH is supportive and never asks for it,he tries though but i am never in the mood and i don't want to have sex with him just for his sake,however i am not leaving him dry either,we are doing other things,penetration for me is not so interesting,better get back on it ,

evitas,rooting for your loved one falling asleep,

pacific,am so sorry that you are a bit under the weather,hope things improve and get better

dizzydoll you lucky horse,Italy is where we spent our honeymoon,in Rome and we both want to go back sometime,i might go there if you hand over the address:o

My DD does not have the cold anymore,she handled it much better than i did,DH had to miss one day at work to take care of her because i was so bad(bless him),he has gone with his mates 3hrs out of town in the mountains,a friend of his has access to a cabin so they have gone there 10 of them,just a guy weekend so i ahve the house to myself

DD,who is six months end of the month is sleeping well,she takes 2 to 3 naps a day,one of them in long,but boy,does she eat,she had been sleeping through the night from month 2 then recently started waking up and funny hours,i introduced solids and she is back to sleeping nicely,she eats almost everything except the food i buy from the shop,she loves bananas,so i just give her a banana porridge,then a bath and to top it off,some milk,i play with her for like 30min and put her down to bed,after some min she will sleep,she is doing well,she still wakes up once during the night though,but this is nothing compared to what i expected,it just makes me feel like now i know what its like to get up at 1am to some baby laughing,its funny,we are home alone

tomorrow 2 pals of mine are coming to spend the night at my place,one is married and the other lives with her DP,i can't wait,isn't it nice that some friends do stick with you when you have a baby,other go,,

i am sorry it was such a long post,haven't managed to post here for a while,hope everyone is doing ok,,good night everyone

ps,,a big thank you to everyone who wished my DD well,she is alright now,and yes,her teeth came out at 4,so the others are coming out now,,wowooo

busymissy,my DD is called Isabella,,give my love to your Isobel

may i add that in spite of people not liking those names here on MN,if your DD was to come here where we live,she would be the only one in her class with that name,because my Bella is the only one in our area,fancy that,i am so proud of the name,

Period arrived today... 6 days late.

I haven't really read so I hope I'm not being terribly insensitve to anyone's trauma's when I say Ive just booked to spend christmas in New York!

My inital excitement (LOVE that city, this will be my third visit) has dampened somewhat when I realise I'm doing it for the first time with a (will be) 9 month old in tow (also DP's 13 yo DD - my elder already have plans to go to Butlins with their Dad but cue strops from both of them today when they found out what we're doing). I've never travelled abroad when my other two were little, let alone babies, let further alone transatlantic.

What was I thinking when I pressed 'yes, I confirm I'd like these non-refundable tickets to go to New york as I do so want to see the rockefellar tree/skaters and hope it snows even though I hate the snow ?

Anyway, I suppose I'l need to buy some foldy uppy buggy thing as the bugaboo isn't very portable. Suggestions on those that are super light but multi-positional (and preferably aren't gonna break the bank!) pleeeease.

Hmm, just realised, there's probaly a correlation between my period arriving and my moment of madness. Relief? I wonder if I can get a refund if I blame wimmins hormones and stuff...?

Sorry to hear AF came - you must have been getting pretty convinced after 6 days. Pesky hormones. Mostly at the thought of NY in the winter but wouldn't enjoy it with such a little one as I am the QUEEN of stress on holiday!

manda we did NY when the elk was 9 months and it was lovely, very nice indeed but it was COLD so SOOOOO COLD and thus we did find it hard to keep her warm...so advice is to really think about clothes very carefully. She also picked up an awful sickness bug and it was nigh on impossible to find sterilising tablets or whatnot - so my other advice is to find them here and take them with you. You never know!! I also found the sling lovely because it kept her close and warm to me. And i LOVED my thermal underwear cos, er, well, i needed it!
but Oh. My. Goodness. there isn't a place in the WORLD that isn't as lovely at christmas as New York (even if you are Macaulay Culkin )!!! you will have SUCH a special time, how lovely.
Just get a stroller, i think we have the mamas and papas black beat stroller (linking it wouldn't work), it was fine.

tooblessed where do you live that sounds lovely to have mountains 3 hours away?! don't reveal if you don't want to, just sounded a bit, ooh i don't know, just nice really i suppose!
BMI glad you ok - loved the thought behind (Category: Negligence) that made me . we've all done it. I know a fairly well known celebrity doctor who put the baby in a car seat on top of the car...imagine his surprise when the entire thing fell off the top of the car . baby is fine. now a strapping, er...12 year old.

better go just realised our friends who are coming to stay are nearer than we thought!! yikes.

oh and, er....i seem to have won a ridiculoiusly low bid on ebay for a sling ( that i don't really need) (sort of) and so now i either am about to be ripped off from someone dodgy or i don't know. What i DO know is i'm hiding it from DH until i can get away with it...cue me hovering over the laptop to move ebay emails and paypal stuff!!! yikers

Evening all.

PD sounds like sleep deprivation, but maybe see a GP just in case?

As for neglectful parents, well I'm sure we could all add something to that list!

Manda NYC sounds great although I'm another one who would not be happy to do it with DD so young, But depends on your baby. A friend is just back from there with her 6 month old. He was great and a big hit at the parties and restauarants they brought him to (he's a nocturnal child).

I'm so sleep deprived I'm snapping like mad at DH. Honestly feel like we can't survive (we spend a lot of time together) but someone mentioned not making any major decisions in the first year so I'll stick with that.

Hey MUMMYELK I'm just stepping out into teh wide world of ebay - so exciting. PLaced my first bid tonight!

oooh I'm an ebay addict. I have 3 accounts
manda the buggy you want is a Petit Star Zia. It's like an original Quinny Zapp but it also reclines. The new Quinny Zapp now reclines and does parent facing and forward facing BUT from what I understand it doesn't fold up as small as you have to take the seat part off so it is a 2 part buggy so therefore not as compact. I haven't seen it in the flesh though - I wasn't chosen as a Quinnycaster :( where they were looking for testers but I'm hoping to get the new seat unit to go on my existing wheels but they haven't reached the UK yet. You could always get a McLaren, they seem to be hugely popular but I personally don't like the look of them.
Oooh melk a new sling. What sort is it? I heart my Yamo.
chuckling out loud at all the naked chat. Oh to be a fly on the wall when you meet up in York. I am still secretly trying to work out how I can get to York for a weekend, get to London for the day, get to North Wales for a baby show and have another week in Scotland all in the next 7 weeks
Sorry to hear that some of the babies are still non sleeping and that times are tough. I am finally feeling more like my old self, physically and mentally. I recall that it was around 6m that I felt I was coping with DD1 as well and that was when I started using real nappies as I felt 'in control' so it seems that despite having 2 it still takes me 6m to get back to 'normal' whatever 'normal' is supposed to be.
No words of wisdom from me re childcare but lots of sympathy for those of you who need to find solutions soon or even worse, very, very soon. PD a nanny does sound like it might work for you and your brood.
IWCAS if you don't have any personal recommendations to go on for childcare have you had a look at www.childcare.co.uk ? I registered with them as I was looking desperate for a babysitter so that DH and I could regain some 'couple' time and have found a lovely 17yr old who comes swimming with us and has done one evening stint as well. There are all sorts of categories babysitters/childminders/nannies and they get listed in number of miles from your postcode so you know to how far away from you they are (usually a crucial consideration). Anyway just another idea to toss about.
BMI hope you have recovered from the scary buggy incident today and Tootired I have to admit to having a little lump in my throat yesterday when I read a baby name thread titled DD2s name and someone put 'I really dislike G' I know I shouldn't care what people say on the internet and I am guilty of not holding back on the baby names board myself but when you see negative stuff about your baby's name it does hurt just a little bit
scooby hope your wrist is feeling a bit better now.
rebecca Haven't seen you here for a bit, perhaps you are busy in RL but I will nag one more time about your smear...... you did ask for nagging
pixie you have mentioned a couple of times you might be moving - is this happening? How will the older DC cope with this? Big upheaval for all of you I guess?
Right I know I had more to say but I don't want to get a reputation for boring you all to tears
Clinks wine glass and says goodnight

Never mind celebrity drs putting kids on car roofs: I know a minor-leage village GP who parked buggy too close to a stone step in the park which tipped and left baby hanging upside down in harness like a crash-landed aircraft pilot
BMI, what a fright for you and Isobel, glad to hear she is ok. Children and drunks definitely have a guardian angel .

V re planned trips, be that Rome or NY or... Scarborough in fact. Although we are going to Crieff Hydro for 3 days, with friends (added social life bonus) so it's not all bad.

Tooblessed, could your LO please let my darling Joe know how to frigging eat and sleep??! I know, I know, they are all different but aaaaargh! He is older than your DD (28 weeks) and is totally disinterested in getting weaned and does not sleep: today he survived on 2x20min naps in the car.

We on the other have survived school shoe shopping in HUGE shopping centre on a Bank Holiday - I hate crowds. I hate crowds even more in the company of my children. And even more in the company of totally overtired DS3 who did the whole axe-wielding, Jack-Nicholson-in-The-Shining meltdown thing in the middle of Clarks because the terribly nice shop assisstent was going to Touch His Feet!!!

IWCAS, I feel similar about my return to work/Joe going to the CM's . But my rational head (as opposed to my melting heart) knows that the others went at the same age and where absolutely fine. I know Ramsay is your PFB as he should be, but do not beat yourself up too much. They are resilient little things and he will soon create a routine for himself with his carers.

donttry, thanks for your kind wishes.
The principle of 'no major changes in the first year' actually comes from a former neighbour of ours who lived by that principle the year after her husband had died . So she only sold the marital home, went on a cruise and got rid of his valuable classic car (that she had no interest in) more than a year after his passing. I think it is a sound principle to allow time after major lifeevents (bereavement - bad, baby - good, obviously ) for the dust to settle.
My DH and I had bought our first house before we were married (to the shock and disgust of my parents ) and I swear in the first 4 months of living together I thought I had made the mistake of my life! But within the first year we had fought our respective corners found a way to get on. And 14 years later... we are still not talking to each other well, we still have our moments, but I cannot see either one of us going anywhere anytime soon .
I hope everything will be plainer sailing for you soon .

Nighty-night!

oh Pacific that has reminded me what I wanted to say. I like Crieff Hydro, I've been a few times but not for a few years now but the last time I stayed (06 I think) I had cash stolen from my purse . We were staying in the self catering cabins and had booked dinner in the hotel on the Saturday night and I'm sure that it was that night the cash was stolen. My friend also had cash taken. We reported it to the Police and the hotel and nothing was done about it but I reckon it was clearly an in house job as our cabin number was taken for our restaurant booking so I'm sure as soon as we sat down at the table someone was given the wink that our cabin would be 'clear' for the next hour at least.

Oh, flip, Smac, thanks for the tip ; how awful for you! We will make sure not to leave anything valuable in the cabin.

Smac, we x-posted, I just found your longer post.

I am afraid I have to disagree with you on the buggy front : I love my MacLaren; it is my second (the first one still does duty at my mum's house), it folds flat, it can be opened and closed with one hand while I hold baby on my hip, it is lightweight, it has survived multiple flights, it turns on a sixpence . So that's what I would recommend for trip across the pond, Manda. I have this one.

But then again I have to admit I know nothing about the Quinny... .

I know there are lots of McLaren fans out there. I'm just not one of them and they seem so expensive for what they are.
siamese took a Petite Star on holiday I think, just recently.

pacific,please bring Joe to my place so i can take care of him.i so wanted twins when i found out i was pregnant,in fact i thought i was carrying twins,DH is TWIN,i have twin brothers,my big brother has twins,i mean we are a family of twins,but when Bella came i was so pleased that i only had one:o ,Joe will be sleeping through before you know it

mummyelk,no worries and of course i do not mind telling you,we live in Norway and Norwegians love their cabins,a lot of people have cabins in the mountains where they go during summer,some are near the fjords,so they can fish,however DH called to say there is so much snow,so forget fishing and being outdoors,more like drinking indoors

donttrythisathome,may i babysit for you while you get some sleep?gosh,i never realised how sleep was crucial to my health till i had Bella,its important

manda,i have never been to NY but i hope to visit one day,try to have fun but i know with a 6month old it might be challenging,have one of those slings and carry the baby,then put on your heavy jacket and you are done,,i carry my baby on my back so i find life much simpler,i can clean house and do basically everything because its easier on the back,good luck in NY

:o at pacific's DS3 giving the assistant a hard time for touching his shoes