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.

Sorry I couldn't chat yesterday. I was just finishing a paper for a conference in Portugal in the beginning of November. I'm very excited about it, but at the same time nervous... I'll have to leave DS for 3 nights with DH and my mum. I'm sure they will cope well, I'm the one who is going to suffer the most. Anyway I'm looking forward to the possibility of having 3 nights of unbroken sleep :)

Sorry about all the illnesses!

Scooby change your name to superhuman :)

Ok, back to work.
x

afternoon all
sorry, RL has once again taken over, and can't really stop to do any shout outs but as ever i'm mostly digested what you've all said and hope the various illnesses get better and boobage issues improve
am having a tough time with the old Oz thing - can't really put too much detail down here [paranoid emoticon] but at present i am NOT going.... mostly because my DB is having doubts about the sanity of his girlfriend. my main concern now isn't that i may miss the wedding, it may be that he goes ahead with it despite all his doubts and their bickering. am toying with going anyway to see if I can help him - very very long story (and we all know about family politics don't we, everyone has them!! ) but am pretty sure she's not The One for him and whilst I wouldn't want to talk him out of it, I have serious concerns that he's completely on his own out there and somewhat alienated. He is at least talking to me about it which is I suppose a start. Hence my silence here, it's been taking up quite a lot of time!
both girls are asleep on the sofa [awwwwww emoticon] but am almost at the stage where i need to wake at least The Elk so that I can get her down to bed tonight at a reasonable time. Night 2 this week on my own, DH has a busy week at work involving various overnights. groan.

Hi, ladies, just a quick one while I wait for our curry to arrive :

scooby, I hope you got some rest today. Nobody could survive on 2-3 hours sleep . Hope you have a quiet night at work, but glad to hear you are enjoying doing something not mothering related for a change - I think I feel the same .

Pixie, how are you doing? Hope you've had a busy day - well, how would you not, what with your brood ?

Melk, oh dear, at your or rather your DB's dilemma. I really sympathise - my DB made a bad decision in that department and is ruing the day.... I hope it all works itself out. Could you not go to Oz to support your DB and give him an ear/a shoulder depending on what he needs? Don't envy you your position

IWCAS, poor little Ramsay - surely it cannot be that long now for ABs to kick in and that pesky tooth to poke through. Fingers crossed!

Hello to everyone else - hope you are all doing fabulously well !

DH has done all the parenting today as he is off and I was at work, and he is whacked, teehee! Hence the curry. And a beer or 3 .

Toodles!

Hope all the babies are shaking off the infections, snots and coughs. DD seems to have stopped producing copious amounts of green bogey (hooray) but is still coughing (boo)

Pixie Hope you've managed to keep yourself busy, keep crossing off the days.

Melk Poor DB, keep talking to him, I am sure that he'll make the right decision.

PW Oddly enough DH was knackered by the end of the summer holiday after looking after DD, he said he was going back to work for a rest. And that was with both of us here, I don't think he's looked after DD for more than a couple of hours on his own yet.

Light-and-sound contraption seems to be working to some extent, we don't need to settle DD in the early part of the night now, but if she wakes up after 11pm then she won't go back to sleep by herself.

Just checking in. Am beyond tired with DD waking up the whole time.

Sorry to hear about all the illnesses. No teeth or illness here but still crapola sleep so god knows what it will be like if DD gets a cold or something.

Ang sometimes I wonder if DD would sleep better if on purees rather than BLW but I think I know really she wouldn't. I know what you mean about the wobblies though. It's hard not to wish DD would eat more sometimes even though I know it doesn't matter.

Love that book (What mothers do) PD. I read it when I was preggers and would recommend it to anyone. It is very affirming in a world that doesn't seem to value mothers and what we do.

Anyone hear the tit woman from the Conservative Thinktank on R4 this morning? There was a piece about a single mum ambulance driver whose job is being privatised due to govt policy. She will have to give up work as the private firm won't have family friendly policies allowing her to work weekdays instead of nights and weekends. So both her and her childminder will be out of a job. The Thinktank woman basically said who cares, its a good thing for women to stay home and mind the children and feck childminders who don't increase the GDP and have to be subsidised anyway. WTF???? I was nearly roused from me pillow in rage I'm telling you. Only nearly though (snuggle).

Anyway...yawn...off to bed.

Sorry no energy for shoutouts but I have caught up and thinking of y'all.

Ooh yes, I forgot about the book. I bought What Mothers Do and read it this week (somehow with DD using me as a climbing frame).

Am going to try to get DH to read it, and will be recommending it to my pregnant friends. Definitely makes me feel a bit more 'normal'.

I have 'What Mothers Do' think I read the intro and put it to one side.
I have 'Wonder Weeks' and I've read up til week 5 or something - DD2 now 7.5 months!
I have 'How to Talk' not even cracked the spine on that one.
I love reading but I do so to switch off at the end of the day so find it hard to find the time to read 'parenting' stuff but following your recommendations I will go back to 'What Mothers Do' and see how I get on.
I'm not going to do many shout outs but I hope sleep is happening for all those in need, that teeth, viruses, chest/ear infections are all passing and babies are cheerier and that those working are coping and that those who want to strangle their husbands/partners have resisted and those with babies on the move are keeping up with them
Pixie hope you are coping, haven't checked your thread today.
Melk what an awkward situation. I hope you can help your brother work out his feelings for this girl.
Oh remembers siamese asked a blw Q - DD1 got blw really early. I was frequenting the BLW website/forum a lot back then and realised that many don't really eat much at all to start with. DD2 is in this category but I am trying to be more enthusiastic and offering her more now. I think the 2 most important things to remember are that 'food is for fun up until one' or basically milk is the most important thing and food is just for tastes and experiences.
Also you have to forget about measurements. Puree people will talk about the number of teaspoons consumed. I've heard HVs ask this. Forget quantities, just offer a range of foods.
DD1 took to drinking water from a doidy cup straight away when offered at 5m. DD2 tries to lap it up like a puppy! Not much success with sippy cups either but DD1 (who never worked out sippy cups as a baby) now requests demands them!
Also ang I'm now v intrigued about your new business venture, if you want any business start up chat then just message me
Poor Baby G wouldn't resettle in the night last night. I eventually thought to check her nappy and she had done a massive poo. We would all have had more sleep if I had thought to check this earlier..... the down side of the bombproof night nappy is that I can't smell when she's done a bad one!
arcadie we are potty training DD1, no plans to get DD2 on the potty quite yet however my mother did say I should when I told her she nearly always pooed when sitting in the bumbo. Apparently she used to dangle me and my brother over the loo when we were young to save a nappy (back in the good old terry days!)
Right this was supposed to be a quickie with no shout outs but I have failed and waffled on as usual.
Night night

hello

wow you have inspired me to buy two books now - Politics of Breastfeeding - love the sound of that one, and What Mothers Do

don'ttry - oh that would make my blood boil - this government is really starting to make me want to leave the country. I think I have only just accepted that cameron is actually the PM now and that I am actually living under a Tory govn [head in sand emotion]. Wasn't Red Ed good on PMQ yesterday though [swoon]?

DS2 is now pulling himself up anywhere and everywhere - bath, cot, sofa, legs - aaaaggggh. Very cute put I can't leave him for a second

RL keeps interfering with MN but am being a lurky mclurkster so have been keeping up with you all (just!).

BLW: it's good to be reminded that babies don't eat much at this stage. DS got the eating thing quite quickly, at the end of week 1 he just seemed to "get it", but still has some days when he's just not interested. As Smac's two LOs show, all babies are different and get to grips with it at different rates. On the sleep front, my friends doing traditional weaning don't report better sleep (and a couple of them have done CC and sleep training and still have a fair amount of sleepless nights).

Toothbrushes: have a brushbaby that seems to help with teething too. Haven't used toothpaste yet but do have a finger brush that came with the detinox toothpaste I bought. Not sure how successful I'll be when I finally get around to trying it!

Hope all who are back at work are coping (particularly scooby) and any poor babies/mums are doing better.

DS's 4th tooth came through this morning after a bad couple of days. He's a happier chappy this morning [relief emoticon].

Melk belated congrats o making the round-up! Sounds quite stressful about your DB. Hope things are resolved soon.

pixie glad you had a good weekend and hope the days and nights pass quickly til your DH is home again.

Right, have writing this since 8.30am so have no doubt missed loads!

Morning all,

I almost feel refreshed!!!! Got into bed at 3.30 am. DS was WOKEN at 7.15 by DH who then brought him for a quick hug (at my request) and then promptly left for work dropping DS at my parents for the morning. I rolled over and snuggled back up til 11.20!! (Don't be too jealous - remember I didn't get in til 3.30) DS was then delivered smiling back to me at 11.30 whereupon I fed him and popped him back to sleep at 12.30. I could get used to this

Hope you're all well and babies not too snotty, too grumpy or too mobile!!

Aww scooby you sound much better, I'm glad to hear it.

DrSkid I'm with you on the pulling up to standing, and I have a horrible cold so am struggling a bit to chase Isobel around and rescue her every time she nearly brings the TV unit (and TV) crashing down to the ground.

Pacific hope you enjoyed the curry :) I've added What Mothers Do to my Amazon wishlist, it sounds like essential reading if I ever find time to read again.

iwcas how is R doing, are the antibiotics kicking in?

Melk that sounds like a difficult situation with your brother, especially since he's at the other side of the world. It's so hard to find the balance, giving advice without interfering. I hope it all works out.

That's exciting about the conference evitas. Are you giving a talk or just presenting the paper?

Well, I might go and have a lie down before Snot Monster wakes up. Hugs to everyone :)

Hi everyone

Scooby Glad you were able to sleep a bit longer :)

Pixie Well done on keeping yourself busy

IWCAS how is your DS?

Flip it's is such a relief for everyone when the tooth is out. We are "in between" teeth :)

DrSki and BMI mobile babies... good luck!

I'll be presenting a paper (20 minutes talking + questions) and I'll also have a poster, which means people can come and have a chat during the coffee breaks.It will be the first time that I'll be presenting my work back home, so I'm a bit nervous. Also (I guess it's because I'm a first time mum) I'm feeling anxious about leaving DS. I'm pretty sure he will start doing something new and I wont be here to see it . Ok, I'm not being rational, just emotional I know...

Tonight we'll have some friends for dinner and I'll have <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=lh3.google.com/george.zaher/R_LyqpmiWoI/AAAAAAAAAFc/BbY4N96hVVM/casadafeijoada3.jpg&imgrefurl=pagesbleu.wordpress.com/2008/04/02/recipes-feijoada-brasileira/&h=364&w=500&sz=50&tbnid=_Uml44ifgJ1RqM:&tbnh=95&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dfeijoada%2Bbrasileira&zoom=1&q=feijoada+brasileira&hl=en&usg=__NdB7RixENAiiQzRKeMZ1cExeUf4=&sa=X&ei=fxe3TO6zAdHB4gaswMnvCQ&ved=0CBsQ9QEwAQ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Feijoada Brasileira (Brazilian Black Bean Stew), which I've ordered from a Brazilian friend and she's kindly cooking it at the moment :) Can't wait!

DD in bed, but I was right, writing stuff down does jinx it and we've had another 2 crappy nights (although maybe last night could've been to a leaky nappy that I didnt spot till 7.30am )

drSkid i read your post and thought 'at least I dont have that to worry about yet', went to swimming and DD calmly pulled her self to standing in the changing room, and has since been doing it on me, the bath etc.. things certainly seem to be moving quickly round here this week - 2 teeth and standing!

dizzi I love the pictures you've put on fb today - your DD and DS are super cute!

Smac thanks for the blw advice, it really is a bit stop start here. Loads of brekkie normally but by tea she refuses most things.

Scooby hope you arent too tired. How are you feeling about things now you are back at work? Did you go to the Dr? I seem to be staying 'up' despite the poor sleep, and Im glad that Dh and I had the huge chat fight because it really seems to have made me/ us happier.

Melk It is good that your bro is talking about it, I was thinking about this and in the run up to and on the day of my wedding I have never been so sure of anything, so I do wonder if starting with doubts can be a good foundation.. on another note, how is the not a Mei Tai doing? I was looking at an Ergo but £££ so maybe an import from HK would do... Has anyone tried to put their 6/7 month old on their back alone yet? Is it possible?

iCWAS how are things over there? I have invested in an Amber necklace (not delivered yet) to help with teething after a mum I was talking to recommended it. Im really not into things that are a little bit 'woo' but after this weekend... Anything!! Ill report back with findings soon.. anyone else got one?

fliss hows the garden? The pics are like Groundforce but no final result yet :) I love before and after pics.

pixie Nothing on TV? oh no, Hugh Furry Wittingstall is on at 8! mmm
How was school meeting? I went to a meeting at a primary school as part of job once and we had to sit on tiny weeny chairs, It was difficult to take it seriously..

love to everyone else, Im off to clean up DD's tea and prepare myself for Hugh.

Wow pixie! Any sign from Genevieve?

Go Ophelia

Siamese & DrSkid another stander here. I'm doing my best to not encourage it but to no avail! Still not much sign of crawling (though hints of bum-shuffling) so am keeping my fingers crossed he stays immobile for a while longer as I like not having to clean the floor.

Siamese I have an Ergo and love it. But I bought it months ago, when I was still getting my salary, and doubt I'd buy it now when every penny counts. Some of my NCT friends bought from this site - I think they're knock-offs but pretty good quality and definitely functional (which is the whole point after all). Oh and I do sometimes wear DS on my back (he's seven months on Saturday). I've done it occasionally since Aug (was v handy for blackberry picking and also comes in handy for gardening and the like). Keep meaning to try the hip position too.

Melk I agree with Siamese - I was so 100% sure of marrying my DH. I know doubts can be normal but I hope he resolves what he wants to do.

Scooby glad you got some decent sleep. How are you finding being back at work?

Evitas enjoy your dinner (sounds gorgeous!). And v cool about the conference

Dizzi I also love the FB pictures. Your two LOs are so cute!

OK, off to watch Hugh clean up from dinner. DH went out for an impromptu drink after a very stressful day at work (I actually kind of forced him to go out - it's so rare for him to get out at night and it's so rare for me to have alone time!).

Hello. Parents up so not much fb or MN time.

Also.

Why he no sleep anymore??????

Anyone else still swaddling theirs? He broke when we stopped swaddling.

ha ha siamese - that'll teach you to be smug - it is cute as well as exhausting though, isn't it?

evitas - good luck with the talk/poster/leaving DS - I'm sure the leaving DS will be the hardest by far!

Melk - agree it's worrying if he's having so many doubts - hope he works out what he really wants and goes with it

pixie - wow at Ophelia! Was going to say 'at least I don't have that to deal with' but I don't want him to start tomorrow!

My DS has also started babbling like a crazy man - it is very very cute but with two other DC who never stop talking it is making my head explode:
DD - Mummy, you know Snow White? Is she your favourite princess because she's got black hair like you and do you now who my favourite....
DS1 - Mummy me love Postman Pat mummy, me love Jess mummy, mummy Postman pat have van mummy...
DS2 - da da da (hysterical laughter) ba ba ba ba daaaaah (screeeech)

ALL AT THE SAME TIME!!! [head explodes]

arcadie - could you start swaddling again?

flip - I have wanted an ergo forever but am too poor - will have a look at that website, thank you

Pixie - please tell me they don't still talk as much when they're 17?!

How are you doing tonight? Have you watched Hugh?