November 2010: Welcome to life on the other side

[bunnygirl80]

Pull up a chair and help yourself to a LARGE glass of wine

Welcome to the dark side the wonderful world of motherhood

Sorry to hear about Will's unsettled night (and yours by default!) bunnygirl, as a first timer I don't have any advice to offer, I'm afraid, but I hope everything improves soon.

I'm learning that everything is hindsight. Last time I was on the ABs I continued with combination feeding which led to Anya's little bottom suffering with horrible nappy rash. This time I decided to express and discard breast milk and have a week of FF only. Which led to mild constipation and an unsettled baby. There's only two days of ABs to go now so we're back on combination feeding. With hindsight I would probably have given her fewer BM feeds rather than cut them out altogether as it was just too dramatic a change in her diet, it seems. Next hurdle...

Thanks ladies!! Sorry to hear you're sleepless too, bunnygirl.

Rocky was sleeping for up to 4 hours at night, which was great. For some reason he's got much worse since we introduced a bedtime routine five days ago!

He was shrieking terribly in the evenings and we've got that sorted out now, so he goes down and self-soothes off to sleep beautifully. But he now wants feeding far more frequently. Aargh.

He takes a dummy, heaven be praised, but that doesn't work at night. As far as I can tell, he genuinely is the ravening beast he seems.

umf sorry Rocky's playing up too.

Just got a call from one of my mother's group saying her baby's doing exactly the same thing, and he's only 3 days older than Will, so I'm assuming it's a developmental thing rather than bad parenting from me. According to kellymom, these feeding frenzy/sleep regression things usually come right before they learn a new skill - for all this lack of sleep he'd better be coming up with something good. Am thinking his first novel or a solution to time travel, rather than rolling or sitting

I don't think the broken night time sleep is doing William any favours either - when he got up this morning he had dark circles under his eyes poor thing He's now 2 hours into a nap which would normally last 30 mins, so at least I've caught up on some sleep. Now just need to decide whether to let him sleep some more or wake him up......

Sleep is always a talking point isn't it? Abbie was doing well then for 3 nights she wouldn't settle in the evening and was then feeding 4hrly in the night then next night she didn't go to sleep til 2am! but last night was asleep by 8.30pm fed at 11pmish and then slept through til 7.45am. I'm now giving her both boobs at each feed and trying to make sure she has plenty of awake time during the day as she does have a habit of snoozing all day so I can't blame her for wanting to party at night! I think sleep breeds sleep so a good day time sleep pattern helps the night sleeps. I just need to get more organised and sort out her routine!

I ordered a new cot mattress for her at the beginning of Jan and it's still not arrived but the woman said it would be here by the end of the week. Hope so as Abbie is pretty wedged in her moses basket now! Ds was out of the moses basket and in his own room at 5wks but Dp still hasn't sorted out the spare room for Ds to go into so Abbie can go in the nursery so I've put the cot up in our room. Dp is in the spare room at the moment so he can get a decent night sleep. I quite like having the bed to myself.

Abbie is very smiley now and will beam at anyone who makes eye contact. She also loves going under her play gym. She also 'chats' away to me which is so sweet. She weighs 12lb6 now and has stayed on her line despite me worrying that she'd lost weight with being poorly and not feeding as well.

Bunny very jealous of you being in Sydney. I lived in Killara for a while and loved the whole outdoors lifestyle. I spent many a lovely summers day at Balmoral beach. Glad you're not flooded though.

Just popping on very quickly - yes please, I would love to come to a London meet up.

Hi everyone, sorry to hear about everyone's lack of sleep!

Aiden is still sleeping about 9/10 hours a night and seems to have got himself into a routine. I keep him awake most of the afternoon; as he likes to sleep the morning; he then has an evening nap before waking up about 7:30pm; he then plays some more until 9:30pm when I feed him and put him in his moses basket. He then sleeps through till about 6/7:30am most nights!

Had the 12 week injections today and Aiden was really well behaved. I can remember taking eldest DS for his and he screamed for what seemed like forever .

Aiden was asleep when we got there, woke up briefly when each of the injections went in, then went straight back to sleep! I was really shocked . As soon as we got out the door in the buggy he was fast asleep! Hoping the 16 week injections are as easy!

Am feeling very stiff today from last nights Legs, Bums and Tums! The first week I was fine, I think that was because I thought I'd take it easy - as it was the first session. This week I really went for it and am paying for it dearly, I can hardly walk around, I sort of have to walk like a penguin

Hoping it isn't this bad next week as I have offered to help out with DS school trip which involves walking around Bristol city centre and even a trip up and down Christmas Steps not sure I'll make it if I feel like this!!!

A quick question, please confirm Im not going mad :) Is anyone ironing baby clothes? not the odd 'posh' outfit but everyday vests n tops and such

No mibby, I certainly am not!
Are you??

Mibby not me! i dont even iron my own clothes!

Good grief mibby, it never crossed my mind to iron babygros. Who on earth is suggesting you should be?

Urgh, can I join the sleepless brigade? I knew Norry sleeping through was too good to last but the last 3 weeks have been getting worse and worse culminating in Norry crying from 1.30am to 3am this morning then waking again before 6. Doesn't seem to be only hunger as when we gave him a bottle in a desperate effort to get him to sleep he still didn't drop off (comfort fed him to sleep in the end).

And holy crap! As I was writing that he suddenly started screaming (he's asleep in my arms at the moment) and then went back to sleep. What's that about? I almost dropped my laptop

Mibby Ummm, yes I iron all the childrens clothes including vests and babygros. I think it stems from having been a nanny and ironing the kids clothes was part of my duties. I like things to be ironed.

Thanks privet, vix and fenouille :) Im not but it has been suggested that i should be. Just thought id check what other people are doing

What is this 'iron' that you speak of?

I iron most baby clothes but some that dont look at all creased get left!! DH on the other hand will iron all of them, even if it's a vest & a tiny tiny bit creased! Needless to say I'm more than happy for him to carry on :)

I think I came upon one at the back of my under-stair cupboard once Lainey. I backed away quickly feeling a bit creased scared.

Another one here getting very little sleep again. Just as I think things have settled a bit it all goes to pot, for no obvious reason .

Fenouille Skye has been doing some weird screaming cries on occasion too, for no apparent reason. Thankfully not during the night as she is sleeping through brilliantly, but it is very disconcerting to not be able to console her... Not sure what it is, but the other night she was shrieking despite being fed burped and changed. I laid her on my bed and undid her babygro (she seems to enjoy getting undressed, for nappy changes and such) and pushed her knees up to her tummy sort of thing, and she calmed down and was happier after that, though she didn't pass any wind. I have also noticed that she sometimes goes a day without pooing and most days poos once. Two poos in a day is quite rare for her... She is EBF so I'm wondering if she might be sensitive to something I'm eating and it might be "clogging her up"...? I had that trouble with DS2 and DS3 if I are oats, they'd be very fussy and constipated for a few days at a time, so I don't eat them at all. And Skye also has bad cradle cap on her scalp and some which has appeared as red bumps and dry scaly stuff on her face. Argh!

Oh poor Skye Sarah. We also do the legs to chest move which sometimes results in a fairly fantastic fart. We did have a particularly bad night after I ate <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=www.frenchduck.com/cassoulet-ambiance.jpg&imgrefurl=www.frenchduck.com/2006/08/cassoulet_festival_at_castelna.html&usg=__EK-LqvBeijLVQv35Iu7WOtlB9oU=&h=262&w=338&sz=33&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=PuzCtHSdJ-SuIM:&tbnh=142&tbnw=212&ei=J-45Te6sL9WL4Aal-7SYCg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcassoulet%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26biw%3D1005%26bih%3D588%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=517&vpy=88&dur=1843&hovh=198&hovw=255&tx=138&ty=220&oei=J-45Te6sL9WL4Aal-7SYCg&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=12&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">cassoulet for lunch, which in retrospect was a pretty bad idea (yes, those are beans, beans, good for your heart, the more you eat the more you fart...)

I am also wondering what this iron you speak of is Mibby? I most certainly would not even contemplate ironing a baby grow, there would be as much chance of me ironing something like that as to start ironing underwear and socks - which I know my nan does

Poor Aiden is really in the wars! He woke up this morning with a very bunged-up nose. He fed fine though and seemed content. He then started crying later on and seemed to be chewing his hands, I then noticed he had a tooth coming through which was causing him agro

I bought some teething gel and an infant nasal spray and all was good. Then this afternoon he was feeling a bit better and playing on his activity mat, he started to cry and wouldn't open his eyes, I was very scared! I think he might have poked himself in the eye as when he did open it it was watering quite a bit. I am not sure though as to whether it could in fact be conjunctivitis. He has now gone to bed, so I am going to see how he is in the morning and then maybe take him to an out-of-hours GP if he is no better, poor little mite

Really worried, which I know is probably me being really daft as it'll soon all clear up, but you know what it's like, they are so tiny and there is not a lot you can do to help, makes me feel very helpless indeed!!

Hope everyone else is well! x x x

If DP didn't have to wear shirts so much (for the business) my iron would collect dust.
I can't wait for summer so I can line dry and not iron so much :)

Isaac is 11 weeks Tuesday, I can't believe it, he had to have the tb jab yesterday poor might (cause of his Chinese background) not looking forward to when it blisters up and scabs :(

Rinnyx - M&S ultimate non iron shirts. I literally did nOt touch our iron in 2010.

Harmony - if he does have conjunctivitis or any kind of sticky eye, the absolute best cure is a drop of breast milk, if you are still feeding, it works wonders. Drs are reluctant to prescribe drops (round here anyway) as they don't work well and it tends to just clear up itself. Milk will get rid in a day though!
Conjunctivitis is nothing to worry about though, and it doesn't tend to make them cry like that. I expect your poke in the eye theory is more likely :)

I'd second privet's advice, breastmilk is the miracle cure-all! Excellent for bunged up noses too... :). Skye's skin on her face is still dry but finally found something that is helping, been using Aveeno lotion. Olive oil was too heavy I think.

Ebb Balmoral beach is lovely, can't wait till Will's old enough to go.

Mibby I'm not even sure where my iron is

fen Will has started doing a really loud cry occasionally in his sleep - by the time I've leapt across the room to comfort him he's deeply asleep again. I think he must just be dreaming when he does it

harmony hope Aiden's feeling better soon

We're back on track on the sleep front - I think it must have been a growth spurt. Just like after his 6 week feeding frenzy he's hit a heap of little milestones over the last couple of days. He's actually making controlled grabs for his toys, and he's much happier playing alone now. Oh, and today I'm pretty sure he said "moo"

I can see a couple of indents on his gums where his teeth are going to come through, and he's been drooling and chewing his hand alot for a few days as well. I'm quite excited at the prospect of having some little teeth to brush, although alarmed at the thought of BFing someone who can bite me. Poor Will having a dentist for a mummy won't be able to avoid his daily dates with Mr Toothbrush

Thanks for all the non-ironing reassurance :)

Annabels had sticky eyes too Harmony and breast milk does clear it up for a while. Hers seem to get bad overnight then are fine all day once they've been cleaned, I checked with the Dr when she had her injections and she said its just the tearducts aren't developed enough yet and it will clear up on its own eventually and to keep going with the bm in the meantime

Hello all, hope you're keeping well!

How time flies, I haven't posted for almost 2 months and now trying to catch up with the thread.. Too busy with my family visiting from Finland and MIL from NZ.. Baptism, Christmas..

Baby Freya is now 8 weeks 5 days and is adorable smiley little girl. Last time I had her weighted (2 weeks a go) she was 5,180g / 56cm.

BF is going well / Freya sleeps very well, usually from 7pm till 6 am waking up twice for feed - although sometimes she wakes up more often..
I am finding it hard to settle her for naps during the day.. And then she gets super grizzly around 4-5 pm and sometimes I have to put her to bed at 6!

Have any of you tried "dream feed"? I tried it first time last night.. Don't think it really made any difference, she was up around 2am to feed.. Might try again tonight.. Felt like a real creep sneaking in and making her feed in her sleep..

Are you planning a get together, London peeps?!

jenni I tried the dream feed - made no difference, Will still woke at exactly the same time as he would do without it

The concept of the dream feed seemed to be a bit controversial among MWs and HVs I've talked to. Their thinking was that the baby will get used to having that feed, and might come to rely on it to help them sleep long after they actually stop needing to feed in the night. So in the short term it might get you a couple of hours extra sleep, but in the long term you might end up having to wean them off it. Since doing the dream feed doesn't really work for me and Will anyway, I've just opted to let him wake and ask for food, and hopefully at some point in the future he'll sleep longer of his own accord.

We also have the super grizzly early evenings. Feel a bit sorry for DH because that's the only time he sees Will during the week,and he's always whingy and clingy. It's worse at the moment because he's trying to drop his early evening nap, so some days he's been awake for 4 hours before bedtime and although he didn't want to sleep any earlier he's still overtired.