December 2010 - Merry Christmas new babies!

[Chooster]

Hi, I couldn't see a post-natal thread but as we grow in numbers we'll need a place to chat!

All good here... Jude is now 5 days old and such a wonderful good baby. Mind you he must think he's been born in the Arctic as it was -16 outside this morning in Edinburgh. Brrrrrrr - Its not always this cold Jude .

How's everyone else getting on?

Awww DF they are horrible aren't they. Bea had hers last week, she had no chub on her thighs and she really felt them go in. I was nearly sick, not keen on needles. I was crying later in the day, it's so horrible to see them so tearful. She'd quieten down and then suddenly remember and start crying again. Bless her. Plenty of hugs and kisses and some calpol will help :)

DF I really wouldn't be worrying about a routine right now or the co-sleeping thing. Bob is still so young, he won't have formed any habits yet. Personally I've always used a crib for my babies as I don't sleep if they are in bed with me and I can't function on no sleep! I only put DD into any sort of routine after she started consistently sleeping through the night which worked fine so I intend to do the same this time round. Jabs are horrible aren't they?

Matthew wasn't playing ball last night - decided to stay wide awake until 1am. It's frustrating as DH is working late shifts so basically, he gets in between 1am-3am and sleeps until midday or so, while I have to get up any time from 6am onwards with the children, feed, dress, entertain them and keep them quiet so that he can rest, but then I can't go to sleep until they have. So culmutively, I'm getting 2 or 3 hours less sleep every day than he is and when he is awake, he's only got himself to worry about. Grr. Once he's got his resit out of the way, I'm redressing the balance - I've definitely earned a few lie ins.

My M&D & DSis popped round this afternoon and were all commenting on how big Matthew's getting. It made me feel really sorry for my MIL that she's missing out on all this. But the logistics of visiting are so complicated - I can't see an easy way round. MIL & FIL were supposed to have been having DD for a sleepover as it's half term, which would have meant we'd have all spent a day together but FIL has come down with the flu and they're supposed to be going on holiday on Thurs so it's not like we can reschedule. I know the flu thing can't be helped but I don't want them to think I don't want them to see Matthew, but they've got to make the effort I think, as they aren't constrained by school runs or work. (or AIBU?)

DF we used a dummy with DD as, after two weeks of her barely sleeping at all during the night, it was the only thing that seemed to settle her down enough to sleep. She has since discovered her hand and uses this by preference (I cried when I first gave her a dummy...was so not what I envisaged...)

rudbekia raises her head above the parapet

we got 7hrs unbroken sleep last night

ducks down again

Thanks max I think I worry far too much about what I should be doing rather than being happy with what I want to be doing. There's a song by Fleet Foxes with a lyric about an anxious mother 'full of anxious love', that's me!

I really sympathise with you re your lack of sleep. I only have the one child and am not sure how I would cope if I had older children and a baby.

I worry too about my MIL. She's abroad so unable to see he baby apart from on skype and the pictures we put on an online album. My own mum sees him about once a week and I worry that this might be causing jealousy. It's not intentional, just the way it is.

rudbekia we don't have too many night sleeping problems but he is definitely chewing his hands loadl more. Am jealous of your 7 hours. Bob did it once or twice but now seems to be falling asleep earlier and then waking more in the night.

Hi everyone. Glad to hear people getting on well and very jealous of those of you getting lots of sleep! We don't have a routine per se but I can see a pattern starting to form and actually the last couple of nights William has slept very well (for him). I don't mind waking to feed him a couple of times overnight, but I hate it when he wakes and won't settle after a feed. He did a poo overnight last night and just as I changed him pooed in his new nappy so was wide awake after 2 changes.

We survived first set of jabs with no incident, but he now has a cold, upside of which is he is sleeping loads. He seems absolutely huge - filling some of his 3-6 months clothes at 10 weeks and my arms are noticing it. We got the cot down from the loft as he is out of his basket now, not that he really spent much time in it anyway! He sleeps best in the crook of my arm, or DH's arm and I actually love the snuggles although I get a bit stiff.

I got him to laugh the other day by bouncing him up and down on our exercise ball and going 'woah, woah, woah' in a stupid voice! Was v pleased as DD didn't laugh at me for ages, only DH.

Hi everyone, just caught up with epic thread. Really interesting to hear how you are all doing. Ten week old Tom weighs about a stone now and is 3-6 month clothes, after logging literally everything for 3 weeks we think we are groping towards some kind of a pattern but it is pretty intense! He has had silent reflux so screaming in the evenings 6pm - 1am and for a long time was breastfeeding every 3 hours round the clock - shattering for me. Little and often was the only way he could feed and soothe the burning.

For the last few weeks we were clusterfeeding and soothing in the evenings whilst he cried and wriggled and sucked furiously and sometimes was very sick - Gaviscon helped once we got the diagnosis - then once he had enough milk in him and was calm enough to be cuddled/go to sleep I grabbed 2 hours sleep alone in our bedroom whilst DH comforted him/watched TV and Tom slept in the hammock - which is now kept in the sitting room.

Then he would wake to be fed at 1am, 3am, 4.30am. DH would settle him after feeds whilst I went back to bed and grabbed half an hour sleep here and there (feeds could take up to 40 mins with all the necessary winding and holding him upright) and at 3am DH would go to bed and I would clock on, lying on a mattress on the floor in the sitting room next to the hammock.

Tom would sleep til 4.30am and then get into bed with me and hassle me for feeds til 6am after which he would be wide awake and I'd get up and play with him. DH would then get up at 8am, so at least DH got 5 hours unbroken sleep and I'd get up to 5 hours broken sleep.

It's been quite shit really. Tom is lovely during the day but we are both so tired as a result to the night stuff and on top of all of this have a drains problem and are in the process of trying to emigrate and pack up everything to leave the UK 22 March!

Argh. Anyway, I think we might have spotted a pattern so we are going to try a routine because Tom falls asleep after being pushed in the buggy so if we walk him at 11am and 3pm he might - he just might- go down during the day and be less of a monster at night

oh yeah I forgot to say: EBF and won't take any kind of bottle at all - I wanted to express so I could sometimes get a rest . So no rest for me ever and wasted over a hundred quid on a Medela Swing and loads of different bottles and teats.

:(

Hi All,

been a while since I posted - everyone looks like they are doing great and nice to hear about routines forming.
Its been up and down for me and Isadora, first jabs went well didnt even cry just slept! No routines though for us I am trying but not very successfully. read a bit of Gina Ford and then the Baby Whisperer and got myself in a bit of a state about being an inefficient parent or what ever they cll it if your 8 wk old cant sleep through so I have stopped reading it was really stressing me out. We are still co sleeping but with a bit of a twist. Isadora is sleeping in a foot muff type thing from Phil and Teds which means she cant roll over or out of it and I can leave her in it without any worry. I am planning in the next few days to take the side of the cot and move her in it over, it will still mean I can feed her without moving her so hoping it will help the transition. DF are you still co sleeping? how is it going? I find it very easy purely because I dont have to get up to feed and she is still feeding every two to three hours a night so Miffster I feel your pain! I have worked out if she doesn't have good day time sleeps night time is a disaster but she still refuses to be put down during the day which is difficult.
Took her to have Cranial Sacral therapy yesterday, it was very traumatic she screamed non stopped and scratched my face! More traumatic than the injections! The Osteo said she had quite a few issues and we need to go back - I was hoping she would be calmer and sleep longer last night but no such joy! She is I have to say so adorable smiling and laughing and I am really enjoying being a Mummy, im sure routine will come easier when she is ready. Doesn't time fly? She is changing so much - I actually said to DH she's no longer a newborn maybe its time for another lol those hormones must be kicking in, after the birth I didn't think I'd ever say such a thing!

hi all, been a while for me since posting too. been having fun with DH. lots of wind and reflux issues, then constipation with the gaviscon :( we've stopped the gaviscon now so im hoping he'll get over the constipation and just need to keep my fingers crossed that in a couple of weeks he'll be 3 months and will get over the windy-ness. frenchfries you made me giggle with your post, i also had to put away the baby whisperer as my DH doesnt sleep through yet or sleep well during the day and i was feeling like a failure. just trying to remind myself that i cant force him to do anything and its not a fault that he doesnt sleep well, its just the way he is! he's almost too big for the moses basket now so i need to think about putting him in the cot, just worried that it will completely upset the little bit of sleep that he does get! and mine!

That sounds rough miffster - you must be utterly shattered! Good that the gaviscom is working a bit and the good thing is that he is approaching the magic 3 month mark when things seem to calm down. Good luck with all the packing.

french - I do what you are planning which is have Jude's cot with one side off next to my bed. That way he is next to me but safe and secure. Its keeps him away from his brothers as well if they come in at night. It works really well and hopefully will ease the transition into his own room. Fingers crossed!!! .

DF - sounds like you are doing great. Routines come in their own time and often its just a pattern of behaviour rather than specific timings. Jude sometimes sleeps for 20 mins and sometimes 3 hours during the day at any one time but his pattern is normally the same - sleep, eat, awake... He's only ever awake for about 2 hours and then gets tired and grouchy. He uses a dummy during the day for his day time naps as it helps him nod off, but for some reason i've never used it at night. He's perfectly happy to go to bed without it so I'll stick with that. I think they can be real god sends, especially if the LO is upset or distressed, it just gives that little bit of comfort.

Jude has been a real star with feeding. I tried expressed milk and he was happy taking it from the bottle but after many failed attempts to express (more finding the time to do it) I tried a bottle of formula last night and he took it no bother! Phew! I'm going to keep BF but at least now there is an option if I want to go out.

Hope everyone is doing well and those with school age children are managing in the half term break .

lumpor - you are absolutely right, some babies sleep well and some dont - but a good sleeping baby doesn't necessarily mean a good sleeping toddler or child. My other DS's were no where near as good as jude as babies but are great sleepers now at 6 and 3. You'll get your share of a good sleeper at some point .

Hi all

1lumpor2 DD was on gaviscon but not sure it made any difference and just made DD constipated so we stopped it. At the 6 week check today, (she's nearly 9 weeks) the GP told me that there is no such thing as silent reflux; that's the second GP from same practice that has told me that . However, DD appears to be growing out of it. Although, is still very windy and I don't think this helps.

No routine here still, not that I'm attempting to create one. we just survive in our own little world of random chaos . DS has recovered from chicken pox and DD not had it (yet!)

DD isn't one for naps, except on me. She won't sleep in the day unless in her car seat and moving. She will sit in her swing for 15 mins which is great but any longer and she starts to get upset.

Only (potential) problem we have is DD's weight gain. She was 8lbs at birth and only 9lbs 6oz at 9 weeks. It's not a problem for me as she is happy, healthy and feeding well but I could see the GP making faces and has requested regular weights with the HV. We'll see what happens but think I'm going to leave her for a month - don't want to get hung up on it!

chooster I've been expressing and keeping a stash so I can go out occasionally. Having said that, I manage to get around 3oz a day and I'm finding it really hard to find time to express. I am toying with the idea of a bottle of formula for when I do go out as I hate expressing and get stressed when I haven't been able to do it!

Same here CJM - I was getting stressed that I wasn't getting round to expressing. It was the fact that I'm not doing it regularly so I'd have to sterilise the equipment, then do it then store it... blah, blah, blah... as well as getting 3 kids out the house on time for school etc. It just wasn't happening. So I just thought I'd give the formula a go and lo and behold he just started munching away. I was really chuffed as it means I've got some piece of mind that there is an alternative if I go out and get stuck in traffic or something. I'll try again maybe tomorrow just to keep him used to it. Hopefully every other day for one feed will be OK.

Good that your DD didn't get chicken pox x

I can sympathise with chooster - DD (9 weeks) feeds every 2 to 3 hours - though abOut twice a week she'll do a 4 hour stint at night :). She also cluster feeds every evening and has done since two weeks. So much for the six week growth spurt! The cluster feeding is every hour for 15-20 mins each time, usually for 5 hours. I would love to know how to stop it, as I find it shattering and utterly demoralising.

Also today my lochia finally stopped (permanently I hope) - I am feeling a bit low about my body at the moment- I can cope with the jelly belly, as I can do something about it, but the constant spotting has made me feel yuk, I hate my giant (HH CUP!) norms and the cluster feeding makes me feel almost violated. I know it sounds strong but it's that feeling of not owning your own body.

Still waiting for our referral ...

Having said all that, DD is still gOrgeous and it's all worth it for a smile or a giggle

Norks, not norms. Stupid predictive iPhone keyboard :)

WWSB my lochia lasted 10 weeks, I was really getting me down

Routine for me is going ok, will write a long post tomorrow.

DF if it's any consolation, my M&D live down the road and IL's live an hour or so away. On balance, my M&D have seen DD (and DS of course) a few times a week for their entire lives. MIL sees DD much less frequently but you'd never know it from the relationship they have.

WLL hope William gets over his cold soon. I'm glad you said about him being in bigger clothes, Matthew's almost out of his 0-3 clothes and he's 9 weeks. Matthew's really close to laughing, can't wait to hear his first chuckle! He's defintiely a more smiley baby than DD was.

good to hear from you Miffster but sorry you've found it all so draining. We're all with you on the lack of sleep. Hope things settle down soon and good luck with getting ready to emigrate. Can you tell us where you're going?

Tried to take DD to the cinema today (get orange 2 for 1 tickets on a Weds) - the queue was ridiculous and 5 screenings were completely sold out. She was so good though, she waited beautifully for 40mins and didn't complain at all that we couldn't see anything. Had left Matthew with M&D who had a lovely time with him. I've got DH to look after him in the morning so that DD & I can go bowling. I feel a bit bad as he's still studying for his resit next week, but I think it's also important for me to spend time alone with DD and tbh, he can hardly complain given the lengths I've gone to to let him study in relative peace over the last 2 months!

Hi everyone, William and DD both have a virus with runny nose, cough, temp etc and I've got sore throat too. DD seems more poorly and is v grot overnight, between them I think they were up about 8 times last night. DD is refusing to nap today so I've just plonked her in front of a DVD to try and get her to sit down for 5 mins and rest.

Have discovered a way William will sleep in his cot (which is in sidecar arrangement next to our bed atm) - on his front. He was so congested and choking on phlegm at the back of his throat that I popped him on his front and he had about 2 hours! Wish guidance wasn't back sleeping - DD slept so much better on front too, I used to settle her on her front, wait until she was deeply asleep and put her on her back.

Have about 8oz in the freezer but haven't tried bottles since we took them off him at 2 weeks as paranoid it will mess up his latch again/more.

wholelottalove DD1 would only sleep on her front until she was about six/seven month. When I first put her to sleep on her front I was worried but it was the only way we'd both get any sleep at all.

This bug is really starting to get me down. Thankfully DC's are starting to get rid of it but I'm just getting to the worst bit and I'm exhausted both from the bug and looking after the DC's when they were really bad. DH is being brilliant and even offered to make dinner but I feel guilty as his job is very physical with lots of lifting and he's tired when he gets home. Hopefully we'll both get some rest this weekend now the DC's aren't as ill.

Kira slept for seven hours last night and the other two slept through so I got a decent nights sleep for the first time since I was about five months pregnant. I'm not getting my hopes up that she'll sleep that long again any time soon though.

Buggar! DD has now got chicken pox

i do wonder about GPs sometimes CJ, one at my practice didnt think i needed contraception if i was exclusively breastfeeding and another one didnt think there was any such thing as thrush in the ducts even though i clearly had all the symptoms and whn i did finally get some fluconazole off another doctor was better straight away. what do they teach them?! DS has hardly slept at all today so im hoping for a bit more sleep tonght, bet it doesnt work out that way though. sorry about the chickenpox, nightmare. sorry youre feeling so low about yourself whatwillsnatabring, i hate it when i wake in the night and have leaked over everything, its incredibly upsetting for some reason and unfortunately happens most nights.

CJ my niece had chicken pox when she was a few months old and my SIL said she was just a bit grumpy but it didn't seem to bother her like it did the older ones.

I hope your DD will be the same and not be too poorly with it.

Thanks CK. She seems fine at the moment, only 3 spots and two seem to look less angry than earlier.

GP's can be a nightmare at times 1lumpor2. Part of me wants to send them the research in the post, the other part of me can't be bothered. I'm going to speak to the HV and ask her if she can educate these GP's - it will hopefully helps other mums in the future.

Wholelottalove The twins sleep on their fronts too, and have done since I stopped swaddling them at about 6 weeks.