April 2011; springtime arrivals - blackbird, song thrush, mistle thrush, nipple thrush, nappy thrush...

[ILikeToMoveItMoveIt]

Here we are, our new thread and this time we all have our babies !

I thought we were getting thrush again, but then realised I had let ds's latch get sloppy. He was constantly clicking and tutting at the breast but I was too distracted to notice.

Ds and I made butterfly cakes together this morning, ds got to choose the colour of the buttercream icing ..... It is a very lurid shade of pink and they are covered in sugar strands. You can never have enough sugar!

Must be something in the air, petal. We've fed, cuddled, patted, walked, slung round the flat and carpark, again around flat whilst talking in the phone to various relatives and are now feeding again. All with screams becoming smiles and then wide-eyed interest.

Actually I know DH wound him up in the 5mins I went to the loo so that's partly to blame but it's just so precarious! That line between wearing out and overstimulation is so flipping thin at times. And I thought we did well on daytime routine today and yesterday :( we kept some semblance of order whereas it usually just falls apart at weekends.

We have unreliable bottle trauma here too. My maternity leave technically ends next week although I don't teach again until late August. No teaching doesn't equal no work though :( Thankfully it's stuff I can do from home (or would be able to if I could find the time) but it's still depressing.

Lis I keep meaning to say I am in awe of how well you're doing with the pumping and how dedicated you are. I hope you can keep it up and that it was just a random growth spurt.

Hope the Race For Life went well Liv :)

Think we've just hit that point of growth where babies just suddenly need mordant food and the sleep pattern goes out of the window.

I feel guilty as I haven't even attempted any kind of routine in the day or night. It's just so impossible to have a life and attempt a routine, especially with the tooth drama and a massively fussy H.

Mordant food? I meant more food.

Thanks frak Race for Life went well, I gave P a BF whilst everyone was doing the warm up and she fell asleep once we were moving. We walked it and completed the 5km in just under an hour. P woke up screaming just before midday when we got to 4km so I carried her the last km and my friend pushed the empty buggy, she then downed a 6oz bottle when we passed the finishing line.

Sleeping is going well, she went 9.30-7am last night and I took her up to bed at 10 tonight so am hoping she'll manage until 7.30. DS was late to bed tonight as we didn't get home from the PIL's until 8 so i'm hoping for a lie-in tomorrow if DH can get ready for work quietly

Mordant food Sounds like something out of Lord of the Rings cycle [hgrin]

Well done Liv!

F's finally asleep. Though now I want to check on him & am worrying about whether his clothing/sleeping bag combo are right for the room temp. (it's a bit warm after all that drama). Need to resist or he'll wake up again.

He's fed a lot today, cycle, but not as much as when he seemed to have that growth spurt. And he's sicked up a fair amount too. I think it might be a comfort thing for the suspected teething.

When he's happy, he's amazing. It's such a shame that it's such a small part of the day.

In other news: I'm seeing the fanjo nurse tomorrow

Night all (for now)

cycle I never did with DS1 until we started to wean him at 6 months and then things fell into place around mealtimes, and has turned out fine He sleeps like a dream and is a remarkably unfussy eater unless he is really tired or unwell.
Life for DS2 is a bit more structured, but only because otherwise DS1 would be feral and hungry and never be at preschool on time!

T is definitely teething. I can feel one rubbing against my nipple when he is feeding and we are drowning in drool.

Good luck with the fanjo nurse, I had the fanjo physio last time round. On the first appointment I was given a probe to insert and they measured the strength of the pelvic muscles when doing the various pelvic floor exercises. You could then see the results on the monitor as you were doing them. I had to take my probe home in a lovely clear sandwich bag (I was glad i'd taken a handbag in with me) and practice the exercises. On my second visit they compared results to see how well i'd improved. My physio was a very jolly hockey sticks type and very vocal in her encouragement, I half expected to be awarded a medal or some house points at the end of the session. It worked well though and I havn't needed to go back this time round.

cycle re tooth. Hope ur ok.

liv well done on race for life.

frak hope ur ds settled for you in the end.

petal glad ur ds settled down. And good luck with the nurse.

Sorry if I've missed anything. I've had / got a bug. S had a great sleep fri night sleeping from 12-8, annoyingly I woke up at 430 with an upset tum and was soooo cold. Went back to bed then woke again with upset tum, shivers, ears ringing, nearly fainted, and a headache. Took two paracetomol and felt well enough to go on my spa day, then shivered thru my two hours of treatments. Felt giddy and hot and cold while I was there. Came home. Was I'll again, dozed til I fed s then came to bed but had to get up again to settle a screaming s. Woke up the same yest. S and I slept on the sofa all afternoon. All symptoms have now cleared except the tum. Glad s had been so good. Got his injections this morning. Dreading it. A friend is spending the day with us which is handy given my tum.

Oh, kitty, that doesn't sound like much fun. I'm dreading the day one of us gets ill.

Don't dread the jabs, you might be nicely surprised. At his last ones, F just pulled a face, and carried on chatting!

He slept brilliantly in the end. Only woke up once at 3, and woke before 7 and played quietly till I went to get him up. He is an enigma.

Question to those doing the Sensational Baby Sleep Plan: is it working for you? I bought the book having seen someone (JoEW?) mention it. Since then have been holding off implementing as she saysit's important to have cleared up any feeding probs so I was waiting for her TT to be snipped and for whatever mode of feeding we end up with to be decided. Hopefully that should all be clear within next week or two, so starting to think about routine.
Joanna is nearly 11 weeks now, going down for the night at between 9pm and 11pm, and waking sometimes once sometimes twice before getting up for the day between 7 and 10. So it's a pretty loose routine but she has found her own way to it and she is quite good at self-setting. Question is can she really go 12 hours without a feed? Does anyone else's baby? Esp those who followed this plan - does it work?

We're using it as a guide now. And we haven't done the sleep training thing - I'm working on the basis that I don't mind feeding once overnight, and they suggest last feed before bed from a bottle, but I want to bf that one since I'll be back at work soon.

It did work well, but since he had that growth spurt he still hasn't quite made it to 3 hours between feeds.

But, the bedtime stuff (usually) works well for us. And the principle of getting him to nap in the day really helped.

I think it's just the sleep training they say not to do with any health issues. So you could start the other stuff.

I think Jo's been a bit more dedicated than we have!

Sorry, I was on about the Sleep Plan.

Lis!

Wow Lis- we can only dream! Best wishes for the cake off and no, chocolate roses are not too much

I relented in the end and took M into bed with us. I really have to stop doing this because I get squished and DH doesn't sleep well. I think when we move the side of the cot is coming back down. He was a happy little chappy this morning though and has had a good nap in the sling, but typically stirring now. Not sure whether he's hungry or not - big feed at 9.30 but spitfest after that...

I think roses, sprinkles and edible glitter are what's needed Lis, a loud and clear 'don't fuck with me AM' !!

Good sleeping B! Did you hear that ds, did you?!

We have a sort of loose routine for bedtime with I, but I'm holding off until he goes into his room so I can them implement 'project sleep'. His room has been plastered, but it still needs: a new window, painting, skirting boards, carpet and some furniture! We do have the cot bed though!

Excuse - yes some babies can sleep for 12 hours at this age, but also an awful lot cant. Tbh I am not a fan of those types of books. I think they can be helpful for picking up a few tips from, but mostly they can make you feel like a bloody failure. Every baby is different and I don't believe any one method can work for everyone.

How old is F pet? Not coming up to 16 weeks per chance?

He's 15 weeks today, ILTMI.

You sound ominous...

The 16wo growth spurt can be a tough one, I'm sure there's a support thread on here for it! Some babies breeze through it and others find it a hard one. Lots of feeding and sleep regression. I can't remember the exact reason for it, but I'm guessing it's a big development milestone for them.

Hi all,
I am crap at getting around to posting on here! Re the sleep plan, i have also tended to use it as a guide, rather than being strict. The only part i always stick to is bath and bedtime at the same time each night, usually from 18.30 to 19.00. C then sleeps till at least midnight/1pm and somtimes later. i like this as it means DH and i get an evening together, time to have dinner, watch a DVD etc. last night he woke once at half three and then we all got up at 7am when he woke again. He is pretty good at self settling and goes back down well when he does wake in the night. i think the idea that they will be sleeping through by 8 weeks is total bobbins but i like some of the theories about sleep. C is now 20 weeks but 12 corrected.
With C's reflux/colic/mysterious digestion issues that continue to baffle me, he wouldn't get enough to eat if i didn't feed him at night so i've always fed him when he wakes but never woken him to feed him once he's down. I try to feed in the day every three hours at 7am/10am/1pm/4pm and last daytime feed at 7pm.
I've been pretty slack with the daytime nap routine, i find that quite tricky to implement unless you just sit at home all day. we're so rarely at home at the same time every day, so he does lots of sleeping in the carseat, buggy etc. he will sometimes go down for a nap in the day but sometimes the only way he'll sleep is in my arms - like now!
So, i think it's reasonably useful but agree with iltmi, if you took it as gospel you would feel a failure. i just found it useful as i am quite a control freak and like to know how my day is going to be. hope that helps!

All that aside, aren't the babies so lovely at this stage? i adore the smiles and all the little things C is learning. he is over the moon that he's sussed how to take out his dummy and get a thumb in his mouth. it's so cute.

ecuse We have been trying the sensational sleep plan and it has worked really well for us, although I think that its much easier for FF babies or at least bottle feed, My LO (11 weeks today) now has all her daily allowance of food (she sometimes has more on growth spurt days) between 7am and 6pm and infact she rarely stays awake past 6.30pm. I think thats the only reason why she sleeps until 7am.

She does stir sometimes during the night but we dont go to her unless she is actually crying. I don't do the whole Sleepy Time part, but have been getting her up in the morning at 7 opening her curtains etc. And I have been putting her down for regular naps during the day.

I think the naps, feeding and bed times are the main parts. Good luck with it, it has transformed our lives over the past few weeks, and we were very very sceptical. x

Ah yes, I'm hoping we're on the way out of it now. Either that or it's about to get worse again!

Glad to hear C's doing well, Jo! And I think you explained the plan better! For daytime naps - we try for at least 3, (usually more since he won't normally sleep for more than 35mins), and I keep an eye on him and try to anticipate when he's running out of are before he gets too screamy.

Can I share our new toy? You can get them in Cotswold Outdoor or off Amazon.

running out of are? I meant running out of steam. Flippin android thinks it's psychic!

Hi Natzer, don't think we've seen you for a while. I think you have a point about FF babies. I'm trying to stay strong with EBFing...

We've been trying to stick to a rough three hour cycle with P during the day. She really struggles to nap, so we've been trying to encourage (by cuddling/ rocking etc) her to sleep after she's been awake for two hours. She seems to want to feed every 2.5 - 3 hours, so this fits in quite nicely. She still doesn't nap for long (30-45 mins at a time) but it's still an improvement...

I've definitely noticed a difference - she's much less grumpy for having regular naps. DH is much,much better at putting her down though. I can get her to sleep but she springs back to life as soon as I try to put her down. It's meant that this morning I've barely left the couch - we've either been feeding or snoozing. How am I ever going to get anything done?!?

We had another good night last night though. She slept 8 - 10.45 when we did a dreamfeed, and then 11.15 - 6. There's still no regular night time pattern though. We couldn't get her down until nearly 11 on Saturday night (after nearly four hours and two feeds worth of trying!) and then she woke at 2.45 for another feed. I'm encouraged by the fact that I at least know she can sleep for a long stretch if she wants to!

So there will be no roses as I don't have glucose to make the modelling paste. Just ganache with chocolate shavings! I've just put a batch of fruit scones in the oven too. They will sell well I think!

B has been an angel this morning and let me get on with everything! Was going to go for a walk, but the sky is very dark.

Supply has def increased! I've got 24 ozs so far today!!

24oz!? Bloody he'll, that's loads!