september edd new babies arriving come share the ups and downs here

[ssmile]

Hello. Think i was first to deliver off the September EDD thread so waving to see if anyone else out there yet to join me :)
Had my 2nd DD on 26aug by C-sec. We now home but struggling with BF and baby lost 10% body weight in 3days. Started to top up with formula in syringe to try give cracked. Bleeding nipples a rest, but milk is starting to drip out now leaking everywhere! Hoping for a better night tonight after 3nights of hourly feeds and snatching 2-3hrs of sleep.
Anyone else struggling too?

It is my first, I am utterly clueless but mn has been invaluable.

At first I just fed on demand all the time, didn't really treat night and day any different. Got no sleep for a few weeks. Only consolation was that we'd bought a bednest from ebay so I was at least in bed at night and not getting up for feeds. Got lots of advice from mn and some other websites and made some changes:

Bedtime routine; bath, feed, bed, dreamfeed at 10.30pm
Daytime naps in daylight so they are different from nighttime
When waking for feeds at night very low light, no talking, no nappy changes unless absolutely necessary (we slap on loads of barrier cream with last nappy of the day).
Patting to sleep if alert at night (on his tummy on my lap, slow pats on his back until asleep and floppy, back to bednest)
Once we made night-time dull and boring and dark he just started to sleep thru (from waking hourly!).

May not last but has been a couple of weeks now. I do hear him wake and gurgle to himself but he doesn't cry out -seems to self soothe at night even though he definitely doesn't do this during the day.

A couple of things i think really made a difference were 1) understanding that the more he sleeps, the more he sleeps...i starting out thinking that if I kept him awake he'd sleep more at nighht until i read that while he's learning to sleep, he needs naps to practice before doing it well at night, and he sleeps better at night when he hasn't gotten overtired during the day and 2) if i feed him in the morning promptly when he has made some rooting gestures, before he has started to cry he seems to be happier with going back to sleep in general.

That's a bit of a ramble thru my new parent trial and error!

Jojo have a great weekend away! How lovely... V jealous!

Jimmi - happy anniversary!! raising a v small glass to you!!

Glimmer - wow, well done on implementing night routine - we're trying to do similar although haven't managed a decent evening into night yet as have 2 other older kids to sort too. But we keep nights quiet and dark, no nappy changes unless needed and hushed tones. She has started to sleep longer at night so hopefully working too. How old is your little DS?

Thanx sebs! sounds like u have it all sorted glimmer ! Well done u :-) ddo u bath lo everynight?

Serves me right for being smug, no sleep last night and will only sleep on me today for naps and cluster feeding. Had big exploding nappy so hope he is feeling better now. Good to see you Glimmer, wish my LO was as well behaved as yours at night. Happy anniversary Jimmi, hope you spoil yourselves.

minky i think- we have a cold bedroom, we have a heated mattress topper. it has seperate controls for each side of the bed, so you can have the left hot or off or however and the right heated differently at the same time (hope that makes sense), also can control the temp, eg dh likes his side really hot, on setting 9, whereas i prefer my side on a 3 or 4 so not to overheat lo but be warm. can set it to go off after i think 15mins or 90mins (2 options) wasnt expensive and was from argos. may b worth a try?

Just woke up for a feed, was down by 11.30pm so another good nights sleep. I know I'm really lucky with him sleeping thru (he's 8 weeks on Monday) but honestly he hardly sleeps during the day at all and feeds all day, i suppose to make up for not feeding overnight. So i'm rested, but can't really do anything!

We do bath him every night but mostly just a really quick dip to keep up the routine. Actually my DH does the bath and the whole thing, undressing, bathing, dressing again gives me 20-30 minutes to myself and is good for my sanity.

Had lots of screaming from ubsettled lo yesterday eve again. Lasted ae eral hours, around 10pm he finally fell asleep :-) i tried giving gim a dummy but he didnt like it, kept spitting it straight out & perhaps even made his crying worse.
Getting 2 dcs ready 4 morning @ nursery, then off 2 dr with dh. He actually wore his cpsp (breathing machine) last night, &all night. Prob 2 stry stop me from telling dr he never wears it! Wont work!with his sleep apnea & underactive thyroid he's often near useless @ home.

We do bath at night at about 10.30ish before dream feed and aim to have dtds in cot by midnight. Seems to work but all yesterday and last night dtd2 was very unsettled. Hoping for a better day today - luckily dtd1 was pretty chilled but we ended up with both in our bed by morning.

We've put the girls in grobags as dtd1 was waking up cold after kicking her covers off. So far so good but their hands get really cold despite us leaving the heating on a bit. We put scratchmits on them last night (surprisingly they kept them on) but we seem to need more layers than the info suggests for the temperature. I wonder if it's because they were prem? Anyone else finding this? I don't want them to overheat but I'm checking their necks and once given the extra layer they tend to sleep better. I feel they're settling in our bed due to warmth.

Dh had nurse appt. She was scarily blunt with him, which i thanked her 4 on the way put. Hes the type of person who thinks he knows better & aaalways has an excuse 4 everything. Hopefuly being told "...or u will die" got thru 2 him. Normal cholesterol level is 4, his is 14. Now on statins. Along with other problems, if he doesnt get it down, he has ridiculous risk of heart attack etc. Iv cried so much this morning. Going 2 have 2 turn in2 an uber healthy household. & wen i go bk 2 work will not b eating my free meal allowance (nurse banned dh 2, i now have 2 send him with a packed lunch)

Dh got lo 2 take a dummy, so hopefuly wont jave hours of screaming 2nite :-)

Hi glimmer glad u found us all. Wow your 8hr sleep enjoy that even if you do have a limpet during the day. It's rare with Lo at 7wks! You can BF with slings too if that helps you get some bits done. Enjoy the cuddles all too soon they pass and life takes over again.
I think with your first babe you mourn the life &time to yourself that you used to have and with my second I miss those lazy afternoons just lying on bed with baby feeding and enjoying baby cuddles &wiggles before DH came home. I'm enjoying break from school run this week half term here....but :-) a lively 4yr and a vsleep deprived mum and baby recovering from colds not an easy combination. We did manage a 3hr walk around the zoo on tues and mooch around shop yest. Today made cup cakes &mini pizzas. DH off work today do taken DD1 out this arvo so I am enjoying lazy hour on the bed snuggling with babe :) as rain lashes the windows!

Princess -ds also seems happier with more than just a growbag.

Hey everyone.

Witch your LO is the same weight now as I was when I was born! 10lb2!!!

Have been reading, but not got round to doing a catch up for everyone. Finding it hard to do catch ups at the moment, I do hope people don't think I am being rude.

Feeling a little glum today and yesterday, hopefully it's a temp thing and I will be OK tomorrow or even later on. OH said I could go for a run when he gets home from work, tbh I think I would rather just go and sit in a nice hot bath with some music on, will see how I feel and what time he gets home, and if a bath is also on offer I will run then have a bath.

LO is a tad grizzly at the moment and quite tired in the day, so sleeping quite a bit, not sure what's wrong, if she is under the weather or just tired. She's happy as larry when she is wide awake, but as soon as she looks a bit tired she then goes into grizzle mode. Put her in the sling this morning so I could do a bit of baking, not all that easy to do with her on me, but I managed it.

Considering 6 weeks is supposed to be a turn around for sleeping it's not yet worked out for me. The other night it was 2am before she went down properly, given that she did sleep for 5 hours after that, but I was a bit OMG before she finally went down, thankfully last night was not the same.

100 weve started having days/ evenings like that- grizzly/ screaming then falls asleep with a little cuddle. Its worse in evenings. He now also cries wen we leave the room - im sure our 1st 2 were older b4 they started doing that.
Lo has slept most of today, not like him.
This is the life.. Dd sat 2 the let of me picking her nose, ds1 2 the right of me biting his nails (a habit from his dad) & ds2 asleep on my chest while we all watch jake & the pirates on the disney channel b4 kids bedtime. That'll b where it all goes wrong again

travelodge sale so booked a few nights away next yr 2 visit family. Tho after our last stay i will b taking my own pillows. Was terrible. Have complained but theyv had so many complaints recently it'll take up to 3 weeks 4 them 2 get back 2 me!

Evening ladies. I too must apologise for not replying individually but it's tricky on an iPhone as you can't check back on posts.
Re Sleeping bags and room temperatures - I never trust the guidelines - at 18 degrees I freeze. I also think it's mad that we are made so paranoid - what happens in hot countries - is there any studies to show if cot death is higher in hot areas ? My dcs have all settled much better when they have not been colder - ds1 also would not sleep unless he was on his tummy - hv couldn't support us with that choice but if he hadn't slept on his tummy we would have never have survived.
Jimmijam - good advice re bed blanket.
Dh was out tonight playing snooker so didn't get a break. Baked 60 cupcakes and a Victoria sponge which is all now in freezer for dd to use for red nose day in a few weeks time - I am getting prepared while I can.
I can also second the advice about enjoying cuddles - with dd1 I resented the fact I couldn't get anything done and became quite fed up. With ds1 I realised that I couldn't get much done but still got stressed and with ds2 I am sitting back and realising that I have all the rest of my life to achieve a tidy house but that ds2 will never be this small and cuddly and cute again, so I am enjoying every second. Even the nights that I get no sleep are precious as they are time I get to enjoy this gorgeous little boy. Don't wish this time away because it's so precious and one day you will wish you could replay it.
Off to sleep
Now - night all

Minkyjj - can't argue with any of that . I even suggested to mnhq that posts on made via a mobile had a small symbol next to them to explain cause it does effect your posts.

Been trying since 1am to resettle babe in bed with me but other than 20min nap she not interested so I turn on night light so can rule out if she needs nappy change and she gives me biggest smile now happily wiggling for all her life watching shadows on the ceiling. I find our nights so much less stressful when sometimes I just give in sit up for an hr with dim light on, let her 'play' for awhile then refed and say nightnight, plus I just got up.and had couple chocolates too (ran out biscuits). Maybe something in air tonight as DD1 is chatting away to her toys as well my DH just put her sleepy music cd to resettle her and she reading her toys a story, sometimes she sleep talks for hrs :) well she just talks nonstop all day as well. Since having babe and majorly reduced patience due to being knackered I have heard myself saying 'shut up' more than once and had to apologise to her later.
Agree with grobag comments I just adjust depending on babe voftern add muslin or light blanket to legs of grobag half way through night if chilly can't Rember guidelines on clothes as our bags are from DD1 so don't have any paperwork but have been putting babe in vest&sleepsuit with legs if in 1tog or just longsleeve vest no legs if in 2.5tog at moment. We have no heating on in house yet and its around 19-20c inside. Right time to try resettle baby ....night ......

ssmile ur lucky. Without heating on its sooo cold here!
minky agree about temp. 18 feels so cold 2 us. 19 does too.i put the heating on to 21- 22. Dh puts it on 2 25-26 so i always have 2 check it & turn it down wen i walk past the thermostat!
I think blanket/ sleepingbag wise its worth just experimenting with whats best 4 ur baby in ur house. Checking their temp on their chest or back, not hands or feet

Think we're at 6 week growth spurt (she's 6 weeks today) we upped her feeds yesterday thinking she'd start to go longer in between but she took the feeds and had less time in between!! And she's been wriggly and so noisy last night- even in her sleep she was grunting and gurgling away. No temp and seems happy though. She giggles when you tickle her chin, it's so sweet! :)

She's in a 2.5 gro bag and we have her in vest and sleep suit with legs - it's usually between 17 and 19 in our room. Have occasionally put a sheet over half of her but not for a while as she seems fine, core temp good and we put scratch mitts to help keep hands warm. It was 2 degrees outside at 8 this morning and frost in garden!! It can get really cold here so might need gro bag plus blanket in winter.

How long do growth spurts last?

Hoping insurance company says ok to drive now. Battery in car was dead, now charged, and hand brake jammed but neighbour managed to clack it free! DP took it for a spin yesterday so I'm good to go!! Hopefully...

We have spent money on mega thick loft insulation, I've lined all the curtains, dble glazing through out, carpets with thick underlay all these things we have done since buying a very cold damp hse 3yrs ago and last winter it really paid off. The loft insulation we think paid for itself in one yr we think! If the hse could have cavity wall insulation we would have done that too but its not viable in our property. Plus have blankets on all beds &on sofa. You really do get used to a low temp, and for every 1c lower on your themostate it takes 10% off your energy bill. Sorry rant over you can tell I work in environmental sector :)
I survived 4hrs at a very busy theme park today after min sleep but boy my head can't take the noise or hords people on weeks of minimal sleep! Still DD1 and daddy had fab time on all the rides.

Feeling much better today again :) Ended up having a bath last night and then going through to the bedroom earlier with LO and settling her down a little bit earlier than normal. She seemed to sleep quite well, and after the last feed I just lay with her and she slept for another 2 1/2 hours :) I'm trying to re adjust her body clock as it's still in really late nights, so at 7:45 this morning I opened the curtains and although she was still sleeping there was daylight coming into the bedroom with the hope that she works out it's day time and keeping the dark for bedtime, I think I read someone in here said they did this and so I thought I would try it. Will see how it works and if it works I will be glad as I would really like to consistently be able to get to sleep before midnight, which I have only managed once in the past few weeks! Think now at 7 weeks old we can try and do a more routined bedtime. Even if it takes a while.

Glad others are not following the grobag instructions to the letter, we have a 1 tog one and a 2.5 tog one, only used the 1 tog one on a couple of warmer nights and put her in a sleep suit but thought she needed a little more. Will probably put her in a bodysuit and sleep suit for it if I use that one. her little hands were like blocks of ice so I have got the scratch mits out again and they actually stayed on, given they used to fall off when she was first born! We used to use socks on her hands instead of scratch mits!

Got my check at the docs next week, am seeing a very lovely GP who I saw for a pre conception check last year who was almost as excited about the prospect of me TTC as I was and was over the moon when I got pregnant, so it's nice that I am seeing her :)

Had my first attempt at making a fruit cake yesterday, it's currently sitting in the kitchen awaiting feeding, not sure how long I will feed it for before letting OH loose on it. I don't eat the stuff myself, so I have only made it for him. Polishes housewife halo (even though I'm not a wife yet) I also made a banana cake and we are using the reusable nappies now in the day, so I feel like I've stepped back in time a little!

jimmi, LO so far is abs fine with us not being in the room with her, not looking forward to that, do all babies do it - so I can prepare myself if I need to.

Witch, I like the idea of an icon if it's been posted on a smart phone. Maybe we should adopt one, purely for that purpose. If we started and ended the message with an icon then we would know.

Minky, 60 cupcakes and a sponge, that's some baking!

ssmile, we live in a 'cold' apartment, by that I mean we have the heating on the bare minimum and only have the thermostat on low, neither of us like getting too hot.

sebs, we were a little unsettled feeding wise last weekend, I think in reality it lasted about 36 hours, but maybe it just felt normal then, was definitely big time feeds for 36 hours.

Time for a feed and an evening nap for LO hopefully. And keep your fingers crossed for tonight going well with going through earlier and seeing if she goes down earlier.

Not sure if this 100 as all babes different and we already used to 7pm bedtime in our house with other DD, but between 7-7.30pm depending on babe I take her into dim bedroom get her ready for bed, feed &cuddle and 90% of time she fallen asleep in my arms. Sometimes she wakes an hr later for one more feed but mostly crashes out and settled in cot by 9pm. Running upto 7pm I'm feeding hourly from 3-4pm so she really tanked up. I have to get up by 7am latest for school run in wk so its light on curtains open, sometimes Lo goes back to sleep sometimes just comes sit in bouncy chair in bathroom whilst I shower. I've done this from 2wks and I think its really helping her learn day from night. My eve baths are still hit and miss with her though. DD1 has bath or shower everynigth, babe gets one if there's time as its too stressful to do them together at the moment!
Around 6wks babes start to understand night day more and in theory will sleep longer stretches between feeds 3-5hr stint, by 12wks you more likely to get a 6hr+ stint but they all different. Our first spent 9mths waking every 2-3hrs until she was well established on solids and I stopped breastfeedin did she start sleeping longer.....fingers Xed this Lo seems different already.

Ssmile we're also in SW (Cornwall) so have hideous water bills. I actually changed to fixed billing rather than a meter as DS, DD and I bath together every night and we use reusable nappies so it was getting ridiculous. And I have also caught myself howling, "Will you please both just shut up" at DS and DD when they are taking it in turns to be awkward. It is sooo difficult sometimes And thanks for the heating tips too; it's reminded me I need to boost some of our curtains and nag DH to insulate all the corners of our loft ASAP.

Well done Glimmer on the organisation; I'm lucky enough to also have a brilliant sleeper (7 hours straight last night, 11.30-6.30 ) but it's definitely not due to anything I've done - except perhaps co-sleeping - as I was much more organised with DS and he was a heller at night!

I definitely agree with ssmile and minky about enjoying the sofa time; I look forward all week to the mornings when DS is at nursery and DD and I can just snuggle under a blanket watching crappy TV. I have the perfect excuse if DH makes face about no dinner and a messy house too

re grobags, I completely ignore the guidelines too; if I feel cold then I put a blanket over DD or cuddle her up with me to keep us both warm. She sleeps in sleepsuits that have integral scratch mits as I've never found any that stay on and I can't stand it when she puts her cold little hands all over my chest during night feeds

ssmile we also live in a damp house as its on a hill so from tbe front looks like a bungalow but its actually a house so part of its undervround. Hate the damp smell after we been away a few days
fera there r 7 ppl in our house & wev found it ok being on a water meter so far. I didnt know it was possible 2 go back 2 fixed tariff, is it easy 2 do?
100 found our 1sf 2 dcs red books #day. They both did the cry wen u leave the room thing around now too. In ur red book its in the growth section. I believe all babies do it but i may b wronv & cant remember how long they do it & im afraid.

(on phone, is that a decent simple symbol?)

What is thus sleep thing you're all mentioning? DD is still ill and extremely clingy . I am thinking my good work is now undone on terms of her sleeping in her basket or chair now as she has been held all week due to being ill.
We took her down to the hospital today as she has been coughing loads of phlegm and puking most of her feeds. the dr asked me to get a urine sample. Unbeknownst to us all DD was in the motions whilst we were being told by dr that we'd have to figure out how to get this sample.
Right now I am milking and I can feel my eye Lids drop. On top of sleep depravation I have now contracted the kids cold and my throat feels like its been sandpapered. I feel extremely jealous of you all with your settled LOs whilst mine gets more and more clingy.

Sending you a big get well hig summerpixie - your lo will get there soon I am sure once she is all better. My older dcs used to throw up mucus and feeds alot when they had colds - when lo gets bigger medised is great for helping with this problem - dairy also encourages mucus production so tough for a baby - at toddler stage I cut out dairy for a couple of days to help but of course that's impossible now. When dcs are ill the best thing you can do is comfort them and forget routine for a while - it will be fine afterwards when you get through this illness. Hope you feel better soon.
Re the iPhone - good idea - shall we use the embarrassed one at the very start of the post as a way of apology for not replying by names ?
Re cakes - I am quite a big baker - have done alot of cake classes. With fruit cake, I always feed with brandy once a week for at least 6 weeks and ideally store the cake for 10 weeks sometimes longer - amazing cake then.
Re cold houses - we have had a loft conversion last year so had to meet strict insulation requirements. We have a new boiler and heating system, new heating pipes and new radiators through the house. We have installed double glazing and had cavity wall insulation done. I have a sausage dog cushion across the inside of the front door to stop the draught. I have thick curtains and secondary blinds as well behind and all are lined with thermal linings. I try so hard to be heat conscious but the house is a big 1930s house and it gets cold and I always feel the cold even with blankets on sofas and several jumpers.
Well - off to change a nappy that just took a major hammering !