September 2011 babies are rolling into 2012

[ssmileWithFairylights]

Hello in new thread come over and chat part two from the September edd babies arriving thread.
Just watched strictly dancing final part one but can't keep eyes open for part two so off to bed now will watch.it tom. Sleep well.....zzzzz

100 hope you feel better soon

And Loves hope your dd has a better night tonight

Minky what does your husband like? Could organise a go karting day or bowling night for him and his friends?

100years - hope you feel better soon. Probably cursing it here, but we've managed to dodge colds so far this winter (despite being around people with stonkers) ... think it must be the cold weather up here... we're about 3 degrees colder than "townfolk"...!!

Geekmum and Loves - yep, my LO is with your's... she'll roll from her back on to her side (which she seems to love to do) and tries to go further but hasn't as yet gone onto her front. She doesn't like being on her front, so perhaps that's what's stopping her.

Kids back and back to school this morning - except bus didn't turn up for DSD, so had to bundle LO in car seat mid feed (which was OK as she wasn't taking to it brilliantly so the gap helped!) and take DSD to school quickly. It's not far, but there is no pavement to the school (being very rural here) so a bus picks the kids up from the village, including DSD, but no idea why it didn't turn up this morning.

Need some advice/perspective if you don't mind... got one of those emails yesterday from Bounty "Your 16 week old baby..." and it listed a few forums on the go, including one that read "what's your LO's bedtime routine". I had a quick look, and virtually every entry read something like this "Bottle given about 7.30pm, then I put LO down, and they sleep until 7am"... or something along those lines. Some even said their LO had being doing this since 6 weeks old! Got me thinking... am I doing something wrong? My LO is bottle fed, but still won't sleep through the night. She feeds around 8am, 12pm, 4pm, 9pm and then around 2 - 3am - so she gets her 5 feeds a day in but obviously one of those is the middle of the night. She's fed when she seems to want to feed, although I'm trying to get in there before she starts getting hungry. I remember my HV saying that I should try and get the 5 feeds in during the day and then she'd sleep right through the night... is it that easy??? Should I now try and get 5 feeds in the day? Also was reading weaning books yesterday, and they were all based on bottle / breastfeeds at early morning, breakfast, lunch, tea and then before night. Do you think I should start to aim for 6am, 9am, 1pm, 5pm and 9pm and hope she goes through?? I might start aiming for this... Especially as she doesn't settle quite so easily after the feed in the middle of the night. I also want to try and make the evening a bit more routine - becuase we've got the 10 and 12 year old to deal with LO has her feed between 9 and 10, and then is changed and cradled to sleep. Really want to try and get a routine of bath, bottle, read and bed - with her settling in her crib rather than us holding her to sleep.

I just feel I haven't put enough structure in as both me and OH are quite laid back, and I guess have a laid back style to the LO, but perhaps now she's getting older and it's getting closer to weaning, she needs more structure?

Or, did only the mums whose LO sleep through the night post on that forum and it's not a true picture... as I know here that most LO's don't sleep through the night yet - at least not consistently...

Ooh, LO has just done a poo... best go and deal!!!

Any thoughts most gratefully received!!

Sebs I've had repeated to me many times "go by the baby, not by the book". My LO feeds at approx. 7am, 9, 11, 1pm, 3, 5, 7, 11:30, 2:30am, then 7 again (and sometimes has a sneaky one at 5am). As you can see he has 7 day time feeds, goes to sleep 8:30, but still gets up for 2 nighttime feeds. He has 'weight problems' although seems healthy in every other respect, and I can't make him feed more often than he does!

I think do what works for you. Changing the routine may help but may rock the boat so you'll have to balance out the pros and cons for your family. If you decide to change, do it gradually as I've heard nightmares when parents suddenly change!

Geekmum, WRT to salt I didn't add any to anything whilst cooking and used unsalted butter until DS was a year old. I also made my own bread and hummous and put less salt in it. Our local butcher does really good sausages without too much salt in so DS would have those once in a while. You can get reduced salt stock cubes as well (Heinz do one for kids but I like the Boots ones best; I use them all the time now). I used to make things like fish fingers and chicken goujons rather than buying them. It's only for a little while and it was surprising how quickly we got used to it.

Ssmile I have this Kindle cover and it is worth every penny (plus I like the pink!) I love my Kindle but it did take me a while to get used to not having a book iyswim. I have read TONS this mat leave; I think I read a total of about three books last time as it's so hard to juggle BFing and a book. Like 100years says, there's a button (looks like Aa) at the bottom of the keyboard to change the font size.

Minky the best pressie I ever got for DH was tickets to see his fave band. I managed to keep it a total surprise and I had brownie points for a long time afterwards!

Sebs move away from the book! Your laid back approach is the best thing you could possibly do and I am so of you for being able to be relaxed with your first baby; I was a loony for trying to force DS into a routine and made myself miserable. I reckon your HV is a bit of an idiot for telling you that 5 day feeds = sleeping through as it is definitely NOT that easy; DD quite often feeds five times a day but she certainly doesn't sleep through! Plus she's had an evening routine for months but has just started being a right PITA about going to bed - I didn't get dinner until 9pm last night - so an organised bedtime isn't yielding very good results here atm!

All those mums whose tiny babies sleep through from 6 weeks will have a hell of a shock when their 6mo starts teething whereas we hardened non-sleepers will just take it in our stride!

100 hope you feel better soon and can start running with us on the other thread and Loves I hope you manage to get a bit of a rest today.

Thanks Feral and Geekmum. I think in my heart of hearts don't really want to "go with the book". I just got worried thinking that my 16 week old certainly doesn't sleep through the night, and wants a feed mid way through. And, perhaps by now she should be sleeping through - but then, everyone on here doesn't seem to have a good sleeper, so I'm thinking those who posted on the other website must be either very lucky or perhaps not completely telling the truth???? And, I think with weaning, I should just go with adding food to the mid day feed, and taking it from there. As long as she's getting enough formula each day, doesn't really matter when she's getting it.

I might start shortening the feeds in the day - just because she seems to be getting slightly more hungrier quicker, and perhaps that will extend the feeds a little around night time (or maybe not...!!) and yes, Geekmum definitely won't introduce any drastic changes.

And, yes, you're right, teething and night times won't be much of a shock!!

Thanks for the vote of confidence.

Feral - quite looking forward to the weaning bit, and making food up for LO. Thanks for the tip re stock cubes.

God, reading - forgotten what that was all about. Sooooo want to get back into reading... I used to read a lot when going to bed, but now if I get under those covers, I just want to sleep! So, will try and start reading a bit in the day... if time permits!

Seems like my LO is like yours Sebs, we feed 9am, 12, 3, 5, 7, 9pm, 1am,3.30am, 7am sometimes. The ones during the day can stretch longer so less feeds but regardles of what time he goes down he wakes at 1 and 3.30 for feeds. Am trying to get him to bed earlier but is taking ages to get him to self sooth so often not alseep before 9-10pm. He tends to stay in bed with me between 1am and 3.30 feed as I think putting him in cold crib wakes him up too much but by 4am is too asleep to notice going back to crib.
I have been able to read a fair bit as do it while doing dream feed as stops LO trying to play with me - am looking forward to spending book tokens DH got me for xmas - any reccomendations?
DS had been rolling over but seems to have adopted the 'been there done that' attitude and is now trying to sit up tensing tummy muscles and making 'old man eurgh! noises' as he does it which is funny, can tend to topple forwads though so am keeping close eye.
Looking forward to weaning him but is still only 4m so may wait a bit for his digestion to mature.

Thanks Sciencegeek. My LO sometimes makes noises when on the boob too.

Thanks Sebs. I think people have given great advice re the feeding and sleeping through. I reckon people on that forum were just showing off tbh, I feed (although I'm EBF on demand) on average 11 times a day, that's an average!!! And re bedtime, well it's anything between 8 and 9:30 dependent on when we take her through to the bed time. I am not concerned that it's not rigid, I think it's good for them to have a 'routine' but if it's so set that it's exactly exactly the same time every night then if there is a night where things are different that will throw the lo out too much. I may be wrong in that, but for me it works, I'm kind of bed timing on demand in a way, but it's never later than 9 that we start the bed process.

Thanks feral. Yep that was the button I was on about, but didn't have the kindle to hand to check which one it was, then went all feeble.

candr, what sort of books do you like to read? My lo is also not rolling over as much, I think she's kind of realised she can do it and the novelty has worn off. In her bouncy chair she is sitting herself forward in it, away from the back of the chair. We have ordered a seat thing for her, like a bumbo, but with toys around it and looks more sturdy underneath. I sat her in the washing basket earlier propped up with cushions while I was peeling some spuds, she really seemed to enjoy it. I put her toys in there with her.

Not feeling any better. LO still looking at me funny when I speak, but I did some ooh aah noises at her earlier and she laughed really sweetly.

Thanks for all your posts. It's good to know that you all seem to be having similar experiences. HVs can be so prescriptive sometimes, you don't know what to believe!

Well my LO has just been lying on the bed, and managed to turn over from her front to her back a few times. Also, when on her front, she was able to lift her head and shoulders right up... she's been able to lift her head up before now, but not her shoulders too. Mind you, probably slightly easier on the bed than a harder surface, but still, good on her!!

And, 100years - my LO is also doing sit ups when in her bouncy chair. In fact, I put her in the chair yesterday briefly without strapping her in (oops) and literally turned my back, and my Dad called me straight back as she was almost off the chair! Worming her way down the chair!! So, note to self, must always strap her in... (I do normally, honest!) Sounds a good idea using the wash basket... must give that a go!

Thanks again everyone, your thoughts on feeds/routines much appreciated :)

And, 100years, hope you feel better soon

Hope u feel better 100 soon. We've had 3wks of colds in our hse both DH&DD have got it back again. I've just rescheduled Lo jabs from this Fri to next as she still coughing lots.

Re-routine I've been pretty consistent from 6wks and Lo has slowly been gettin earlier to bed. that's her choice this last week she been settled in her cot before 7pm. Which is vhandy as I can then get the older one down for 7pm. We have had 4nights now both in their beds by 7pm its been lovely for DH&I to actually have bit time together. This Lo is opposite of her sister, babe seems to like a lot more sleep with naps in day and will be in bed 7pm-8am, but up to feed 12,2,5/6am on average. In day time she approx feeds 8am,9am,11am,3,4,5,6-6.30pm, so that's 7feeds in day and 3/4 at night! So like 100 we must be 11feeds a day but she is quick 5min breastfed on demand so timings very approx as change weekly. I hadn't realise I was feeding So much until I just thought about it:) Im hoping Lo will sleep better around 9mth mark once 3meals a day established and I plan to stop breastfeedin then which removes some of the comfort wakeups I think.

Will check out kindle bits mentioned thanks for tips. DD1 back to school tom, ooh I SO looking forward to some time off from the noise &demands a lively four year makes and watching some TV just for me. Ive seen virtually no TV over Xmas, tom will most definitely be a sofa day, me n babe chilling out.

Hello everyone! Tis me TP from before - when we were all enormous and impatient and sharing cups of raspberry leaf tea!

The last 3 months have been brilliantly hectic - but then you all know that! Lovely to hear how things are going and am trying to catch up properly - and then to join in again if I can be forgiven for going AWOL (special apologies to 100years)?

However my iPhone is almost outta juice and I have to heave myself off the sofa for a shower before one born every minute! So will be back...

My DS by the way is not yet rolling but is utterly scrummy and hilarious!

My very best wishes to you all and a belated happy new year!

Thanks ssmile. To be fair, I don't think I got a cold/cough/sore throat in the whole of 2011, being pregnant must have been really good for me. But this is how I usually get a cold, sore throat, lose voice and sometimes goes onto my chest. I'm hoping not this time, but I'm going to rest as much as I can, which means I should be going to bed now, but my mum rang while I was putting LO down and I want to call her back, but she's engaged now!

TP, how could we forget you. :) No apologies needed(and no special ones for me), I'm hoping things are OK for you. We must meet up, I want to see your scrummy son. :) Will drop you a text.

Pleased to meet you TP, I joined the thread about a month ago.

I went to my new nct post natal group today, met some lovely new mums
We got into talking about routines and everyone's is different so we really don't need to stress! Also out of the eight of us, no one has a dc sleeping through the night yet!

Looking forward to getting to know new people and am still meeting up with the mums I met at antenatal, so what with mn as well I feel like I've got a lot of friends at the moment !

Yay, hello again TP, it's great to have you back!

Geekmum, that's great that you're out and about so much. I was really good with DS and had a program of events for the whole week that meant I met loads of people but I have been rubbish this time around. I have resolved to shift my arse out of the house when DS is at nursery and just ignore the housework/ cooking/ shopping like I did last time!

Candr the best book I've read recently was Room by Emma Donoghue; it made me cry, laugh and nearly pee myself with fear! I also really loved The Help by Catherine Stockart. Neither of them are very demanding but they're both great reads.

Yay- welcome back TP.
I am back in my pre christmas form once more! Finally got on the laptop rather than iphone to change back ! Going to be quick here though as lo is not a happy chappy atm.
Smile - the kindle case is from amazon and its the actual kindle with light case - very expensive at £50 but lovely smooth leather - light as a feather, perfect fit and the light charges from the kindle - means you have the light built in if you are out and about without carrying extra bits and pieces - at 67% of the price of the kindle its not cheap but it means I can read in the dark, one handed if needs be - otherwise I wouldnt use it as much.
I am currently reading Jill Mansell - very lighthearted and funny romcom style books - love her as an author, very feel good and dont need brain cells! Just read a history of broadmoor mental hospital so needed something lighter! Did enjoy it though, really interesting as I am interested in victorian public health because of what I studied for my degree years ago!
science - thanks for the ideas - would have done the friends suggestion but as we moved in the last few years he doesnt have that many close friends near to us here (most are still in London) so makes it difficult to organise something for him as he is also quite shy. Think I may try kitesurfing lessons or a cayak.
Sebs - ignore people who say they have lo's that sleep through at 6 weeks, some do and some dont (I neer had sleepers!) - someone told me once that a non-sleeper was a sign of high intelligence (not sure I believe that either but hey ho!).
Goodnight all

Ooo Minky what did you study for your degree? I specialised in history of science with a focus on the 19th century, a mental hospital history sounds v interesting to me!

Yay... welcome back TP! Doesn't that world of raspberry leaf tea (not that I actually took any in the end), curries etc etc seem an eternity away?!? Sounds like you've had a fun 3 months similar to all of us. Watched half of One Born Every Minute, and you've just reminded me I taped the second half so can watch that today...! Wouldn't watch it before but enjoyed the first half last night.

Ssmile - enjoy your sofa day... think we're doing the same today, had a pretty bad night... couldn't sleep at the start because of the howling wind, and then couldn't the second half of the night because of LO....! Minky - if non sleepers turn out intelligent then I'll be getting my LO Mensa tested then !!

Talking of the weather, was going to go out today but it's blowing a gale and throwing it down... think I preferred it when it snowed to this... just hope the wind dies down soon, the dog is acting all scared ...

Oh, got to go, LO not happy... back soon...

Welcome back TP.

My first DD didn't sleep much for four yrs and is above average intelligence :) but was hellish four yrs at times, and she needs lots of stimulation still.

We only just survived walk to school the wind very scary I had to stop and hold onto buggy more than once as gusts SO strong!

For those on a budget I've just used a packet of Lidls nappies and they have been vgd, very like pampers in fit but gd third cheaper. I kept Lo in pampers over night though as I don't change her nappy for 12hrs unless poohie, but the Lidls prob be just as good.

Spent an hour on sofa so far its lovely.........

Ssmile, thanks for that; I also use Pampers overnight atm (as DD is not reliable about not pooing in the night and my cloth night nappies are not designed to deal with poo) but they are so expensive that I've been meaning to ask if anyone had any alternatives.

DS must also be a genius as he's a pretty rubbish sleeper, DD maybe a bit more average

Wow! A lot to catch up on. Hello to TP .. I joined the thread a few weeks ago after lurking for a while. Haven't posted as much as I would have liked as LO has suddenly become a lot more demanding and stopped taking long daytime naps . Has this happened to anyone else? She used to reliably nap for 4 to 5 hours a day, and now won't go any longer than 45 minutes before waking up screaming . All the books (which I know the babies haven't read, sadly) seem to say LOs should be sleeping between 3 and 5 hours during the day at this point. Today I think she's managed 1.5 hours tops. Not sure whether to worry about this or 'go with the flow'!

Interesting to hear your thoughts and ideas about weaning, and thanks for the top tips Feral. I'm really looking forward to trying out foods with LO, and also quite looking forward to cutting down the bf as I've never really enjoyed it that much and recently it's been a bit of a battle, with LO screaming for food, then coming off after about 3 minutes screaming even more! Not sure what the problem is . She still has at least one good feed a day, and feeds very well at night but is really fussy for at least two day feeds, and it's hard bloody work.

I must have a little genius on my hands too if non-sleeping is a sign of intelligence! She's gone from sleeping 5/6 hours in a row fairly reliably, to waking between 3 and 5 times .. Am SO TIRED! Had to enlist DH to come and settle her last night after I'd been up for almost two hours and was sobbing over her cot. Is this the 'four month sleep regression' I've heard about?? I hope it resolves itself soon as I'm going slowly insane. And Sebs, all those mums who have LOs sleeping through are either lying or very very lucky indeed . My LO is 15 weeks today and not showing the slightest sign of sleeping through or even dropping a night feed. Urgh! On a positive note, LO is now going to sleep for the night between 7 and 8, which is great, but just not sleeping any longer than 3 hours at a time now, which is less great. Nothing we do seems to make a difference - she just does as she pleases! You'd think this would stop me reading books and trying out different strategies to help, but it doesn't .

Loves and Geekmum - my LO is also rolling from her front or her back to her side, but can't quite get all the way over. It's very funny and cute watching her try, but she gets frustrated! She's much more demanding in terms of entertainment now and I seem to be spending most of my days singing, bouncing, playing, reading etc. Seems impossible to get any house type jobs done anymore, especially as she is on some kind of nap strike! I wonder if the lack of naps is affecting her night time sleep?? Not sure it's worth forcing the issue though.. Yesterday, I spent an hour trying to get her to go to sleep (she had shown some sleepy signs) and we both ended up in tears. Anyone got any foolproof settling tips, for day or night?!

I agree about wanting to get back into reading. It's taken me 3 months to read The White Tiger (can't remember the author - but it won the Booker Prize one year), and I really enjoyed it, but it is hard to find the time. Would definitely recommend it Candr, and I also read Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger when I was pregnant, which was very good. I thought bf would give me lots of opportunities to read, but now she's fussing so much it's impossible, and at night I'm too tired to focus!

Hope you all have good nights tonight, x

Welcome back TP! Nice to see you and glad you're enjoying being a mum.
Sorry I'm a bit rubbish at posting but have been lurking lots. I just seem to leave it too long then have loads to catch up on and forget who has said what!
I've been reading another thread about how to get more organised so am trying some tips from that to see if it cuts down on the constantly chasing my tail feeling I've been having recently. Hoping it gives me more time to just play with both DSs especially as DS2 is now really starting to interact that bit more.

Hope everyone with colds feels better soon.

Ssmile and Feralgirl I like Lidl nappies too but think I prefer pampers overall, especially for DS1. I find that Amazon often have good offers that work out about 11p a nappy which is lots cheaper than full price in shops. I either buy there and they deliver free which is a bonus or buy when on offer in the shops combined with coupons when I have them. The Amazon price does vary though so if you have the space it's a good idea to stock up when the price is low.

Obsidian afraid I don't have any foolproof settling tips. If I did I think I'd be a very rich woman.
This LO so far seems to be a much better sleeper than DS1 was. Naps still a bit hit and miss but am going to try to get into more of a routine if possible. I'm going to try putting LO down at roughly the same time each day after a feed. I find he falls asleep on me while feeding and he'd happily stay sleeping on my knee but with DS1 to care for too that isn't practical. Also I did hold DS1 lots for naps and he wouldn't settle in his cot at all during the day (though the baby cuddles were lovely). After a while I got him used to sleeping in a buggy during the day as the movement helped send him to sleep but it was a battle at times. Maybe you'd be best just to go with the flow for a while and if there's no sign of improvement after a few weeks then think about trying something else. Lack of sleep is really tough though so hope you and LO manage a better rest tonight.

Obsidian - yes, my LO doesn't nap much in the day either, unless I've been out in the car - she loves car journeys and will sleep for a while if we've been out! But, normally, she'll cat nap for about 15 minutes at a time, maybe half an hour, and only about 2 or 3 times during the day. However, she did actually nap for 2 hours yesterday after her midday feed... was hoping this might start to be a new thing, but sadly no... today she just napped twice for around half hour / 20 minutes. I've never been able to settle her in the crib or cot in the day, so she sleeps in her bouncy chair or swing and will fall asleep with minimum intervention in both of these. If she's grumpy because she's tired, she may need dummy, a few bounces/pushes and then she's off. I figure that it's ok to sleep in either in the day, and hopefully she knows crib is for night time sleeping.. but I doubt at this age she knows the difference!!!

She's been very grumpy today... lots of crying and attention. But she didn't have a poo all day until about 1 hour ago, so wondering if she was uncomfy? Or just having a bad day (after a bad night). She's currently asleep in OH's arms - she likes her Daddy Bed of an evening!!