April 2012 newborns: the insomnia continues...

[LaTristesse]

Hello fellow April mums. Following on from our lovely ante-natal threads, here's the first of the post-natal ones. Join us as we work out how to handle nappies, feeding, colic, crying and all things newborn, or just to celebrate the joys of a new baby!

Uni, thx for the link to baby's cries. Going to listen in a bit.

My LO never settled in her Moses Bskt, but does sleep in her pram which we bring upstairs & pop in the Moses Bskt stand at night. Her sleep pattern still v unpredictable. She'll mostly sleep 20-40 mins after being put down, but reckon thats more to do with 2ish hourly feeds.

But; she has gone longer on occasion & what I've found helps is a sort of swaddle whilst I've been cuddling her & v carefully bending into the pram to put her down. If she starts to stir/jump, I keep my hands on her with some pressure & I v slowly release them & tuck a large muslin around her tightly. She also goes on her side & likes to have her face pressed against the side of the pram sometimes. HV would disapprove no doubt, but that's how DD likes to sleep..I have v occasionally popped her on her tummy to see if that helps & it does. I've been in room with her checking frequently though & we have an Angelcare movement sensor mat under her mattress.

The other thing which works sometimes is a dummy. My LO likes sucking her hands & thumb when she can. So I pop a dummy in & sometimes she'll go back to sleep. She does also take it in the car: hates her carseat & as soon as the car stops, screams! Manys a school run has been done with her screaming the entire time!

Honestly; don't know how you're doing it. My first was like your LO & ended up having Physio after a bit. Really hope he goes down to sleep for you soon.

digi yes, maybe .... I am "wondering" why nobody EVER looks at my baby and how he's doing and only at the paper chart who he should do. It's sad actually.

Thaleia, fliss has just about covered it. Your ds didn't is still gaining weight isn't he? Just not continuing on the centile line from his birth weight. Several hvs have told me that tall babies are thinner & it's nothing to worry about. I would say it is better not too try & stretch out feeds to every 3 hours. Feeding is the first thing I try when ds is fussing/awake, I have no idea how long he goes between feeds or how often he feeds in a day. In countries where bf is the norm this is what women do. I found when I stopped clock watching with dc1 I felt released & worried much less. This is demand feeding which is what the WHO & all the bf orgs recommend for successful feeding. I know lots of babies who have dropped from their birth centile, found their own growth curve & been healthy babies who've grown up to be healthy children (including my 2 oldest dcs). Try not to worry, easier said than done I know.

thanks fliss and buns! Yes, I don't try to worry and work on being annoyed and angry but it's hard ... I look at my baby and think: are you growing, are you getting enough are you still hungry and so on.

I stopped pumping after the other MW 10 days ago said it's ok to go back to EBF, so don't know how much is in there. However, even if DS has enough of one breast and I squeeze is, there is still milk coming out. Not squirting but a drop nevertheless, so if he wanted to suck a bit longer and harder, there could be some more. But after 20-30mins I swap anyway.

He's asleep in his basket with a dummy - first time I actually used it properly to get him to sleep. It fell out again but maybe he's just holding out a bit longer.

Re the 3hrs feed and on demand: I'm with you but I have to wake him every 3hrs for feeds, otherwise he'd go (normally, not today!) for 4 or even 5 hours and I've been told that's too long.

If he's going 4-5 hrs personally I'd let him then. If you're waking him to feed him, he may not be hungry. If he's hungry after 4/5 hours you may find he takes more milk rather than being fed when he's not actually hungry! 4-5 hours isn't too long if that's DS's demand

And bear in mind that pumping gives NO indication of supply. I can feed DS perfectly well, he's dropped centiles (paed we saw for DS's facial palsy said that was normal and nothing to be concerned about) and I managed to express the grand total of 1oz in about an hour the other day.

Thaleia previously you had said about stretching feeds out by 3 hours or at least 2.5 which is why I thought your ds wanted to feed more than being offered? I obviously got confused by what you meant, not hard due to my current sleep deprivation

Poor Aaron is rattling as he breathes in, he just seems way too young to be ill bless him.

Thaleia I know this isn't the same but ds1 was between 50th and 75th centile until he was about 18 months. His BMI is on the 9th centile now and hv is not at all worried. I know he's 4 but point is he is healthy so centiles aren't a one stop shop for health :) x

Kat how you doing hun? Sorry to hear about your PND that's crap but as others have said it's good that you now know what's going on with you, and also well done for being so brave to talk to someone about how your feeling, that can't have been easy. hope you get the support you need & feel back to normal really soon. Everyone here is here for you if u need to chat to someone not attached to you.

uni Noah is exactly the same. He's got a Moses crib and cot & the only place he'l sleep is on me, or in the pram if it's moving - soon as we stop - even to cross the road he wakes up! He does sleep in the sling but again only when I'm on the move.

yummy I love Lamaze we have a playmat and exercise socks and gloves - they go on the hands and feet (obviously) lol and are colourful bugs that help babies to find their hands and feet they also strengthen there muscles. Apparently they use them when babies need physiotherapy. Havnt heard of the thing you have though but it sounds cool.

My news: I weighed myself today and am 2lbs off my pre pregnancy weight although to be honest I don't feel like my body is the same. I have muffin tops that were not there before and I can't imagine loosing 2lbs will make them vanish. I have some serious toning up to do I feel a bit baggy lol.

Question does our little group have a Facebook page? I noticed a few other groups do.
I'm happy to add anyone on here be nice to put faces to names and babies.
I'm under Hayley Katrina - my profile pic is Noah in a union jack box lol

A big thank you to all of you who have posted saying their babies don't sleep in cribs etc either. Sorry you have the same thing but now I no longer feel alone! Or that it is my fault. Another big thank you to Holly and everyone else who suggested various things to try. Am definitely going to have a better go at swaddling as F keeps fighting his way out of my rather feeble attempts. Think side sleeping and towels might be good too.

yummy wrt to co-sleeping, position is the same but i'm now withdrawing a bit to help him get used to being on his own. He sleeps on the mattress very close to me but not on me (unless he's unsettlled). I make sure he's away from the pillows and i've swapped our duvet for a sheet and blankets for a while so i don't worry about him being under it.

Thanks hayley I have been prescribed anti ds so we shall see what they do. The list of side effects is longer than my arm but most are very rare :)

Good luck kat. Hope things get easier for you & glad you went to the docs rather than sit on things.

I know DH worries about me, especially on days when I don't get out of the house (when the weather has been so awful!) but I would know the symptoms if I started feeling really low. And every week so far I've had a friend or relative popping in at least 1 day, which makes such a difference...hope you have people who can drop in to you as well.

Uni We use a specific swaddle blanket - it makes it so much easier. Ours are Mothercare ones but we actually bought them off eBay for a few pounds - a total bargain - and DD hasn't managed to get out of it yet!

Alternatively, if you try googling swaddle pods - they literally just zip up. Haven't tried them myself but they seem very popular.

Arrrr just run out of the thing that gets me through the 5am constipation hour - tea bags

Noooo! I can't function without a cuppa, you seriously have my sympathy.

hayley when I'm on the pc rather than my phone I'll set up a FB page for us lot, I'll set it to secret so that it can't be found by anyone outside I'm on one for DDs MN postnatal group, it's lovely to see pics and put faces to names. There's also regularish meet ups

hayley I've added you as a friend (LD) and once you accept I can set up the group as I need someone to add before I can open it!

The group will be closed rather than secret so people can see who is in the group - but not what's been posted, unless they're accepted to join (so basically it's safe to moan about the Mil, DH or dog on there still!)

It'll be called MN April 2012.

Let us know when its all done as I would like to join :)

Me too! I've added you as a friend too, Hayley. My initials are HM :)

Flisspaps I have to pick him up as it breaks my heart and I'm sure it can't do him any good as baby's cry because they need something.

digitalgirl We could have bidding against one another as we have also been trying to get hold of one and the Jumparoo. I also like the sit and spin zebra thing. Although, I'm sure Harry doesn't need it all, but mummy wants him to have them all.

kat1885 sympathise Harry was like that the night before last. Hopefully Aaron will be tired tonight and sleep well dare I say it "like a baby".

xx

Damn app with no pm function, this would be so much easier that way, there's no way I'm giving out my real name on here though!

yummy I think you're right. Definitely a picker-upper here. Actually, I just don't get to be a putter-downer I'm having a rare moment with two free hands as DS has remained asleep after I've passed him to his Grandma

Sucking his finger lying on my legs, u can see my purple rug too