Brooking no argument for babies who sleep, eat, smile and behave perfectly at all times. Yeah right!

[scarletfingernail]

New thread, here we go...

I'm so pleased with little s- 5 night feeds and hourly to two- hourly wakings to this in as many nights is fab :)

Oh and forgot to say, I think I woke s as I had to go into their room as b had had a leaky nappy for the third night in a row... Which I initially didn't notice, fed him, tried to settle him then realised he was sopping wet.

Sorry to hear of bad nights, we had one of those as well, although not for the reason you might have assumed. Warning: Epic rant story & WWYD coming up.

About 9pm our downstairs neighbour came home. We heard her because she slammed the front door so hard our house shook and the windows rattled We then heard her screaming and yelling, and slamming internal doors, but pretty sure she was alone. We think she may have MH issues but obviously don't know, there's a history of her over-sharing details about her life (dramatic stuff) and screaming/sobbing/laughing hysterically in her flat. Apparently a good friend of hers died unexpectedly this week so I put it down to that. She's really very sweet, just DH and I are very reserved people and she's the exact opposite.

Anyway, late last night DD2 was doing her usual feeding shenanigans - bobbing on and off boob, not hungry but seeking comfort, for bloody hours. I was done in but find co-sleeping nigh on impossible, so DH sent me to bed and he tried to settle DD2. Apparently she was not having any of it, and she screamed for about half an hour no matter what he did. She dropped off eventually, he came to bed.

Then at 5am I was woken by the doorbell I thought it was a dream for a while, so lay there for a minute or two, getting my brain in gear. The doorbell rang again and DH went to investigate. It was our downstairs neighbour. She appeared to be on the phone to the police and was trying to get though our internal front door! She was saying she could hear our DD1 crying, but she was fast asleep and had been since 7pm. Besides, our bedrooms are on the 2nd floor so there's no way she'd have heard anything even if she was.

DH answered the door and said we were all fine and we were all asleep till she rang our bell. She told him that she was stressed, her brother had died yesterday (another death?!). She then went straight into her flat without another word Anyway, DH didn't want the police coming round and disturbing us all again, so called the non-emergency number and explained the situation. They said that she hadn't called recently but had called much earlier, presumably when DD2 was crying. I'm so confused!

Fast-forward to 10am. I'm waiting in today as expecting loads of deliveries for Christmas. Answered the door to the police! They'd been called out by the neighbour in the last hour, but she wasn't answering her doorbell. So I quietly said I was worried about her, explained that she'd been acting weirdly recently, told them some of what's happened in the last 24 hours. Then she came out of her flat fully dressed and did her 'I'm a city lawyer' spiel, said there was someone looking in her window earlier?! I'm worried she a) overheard me expressing concern and b) isn't quite herself at the moment.

I thought I might stick a Christmas card through her door and offer my condolences, and also apologise for any noise disturbance she's experiencing due to DD2 etc. Is this wise? WWYD?

Sorry, that really was epic!

Hooray for the mini No Brookers all making huge improvements to their sleep! (Big pat on the back for Dream and Too for sticking to their guns!)

Too it sounds like M was a little angel last night! That's almost sleeping through! Woohoo! Well done little lady! How did her morning nap go, what did you decide to do?

Dream yay for little S doing so well! How wonderful that the PU/PD is working quite quickly! By Christmas maybe all the mini No Brookers will be sleeping through?! Wildly over optimistic? Moi?! Well done for persisting, it sounds like it's been hard work to get this far.

Jaggy I'm so sorry the various colds have made it hard for your DS2 to get to sleep. Fingers crossed for a return to good health soon, and much better nights!

Jen boo to growth spurts and constant feeding! Maybe this means N will be whipping out a new skill on Christmas morning though?!

Little A was fabulous last night (although not quite up to the high bar set by M!) She woke twice, at half 2 and 5.45, and each time she cried for less than 30sec and was asleep within 2mins I literally was up (hiding) for a grand total of 3 mins on each occasion! She woke again for morning milk at 7, which is fine by me. She drank her bottle, went back into her cot, and was asleep again within 5 mins (only 30sec of crying again). She got up for the day at 8.20 (I let her sleep late because she had a late night).

All-in-all it was the best night we've had in a VERY long time!

She continued the good behaviour for her morning nap as well. I let her decide when to go down (i.e. waited for sleepy cues), and put her down at 10.20. She protested as I left the room, but was asleep within 90sec! No kidding, I have my phone timer on so I know when to go and check on her.

So it's all go here!! Gotta love Christmas time!!

Wow Smegs that is tough, I don't want to generalise but she does sound like she has issues. Did the police give you any advice? I'm sorry I have not much advice, no experience of this sort of thing. Have you met any friends/family of the neighbour you could speak to? Check if there has been the tragedy the says?

Smegs I'm so sorry, I obviously crossed posts with you before. Sorry I'm not sure what advice to offer either, that sounds like such an unnerving situation! I think the Xmas card sounds like a good idea, and making sure you tell the police your side of story every time she calls them out will help if you ever end up in court over this (noise complaint or the neighbour claiming neglect or something!). It might be worth keeping some kind of diary of these incidents? Just to have it all documented if it ever escalates?

Sending lots of support your way - NOT what you need when you're dealing with a LO as well!

No, she's from another country so we don't know her family at all. Never seen any of her friends either, although she does clearly have them.

I hope she's ok, she really is very nice. Just worried about her, that's all.

Oh Smegs you are lovely, come and be my neighbour I do think a card would be a nice gesture but I would be careful about offering any help/support type of nicety I would try and not get too involved iynwim. I also think the diary idea is a good one too. Just in case you get another visit from the boys in blue.

Smegs - how worrying! Would it be worth ringing one if the mental health charities to see what they'd recommend or if there is someone you could contact? It's hard isn't it because what happens to someone who is away from their family if hey have MH issues? Who makes sure they get the right care? I'm not sure what MH charities there are but I'd be tempted to see if one had an info line and could maybe suggest what to do? They should be able to give you impartial advice and what you can do as a 'concerned citizen' rather than a 'concerned relative' iyswim?

Lots of hugs anyway - lovely to see you here . And full marks to your DH sorting out dd2 and letting you sleep

Also very pleased I see better nights all round by A, M and S - good going guys More of the same (or better) please

I feel a bit weird coming here, but hopefully will be moving in at some point over the next few weeks - eeee!

Anyway, just popped in to see what Smegs' neighbour problem was. Not sure I can help, but I like the advice from Boo about sending a Christmas card, but keeping a bit of distance. You do sound lovely and caring and it sounds like she is going through a very tough time. Maybe she is suffering from insomnia or is a bit confused due to the grief and didn't realise what time it was last night when she knocked on your door? Anyway, hope things are more settled tonight.

Not read back through the thread, but looking forward to joining you all soon.

No crying as soon as I left the room for the afternoon nap. Can't believe it, this has just never happened in the Scream household prior to starting cc! Almost 8 months of refusing to go in the cot unless she's so deeply asleep she doesn't sense the transfer.

I'm starting to wish I'd tried this as soon as she turned 6 months! (Disclaimer: I don't really mean that, I'm glad I exhausted all other options first, and I'm just so very grateful to little A that it's gone so well for the first two days.)

So far we've had less than 5mins of fuss on every nighttime waking since we started this the day before yesterday! The naps today have been excellent as well!

Generic I can't wait until you join us properly! Good luck with the last bit of waiting!

Well, to be honest we've wondered about her for a little while. She's very nice, but has apparently had rather more drama in her 30-odd years than the average person does in a lifetime. The problem is that the more stuff she tells me, the more inclined I am to doubt her which isn't a nice feeling. Also, she doesn't seem to have much idea of what is socially appropriate, she offered to be at the birth of DD2 even though I barely know her! She seemed to think that she could act as a midwife or something

She's also started putting the latch on the external door when she's in, which is a bit of a problem as if we were out when she does it we wouldn't be able to get into our home. We've asked her to use the chubb lock instead if she wants extra security, but she keeps doing it. One day we're going to be caught out!

Thanks Biscuits, I'm probably going to give MIND a call and see what they advise. The problem is we are only neighbours, and I don't want to upset her or cause her trouble. Just want her to be safe and healthy, really.

Fantastic news on the sleeping front for A, M & S! Long may it continue

It's just escalated . Called MIND, am going to call police non-emergency number. Very worried about her - and our safety after this incident.

Has something new happened Smegs? Must say, hop potentially locking you all out is am issue!!

Smegs must be very worrying, I hope someone comes to help ASAP.

Yeah, don't want to say too much. Will tell you when all resolved, I hope. We're all ok anyway. Don't worry.

Your neighbour does sound like she has MH issues. Hope you get it sorted happily for all.

Someone mentioned contraceptive implant I had it about 5 weeks ago, so far haven't noticed any problems. Although I have already had af. Although I was going to ask those who had CS whether they had found sff uncomfortable and whether that is normal,,,?

Glad your ok, when you are ready and able it may be better to discuss it on our fb site? Bit more private?

What's happened now Smegs? :( Hope MIND and police help you out asap..

Too and Scream, hurrah for the CC success. So glad it's working so well for you both, and hope it continues to do so!

I've realised I've been doing a bit of what's like CC for a while. Not constantly, but Iz will often wake herself up and cry for a minute, then go back to sleep. If it's an unsettled cry, I'll leave her and see if she'll go back down - so I suppose that's a version of CC . I go in straight away if she properly screams/is upset though - she tends to wake up and shout though. Especially when she realises she's on her front - angry, sleepy baby crawling about in her cot! Her sleeping seems to be improving though, bar last night. Still doesn't like napping in the cot though - only on me or the sofa - so that's an aim for the next few days...

Generic, looking forward to you joining us very soon!

cakes mentioning AF reminds me. Any of those who are still BF, have you had AF yet? I've not yet, and Iz is 7 months... She's BF-ing a lot less, but still probably four feeds during the day (including bedtime?), plus an extra one or two at night depending on how she behaves... I keep getting all the signs and signals of AF, but she never arrives! I'm not complaining, just a tad concerned about her absence...

Sorry Smegs - lots of crossed posts (was writing that post for ages) - hope everything is resolved soon :(

Musical - I had AF come back at 6 months when I was bf, but only morning and night (I was only bf morning and night, not AF only came morning and night ). Same deal with ds1 too. BUT I remember from my first NCT group, I was one of the first to welcome (?) AF back even though others were only bf the same amount as me iyswim. I don't know whether she was coming at 6 months anyway or whether dropping some of my daytime feeds invited her

Smegs sounds scary, hopefully she will get the help she needs

Musical of AF still not returning for you. She came back to me in August although she has currently gone AWOL and I'm on cd34 and no signs that she's imminent

I'm going to sound really stupid now not for the first time but what exactly does pu/pd involve? I want to check that my assumption is correct and that I haven't got the wrong end of the stick

Smegs, hope everything calms down and your neighbour is ok - and you of course!

Musical, I still haven't had AF yet, 9 and a bit months on. Mind you, M has been bf so much at night (until yesterday) that I'm not really surprised. I'm kind of expecting it to appear with maximum inconvenience when I go back to work and am forcibly removed from M's vicinity - although expressing might prevent it a bit. I'm going to stop expressing when she's a year old, although might still continue with the morning and night feeds...not really sure. During the day I do a morning feed and a pre-nap feed, plus bedtime and sometimes the odd one if dinner's going to be late or she wouldn't eat much lunch or something.

Talking of expressing, I expressed a whole bottle of milk (using Biscuits' kind gift) with the greatest of ease yesterday afternoon - the fastest and easiest expressing I have ever done. I was so proud of myself. Got to nursery this pm only to discover that the bottle was somehow leaking and half the milk was soaking into M's spare set of clothes and the bottom of her bag. I was so annoyed!

Cakes, SFF not uncomfy, no. just v rare in this house atm In what way is it uncomfy? Your scar or Down Below?

Scream, great news re naps! I told the nursery what I was doing with M and asked them to do the same for naps there, so they did, and apparently she cried for less than 5 mins and then fell asleep for an hour and 20 mins! They also didn't make me feel guilty one little bit. I did that on my own

I posted a thread in potty training about Ds1 if anyone can help?