January 2013 Part Two: Coos and smiles but not always so much sleep...

[SpringFlowers]

Our first thread has almost finished so I thought we'd need a new one!

[Meringue33]

Birdies we do a bottle at night but it doesn't make him sleep longer just let's me get to bed earlier.

Pascha our LO is v unsettled most evenings. Only thing that works is to keep feeding him, walking him, distracting him, etc until he is finally calm enough full enough and tired enough to sleep - usually after 10pm! Would love to have a quiet evening watching telly :(

[mrsbugsywugsy]

well done pascha. I am bfing in bed after finally getting a decent stretch of sleep from 6 to 9am. dp is in the kitchen making coffee and the cat is asleep on the baby gym

[mrsbugsywugsy]

bugger, just had the post and I have been summoned for jury service! presumably they won't let me take dd along?

[Pascha]

I've got a feeling bfing a little baby is a good enough reason to defer for up to 12 months. I would love to do jury service (but not for a while).

Meringue sucks doesn't it? We are just starting to get some form of evening back but its interrupted. I get time to wolf down dinner between 8 and 8.30 then I'm just waiting for the cry to say he's awake and off I (or DH) go to settle him back down. I'm persevering though, I refuse to bring him down to cuddle on the sofa with us after bedtime anymore as then he never settles properly and we get no respite.

[mrsbugsywugsy]

the annoying thing is I've always quite fancied doing jury service, when it would have meant a nice break from work. I think I will try to defer it for a full year as I will be back at work and dd hopefully settled into nursery. otherwise they will have to let me bring her into court which wouldn't be at all disruptive

[Birdies]

pascha what are his naps like in the day? Sounds like he might be using that as his last nap of the day rather than the start of his long nightti,e sleep. Apparently around 15 weeks they should have one half hour nap about 90 minutes after waking, a long lunchtime nap and then one more short ish one 2 hours before bed.

Obv I'm clearly no expert though given current lack of sleep:)

Oh the other idea which someone told me is to hover near him about 25 mins after he has gone to sleep and just before he wakes, pick him up, rock him and he might go straight back to sleep.

[theboutiquemummy]

pascha well jealous you enjoy it lovely it was hard earned I bet xox

Anyone else having a bit of panic about the measles out break x

[Meringue33]

Totally Pascha, I can't remember the last time we had dinner together. I get the feeling he isn't ready to sleep twelve hours yet but it would be good if he would actually take an afternoon nap then be in a good mood in the evening rather than screaming the place down. DP has terrible heartburn.

[Pascha]

Thats what I'm thinking, Birdies He has a good 45 mins mid morning, usually an hour-90 mins lunchtimeish though thats not set in stone yet, it depends on me driving to stuff, and a nap or two during the afternoon when he tires. He's only staying awake about 90 minutes max still so I can't see how I can force another nap on him, maybe its just a matter of getting the other naps to be longer.

I might try the 25 minutes thing tonight as we ate earlier so no dinner to fit in. I can't see that happening most days though as there's just no time left in the day.

[Pascha]

Oh, and if he wakes up and screams rather than go back to sleep I'll larn you!

[Birdies]

What's 'larn' mean, is that a London word haha?! Don't think I want that whatever it means

X slept for 3 hours just now so goodness knows what sleep will be like tonight. I've thrown the routine out the window! I'd like to try a dream feed but scared to try in case she's then awake for ages! How long do people let them sleep for before doing the dreamfeed?

Someone mentioned measles earlier. I'm getting a bit worried about it now too. Does it put you off going to baby groups? Why can't we get our babies vaccinated, would it not be effective for babies?

[Pascha]

London how rood! I am Kentish TYVM . anyway, to larn someone is to teach them a lesson they won't forget. My granny used it lots.

Measles: the mmr can and is being given to babies under 1yr in the epidemic areas. The reason it's not normally given that early is because, at that age, the antibody level isn't sustained for very long so by the time they reach 1 they already need another, plus the booster at 3.5-4yrs old.

I imagine you could ask for it at your local surgery but unless you are in an epidemic area they may not have more stock than that needed for scheduled imms. All the extra is going straight from Merck to those areas.

[AppleCrumples]

Birdies i have to admit the news has put me off especially after finding out we'd had such close contact to a confirmed case - never worried before but that somehow made it seem more real. Now i wish i could just cocoon her in safety til she is immunised :( That said we have been to rhyme time since measles has been in the news otherwise we would never go anywhere which would be no fun!

No dream feeds here just rely on Ivy telling me when she needs feeding. Last night i fed her ready for bed at 9 and she just messed about and licked (?) me! Then farted so had to be checked so ended up going to bed more awake than normal and with less milk. I expected her to get me up fairly quickly so kept checking her til i went to bed at 10.30 but she slept til 3 so ckearly didn't need any more (though she fed for quite a while at 3). I don't trust the idea of disturbing a sleeping baby i would be worried about them.not settling again!

[Meringue33]

We refer to it as the dream feed but tbh he is almost always awake anyway. DP says he's only managed a proper df once. It does seem to work tho in terms of the timing I don't want to jinx anything but he usually sleeps from then til at least 4.30am.

[Lora1982]

Today has been hell. On a plus the one reuseable nappy that didnt leak was a pooey one rest of the days been tears and tantrums and sore nips so he got bottles when i was at breaking point. He clearly is testing bounderies today. Or maybe its a spurt. In which case whatever is new that he can do when its over best be worth it :'(

[glorious]

Oh dear lora, that's a lot of leaking nappies!

I'm suffering from my first blocked duct. I expressed for the milk bank for the first time on Thursday and went out for the day with Ellen in the sling on Friday with a serious engorgement problem. With hindsight that was stupid! Any tips? Mostly just trying to feed lots and massage plus will try some hot compresses.

[Angielka]

oh glorious they're horrible aren't they. I've had a couple since Molly was born. The first went quickly with a bit of massaging it and expressing. The second took a couple of days. Massaging while feeding and hot compresses are what worked for me. They say ibuprofen is an anti-inflammatory too, if it's painful, and brushing it with a hairbrush (yes, really) also seemed to help clear mine. Good luck!

[glorious]

Thanks angielka, the hairbrush is a new one on me, I'll give it a go. Sorry you've had them too.

[shakemyhead]

Try soya lecithin for recurrent blocked ducts. More info on Kelly mom. I had two about week three.

[CreepyCrawly]

Nancy laughed at me today! I just fell in love all over again

[Lora1982]

Creepy i got laughed at today too for the first time. He laughed because i was yawning

[Lora1982]

I second the lecithin stuff it didnt help first time round but i think i was too far gone but ive had nothing since so it may have helped.

[CreepyCrawly]

It's amazing Lora isn't it? I'd love for it to have taken that little effort! She's a tough audience.

Who's going to start the new thread then? Shotgun not!

[Alilog]

Hi, this is my first ever post! I'm a first time mum and my DS is 8 weeks. I'm bfing but at the moment he's feeding every 2 hours day and night! DH is being great by giving him expressed milk and giving me a break but there's only so much I can express with such frequent feedings! I'm exhausted and starting to really not cope with the sleep deprivation. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!