November 2012 - The thread where it all starts to get easier. Pretty please?

[StuntNun]

Previous thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/postnatal_clubs/1703340-November-2012-Four-months-Oh-no-the-dreaded-sleep-regression

Stunt, apart from the nappies that's almost exactly like R. I put it down to him being tiny (11lb at 16 weeks) and just how he is. He generally sleeps 7:30-5 with 3 wake ups :)

Good morning,

sweet I am glad that O was a good boy and you both got some rest.

Err VQ tell him to do one. If there is a cross trainer he can use that after the kids have gone to bed. It's better for his knees anyway.

Sounds dramatic detective - and no bloody mint viennetta!

I am ashamed to say that I can't remember who it was who gave me lots of advice for treating P's skin. On the grounds of the advice given I have:
Been using epiderm on her face multiple times a day
Putting oilatum bath additive in her bath
Using aveeno as an after bath lotion

Weirdly, one cheek seems to have cleared completely but the other has flared back up as an angry red rash. We resorted to using the hydrocortisone again.

Welcome back glenda

And sorry. ^that post took me an hour to compose to have missed updates.

sweetpea sure it wasn't just me saying this but repeat what I said on fbook that you should remember how you felt last night and that should give you strength for the road again ... if you can box up the emotion of it but it to one side but if you feel like changing your mind about what's happened then go back to it. I would try to tell a rl friend or family today that its over ... more people you tell the more real it will be.
I also agree that you should do a seperate posts in relationships...may be easier to set up a new account with a different email rather than change your name ... so you can Still log in and post on here- maybe tell us what your name is and we can all make a small comment so that it bumps it to active and people see it. take things one moment at a time allow yourself to cry and just because you have doesn't mean its a bad day but a bad moment I'm sure you will have happy ones today with little O.
stunt yeah take your mum ... she will love it and sure other peeps will love her company too.

stunt, Teddy has about the same number of nappies as J, although he is more like 3 hrs between feeds. He is EBM. Ds1 was the same with nappies, only changing once on solids iirc. But the frequent feeding must be hard, sympathies.

Bryz, I know it's not really words he's saying at 15 weeks, but is amazing how they can copy sounds. In the last couple of weeks he's got really vocal and does that cute thing where it seems like you're having a two way conversation, taking turns, and with all the intonations etc. especially sweet when he does it with ds1, must try and get it on video.

Get frustrated with DH's laid back attitude to time..! I get accused of hassling and making things stressful as I try to speed up process of getting ready etc. but just because I'm aware things take longer than you think. E.g. FIL is coming to visit at 11 today. We need to go to supermarket for lunch stuff, and clear breakfast things, tidy house. It is now 9.45. DH is 'confident we can get it all done in time', but by the time we've got the boys in coats & shoes etc, time will be going... I know we'll end up with FIL arriving either while we're out or while house is a tip. If we all get dressed & ready before playing with train set/cars surely that's more sensible?!!!

Oh sweet pea. Huge hugs. Thinking of you.
Evil

Morning,

Will attempt to catch up on thread now as am pinned to sofa by Velcro baby.

stunt somebody brought their mum with them to baby group this week, nobody minded and she seemed to really enjoy it.

Today I am mostly very very sad and tired.

pass the skin thing has a mind of it's own I feel. Today we hardly have any dry, eczema stylee skin on the face. Other days it is awful.

Going to try the toddler with special fried rice today, while O tries baby rice!

J slept from 12-4 then 4.30-7 then 7-30-9.30!! Amazing! I did have to go in and comfort him a few times through the cot bars but didn't have to lift him. Things appear to be improving! Only small problem is he slept late but wouldn't be able to do that when DH is at work but progress is progress.

I'm waiting in for two companies coming to quote for fireplace removal. Am pissed off as first company was due at 10am and they haven't showed! I reckon they are going to deliberately show up when the second ones due! Raging!

sweet hope your ok this morning. Remember we are all around if you need us for anything. Please take up the offers of those nearer for some RL support.

pass sorry to hear Ps skin isn't so great still. We still have trouble with Js flaring up and unfortunately all that will clear it is the daktacort which is troublesome anyway.

Morning all only just!, e decided to wake for an hour and a half at 3am, which was lovely, obviously. Thank fucking goodness he went back to bed after the 7am bottle so I clawed an hour back of my lost time lol.

Glad for the good nights, boo and bollocks to the shit ones :(

stunt is there no holding him off for a feed for a bit and then hopefully he'd take more and go longer? Is he sleeping longer stretches at night? You must be exhausted. E does 1 dirty nappy a day millions of wet ones but his milk is thicker so I think that is why. I expect it will change when I start him on solids maybe as he has different things in his system

Sorry p's skin still isnt fixed passme, weird that one cheek cleared and the other didn't

evil I offer water between feeds, and when he wakes at night and doesnt settle with dummy (would feed if definitely hungry but often an oz or less of water is all he's after)

Sorry to say MissLaugh but J's sleep problems started at week 15. So it probably is sleep regression for you.

Pikz I don't mind so much feeding every two hours or less during the day apart from the disastrous effect on the housework but it's often during the night as well. He's heading for 16 lb now Pidj and on the 50th percentile at last after two food-averse skinny babies so I don't think he should need to feed quite so frequently at night. Hopefully it's all a sleep regression issue and it will magically fix itself in a week or two. Otherwise it's a latch problem but I've been working with him and he does do the suck-pause-swallow so it looks like he's drinking well. And I get 5 oz easily when I express so it looks like I have enough milk. Probably best to wait it out.

That book sounds interesting Sophia, I have heard terrible and great things about GF but I have never actually read one of her books. I do have a library lot of books on behavioural issues which will stand us all in good stead when our LOs are older!

Bry I will get J's hips checked again (DS2 had to have a scan for a clicky hip) but I'm going to space the appointment out to the week after as we have jabs next week since the HV's take was get it checked but just in case IYSWIM, not because she thinks there's actually anything wrong. DS1 had a problem with his calf muscles not developing properly that wasn't diagnosed until he was six and needed physio and orthotics for a while. It was awful in that we just thought he was lazy; he was always complaining about being tired whenever he had to walk anyway. Ffs even the dog is in a bad way with arthritis, neurological damage and she wears a leg brace too! At least the cat's alright apart from being batshit crazy insane, but I think that might just be a cat thing.

Hydrocortisone is great stuff Pass. When I was a child I was told to apply it thinly but now it's okay to put quite a bit on so long as you don't keep using it for days on end. I prefer the ointment as sometimes the cream doesn't absorb well: I used to feel that more was absorbing into my fingertip than into the eczema. Now I would apply hydrocortisone quite liberally once the first day then thinly once the next day if it still hasn't cleared up. Apply an emoillient cream as much as you can in between times, I like Diprobase, Oilatum and Cetroban. If they don't absorb well and are still showing on the skin just wait five minutes and give it another rub and it should absorb. If the skin is very dry, to prevent further moisture loss, I apply the cream then put a layer of Vaseline over the top. The crucial bit is to keep applying the emoillient after the skin looks healed because there will still be damage in the lower layers of the skin so the eczema looks like it has come back but really it is the lower layers coming to the surface. Also bubble bath is your enemy if you have eczema!

My DS1 and DS2 are staying with their GPs tonight so we'll be able to watch a film as we won't have to wrestle get them into bed first. I have a bottle of ebm ready so I can have a wee sneaky glass of wine or two with dinner. I suspect DH thinks he's going to get lucky tonight, we'll see whether J has other plans!

bry have you not seen the programme Baby Jake?

stunt that is how J was and getting progressively worse, with pain added in increasing amounts. Could he be building up to lactose overload like your other boy did?

Had a row with DH. I thanked him for letting me sleep until 10. He said it was easier having all three and it is easy when they are all eating. He then said he had made two bottles. I asked him how, and all was fine except he put the hot bottles in the fridge. I said that they should be chilled quickly to be safe. He got all defensive, saying I never let him do anything so I told him it was me who should be upset as I have to do fucking everything. Anyway, upshot is I have had a lovely morning doing housework and cooking, and he is learning how to look after all three. He was tired by 11 and is actually doing well. It helps that J is back to his happy chilled out state, and is sleeping today as per GF

pass Billie had a patch on one cheek for about 8 months. It went eventually and there is no mark. It would flare up and go and flare again. GP said it was impetigo and I told her she was talking rubbish, treating me like I was an idiot, and stormed out. If it was that, she would have been covered from head to foot. Just keep treating it, even after it seems clear, and monitor for signs of infection.

Afternoon. No useful info to add on skin/feeding/sleep problems, as wiser heads have already helped!

F giggled again today, twice - once at me making daft sounds and swinging her, and again when I was singing along to Mary Poppins...dh wasn't there for either

We've been busy this morning - have played marble runs, done a jigsaw, been to the library, watched the steam train, tried to play "ponomoly" (monopoly) according to dsds rules there are none, she just takes all your money

Off to catch up on fb now!

DH went for a nap 20mins ago as he is shattered. I must admit I laughed, and he got all upset good for him to get a glimpse of my world!

where is everybody?

I'm here :) Dd got green grunge in one eye today ???

VQ lol at calling the doctor an idiot

Stunt I find that Tommy has many more feeds if we are at home, and can go 45 minutes between feeds. When out and about we can stretch it to about 2.5 hours. Nappies are the same as yours, change him, then 10 minutes later we hear a massive wet fart My nights sound like yours just feed feed feed, but the waking up and playing at silly o'clock is new.

Oh VQ your poor shattered husband. Thank goodness the poor soul doesn't have to do night feeds

Thanks Stunt good to know

The second hand sale was ok. Got a wooden stacking toy, a babygro and a cute jumper dress for babylaughalot. It was the first time I had properly tried our mei tai sling though. I've only used it in the house until today. She did really well in it, probably about 40 mins and didn't grumble at all. Makes me more confident about using it more when we're out and about.

I don't think I realised just how tired I am until this morning. I'm making a scrapbook of photos and mementos from the first time she is doing things (first cinema trip etc) and yesterday I was dating things and writing comments next to everything. This morning I come to look at it and there are SO many mistakes! Wrong year, incorrect spellings, random apostrophes. This is not like me at all, I'm a qualified teacher and a real pedant for getting things right and consistency...need to hunt down the tippex and the sleeping tablets

Babylaughalot is currently in her swing with the vacuum cleaner running behind her to keep her asleep. Does the sleep regression affect daytime naps too, as she's reluctant to stay asleep more than 10 minutes today?

misslaughalot

As far as we could tell from desparately charting J's patterns bad naps tend to follow a bad nights sleep, but have no predictive power either way for how they sleep the next night.

Thanks luis, the vacuum is doing a sterling job. Will worry about the electricity bill later...

Right. Which one of you stoled P and left a Velcro baby in her place? Own up!

We have done nothing today. I haven't been able to eat or drink in peace. Haven't even been able to put on Dexter because I wouldn't be able to watch it.

P is currently watching Treme in DH's arms while DH fights sleep.

Thanks stunt, sophia and VQ for skin advice. Particularly stunt - that was really helpful. I used to use hydrocortisone on my eyelids when I had excema on them and an allergic reaction to nail varnish. I think maybe I am being overly cautious about it and not applying the other cream well enough. I think I will take her in next week as one cheek does look pretty angry and sore.

I am glad that MrVQ got a taste of what day to day is like with 3 kids. Naffed off that he had te cheek to say it was easier - just remind him of that next time you ask him to take all three.

miss I think the regression primarily affected P's day time sleep. Today she has had less than an hour nap since getting up at 7:30. She is exhausted but won't sleep alone. All the usual tricks have failed and - very unusual for P - the only thing which has worked is sleeping in someone's arms. Her nighttime sleep has been good though.