April 2013 - We've all had our babies now. Let the (hard work) fun commence!

[HadALittleFaithBaby]

Thought I'd take the liberty of starting a new thread since the last one filled. So mark your places, get comfy and prepare for a few sleepless nights!

In particular we think of Empress and little Sam - hoping and praying he's coming home! :)

Happy birthday sneezy! Hope you have an amazing day.

Just had a nice salad. Hollie had her jabs yesterday. Cried a lot at the time and it broke my heart, but she was fine after 5 minutes, but a bit grizzly for the evening/night. Had a bit of Calpol which calmed her a little bit and the worst she's had today has been trying to have a poo, which she just did when I started to eat dinner :D

Not looking forward to next months, but have a rough idea how she'll react which is good. Hasn't slept much but will probably mean she'll sleep well tonight.

Hope everyone else is doing well today.

Happy birthday Sneezy Hope you had a good day

Teapig the hip scan itself is really straightforward but I found the waiting with lots of babies in a hot room hard work, be prepared for a long wait!

We have had a lovely day in the garden, E loved looking at the trees and DD1 did 2 wees in the potty- happy days!!

Has anyone ever reacted badly to the depo shot? I had mine a week ago and am now a complete hormonal wreck. I either want to cry or scream most of the time. I was on depo for 2 years until 2 years ago and never had this before. I have debated pnd but ismt that more to do with lack of connection with baby? Feeling useless etc?

An thinking of trying Sofia with a bottle tomorrow.. She is 9 weeks now though, an thinking I may have left it too late. Tried giving her a dummy and she gagged, so if that's anything to go by I don't think it will be too successful. We'll see!

Sofia has just gone to sleep after a huge feed, she might be down for the night already! I feel a bit lost lol

Previous post was meant to say am not an

num sorry no experience but yes PND is more about feeling low and not connecting with the baby. Maybe go back to your GP?

jo Faithlet won't take a dummy for love nor money but will happily take a bottle, although we introduced it at 3 weeks. Try the ones that are meant to be natural like tommy tipper closer to nature or the avent ones to increase liklihood of success. Also get your OH to give it because she'll associate you with the breast and may try to go direct!

We've had a nice day, massage was lush and baby shower was nice. Lots of pregnant ladies and a couple of other women with new babies (made Faithlet look big!). Just had first transfer fail so feeding again and hoping she'll sleep soon - not much sleep today!

Oh how I hate the dummy game! Just stop spitting it out, arghhhhh!

Another day of pretty much non stop tears. Trying to settle her now but she keeps spitting out dummy, am shattered. I think our worse days are linked to no poo, she now goes 4 days a time without and is really happy the day she does and 2 days after!

Glad you had nice day faith baby shower sounds fun!

jo just to second what faith said about getting your OH to give the bottle. I asked my HV how to introduce the bottle and she said DH should give it as DD will just short cut straight to the breast. In fact the HV advised me to leave the house when DH first gives the bottle because DD will otherwise smell the breast milk I plan to give it a go this week but if her response to a dummy is anything to go by it won't go smoothly.

DD went down at 8pm, our earliest bedtime yet. She is very snuffly though, I hope it's not a cold.

My gp is useless. Hopefully it'll only last a short while til my body is used to it. Touch wood!

Jo H will not take a dummy but is great with a bottle of EBM (introduced at three weeks)

DD, on the other hand, would take a dummy but never, ever took a bottle. I think we left her a bit late though (10 weeks).

Had a wonderful birthday today - thank you for all the good wishes. DH excelled himself and bought me a beautiful armani ceramic watch that I spotted and loved months ago - he bought it and squirrelled it away until today. Spent the day with my sis and lovely BILs and SILs as well as my nieces and nephew and it has been glorious - so very lucky!

Happy birthday sneezy and welcome to the 30 club!

We're on first feed of the night here post dream feed. My question is this, baby Essex is usually sleeping by 8, then wakes 12.30, 3.30, 7 (this is a good night where I ignore his 5.30 shenanigans!) if I try dream feeding at 10.30, it just changes his 12.30 feed to 1.30 (now) and he still continues to wake at 3.30 (5.30) 7. How do you manage to extend the gaps between feeds? He's been like this since 6 weeks (now 9) and the gaps are not naturally getting longer?

Do I force him to read his instructions he came with again, or can anyone suggest anything?

Essex - my recommendation is patience, 3 weeks generally makes no difference in the world of babies. I think DS had that sort of pattern till about 4 months, then he started to drop the early morning feed, and we sorted him gradually, and he slept through at 8 months.

But DD is very different, even with us trying to create the same routine, so I think each baby is different, and will sort themselves in time.

Having low expectations is a good thing, as you'll be very happy if they do better than you expect!

essex were the same here at 11w
Sleeping 8/9 on me, in bed and feed 11, then feeding 1:30, 3:30, 5/6, 7/8.
She dropped her 1:30 feed for a couple of nights but it's back now!

HV & GP both said she is obv digesting BM very well and is just hungry that often apparently they get super hungry around developmental milestones like smiling / rolling etc too.
How is your day time feeding?
We had a week where she'd go 3//4 hrs but now were lucky to get 2 hr gaps.

Wow we had our best night yet. Got DD down at 8pm, she woke at 12 and 4 and then went through to 9am! Amazing to have had an evening to oursleves and then so much sleep. I suspect it was a fluke though.
Hope everyone else had a good night.

Candy-days are between 2-3 hours, I'm quite loose with a routine in the day, he has a nap on me about 9.30 for an hour or so then we tend to go out every day between 12-4 when he will sleep for varying parts and I'll feed when out, the only thing we stick to is awake after 5 then bath by 6.30, feed then bed. He sleeps well and goes down easy but he just wakes so much and it's definitely food he wants! I'm just being impatient and believing the hype from books and other mums that have them sleeping longer at 9 weeks. He's 13lbs, on 75th percentile so definitely eating well, he's EBF.

So last night after taking 2 hours to settle her I let baby user get cold and she woke up after 45 mins asleep and didn't settle again till 2am, waking at 5.30 for feed, grrr. Eventually settled into a big sleep at 7.30am and is still sleeping now!

So I had about 4 hrs sleep, fingers crossed she will be ready for a good sleep tonight!

Essex - It sounds like he spends a lot of time awake during the day? I know it sounds daft - but a lot of what I've read (this for example) seems to suggest they won't sleep for long periods if they are overtired?

user fingers crossed you get an easy day and a better night tonight.
It's tough deciding what to put them in clothes/bedding wise as its so warm when they go to bed but does get chilly through the night!

Wow essex to B being 13lb! our babies share a birthday & my little C is under 9 lb :) she sleeps 11pm till 8am usually which is great but not helping her weight gain! All may change next week though, babies are notoriously fickle! B may be sleeping 8 hours and C up 2 hourly.

Been to our local Waterstones for storytime & craft. We made Father's Day cards. The stories are GREAT H sits beautifully and listens while I browse! Downside is I always end up buying something.

Evan is currently fast asleep on me - I don't have to hold him, he just finds a natural perch! We still have nothing that seems to resemble a routine as each day tends to vary according to who is home. I have him to myself for 3 days a week but that does mean I have to get the girls ready and to school/pre-school by 9am. Then the other 2 weekdays I have DD2 home too but we still have to fit everything around the school run for DD1.
And then the weekends means we are all home so Evan just has to fit in around the DDs' activities, going out to lunch and anything else we are up to.

He barely woke up at 4pm when he was hungry - he drank his bottle whilst almost still asleep and didn't quite finish it.
I am not sure how we would manage to keep him awake after 5pm. I expect he will sleep through now until sometime between 7pm and 9pm when he will have another bottle and should settle pretty easily for the night. He has been awake for quite a lot of time during the day though so I think he often just likes to start his night quite early (although he has not got into his sleepsuit yet!)

baby bird has put herself into a fairly regular (but flexible) easy routine, with a feed, then nappy change and play on activity mat until she gets tired and I put her down for a sleep. She's normally happy to play (not by herself, needs entertaining) for about an hour, so she feeds/plays for 1 and half hrs then sleeps for the same in the day. She normally feeds between 8-9am, 11-12am, 2-3pm, 5-6pm, 8-9pm 11-12pm. If she wakes after the last feed she normally just wants a cuddle or dummy and goes straight back to sleep.
I find it really helps to have the structure of 'easy' thanks to whoever it was that posted about it. She sometimes falls asleep feeding and won't wake again for ages but generally it helps to not be feeding her to sleep...

oh and I just got her to have a bottle for the first time . Tried about 5 weeks and failed but wanted to try again before 8 weeks (apparently the cut off point?) so expressed this morning and DH just gave it to her. She guzzled it down had 3.5oz in less then 10 mins! She seems to be full but how much should she be having is 3.5oz enough?!
I'm still nervous to go out and leave a bottle with someone though, today I was just in the next room so knew if she didn't want the bottle I could feed her. Once she's done it though she'll do it again fine right?!

Thanks Candy, that sounds EXACTLY like B! He is a terrible sleeper by day, I end up going out a lot in the day just to get him to sleep as he sleeps in his pram. I think i know the signs well and as soon as i think he's tired I cradle him and instantly get him to sleep but that lasts all of a few mins and as soon as I put him down he's wide awake! How and where does everyone get their babies to sleep in the day? I've never tried the cot upstairs in the day, think I'm afraid he'll confuse it for his real bed time??

essex during the day C sleeps either in her pram carrycot either out & about or in the hall if we are at home or in the sling (Moby). Never in her night time babynest as I don't like her being that far away from me & can't be traipsing upstairs every time her dummy falls. She can self settle but only with a dummy and if she gets over tired needs a quick walk around the block in the pram or goes in the sling which she loves. I have also be known to put the pram in the utility room next to the tumble dyer as she likes white noise!

Dysgu - I know what you mean Alex too can find a perch anywhere so long as he's on someone he's fine!
I took, well me and my mum took everyone to see my grandad for lunch today, we go as often as we can. He's my grandad so in his late 80's but still very active. He gave Alex a beautiful bear, a proper hand stitched leather and cloth one, made specially. It's beautiful. I got one when I was born as did ds1, and dd when she moved in. I have no idea where he gets them from a friend he says makes them and they used to work together in the 1940's! I still treasure mine. Alex of course wasn't interested but I love the tradition, and the care my grandad takes to choose them.
Ds1 especially worships his grandad, he said to me that grandad gives the best hugs and I have to agree, when he hugs you you just know he would slay dragons to protect you
Alex still has no routine except his 2 hourly feeds. Otherwise he is so awake he just joins in kinda everything we're doing, dd likes to carry him about and talk to him a lot which he likes. He just 'fits in around us routine wise and where we all need to be.
Thank to everyone who answered about swimming, I think I'll speak to the dr and hopefully take him next week. Ds1 swims like a fish so I'll rope a brother in to help us. I think Alex will love it.