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! :)

Morning everyone x

H went 10-6.30!! Feel so much better for a sleep! I'm staying up now as going back to brum today on train to visit my mum. So need to get myself ready and all H's bits!

I even managed to paint my nails last night too!

And we seem to be managing H's reflux with the non medical things so happy about that! x

I've got the kindle app on my iPod touch and my windows phone, and again it's great because it's backlit - read the first 4 game of thrones books when breastfeeding DS, and now continuing the saga with E!

Tried putting E down earlier last night, but it look 90 mins of solid feeding! But she was asleep by 9.30pm, and went till 3.30am, and then 7.30am, so not bad overall! I will get through game of thrones quickly if I have to spend that time getting her to sleep each night!

Thanks bird I'll give the mam dummies a go. I have a hunch though that T will be a thumb sucker, her hand is already reaching for her mouth. faith, you're doing better than us if Faithlet is taking a bottle, I'm still hopeful though.

Last night was tough, I started the bed time routine with a bath at 6.30pm but T would not settle and didn't go down until 11.30pm. She went through until 6am on the plus side.

In other news one of our cats has gone missing He hasn't been seen since 4pm yesterday and it's highly unlike him. We are rather distraught but trying not to show it for T's sake.

Sorry that was all very me, me, me; I will catch up properly later.

Well she didn't go through the night but went from 8.15-3.50 so can't grumble. Using the grow bag worked well and I'm pleased I did because she finally poo'd and after 4 days without man did she go! grow bag kept it contained!

Yes love my new kindle, I've been using kindle on my phone but its easier on the kindle. Hmm I might just read Game of thrones! Just finished Anne of green gables :)

Hope kitty comes back soon Tea xx

Glad everyone seems to be getting more sleep xx

im jealous of al this sleeping. the twins seem to tag team through the night! we've tried waking one when the other wakes but they are too sleepy to drink properly so its pointless! yawn

Just think tho Nic, when one starts sleeping thru hopefully the other will too! X

#% WARNING#%. Thread hijack alert!!!!

I know you ladies are a 'bit' busy but could you answer a quick question - my dd leaves primary school this year and her teacher is having a baby in Sept. I am wondering what presents to buy. Dd is going to make something, but I wanted something really nice for her- soo what would be an ace present for someone in latter stages of pregnancy?

Thank you

As you were x

Hi everyone, mind if I join..? Only just signed up to MumsNet so still finding my way around (shout if I'm in the wrong place)...

Currently have 10 week old J asleep on my tummy after a feed - I thought I'd broken that habit but after a couple of days of horror trying to stretch him to 3hrs between feeds and get him onto some kind of routine (vaguely baby whisperer EASY pattern, but I've not actually read the book so my own fault it hasn't been working probably!), I've caved and gone back to on demand so that he isn't permanently screaming and not getting any naps.

I'm struggling a bit to be honest...he seems to cry all the time, and even if he doesn't, by the end of the day all I can remember are his upset times...any words of wisdom or tips for how to manage would be really welcome :)

Hope you and your LOs are doing well, looking forward to joining in and being less whiney in future I promise!x

Hello,been enjoying reading everyone's posts but not had time to post for a while. Thought I'd share my funny experience ( but also frustrating). Went home to my folks' for a school reunion, dd's first trip away. We'd been giving some ebm/formula top ups for weeks but last week she fussed a bit then while away totally refused the bottle. I still went out leaving her asleep on mum but she woke wanting food and refused said bottle again.

I was mid cocktail and ended up with my dad and dh driving her to just outside the bar so I could feed her in the car! Little minx! I had to change out of my dress, thankfully dad's car has shaded windows!

Anyway funny as it was I'm worried about her bottle-refusing. Dh tried it again this morning while i lay in, and she didn't take it, I was hoping it was just us being away. She is almost 8 weeks and feeds every 2-3 hours day and night so for my sanity I need the odd occasion when I can leave her with dh! Also when we did top her up she slept slightly longer at night e.g. 9-1 instead of til midnight.( well Jel of you whose babies sleep 4 hrs or more).

I'll post separately about thread chat, scuse the all-me post!

I should add we use TT closer to nature bottles after she fussed with agent and nuk teats early on. Anyone in a similar boat? I've caught up to last Friday so missed some posts.

Morning all.

Nish depends on your budget but honestly I had a pedicure and it was bliss! Thermos mug so her hot drinks stay that way til she has chance to drink them?

Welcome Ann! We are a friendly bunch and its not moving quite so fast but jump on in! Are you breast feeding J? I see any routines as a tad pointless with on demand BF! I am working with the principles from this web page. My daughter (aka Faithlet) really falls asleep by self settling (don't think we'd get on with Gina Ford!) so when I know she's getting tired I take her out in the car/take her for a walk/put her in a sling to get her settled. I think she was awake for too long at times and I mistook tiredness signs as hunger cries at times. I loosely follow the idea of EASY too although I'm not good at Y!

Looby are you putting anything in the milk? We found the CTN teats blocked and had more joy going the size up bottle wise and using the Avent (co-incided with me getting the Avent pump). Only had problems since when she's been really tired.

We popped to the supermarket. Much easier in a small trolley and didn't push my luck too much. It's getting expensive though isn't it?! Huggies pure wipes are on offer by the way, got a box of 9 packs for £6.29!

looby I think we've missed the opportunity to introduce bottles, nearly 12w and she's EBF. Persevere! Have you tried different bottles/teats?

Hi ann4new it's very rare we go more than 3hrs between feeds here, and my PFB DD (BabyCandy) is 11w5d and breast feeding on demand.
Don't beat yourself up about routine - I let myself be led by baby. We're trying to get up at a reasonable time, get out and do something most days, and start settling her (downstairs on me) when she gets grouchy about 6/7 in the evening - other than that there is no routine!! A lot of the others use EASY and if that's something your interested in I'm sure you'll get plenty of advice. Have you read back thru this / the last thread? Loads of interesting posts you might find helpful.
There's a link to sleeping on one of the last couple of pages but basically it says that

Sorry if this is a bit yuk but can we talk poo? Teapiglets poos are the usual yellowy colour but today I noticed black bits in her nappy like lots of little black specs. Has anyone else had this or know what it might be. T is EBF and has just turned 7 weeks.

Welcome ann and congrats on your little one.

looby I don't have any advice but I completely sympathise, we have a bottle refuser. Keep trying and if you crack it let me in on the secret

Ann4New I'd second what Like says - it's all about the naps. Do whatever you can to get them to sleep after an hour or so (white noise, sling, pram, bouncer, co-sleeping, car ride).

DD (now 3 years old) never napped. I (stupidly) thought that babies just dropped off when they were tired. Looking back at her first few months, I feel like she cried all the time. With hindsight, she was exhausted. We tried lots of things to get her to sleep, to no avail!

DS (8 weeks) seems a lot more easy-going, but I think that's because he sleeps well during the day. He can only go for an hour of being awake before he needs sleep. I glance at my watch each time he wakes and then I know when he'll need a nap. As a result I have a happy, smiley boy who is much 'easier' than DD was. This may also be down to his personality or the fact I'm more relaxed.

I must say, though, that (after the first three months) DD has been a real joy. She is the happiest, friendliest and most confident child I know. She is always singing, has lots of friends at nursery and adores her new brother. I know from experience how hard it is when your baby seems unhappy, but it doesn't last.

Hi again, thanks so much for the reassurance everyone, it does make me feel a bit more human 'talking' to people in the same boat! Thanks for that link Faith, really helps to have something to refer to (and yes, after a rough start we're exclusively breast feeding now).

I'm only just (literally, this week) appreciating the importance of naps! Like some of you said, I figured he'd fall asleep when he 'needed' to. Now that I'm trying to spot the first yawn it's amazing how awake he seems until I put him in his basket and the eyes start drooping (he'll still fight it, and might only stay down 10mins but it's better than nothing!) Just need to convince the various grandparents and well-wishers that after an hour he really does need to go to bed...

Today has been much better than yesterday - grandparents came by this afternoon and I got an hour's kip while they watched J. Beginning to think J also gets bored very easily which might be why he calms down/stops griping for a bit when new people come to the door!

Thanks for the warm welcome :)

Welcome Ann!!!

Nish I second the pedicure and thermos mug!!

We had a poosplosion up to the armpits today whilst back in Brum visiting Nanny! Then H peed all over me and my mum and himself! Had to laugh!

teapig I think we had that a while ago, I put it down to the mustard seed poo description HV said. I put most things down to that since frankly I have no idea what mustard seeds actually look like.

Baby user is currently in her cot next to me fighting sleep, hopefully sleep wins out as I'm shattered.

I found a local baby stuff selling/buying page on Facebook, really good I recommend you search for some in your areas if you haven't found already!

In going to pretend to be asleep now to see if it fools baby into sleeping.... Night all!!

Welcome newbies.

Teapig - did your cat appear? I do find ours wander further than usual and are away from home longer at a time at this time of year. Lots of baby birds and mice to investigate!

Teapig, ds2 is eight weeks and ebf, a couple of times I have found dark green bits in his poo, as if he had swallowed tiny green things. No other symptoms or discomfort and as the poo was the normal bright yellow I ignored it. Maybe I'm too laid back though.

It took about three hours to get ds2 down for the evening. Am hoping he will sleep for a good few hours now, although isn't there a growth spurt around 8 weeks?

Thanks for the poo advice user and cheese - there's a sentence I'd never have dreamed of saying a while ago I called the HV too and she wasn't sure what it was but wasn't worried as long as DD seems fine in herself.

bona, our cat has returned! Words cannot express the joy when the little terror returned after 28 hours missing. He is 4 which I think must be the terrible teens in cat years.

user I hope the pretending to be asleep trick worked and you get a good night's sleep.

DD went down at 8.30pm and woke at 12am so her sleeping stretches are still very erratic.

Hope everyone has a good nighr.

Hi all, just managed to catch up with the posts after hols. Been trying to follow the advice some have given (can't name check on phone or read back sorry!) bout bedtime routines. We're feeding on demand but F is gradually starting to go slightly longer between feeds at night. Bedtime is anywhere between 7 and 9 depending on when she has a feed and I know she'll need a sleep again - 1 hour after waking max. We go upstairs in darkened room, put pj's on, have a bit more boob, a cuddle then into basket. So far, so good! Completely different from few weeks ago where we'd have hours without sleep and not settling! She's then having a dream feed around midnight and goin until 4-5. So thank u for all the wisdom!

I need to ask a poo related question too - the last 2 poo's that F has done (over 3 days) have been brown, sticky and smelly - unlike her previous yellow, watery poo's - sorry for tmi!! She's ebf. Any idea why it's changed? Normal or not?!

tea glad the cat came home!

Hi all,

Re: poo, don't know if this will help anyone but I saw this on another message board somewhere: m.similac.com/feeding-expert/diaper-decoder#bmb=1

There was a slight flaw in pretending to be asleep, I actually fell asleep and according to OH baby user was awake and grunting to herself at least another hour after... I got woken up at 3.30 though but not too bad over 5 hours straight in cot. I have a feeling I could put her to bed at 7 with the same result though and enjoy some baby free time so I think I will start bringing bedtime forward (currently I aim for 9, it's usually 9.30 though then takes an hour to settle!)

She is currently sleep crying / snorting through her morning nap... The nap is quite early today but when you been up since 6 it couldn't really be soon enough!! She keeps thrashing about and waking herself up though, I don't swaddle for naps but thinking maybe I should for a few weeks till she gets more control of limbs, the startle reflex is more frequent right now too which I believe is due to developmental jumps around 8 weeks, pretty annoying though.

Glad your cat came back teapig you must have been so worried.

Welcome Ann

trish are you still using that vtech lullaby thing? Is it any good? Am thinking of getting something for the cot, but not sure what yet. I want something soothing, with remote control, that she can look at but not too stimulating (anyone else find there baby gets over excited looking at toys too long & cries?)

User still using it tho find it does stimulate him! So I use that for H's awake time now and Ewan the dream sheep for sleep times and I always tuck H's arms in as he tends to mess around a lot and keeps hitting himself in the face! I Deffo recommend Ewan for soothing x

Tea glad pusskins came back x