December 2013 - sleepless nights & lots of cooing

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Our very first Thread :)

mum you're doing a fantastic job after everything you've been through. just keep strong.

olivia has a full blown snot everywhere cold. she looks so sad bless her. She did however sleep from 8.30pm-6.am and has slept most of today so I'm feeling great last night was the first night since she was born 10 weeks ago that I didn't go to bed when she did so I actually had an evening cuddling with dp. it was really lovely as we have hardly had more than a 5 minut
e cuddle in weeks. feels a little bit like starting fresh in a new relationship which is odd

hope you're all well

hotmad I think it's normal, life just changes in an instance and you can't go back even for a second. Last night was a bad one but no worse than others recently, but I got really angry in the middle of the night. Not like I had to put the baby down or anything, I was just holding him thinking why why will you not fucking sleep. Usually I'm ok or I cry, never angry, it was weird. Just so annoying when they start going ok between feeds but wake up every hour anyway and cry just for the sake of it.

hotcross I get that a lot at night. I ended up shouting at olivia the other night and felt so guilty as she just wanted a cuddle. I think it's normal to get angry sometimes. I think you would be a bit mental if you were happy all the time.

Thanks for responding to my rant! Last nite i held her and was just saying 'what do you want from me baby!' I keep getting anxious now when it comes to evenings, she was sleeping at 7pm a few nites ago and now stays up all evening til 10.30 ish and gets all grizzly

It's also hard when I don't really have anyone to talk to about it all, my DP is good and luckily supportive to me but he doesn't seem to understand hormones in women. I wonder if my period is coming back, how I feel today reminds me of my monthlies

Oh grief, periods, I'd forgotten about those [sulk]. I'm getting my implant done in two weeks, hopefully it'll work as it did last time and make them pretty unnoticeable.

Those of you putting babies to bed around 8pm could you tell me about your day's routine, if you have one please? As Genevieve won't sleep before 11pm she's just too wired even if I keep the room quiet and dim she babbles to herself then gets bored and starts crying.

I used to feed at 7am then 11, 3, 7 then bath and into bed by 8. It was a battle getting him to sleep the first few nights but now he goes down easily, have to cuddle to sleep though then move to crib.

Now I'm trying to bath before feed, feed at 6.30 and bed at 7 as he seemed overtired at 8. Only started it last night, he went to sleep fine but has woken for 3 feeds instead of 2.

Naps are more of an issue, I aim for 2 hrs after first 2 feeds then 4.30-5.30 but it's hard to get right. I often have to wake him at 5.30 and he screams the house down for an hour

mogz I have the same problem- j sleeps on and off till 10.30pm but is agitated and often cries so we have to have him downstairs with us. He won't be put down unless he's asleep and even then he'll often wake and fuss again.

I know I should be patient but J won't go more than 3 hours at night. Don't know if it's a growth spurt as he used to manage 11-3am then 4-7 but now it's 1.30am and 5.30 and this morning he wouldn't go back to sleep so I'm feeding him again now and feeling v tired and grumpy. He'll probably fall asleep now just as the other kids are waking and now I have a whole half term day ahead feeling tired with 3 kids to look after/entertain and one has chicken pox so we can't go anywhere!!

hot do you mean he naps for a total of 2 hours after the first 2 feeds or 2 hrs each? If it's 2 hrs total it's probably not enough hence him getting grump being woken after the 4.30 nap. I think they need around 5 hours sleep during the day at this age. Gina ford breaks it down into roughly 45 mins after first morning feed, 2 1/2 to 3 hours after next feed/lunchtime nap then another 45ish mins between 4&5 that's just rough tho as I can't remember exact times.

I've found naps hard in this weather as J often won't settle so ends up not Having enough. He likes the sling but it breaks my back to wear it for every nap.

F*ck it. As predicted one child is up so I can't go back to sleep till 8 as I'd hoped

Darn it - our lovely single wake up at 2am didn't happen last night! We had been at DH's parents and did the bedtime routine there then transferred Hannah into her cot from the carseat so i don't know if that had anything to do with it. She woke at 12 then 4 but didn't settle brilliantly after the last feed so I had yo have her on me for quite a while before putting her back into her cot.

She also slept LOADS yesterday, so that probably didn't help.

I really want to move to 4 feeds a day now as I am finding that she's sometimes going longer stretches between the feeds earlier in the day, and also doesn't usually take the full amount at all the daytime feeds, but I'm just not confident that she'll manage to go from 3ish until 6.30 without all hell breaking loose!!
Also I don't know if it'll cock up the good nights we're starting to have if I mess with her daytime feeds but I think I will stand a greater chance of sorting naps if there are fewer feeds, but more satisfying ones, to work around.

Hotcross how much does your little one have at each of the 4 daytime feeds? We offer 6oz every time but sometimes she only has 3oz.

Morning all

Am loving these 4 hour stretches between night feeds. And the couple of hours sleep in the day. And the reduced cluster feeding. Though it might take my boobs a while to catch up with it. Woke up with a very wet nightie this morning.

I feel soooo much better for the sleep. And having a break from feeding. And being able to thi nk about some routine. That gf one sounds like what we are moving towards. Woke up at 6am this morning with dp and got us up and dressed at 7am. He is snoozing on my lap just now so going to try and put him down and clean the bathroom.

Am also going to seriously start my healthy eating pledge. Not a diet as such. Just going to make sure I have 3 meals and a couple of snacks of fruit. Plus walk the long way to school. And maybe chuck another walk in. Need to dig my davina dvd out and I've got that 30 day shred one somewhere to do.

Got to get fit again. Hate being all blobby and breathless.

lis he has 6-7 oz every feed! He is a gannet, so rarely declines food. The only time he slept longer than 4 hours between feeds was with hungry baby milk but then it gave him the terrible tummy ache

mum I mean 2 hours after each feed but often he doesn't get that much so I agree it's because he's tired at that time. I just got him to settle in crib by me lying next to him rather than holding him, definitely a result. But he still only slept 20 mins, what does gf say to do then? My book says get them up as they won't resettle until they can settle but then he got really grouchy as still tired and would not resettle in crib so he is back asleep in my arms..

So happy that j has slept till 3am but found he had pooed through his sleep suit and has just pooed again! Now trying to bf him to sleep-argh!

Had a great day yesterday (half term, 3kids) then it all went to shit at 5pm. J wanted to feed for ages, needed to make kids dinner, it all got really late. Then J was so unsettled and acting hungry even after feed so I gave him a bottle of formula thinking he'd settle and he was still upset/awake! Why won't he settle in the evenings?! And I want to keep bf but it just doesn't seem to be that compatible with having other kids to look after!'

hotcross that's good that he settled in the crib for a bit. Gf says to put in a very dark room, try and sooth without picking up, and for lunch nap if they wake half way, try and resettle. Thing I find is I can't always spend 10-15 mins trying to settle him in the basket if the other kids are demanding my attention/misbehaving. J was also over tired like yours but wouldn't sleep much for some reason- even woke in the buggy after 20 mins.

Morning all.

Bleurgh. After a good few days with proper sleep in the day and 4 hours overnight we were back to normal yesterday. Couldn't get him down for longer than 10 mins during the day. Which meant we had a screaming fit when I went for a shower. Took ages to calm him down and couldn't even get him to latch at one point.

The only positive was that he went down at 7.30pm. But not worth the effort for an extra couple of hours. And then he was up every 3 hours overnight. Bollocks.

I think he goes down best if we go out around lunchtime. Settles in either pram or car. So going to try that today.

Mum you are doing fabulous. Not long now until he gets easier if he is like seb. If you have to give the odd ff don't stress. If it gets you through another day its helping keeping bfing going.

I agree with frouby - you're doing brilliantly mumof, and every day that you're bf-ing is a success.

Hannah has given up her single night feed so we're back to one at 12.30 and one at 4.15. I know that's good but I got so excited by the single feed at 2am. Maybe they're all regressing a bit at 9weeks?

The good news is that I just weighed myself and have lost another 4 lb which is 8lb in 2 weeks! That's purely from giving up chocolate and eating like a normal person instead of a deranged gannet! Proves how greedy I was being before...

Well done lisb that's amazing.
We didnt go to get weighed last night, the whole family has that friggin cold again and baby is coughing like he was before
It's ds1 bloody nursery, I kept him off for a week when he had it before and when I took him back loads of kids had it and where at nursery

Gonna try and hit the Wednesday weigh in
Keep it up you're doing brill. Xx

Thanks alyssa, it does feel good but I know I won't be able to lose that much every week, much as I would love to! I have actually just eaten a big cheese sandwich and am now having two digestive biscuits, which isn't ideal!

Hope coughs and colds ease up for everyone soon - I blame this bloody weather!

Well I'm over my bad couple days, period didn't come but certainly felt hormonal! Feel back in the swing of it now, must make mental note to remember next time it's ok to have bad couple days and doesn't mean anything. I do tend to over think EVERYTHING! :)
My DD has changed so much this last week, the wonder weeks book says about 12 week leap, my baby has been going through this now I think a week early! It's amazing to see, she keeps using her hands more to bat at her fave cat toy and she gurgles and coos and we have lovely chats. I have appt this afternoon and will be leaving her with OH for 2 whole hours!! Longest time I would have ever been away from her! I'm wondering if DP will cope, lol

It's amazing to watch them change isn't it? Genevieve actually managed to grab the rings on her Lamaze bug toy and bring it to her mouth! I was so proud.
We've been a bit slack on tummy time these past few days, she used to be happy to wiggle about n her tummy for about 20 mins and was so close to proper mini push ups but now I'm lucky if she'll last 2 and raise her head up. Not too sure what has changed but we will keep on trying.
Hope colds clear up, weight drop off the mums and piles on the babies and that we all have lots more good days than bad.

Yes mogz you sound such a positive person, good on you! My DD also had her hand on the Lamaze cat toy and pulled to her mouth to which my DP says, should we sterilise that first??? Hahahahehehe

I do try hot, I've got a long history of depression and anxiety so really try to find the highlights and happiness in each day and find it helps to come on here and share them and share in others ups too, plus offer any advice or sympathy for the rough bits.
Lamaze toys are obviously really tasty!

How long has it taken everyone's lo's to get over their colds? Ds has had his for 9 days now, it's not as bad as at the start but he still sneezes a lot and now has a bit of a cough. It's driving me crazy! It's not like I can give him extra fruit and veg to help him!

Thanks for the encouragement tucking and lisb one minute I feel like bf going well, the next I feel like quitting so it's good to have the support!

Tonight I'm in shock- J went down without hours of on/off screaming and fussing! The one thing I did differently was to put him to the boob whilst he was fussing and he fed/sucked himself to sleep. Usually I've already handed him to DH to soothe but he was out. I'm used to ff with other two DC's so never really thought about the sucking to sleep thing. I'm worried it'll become a habit and i won't be able to get him to sleep without the boob as he gets older but I guess for now it's a result! Of course this could have been a fluke and he may be a nightmare again tomorrow night!