Graduated Elderberries

[HazleNutt]

It's time to move to Post-Natal clubs.

bear, not to sure what the post natal classes are myself yet as I've only been to the intro one. My leaflet says that I have 6 classes 1)weaning 2)womens health 3)sleep, minor illnesses 4)baby massage 5)communication 6)safety (includes freebies like pram reflectors and cupboard locks). I think it's mainly to put you in touch with other local mums, so you feel less isolated. It was nice to hear of the trials and tribulations other mums are going through, everyone was amazed at my friends wonderous 12 hour sleeping baby, the hv laughed and said that was definitely not the norm and they didnt expect babies to sleep through until around 6 months. (hers slept through from 2 weeks)

alex, I just think babies are all different, 99% of the time H will go down when sleepy and lay quietly until he falls asleep, however every now and again and he will wake himself up and shout till I pick him up again. I do feed him at night before putting him down but he normally is put down awake. The post natal class was good in the respect that I've only really been worried about trying to get H to sleep through, rather than focusing on and appreciating the good things he does, for example I discovered that some of the mums would love their baby to settle like H does as they also struggle to put their baby down. It was also nice to hear other people struggled with bf, one lady had a baby like H who screamed at the sight of boob, she used nipple shields too and only managed to feed /express for 2 weeks, made me quite proud of my 9 weeks.

That is true - S finds some things really difficult and struggles with self-settling and also her tummy probs, but she's lovely when it comes to playing and cuddling, and we're lucky I can still bf with no pain for example.

Water babies was brilliant - can't recommend it enough! She was so cute in the water, she only cried when they did the baby dunking for the first time (was scary for me too!) and she smiled and laughed when we first got in She passed out as soon as she got out of the pool and someone else's baby couldn't even stay awake in the pool!

V is sleeping in his own room, at least going to bed went without any complaints, we will see about the rest. He has a bit of stuffed nose though, so sounds like a little hippo, hope that doesn't wake him up.

Ah yes, M fell asleep in the pool for the first lesson. Seems so long ago now he thrashes around splashing a screaming with laughter the entire time we're in the pool these days. Glad she enjoyed it. You've got all kinds of treats ahead - M was put through a hoop underwater today and we swam half the width of the pool underwater together too

Good luck tonight Hazle. And everyone in fact!

Ah we start swimming this week too!
Hoops underwater janey doubt my skills would extend to what M can do!

I can't wait to start swimming with W - can they start at 8 weeks? I'm not sure we've got Water Babies at our local - is there any reason (aside from nerves on my part) that I can't just take her to the under 5s open session in the hydro pool?

No reason you can't just take her to any pool Quod but i think baby swimming classes tend to be in warmer private pools. Our local council pool also has a small warmer pool which 32 degrees and is ideal for babies so maybe yours has too?

We go swimming with a franchise called Puddle Ducks, which is like Water Babies but cheaper. E also swims through hoops underwater. I can't link as on phone but they have a local class finder if you Google their website.

I've taken H to a few Swim a Song sessions run by the council for £2 a time. Found a Waterbabies class that's run on Saturday mornings in a special school's hydrotherapy pool but was floored by the 8.50 session fee!

Will have a look for Puddle Ducks.

If you don't find a private pool, you can get neoprene wetsuit wraps to keep them warm - I use one with H as pool is 30. Added benefit - lots easier to hold!

Swim nappies are a bit of an art form too... but easier when you know how!

Water babies is expensive (£150 for a ten week course here which S got for xmas from grandad, and I paid a load extra for one under water baby pic at the end!) but it's just great for doing activities and building your confidence. For example, first lesson the instructor dunked them under the water, which I don't know if I'd ever have been brave enough to do alone! Also they have little songs and stuff. They teach you a good technique of looking them in the eye and saying the babies name before splashing water over their head to get them used to knowing it's coming - so you say "xxxx, ready, go!" before putting some water over their head or dunking them. If I wasn't doing this course, I'd def still take them to the warmest pool I could find locally for swimming sessions myself. quod it's fine to start at 8 weeks, that's exactly how old S is.

She screamed like crazy in the car on the journey home again though, argh - I thought babies were meant to like car journeys! She had quite a good run of sleep though this evening so far, by our usual standards I mean so obviously not that good Hoping she'll go back down again now, fingers crossed.

hm I'm not really sure how it went. Good news is that he woke up only twice and slept til 7.30, that's better than he's done in ages. But both times he simply would not settle with DH. And had proper feeds when I went in, so I am thinking he might still be hungry?

Water babies over here is 165 for 10 lessons!!! I use a school called baby loves swimming and pay 12 quid a lesson. It is expensive but like Alex says I've learned loads myself what to do with her and when we were on holiday I was confident enough to dunk her in the sea which was great!!
Think only thing to consider before 16 week jabs quod is the water temperature. L went at 11 weeks.
Slightly better night I suppose. In her room till 5 then a brief spell in bed then final hours in travel cot. A few wakings but I even managed some sleep

Good sleeping V and L!

H had a Shocker - really difficult to get down, slept til 2 then wide awake til 430 - eventually down again at 5.

Knackered.

Am stunned at those waterbabies prices - are they 25 min sessions like here?

We went to Switzerland before and there they also did all kinds of exercises, dunking and whatnot. Then switched to France, which is more convenient and loads cheaper, but there is nothing happening, some instructor (who is probably not even baby swim instructor) walks around asking if we're ok and otherwise you're left to your own devices. If V didn't have the previous experience, we would have no idea what to do with him. So I agree that if possible, you should definitely go to an organised baby swim class first.

Yep short sessions brave which would seem like a rip off if it wasn't for the fact that the babies are shattered by then, it's enough time for them before they kick off I reckon. I think it's well worth the money - still cheaper than a lot of adult gym memberships for example. It's a good thing to wish as a pressie too, that's what S did. I wouldn't pay that much for something like baby massage (am doing that course free).

Glad there were some decent sleeps around. 5.5 hours over here but her reflux wasn't too bad in the night, she's having a rough time this morning though. I'm going to need to feed her in public later which can be hard when she screams during or after - most babies love a feed! S does when she's having a good day and those satisfying milk coma feeds are bliss!

We start our water babies on the 20th, I made a decision to pay the ridiculously expensive amount (£140 for 10 classes here) as its the only expensive thing I'll do with him, also water seems to be one of his favourite things. My parents reimbursed me though which was nice and I told them they can come and spectate one week which they are excited about!

I took H swimming a few weeks back but had no idea what I was doing so decided classes were a better option. We dont have puddle ducks down here which is gutting!

H slept 12-3.30, then up again at 5.30 an 7.30, he had 6oz at 3.30 but was hungry again at 5.30 I tried to resettle with just the dummy .....greedy boy.

I'll probably do one other class a week with H, maybe rhyme time or something, maybe baby massage if he likes it at our postnatal class. We see lots of friends with babies so I dont want to make my life a big circuit of baby activities, think I'd go mad.

Yeah S and I seem to have settled into a nice balance of one or two classes a week, seeing friends with babies, weekly NCT meet up and days for just the two of us where we watch trashy tv go for lunch and shopping.

Hm. I was worrying here how to get V to settle and reading the sleep topic on MN and..maybe I should stop complaining. The things you read there - babies up for hours and hours, screaming their heads off, only agree to sleep if you are in the room, can't be put down..wow.

Sure, some nights have been bad, but generally he does not need any assistance to fall asleep; if he wakes he just feeds and goes back to sleep without complaints; does not mind if we leave the room and there is no screaming. If he could just keep the 2 night feeding breaks, then that's actually quite good.

H just looked me in the eye as he pooed on my hand....twice. What a lovely good morning gesture! It bloody stunk too. Also looks like he has nappy rash for the first time, sudocremed him right up but wondered if a cloth nappy for a few hours might help rather than having synthetic next to his skin?

Yeah hazel I was amazed to learn at the postnatal group what other people were dealing with, H is a dream by comparison.

Well after last night I do feel I am a position to complain about E's lack of sleeping.

So, last night went like this...
8pm - in bed asleep.
9pm - briefly woke up, needed hand holding and shushing.
11.45 - woke for a feed, fell asleep feeding.
1.30 - 5.00 - WIDE A FUCKING WAKE!!! She went to sleep several times during this time and was visibly knackered and showing tired signs, but as soon as she fell asleep she woke up 5 minutes later. Eventually fell asleep feeding at 5am.
6.30 - woke up crying, shushed back to sleep.
6.35 - same again
6.40 - same again
6.45 - brought her into our bed for the first time ever and she slept until 8.00.

We have swimming on a Friday at 10.30 so she goes down later than normal for her nap, so she went to sleep at 11.40, woke after 40 minutes and needed shushing back to sleep, woke again 5 mins later, then woke again, so she has been napping for 1h 20mins so far and has woken up 3 times.

WTF has happened to our baby?!!

Yes Cavort, I would have to agree that you absolutely can complain. FX just an one-off? teeth? ((grasping straws))

wow cav please do complain! I'd be throwing my toys out the pram after a night like that here have and and some more actually maybe E should have the wine perhaps it would make her sleep

Cav I'm afraid your baby is manipulating you and trying to get your attention! You've obviously spoiled her too and now she is broken like mine

Throw them where though Mother? It's not like there's much we can do about it other than just ride it out. Thank goodness DH is so good though, he split it with me even though he has loads on at work at the moment so instead of being a complete zombie today I merely just look and feel rough as fuck. Only a few days ago she was just waking up once at around 4.30 admittedly for over an hour and nothing has changed since. Who can work these damn babies out??? No sign of any teeth yet Hazle but would love one to pop through as an explanation! The Wonder Weeks says she is in the middle of an uncomplicated phase - WHATEVER!

Cross posts Lol but yes I have clearly ruined her and she is destined to grow up to be an entitled little princess.

During our shift changeover DH did dare to ask if I thought we should try some sleep training. I suspect after the look I gave him he won't be asking again.