September 2006 babies

[Lysettes]

Start of our september 2006 post natal thread!

Pol26 - good luck with the house hunt

I' recommend gro bags in a heartbeat - they're great (and recommended by SIDS people). Baby's hands do get a bit cold but it doesn't seem to bother them nd I reckon they'd get more cold if in blankets that they keep kicking off!

Never heard of a boppy either Marls, will have a look, especilly as we're having so much trouble burping this one.

Pol - don't think your DP deserves reprieve from his drought just yet anyway

Well done all of you getting full nights - we're down to one waking (yay!) but day time sleep's been tricky so we're going to try and implement the routine this week... wish us luck!

What the hell is a boppy?!!!! Cruisemum, think you will find that almost all of us use & love Grobags...

So who was up at 5.30am this morning despite putting babies to bed an hour later because of GMT???!!!!!!!

Anybody watching x-factor?!!

Pol. good luck with the HH!

the boppy is a breastfeeding cushion...john lewis used to stock them...they/re firmer than most and can be used for propping baby up too

do a google and you'll see how loved they are (esp by americans)

hard to get hold of here, except on ebay

lucy slept 8 hours last night!!! 8 to 4

sorry about typing, one handed as feeding lucy (with a boppy you ca feed hands free!!)

cruisemum - i have the same thing with DS - nights no problem really, although daytime totally erratic - a couple of days ago he slept 9.30am to 4.30pm, only waking twice for quick snacks!!! still went down at 7pm.

and Compo - i always wake him up by 5.30pm if he's napping, and i give him a bath before 7pm bedtime as it seems to tire him out. he gets a full feed before bath and top up with lights dimmed before bed (which he sometimes only takes an ounce of). he is always asleep by 7.30 latest...

having said that, he is 6 weeks, nearly 12 lbs, and yet STILL can't stay awake for longer than an hour and a half at a time, and he kips loads... i am starting to realise that actually there's no prescription because each baby has very different sleep / feeding needs!

House was - ok - it was a repossession I think as empty and estate agent said she could not tell us what had happened, felt weird as most of their stuff was still there- babies bits etc asked her if it was because they did not keep up mortgage and she said nothing but I think it was a yes. Was ok but needed alot doing to it, it was as if they started jobs in every room but never finished them and it was filthy!!! My house is not immaculate but this was really dirty, superficial but still how does anyone live with mouldy bathrooms???!!!

We are seeing another on Tuesday night but you have to go through bed 3 to get to bed 2 which DP doesn't like the sound of... although he was willing to buy a two bed... makes no sense to me.

Ben is getting minx-y and won't sleep in the day at all unless you are pacing the floor which is driving me mad. he actually was smiling like mad at four this morning (old time) when I was getting up to him fussing- as soon as he saw me he smiled as if to say, ha ha you're back mummy!!! Even the light show didn't work...

We are using gro bags, DD still has hers at two and we all love them... I still wrap B in a brushed cotton sheet so he feels semi swaddled.

Glad to hear some of us are getting full nights sleep!!! Oh to put him down at ten and wake at 7am!!!

Thanks Tassis for explaining ... another use for them is as a cushion for sitting, right after coming home from hospital, so that nothing touches the "sore area". (Thank goodness we're all beyond that now!!) For more, Boppy

LOL - Compared notes this morning with DH who had midnight feedings duty last night. Found out Jameson not only projectile vomited, but was up at 3 AND 4, AND 6. DH holding a clueless Jameson this morning & asking "What is the deal? Why do you save all the good stuff for Daddy!?"

Tassis, do you mind if I ask you if you are breastfeeding?

I am absolutely shattered today! . ds has cold and cough and watery eyes. He slept loads yesterday but couldn't settle at all in cot at night - (first time). Today he has taken ages to settle for nap and will only do that in my arms. Will he ever nap/sleep in his cot????!!! What the heck am I to do? Also seems to want to use me as a dummy yet refuses to take a real one. Hates them. I feel like I am doing a terrible job of parenting - help!

cruisemum, have you tried controlled crying re getting him to sleep in cot?

cruisemum - does he sleep okay in the moses basket? If he does I'd leave it fo a while, maybe until he grows out of it? I think I read somewhere that controlled crying isn't recommded until 6 months

Thanks Compo and Cori. I think he has outgrown MB already. He does seem very big in it. He is prob over 12lb's now at 7.5weeks. Would not do controlled crying as it would break my heart and I don't think it would be fair to anyone in house, especially ds. Also as he is so young I think it would be detrimental to his feeling of security. My dd gets very anxious when she hears him cry too. She would prob report me to SS!!He sleeps well in car seat during day. Is this OK???

Hello eveyone, its been a while since I've looked on mumsnet. I hope eveyone is ok.
DS is 9lbs 5oz now and he had a relatively good night last night but after his 2:30 feed I was just wide awake and couldn't get back to sleep, it was soo frustrating as I was really tired!
I'm a bit anxious today as DH is away for 2 nights with work and my MIL has decided to come and stay. I always feel really self conscious about how I look after DS because MIL will always interfere and tell me I'm not doing things right (aargh - expect a few rants from me in the next few days)

I'm still avoiding eating dairy foods at the moment as I'm sure there is a link with DS's behaviour. I had a mullerice the other night and about 4 hours later after a feed, DS was crying and straining for several hours and just not settling at all.

cori - if course I don't mind you asking. yep, I'm exclusively breastfeeding. I haven't expressed yet as i'm too lazy and also lucy seems quite happy on 4 feeds a day so no real need at the moment. I'm a SAHM so no need to get her onto bottles before returning to work so I think I might just not bother. Why do you ask?

Marls - your poor DH, that's a grim night!

Cruisemum - sorry you're finding it tough. Lucy wouldn't settle for her sleep this morning and all, but has now conked out on her tummy on the sofa and has slept there for the past 2.5 hours. I know tummy sleeping's not recommended and I wouldn't do it overnight but I figure it's OK in the daytime when I'm beside her... Carseat sleeping's OK though they say not to leave them in seat for more than 2 hours if you can help it as it's not great for their backs, but if it saves your sanity I'd go with it for a few weeks. You could keep trying the cot and if he doesn't settle switch to car seat/ bouncy chair. One day it'll probably click!

pol - hope you get a house soon. it's hard to see past dirt isn't it?

Myrtle - please try to ignore your MIL if she makes you feel inadequate. feel free to rant!

Wow, Tassis, well done Lucy! Lizzie is still feeding every hour and a half at the moment. I'm not sure if it's a growth spurt or the heavy cold that both she and DS have. We need an eyes held open with matchsticks emoticon!

Cruisemum, have you tried putting the MB in the cot for a few days. I know a few people who have done this and it's worked forthem. Apparently it gets them used to the environment whilst still feeling enclosed. A grobag would also help with that as I'm another one who thinks they're fab!

Marls, it's hearing about the benefits of FF such as being able to share the night feeds that make me want to give up BF. I'm finding it much harder this time and I don't think I'll manage 6mths this time around. Having 2 under 2 at home fulltime sends my expressing plans out the window too!

Pol, good luck with the house hunting. They should be able to tell you if it is a repo but not the circumstances behind it. If it isn't a repo, I'd check nobody was murderlyurdered in it! (Sorry!)

Oh and DD is going down at 7. We've been putting her down at this time after a bath (with DS) and a BF in the dark since she was 4days old. I did it because I really just wanted to have one bedtime for both and have evenings with DH although DS is being very difficult and taking a long time to go off at the moment.

Hi to everyone else who I haven't spoken to in a while. (Lazy mum emoticon needed now!)

homemama, I have had the MB in cot for well over a week but it made no difference. Maybe cossa his cold he wouldn't have settled anywhere last night(?). I didn't use grobag last nite but defo will tonight as ds had no blankets within mins of being in the cot! Feel so envious of those of you who have managed to be able to put baby down by 7/8pm. dh comes home around then and it is dd's bathtime so i just can't crack it. ds is in our room at present too so when dh gets home and gets changed he would disurb him at that time. I keep reminding myself that it is still early days .... thanks for all advice/responses.

btw homemama how old is dd?

Tassis, I ask as I find it amazing (& as I said rather envious!) that just on 4 breastfeeds a day she's going so long at night...it's fantastic!! I had Jack weighed today...11lb 10oz..that's 3lb in 6 weeks HV says he's just a very hungry boy! Anyhow to cut to the short version...I'm finding it at struggle to express -not the art but the time it takes me to get 5oz out. So after much dithering & debating we're going to give him a FF at 10/11pm to replace the EBM that DH would give him. Don't really want to give in quite yet but I'm so tired & really struggling (i.e the longer I leave it to express the harder it is). DD is being v. difficult to & feel that I need to spend as much time with her as I can (she also wont leave me alone when expressing..she insists on pumping for me!!)....I doubt it'll mean he'll go longer between feeds but it will make me a bit happier I think...

Cori - I agree 4 feeds doesn't seem a lot. Sometimes there's a fifth, and sometimes I do a split feed (you know one side before the nursery drop off and one after), but usually it's just 4 a day and she was gaining about half a pound a week when I last had her weighed. I did try to get 5 in because I thought it'd help with the nights, but it wasn't happening. On saturday she fed at about 8am, then I woke her to feed at 12.30 and had to wake her again to feed at 4.45.

I think one bottle a day of formula seems sensible given how your feeling. Don't beat yourself up about it. Enjoy the time it frees up for you to spend with your DD. Hope your wee man goes longer for you at nights soon.

We aim to put both wee ones to bed around 7. Go up for baths some time after 6, bath both at same time (dd in baby bath beside ds, dd in for about 3 mins, ds in for up to 15!). Then stories, prayers etc from abour 6.40 either with me feeding dd at the same time or dh reading stories while I feed in peace in the next bedroom. Then ds thinks they both go to bed, but often dd feeds on for another half hour or so! i was keen to get them into a routine like this as dh is often out at nights and I wanted to be able to do it by myself. Mind you I take my hats off to those of you with smaller age gaps, ds is 3.5 and so can do a lot by himself...

cruise - we (against all advice probbly) nested jacob with towels at the sides of the cot and then a sheet tucked in over them so he couldn't roll under them - they have jsut come out this week (after him being in the cot for 8ish weeks (he's 15 weeks now)- that really helped him.

breakthrough tonight - first evening feed he stayed awake at the end of to go into his cot awake! and he settled himself - we'll see how it goes....

he has also just gone into a grobag after not liking them a few weeks ago. he's taken to turning himself around 90 degrees so it was best he was in a bag and no covers to get himself under! little monkey!

weighed today and he was 10lb 14 oz, so doing really well considering birth weight of 3lb 2!

and re getting him down early in the evening, we have bath at 6pm religiously. before we did that, ds wasn't settling till 10pm, and after a week or so he got into the routine. we also have a sort of day time routine with naps - one at around 1030 and another at around 4ish - tried toget him to nap earlier in the afternoon but he won't have any of it!

lol everyone - keep going we're all doing really really really well!

cruise - we (against all advice probbly) nested jacob with towels at the sides of the cot and then a sheet tucked in over them so he couldn't roll under them - they have jsut come out this week (after him being in the cot for 8ish weeks (he's 15 weeks now)- that really helped him.

breakthrough tonight - first evening feed he stayed awake at the end of to go into his cot awake! and he settled himself - we'll see how it goes....

he has also just gone into a grobag after not liking them a few weeks ago. he's taken to turning himself around 90 degrees so it was best he was in a bag and no covers to get himself under! little monkey!

weighed today and he was 10lb 14 oz, so doing really well considering birth weight of 3lb 2!

and re getting him down early in the evening, we have bath at 6pm religiously. before we did that, ds wasn't settling till 10pm, and after a week or so he got into the routine. we also have a sort of day time routine with naps - one at around 1030 and another at around 4ish - tried toget him to nap earlier in the afternoon but he won't have any of it!

lol everyone - keep going we're all doing really really really well!

I'm off for a day and it takes an age to catch up!

Pol - shame the house was dirty but hope you can see past it - our new house had mouldy silicone in the bathroom and black grout too - easily fixed with some new silicone, a ton of bleach and a bit of elbow grease!

Cruisemum - we, a point of wits end, did controlled crying with DS1 at 4 weeks BUT he was crying for upwards of 8 hrs a day anyway (because of his reflux amongst normal baby crying) - I wouldn't even consider it with DS2, I think you have to have a really serious problem to go there at this stage. A tip we did find in terms of easing the MB to cot transition (from the nurses on the childrens ward) is to get rolled up towels under the sheet and make a cosy little 'nest' as it helps then feel more secure.

Trying a technique tonight for getting them to go longer at night (one of she who must not be named's ideas) - will let you know if if works and if it does will tell you how to do it, we tried it with DS and got a full night's sleep at 5 weeks so I have high hopes!

Sorry, just realised I repeated Lysettes idea about the towels - sorry lysettes! tired....

Hello all its been so long that I feel like a nervous newcomer , am I still welcome lol

Elizabeth is 5weeks on wednesday and at last weigh in a week ago she was 9lb 13oz, how time has flown , will pop some pics of her on the yahoo site when I have finished this message.
She is sleeping well wakes up for one feed at 3am or sometimes at 6am. Wind is alot better and she is more settled. The only thing is she does not like the cot or moses basket so has been sleeping in the carseat on anight, but last night she slept half the night in the basket (fingers crossed this will be the start of her spending the night in it).
Bradley loves her and loves to help me with bathing, feeding etc. He is excited about halloween at the moment, we do not go trick or treating but we have carved some pumpkins(will put a pic of them on yahoo too) and he loves to hand out the treats

Just had a quick scan of recent posts ,

What age can you start to use grobags?
Sounds like some of you are having some good nights, really pleased for you
Pol good luck with the house search.
Has anybody popped their lo in a room of their own?
Will definatley use the towels trick when its the right time to put her in the cot
Lysettes well done on your ds being able to settle himself

Hi everyone. LC - ooh let us in on your top tip
Puppy - great to hear from you. My grobag says it can be used once lo is 10lbs.
Last night was a good one. Dd settled really well at 8.30pm and then fed once at 2am, then again at 5.30am. Hopefully we're getting into some sort of a routine. Days are a bit different. When we're at home she feeds lots and then has a big sleep if we go out - I carry her in from the pushchair and she often carries on sleeping
Lysettes - wow, can't beleive how old your lo is!!