July 2014 - sleepless nights but lots of smiles

[NancyinCali]

The old thread is nearly full so here's a new place for us to chat about our July babies. Help yourself to some tea & cake to keep you going through the sleepless nights .

Why don't high chairs come with hand restraints?! DS wants to grab the spoon, but doesn't always grab the right end, he then ends up covered in his food. This morning he had porridge in his eye, up his nose, in his hair, and pretty much every where else. He likes to try to feed himself. But puts the spoon so far in his mouth he makes himself gag, and then he gets upset. But he also gets upset if I don't let him do it! This weaning lark is messy!

VIP I'm giving ds veg and fruit and bits of what we're having so sort of baby led weaning but I'm mashing some stuff so ds can taste it. I decided against buying food when I realised all the veg is mixed with other things as I want ds to know what veg tastes like. He loves broccoli, carrots , green beans, sprouts, courgette, banana, blueberries, apple, spinach... He had spag bol the other night and some of my pork chop. He only eats small amounts as he's still learning to chew and swallow but milk is still their main source of nutrition until 12 months so it's not about how much he eats - food is fun until one

ha becky ds does that too

Glad meal time is messy at others as well as here! Well ds slept better last night although I now have his cold and feel atrocious

auntie I keep telling myself that but ds has other ideas- is taking more and more food and wanting less and less milk! Health visitor commented he always has known what he wants which is very true!

becky ds loves getting porridge up his nose!

never mind messy mealtimes, BabyZing is full of snot and did a geyser puke today, yet again. whole bottle of milk pouring out of him, not much after he gobbled it down. that messed up his and my afternoon nap.
between his projectile vomiting, my endless sneezing & wetting my pants and DD trying to toilet train herself (translation: doing a poo in her nappy,going to bathroom, taking nappy off and let the "chips" fall where they may, then sitting on the loo, falling off the loo and walking across & spreading poo everywhere) there's so much extra washing is being generated I really struggle to be on top of things.
oh and of course there's DS4 always wiping his hands on his clothes and DS5 taking nappy off in the night then peeing in bed...

sorry, where were we?

I tanked up on baby rice & porridge but had to stop meals until snotiness & puking calms down.

hey ho, such is life.

It won't be long before he starts crawling! he did 2 big pouncing movements today, lounging himself forward. i was really surprised at how strong and fast his movements were. he was pleased as punch with himself.

we really ought to put up stair gates again.

aww zing... and there I was thinking I'd like 4

ds has forgotten how to turn himself from front to back/become lazy about it. but he keeps turning himself on his front and trying to walk on his hands and feet+ he doesn't go forward but travels quite a distance and I keep finding him stuck down the side of the sofa yesterday he was sat between my legs and put one hand on each leg and tried to push himself up onto his feet!

zing bloody hell that is a whole lot of bodily fluids for one person to deal with.

snow potty training is such fun. DD1 went through a holding phase so I stopped talking about it and let her get on with it. And fed her raisins.

DD2 still not giggling - I've given up! She's obviously just a serious little baby. Although she smiles loads and makes loads of cute sounds - babababa at 5am not so cute.

Just had DD2's 6 month check. The HV said that if we don't give formula after 6 months we're supposed to give vitamins to the baby. What?! Has anyone else's HV told them this?

No kiwi not one of the doctors/HVs/etc that ds saw over Christmas/New Year said we were supposed to give ds vitamins in fact one of the HVs I saw said he didn't need them. (Having said that ds has gone on a breastfeeding strike and will only breastfeed in the middle of the night now :( I'm expressing during the day to keep my supply up but I think it may be the end)

Yes I've been told ebf babies need vitamin d from 6 months

Yes to vitamin d although more as a - a very small number of loved and well cared for babies died because of a deficiency so better safe than sorry reason was given to us! If ff then need min 500ml not to need supplements.

auntie its so rubbish when baby decides not to bf it still makes me sad we stopped so early but you have done incredibly well!.

Hate this 4-5am awake hour I get every morning - made worse by being out with dh until 11! yawn

I know 6 1/2 months is good ickle but I enjoy it and wanted to carry on longer. I never thought it would upset me this much. I miss the little things he used to do when feeding. but I can definitely say formula does not help him sleep more!

Yep do totally understand - keep going as long as it isn't causing you stress

We've just set up the cot for DD2. I might have cried a lot little.

Don't remember crying for DD1 but I was probably excited that she was leaving our room and getting into a comfortable bed. DD2 has been sharing rooms with her sister for 2 weeks and was in there in her crib so this feels like a big change

It's very silly.

No kiwi I cried when ds went into his own room and big cot - I miss my little man especially holding his hand through the bars and his snoring.

I think it's time to give up ickle just finding it hard. He will happily latch on at night but my supply isn't there I don't think whereas during the day he won't even go near my nipple.

Auntie I'm having the opposite problem - I'm going back to work soon and I won't be able to express. I'm happy to carry on with a bedtime feed, but I need to cut everything else down, but DS won't take a bottle or drink from a beaker. I have no idea how to cut down the bf and introduce more formula. Any advice would be much appreciated.

I hadn't heard about vitamin supplements- is this something I should be doing?

Zing I'm in awe!

becky ds has formula hotter than breast milk so experiment with different temperatures but firstly I would try a bottle with breast milk and make it a bit warmer and try squirting some in his mouth before trying to get him to take the bottle. also try when he's not really hungry so between normal feeds and maybe get someone else to try. or try formula in a bottle as it being different might help. if you can get him to take the bottle that's half the battle as you can then introduce formula by mixing it with breast milk initially if he won't take it on its own. ds wouldn't take a bottle or formula initially but playing around with the temperature helped and having someone else feed him.

are you introducing solids? could you link it to that? say when he has solids he has a small bottle too in his highchair?

Thanks Auntie - so far different bottles and heating the formula hasn't worked, but he has had some water from a bottle just after his dinner, and he took a bottle of formula from my mother when she was looking after him for a few hours. I think I might just have to hope that when I'm in work he'll take it because he has no other option. It might be a bit unpleasant for me to go all day without feeding him without cutting it down slowly first, but when I try to give him a bottle he just clamps his mouth shut and looks at me like I'm giving him something poisonous! It then leads to a full on meltdown until I give in and bf.

Had a bad night last night. DD2 still wakes several times through the night. I thought by (nearly) 6 months she'd be doing much longer stretches, with maybe one wake up, but it was 3 last night. I've not had enough sleep in weeks and it's really taking its toll.

Confession: I felt like shaking the baby when she woke at 3am, only two hours after she last ate. I didn't, but it was a horrible feeling and now I'm worried about being at home with the girls all day while this lack of sleep continues. I asked DH to get up with the baby when she woke again at 6am because I didn't trust myself.

I need to stretch out her eating to every 4 hours, I think. Don't know if this is reasonable, though, and my HV, though lovely, is as much use as a chocolate teapot when it comes to practicalities.

She's started taking baby porridge, and we give her bits of our meals to chomp on. It's not helping her sleep so far but maybe it will?

Just wish I knew what to do. DD1 slept through the night as soon as we moved her to the cot at a similar age. I wish DD2 would do that for me. I hate feeling like a bad mum because I'm too tired to do anything. I'm worried that DD1 is suffering because of it.

Oh Kiwi that sounds like you had a horrible night.

We had this problem with bean, I spent far too much time feeding her, nearly constantly. She'd wake up twice a night after having a late (for babies) bedtime.

For us there were two things that helped. We changed her bottle teat early to the next level up, and I stopped worrying about feeding her 'enough'. She's quite small and doesn't eat nearly what the formula suggests she should- either per weight or per age. So I was quite worried that she wasn't taking in enough milk and I kept shoving the bottle in her face.

Once I started pushing the bottle on her less she started eating more efficiently with more time between feeds. Instead of feeding her a tiny amount over a long period, she mostly takes in a decent amount now and does it quickly. She also gives quite a strong no more indication by blowing raspberries at me.

I don't know that this will help / be relevant to you but it is doable.

And of course you're not going to shake the baby.

Hugs kiwi - the sleep deprivation is awful. We still have dd2 in with us so although she wakes 2-3 times a night it isn't too bad as I don't have to get up (she's going to be too big for the co-sleeper soon though). Would you consider moving her back in with you?
You're not a bad mum - although it feels really bad right now, it's just a small period in all of your lives and it will end. DD1 will be fine if she watches more tv than you'd like or doesn't go to as many activities as before. This is what I tell myself anyway!

Oh kiwi you poor thing. Could your DH have a few days off work to help you get some sleep? Mine just took a long weekend and I swear I've slept more in the last four days than I have in about the last month! My DS wakes every 2 hours, so you have my sympathy!

Kiwi

I sympathise. exhaustion fucks with your brain to put it delicately.

baby's not sleeping well or sleeping well sometimes has nothing to do with what a parent does or doesn't do.

i do nothing that aids BabyZing sleeping well, he is just like that.

equally there was nothing i could ever do to make DS1 sleep better, he was just a crap sleeper.
i know it doesn't sort your problem, but I want you to understand that baby's sleeping or lack of it can be totally independent of your actions!!!!

Having said that, introducing protein (chicken & beef are good starters) at the evening meals might just help.
and you could try some "hungry baby" formula.
It's a tough time, I'm sorry you feel at the end of your rope.

massive hugs, I hope you can maybe have a little nap today

Oh kiwi we may not admit it but I've been just as frustrated and have cried at ds/ put him in his cot walked away and cried. I have also told not asked dh to take him many times! Waking up several times in the night does not make for happy mummies. I've just started alternating with dh for 4am feed and made a big difference mentally. Is more in preparation for going back to work really.

As for feeding I find just letting ds take the lead much less stressful. He dropped from 6 to 4 feeds then yesterday only took 3 and half of the last one was dream feed because he wouldn't take it. Plan to stay in this afternoon to see if that helps. He is eating really well so just have to focus on that!