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 .

ds woke about 20 times last night (was actually about 6 but felt like 20) not hungry just not sleeping and needed comforting I think. so one very tired and tearful mummy this morning :(

Here are some lies people tell you about infant sleep:

sweetmadeleine.ca/2013/10/14/here-are-some-lies-people-tell-you-about-infant-sleep/

Awwww poor you Auntie! That's horrible! Sleep deprivation is the worst!

Oh auntie hope that you have been able to rest lots today. I really do think sleep depravation is the worst part.

Had an amazing week away with dh to help look after ds- I know it sounds awful but when he went to work this morning I was jealous I am fine when out or with friends but when nothing planned is just rubbish and find ds hard work. I am going back part time in march and will probably be upset at the time but half of me is looking forward to it- I miss teaching...

Oh and that article is great vip thanks

has anyone got a letter from santa for their dcs first Christmas?

I got a letter for dd Auntie. I thought it'd be nice as a keepsake. It's from nspcc for a £5 donation, and is a really sweet poem (brought a tear to my eye!)

The Santa letter sounds cute! Wonder if I can get one here :)

vip what time does he wake up?

We've been trying all week to put to bed later and rock back to sleep in the morning but no difference still awake 3-4am and awake for at least an hour. ..

Ds has started to be clingy to mummy again too won't take feed from dh or settle. Dh took him at 5 as normal but by 5.15 was inconsolable screaming so I had to go down finish feed and get back to sleep- which I'm struggling to do having been awake 3+h dh is going to the football today and meeting a friend before he said we should go get a tree this morning. If he expects it to be decorated when he gets back he's in for a shock.

Yesterday ds refused to sleep for more than 3min. Normally get a 2h nap either at lunch or afternoon but no. He also had bright red cheeks and was grumpy all day- teeth are through but guessing still coming up or more elsewhere. Gave ibuprofen but so grumpy all day. I was shattered and didn't get to go on my run. Going to do the food shopping this morning and will be sitting in the cafe for at least 10mins...

Santa letter is a good idea but don't know where I would put it- could do a scrapbook but had thought I may just do a printed photo book at the end of the year- maybe I could just leave a page blank!

Nancy can always get delivered here and I will post on if that helps but may not be there in time for Christmas?

Ickle he wakes up at about 5 or 6am. We usually give him a bath, bottle, sometimes a massage ( if we are not too tired lol) as his bedtime routine

DD has just had a 2 hour nap. It's only the second since she was born. Mostly she does 5 or 10 minute bursts here and there but I've been putting her in her crib every three hours to get her sleeping more and it seems to be working.

We're also trying to get her to take one expressed bottle per day. She starts sobbing as soon as she sees the bottle now so it's not going well. Any tricks?

Hope the very early risers start sleeping later for you all. Hopefully it will click into place as they get more active.

kiwi have you tried different temperatures for the expressed milk? or a soppy cup or different bottles? ds likes bottle milk really warm

That's lovely of you to offer ickle :) I think I've found one I can use - I've just got to get around to actually ordering it now. I've been busy ordering gifts for all my UK friends and relatives today (thank you not on the high street) and about to go to bed. Will hopefully get a few hours before the first wake up!

kiwi I'm impressed you've managed to find time to express. I really need to as we've been talking about trying to do some skiing over Christmas so we'll need to be able to leave a bottle for her in the childcare (if I'm brave enough to leave her that is).

nancy I'm now with drawing my offer from jealousy as I see you are going skiing. Didn't get to go last season because of pregnancy either boo. Maybe next year...but then we are thinking about doing an extension. ..why do I have to choose??!

Agree with auntie ds will only drink formula warm. Yesterday he was a nightmare. Fed at 4.30 then refused until we took him for a drive at 10.30 to get him to sleep then fed when we stopped. I wouldn't mind except he's screaming because he's hungry but refusing a bottle. At least when breastfeeding and he did this I could swap to bottles...now what??! Going to see the health visitor asap because I'm in a right state about it now.

kiwi we had a lie in this morning until...4.10! Urgh!

We bought our tree yesterday and decorated it when ds went to sleep. Does look really lovely and festive now. Not long to go!

Oh dear! That sounds like a nightmare. When I first gave my DS a bottle he used to refuse & make a face too. But we just had to persist and warm it up and stay firm for him to take it. Now he takes bottles more easily

ickle is he teething? I only ask as ds gets like that when I try to BF him when his gums are playing up so I put bonjela on his gums before feeding him. If that doesn't work then I give him a bottle but it has to be almost hot. Apparently if they're teething it can be more painful when they feed. Mind you ds has also been like it if he's overtired and hungry.

I'm trying today to wait for hunger cues rather than battle! He has 2 teeth through but also very red cheeks. Will try teething gel before a feed. He always likes the milk very warm...trying so hard not to let it stress me out today!

Thanks for the advice everyone. She took the bottle really well tonight. Possibly because we had guests around, who were a good distraction, so we'll see how she does tomorrow. I had managed to get her to feed by walking around while feeding so I'm glad I didn't have to do that again! That works sometimes when she won't breastfeed too.

MoreSnow Yes, I make sure she gets breaks. We're using an Avent Classic bottle, which seems quite nice. I've heard MAM are good.

grouchy glad I'm not the only one walking/rocking around to get ds to feed!

I waited for hunger cues today and a stress free day feeding. ..fingers crossed for tomorrow. I may hide all clocks so I don't get stressed worrying about times between feeds!

I've read the same advice moresnow has given but I've never had to do any of it with ds. I use tommee tippee bottles and am still using the first size teat but ds seems ok with that even though my sister laughed at me the other day as he apparently should have gone up 2 sizes