October 2014 // thread 5 // baby's first Christmas

[JeannePoole]

Welcome back!

(Dear greetings cards manufacturers: 'Baby's First Christmas' does NOT necessarily have to include Baby being liberally sprinkled with glitter from your shoddily-made merchandise.

Except that, as I'm rapidly discovering, it does.

[STIGZ]

moose your ds is absolutely gorgeous!! Honestly he's going to be a heartbreaker ! Doesn't need beauty sleep thats for sure

pregnant i have January blues also, think i might look out my wee ultra violet light and see if it helps? Dp's taxi broke down on monday and has been in the garage since, so not making any money until its back on the road, the microwave broke last night, fucking wonderful start to the new year but i suppose it could be a lot worse ?

My sis in law is 9 weeks pregnant, really happy for them they have a wee boy who is two, she's knackered already... Feel so sorry for her as i know being pregnant with another child to look after is no bloody picnic and only gets harder as the months go on note to self ... Enquire about getting coil fitted... I want no little "accidents" thank you very much

[STIGZ]

Thanks pony for that link.,, good to know!

[FATEdestiny]

My answer to the January blues - I have just spent an obscene amount of money on sexy underwear. Because I am sick of wearing dull maternity bras and massive pants

[wondermoose13]

Haha good on you fate! I got excited about fitting in some non maternity jeans a few weeks back. Still a food few sizes bigger than they should be tho!

Any of the manchester area people fancy a meet up at the baby and toddler show? Someone posted about free tickets in the fb group

[wondermoose13]

I could bloody kill dh!! Babymoose woke after 30 mins so we put some teething gel on and i fed him. Told dh if he was likely to fall asleep to set an alarm on his phone for 15mins as i could barely keep my eyes open as feed had finished and wanted to wait before trying to move babymoose.
An hour later i wake up!!! Bloody idiot set alarm then turned it off when it went off so weve all just slept together for an hour! I know co sleeping isnt a bad think but babymoose wasnt in a safe position and we're never going to get him to sleep in his cot if we let him sleep next to me all bloody night! I know im being irrationally angry but i want to bloody kill him!!! Ive now got a bat shit crazy baby refusing to feed or sleep and is instead chewing harder on my nipple than ever whilst flailing around and kicking me. I hate my life!

[STIGZ]

Aw moose, i would be raging aswell, ask him to do one thing & he cant do that, not to mention being sleep deprived, makes your anger a whole lot worse!!

Baba fed at half 9 and sleeping for 11, she woke at 5 for a feed, good night all in all but might be because of jags ??? Im sitting here dying with period cramps so much more painful after c/sec, everything just feels so tender again? No sign of her going back to sleep, as i have my period i feel like i have slept 5 minutes the whole night. Dp will be working 7 days for the foreseeable as he has lost so much money with the taxi being off the road, which means no long lie in for me for the foreseeable, i could cry !!

[tattyblue]

After a massive, soul destroying three hour cluster feed the baby just slept for nine hours! Nine! The first time in twelve weeks I've had more than six hours, and I've only had that twice. And she's gone back to sleep again! I'm a bit hysterical. Imagine not being tired!

Can we have the sleep without the almighty feed, though? I think this is probably all part of a twelve week growth spurt, because she does tend to sleep more as well as eating more for those. But there's a bit of my that thinks baby sleep is like balloon rubber- hard to stretch the firsttime, easier the second.

[ohthegoats]

Phew, I got some sleep! Gave in to the idea that she just wants to be in with me, and that she's not ready for a 7pm bed time. She napped then, but came back out for a couple of hours afterwards for more eating. Wanted to eat every 2 hours after that, but that's fine for now. I feel a bit human again.

[LebkuchenMonster]

fatpony, wondermoose, anyone else worrying about getting into bad habits: DON'T! They're too young for it to matter. Who cares if they nap in the pram? The only problem is if you need to nap at the same time. Ds often naps for two hours in the morning, three hours in the afternoon and a bit more in the early evening, but none of those naps are in his Moses basket or cot.

I know how it feels btw. I was really neurotic about dd's sleep as a baby because nights were so bad. I worried that she was sleeping too much during the day and beat myself up every time I fell asleep feeding at night and woke up half an hour later with her next to me in the bed.

It is much easier to go with the flow and not worry. I've got a bit of an advantage in that, although I'm of these babies sleeping 9 hours or whatever, I'm also chuffed that ds does a 5 hr stretch most nights atm becuase dd didn't.

(DD sleeps brilliantly now btw and has done from age 3. Things got progressively better from the 17 month sleep regression which was hell on earth and by age 3 she was sleeping past 6am, not needing to use the toilet at night and only waking us when ill. She also kept a two hour nap until around her 4th birthday, admittedly helped by the enforced nap in her kindergarten schedule. Now at age 5, the main problem with her sleep is me having to wake her at 7.30 to get her to kiga on time!)

[FATEdestiny]

I second LebkuchenMonster. With hindsight with my first born, all of my problems actually came from trying not to 'make a rod for my own back'. So avoiding The Rod in fact created The Rod.

Don't worry about how and where. Just get baby lots of sleep - day and night.

Get the good sleeping habits first
Then work on the good getting to sleep habits.

Get baby to sleep deeply, often and for long stretches at night - by any means possible. Only once you have good sleeping habits can you work on good getting to sleep habits. Pointless working on it the other way around.

[splendide]

That's encouraging Fate that's what i keep telling myself. I do have "rod like" feelings about the dummy but then its only with the dummy he'll sleep in the pram and car seat which has been life changing for me!

[wondermoose13]

Lol id settle for any sleep anywhere! The main reason i was annoyed at him sleeping in bed last night was he was in the middle which is why dh was asked to set an alarm as i dont trust him to not roll over/pull the quilt up etc. I just dont get why weve had some good nights then its gone to shit. I feel like hell on earth today and had to get up because hv is coming at 9.30.... shes still not here! Ffs

[MundayCakes85]

Morning all, we had a good night at last, one 1/2 hour wake up at 5.30
Which I can cope with happily. DD now playing on her mat on her own. Going to get her 2 good naps today by going for a walk if the rain stops
Hope you get a rest today Moose

[ohthegoats]

I've got the snottiest child ever. Her eyes are bright red, she's rubbing her face and being all grizzly. I've calpolled it and am going to spend the day on the sofa with her asleep on me if that's what she wants. Bless.

I'm watching 30 day shred at the moment - does that count as exercise?

[Missus2ndwife]

Morning everyone
Two nights of baby not settling until 1.30/2am then waking 3hours later for a feed has me in a panic.
I am worried he's sleeping too much during the day but after Monster's post I think I should relax a little. Although we're already on nano nap number two this morning.

I feel like I'm not getting much achieved both with baby and myself around the house. I am no clean freak but everywhere just seems like a mess, I haven't bought groceries all week because baby seems to be napping or feeding, and then how do I keep my baby entertained when he's awake?

Surely by week 11 I should be moving forwards not going backwards?

[LebkuchenMonster]

moose bad nights, and phases of bad sleep, just happen. Rant about it on here, inwardly blame your dp, but try not to panic that you've done something wrong and broken your baby's sleep for ever more...

splendide I will admit to being pretty keen to avoid using a dummy with my own children, and rolling my eyes at people who spend hours holding the things in their babies' mouths trying to teach them to take them, but if it helps your baby get to sleep, then use it. you can take it away at 6-8 months, or whenever once the baby has a more established routine. Or leave it until they're old enough to understand "no, it's bad for your teeth" and deal with it then.

FATE glad a more experienced parent than me agrees! I'm not entirely immune to moments of self-doubt regarding ds's sleep...

[Inthewaysince82]

Finally gave in and put the little pop to sleep in her cot last night. She looked so tiny when I put her down in it! Took a while to settle but she did quite well. Now I can watch her on the monitor I'm not surprised she was waking up so much, she wouldn't have been able to wriggle that much in the Moses basket so no wonder she kept waking up.

Daytime naps are doing my head in. She's blatently tired and is mega grumpy by 6:30pm, but can't get her to nap for more than 30mins a couple of times a day.

moose hope you're having a better day today?

[LebkuchenMonster]

goats . I'm in the middle of a major declutter, except that all I've actually done is read threads on here about it...

[LebkuchenMonster]

Missus while I'm in this posting binge, I try a bit to plan things around nap habits. So ds falls asleep in the car seat doing the kindergarten run and will normally stay asleep so I might plan to go to the supermarket then. Or I deliberately leave housework that can be done wearing the sling for 5pm so I can force a nap then and avoid aimless pacing with a grumpy baby which is somehow more exhausting. This means I might make sure I clear stuff off the floor during an earlier bouncy chair/car seat nap or if he's happily having a kick about on the floor mat so I can vacuum during sling time. Or I'll leave the wet washing in the basket for a few hours so I can hang it up wearing the sling. And I normally shower with ds awake in the bathroom with me as the white noise from the fan/shower/hairdryer seems to keep him happy.

[splendide]

We have the 8 week jabs today - 2.5 weeks late! I'm terrified

[wondermoose13]

Hv turned up at 11.40 :( i could have had a good bit of a doze instead of waiting for her to arrive and say "youre doing really well!" then leave!
Hes half feeding half dozing on my knee now, which is good for him but doesnt help me sleep lol

[Kirstipops]

Good luck splendide! They don't seem to have much of an effect on H so hopefully your lo will be the same. She had her 12 week jabs on Tuesday and a hip scan yesterday so she defo got her money's worth out of the NHS the last couple of days! I'm sitting looking at blue skies outside bursting for a walk but i know the heavens will be sure to open before long, we had hailstones and high winds 15 mins ago! Looking at a 6-12 month wetsuit which H was gifted and I'm dying to book a summer holiday...
Moose did your HV have any suggestions as to why your lo is suddenly not sleeping?

[wondermoose13]

Nope! Just said "oh thats a shame, hows your mood?" She thinks because we have a consultant apt in feb that everything will be fine in the meantime. Off to docs this aft for a reflux review to see if they have any suggestions

[sazzlehopes]

Missus can you do a shop Online? I prefer going round a supermarket but online shopping is handy every now and then?
Also I've just started having a cleaner for the first time ever and it's the best £16 I spend every week for 2 hours. It make me feel sane, takes the pressure off me having to do it and saves rows with dh... I appreciate it is a luxury but I feel I'm not spending as much as before on going out/meals/drinks etc so can justify it!

[Pregnantagain7]

sazzle I luff my cleaners :) theyare amazing we have 4 kids, 2 dogs and 2 cats and a big house. It's a nightmare to keep on top of they come on a Wednesday morning so I take the kids out, come back and it's like the fairies have been I would rather not eat (slightly dramatic!)than lose them that are a god send.

R had a good night last night he actually slept from 7-11 11.10- 5.20! (Longest stretch ever!) and 5.30-7.15. I was awake from 4 when dd2 woke me up after a bad dream I lay there waiting for r to wake up til 5.20!