November 2014 - the one where we all get a good night's sleep

[moggle]

Here's hoping, anyway...

Strawberry, I absolutely agree with what you just said. As much as I would love another child asap before I hit 35 I need to be realistic! Hats off to those of you with more than one!!!

Twiglet, you are not a failure at all and have nothing to feel rubbish about! My LO sleeps exactly the same way Greenstone describes even though he sttn from 11-7 , he normally sirs around 4-5 and I have to throw on some white noise to soothe him. If he does wake up it means he co sleeps with us as he wouldn't go back to sleep otherwise. I don't like doing it but it's a necessary evil at the moment so I can get more sleep.

Thanks for the heads up EastMids, I was going to go to Boots as I use their points quite a bit, but have a big Sainsburys around the corner which would mean no bus trip into town.

Thanks ladies, I was starting to feel like I must be doing something wrong. MIL and HV both doing that nagging thing, 'She's so small, are you sure you're feeding her enough?', 'Are you sure she's not crying because she's hungry? Maybe that's why she isn't sleeping?' And my personal favourite 'Maybe your milk isn't good enough. You should let me give her some formula. That'll put her to sleep.' I really don't think it's feed related but the constant niggling has built the pressure up to the point I just want to scream. It's scary to realise how deficient it makes me feel. So thanks, ladies. for you all!

Big virtual hugs and cake all round by the sound of it. I am in the same boat of planning 2 kids originally really close together so they can be each others playmates. Deffo not happening any time soon!

Went to a baby group this morning and it was a bit crap to be honest. All the others I have been to have been chatty and friendly. This one felt cliquey and just not much fun. So I am spontaneously heading into town on the bus! DS is fast asleep and I work in town so will have somewhere to go if I need refuge and someone else can cuddle him for a bit. Wish me luck, I feel like a complete rebel doing something off the cuff!

Greenstone, you might need to do what I did on Saturday as I was in desperate need of a wash and blow dry and eyebrow thread. Left DS with DH and SIL with a stash of bottles. Both were close to breaking point when I returned but at least he now has an answer to the eternal conundrum of 'what do you do all day?'

We are utterly daunted by the idea of having another but I'm 40 this year so no choice. We've actually tentatively circled Aug/Sept to start trying. Eeeep!

So went to GP for jabs and told him the Aptimil Pepti hadn't been a miracle worker as still frequent nights of terrible writhing in distress. I asked if it was normal gut immaturity and he said NO, that frequent wakings for feeds is normal, but not frequent wakings in distress. He is even more convinced its a food intolerance as he has three small kids and two had nothing like this but the baby has always been like this and is now 7 months and they're having an awful job introducing foods.

So he advised switching from AP to Neocate which is even more broken down so there's literally no work for the gut to do and nothing to react against. Oh, and to stop BFing at night. He pointed out that we have no idea if its dairy or something else, i.e. wheat (his kid is intolerant to wheat as well as dairy).

So thats the new regimen. I'm sure I'll feel sad about the BFing in the coming days when it sinks in - right now I'll do anything. It'll take 2 weeks for whatever is still bothering him to go out of his system.

So we'll see!

Haha WorkFree Dh knows all too well how it would go down if I left for a while which is why he will be when I suggest it. Might rope my brother in to entertain dd1 while I'm gone to make it easier. I think I need a good haircut but am wondering if I should wait until the charming postnatal hair loss starts in earnest...it's usually around 4 months I think.

I'm 31 now and definitely done - no more babies. Dh originally wanted 3, me 2, but I think he's come round to just how mental 3 would be for us - financially and all the rest. We love children but we also both love quiet time, travel, and going out for dinner etc. If we are to keep up even a bit of that 2 it is.

That's sad Anna but hopefully you'll see a difference. Cabbage leaves for your bra and express off just enough milk to stop you being really engorged. Stopping too quickly can be hellishly painful!

yes I'm a bit worried about that as my supply seems high even though I have only BF at night for the past 3 wks. I feel a painful letdown in my boobs several times a day still for example. And last night had to change my nightly breastpads at 5am!

Really don't fancy expressing during the night though!

It's good to hear that Greenstone. My vocabulary has changed to 'leave your brother alone' 'gently' 'quietly' 'careful' all the time now. my DH has said when they're 3 and 5 they'll be tearing chunks out of each other so will be more balanced, great! Ds1 goes to nursery two mornings a week for 4hours each time so am thinking of upping it to get us through this first bit as I'm not a nice mum with little sleep, a Velcro baby and a toddler who says no all the time. Good luck today Greenstone hope they both have a nap at some point to give you a break

Yuk! DS is on a mission today to cover everything in sick, including himself and me. I'm hoping it's down to his jabs yesterday and not anything else.

Earlier whilst holding him, my arm felt cold only to find a river of sick inside the sleeve of my dressing gown. Yes, I'm still in my dressing gown at 1. It's bloody cold and I've got sod all to do today and nowhere to go!

twiglet my 12 week old still fits nicely in size 1 nappies too. And, if you're a failure (which you aren't ), so am I. I have given up even trying to put DD to sleep in the Moses basket and just let her sleep next to me.
Yes, to challenges of 2 children. After vomiting 4 times last Monday then being absolutely fine, she couldn't go to pre-school last week, so I had to entertain her as well as looking after baby all week. We had some fun, but I was fed up of saying "no, not now because of DD2" to most things she asked or just being too tired to want to cook or paint or glue with her. I feel terrible about that. However, she still says DD2 is her best friend!

DD must be on 6-8 weeks growth spurt, eats every hour God sends. Thankfully up to now she has been asleep between the feeds and is giggling in sleep at the moment.
Baby sensory class tomorrow. Will be fun, if she is still on spurt.
Do your LOs go mental every time you dress them to take out? I'm doing all sort of tricks to get her out without scream. She hates hats and seems to know which are outside clothes. Once outside she mostly falls asleep or is fine, but the house exit mostly is quite something. Cannot wait for spring to get her used to be in and out without too much fuss and dressing so that she gets over this.

We're waiting for weigh in at HV clinic - if he's kept to his line he'll be 14lb at 8+1. We'll see! In cloth nappies at home in the day, disposable ones out of home and at night. We just use supermarket nappies, whether that's aldi, morrisons or asda.

Catg let me know what you found out in town - fellow manc.

13lb3oz. Still in between 75th and 91st.

dd has been on top form with pulling faces and new noises today, got this pic of her earlier, cracked me up!

Awesome photo ark!

Haha Ark that's a good one!

Twiglet, don't worry EVERYONE has de thing to say. My fave is the classic 'do you think he's hungry' . At the end of the day you know what's best for your child and do what you think is right

Awww, Ark! Wicked photo!!

Speaking of feeds, I've been giving DS Aptamil as the HV recommended it, but recently my Mum has been banging on about SMA as it was around when she had me. It's getting annoying now, but surely there can't be that much difference in the milks right?

I know im totaly going to jinx it now....

But DD is pretty good at this self settling thing. Sometimes shes grumpy and whiny and pulls at my boobs to the point I contemplate putting her on ebay have to put her down. 10 mins of wiggling and complaining and shes out cold! Today is the 3rd day in a row shes done that.... also waking up and having a good squark and then going back to sleep of her own accord....

amy used the change room in the arndale. Fine but a little wait with 2 people ahead of me. I fed at my workplace so not sure about that. The cobbles on market street are a bit of a pain with the pram.

Silly question- how do I see pictures on here? Using the app on my phone and they don't seem to come up. x

Where's the changing room Catg?

amy it is by the loos next to lush. I even managed a sit down starbucks while DS was sleeping. It was a very successful trip.

My OH has the next 2 days off as he worked away all weekend. Cannot wait to have an extra pair of hands. I might even get a bath!

Awww fab picture Ark! Don't they pull some amazing faces!

Another one here in size 1 nappies! The question about baby dry or active fit - we used active fit in the day & baby dry at night & ds stayed dry unless he was ready to move up a size. We just change dd at her last nf before we feed her but once she sttn we will leave her til morning.

Twiglet - yet another one here who cosleeps if dd is unsettled at night. Mostly as I know she'll settle immediately & I don't want her to wake ds.

Workfree - we started off on SMA Gold but switched onto Aptamil as dd was really struggling to poo & straining a lot. She was also being sick a lot. While we still have both these issues, they are definitely not as bad as when she was on SMA - I think it was too rich for her. At the end of the day you go with the formula that suits your ds. If he is perfectly happy on Aptamil I wouldnt bother changing.

We had a rough few days at the end of last week & I was feeling rather sorry for myself. Realised today it was my lovely AF getting ready to put in an appearance. Feeling a lot calmer now & better able to cope. Had a much better night last night & good job as she had her jabs today. She's been a bit unsettled but on the plus side has slept a 6hour stretch!

Had first lot of injections yesterday and had an unsettled night bed at 7.30pm n up every hr just screaming gave calpol at 9.30 in the end still up an hr later n unsettled was back down at midnight n has slept til 3 thankfully.

Lovely photo Ark! How is your DP and how are you coping with all the extra worry?

Twiglet ignore them all. You know what's best for your DD. I had one of DPs relatives at Christmas suggesting to me that he was still hungry after a feed and that I should be supplementing him with formula. Poor DS just wanted to be back in my arms and stopped crying the moment she handed him back to me (very satisfying!) but I say it to make the point that you should trust your instincts and do whatever you feel is right for her.

Strawberry and everyone else thinking about a second. I swore blind we'd only have one before he arrived. Now I'd love a second - didn't take long for the memory of the pain of birth to subside! - but not sure if I could cope with two. We'd need to get cracking pretty soon if we did want another because I was 40 in autumn last year. It wasn't exactly the riotous 40th I'd planned!!

Having had the lochia finally stop at 6 weeks (around the 8th Jan) I've had light bleeding/spotting for the last couple of days. Is this still lochia or is it the start of my periods returning? I'm 100% bf at the moment and I thought I'd be free of AF for a bit longer at least.

Off to the hairdressers this afternoon for highlights roots being done so leaving DS with DP and a freezer full of EBM. I'll be away for about 4 hours and I'm dreading being apart from him for that long. Eek.