September 14 babies - bring on the weaning!

[KitKat1985]

New thread for the Sept 14 babies. :)

Red, you're right. I didn't really think of it like that. Thank you, that does make me feel a bit better

kitkat, babies are exhausting & no matter how lovely they are, for most people, some time away from them makes u love them more.

People are always saying how DD is so good, so content, just watches everything going on, always full of smiles.

For some reason, in public and when meeting new people that is true. At home she's needs constant attention and changing entertainment every few minutes due to boredom, and when she gets bored she has a shriek that feels like it physically pierces your brain. At night she wakes several times and can even be difficult with naps.

What you see when a baby is out and about can be very different to the everyday reality. I like being out with DD more than I like being at home with her for a reason!!!

I do absolutely adore DD, but I must confess that I really looking forward to going back to work. When it was going to be full time I was dreading it, but I've actually considered going back early now that I have pt arranged. It is just so relentless. I had a half day KIT at work recently, and it was amazing. I felt like me, it energised me a bit, and the absolutely best thing was that I really missed DD and was looking forward to seeing her when I got home.

Sounds like lots if us are having a bit of a tough time at the moment

Yeyyyy! 1 oz formula from bottle! To most of you that's just stupid and nothing! 1 oz! But it is amazing here :) Is that the beginning of success? Or just a one off?

Not sure how it happened, perseverance? Change of milk to c&g? Or saying proper goodbye to him and closing the lounge door and leaving him as dh as if I am gone gone... Will now keep at it every day.

Just read back;
Fate you have done amazingly well. I would have died! I am struggling with one baby and one part time job when I have mil help!

Team I agree about work, sort of; I started looking forward to go to work after I changed to part time, but now the reality of leaving ds with some people hit home and he is not liking it, it is bloody difficult !

Well done Nazly!

To those of you who swaddle, how do you swaddle Houdini?! She has started escaping from her swaddling, which leads to much waking I use a mother care swaddle blanket. I also tried a hana swaddle pod, but that was useless as she can move her arms too much. I put her down fully swaddle and with a blanket over her tucked in as tightly as I can, come back and she out of the swaddling, wide awake and smiling at me!!!

Ok, DD has developed a new sleep difficulty over the past few days...

She usually feeds around 3, but goes down fine after. But, from around 4 she is very unsettled and needs re tucking in and dummy insertion about every 10 minutes. Then, from about 5 she gets even more unsettled and will only stay asleep if I cuddle her, which keeps her going until around 5.30-45, then she is wide awake. Although she's usually upset when she does wake, which makes me suspect she actually needs more sleep.

First thing is, I'm really looking forward to the clocks changing as her wake times will be FAR nicer then

But, I was thinking more about her unswaddling herself, and also her nappy is quite wet in the mornings, although not soaking.

I was wondering whether I should change her nappy and properly re swaddle her at the 3am feed? Would this be totally crazy? Do I risk totally waking her? OR, might she then go into a blissful sleep for three hours with a nice dry bottom and tightly swaddled?

I feel like I'm clutching at straws, but being up at 4am is getting to me, and that's if I'm lucky enough to get back to sleep after the 3am feed!

Team maybe try changing her before her 3am feed? That way if changing her wakes her up, the feed should help her settle again?

Fate you are now my new hero!

Oh and well done Nazly! Hopefully this will be a turning point! Yesterday evening during my 'boob strike' Jessica also had about 3oz from a cup again so pleased about that. And she even let DH do some of the feeding. Also managed to actually get Jessica to eat some solids at lunch so that's progress!

Thank you for your nice messages. Yesterday was a bit better so I'm trying to be more upbeat as I'm worried that I'm starting to slip into PND territory and I really don't want that to happen. I think it's the relentless of it that I'm struggling with - have no family nearby to help and with DH being unwell for about 2 months now it's pretty much all been on me to look after her. Plus it's happened at about the same time as sleep regression hell. I think I'm just very tired and in need of a break and a bit of 'freedom'. Hopefully DH will be better soon and once Jessica is on solids and no longer breast-feeding I'll be able to have more regular baby breaks. xxx

nazly it will get better lots of babies struggle when starting nursery it just takes time. I have worked in a private nursery for over 10 years so I have some insight. If you like I can suggest some ideas on how to make a smoother transition.

E is being a pain sleeping 10 hrs one night (whoop) and last night only managed 2hrs in a row once (sad times)

Re: Swaddling

I've not swaddled in the intervening months, but am using the same method I did when DD was up to 6 weeks old. Cot sheet cut in half along the short edge, to make two very long, thin rectangles. Baby in centre of sheet. One side over shoulder gripping one arm to side, under body. Other side over other shoulder gripping second arm and all the way under body and to other side.

Hard to explain without showing. DD really likes it (at the moment) and doesn't wriggle out until she is ready to wake up (at which point it takes her about 10 seconds of wriggling and kicking to get it off).

Re: Early morning unsettled.

I'd either offer another small feed at 4am to resettle her, or try and get her to have more at 3am. It sounds like she is hungry. The full nappy change etc is a common way people make sure baby has a bigger night feed, because it fully wakes them more.

It is worth a try, but I tend to go the other way and do all I can not to fully wake baby. If she's having night feeds though, it is reasonable that she's have more night time urine which would mean uncomfortable wet nappies, so maybe it is her nappy being wet and making her uncomfortable that is waking her?

Better still, make a point of upping the amount of milk (not solids, specifically milk) she has in the daytime. More milk in the daytime means less milk at night, which means less urine at night as well.

Nazly - Well done on the formula! I know you and your DH have worked hard to get your DS to accept the bottle. The beginning of things getting better, hopefully! When we got DD to first accept the dummy (which took 7 weeks of daily perseverance) it was DH that 'cracked it' and it was about a week after that first suck that she eventually figured it out properly. So here's hoping that by next weekend he'll be merrily taking bottles as required.

Cookie, any hints and tips for helping to settle little ones into nursery would be really helpful. DD starts in a couple of months and I've asked for the routine they work to so that I can get her into their routine before she starts in terms of meal times, nap times and play time. Not sure what else I can do, so any advice would be great. They do two settling in hours, one with a parent there and one without the parent there. She's already only ff, so hopefully that will make things a little easier.

Thanks all x

Cookie: of course! How could I forget you had a lot of experience in nursery??! I am just googling and googling for tips, would appreciate your time and input on it...

A little bit of background here- his nursery is an Ofsted Outstanding nursery; it is pretty small , physically size of a big house, and a homely environment, lovely really. Baby room has massive windows and lovely sun in the morning. I think they said its maximum capacity is only six babies but currently they are having next to none on the days ds will go.

One massive issue I have is that no single nursery nurse works full time in baby room. Currently it is not a big issue as I just want some mornings and I am sticking to one caregiver, but it will be an issue as I intend to gradually move to full time.

The days he will go there, there is only one other child in the room age one plus; one of them a naughty little boy who runs around and had a few go in grabbing ds face and hair, even as I was sitting there (got a scream and cry from ds in response!!!). not sure how bad or good it is that there is no other baby baby in there, and ds currently the youngest , but I understand more babies may join shortly.

Other observation is this: I feel his caregiver may have forgotten what a six months old is! She was trying to get him interested in a pretty complicated toy ( one of those you insert a ball somewhere and the ball runs around and goes out another end) much to dismissal of ds; also she was surprised every single thing goes directly to DS's mouth!!

She is very likeable in general but I am worried...

Ds cried almost whole time I was there first time but second time I took some of his own toys and he sat and focused on them and played. No crying. So I said goodby to him and left the room; (cctv on in reception so I watched) it took him 2-3 minutes to start crying inconsolably.

I went in and took him. Do you know how best should I get him settled? Don't want him to cry for long; but not sure if going back and taking him will help in long run??? Difficult difficult...

I had 3 settling sessions. Before the second one I told staff 3 will not be nearly enough and we need more; I told them I don't care if I pay or not, I just need more settling sessions until he is settled. They said of course, not sure how they will deal with it and honestly I don't care much, just want a happily settled baby in nursery at any cost and as many annual leaves for me as it takes!!! This is how important it is for me...

I am hoping issue with milk & bottle will hopefully settle gradually... Hopefully as he is settling down there...

All ! Just saw myself what a massive post I just sent- please ignore if you are not interested in nurseries...

Cookie: really sorry for long post and many thanks x

nazly and anyone else who will benefit from this :)

How to help your child settle:

1. use as many settling in sessions as possible if your child is upset when you leave don't leave it too long till you return, extend the amount if time you are away each time. If possible start with morning sessions then progress on to a full day as they become more settled.

2. take in their favourite toys (labeled) and a comforter e.g teddy, muslin, dummy.

3. sleep with a muslin so it smells of you then ask the nursery to give it to your lo when they are sad or going to bed.

4. be up beat and excited about nursery, point out things as you walk in, smile as you greet staff. When handing baby over don't hover, but remember to say bye.

5. give nursery a copy of their routine to help them settle quicker, bring a sleeping bag in if they sleep in one during the the day e.t.c

Most children do settle so please don't think your babies won't but it can be a shock that the system so don't be surprised if things go a little haywire in the beginning :)

If anyone's looking for toy ideas, I've made a "treasure box" that I read about, that DS loves. Not sure if everyone already knows about them and I'm just behind the times! It's basically just lots of things from around the house except I didn't have them so had to buy that are different textures, shapes etc. So just now it's got: a nail brush, a metal whisk, wooden bowl, shower puff, sponge, round hair curler thing, toothbrush, wooden spoon, metal spoon, jar lid. I still need to get more: eggcup, wooden clothes peg, metal bowl and other things that I can't remember. The idea is that they decide what they want to pull out and play with, so totally baby led. It keeps DS entertained for ages pulling things out, chewing them and putting them aside and pulling out more. And it's cheap!

Aw Ella that's so cute!! Your boys sound like such lovely lads and your dd is a very lucky little girl. I bet they'll dote on her when she's a bit older

Nazly well done for persevering with the formula!! I know it sounds silly but with dd the first oz really was the hardest. It just got easier from there.

Could I ask those of you who have a rough routine to share here? I'm looking for some inspiration now dd's on 2 meals per day. Think I need to shift things around a bit!

Aw Cookie thank you so much for sharing your expertise, I'm sure we'll all benefit from it[smile

That sounds promising re. the formula Nazly. Hope your success with that continues! Sounds stressful about nursery, hope your lo settles soon.I'm sure he will.

I took J to a soft play yesterday to meet with a couple of other mummy's and I'm not sure if it's related but J slept for 10.5 hours last night!!! She's never slept that long before. I wasn't asleep for the whole time and did get up to check on her once or twice as I couldn't believe she was still asleep but I got at least 5 or 6 hours in a row. I hope she repeats that tonight haha (not holding my breath).

Ella that's interesting about your lo and clapping. My DH said that J understands when he says to her "Touch daddy's face" and then she grabs at his beard. I didn't believe him until I saw her doing it myself. They're growing up so fast!

I'm convinced J's grumpiness is to do with (refusing) naps. She turns into a grumpy monster from around 10 am ish until she gives in and has at least half an hour to 45 mins nap. I may have to drive her around for an hour or walk around my tiny village a million times to force her to nap more often I think.

thanks for the nursery settling advice.

routine as follows

7am bottle

8.30am porridge

10am bottle and then a nap

1pm lunch (puree/water)

2pm bottle if he seems hungry then nap

4ish supper - veg and fruit puree and then a bottle

6.30 bath then bottle and story and bed

hope that helps.

Teeth.

Ow!

Each time I feel like I'm getting somewhere with this child's atrocious sleep habits and patterns it all goes horribly wrong again. This is one step forward then two back. I've seriously had enough and have no idea what to even try next. Other than her sleep issues she is a truly wonderful child who I love more than I knew was possible, but she is pushing me to my limits with the sleep thing.

I feel your pain Red teething is an awful business. Poor little red cheeks here!

So A finally went in his own room last night. He slept fine, but me not so much, as I kept wondering why I couldn't hear his sniffling

Hope things get better sleep wise for you soon Team

Aw Team I really feel for you. If it's any consolation try not to get too disheartened by what seems to be backwards slides. I'm guessing progress with sleep isn't steady and linear, but up and down with an overall upward trend

Thanks for sharing your routine holls!