September 2006 Babies - growing in front of our eyes!

[Lysettes]

New thread everyone!

cruise web site for sleep shop is www.babysleepshop.com i had a noukie comforter from there ds seems to like it.

Cruise, is it worth trying to fight the battle over the cot first in the daytime, when you're less tired etc. and hope that if you crack it in the day, it might be better at night? First of all, to get him used to the cot, try spending time in the room, changing nappy etc., playing, and also put him in the cot awake for short times, say 5 mins at first, and gradually extend the time he's in there awake. This might get him used to the cot while he's alert so that it becomes somewhere he's comfortable. You could stay in the room at first, but then pop in and out so that he gets used to being in there on his own too. It would probably take a few days, but once he was happy in his cot awake for say 20 mins, maybe he would be happier to settle in it to sleep as well?

I know you keep getting lots of advice on here - sometimes there's too much advice floating about and it makes it even harder to know what to do... choose what you want to try and then try it for a week before you give it up as a bad job, in my experience the worst thing to do is to keep changing tactic as then they get confused (and so do we!!!).

Good luck tonight....

claire - yes it was me that got caught by the window cleaner - had forgotten about that
had an early start this morning - 4.30am, not sure why, as he's been going to til 6 even 7am some mornings now.
The daytime naps are a bit a of a disaster though, like you cruise, he is grabbing bits of sleep here and there, but other than his morning nap, which is reasonably regular, he is not napping well at all, the afternoon nap hasn't happened for the last 3 days, he just fights it, which means he falls asleep on the boob for his bedtime feed, so I don't think he's getting enough at that feed. I do remember DS1 being a bit like this though, so I am clinging on to that, as he eventually got in to a great routine and was still having 2 good naps at the age of a year.

Hello everyone, just had a delicious roast turkey dinner
DS slept a bit better last night - he did 10:30 - 3:30 - 8:30, which was great. I don't think we did anything different to usual so I'm just hoping he does it again tonight.
Cruise & Mabel - DS naps well during the day. 2 hours after he wakes he has another feed and then will nap for an hour in his bouncy chair, he is then awake for another 2 hours, has a feed then goes back in bouncy chair for another 2 hours. I always shut the curtains for both naps. He won't go in his cot for them though. I always do the same thing so I guess he has just got used to the routine and knows its time to sleep. He has never really had an afternoon nap.
I'm going to baby yoga tomorrow for the first time. Has anyone done this?
Re weight. I have lost mine too but was hoping to keep some of it as I wanted to keep some curves!

we're struggling on the daytime naps too. He'll settle to sleep fine but then wakes after 30mins and won't go back to sleep. I've decided it might be that we don't have blackout blinds in his nursery like we did for DS1 at our old place. Going to buy some heavy curtains tomorrow so will let you all know if it makes a difference.

That just made me think, Cruise - are you doing the evening 'marathon' in the dark with no eye contact or are you treating it like a normal day feed? just a thought... Hope you enjoyed your Christmas shopping!

ksaej - ta for website address _ i will defo check it out tomorrow!

Clairmow - love love love the idea of ds in cot for leisure/fun! I did put him in there today while I pottered and he was great about it! I will continue to do this as I think it could work...

Mabel - what is it with these September babes and naps? I am sure we will all crack it in the end but when??
Good to know we are in the same boat though.

Myrtle - sounds like your napping schedule is going well. You sound chilled about not taking naps in cot - makes me feel better! Though I would love him to really

Liquid - the suckathon has to be downstairs as dd is still up (she is nearly 9) so cannot be expected to be by herself. It is quiet though and we watch TV with lamp on, not full lights. ds always falls asleep - the prob is putting him in cot. He screams hysterically if put in awake or he wakes when you are putting him in there. I know I shall have to get over this but I am not ready for screams and tears just yet - too hard on all of us
Mind you he has been asleep since 7:00pm and in cot since 8:30pm tonight and no noise yet so...... fingers crossed
Good news though - he actually took a bottle today!!! He has never known what to do/how to suck until today nad now we have cracked it - I am so relieved!!!!! N'nite all
Merry Christmas!

Wow ... Liquid I was too embarrassed to mention this before but now that you have ... I think something's changed here as well. And we're done, thank God, so I hope it doesn't ever change back. DH & I so exhausted we hardly ever, but when we do, it's HOT. I mean ... unbelievable. Always been good, but not quite this good since we were dating. (Okay ... TMI!)

Cruise ... The downstairs cot has been used mainly to store Jameson's clothes; LOL ... no advice here! But we'd be SOL without that baby swing.

Cori, it's all over the news here. How awful. . Liquid - what a terrible story! I guarantee you at least one of those boys (now men) - but probably EACH of them - is quite embarrassed about the way he used to be. One can't just write episodes out of one's life; memories stay.

Claire - LOL on "turd"! I do think they're different, as well ... but within my group of friends here seems people use that phrase too often as an excuse - explaining why their 6-month or 9-month or 1-year old can't sleep through the night! And then there are the parents - I know of 3 sets - whose children sleep with them in their bed every single night. One of those couple's sons is 12!!! Another couple sleeps on their daughter's floor every night! ... this began with their trying to comfort her in her room ... I mean really. If DS1 wanted to sleep with us I'd look at him as if he were insane. And walk him back to his room. Tell him there's nothing to be afraid of. And go back downstairs. Of course, I keep my mouth shut. Anyway ... with the baby ... something must change!! Last night I was absolutely exhausted; DH was kind enough to take the night. I think he'll just be doing that. He'll move the night feeding to 10 from 11 so he can be in bed by 11, then I'll wake up at 5:30 and take it from there. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be an ideal solution for us right now. I think this sleeplessness, and toilet training, are the most difficult times to be a parent! Until they start to drive ... [frightened emoticon]

Liquid - That's such a sweet offer. I really appreciate it. Will try to find them on the 'net and then if I can't I might take you up on it. Jameson hasn't been taken out of his cot or given any feedings between midnight and 5:30 am ever since 8 weeks ... Naps are fairly regular, morning 2-3 hours and afternoon 2-3 hours... anyone have any suggestions as to what else we might be able to try??

Hi Marls, just a quick one as I'm off to bed now (finally! - been writing Christmas cards ) When you say 2-3hrs am/pm does that then equal 4-6hrs nap time during the day? If so then have you tried cutting down the day time naps for 3/4 days to see if that improves the nights? DS1 used to nap 45 mins from 9am, 2 hrs over lunch and a mini catnap just befre 5pm for 10/15 mins. DS2 takes 45 mins around nine, 1hr (if I'm lucky) over lunch and 1/2 hour around 4pm ish. We've always tried to keep the daytime nap time to 3hrs at most and it seems to work.

Just say the word re: the gro-bags, they really are the bees knees for LO's who persist in kicking their covers off or getting their legs stuck out the bars!

Hello,
I think i tempted fate yesterday by telling you all how well DS napped the night before last. Last night he fed at 10:30pm, 1:30, 4:30 and 6:30. There is no rhyme or reason to it. How can he go 5 hours between feeds one night then back to 3 hours the next night??
Yesterday I fed him little and often and I do think sometimes I feed him and maybe he doesn't need it and I should distract him and make him go longer between feeds during the day. Maybe he just wakes out of habit because he is used to frequent feeds. Its confusing though because my HV always says feed him a lot during the day and he'll go longer at night but its not working...

Morning everyone. Sorry to hear about disturbed nights.
Daytime naps are still erratic here. I've started putting dd in her cot 2 hours after she wakes up and sometimes she sleeps and sometimes she doesn't. She usually has a nice long nap in the pushachair when we're out and about and sometimes I'm luckily enough to be able to transfer her from pushchair to bouncy chair and she stays asleep. We've got the 2nd load of immunisations today so we'll see how they go!

We've decided to potty train 2.9 year old ds over Xmas. If anyone has any top tips on how to do it it would be greatly appreciated. I'm dreading it already!!

compo - treats and rewards. Sticker chart - when lo does 10 wees/poos in potty he gets a treat/prize. Read story while he is on potty/ put on his fave channel/dvd. Anything to get him to stay there. Make out it is the most exciting thing he will ever do!!! Good luck

Myrtle, I definitely think babies get less over the day if they feed little and often. Eg. Fraser will drink a good 8 oz bottle of EBM (greedy guts) at 11 am ish, when he was fed first thing around 7/7.30. But if I give in and feed him much earlier, he'll only drink about 5... and often then doesn't ask for more until 2 ish after he's had a nap.

I've worked really hard at our daytime naps, and now Fraser generally sleeps for 1/2 - 3/4 hour about 2 hours after he's got up in the morning, then about 2 hours around midday, and a short nap (about 20 mins - 1/2 hour) in the afternoon (this one could be any time between 3.30 and 5!).
He's pretty regular on this now, except if we're out and about with DS2, and even then if we're with the buggy he pretty much sticks to the same times. I tend to find that if we're out, he actually gets less sleep, not more, despite my fears of him just dropping off all the time in the buggy!

Marls, at your friend's 12 yr old son still in their bed... What will happen when he reaches puberty (won't be that long...) - could be interesting?! I think the examples you had are quite extreme, don't worry that your DS2 will inevitably turn out to want to be in your bed all the time because he doesn't sleep through yet!! Our DS1 too would think I was mad if I took him in our bed. He thinks our bed is somewhere to bounce and maybe read a book...

compo..re potty training...my one piece of advice is once the nappies are off (during the day - nighttime a different issue altogther) do not, however tempted, put them back on again. With DD, even when we got desperate which to be fair wasn't very often, we always kept the knickers on no matter what. I think if you go back into nappies it sends out the wrong signal. If possible stay at home or avoid long car journeys for a couple of weeks if you can. Also when out & about shopping, get to know which shops (other than supermarkets) have toilets! That way you can plan your outing so to speak if you know where you can go......& of course it goes without saying, much much patience & LOTS & LOTS of praise!!!!

thanks Coriander and Cruisemum - that's really helpful. I'm a bit anxious as I hada bit of a meltdown with dh and said I couldn't cope doing pooty training and looking after dd.... So he decided he would do it whilst he's off work over Xmas (obviously I'll be here too!) and his been resading up on it and is now Mr know-it-all. Whilst it's great he's being so hands on I know if it doesn't go quite the way he thinks it will it'll be muggins here who is left to deal with it all when he goes back to work!! You know how it can be with dh's
Dd is being an angel these days - immunisations today went fine, she's loads more smiley and does a cute little gurgle sometimes when she smiles. I don't feel as down as I did and when I have a bad moment I chant to myself 'I'm stressed, not depressed'.... lol, I think people in town must think I'm a complete nutter

oops meant potty!!!

compo, def agree about going cold turkey on the nappies - don't go down the trainer pants route. Has DS shown any interest in training/wearing pants? We went straight to pants and never looked back! (DS1 still in nappies at night, and will be for the forseeable...). I think the only way they learn about needing to go is when they have accidents to begin with. The accidents are nowhere near as bad as you think, a lot of it soaks into the trousers and pants!!

We do lots of praise for telling us he needs to go (this didn't happen for a while, so to start with you need to keep asking and reminding), and when he has an accident, we just clear up and say very little, certainly not telling off or being cross.

Ooops, better go, DS1 just come in to "show me his leg" - it is covered in blue felt tip pen... best go see what else is scribbled on.... . good job it's about to be bathtime...!!!

oh and take at least 2 sets of spare pants and trousers everywhere you go!!

Been thinking a bit more about it compo!!

Make sure you have a potty downstairs & one upstairs - ensure you have the potty in the room where you are at all times. He'll need to get going before you drag him to the toilet! Buy loads of pants - in my opinion the mothercare ones are the best fitting ones (tesco / M & S etc..end up the bum!) - you should also buy for 2-3 or possibly as your DS is 2.9 perhaps 3-4...they need to be slightly bigger so they can get then down easily! Have you got I want my Potty by Tony Ross? It was a great help for DD.

It's great that you'll have DH around to do it with you....just make sure, as hard as it'll be, that you carry on the job once he's back at work...don't despair & NO turning back!!!!

Echo what Clairemow says about trainer pants...avoid them totally, just a bloody marketing ploy!!! They need to feel it when they have an accident!!! Stay positive...

hi all,

a bit of a strange day here - Ds doesn't seem to have fed particularly well, being v. fussy keeps pulling away etc. but I did manage to crack the afternoon nap , which he had in his cot. I am just worried he'll be up in the night if he gets hungry. DS1 has a nasty cough, so of course I am going to be anxious about that waking him up....I can see insommnia setting in already!
Liquid - I think the nap thing maybe to do with us not having black out blinds as well. I had them with DS1, but this time round, I have just got curtains lined with blackout lining, but they still let light in round the sides. He really doesn't seem to be able to go more than about 40 minutes, and the long lunchtime nap he is supposed to have (as advised by she who must not be named) just doesn't happen.
Compo - good luck with the potty training, let me know how it goes. I am just introducing DS1 to the idea of a potty, although he has only just turned 2. He is quite good, on it if I let him run round without a nappy on for a while and keeps standing up and then saying 'more' and sits back down again! I hope I'm not confusing him doing this, but I thought I'd just try and get the idea in his head before doing it properly, which will probably be next spring.

Mornng...Jack slept through from 11pm to 6.30am....am feeling elated!!!! He has also found his thumb, which DD never did so am wondering how much self comforting he does! I don't lke dummies so I'll have to let him get on with it I suppose....

Cori - really pleased for you that Jack slept so well although I'm a bit sad I'm on my own now as the last mumsnetter whose baby won't sleep for longer yet!! Last night, Ned fed at 10pm, 2am and 5:15am. At the 5:15 one I tried going in to soothe him a few times but the crying went on for half an hour and he wouldn't stop til he got his feed but then he only did a few measly sucks and just napped on the boob.

Liquid/Clairemow - I remember you both saying that your LO's used to wake in the night and you gave them a dummy or soothed them. Perhaps Ned is waking out of habit but doesn't really need a feed. I'm not really sure how to go about breaking the habit if it is one - any tips....?

Myrtle, don't despair! That was only one night, let's see what happens tonight! Jack has had a similar routine to Ned..10ish, 2ish & then 5 or 6ish. We have taken to waking him at 11 (if he makes it that far) & then hoping (which obviously worked last night) for him to drop the 2am feed. This worked with DD at 3.5 months....maybe fingers crossed we're getting there with Jack slightly earlier..well he is 13 weeks tomorrow...

I just typed entire msg and lost it . anyway, basically said that ds napped really well yesterday - morning/lunchtime and afternoon so i know he can do it! none of them were in his cot mind you one bridge ata time eh? . also he went 7:30pm to 6:15am. the first two hours were in my arms as he doesnt settle in his cot and i cannot leave dd downstairs on her own while i settle him upstairs. but thats another bridge that must be crossed......... i guess i am hoping it will iron itself out but i know that it won't and will have to be addressed sometime.

When is everyone planning on weaning/Stopping bf?

whats happened to my smileys????????