July 2015 - the very beginning, what's going on!!

[MissTwister]

Hi all

I couldn't see a July 2015 thread so thought I'd start one. My daughter was born on the 6th and the last two weeks have been fun and tiring - with not much sleep!

Anyone else around?

X

Yes I know it was until I was telling people my story I realised about them not examining me! She's here though and I guess that's all that matters in the end.
Ooh the frozen muslin sounds a great idea my little one loves sucking on hers too, will def try that!

Hi everyone,

Nice to see this thread has picked up again. I thought it had been abandoned after the hacking thing.

DD is 14 weeks (actually an August baby). It's been a bit of a mission to get her weight gain on track. I was BF using nipple shields as I was 'diagnosed' with hyper-sensitive nipples, but apparently this reduces milk intake. DD dropped from 25th centile to 5th at 8 weeks, so I managed to wean myself off them and have been topping up with a formula bottle a day, and this week she's hit 25th again finally- yay!
She's moved into 3-6 month clothes anyway due to her length, so I'm sure she's fine.

She rolled from front to back for the first time yesterday. She's very happy and - dare I say it- easy, if babies can be easy, but then I suppose I have two others to compare her with. She's just full of lovely smiles and loves to 'talk'. Can't wait to get a full blown laugh out of her now. At the moment, all I get is an occasional polite titter as if to say, 'well tried'. Hand-eating is also a favourite thing at the mo.

Sleep-wise, she is going down around 7:30pm in her cot. We have a nice, short and sweet bedtime routine, which is pretty much sitting in the dark, singing (or I should say "singing") 'Twinkle Twinkle' and whatever else pops into my head (last night it was Fantine's Death Song from Les Mis followed by Ellie Goulding's 'Love me Like You Do' ), and then I put her down awake (and possibly scarred for life) in her cot. She wakes at 1:30am and 4am for feeds. I keep her in our bed after the 4am one as she's not tired enough to go down in the cot; we get up at 6am for the school run. She hasn't heard that she can sleep longer on a Saturday.

Day-time routine is non-existent. I have too many pick ups and drop offs from nursery and school and pre-school and clubs, etc at different times. It's lots of in-car naps, unfortunately. It doesn't give me much chance to catch up on the housework, and I don't help myself, as I like to cuddle her when she is sleeping, but I'm afraid I'm unrepentant. I've got a lifetime of floor-mopping ahead of me, but my baby will only be this little once.

Sorry for the epic post!

charlie feeding has totally changed here too! DS was on 7oz every four hours which worked brilliantly. Now he is having 6oz every two hours/on demand. He was a different baby for the first few days after we changed his feeding, happy and contented but is back to being grizzly the majority of the time he is awake. I am physically and mentally exhausted. Lots of tears from me this weekend but plodding on!

I think it's a growth spurt and hoping he will settle soon. According to the wonder weeks app, DS is going through one of the most challenging leaps, but it's due to end in 7 days (apparently!)

stink, are you in the events leap? We've still got 19 days left. Going crazy with it. Sleep has gone to pot after a really good start so I'm mega exhausted. She's still a better sleeper than dd1 but eurgh it's tiring, especially with the three year old to entertain as well.

It's not just the exhaustion I'm struggling with. I've developed quite bad anxiety over going out with the baby and partic both dds. I'm ok at going to sainsburys or one shop on a retail park or tesco express for example but I have a big fear of going into town with them and now even to our local nature reserve/deer park. I'm literally going to my parents, my ILs and to baby's massage class. Oh and the school run three mornings a week but if dh is at home, he stays in with baby so I can take dd1 on my own. I'm not even walking to the corner shops with them now. I don't know how to overcome this.

broody yes! The events leap has really thrown us all. Sleep has gone to pot here too. We also had a brilliant start but I'm up 4-5 times in a night. Friday night I was up 20 times!!

I am exactly the same as you with anxiety. DS is a fussy, high needs baby. I stopped taking him out anywhere full stop for a couple of weeks and I felt terrible for being cooped up in the house. I make sure I get out at least twice a week now, even if it's just for a walk around the park. We have some days which are lovely and enjoyable then others where I'm tearing my hair out with him (family photo shoot on Saturday - disaster)

I only have the one DC and find it hard so give yourself credit for managing it with 2!

Have you had any bad experiences in particular? I had a bad one in Costa (think I mentioned this up thread) which really set my anxiety off. The only way I've began to feel a bit better is to push myself to go out and do things, I know it's easier said than done. I used to get so mad with DH saying that to me, but after a lone trip out with DS, he understood where I was coming from more. I'm here if you need a chat/hand hold/

^^ That was me btw! I had to NC for a thread so any budding Sherlock Holmes' out there may be able to figure out who I am now. Oops!

Sounds like a good routine you've got going on Raines - we've now mastered rolling over too, DS is often to be found quite far from where I left him! Have you tried tickling baby's arms to induce a laugh? Seems to work on our little guy...
Welcome Laura , good to have you here. As you may have read upthread (or on the antenatal) I'm also an induction/epidural/forceps victim survivor, with birth injuries that I'm still having treatment for. The things we go through!
Sorry to hear about your anxiety broody and stinki - I'm sure the exhaustion only makes things worse. Really hope things improve for you both soon but in the meantime here's a from me!
Still definitely in the sleep regression phase here, the wake-ups are pretty much hourly after midnight but he doesn't seem too hungry, just wants attention and a cuddle (of course I love a cuddle, but I do also enjoy more than an hour of unbroken sleep ) DH helps the best he can but I'm still ebf so it usually has to be me that gets up.
Oh, and yes, we went 'forward-facing' in the pushchair as planned a couple of weeks ago and (pardon the pun) haven't looked back! It was the right decision- he loves sitting up and looking out at the world!

DS has been described by Drs and HV as a "high needs baby" does anyone know if this is something he will grow out of?

I need to know that there is light at the end of the tunnel

My DD is one too...

Stinki - read up on high needs baby on Dr Sears website: www.askdrsears.com/topics/health-concerns/fussy-baby/high-need-baby

So took Franky for last injections today, he took them really well, few tears but they didn't last. He's weighing in at 18lbs 3ozs @ 17weeks.
He's sleeping well, we had a maybe a week of regression to 2 bottles through the nite instead of 1. He has days where he's not bothered about a bottle, but always eats/drinks full 7ozs the nite.

Hv has arranged to come out for weaning talk on Monday, I'm taking that as a "if you go ahead now we won't look at you with that look" I really want him to be able to have some Xmas dinner. X

Hi can I join in? Didn't realise this thread existed!

Bit about us, DS is 17 weeks and 4 days, born at 38+3, VERY quick labour which left us both a bit shocked. Tried BFing but he was a 'breast refuser' (lucky me!) so expressed for five weeks and then moved to formula because constant expressing plus 2 bouts of mastitis and then two bouts of thrush was sending me down a dark path...

DS is great fun and pretty 'easy' if a bit clingy, his sleeping is pretty good at night although naps during the day are a constant battle! I'm a bit worried about his development (posted about it earlier) as he's not rolling over or reaching for things yet but maybe that will come in time?

We've been doing swimming, baby massage and rhyme time stuff but he's actually happier at home or on walks in the park so think the classes are really for me rather than him! I don't have any family so get a bit lonely and suffer with anxiety too so am trying to force myself to go out every day.

Anyway, would I be able to join the FB group as well if possible?

Sorry to hear about the anxiety that some of you are suffering. I was nervous at first about going to baby groups but once I went and started to talk to other mums I actually quite enjoy it. I also live in an area without any family close by, I have a few friends I see but none that are very close. I would definitely recommend trying a group as I find it breaks up the day and my DD loves just watching everything that is going on.

My DD is 17 weeks today and naps are becoming stressful, she really fights her sleeps, she used to have a dummy for a couple of weeks and this would soothe straight away but now she refuses it and unless we are out it can take me a good 10/20mins to put her down! Any tips would be greatly appreciated! Night time is a different story she can't wait to have her bath and goes straight down afterwards and generally sleep 7pm til about 8am with an occasional feed about 3/4am! It's so different at nights to in the day!

On Tuesday she had her final set of injections and has been constipated ever since, I have give a little water to try and help but noting so far and she is in pain, anything else I could try?

Thanks all! :)

We are the same with the night/day sleep disparity, I can't work it out! DS sleeps great at night, self settles and is asleep for 7.30ish with one wake up about 5am usually but during the day it's such a battle. He won't sleep in the crib, just wants to be held or sleep in the pram (walking, not in the house). Even then, he fights and fights sleep and if he misses the window then he screams for ages until he falls asleep from sheer exhaustion.

I have no advice because I can't see how we are going wrong but I feel your pain!

Thanks for your reply magpie sounds like we have identical little ones. At the mo she has gone down and is asleep on the sofa, will not go in her cot at all in the day. BUT it did take rocking her in my arms for about 20mins. I don't mind too much now as I'm still off work but I worry later down the line if I do decide to go back to work, how she will cope at a childminders or nursery!

laura, have you tried massaging lo's tummy or bicycling the legs? Works well.

Re sleep. As a parent of a lo stuck in the depths of sleep regression with hourly wake ups, I would say if you're getting 13 hrs at night, enjoy your days playing!!!

Hi broody, I've tried bicycling her legs but not massaging I will try that, thank you! Oh I'm sorry to rub it in about the nights, I just worry for her sake more than anything that she needs her day naps and gets so grumpy when fighting her sleep but yes I'm very thankful for the night time and yes will definitely enjoy playtime in the day! I really hope that it improves for you Broody!

Massage is the answer Laura! Google the 'waterwheel', 'sun & moon' and 'I love you' strokes, there are loads of videos on YouTube as they are hard to explain in writing. DS was very constipated (didn't go for 5 days once) and massage saved him - a warm bath followed by tummy massage and he never failed to poo!

I also wouldn't mind playing all day but it's not like that, he gets very overtired and literally screams for hours! I accept though that night wakings is so much harder and anyone who is up all night has my complete sympathy.

Hi everyone,

Hope you and your LO's are all well. DD is now 18 weeks and i'm trying to teach to self settle for naps and bedtime which isnt going to plan whatsoever. I did only start this 2 days ago! The only way she can get to sleep is to be cuddled, rocked or by stroking her head. I've tried leaving her in her crib and doing all the usual things like shushing, patting, stroking, putting her mobile on i then walk out of the room and wait to see if she starts fussing i then repeat all over again. All while i'm doing this she is so excitable kicking and waving her arms around, smiling, cooing. I've just tried getting her to sleep in her crib upstairs for an hour with no luck so i gave up and rocked her and guess what she is soundo!! Question is do all yours self settle now?

My DS self settles at night but it's a total fluke, he has just always done it. Daytime naps involve all the complex rocking, shushing, singing stuff and he really only sleeps properly when being held. The child is a mystery to me!

holly, I wouldn't worry about self soothing yet, your lo is still very young. I personally am not a fan of sleep training and am very anti cry it out/controlled crying/any other method where you leave a baby to cry alone because it just seems so cruel and unnecessary to do this to a tiny little human but even experts don't recommend you try this until baby is six months old. I know every parent has their own opinions and totally appreciate parenting is all about individual decisions, so please don't take offence at my ramblings.

Thanks Broody - Absolutely no offence taken i totally agree with you about controlled crying this is something i would never ever do. I was thinking to myself maybe she is a bit young for self settling yet and i shouldnt keep pushing it if she isnt ready yet, perhaps she will naturally do this as she gets older. I've read a few threads on mn recently and noticed a lot of babies younger or same age as my DD self settling which i was pretty impressed at so wasnt sure whether this is something i should get going with.

Thanks magpie I will definitely Google those massage strokes and have a go at them. She finally went yesterday, so yes that was day 5! Poor thing! My DD will be coming up to 18weeks this weeks and like magpie tends to self soothe in the evening is she's still awake after her feed, but in the day it's a battle and the only thing that gets her down is rocking her. The thing is I am probably a bit soft and would rather her sleep then go past it and be completely over tired which has happened before. I wouldn't stress to much about it at the moment and like you say it may be something she teaches her self in the coming months.

Im completely the same Laura, my DH thinks I should be putting DS in his crib for naps during the day but it's such a battle that I can't really be bothered plus it takes ages to settle him so we miss the 'window' and he screams. So I just end up rocking him to sleep and cuddling him! I figure he'll get there in the end but while he's so little and just wants a cuddle I might as well go along with it. When he's 16 and never wants a cuddle from his mum I will wish for these days I bet!

My DS is 21 weeks today and this morning we have found out that he is going to be a big brother! Shocked doesn't even cover it, we DTD once and used protection!

I can get DS to nap in his cot during the day but sometimes it is a battle. I have decided to quit sleep training until he is 6 months.

He will go down well at night but will wake up fully at some point in the night so I put him in with me as I've been feeling so rubbish (now I know why!) I haven't had the energy to sit up with him trying to get him back to sleep in his cot, he will drop off right away with me in my bed!