August 2015 - Let the Sleepless Nights Commence

[nolongerwaitingfornumber2]

My DC2 was born on 5th August and I'm up in the wee hours feeding away. Anyone else with their August babies care to join me?

I still can't believe he's here and in my arms!

This autumn sunshine is lovely - definately makes you feel happier

Just had a friend visit - she last saw DD when she was born (nearly 8 weeks ago) and can't believe how much she has grown - time just flies by. I am visiting another friend tomorrow who had her DD last week - she will probably seem tiny compared to my DD!

kbro I have been to a baby cinema session with previous DCs - mine have always slept through it - I have sat and breastfed which feels totally comfortable in the dark and then baby has slept whilst I eat my way through a bag of pic and mix without having to share with anyone - you've totally put me in the mood for going now but I can't with toddler

Isn't the sunshine fantastic?! Went to our first baby yoga class today which was amazing - a bit like baby sensory but much calmer and more chilled out with some yoga time for the mummies built in. The relaxation meditation was amazing and DS fell asleep on me! Lovely. We all go round and share how our weeks have been as well, really supportive. Qnd great to do some.yoga again- I'm not very good, but it's amazing how relaxed and calm and positive just a bit of stretching makes you!!

The 90 min sleep cycle thing sounds very interesting clstow. Does it work from birth, or do they have to be older?

Glad the antibiotics are working jockstar. Your aftetnoon yesterday sounds perfect.

Oh no to projectile poo mzzf! We have had a few flying korma's as we have christened them. Ds is a master at pooing and weeing everywhere. Last night he did the biggest wee ever all over me, him, the bed and the floor. Perfect timing as we were all freshly bathed, in clean pj's and the bed had just been changed. I cannot believe how much washing I'm doing since he came along.

I love the lads and dads idea kbro. Dh has 4 close friends who have had babies in recent months. I'm totally going to suggest the idea to him.
Dh's step mum is an amazing knitter and crotcheter. Ds gets a new jumper or cuddly toy every week. Good job I think babies look adorable in knitted things.

I hope you're all enjoying the sunshine. We've been indoors most of the day. Ds fell asleep in is pram about 11:30 and has only just woke up. I feel a bit wrong saying this, but I've been feeling a bit claustrophobic at times, so I've really enjoyed a few hours without him on me. I had a nap, ate lunch without interruption, did some housework and watched some shit tv. Bliss! I had started to miss him by the end, mind you.

Do any of you have any advice about introducing a bottle for the first time? I'm going to get my hair cut and coloured in a few weeks and would like to leave ds with dh, so we need to practice the bottle feeding. Is there any time of day you think it's better to try it out? And is it better for dh to do it so ds can't smell my milk? It is that a bit of a myth? I'm clueless and have no idea where to start!

Hi Frolic, I asked this exact question when DS was tiny because I didn't want another bottle refuser like DD! BFing counsellor said to do it when baby isn't screaming for a feed and give them a bit of boob first then unlatch and offer the bottle. Do this a few times and then do it without the breastfeed first but you give the bottle. After doing that a couple of times then try someone else giving the bottle as baby will now understand milk can come from something other than a boob. It worked wonders for us but then again DS might just not be a bottle refuser like his sister!

Oh and I loved baby cinema with DD. The cinema was usually nearly empty and all the babies would pretty much sleep through the films prob cos of the darkness. Really great relaxation time!

Sorry I don't have time to write more but DD needs her tea now. We've been out in the sunshine all day too. Loving this weather!

Thanks nolonger. We just tried him with expressed milk in a bottle. He had just had a big feed but was still looking. He drank it straight away! Only an ounce or so, but a good first attempt. I'm feeling equal parts relieved and redundant. We'll keep trying every few days.
I better get on with the expressing.

I hope everyone has had a good day.

I know what you mean! DS actually seems to prefer the bottle to me as my flow is often too fast for him and he breaks off whereas the bottle he glugs on happily until he's done. Makes me feel a bit redundant too but I find expressing every day a drag so only do every other and the freeze half and feed him half to build up a stock. Glad it went so well x

He's been on the boob non stop since he finished, so I think he still loves me!
I know what you mean about expressing. The last thing I want to in the spare moments between sitting down to feed is sit down to pump. I did it for the first time in ages today and it does look like my supply has increased. Last time it took me 20 mins to get 2oz, but I got 5oz today in 15 mins. I like your idea about saving half and keeping half. Thanks for the tips

Hello ...am I allowed back in?? I didn't notice the app upgrade and getting my laptop these days is a kerfuffle...it's taken me 2 days to read all the posts I've missed!! Busy ladies and babies!!! I do hope you'll take me back, missed you all!! x

Yay!! Hello fanby! How are you doing lovely lady? Good I hope!!

I think I've just made a rod for my own back. Normally I nudge DH awake to make the nighttime feed but tonight I've made it myself and he's not stirred at all. Balls! He'll expect me to do this all the time now won't he?!
I quite liked him not having a undisturbed sleep as it felt like he got to 'feel my pain'. But now I guess there's no point in having us both up... Man I better have a wonderful Christmas present!!!

Question for you ladies: if you can hear loads of trumping but your kidlet seems oblivious to the fact they might have a pooey nappy, do you risk a look and potential change and thereby waking them up or wait for them to actually complain about it?! I'm never sure of the right thing to do with nighttime changes

Ahh thank you!! Everyone seems to be doing well! It's good to hear most of the feeding issues are sorted, now all we want is extra sleep right?! Oh and BIG fan of the Jaffa cake in this house .

I'm in the leave them be camp!! But that's because molly wakes every few hours for food so I know it won't be for too long and then I change her on the next feed
You're very good not to wake DH! I think you're going to have to ever so subtly make sure he knows it's a one off

So no news here really! Same old same old lol! Molly is now 6wks 5 days and is a joy (most of the time). For us the 6 wk mark was a change over and it's like she became a new baby. The sleep deprivation was HORRIFIC in the beginning but we're working at it. She still detests the Moses basket so she sleeps in the pram bassinet and thankfully is pretty easy to go down at night-am I jinxing myself (day time nap is on me)?! Anyhoo it's every 3 hours atm, sometimes, just sometimes she'll go for longer! And here is a little pic of the milk beast!

Welcome back fanby! She is utterly gorgeous.

I'm also in the leave him be camp of ds does a big one then goes to sleep. He will be up again in no time and wouldn't sleep anyway if it was bothering him. His poo's are pretty wet and the nappies are very absorbent. He's not had a sore bum at all.

We had a bit of a shit start to the night with ds crying every time I put him down until about 2am. He 'a since done 2 2 hour stretches and is still very sleepy so hopefully I'll get some more kip before starting the day.

I'm in the nappy checking camp - I left it a couple of times and poor Fergus got a red raw bum. :( not really surprising as both his parents have really sensitive skin.

Anyone else got trouble with reflux in their little ones? Fergus has been prescribed gaviscon, but trying to give it to him was a total failure - I mixed it up as per the directions and tried to syringe it into him but he just spat it all down his front while weeping with heartbreak that his mummy, who he loves and trusts, was trying to poison him with something cold and horrible tasting. He cried, I cried, we had to have a big cuddle to make it okay but the look of sheer betrayal he had is actually haunting me. Plus I have no idea how to do all the sterilising and crap to make it all up, it's a colossal pain in the arse and there's no fucking way I have time to do it six times a day...

Welcome back fanby what a beautiful baby!
I'm a nappy checker too. DS won't sleep with it there so I have to check to make sure I can get to it quickly before he wakes himself up too much. (He will sleep through a nappy change if he's sleepy enough)
siani sorry I've no experience of reflux, but hope it gets better soon

DS has his first jabs today. They are at 9 am, so DP has to take DS1 to school and I have to go down to the doctors with both babies! DD will want out if the pram, DS will be upset because he's hurt! Argh! Theyre both going to be screaming.

I feel lucky that dd gives me one nice block of sleep when I put her down at our bedtime. In ranges from 3-5 hours. She also falls asleep by herself for that one. I don't know whether it's because of the bottle of formula or because shes now used to that as a sort of routine but it definitely helps me feel more human. After that though she won't go back to sleep properly and will graze the rest of the night till about 10 in the morning so she makes up for it then.

Day time naps are impossible unless she goes in the car which sends her into a deep sleep. I don't get much chance to have any me time in the day unless I've been in the car.

Frolic I've always given a bottle to dd and she doesn't seem to have much confusion now. Will happily switch between the 2. Sounds promising that hour ds took it easily first time. I still feel frustrated that she'll take a bottle so easily but spends ages on the breast buy never mind. 5oz in 15 mins is fab. Takes me an hour! I haven't bothered expressing in ages as I was finding it too time consuming but I'd like to build up a freezer supply. But also I'm happy for dd to have formula if needed so maybe I'll enjoy some expressing free time for now lol.

Also enjoying this lovely sunshine. Not ready for it to change. Doubt I'll even fit in my winter coats because I've put on so much weight. I seem to be getting fatter not slimmer so I've joined weightwatchers. But diets stress me out and the sleep deprivation has made me even more stressed out by it so I'm not sure it's going to go well. It's the fact that I don't have time to buy food and cook because I'm sat feeding dd all day long. And I was looking at slow cooker recipes and they were all too complicated. I want simple recipes with not many ingredients.

Ahh frolic, I too am hoping for me sleep and a delayed start to the day!! Fingers crossed for the both of us!!

Siani, sorry no idea on the reflux! I have found with molly though she cries the first few times with new things but once she's used to it she's fairly happy-this is with baths etc. Obviously with medicine a completely different story and I know I'd be hard pushed to try it again...

Fatty, good luck for the jabs, ours are in a couple of weeks, not looking fwd to it!

Dozy, still way to early to worry about diets surely?! I am sorry that it's stressing you out though, that's the last thing you need. We don't have a slow cooker so can't recommend any recipes unfortunately.

Our 'activity' today is afternoon tea with my mum. Hope molly behaves! Will be the first time I've taken her on a train, wish me luck, our station is crap and has a whole load of steps and no lift! Joy!

Lovely to have you back Fanby, Molly is gorgeous and good luck with the train today - I've done a few train trips now and someone always offers to help us up/down the stairs, I think people like to do it as their good deed for the day!

Until this week I would have left the nappy MzzzF but DS has recently started getting very cross if he has a dirty/wet nappy, I'm wondering if I should try a different brand as its horrible for him to get so upset every time he does a pee.

The 90 minute thing is worth looking at from 6 weeks I think Frolic, it's really helping with DS's naps but he's getting worse and worse at sleeping in his Moses Basket. Had to have him in bed with us for a bit last night but we're not set up for co-sleeping so it's not ideal.

Good luck with the jabs Fatty, ours are on Monday and I've managed to convince OH to take the day off so I've got some support!

No experience with reflux, sorry Siani, it seems to be one wind related thing that DS doesn't suffer with.

Don't worry too much about dieting now Dozy, I reckon just concentrate on looking after your DD and yourself. It's hard enough getting the basics done sometimes!

Yay for more sunshine today - enjoy everybody

Siani my DD has shocking reflux! I'm not breastfeeding though so have gone with reflux formula instead of gaviscon. However, it works in much the same way so deffo worth persevering with it as it's made a HUGE difference to DD and she can now lay flat
Re sterilising syringes you should be fine just to do a hot water blast before using. Fresh boiled kettle water poured over/in the syringe will easily kill any nasties. I had to do DD's teats like this initially as we only had one!!!

DD has her jabs next week - arrhhh! Thankfully DH is having his pat leave next week (finally!) so he can be the meanie!

Dozy - don't even worry about dieting until you're getting 6hrs kip per 24hrs. Your body will not give up fat unless it's rested! I'm not getting enough sleep yet but I'm just trying not to snaffle so much choc in the evening and sneak in a few muscle building exs during the day. Squats, step ups and walking lunges holding DD. I want to do some arm exs with her but I think hoisting her above my swede could be risky business with her reflux!! Haha

Re the nappy dilemma I finally gave in due to the stench!! It was a biggun, she was unfazed and had a little nap afterwards anyway. That poo must've worn her out!

DD will not sleep in her Moses during the day, mostly she's on me or her pod. We only put her in her Moses when she's asleep so maybe it hasn't twigged for her yet that that's where she sleeps...

I'm in the leave DS be camp unless sure he's pooed. He though is not massively sensitive so can sleep through and I know he'll be up in no time (sadly).

That said nights are going a bit better. He seems to have found his own pattern with them and is going down much better after each feed. No more rocking him for 45 minutes. Hurrah.

Welcome back fanby. Molly is gorgeous. She has loads of hair. So cute.

Siani have no experience of baby gaviscon but we give DS gripe water with a syringe (thank you Nolonger and loveandsmiles for the calpol tip) and it took a few goes to get the hang of it but now he takes it ok. But gripe water probably tastes a bit better than gaviscon. Hopefully it gets easier.

Mzzzf am with you on the big christmas present. Although think might suggest to DH a massage somewhere would be a nice present!

Dozy am the same with expressing. I tried again yesterday and took about 45 mins to get 25mls. Not fun. Think am going to give it a few more goes but if it doesn't get easier just give DS formula if I need him to have a bottle as I know he takes it fine and not bother with expressing. Think it just doesn't work for some people.

Yesterday went to yo sushi for lunch. Was so nice to have sushi again. When I was pregnant any fish made me horribly sick so didn't get to eat any. However that's two lunches out in a row. Economy drive starts now!!

Well, we got to sleep another 1 1/2 hours, so not too bad. Hopefully we'll both get a good nap this afternoon as well.

I know that face siani, it's so distressing. When we were giving ds dentinox for colic it tasted vile and he would pull the most disgusted face and then scream.
I wander if he has a bit of reflux as he was sick every time he lay down flat for a few hours last night.

Good luck with the jabs and the toddler wrestling fatty.

I'm struggling to motivate myself for pumping as well dozy. I just feel bad because I bought an expensive pump full of good intentions! I bet we end up trying ds on formula very soon.
I know how you feel about the weight. I'm really struggling to reign in my appetite. I'm not sure if it's the breast feeding or if I'm stuck in a sugar addiction cycle, but I'm so hungry all the time. I get headaches if I've not had cake or chocolate. It's such a hard battle on so little sleep. And I've given up and bought a new coat.

I hope you managed a bit more sleep fanby and enjoy your afternoon tea.

Thank you clstow. I'll definitely look into that 90 minute book. Ds is 5 weeks today, so we're not far off the magic 6 week milestone!
I can definetly still recommend the sleepyhead if you keep struggling to get ds to settle. I'm using it for co-sleeping and feel much safer than when I just had him in with me as I'm a heavy sleeper and was terrified of squishing him. It also fits in the crib we have by the bed and I'm slowly introducing him to it for a few hours after the 4/5 am feed. He's really sleepy then so doesn't fight it. It's not cheap, but the resale value is good.

Have a good day everyone and enjoy the sunshine

Awww fanby I just love molly's gorgeous face and amazing hair. So beautiful. Jealous of your afternoon tea. I do love a good afternoon tea heehee.

Feeling a bit more positive today about weightwatchers. Because I'm chubby and breastfeeding i actually get a lot of points so I don't need to be too strict to start with. But I need to lose 10lbs in 8 weeks in order to get my money back so at least try to aim for that. I have started walking a bit more now so that should help. mzzf I keep doing daily ark exercises with dd and was also going to throw in some squats. She likes to be bounced and it wrecks your arms after a while so I figured I may as well try and tone up my arms while i do it.

Decided I'll just start with easy dishes with weiggtwatchers jars etc to start with and build up to buying a slow cooker and learning some recipes.

Dp thinks I've got all the time in the world to go out shopping and to cook tea which is why I thought a slow cooker would be a good idea because then I could throw it all in in the moring and I don't have to do anything but recipes always include loads of ingredients which are expensive and I'm taking a year off so don't have a lot of money to spend on food. It is still early days though so dp is just gonna have to remember that and help me out more. He was in such a bad mood last night so I just went out with Piper to see my roller derby team train. It helped her sleep anyway heehee.

My miserable DS after his jabs
He got a tenp almost immediately bless him. Calpol and sleep will help.

Oh fatty!! He is just gorgeous!!!! Well done on surviving the jabs!! Lots of cuddles for both of you today!! Really weird question but what part of the body do they inject, just so I know the best thing to dress her in...

Dozy, I've seen pics of you on FB and you are so not chubby! Just be careful, we all need all the energy we can get right now!! Make sure you don't go too mad with the dieting xx

I really don't mind expressing, I think I'm quite lucky as I seem to have quite a lot of milk. First thing in the morning is best for me!

Just watching last nights GBBO, god I'm hungry now! x

Thank you
The top of their legs. Two in the left, one in the right. And an oral solution too. Not sure which ones which though. Apparently it's the new meningitis one that gives them the temp so quickly. but I'd rather a day or two of him feeling sorry for himself than him become seriously unwell. Just so everyone knows, babies can become quite fussy and not feed as well as they normally do for a couple of days. But are usually fine after that. Lots of cuddles today.

And dozy I don't know what you class as chubby but I'm 14 and a half stone of flabby bits so don't stress it. I will lose weight eventually just have to stop eating sugary shit and get my pelvis working properly first

Thanks fatty! Will go for a trouser top combo then! Yes, I've heard it's the new men B jab, it's been recommended to give them expressed milk (if you're bf!) from the fridge to bring the temp down along with the calpol. Hope little fatty isn't too sad today!

Had to get the train office person to take the pram up the stairs as no one is about, honestly you'd have thought I'd asked him for the moon on a stick! No wonder I've been sticking to buses!! xx

Slow cookers are fab dozy. Dh is veggie, so I don't cook much meat. But my mum makes stew with cheap cuts of meat and it always comes out beautifully. I make loads of soups, curries and risotto's. All super tasty, cheap and healthy.
As others said, don't go too mad on the weight watchers. Piper is still very little.
I've just had a super healthy lunch of fish, rice and vegetables and prepared a pepper stew for supper. But we've got guests tonight, so now I'm off to buy cake! It's all about balance, right?

He is beautiful fatty. I hope he feels better quickly.

What a shitty attitude from the train worker fanby. I can't stand miserable and unhelpful people. It will be worth it for yummy afternoon tea.