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!

Yay love for the self settling DD! Let hope she carries on!

DS is STILL asleep!!! 2hrs 20 mins now! Maybe I should break my own rule and wake him it's seeming far too long?! He's in his sit me up cosy- definately a good purchase!!!

Yay! DP is off work so he has come round and is looking after DD while Nathan naps in his cot and I'm snug in bed. Night night!

Oh lord so much to catch up on....

I've read it all and I can't cope with writing all individual responses but can I just say we all deserve cake and double gin and tonics.

I think I've semi hit a wall. Molly is being a minx during the day but actually pretty good at night to be honest. Can't remember what I've filled you in on but did I tell you we've started using a dummy? DH thinks it's emergency use in the evenings, but yes I've just given it to her, she sucks on it for a few minutes and then sleeps, surely that's fine and better to save my nipples???!
During the day she'd love to feed every hour if she could but I'm trying to push it to every 2 hrs, so far we've got it to every hour and three quarters with distractions....
Any dummy advice? Should I be using it? Should I not? Honestly advice is so conflicting and I swear it's more of a class thing with people's opinions .

I'm off to meet a couple of DH's colleagues wives and babies this afternoon. I don't really know them and feel like it's a blind date .

Oh and I 'won' a couple of items on eBay, a play arc thing which has gone down very well and a fucking swing chair that I can't get to work, it's making the worst noise and you need a screwdriver to get to the battery compartment so I've shut it in the spare room...

I don't think there's anything wrong with a dummy. All babies suck for comfort and some need it more than others. We were letting ds suck on a finger, so don't really see the difference with a dummy. He'll only occasionally take it though so that's great if it works for you. I think problems can occur only if they're overused, you miss feeding signs or later on when they're getting teeth and learning to talk. Used to sooth to sleep, no problem, used to avoid working out why a baby is upset or interacting with him/her, not so good.

I've just sorted through ds's clothes as he's grown out of most of his 0-3 month stuff already at 8 weeks . He is one looong baby! He's asleep in the sling (not in the plan!) but has gone for 2 hours so far (yay!)

fatty you're both looking good! Damn you

lily definitely call if a do over and massively enjoy the weekend!!

Frolic - sorry you've had a crap one. It's shit when they fight sleep isn't it! Why do they bloody fight it anyway?!

Kbro - arrgghh to the routine brigade!! At least you're nearly out of there.

Lily - yes to the big naps. Hope this is a turning point for you! And I am so so SO emotional nowadays, well ever since becoming pregnant. It's frankly embarrassing and very un-British!!

Love - fingers crossed DD has learnt this new skil and will be showing it off constantly!!

Need to read the next page now!!

I kno what you guys mean about routines. I want the benefits of knowing what comes next and being 'on it' but I hate the rigidity of it and that its so constraining to time and place. When she's not being a little shit dd has a predictable rhythm rather than a timed routine. I know she'll feed and then be awake for another 90mins. Then she'll need a nap, Max time she's down is around 2hrs min is 30mins. This nap is always on me or DH unless it's proper bedtime and she's in the cot then she sleeps about 3.5hrs between feeds. This rhythm has helped me get out of the house as at least I know what should be next but it's not foolproof at all and the times are variable each day!!!

Dd has a dummy. Mostly it's a sleep aid and used for relaxing. There is nothing wrong IMO and I'm becoming more of the thinking that you do what you need to get by, regardless of what is! If it helps - do it! Buuuuut I can't comment on that in regards to BF so maybe one of the more experienced ladies will chip in.

Dare I say it but mini mzzzf is doing better today, slept relatively well over night. I think DH putting her down made a difference and she was a bit clingy and overtired and just wanted to tree frog on me. Plus I've been keen to encourage her normal rhythm today too. Lots of play on mat during her awake times etc and dummy in, TV volume slightly down for falling to sleep. Pleeeeease let her be on the up again!!!

Here's mini mzzzf on her mat being watched by black dog!

It's the weekend now folks, let's rock and roll it. I'm started off with a slice of

Aw gorgeous babies. I'm awake, Nathan is having a bottle, DD for some reason is sat in her pram. Wearing her elsa dress and singing let it go in her "lovely" singing shouting voice. DP has gone to collect DS1

Dummys - DS1 had one, lost them all when he started spitting and throwing them out of the pram at 8 months, never replaced them.
DD refused a dummy.
DS2 has a dummy but rarely uses it. I try but it gets spat out. Sometimes he will suck it for a bit though.

Oh and Nathan is getting better with sleeping, it was "elsa" that had me up until half four reading stories. She had bad dreams

effin my DS has been in 3-6 clothes since around 6 weeks.
So don't worry about it. They all grow at different rates.
DS1 went from the 50th to around the 85th centile in his first year
DD went from the 50th to between the 9th and 25th
DS2 has been on 98th since birth.

No chance of a nap for me today lily, I've gone and overbooked myself a bit. But I'm having a lovely day catching up with friends - good job there is plenty of coffee around.
Yay for ds having a good long nap. Ds generally has 2-3 hours around lunch time and I love it.

Well done on a good nights sleep baby loves.

Ds doesn't always burp after the boob effin. Trying too hard to get one up wakes him up, so k just leave it if one doesn't com up straight away. He seems fine.
I hope project nap is going well.

I hope you managed a nap with all that singing going on fatty. She sounds very cute!

Molly is adorable fanby. Sorry you are feeling the strain. I don't think anything can prepare us for quite how difficult this is day in day out. Be kind to yourself.
Hell yes to using the dummy if it works. I'm trying very hard to get ds to take one. He sucks his thumb otherwise. I saw a little girl at the gp on Tuesday who had her hand all bandaged up because of blisters from sucking. Her mother told me she wished she'd persevered with a dummy.

I love the photo with the hound mzzf! Super cute! I've yet to get a snap of them both because frolicdog is still s bit scared of getting too close to ds.
Glad you are having a good day.

Ds and I are off to a friends for dinner and to cheer her up as her boyfriend has gone away for work. I really hope he's in a better mood than last night.
Enjoy your Friday evenings everyone.

Can't remember who said what but 4 month sleep regression. My friends lo is going through that at the moment, and also as joskar said is meaning she is feeding lots. Feel really sorry for my friend. It's been going on for 6 weeks now and she's knackered poor thing. Her lo has always been a quick feeder. Has never slept though but has slept well and now is up every hour in the night. I wish I knew how to help her but I don't know what to suggest.

I was probably one of those awful people who thought that kids who didn't sleep were partly because the parents had made them that way. I now know that is not the case and I will not be judgemental anymore as some kids just don't sleep or struggle with it or like being held. My dd was terrible at the beginning but she is getting better. But she'll only sleep well for one stint at night. The rest of the time she wants to be with me.

She's managed 3 nights of sleeping through but last night she was back to being awake from 4am and she didn't stop feeding till 10! And even then I had to just prize her off and distract her. She's barely slept today. All she's wanted to do is eat eat and eat. She's finally dropped off this evening which is a relief. I fell asleep while she was feeding off me though because I didn't hear dp leave for work and my mum came round and was knocking but I didn't hear so she had to let herself in.

Although I am going to stick at breaatfeeding, I do feel like dd would be a happier more content baby if I bottle fed her. I think that's why part of me doesn't want to have a night away from her with her having bottles because then we'll know whether it does make her happier or not. My friend who lives in Switzerland is back for a visit next weekend so going to have a dinner party at hers and dp has suggested getting a baby sitter for dd. I was totally against it to start with but then if I want to have a few drinks it might be sensible for someone else to have her. It'll just be so weird to not have her with me. I'll only trust my mum to have her though to start with. I never knew I would be this soft! Or that it would take me so long to be ok with being separated. I just don't want to be separated.

God today has been tough, I've ended in tears a couple of times. I'm just so fricking exhausted and emotional and angry at everyone (not the baby). I wonder if I'm having a non period period if that makes sense? x

Eff - molly has grown up of a load of 0-3 too, but the next size up is still a little big, ah well!

Oh mini mzzzf is just too cute! Love her outfit!!!! As is your pup in the background!

Fatty - how has frozen not died a death yet?? My niece is still a massive fan and likes to FaceTime me just to sing at me, she's 4 in November....

Frolic - wow blisters on the thumb?! All of a sudden dummy seems like a good option :p hope you have a lovely evening

Dozy - I'm in exactly the same boat as you as to whether to leave/not leave the baby. Emotionally I can't do it, but tbh I think a break would do me the world of good, even though I'd be so on edge, got to get easier though right.

I have no idea why frozen is so popular. Tangled is better. I also don't know why my DD, who likes dinosaurs and monsters and sharks, suddenly became obsessed with it fanby that's very sweet of your niece but I bet it gets annoying!

I'm another who doesn't like leaving the babies. The first time I will be leaving Nathan for more than an hour or two, will be the day after DDs birthday in December. We are taking DD to the sea life centre to see the garks and ocpus.

Very annoying!! I love tangled too! So much better. I told DH he's going to have to learn the Disney princesses....

Haven't been to the sealife centre for years. We have a date in October 30th. We're going champagne tasting, mum is babysitting only person I'd allow!!

My mum is the only person allowed to babysit my 3 and the oldest is 7 at the end of this month!
DB can watch them for a couple of hours, but that's it. And DP can have them but only because they are his too. But I don't tend to go out much. I do enjoy going to the cinema. But we haven't been just me and DP for a while. Last film we saw without any kids was the wolverine. Will have to sort something out, maybe go on a date at some point after Christmas.

Fergus is now outgrowing all his 0-3 month stuff, too. I need to buy a massive pile of sleepsuits in 3-6, with the reflux making him so sicky he can easily get through a half dozen in an average 24h and we don't have NEARLY enough. :/ The reflux clearly isn't affecting his growth, mind - he's MASSIVE now, and proper chunky.

Effin- when I was bf I rarely got a burp out of DS and to be honest didn't bother winding him half the time because of that!

Fanby- I was really against dummy's initially I'll be honest- I never had one and I thought baby's were cleverer if they didn't have one- I don't even know where I got that idea from! I was then terrified of giving him nipple confusion by him having one whilst bf- it took the HV and even the bf support lady to suggest he have one as he constantly had his tongue pressed against the roof of his mouth which was causing issues and the dummy would get him used to it being down before I did! Think that was at about 5 weeks and I just use it as a sleep cue so for naps/ bed and if he is having to wait for food- out/ bottle cooling etc or if he is hysterical and I've tried everything else! He can pretty much take it or leave it though but it is very good for getting him to go to sleep. DS was a very sucky baby whilst bf and used me as a dummy so wish I'd actually given it earlier! I do think there's a certain snobby attitude towards their use though- my dad chose not to even respond when I took it out his mouth saying 'his foods ready now he was only having it whilst waiting' and I hated that I'd felt like I had to even justify it!! You do what you need to do to keep baby happy and if that means a dummy so be it- as some one else up post said I think at this age it really doesn't matter either way it's when they are talking/ teething it could cause issues so wouldn't worry for now!

Wow Effin- DS has only just gone into 0-3 clothes at nearly 11 weeks old but he was teeny tiny and nearly 3 weeks early!

Thanks to those encouraging me to enjoy the weekend and start again Monday I am embracing it with choc biscuits!

Sorry not replied to everyone putting a film on now and DH goes mad if I start asking questions because I've been on my phone not paying attention! Lol!

Oh and Fanby and dozy I'm exactly the same about leaving DS! I've done it twice but only with DH and for a few hours! His mum has starred to regularly ask when we are going to let her have him but at 11 weeks I STILL don't feel quite right although I'm coming round to the idea! Will probably be a few more weeks yet!

Oh wow busy thread. And loving all the photos!! Gorgeous babies! (And fatty you look great. Not shattered at all)

Re dummies - yes. We use one for the exact same reason. DS is a massive comfort sucker. I am doing it alongside breast feeding too. A midwife and the health visitor both suggested it too me when I said how much he needed to feed. Am embarrassed to say it's now become like a crack pipe to him, he is so addicted to it. Although am trying to give less as I think it gives him wind.

Re winding DS sometimes (loads) mid feed gets really fussy so if that happens I wind him. If he needs to burb it usually comes up quickly. If not it doesn't. After the feed I always try and wind but can't usually get any up. DS' main wind problem though is bottom based. So we do way more tummy rubbing. Although if one more HV says to me breast fed babies don't get wind I will rock up at their place when DS is screaming the house down from it.

Napping is also the issue here although have decided not to stress about it. I literally drive myself insane obsessing about DS feeding (and kind of still do) but am trying not to go down that road with napping. Effin let us know how you get on. Think doing something following DS natural pattern could be the way forward and trying to catch his tired cues earlier is something am not great at so need to up my game there. The over tired sleep fighting is such hard work. Esp when you are so tired yourself. I will like screaming do you know how much I would love to go to sleep right now at him sometimes.

Dozy tell me about it re the going out. I really thought I'd be more chilled about it. During the day I feel ok but I think it's more cause I know how upset he can get in the evening I don't want to not be there. When did I get so soft??? I figure it's like everything though and we will do when we are ready and when is right for us. I have a wedding party in early nov so thinking that will be when I go out in evening. Am being pressured to go to a 40th dinner week after next but not sure. Not least of all cause it's so trendy place in shoreditch and I feel anything but trendy and have no clothes that fit.

In non baby news, Scottish friends DH is off to watch Scotland in the rugby tomorrow at St James park!

Oh and thanks for the support about in law visit. All going ok aside from FIL telling me there should be no maternity pay at all. Deep breathes.

Mini mzzzf is one windy mo'fo both mouth and arse! The best tip I was given is that burps usually come out in the first few mins of burping of they are able too. Once she's burped she always relaxes her back so I know we're done. And I do not pay her to hurl her anyone as it was counter-productive, me patting the wind baby down when she wants it out! So now I just rub, firmly mind, up her spine and normally within 30 strokes she's done.

Fought sleep again this evening, clearly didn't get the sleep when you're tired memo! So much so she's slept through her 8pm feed and is KO'd on my chest... Such fun!

Did anyone go through the fussy phase at 6-8 weeks? DS is 7 weeks and since last night has been so clingy and getting overestimated, refusing g to nap etc. Feel like we've gone back to the early weeks!

Thank you for all of the dummy advice! You've made me feel lots better about it...I think she looks pretty cute with one tbh .

gawd Kbro, I get anxious going out in shoreditch usually as I'm way not cool enough!!
I guess we're all going to have to bite the bullet at some point hey?!

Breastfed babies don't get wind? Wtf?! They obviously haven't met moll's, her bottom is like a trumpet!

MaGrat - yes yes yes! The 6 week growth spurt knocked mini mzzzf for six! She was out of sorts for a few days, a proper little grizzy pants.

DH is currently 'on duty' and is getting dd to sleep then he'll be putting her down - fingers blooming crossed!!!!

Evening all! Ds has just flaked out after a busy but good day. He fought it for a bit again tonight, but cross fingers this is it now.
Dh bought a packet of conforms and has joined us from the spare room tonight. I've just gone to the loo and am bleeding again. Poor bugger really thought his luck was in. I wander if it's my period? Ds is only 6 weeks old and I've not long stopped bleeding. I really didn't expect anything this soon, especially with the breastfeeding. It's fresh blood, so I'm not worried but I suppose it could be something to do with this infection. Bollocks.

I'm not ready to leave ds with anyone yet dozy. I never imagined I'd feel like this. I'm going to get my hair done next weekend and am hoping to leave him with dh. But it's only around the corner so he can bring him down for a feed if needed. Maybe I will be ready to let him out of my sight after his 18th birthday

Yup fanby, the poor little girl had a big old bandage on her thumb due to blisters from sucking. Poor love. It's definitely made me try a bit harder with the dummy.

I think we may be in the middle of a fussy stage magrat and ds was 6 weeks yesterday. I'm assuming it's a growth spurt or my antibiotics or both. I hope it passes for us both soon.

I hope every one else is ok - I'm not going to reply individually so I can go to sleep quickly while ds is asleep

Wow u guys are so chatty it's hard to keep up lol.

Dummy use....don't see a problem with it personally if it does the job of settling them. But it'd annoying when on a cat journey and dd loses it and starts wailing.

Hope those who've had bad nights have better ones.

Fanby sorry you're having a tough time and have been upset. Maybe a little break will do u good even if just for a couple of hours. It's such hard work when all they want is constant feeding. And ps piper trumps like a trooper too. It's hilarious. She can literally do about 20 in a row. I love it. Not so much when they're stinky though.

Lily enjoy your food. I've been busting my gut on weightwatcher and going on walks and I've lost a measly 1.5lbs. So bloody depressing. I did have a couple of cheats bit in general was very good and didn't even use up all of my points so I was really expecting more. I know it's a loss bit I can lose that in a day and put it back on in a day so it's not enough for me. As long as it keeps on going down I suppose that 1.5 is fine. Meant I didn't feel in deserved a treat night so I've still carried on sticking to it. I resisted all the bread and fatty things in tonight's help yourself dinner at the in laws and icecream dessert. It helped that dd needed feeding by the time dessert came out so I wasnt tempted. I love it when u start noticing a significant weight loss but it's so frustrating at the beginning.

Well I really need to get some sleep so I'm sorry that I've not responded to everything. Sometimes I wish it had more of a thread like Facebook so I could reply to individual people's comments rather than trying to remember what was said after you've missed a whole page or more. Especially now we all have baby brain from sleep deprivation so it's even harder.

Good night all. Xxx