September 2006 babies - smiles all round!

[clairemow]

New thread for us....

hello all - just checking in. I have neglected this thread the last couple of days because I have been having an horrendous time with ds. His naps are pitiful, nights are just awful with him waking 1 - 2 hourly and only being settled by a quick bf. I have joined more threads in the sleep section of mn and found them to be what I need right now. I'm off to bed - shattered beyond belief. dd is 9 tomorrow and I need to get some zzzz so that I can be happy, excited fun mummy for her.

Just wrote a really long post and lost it. Don't know how but am very cross!

Will write again later when I have calmed down........

Can I just reassure everyone that I'm not a stick! I'm currently a size 12 in M&S and a debenhams size 8 is quite generous!
(however, I think marls must be a stick if she can only picnh an inch of skin )

Jinglebelle - so sorry to hear things haven't improved for you. I know nutramigen can be used as a sole feed though obviously it's not really as good as BF. Good luck with the diet and though things may seem really bad at least some food is going down and LO will be OK. I know it doesn't feel like it right now but reflux does get better naturally with time and happier times are on the way.

Clairemow - have done a few nights of shouting '[DS1] - get back into bed!' from our room and we seem to be getting there now - fingers crossed for tonight. Trouble is that now DS2 has been waking and crying for 20-30mins around 4am. He goes back to sleep but it's breaking up our nights again... oh well!

My first day back at work today! They forgot I was coming back and now I have nothing to do...!

Hi all,
nothing exciting happening here - both Ds's sleeping well )touch wood), we had a couple of early starts with Ds2 over the weekend, which I thought might be him starting to get hungrier, but he was up at 6 this morning, which is great, so can't complain.
DS1 starts 'pre-school playgroup ' tommorow...tbh I am dreading it. I have never left him anywhere like that before. I know a lot of you have had to leave babies in nursery at 6 months to return to work, so I know I am not alone, it is just very emotional for me, he is 2 and I can almost hear him shouting 'mummy' and getting upset already!!!!! The good thing is that it is held at the same place where we go to mother and toddler group, so he knows the place and some of the staff. I KNOW it is good for him and he needs more now than mother and toddler group twice a week - but it is soooo hard!!!!!!!! They have told me to leave him and just go rather than hang around........

Liquid, Fraser did exactly the same about 6 weeks ago, kept waking at 4 and having a shout. It was hard, but if I fed him, he just wasn't interested when he got up, so we ignored him, and the time got shorter and shorter, and now he hasn't made a noise at all at night for about 4 weeks!!

Mabel, they're right at the playgroup... It's really hard, but the longer you hang around, often the more upset he may become... IME, dropping off DS1, I would wait around the corner, and he was usually completely calm and happy again after, oooh, 20 seconds.....!!! Good luck...!!

mabel good luck with the playgroup hopefully he will be ok if he knows them.

My own ds1 started in september he did not know them, he cried for about 2 weeks every time i left him, i would drive home in floods of tears and would ring them once in the house and he was always fine. I was also told not to hang around has that would make him worse.

cruise hope the sleeping gets better soon.

Dh now thinks it is time to put ds into his cot in his own room,the thought of this is upsetting me i started to cry last night when dh mentioned it. I asked dh if we could put the cot into our room, but he does not think this is a good idea has ds needs to go in his room so that he does not get to use to being in with us, i know he is right but i am finding it difficult to move onto this next stage.

Going to join weight watchers tomorrow the time has come to try and lose some weight.

Mabel & kseaj - so sorry to hear about your playgroup experiences. Luckily haven't had any of that but can only imagine how hard that must be!!
(what you call "playgroup" we call "moms' day out" ... what we call "playgroup" is moms bringing their kids over to a fellow mom's house & talking and eating while the kids play.)

Liquid - we're in the same boat. DH & I continuing to sleep apart 'til J. sleeps through - v. frustrating. Did try the same bed last night, but when J. woke at 1:00 took me 2 hrs to fall back asleep.
With addition of solids, I'm hoping it'll get better. We tried peaches, also rice cereal with apples, on Sat. but J. was not interested; will wait & try it again this weekend.

1 inch when standing, 2 when sitting ... LOL.

Found out this weekend that we'll be living here in Arkansas at least through September. It's a relief. Though miss the gay community & my chic urban girlfriends (who keep me updated) in Houston, really didn't want to have to leave this clean and simple life so soon.

Marls - I'm so pleased you're happy about your continued living arrangements - September's quite a while away so you can continue to feel settled for a little longer

Claire - thatnks for that piece of info, it's good to know as you're about 5/6 weeks ahead of me on everything and it always settles down the same way it did for you.

Mabel - good luck tomorrow - we definitely found that with DS1 we just needed to drop him off as quick as possible and not get upset ourselves. Often I would stand outside the door to his room where he couldn't see me and it only ever took a few minutes at most for him to stop being upset and join in the play, now he's 2 he doesn't bat an eye when I leave!

Well, my first day back is over and the staff at preschool tell me that DS2 did just fine - they're not used to dealing with such young babies and were a bit taken aback by how sicky he is but they said he's been very happy and smiley Phew!

Liquid, DS1 asks to go to his nursery sometimes on days when he's not going... . Guess they do more exciting things... I just signed up for a "Messytots" class so he can do lots of painting without ruining my furniture...

It's been raining here all day... so dull... lots of TV... and a bit of painting Fraser's feet for his baby book (DS1 did the painting...) and DS1 and I had a lovely cuddle on the sofa for about an hour while F was asleep earlier. I could have slept myself, except DS1 kept saying, "oh Mummy, look what Pippin's doing, Auntie Mabel is flying her plane"...etc. etc. Did my first bedtime on my own since F went onto formula, and it was sooo much easier! We sat on the spare bed in his room after their bath, and he drank his milk while I read DS1 a story, then he went to bed, and DS1 and I had another story in his bed. All in bed by 6.55!! Hurray!

F has been really grouchy though the last couple of days, and 1 firey red cheek... I fear the arrival of a tooth.

Cruisemum - hope your wee man is sleeping better soon. Happy Birthday to your dd!

Mabel - good luck for play group. My son was just the same when he started pre-school nursery in Sept. It's tough. I tried to do the swift drop off and then lurked in the foyer and the crying stopped in seconds! Chancer. What cracked it for us was bribery - a wee dinosaur each day he didn't make a fuss. And the other thing was daddy doing the drop off as he announced that it was easier to say goodbye to daddy (fair enough as we've been together most of his wee life!)

Ds was back to nursery today and he was itching to get there! It was rather nice to have a quiet 2.5 hours with just dd for company.

We've had a rough few nights with dd up quite a lot. I'm feeling seriously sleep deprived - emotional and keep doing stupid things...

Need to crack on - parents staying the house and it's a tip. I really wish I was naturally tidy...

Thanks for all the support, I know it will be fine, eventually and Tassis , good idea about the dinosaur....even though xmas has only just gone i think i'll get him a little something for when i pick him up.
Claire - what a great bedtime - hope it's like that everynight for you. DS1 has been pretty foul all day, and we had major tears at bedtime.... i hope he's not like that tommorow.. it's amazing how you think babies are hard work...until they grow in to a toddler then you realise how easy they were when they were small.
Kseaj - can't really help you with your decision about moving your ds in to his own room, but just to say that DS2 has been in his own room for a couple of months now and he is sleeping so much better, the same was true of DS1 as well, we moved him because he was too big for his moses basket and we didn't really have the room for his cotbed in our room. He will be fine, but i know it's hard.
liquid - glad your 1st day back went ok.

Lovely Clairemow! & all by 7pm...! Think we're heading that way quite soon. Jack has been feeding solid again every two hours for the past two days...am quite exhusted. When I had to put him to bed tonight I just felt like giving him a bottle as it was a case of "oh no, not again"!! Think he must be having a growth spurt (he's 16 weeks) &/or just be getting much hungrier etc. Have this big wedding on the 4th of Feb when I will be forced to have increased his FF as we'll be gone almost all day - the babysitter is costing us a fortune but we have no other option as children aren't allowed at the wedding (which I fully understand - we didn't have any to ours!) & my in-laws are away damn it!! Don't relish having to pump in the synagogue!!!!!

Have just finished writing to my boss telling her I'm taking an extra 6 weeks addtional M/L & to consider part time. I'm not feeling hugely optimistic but we'll see. Maybe just maybe she'll soften having her baby....

Cori - she probably will.

Claire LOL; DS1 does the same thing - a small voice commenting on his "shows" each and every 20 seconds. Kind of makes me wonder why I turn them on in the first place ...

Cruise ~ we're also having the same issue here. its been going on for at least a week now. it was like out of the blue, ds began waking every hour for a quickie bf. im so terribly knackered during the days now with loads of head aches, probably from the horrible sleeping patterns. at the moment, ds is screaming his head off 'cos i layed him on his floor mat. wants to be held alot as well.

better get to the boy before his head explodes(thats what the screaming sounds like...awwwww!!!!) maybe he'll feed and take a nap with me...

hope you are all well,,,will catch up later!!!

It's really interesting that they are all suddenly hungrier - I so understand why lots of people start weaning now.... Fraser has started downing massive bottles (8 oz of water so it makes 9 oz of formula!), and he's clearly interested in our food. At breakfast, he used to be happy in his chair watching us all, but now he cries quite quickly, and tries to swipe at our food... Still holding out though. I did make some pear and apple puree the other day, so I'm ready when we start. And some baby rice (aka tasteless glue).

Hope the nights start improving again Cruise and Munki...

It's really interesting that they are all suddenly hungrier - I so understand why lots of people start weaning now.... Fraser has started downing massive bottles (8 oz of water so it makes 9 oz of formula!), and he's clearly interested in our food. At breakfast, he used to be happy in his chair watching us all, but now he cries quite quickly, and tries to swipe at our food... Still holding out though. I did make some pear and apple puree the other day, so I'm ready when we start. And some baby rice (aka tasteless glue).

Hope the nights start improving again Cruise and Munki...

munki - sounds just like my ds. I think he is just sooooo tired from not napping properly that he can't get to sleep at night either. He screams as if in pain (which he may be ) but it feels desperate, as if he is screaming "pleeassee just let me sleep". I feel soooo sorry for him but I do my best to make napping conditions as peaceful as I can..... My boy has had a cold so that was the beginning of our troubles but that is defo clearing up now. I think he has jsut got into a bad cycle which I don't quite know how to break. It means both of us are knackered but I feel things are improving ever so slightly this past couple of days so fingers crossed. Let me know what you are doing about it...

clair - thanks

Cruise and Munki sorry to hear about your LOs sleeping patterns - that is rotten and must be so tiring. At least DS will sleep for 3 hours on the trot, so wakes at 10pm, 1am and 4am, which is a bit better. Hope it gets sorted for you soon.
It appears that the decision about feeding is being taken away from me, as DS has only fed twice from me today without needing a bottle top-up, although he didn't take much of the bottle top-up before bed. Still chucking lots, although maybe thats the after effects of all the dancing and swinging at baby college today LOL ;-) - he enjoyed it while we were there, giggling loads (which is so cute), but has chucked a lot this afternoon/evening. Other than that he is really chirpy now (am I imagining that it's the effect of the formula?) and even will roll from his front to back when on his playgym (but not other way round), maybe this just means he doesn't like being on his tummy!!
Thanks for all the input and feedback and support.
Mabel - hope nursery went okay for your DS.
Kesaj - can't help with your decision about moving DS into own room, but I know it seemed to help with our DS - he writhed a lot in Moses Basket and was easier to put cot on a slant (for reflux) than MB, but as with all parenting decisions there are pros and cons and you just have to go with your heart. Good luck with it.
Wishing you all a good night's sleep!

Jingle, exactly the same happened to me about feeding. Sad. Also DS is much sickier on formula than he was on bm. I don't know if it's because he drinks it much quicker or if it's because it's thicker, but I had got used to not worrying about having a muslin, now he wears a bib and I have a muslin at hand!

Fingers crossed for improved nights for you cruise and munki. x

oh god. ds went to sleep at 6:45pm and has been awake 7:30, 8:10 and is currently cooing in his cot. What to do!!!? This is unbearable. I ahve not had more than four eves to myself in four months! He bf's to sleep but gets so overful that he is in pain so I stop but then he gets ina tizz cos he cannot settle. If this is my tether then I am at the end of it!

thank you all for the sympathy and hope for both cruise and myself. after i posted about it this morning, i bf ds and sure enough, he fell asleep. i only managed to nap maybe 30 minutes, but he stayed down for about 45. although short, it was peaceful. throughout the day, he took about 2 ten minute naps..i even went for a walk for about an hour and did the boy drop off to sleep in the pram?? nooo! not even an ounce of tiredness in his eyes, the whole trip! he was just as obvervant as can be! ((i don't think its a bad thing, its just that i was really hoping for him to have a sleep)). and then after dinner, dh was left with the LO while i tried to have an hour away to continue with a little painting in our bedroom... ds was fine for about 20 minutes but managed to start screaming while only in daddy's company for another 40 minutes.
((i suspect it was merely the absence of my voice that made the LO so unhappy...))

anyways, its 12:35am...im very tired and ds is asleep in my bed ((this is an attempt to get a little more sleep tonight)). i dont mind at all, to be honest. The health visitor is scheduled to be here at 11:30am tomorrow ((technically today)) for DS's baby massage, which he seems to really like. i'll have a chat with the HV about the hourly night feeds and no napping in the daytime... perhaps she can offer keen advice.

cruise, if the advice is worth while, i'll pass it onto you as well. anything could help at this point. im wishing all the best for a better night tonight for us, and everyone for that matter!

Jingle ~ what were the symptoms of your LO and the reflux? what particular patterns/ emotions did you notice?

had a dreadful night. ds wouldnt settle, kept yelling, only wanted to suck which made him unmcomfortable then started smiling and cooing at me. grrrr

cruisemum - hope your evening improved. It is so hard when you have them all day and then don't even get your evenings to yourself.
munki - hope you get some good advice from your HV today.
Well Ds1 started pre-school yesterday......and it was really ok! I dropped him off and told him I was going to 'pop to the shops' while he was there and did he want anything 'chocolate' was the reply, so he gave me a kiss and off I went. We had a few tears as I went out the door, but I hung about outside and within 5 minutes he was fine and I rang them half an hour later and they told me he was playing like he does at mother and toddler group, had latched on to some boys to play with. When I arrived to pick him up they were having story time, I thought he'd come running as soon as he saw me, but he just pointed to the space next to him and said 'sit down there mummy!" bless him, [huge sigh of relief emoticon....!]
He didn't sleep very well, but I think he was quite hyped up and I almost expected it after such a big day.
We have got 16 week injections on friday, so I will get him weighed, we are seriously having to consider putting him a front facing car seat as he is getting far too long for his backwards facing one, I am not sure how safe this is though, he holds his head up well, but at the end of the day he is still only 16 weeks old and not as strong as DS1 was when he went in to it at 8 months old.