March 2016 - I can't think of a pithy title because I'm too sleep deprived :/

[DomesticAnarchist]

New thread?
Sorry, really couldn't think of something humorous!

time leaving them to cry does work for most babies I think but you have to do it in a structured way. Do you want me to pm you about what's working for us?

I always thought it was cruel but absolutely nothing was working for DS and he was miserable from lack of sleep.

Loving all the beautiful baby pics. Ferrero Rocher is brilliant Trinpy, he looks so pleased with himself.

We have a space blanket too swear so must get that out again. Thanks for the reminder! Otherwise we haven't done much (no baby groups as I have DS1) but J likes to be outside, so grass and sand at the beach have been different textures for him.

And whoever said unthread about their baby moving like a worm - yes! He puts his bum in the air, and pushes off with his feet. It's very cute.

Lots of sympathy for you time. Won't start reeling off tips as I've no doubt you've tried everything already. DS has been a total nightmare nap wise for about 6/7 weeks and has been permanently overtired so I really feel for you. He seems to have stopped fighting it as much this week (touching all the wood!) so there's light at the end of the tunnel. Hope things improve soon.

Maybe - yes please.
I tried cc earlier for three hours 8-11. When I gave up and she screamed for a further hour.
She was very tired at 8 as well.
I'm so scared I've ruined tonight and now she'll be terrified to be put down and associate it with being left to cry

I've pm'd you X

Afternoon all,
I'm with those of you that little ones have stared at you eating since they have been able to, DS tends to stare at me most whilst I eat my breakfast don't know why...
Planning on weaning at 6 months here which will be 3rd September so not long- where does the time go? I was sorting through all DS's clothes yesterday and boxing them up, looking at all how smaller clothes reminds me how small he used to be, scary how time flies!

Those of you who formula feed-
I'm planning on gradually moving onto formula going to keep the evening and night feeds if my body allows... Anyway I went to see a breastfeeding consultant today and she told me they now recommend you make formula up as you go and as there is bacteria in formula you must add it to water of 70 degrees or higher to kill the germs etc so my question is... Do you do this? If so how does it work when your out?

Hope all the teething babies are coming out the other side

time crying techniques can be challenging to get started on. Some babies do better with sorting out bedtime first and then naps. I found naps the hardest part for DS, but he got there after a month of consistent work, and turned into a champion napper till he finally dropped the last one at 3 years. Whatever you choose to do, stick with it for at least a week - consistency seems to be the key.

You brave, brave people persisting with nap-time routines! If we're home I just sit really still and let him sleep on me! (I bet the cm/nursery will love me for that habit!).

Though I have enormous sympathy for those with difficult babies. Please remember that it's not you, it really is down to the baby's personality. DS1 was very high needs still is and having a happy, easy DS2 has highlighted just how difficult DS1 was. He has got a bit better as he's got older. Hang in there, and don't blame yourself.

FTM, the recommendation to make up formula with hot water has been around for a while, I think it's just the reasoning that's taken years a while to filter through. Formula milk powder is a wonderful growth medium for both babies and bacteria, so as soon as the tin is opened its no longer sterile. So the powder must be heated by adding hot water initially.

To batch-prepare, you can add a small amount of HOT water initially and then bung bottles in the fridge. Then add hot water (to now cold bottles) to top them up and warm them up as needed (not sure how long they can be kept made up, but I imagine enough for a day/night will be fine). For going out, you could take powder and hot water, or ask for hot water from cafés? Or you could pre-make as above and take out the cooled bottle in an insulated bag?

Or (as I'm half planning to if need be) use ready made stuff. (I haven't thought about the cost implication yet!)

I seem to have forgotten how we made the logistics work last time. I'm convinced I had magic boobs that managed to feed him morning, evening, overnight and all weekend. Yet also have vague memories involving formula powder.

I'm struggling with feeling really guilty about doing CC.

He just wasn't sleeping any other way - it's not like I could rock him to sleep and he'd sleep on me. When I try that he gets equally hysterical. Trying to feed him to sleep = hysterical. Sling = hysterical.

Just feel bad.

Maybe don't feel bad - it's short term pain for long term gain!

FTM I am über lazy so we have a perfect prep machine at home and I use ready made bottles when we're out. You can do what the perfect prep does manually by keeping a flask of cooled boiled water around. Boil the kettle, mix the powder with 2oz of hot water, to kill any bacteria, then top up with another 5oz (or however much your DS drinks) of cooled boiled water.

We've decided to start DS on some purées this weekend. He'll be 23 weeks so slightly early but I think he's ready.

Felt like the most awful mother in the world earlier - DS was sitting between my legs, I reached over to grab a toy and he toppled over and hit his head on the side of his jumperoo no lasting damage, just a teeny bit of a bump, but I felt so awful! Poor little thing.

FTM as others have said you just need to sterilise the powder, so at home I use the perfect prep and when out and about I ask a cafe/friend I'm visiting for 2oz of hot water, put the powder in and top up with cold. If I'm somewhere where hot water is not available then I would take a full bottle of cooled boiled water and just mix the powder in. I know this isn't recommended though. The ready made bottles are fab but quite thin (J is on hungry milk) so I would need more than powder.

Me don't beat yourself up, it's the first of many topples! I know it feels awful though.

Maybe and time, you're really going through it. for you. You've got to do whatever works.

I'd happily let DS sleep on me, but it's getting him to sleep in the first place that's the issue We don't have any sort of routine here, I just know he gets overtired if he's awake longer than 2 hours (ish).

Thanks all, that's a good idea and think is my best option to take the cooled boiled water out with me and get the little boiled water when out and about doesn't sound so complicated when but like that. The ready made bottles do sound tempting however not sure our budget would cope lol unless just the one offs...

Time and maybee I've been toying with the idea of control crying because as it stands I have to rock a screaming DS to sleep with lots of shhhing and white noise. I've always heard positive stories about it. My SIL swears by it and did it with her two.
Hope everyone is in for a good nights sleep tonight.

The ready made is more expensive than powder but it doesn't break the bank. We generally get through about 3 or 4 a week - I go out most days but not always for very long and when we are out I'm rarely gone for more than one feed. DS is on Aptamil and they come in packs of 4 for £3. Rhu is right though that it is a thinner consistency than powder. DS doesn't seem to care what I give him - even when we were on a trial of Nutramigen for a while which is horrible stuff he happily drank it!

Rhu I rang my DM to tell her what a terrible mother I was and she said exactly the same as you - that it'll be the first of many tumbles! She also said that she dropped my brother head first onto a church pew and he turned out fine so not to worry!

Oh that's not as bad as I thought I thought they would be more expensive like that, might be worth getting some on standby just in case.

Me - I've been carrying DS in my arms before and misjudged the door frame and whacked his head on it fairly hard and felt really bad but like others have said it will be the first of many bless them

C almost managed to get himself forwards out of his bouncer this evening - leaned forward to try and explore the vibration/sound unit at the front and nearly fell out of it despite being strapped in! Gave us quite the fright.

Re formula... The ones C likes come in cartons as ready made unfortunately, I ended up with Hipp Organic all over my shorts in the car on Sunday evening while trying to get a bottle ready in a moving car. Fecking thing was so awkward to open! He's had all boob since then...

oh dear trijo! I know this was a few pages back but was it you that mentioned having ill fitting sports bras and this maybe causing problems with boobing? Sorry if not but wanted to say I'm 32J and have been using a Royce high impact sports bra if that's any help. Its not cheap but cup sizes go up to K i think.

Up for first night feed, we're going through a relatively good run of nights with dd2 down at 7 and then up at 1ish and then 4ish. Wonder week app tells me that the next development leap starts soon so expecting it to go out the window then!

I'm another one skeptical of the whole 'baby watching you means readiness for food' but I've already had comments from my mil about how dd2 wants food. she pressurised me into weaning dd1 before 6 months and though i was expecting it again, i have to say my heart sank this last weekend when at the in laws and she started with the comments about how dd2 was watching us eat and obviously wanted food. IMO dd2 is interested in everything St the moment and not to eat it but just because its shiny/brightly coloured/is there in front of her face. Going to have a chat with dh about it to make sure we are on the same page but im planning to wait till dd2 is 6 months old before we start weaning and will just do baby led. As others have said i want to put off weaning as long as possible as it is a faff and at the moment boob is so much easier!

Sorry to hear you are feeling guilty maybe. Dd1 was a terrible sleeper when little and there were times i wishes i could do cc but never had the heart. It did get better by it self and she did sleep through eventually but it was bloody hard work. So if you reached your limit then just think of it as being you did what you had to do for your own sanity. time sorry to hear of your struggles with crying and sleeping

Dd2 has finished her feed ages ago so i should probably stop and get some sleep! Not like the early days when i could write mammoth essays on here at night time while she fed!

Ds is still waking for feeds every 2 hours but had the best nights sleep I've had in a long time last night by cosleeping, not something I want to do regularly though so hope he doesn't think it's a new thing.
I'm wondering if he sleeps better in our bed and on the sofa because they're softer than the mattress in his cot?
He goes 3 hours between feeds during the day too so definitely think he's just feeding to go back to sleep rather than actually being hungry oops.

It could be Q, I'm sure I read somewhere that a lot of the safe sleep advice such as putting them on their backs is precisely because it's less comfy - it stops them getting into a proper deep sleep and keeps them waking up.

Don't give in to your in-laws marmite! You know your baby. S just loves watching eating, her first proper chuckle was watching ds eat some beans! But I don't think she's ready yet for various reasons. She's a week off five months, which is when I weaned ds, so I think after that I'll just start looking for signs but try to stretch it out. I'm off to baby clinic today anyway so might see what the health visitor thinks.

Morning all!
Hope everyone had a relatively good night. DS has now started to go down at 9pm now instead of 10/11 so I'm quite enjoying an hours down time in the evening!
Another question... I'm starting to wean onto formula as of today so I'm going to miss next feed and feed formula my question is, as I give one boob per feed and alternate each feed my next boob I should use is my right, so I'm missing that feed when I go to feed boob next do I use the boob I missed or use the boob I normally would for that feed (left) hope that makes sense I feel so clueless!

Morning! First, when I give Z a bottle in between boobs at the next feed I give him the opposite boob from the one I last fed him off so they are still being alternated. I guess they just then start adjusting how much they make to allow for the feeds you are dropping. I give him 2 x bottles a day now, plus breakfast and dinner and he still breastfeeds around 5-6 breastfeeds in 24 hours. It doesn't seem to have affected his interest in boob thankfully!

We seem to be getting into a good routine here for naps at generally 3 per day. If he's not overtired then can normally zip him into his Woombie, give him the dummy and after a bit of fussing (and sometimes a couple of dummy pop ins) he'll go to sleep for anywhere from 45 mins to 3 hours. Yesterday he slept for 2.5 hours in the afternoon, and at the same time as DS1, result! As with all things baby tho I know not to be too smug as it'll probably change again next week! I think in this way he is more like his actual age of 8 months than his corrected of 5 as he's had a lot longer than all the other march babies to get into a rhythm.

Morning everyone! Hope the non sleeping babies all slept last night. I completely agree with Dom that it's all dowe to luck whether you get a baby who sleeps. Ds2 so far seems OK but ds1 was (and still is!) a bit of a nightmare.

Also re cc/sleep training - if it doesn't work now for some babies then that might be because they are still a bit too young to respond to it or they might do better with a different technique. I tried cc with ds1when he was a baby and within the first 1 minute he'd cried so much he made himself sick and I completely despaired at ever getting a decent nights sleep again but I kept trying different things and we got there eventually! Don't give up hope .

FTM I think offer the side you would have given at the missed feed as otherwise it will be quite a long gap and you could become engorged on that side?

I wish I had someone here with me right now.

Just mad a massive row with my partner over a comment he made that i probably took the wrong way because I feel stressed.
He said " how will learn to take decent naps when you chop and change techniques every day "
I guess his right but it's only because I try everything to try and stop her crying.
His not even here. I phoned him on his lunch break at work because I felt lonely and all I seem to have is a screaming baby for company.
I just want to run away from life and let go of everything.
I wanted to go out this afternoon for a walk and lunch somewhere but don't know if I can face it right now.
How can I possibly be a good mum when all she does is see my cry.

Sorry this is all me me me but I can't take much more of this.

C will be fine, time. Take care of yourself. I hope you did manage to get out for a while. I had a taste last night of what you're going through, and it's awful. T has a cold and I think a tooth coming - she screamed, proper distressed crying, for almost 4 hours last night. You're so brave to keep going every day in the face of that.

Thank you.
She's done a massive great big green poo and is really off her milk.

She slept 9-5 last night and only took 3oz at 5 and has only had a total of 15 since midnight and some porridge with apple and mango puree . Think teething but I can see no sign and she's not drooling or chewing much. Slight concerned as when I'm out I use coold boiled water for formula now I'm scared I've made her un well. I do make it up properly home.

Hope your ds has been ok today and thank u