***************December 2006 ****************

[lucy5]

I can't access the thread with my rubbish Spanish internet connection. Could someone start a new thread and link it on the old one too. Thankyou. Hope alls well!

Oh that does make me feel better, here was I thinking everyone else had napping babies!

Lowfat- not so much hallucinating but often wake up and wonder what the hell I've don with the baby only to find him fast asleep in his crib (to be woken by me groping around in there in the dark!)

Started so well last night. Ds slept from 6, feeding about every 2 hours til 2.30, then he took over an hour to settle and woke again after less than an hour. By 5.30 I gave up on the 10min cat naps and put him on my chest where he fell right asleep and spent the rest of the night half under my duvet flat on his front over my arm with his head on the pillow (bad mummy)but he slept soundly until 8.10 when he demanded breakfast! sleep all round but I'd still rather he did it in his crib.

I am in total awe of all of you with multiple DCs there is some serious organisation going on. I think when I have more than 1 they shall all wear burlap sacks and breakfast on blackberries picked from the bushes on the way to school.

I so aspire to be organised and fail so often.

I start a routine and after a few days something throws it completely out of synch.

Olihan I know what you mean about dummies. It's like contraband. I used one with DD1 and was completely ashamed. She only had it at night and gave it up by about a year.

I have been trying to get dd2 to use her thumb but may surrender to the temptation of a dummy

agree - posting elsewhere, sometimes is like opening a can of worms. we're much a more civilised group!

Morning all!

LowFat, EVERY time DS stirs in the night I wake up looking for him under the covers as am convinced he's still attached to me. Have also been known to try to rock him to sleep from comfort of bed - wishful thinking or what!?

all you weak-right-siders, does anyone have a suggestion to encourage DS to open wider for latching purposes? He's fine on the left, goes at at like a dog with a bone at times but at least with a nice wide mouth. But on the right he hardly opens at all so there's not enough boob in his mouth.

Since am so rubbish on right need one hand to hold his wriggling head and one to support heavy boob, is nightmare when have to try and get him off due to painful latch !!!

Same problem here, I'm afraid. I feel like I have to force him to take that side every time. And latch is not great no matter what I try.

OMG - DD slept from 11pm ntil 5.45am. I was very shocked but happy. Hada nightmare evening as she hadterrible wind ut the sleep made up for it.

Cant help wit the b/f on weak side. just hove DDs mouth onto boob. She resists on my left side quite often but hunger often wins.

Another five second post: thank you whoever tipped me off to prepare my clothes night before - worked a treat. I was all calm and motherly this morning getting dd1 to preschool (and she is having a tough time going, separation anxiety has kicked back in recently)

By 11am I was harrassed and my back was in spasm again, but hey, a couple of hours is a major improvement!

Satin, I've noticed a bad wind evening precedes a good kip - dd knackers herself. Not sure which I prefer though

Re dummies: I think they're great for tiny babies with wind/pain...dd wants to suck on something for comfort, and my boob is not it. Even if I could make it available for hours on end every evening, she doens't want or need milk at that point - it makes her pain worse.

That said, she rarely accepts the dummy...

dd1 had one from about 3-6 months for same reasons, help her go to sleep when windy and unsettled. We 'lost' it as soon as she started waking up for it and backsliding on sleep - at exactly six months - and she was over it in less than 48 hours.

Generally though...I don't have any judgement about them, whatever works: dummy, no dummy. Actually, if I had one perhaps I'd lay off the chocolate of an evening....

Hi,

I haven't posted on this thread before but I have a Christmas Day baby. It's so nice to read this thread and see that others are going through similar issues and picking up tips.

I totally agree with dummy use, I started using one from about 4 days onwards! It so helps relieve ds's bottom problems - but he is now not wanting to take the dummy even though I know it would help him so much - he is very happy to take my finger all the time though which is not great at 4am through the bars of the crib...

I've also woken up convinced that ds is under the covers / I've rolled on top of him - even though I never sleep with him in bed! I just can't relax enough. Luckily dh can so if it is a bad night dh can put him on his chest.

OK, ds looking for more food, need hands free for latching on, TTFN.

i had a hallucination of a swarm of insects aoce thebed

above the bed. spelling terrible today

Ooh, this is great, I'm making notes...I managed to not only get clothes ready for last night (begged dp to iron them) but prepared meat sauce for lasagne so I could make it today. I even hung the changing bag on the pushchair so save time this morning & it all really helped although I have to confess I told ds1 to sod off this morning as I'd been up since 4 with ds2's wind & couldn't deal with a tantrum.
Dummies are fab, I started using one in hospital, call me rubbish mother but by god they're helpful!

Tip for dummies, if DC is too small to keep it in without you consantly having to do it for them, try a cherry teat.

Just a small post before I rush to make dinner. More organised next week starting...Tuesday!

ds1 takes care of the dummy situation, he sticks it in at the drop of a hat!

belated hello's & welcome to sacha and margo

Just caught sight of naked self in mirror - is it normal to have a roadmap of blue veins in chest area???

Welcome sacha!

Gloria - I amke it a rule not to look at naked self in mirror

Ds2 will only take a dummy under constant supervision but it is really nice when he gets going on it. I get tired of being the human version for him.

AQ, I was so relieved to read your post about your ds1's tantrums that I read it aloud to dh. Ds1 has been driving me nuts a lot of the time and I had just today been pondering whether I should go back on my Zoloft just to deal with him Don't want to, of course, and I'm sure it's an overreaction on my part but there are times (more and more lately) where, even tho I love him, I really don't want to be around him. Especially with ds2 being so cuddly and sweet. In fact dh just bodily took ds1 upstairs...I can still hear him screaming...I really had no idea that three could be so much worse than two.

On the bright side, (pun intended, lol) I got my teeth bleached today. HAve a blinding smile now and I'm loving it

Just another quick one - any tips for a DS who refuses to settle on his own and demands to be held all the time!!

My ears are immune to the screaming but I dont think the same can be said for DD and neighbours.

lowfat, have you tried swaddling, might make him feel more like he's in your arms?
Last time I was going to post was having awful time of it. I think it was Eli who suggested bad wind might be due to a cold? I think that was spot on, because ds2 is now back to his smiley, napping self, and slept for nearly 7 hours last night! Giving him a bath late at night (another idea from someone on here, I'm sure) is also helping.
And I'm finally weaning ds2 off shields, fed several feeds completely without them yesterday and today - I cannot describe how different it feels, I feel that I've been doing fake breastfeeding until now! Was told they may be contributing to my getting mastitis (not to mention all the other reasons they are crap) so I'm even more motivated. But OMG my sore nipples, they've had 8 weeks of 'protection'!
Jabber, glad ds1 could help, I'll tell him
Even on a good day, I find myself thinking 'you're so annoying/slow/clumsy' etc although he has his sweet moments. I'm forcing myself still to spend time with him on his own even though I want to get on with chores as I do reap the benefits with a more likeable and agreeable child. He's taken to saying 'that's very kind of you' which makes up for a lot. The book I read on going from one to 2 suggested finding something, anything that they do well & making a huge deal of it. So if he picks his toys up, I whoop etc. I'm giving him a LOT of stickers, we have a house covered in stickers. I know what you mean, ds1 is the one who makes me want to cry all the time, I started taking some pulsatilla last week as I was feeling low. Trying to remember that he & I will adjust to this new situation in time & just muddling through in the meantime.
Castles, I thought only aussies said a bit 'crook', I was quite startled to see it on here!

I know what you mean, AQ. Yesterday I finally said in exasperation to dh that maybe we needed to take ds1 to the dr. as he couldn't walk ten feet w/out falling, bumping into something or stubbing his toe! Dh then informed me of all the advanced physical stuff ds1 was doing at the park and suggested he was just bored. I suppose he's right. It just annoys the hell out of me. Doing cooking projects with him is about the only time we have any really pleasant time together these days.

Ds2 was so snarfley last night When he woke up at 2:00 for a feed he just didn;t want to go back to sleep. Can't say that I blame him but at 4:00 I had dh take over as I have to go into the office for a 1/2 day today.

We put DS in a grobag to sleep as soon as he is in PJ's which makes swaddling impossible as he would boil.

Will go for a bath tonight - as his cold seems to have gone, and then swaddle him until his last feed at 10 before putting him in his sleeping bag. Someone bought him a lovely fleece blaket with a hood which is great for swaddling (without hood obviously).

But he did actually managed to go for 6 hours last night! WooHoo

Accessorise, I agree that toddlers have that special way of triggering strong emotions in you - dd1 was prodding sleeping dd2 with a straw earlier & let out a piercing scream when I took it from her. Cue dd2 waking up.

And they take sooooo long to get dressed, it seems like they're doing it in reverse.

Removing those nipple shields is scary but it felt better for me after a couple of days.

lowfat,

When I put dd2 in grobag, I cross her arms and tie a muslin square around them. I had just grobags for dd1 and ordered newborn swaddle fleeces for dd2 - they worked a treat and help me restrain flailing arms when b/f but missed them when using grobags. This seems to help

LO will probably not have the need to be swaddled in another 6 weeks

Forgot to say, AQ, that it was a shock toughening up the nipple that I used the shield on. One side had already gone thru the process. Maybe it was a good thing that I did them one at a time

Anyway, huge sympathy for sore nipple stage. It really sucks.

AQ & Jabber, I really sympathise going from 1 to 2 is the hardest IMO. People keep asking me how I am and really I feel fine (apart from headaches/fainting ). I'm talking psychologically really. Not sure why it is easier but I ain't complaining. Your DS's "playing up" is just them feeling very put out with the new arrival. How old are they? My DS wasn't even 2 when DD1 arrived. He was fine - probably not old enough to be bothered. This time DD1 is nearly 3. She was a PITA for about 2 weeks & is now fine. I put it down to being the middle child & having an older brother to make her feel less left out. I know it's really hard but try & give them as much attention as you can - that's all they want really. I often read to them when I feed DD2 for example. Or do you have someone nearby (Grannies are good) to spoil them a bit? For about the 1st 6 months of DD1's life I kept thinking "what have I done, this has totally upset the balance" but now it's lovely. They have ready-made pals to fight with. How great is that?! I even - fleetingly - thought last night, "I'd really like another". Ha ha ha!!! Somebody shoot me now.

MS, you might think I'm mad but I couldn't get DD2 to sleep on her own so I put her in her own bed with the hair dryer on (on the floor). Turned the light off etc. Straight to sleep. After 5/10 minutes turned it off. I had to do that for about 2 nights in a row and she's fallen asleep on her own in her own bed ever since. Used to do it with DD1 too. She pretty much sleeps from 7-11pm (when I wake her to feed) then through to 7am again. She's also in her own room now. I was forced to move her out of ours as we have discovered mould growing on the walls (nice!) but it has worked in everyone's favour.

AQ, lived in Oz for a couple of years & still speak the lingo now & then!

Took DS back to school as he seemed fine & begged me to go back only to have to go & get him at 11am. Somehow got to go shopping for DD1's birthday tomorrow. Should be fun

Thanks castles, when I'm feeling less tired I can see how he must be feeling (ds1 is 3.1 BTW)and I certainly gave it lots of thought before the birth & knew I'd have to be careful. But in reality, when he's a little s*d & I've had 3 hours sleep I lose it. I need to find some more things that are just about us & get dp to take ds2 for a couple of hours on the weekend so I can do them. But it's been dependent on ds2's feeding thus far. I do a little cooking with him like you, jabber & it's really nice too. I do manage to read several stories a day to him as I feed ds2 on a pillow so I've both hands free. I must try harder as I simply feel awful when I've yelled at him.
sleeping bags are the business, aren't they? I have 2 velour ones & it's so nice to feed ds2 in them at night - he's slept much better since I introduced them too. Can't imagine anything else now!
Just ordered some cloth nappies, woo-hoo!