March 2016 - quick, a new thread!

[Swearwolf]

Sorry for the terrible title, I saw the old thread was up to 996 posts and panicked!

Ooh don't I feel important

Oh and also now he's done 3 nights happily with 1 feed I know he can do it

So my 5 month old is outgrowing every single item of 6-9 month clothing with feet that he owns... which is awkward because he's skinny so 9-12 will look like parachute pants!

Sorry maybe I hope I didn't offend - wasn't questioning yours or anyones specific sleep training or reasons for it, just wondering where the general consensus of 'only allowing one feed a night' had come from since suddenly seemed like quite a few people had decided to limit night feeds. I've was always under the impression that it was very normal to be feeding still a couple of times a night at 6 months and one feed right up to a year, the only babies I know who stopped night feeds altogether were either formula fed or it was parent led (including myself in that with my dd1!). With dd1 we were down to no night feeds by a year but she still woke regularly till 18 months, often for two hours at a time and I regretted not being able to boob her back to sleep! But we didn't do cc or anything which I guess you have to do in conjunction with night weaning to get results.

Oh no not offended at all :)

It's totally normal for babies to feed at night I know, and if DS was feeding and going right back to sleep I wouldn't mind, but he was feeding and then being wide awake sadly...

You've no idea how much I wish the little sod Angel would let me feed him to sleep!!!

Ah cool, I know sleep training etc can be a touchy subject and didn't want to say the wrong thing!

Best piece of advice I ever received about babies was 'if you think it's a problem then it is, if not then it isn't'. In other words if you are night weaning because night feeds are no longer manageable for you then go for it, but dont do it because someone tells you your baby 'ought to' be going through the night. And if course, you know your baby better than anyone else

I totally agree! This is what I was saying to my SIL who still feeds my 1.5 yr old Dn through the night. If it works for you who cares what anyone else says??

Great advice marmite!

Marmite- totally agree. You've hit the nail on the head their.
Just a heads up for any teething baby. Nurofen has stopped my dd constant whinging. Amazing. I can see her two bottom teeth through her gums now and she is chewing everything and dribbling a lot

Neurofen seemed to work better for us too time though no tooth has broken through yet he was really fussy a couple of weeks ago and you could feel his gums had got firmer and we're very red.
Ds is in his own room at the back of the house and we have new neighbours who we have discovered like to smoke at their back door, last night when I put him to bed his room stank but it's too warm to close the windows and vents. Don't know what to do

Hello again everyone. And hi KT, welcome.

I have been following everything but was first school-holiday-busy, and then feeling crappy and then decided I'd post once I was feeling better but I'm STILL not so posting anyway for a bit of a moan (sorry, and thanks)...mastitis #3 here with super milk blisters on BOTH sides. To the extent that feeding was so painful last night I told DH I'd rather have a bread-knife mastectomy on the kitchen table than feed DS 😪. Been soldiering through but I've decided to ask for help tomorrow and will phone the nice BFing lady -though I am more than a little embarrassed to be seeking help with my chunky 5month old...-

Anyhow, I am loving reading the weaning adventures (no plans here yet) and following the sleep training stories with a keen interest (still 2-3hourly feeds here but quick and straight back to sleep so not too bad). Good luck to those back to work, I'll not be far behind you in 5 weeks so you can give me all your top tips for survival!

Ouch! Magpie that doesn't sound nice! I hope it starts to get better for you soon!!
Interesting reading through your teething advice and will stock up on nurofen for when DS starts teething, although there has been lots of dribbling and fist sucking no signs of any teeth here as he's 6 months on Saturday.
Also been taking note of your sleep training advise, I have been lurking and reading your updates we did go through a bad patch of sleeping with DS but the last few days he's all of a sudden improves, he tends to go down between 8-9 then may wake up between 12-1 which i normally manage to get him back off to sleep then he wakes between 2-4 for a feed then up for the day any where between 5-7ish so although when he wakes at 5 for the day it's earlier then I'd like I can't complain...
We have started weaning here too although DS isn't too impressed with my puree he liked sweet potato but didn't like pea, mixed veg or baby rice. Gave him a prune, carrot and butternut squash one that mum recommended today though and be loved it!! He's not taking to a sippy cup either?
Hope those of you sleep training or with teething babies have a good night

Wow sorry for the spelling mistakes

• damn auto correct

ouch magpie hope you can get some relief asap. I got plugged milk ducts a couple of times in quick succession, no mastitis thankfully - and I tried everything to unplug them. Finally the only thing that worked was asking my DH to have a suck!! He only did it for 5-10 seconds and it worked a treat - he got a bit of a shock when the milk hit the back of his throat, ha! Can't believe I've just shared that on here.

Regarding reducing night feeding, I figure that self-soothing is the key to everything. Eg if I wake up at 3am for the loo and can't get back to sleep, I often feel hungry! But I know that I will have breakfast in a couple of hours so I resist temptation for a snack most of the time. But a baby won't know that, so they will eventually get hungry if they can't get themselves back to sleep. But of course not all babies will be developmentally ready to self-soothe or to sleep through the night at this age, so I think marmite's advice was spot on!

Thanks for all the well wishes re. work, today was much better.

1french I think it's a bit unusual that my child minder won't accept dummies - she said that she doesn't want them falling on the floor and another child picking them up and putting in mouth. I just assumed germs would be par for the course as she puts everything in her mouth, as I assume most babies do!

KTD don't want daycare to start BLW with her as a bit too worried about the choking risk and them not being able to keep an eye on her if there are others running around. Probably being a bit PFB about it but want to wait until I'm confident she can handle a variety of foods!

maybe thanks - I will PM you!

me I think 32 US oz is more than in UK oz, and I do give her around 32-34 so probably about the same you give. I don't really know why the 32 limit exists but have come across it several times online. Maybe it's a US thing!

Gah, just wrote a post and lost it! Up for second night feed here so better than recently and hoping dd2 is over the teething. Also parched so wondering if she has been waking up for thirst as so hot recently. I often forget that milk is also drink as well as food for babies!

ffaux I've also not heard of this 32oz limit so assume its a US thing. But weaning is more about when gut is developmently ready rather than calories - if baby is hungry more milk is the answer as its more calorie dense than first foods eg veg. I think the research on baby's guts is relatively new though so hasn't passed into conventional wisdom yet!

Has taken me 20 mins to write this as re wrote it, dd2 has been asleep for ages and I'm far more awake than I ought to be. Fail!

ffaux thanks for sharing the blocked ducts story. I love how open this group is compared to the NCT group I met up with. Of course anonymity is much of the reason - any why a name change for something really outing is sometimes in order - but it is refreshing all the same.

Got 4h sleep last night but all my fault, bit of a candy crush marathon til 1 then soothing at 4 and DD up at 6 for feed. She normally goes back down but had only been i. Her cot 5 mins when I heard her do an almighty poo so hard to come down and change her.

Fingers crossed feeding goes better today, she bit me a couple of times yesterday then got overtired and a paddy on - needed to feed, wouldn't feed. In the end I had to express a little, get DH to sooth and feed her then do a quick bottle-boob swap. DH has taken it as a sign she needs more than milk but I'm all for holding out the extra couple of weeks to 6 months.

I don't know if I have mentioned this is a second family for DH who was divorced years before I met him so I have two (lovely) stepchildren in their 20s with 6 kids of their own. I know it is a surprise to his friends that he has had another baby at his age (early 50s) but we went to a family christening at the weekend and once again the first thing I hear from friends of his after a hi to me is the 'you must be crazy', 'when did you get certified' etc etc with strong implications I jumped him againts his better judgement. Aaargh, is it too much to ask that they keep this banter for when I am not in earshot holding our lovely and much wanted baby. And breathe.... Just wanted to get that off my chest.

Argh I am sooo tired. Fed up of my mornings where I'm up at 5/5.30 to feed DS and by the time I've got him back down DH is getting up for work and crashing around making too much noise for me to go back to sleep. Then by the time he's ready and left the house, DS is awake again to start the day. I know I should be grateful that he mostly sleeps through until 5ish, but lately he's been waking at 4, can usually be settled with a dummy but again I struggle to get back to sleep. So I am starting my day at 4am and am just grumpy grumpy grumpy.

me the early mornings are just awful you have my sympathy. If it were easy to do then we would all be up and around starting our day at that time but it's killer particulate because you can't fall back asleep easily.
ffaux that story's amazing 😀😀

Particularly not particulate didn't even know that was a word!

Ouch, magpie, that sounds horrible!!

Sympathies to all the early risers, I have the same problem - up at 4.30/5.00 for a feed and I can't go back to sleep. If I do, ds is up at half six anyway and always comes into my bed when the sun comes up on his gro clock.

I'm taking the baby swimming for the first time today!!! I've been too nervous to take the two together in case ds mucks about or gets into trouble and I can't stop or help him with the baby in my arms, but we're going with some friends (from my original Nct group 4 years ago!) whose younger dc are walking so plenty of spare hands. I'm excited!

Morning all! Had a week away last week so have been lurking and reading all about your sleep training, hope it's going ok. We're doing ok once she is asleep but getting her to sleep is a nightmare with her not going down until about 9 often after a lot of crying - how have you guys got them down earlier?

She used to sleep through from 9/10 to 6 so I can't really complain as I know I am lucky compared to many of you but she's started getting up at 4am which is not a time I want to start the day...

Hello to the newbies!

ffaux hope work is getting a bit easier, I have some KIT days next week and then from October quite a few more - I can't believe where the time has gone..

Good luck with swimming Swear, DS loves going, and it always tires him out nicely too!

With the early mornings I just need to stop messing around and go to bed earlier I think, trouble is DH always wants to spend time chatting in the evenings and looks disappointed when I say I'm going to sleep! He says oh just nap in the day when DS is, ha, little chance of that happening. He's gone down for a nap now but I need to tidy the breakfast things, put a load of washing on, fold up the washing on the airer and put it away, really the downstairs needs a vacuum ... if DS is still asleep by the time I've finished all of that I might get 5 mins to myself on the sofa if I'm lucky.

vroc what time are you trying to put her down? Could be overtiredness?

What time is she napping in the day vroc? I assume she must be having quite a late nap if she's up until 9, have you tried keeping her awake in the late afternoon/early evening? DS's naps are a bit all over the place but I never let him sleep past 5 and ideally not later than 4, he then has a good stretch of awake time including bath etc and is more than ready for bed at 7.

I'm so impressed your DS can go 3 hours without sleep me, DS would be such a raging beast by then!!

He can only usually go 2 hours for the rest of the day maybe. He generally starts to get pretty crabby at 6 if he's been awake since 4 but then I whisk him upstairs and start bath time (which he loves) and his bedtime routine and somehow he just seems to relax into it all because he knows bed is coming. As soon as I turn on the bath taps it's like I've flicked a switch and he goes from grumpy to happy!