October 2016 #1

[Afreshstartplease]

Don't think we have a thread yet so here we are!

Ds arrived here 18/10 @ 5am one day before due date

Is anyone else utterly exhausted? The lack of sleep is killing me slowly...

Oh good grief, yes, taffeta! I vaguely remember becoming accustomed to this feeling with my other DC and slowly learning to function anyway

I think because I have four DC I've just learnt to run on empty

Taffeta I was so tired at 5.30am yesterday that I collapsed sobbing on the nursery floor after changing ds nappy. I was so loud my husband woke up and had to carry me to bed Poor ds was so startled he actually stopped screaming blue murder (this is how much he hates nappy changes) just to listen to his hysterical mother.

I could seriously go to bed and sleep for 24 hours. The idea of not getting a full night's sleep anytime soon is slowly killing me.

Also Nickname I had a look at your thread, thanks for the advice. Are there any particular shields you use? My nipples feel raw as I'm sure ds doesn't open his mouth properly. I'm not sure he ever has.

Sounds like we're all feeling it then .

I have been up since 1am, and DS2 is still showing no signs of flagging. Have started going to bed at 8pm just to give myself a chance. Am becoming irrationally annoyed when DH says he's 'tired' (when I'm doing all the night shifts (including weekends), housework, cooking, cleaning, school runs and childcare aside from a few hours in the evenings while he watches tv).

Sorry for the rant, feel marginally better now.

kariana - I use the medela ones. I tried all sizes! I seriously feel like I've thrown so much money at this! But they are giving more sore nipples a break. Having said that, now have him plugged into a bottle cos I'm so tired I just want him full so I can sleep...

taffeta - oh that's so frustrating!!

Oh bless you all who are suffering 😞

At most I just get a bit snappy. Ds isn't too bad for sleeping although yesterday went from 6 to 11.30 sleeping for only a couple of 20 min cat naps which is very unlike him but luckily it wasn't the middle of the night!

He then slept 1130-2 and 230-530 then 6-830 and he's now asleep in the pram and has been since 9ish

I had some errands to run so have done those and have started doing the kitchen clean and washing that I couldn't do last night due to him being so awake! Just sat down with a brew before he wakes to be fed!

That's great, fresh! Every time my little one wakes in the night for a feed it all seems to take an hour! And he always poos!

I think that's the most frustrating part of it, the night wake ups just take so long.

He's fast asleep now and I'm dying for a shower but I have to wait for a delivery man that my husband ordered

Ds usually has atleast one block of awake time in the early hours but clearly used it all up in the evening! He's just woke now after being asleep since 9

I'm not too bad this time. DD1 has been a terrible sleeper from birth (she's 3) so I guess I'm just used to it but I remember being crippled by it the first time. I'm co-sleeping this time so when DD2 wakes I just toss a boob in her direction and hope she goes back to sleep.

I feel incredibly frustrated because I know if my ds wasn't suffering terrible wind he would be such an easy baby. He only cries when his tummy hurts and when it isn't can easily go a long stretch in the night without waking. Unfortunately we seem to be stuck in a vicious cycle at the moment. His tummy hurts so much that it keeps him awake till the early hours, then when he does go to sleep he grunts and strains and doesn't sleep deeply. Come morning he's finally digested everything so he is pain free and then sleeps most of the day but is too sleepy to feed properly. He then guzzlers food in the evening as he is starving which leads to more wind as he's having too much in a short space of time and the cycle starts again I don't know what to do. He's also been coughing and shuffling a lot today and feels too warm (not yet a fever though) so I think my tiny 5 week old is getting ill

Ds has tummy troubles too. He gets blocked up in the night and can't poo. We looked for a solution at 3 am in the morning. It involves using a cotton bud and vaseline and very carefully prodding the area in question. Just make sure you have a nappy at the ready to catch the fallout as it is likely to be explosive and large in quantity. I reckon the north Koreans could learn a thing or two about missile propulsion technology from my boy. Before anyone screams about how harmful this can be, I've vetted it with 2 doctor friends. As long as you are really gentle it is no different to a glycerin suppository.

Hungry I think I have inadvertently done a version of this with a thermometer. I thought he had a fever with his cold so I thought I'd better check. Luckily he didn't have one but I've never seen so much poo (three times in the space of three minutes, including all over the thermometer). He seemed to feel much better afterwards so I think a cotton bud recreation might be in order next time he's blocked up

I'm having such a hard time with 2.3 year old DD's reaction to her new baby brother. Is anyone else having to deal with similar?

To add to the mix, DS (now one month old) has also been diagnosed with reflux and is on medication but it doesn't seem to be helping much. Feeding every 2-3 hours but takes up to 2 hours to settle, so sleep is hard to come by.

Who on earth said second babies are easier?! Life feels so, so hard. I know it will get better eventually and I'm clinging to that hope!

Sympathies to those also struggling with sleep and difficult older siblings. It's rough.

My second baby was the hardest! He's now 7 and still the most challenging!

kariana I'm with you on the tiredness, I also feel like I could sleep for a full 24 hours!

fresh things will get easier though, right?! (Please say yes!)

He's still a pita just in different ways tall He now longer screams all day but is very stroppy and slams things about when doesn't get his own way, he's very forgetful and lazy too. Aside from that he's a lovely bright boy but if one of them is pushing my buttons 9/10 it's him!

DD1 has been awful tall. She will be 3 next month and DD2 is 4 weeks old. Not her fault of course but she is super clingy and stroppy. The tantrums are horrendous. She has taken to running off in public as she knows I can't chase her easily. She is gradually - and I mean very gradually - getting better. She does adore DD2 though but is almost killing her with kindness as she wants to touch her and cuddle her all the time which is a pain when DD2 is napping.

Sleep isn't as much of an issue as I've just accepted that both girls sleep with me (one on either side and DH happily in another room). Not what I had planned but it keeps me sane!

I don't know how those of you with older dc do it. One is hard enough!

Ds is recovering from his cold, which means he's back to screaming between 10pm and 1am again. Last night he finally wasn't to sleep at 1.30 but then kept waking up crying with wind pains

Ah kariana that sounds hard

When you have more DC I find you just cope because there's no other option! Your also used to the demands of children and putting their needs before yours. Also depends massively on the personality of each DC!

Hi all - DD is 4 weeks now and sign me up for the utterly exhausted train... I am a failure at expressing so DH can't help with the feeds yet. I think she has reflux too - night feeds she is feeding half asleep and just goes for gold on the breast and isn't aware enough to stop when she's full so she just throws it all up - during the day she is more alert and actively pulls off when she is done.

She sometimes strains to push a BM and when it goes it is explosive and blasts itself out of her nappy and her 2 layers of clothes and onto a feeding pillow or a cushion - whatever I have her on at the time!

By the way - cluster feeding is so crazy it makes no sense how can they just keep feeding??

Like a shark on a feeding frenzy... Ouf

Sooo......anyone planning next baby yet?

There's always atleast one on a thread by about 3/4 months!