February 2019 babies - thread 2

[Celebelly]

New thread, ladies!

Ugh, we escaped the four month sleep regression, but now we've hit five months (and leap 5)... 🤯

Baby used to be so good at settling herself to sleep and was hardly waking in the night, but for the last few nights she's screamed non stop once in her cot and so we've had to take her for a walk in her pushchair to get her to sleep (and gingerly transfer her into her cot!) and then she's woken every hour.

Possibly just coincidence but I feel like my mental health has taken a huge step backwards this weekend too 😭

Any tips? I'm torn between doing sleep training or just going with the nightly walks for now and hoping this is a phase that will pass! We left her to cry for probably about 6 or so minutes tonight and she did seem like she was going to calm down at one point, but then got back into a total frenzy, at which point we gave in!

@detachablehoof - I'm a believer in do what you have to, almost everything is temporary at this kind of age. That being said, I don't suppose you want baby to only be able to settle when being walked around as that's not always going to be possible.

That doesn't actually sound very helpful at all, sorry! We've been really lucky so far, Emma does have a dummy but can fall asleep without it (depending on what mood she's in). Although I'm currently awake as she's decided she wants a feed tonight even though she hasn't for ages? 🤷‍♀️

She's got a cough that's been keeping her up too so that's a pain, although not a lot I can do on that front other than just ride it out! God, I hope she doesn't have asthma like her brother! X

Also, why is sleeping on your face so comfortable! If I move her, she moves straight back!!

Hi all, I've been awol and haven't posted for ages.

Been having a rough time with R. To cut a long story short, we've had issues with feeding refusal/reflux/milk allergy, no one seems sure what the problem is.

Been advised to start weaning but it's not really going well so far as he just spits most of it out or gags. I'm having more success with finger foods so I need some ideas of good fruit and veg for doing as batons?

Sleep has gone to shit too and he seems to have lost the ability to self settle at night so from 2am he's awake every hour. Sounds like we are in the same boat detachable! I think you just have to do what you gotta do to maximise sleep for yourself and ride it out until the next phase. For us that's a combo of sticking dummy in, ignoring him when he's just grumbling, feeding in the night if he wants it or co sleeping as a last resort. My mental health has also taken a beating so it is definitely got something to do with sleep deprivation.

@sunday38 aw sorry to hear you're having a hard time too. I agree with you and @Yakadee that you just have to remind yourself it won't last it better not and suck it up for now!

Counting the days til the end of this leap 😂 18 to go... and if she doesn't sleep better by then I will be getting a sleep trainer! I contacted one when my baby was about 12 weeks old and she said it sounded like we had a great routine etc so she couldn't really help until she was ready for sleep training at 6 months.

It could also be the heat throwing out everyone's routines? Ours usually sleeps through but when it was really hot we put her in a vest and A lighter sleeping bag and she woke through the night. As soon as it was cooler we put her back in the baby grow and thicker sleeper bad and she slept through. So annoying as you can't control the weather and certainly don't want them to overheat . I agree with the whole 'do what you need to' approach. Our own sanity is one of the most important things xx

@Sunday38 my eldest just wasn't interested in food for a long time. She was nearly a year old before she ate anything meaningful. Not helpful when you're battling reflux/poor weight gain, apologies! We ended up with prescription formula (high calorie) at one point. Which she refused to drink!

Easy finger fruit/veg: Roast batons of carrots and parsnips (don't cut them too small - they shrink. Boiled/steamed carrot, broccoli is a good one. Raspberries (break them in half). Banana.

@1stTimeTina - it was hot here last night. Had a right night. My 3yo decided he didn't want to go to bed out of nowhere, trying all the tricks in the book. He got himself so worked up he threw up (on my brand my carpet!!!) and was totally exhausted. Still awake before 7 though despite falling asleep around 10 🤦‍♀️ (he's usually in bed and asleep by 7!).

Then, Emma decided to just not sleep much at all yesterday and then got up twice for a feed in the night! That was a shock to the system! She didn't sleep that soundly either. She wasn't in a sleeping bag as it was hot so don't think that helped at all. She's still asleep now as I fed her about 5:30. She's in a sleeping bag now so it must make a difference x

Ugh, this new fighting sleep thing is horrendous. Last night we tried leaving her to cry for a few minutes (I think it was about seven minutes) but she got really worked up so we relented and took her for a walk in the pushchair as usual. Unfortunately she couldn’t seem to calm back down and started being violently sick with all the screaming. In the end a 20 mile drive was the only thing that worked (well after 11 by this point!). She did sleep well after that but woke soon after 9 so had rather a short night, and so her usual routine today has been ruined!

I feel like I must be doing something really wrong. It’s frustrating to see her fighting sleep when I know she is tired and needs to sleep. Tonight we are going to try putting her down earlier and are going to take her for a walk rather than even attempting to settle her in her cot, and hopefully avoid a repeat of last night.

I wonder if perhaps I need to tweak her routine to make sure she’s not getting overtired?? Ugh I hate this uncertainty and not knowing what to do!

Saw the psychiatrist today and she thinks that me feeling low is probably just because baby is giving me a hard time, but has increased my Sertraline to 100mg anyway. Let's hope I don't have any side effects this time - really don't need any more curveballs!

@detachablehoof - overtiredness has a lot to answer for. My 3yo was sick all over his carpet (and my new carpet 😱) last night because of the very same thing! X

mummy I never would have thought of raspberries but that's a great idea and we have loads growing! At least once he gets to 26 weeks he can have toast, breadsticks and other finger foods it's just hard while he's only allowed fruit and veg sticks. I hope he starts eating soon, my eldest just gobbled everything up from the start. Sounds like you had a hard time with your daughter!

Detachable honestly they just go through these awkward phases just when you think you've nailed this parenting thing. My 3 year old now won't go to sleep until gone 9pm and he's generally been a very good sleeper (apart from the phase when he was 18months old and would only settle in our bed!). What's her usual nap times during the day roughly? Could she possibly need to merge into fewer longer naps during the day?

Her old routine was bed around 9:30ish, sleep til 9/10am (with a bottle at 5ish), then I'd usually go out at about 11:30 and she'd sleep in the car/pram for about 30-45 mins, and then again for about half an hour when I came home at 1ish. Then she'd sleep almost like clockwork from 3:30 til 6. And have a 30 min nap at 8ish. Seems like it's all gone out of the window now though!!

Tonight I really couldn't face another fight. She started crying as soon as I put her in her cot (at about 9 - much earlier than usual!) so we just took her for a walk. Thankfully she went to sleep without a fuss but it did take 45 mins!

I think we'll just grin and bear the daily and nightly walks for now (good for our waistlines!) and will have to break the bad habit in due course....

@Yakadee ouch that sounds like a rough night! Ours usually goes down at 7pm but wouldn't go til 10 tonight 🙈 it's just so hot. We have her in a nappy and light sleepsuit, she usually does 12 hours but I'm not hopeful tonight 🙄

@1stTimeTina - it was, not going to lie! 😱

It was so hot here too last night, not to mention to ridiculously loud thunderstorms that seemed to go on for hours! Thankfully both kids slept through but I still slept badly. I had Emma in a short vest and really low tog summer sleeping bag as she just doesn't sleep the same without one. I actually had a fan on low in both rooms which really helped, not near them or anything but just enough to give a little bit of air in the room x

@Yakadee ah glad they slept through for you !! I meant sleeping bag not sleepsuit lol, they're magic! She set til 8am thankfully!! Dreading the heat on Thursday 🙈 just so pleased they're not tiny weeks old babies!

@1stTimeTina - I know, me too! My son has his jabs tomorrow too so that's just awful timing 😩

Sorry to hear you are both struggling @detachablehoof and @Sunday38. It's a tough age as they are developing so fast I think they're little brains just don't switch off. Hopefully things will improve for both of you soon.

Max is still not really sleeping through. He will do the odd night but generally up at least once for a feed. This heat is a bloody nightmare!. We've been at home all day so yes just been in a nappy but he just doesn't seem to know what to do with himself

@detachablehoof just reread your last post and just wondered if you've tried putting her to bed earlier? She seems to be having a lot of sleep in the day. Max gets totally grumpy if we leave him any later than 8pm but he's tend not to nap a lot during the day (maybe 30-45 mins in the morning and a 90 mins one after lunch)

Yes I'd like to get her to bed earlier but struggle to do it as she has four meals & bottles per day and obviously I don't want to miss one out! I;m wondering if maybe I need to put her down for a proper nap in the morning and then a shorter nap in the afternoon? Had another meltdown this afternoon when she got too tired to go to sleep in her pushchair. in desperation I started running down the pavement with one pushchair wheel on the verge to make it more bumpy ... it did work though as she was asleep within minutes!!

I finally got my labour/birth notes which makes a fascinating read! So many things I didn't remember. Also feeling quite at the list of procedures on the summary form. Forceps, episiotomy, vaginal laceration repair, vaginal wall repair, deep muscle repair, superficial muscle repair, skin repair. Obviously i was aware of forceps and episiotomy and some stitches being needed, but I kind of feel like they should have told me about the deep muscle repair?! (no wonder it hurt so much to walk the next day!) Or maybe they did but I don't remember it.

Emma had her first food! She loved it (parsnip) and was grabbing spoon off me to feed herself. We both got covered in it It's so fun! Just had a couple of spoonfuls but it was fun seeing her so excited.

She goes to bed by 7 as she's a hot mess any later than that. She usually naps about 9 for an hour or so and then 2 hours or so at lunchtime and sometimes another 30 mins or so at about 4, although this one is a bit hit and miss. We start bedtime at 6.15 and she's in her cot by 6.45 and always asleep by 7. She still has a night feed but I'm still breastfeeding so it's just 10 mins while I barely wake up and then back to sleep, and then we tend to get up around 7. It works quite well for us at the moment but I'm sure things will change!

Just wondering what you all think....baby H was never a great sleeper during the day and would only nap in her bouncer for 30-40 mins twice per day. She was quite grumpy during the day perhaps due to lack of sleep. However she then slept from 8.30pm to 5am. Woke for a bottle and then back to sleep at 6am until 8am.

She is now 5 months and her routine has changed completely! She now has approx 3 naps during the day in her cot but the naps are lasting between 1 hour and 2.5 hours. She then goes to bed 8pm at the latest, wakes around midnight for a quick feed and then wakes around 5am. She then wants another bottle and will only go back to sleep if I bring her into the main bed with me. She usually wakes for the day around 7am.

Is this normal? Is she sleeping too much?

Not sure if it’s due to the heat/growth spurt etc.

She is really alert when awake but I’m just concerned how long her naps are compared to a few weeks ago?

baby A that should be!

My little girl is just about to turn 6months and in the last 3 weeks id say shes napped alot more. Past month got into a proper routine of 3 long naps a day and the odd catnap. Theres alot going on developmentally at this age. We bedshare from about midnight and breast feed though so I dont really count nightfeeds. But I know I struggle to sleep more than she does so shes getting alot better.

So I am going to have to lower the cot. Shes been pulling herself to standing for a week or 2 now. And can stand a few seconds independantly. But has now desided to start climbing. Problem being is even on top level I struggle to put her in it as my arms just dont seem long enough.im going to be practically climbing in cot myself at this lower level 🤣

Yep cant sit independantly (flops after about 5seconds with out something to hold onto or lean on) but can apparently stand 🤦‍♀️ how does that work?

She needs to hurry up with the sitting though so we can crack on with starting BLW. Anyone any tips how they encorage sitting not supported. As im not sure me just moving my hand away is helping.

@Notquiteagandt. I’m glad it’s not just my DD! I wish I could sleep as much as her in this heat.

@bubblybrit that all sounds normal to me sleep wise. She's getting into a routine and I think I would make the most of them before she changes again!!

@Notquiteagandt I can let believe your little one is standing. Max is nowhere near that although he will sir independently for a good while. We've just been out for lunch and he sat up in a low backed high chair for a good 30 mins without slouching over.