Nov 2007..... Once we pop, we will not stop!!!

[sparklygothkat]

I can finally start this, as someone else has had her baby.. woohooo!

SparklyGothKat - 25 Sep (8 Nov) BOY - Callum Eden
KaylaBMummy ? South Wales - 18 Oct (8 Nov) GIRL - Katie

Chocolate - you are v.patient with the in-laws, I would have put their suitcases outside the front door by now! Thanks for the tip re the swing. I had to resort to swinging Adam in his moses basket this morning (rocking doesn't cut it - he has to be swung through the air!) and it killed my bloody back, not to mention I shouldn't be lifting that much weight after a c-section so I can't wait to get a swing. Fingers crossed it works. He is deeply unimpressed with his bouncy chair.

RG - hope you are feeling better. Adam generally settles better during the day than at night. He is particularly wittery between 7pm and 1pm when he finally goes down for a few hours. I am an nasty ogre when sleep-deprived. Poor DH!

General question - should I put Adam "to bed" i.e. in a quiet dark room in the early evening. We tend just to take him up to bed with us when we go to bed but I read somewhere about establishing a bedtime routine - surely it is too early for that?

Sparkly - great news about your LO - 12oz wow!

LOM - glad you are enjoying your DS! One handed typing is a new skill for me too! How are you feeling after your c-section? I had one 3 weeks ago and physically feeling fine, feel I could drive really but got parents coming to stay so will be chauffeur driven for a bit longer. Scar is very neat and healing nicely - I had imagined a great big thing across my tummy! Hope you feeling ok too .

Sarahlou - Rebecca needs swinging like that and this swing really works - it swings like a cradle and a swing which is fab, and has different speeds, and she loves the mobile. It is way better than the bouncy chair which she despises.

I have no routine and can't advise - Rebecca doesnt go to bed early evening either. Interested to hear expert opinion!

Sarah- I started a night time routine with Anabel last week after a terrible run of her screaming the house down for a few nights. We give her a bath at 7ish and then a feed and burp and put her to bed at eight in a dark room with door shut i say goodnight and 6 times out of 7 she has gone straight to sleep. On sat night she fussed and cried we kept going in and settling her and i feed her again at about 10 she fell asleep at 10.30pm.
It's worked for us might be worth a go. Before that we used to take her up when we went which was different every night and we had her beside my side of the bed in her moses basket and she would go until 11.30, 1.30 or 4am one morning.
She is 3 and a half weeks now so similar age to you LO.

Hi everyone.
Hope your all ok.

I havent had the chance to get on at all.
3 kids is manic!!!

Ethan is doing really well and has his first weight check on Saturday.
He actually gained 7oz and was weighed again today by the HV and has put on another 3 oz

I've been hand expressing a bit for him as he just will not latch on at all. It makes him really cross and unsettled but he's more than happy to take EBM from a bottle. Going to buy a hand pump this week as hand expressing is a real PITA

Hows everyone doing for xmas? All sorted?

Fiona - sounds like a good routine going on there. I am tempted to do the same but i'm also worried about the SIDS thing as apparently them not being in the same room as you increases the risk??

Would you say you have a good routine going now or do you think it's just luck so far?

Sarah - Ellie is the same as Adam - great during the day but absolutely pants at night!

Afternoon all!

NBG - 3 kids is hectic isnt it! Im not coping with all 3 on my own at all.... and good job i dont have to for the most part! Even town today with all 3 and DH was a bloody nightmare!

RGP - SIDS thing, I know the advice is in your room in cot for 6 months, but Ive never managed it! DD1 was in her own room at 6 weeks, DD2 at 4 days!! Daniel will be going into his own room this week. For me, I feel there is nothing I can do - if something is going to happen, being in my room or next door isnt going to make a difference. Just my opinion though.

Daniel is being quite fussy today.... not sure whats up, but he is on and off the boob and not feeding fully, but he hasnt had a poo today so wondering if thats a little of the problem?!

DJarm - yes i see your point. DS was in his own room fairly early too iirc. Do you have a routine going on with Daniel? Ellie's also been a fusspot today. I'm wondering if it's because she's a bit chilly. It's bloody freezing in my carpet-less, net-less and curtain-less house!!!

No routine yet... but going to start tonight or tomorrow.

Bath, feed, bed.... hopefully. Not too worried about daytimes, but nights are usually something im quite hot on!

Daniel gets cold easily too, loves being snuggled in his snowsuit to sleep so bought him some fleece sleepsuits to go over his normal sleepsuits today... hoping that helps!

Hi all

Interesting stuff re bedtime routines thanks Fiona, I might give it a whirl if he continues to be a fusspot on an evening.

RG - I meant to say earlier that Adam does liquid poos, think that is usual with breastfed babies? He did a projectile one the other day off the end of his changing station (it hit the skirting board a good 2 ft away !!).

I'll let you know how we get on with the swing Chocolate.

Well I am getting to know all the shops in town that have decent mother and baby facilities. Our Debenhams has a lovely room with a glider chair for feeding. House of Fraser however have closed their feeding room but will warm bottles in the cafe! Where I live most people assume you will be bottle feeding and I am starting to feel like a bit of a hippy for breast feeding! I don't feel brave enough yet to just feed in public. No doubt if Adam was shouting loud enough I'd just have to get on with it.

Rg - Megan's poos were ghastly yellow liquid with grainy bits in them whilst exclusively bf..

Well I've done it - I've bought the gina ford book. I couldn't face anymore sleepless nights. I mean completely sleepless - crying from 11ish til 9am the next morning. i'd had a week of it and was f**ked (excuse the language but nothing else describes it). meg would then sleep all flippin day!

Since friday i have started a routine. principles are to ensure she feeds enough during the day (she is taking the recommended amount but is still hungry at night) also to ensure she stays awake for a while after each feed. Never allow her to go longer than 2 hrs awake without giving her a nap. Putting her in her cot in our room to sleep (day or night). she used to sleep anywhere in the day. waking her before putting her in her cot so she gets used to settling herself.

Am struggling like hell to keep her awake though during the day. she'd got into such a bad pattern it's like trying to break a vicious circle. Awake all night so shattered and sleeping all day which makes her more prone to wake at night.

evening routine too - start feeding at 5pm, then a bath about 6pm followed by final feed and into bed in her cot next to our bed by 7pm. It works a treat, previously found it v difficult to get a meal in the evening as she would cry for attention. i think she was over tired before. she now sleeps brilliantly in the evening, i wake her at 10pm for a feed and she's back to bed by 11pm.

Routine hasn't worked perfectly yet but she has been better and better overnight. Still struggles to settle herself after a feed at night. But she cries much less and i am getting some hours sleep overnight.

Sgk - interesting re sleeping when they grow. We measured megan's length yesterday. at 2 weeks she was on 75th centile for height. now she's on the 98th!!! i'm 5ft 11 and dh is 6ft 4 - so not massive surprise. she has suddenly outgrown all her newborn stuff

Congrats Sparkly on Callum's weight gain, sounds like he's taking off now!

Sarah - we tend to get William ready for bed at the same time as DD, but he tends to come up to bed with me some time between 10 and 11. We did the same with DD, and she now copes fine with a routine much earlier. he cluster feeds most evenings anyway, so there's no point putting him to bed as I would be up and down the stairs all evening.

Choc - my grandmother met William for the first time on Saturday, took one look at him and said 'Are you going to be an obese child?'! I told her no he wasn't and that the health visitor was perfectly happy with his weight. Even my in laws haven't been that rude about his weight.

RG - you sound like you're feeling better now. Breastfeed babies' poos are usually quite runny, korma sauce is how my midwife describes it!

William sleeps a lot too (he's 4 weeks old tomorrow), only really waking for feeding and for a bit of a look around! Maybe it's a November baby thing! He's getting better at nights, usually wakes for a decent feed at about 4, then maybe again at around 6.

We put up the christmas tree yesterday, it was the first time DD was about to get properly involved. It was lovely watching her hang up decorations, and she performed the switching on of the lights. When she got home from nursery today we asked her to put the lights on and she did, but only after she'd given herself a little countdown - so sweet

Chinese takeaway has arrived - yummy!

Hi everyone.

Ellie has been really needy all bloody day today!! AFter being up with her from 4am, i'm exhausted! She's got herself into some right hysterical states too, the poor thing. HOpefully it's just a blip and/or a growth spurt or something. I think i have spent more time with my norks out today than i have with them IN my bra!!

Off to bed in a mo. I'm soooo tired and Ellie is sleeping in her basket at the mo - a rarety today!

sorry to hear that RG. It's a nightmsre isn't it when they are like that? especially when yr already knackered.]

Megan woke at 2.30 for a feed and i have been trying to get her back to sleep since. she seemed to go to sleep 5 minutes ago and then started screaming again. i have to admit i am getting bit fed up I can't work out why she won't go back down after nightime feeds. she's been winded and sleeps in her cot fine during the day.

I thought i'd log on here to distract myself in case my attitude to her crying is now making her worse. they can pick up on yr tension can't they?

anyway - hope you all have a good tuesday.

Silk - so sorry meg is being a pain for you. No advice though im afraid, DD1 was like that and i lost count the amount of times I had to take her for a drive to get her to sleep.

Ive just done a feed, and the boy is now fast asleep on my side of the bed, so no chance of me squeezing next to him, although i will try. He was up at 2.30am and then again at 5.30am... not like him!

RGP - totally sympathise, Daniel was like that last week... totally takes it out of you. Sleep when she does sweetie.

Morning everyone!

Feeling much brighter today. Ellie slept from 11pm til about 3ish and then again from 4 til 7am so i managed to get some rest in the night.

Silk - sorry that Megan us acting up for you. It's so hard isn't it. The only thing i can suggest that seems to work for Ellie is having the radio on very very quietly during the night. We have it on a talk radio but i think that's more for DP's sake than Ellie's. I'm sure she's not really fussy! I think it's just the noise she likes and it seems to keep her settled. If you think about it, they come from a nice cosy womb where there is constant noise and then during the day there is more constant noise, even when they are in their own rooms etc. When it's 4am however everything is so much quieter and some babies get unnerved by the lack of background noise. Anyway, perhaps it's something to think about?

DJarm - Sorry you are also having a bit of trouble too. Perhaps they are picking up on our pre-Christmas nerves or summat lol. Only a few days to go and i've got about 3 presents so far and have the in-laws coming for Christmas dinner but we still haven't bought a single thing that resembles anything LIKE a Christmas dinner!!

I think DP and I are going to brave Homebase today (spots and all) and he is going a bit stir crazy now.

We were saying yesterday that we could be perfect contenders for Jezza! After all, he's covered in spots, not working at the moment(due to illness but that's besides the point) and there's also a baby involved. What more could you ask for!!!

Have a nice restful day girls. Let's make a pact to get some much needed shuteye by 2pm at the latest, ok?

RGP - so pleased you had a better night. Cant promise shut eye by 2pm.... my nap tends to fall at about 3pm at the moment! But i will deffo be having a nap - DD1 is back at nursery this afternoon!

hmmm well i was going to say 4pm initially but then when it gets to 4pm i normally write off the idea of a nap if i haven't had one already!

awwww Ellie gave me two definite deliberate smiles this morning!!

Just a quick check in. Dh has taken Thomas for a walk in the park.

Silk thiings sound really tough. If gf works then do it. My sis swears by her.

DH has been able to put T down to sleep but everytime I try he wakes up. so last night I tucked some used breast pads in his basket and he was out like a light. Yay one up to mummy

He's generally wakeful between about 12 and 4 and just wants to be held but he usually sleeps for three hours either side of that which seems perfectly reasonable to me.

Oh and BTW can i heartily recommend Tommee tippee ultra absobent breast pads. They are a tad pricey but they do keep evrything nice and dry.

How can I be hungry - again

Hi all!

RGP - got my nap at 1pm today - but only for an hour before the boy demanded feeding again. Not sure whats going on with him today but heh asnt slept more than an hour at a time and been feeding constantly in between! Bit concerned because my boobs are all soft and squishy, hoping its not a supply issue. Maybe need to hold off on the expressing thing?! I have only expressed when Ive been engorged though....

Anyone else feel like they just cant be arsed with christmas this year? We are hosting it for my dad for the first time ever too, and I just have no motivation! Have got an online Asda shop coming on saturday night with most of the stuff, and we pick up the meat on monday morning, so we are organised, but im just not interested! Want to go to sleep xmas eve and wake up on 2nd jan!

Hope you have all had a good day xx

Hi all.
RG- I think routine for night time is well established now over a week of great sleeping. I have no problems with having her in the other room as I can hear her through the door and she is only about 3 metres away from me. I can also hear her from downstairs if she is in her room. Our house doesn't have great sound proofing. I agree with JARM that I don't believe her being across the landing is any bigger risk to being beside the bed. Having said that when she sleeps so well I have been know to go in and check her as I wake up with full and leaking breasts. I think she definately sleeps better in the other room as when she was in our room she stayed awake for much longer.

What I need help with is naps in the day time. She sleeps when we take her out in pram or car but really struggles to nap at home so I find it difficult to get anything done. She is either feeding, playing or grizzling. I get stuff done when she is playing under the gym or on sheepskin rug looking at stuff but as she is so young this only lasts 10 or 15mins.

well done on getting 10-15mins fiona! Im lucky to get 5! Daniel just hates being left, he has to be cuddled, fed, or rocked 24/7!

Havent started night routine yet, appears Daniel has decided its growth spurt time so its all feed feed feed!

saw the hv today. megan is growing v well. 10oz since last week. might explain the constant feeding thing. she's 6v weeks tomorrow .

hv has suggested a possible problem with reflux as she keeps waking at night when put down flat on her back. have placed cushions under mattress to see if elevating her head works.

fingers crossed everybody