July 2023 babies

[Summermeadowflowers]

Hello everyone! So this is a continuation of the pregnancy thread(s) as we’re almost full.

DD was born by elective section on July 18th. Her older brother was born following an emergency section after a failed induction in December 2020 and I didn’t want to go through that again! It was a lovely chilled experience and I was a bit nervous waiting but felt like I was in good hands. I was also home the next day.

Feeding has been tricky for us. I really wanted to breastfeed but as with DS, DD hasn’t taken easily to it and struggles to latch. Nipple shields help to an extent although are not a cure all but she doesn’t get much milk and ends up frustrated anyway. I’ve mostly been expressing for her but realistically don’t know how long I can keep it up. It’s a shame as I do really want to breastfeed but it isn’t happening!

Oh and my wound is infected … lovely!

How is everyone else?

@PinkPink1 That seems awfully early for teething (although not impossible). Can you see anything in her gums?

I personally wouldn't give Calpol. Each tooth can cause them pain for around a week so that's a lot of medicine given how many teeth have to come through. Ashton & Parsons teething powder is brilliant but you'd have to check what age it's from. There's also teething gels but we stuck with the powder for my eldest as it worked so well

Yeah DS2 is teething I think - ten weeks. DS1 was the same, very early teeth. I can see a tooth coming under his gums on one side…

How's everyone sleeping? Torvi will be 3 months on Tuesday and has slept 8 hour stretches for 3 nights out of the past 4 so we have turned a corner...thought it was never gonna happen lol

She looks like she’s winking at us!

DD is usually pretty good: goes to sleep between 8 and 9 then sleeps around seven hours before waking for a feed. I’ve just fed her and am expressing more milk. She’ll go back to sleep before I’ve finished (she’s next to me now) and sleep until about 6 and have another feed. I think she’d prefer to go back to sleep then but she often gets woken by her brother We did have a bad night Thursday as her daytime sleep had been so disrupted but to be fair to her bad night wasn’t that bad, only by her standards.

I really hope that doesn’t change!

We have a wonderful sleeper from 8 - 3/4 and then a feed but after the feed, Oliver always gets bad wind if we try to put him back down again. He’ll sleep on my chest until 8 but otherwise is really restless. It’s the reflux sadly so doctor has advised weaning him early. Roll on 4 months old!

Sleep. Hahahaha.
DS was 12 weeks yesterday. Still suffering reflux. Omeprazole helping a bit (?)
He is having 2 hour wake windows in the day now where I am trying to find new ways to keep him entertained in between feeds/ pain cries.
Night... The last two nights have been better, goes down at half 9, wakes at 12:45, then 4:30 and then 6 when I will feed him and put him in bed next to me as DH is out and at work and DS will then sleep until 8ish. So he is getting better but still not good.
He has, however, reached a new milestone. He likes to sit inside the u shaped feeding pillow I have and we often do sensory play time in there, on Friday he started to try and pull himself up, yesterday, he managed to do it and pulled himself up to a sitting position and held his head up and sat there for a good minute or so before flopping. He then continued to do it throughout the day. The only issue with this is, is that now he is getting incredibly frustrated that he can't sit up all by himself all the time and now doesn't want to sit on me for long as he's pulling himself up and doesn't want to just sit and chill in the feeding pillow as he wants to be up but then gets cross as he can't stay up for long!

Who are these magic sleeping babies?! DS is still waking up every 3-4 hours at night!

@Rutennotou dd finished a bottle shortly after 5am and she's settled now. Last feed was 10.30pm last night so this is the best night so far! She's 12 weeks old today. She barely sleeps during the day so that's why she's been sleeping well at night. Your Torvi looks so cheeky with that little wink!

@AngryBirdsNoMore its tough going, but to be honest I’m just waiting for a regression, and hoping it doesn’t happen. DD slept through last night, but she does mostly wake between 2 and 3 for a feed, which isn’t too bad although it can be a good hour before she’s settled and I’ve finished expressing. My boobs were so full this morning and then the breast pump didn’t work. I actually cried luckily DH got it working again.

I am a bit sad that a really nice baby group I went to is full till November. I just didn’t realise how close to the end of the month we were. Still, she’ll probably enjoy it more when she’s a smidge older. I was chatting to a lovely mum there so hope she’s still there in November. I might just be brave and ask to swap numbers on Wednesday! I’m also getting my hair done Wednesday afternoon - first time since having DD. I always find those sorts of things a bit funny in a way - it’s like the dentist, because it’s quite long between appointments a lot has happened so it’s strange just to wander in as normal. I last had my hair done on the 8th July in anticipation of a baby coming soon, ten days later I had her and now she’s 10 weeks tomorrow! 😍

Hi ladies.
Arthur will be 13 weeks on Saturday and can now roll back to front!!
He scared the living s**t out of me at midnight last night as he screamed out and I looked over and he was on his front face down, so scared himself. I then didn't sleep for the rest of the night incase he bloody did it again. Assumed it was a fluke and then when I left him laying in the middle of the bed this morning as I went for a wee, I came back and he was on his tummy again! And we've just had lots of time on our play mat and he's done it again and I watched him do it this time (and managed to get it on video!) what a milestone!! He technically isn't 3 months until the 1st October!
The problem I have is... Due to his reflux, he HATES tummy time and can't/doesn't want to life his head when he's on his tummy so just cries every single time. So when he rolls over, he screams and cries as he doesn't pick his head up so his face is planted down - he's going to have to quickly learn to roll front to back.
It's so strange though, as if you look at him on his tummy, you'd think he has no neck strength, but his head control is actually brilliant. He constantly holds his head up when being carried and sitting on our knees and is crunching when laying on his back and when sitting in the feeding pillow, can pull himself up to sitting and hold himself there with his head up for close to a minute, then flops forward and then gets frustrated that he can't hold himself up to sit all by himself all the time.
I need him to start bloody liking tummy time and learn to hold his head up on his tummy and roll back over again as otherwise I am going to be petrified every single bedtime.

@AnxiousAnnie94 I remember leaving my eldest on my bed once while I nipped to get something in the other room. Left her on the side closest to the wall just in case she rolled, but I'd never seen her roll or even attempt to roll (can't remember how old she was). Came back after a minute or two and she was on the floor 🙈 Didn't cry or anything and she was absolutely fine but I was stunned!

Also, how is everyone doing? I'm finding the daytime hard. She just doesn't sleep and if she does she wakes up again after a few minutes. It's a struggle getting anything done. If I put her down she usually cries. Some days I barely eat until teatime. I can't keep on top of housework, I end up doing it late afternoon/evening when my partner is back. I love the cuddles with her but I just wish I had an hour or two to myself 😫 All I do is sit in bed/on the sofa holding her all day 😫

The last hour of the day is loooong @rach971 , waiting for my partner to come home!

Are you able to use a sling to carry her around? That’s the easiest way to get mine to sleep when he’s fractious, and it also means I can at least make a sandwich.

We’ve started going to baby groups and having something to aim at/a reason to get moving early really helps getting out of the house. Getting out in the pram also helps with getting him to sleep, and then I can slink off to a cafe… where someone else makes the sandwich!

You’ve described my day there too @rach971 , although it’s very variable. We have three types of days. Type one - she sleeps - on me, but she does have a good snooze. They are few and far between 😅

Type 2 - she wants to sleep but can’t because of DS. They are bad for mum guilt. Tuesdays I can generally take them out for the day and she can sleep in the sling or pram but Thursdays and weekends are a nightmare as we’re in and out.

Type 3 - she doesn’t sleep

She is good at night though. But I hear you. I’m struggling to get anything done and I know the mantra here is not to worry / lower standards / get OH to do it, but that isn’t possible with older kids, they need to eat, have clean clothes etc. sigh.

DD is 11 weeks tomorrow and I’m still expressing milk for her which I am proud of. I’m really hoping to get to six months but it’s very much one day at a time.

@rach971 My dd is 13 weeks today and she doesn't sleep during the day. Maybe half an hour in total from 7am onwards. She will finally sleep around 6-8pm. Luckily she likes the play mat and bouncy chair.

We all have covid…. DS1 and I are feeling much better but DS2 who is now 12 weeks is poorly with nasty cold symptoms and so is DH.

DS2 is sleeping but very snotty. He was doing great before covid - 10-12 hours solid overnight and 3 contact naps a day when DS1 and I do drawing, tablet time or reading while he sleeps. Hopefully get back to this routine soon when he’s feeling better!

So pleased to have found you all! All my friends are either childfree or at the year 5/9 stage so feeling overwhelmed and floundering.

👋 @AngharadM ! How have you been getting on with motherhood?

Hi everyone,
After some advice please.

So obviously I know that the advice is to only let your babies under 6 months sleep in the same room as you due to SIDS risk, but...
I have been wondering if I can put DS to bed in his next to me and set the monitor up and then come downstairs for an hour or so?

Currently DH gets home from work at 6 which is when DS' witching hour starts. I make tea, which I eat one handed whilst trying to sooth DS, we don't really get time to chat.
We then take DS up for a bath about half 7. He has a bottle of expressed milk on our bed with DH after this and we put the telly on volume 2 and have subtitles on. We then put DS in his sleep bag and turn the light off. Reflux will then hit DS and he will scream and cry, sometimes for up to 1 hour, sometimes falls asleep on me much quicker. Usually by 8.45pm DS is asleep on me. I cannot put him down in his next to me as the light changing on the telly wakes him up when it goes bright. So me and DH sit watching the telly subtitles (as we can't hear it on volume 2) whispering to each other once in a while, trying not to move as the bed creaks and we don't want to wake DS up. Because we then get fed up of just sitting there like that, we usually turn the telly off about half 9 and I will put DS in his next to me and he will sleep until 11/12.

I just feel like me and DH are not getting any time together and it's getting me down. I don't want us to lose being 'us'. But also have the fear of SIDS in my head.

My mum can't believe what we are doing. I gave a 15 year old sister and a 11 year old brother and she said she put them (and me) in hers and dad's room from a few weeks old in the evening with the monitor on to establish a routine and then went downstairs and back up to bed at 10ish. She said the risk of SIDS hasn't suddenly changed and it used to be absolutely fine.

I know there must be some sort of evidence to suggest that babies should sleep in our room, but tbf we live in such a small house, it will take me a maximum of 20 seconds to walk up the stairs from the living room to check on him.

I was just wondering if any of you already put your LOs to bed and then go downstairs in the evening for an hour or two? It's not like I'm planning on putting him in his own room yet. He has just turned 3 months.

@AnxiousAnnie94 Have you thought about getting one of the monitors with the motion sensor pad that goes under their mattress? You might feel more comfortable leaving the little one to sleep for an hour with the monitor on if you know it’ll go off if it stops recognising the subtle movements of your child’s breathing. We had one with DS1.

We have 2 cribs, one in our room and smaller one in the living room where our DS2 will settle for an hour or two before bed which gives us the time we need. We are quieter but we have the telly on, chat, have supper together etc.

@Hippomumma I have seen them, but they're quite pricey and I don't know if it would cause me more anxiety as I've read lots of reviews of babies rolling off them and the monitors going off, but it's just because the baby has moved.

I just want my evening back and some time with DH, but obviously want DS to be safe too!

Babies supposedly mimic their mother’s heart rate and breathing when you’re nearby @AnxiousAnnie94 . Also, parents being around and being a bit noisy prevents baby going to sleep too deeply; it’s during deep sleep when SIDS occurs.
The good news is that the risk of SIDS really drops off around 4 months, so if you can hold out a bit longer you can have peace of mind!

I have started leaving the room for little jobs while baby is napping in the day but I’m not sure I’d do it for longer stretches.

@AngharadM hi! I also don't have any friends who have children. The last person I know who gave birth (other than myself) is my mum!

@AnxiousAnnie94 I've been putting dd in her next to me cot with the video baby monitor on since she was about 3-4 weeks old. I'll do this for as long as she sleeps. She doesn't really sleep for long during the day (under half an hour and is awake for hours) but she'll sleep for around 6 hours from around 7-8pm. Is this not advisable? My dd is 13 weeks.

Your babies nap in the day? I’m jealous, honestly. DD is terrible at the moment! Sleeps well at night but the day, seriously 🤯 Then so grumpy in the evenings. I think it must be one of those developmental leaps.

@AnxiousAnnie94 i probably would. I think SIDS is unlikely to occur in the first hour to be honest. I don’t leave DD to sleep as I don’t want her waking and getting scared but I’ve definitely bobbed in and out. I’m not hugely convinced she can hear my heart rate and breathing in the next to me!

Just to add to that - I don't leave her for more than half an hour and always have the baby monitor with me. She doesn't nap much during the day anyway. I tend to sleep earlier now, before 10.30pm and wake when dd stirs for her bottle. I'm starting to feel a bit anxious now! I always thought her cot was the best place for her to sleep 😕

@AnxiousAnnie94 I had one with my eldest and she'd move off it and the alarm would go off. I had several nights of waking up in total panic checking she was still breathing 🙈 I have one again with Tilly and so far so good, she's not moved off it yet. I feel so much more comfortable using one. Gives me peace of mind