March 2008 births

[MarchNowFebMum]

Welcome March Mums (and late Feb/early April Mums!) from the March 2008 threads.

lol turtle, shall I order him a card to prove he's old enough to drink alcohol in LA?

Think I might dig out some booze now, had a craving for cider the other night as it's nice in this temperature...poured it, took a sip and thought "ooh that's nice" then realised it was sodding non-alcoholic!

Damn the no babies in maldivian stilt hut rules! DH and I had two big holidays left in us before we wanted babies really - Maldives and Bali - but we sort of got bored of contraception before we did them... We're still talking about Maldives next Jan/Feb but I really want the full on romantic experience so that might have to wait for an important wedding anniversary instead. So I reckon it might end up being South Africa instead (long haul but no jetlag and lots of fun things to do with baby)

Turtle - we always book our villas through ownersdirect.co.uk rather than a company - cheaper and a lot more choice, plus you can easily ask questions of the owners about baby-friendliness etc. When we told the owner of our villa in Majorca that we were bringing our 10 week old baby, she got so excited she started suggesting things she should buy for the villa for us and even offered to babysit!

Turtle / e14 - you are both so brave attempting Canada on your own!

Merry - don't rule out Sri Lanka for when the DSs are a little older. It's on our list to return to with DS when he's a bit older. There are brilliant boutique hotels for decent prices so you can feel like you're on a posh adults holiday but the hotels are very welcoming to kids plus there are great beaches and lots of things to excite kids like elephant spotting etc, and you can also plan some time in the highlands for relief from hot weather. They grow carrots and leeks and beetroot in the hills, and have dairy cows: it's just like England up there (including rain!), only with even better curry

Not got time to read all the posts now. Just wanted to say we are openmouthed in astonishment here at Glam Towers. Charlie slept from 6.30pm to 7.30am. Go Charlie!! Go Charlie!!

wooohooo! good on you guys, did you spend the entire night hovering over cot thinking about poking baby to check he was ok? i do when they start sleeping thru

hq, we will go back to sri lanka i'm sure. but i'm plugging for africa first, want to see the okovango delta and take ds1 to see his first nanny, who is now back in SA. in sri lanka i really want to go and see how mirissa on the coast has been doing since the tsunami. i have a friend there who is an hiv counsellor in colombo, mirissa is his family home. its a bit of a truggle apparently still with the rebuild. i must go find out how trinco is too, i wonder how badly hit that was? i haven't been there for 15 years, there's not often a strong enough ceasefire. ooh, last time i was there there was a new high road being built from columbo to the south, inland. hope they've also bothered to rebuild the coast railroad, that was one amazing route. aaaaaaaah, holidays! wittering now. need to go batch cook before cleaner comes to tut at the mess i make.

Oh merry - sri lanka is wonderful, isn't it? We were due to fly out on boxing day 2004 so were very lucky indeed, but in the end we went at easter 2005 because we still really wanted to go and felt that the places that were up and running really needed tourists to come back. we changed our plans so didn't go to galle or the rest of the south coast as it was still really badly affected, but south of colombo to galle was back up and running but without any tourists and of course inland sri lanka was fine and really needed tourists. the coastal train was back up by then as well DS is so going there when he's a little bit bigger

glam - what on earth did you do??? my DS has tricked us by sleeping through from 12-7 once, but hasn't done it again. It's encouraging that he can do it, but discouraging that he chooses not to

Last night possibly the worst night we've had since hospital. He slept 630-930 thenslepot for 45 mins awake for 45 mins til2something then hasn't really slept til just now. I look 50. Am giving serious thought to FF now. Only prob is he wont take a bottle from me.

oh lord turtle that sounds grim. i hope you're having some rest today during the day. does he really wake up with a bang and loud wailing, or is it more gentle? what happens when you just leave him, for how long?

if he's waking up every 45 minutes he is probably responding to changes in sleep depth and nothing really helps that except growing through whatever he is going through at the moment. ds1 did this for a while and i had to rely on dp a lot then, as if i tried to settle him he seemed to ask for milk/boob comfort, which he didn't really need. if you are getting crucified by it, decamp to furthest part of your home for a few hours in the night, earplugs in, leaving other half with bottles of formula or ebm for a night or two.

me and dp had a rota drawn up so we each knew when torture would end for us. and would leave each other treats to help get through the night. mine were audio books, his were cake based.

MB- a)he's away for a week b)has refused to help out at night.
Have left DS to cry for up to 10 mins and he just gets hysterical. Just wants boob.

and yes it's a sudden cry. he's now doing it today. has had 45 mins since 6 am. going mad.

((turtle)) it will pass, its horrible but you have to remember its just a phase.

Can you just bring him into bed with you, and feed him lying down so you can doze and he can feed, he will be getting big enough to have the hang of latching on and off ok as long as he is next to the breast.

i always found that is what i had to do to help me get through periods like that.

I shouldnt say it, incase i jinx it but Rudi is being a wee star, he has learnt to suck his thumb, and not only does it look incredibly cute but it also means he sleeps much better, still waking for a feed once in the night, sometimes twice but its literally ten mins to guzzle his milk and then he is back asleep he is sat in car seat next to me at mo, sucking away

turtle, {{{hugs}}} and shame on your OH for not wanting to help out at night...mine grumbles but realises what a nightmare it is for me (and that's just getting up once during the night!).

ok, someone's sent me a request for the FB group and being a doozy I don't know who you are, anyone want to come forward? Initials SN...

That's be glammama probably. Her initials are SN.
The sad truth is he WAS in bed with me by 3 am and he still couldn't keep it together. I am losing the plot. Have just been out for a walk and he fell asleep immediately so walked for 20 mins to make sure he was out and now he's in his cot asleep and I'm too tired to sleep. Someone take me out for a walk!!!

take it back. he's now screaming blue murder again. trying to ignore it.

turtle - Do you have someone close by who can take him for a walk for 30 mins while you rest/snooze? Even that amount of time is enough to recharge your batteries a little and at least allow you to get rid of some of the tension.

It sounds like your DS may be a little like mine is sometimes - confusing tiredness and hunger so wanting to be put to the breast but then after a while realising that wasn't what he wanted and kicking off again. Have you tried a dummy? We have some in the house for screaming situations as they give some peace so you can think and get rid of some of the tension that builds up, and sometime the bonus is he'll drop off to sleep with it. Not exactly perfect parenting, but sometimes you just have to do what works. We find DS needs to be calmed a little from fever pitch first before he'll accept it though - otherwise he just spits it out, looks at us like we're trying to poison him and cries even more!

Good luck.

Nobody around to help til Monday. He has a dummy, which used to work wonders but now he hates it. Have tried a few different kinds, but he now just chews it a bit then spits it out. He finally dropped off. Going to try to sleep now.

yes i think that bang awake it his neurology, not hunger. better go through all the old motions, have you swaddled again, tried white noise to help him keep down?

you need to break the cycle. to be frank, if he is old enough now (Shamefully can't remember) give him a dose of calpol. he is probably sore and achy from yelling and lack of sleep. it really should help. ease it on to his tongue the tiniest dab at a time. if any gets spat out you can't try again.

very unimpressed by 'refuses to help out' on your behalf. truly, the majority of men are well, men about his and do a share, and always have done. apart from anything else you just end up ill without help, and then they have to come off work and really get stuck in.

LO has had quiet bath, feed and calpol and is currently shouting the house down in his cot. Has been for 15 minutes. I am going to go insane very soon. Have not had a sleep (him) longer than 45 minutes since 2 am and I'm in robot mode.
Yes, DH is not my fave person at the mo. He has not helped AT ALL since the birth except for two night feeds which he complained bitterly about to the extent that our friends even make fun of him for it. So tired.

Has stopped shouting and is quiet but is not asleep. Has somebody given this boy amphetamines or what? Not natural to be so anti-sleep.

turtle he is probably OVERTIRED, ds4 gets like this sometimes as well, they get so tired they cant sleep or if they do they 'jump' awake and then cos they have had a tiny bit of sleep they then struggle to get back to sleep.

i have found with ds4 there is a "sleep window" of opporunity, if he goes to sleep then when he is starting to get tired, but is not too tired then we are ok, but if we miss it then all hell breaks loose and i end up with a screaming inconsolable baby and it takes lots of walking and jigging, a dark room etc to get him to settle.

if he wont take a dummy will he suck your finger? sometimes i have to let Rudi suck my finger to calm him enough so he can go to sleep, he wont take a dummy either, he has just learnt to suck his thumb, but he cant always find it, or if he is overtired then he gets too stressed to iyswim? but sucking on my little finger soothes him, along with patting? thats a good one actually, if you lie him on his side and pat his bum/side of his leg rythmically very gently, babies often find that soothing ds2 did and ds4 does as well hope these tips help

I'm probably being a bit of a dim bulb but I can't find the Marchmums group on Facebook

Turtle, I totally sympathise. All my NCT friends gush about how helpful their husbands are, and mine will not do ANYTHING without being asked, and then it's like it's a big favour to me. Um, hello, you are a parent, too!

Nighttime (and daytime) is definitely my territory, and he still complains about lack of sleep. Haven't even gotten a night feed from him. [End rant]

Griffin (9 weeks) is in a kind of "naps are for wimps" stage. Started probably a week or so ago, and I thought it was down to his very frequent feed schedule. Thought he was snacking and cat napping. Had BF counsellor tell me all was normal with 2-3 hours between feeds and that at 7-8 weeks or so, they become much more alert and don't necessarily nap as much. Was news to me, but guess it makes sense. Still, they do need a certain amount of sleep and G probably doesn't get nearly enough.

Not sure how to explain the screaming, though. I hope he starts to settle soon. I know G doesn't do well at all if I miss the window and put him down when he's overtired. He gets so worked up then and it's all you can do to get him to stop crying.

Will look for FB group now....

Hope this link works for the Facebook group

I have an overtired, screeching baby tonight. He's had a bit of a grotty day and he just will not settle in his cot tonight so we've resorted to bringing him down onto the sofa where he is finally snoozing.

He went down brilliantly on Weds when I was home alone, but it's a struggle pretty much every other night, and I'm wondering if the excitement of daddy coming home and bathing him is what tips him over the edge. It might turn into a tough choice - calm baby who goes to sleep easily but doesn't spend time with dad during the week versus baby and dad getting quality time when dad gets home but baby taking at least 45 heart-wrenching mins to settle...

Absolutely, HQ. I thought it would be great to have Daddy do bath, but have found that Griffin is fractious by time DH gets home and it is better to start bath/bed routine at 6pm or shortly thereafter. Still takes me almost 2 hours to get him to sleep with bath, change, cluster feed, etc. so DH will "see" G but not really interact with him much before bed. Think is better for all of us in the longrun if G is not overtired and can get used to his routine.

Upshot is G is generally awake and out of bed in am when daddy is getting ready for work, so DH get's a nice smiley G rather than squawky, tired baby.