Dec 2007: Gummy grins give way to teething tyrants

[claraquitetirednow]

How about this?

BT - I worry too, ive only managed to get ethan to have a few spoon fulls of food altogether over the last 2 days,
He's also been a bit of a nightmare today.
He normally sleeps 7pm-6am then back down after a feed/change until about 8. Last night took him ages to settle, slept 7.30 - 3am, fed then lay awake until 4, back to sleep until 5 then didn't sleep again until 2pm.
I know thats not bad compared to some people and i really feel for you.
To make things wose, bf is on holiday so i dont have her dd tomorrow so was looking forward to the break, but sil asked me to have our 5 year old neice as its a teachers training day tomorrow so she is sleeping tonight and i have her tomorrow

me me me me!!

no routine, although we do have a reasonably consistent bedtime, but sometimes we get our evening sometimes we don't etc.

I wouldn't worry too much cos when he goes to nursery he will have to fit in with their routine anyway, so even if you got him into one it would prob change anyway iyswim

I still do feel a bit floundery sometimes though, esp now starting solids - if my BFs are not at set times, I can't see how meal times can be either...it's quite frustrating!

something I read on here which has really helped re naps was to stop thinking of set times, eg nap at 11am or whatever, but instead to think of it in terms of x amount of time since your lo woke up. So now I know that pretty much consistently dd will get tired about 1.5hrs after 1st getting up in the morning, and after that about 2.5-3hrs during the rest of the day. If I watch the time and more importantly watch her, I can now get her down for a nap without bf-ing, pram etc - it sometimes takes about 20mins of her grumbling and thrashing about but she goes off on her own now - which in this house is a miracle!

Also it means I can think - ok it's 2.5hrs since she got up, she'll be tired, instead of - what the hell is wrong now?!!

Who was it who had no sex drive??
we've dtd twice since i had ethan
Dont know why i bothered with the coil..have all intentions of doing it..but can't think of anything worse atm

Thanks for your kind words, fifisworld and Caz.
Caz, your suggestion sounds a good one, I think I'll give that a try tomorrow.

i can't take any credit for it!

but as dd wakes up at a different bloody time every day I can't see how I could possibly stick to feeding at certain times, napping at certain times etc. Our day seems to go in 3hr cycles, each time going something like..

wake - then have about 2.5-3hrs to...

BF
maybe offer some solids
playtime/go somewhere/housework/whatever
get sleepy...nap!

Obviously if we're out and about things are a bit flexible - but generally try to have her in car or pram for the tired time then!

That sounds very familiar!
Actually he did ok this morning nap wise, we got up at 5am, he had a nap from 7am to 8.30am and then another one from 11pm to 12:30. He also had about 30mins around 3pm, I think he should have had a bit longer but we were at the pub, he woke up when we left and it was blowing a gale!

Caz10, that's the kind of routine we work to here. Loosely based on EASY, but mostly its AESY. wake, play eat sleep in 3hrly cycles.

We had a terrible night last night.
He went to be at 6:45, woke up at 9pm, fed him but he wouldn't settle so kept running up and down the stairs. Found myself getting very cross with him, and ended up leaving him crying in his cot because I was frustrated. Went back up 5 mins later, fed him again and ended up going to bed and putting him in bed with me as he still wouldn't settle. He woke up again at 11:30, fed him again and DH put him in his cot but he woke up again an hour later so fed him again. He woke up again at 4am and wanted to play, Dh was going to take him downstairs but I was adamant that we had to break him of this habit of getting up ridiculously early, so I fed him, changed his nappy (thought he'd pooed but no just very loud trumps!) fed him again, rocked him and shhed him and lay him between us. He was still awake and chatting but kept cuddling him and shhing him and eventually we all went back to sleep. He woke up again at 6amand Dh took him downstairs.

BT that sounds awful. When he's awake, does he always cry? or does he chatter away.

BT are you me?!

That was almost the same as our night last night, although I have to say we did have a slightly more reasonable evening....but then after a feed at 10pm and 2am dd was up at 4.15am and that was us up and down and up and down etc etc

If she wakes up that early i do the same, bring her into bed and don't engage with her etc she will go back to sleep normally after about 20mins or so, but i'm just worried she's wakening up and expecting to get into our bed.

zzzzzzzzzz here today

BT - I second Caz10's suggestion. That's broadly what I do (think in terms of when she last slept) and it works pretty well for us, especially as we are a pretty busy family and it is nigh on impossible to have a routine as such.

Another tip re feeding I have found to work sometimes (!) is to offer a mouthful of water between spoonfuls of food (I use one of DD1's water bottles) and she almost always opens her mouth. Has double effect of washing down the last mouthful if it hasn't quite been swallowed yet and also occasionally "tricks" her into opening her mouth again for the next spoonfull of food! I wouldn't worry too much about trying to get loads of solids in - my HV said to aim for a heaped teaspoon-full per sitting.

hi buzzy!

yes, i had been thinking dd wasn't really eating all that much - then i realised that if we were doing purely purees i'd only be expecting her to take on a couple of spoonfuls...what she's eaten of some things equates to way more than that (of course at other times she's had nothing at all! but it's early days

Buzzy - Ethan hasn't been fussed on solids the last few days but has a tooth just about to come through so i think that might be why, but when he does he'll eat loads, more like 10 teaspoon fulls

BT, Caz, sorry for the bad night
DS wasn't too bad, bed at 7.45, woke at 11.30, 2 and 4.30-was settled inbetween though and in own cot. Bit less settled from 5 onwards but fed lying down etc so ok.

Was up all night anyway though cos dd was being sick! Would definitely rather be up feeding and settling a baby than dealing with toddler sick!

Looks like ds's tooth might be about to break through, has been just under the surface for weeks now.

RE food, he eats loads. I can't believe it! So different to dd. Hasn't rejected anything yet-even the things he says yuk to at first he eats-doubt it will last once he realises he can say no though! Is not at all interested in self feeding though-just shouts at me until I do it, so much for my blw plans! BT I really wouldn't worry about nursery, lots of people find their babies eat more in that setting anyway and am sure they will encourage the self feeding.

No routine! Although the solids tend to fit in with dd's mealtimes so breakfast beween 8-9, lunch at 12ish and dinner at 5/6. All very ish though.
At the moment I guess his day goes:
BF
Breakfast
Play
Nap
BF
Play
Lunch
Play
Nap
BF
Play
Nap
BF
Dinner
Bath, BF, Bed
BF BF BF BF until it is time to get up again!

There are more BF than that during the day too, just whenever he feels like it really but I always feed when he wakes up from his nap and before bed.

ooh writing it down has made me look organised but it really is quite random!

Rotten night here too. DS slept from 7.00 ish last night, then woke at 8.30 then 10.00pm. Then 11.30pm, then 1.30am ish, then 3.0am ish then DH dealt with him at 6.00 ish and he slept in the bed in the spare room with DH until they both came in with me at 8.00 where we all collapsed in a tired heap and had a family snooze for half an hour or so. This is our usual pattern although the family snooze is a treat. Each time DS wakes, we have to put the dummy in, or pick him up, or stroke his head or bf or some boiled water or something. We need to do some serious sleep training soon. I'm getting pretty lonely at the moment with DH working all day and by the time he gets home he falls asleep on the sofa by 8.00pm so I never get any time with him.

DH is very kind and says that he'll take care of DS in the night so I can sleep. But his methods are not mine, and I don't want any further bad habits starting. I try to keep DS in his cot apart from when I BF him in the night. DH would have him watching telly at 3am or pick him up and try to exctract bogies from his nose or something.

Have bought a book from amazon about sleep and when it arrives I'll formulate a plan. I think I can just about bear to listen to Ds cry all night if that is what it takes if I have a set plan to follow rather than some arbitrary half arsed scheme we cook up ourselves.

Oh, and DS won't eat his solids today either.

gosh my Ds had an awful night as well last night is it a full moon or something?! And that was after he slept right through from 8pm till 7am on sturday night and I was feeling all smug and pleased with myself - that'll teach me!

Sympathies to all other bad night sufferers, let's cross our fingers for a good one tonight

wizz - have you read on here or elsewhere about the pick up put down method? I don;t know much about it but it's supposed to be less traumatic for all than CC

BT I have definitely found that DS eats a lot more at nursery than at home. They also manage to get him off to sleep without a BF which is a constant source of amazement (and relief!) to me. As long as your DS is alert and happy then I don't think there is anything to worry about (easy to say i know)

kelbel - sounds like it's going really well- hope yor boobs aren't too sore!

clairey - completely agree with you about it being a nightmare trying to find a time when you don't have an ear out for baby/toddler noises. I think that will just be the reality of our lives for the next few years unfortunately, and i think men are much better at switching off and compartmentalising. Two minutes after they have gone to bed for the night is probably the safest time although probably also the last thing in the world you feel like doing!

DS has had his porridge, and had some broccoli and cauliflower for his lunch. The broccoli & cauli was finely chopped and dumped on his tray and he just scooped up big handfuls and stuffed it into his gob. Most of it ended up on the floor and tray. Will try and give some whole florets next time though, as he had had them as well.
He was playing on his mat earlier, propped up between my legs, I had the laptop next to me and was reading on there, looked down and he was fast asleep against my leg! Managed to transfer him to his cot still asleep!
Going to try him on some melon later.

Am sure you'll see the evidence in his nappy later BT! DS had broccoli, carrot and pea mush on saturday, was actually quite tasty. He completely ignored the whole florets I put there for him though. He did however steal my lamb chop and a jammy dodger at a party on saturday, maybe it is just vegetables he isn't interested in eating whole!

Evie is just not into food - she has consented to have some baby rice. She does have a thing for cellulose - making a bee line for paper when ever she can. She also tolerates rice cakes - which are similar to paper.

She is very cross at the moment - everything she crawls to I keep getting there just before her and moving it

Sorry everyone who is having problems with eating and sleeping. We have a few sleep problems but luckily for us she goes back to sleep again as soon as the dummy is replaced. Last night she only woke once between 7pm and 5am, and even then I managed to get her back to sleep for another hour and a half. Hopefully this is the sign of better nights to come!

I agree with the EASY routine, it's what we have been doing virtually from day one and I have always known when she is tired, it's very helpful. She always naps about 2 hours after waking, then again straight after lunch. If this nap lasts for 2 hours she then won't need another. Otherwise I give her another nap in the late afternoon, or she would be in full melt-down mode by 6pm bathtime.

Wizz - you might find controlled crying isn't as bad as you thought. With dd1 we did it at 5 months and we found she went to sleep after only about 10 minutes of crying, less the next night etc. So it was never TOO tramuatic. It didn't mean she never woke in the night again but it does help to know that they CAN sleep through.

Amani - how are you doing? How's your little girl? I hope she is better - do you find it easier when the weather is dry? Or the opposite?

Hi all, hope everyone is okay!

DD is doing well with her food still I think but have no idea if I am doing it 'right' or not! Typical day is:-
a small BF at 7.30 (love the 'cup of coffee' phrase Suey)
baby porrige (approx 4 ice cubes worth)around 9
BF at 11
2 ice cubes of veg and 1-2 of fruit plus BF at 2
BF at 6
BF at 9.30

A few nights ago she was really tired a bit after 8 so as an experiment I put her to bed...and she went to sleep! It felt very weird to be downstairs without her as I am used to her going to bed around 9.30-10! Have continued putting her to bed between 8 and 8.30 and she either wakes for a feed around 9.30 or I dream feed her. I am missing her but it is also nice to have a little bit of evening time back.

Suey, with regards to DTD I am still sore too, especially where I tore.

Caz, have not measured but am fairly sure my ribcage is still out too. It did go back eventually after the boys though so there is hope!

Bouncing, your tummy sounds like mine! Sorry to hear you are feeling a bit low at the moment, I am not surprised with the amount of sleep you are getting, your DH sounds fab with the helping out bit in the morning though. When you are giving Daniel food from a spoon have you tried giving him his own spoon to play with while you feed him? Some times that can make them feel more part of it and distract them from grabbing your spoon too!

Clara, DD is not screaming when I leave the room but she has started crying at people she doesn't see often and refusing to smile for strangers! She will also only tolerate a few minutes of cuddles with people she doesn't know well before her little lip quivers and she starts to cry.

Amani, {{hugs}} to you. I agree with others that I'm sure you can alter things in your diet to help with DD's excema. I would also recommend a visit to a homeopath if you can.

Skid, DD is also a sicky baby and now she is on some solids not only does it smell bad but it stains too! As for clothes, she is also just growing out of her 6-9 month stuff and is in some 9-12, TBH it is mainly because of her length that she needs the bigger size although I noticed a couple of things are getting tight too!

Kelbel, fab news on your job!

Cazzy, my Evie adores paper too, she loves to grab it, screw it up and gum it into mulch, she really howls if you take it away too!

Hello to everyone else!

Mornin' all

Well everyone's past few days sound familiar

Sleep is crap atm, no idea why as 2 teeth came through last week (or was it the week before?) after a 12 hr sleep Since then there has been so much more drool and much more broken sleep but ds is sleeping much more in the day too (he slept all of y'day morning, literally til midday.. and he's still sleeping now too)

Caz10 and everyone who's got no routines, I am exactly the same and mealtimes vary so much, and naps happen depending on where we are, what we're doing..I do try and keep to a 8-9pm bedtime (dp doesn't usually get in til 7 so needs some cuddle time with ds) but that's about it. I was like that with dd too though and in the long run it doesn't matter at all imo...

So the finger foods are going down quite nicely indeed now and I'm so much happier with the time it frees up for me to eat my dinner alongside him (though we do have some spoonfed meals too) The mess is great! I don't mind a quick wipe up of the metre area around ds, I'm such a messy bugger I usually am clearing up after myself half the day anyway..I really should have cloths superglued to my palms

So far ds has tried and loves chunks of:
Peach, pear, banana (he has got the hang of the slipperyness now)
Toast with humous or with pesto
Breadsticks and rice cakes
cheese
brocolli
cooked carrot
potato
sweet potato
smoked salmon (poncetastic parent award,but in my defence it was Lidl's!)
pasta spirals

Clairey, how's the Laithwaites order going down? And if you don't mind me asking which crates did you get? We're trying to decide our next order and we're both reddists...

Well done on your job Kelbel

Cazzy, beckle-another paper monster here, a rattle will last 5 mins, an envelope approx 35!!!!

Ooo we DTD and it was great! Have decided to make more of an effort with each other and set some time aside every week to be close and at least affectionate if not the full works...feel relieved that we're getting back on track, need to do something about contraception though now that p's are back...hmm..

Morning everyone

Still no progress here with finger foods, Ethan just isn't interested but will eat anything pureed/small lumps..that should still be ok shouldn't it?
He's just about mastered rolling but still not sitting or crawling either.
We went out last night so ds's didnt get to bed until almost 11, although they both napped earlier on..Ethan woke up at 7 for a feed and is still in bed now

lizzer - I recommend the coil, not the mirena but the normal copper one, not that we've done much to need it

kelbel Well done on your job

BT - I wouldnt like to be the one to change your ds's nappy after all thatt

Oh, and i've applied for a job on the maternity ward as a healthcare assistant. Don't think i'll get it as got no experrience which they said didn't matter, but they are more likely to give it to someone who has, but keep your fingers crossed