March 2008:A new thread before they start crawling!

[turtle23]

Thought it was about time....

hey good news ewe did you have to shag him/her to get it

gymboree? >goes off to read<

iwaso, he's not losing weight! is he full on feeding in that morning cluster? or are you quieting him with food? i used to do that to keep the house calm, and then got myself a babe who needed wake-to-sleep help last month! byt gg deffo didn't need food. he has an 'inhale feed' still in the night, about 6oz 2-3ish. he gets it down him so fast it's obscene.

hello milka, how many kids have you got? i've got 2, see my profile.

ah wow gymboree is pricey don't think we have one around here. deffo need later in day drop in, the parks are no good now and it gets dull thrashing around our own house or seeing the same facesall winter for tea. so far tho ds1 has been highly entertained by walks in the dark, still a novelty for him, and we hit thte libraries/shops etc

iwaso - my DS doesn't put on more than 400g in 2 months as his usual weight gain! weight gain tails off now anyway so i think 400g in 2 months is fine and not sure why you are worrying about that. the night feeding is a different issue though

could you try a dreamfeed again? i found that that worked at times and at other times didn't so even if it hasn't worked for you in the past it may do now as it may just break the habit he is in. i think this is what the wake-to-sleep method is aimed at solving - disturbing the baby's typical sleep/waking pattern to see if you can reset their body clock. TBH if he is this regular with his wakings then I think it could be habit rather than need IYSWIM.

also could you resolve to try settling him in the middle of the night without feeding - put your boobs in industrial bras and 3 layers of tops if necessary - try settling every other wakening to begin with. this is the way we got DS to sleep through. it was really hard for 2-3 nights to not offer, and would take 45 mins or more to settle him, but then it got easier (10-15 mins) and then he started sleeping from 11-7 and did so consistently for 7-8 weeks until he got ill last week. It took about 7-10 days to crack it I think.

good luck!

gymboree - we do it, but we also wish it wasn't so expensive DS loves it, and I don't think it's coincidence that his first proper roll and first proper sitting up unaided both happened in gymboree classes. I love it too, especially the bubbles

The other problem with P is that there is no pattern. Some nights he wakes at 3 then sleeps til 7. Some nights it's 130, 330, 430, 530, 7. I always leave him a few minutes to make sure he's serious (he always is) and he feeds PROPERLY. It doesn't take him very long, maybe 10-20 minutes and he goes straight to sleep after, but I just dont think I can take much more broken sleep. The wake to sleep thing is fab, but if there's no pattern... Last night he slept til 3 and woke twice. If I let him cry it out, I do know that it will be gone in a few days (would keep the 2ish feed to start with.)
Not exactly worried about his weight gain, as such. Just that he has already dropped 15% and if I cut out quite big feeds, do not want to be playing catch-up as his weight drops. Already too frightened to take him to HV(haven't been for 10 wks.) She's evil.

sexonfire the works/xmas do list is heatin gup with prep. you still coming? i am. just got into my old workhorse dress for going out. going to buy some of that ruinous expensive hold you in underwear or just bandage myself up like egyptian mummy and find a shiny necklace i think.

iwaso you know, iwaso as a name itself is quite great methinks, different, interesting etc it sounds like you've got a gruelling time ahead if you do decide to make changes. i sure wou;dnt do wake to sleep when there are so many strands going on tohis sleeping, and it's changes so much. its deffo for those freakish early wake ups that happen at 4:45:82, every night for ever!

going back to basics. iwaso just reminds me that iwaso.

Argh. P is now just walking round and round his cot screaming his head off. WTF happened to my little lovely boy? Separation anxiety i8t may be, but it's making ME anxious. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10...breathe...

turtle, can he lay himself back down again? i think dd did that for a bit, got up then was stuck 'up' and couldnt lie down to sleep? you are brave though, whenever ds screams or just wont settle the first thing i think is "no more babies!"

Ewe now enjoy your break!

when i had dd we lived in a surestart area there wer loads of great free activities but now the equivilant music group which the both love costs £6 something for the pair, and tumble tots is a small fortune

i have been a total idiot and somehow lost my handbag from the bottom of the buggy, was walking in the dark it must have fallen so now have no phone, no purse, no keys

including the only set of car keys which i had taken into town to copy

dh not impressed as have lost several things recently

littleducks...oh no, poor you!! (Sure you're not pg? )
He can get himself back down. Every morning from 6-630 he knows that he can sit and play in his cot while mummy hides under the duvet. He pops up and down playing peekabooo about 80 times during that, so he CAN do it. Whether he remembers that in times of anger, I don't know. I do go in and put him down and shush him every minute or so. I did leave him, once, when he did this. He screamed for 35 minutes solid. I gave in at that point as I knew it would take at least another 10 to calm him down and the day was ticking away. Generally, when he does the round and round bit, it takes about 40 putting him back downs to sleep. He does not seem to learn. Am I just being too soft on him? He is constantly teething, so that doesn't help. Calgel, etc do nothing. He hates cold things, will occasionally suck a flannel, but really only nurofen helps and i'm not up for 24/7 nurofen. I think I may explode today

hello plateofpasta and milkthecow - I hope you are both feeling well loved and very welcome! I think as others have explained we all fly on and off so quickly we often miss a newbie - but that doesn't mean you aren't very much welcomed.
I am on here so rarely and sometimes feel the conversation flies so fast I have no idea what my own name is let alone anything else that is going on but the key is to jump in and say hello and see where it leads! I have found mumsnet and this group particularly a real source of support, sounding off and ideas - anyway - hello to you both and hello to everyone - hope all ok despite the horrific weather we've had (although today is looking brighter>)
off to see a dermatologist today as ds's ecxcema is out of control - hoping they might have some answers.
love to all.

He is finally asleep. Must go and get dressed...

evie-have you tried tui wax? going now. honestly, this place just sucks you in....

xed with Littleducks - what a nightmare, poor you - hope it all resolves wihtout undue hassle...and as for Turtle, poor you too! Moments like these I am grateful to have a somewhat lazy DS who ain't moving for anyone!

little ducks, i did the exact same thing last week - had to get the porter to break into my flat bc i didn't want to admit to dh that I had been so absentminded lately!!

re: gymboree. i was really keen but the price angered me. i thought tumble tots was more reasonable and we might try that next but it's a bit farther away. what i went for is someone from kindermusik to come to my house and teach music/movement and nct friends join. she comes at the time we want and it's a reasonable price - see www.musicandme.co.uk for our teacher but i think there's people all around the country. we also do swimming even though it's at 10:30 :.)

iwaso - if i were you i would focus on the night. try and load him up with express/formula/food during the day, whenever and whatever he wants and then let him cry at night. a couple months ago i would have never suggested but at my wits end (about 5 weeks ago), i went cold turkey at night - controlled crying, no feeding, no our bed, no dummy. it was hell for two nights and then she started sleeping 11 hrs. like magic for us. would only work on your sanity if you felt he was well fed - ie the loading up - and you can stand the crying. it may not be the fix but worth a try - it usually only takes a few nights before you see an improvement. if you don't then you know it's something else.

welcome to all newcomers! but i was just thinking where's derah? we haven't heard from her in ages...

meant to also say i haven't checked it out yet but our library has an under 5's program (free!) which may also be an option...i think the one near me is at 11 which is slightly better

our library also has free nursery rhyme sessions for under 2s which are fab. definitely worth checking out in your local area e14mum.

iwaso/turtle - i would definitely stop worrying about weight gain as the sleep is much more important. so long as p is a) gaining weight and b) meeting his milestones (which he more than is if he is standing and moving around) then weight charts are fairly irrelevant. My DS has dropped from nearly 90th at birth to just over 9th now but I fortunately have acquired a very sensible HV who, because he is clearly happy and healthy and meeting his milestones, is refusing to worry about it at all. So a drop down 15% is not a problem if everything else is okay and so i think it is something you just need to push to one side for now.

on the feed thing, it could be possible that with 3 meals plus snacks that P is mainly bfeeding in the day to quench his thirst rather than as meals IYSWIM and therefore needs the extra at night as he isn't properly filling up on milk (time at breast is not an indicator of how much milk he is actually taking). I was told not to give too much by way of solids at teatime in particular because that might stop DS taking as much milk as he needed at bedtime and 11pm to get him through the night, because it is the milk rather than the extra veggies or pasta that makes the difference as it is much more calorific. My DS is definitely taking his biggest breastfeed of the day at 6pm after tea. So you may want to try and cut back on the snacks and on the solids you offer at teatime to see if he takes more milk before bed.

hello POP and MaC, didn't see you the other night as I was bursting to tell the hypno update!

Turtle is it more than teething? Only ask cos I'm in a slightless less traumatic but similar situation. LO was terrible while we were away in the hotel, but that could be explained by temperature fluctuations, aircon making him snotty, different cot, the fact he has a persistent cough and his dad not stuffing him with enough food during the day as LO knows how to play the system. I think sometimes though when he wakes up and has a sudden screaming fit, he's moved in his sleep and hit his head against the side of the cot, woken up and wondered why the hell he isn't cuddled up all snug in his old hammock. On the other hand, he seems to be dehydrated with his cough - very croaky cries, so tried him on some water during last night which helped a bit, but he still needed some more milk to get back to sleep again - then he was out for the count when I had to get him up this morning to go to his granny!

HQ- Last week for two days I only gave him breakfast and lunch and just let him play about with some finger food at tea time(which I gave him a bit earlier, as well.) He did have a slightly bigger feed at bedtime, but those were the worst two nights last week.
I am going to let him scream it out tonight and tomorrow, maybe 3rd night...guess after a couple of nights if he's not even slightly better will rethink. Not expecting miracles, just know that after three nights I will be too tired to go on.

Have also tried adding milk to his food. Ho hum.

Turtle23 - Tuiwax? haven't tried - what is it? any ideas gratefully rceived as poor little mite has a horrible time with it. has done since very early on but now has secondary infection and all sorts. arghghgh

Hello to everyone including newcomers!!!! Only had time to skim read....

Turtle - as you know my LO has been pretty similar sounding to yours in terms of our struggles with BFing, low weight, etc, etc. Two weeks ago he was honestly up every 45mins during the night and I was at my wits end. He was definitely teething, but calpol, neurofen, etc, didn't seem to touch it. Well, over the weekend his third tooth popped through, and as if by magic he only needed one feed on Sunday night, and SLEPT THROUGH from 8pm - 7.30am last night. First time ever!

Honestly, I never ever thought it would happen, and had tried everything with exception of CIO or CC as I'm too weak for that..

I started to gradually wean him from BF at 6mths and it's now looking as though we've come to the end of the BFing road as he has only had a feed from me during the night over the last week, and so the last couple of nights he's not fed at all from me. I am feeling quite emotional about it, but at the same time happy that I'm finally getting some sleep.

Anyway, I didn't mean this to turn into an essay just wanted to say to hang in there as I honestly never thought we would get there on the sleep front....I'm enjoying it while it lasts incase it is just a blip!

Re the baby groups - all the ones up here also seem to be mid morning and mid afternoon, which is absolutely no use! Something after 3pm would be much more sensible!

Went back to work yesterday for a training day (going back officially in February). Was hoping that DH would have a tiring day and realise how difficult it can be at home with LO, but no... LO was as good as gold, ate and slept like an angel so that daddy could get all of his DIY jobs done. Came home to find DH with his feet up and LO playing happily. Normal order resumed today, with LO being his normal grumpy self

Have just had a text from granny to say bottom tooth number 2 has magically appeared in E's mouth, fingers crossed for a bit of respite tonight then! He has one of the back bottom teeth fairly raised in a bump which drives him mad too, wish they just all came through in one hit instead of over such a long period

monthly mayhem, laughing at your LO, mine does same. was horrible grump yesterday morn for me and angel for nanny...'what do you mean she's teething'?? it's kind of cute - babies can show their true selves and let it all hang out to mummy!

I'll try to look at it like that MNFM!!

my DS is the same: grump, grump, whinge, grump, oh, daddy's home, smile, smile, giggle, smile.