September 08 - Just ladies with babies

[pacita]

I thought I'd start a new thread before we run out of space...

Sorry you are having a rough time hopefully No advice to give, just lots of sympathy xxx

foxy thanks for the reassurance. However, napping during the day isn't really helping, and during the night T won't even settle if I bring him into our bed (have tried a number of times) so that's not an option.

Sympathy to the ill people, especially you becaroo. I know how you feel still raking over the birth - I hate the fact that I am painfully reminded of my 3rd degree tear at least once a day on the toilet.

star does brokeback mountain count? that's on next week. but then knowing dd i think she'll be facing the other way the whole time drinking her 'milkshake'.

omg she is having a sleepy cuddle on my front and doing the most horrendous squirty bum noises. then smiling and saying 'coo' afterwards. v cute but now i must attend to nappy...

no, she's gone straight back to sleep, now snoring. do i risk putting her down and trying to have a quick shower?
hmm.. this is the big decision of my day. can't believe i used to be a ceo...

startlight the gypsymama is slightly less stretchy so the karime is probably better for a tiny baby and I guess the gypsy mama would last longer. Which ever one I'm wearing though I think is my favourite!!

I have a solarweave connecta if you want to borrow it - I can't see myself using it until the weather is better!!

I used a hipseat a lot when my daughter was older as it was used for just a bit of a carry between walks

then take him out in the car, anything, i think he is also suffering sleep deprivation which makes it hard for him to settle too. then if you have to come home and park on the drive and both nap there then do it. do it at least twice today if you can and let him sleep on dh's chest in the early evening at pop yourself into bed right after tea for a couple hrs. (or some similar half-arsed programme just to recoup sleep)

i find that at 7 wks, dd2 still sleep a lot more during the day (in a sling) than those books set out saying a baby needs. she sleeps v. well at night too, i am afraid to admit to you. never seeming to have 'too much sleep' in the day as these books profess. i have read BW and GF one so know the routines they advocate.

StarLight i think you will get on fine with the TH.

but if he is not used to being carried, i would suggest getting a babyhawk. his arms will be out and have more freedom of upper body movement without compromising security.

dd1 never liked keeping her arms in as she is a nosy misses. the TH forces them to stay arms in as the body of the carrier is taller.

DD1 is now a leggy 30 lber and feels perfectly safe in a babyhawk. It means that babystarlight can also use it soon too without investing in another carrier.

BTW everyone, will be selling off a few carriers soon, including a Babyhawk (hardly used - only 2x outside the house) and a Gypsymama which I have offered up several times here on this thread and if somebody doesn't buy it off me soon, I will assume it is because I have BO or something.

The selloff is because I am going to Abu Dhabi on the 16th of Dec and may well be staying there till June, coming back to prepare to go back to work in Sept 09. I can't take all my carriers with me so selling off the less frequently used ones.

T's daytime naps appear to be ok - he sleeps longer than 'textbook' which doesn't concern me in the least, I see it as him rubbing my nose in my routines! I sometimes worry he is awake for too long between his naps (he is generally up for somewhere between 1 hr 50 and 2 hrs 20 during the day, during which he feeds for about an hour), but if I try to settle him sooner he is not amused. he also wakes himself from his naps (except occasionally the evening ones, but if we leave him he wakes up soon anyway).
He sleeps something like 4-4.5 hours between 7:30am and 5pm, then sleeps 8-8:30pm (usually start settling about 6:30, but he is crap at this nap) until 11pm, then midnight till 4:30, then 2-3 hours partying, squeezes in another hour's nap then wakes for breakfast. Does that seem an insanely short amount of daytime sleep? I could try putting him in the carrier to see if I can 'make' him stay asleep longer?
Apart from this 4am awake stint, he is generally very content now (apart from the odd evening crying, but even that is never more than 90 mins and only every few evenings), so I'm loathe to do anything major to disrupt him, I'm just totally and utterly depressed by this night time thing.

foxy just looked at your pics, your dds look so lovely in the slings! DD2 (I assume) looks so cosy in the purple one.

in other news, we bought t a mobile like this on the weekend. He is mesmerised

hopefully, dd2 sleeps more than that during the day, i am sure. she seems to be awake for no more than 2 hrs max, and when it gets that long, she needs a bit of jiggling/walking about in the sling to nod off. I don't clock watch so I can't give you any times, sorry.

But, everyone in this house goes to bed at 7pm because of dh being away since dd2 was 2 wks old. (5wks and counting) and we all stay in bed till at least 7am, except for the odd morning when dd1 gets me out sooner. DD2 cries a maximum of 10 mins a day because as soon as she is upset or before she is I go in and pick her up off the floor, out the bouncy chair. That includes the time when dd1 had her leg in a cast and had to give her more attention than i do now. I have never jollied dd2 along to keep her awake for longer or tried to get her to settle herself to sleep on her own. On occasion I have put her down when already asleep and if she stays down, good, when she wakes up, I pick her up before she cries or as soon as I can. This morning, dd1 and I got out of bed and left her sleeping for another 20 mins.

hopefully hopefully i didn't come across as a know it all. i just think you need a way of getting some rest in the short term in order to help you think straight so you can reconfigure your game plan, whatever it turns out to be. if the current turn of events is getting you depressed then imo, it is time to take stock of where you are real soon.

When approx is the next growth spurt?

DS is 10wo today and since yesterday he has been sucking his fingers for more after 2 sides. I'm feeding as much as he wants, when he wants.

I guess this is a growth spurt?.......

starlight it's stone coloured so very neutral.

hopefully how do you feed T in the night? Do you have the lights off and feed him when you first hear him stirring? Maybe you can keep him asleep without him really waking? I'm guessing you've tried all this though.

The mobile looks lovely - I thought you meant a phone at first - T-mobile!!

now that they can control their arms somewhat, fists make excellent toys.

not really a good indicator of hunger anymore.

Oh shite! I'm going to overfeed him and he's going to do his first puke isn't he?!

dd2 and i both have dd1's cold now. she choked on some phlegm yesterday and puked up her feed. gag! poor thing. both of us v sneezy yesterday and today.

Oh no! Puke is the worst imo.

I hope you both feel better soon. Colds are quite minor really, but blimey they can make you feel awful.

I been told next growth spurt is 11 weeks.
elli is now asleep in his sling, I must admit it wasn't working for me at first, but when i took it to my breast feeding group i discovered the i was putting him in it the wrong way up its a ring one so i wasnt dangling him upside down. thankfully i do know the difference between the head and arse end but it does seem to be working a treat now.
I am also a slave to the sleep deprivation at the mo. while elli sleeps well at night and just swims over when he wants feeding, he just wont settle until around 1,2 or 3am. I've been up crying for the past 2 nights at these times. I think its to do with his returning colic as he is just inconsolable at these times. I'm like you foxy, elli doesn't cry for more the 10 mins, when he starts to stir he get held and comeforted. I think its the uncontrolable crying that makes me worse then I feel scared about the co sleeping when i'm so tired. I know its just a phase, and elli is 11 wk tomorrow, so hopeully only 1 more week of this. right off to see the physio to get some more exercises for elli

becaroo if it makes you fel better, it is very common for boys to have problems with writing, they arent wired the same way as girls! It will probably all be fine in a few years. See it as a positive thing that he is having extra help. (is he Y1 and is it ELS as this a funded scheme that schools run and so choose children that they might not normally have offered extra help to)

terrible night last night. dd had her usual bottle of ebm, but wouldn't settle, so went to bed and breastfed her (still co-sleeping cos even though dp had to give up sofa bed to his mum, after 2 wks of not using it the crib has become a clean laudry storage unit). so basically been breastfeeding from 11pm til 7am on-off constantly! that'll teach dp taking the easy option and having full night sleep on sofa (she's been ok really with me alone, only waking up for one feed during the night) but I think/hope it's because we both have a slight cold, mainly a "throat" cold, as she feeds for just few minutes at the time...

foxy - was going to ask you about your gypsymama last week, but dp said it wasn't his colour so just ordered the japanese-looking one (hoping I learn to use it)... so promise it wasn't BO !! does the babyhawk just tie? always find that buckels etc dig in my sides or s.thing
guess I'll need a few anyway cos dd just lives in my arms... is the girasol you mentioned better than the gypsymama gauze wrap? planning to spend all of august in italy, but want to avoid taking pushchair to the beach as it was always a pain with ds, so was looking to s.thing strong for a nearly 1yo and light

lol at T-mobile!

I actually haven't particularly tried feeding him while still asleep - I keep the lights dim and keep him swaddled, but because I am always (why? why?) clinging on to the hope he won't fully wake, he is usually properly awake and complaining by the time I feed him. Perhaps I should try that.

Foxy no know it all-ness, I appreciate any thoughts and ideas, it's always always useful to hear (read) other people's opinions - they often have the answer!

Thank god I haven't fallen foul to a proper cold yet - I think that might just be the end of me when compounded by sleep deprivation! The upside of frequently failing to leave the house is minimal germ exposure.