March 2005 babies - we are very quiet

[popsycal]

So how is it going for everyone? Most of us have had our babies so how was the first few weeks?

Yes - where is Norash????

Welcome beanieiu - the more the merrier!

Leogaela - we are having the same problem re daytime sleeps - Grace will fall asleep in the car seat, pram, or sling and sometimes on me or dh, but otherwise just fights it and gets grouchier and grouchier. In fact she's been grouchy almost all day today . Luckily though (whisper it) we don't seem to have any problems getting her to drop off at night - she falls asleep as soon as she has finished feeding and goes down happily in her hammock. Last night she grumbled for a bit when I put her down after her night-time feeds and I thought she was going to start crying but I bounced the hammock gently for a bit and she fell asleep .

Misdee - how is Serena? Hope she's feeling better. Grace has been a bit snuffly the last couple of days - doesn't seem to be affecting her feeding but her breathing at night is very noisy! She is still feeding every 2 hours during the day which I am finding a bit exhausting. NIght-time she will go for 3-4 hours so I guess that's not bad.

Hope everyone else is doing ok.

Hi all.

Interesting to read how they're all getting harder to settle in the day - finding that here. And when I do get her off to sleep, dd1 wakes her . She means well but I get frustrated! Night-times i'm still nodding off while feeding so she starts in the moses basket but after the 2/3am feed stays in bed with me because I'm not awake to put her back.

Daytime I'm trying to put her down upstairs (having a go at Tracy Hogg's shush pat method, although not doing her 'routine' as still prefer to properly demand feed this early). So far it's working although it takes a while. She is better for it though - less grumpy as she's getting proper sleep. Don't know how that'll work in the week though as there are usually places to go for dd1 and I can't stop her life for dd2 to sleep, it wouldn't be fair. Any ideas anyone?

Hi everyone, Still finding it hard to get a moment to come on here and actually type!

DH goes back to work tomorrow on afternoon, then I'll have 4days and nights on my own with the 3 girls doing the nursery and school runs by myself - which should be really interesting . I think I've worked out that if I can get up at 6am and feed Faith then I'll then have time to get the older two ready for school and nursery (and myself dressed!!) and get them there for 8:50 and 9:00 and hopefully Faith will sleep all the way so I can feed her when we get back at 9:15 ish. It's going to be chaos .

If all else fails I can give Faith one boob feed and rush off to school lopsided and pray she goes off to sleep in the car - then feed second boob when we get home (that's only if she sleeps past 6am!! Ha Ha!).

Gotta go for now, Faith is hungry...again!!

Glad we are all in the same boat though re night time sleeping ie still won't settle in moses basket . Maybe one day .

Love and quiet nights to you all! Hope Norash is doing well

Had a great night last night - 5.5 hours solid sleep . Couldn't believe it when I woke at 4.30am and she was still asleep ( though she woke about 5mins later). Mind you she was really grumpy all day yesterday so maybe she had just worn herself out with all the fretting. Her mood is better today so maybe we won't get such a good sleep tonight!

She seems to be getting a bit fussy with her feeds - slurps a lot (although seems to be latched ok) and keeps coming off. Think this might be making her windy. Anyone else have this problem?

Bonym - Yes I sometimes have the same problem! Sometimes when he is fussing he gets frustrated and starts punching me!!! Its very funny! SOmetimes he just seems to gulp air and he doesn't always manage to bring it back up again!
I find that if i can make him wait 4 hours for a feed then he feeds much better and fusses much less.

3mummy - ! looks as if you have your work cut out for you! I wonder how much of your planning will go to plan!!!! Good luck!

ZoeC - is Tracy Hoggs the baby whisperer or is this another book?

Shalaa - is Caleb feeding every 2 hours at night as well? i would be going mad by now if I was you! I am much more relaxed if I can get Niklas to hold out longer.

TOday Niklas was fantastic, he had several play sessions, played on his own quite a bit, went to sleep properly for a couple of hours (no idea how we managed that!) and we took him to the swimming pool for the first time! He didn't cry (until we took him out of the water) but did take time to relax and enjoy it! i was VERY proud of him !

One of the worst things at the moment is that he will not settle with dh. If he cries and dh picks him up he won't stop. If he is in anyway unsettled he won't settle with dh. Last night he was screaming his head off with dh and as soon as I came close to take him he stopped crying! We have tried to get dh to hold him in exactly the same way as I do and do the same things, but it doesn't seem to work. If I go out and leave him with dh and he starts crying he will scream and cry until he is exhausted before he finally stops! Its a bit disappointing! Is this a phase or is he really becoming a mummy dependant baby?

Yes, Tracy Hogg is (was) the Baby Whisperer. Have to say, hasn't always been working. Sometimes i can put her awake in her moses basket and she drifts off and naps, other times I have to rock her to sleep, sometimes she wants to feed for comfort. I just never know! But last night she went 4.5 hours between feeds (10pm-2.30am) which I'm pleased about - nice to see she can stretch feeds out a bit. Still anything from 1.5 hours to 3 hours in the day, mind, but at least it's comfortable to feed and not painful anymore.

Leogaela and bonym - I have the same fussing problem with Faith, she seems to almost play with the nipple with her tongue then snatch at it and suck ferociously then pull her head back with nipple still in her mouth streching it! - At least I'm not sore now! So how do you get Niklas to hang on to 4hrs? I haven't tried that with Faith, didn't realise it might help.

I have to go to bed now, I'm shattered!

Goodnight ladies .

Well, I once got Iris to go settle herself to sleep from being awake in the moses basket. But that was a rare triumph. The rest of the time she goes bananas when she gets tired and has to be rocked / fed / pushed in the pushchair / walked in the sling till she drops off. I valiantly tried the Baby Whisperer's settling methods, but after two hours of putting Iris in and out of the basket and her just screaming and screaming I have given up! I've resigned myself to more rocking etc, which is what I did with dd until at about 3 months we had another go at teaching her to settle herself at night, and she got on much better.

Still haven't gone more than 3 hours at night without feeding, which is exhausting. And the real killer is that Iris feeds at about 4am, goes back down at about 5am and then wakes again at 6.15am! Usually just as I've gone back into deep sleep. I wonder if it's because it's getting light then.

Fed Iris to sleep in our bed this morning and have slept with her till now, which was bliss. Must dash off, as her 6 week check is in 40 mins!

just got back from harry's 6 week check - he is fine. 10lbs 7 oz. 8oz heavier in a week! I had my check this mmorning. my bp is still a bit too high so i have to go back in 2 weeks.

Harry is very grumpy today - not surprised with all the to-ing and fro-ing to the doctors. He screamed the plae down and even the old faithful boob wiukd not console him

Had a tricky weekebd. DH was wrking evening sifts thurs to saturdau and ds1 has realy been playing up and harry has ben screaming loads, Wont sleep in the cot agan and struggling to settle on evenings.

making a weird gulpinh screachy noise during and after feeds

hmmmmm
anyway ds1 back soon and this little one will wake soon

At night he feeds every 3-4 hrs and he slept for 7hrs last night!! It's the third time he's done it and I feel so much better for getting some sleep. He's on the bed cooing away at the moment here's some pictures!

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Oh shaalaa - he is gorgeous! Lucky you getting 7 hours sleep - I guess these sleepless nights can't last forever! I have been soooo tired today - Grace and I slept most of the morning together (well, I just dozed really) and I feel a bit better for it. Took her out in the pram about 1.30pm, she promptly fell asleep and is still sleeping . Wondering whether I should wake her as I am worried she won't want to sleep tonight. On the other hand though it is nice to be able to get things done - I have managed to change both beds, do a bit of ironing and tidy the living room which is quite an achievement!

Hope everyone else is doing ok today.

Its so good to read this thread and know that we are all going through the same things!!!

Shalaa, you little boy is so handsome!!

dd2 is 7 weeks tomorrow and has for the last week only been waking once for a feed at night, usually around 3ish and as she takes a bottle, dh is doing that feed so i get almost a whole nights sleep, i still wake up as she is very noisy when sleeping, farts alot and wiggles like mad, but at least i get some and don't have to feed her!

during the day she has no routine at all and cluster feeds between 4 and 8pm which is very hard esp with 2 other kids to get tea for, wipe bums etc. ds is showing sign of jealousy and is getting quite stroppy and aggressive which is most unlike him, he hits dd1 and has poked dd2 a few time so cannot take my eyes off him am hoping it will pass because at the moment its very hard work coping with 3 kids, esp as Millie feeds constanly all afternoon.

So, things are as expected here, still b/f which has really surprised me tbh, i never thought i would last this long, although we are doing mixed feeding as I need the break and she happily goes from one to the other and wolfs down formula without a 2nd thought! phew!!

I hardly get any time to post but do read this thread with great interest.

My love to you all xxx

lovely to hear from you girly

Hi popsy!!!

don't get much time to post at all, have missed our chats!, can't even stop now as have to go and get ds from playgroup in a moment. its non stop here and am just keeping my head above water!

Still no news from Norash!!!

3mummy - i've got Niklas to hold on for 4 hours (most of the time) by making sure he has a big feed each time, not thinking everytime he cries that he is hungry, building it up slowly and sometimes (but less often now) giving him a dummy for a bit, carrying him around for a bit until the four hours is up. We have bad days, usually in the morning when he plays for a couple of hours and then is so overtired that i can't do anything with him but feed him even if he isn't hungry. Once he goes for 4 hours and has a big feed he will go for the next 4 hours with no problem. He is really fat so I am not worried about him being a bit hungry sometimes and have got more used to him crying now (screaming is another thing though).

The sleep thing is working better as well. usually if i lay him down and he cries for a bit if I leave him then he will go off to sleep. At night he will lay for a while just looking around before going to sleep. The worst is the waking between 4 & 5 which I am working on by trying to give him a shorter and shorter feed each day in the hope that very soon he won't need it and will sleep through.

he seems to be getting himself into a bit of a routine now which is great!

We still have the problem that he will not settle with dh only with me! Last night I fed him around 12, dh put him back into bed, he started crying and wouldn't settle, I had fallen back to sleep and woke up around 1.30 and dh told me he had been crying the whole time. he had been walking around with him for an hour, didn't want to wake me as I had been so tired! As soon as I took Niklas from him he stopped crying immmediately! Not nice for dh or me! Any suggestions????

Shalaa - what a cutie! A photos! 7 hours sounds fantastic!!! How have you managed that?

Pidge - How was Iris's 6 week check?

tired and grumpy here

how on earth are your babies doing so well at night

trying trying trying to get harry to go longer between feeds but still managing on 2.5 hours, 3 at best even in the night

Popsycal - that's exhausting!

I figured that if he can go longer during the day then he can also go longer during the night. I have also tried to get him to do big feeds, take as long as possible. Is Harry still falling asleep when you feed him?

Things started to change with Niklas once he got over a feeding frenzy 5 - 6 weeks.

he is getting better if take real good care over latch and positioning

i think it might be really interesting if we all kept a sleep/feed diary for a day and shared...can anyone be bothered???

Ok popsy, I'll give it a go. Still got the 6 week growth spurt to come though so don't expect to see much of a routine .

Last night, was up for ages with dd2 - she was in pain with trapped wind, poor thing just screamed and screamed. feeding made her worse, she was sick all over our bed, and my night bra so had to take it off then I leaked on the sheets. All good fun. Then dh had to drive 3 hours to somerset at 6am, having been kept up with all this going on.

Had a slight recurrence of the thrush so am back using the nystatin on dd2 - think that's why she's so sicky again as she was getting better. Caught the thrush quickly though so not really painful thankfully.

yes i'll do it popsycal. how long for? when do we start?

I'll do the diary too . Will try and document all feeds/sleeps tomorrow (if I remember ).

Had out best night yet last night - fed Grace at 10pm and then she slept until 4am - fed her again and she slept through until 7am! Mind you, she was really fractious during the evening and wouldn't take a proper feed - just kept fussing over it - so maybe she was just exhausted! It would be nice to think that this was the start of better nights but I am under no illusions - chances are we will have a completely different experience tonight .

She has become really spotty over the last few days - I think this is quite common though at this age? Shame, as her skin was perfect when she was first born! Anyone know how long it takes to settle down again?

I'll do feed/sleeps tomorrow too. I've just been advised by my HV to give 1oz of orange juice diluted in 1oz of cooled boiled water as Faith is dreadfully constipated and just won't take water. She seems to be straining almost all the time even in her sleep - and she wakes herself up doing it and is terribly upset with it. Anyway, tried the oj thinking she wouldn't take it and she loved it! So hopefully we will have a very full nappy in a bit, accompanied by a very happy little girl!

Not much else to say except I'm knackered after this week on my own - DH is home tomorrow afternoon (tho it's his birthday so I'll be waiting on him!!) so I'm looking forward to a few hours sleep tomorrow evening - he can hold Faith through her colic time!!

All the best ladies

Bonym - Niklas has gone spotty as well - just little tiny bumps. He also had the most perfect skin when he was born.

3mummy - orange juice! Just normal out of the carton no-bits orange juice? Great that she likes it. Niklas also has a poo problem - didn't poo for 5 days recently! It becomes a bit of a topic of conversation with me & dh! Our doctor says to give fennel tea, but he doesn't like it much, I can spoon a bit into his mouth but that's all. Maybe I'll try him with orange juice as well.

Well I try and keep Caleb awake from 9pm - 10.30pm with lots of play and stimulation, then take him upstairs to a semi-lit bedroom, stick him on the boob and gently rock him. When he's drifted off I lie him on the bed and curl up next to him and DP switches the small light off and he just wakes for a feed roughly every 3 - 4hrs through the night. So far i've had 3 7hr sleeps at night which has been bliss! Only got 5hrs last night but am still happy with that.

Calebs skin also got a horrid spotty red rash all over, was really bad on his neck and chest, I got some of that kamillosan cream (cammomile cream) and that seemed to ease it a little, other than that it just started clearing up after a week or two.

He's still gorging on the boob and then throwing the whole lot back up, he did it yesterday in the middle of Debenhams of all places! Other than that he's cooing and smiling away, really don't want to back to work and leave him.

About these spots - Faith has them, although they are fading now, at one point they were really bad - she looked like a teenager! Well apparently they are due to the breast milk containing some of our hormones, these hormonal changes we go through after having a baby cause spots in newborns that breastfeed. Nothing to worry about, and I didn't use anything on them, they are now clearing up nicely .

On the poo topic (I tell anyone I talk too!!) she still hasn't been yet, but it has only been a couple of hours since the oj. No doubt I'll be cleaning up a poo covered baby girl all evening .