September 08 - New Year PFBs, Last Year BFPs!

[ninja]

Hi - welcome to the new thread!

Ok this is what I do....
Ds wakes anywhere between 7 and 8 in the morning (usually nearer 7 though!). He feeds. I put him back to bed at 9 (even if he slept til 8!) and wake him at 9:45 or a bit earlier if we're going to toddlers or something.
Feed at around 10:30, or offer him the feed by 11 if he hasn't asked for it. (this is usually his hungriest feed of the day)
Sleep at 12 until he wakes up, or its 2:30, whichever happens first. Feed. Nap around 45 mins between 3:45 and 5. Feed at about 5:30/6ish. Bath at 6:30, top up feed, bed by 7ish. Dreamfeed with nappy change 10:30, in bed by 11 zzzzzzzz.

There is some flexibility - every feed starts within a half hour window, a nap may start 10mins early if he's shattered, or finish early if he wakes up rather than me waking him. Or a nap may finish late because I'm watching sometime on tv and want to wait til the next ad bread . And sometimes he's in bed early coz I'm going out! I treat anything before 7am as the middle of the night - the other day he woke at 6:45 so I fed him in the dark and put him back to bed for another hour!

As for what the best length of time between feeds is...well some on here will say 'the best length of time is the time your baby wants to go'. I would say that as I understand it and have experienced with 2 dcs, if they've had a full feed then its reasonable to say not less than 3 hours and not more than 4 hours between the start of feeds during the day at this age. Basically you're trying to help them organise their feeding and sleeping coz not all babies are born with this in order, (some are and sleep 12 hours a night with no routine at all and we're not are we???!) and by injecting a bit of parent-directed structure, you're helping them on their way to eating well, having quality naps for which they've self-settled, and therefore being happy ('contented') when they're awake. BUT (and I would put this in italics if I could be bothered to do it word by word) parent-directed structure is not for everyone, its just one way of doing things, and the way that comes most naturally to me. If you're trying to go from a place of chaos to gf then I would go via the 'eat, activity, sleep' route. i.e. do everything in the order I've just said, until you're on a 3 hourly routine, then move it to the gf times from there. HTH!! Gee wizz I can waffle.

but star who are you on FB??!!

pacita i'm not just holding hands, I'm clinging on to you!!

er, that would be ad break

Debs - I'mstruggling with the settling thing too. Very occasionally she has rolled over and just conked out,but usually she falls asleep feeding.It's hard because dd1 is in the room with us too, and so any crying from dd2 can wake dd1 and that's even less sleep for me. When we're out, she drops off to sleep in the sling with no warning. She's fallen asleep like a dream during a baby sensory class,and a rhymetime at the library. But at night even having a cuddle isn't enough.

She's much more into people than toys - doesn't want toplay with anything really, but loves to crane around beaming and gurgling at everyone when out.

dd1 found her own routines eventually, and things became easier and easier so I'm sure they will again. Anyway we're out and about somuch with toddler groups etc it would be hard to fix a routine at this age anyway. I think it's easier when they need less naps in the day.

just added some pics to the group.... now need to work out who you all are!

carrie that sounds brilliant and i agree with it all. Think I have just been lazy as DS often falls asleep while feeding in the day and i just let him zzzzz for 10mins or whatever as i am usually busy on MN or watching tv. Naughty. Its ridiculous really as I had ds1 in a routine by 3months but he was FF and it was much easier to say to myself 'he's not hungry , he's just had 8oz milk' rather than thinking 'hmmm maybe my milk isnt coming out fast enough for him and i need to give him more' or 'maybe he's heading for a growth spurt and i need to let him stimulate my milk by snacking'. Also I think I'm often too tired / too bust sorting out ds1 in the morning that I dont even notice when or how often he feeds. He cries, i feed. But no longer!! And you're right, I won't expect it to happen instantly. What do you think to trying him with cooled boiled water in the night to try to make him hungry at 7am?

I've never done the cooled boiled water thang myself but have read about it. Dd was ff and didn't sleep through til 6 months, but I gradually cut down the amount of her night feeds. Ds is bf and slept through of his own accord at 10weeks - the night feed just got later and lazier and I took him off sooner.
If ds falls asleep on the boob I take him off and lie him down so he wakes up and then offer him more milk. I always put him in bed awake because he really does sleep longer then. Sometimes I put him in bed awake, then as soon as he's asleep move him to the car seat and go out! I find the timings work brilliantly with my toddler - first nap is before we go out in the morning, they both go to bed for a couple of hours after lunch, and last nap is in the car/buggy on the way home if we've been out, or just in bed while I cook tea if we're at home.

ah ha! got you, just added you and a few others as friends, feel free to ignore if you'd rather

thanks for all the advice carrie, i reckon i will go for it in the day and just try to keep the night feeds as short as poss for a few days and see where that gets us. He has slept 7.30-6 a couple of nights so i know he can do it. off to bed soon to try to catch up!

Right, Carrie, here's me making plans towards having a more organised day...

Can I make a suggestion that we all post in the wall with our MN name? I know a lot of you already did, but it will help newcomers know who's who...

7:30 - 6 plusone Crikey you're doing brilliantly!

anyone's heard from mellabella?

plusonemore I have tried the water thing- it did not go well at all. He was not amused.

carriebo I like your routine. Mine is pretty similar about most of the time when ds2 decides he likes the routine too. He's not been sleeping as well during the day yest or today but he usually has about the same sleep as your ds. I also agree that anything before 7 is the middle of the night.

lolly,
i know lollipop was putting together another meetup.

so where exactly is basingstokes? i don't really do anything so i wouldn't mind a journey that gives me something to do...but i have to figure it all out. when is your meet up?

Guru Carrie, do you wake Them up for the dreamfeed? I just looked at D and couldn't. (wimp).

OMG how many posts? I can't keep up today, and I'm off to center parcs tomorrow (yipee ) so I may not post for a few days. Can't wait, but I hope M's sleep improves grrrr (last night 9.30, 1.00, 3.00, 5.00 and then every half hour 'til 7.30)

Jenpet: DS: 26/08/08
digitalgirl: DS: 31/08/08
debiithescot: DS 01/09/08
lollyheart: DS 04/09/08
SunflowerNeedsSunshine: DD 05/09/08
EandZ: DS 06/09/08
ILikeToMoveItMoveIt: DS: 08/09/08
Starlight: DD: 09/09/08
Ponymum: DD: 09/09/08
Jenbob: DD: 10/09/08
Hopefully: DS 17/09/08
Imoscarsmum: DD 17/09/08
Ninja: DD 23/09/08
CarrieBo: DS 25/09/08
Becaroo: DS 25/09/08
Pacita: DS: 30/09/08
Plusonemore: DS 5/10/08

wow Eandz - you are GORGEOUS. I'm very

believe me when i say a couple of times 7.30-6 i literally mean twice! Last night was a bit better, he woke at 3.15 and i fed him for just 10 mins, he went to sleep with very little fuss after by 3.45. Then he woke at 5, again I fed for 10 mins however this time he didnt go to sleep without fuss. He cried off and on until I decided enough was enoough and we got up at 6.30. Am I mean? He really wasn't that hungry still at 6.30 which makes me feel better that I wasn't starving him before this. Gonna stay strong today!

good morning . ht emornings are getting lighter down here in Hampshire, I thought I had overslept this morning.

I haven't been on in a few days as I locked myself out of the internet by mistake and only fixed it last night.

We had the HV round this week, they are re-instating 2 years checks and they did DD at the same time. They both passed with flying colours, phew!

better go, dad just popped by for a cuppa! x

Star LOL, I definitely don't wake them up for the cream tea. I keep it all for myself.

Much better night tonight! We fed at 12, 4 and 7 with no dummy incidents in between. I feel close to human for the first time in ages.

I've just had a realisation that it is no coincidence these past days were hell:

• 16 w growth spurt
• tail end of a cold
• jabs
• teething in earnest
• shingles

Fortunately the meds are working and I feel a lot better.

After finally starting to have decent long nights, we've had a 2nd night of singing and feeding! DD hasn't fed this much at night for probably 3 months!! and then she just wants to sing! If she's in her crib, she just chats to the cow and sheep on the cot bumper, if she's next to me she talks to me/DP/the ceiling..... what's going on!?!?

so nice seeing pictures of all these babies we talk about! they're all too cute to really be so inconsiderate and not let us sleep......