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Fab Feb 2009: too sleep deprived to think of a new thread title

962 replies

dinkystinky · 01/04/2009 17:37

'nuff said

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Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
dinkystinky · 21/04/2009 14:17

LBB - sorry you're having a really tough time of it at the moment. Its so hard when you havent slept, feel like you dont have any support AND the little ones seem inconsolable. I'm with Pink and your dp/fw I'm afraid - I'd take Luke to the hospital to get him checked out (they'll see a baby very quickly). For what its worth, Danny has been MISERABLE for the past week with his cold (which is still going on, and seems to be getting worse not better) and from being a chilled contented little baby has turned into a screaming baby who barely sleeps and thinks 5 am is a good time to start the day (though is screaming his head off by 7 as he's exhausted of course). Sounds like M and Danny have been talking SPL.... I find its easier to deal with Danny's crying if I get out of the house for bit - and daylight and sun shine always makes things seem a little better.

Herb - DS1 has the George Pig pants too, though was really most interested in the Ben 10 pants in Mothercare (god only knows why,he's never watched the programme). He's another Peppa Pig fan - and spent most of this morning pretending to be George Pig flying a kite with me being Peppa. And I also find BCLC v irritating though DS1 likes them (though not as much as Peppa, Pingu or Charlie & Lola at the moment). One of my friends at work really fancies Big Cook Ben though - apparently there are whole hosts of mums of toddlers out there who do so. Dont get it personally - suspect they may need to get out more if they're developing crushes on Cbeebies characters. Wonder if there are any mums out there who fancy Mr Tumble??? Your DS and DD sound so cute together.

KT - hope you enjoy your baby massage class. Its a really nice thing to do for you and Poppy - but dont get too worried if she doesnt seem to like it first time (its a lot of stimulation for little babies to get used to all at once). I remember going to baby massage class with DS1 aged 8 weeks which was run by the local health visitor - DS1 was the only baby who didnt cry when we had to get them naked (though did cry when we had to put clothes back on the babies )

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katieblirdsnest · 21/04/2009 17:04

It's been ages since I even turned my computer on, I'm sort of getting dragged into work so am trying not to get too involved as it's all getting a bit on top of me at times.

i haven't had time to go through all the posts but lbb i hope you and luke are ok. i agree that you should take him to see someone asap after the fall. it also sounds like you could do with talking to someone properly about how you're feeling as you seem to be beating yourself up a lot at the moment. you may already have done so but if not i'd really suggest you speak to your dr about it.

i've been feeling quite anxious in the last day or so and i think for little reason. i posted over a week ago about a routine and a lot of you were good enough to comment. i then did a runner from the forum as i was stressed with trying to think about the routine! i have no idea why i decided to think about a routine as ds and i were quite happily slipping into a semi routine without trying. i then got obsessed for a day or so about him not sleeping in his cot during the day, so tried to 'fix' all the little things that weren't entirely perfect. this seems to have resulted in him being all over the place with sleeps and feeds. i could kick myself as i swore i was going to be as chilled as possible with no. 2. he's now got a cold and i (think) a growth spurt, he's 8 weeks today but i'm now not sure if he's hungry or tired. i will try and ride out next few days then review where we're at and try to convince myself that it will just smooth itself out with a bit of attention to timings but not overkill on a routine.

not helped that he's put on a lot of weight which has prompted the hv to say 'don't rush to feed him' ie. he's too big. he was 13lbs7oz at nearly 8 weeks having been 8lbs4oz at birth.

PinkTulips · 21/04/2009 17:55

katieblirdsnest, all my 3 are fast weight gainers for the first few months and then leval off after about 6 months.... some babies just pile it on at the beginnning and it's in no indication a sign that they're going to be overweight later on... if anything we've had the opposite problem with dd! my mother swears blind that chubby babies grow into thin older children and vice versa and for what it's worth in my very limited experiance it's true

i can't remember if you're bf-ing or ff-ing but if it's bf-ing then please don't worry, a baby can't over feed on bm... if they ask they need it

littleboyblue · 21/04/2009 17:56

PT I would never not take anything to do with my ds's seriously. I know I am not medically trained and cannot give a diagnosis to what was/is wrong with anyone, but I knew he was and is fine. After what you said about Natasha Richardson, I did take him to get checked, just to be safe and they said he is perfectly fine and just to keep an eye for the things you'd look for after a fall anyway, which is what I fully expected them to say. A similar thing happened with ds1 when he was much smaller. If there was even the slightest thought in my head that something wasn't right, I'd have been straight down there. I explained to the doc what happened, and my thoughts on it and told her I wasn't going to go to the hospital, and she said that I probably would have instantly recognised a change in behaviour indicating any harm.
They also said he is fine to go to sleep straight away, I just have to check that he can still be roused and if not, take him in.
katie Yeah, there can be alot of pressure on the thoughts of getting into a routine or not........sometimes I think it's not worth the hassle until weaning when everything settles down a bit better anyway. Routines and how strict to be is a personal choice, so no matter what advice we all give you on it, and no matter what works for us, you'll find your own way anyway. I like to have a strict routine for my own sanity...........
I think I'm just having a very bad day, not PND or anything. The difference between this time and last time (ds1) is that I know it's not my fault when he cries, and the fact that he cries doesn't actually mean I am a bad mother and can't handle my children. I know this, it's just hard to remember 24/7. Last time I didn't know this and everytime ds1 was unhappy, it was because I didn't know what I was doing (I also know this not to be the case now iyswim), which is why I think I had a touch PND with ds1, but I don't think I do this time. I am just very tired, have a unsuportive fw and no friends or family close enough by to help, although I have also decided to stop asking anyway.
Sorry for huge downer on today. Thanx for being there though.

I truely love you guys

dinkystinky · 21/04/2009 20:02

LBB - glad Luke is ok. Hope you're feeling abit better now - and that the boys let you sleep tonight.

Katie - I wouldnt get too stressed about a routine; as long as whatever you're doing with DS works for you and your family then its fine. DS1 was a big boy - 75th percentile for first 6 months of his life as a big BM fan - he then dropped down to 50th when weaned onto bottle and solids, so you shouldnt worry about your DS's weight too much. And its good that he's a nice chubby little fella - if illness strikes he'll sail through it without giving you many worries. And with colds sleep and feed patterns go out the window totally (Danny has regressed to feeding every 2 hours or so during the day with his cold - feels like having a rather hefty newborn again...). Hope work will be paying you for all the work they're getting you to do on mat leave or at least giving you some extra time off on lieu at the other end...

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littleboyblue · 21/04/2009 20:11

dinky Also meant to say, hope Danny gets better soon. I have been all wrapped up in myself today that I haven't really looked at others posts

I'm going to go to bed now. Hopefully get a few hours before Luke wakes up again. Hopefully will be back to normal tomorrow.

PinkTulips · 21/04/2009 21:16

glad he's ok lbb, sorry for being harsh earlier but i've heard so many horror stories. only last week over here a little boy was saved because his mother brought him in, if she hadn't heard about natasha richardson though she said she wouldn't have bothered as she hadn't realised til that was in the news that just because he was up and running around and behaving just like his usual self he was still in danger, turned out the little boy had a bleed on the brain and would have died within hours though

dinky. how's OPT going now? ds1 didn't wet himself all day although he did poo himself trying to hold it in 'til daddy gets home to help me poo in the toilet' guess we still have to work on that but i'm pleased about the peeing, have almost completely stopped reminding him so it is him asking to go toilet too which is the main thing if he wants to go to playschool, we've weaned off chocolate treats too and he's getting a stone in a jar every time he goes and when he gets to the red line he gets a special treat (i'm guessing he'll pick softplay [shudder])

dinkystinky · 21/04/2009 21:23

LBB - dont worry about it. We all have or will have bad times like that. Hope tomorrow is a better day for you and tonight is better too.

Pink - OPT going ok. No accidents for 3 days so far - though DS1 has only asked for loo 2 times today (had to be reminded the other 2 times as hadnt been for 3 hours) and did an enormous poo in his nappy over his lunchtime nap (though thank god kept his hands out of it this time ). We've told him he only gets the chocolates when he says he wants to do a wee or poo by himself and does it himself rather than us asking him/reminding him - fingers crossed his love of chocolate will win through...

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littleboyblue · 21/04/2009 23:56

PT That could have been awfully tragic about that boy. I suppose I (probably wrobgly) put alot of stock into the old mothers instincts.....although if someone posted here with a similar story, I would prob say the same, get to a hospital to make sure.

The cot came today. I am putting it up tomorrow, not sure where though as I'm sleeping on the sofa once fw goes to bed. He did look suprised when I came into living room at 11 woke him for bed andbought my pillow and blanket in here. I made it perfectly clear that for the moment I don't want to sleep in the same room as him, and if I have to do all night everynight on my own, then I will do it on my own. I think he thought I was joking. I know it sounds really petty, but 1) it's easier to get up from an uncomfortable sofa than my nice comfy bed, and 2)if me and fw are in the same bed, he'll try to touch me and I think if he does that I would seriously punch him, so best that I have my own space for now.
Maybe I am about to crack, time will tell, we'll see what happens over next few days

littleboyblue · 22/04/2009 06:56

I'm going to tell him at the very least I want us to have a trial seperation, so when I suddenly go off-line, this is why.
I just can't be bothered with him. I don't want to talk to him, I don't want to look at him. Last night he kept attempting to make small talk and I wanted to punch and kick him. Think that shows this isn't going to work

rosieposey · 22/04/2009 08:39

Hello all, havent posted for about two weeks and have just skimmed the last couple of pages in a vain attempt to try and catch up.

LBB im so sorry you are feeling so rubbish at the moment, PT is right and sleep deprivation is not to be underestimated in its ability to make you see everything from the negagtive. That said your DP does sound like hes being a bit rubbish atm but surely it wouldnt do any harm to talk? I know youve probably had this mentioned to you before but i do think its worth considering that you may also have a touch of PND. Im sorry to hear that you dont have anyone to even take the boys off your hands for a few hours as that makes all the difference to me when my eldest does that for me or DH.

Dinky nice to hear that DS1 is getting the hang of Potty training its all a distant memory for me but im sure ill get the hang of it again when the time comes with Milo although i have heard that boys are a might more tricky than girls to potty train

The reason i havent had time to post in so long is that we are doing loads of work on our house - i have a real bee in my bonnet about getting organised as we are hoping to sell up next year and move to a bigger house (from three bed to five hopefully) god knows we need the room! Have been to good old Ikea for storage solutions several times over the last three weeks and its starting to be alot more functional here at last, there are just too many of us in too smaller house and its been driving me nuts.

Hope everyone one else is ok and that their lo's are thriving not to mention sleeping a little better - Milo is still going roughly between 5 and hours at night now. He seems to have gotten himself into his own routine and goes to sleep in the evening (even though we have him down with us as its the only time that DH would get to see him and cuddle him) from about 7ish and wakes for a feed at 11ish then goes through from about 12 till 5/6 - trouble is then hes up for the duration!

Does anyone else have a lo that hardly sleeps during the day though? Milo seems to catnap for 20 mins and then wake up - he never does that long deep sleep that he does in the evenings and the slightest noise wakes him - hes so bloody fractious by about 4 o clock in the afternoon that hes has a proper grizzly three hours till he conks out completely. Hmmm i suppose i shouldnt complain but he definately does get overtired.

littleboyblue · 22/04/2009 09:35

Maybe I am a bit pnd. I have just spoke to the council and made an appointment to go in this afternoon to talk about how long it would take to get somewhere to live and the option of emergency accomodation because I told them me and fw are splitting at weekend. I've also told himthat I've done this and said it's because I don't want to live in his house anymore, I don't want to hve to spend his money anymore, I don't want to even look at him anymore.
Is this how I truely feel? Or am I just so tired and fed up that I'm losing my mind?

LittleMissNorty · 22/04/2009 09:39

LBB....I really think you should go and see your GP....they will be able to tell you if you have PND and most importantly be able to help you. Can you get an appointment for today? How about your HV? Perhaps you could ring them as well?

Sleep deprivation does horrible things.....

Hope you get to your GP....let us know how you get on x

littleboyblue · 22/04/2009 09:56

I just called the gp surgery. Their next available appointment is monday 4:10pm. The only other ones they have are 5 minute appointments, but I'll need longer than that and will get fobbed off, so will have to wait til monday.
I'm thinking now it prob is PND as 5 minutes ago, I was throwing things in a bag to take the boys to my mum's, and now I'm fine
My poor fw. It can't be easy for him to be at work and have me ringing him telling him me and ds's are moving out......

Should I call hv? What will she be able to do?

LittleMissNorty · 22/04/2009 10:10

Call the HV and tell her how you are feeling and she will be able to get you into the GP today.....they have their uses . Please let us know how you get on. You really should see someone today....Monday is too far away.

PinkTulips · 22/04/2009 10:20

lbb.... what was his response when you told him that?

have you talked to him about how exhausted you are and how all you're asking is that he do the first feed at night so you get a decent stretch of sleep? i know when things like this are bothering me with dp i have a tendancy of getting snappy and resentful and angry and eventualy exploding but it usually turns our if i'd sat down and explained to him in nice simplistic male terms what i needed him to do i could have avoided the whole fight.... i'm not saying that's the case with you guys but just wondering if there's an element of it.

he's had the boys by himself hasn't he but has he ever had the boys by himself and had to do the cooking, cleaning, shopping and general nonsense.... does he realise how utterly impossible it is to get a break during the day? ... yes he has to get up and go to work but it's not like you get to rest at any point without forsaking jobs that need to be done

how about hitting it home with him.... don't do the washing, cooking or cleaning for a few days and let the house run out of food.... then when he asks why point out that all those things are jobs you do every day and seeing as he needs sleep to work, and you're not getting any sleep you obviously can't do any work. tell him he has the choice of a) he take over all the daytime chores seeing as he's well rested enough to do them or b) take over one night feed so you're rested enough to do them

i agree with the others btw, you can't self diagnose PND... go to the HV ad talk to her about it and don't lie when they give you the test (seem to remember you saying you lied on it after having jacob, or was that another poster?)

all 3 of mine were awake and screaming at 7am and seeing as i only got to bed after 1am and was awake a few times to change sides for aaron i'm feeling a wee bit groggy! hopefully it'll be another nice day at least... spent the last 2 days cleaning and scrubbing downstairs so sod's law today when i could actually sit out and enjoy the sunshine it'll rain

rosie... aaron is like that during the day, he sleeps for big long stretches at night but during the day mostly cat naps.... tbh, i prefer it to dd and ds1 who cat napped at night and slept loads in the day still slightly irritating when i have jobs to do though and i can't get more than 20 mins of him asleep before he's awake thinking he wants another feed.

ds1 just told me in a panic 'mommy, some waters coming out of baby aarons mouth!' guess i'm being drooled on again he's face down on my lap, which is how he spends most of his day as he rumps otherwise.

aww bless, ds1 just came running over with a muslin and wiped aarons face... pity he attacked the cat straight after or it could have been a lovely moment

littleboyblue · 22/04/2009 10:27

I have just spoken to HV, told her through my tears how I've been feeling past few days, she is now trying to get me and emergency appoinment and would like to come and visit me.

PT Thank you. No time to post a full response because my hv just called to say I can be seen at 11, so now in a mad rush!!!! I just feel unreasonable asking him to do anything. The original agreement was he'd go to work and I'd stay at home looking after the house and the dc's. Needless to say, it is not as easy as I thought, and I am not the super-hero I thought I was. Yes it was me that lied on the PND test last time.

PinkTulips · 22/04/2009 11:28

the origional agreement was also when you had one child. when dd was tiny we shared things that way too... then when i got preg with ds1 i insisted on some changes.

the way dp and i work it is if we're both in the house we're both responsible for everything, in the evenings dp does downstairs, all the dishes, cleaning up the days mess and sweeping/hoovering. meanwhile i deal with the kids and get them into bed... we used to alternate but he really hates doing the kids and tbh, i hate the cleaning so this works better

at the weekends it's the same, i tend to do more practical stuff as he's useless at anything laundry related but he in turn does way more for the kids... almost all poo incidents and deals with their incessant requests for juice/food/tv/toys... we both do a similar amount of random jobs like tidying up. i do all the cooking simply because he can't cook but i like cooking anyway so most of the time it doesn't bother me

while he's been gone for the longer day the last few weeks a fair few times he's come home to a demolished house.... he doesn't complain, in fact he tells me not to go mad trying to clean as he knows how hard it is and that the kids trash the place straight away again... as he says 'i get a lunch break and fag breaks.... the few times you get peaces from them you need to take a reak too, not kill yourself cleaning'

i'm in the extremely lucky position though of dp having been home with the kids by himself... when dd was 8 months i went to work PT and he stayed with her and freely admitted he found that hard enough and then obviously when aaron was born he had a week of dealing with all of this singlehandedly.... he knows what its like with the incessant demands and never getting a moments peace... like he says, at a job you're legally entitled to a certain amount of down time, as a parent you don't get that.

don't get me wrong, dp can be an absolute ass at times... our big issue here is sleep... why he's entitled to half day long lie ins no matter how long it's been since i've had one and there's also his typical male inability to see what needs doing but at least whatever his failings there's that recognition of what i do, that it's not easy being here with them some days, that there are days i'm in foul humour because i've been listening to dd and ds1 kill each other all day, that sometimes i just don't want to be touched becuase i've had children and babies in physical contact with me all day and i really need some breathing space.

but, the point i'm trying (very long windedly) to make is that all of these things had to be discussed, were fought about, screamed about, bags packed about and eventually over the space of 7 years together we've just about reached a point of agreement. you and you dp have been together a very short time in the grand scheme of things and you didn't get much time to get to know each other and learn to live together before having jacob.... it takes time, it take conversation, it takes compromise and even then there will be days where you want to rip his eyes out for no paticular reason... it doesn't mean ye can't work as a couple or that either of ye is even in the wrong... it's all part of sharing your life so closely with another person.

SweetTalkinWoman · 22/04/2009 12:12

LBB let us know how you get on - thinking of you xxx

PT - I'd like to thank you for your post - DH and I have also been having issues and I think you make some great points that have given me food for thought about me and our relationship (in a good way!).

Got our 8 week check in an hour, then jabs later this afternoon . Have had to write everything down that I want to ask the GP because I seem to forget everything at the moment, except how many hours' sleep I've not had.

Calico1 · 22/04/2009 12:55

LBB hope you get the help you need at docs today. x

Just back from baby clinic - Lilian is just over 9.5lbs so still a little pipsqueak for nine weeks....I guess she'll just be a skinny little scrap but she seems happy which is the main thing. There were a couple of 6 week old baby boys there who looked twice her size! I do think the centile charts make you more stressed though - I thought she was fine till I realised that she was on the 9th centile. V of all the lovely chubby babies out there.

Calico1 · 22/04/2009 12:58

STW hope jabs go ok this afternoon. Lilian has hers tomorrow...

PinkTulips · 22/04/2009 13:13

calico.... trust me, i'd give anything to have aaron stay in a size of clothes for longer than a couple of weeks... he's grown out of lovely clothes he only wors twice... and he gotton too heavy for the sling now so i'm going to have to buy a decent carrier

i always miss the tinyness when they grow... especially this time as he's my last

STW... good luck with the jabs, hoefully she'll be one of the babies that barely even notices.... do make sure and have some calpol in the house for after just in case though. i know what you mean about forgeting what to ask... although last time i was clever enough to make a list i left it at home

glad my post was helpful... posted it and then paniced that i sounded like a complete full of myself prat. honestly, i don't for a second believe myself and dp have the perfect relationship... that's evident by how often we come close to breaking up.... but we do love each other and we both work on our relationship and try and make life easier for each other... we have to with 3 tiny kids or we'd rip apart at the seams!

Calico1 · 22/04/2009 13:28

PT - yes I know what you mean - at least she is getting good value out of her tiny outfits! Someone in Tesco said to me the other day - 'how many days old is she?', when I said that she is two months they were a bit shocked

PinkTulips · 22/04/2009 13:46

i get the opposite... people presume he's 5/6 months and gasp in horror whe i tell them he's only 2 months

rosieposey · 22/04/2009 13:51

LLB hope your appt went ok - thinking of you as i have been where you are and PND is horrid - have nothing this time as yet though fingers crossed.

PT I know what you mean about missing the tinyness - Milo hasnt been weighed for ages (since about 3 weeks) because i just havent gotten around to taking him to clinic but he really is thriving and it is my fourth after all but hes making all sorts of baby noises now and smiling all the time - the newborness is well and truly gone Still on the brighter side longer sleeps between feeds and gorgeous interactive smiles take the place of the newborn thing.

STW and Calico good luck with your lo's jabs tomorrow!