November 09 - rolling, laughing and cutting teeth ... but us mama's are still not getting sleep!!

[scarlotti]

New thread for us

sirboob I agree, you are amazingly calm! If you do go the housing benefit route, I think this is much simpler, especially as you are already receiving benefits. You'd need to find out what is deemed to be a reasonable rent in Brighton before you look at flats. The only issue might be that you might need to pay rent before you get the money through, in which case, perhaps DP could help out?
Don't think that we're all forcing this upon you though! Only you really know the situation at home and whether you'd feel happier staying there or moving out on your own.

scarlotti he is 4.5 months. He's had a few nights like this recently, so I'm wondering if it's another growth spurt. Normally, he would go to bed at 9ish then wake once or twice before getting up at 6 or 7, which is just about ok. He's not really napping much at the moment either.
Good idea, I'll try the library. I also want to see if I can get the BLW book from there, as I have a feeling I won't like the tone of it. She sounds very 'my way or the highway' - is that right? I'm not being guilt tripped into anything!

DWB DD's flower girl dress from BHS was £22 I think

DWB here

You're right, those proper bridesmaid BHS ones are quite expensive though! They have gone up loads - I got married in 2008 and tried on a wedding dress from there, and THAT was only going to cost £65!

What was going on last night in babyland? Isla was up from 4:30 too. Shame dh and I had the telly on for a change and got sucked into watching Graham Norton 'till 1am... She's had a really sore tum since her bug and dodgy nappies. The 4:30 effort had white curds and dark green seeds in it and stank. HV is monitoring things. I spoke to her about tummy sleeping and she was ok with it as long as I was aware of the risks and not letting her get too hot, she is well ventilated (no cot bumper), it's a new mattress , the monitor is on, etc.

Morning all, terrible night here also. Millie woke at 11.30pm for a feed so I brought her into bed with me and fell asleep feeding her. I woke at 1.30am and put her back in her own bed but she woke up 45 mins later. She wasn't crying so I left her for half an hour but could hear her chattering over the monitor so thought I would try and feed her again to get her back to sleep. That didn't work and she was still awake so put her back in the cot. An hour later she is still awake so I got dh up to deal with her as I was knackered! She was wide awake and dh was up with her for another 45 mins! This morning she woke at 7.30am and she's just woken up from a 20 minute nap. I really don't know what is going on with her sleeping!

dwb had a look at the dresses, they are all lovely!

sirboob hope you get things sorted and find a place of your own if thats what you wish.

Hope everyone else is ok, too tired to write more and need to get Millie (or devil child as I like to call her!)

well, we had not the best night. had to take her into bed around midnight but then slept until 5.
So on this front we don't really improve.
I have the same problem of not knowing if or when to feed. This night was at 9.30, midnight and 5. And she was definitely hungry and midnight and 5 but I guess she still needs to catch up on the weight drop because of the virus.
I only have the sleep book but there are a couple of tipps for naps as well.
I'm very interested in your method scarlotti to let them sleep for a while BEFORE going for a walk. I will try that too.
Oh, no more time, we seem to have got a second full nappy

Laugs there is a growth spurt around 4 months ish, I think ours lasted about 4 or 5 days so hang in there. This coincides with when people used to think they were ready for solids as they wake up more often suddenly. I can lend you my BLW book if you like? Have read it and doubt I'll need to dip into it much for a bit. Can always ask you if I have a burning question that needs answering! I am spoon feeding breakfast and tea, he lets me know how much he wants by reaching for the spoon FB me your address and I'll post it to you.

I remember wtih Ds1 that he didn't stop waking in the night until about 8 months, when solids were well established and he was getting 3 good meals a day with protein etc. in them. i.e. not just veg! I am well prepared for that to happen again this time, and that seems to be taking the pressure off and allowing me to sleep better. I know that every night I will be woken around 3:30 for a feed and that seems to allow me to cope ok.
I bring him in to bed to feed then we both go back to sleep (me whilst he's feeding most nights!) so I'm only partially awake for say 10 mins. He only takes about 5 mins to feed and I only give one side laying down. I am certain that this is saving my sanity and I feel I'll be able to cope with a day's work doing this too. I still do a feed at 10:30, sometimes he sleeps through it, sometimes not. I'd rather do that then as I can then go to sleep and get a block of 5 hours.

ursi the blending thing just seems to work for us. He's gone down now at 12:30 so at 12:55 I'll wander up to the post office. The movement of the pram seems to tip him over to another cycle and hopefully buys me another hour. Have remembered today to strap him in at the beginning of the nap - yesterday I forgot and had to faff around doing it before the walk and missed the narrow window of opportunity!!

DWB meant to say too, I suspect that the older generation's babies slept through earlier as they were all mainly formula fed, and also you were taught then to feed on schedule and let them cry it out.
Personally I prefer to feed him when he wakes, a) I get more sleep that way as I'm not trying to settle a hungry baby or being kept awake by grumbling etc. and b) I believe it will teach him that I am always there and his needs are always met, so making him actually more self sufficent and independent in the long term.

Of course I might be barking up the wrong tree but it works for me

scarlotti, so do you actually let him fall asleep in the pram and leave him there for half an hour before leaving? Or do you put him in there asleep?

one hour this morning...nappy change, into car seat with shhh and his blanketbear, drove to gp with DD, DH drove him around a bit, then home via shops. Slept the whole time, awake when we got home.

15 mins at lunch time, might have been more but events got the better of us (DD dropped something in front room, phone rang, cat barged into room mewwing)

down at 2pm. Woke after 15 mins, nursed back to sleep (did not want to be awake). Woke again after 30 mins, nursed back to sleep, read my book, forgot he was attached! He is still asleep...

ursi he goes down awake but tired in his pram with his dummy then falls asleep there. Sometimes on his own, if I've put him down soon enough, other times with some stroking/pushing if I've left it a little late and he's already overtired.

5pm! YEY! now worried he wont sleep tonight! . I would love to say i managed to have a bath in peace, but by the time I got it run, DD was home, so i got 10 mins before Dora and Peppa Pig's boat joined me

30 min nap at 4:30 turned into 1 hour 10, and only stopped then because I woke him!! Another one worried he won't sleep tonight now too

Laugs that's a lovely dress, wish it came in colours which would match! I think I still prefer the woolworths dress but have a few options on bhs site. I'll ask my SILs what they think.

scarlotti good point about ff babies typically being better sleepers. If it was my own mum making suggestions I'd feel more comfortable disagreeing but feel that I have to nod meekly and accept MIL's advice, even if it doesn't sit right with me. Families!

Hope your babies all sleep well tonight!

DWB how about nodding meekly and then just doing what you want and think is right anyway?! It is tough to have the confidence to stand your ground.

Ioan has been so much happier today, all smiley and just lovely. Amazing what good naps do! He lasted until around 7pm downstairs too, which is nice to know for work days.

down by 8:15pm! Would have been earlier if not for a wonderful friend calling right as Reuben went into his basket and gently closed his eyes, on his own Cue much squawking and lots of cuddling back to sleep, so he went to his basket asleep, not awake as before. But, a lesson learnt...turn the phones off at bed time!

So he has had around 3 hours sleep? or so, maybe a little more. Lets see how that works.

I hope we all get some good sleep tonight. Fingers crossed for everyone.

hi all, good day here, apart from shite tea-time where I ended up stressed and cross with ds as he didn't even try his tea and shoved it away. every night the same thing. hope it will change soon as I cant stand this. The baby on the other hand is a delight, so at least something is going ok.

I second Pav's comments, and hope everyone manages to sleep better tonight.

Pav we always get a certain visitor come over just before bedtime who completely disrupts our bedtime routine with the kids which is a pain, but not much I can do but be frank with him and tell him not to come round quite as much in the evenings.

I had blood in my breastpad earlier today!!!! This little teeth monster has been biting me sooo badly! And now she is asleep and looks like an innocent angel!
Well, I'm wondering what kind of night we will get as we had too many dates today which disrupted her nap pattern and she slept much less than usually.
She went to bed at 7.30 which is half an hour earlier than usual and so far woke up already twice. but I'm sitting next to her to make sure she doesn't wake up completely so it is really easy to get her back. I wouldn't mind though if she would go slightly longer than 45 min
Well, I hope we will all get that good night we are waiting for!

Ursi like Scarlotti I put H in pram for naps- as soon as she looks tired I pop her in and now she will drop off pretty quickly. She got used to this as we had to take ds to school and pick him up. Now she will go to sleep in her pram just before Doctors starts- bonus!! She won't stay asleep long in the cot though- still co sleeping at night.

SirBoob I am amazed at your mum. I think it's high time you divorced her!

I have another interview and I am literally scared stiff. Every time I think about it I get a sort of rising bubbly dread feeling and my head feels like it's going to float into space!

Raggie I am doing a day of one to one tutoring each week at the mo- it is very rewarding being able to completely personalise each student's programme- so nice compared to trying to do your best for 30 kids at once and inevitably failing!

Laugs were you talking about 'One Day' Such a lovely book. Have just been sent a lot of stories and a novel by writer called Lorrie Moore- a birthday present from a frined. Anyone know of her? I hadn't heard of her before.

I am absolutely dying to show off about my ds at school but it is such a yuck thing to do and always makes me feel sick when other people do it. I am literally bursting though! And honestly, I can't tell anyone in RL all this except my mum without being rightly roundly slapped for being such a smugarse show off/ pushy mum. But I am sure you will all understand if I vent here!
.... He was so shy when he started that he basically went mute for nearly a term and was very unconfident. There were lots of tears some mornings He hated writing and drawing and could hardly do either, so the school put him on a special needs type scheme for boys with weak motor skills. Also when H came along he was very mixed up and sad, and very naughty for a while up to Xmas and we were just desperately worried about him.
Anyway, he has graduated from the special needs writing programme with flying colours and at Easter he sat down and wrote a book!!!! And then we had parents evening and his teacher said that loads of people in the class named him as one of their friends. AND his teacher says he is gifted and that he has graduated the ORT completely and become a free reader! And he is so kind and loving with H now, though he does still tend to want to squash her and take her toys away at times.
Hooray!!!!!

Now I am going away for ages I promise!

scarlotti (and wook), I'm usually timing my walks to make sure Paula would have a nap. So if possible, I wait until she seems to be really tired, put her in and go for a walk. She usually falls asleep quickly. but normally she wakes up 35 min later and rarely goes for a second or third cycle. so, is the blending meant to be for this kind of problems or would it be pointless to try?
wook, you have every reason to be proud of him! good that we get positve stories too not only sleeping problems

wook hooray for your ds

ursi the blending is for babies that sleep in single cycles. The idea is to do whatever you do to get her to sleep (i.e. moving the pram) just before she gets to the end of the first sleep cycle. So, if her cycle is 35 mins, then at about 30 mins after she falls asleep go for a walk that lasts about 10 mins or so. The idea is that she will go into a lighter sleep but the walking will help her to get back into a deeper sleep.

Wook aww bless him!! That's so fantastic. I think you have every right to sing it from the hill tops in all honesty. I'm smiling and he's not even mine!!!

Had a strange day. Saw a man who was the spit of DPs Dad and nearly threw up in shock. I had a dream last night where he was alive - he had just been testing us to see how we all coped. And then seeing this man... To be frank, it scared the crap out of me! On top of that have been thinking too much about stuff I shouldn't be thinking about, and its a shame as its really been such a beautiful day. Bryn has been a very chirpy lad most of the time, lots of singing and chuckling, and its so lovely

Hope you all have better nights tonight

Morning

Well, that's the last time I let him sleep too long in the afternoon (if that's what caused the restless night). Fed at 3:30 and stayed awake then woke and fed again at 5:30 but I think I offered milk as I didn't realise why he'd woken! Woke for the day then at 6, although in reality he probably didn't sleep after the 5:30 stint.

He's just gone back to sleep now!
DH sick so am on nursery run duty too, so best go get showered and dressed so I can get this show on the road ... and get some peace!

wook. all fingers and toes crossed for your interview. I hate that feeling.

just had my worst night ever. Isla was lovely yesterday afternoon and went straight down at bedtime. But woke an hour later with wind pains and took ages to settle again. I had to feed her again and she didn't burp. She woke again at 1:30. so I fed her again to see of that would help the wind to move, but no. She stayed awake and began her gutteral screeching again as soon as she was finished. So I took her back to her room to give dh half a chance of sleeping after our 4 hours of sleep the previous night. Much back patting, rubbing and tummy rubs later she is still screeching. The only success I had at getting wind out was by hanging her over my shoulder and jumping up and down in frustration . I gave up at one point and came downstairs for a glass of water, only to realise it was 5am! I fed her again in bed thinking a cuddle might help, but again no. This time she was wide awake and flapping her arms (another sign of wind for her), preventing anyone sleeping so I agve up and put her into her cot, grumbling, at 6:30. She was awake when dh got up . So, no sleep in this house. She's been much the same all day too and it's wearing very thin. I've tried gripe water but she spat the stuff out. I've given her teething granules. I gave her nurofen last night but it made no difference. Poor child. Who, at this moment has just smiled at me and spoken in an unbelievably cute way. She's better sleep tonight or there will be big trouble.