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

[scarlotti]

New thread for us

scarlotti, me too, me too

Well, atm Paula is asleep on the side, I guess, she will soon turn on her tummy. I'm still not 100% ok with it. I think it is no problem but I have the guidlines in mind. Well she is just waking up

I'm back. Well, she turned the other way and woke up. sigh. I'm really looking forward to when she is able to turn however she wants with the grobag on. Then it is clearly out of my hands.
I wonder how many times she will wake up this evening. I do not like this time of the day, especially when I have to do it on my own. Which is most of the evenings.
pavlov, your GP sounds really annoying. I hope you'll soon know what your poor little man really has.

Reuben slept for 2 hours this morning, on his side/front, clutching his bear. So lovely, and he woke after 45 mins, i stayed by the door, and he cried into his bear and then fell back to sleep clutching it! Then slept for 45 mins this afternoon (plus a 20 min power nap earlier in the morning).

Now asleep on his back, and the sounds he is making is just so not settled and like he is in a deep sleep. His side sleeping he sounded nice and peaceful, and now, he is almost struggling to breath through his nose. I mean, he is breathing fine but it sounds dry and hard on his nose, like each breath takes a little more effort. And every now and then he startles and the pace of his breathing changes a touch, it is not that nice slow deep breathing of a deep peaceful sleep. So i might roll him over onto his side.

uris i hope you manage a good night with Paula, same for everyone else.

oooh i got an email from MNHQ, been selected to test one of the Kenwood Food Processors in relation to weaning! It arrives next week, and we had already decided to start weaning on wednesday as that is Reuben's official 5month birthday and he is showing signs of readiness, so it should arrive just in time! YEY! anyone else entered and picked?

Pavlov me too Yey!! Mine has just broken, so couldn't be better timing!

Hi all, hope everyone is ok. Wook sorry about the job.

I'm soooo tired today. I went out last night to a friend's house until 1am and came home and couldn't sleep, paaaa. Again Toby slept really well last night (when I don't sleep, he does, it really is annoying!). I'm just getting too old for a social life it feels. Last night I took a rucksack with me (I scooted on DS2's scooter to my friend's house - don't laugh - and I needed my hands free). I've just found in this rucksack train tickets from my career days dating back to 2002 as a happy editor at Oxford University Press, and tickets to Paris and all sorts of exciting places like that - oh those were fun days. Now the most exciting trips I make are to the big park in town!

Ooh, congrats on the food processor - am ! How did you get picked?

pav souunds like Reuben is a side sleeper!

BBL sorry to hear ur so tired.

Struggling a bit here this weekend. Just feeling trapped and miserable with dh and can't see an end to it all. Am sure it will pass during the week but am also sure the dc's ar picking up on the unhappiness in the house and my mood

Scarlotti I feel bad for moaning about being tired. Stay strong xxx.

Congrat both of you on your prize!

pav side sleeper here too.

BBL Loving the fact you used DS2's scooter Any strange looks?

scarlotti I'm sorry it's such a struggle at the moment. You are doing so well to hold it together for the children. Does your DD expect anything?

I seem to be in a dilema with C this week. The sleeping situation is all over the place, but I feel I've been lucky to reach nearly 6 months to only have probs now. The bigger issue I have is the feeding. He is spitting up a lot this week and full of gas. Done some reading and it seems I have a lot of milk and the let down could be causing him issues. I've always had a fast let down and wasn't issue, he would normally pull off and the milk would go on a muslin until the let down decreased. Not sure what's changed with him that it's causing a problem only now. Any ideas ladies? Maybe I should post on the feeding board, but I would rather your wise opinions

Hi everyone, been lurking but not posting over past few days as lots going on at raggie towers!

Woo for the weaning food processor gang! That's exciting, v jealous I'm not one of the chosen few

And to all the sleeping problem children's mummies: hello, can I be in your gang please?

Rosa has up til now been a pretty good sleeper, often going for long stints, getting back to sleep without much trouble etc but recently she has regressed BIGtime, sigh...

We don't have a precise time/routine to put her down but usually bath then feed and down between 7/8. She used to then sleep til...3am, sometimes 4 or 5am, even 6am, which was amazing, of course. But now she is waking a lot more. DH has been going to her so she doesn't just start clawing at me for a feed but she just cries and cries and gets into a right state. So then I resort to feeding her, which I expect is giving her the message that she should just cry long and hard and then will be fed, so this morning I got up with her at 5.30 and distracted her enough to hold off a feed til nearly 7 (having fed her immediately at her waking 2.30 after an hour of crying between 10 and 11, previously unheard of for her to wake then) So I am glad I can go to her without having to feed her, or resorting to it after full on cries, but, argh!!

I feel bad complaining because I know some of you have it so much worse. Sorry The hardest thing is there is so much advice and everything can contradict each other piece of advice so we always feel so uncertain of what to do!
Leave to cry for 5/10 then go? She gets in a worse state when she sees us.
Soothe by picking up? She wails as soon as she goes back into cot.
Feed on demand/waking? She wakes again after 2/3 hrs.

Growth spurt? Sleep regression? Alien has taken over her body?

Sorry. Tired!

wook sorry to hear about job. I'm just about to apply for a maths programme 5 mornings a week at a lovely school. But it's with KS1 and most of my experience is with UKS2. Fingers crossed for both of us.

DWB glad you've had some success with your sleep solution and glad that argument with DF (fiance!) is resolved

raggie could it be her teeth moving? They can cause pain/discomfort for a while before showing signs of coming through? Could she be coming down with a bug?

scarlotti sorry things are so horrible for you at home i really hope things improve a little. Have you tried to talk to your DD about it? would that help? not saying you should, i have no idea how best to proceed, but if she is picking up on the vibes, then perhaps an honest conversation might be a way to go, if she is mature enough. Anyway I wish it was easier for you atm.

sirboob yey! you got one too! scarlotti there was a thread asking for testers a few weeks ago. 100 peopl abot to or recently starting weaning to test a variety of products and get to keep it after.

oh posted that with my knee before i finished!

so, i meant to say about my night, before getting distracted with DD and DS!

DS went to bed at 8pm, and slept til 3:30am !! then he woke at 6am, and fussed and would not go back to sleep, dozed til 6:30am, then DH got up with him, although DS was not really happy about it. He came back in to me at 8:15am, fed fed fed and went back to sleep, on his side, until 11:45am , he woke once and put himself back to sleep. He has green snot and is a bit warm though so think he has a bug, which would explain the long nap, He is happy enough though and have given him a dose of calpol to keep his temp down. I hope the night sleeping is a sign of things to come when he is over his bug! I still feel like crap, even though i went back to sleep til 10am, although broken a bit. I guess it will take a bit more than one good night to catch up.

Thanks for the suggestions pav.I thought about teeth but not a bug. The thing is,she is absolutely fine- smiley and happy most of the time.Her crossness is mainly just when she wakes at night, so it could be teeth I suppose. have some gel which she likes so will keep in mind.

I think all that Reuben sleep is a good thing? But if it's down to the green snot,maybe not!

What a weird day - first rain for a fortnight, then glorious sunshine while Roo slept in the pushchair in the garden, YAY! (unfortunately meaning I couldn't nap as I wouldn't hear her) but I tried the nap extending trick by pushing her around when she was close to waking and she nodded off for almost 2 hrs in total. Phew, or else she'd be a ragged nightmare right now... Now grey and rainy again. Strange. Hope you're all having lovely days

Raggie (waves!) We had around 3 weeks of really bad sleep with Ethan before moving him into the cot. I was back to really struggling to get up during the night, whereas before I think our cycles had settled into a pattern, for these few weeks I felt as though I was being awoken from a really deep sleep and did not like it one bit! I think this was down to teething and on the nights which were a real struggle, resorted to paracetamol as nothing else seemed to soothe him long enough for him to drop into a deep sleep. He was waking almost hourly! Hope you see an improvement soon.

ursi Hope Paula's sleep is improving.

Scarlotti Really sorry you're finding this weekend hard. Is it possible to try to arrange things so you are out of the house more at the weekend and hope less time spent together allows you to get on better?

BBL I first thought your post said you went on DH's scooter, like a vespa, then realised it said your DS's scooter! Did you scoot back at 1am?

Well done to the kenwood winners! I'm thinking about buying a steamer for veg, any recommendations?

I did scoot on DS2's scooter! I used to scoot on DS1's to school when I was 7 months pregnant and really did get funny looks. I did scoot back at 1am and it was bliss - hardly a soul about.

Thanks for all the posts. Was out most of today and now feel much better, makes it easier to cope with.

We had a good night finally last night, although an early start. He slept from the dream feed at 10:30 until around 5!! He woke from 5:30 though so still an early start but so much better than the several wakings of the last few nights.
Fruit my letdown seems to have upped a notch again and I seem to have more milk after the last few feeding nights. I wonder if the nightly feeding is to increase the supply as they're bigger again. Ioan has had a few feeds today and yesterday where he's choked a little from drinking too fast and I feel fuller.

Right, off to list my maternity stuff on ebay now. It's taken me ages to photograph it all

raggie meant to say, you should do whatever you feel with the feeding/crying etc. Personally with Ioan if he cries in the night I feed. BUT he is a good sleeper and only really wakes if he's hungry so I prefer to feed as he then settles straight away and I get more sleep. Past experience has also shown that after a few growth spurt nights of frequent waking he will then sleep longer as opposed to still waking out of habit.

Fruit re your question about DD. No, I don't think she suspects although she does think he's very lazy and I have a bum deal. I spoke to her previously and pretended there was a thread on here about splitting up whilst their dd was doing gcse's - her advice for the thread was for them to wait as it was such a crucial time for the dd. Kind of tells me what I need to do really.

Thanks so much for the support and advice re sleep. DWB glad things are now going better for you and Ethan. Rosa has been in her cot for a while now and was all going well... Luckily, we had a good day which makes being tired a whole lot easier. We had a verrry calm bath, book and feed and she got herself off to sleep about quarter to 8 or so and still going strong, although this is her most guaranteed sleep time at the moment. I am off to bed in a mo.

scarlotti thanks especially for thinking of me when you're going through such a hard time. FWIW, my parents split when I was 17 and my sister was just 15, although a different situation to yours entirely. It was hard (harder for her than me as I moved out to university soon after) but she is now just finishing her traineeship as a lawyer and she is very close to my mum, having spent 4/5yrs living just the two of them. You sound like you already have a very strong relationship with your DD so I'm sure you will be there for each other, but agree, she has made it clear what she thinks you should do. She sounds bright enough that I would be surprised if she doesn't realise it is on the horizon IMHO.

BBL missed your post about scooting around town! Made me giggle

raggie thanks. DD is Dh's step DD and we lived just the two of us for 9 years before he moved down. DS1 is 4 and it's him I'm most concerned about as he's quite a sensitive boy. However, I think he picks up on the tension without understanding it, so I'm hoping that we'll be better parents apart and that will make things ok for him. He starts school in Septemeber so yet another consideration time wise.

Hi all, I've had the most terrible nights sleep. First dh was snoring, then Millie woke for a feed so I brought her into bed with me to feed there. I nodded off but woke an hour later due to dh snoring and decided to put Millie back in her cot. She was not happy! Cue lot's of crying so I brought her back to bed for more feeds but she then decided it was playtime. By this time it was around 2.30am so dh got up with her. I fell asleep briefly but woke up to hear Millie screaming, dh said to me 'do not feed her, she needs to learn!' but I couldn't bear it so again brought her back to bed to feed. Again, she decided it was playtime so I took her downstairs so dh could go back to sleep. At 5am she finally went to sleep so I went back to bed but oh my god, dh was snoring sooooo loudly so I decided to get up and mumsnet instead!

I don't know what to do about Millie's co sleeping, I really want to nip it in the bud but she won't sleep in her cot for longer than a few hours before crying uncontrollably until I bring her to bed with me. The noise that baby can make is unbelievable! Sorry to hear there are others having sleep issues too, although a relief also to know I'm not the only one!

pav and sirboob congrats on your prizes!

bbl hope you get some good sleep soon and loving your scooter story!

scarlotti Hope today is better for you, sounds like you have made a hard decision which must be all the more difficult knowing that you can't say anything until after dd's exams. Are you still going to Relate?

Hope everyone else is ok and having a nice weekend, the tiredness is starting to kick in now so I am going to see if the snoring has stopped so I can go to sleep, although knowing my luck one of the dc's will wake up now!

Morning helips i should have come on for a chat with you! Sorry you had such a terrible night, you must be exhausted.

Mine was no better. The good nights sleep? just to tease me. Reuben has a cold, at least I know for sure this time its a cold and not anything else ! but he is bunged up and not feeling 100%, he slept til 1:30am which was great, but i stupidly decided to stay up for a while and have some me time without the children, as I can't seem to get DH to give me any in the day. Mistake, went to bed at 11:30am. So, 2 hours later and I was up. Reuben was fussing and figiting the entire night, wimpering and wanting boob. DH snoring, like yours helips, and no help whatsoever, so at 6am i got up and came in the front room leaving Reuben to wimper. It took 20mins for DH to pick him up, after he got louder and louder, but as I could hear him, i could not sleep. Went back to bed, gave Reuben calpol, fed him while DH 'dozed' i asked him to stay awake with me but no. So i got up. And Reuben is awake but not really happy about it.

. No-one said this would easy did they?

Another sleep deprived one here, although feeling a bit about saying as not on the same scale as you guys pav and helips.
Ioan has taken to waking at around 5:30am. He feeds as normal around 3ish when I bring him in with me and we drop back off. He's then waking at 5:30 and I can't work out why. He will feed but I'm sure that's not why he's waking, although he takes a good feed so maybe it is.
It's a little light at the top of my curtains so might be that. Am going to try and cover that up somehow tonight - Fruit how did you get on with the travel blind? Any good?
Am also going to make sure he has his 3 meals today and see if that helps. The day I gave him avocado for lunch he seemed to sleep until 6, which is a lie in these days
No snoring here as dh still in the spare room. Ds1 keeps waking around 6 too and heads on into me if he can hear Ioan. He's not quite as happy to just lie there and chatter though, he's like a jumping bean
Problem is then that both of them are then tired by around 6pm so bedtime routine is getting earlier, so they then go to sleep earlier and have had enough by around 5am!! Aargh. How much longer can this last??!!
Plan is to put them in together, but I need to wait until the night feeds stop really. Maybe then they might entertain each other in the morning if they wake?? [clutching at straws emoticon]

helips yes, we're still at relate and I'm hopeful that can help me sort out my fuddled brain. We still have times where we get on well and I enjoy his company, but that never changes the fundamental flaws from my perspective (support, unpromtped help, not acting like a teenager), but it's enough to confuse me - guess these things are never black and white though.

ooh another one of those nights in babyland. We have been up since 3:30. I'm pretty sure it is wind that is waking Isla, but since her episode of the past week or so the child will not go to sleep at any other time than 6:30pm. The past few nights we have co-slept because she has been in such pain, but she seemed to have turned a corner yesterday so I tried to settle her in her cot with back massage alternating with cuddles. Didn't work, so I fed her hoping to move the wind on. She just got angry after that when I tried to settle her in the cot. So, we were at the point of no return as she was now alert and wanting entertained, so no going back to bed. This is when I get cranky. DH came to rescue me at 5:30 but I was too cold to sleep. He brought Isla downstairs so that it was quiet upstairs but DD1 got up at 6 anyway. Isla was quiet for her . I fed her again at 6:30 after a change and getting her dressed and she is now peacefully asleep in her cot after gulping down lots of wind with 3 hours' crying.

Like raggie my head is full of contradictions which I had wanted to avoid by following instincts. Not least of which is last weeks' study claiming that leaving babies to cry may be damaging. Now I know that everything is relative, but Isla cries so much and often I just have to leave her to it or else I would literally get nothing done (like sleep, going to the loo, getting a drink, cooking, doing washing, having a shower, etc.). I feel like I haven't been able to teach her how to settle herself because we're always trying to deal with pain and discomfort and now all kinds of bad habits have established. I'm probably just tired and feeling weighed down saying all this because I remember merrily thinking that babies can be taught that anything is normal in a relatively short space of time. But I do feel that crying is now a habit for Isla and it breaks my heart that her crying no longer breaks my heart IYSWIM.

hobnob how old is Isla now? Possibly once you start weaning her the problems may subside with the wind. I really feel for you. Has the HV been of any help?

C isn't a crier more of a moaner and shouty if I'm not giving him attention. I have found with C that I can keep him entertained with a breadstick whilst I clean my kitchen etc. It's become harder recently to get on with things as he won't nap as easy or stay asleep for very long. I use food as a tool to keep him entertained whilst I run about (of course, keeping a close eye on him).

We had a better night, but after a rather hideous Sunday. C was grouchy, hungry, teething and needed me all the time. So I expected the night to be just as bad. He went to sleep in the cot at 7.30pm, fed at 12pm and slept with me from 2am. Much better as I can handle a few hours of co-sleeping, just not an entire night. scarlotti the blackout blind is ok. It's very fiddly to begin with and does let in some light from the top. But my windows are small and a strange design, so might work better on a larger window. All in all it does block out a huge amount of light, but can't say its helped C sleep any longer. We also have 5-6am wake up too feeding I have found C has been gulping when BF as well and probably taking down more air. I've started offering the same breast for every 2 feeds, then move on to the next breast. This is meant to help with the fast let down. It seems to be stopping him pulling his head back as much and is far less gassy as well.