May 2009 - one year on

[Tummum]

Here you go ladies...

llare- as you know, S rarely sleeps through, but also rarely gets a feed in the night and is usually quite easy to settle (unless he's ill). But we had to do cc to get to that position. If cc isn't for you, then what worked with DD and DS1, and works a little with S is the baby whisperer pick up put down technique. Like CC, it may take a couple of hours the first night, but hopefully after 3 nights he should be much easier to settle. But also like CC you have to be consistent. So if for example, you decide not to feed before a certain time, you need to stick to it, or if you don't want him in your bed, ditto. If he is at the age where he can pull himself up to standing in the cot, then you wait til he is stood up, then just lie him back down, and repeat every time he gets up, and soothe him in the cot by stroking, saying "it's just sleep time" etc until he finally gives in. He will complain, and it will be really hard, but if you think it's got to the point where things won't change unless you make them, then it is a good option if you want to stay with him rather than leave him to cry alone. Another alternative is gradual withdrawal but you have to get to a point where they are calm in the cot whilst you move further away...S still needs bottom patting sometimes to help him fall asleep but does always fall asleep in the cot rather than in our arms. Hope that gives you some ideas, and hope you find a solution that works for you. I did have S in the bed with me the other night when he was poorly and waking all the time (DH was in the spare bed on DS1 duty), but i felt terrible when i was woken at 5.45 by a big thud and then a big cry as he had rolled off the bed .

Thanks, pula, that is really helpful. I'll chat to DH and decide what to do. Its so hard!

hi all. just on my way to bed.
flippin, great that A isn't allergic to egg but wonder what it was....
llare, no idea how to help you. H is a good sleeper (at the moment) - it's dd1 and 2 who wake up constantly in the night. last night it was 5x when I'd just fallen into a deep sleep. think she's having nightmares. pula's, advice sounds sensible (I'd trust her ).

Ses, your poor sil. hope she's ok. what a terrible, terrible incident.

smokey, lovely news about the test results. hope you're feeling well.

belgina, molar!!?? seems so soon, aren't they growing too fast?

saus, at your bro. hope theop works and will be following your report closely as I've got bad piles. blech. they've calmed down in the latest months but were so, so awful in the half year following H's birth. blech again.

hi muddled and everyone else!

MIL was with the girls whilst I was at the dentist in leeds today. so, I made an afternoon of it with a short but lovely train journey, a teensy bit of shopping and visit to the Teaching hospital. I had to go to the teaching hosp to see if they can fix a massive gap made by a short-root prob (eg all dentists ask if I'd been dropped on my head when young ). they may be able to fix it with implantsbut very uncertain ab out nhs funding. if not, i'd have to do it privately which is about £2000 per tooth (i need 3)!! thank goodness all my other teeth are fine and can make up for the lack of the others. sigh. I sound like my 87 year old grandmother in law.

I did enjoy the break from the girls though it's a sign of the times that I actually looked forward to a dentist appt.

hope all are well and have a good night. hope all babies are sleepy. and other DC's as well!

Morning all

Haven't posted much as I know I need to do a proper nc, rather than bleating on about my life in minutiae, but I'm too lazy a little disorganised .

saus Hope the op goes ok, poor you. . And bloody brothers.

ses your poor SIL, I must admit I saw the news and grabbed DD1 (she busses to school).

llare If it's any consolation, S was a dreadful sleeper, waking 4/5 times a night but she has slept from 11-6 for 4 nights now. I don't have any advice, just loads of sympathy. Only now am I starting to feel vaguely human.

I watched Lost finale, having stuck faithfully with it for 6 years and all I have to say is .

smokey Yay for jumping beans!!

flip Hope all get better in the flip household - hope you can get to the bottom of A's reaction.

pula I hope I see you on Friday!!

Speaking of Friday, I hope everyone's still going - I have to pick DD2 up from my mum's Friday so I shall have her and S (momi, E is excited about seeing I again)

Have to go and pick up mother from the station and then take DD2 and her annoying friend to a party.

Joy.

Catch you all later

hi grumps- looks like I will be there on Friday after all - S and DS1 both in nursery today as DS1 is talking and eating again and all DCs slept through for the second night in a row (apart from a few visits to DS1 in the evening) so DH and I are feeling properly human again .

saus - good luck with the op - 2 ops in a short space of time, and definitely agree that you should stay in bed or wherever is comfortable for you, and DH can wait on you and his parents at the weekend.

momi- let's hope you can get your dental treatment on the nhs, and IKWYM about enjoying time away from the DDs even a dental appointment.

Hi all,

Just a quick thankyou to flip from my friend for the weblink - baby turned around this morning so she had a quick scan at the hospital and was sent away to labour when lo is cooked

Interestingly though, on way out of hospital she bumped into another friend of ours (39 weeks) on her way in to have her baby! Double

hi all, looking forward to Fri as well to those who can make it. Will love to see Grump's dd2 with my dd1 again. dd2 will prob want to join in as the 3rd wheel. and H will just yell in the background. Although she's smitten with Pula's S she'll be more interested in flirting.

running, that's great news about your friend's baby turning round!

Just doing a tiny bit o'work this eve. This is defn a bottomless pit-of-a-job. Or are all jobs like that: never finished? I think I know the answer....

momi- you never know- your DD2 might take a shine to my DS1 . He's probably just a little bit older (he's 3 next month).

Hi all. Just a very brief post, as ever. I do lurk, just don't have anything very exciting to say.

Hoping to be there on Friday in York .

Smokey great news about the beans.

Saus would actually love to talk about your piles. Am so fed up of mine coming and going. Have been to GP's twice. They've left really inconvenient skin tags too .

Hi all, just a brief post from me too. H is being a nightmare in the evenings this week and I am getting nothing done. Night wakings & 5.45am starts for work are just about doing me in!

Smokey fantastic news You can get on with enjoying being pregnant now. And open those ASOS parcels!

Saus good luck for the op. Definitely stay in bed and let your DH wait on you.

Tummum hope your DH is on the mend - for your sake as well as his.

1stMrsF great to 'see' you & glad to hear the DTs are doing well.

pula get you matchmaking DS1 with grumpy's DD2. He is indeed a little charmer.

llare if you come up with any magic solutions re improving sleep please, please let me know. No signs of any improvements here. I really need to tackle it before #2 arrives but not sure how. PUPD and controlled crying (I've only tried it once but for nearly 2 hours) just result in escalating rage. Sigh.

Right. Off to get ready for bed before I get summoned. Hope everyone is ok this evening.

pula oops I mean momi's DD2. But, hey, he doesn't need to limit himself at his age!

Morning!

belgina - molars?! Random!

running - good news about your friend's baby, send 'stay that way' vibes too. And exciting about another one as well!

at you lot meeting up tomorrow. Have a great day. Lol at all the flirting.

pula, have some more at the sleep, hope it went well last night too. A is down to waking once, but is awake for ages, refuses to go back in the cot, settles a bit in our bed but then fidgets and squirms the whole time she's in with us.

I went out last night! On my own! With no children! And I got to ride my bike! The chiropractor we go to had put on a ladies night for charity, there was massage, beauty treatments, shopping opportunities, freebies, wine and nibbles etc. I got a free neck and shoulder massage, and I won a prize in the raffle - 3 Dermalogica microdermabrasion sessions at a local top end beauty place. I can't remember the last time I won anything, let alone anything fairly expensive.

The riding my bike thing doesn't sound very exciting, I know, but my bike has been out of action for a while, and I haven't cycled since I was pregnant. It was good to do it again.

Hope you all have good days.

Posting and running this morning.

Hope you all have a lovely meet up tomorrow. I would have been tempted to come too had it not been an inset day for DS1 and it wouldn't be fair to have him in the car for 2 hours there and 2 hours back in one day.

Am feeling weary already as R been awake since 5am. He is napping now but I can feel my eyes drooping as I type.

Had a very odd funny turn yesterday too and was literally sent home from work. Felt very faint, things swimming in front of my eyes, couldn't finish sentences, felt very flushed and was told by my boss that I looked ashen. Bless my two bosses, they literally marched me out the door - one drove me home! It passed once I was lying down so I kept to that position for the rest of the afternoon. Blood pressure, perhaps? Most odd. Feel ok now apart from knackeredness though.

So sorry not to NC and to memememememe. Have a fab day in York those that are going!

Maybe you are doing too much, smokey? I twin pregnancy must be more demanding on the body than a singleton, and with two other children and a job, you must be shattered!

I prescribe rest. Lots of it!

Ooh smokey, hope you're ok. I prescribe crisps. No, really. I have v. low blood pressure anyway and pregnancy sends it lower - I used to carry a packet of crisps - when I felt woozy I would eat some yummy salty crisps. Raises your bp, you see?

Looking forward to tomorrow very much, I will be the haggard harridan shouting at wild DD2 serene and glamorous earth mother, gliding along with perfectly behaved moppets.

Just eaten bowl of deeply disappointing homemade soup. Bah.

flip yay to night out all by yourself and winning face scrubulation to make you uber glam and dewy.

Must go and read a bit more, back later to greet all....

Just a quick post as all a bit manic here trying to pack for wkend visiting friends in York. Imagined today would be fine to stick some clothes on the line to dry before stuffing them in a bag and grr, it was raining first thing and not sure they're going to get dry at all!

Looking forward to the meet up tomorrow but I think I may be a bit bleary eyed as not leaving Surrey until about 5.30pm this evening and M25/M1 might not be the clearest of roads at that time!

Smokey - does sound like you need to try and take it a bit easy. Not easy I know! Thank goodness your bosses seem understanding.

Flip - your evening sounds wonderful!

molars - O has one partly through and I can see another just beneath the gum

Pula - fantastic and with the sleeping!

running - yay for baby turning!

Hello Spangle, Reggiee, Momi, Belgina, Llare, Grumpy and anyone else I've missed!

Evening all,

smokey sounds like low bp to me - its always happening to my mum. Might be worth checking in with the Dr and in the meantime, take it easy.

we have a molar issue too - one through yesterday and three more lumps so I think we're in for an interesting half term.

flip ooh lucky you. Ikwym re cycling.

ses been meaning to say, I hope your sil is ok. Such a horrible accident.

momi you have my sympathy re bottomless pit jobs. Mine is one that you can spend all your time on and never get quite enough done. When I was training one of my tutors said to me that I should remember 'good is good enough' which I think is a good mantra especially when you have a lot (and you certainly do) going on outside of work.

llare I hope your sleep issues resolve soon. The thing that works for us is just being uber-consistent with our bedtime routine which is bath and story with Dad, bottle and cuddle with me and then into bed, dummy in, music on and then I leave her to it. If she wakes in the night, we go in, put dummy back in, music on and then leave. No eye contact or talking at all and it usually works. If for example like last night (teething) she doesn't settle with our usual routine, one of us sits with her and holds her hand and pats her back/tummy. That usually involves creeping out of the room on all fours! Very occasionally we do have to resort to rocking her to sleep but that's usually only if she is really ill or something. If she does wake in the night and the normal routine doesn't settle her, we usually resort to a small amount of milk and then the routine as usual will work. Not sure if any is helpful to you but thought you might find it useful to see what we do - I think it took about a week of doing the routine to get it to work.

Hiya to everyone else, have fun tomorrow to all those meeting up.

I might not be around much over the next week or so but I will try to catch-up when I can - my Mum is visiting this w/e and we're having a little early birthday bash for A on Sunday as we're off camping Mon-Fri next week. Am sooooo looking forward to it First trip in the new super-tent

running, love, LOVE 'good is good enough'. excellent mantra but very hard to practice sometimes. i do think that's the key to my job as well. Have fun with your mum this weekend and with the supertent!

smokey, hope you're feeling better by now.
I'm sorry to everyone else but really can't NC, i'm supposed to be working (as usual).

it was also one of Those Days. you've all had em. where I questioned again my decision and ability to be a parent. sigh. just a reaction to tantrums, teething, sibling rivalry and me trying to get dd1&2 to listen to me without success. Do some of you parents of the older ones feel like you're speaking to a wall? maddening.

ok. if you see me back here, on FB.... kick me off! unless it's after 10.30pm.

omigosh! and that 'small' glass of wine went down too fast!

running - have a fab holiday!

smokey - hope you are feeling ok now, and taking it easy.

momino - I feel your pain. Not sure if DD1 counts as old enough to be similar to your gang, but it's challenging at times. At the moment I just seem to be stopping the pair of them fighting, constantly. It turns out that A is a bit of a bulldozer, so that combined with DD1's drama queen tendencies is fabaroony. They hit each other a lot. And if one cries, then the other starts. Neither of them listens to me either. But then we have good moments too, just wish they were more frequent!

I was supposed ot have made a cake this evening, got friends coming round tomorrow, but I couldn't be bothered. Now I'll have to rush to do it in the morning.

Momi - sorry you've had a difficult day and hopefully we can make tomorrow better for you . And yes, I feel like I am speaking to a wall with DD and DS1. And the sibling rivalry is tough- one minute i'm breaking up squabbles between DD and DS1 and then it's DS1 and DS2.

Must go to bed (yawn). I've been out to the pub with some mums from church/playgroup and now feel a bit sozzled.

flip- sorry for bragging about sleep but after a year i am soo happy that S seems to have finally got the message that nighttime is for sleep. It's been a long slog, and involved some tough sleep training so I'm just glad it has finally paid off. S was still up at 5am today, but did go back to sleep eventually until 7.15 so not too bad. Early mornings are our next challenge to overcome! Hope you get some decent solid sleep too. What does A do if you ignore her when she's awake in the night? Is she still in your room?

Morning. Yaaaawwwwwn

pula don't apologise at all, I'm really pleased for you! It sounds like it's been tough but it's worked.

We had a not so great night again, she was really unsettled, woke at midnight, back to sleep until 4 and then wide awake for 90 minutes. She's teething and snotty so it's to be expected, I guess.

She's still in with us, we're too scared to move her in with DD1, but maybe we just need to do it and see what happens. When she wakes up she stands up and gets distraught very quickly, if we lie her down she just stands up again straight away.

I've just made the cake that I should have made last night, just a victoria sponge. smells good though!

Hello everyone. Sorry I have been MIA for a while, it's been a bit hectic.

DH is recovering well, slowly weaning off the pain killers and we are getting used to sorting him out (getting out of bed, getting dressed, eating etc.) He's been signed off for 3 weeks, and I am planning on going back to work next week, cos it is a short week and then we are supposed to be on holiday the week after.

We've been having a bit of a argument discussion about the week we were supposed to be taking the caravan to Devon. He reckons we should still take the caravan, which would mean me packing it, hitching it up, driving for 5 hours, then setting it up at the other end . I think that's a bloody stupid idea, because it would mean that I would have to do everything AND look after the DC and him too. I wonder if I am being a bit stubborn about not wanting to take the van because he is being really arsey about me not wanting to do it. I'd appreciate any views about whether I am being awkward or not. (My preferred option is just to rent a cottage in the same area we were going to camp in.)

Gonna do a quick NC (apols if I miss anyone)

Pula yay on sleeping through !!!

Momi hugs and well done for getting through the day. My 2 DDs are always arguing and I haven't a clue how to manage it. I move between trying to totally ignore them to shouting at the them, and neither seem very sucessful!

Smokey great news on CVS results. Hope you are feeling OK and are able to get some rest

Flip can I have some cake pleeeeeease

Running Loving the 'be good enough' mantra

Hope the meet up went OK

Gotta go, DH needs a smack lunch. Sigh. I am getting fed up at being a nurse / maid / slave to everyone

Hello.

Quiet on here today

Had a lovely couple of hours meeting up with the gals and bairns (despite me disapearing early to meet mil and dd). So...want the gossip?

Everyone was lovely (and glamorous). It was really nice to see the differences in the babies - some walking, some feeding themselves, some permanently smiling, some sleeping. And the older ones were soooo well behaved

Couch to 5k 1st week part 2.

I am knackered. How the hell will I run for 3 minutes, let alone 5k? ses we must keep each other motivated, I was thinking of dangling a cookie in front of my face.

Well, today was great. I was so happy to meet everyone and their lovely kids. I kept trying to trade S for another of the babies but no-one wanted to trade. Funny that . reg's B has gorgeous, gorgeous hair that I think is carefully tonged by his mum and does a fabulous rowing shuffle crawl, ses's O has the most amazing eyelashes that he bats most becomingly and is so grown up. pula's S smiled, smiled, smiled and gurgled, lovely boy. jenn's children are amazing - polite, clean, smiley R does a lovely winsome head on one side, thumb in mouth that made me 'awwww'. And momi's girls are as lovely as ever - H was feeding herself with a spoon in a most neat fashion S won't be doing that even in 6 months . Oh and we are indeed all glam pusses (including yer good self reg), well all bar me ha ha ha!!

tum cottage. Deffo.

Hope everyone else is ok, I am having a glass of wine. NOW NOW NOW