Pregnant with a toddler support thread

[BertieBotts]

Anyone interested in a support thread?

I'm due in August with DC3 but have a huge gap between DS1 & 2 so I've never been through this bit with a toddler around before :)

DS2 will be 3 when the new baby arrives.

Would be fun to share tips and things.

Also is anyone else still breastfeeding their toddler through pregnancy?

I think my toddler is teething, kept waking up crying every couple hours so I had to put her in bed with me.

I hope when newborn comes, he doesn’t wake her up with his crying 🥲

We've had two really bad nights here which is almost unheard of now...absolute rage at waking up in her own bed whereas she's been more than happy in it since about 18 months and self-settled the majority of time if she ever did wake up.

We did all have quite a long lie in as we were bed sharing by then....I might be brave and forget the nap today in the hope of an early-ish bed!

Also, yesterday she woke up at 7:30 (earliest she’s woken up so far, usually sleeps till 10 but lately she’s been waking up earlier and earlier, 8/8:30) and usually she naps around 12-1 if she’s up early, but she was up all day playing and distracted. She was up for 10 hours!!!!! She finally napped at 5:30 for 2 hours. Luckily she still slept around 10:30/11pm.
Before the early waking up days she would sleep at 12am-1am!! Luckily for me, now she sleeps around 10.

Haha magic I wondered if anyone would come over from the August thread!

We started using the gro clock at about 2.5, I didn't think it would work so early, but it did! I think the trick is not to be too ambitious, if your child wakes at 5.20, try setting it to 5.15 at first so they get the hang of waiting for it to change. Then you can slowly add 15 mins at a time so they are never waiting very long. DS2 is very sweet now, when he wakes up he sits there explaining to himself what to do and then from his cot he can see the bus stop as well so he stands there and watches out for them. I've been able to leave him for an hour or so in his cot before babbling away to himself before it went orange and he shouted for me.

It is an hour earlier here. So he was awake at 7.20 (new time) 6.20 or so is the norm. 8 would be a dream! DS1 was always a night owl, still is really and doesn't wake up until after 11 if he doesn't have school.

@AyyX our daughters have very similar sleep times! I’ve recently had to stop her nap time because she’s sleep for two hours and then not go to bed til midnight. Sadly it means I don’t get the nap time as well anymore 😩 little madam is stubborn though and will still have a short nap in the pram/car or on me. I might try today with no nap considering how late she’s slept in this morning.

DS got up at 6.05 this morning. So really 5.05🙄 thankfully DH got up with him but I couldn’t get back to sleep. It’s been a long morning!

@Mariposa123 how old is your daughter?
What time does she nap when she does? Also does she sleep around midnight still?
I’m so glad mine stopped sleeping so late! She was like that since she was tiny. She’s 16months now :)

Most babies sleep any time between 7-9pm but mine didn’t

@ayyX she’s 23 months and has always been a bit of a night owl. She used to do well if she napped 1-3 but in the last couple of weeks that’s been creeping later and later and then we weren’t having good sleeps at all. On a good day if she only naps for say 30 mins we can have her in bed by 10, otherwise 11ish is standard. She’a started waking up at 8 (as opposed to her standard 10:30-11 lie ins) but today she woke up after 11 so I’m going to try no naps* and see what happens!

*no naps for her, I can’t guarantee I won’t sneak upstairs for one!

@Mariposa123 oh I had this problem before too! When she used to nap twice a day, her second nap would be so late and then she wouldn’t sleep till midnight or after. I tried to stop her second nap but she would get so grumpy and cry so I had to let her. But for a couple months now she has cut down to 1 nap by herself!
Before she would sleep say around 8pm or 9pm and I thought I got away with her sleeping early but then she would wake up an hr or two after then not sleep till after midnight 🥴
I’m glad she automatically gets tired around 10 now and when I say to her bedtime and walk to our bedroom she just gets up and follows

Oh I just realised your daughter is about the same age as my cousin’s son! I think he only takes one nap now but he never sleeps later than 10pm.
She told me last night he went to bed around 8:30/9pm and slept till 10 this morning! But he didn’t nap much during the day so that could be why he slept in.

Hope your no naps work! I could never stop mine from napping when she was tired 🥲

Evening naps are always danger naps here. We’ve had nights where we thought we’d lucked in when she slept at 7 and she woke up at 9 and was awake for hours.

She fell asleep 15 minutes ago so going to try to keep it short hopefully

DS2 always falls asleep in the afternoons if he's in the buggy or car seat for too long. Defo danger nap territory. If it's before 3pm then we let him sleep for 20 mins or so but it's so hard to wake him up!

But he does tend to be down for the night once he goes. DS1 would do that falling asleep early and then treating it as a nap thing - so annoying!

Has everyone coped with the clock change okay? Not sure DS has, as he's slept in both today and yesterday. I'm not complaining though, he's adorable when you wake him up. Not so much in the evening when refusing to go to sleep though x

We seem to have adjusted fairly smoothly. I'm really struggling with BF though. If DS2 isn't completely exhausted and falling asleep immediately I can kind of feel him latching and it feels horrible. I'm not sure it isn't teething related, as he's getting his back molars in (very very very slowly!!) but it's so frustrating. If he's almost asleep or very tired, then I can sometimes unlatch him and just cuddle instead but sometimes he doesn't want that.

But if he wakes up at night I'm waiting longer than I usually would in the hope he'll go back to sleep, and that seems to wake him up more which exacerbates the problem! Last night I ended up bringing him into bed which I'm trying not to do and he was so active/like some kind of exorcist baby appearing in front of me suddenly just to make me jump. Then he woke up at 6.40 and demanded breakfast and then seemed to be crying on a hair trigger, so I think he was really tired still. Oh well. Short day at nursery today and then a long weekend.

Oh and my boobs are so confused. "You want more milk? Here is more milk. You want less milk? Oh OK."

Hello,

I am a very tentative member of this club, as i'm only 5 weeks but my little one is only 15 months so potentially will have 2 under 2 and i'm still breastfeeding! Very nervous but hoping it won't be a terrifying as I am currently imagining!

Congratulations @loveheartss! I have a 15 month old I'm breastfeeding too, she's suddenly turning into a bit of a whirlwind. 🙈 Lots of luck for your pregnancy!

Well my 3 year old DD hasn't been affected by the clock change at all, but 15 month old DD is having all sorts of random naps now. 🤷🏻‍♀️ She usually takes her naps at 11 and 3, but she's asleep right now. Guess we just have to roll with it for now!

Thanks! Yes, I am already starting to feel guilty because I have read some toddlers naturally wean themselves because milk changes at some point?? But that may not be a bad thing, as I am starting to feel the tiredness creeping in...(doesn't help that DD still wakes multiple times a night - the joys!)

Well last night was fun. DS is teething and is congested with a cold so we were up from 4.30 til 6am. Just got him settled and managed to sneak back into my room (we have an old house with creaky floorboards so it's always a delicate operation) then realised I was going to be sick. Ran to the toilet, stepped on all the wrong floorboards and woke DS up again😭 counting the days to the end of the first trimester.

Hello, I would like to join. I think I am 5+3 and also have a 19month old who is addicted to breastfeeding. Unfortunately I hate BF but have persevered. He is a nightmare anytime I try and say no. He made himself sick one he was so upset when I didn't feed him when he came home from nursery :( not sure how to wean...I feel cold turkey may be best option but he will hate me!

Congratulations @loveheartss! I’m still waiting for my DD to self wean, she seems as keen as ever on milk.

@BertieBotts I know that horrible latching feeling well. I can never get to sleep until she’s come off, but half the time I think she uses me as a dummy. And when I try to pride her off she bats my hand away 😩so stubborn hehe

We’ve been waking up an hour later than usual, but bedtime is luckily unaffected.

Hahaah DS2 pulls my hand away and tries to pin it between his legs :o

From experience of getting to the last trimester still breastfeeding in my 21 month old. I had to stop taking her to bed eventually because she would get herself all wound up and upset because she wanted to feed and I didn't have enough for her to fall asleep on the boob like she always did. She would start being distraught after an hour of me getting her to sleep. So had to let my DP take her instead, she's got used to it.
Also was a massive problem for naps too.
Now we just usually feed in the morning.

Goodbye pregnant and breastfeeding, hello tandem feeding!!!!!
Don't know how she'll react to more milk in boobs now!!

Hi all

Almost 27 weeks here with dc6! Dc5 is nearly 19 months, next youngest is 4!

No breastfeeding for me though!

Wow!!!! No6 I admire you. You must be superwoman!

I feel superwoman spends less time on the sofa ...