Due February 2025 - Thread 5: IT'S TIME

[UrbanSquirrel]

Creating this as a space to continue the Feb 2025 chat - quite frankly it's all starting to feel very, very real right now!

@QuantumPanic same same last night. No more stretches of 4 hour bliss. Every night is different it seems. To keep us on our toes.

Any babies that turned 6 weeks/8 weeks? Wondering if crying really does start to decrease. Don’t want to keep hopes too high 😅

We're 7 weeks this week and still a fair bit of crying unfortunately but mostly in the 'witching hours' of the evening and more happier when awake. Keep in there it really does improve but I'm aiming for 12 weeks as a point where things change as this seems a point where lots change!

@Kumquat89 we are 8 weeks tomorrow and cryings increased lol, but I reckon as I've little one was 3 weeks premature he's behind and my baby book said 6 weeks was meant to be peak crying decreasing there after. I think this as also at 6-8 weeks should be seeing smiles and cluster feeding for the growth spurt to support smiles etc and just seem to be having that starting now. I guess all babies are different!

Does anyone find breastfeeding exhausting sometimes? Idk if its the cluster feeding but I feel super fatigued. I'm sleeping even less...but it also feels like I've been exercising loads (I've been pretty sofa bound re-watching the xfiles 😂)

@SBelfast ooh I've started rewatching the xfiles too!!

@QuantumPanic haha very good, I'm enjoying it so much 😂
I don't watch it during the night time feeds though- don't want to spook myself haha.

@elb1504 12 weeks is not that far ahead either I suppose and @SBelfast smiles will surely make things easier. Just about starting to see one occasionally. But the funniest is when he is sleeping, he actually giggles in his sleep 🤭 do you get that sometimes? Btw yes breastfeeding is tough! Physically and mentally. During the day I feel like it’s manageable and I struggle more when he isn’t feeding because he is crying. During the night I’m still not comfortable with it. Getting up for it is torture and everything hurts lots more. My head keeps t’dropping and I have a painful neck this morning.

@Kumquat89 no sleep giggles, they sound great haha. We have dream whimpers which are cute!
Yeh I find the nighttime feeds really hard to get up for, especially when have had not much of a break between them! Having something you only do at night like a show you like but only watch then helps as well as snacks, helps me anyway haha. I'm addicted to cereal bars as a snack :)

@Kumquat89 have you tried the side lying position for feeding at night? I don't think I could cope without it! It also means if you do fall asleep the baby is on a flat surface so I feel like it's a lot safer being in the cuddle curl, any pillows and duvet etc away.

I'm not looking forward to more cluster feeding 😥 I would love to know when the feeds feel a bit more routine and when they're shorter at night but didn't really get an answer from the HV.

I'll definitely try that Huckleberry app down the line, I'm using a free one Baby Tracker atm which I rely on a lot. Ever since the midwife came in and asked what his nappies and feeds had been a few hours into my first night alone at the hospital and I was just guessing 😬

@ridl14 they should give you a counter in the hospital, I can't remember how many times I was asked and didn't recall but felt like constantly 😂
My memory is just banjaxed at the moment though!

@SBelfast i probably need to do the same with the snacks and shows. I was in the mindset of get up for the minimum time possible and get back into bed to sleeeeeep ASAP. But maybe if you embrace it and make it more fun it becomes a little easier.
@ridl14 It’s been a couple of days I am using that position in the morning when he’s been fussing and it’s been great. For earlier in the night usually he means business and he eats fast, usually ending up spitting up and having reflux. So I was thinking it’s better to stay upright for it…
BTW huckleberry is free too. I’ve been using it since day 3 and it’s been amazing! You can pay if you want extra inputs about sleep planning and such. I’m not doing that at the moment. Just tracking feeds, diapers, sleep and growth. Gives you some lovely graphs and you can compare different days.

Hey! How much is everyone doing?
I'm really struggling with getting little one down. He's 5 weeks, 2 days. He sometimes sleeps in moses basket if I rock it but as soon as I stop, he starts stirring. I've bought a 'rockit' but omg it does really rock and I'm worried about shaken baby syndrome!
Does anyone else use a rockit?

Any tips for getting baby to sleep more independently would be amazing as I'm struggling and very sleep deprived. Haven't got family local to help out Xxx

The only way I can get stints in the bassinet from m little girl at night is by putting her in a tommee tippee swaddle bag or a Swaddle Up bag as it stops her arms flailing around. Have you tried anything like that? Xx

I'm also using these @sohomum18 and find them good, can see the difference when he's swaddled in them versus has his arms out. He definitely sleeps better in them when in swaddle mode and I love the fact it reduces my anxiety over blankets and him smothering himself lol.

At night we use the swaddle up sleeping bags and makes a massive difference, however in the day the only place she'll sleep not on me is in the pram, this is pretty common for all babies so small.

I do use the Rockit loads, walk for a bit and put it on once back in the house to keep her asleep and works wonders. I'm sure they wouldn't make it if it rocked the baby enough to harm them. We have it on the lowest setting and I always think how bad and bumpy the roads are when baby is in the car seat and not much we can do about that.

We use swaddle bags too, we have the tommee tippee one and purflo - personally much prefer the purflo!

He has started rolling on his side already so can't swaddle unfortunately 😂

@elb1504 my husband keeps telling me this about the rockit! Do you use it on moses basket or next to me crib at all?

I feel like I'm really not doing a good job at this. Everyone else seems to be getting stints on 3-4 hours sleep from little one but I can't and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. He's really gassy and wakes up straining a lot. X

@Hhdxx I've never managed to get my lo in his crib so we co-sleep. If he's on his back, he'll wake up as he gets gassy too, so I tend to have him on his front or on his side but in my arms. I know it's not recommended but he'll sleep for hours this way. I've co-slept before with my daughter so I feel more confident in doing this, I understand others may not, but could this be an option for you? I've also found the best way to get gas out of him is to hold him up from under the armpits and just let his body kind of hang 😂 always get loads of burps this way lol

@Lunalovegod I'm glad it works for you. Yes I get burps out that way too!

I'm too anxious to co sleep even though I really really want to do it. My sil does it too. Unfortunately we lost our first baby died when she was two days old so I'm not confident with doing anything not recommended by midwives. I'm an absolute hypoquandric 😱

@Hhdxx we had good benefit with infacol - the farts were impressive!
has little actual evidence but anecdotally people seem to like it - might be worth a try?

Has anyone found a sleeping bag that can be used under 8lbs? We’ve not made that yet but could do with another layer in bed!

@UncharteredWaters we use infacol with every feed already haha! He is farting a bit but not loads. Constantly drawing his knees up.
Also, sleeping bags, I put mine in the tumble dryer to shrink them 😂😂😂

It’s really hard going when you are not getting 3-4 hour stints but it’s nothing you are doing wrong and is totally normal tbh. Many of those babies who are currently doing 3-4 hours or longer will change their habits many times over the next year and come the 4 month sleep regression may totally change and wake up every 1-2 hours again. At this age nothing is set at all, it’s out of your control, and all you can do is go with the flow and not blame yourself as babies will do what they do. Everything is temporary. My second baby did quite long stints of sleep as a newborn but it all changed and as an 18 month old he was waking up 9-10 times a night. He’s now 3 and he still had me up twice last night in between my newborn waking! Whereas my almost 5 year old hit age one and had slept like a log since.

@sohomum18 thank you. I'm worried I'm maybe not putting him down enough. If I move even just the slightest, his startle reflex wakes him. Worried I'm making a rod for my own back kind of thing x

I personally think he’s far too young for you to be making a rod for your own back, he’s still in the fourth trimester and all of his instincts are primed to be as close to you as possible. All babies are different but what you describe sounds very normal. I’m so sorry to see that you lost your first baby, it’s impossible to imagine going through that and comprehending the worry that you must have now xx it sounds like you are doing a wonderful job giving your son what he needs and you should never ever feel bad for holding him, even though it is so hard on you when you are getting such broken sleep xx

@sohomum18 thank you. I thought pregnancy after losing a baby was tough but this is another level. I keep thinking he's going to die, it's ridiculous. Trying to not let the anxiety ruin this special time xxx