New joiner alert!
I feel like I am about to stand up at an AA meeting or something..I have just been pointed over here from AIBU where I was whining about in laws all having 'easy' babies and can't help perceiving the 'looks' we get to imply that no baby can be that hard work, so we (I) must be doing it wrong..
So DD (I used DS in AIBU as I don't think the in laws use MN but you can never be sure) is 13 months old. For the first day we brought her home from the hospital she slept and we couldn't wake her and then didn't do it again..we couldn't put her down EVER and used to take it in turns to do shifts.
Then she developed reflux at 5 weeks old which was due to multiple food intolerances plus dairy and soya allergies. Had to sleep upright only on me so we both slept sat up in bed. Refused a bottle and dummy so when we finally got a referral to a gastro paed after lots of reflux drugs and fighting with the GP, I then spent the next 5 months on an elimination diet figuring out everything that she reacted to, which then affected her for 3 weeks until it went through my breastmilk.
So, we finally figure out intolerances, start blw which goes ok and she starts to go into her cot for short stints yeah! Then starts teething.. Back in bed with me co-sleeping now and DH in the spare room. Naps are all in my arms..
Christmas spent with in laws who say not to worry about bringing food, they will sort it out and we go through what she and I can't eat. Christmas Day, DH finds FIL putting butter in the turkey..asks about everything else and it transpires that for her first Christmas lunch, she and I can eat red cabbage and potatoes as everything else has dairy or wheat in. DD screaming and me hungry and she cuts 5 (yes 5!) new teeth Christmas night. I demand we leave the next day being vv tired and hungry and in laws comment that they didn't understand about the food (despite having it explained and knowing it will cause 3 weeks of hell for us and most importantly their grand daughter) and that hadn't realised her sleep was quite that bad.
7 months old starts crawling, 8 months old starts walking independently, 9 months old after literally 6 wake ups one night, starts sleeping through till 4 in her cot the next night. Does this for a couple of blissful weeks, then starts teething again. Back in bed with me from 2am and DH hops into the spare room.
Now 13 months old. Has vocab of around 15 words, understands get shoes, go outside, gets your hand when she is tired and leads you upstairs, understands most day to day items and instructions, likes colouring, trying to dress herself, feeds herself with a spoon. Still breastfed day and night as up until this week, stopped eating when teething but now dropping feeds of her own accord and eating like a small elephant.
She is an absolute delight. Extremely bright, quick to pick things up, constant chatterer and very confident but also very clingy as soon as something isn't right and very sensitive. As of last week, happy to go in her cot for long naps by herself.
But we are going on holiday this week with DH's family. There are 3 cousins who have all been (relatively) easy and her closest cousin in age will literally fall asleep in his highchair when tired. I can see that they all think that it's not that hard to raise a single child and that we are far too precious and over exaggerate how hard things are.
In the past 10 weeks, we have had 4 molars and a chest infection. We had one blissful weeks of good sleep and happy DD but the last 2 weeks have been 2 bottom molars, growth spurt and talking development spurt rolled into one. I am knackered. DD just wants me and although we have been co- sleeping, she just latches on and off all night and now I have a cracked nipple due to a change in her latch.
I am dreading the holiday. There will be no offers of help and no sympathy, just 'looks' whenever I will be up at 4am with her and breastfeeding her and as she has a tantrum because she is tired and wants picking up.