Misery loves company: riding the mo fo out into Part II

[ElphabaTheGreen]

In our last exciting instalments:

Needles was at breaking point with a screaming 10 mo DD

Hear had experienced the magic of ONE unbroken night!

Dreaming was continuing to confound all with her ability to manage three children on four or five minutes a night, thanks to DT the Terrible.

Stitch was still having her sleep eaten by...erm...Stitch.

Poppy was pondering how the actual fark she was going to manage a newborn on top of BabyAmex's night time shenanigans.

And the desperate Elphaba had turned night duties entirely over to DH with mastitic results.

Join us with your stories of misery and woe in this, the most sleep-deprived corner of MN!

Oh and very exciting with the potty wees hear ! wouldn't that be an ace side effect of chicken pox!

your dd2 sounds just lovely Charlie and just like a normal baby so far with regards to sleeping. :)

Oh my god Dreaming, I nearly spat my tea all over the computer reading that! Can't you LTB - just for a couple of days? Let him have a real taste of your life and you go and have a lovely rest somewhere?!

Having said that, I still haven't managed a night away even from DD1! Leaving OH to look after both of them tomorrow morning for a few hours and am a bit scared about that - will he remember to feed them both?! I think he's already being a bit ambitious planning to cut the grass while I am out...

Definite LTB, Dreaming. Is he still reluctant to cough up the money for Ann after that?

I crushed poor DS's fingers in the hinge of a door I was closing this evening If he's still avoiding using that hand tomorrow I might take him to A&E more to assuage my guilty conscience than any belief that there's anything they'll do about it.

Dragons dreaming! Only big fiery dragons could exact a suitable revenge for such talk... That or a withering look of scorn...

I'm sure your ds will be fine elph. I understand toddlers have evolved since the invention of doors to have fingers that spring back into shape after being shut in hinges. It's just one of those inevitable things in life.

So, question of the day: on the scale of dubious parenting just how unethical is it, exactly, to continue giving your child piritone when they don't really need it. Just asking... no reason you understand...

Big argument. Most unpleasant. Hopefully cleared the air now

hear I have twice given dt the t piriton so my mum will agree to babysit. Ahem.

My dh doesn't manage well at all with all 3 of ours chsrlie but claims he does

Oh and no elph full agreement for coughing up for Ann now. Sorry to hear about your ds' s fingers. I opened a door and dd was stood right behind it and scrunched it over her toes yesterday. She seems ok today...

May have let Piriton pass by DS's lips on two consecutive evenings of desperation when he was around 14 months old. Allergies, don't you know? Didn't fucking work.

Morning girls:)

Still lurking but as usual no time to post... I've finished work yesterday so that's me on the holiday ( ha,ha)until ML kicks in- so should have more time.going to the tropics soon- have to plant the greenhouse when i'm still fitting through the door!

Hugs to you all x

Congrats on finishing work BaldHedgehog - not that we ever quite manage to do that do we!

Hope everyone had good bank holiday weekends and got some sleep! DD1 now has another random spotty illness and a temperature so has spent most of the weekend in front of the TV as that seems to be the only way to stop her howling on the floor (she won't be cuddled or comforted). Thank god for cbeebies!

Thankfully her sleep doesn't seem to have gone too haywire, she is still getting better at settling by herself again and although she has been up most nights, its usually only been once. This morning was pretty horrible with a 5.15 wake up for calpol then unfortunately DD2 woke up just as I was trying to get DD1 to go back to sleep. So all ended up in our bed and wide awake until OH left for work at 7 then both DDs dozed off again - a couple of hours for DD2 (so jealous!) and about another 45 minutes for DD1 before she decided it was time to get up and throw breakfast on the floor…

DD2 seems to have gone back to a three or four wake-up night - four month growth spurt maybe? Although she did go back off once last night with a little patting.

Maybe one day I'll get to complete a whole sleep cycle?! There has been very few of those for the last two and bit years…

Dreaming how are things going at your Mum's? Does your DH still have all his limbs?! OH managed to survive a whole Saturday morning (well, 3.5 hours) without me - and so did the children! Think I need to do that more often, was so blissful to have a bit of relaxation time.

Hello!
DH has survived this time. more because I can't face being a single parent than any other good reason buy hey ho We went on up to Scotland for 4 nights. So far we have survived one night. Highlights included dd falling out of bed at 2 am, both dts up howling at 11 while DH and I growled at each other about who was stuck with who and me claiming a poltergeist had got me in the night before realising the gouges on my back were from DT the Terrible's nails... We are staying in a farm house though. Two kune kune pigs live at the bottom of the garden. The children are going to go and help bottle feed 23 lambs tomorrow morning (ha! I say that like they're going without me- fat chance of that). Needless to say they're having a whale of a time. I'm tired

Been meaning to ask you elph, have your ds' s tantrums decreased since Ann the Miraculous? My Terrible one's are much better since we've gone down the all things fluffy route courtesy of the gentle parenting books I bought but not still without significant effort

bald, hurrah! Holiday my arse though. Looking after a toddler while being very heavily pregnant (I was full term size from.31 weeks with the twins) was no holiday. Fact. Good luck with the greenhouse.

Charlie yeah, reckon you could be in for. A. sleep regression Still very normal though. My dd was absolutely dreadful then all of and sudden started sleeping through from 12 weeks. From up 2 hourly to all night within 2 weeks. This is a story of optimism. Hardly like I can brag about my dc sleep overall is it?! I remember having a little cry at 4 am regularly having realised I'd not been to bed for more than an hour and it wasn't going to happen from then. I found nearly 19 months between and toddler and the Incredible Non Sleeping Twins brutal. I don't envy your friend!!

Anyway. DT the T is now asleep so best head off to -drink all the wine-- see the DH.

Dreaming I think DS's tantrums are diminishing but it could be because he's getting better at expressing himself (and I'm getting better at understanding him) so he's not reduced to frustrated prostrate rage so often, rather than it being a by-product of Ann's spells and hexes. For example: 'Side, mummy, nee-naa, side peas? Nanna?' equates to, 'Mother, could you please take my ride-on fire engine outside for me. After which, could we pop over and visit Nanna?' It's got to be infuriating not being able to impart those complex themes.

Bald I'm not finishing until 20 June. Counting. Down. The. Days. I am so jeffing tired. And having to hump a toddler when you've got a bump and PGP? What is with that? Surely there's a design flaw there somewhere. You'd think the toddler could at least become increasingly put off by being picked up by mummy in direct proportion to the growth of said bump, but no. Demands for a 'cuggle' continue thick and fast (half the time meaning, 'pick us up and giz a nosey at what you're doing')

dreaming your post at the top of the page about DH being tired reminded me of the conversation with DH a few months ago.He took DS to bed about 4 am because he was squawking (not recognising that it was a) too early b) DS was sleepsquawking)and the little darling failed to settle in the bed bashing around,wriggling,kicking and so on.DH obviously couldn't sleep any more so he came back from work in the afternoon nearly collapsing with exhaustion in his words and complained about being knackered because he "only" managed to sleep for 5-6 hours(uninterrupted).

I'm afraid I didn't have much compassion when I pointed out that being pg and finishing my nightshift at 7am I had "only" so much sleep in the last 24 hours as DS napped the day before-2 hours at most.Have I ever complained about being tired?The fuck I did!

Whereabouts are you staying in Scotland?If somewhere near Inverness we could meet up for a cuppa somewhere :)The good thing is,the air is much cleaner here so if you have a chance let the twins run mok outside as long as you can,works for DS as he drops off to sleep very quickly after a day outside.

Poltergeist the Terrible!

Argues are always unpleasant (i hate them) but are needed when simple talking is not enough.

Elph ouch ouch for the fingers!Your poor DS! Have a look at his hand,if it's not black and blue or swollen it should be ok.Take him to the GP just for a peace of mind. As for picking up the toddler-everytime DS puts his hands up to pick him up I lower myself to him and he just walks away-he just want to nose around from height what's on the worktop and wants it!At least he's not jumping on your back!

Hat off to you and your DS-I'm in awe of both.Your DS for talking so much and you for being able to understand him.

Sorry that you're not finishing till 20th of June-how many weeks will you be then?I've finished work with DS when I was 34 weeks and now 33 weeks.Thank goodness for that as 12 hrs shifts and another 2 of commuting was getting too much for me.It seems to me more chocolates I eat the more energy and bigger arse I have.Still going for a nap with DS in the afternoon to recharge my batteries.

As for the bad mother award-today i managed to bounce the small rubber (and heavy) ball towards DS only to hit him directly in the middle of his forehead.

Hear how's your DD?Has the chicken pox gone?Hope she didn't have too many spots.

Hello charlied :)
I'm not sure whether we met before anywhere on MN (excuse my baby brain),how old is your DD1?That's what I'm dreading in the night-DH and me wide awake with 2 monkeys in our bed.

Right ladies that's the end of pleasantries,let's get on with the business

I need some tips how to turf DS out of the cot and our room by the end of June-I will need his cot although baby will be in the moses basket for a while I'd like to avoid the baby waking up DS and DH.He is just not interested in going to his room nevermind sleeping in his fancy bed(full adult single so no cramping as in his cot).Any tips are welcome as I have no idea.

Never managed to do anything in the greenhouse-went inside only to be shut in by DS.Little devil shut the door behind me and was grinning at me from the other side.Definitely going to sort it till the end of the week.

Not too bad day,managed to clean the kitchen,hang the washing and take it inside before the rain started and cleaned the henhouse from all the chicken shit manure.Did I mention we've got chickens last month?

Will be coming back to this thread sometimes as I just got attached to you.It's so nice to offload to somebody who understands and gives you a pat on the backside plus you make me laugh :)

The first postnatal thread I was on has died.Managed to get hold of one lovely girl recently and ask her some questions.I really would like to stay in touch with her but don't want to be too pushy and needy.

The antenatal thread I joined a few months ago is a complete opposite-so much talking going on that I struggled to keep up.Seems like most of the conversations are on the fb group which I don't belong to.I haven't got a lot of time to spend on the internet with so many things still to be done…

Off to the kitchen girls,take care x

No where near bald we are on a farm in New Galloway as it only 2 hours from home. that's my endurance limit with 3 dc in car :) It's great though. Barring the sleeping, which was better last night. DT the Not So Angelic is so bloody hard when he wakes up. Screams his curly ginger head off. For dh now to be even more irritating as he screams even louder when I get him plus he's unsettle-able without a bottle. Wonder if it's extra to get both twins Ann-ed. I'll be paying it if so .

my boys chat like that elph . The trouble is, as you can imagine, one boy wants to go outside and dig. One wants to stay inside and play trains. DD wants to go out on her balance bike. So that hasn't helped so much. Listening to what they want and trying to arrange to do it all to some degree does help, kind of . But the snatching, throwing and sibling violence continues apace.

Lambs fed. Children fed. Kune Kune pigs fed. Scuttle bug fought over ridden. How is it barely nap time?!

Oh and bald we have just done dt the not so angelic a Finding Nemo bedroom- so whale duvet (John lewis special) finding nemo wall stickers (£3 from eBay) and a finding nemo soft toy Nemo (£6 eBay) and he was so delighted with his new room it's helped a lot. Could he choose a special duvet or wall stickers? make his room special? do it elph-style and play in there a lot more with him?

Also, mine want lugging round constantly. Bending down does not dissuade them at all, either of them!!!! To carry both any distance now I have to out one in sling on my back but short distance I can still lug 23kg of toddlers

Hello Bald! Glad you are struggling on still. I am always available to pat anyone on the behind whenever required :o

Dreaming I am rather jealous of your animal holiday. I would love to feed some lambs. Dd wouldn't get a look in.

Charlied just the memory of 4 month sleep regression in enough to bring me out in a cold sweat. DD went through a phase of waking every 30 minutes...sob...I think it almost killed me.

DD is officially over the pox and back at nursery. Also off the piriton, sadly. Bedtimes are now complete horror again but I am remaining hopeful that they will magically get better again once she settles down from the illness. We were sooooo close damn it!

DD is an amazing talker, which does really help with stopping tantrums and has made her being ill so much easier as she could tell us where it was sore and what she wanted. The problem is when she demands unreasonable or impossible things ('I want a dragon mummy! A dragon!') or gets all tired and tetchy and completely contradicts herself ('Whole slice of bread. No! cut it in half! No! No! Mummy don't cut it in half! Mummy cut it in half! Waaaahhhh') or when she starts trying to tell me what I don't want to do ('No! Mummy doesn't want to eat dinner!'). She is hilarious though so all is forgiven :)

Tonight dd informed me that she couldn't stay in bed because there was a great big crocodile in it. I have her to marks for inventive excuse making :o

Top marks, damn it!

That's hilarious hear! Smart cookie your dd

Animal heaven here. you'd love it I do

dt2 refusing to go to bed til after 9pm though. I flipping hate bedtime. It is the time of day I struggle to stay calm and patient and not snap shout at the children. consistently. I always regret how its gone. I will be begging Ann as soon as we're home :)

Dreaming I cannot begin to tell you how blissful an easy bedtime is that I can share with DH. Full sleep-throughs are still very much the exception rather than the rule with DS, but we're still only talking one brief wake up per night with easy re-settling, maybe easily convincing him to stay quietly in bed for an extra 10 minutes in the morning if his GroClock hasn't quite changed, then up for the day just before 6am. Many might still consider that 'bad'. I think it's a fecking miracle. Bedtime night before last involved a few books, then him climbing into his bed happily and asking to be covered. I turned out the light and walked out while he sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to himself for a while (version recognisable as such to immediate family only ), had a bit of a chat to his stuffed dog then drifted off, all while I was quietly folding laundry in a different room.

Still a cranky clingy little bugger when he gets up for the day, though. Needs to hang off me like a monkey while I make breakfast, or wails piteously if I put him on the floor. The bigger I get, the more he's being left to wail as I'm rapidly losing hips to hitch him on.

That's good about the demise of the pox Hear. Has she got any scars? DS only has one on his back that I'm sure will eventually disappear. One of the advantages to having it so young, I think. Less inclined/able to scratch and pick. I'm pretty sure if DS was as verbal as your DD, he'd come out with equally logical demands that toast be cut in half then magically re-joined.

Re: DS's finger Bald I did take him to A&E very first thing on Sunday (it happened on the Friday evening) as it still seemed to be bothering him and was looking a bit bruised and swollen. They x-rayed it and said it was fine, but then I had a letter through last night saying a radiologist has reviewed the scan and I need to bring him into clinic. I guess bad mother broke her baby's finger Can't imagine what on earth they'd do now, though, a week after the event. Buddy taping pisses him off and I would have thought it's shutting the gate after the horse has bolted Hopefully I can get an appointment for this afternoon to sort it...

Morning ladies, hope you are all well and have had some sleep, of some sort!

Elphaba and Bald, its really no fun being heavily pg with a toddler in tow, I remember only too well! I think the only upside is that it prepares you for having a toddler and baby - at least you have your own body back as you attempt to do everything with one hand whilst holding baby with the other - I am now proficient at lifting DD in and out of her highchair, bath and cot all with one arm! I do try and avoid carrying them both down the stairs though (much to DD's disgust) as I have visions of a big heap on the floor, probably with poor DD2 at the bottom!

Poor DS, Elphaba, I hope he is OK.

I had a "fun" night with DD2 up from 1.30 - 3.30 with wind - very satisfying to finally get a huge burp though! Then DD1 woke up at 4 am. And that was that for the night. Spent an hour going in and out of her room trying to convince her to go back to sleep. At 5 OH went and fetched her into our bed where she proceeded to have a lovely time jumping on my head for the next hour or so (I was firmly in denial that it was morning). Then spent the next hour lulling me into a false sense of security by pretending to go to sleep for ten minutes and then bouncing up again just as I started to hope she might really mean it this time!

I honestly don't know what I can do about DD1's night waking, I try and make minimal fuss, just go in and check and leave again and repeat as necessary. She doesn't do it all the time so I don't think it is a behavioural thing.

Am not in best mood today, funnily enough. Only cbeebies and large quantities of chocolate keeping me sane at the moment. If I wasn't breastfeeding I'd probably be on the gin by now…

Bald, I'm new to Mumsnet so we wouldn't have met before - my NCT group all used to email each other in the night when we were up so you would always wake up to an email which was nice. But then I was the last person still getting up at night… Gutted I didn't find you all a lot earlier as its been very tough living with a non-sleeper (especially as OH thinks it is all my fault for not doing CIO at six months). DD1 is 2.2 years and DD2 is just four months.

I know what you mean about blissful bedtimes Elphaba, we had a few months of DD1 going to bed perfectly, for anyone. It was such a relief when you're knackered at the end of the day to know that you haven't then got a massive battle on your hands - and even meant having a bit of a normal life again as we could have a babysitter (MiL mostly) and actually leave the house after dark!! She is getting a bit better after her massive sleep regression but put up a fight again last night and didn't go off until nearly 9pm (probably partly why she woke early, she always has a bad night after a bad start IYSWIM).

Just peeked at DD1 - she has fallen asleep on the sofa in front of cbeebies - she's never done that before! That means, for now, I have the holy grail - both DDs asleep at the same time! Hurrah!!

Elph my dt1 is cranky sometimes, mu have more frequently than the others. I sit all 3 on the work surfaces, pretend I'm not worried about them falling off and get on with making breakfast. They help. butter, honey and cereal everywhere. :) More rods for my own back I'm not recommending this ridiculous technique, just sharing.

Dh does help at bedtime. Both boys wind me up by basically requesting, vociferously, whichever parent isn't seeing to them. We swap. They demand the other one. We count to 10. etc etc etc.

dt2 slept through last night, as did dd, hooray! Dt1 was possibly less wriggly than usual. up 5:50. Sony don't know why I feel as bad as I do. hopeless! maybe my Dh is right and I should put to bed any thoughts of #4, ever. I'd need a new husband anyway as he insists he's not having another

Charlie I've plenty of friends with non sleepers. Some have tried every method. so I know I'm not alone but it's still horrible. They sleep or they don't. I'm positive of it

Oh and elph, I sat dd on the bump instead of on a hip when I got vast. Don't know if that's worth a try? Not particularly comfortable for long times but to get on with something quickly it worked.

Oh. Joy. He's just thrown up copiously. I'm going to be optimistic that it's because he was a greedy piggy at dinner and not the start of a vomiting bug...no, no...never that...

Please can I join as I crawl on my knees for wine

1st time mum with 15wks old pfb.

Until his jabs at 8 weeks he went down at 8:15, slept till 1:30/2:30, fed then slept till 5:30, fed then woke when dh got up.

He'd have at least two long naps a day and life looked almost good. He also self settled and went down straight after his feeds.

AND THEN all hell let loose, he was poorly after the jabs and since he hasn't had long naps in the day unless I curl up with him. He was going 4hrs at the beginning of the night but then every 2 but now that has stopped.

I am on my knees. He is ebf but I am loosing faith. He has gone up three centimes in 4 weeks and clearly hungry but my god!!

HEEELP