new 'SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK' thread

[tibsy]

hi ladies, the other one ran out of space, so if no one else starts a new thread, here it is....

thanks for your words of encouragement everyone. have to confess I worded my post wrong tho' and it is actually this Sunday not last. we are going to do what we usually do, put flowers on her grave then go for a nice meal in our favourite pub . it's quite nice it's mothers day too. now it's been 5 years I can remember her with fondness and glad she was alive and we knew her for a while rather than the anger of grief...of course having my boys helps a ton. lo looks a lot like her

bampa - good job he was confined to his playpen! how awful! reminds me of the time the same thing happened to ds1 but he was in a BALL POOL at the time - the staff had to take all the balls away to wash them !!!

tibsey - breakfast in bed what a great idea!

gtg help dh bath the kids - brb!

pavlov - my lo will take a bottle but doesn't take much so i end up bf to be sure he gets nutrition/calories etc. Mind you, i took dd to the library tody after school and he had 4 oz in about 5 mins which is a first for him! maybe he is getting the idea... my main prob is that in the middle of hte night i cannot afford to hav him make a racket crying etc. cos of dd (dh can stick it up his bum) but i cannot disturb dd and ds does make a noise when he gets going! scared of doing anything but have to do something. juts want a quiet solutin and NCSS isn't really working here. Ignore me today, i'm jsut frustrated and feeling like i made a hash of things. i'll be better tomorrow!

kiera - so sorry for your loss. must have been absolutely. You are amazing to be able to view it with such positivity now. You deserve your beautiful children and I am sure your dd is watching over them all.
swizzler - your nights sound horrendous.. we have all been there/are there/are going there too so we bear your weight on our collective shoulder . here's wishing us sweet dreams and a happy smiling baby inteh morning

mae - ugh!!! bet its effective tho and dd screams every time i wipe her nose, its getting sore too dont know if i'm brave enough to try it, much as i love her. i must confess to eating her finger nails tho as i dont use scissors on her and used to be a nail biter!!

kate - hope lo gets better soon, its so horrid for them esp. when theyre so tiny

swizzler hope you have a better night tonight. good for you for having a siesta. i do too if i need it

kiera - am glad that you can remember dd in that way now. a colleague lost her firstborn, a son, hours after birth, she has gone on to have another son and 2 daughters. she always includes 1st son in the birth announcements and speaks of him often.
lol at the ball pool. has anyone else noticed how ball pools always smell of wee?!!

pav - glad your nights are consistently improving. too right about the phone!!

and to all of us sleep seeking mums, lets hope its a restful night with plenty of zzzzzzzzzz's

Thanks for the supporting vibes - strangely enough, I think I've got used to waking up now and don't feel too bad. Not sure how I'd react to a full night's sleep .

TBH, I'd feel a bit sad if DS didn't wake at all at night, but one or two wakings would be ideal. I do love cuddling him in the dark and quiet and bringing him to bed with us in the morning (rearrange these words: rod back own making...)

swizzler - know what you mean about night cuddles, once would be nice for me please dd!
god, what WOULD we do on a full nights sleep? we're all doing pretty fantastically on precious little sleep so if we had the full 8 hours, we'd be invincible!!!

tibsy/swizzler - totally agree! if I had a full night I'd probably feel as though I'd be ten rounds with OJ Simpson! It would be lovely though and I am sure I would soon get used to it. Mind you as soon as I am getting decent nights sleep dh will be after some nookie again. Poor man - it'll drop off from lack of use at this rate. Just haven't got time/energy/inclination right now. sending sleepy vibes to us all....

Lori, I'm doing BLW (well, trying to puree but with no success) How are you giving ready brek? My kitchen looks like a bomb site after every meal. I wouldn't mind but DD isn't really eating anything although she munched happily on a baby corn earlier. Very cute.

Kate raise the cot up at the head end a bit too. Helps keep sinuses a bit clearer

Maebee

Cruise, when are the next school holidays? Could your DD stay with your mum for a couple of days so you can try and put a plan into action?

Kate, just speaking for myself but I find it easier to cope on less sleep now than I did during the first two or three months. I'm sure the other hard core sleep depro's will say otherwise

I really wish I'd taken everyones advice about sleep when they (LO) do. In the early days I used to try and do the housework because I was still so anal about it. Nowadays I don't have time for housework and have given up caring (to a point) but I don't get to sleep either because DD only sleeps for 30 mins and they're either on the move or when it's not possible for me to sleep. Of course I realise that now but if I have another I won't get the time to have that luxury. Bugger

cruise, its a hard job, but i could TRY to get used to 8 hours sleep again
lol at poor dh
i have neither the will, means or inclination

ginger - I used to give my lo the spoon full of food, which I then helped him place in his mouth. Unfortunately he is not so keen on that idea so i make the ready brek really thick and dump it on his high chair. He scoops it up in his chubby little hands and shoves it in his mouth - yum! He is not on any dairy products yet so i make it with boiling water and a spoonful of puree. He will even eat puree off his high chair as he throws it around if i offer the spoon.

Kate - the doctor gave us nasal drops when our lo had a cold. He hated them but they help clear out the passages. You can buy snot suckers if you can't bear doing it yourself - like most sane people

In a way i don't mind how often my lo wakes up (other than hourly which is a killer) as long as he goes straight back to sleep - spoke to soon now he's awake

I think he heard me - another night of hourly wake ups from 1:30 - did sleep 10 - 1:30 after his bottle though. Lori, I agree that the hourly wakings are the worst . Think he might be getting a bit hot now the weather's warmer - might try a lighter blanket or a sheet for swaddling.

Hope everyone else had a better night than me!

well my success was short lived with wakings at 10.30, 12, 3 3.45 feed (long one) 4.45 nappy change, awake til 5.45 then sleep til 7. I just can't fathom it. Do other peoples children sleep every night all the time? How?

Lori, have you noticed how bannana stains stuff black permanently? Nightmare

swizzler/ginger - at your nights. yuk yuk yuk! it is so hard when there is no rhyme or reason to it. the unpredictability is the pits. my night was pretty good. ds went down at 7:15, grizzled twice after but settled himself . woke at 1am and 4:30am then awake for day at 6:15am which is excellent by recent standards. i just wish it would mean things are getting better but, as we all know, it is not an indicaton .
hope you all manage to catch some rest today.

morning ladies. My night was pretty good. just the usual 2 wakings at 12 and 4 with a few grizzles in between. You definitely get used to less sleep. I stayed with a friend for the night in february and had a big double bed to myself and 8 hours sleep. Woke up feeling awful. Sods law! Have a good day everyone. I'm off out on my 2nd date with new playgroup friend!...evidently i didn't talk too much.

hi all!
lori agree with you re. the hourly wake ups
swizzler/ginger- for your not so good nights
cruise - that was a good night and yes, its a shame that you cant guarantee it as a positive indicator at least he's starting to settle himself

our night was also good compared to the last few.
bed at 6.45pm, called out a few times after but think she was still asleep.
had to resettle her at 9.15 but didnt take her out of cot.
woke at 12 for a feed, tried settling her without, but no deal, her stomach sounded as if it was empty, so she was obviously hungry.
3am feed and came into bed
5am feed
6.15am up for day (although i snoozed in bed with her til 7am)

i cant understand all these feeds. shes eating 3 meals + 2 puds. bf on tap, and snacks occasionally. maybe not enough calorie rich milk?

have also thought about trying to keep her in her cot for longer. am a big advocate of co sleeping and love it, but she seems to be getting rather warm and i've found its irritating her eczema.

do you find that ginger? shes got scratch marks on her forehead. it also bothers her when shes tired and she starts scratching. try to keep her nails as short as poss and keep it well moisturised but

cruise - are you feeding your ds when he's waking? if so, is he feeding much?

re: snot...i suck but i dont swallow! . its actually not so bad. the other disgusting thing i do, is masticate banana for my lo, sieve it through my teeth! my partner steadfastedly refuses to do it, but i think its better for him if its got my spit all mixed up and its easier than pureering it.

had a goodish night, just 2 wakings, hurrah!

am currently trying to get my ds down to sleep for naps in his cot, rather than buggy on the move or in bed with me. its a taster of how his nights are going to start being. so far, he thinks its an amazingly funny game, and just starts giggling when i put him down. my partner is currently trying tho, and i can hear him wailing upstairs (my baby, not my partner this is!)
its my turn again soon im sure....yep, theres the door opening, must go....
love mae
x

oh my god!!
i put him down in his cot in his own room, granted, it took an hr, but he slept there for 45 mins,,,this is the first time we've got him to go in his cot rather than in bed with me, so its a really good start. part of our slow, soft approach to getting him to sleep in his own room. how was everyone elses night btw??

Morning all and thanks for the welcome x

Had a bad night again last night awake three times and day started at 5:30. I think it would be more managable if ds napped during day well, but he power naps! So run around in between trying to get something done.

What do you think about introducing a dream feed, I have not done it before as he went down from 7pm usually through to 4/ 5 ish? Is it to late to start somehting like that?

ds is also suffering a cold at the moment, poor thing - you are very brave MaeBee, ds gets a tissue and a bit of vaseline to stop it getting too sore!

Hope everyone is enjoying the sun

maebee - fyi there are more germs/bacteria found in your saliva than on a piece of used loo paper. i used to be a dental nurse many many moons ago

I see nothing has changed since my last visit! Why do people persist in telling us that once they are on solids they will sleep better? I don't know anyone this has worked for!
Last night was not too bad as DD woke several times b4 11 then went right through to 5am when she was starving and fed for 30 mins. I felt like I had had a full night and considered getting up - of course I went back to bed then DP got her up at 7.30 and gave me an extra 30 mins in bed.

It is nice to feed and cuddle at night isn't it! I LOL at someone down the thred saying they came too and realised they were BFing at 3 something I went to feed lo a few nights ago at about 2am then woke up again at 4.30 when she decided to have another feed with both of us still cuddled up in the nursing chair, her still firmly attached to my left boob! DP said he woke up and saw I wasn't beside him, thought it was a bit quiet next door then went back to sleep (thanks DP!!!)

Welcome lemonadegirl, sorry you need to join us but it helps to have a good old moan!

Cruise - any improvement at all?

Hi ruth - improvements? hmmmm... taking everything into consideration there probably have been improvements. last night ds went to sleep at boob at 7:15pm grizzled a couple fo times but settled himself and then woke at 1am and 4:30am before starting his day at 6:15ish. This is defo better than some nights i have expereinced but sadly it does not seem to mark the beginning of things to come as he often regressses to 2 hourly wakes up later. So I can't say, with any certainty/confidence that things have improved but they certainly aren't appalling! you are right about the weaning thing. it is bs!

ginger - totally agree with you about the banana- before I realised that it was the worse 'stainer' in the world I managed to ruin some clothes. Luckily now he polishs off the whole banana with hardly any bits lost.

last night was OK - had another 'surprise' at 3am when I realised I was sat up with lo asleep on my lap - sleep deprivation must be really getting to me. Lucky for me ds decided that 5am was time for the morning - chatted to self until 6am when he wanted company. He was having his morning nap by 8am. It is a good job he is such a cutey - a real charmer - even with very little sleep he is not grizzly. I think I would be praying to go back to work otherwise.

Well he is playing with the empty bin in the office so I had better dash.

Sorry for you all who had awful nights, sorry to say my smugness came and bit me on the backside.
My night
7:00pm BF
7:30pm asleep
8:30pm Awake, coughing. BF as not enough at 7pm, so I thought.
10:00pm Awake coughing. PU/PD - asleep 30 mins.
11:30pm. Awake coughing. BF, asleep then awake coughing,
12:00am Asleep, but still coughing. Not happy. She comes into bed with us. After mucho figiting and more figiting, goes to sleep lengthways in bed.
2:00am Awake, ask DP to tell me the time, after he goes to toilet. He says 'I cant I am afraid you got a clock do it yourself' (must emphasis sulky childlike voice here, and I cant find my clock hence asking for time). BF back to sleep after she is awake more as I got out of bed.
5:00am. Awake BF.
6:15am Awake, Jumps on mine and DPs heads for a bit.
6:30am DP gets up.
8:00am - coughs and splutters all her breakfast up, I go running to find DP holding her upside down. All is ok, she just decided to urge up anything put in mouth.
Think she might have sore throat.

Her mood is great though, no fever and likes her finger food as usual.

I like the reddy brek idea - I will try that tomorrow!