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....

have had one period since starting weaning, so wonder if it might be that again. am also really craving choccie too and feeling a bit weepy so think thats probably what it is.

periods??what are they? wondering when mine will come back....

maebee mine didn't come back until i was down to 2 b/feeds a day but thank your lucky stars yours haven't. you forget what a pain they are (excuse the pun)

god, I had two periods within 3 weeks this last 2 months, first time. Horrid. I asked DP for another baby so I could stop them again! LOL luckily he realised I was not serious!

I'm loving the lack of periods. I wonder how long I can BF for and keep them away.

Aren't LOs just the cutest when the are sleeping peacefully! Yes, that's right, mine is taking a nap. On his own. Not in my sling. I can't believe it. Oh how the times are changing (for the better)! He's been there for 1/2 an hour, how wonderful.

We had another okay night last night. Tuesday night was rough, but then last night, he went to bed at 8, woke at 12, 2.30, 4.30 and 6.30. DP managed to get him back for another 1/2 hour at some point while i slept in the other room until 8.30. so i felt a little tired this morning, but nothing too bad.

i just tried to have a sleep while LO was napping too, but i was just lying there, i decided i wasn't tired enough. that is a world first. not tired enough to nap. as if!!

hope the sleeping continues well for all of you.

ginger, i have the kari me sling. it is great, and it always gets loads of comments. it is as comfy as a sling gets for me, and definitely comfy for LO as he always falls asleep in it within a few minutes, even if he sometimes complains when i first put him in it. it has been an absolute lifesaver for me, as LO has never really napped on his own, so i've had to carry him a lot of the day. and also its great when they are in a cranky mood, a walk around the block in the sling pretty much calms him down and puts him to sleep every time.

Ginger: where abouts are you? I've a friend who has a sling shop in London where you could try out some different types. I have the Didymos - it's expensive (well, I thought it was) and does take a bit of practice to tie, but v v versatile and made of really good quality material. You can use it to carry your LO on the front, hip or back and it can also be used as a hammock. It comes with a dvd as well as an instruction book. DH took DS out in it today and it is apparantly a huge babe magnet .

Maebee: that sounds like a great night. I'm still trying PU/PD in the hope that it will bear similar results. It does seem to be helping already.

My periods came back at 4 months despite the constant bfing . I was NOT impressed.

evening all! Ginger/maebee - the night weaning is hanging over me like an albatross! I really keep intending to wean ds from boob but he loves it so much and it is so easy. Today, I locked myself out of my house and car (left keys inside) and had ot go to my neighbours till my dh could rescue me (he works 1.5hrs drive away). i was so glad that I stilll bf as it kept ds full until I could get in! I do make serious attempts at ff but then he leans his head back, ferrets around at my jumper grabbing at me and I just cave in. I do think it is the way forward thouhg. Esp since bedtimes are always my domain. More later, gotta finish dd's easter bonnet!

ginger - i got given a wilkinet, which was fine for us. i would say try out slings belonging to friends until you get an idea which one suits you best.

cruise - i dont reckon its time for you to give up bf,and its best for them if you do it for about a year....but maybe you can join me in giving up the night feeds? those evening/going to bed ones are my favourites though, totally blissed out baby, time to daydream, not going to stop them in a hurry!

hope you all have a good night.

I really love breastfeeding. I had such a hard time establishing it in the beginning, but now it's a complete wonder. Could do with a few less feeds in the night sometimes though!

Anyway, we had a fab day. LO slept for 1.5 hours in his cot today for a nap, and he also drifted off on his own on the couch after a feed with me just sitting next to him. Amazing. I put him into bed at 7.45 after a feed. I swaddled him. And i just went out of the room, he was quite relaxed. And when i came back he was asleep. I so hope this is not some freak day never to be repeated. I hope it is the same tomorrow.

In a weird way, I'm not sure I'll know what to do with myself if he starts sleeping properly and taking naps etc. I'm so used to being exhausted, and not functioning well, I think if I actually get some sleep, and a bit of time in the day while he naps, i will have so much time to enjoy things more.
anyway ... its all relative isn't it.

I shouldn't count my chickens, but we sure did have a good day.

That's great, Amber

Swiz, I'd love to know where the shop is. I'm in Chelmsford so only a short train ride away. I tried a friends kari me and it was definately more comfy than my baby bjorn but it had so much material I kept getting in a complete knot!

The last couple of days I've been feeling a bit like I've had enough of breastfeeding. I've done 6.5 months. I'd intended to keep going either until she weaned herself or when I go back to work but now I'm thinking of introducing one formula feed a day. In many ways I don't want to, I struggled for 2 months in the begining in agony, I've had mastitis and an unsupportive mother who tells me that my milk is poor quality which is why DD doesn't sleep so I saw it as a challenge to get to 6 months then as 6 months approached I thought, yeah I can do this lets keep going but because DD has been really clingy and whingy and feeding lots the last couple of days I've felt suffocated and just feel like I need a break. DH gave her some expressed milk earlier and she went to bed no problem not a peep so maybe my mum was right after all. Anyway, I'm toying with the idea of expressing a couple of times a day rather than formula (that way I can continue to eat chocolate and not excersise!) however, that's time consumming so not sure, have to give it some more thought. It's very emotive isn't it? I never thought I'd feel so good / bad / guilty about it.

I'm hoping the lambskin I've ordered will be here tomorrow and my DD will sleep like an angel over the weekend!

Cruise, My DD is doing the tearing at my top /bra thing pushing back and trying to feed through my top. Have to say, I was getting a bit annoyed about it earlier because I'm trying to space her milk feeds a bit better so that she develops more than a 10 second interest in solids which I have lovingly prepared. That and pulling my hair, scratching me I felt like I needed some space. Mean I know because she's only a baby but I get fed up with being mauled.

Anyway, feeling so much better about things because she's gone down so well tonight and I got a chance to potter about in the kitchen in peace.

Sleep tight everyone.
Sorry my posts are always so long, I haven't spoken to anyone except DH today so I haven't used my words quota

morning all. bad night here. ds went to bed 6.30 (very tired) and was up at...
7.30
8.45
11.00
1.30(milk)
4.30
6.00 (for the day)

Now how can this be the same boy that for nearly 3 weeks was going to bed at 7 and getting up once about 2ish for milk.
DH is going with the growth spurt/hunger option but i just don't know anymore.
anyway hope you all ahd some sleep.
ginger expressing sounds like it could be a good option for you. think i've said before on here but a friend did it and got into quite a routine with it and it meant she could let anyone else feed dd.
Your milk is plenty enough for dd but at same time you've done exceptionally well to get this far so if it's making you unhappy now then you have to do what feels right.
catch you all later x

amber - great news!
tamdin -

i had trouble breastfeeding in the beginning too, it was so unbelieveably painful and took me 6 weeks before we got the hang of it, so im happy to carry on as kind of feel we only just got started!

anyway, hate to tell you all, but another good night for us. he woke at 10 for a feed, then woke at 1 but there i was outside his door and he didnt need me to come in, he didnt cry, just grumbled a bit, and then didnt wake til 4. twas his daddy's shift but i went in and fed him and he went straight to sleep. up by 6.30, but he went to bed about then so not bad at all!
now hes watching me type and wondering when im going to put him down for his nap!!!

amber, that is fab news
mae its going really well, am really pleased. maybe i should have a bit more staying power, would like to join you on the night weaning, will try harder with that i promise!
tam it'll come back
inthehouse sounds like my night
dd seemed to want to feed a lot. i did have an evening tho and she slept from 7.15 til 11.15 so that was good. i tried to hold her out as long as i could without feeding her but ended up feeding at about 12 then again several times. dont think it helped cos i didnt wear a pj top last night and so she was next to my skin when she came into bed
ginger/maebee - i found it a real struggle to bf to begin with (ds was ff), and it didnt help that my mum/nan kept insinuating that dd was probably hungry cos my milk wasnt enough (both of them didnt manage to bf) now i've almost got it cracked at 7 mths!! i love it, but i still worry whether shes getting enough. we had a couple of not very wet nappy days and the doubt sets in

mae - do you think it works better if lo isnt in the same room as you? last night, she seemed to be snoring her little head off when i went to check on her earlier in the evening (cos she hadnt woken up ) then as soon as i got into bed (her cot is next to us), she started making wake up noises

rubbish nite here. wtf?!

Shitey night here too. DD was wide awake at 10.15 and was still wide awake at 12.15! she laid next to me on the bed and her arms and legs were flapping about at an alarming rate. After that she was awake every couple of hours . After a rather large nappy this morning I'm thinking she may have had tummy ache.

There's no explanation for it is there however Mae, congrats on your continued success.

Tibsy, I'm not finding her being in her own room helpful, she still wakes as much and I tend to bring her in with me sooner because I can't be bothered to get in and out of bed so much.

Morning All,

Had a really good night one waking at 4;30 was just like the good old days... though not holding my breath...

To compenstate though ds has been really grizzly all morning, we are swimming later so hopefully he will have calmed down by then. Think his gums are giving him trouble - though he has been showing signs of teeth for weeks but nothing except alot of drool.

Tam, Inthe, Ginger & Cruise for your nights... fingers crossed for you tonight.

Tibsy for your evening!

Mae - congrats, must have been great jsut to read something.

Fingers crossed for good nights all around.

feel guilty that not read all posts. feeling mighty peed off at a number of things today. will fil you in later after collected dd from school. they finish at 11.30 so better dash.....

Morning all. I am not in a great mood really. LO would not sleep for nap yesterday afternoon, fell asleep in highchair at 5pm, spent the rest of the evening sucking as she was grumpy/tired/hungry. Was grumpy from about 4pm yesterday until bed. Would not settle at 7:30pm, did not go to sleep until 8:30pm. Then woke at 11pm for BF, would not settle after, took an hour, even with PU/PD. Then woke at 3am and took an hour to settle. Its not the length of time really, it was the crying I found that did my head in.

Anywa, DP spends most of the morning on computer whilse I look after DD, unhtil he goes to work at11:30am. DD goes to sleep, loverly, 20 mins later, DP leaves house, slams front door, underneath the nursery, DD wakes up crying, and now only wants to BF/play with keyboard, play with wires and cries if I try to stop her. Not interested in toys, and is in a crabby mood. Great. Dp out until 7:30pm.

i'm just following pav around..stalk stalk

Cruise will look out for your post later
lemonade but

Tamdi - thanks for your support hun, got your message on both threads! Yeah its been a tough one, but have decided, that, I will play ball, hard ball! I will treat my job as a job. MY DP wil work hard at getting a better paid job then reduce his hours by another day. He will be main carer, I will try to keep full time hours or as close to. In 6 months time, LO can go to nursery another day, DP will use this day to look at developing business idea/we will decide if we are going to move to USA. And this way, whatever we do, we will not get stressed anymore about things we cannot change, but do what we can to change things for the future.
There, I feel better now. LO is playing with the step ladder, having great fun, although still tired. I want another coffee but am trying to cut down, 3 already, but feel better for ranting and moaning. I am just tired, buit run down. It will all work itself out. Life is like that. With a bit of hard work, anything is possible.

tibsy - i think it helps us to have lo in seperate room. its hard to know, cos we started the pupd at the same time as we put him in his own room, but i know he always used to wake up when we came to bed.....i do miss him of course but i think it helps his sleep not to have his dad snoring away! and when he wakees up now he chats and plays rather than just needing our attention straight away. could be his age? and he's into practising crawling so he ends up doing that in the morning.

inthehouse - i think lo's can get hungry after 2 hrs! how old is yours again?? mine still feeds every 2 hrs in the day,and he's definately swallowing so he is hungry! or, with bf babies, it can be thirst if they just want the foremilk. i cant go through the night without water either.