New SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK thread - are we still here?

[PavlovtheCatthatgottheCremeEgg]

Another thread. My didn't we get full quickly! night sleeping good. Naps...not even 5 mins so far today...

yeah, and how the heck do you feed them up in the day so as they need anything at night? dd would be eating ALL day, shes already doing little and often. does everyone else make milk the last thing before bed or have you introduced supper?

tibsy ds has supper and bottle before bed and he's still hungry. would think it's a bad habit/crutch if he was hard to settle or wanted in with us but as soon as he's drunk his milk he settles himself back to sleep in his cot in less than 5 mins (his cot is beside our bed though so he can see me)

hi tam, dd eating quite well now at lunch and dinner time, but i still worry whether she's getting enough milk so havent introduced supper wish i'd have tried to hold her out at 1am this a.m cos i dont think she was actually hungry or thirsty, but when i'm tired, i just do it automatically dd quite good at settling too (fingers x'd it continues!!) may try to offer her dinner a little later tonight?...
what will ds have for supper usually?

Slightly better night las night, took ages to get him to sleep then he woke crying 45 mins later, but then slept 8-12 (didn;t even wake when we came to bed at 10), then woke 3, 5, properly awake 6:30 (when I got up for work). We're getting there...

He also sat up properly (i.e. not supported by arms) for the first time yesterday which could explain it.

Pav: tried the gel - it's great but he still wakes up!

Ginger: sorry you're having bad night too. Hope things settle down soon. I always take comfort from one longer stretch at night as it means he can theoretically do it.

tibsy he usually has an organic mini pancake/slice of toast with aduka honey (i'm ridiculous i know!

my ds has dinner around 5pm with water, i give him my breast when i'm back from work around 6.30 - 7pm and he has 8oz formula around 8.30pm before bed so he is well tankedd up!!

ami - whoat time does your ds go to bed?

tam, not at all! i feel guilty that poor ds didnt get half the good stuff that dd is getting now, organic and boob.
well dd has just had chicken, sweet potato, butternut squash, carrot and parsnip puree with baby pasta made by my own fair hand this a.m. (not the pasta mind you, i'm not THAT good!)
she then had pieces of avocado, cucumber and a bit of cous cous to play with (not advisable!!) she swiped a pear out of the fruit bowl too and attacked that!!! not huge quantities of 'whole' food, but shes enjoying the exploring.
think i might try that again tonight for dinner/tea and maybe try a pud too. see how we go

my ds is so distracted during the day, he only snacks, so i'm sure he needs to eat a lot in the quiet of the night. i can't even fool him in the day by drawing the curtains, his eyes are still more interested in the world than focussing on the boob.

Tibsy, I haven't introduced supper because there aren't enough hours in the day!! I'm struggling to get her to eat three meals as it is. She's OK at breakfast and today actually ate a fair bit of lunch but doesn't eat a lot of dinner and I do keep coming back to it but she gets so tired. I give it to her any time between 4.30 and 5.30 and she's in bed for 7 ish so not sure when I'd get to shovel more in.

Aimie, that sounds a lot more than my lo is taking. she generally has milk after her last nap, tea about an hour later and then milk before bed. If I express she gets 4 ounces, that's because she'll not take any more than that (and it's like amber nectar it's such a faff to do so I don't want to waste any!) Maybe that's where I'm going wrong. My mum thinks I should be ramming more food in but honestly, short of force feeding her I don't know what to do, she won't take any more. I've only just got her to take a spoon so finally I feel like she's eating something. Normally I prepare nothing short of a banquet for my lo. We have been having a savoury and sweet mush. (Today spag bol and stewed apple) and some finger foods so mini corn on the cob, pitta bread, pear. Basically I prepare loads of stuff in the vain hope that she'll eat something. It's getting better.

Anyway, tonight she's gone to sleep and not a whisper. (Well, she always wakes 30-45 minutes after first going down but resettles quickly) we went swimming for the first time today so hopefully that's tired her out. We are doing the birthlight swimming where they submerge them, anyone done that? She wasn't concerned but it's against all your instincts to push your baby under water so I'm having flashbacks of her little paniced face. urgh.

Well, I'm going to go to bed early myself this evening. So night night all

ginger - I have heard on mumsnet lots this last few months...food is for fun until they are one!

Ie, as long as they get milk, food is not so important, so you dont need to worry about her eating 4 meals a day if she is not bothered.

Working today, DP looked after DD, she slept for about 1.5 hours with him, and took 6oz of milk in total today from a bottle .

Gone straight to sleep this evening, lets see what happens.

Last night, she slept from 7:345pm - 11:30pm, woke at some point in the night...2 ish, DP came to bed late, so after that, but I did not go to her and she settled, then woke at 6:30am, played with her toys without crying whilst I got ready for work, then I went in to get her at 7:00am and she was up! Not bad at all really!
Food - she has in the last 2 weeks turned into a dustbin. If she continues eating like this, she will not be small much longer

I know Pav, I really should relax but I keep getting comments from unhelpful mother and MIL that she doesn't sleep because she's hungry ie I should stop this nonsense of BF her and get her onto proper milk (formula) and stuff her full of proper food (the stuff in jars or stuff covered in gravy and deep fried in lard) They're a bit old school!

ginger in my experience and from what other mums on mn have said it would seem that food makes very little difference to their sleep! I thought it would too but it never did. now that he's getting older i think he's more settled if he's had 3 nutritious meals in the day but I agree with pav on the food is for fun until they are 1 mantra! far too many people over feed babies/children these days hence the rise in obesity.
You are doing the best job in the world bf your lo and you should be proud (not in a nazi way though...if you're ready to stop then you should be supported too)

LOL Ginger they sound like DP!!!

Tamdin same here. My sister still insists that DD is sleeping better due to food, however, the sleeping got better before DDs appetite picked up! Her being weaned made not a single bit of difference to her sleeping. I thinks its more to do with teething, which coincides with more food being eaten. Both eating and sleeping patterns seem to be linked with teething, so perhaps thats where the old wives tale comes from, being mis-linked

ginger- it makes me so when my mum banged on about bf/ff. she has no idea that bf is sooo very good for them. when ds was sleeping so badly she always asked ,tentatively, if i was sure he wasn't hungry. it makes my blood boil! I painstakingly explain every time that the reason he wakes for boob is that he is unable to fall asleep without it - not becuase he is hungry for milk. Tell them to take a hike. well meaning advice i'm sure but soooooo annoying - to me it is a red rag to a bull type comment! she still says "so when you gonna stop that breast feeding business then?" Mkaes me feel like a freak ffs!!!!!
Rant over . Enjoy your rest.

oh yeah, and i agree with you Pav, ds being weaned made sfa difference to his sleeping habits. that is not why i weaned at 20 weeks - it was because he wanted to try food and he loved it from teh word go! so tell them to ...grrr... I won't say it but you have my unmitigated support for bf. it is the best if you can do it

Cruise - yes I can see that being like wanting to just shake em! My sister was the same, my mum was surpsingly supportive, although they were both very very keen for me to start weaning at like 12 weeks, or before. 'your dad fed you chocolate when you were two weeks, did not do you any harm'!!!

My sister weaned her DS, now 4, when he was 13 weeks I think, he had cows milk intolerance, and excma (sp sorry), and although ok with cows milk now, still gets quite bad ecxma. She does not see the link. It might not be due to the early weaning, but she just will not ever really know, there is not history of it that she knows of, in ours or her DHs family. What is the rush to get them eating loads of food if they are not ready?!

thanks Tam. Never thought I'd turn into such a neurotic. I'm convinced that if I wasn't so sleep deprived I'd be more relaxed about stuff. Anyway, I'm definately off to bed. Night night

pav think you could be right on the teething/eating wrongly linked idea.
anyway off to bed for an early night. ds been asleep since 7.30 (hasn't even changed position!)so hopefully he'll stay that way
night cruise and pav and all SIFTW sisters

Pav, Cruise, crossed posts. Thanks to you for your words too. It does help. I start to question myself tho which gets me all in a tiz. My mum actually bought my DD an easter egg and expected me to give her some now I don't think that's just me being a paranoid first time mum. She is 7 months ffs, there isn't any need.!!!

night ginger

ginger - 7 months? Easter Eggs? FFS!!! Mind you, my hv recommended Wotsits and chips as weaning foods . no wonder obesity is on the rise . I hope you ate the egg yourself.
have a nice rest....

oh dear. My DD had some easter egg
It was not hers tho, and it was today. DP bought me one for 89p in sainsbury's, it was loverly dark chocolate, and she ate the tiniest bit. Bad mummy or what?!
Oh, and DP bought her an ice cream yesterday [shock and more . Broke off the bottom, scooped it with ice cream and gave it to her! She lurved it, and made her wonderful 'huh huh huh' noise with a big grin and with arms grabbing for it!!!! She got upset when it went! Of course she did!
she is 9 months old tho .

However, she was not bought any and I would have been absolutely horrified and indignant if anyone other than me and DP had suggested we do it...