Sleep is for the Weak! we got too big?!!??!?!!??

[cruisemum1]

can you believe that?! we got too big?
we should surely get an award from Mumsnet?

amber, sorry, i'm no help with the frequency of feeding myself. just used to (and still do!) bf whenever dd wants it. she refused to take a bottle and will only take it if very very desperate. some days she takes more than others, as indicated by her nappies. she's still not really into brekkie either as too full on boob! but otherwise mealtimes are about same times as ginger. its all trial and error isnt it, with dcs leading the way more often than not

if i let ds eat just when he wanted, he would basically never eat in the daytime. i honestly have to force him, or feed while he's falling asleep. tricky!

hi all been out all day at my mums again. have had lovely day in the sun while she entertained ds. she insists she loves doing it so who am i to argue!
he slept there in his travel cot again too so i'm really pleased. he's never stayed out over night with them but is booked in on 13th july (we've got dh's bf's wedding) so am hoping if he's used to the travel cot by then he'll be easier for them to manage.
also my toddler taming book arrived in the post and i managed to read 3 chapters in the sun today and it turns out ds's behaviour atm is totally normal and from what i can tell he has some good tips/advice about how to still enjoy them and guide them through this stage. You've got all this to come ladies!!

sounds like a nice day tamdin. and yay for your impending night out/night off. hope it goes well. i am just excited as on saturday i'm going out for an hour. without LO. for a coffee. with a friend. very excited!

Evening all. We went to giant Mothercare World to look for a bed rail and ended up buying a bedside cot instead! But at the moment we are trying LO in it with the side up to see if having a bigger sleeping space helps with the wakings any. In any case it is less far for me to bend and pick him up.

He has been asleep since 8 with only a brief stirring at 8.30 (patted back to sleep) so here's hoping for a better night (and for all you sleepy mums too).

we are starti ng tio think cj might have a cot anxiety issue cotemplating buying a bed rail

any suggestions

Booby: we're perservering with the cot, though DS has started screeching every time he's put down during the night even though it seems he's nodded off . Abother bad night. Really have no ideas Tried Medised again but no effect (and he hated taking it I'm hoping it's jjust trhe cold and things will get better once it's gone (he's already less snotty) but starting to worry that this is it for the time being as he's been waking at least 2-hrly for about a month now...

Maybe when the cold is gone I'll try leaving him to self settle (i.e. yell ) and get DH to see to him for some of the night wakings, but I don't think it's possile to try at the moment Am really hoping he'll figure it out himself soon! He does go to sleep in his cot rather than being held (he actually prefers this) but you have to shush him and on occasion rock the cot so he'll go to sleep. His naps are completely up the spout at the moment which isn't helping.

Meg: hope your night was better.

morning all. quite well rested today but that's because ds slept with us from 1am. think i may have created a monster with the co-sleeping! he has always slept with us fro the last part of the morning 4ish onwards but now is waking between 12 and 1 and wanting lifted in. of course at that time of night my resolve is very low and i relent. he still loves his cot for naps and goes down easily in it at the start of the night. Bugger do you think i've given myself some hard work? the annoying part is if we co-sleep we all sleep really well. what to do what to do......

sorry slim x posted. poor you you must be so tired ds's sleep always goes to pot when he has a cold so hopefully your ds will improve soon. It's a shame the medised doesn't work for him as it would help him to get a good sleep and break the cycle. It knock's ds out like a tranquiliser!
does ds sleep for your dh when you're at work?

poor you slim, its so hard.

tam, i'd just go with the co-sleeping if it works for all of you. sometimes i wish it worked for us, but LO thrashes around like a monster and i get even less sleep...

our night was ok, but not as good as recent standards. it seems i can tell how the night will go by thetime of the first waking. if it is before 11, it will be a bad night, between 11 and 12, an ok night, after midnight, an excellent night, somehow it just seems to set the stage for the timing of other wakings. i don't know.

having a lot of trouble with LO refusing to eat (yet seeming hungry) or just really having to be coaxed to the breast. anyway, he's had only a couple of minutes munch since 2am, but has gone for nap anyway, after refusing to feed.
so does this mean i really have to get back to basics? skin to skin, take him in the bath, and all that? or is it just a phase i can wait for him to get over. the fussy eating really has been going on for a long time now.

Tam: his naps are actually worse with DH atm - am going to try and get them soted over the weekend. Think the prob is we're stil tying to get him to nap in the pushchair and all he wants to do is look about! Then by the time he's tired enough to sleep it's time to come home.

Re the sleeping with you, I've decided not to bring him in with s fom now on if I can help it, as we don't sleep any better (well, he does but as soon as I move or turn over he wakes and yells!)

Right, so plan for next week or so is:

all naps in cot but walks in between
put in cot and leave till asleep though patting and shushing
try and cut down on length of night feeds

Wish me luck!

Bed rails: my DH made one and it's really helped us all get a better sleep.

Tam, we co-sleep and I've asked lots of people who have and they said that their lo's grew out of i so I'm clinging to that. If it works for you then do it. I occassionaly have lapses of confidence about it especially when none of my friends practice it but I don't think he'll still be there when he's 16

Slim, medised makes my lo bounce off the walls. Kids medicine is full of e numbers so i'm not surprised!

We had a rotten night. Very unsettled until we went to bed then fidgeted and cryed on and off all night. Given that we've had such a good week prior to this I can only use the old teeth excuse! Not that it helped at 4 in the morning when I'd been awake for an hour and a half

amber not sure on the bf as in hindsight ds and i never had a set pattern with it. i fed on demand and most of the time he was using me a s a dummy or to go to sleep so we never got to that 4 hourly feed thing. although near the end (stopped at 8 months) he would go 3 hours ona good day without and bf contact. No wonder he wants to be in bed with me!

withou any bf contact

Ginger: I think it's worse when they have a bad night after a series of good ones as you're used to getting more sleep! I actually feel OK now if he only wakes every couple of hours and goes back to sleep quickly cos that's what I'm used to...

well my LO is certainly oneof a kind with his loathing of feeding ...

Amber: perhaps try more skin to skin? Wouldn't hurt . I've tried making the bedtime routine more tactile - feed DS in nappy and take my top off, then a massage, then book and bed (not that it's worked yet!)

slim that sounds like a good plan for next week.
Ginger generally co-sleeping doesn't bother me but like you have lapses in confidence and think oh god he'll be going off to school and telling everyone he sleeps with his mummy and daddy also what will we do if we have another baby! (not that i'm even considering that yet)

slim, good luck next week. i think it helped us to focus on naps at home, and outings in between. its hard, but worth it, if it leads to more sleep at night ... i still allow myself 'out days' for sanity, but then try most days to be reasonably consistent with naps in cot. he's quite easy to get to sleep now, often just plonk him down and he'll go to sleep on his own.

ps. slim, i found it really helped me to decide on times for LO's naps and try to stick to them.it helps me to plan the day, and just maybe gives LO a sense of certainty as well. it took me a while to work out what suits him (and as soon as you work it out, its bound to change), but i no put him to bed at 8.30-9, and 12-12.30. i try to encourage the midday nap to be 1.5 - 2 hours, but is tough, sometimes its only 45 mins. LO still seems to need an afternoon nap as well, but we just do that in the sling if we're out, or i'll put him back in the cot when he seems tired, i don't have a set time for that one, as i figure that will be the nap he drops first once the lunchtime one pushes to a slightly later time.

so even on the days we are out for naps, i try to keep the timing similar (not that you can force them to sleep!)

as much as i hated weissbluth, he did help me to work out what would be an appropriate nap schedule for LO at this age.

Morning all, for the bad nights

Ours was mixed, bed at 8, woke at 11, 2.30, 4, 5.30 then in bed with us til 7.30. Still bad compared with how he used to be, but I feel well-rested by recent standards.

We moved him into bedside cot last night but it won't fit flush against the side of the bed (stoopid design) so had it with the side up, however being able to drop the side down to get him in and out meant he was less likely to wake when being put in, plus less of a strain on my back.

He didn't seem freaked by the extra space, although did have to be rescued when he'd jiggled himself round 90 degrees and got stuck.

He fed well at each waking, and I wonder if (like Amber) it's because he's becoming trickier to feed during the day - increasingly he gets distracted by stuff going on around him, or just wants to look up at me and coo (very cute but not so much at 4am when he is catching up on calories).

i can't wait for the day my LO realises the world will still be there AFTER he's had a feed as well. sigh. anyway, he hasn't been feeding that well at night either, especially last night. teeth? who knows what he's up to

can i just add one thing ... the night nanny that we had got a parking ticket one night she was here for parking too close to a yellow line. anyway, she showed us the ticket at the time etc, but that was it. anyway, i get an email from the night nannies co-ordinator saying that we apparently agreed to pay the parking ticket for the nanny. the nerve! i called her and politely said we never agreed such a thing. thoughts? my feeling is if you park close to a yellow line, then you pay the fine.

that is totally taking the p**s amber. it's not up to you where she decided to park her car!

yeah, my thoughts exactly. i can't believe she blatantly lied as well saying we agreed to pay it. sigh.
my DH suggested we pay half. he he, i told him we wouldn't pay a penny.