Sleep is for the weak part four, we're officially hardcore.

[gingerninja]

Yes ladies we've got a shiny new thread to share our woes of chronic sleep deprivation, to hail all that is gloreous when something works and throw our arms in the air when it all goes wrong again.

One bad night doesn't impress us, we're awake more than we sleep cos we is 'ard I tell ya.

ooooh, apart from the gym bit......you know me

amberre going out at night with ds. we have always taken ds out at night with us. not mega late but an early tea in pizza express at 6.30 for example. My bf is half irish/spanish and has that european attitude to babies so she constantly urged us to go out with them and their dc's. she never had any routine, co slept bf and both her dd's slept through the night so I don't think there's any rhyme nor reason to it all!

i think i want to try it. maybe a 6.00 dinner though. god, we'll be the only ones in the restaurant. there's no way he'll sleep. he'll prob just get cranky and confused what is happening. sigh. it's a scary proposition!

Tamdin, that sounds so much easier and more natural than the fact that DH and I haven't had a date since DS was born and my daily rushing home for DS's 6pm dinner. Well, that is, when he eats dinner. Or lunch. Or breakfast. Managed to fool him into thinking a frozen green bean was a toy yesterday, so he happily munched on it for ages and sucked all the lifeblood out of it. Didn't work today though. He carefully picked up a frozen courgette stick and placed it thoughtfully to the side, then carried on playing. So it's now Day 3 on hunger strike. Flippin 'eck, if I miss a single meal I'm desperate, so I don't know how he does it except that I must have some kind of Power Milk!

Good news is he slept through the night last night.
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Hah! As if.

Well it wasn't too bad because we co-slept from 2.30am onwards, but I've been there before so many times and am fed up with having to wean him off co-sleeping. Am just going to have to keep trying and hoping, but it's the hope that I find hardest to handle!

Oh, and welcome Lyndyloo. I managed to successfully wean DS off Bfing to sleep using Elizabeth Pantley's method (author of No Cry Sleep Solution): BF until sucking slows down. Remove your breast from her mouth. If she rooots a lot or shows a strong desire to keep feeding, put breast back and count to 10/ watch for slowing down again. Keep doing this until she eventually settles.

I found this worked v quickly for DS at 6 months - within about 3 days he was completely weaned off it and only wanted BFing to satiate hunger before going to sleep. Of course since then he's had colds/ teething, etc etc and clamours back for it again, but when you've done it once it's easier to wean them off again in future. Good luck!

mrs Th know where you're coming from. am constantly deciding to wean ds off co-sleeping but it all goes to pot in the middle of the night when i want to sleep and i know he'll go straight back off if i bring him in with me.

amber i know it seems scary but you'd be surprised how well lo's react to change. i had many a night when I said to friend "x i really dont think he's in a good mood tonight he's really tired and he'll porb kick off in the restaurant" only to be met with and "so what if he does, we'll deal with it". He never did k'kick off' and infact loved the attention and the change of environment. Up side is now we have a toddler who has eaten in some of the best restauarnts around
also you'd be surprised how busy pizza express is at 6pm. loks like a creche! can't see the staff for balloons

as you can see am going down the 'cod' route of posting and not checking spelling!

Right, I'm booking a table for a family meal next week in town. Been meaning to pay DH a visit at the office, so I think we'll combine it with a meal out. Tamdin, you are an inspiration!

family meal sounds lovely MTH. just remember what's the worse that can happen?
crying can alwsy be solved by a little walk around the place, a boob or depending on age a dough stick!!

I know, Tam. He's actually a very cheery baby (except when he's teething and refusing to sleep - though to look at him now, fast asleep like an angelic little love, you'd never know it). We took him to a Giraffe restaurant for a proper late dinner when he was 2 months old; I bf'd in the resto and the only thing that happened was that lots of women cooed over him. Maybe we'll do that again and then have a walk along the Thames. Could even get the bus home so no need to lug buggy up and down tube stairs. Wow, a real live date night!!! I might even wear make-up!

So, how does everyone with babies who eat solids organise the eating thing? before or after naps? before or after milk feeds? i know this is a transition period for me and it will fall into place, but i'm finding it tricky to time things well and fit in meals for LO, especially since they take about 45 mins each. i try to eat with him, but then resort to doing other stuff like unpacking dishwasher, putting away shopping etc. i'm always giving him dinner, but feel i should start being more regular about giving breakfast and maybe lunch soon.

ps. LO is still a poo monster. he's pooing 5-6 times a day!! what is going on, i'm tired of changing nappies. got to go and buy more today to keep supplies at the ready.

LO has been sleeping for 2 1/4 hours. sure am waiting to go out. sure have done the washing, cut up everything for dinner, put out recycling, tidied up, made some calls .... unbelievable!

Meg, sound similar to my routine at that age. perhaps you could try and bring the morning nap forward even earlier and try and get him down at 8.30? My DD has always needed her first nap after quite early. Id also try and get him into bed at 7 too but if thats too early for you and DH at least bathed and ready. Do you find him really fractious at bathtime?

Tibs, you have got nothing to worry about you're a gorgeous, kind considerate and nurturing mamma. You are only human. It's difficult when you KNOW she can go all night. She obviously feels content and confident enough to sleep. It's just a mystery what keeps these lo's awake.

Bags you're livining up to your name.

Tam, love your list. Sooo right

Amber, I was exactly the same with food / dishwasher etc. DD didn't really start eating a great deal until about 9 months which is when it got more routine and we sat together. It's so hard in the begining to find the balance between hunger and not too hungry when they just want milk and not too tired that they just want to sleep. Just keep offering it will fall into place soon.

I had my first 7 hour sleep last night in about a year. DH took over while I snuffled in the spare room. I slept forever but still woke feeling pooey. DD awoke on and off from 10.30 - 12.30 apparently then slept from 12.30 to 5.30 which wasn't bad either. We've made a make shift bed next to her cot to try and wean her off co-sleeping. So far DH has done the night shifts so its going well. I'm not as strong as him so we'll see tonight.

MrsThieryHenry (you sorry he's left Arsenal then?). Anyway I have NCSS but struggle how to use the pull off effectively. I can't seem to get to the next stage. She will feed for only a short time during her night wakings and then go straight back down to sleep. Not sure how to get to the stage when she doesn't need me.

Hi everyone, LO in bed. Had a horrible evening as Lo broke out in rash all around mouth I think in response to having something containing eggs. Ok, will be staying right off eggs until 12 months +.
Is a bit scary when stuff like that happens, but seems fine thankfully.

where was everyone last night?

Not sleeping, that's for sure

Hope your night was good though...

it was good. 1 wakeup

how was yours? lots of wakeups it sounds like

crapolla night here. ds went to sleep 7.30-11.30 (best part) then was up at 2.30, 5, 7 for the day. Not sure what was wrong with him. he was in bed with us but was crying out in his sleep and thrashing around. hence i got no sleep

amber of your nights. well done amber junior

Morning all!

Amber! Glad to hear poor DS's rash did not disrupt the night too much.

Tam for your multiple wake-ups.

Meg - dare I ask?

Big improvement here. LO settled at 8pm after an hour of trying. Then slept in own room until 12.30am . Into bedside cot at 1, slept til 4.30, then slept 5-6, and again 7-8. Still feel knackered though - think I need DH to give me a night off at the weekend!

Hoping to hear of some more good nights!

glad there was some improvement bags, still sounds like a lot of time spent up and down though.

LO's rash started to clear quite quickly after his bath, and this morning you can't even tell it was there. though we're now battling the nappy rash as he's doing 6+ poos a day! hope it calms down soon.

swimming today. yay. and dh staying home as well.

Amber, we had reactions when starting to wean too. I got carried away with BLW and gave her allsorts so had to go back to basics to figure out what it was. Aside from Salmon I still haven't figured it out. Something definately makes her eczema worse. Hopefully it's not hummus as we have to smear everything in humus or philadephia at the moment.

On a weaning note she's started using a spoon and fork. I have to load it up but she puts it in and she is brilliant at it. Very rarely gets it upside down. It's so sweet to see as she's obviously delighted with hersef. Probably because she gets a round of applause. She had to feed herself her yoguart yesterday in the park which got some admiring comments from mothers of toddlers who wouldn't do it. [proud mummy emoticon]

Tam for your night. Who flippin knows eh? It will happen and when you move you'll be in a better position to tackle the co-sleeping if you want to.

Bags and Meg, and for yours.

We had an ok night 4 wakings in total. 9 oclock, 10.30, 12.30, 2.30 and 5 for the day. So it's an every two hour thing. What happens after 2 hours?
I was on a matress next to the cot. 10.30 was a struggle as she wanted to get up and kept lifing her arms up but a just cuddled her in her cot and stroked her head and kissed her. She cried for about 30 mins but it was OK. At 12.30 she cried for about 10 minutes and I did the same but at 2.30 she just cried out and I shoved the dummy in and it did the trick. I still have a cold so didn't feel too clever at the 5 oclock up for the day but I feel so optimistic at the moment. I really thought breaking the co-sleeping habit would be awful. I know I'm still close by but the cot bars are a start. Next I'll start sleeping in my own room (yeah right)

Tam think my night was similar to yours. LO slept at 7.30, then woke screaming at 8 (just as we were about to eat dinner) and had to be BF back to sleep, then woke at 11 and wouldn't settle so in with me... then woke around 1 and didn't go back to sleep until gone 2 , not upset but just wide awake, scratching hands, kicking legs, cooing and generally being a nuisance! I put him back in his cot but he just cried after a few minutes so back in with me, I fed him and eventually he went back to sleep... but then woke some time around 4, then 6, then 7 for the day. Am royally knackered!

Ginger sounds like you are making good progress. Hopefully that will be us when we move house and DS gets his own room.